The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

The few familiar faces of Sun Jian in the tent were all the commanders and commanders of the Yuzhou army in the prefectures and states.

Although Sun Jian was not familiar with them, he knew their respective origins.

The one with the blue beard like a halberd was called Xie Rong, and he was Cao Ye, a soldier of Chen State, who led the 2,000 soldiers and horses that Chen State lent to Kong Yu.

The short and solid one was Liu Bing, one of the three commanders sent by Runan County to fight with Kong Yu.

Among the six prefectures in Yingchuan, Runan County has the most extensive jurisdiction, with a total of 37 subordinate counties, accounting for more than one-third of the county counties, and the largest population, reaching more than 200 at its peak. Wan, there are many people and a large area, and it is Yuan Shao's hometown. Therefore, among the Yuzhou counties and states that helped Kong Mi in the quest for Dong this time, Runan sent the most troops and food, not to mention food, but the total number of troops and horses. out of the thousands.

The military system of the Han family: if it is a little less, one or two thousand people can be compiled into one part, and if it is a little more, six or seven thousand people can also be compiled into one part, but usually, two or three thousand people are used as a part.

Runan sent out tens of thousands of cavalry, obviously it was not possible to send only one general to lead the army. Therefore, most of the other county troops were led by one person, but Runan County alone sent a total of three "campus captains". Liu Bing was Ru Nan. One of the three "school captains" in the south had three thousand troops under his command.

The one with the curvy eyebrows and cheeks came from the State of Lu. Although this man looks rich, his name is very powerful. His name is Ding Meng, and there are three thousand soldiers of the State of Lu under his tent.

Among the more than 40,000 soldiers under Kong Yu's command, about half of them were from the prefectures. That is to say, if the prefecture soldiers were removed, there would be 20,000 soldiers from the county and the state. Xie Rong, Liu Bing, and Ding Meng joined forces, totaling 8,000 troops, which was about the same. half of the 20,000 people.

Sun Jian saw that the three of them were in Xun Zhen's tent, and suddenly felt bad. When he saw the three of them and looked at Xun Zhen again, he saw that Xun Zhen was looking at him with a smile.

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "Wentai, although you borrowed 50,000 stone grains from Kong Yuzhou, you lost this bet."

"After I made that bet with you the day before yesterday, I felt uneasy when I returned to the camp. I suspected that I had been tricked by you, as expected! As expected! Zhenzhi, how cunning you are, how cunning!" .

Xun Zhen laughed.

Xie Rong and the others didn't know about the bet between Xun Zhen and Sun Jian. Seeing Xun Zhen touching his beard and looking at Sun Jian with a smile, "I am satisfied", and seeing Sun Jian pounding his chest and stomping his feet, complaining incessantly, "very annoyed", they were aroused by curiosity. Xie Rong is the oldest among the three, and he is just forty years old this year, so he came forward and asked, "Dare to ask the two generals, what kind of bet did you make?"

Xun Zhen explained to Xie Rong and the three.

The three of Xie Rong looked at each other and thought in their hearts: "I have heard for a long time that Xunhou Yingwu, and Sun Hou's fierce prey, there is no vacuous soldier under his reputation! That Dong Zhuo's army is strong and brave, and his fierce name is known. There are so many heroes, but so far, there is no one who dares to take the initiative to attack. I don’t say anything, just say that I am waiting for Yingchuan. There are more than 40,000 people in Kongyu Prefecture, and Yangzhai is high. There is no mention of military affairs, and Xunhou , Sun Hou actually took 'who will be the pioneer' as the winner's bet, they are really two outstanding people!"

The three of them are the main battle faction among the many generals of the Yuzhou Army, otherwise they would not have been recruited by Xi Zhicai, Xun You, Xun Yu and others. At this time, seeing the arrogance of Xun Zhen and Sun Jian, they became more and more determined to follow. Xun Zhen's thoughts on sending troops to attack.

Sun Jian also wanted to understand now that Xun Zhen was from Yingchuan County and was in the same prefecture as Xie Rong and others. With the high name of the Xun clan in Yingyin and Xun Zhen's own prestige, he brought a few generals from the Yuzhou army. But it wasn't difficult, the three of them should have been cast under Xun Zhen's account just like that.

He was willing to admit defeat, although he was very ruthless and followed Xun Zhen's army to drink the wind and eat dust, "losing face", but since he lost, he simply said: "It's okay, it's okay, I lose this bet, no one will Don't complain, just blame me for not paying attention. Zhenzhi, since you have won, this pioneering role..." He sighed reluctantly, "I'll give it to you."

Xun Zhen laughed again and asked Sun Jian to take a seat.

