Three Kingdoms

"Too urgent!" Too urgent! 』

Cao Cao whispered, frowning.

The letter from Zhongtiao Mountain was naturally written by Dong Zhao.

Dong Zhao said that everything was going according to plan, but Cao Cao felt that there were some problems.

Just like Cao Cao said, it's too urgent!

Cao Cao can understand the reason for the urgency, but understanding does not mean agreement!

But now that the matter has come to this, even if Cao Cao sends someone to replace Dong Zhao, it may not have any good results, not to mention that there are no candidates to replace him.

Cao Jian obviously couldn't understand Cao Cao's anxiety.

Cao Cao walked around the tent twice, then simply opened the tent door and walked out.

Cao Cao looked west.

I saw the sky full of stars and the earth vast.

Human fire is so insignificant in this world.

Suddenly, Cao Cao exhaled a long breath, and his anxious mood calmed down a little.

Cao Zhang didn't know what was going on, so he followed Cao Cao out and stood not far behind Cao Cao.

"Zhang'er, Qiao Qi and I," Cao Cao said suddenly, "have no grudges." 』

"ah? ” Cao Zhang was stunned for a moment.

Cao Cao shook his head again and said, "To be precise, there was no enmity at first... Now..."

War is inherently about using any means necessary.

The more unscrupulous means are used, the more friendship will become indifferent, leaving only the stubborn red and black.

There were too many casualties in this war.

"Zhang'er, you must understand...this war is not about land or population, but about "Tao"..." Cao Cao said slowly.

""road"? ” Cao Zhang didn’t understand it at all.

Cao Cao nodded, "The way of the Han Dynasty, or in other words, the way of China... It's a pity that there are still many nobles in Shandong who don't understand it." 』

In fact, Cao Cao had more or less touched the edge of some unconventional wars, but he was not very clear yet, and he could not express his understanding of these unconventional wars.

Lao Tzu said that Tao can be Tao but is not Tao, and this is actually the case.

In ancient times when some concepts had not been purified and sublimated, even if some people touched the edge of this high-end theory, it would be difficult to pass on their insights to their children, disciples, or other people.

Just like a three-dimensional creature is difficult to describe in four dimensions.

Cao Cao could feel and understand something about Hussar's current war mode, war philosophy, and war derivatives, but it was difficult for him to tell a third person, even his children.

Cao Cao tried to explain to Cao Zhang, but it was obvious that Cao Zhang had only a little knowledge and only superficially believed that the Hussars' firearms were sharp and had many skills. As long as the Hussars' firearms were broken, the Hussars' combat effectiveness could be reduced.

Is Cao Zhang's idea wrong?

From a certain perspective, there is no problem.

After all, breaking the equipment of the Hussars will indeed have a great impact on the Hussars, and can even interrupt the rhythm of the Hussars' attack.

But Cao Cao knew that just damaging these equipment was only treating the symptoms but not the root cause.

Previously, Cao Cao specially sent generals to raid the Hussars Beiqu Workshop Base. In addition to destroying it, he also wanted to gain more knowledge and improve his war equipment.

only……

Everything seems to be destined, and everything seems to be in vain.

Cao Cao waved his hand and lost interest in continuing to explain with Cao Zhang.

We can't blame Cao Zhang for being ignorant, but for the current Han people, there are no similar words to describe many things, so it is difficult to understand these concepts.

To put it simply, Cao Zhang's understanding is not enough.

"Forget it..." Cao Cao sighed and said to Cao Zhang: "You return to Yanxiang quickly, and I will lead the army there immediately... The original plan... has to be advanced! 』

…

…

In the former military camp, Fei Qian was also thinking.

Under the light, most people in the camp had rested, but Fei Qian was still looking at the map, thinking, and planning.

The sound of the patrol's soldiers clashing gently in the military camp came gradually, and then quietly left.

Huang Xu walked in, "Master, it's time to rest." 』

Fei Qian nodded, and then he felt the pain in his lower back.

Fei Qian was also nervous.

If we follow the theory of future time travellers, it must be before going into battle, hahaha, rushing to the front, hahaha, and the war is over, hahaha. It is best to participate in every battle and make the greatest contribution. , other generals and soldiers, even if they were besieged, they would dance with guns and sticks and cheer on the side like a magical drama, but they would not come forward and let Fei Qian perform by himself what it means to sweep an army and what it means to cut off. Grass is unparalleled.

