Chapter Seventy Four Return again

195, the second year of Xingping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the second month of spring.

Under the city of Guangling in Xuzhou, Cao Jun camped.

In the Chinese army's tent, Cao Mengde sat at the head of the army.

"The walls of Guangling City are high and thick. There are Lu Bu and Liu Bei inside, and Sun Ce and Ji Ling outside. They are watching each other with horns inside and outside. It is not easy to attack. Do you have any strategies to defeat the enemy?"

"Lord!"

A general in the hall cupped his fists and said: "The last general only needs 20,000 soldiers and horses. He will defeat the enemy in three days. I will sacrifice the enemy general's head under the lord's tent!"

Cao Mengde stroked his beard and smiled when he heard this: "It's fair to be honest, don't be anxious."

It turned out to be General Xu Huang and Xu Gongming.

Xu Gongming newly joined Cao Mengde's tent and was eager to make meritorious deeds, so he took the initiative to ask for a battle.

What happened here is a long story. Cao Mengde took control of Yanzhou the year before last, and at the end of the year he sent people to Langya in Xuzhou to invite his father Cao Song. Unexpectedly, Cao Song was killed on the way. Cao Mengde was sad and angry, so he mobilized all his troops to attack Xuzhou.

The outcome of this matter was the same as what Zhao Yu and Cao Mengde had discussed, but something went wrong in the process. Zhao Yu and Cao Mengde originally planned to let the golden cicada escape from its shell, make Cao Song fake his death, and then blame Tao Gongzu of Xuzhou, using this as an excuse to attack Xuzhou and capture Xuzhou.

However, before Cao Mengde's golden cicada escape plan could be implemented, Cao Song was killed.

This matter is closely related. In addition to Cao Mengde and Tao Qian, there is another evil hand. It was this black hand that started in advance, disrupted Cao Mengde's plan, and caused him to lose his father.

The ending may be what Cao Mengde expected, but the process made Cao Mengde miserable.

In anger, Cao Mengde mobilized all his troops to attack Xuzhou. Within a month, he went to dozens of counties in Donghai and Pengcheng counties and surrounded Xiapi. Tao Gongzu had an army of 100,000, but he couldn't take it. At the critical moment, he could only ask for help from everywhere. Liu Bei and Yuan Shu are both included in this list.

Just when Cao Mengde was planning to conquer Xiapi in one go and kill Tao Qian, Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and others, allied with Lu Bu, invaded Yanzhou, causing a fire in the backyard.

Cao Mengde then returned to Yanzhou. This matter had already been planned by Cao Mengde. Although Lu Bu had the help of Chen Gong and Zhang Miao, he actually fell into Cao Mengde's trap. As soon as he entered Yanzhou, he fell into a quagmire. Being attacked by Xia Houyuan and Cao Ren who had been waiting for a long time, it was difficult to protect themselves, let alone seize Yanzhou!

Only then did Chen Gong and others know that the rebellion had been discovered by Cao Mengde. In a hurry, he sent people to contact Li Jue and Guo Si in Guanzhong. However, Li Jue and Guo Si were in conflict at this time and were in internal strife. Lu Bu and Chen Gong had no choice but to send people to connect with Yuan Shu, and at the same time send people to Hanoi to invite the Baibo thief Yang Feng and others to attack Yanzhou together.

Just as Cao Mengde returned to the army, a big battle ensued. Lu Bu lost consecutive battles and fled in panic. Yuan Shu sent his general Ji Ling northward, but Cao Ren blocked him from entering Yingchuan. Baibo thief Yang Feng led his army across the river, but was beheaded by Xia Houyuan in Luoyang, and all his troops surrendered. Xu Huang was under Yang Feng at that time. After surrendering, he was appreciated by Xia Houyuan and recommended to Cao Mengde.

After the war, Cao Mengde tried to calm people's hearts and purge the rebels within Yanzhou, which was almost overkill, and many powerful families were uprooted. At the same time, he dispatched troops and generals, and made Cao Ren the commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army. He went south to Yuzhou to attack Yuan Shu, in order to avenge Yuan Shu's aid to Lu Bu in attacking Yanzhou. He ordered Xiahou Dun to be the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army, and led his army to pursue Lu Bu's remnants of troops, all the way into Xuzhou, and held a stalemate at the foot of Xiapi City.

By the time Cao Mengde completed the internal cleansing and re-stabilized the people under his rule, it was already 194, the autumn of the first year of Xingping.

