Chapter 606 The Boat of Friendship Is About to Capsize
Because Xun Yu and Cheng Yu were important ministers and often followed Cao Cao to inspect various armies, so although Du Bo's military position was not high, he was already familiar with them.
At this time, Cao Cao finally finished reading the military report, raised his head and asked Uncle Du: "I remember the last military report from Shouchun, saying that on the day of Wang Zheng's wedding, thousands of soldiers and horses came out of the city in Shouchun, and the external name was
He said he was going to Xuzhou for rotational defense."
"Now it seems that they have gone to the Yangtze River coast and are preparing to attack Wu County?"
"That's how it should be."
Before Uncle Nadu could answer, Cheng Yu, who was beside him, stroked his beard and said, "It's less than half a month since Wang Zheng's wedding, and the important town of Qu'a in Wu County has already been lost. This shows that this man has been prepared for it."
"Hey, speaking of Qu'a's fall, it's no wonder that Cheng Pu underestimated the enemy's carelessness. Who would have thought that Wang Zhenghui was so deliberate? Not only did he choose to send troops at the end of the twelfth lunar month in the cold winter, but he also used the pretense of a marriage to confuse the world's ears and eyes, and for
Seek to catch them by surprise and attack them when they are unprepared. I am afraid that this means that it may not be just Wu County."
"What Mr. Cheng said is right."
Uncle Nadu showed admiration, "There does seem to be a military situation happening in Danyang. Lieutenant Li has also speculated that the Yellow Turban bandits are most likely to split into two groups and intend to take over the two counties on the right side of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop!"
"If this is the case, Wang Zheng will mobilize a lot of troops this time." Xun Yu's soft and sweet voice sounded: "I'm afraid there are troops and horses mobilized not only in Shouchun, but also in Xiapi and Guangling."
Cao Cao nodded slightly and asked Uncle Du a few more questions, all about the situation in various places in Jiangdong. He had a general understanding, "But is there anything important that needs to be reported?"
Nadu Bo hesitated for a moment and hesitated to speak, "It's not really important, but when I was waiting in Shouchun, I heard a rumor, which was quite strange."
Since it was said to be a rumor, but the authenticity was not confirmed, it was naturally not mentioned in the military newspaper. However, Uncle Du's behavior made Cao Cao interested. He leaned forward and asked, "What rumor?"
"I heard that this rumor came from a group of boat passengers traveling to and from both sides of the Yangtze River."
Nadu Bo said: "It is said that before Qu'a, the Dan disciples in Linjiang were attacked by a group of bandits, and some people recognized this group of bandits as the Jizhou Army from Linzi."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the hall was moved. Cao Cao was the first to react and laughed, "It is indeed a rumor, it is extremely nonsense!"
"Although Brother Benchu had many powerful generals under his command, the Four Court Pillars of Hebei were at the top of the list. As a result, first Wen Chou died in Kaiyang, and then Gao Lan changed his clan. It can be said that half of them were directly lost in the hands of Wang Zheng. Everyone knows this, and both sides
The hatred is so deep, there will be a battle sooner or later, and before the victory or defeat is decided, how can the Jizhou Army appear in the hinterland behind the Xuzhou Army?"
While laughing, he waved his hand casually, "You have come a long way to deliver the letter. You have been working hard on the journey, so go and rest early."
"No." Uncle Dub bowed and accepted the order, calmly and carefully walked out the door.
Until the other party's back completely disappeared, Cao Cao's smile faded, his eyes flashed sharply, he immediately looked around and said in a deep voice: "What do you think of this matter?"
Cheng Yu said: "The words of merchants cannot be trusted." Xun Yu said: "It is not necessarily without reason. You should carefully consider it before making a decision."
Cao Cao nodded slightly, his eyes fell on Sima Yi again, and asked calmly: "Where is Zhongda?"
Sima Yi thought for a moment, then raised his hands and said, "I think this is very possible."
"oh?"
Cao Cao looked at Sima Yi with great interest and said, "Then please state your opinion and let us hear it."
Xun Yu and Cheng Yu also looked attentive at the same time, wanting to see why Sima Yi said this.
"yes."