But reality cannot be like this.

In a small-scale battle, Fei Qian can lead a team, or if it's like an army in one area, Fei Qian can also lead it. But when the battlefield is dispersed, each battlefield must be handed over to others.

Only a qualified leader knows how to grasp the big and let go of the small.

But it will take time for the news of the various battlefields to be transmitted.

Even if the news is passed on, it still depends on how others describe it and how they write the report. It is obviously impossible for Fei Qian to control all the details.

At the same time, due to the distortion of details, Fei will also encounter difficulties and obstacles in inferring certain issues.

Things that were once simple to handle by oneself become uncertain when left in the hands of others.

It is not yet known whether Pang Tong's side is unstoppable or whether he is being lured deeper by Cao's army.

"What exactly does Cao Jun want to do?" 』

Fei Qian was not sleepy at all. Although he promised Huang Xu to rest, he just left the desk. He walked out of the tent and looked in the direction of Zhongtiao Mountain.

Fei Qian seemed to be telling Huang Xu, but also seemed to be sorting out his thoughts and telling himself.

"Zhongtiao Mountain, Tongguan..."

Fei Qian pointed, "In this Zhongtiao Mountain, no matter whether this defense map is true or false, we will fight with them... because this defense map is only effective for this period of time. Over time, it will have little effect." None... And Tongguan is another battlefield... Then in Jingxiang... Youzhou..."

"If I were Cao Jun, I wouldn't fight like this..."

"If it is a quick battle, then if you want to stabilize the occupied territory, your troops must be dispersed..."

"If you don't ask for land, but only for characters, it will be like a barbarian..."

Fei Qian suddenly turned his head and looked behind him.

There is not a lot of food and grass in the former army camp, and it is mainly transported from Anyi and Pingyang.

But the weather now is so dry that all it takes is a fire, and the fire will get out of control.

Cao Cao is definitely not a peaceful person. He is steady when the wind is favorable and against the waves. The more disadvantaged he is, the more he will come up with strange plans...

So what is Cao Cao's conspiracy?

forage?

In history, didn't Cao Cao like to cut off people's food routes the most?

When commanding operations, when a certain place feels particularly dangerous, there is likely to be another danger approaching that is not easy to detect.

"Anyi has already caused trouble once..." Fei Qian seemed to have caught something, "Hasn't Pingyang's Youwen Division reported back yet?" 』

"Replying to my lord, not yet. ” Huang Xu replied.

"Now go and scold the vanguard camp, select some good players, and explore left and right!" ” Fei Qian ordered, “If we send people to Anyi Pingyang again, we must send more scouts to investigate, and we must prevent Cao Jun’s spies from sneaking into the granary!” 』

"Follow the order!" Huang Xu took the order and went to arrange it.

Fei Qian's frown relaxed slightly.

Now he seems to be playing chess, except that the chess pieces on the chessboard are all alive and can move on their own. If you don't pay attention, the chess piece may disappear without knowing where it is...

Suddenly, soldiers rushed over, "Report!" Dali Qing Sima reported urgent military information! 』

"Bring it here!" 』

Fei Qian said as he walked into the big tent.

Tonight is another sleepless night.

…

…

At the fourth watch, it's still dark.

Pang Tong, Zhang Liao and others met in front of the formation while the soldiers were making fire to make food and prepare breakfast.

"It will take time to disassemble and hoist the artillery. Although there is generally no problem with the Tongguan Saka Road, it will still take some time to transport the artillery here, but time cannot wait..." Pang Tong said first, "I will let the navy Bringing two small cannons over can provide some help... However, the soldiers have been fighting for days and are somewhat tired... Wen Yuan needs to pay some attention when deploying his soldiers. 』

Zhang Liao nodded, "I will pay attention." 』

Pang Tong said to Zhu Ling again: "Now that we have advanced here, the transportation of grain and grass has become longer and longer. Although there is assistance from the navy, after all, the number of buildings and ships is small, and we still have to rely on land transportation, but this land ravine... If we can cross the ravine to sneak attack, Cao Jun will definitely want to sneak attack on us... General Zhu still needs to strictly patrol in this regard, and must not be careless. 』

