Chapter 61 Cao's Army Deployment
Chenliu, the main camp of Cao’s army.

As we gradually approach May 18th, the summer solstice, the weather is dry and hot.

Wandering by the canal outside the camp, Cao Cao, wearing a loose earth-brown robe, with his hands behind his back, examined the pier pillars.

The water level in Langdang Canal has dropped by more than two inches compared to three days ago.

Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh. He was sincerely concerned about this year's agricultural production.

Severe drought not only means reduced production, but also means locust plagues.

The locust plague is overwhelming. If it comes during the period of shortage of food, it will not only harm the crops but also eat up all edible plants.

The people affected by the disaster had no grass to eat, which would seriously shake the morale of the army.

The common people who did not want to starve to death could only gather together to plunder the government treasury and the powerful families.

Officials also have families, and it is not news that officials take the lead in riots.

While he was worried, military advisor Xun You came with a group of military strategists. In addition to Jia Xu and Guo Jia, there were also Lou Gui and Xu You, two people from Nanyang.

Lou Gui was over eight feet tall and had a strong physique, standing out among the group of counselors.

Only when Cheng Yu was around could the two of them stand together and form a pair.

Lou Gui was also curious and didn't know why Xun You brought him here on purpose.

In fact, Lou Gui didn't want to be a staff officer, but Cao Cao didn't give him the opportunity to change his career.

Now it is known that Lou Gui was from Yin County, Nanxiang County. He was acquainted with Xu You, Feng Ji and others in his early years, and he had known Cao Cao and Yuan Shao for a long time.

During the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, when Li Jue and Guo Si in Guanzhong were rebelling, Lou Gui wanted to do something big.

Following Liu Biao's order, he led hundreds of troops to Xi County to meet the refugees from Guanzhong and arranged for the refugees to take boat to Xiangyang area.

And wait for an opportunity to recruit brave men from among them to strengthen his own troops.

As a result, they met Wang Zhong, who led more than a thousand victims and ate them all the way out of Wuguan Road, fearing that they would fall into Liu Biao's hands and be killed as an example.

Wang Zhong decisively launched a surprise attack on Lou Gui, and forced Lou Gui's troops and other victims to surrender to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was very generous and appointed Wang Zhong as General of the Central Army and also appointed Lou Gui as General.

However, he kept Lou Gui by his side and never gave him the opportunity to lead troops independently.

After all the wars over the years, Lou Gui couldn't bear to see his clan members suffer meaningless losses, so he focused on running his business and became a famous tycoon.

Lou Gui is now nearly 40 years old and has gradually put down his great ambitions. But how can he not feel some resentment in his heart?

He just hung around here, living a day-to-day life with the salary of a general while concentrating on running his business.

Among all the generals and county governors, Lou Gui was not just a small rich man, but a very rich one.

In terms of family wealth alone, he is only slightly worse than Cao Hong.

The exact difference depends on how Lou Gui calculates his own account book.

He saw Cao Cao turn around to look at Xun You, who spoke in a low voice, "According to reports, Yuan Benchu ​​vomited blood and became insane the day before yesterday, and he won't live long."

An old man who led the times did not die on the battlefield, but fell on his own body. This made Xun You feel relieved and happy, but also heavy-hearted.

Cao Cao frowned even more, looking sad.

His worries were even greater than Xun You's. He had known the three Yuan Shao brothers since childhood, so he naturally knew that the Yuan family had a history of short lifespans, with few people living over sixty years old.

Considering the status of the Yuan family, this is a very abnormal phenomenon.

There are many long-lived people among the prominent families in other states. The more ancient the local family is, the more advantages they tend to have in terms of longevity.

Unfortunately, the Yuan branch of Runan rose too quickly, and the same was true for the Cao branch of Qiao County.

Among the four generations in modern times, only my grandfather Cao Teng, who entered the palace, was fond of Taoism and lived to be over seventy years old.

It is difficult for other elders to live past the age of sixty.

Yuan Shao’s death may have been caused by his bad mood or poor blood circulation.

Especially the latter, how could it not make Cao Cao worried?

The death of Yuan Shao might lead to the annihilation of his entire clan; but what about his future?
Especially regarding the issue of succession, a large-scale purge was taking place in Hebei, and the brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan joined forces to purge the people of Yingchuan.

In a few years, the problems that big brother Yuan Shao will face will also be presented to him.

The Yuan brothers put aside their disputes and unexpectedly joined forces to bloody massacre the people of Yingchuan. What will the Cao brothers choose in the future?
If Cao Ang had not died in the past, why would we have such concerns?

Everything has its own rules to follow, but the Yuan brothers went against common sense and cleansed the Yingchuan people, which broke the existing common sense rules.

Cao Cao looked calm. He just glanced at Xun You and gestured for him to continue speaking.

Xun You looked at Xu You and Lou Gui and said, "Liu Jingsheng divided the eight counties west of Nanyang into Nanxiang Commandery and appointed his fellow commander Yi Ji as the commander of the commandery. He also appointed Mi Zhu from Donghai as the commander of Nanyang Commandery. At the same time, Liu Jingsheng's son Liu Qi led 5,000 troops to garrison Wancheng. Liu Xuande's vanguard entered Bowang, and his scouts have appeared in Yexian, Luyang, and Kunyang."