Both the grain and the soldiers were borrowed. Fifty thousand large stone grains were not only enough for Xun Zhen and Sun Jian, but more than enough. Although the army of the 8,000 counties was less than a quarter of the army of Yuzhou, the 20,000-odd army of the prefecture was obviously more than enough. It is impossible to borrow it. As for the remaining 10,000-odd county soldiers, they are afraid to fight. It is useless to talk to their generals. These 8,000 people add Xun, Sun Bu, and Yingchuan County. There are more than 40,000 soldiers in total, and although most of them are new soldiers, there are also many elite soldiers. For example, Chen Guo has a crossbow battalion of 2,000 people. The combat power is quite strong, and if used properly, it can improve the combat effectiveness of the entire army by one or two percent.

With two things in place, it's time to get to the point and discuss the battle.

Xun Zhen said to Sun Jian: "Wentai, before you came, I was discussing the battle plan with the captains. From the discussion in the morning until just now, there was a little bit of a prototype. You have been in expeditions for a long time, and you have a good military strategy. It must have been prejudiced, and I am waiting for your coming, eager to hear the high opinion."

The "School Captains" refers to Xie Rong, Liu Bing, and Ding Meng. The three of them led troops to seek Dong from Kong Mi. Before leaving the county, each of them was assigned the post of "Xing Xiaowei" by the prefect of the county. Xie Rong was the captain of Xingkuokou, Liu Bing was the captain of Xingpinglu, and Ding Meng was the captain of Yangwei.

Sun Jian said: "I don't know what is the prototype that you discussed with the captains?"

There is a map hanging in the account, and the topographic map of Sili, Yuzhou, Yanzhou and other places is drawn on the map.

Xun Zhen stood up, went around the case, came to the front of the map, pointed to the positions of Yingchuan and Suanzao on the map, and said, "This time, we from Yingchuan and Generals Cao and Bao of Suanzao marched together. They all thought that instead of joining forces in two ways, it is better to attack in separate ways. What do you think?"

Sun Jian also got up from the table, came to the map, nodded and said, "I see this too."

Although Xun Zhen and Cao Cao had many new troops, they still had 60,000 troops. Cao Cao's headquarters were not many, only 5,000 troops, but Bao Xin had a lot of troops, long before the start of the army. , he recruited more than 10,000 people in Mount Tai, and when he arrived, his army and horses reached more than 20,000 people. He joined forces with Cao Cao, and he also had 30,000 people and horses. Not much, Xun and Cao combined, the total number of soldiers and horses reached 60,000, so many people and horses, under the constraints of the terrain and situation, it was difficult to combine them to attack.

First of all, from the situation.

When the Suanzao army was prosperous, Cao and Bao could definitely lead the army to leave Suanzao and join Xunzhen and others, but Yingchuan only had Xunzhen and others and Kong Dian. Once Xunzhen and others left Yingchuan, There will only be more than 30,000 Yuzhou troops left in the county, so Dong Zhuo is very likely to invade the territory and make Xun Zhen and others lose their position. To the sour dates.

Secondly, from the topography.

Yingchuan is in the southeast of Luoyang. Although there is a direct connection between the two places, this is the avenue that Xun Zhen took when he last went to Chaozhong to take up the post of Zuozhong Lang, but there is a Luyuan Pass on this road. It is one of the eight passes in Gyeonggi that guards Luoyang. The guards in Xiaguan are now subordinates of Dong Zhuo. If you want to pass from here on, you have to attack the fortress. Most of the troops are new soldiers to attack this fortified pass, and you can imagine that, The battle must be very difficult to fight, and it may not be able to be fought for a month or two. This way can be said to be impracticable.

Since the road from Yingchuan to Luoyang in the northwest direction is difficult to pass due to the obstacles of the checkpoint, if you want to go to Luoyang, you can only go down and take a detour in the southwest direction.

In the vicinity of the southwest, there is no avenue, the road is not too wide, and there are several rivers to cross before entering Sili. If Cao Cao and Bao Xin came to Yingchuan, there would be 60,000 troops on both sides, so many people could only go around this narrow road, and they had to cross the river one after another. If the road ahead is blocked, it may be difficult to advance. If it is more serious, if the front is defeated, Dong Zhuo's troops will have many cavalry. The whole army is about to be wiped out.

Of course, in addition to looking for a breakthrough in the southwest direction, you can also look up the direction of the attack. You can go north first, and then turn west. But if you choose this road, Suanzao is on the north side, and you can go with Cao Cao and Bao Xin. Sour jujube sent troops to make no difference.

For these two reasons, Xun Zhen, Xi Zhicai, Xun You and others, Xie Rong, Liu Bing, and Ding Meng all thought that the best strategy was to go in separate ways.