Now that the internal situation was stable, Cao Mengde started the war again. He sent Yu Jin and Li Dian to lead 20,000 troops to join Cao Ren's troops, and ordered Cao Ren to attack Yuan Shu vigorously. Cao Mengde himself led an army to Xuzhou and joined forces with Xiahou Dun at the foot of Xiapi City.

Under Cao Mengde's rule, farming flourished, grain yields were high, soldiers were well-prepared, and they were not afraid of attacks. Since the autumn of the first year of Xingping, wars have continued. So far, Cao Ren's troops have driven all Yuan Shu's forces out of Yuzhou, defeated Shouchun, occupied Jiujiang, and marched into Jiangbei counties in Yangzhou.

Yuan Shu fled to Jiangdong like a lost dog. Now he is resisting Cao Mengde's offensive while fighting fiercely with Liu Yao.

After all, Yuan Shu had a profound knowledge and had tens of thousands of troops under his command. He is also good at plundering and has plenty of money and food. He fled to Jiangdong and fought with Liu Yao for Yangzhou counties, but he ordered General Ji Ling to reject Cao Ren in the north of the Yangtze River, and ordered Sun Ce to lead his troops into Xuzhou to assist Tao Qian and resist the army led by Cao Mengde himself.

However, Cao Mengde's army was at its peak, and Ji Ling, who was fighting Cao Ren on the west route, was defeated one after another, retreating one after another. Cao Mengde's troops on the east road were even more powerful, winning consecutive battles. Even with the help of Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce, Tao Qian could not withstand Cao Mengde's army. By the turn of the second year of Xingping, only Guangling was left in Xuzhou. Moreover, it was possible to block Cao Jun's offensive by taking advantage of Guangling's geographical advantage with dense water network.

The current situation couldn't be better for Cao Mengde. However, because the troops were too smooth, many problems arose. At least in terms of people's livelihood governance, it is difficult to keep up for the time being.

Cao Mengde's basic base is only Yanzhou, and at most three counties including Yingchuan, Nanyang and his hometown Peiguo. However, with the land of one state, the whole territory of Yuzhou and Xuzhou except Guangling were swallowed up in one battle, which caused some indigestion.

The most important thing is that this battle must be ended as soon as possible. On the one hand, Yuan Shu cannot be left with a springboard to Jiangbei. Lujiang County in Yangzhou Jiangbei and Guangling in Xuzhou must be captured. Secondly, the general trend of the world has undergone tremendous changes due to this war, and Cao Mengde cannot afford to delay it.

So at this time, they were discussing countermeasures in the Chinese army's tent outside Guangling City.

Cao Jun and Tao Qian's coalition forces have been locked in a stalemate in Guangling for half a month. Tao Qian now only has Guangling left, and he is already trying his best to suck the baby. The city of Guangling was reinforced beyond measure. In addition to the fact that the size of the city was not as large as that of a giant city like Luoyang Chang'an, the height, thickness, and defense methods of the city walls made Cao Mengde find it difficult.

After comforting Xu Huang, Cao Mengde's eyes fell on Cheng Yu and Xi Zhicai.

Cheng Yunian had to think carefully and said after a while: "My lord wants to attack Guangling at the minimum cost. However, there are still fifty or sixty thousand troops in Guangling City at this time, and Sun Ce also has thirty thousand troops outside the city. If we attack by force, we will definitely defeat him. The damage is considerable.”

Xi Zhicai nodded slightly: "And because my lord's offensive has shocked the world, Hebei Yuan Shao has shown signs of being unable to sit still. A forceful attack is not advisable. There will be too many losses here. If Yuan Shao forces his army to go south, it will be difficult to resist."

Why Cao Mengde wanted to end this battle as soon as possible, Hebei Yuan Shao's movement was an important reason.

Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were still fighting fiercely in the past year or two, but Cao Mengde's military attack shocked Yuan Shao. It is not certain that he will not temporarily withdraw his troops from Youzhou and move south to attack Yanzhou. After all, Cao Mengde's military strength in the past six months has been too powerful and formidable, and it will definitely make Yuan Shaoru carry him on his back.

For Cao Mengde, one thing was to end the war in the south as soon as possible, and the other thing was not to lose too many troops. Compared with Yuan Shu and Tao Qian, Yuan Shao is not on the same level. No matter how confident Cao Mengde is, he cannot underestimate Yuan Shao.