Xu You listened and frowned, thinking seriously, and Lou Gui also looked thoughtful.

Unlike Xu You who joined the group halfway through, Lou Gui had a large family and a great business in Xudu.

After Xu You introduced the latest intelligence on Nanyang, Guo Jia, who loved to talk, bowed and said, "My lord, judging from Liu Jingsheng's appearance, he wants to threaten the core of our army with a large force. He is here to solve the dilemma in Hebei."

"Does Fengxiao have a solution?"

"What you are worried about now is the combined efforts of the two Lius."

Guo Jia pointed to the southwest of Jingzhou and said, "What Liu Jingsheng is worried about is that the imperial court will recover Hebei. By then, the trend of the whole country being united will be unstoppable. The people of Jingzhou have been living in peace for a long time and will not be willing to let him split the world. Therefore, if your army remains stationed in Chenliu, Liu Jingsheng will not help Liu Xuande with all his strength."

Cao Cao frowned: "According to Fengxiao, are we just going to sit there and do nothing?"

"You can write to Sun Taolu in Jiangdong and urge him to attack Jiangxia. This is the place Liu Jingsheng must rescue, and he will not dare to send troops to the north. Then it will not be too late for you to lead your troops to attack Hebei."

Guo Jia's meaning was very direct. He wanted Sun Quan to first target Liu Biao and contain the people of Jingzhou, and then attack Hebei.

Jia Xu noticed Cao Cao's eyes on him, so he smiled modestly and said, "Mingsir, given Liu Jingsheng's character, how could he allow his son to follow Liu Xuande to lead his army to fight in the Central Plains?"

"I see. There is only Xuande's army."

Cao Cao asked everyone, "I want Yuan Rang to guard Ye, and Yu Wenze can be the deputy general because he is a great commander. What do you think?"

When Jia Xu saw Cao Cao's gaze searching for him, he said, "General Yuan Rang is brave and courageous. We should add another deputy general to cope with changes."

Xiahou Dun was only in his early forties, at the peak of his career. After the Battle of Guandu, Xiahou Dun, like other generals, continued to have rising military confidence and felt that he was very capable in fighting.

The surrounding forces also felt that the generals under Cao Cao were capable and good at fighting and should not be underestimated.

Cao Cao understood what Jia Xu meant. Yu Jin, who strictly enforced military law, might not be able to restrain Xiahou Dun.

What is the status of Yu Jin and what is the status of Xiahou Dun?
If Yu Jin used military law to restrain Xiahou Dun who was trying to capture the fighter plane and successfully stopped him, it would mean that Yu Jin was going to die for a reason.

Therefore, when encountering a situation at the front line, even if Yu Jin felt something was wrong, he did not dare to stop Xiahou Dun.

In order to shirk responsibility, he would even pretend to be stupid and take risks with Xiahou Dun.

Therefore, a person who can prevent hidden dangers should be sent to be the second deputy general. After thinking for a moment, Cao Cao came up with a candidate.

In this era when every general is pursuing meritorious service, Lihu County Magistrate and Li Dian, the deputy general, is very suitable.

Li Dian is only twenty-one years old now. His uncle was killed by Lu Bu, and his cousin died of illness shortly after inheriting the troops. More than three thousand households fell into the hands of the sixteen-year-old Li Dian.

Li Dian was known for his steadiness and did not pursue achievements, so he had friendly relations with most of his colleagues, except Zhang Liao, who was one of Lu Bu's old generals.

This is only the first line of defense, intended to block the key city of Ye County in Wankou.

Outside Ye County, an outer defense line must also be established.

Cao Cao formulated an idea in an instant. Man Chong, the governor of Runan County, went north to garrison in Dingling, Xiahou Yuan, the governor of Yingchuan County, was stationed in Yingyin, and Lu Cui, who had been stationed in Luyang, were able to block the three directions outside Ye County.

Even if Xiahou Dun's three armies suffered an unexpected defeat, it would ensure that Liu Bei could not break through the Wankou defense line.

Only in this way can the army dispatch troops to attack Liyang City, the important gateway to Hebei, in turns!
Yuan Shao lost so badly in the Battle of Guandu, how could Cao Cao dare to devote all his efforts to attack Hebei?

The safest approach is to divide the troops and attack in turns to deplete Hebei's vitality.

As long as the main force of the army is still in Chenliu, Liu Biao will never make any big moves.

But he couldn't let Liu Biao feel easy, so Cao Cao looked at Xu You and said, "Ziyuan, Liu Jingsheng split Nanyang into four parts, and the big families in Nanyang have a deep hatred for him. I intend to make Ziyuan Yuanrang's military advisor. Can Ziyuan make friends with the heroes of Nanyang?"

Xu You frowned and declined, "Meng De, don't you know that all my family members were killed by Shen Pei? If I don't conquer Hebei and avenge this blood feud, how can I return home with dignity?"