The reason for branching out and advancing in parallel is limited to the situation and terrain, and from a strategic overall perspective, it also has more advantages than joining forces all the way.

For example, it is like a person, Xun and Cao Hehe all the way, only one fist, although the momentum is prosperous, but if they go straight, Dong Zhuo can easily deal with them, just send a strong army, order a few fierce Generals, just hit them head-on. With Dong Zhuo's army being strong and powerful, Xun and Cao have little chance of winning in this kind of unpretentious, head-to-head battle. It can be perfectly coordinated, and the reality can change. Although it won't make Dong Zhuo feel overwhelmed, it can at least make him worry a little bit.

Take a step back and say that if one route is defeated, as long as the other route is not defeated, it will still be able to make a comeback.

Sun Jian, Xun Zhen and others agreed, and this was considered a tentative decision to split the troops into two directions.

The overall strategic direction is set, followed by specific tactics.

Sun Jian said, "Generals Cao and Bao and I have split the attack. Zhenzhi, have you chosen the direction of my attack on Yingchuan?"

Xun Zhen pointed to the Luyuan Pass on the official road from Yingchuan to Luoyang, and said, "This road is impassable, and the second generals Cao and Bao are in the north, so I can only choose the southwest direction to advance the army."

"Where is Southwest?"

"What is the best place for you, sir?"

Sun Jian's fingers traced Yangzhai on the map to the southwest, crossed the Ru River, and stopped at Liangxian County, two hundred miles away from Yangzhai.

When Xun Zhen saw Sun Jian's finger, she laughed and said, "Heroes see the same thing."

However, he, Xi Zhicai and others agreed with Sun Jian, and they all believed that Liang County was the best place to enter Gyeonggi.

Liangxian said that it is in the southwest of Yangzhai, but it is actually more like to the west of Yangzhai. It is almost on the same line as Yangzhai, but it is slightly more southward than Yangzhai. This county does not belong to Yingchuan County, it is already in the territory of Yin, Henan, and it is the southernmost county of Yin, Henan. It is not far from Nanyang County in Jingzhou, Nanyang County is 50 miles south, and it is not too far from Luoyang. Going northwest, Luoyang is 150 miles away.

As mentioned above, there are eight gates around Luoyang, numbered as the capital of eight gates, which are distributed in all sides of Luoyang.

Between Yingchuan and Luoyang is the Luyuan Pass, which is the key point from Ying and Chen to Luoyang. From this pass to the west, there are Dagu, Guangcheng, Yique, Hangu and other passes in turn. Among them, Hangu Pass is the gate to the west of Luoyang. It refers to Luodu in the east and Chang'an in the west. It is the first of the eight passes. The three passes of Dagu, Guangcheng and Yique are all in the south of Luoyang. The three passes are connected and are very close to each other. , which is guarding the southern gate of Luoyang, whether you go directly south from Jingzhou, or go through Yingchuan and Runan to Luoyang, you have to pass these three levels.

In other words, that is to say, if you attack from Liang County, you will eventually need to pass the customs.

Then I asked: But why do you need to go around Luyuan, abandon the near and seek the far, and have to go to the southwest? Why not just kowtow and enter Gyeonggi, and attack Luoyang?

This is because, although the three passes of Dagu, Guangcheng and Yique are also dangerous, they are still not as good as Luyuan Pass.

Luyuan Pass is located between the two mountains of Shaoshi and Taishi, and the mountain road is dangerous.

Therefore, Xun Zhen, Sun Jian, and the others all abandoned the Luyuan Pass and chose this place as a breakthrough point to leave the county.

In fact, in the original history, Sun Jian chose this path when he led the Yuzhou army to attack Luoyang after being designated by Yuan Shu as the prefect of Yuzhou. He wanted to go out of Dagu to attack Luoyang.

Xun Zhen and Sun Jian coincided with the dispatch of troops from Liang County, and it was time to talk about where Cao Cao would march.

Cao Cao and Xun Zhen and Sun Jian are not in the same direction. He must have his own ideas about sending troops. Xun Zhen and Sun Jian's ideas may not necessarily be the same as his plans, but regardless of whether they are the same or different, since it is a two-way cooperation. If they go ahead, then Xun Zhen and Sun Jian definitely need to take Cao Cao into account. If the two sides agree in the end, they will be happy. If they disagree, they can negotiate again.

Sun Jian asked, "We can attack Luoyang from Liangdong, but what about Cao and Bao's second generals? In Qing's opinion, where should the two of them attack?"

On the map, Xun Zhen looked north from Liang County, looked at Chenliu, then moved west from Chenliu, stretched out his finger, tapped a spot on one of the spots, and said, "How is this place?"