Chapter 300: Give Up Expansion
Three full days passed, and there was no unusual movement from Cao's troops nearby.

The fleet carrying grain westward finally appeared in Xingyang.

Zhang Xiu commanded his troops to board the ship. Under a green umbrella on the shore, Hei Xiong and the naval captain Li Yi drank tea together.

"How come it came so quickly? It's a day earlier than I expected."

"It was General Gan who proposed to order the navy to unload the newly harvested wheat at Mianchi. General Gan will manage Mianchi from now on as a forward base."

As Li Yi spoke, he took out a scroll of silk from his waist bag, stood up and presented it with both hands.

Black Bear reached out to take it, spread it out and read. On it were maps of Hongnong, southeastern Hedong, the area around Luoyang, and most of the mountains, rivers, terrain and cities in Hanoi.

Mianchi is located in the east of Hongnong. By managing it, the army can gather in Mianchi when attacking Luoyang next time.

However, in order to ensure the elite and professionalism of the Mianchi garrison, Gan Ning proposed to only set up a small military settlement in Mianchi to mainly obtain vegetables.

No manpower is wasted in reclaiming previously abandoned fields for grazing.

The garrison manpower only does two things: repair the city defense infrastructure and train.

The garrison adopted a rotation system and soldiers were drawn from Hongnong.

Black Bear carefully read and understood the meaning of Gan Ning's document. Mianchi is not far from Shanjin.

Using Mianchi as a front-line assembly point was not particularly prominent, and Gan Ning was already being very cautious.

With Xiahou Dun as his sparring partner, Black Bear has a concern. In case Gan Ning plays too smoothly, he will lose his vigilance, and his growth potential will be affected and lowered by Xiahou Dun.

After thinking for a while, Black Bear grabbed a pen and wrote on Gan Ning's original document: "Xiahou Dun is a dog guarding the house. Don't have the intention of competing with him. You need to be alert to Cao Cao's subterfuge and ambushes. When fighting him, you must keep three-tenths of your strength and don't use it all."

Gan Ning can lose a small amount, but he cannot lose consecutively or die in battle.

Gan Ning can block the gap in the southeast for him; Zhang Liao and Wei Yue can block the gap in the northeast.

Ma Teng, Ma Chao, Duan Wei and Yang Qiu were responsible for controlling the Huns; Zhang Xiu and Pang De could serve as the rear guards and hold the key nodes in the west.

Li Yi looked at the instructions on the original document and was slightly surprised: "Doesn't the Grand Marshal intend to return to Guanzhong?"

I always feel that someone is going to be unlucky again. Black bears are running around in Guanzhong, and someone may be unlucky at any time.

There were too many people who fled outside Guanzhong and suffered misfortune and died as a result.

For example, Cao Hong. Who could have thought that Cao Hong would die under the city of Xu Du, dying to protect the peace of the emperor.

When Black Bear saw Li Yi asking him where he was going next, he looked Li Yi up and down. Suddenly, Li Yi's face turned pale and his expression was blank, but he pretended to be calm.

The more I pretended to be calm, the more nervous I became.

Obviously innocent, Li Yixing was at a loss as to what to do, when Black Bear spoke up: "I will return to Ganquan first. I have accumulated a lot of official documents during this period. I will make a decision after I finish processing them."

Li Yi took a few deep breaths, his mind went blank for a moment, and he didn't know what to answer.

Seeing this, Black Bear just smiled and said, "I heard that the Qingzhou troops in various parts of Dongping are becoming increasingly unstable and seem to be planning to surrender. I'm afraid it will be difficult for our army to transport them back to Hongnong."

Li Yi gradually regained his ability to think after hearing this, and he was also surprised: "Your Majesty, I dare not say too much about such an important matter. I am good at commanding the navy. Before the autumn flood comes, or before the Yellow River dries up and it is difficult to sail, my navy can travel back and forth between Shanjin and Baimajin without any worries."

The navy had accumulated more than 150 transport ships. If they wanted to navigate the Yellow River quickly, they had to rely on the power of sails.

Therefore, the power provided by paddling and rowing in small boats is only suitable for crossing the river from north to south, and it is difficult to ensure long-distance navigation and transportation from east to west.

Black Bear was also a little confused: "Then don't worry about it. I don't want to be distracted now."

"only."

Seeing that Black Bear had nothing else to say, Li Yi took the initiative to leave.

Although sitting together and drinking tea and chatting can enhance mutual understanding, it would be a big loss if you say the wrong thing and cause misunderstanding.

After Li Yi left, Black Bear drank tea alone.

Before leaving Guanzhong, he discussed the matter of Qingzhou troops with Guo Tai.