Zhu Ling cupped his hands and said, "The general will definitely take strict precautions!" 』

Ma Yue said: "If we can get through Yanxiang, we can make great use of cavalry!" 』

Pang Tong nodded and said, "That's true." It is not difficult to defeat Cao Jun. What is difficult is not only to defeat Cao Jun, but also to retain Cao Jun's troops as much as possible! Otherwise, Cao Cao's army still has elite troops, and if we fight this year and come back next year, it will be a waste of time and we will lose money. 』

The three of them discussed the situation on the battlefield for a while, and gradually came to a preliminary estimate.

"If Yanxiang is opened up, then not only will Shaanxi and Tianjin be broken, and Cao's army will be cut off from the north and south, but also troops and horses will be arranged along the river. Men and horses will be needed in Xiaopingjin, Mengjin, and Heluo... Then we will need more troops. Bring out the troops in Guanzhong..." Pang Tong exhaled, "At the end of this year, we will increase the number of troops. 』

Zhang Liao said: "If we want to fight along the river and defend Heluo, we will need at least 10,000 more soldiers..."

Pang Tong nodded, "Almost, we have the strength." 』

But a moment later, Pang Tong said again: "However, Guanzhong still needs to be guarded, and the soldiers should not be mobilized too far... If there are more, we will have to wait for the troops from Sichuan, Shu, and Hanzhong... The troops from the Northern Territory are also terrible." It’s enough, but it can’t be divided..."

Ma Yue said: "No, let's recruit troops on the spot!" Aren't there still prisoners captured by the rebels? It works too! 』

Pang Tong glanced at Ma Yue and said, "Those are not very useful... at least not now." 』

"The general will understand," Ma Yue said, "but they should still be able to do common chores..."

"..." Pang Tong frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.

It was a busy early morning, and time was rushing. Soon the soldiers had used up their breakfast meat and began to line up.

Zhang Liao and others separated and were busy on their own.

Pang Tong sat in front of the map and pondered.

He heard that some of the military academies in the army had begun to talk about what would happen after Shandong was captured...

Some people want to add more Hunda to their homes, but that’s not a problem.

The problem is those who regard Shandong Cao's army and the people of Shandong as inferior, and suppress and bully them intentionally or unintentionally.

As Ma Yue said, what's the point of doing some "rough work"?

If it's just such a battle, then of course it won't matter. But if we want to start spreading military force all over the world, then sooner or later something will go wrong.

Zhang Liao received a letter from an "old friend", which proved that Cao Jun not only wanted to make trouble in the military, but also in interpersonal relationships. Pang Tong trusted Zhang Liao, but he had some concerns about Ma Yuemo.

But now we still have to focus our main attention on Tongguan Old City...

The war drums beat and the soldiers shouted, the three-color flag marched eastward.

With the roar of war drums, Zhang Liao led his troops to approach the old city of Tongguan, but he soon noticed that Cao's soldiers seemed to be a little different today.

The most direct thing is that the drums and shouts are louder.

This means that the morale of Cao's army has been significantly improved.

Why does this happen?

Zhang Liao frowned and realized something was wrong. He got off his horse and strode onto an observation car.

The observation car is not very high, but it can provide Zhang Liao with a wider perspective.

Zhang Liao took out his telescope and carefully observed Cao Jun's movements.

Zhang Liao suddenly saw a large banner looming in the city.

"Prime Minister Cao?" 』

Zhang Liao was stunned for a moment.

In the early morning, they had a brief military meeting, and the discussion was still about how to break through the old city of Tongguan. They also believed that the key to the follow-up battlefield lies in the follow-up breakthrough and control of the nodes on the river. As long as Pang Tong's follow-up troops and supplies can be smooth, then You can win victory in Heluo.

However, Zhang Liao and the others had just finished their discussion. Why did Cao Cao's banner appear here?

It was as if Cao Cao had listened to their discussion and now came over to put pressure on them and demonstrate.

"Dong dong, dong dong dong!" 』

Above the old city of Tongguan, the sound of war drums also sounded, and then a burst of cheers suddenly broke out.