"Ugh……"

Cao Cao sighed lightly, blinked his eyes and moved his gaze to Lou Gui, somewhat hesitant as to whether or not to let this ambitious old friend go.

The last person who made him so hesitant was Liu Bei. He had good expectations, so he temporarily believed Liu Bei. As a result, Liu Bei abducted tens of thousands of troops, forged an imperial edict to kill Xuzhou governor Che Zhou, and tricked away the Xuzhou garrison troops.

Lou Gui also guessed something and took the initiative to cup his hands: "Mingsir, General Yuan Rang's intention is to defend, not to attack. Just guard the city camps, Liu Xuande will not attack."

To overcome difficulties, you have to sacrifice your life.

With the little money Liu Bei has, would he be willing to give it up?
"That makes sense."

Cao Cao nodded slowly and gave up the idea of ​​assigning a famous scholar from Nanyang to be a military advisor to Xiahou Dun.

By sending a famous scholar from Nanyang over there, one can always win over a group of Nanyang scholars through various means.

This was intended to expand the size of Xiahou Dun's troops in order to prevent Liu Biao's tough interference.

But Xu You didn't want to go. It would be better to keep Lou Gui in his hands. It would be difficult to control him if he let him go.

The population of Nanyang County at the end of the Han Dynasty was over 2.5 million. If it had not been for the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Yuan Shu, how could the people of Nanyang be so unknown?
The people of Nanyang have their own pride. Once a leader emerges, they can immediately gather 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and become a force that cannot be ignored.

Obviously, in Cao Cao's eyes, Lou Gui has this potential.

If we temporarily stop expanding Xiahou Dun's troops, we won't have any use for Xu You and Lou Gui.

However, Xu You was no longer needed in the campaign against Hebei. When Xu You defected, his family, former officials, disciples, and close fellow villagers were purged. When the two Yuans purged the people of Yingchuan, they escalated the incident and killed some unnecessary people.

Therefore, Xu You had no roots or informants in Hebei, and such a person... was actually useless.

But after all, they were friends who had known each other since childhood, so Cao Cao didn't mind supporting Xu You.

As the discussion on the direction of Jingzhou ended, Cao Cao began to make arrangements for the attack on Hebei.

We can't just wait quietly for Yuan Shao to die.

In the first round, the three front-line troops stationed at the front, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and Zhang Xiu, were sent to fight across the river.

They are all surrendered generals from other families, let them fight slowly.

At the same time, according to the plan, Henan Yin Xiahou Dun was transferred south to Ye County to garrison.

Yu Jin and Li Dian are stationed on the second line and can be directly transferred.

Cao Cao made arrangements here, and two days later the general information was placed on the desk in Liu Bei's military camp.

In two days, after joining forces with Black Bear, they had passed Bowang County and were besieging Duyang County.

Duyang is less than a hundred miles away from Ye County, and it has a wide road!

However, Duyang City was not easy to capture. The local Han family, a prominent family, actively assisted in the defense. The county magistrate of the nearby Zhi County and the military commander Lu Chang also led his troops to retreat to Duyang.

There are no less than a thousand defenders and young and strong men in Duyang City. This is not a problem that can be solved by attacking the city.

Duyang Duyang, although the place name is taken from the south of Dushui, it is more like meaning of blocking Nanyang.

At this moment, Liu Bei was a little annoyed. He didn't expect that in order to defend against his more than 4,000 people, Cao Cao actually mobilized nearly 10,000 people to go straight to Ye County.

Xiahou Dun had more than 4,000 men, Yu Jin had more than 2,000 men, and Li Dian had more than 3,000 men.

In the second line, there are Man Chong of Runan with 3,000 men, Xiahou Yuan of Yingchuan with 3,000 men, and General Lu Zhao of Luyang with 2,000 men.

Together with the local county soldiers, a total of 20,000 people stood in front of them.

There are a real 20,000 people. Just based on the identities of people like Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun, it is destined that the size of the army is not inflated.

Inside the curtain, Liu Bei described in detail the garrison positions of various units of Cao's army.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Xu Shu, Hei Xiong, Gan Ning, and Wang Wei listened to Liu Bei's story and immediately understood Cao Jun's intention, which was to divide the troops and guard the area layer by layer.

It is difficult to break through Ye County and defeat Xiahou Dun in a field battle; after breaking through, three directions are in front of you, and if you attack in any direction, you will be attacked from the other two directions.

If it was a field battle, Liu Bei felt that he could fight with more than 5,000 people from both sides joining forces against 20,000 people.

Not only him, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Black Bear and Gan Ning all thought it was worth a try.

It’s just a pity that the other 20,000 people are not gathered together.

It is actually easier to deal with a large army when they gather together.

Except for Xu Shu and Jian Yong, everyone else gathered around the map and discussed it in detail.

As for the three thousand men of Liu Qi in Wancheng, no one counted them from beginning to end.

　It will be on the shelves tomorrow, and there will be about six free chapters.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)