Chapter 380 Decisive Battle

In the sixth year of Jian'an, it was early summer.

Messages came out one after another from the Western Front, all indicating that Cao Cao was about to join the war. The most important of them was that Yizhou agreed to provide grain, and Cao Cao's troops were evacuated from Hanzhong and transferred to Luoyang.

Although the war has not yet started in Luoyang, there is a feeling that the storm is about to come.

In any case, Cao Cao also has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, including many Xiliang cavalry, which is definitely a powerful force. However, the Chu army's western front currently has limited troops, only 30,000 people from Lu Su, Gao Shun, and Zhang Liao.

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Although the three armies of Zhao Fan, Wenpin, and Taishi Ci will arrive, the pressure of the two-front battle has already been put on Chu Feng's side.

As for Yuan Shao, as time went by, his troops and the Xiongnu Wuhuan, totaling more than 200,000 troops, had completed crossing the river. During this period, Yuan Shao did not have too many ideas, but continued to expand the size of the camp.

Obviously, Yuan Shao was frightened by Chu Feng's ferocity. Although his military strength was three or four times that of Chu Feng, he did not dare to be arrogant at all. Instead, he adopted a steady and stable attitude and slowly advanced.

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At this moment, inside Puyang City, Yanzhou.

There were Chu troops in military uniforms everywhere, and there was also a steady stream of supplies arriving from both land and water routes, including grain, grass, weapons, and even many rolling logs, rocks and other tools for defending the city.

At the same time, in the general's mansion.

Chu Feng was dressed in military uniform with a solemn expression. He looked at the generals and said, "Everyone, Yuan Shao's troops have completed their journey to the south. His total army is approximately more than 200,000 troops, of which Wuhuan, the Xiongnu, has 150,000, with the majority being cavalry."

"As for Cao Cao on the western front, it has been confirmed that his troops deployed in Yizhou have been mobilized. This time, he should be preparing to respond to Yuan Shao's decision not to continue to attack Yizhou."

"When Cao Cao's troops are assembled, the western front will face a threat of at least 100,000 to 150,000 Cao troops, which should not be underestimated!" As he said this, Chu Feng showed a solemn look on his face. The combined forces of Cao and Yuan already exceeded 400,000 troops.

Speaking of this, Chu Feng immediately looked at everyone and asked: "Everyone, you don't have much time to give us, do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"

Hearing the sound, all the generals frowned.

Wei Yan first clasped his fists and said: "My lord, at the end of the day, I will ask for a battle. I am willing to lead 10,000 troops and horses to defend against the enemy, so as to lure the enemy deep and gather together to annihilate them!"

"This is only a few dozen miles away from Yuan Jun's camp. The road is empty and flat. How can we lure the enemy? What's more, Yuan Jun is mostly made up of cavalry, so it is difficult to defeat them." Chu Feng immediately waved his hand and said.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Yun immediately clasped his fists and said: "My lord, in fact, the Yuan army appears to be in harmony but the spirit is different. The three-party coalition can attack the hearts and minds of the three parties, thereby disintegrating the fighting spirit of the three parties and even starting a civil war."

After hearing what Zhao Yun said, everyone agreed. What Zhao Yun said did make some sense.

But before Chu Feng could speak, the newly transferred Tian Feng and Jushou looked at each other, and the latter said: "General Zhao, what you said is true, but neither the Wuhuan nor the Xiongnu will dare to do so in the short term.

What about Yuan Shao!"

"You must know that the whole of Hebei is Yuan Shao's foundation. The two of them would never dare to shoot themselves in the foot. It would be too difficult to drive a wedge between the three parties," Jushou explained, stroking his beard.

"Hey, I thought that Yuan Shang's death would cause some waves this time, but I didn't expect that it would make Yuan Shao's men more united." Lu Meng had been recovering from his injuries for some time, and his face was quite rosy.