There are big problems with the Qingzhou soldiers as a whole. If they were to be accepted in their entirety, given the current size of the 3,000 Qingzhou soldiers in Guanzhong, they might be assimilated and eroded.

The Qingzhou soldiers would serve in turns, and those serving outside would be assigned to several places.

It would be too difficult to completely instigate and accept the Qingzhou soldiers, both men and women, unless Cao Cao's power collapsed. So Guo Tai's suggestion was to infiltrate slowly and eat up the Qingzhou soldiers bit by bit when the battle was about to begin.

Screen the battlefield once, and actively select the Qingzhou soldiers who were recruited or forced to land on the battlefield.

Now is different from the previous time when the business was started. At that time, the Qingzhou soldiers were able to actively repent and undergo spiritual sublimation under the leadership of Guo Tai, and their purpose was relatively pure.

Nowadays, Qingzhou soldiers have too much utilitarianism in the process of repentance, and it is difficult to achieve self-spiritual sublimation through such repentance.

Zhang Xiu's betrayal also brought turmoil to various parts of Cao's Yanzhou. It was obvious that some Qingzhou soldiers could no longer sit still and began to plan an uprising.

When Lu Bu captured Yanzhou, the attitude of the Qingzhou soldiers was very unclear.

After surrendering the so-called million-strong Qingxu Yellow Turban Army, what Cao Cao finally used to turn the tables was actually the reinforcements sent by Yuan Shao.

There is no need to go into details about the Guandu period. The Qingzhou soldiers were basically in a neutral state, watching the outcome of the battle.

At that time, Cao Cao could not mobilize the Qingzhou soldiers with normal orders. If he sent troops to mobilize them, he would be counterattacked by the Qingzhou soldiers. The same was true for Yuan Shao. If he did not harass the Qingzhou soldiers, the Qingzhou soldiers would not counterattack Yuan Shao.

The attitude of the Qingzhou soldiers has always been clear: they joined Cao's army just to make a living; if it affects their lives, their position will change.

Therefore, the main force of Cao's army has always been the soldiers and households under the staggered labor system, as well as the troops and generals who surrendered, as well as the bandits, mountain people, and refugees who were recruited.

From the beginning to the end, the Qingzhou soldiers were just speculators and partners within Cao Cao's camp, and one of the three forces that maintained the balance within Cao Cao's system.

Such Qingzhou soldiers are not worth your time and effort.

The Hongnong navy was busy until nightfall and then began to return.

In the central area of ​​the Yellow River, the navy's transport ships were connected front and back and set sail.

The black bear no longer lingered in the hot Central Plains and drove his chariot westward.

As for fortresses like Hulao Pass, they are not obstacles at all.

In Luoyang's eight-pass defense system, these pass cities were built at important transportation nodes and have greater military significance.

Since they had no supply lines, the chariots could just pass by Hulao Pass along the road.

After all, the human and material resources of the Han Dynasty were limited, and they could not build a fortress like Shanhaiguan that could cross the land route.

In this way, the black bear passed by Hulao Pass in broad daylight, and the guards of Hulao Pass did not see it at all.

Perhaps because Gan Ning withdrew his troops too hastily, the Cao army’s military garrisons around Luoyang were once again strengthened.

As the sky gradually brightened, Black Bear's chariot arrived outside Yanshi City.

The soldiers in the military outpost on the outskirts of the city had already gotten up early and were preparing for a busy day.

The huge chariot stopped beside the ruins of the pavilion, and the more than 30 knights who followed Black Bear had to rest.

At this moment, everyone is drawing water from the well, feeding the horses, collecting firewood, and cooking.

In front of the carriage, the captured Madam Yin was holding her little son with a helpless look on her face. As the daughter-in-law chosen by General He Jin, Madam Yin had an excellent background, appearance, and conversation.

For Cao Cao, this was an important concubine who was still young.

But for Hei Xiong, kidnapping this woman in her thirties was just to provide insurance for Zhang Xiu.

Her background, connections, abilities, and appearance were of no use to Black Bear.

The more this happened, the more frightened she became.

The only thing that made her feel at ease was that she would not lack food and clothing during the journey.

Inside the carriage, Black Bear was taking a light nap. Beside him sat two rows of puppet Taoist soldiers, all holding fans and waving them repeatedly.

This creates a directional flow of wind inside the long and narrow carriage.

Soon, the black bear woke up, raised his hand to touch his face, and looked down to see a layer of fine oily sweat on his fingers.

Sigh, it would be nice if there was ice magic.

I have made up my mind that I will never send troops between April and August, no matter what!
Find a cooler mountain area to escape the heat!
(End of this chapter)