"Prime Minister!" Prime Minister! 』

"Wan Sheng!" Won victory! 』

The sound isn't neat, but it's noisy and loud.

Zhang Liao frowned.

Is Cao Cao really here?

But it’s okay to come!

Zhang Liao looked back...

From the direction of Dahe Guanzhong, there are ships coming through the waves.

…

…

Cao Cao did not come to Tongguan Old City, but Cao Zhanghe came to represent Cao Cao's flag.

The cheers of Cao Jun were not for Cao Cao, but for Cao Zhang who had brought them the food, grass and supplies they had been waiting for for a long time.

It may be difficult for future generations to understand the temptation of these simple vegetables and fruits, salted fish and vinegar cloth to ordinary soldiers. After all, the vegetables in supermarkets are still green and lovely even in the coldest winter. However, in the current era of the Han Dynasty, after passing After not seeing any non-staple food for a long time, and even the staple food began to shrink, suddenly seeing the grain and grass materials on the baggage truck will definitely cheer from the bottom of my heart!

"The earth is guarded by the city, the city is guarded by the soldiers, the soldiers are guarded by the people, and the people are guarded by the millet." ” Cao Zhang looked at the soldiers of Cao’s army whose morale had improved significantly and their faces had some joy. He couldn’t help but sigh, “As the ancients said, you will never deceive me. 』

However, the pride and relaxation of Cao Zhang and Liu Fu did not last long. Soon they discovered that there seemed to be some changes in the boats on the river...

"What is that?" 』

Cao Zhang was young and had good eyesight. He pointed at the ship coming from a distance and said.

"Guanzhong Tower Ship..."

Liu Fu was a little surprised. Is Cao Zhang suffering from hysteria? Why don’t you even recognize Lou Chuan?

"No, no, I mean the one on the bow..." Cao Zhang squinted at it, then suddenly froze and couldn't help shouting, "Wait, isn't it?" ! They actually put artillery on the ship! 』

When Ma Jun led the navy to fight before, because he needed to cooperate with the breakthrough operation of Tongguan City, he carried soldiers, and the war equipment was mainly catapults and ballistae, and no artillery was installed on the ship.

After all, the artillery unit is too heavy, and if the center of gravity of the ship is slightly unbalanced in the river, the stability of the overall ship will be greatly reduced. At first, Ma Jun gave up the idea of ​​installing artillery because of too many difficulties, and for land support operations, there were artillery in the city of Tongguan, so there was no need for additional installations on building ships, but now the battle line began to extend, and the Sichuan-Shu River The drawings for the army's additional artillery were also passed to Guanzhong...

When Ma Jun saw it, he suddenly realized it. His hands were itchy immediately. He dismantled the ballista catapult overnight, hoisted the artillery onto the building ship, and added counterweight.

As a result, the combination of building ships and artillery appeared in front of Cao Zhang and Liu Fu.

"Can artillery be installed on the ship?" 』

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard for Cao Zhang to believe that the Hussars would come up with such a thing.

"artillery? 』

Liu Fu was also very doubtful. That thing shouldn't require a huge stand. Even if it has wheels, it would take at least a dozen people to push it. Can it be mounted on a building ship now?

Although there is only one bow cannon on the building ships of the Hussars in Guanzhong, it is conceivable that if such a cannon is used for shooting...

"quick! Immediately send an order to all soldiers and troops along the river to pay attention! Watch out for enemy artillery! ” Liu Fu said loudly.

Originally, we were only on guard against the crossbows of the Hussars, but now we also had to guard against artillery, especially in some military strongholds that were closer to the rivers. The walls of the strongholds may need to be re-reinforced, otherwise they would not be able to withstand it.

Cao Zhang also reacted and ordered hurriedly, "Put up more stones and sand on the river side of the city! Just in case of emergency!"

The Cao army soldiers took the order and left in a hurry.

With the approach of the cavalry navy, the new mode of coordinated operations on land and sea, and the new tactics brought by firearms, immediately caused the morale of the Cao army, which had finally risen, to fall again...

Cao Zhang looked at it and was anxious, "This won't work...Morale is too low, we must find a way to raise morale! Is there any way to destroy those tower ships in Guanzhong! "

Liu Fu pondered for a while before slowly saying, "Maybe...I have a plan, maybe we can try it..."