"Originally, the Yuan family was in internal strife, but this time Yuan Shang's death will make all Yuan Shao's subordinates turn to Yuan Tan. Without intrigues, they will naturally unite. However, the eldest son Yuan Tan is warlike and unintelligent, so there is no need to worry."

Tian Feng stroked his beard and looked like he had seen through Yuan Tan.

In his opinion, Yuan Tan is indeed trash. None of Yuan Shao's sons are talented, they are all fools.

Chu Feng saw that everyone had been discussing for a long time without getting to the point. He immediately looked at Jia Xu, frowned and said, "Wen He, what do you think?"

"My lord, Yuan Shaoqiang is assisting the Xiongnu in Wuhuan. Without the aid of the two, Yuan Shao will be like a warrior without a sword, vulnerable to a blow, and I'm afraid Xianbei will take action soon!"

"In my opinion, time belongs to me, not Yuan." Jia Xu smiled gently, with a scheming expression.

"Having said that, if we place all our hopes on the alien race, no one knows whether they will do what we expect. What's more, the pressure from the Western Front will soon come to us."

Chu Feng frowned, he didn't want to be passive.

"My lord, with Zijing on the western front and the reinforcements from generals Zhao Fan and Tai Shici, there are at least 80,000 soldiers and horses. No matter how strong Cao Cao is, it is absolutely impossible to win in a short time!"

Jia Xu gave an affirmative answer,

Chu Feng raised his eyebrows, thinking deeply in his heart.

Do you want to fight a war of attrition? A war of attrition is not a good thing for him. After all, he is fighting thousands of miles on both fronts, and he is under pressure from both logistics and all aspects.

Maybe a war would bring down the economy he had managed to develop with great difficulty.

Jia Xu saw Chu Feng deep in thought and saw what Chu Feng was worried about. Just as he was about to open his mouth to comfort him, a secret guard wearing a black robe and a visor appeared. Everyone had seen the secret guard before.

But I have never seen a secret guard appear at such a time.

Secret guards usually have private contacts and will never appear in public. There is only one possibility, and that is that there is urgent military information that needs to be reported immediately.

The captain of the secret guard glanced at Chu Feng, then at Jia Xu, and finally came to Jia Xu's side, and spoke simply,

For a moment, everyone looked over.

Jia Xu was seen frowning at times with a solemn expression, and everyone fell into speculation.

After a long time, the secret guard retreated,

Jia Xu's gaze remained solemn. Under the gaze of everyone, Jia Xu said in a deep voice: "My lord, I'm afraid the layout has changed!"

"What happened?" Chu Feng frowned. Now that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao have formed an alliance, what else can make Jia Xu so solemn? Could it be that there is a rebellion in Yangzhou or Jingzhou?

"In an emergency at Yumen Pass, the Guishan Empire sent several generals and an army of 200,000 to enter Xiliang. Along the way, Cao Cao's army met him along the way. The secret guards investigated and found that the Guishan Empire had sent an envoy to Cao Cao earlier."

"This time, when the Kushan Empire goes south, it should be Cao Cao's reinforcements!" Jia Xu looked solemn. He had naturally heard of the Kushan Empire, but it was still in the history books of the Han Dynasty. Logically speaking, it is difficult for the two to overlap.

"Two hundred thousand?" Everyone frowned.

One by one, they instinctively clenched the swords in their hands,

Good guy, Yuan's army was initially close to 300,000 troops. If Cao Cao added reinforcements, wouldn't it be more than 300,000, a total of more than 600,000, which is four times the number of troops they mobilized.

"Guishang? They are thousands of miles away. Why did they suddenly intervene in the affairs of the Central Plains? They did not hesitate to send an army of 200,000 for an expedition. Do you really think that I, Chu Feng, am a nirvana?"

Chu Feng was sullen, threw his sleeves and shouted angrily.

He was a little confused. Guishan should not send troops to assist Cao Cao from any angle. There must be something he didn't know about it.

"My lord, the secret guards have discovered through investigation that Guishang has already annexed most of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions. I am afraid that the two of them have reached some kind of agreement when they enter the border to aid Cao."

Jia Xu quickly added another sentence.

Chu Feng frowned. He didn't know why for a while, but he knew that since Guishang dared to make trouble, he would beat him until he surrendered. He immediately reprimanded: "Since Guishang dared to enter the pass, let them stay.

!”

"The land of the Han Dynasty cannot allow foreigners to set foot on it."

Chu Feng was firm in every word he said. He did not expect that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao would do whatever it took to win in the end. They probably promised domestic land to usher in reinforcements.

Chu Feng despised such measures.

"Lord, if this is the case, Cao Cao's army in Luoyang on the western front may have more than 300,000 troops, and there are the vast majority of cavalry. I'm afraid Cao Cao will not wait for us to finish Yuan Shao."

Lu Meng frowned and said solemnly.

With an army of 300,000, Cao Cao would not have sent out an army unless he was stupid.

"What do you mean?" Chu Feng narrowed his eyes,

"Cao Cao will divide his troops into two or even three groups. There is a flat river from Luoyang to Nanyang, and there are still many people north of the Han River in Nanyang. Cao Cao will most likely send people to loot Nanyang to raise military supplies."

Lu Meng frowned and said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Chu Feng fell into deep thought. If Cao Cao was besieged and did not attack, but instead diverted and looted the place, the losses would be tragic.

"My lord, what General Lu said is absolutely true. Wuguan is located in the hinterland of Nanyang. Cao Cao is also likely to send troops to Wuguan to capture Nanyang. In this case, our Luoyang troops will become a lone army and can only retreat diagonally."

Jia Xu stroked his beard, his expression equally solemn.

He had been in Nanyang before, so he naturally knew everything about Nanyang. If Cao Cao really raided Nanyang, the Chu army would be helpless. After all, there was no cavalry to compete with him. The best thing to counter the cavalry was cavalry or rivers.

Nanyang is located in a basin with a flat river and is north of the Han River, which is definitely not good news.

Listening to everyone's discussion, Chu Feng closed his eyes and pondered. Guishang's intervention indeed exceeded his expectations. Originally, he was thinking that if it was just Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, he would have enough time and money to spend.

But now, the difference in military strength is huge.

But if he were to abandon the Central Plains area directly, retreat to the south of the Yangtze River, and use the Jianghuai River as a barrier, he would indeed be able to preserve his strength, but he would have to give up all the Central Plains prefectures and counties that he finally captured.

How could he be so willing?

"Where have the Kushan reinforcements arrived?" Chu Feng's pupils suddenly opened and he asked in a deep voice.

"According to the secret guard's speculation, we should be arriving in Chang'an at this moment, and it will take more than half a month to reach the Luoyang front line at the fastest." Jia Xu elaborated, stroking his beard.

More than half a month?

All the generals frowned, they were too impatient.

It takes more than half a month to reach the front line, which shows that there are mostly cavalry, and Lu Su will not be able to stop it at that time. Once the western front is lost, it will be meaningless to defend the central and eastern fronts.

"My lord, the enemy troops are coming fiercely, and most of them are cavalry. However, our army's cavalry is less than 15,000. It is difficult to compete with them. It is better to withdraw from the Central Plains."

"The western front guards the Nanyang important road, using the Han River as a barrier. The central and western front guards the Xiapi, Shouchun and other important roads, using the Huaihe River as a barrier. In this way, the enemy's cavalry will be useless."

"This is to retreat in order to advance. Not only can it increase the enemy's logistical pressure, but it can also make the enemy exhausted. After all, Wuhuan Xiongnu Kushan and other reinforcements cannot always stay on the front line."

Jushou immediately stroked his beard and suggested,

"I second the proposal!" Tian Feng followed closely.
To be continued...