Sima Yi said calmly: "I have been puzzled before. How could Wang Zheng use troops again at this time? It should be noted that the land east of Jiangdong is important, but it is not indispensable at the moment. In terms of the current situation, it is difficult to defend against the enemy.
The importance of this is even greater, and it is even more important to open up the frontier. This move is extremely unwise. I just suddenly realized it today, but this boy is very confident."
Hearing this, Xun Yu was silent and lost in thought, while Cao Cao's eyes lit up, showing that he was
Realizing the meaning of Sima Yi's words, Cheng Yu glanced at Sima Yi and asked in a deep voice: "Why did Zhongda make such a judgment?"
Sima Yi smiled slightly and looked at Cheng Yu, "I would like to ask Mr. Cheng first, how many times has Wang Zheng used troops in this raid on Jiangdong since last year?"
"Conquer Beihai, aid Yuzhou, fight against Sun Ce, and destroy Yuan Shu." Cheng Yu thought for a moment and said, "This must be the fifth time."
"That's right. There were five major battles alone, and in between there were battles like the one to help Mount Tai."
Sima Yi said: "From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, we fought all the time, without rest, and spent more than ten thousand dollars. Wouldn't the soldiers be exhausted? Some elite troops may rely on their military exploits and the stimulation of heavy rewards to continue to move forward bravely.
Ordinary soldiers are already exhausted. Not only are they tired of fighting, but they may also be afraid of fighting."
"This matter can even be seen by outsiders. How could Wang Zheng not know about it? Therefore, he must have three principles in his attack on Jiangdong."
"What principle?"
"On the one hand, there will not be too many soldiers and horses. The ordinary soldiers will have low morale and low morale, so going into battle will not be beneficial but harmful; secondly, we must fight quickly and use the method of beheading to achieve a quick victory. While Wujun and Danyang are
The other counties had not yet reacted and had no time to rush for reinforcements. They took down the two counties directly first, and then slowly quelled the other stubborn resistance forces. This is why he specifically chose the time of winter and used a wedding to hide from others. As for the third
What?"
"Since the military strength is insufficient, even if we fight fiercely, once we cannot quickly capture the two counties of Danyang and Wuxian, we should not stay for a long time. We must retreat immediately, otherwise we will be in a situation where supplies are difficult to sustain and the army will be alone."
"If the result is really like this, not only will the efforts be fruitless and the elites will be lost, but the legend of Wang Zheng's previous victory will also be wiped out in an instant!"
Having said this, Sima Yi paused, looked around, and said in a deep voice: "So Wang Zheng's use of troops against Jiangdong at this time actually carries great risks, so why is he so urgent?"
"It should be noted that Wu County and Danyang are not as prosperous as Jiujiang. Sun Ce's remnants and Danyang Shanyue are also suffering from scabies. It is difficult to develop. It does not make much difference whether it is solved one day earlier or one day later. You can rest and recuperate temporarily until spring plowing.
, and then mobilize tens of thousands of troops to march eastward, then we will have the power to overwhelm Mount Tai, and we will definitely win without defeat!"
Cheng Yu was silent for a while and nodded slowly: "What Zhongda said is not unreasonable. Then why do you think Wang Zheng was so eager to capture Jiangdong?"
"There is only one possibility."
Sima Yi said: "Wang Zheng will launch a large-scale battle this year. In this battle, Yangzhou will become the launch point of the offensive, so he is eager to defeat Cheng Pu and Shan Yue so that possible variables can be eliminated in advance."
At this point, the three people present understood what Sima Yi meant by his previous words.
Whether Jiangdong is important or not depends on Wang Zheng's strategic plan, and Wang Zheng's strategic plan relies on the situation in which it is located. As the saying goes, this moment is the same as that moment.
In terms of situation, last year in the Han Dynasty, the situation of the two princes in the south and the north changed drastically. Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan, while Wang Zheng defeated Sun Ce and Yuan Shu.
At this time, it can be said that the two of them have become each other's biggest targets, so any next move by the Jizhou Army and Xuzhou Army will naturally consider the reaction of the other side.
Yuan Shao cannot care whether Wang Zheng will go south or north, and whether Yuan Shao will lead his army to the east and attack Xuzhou from Qingzhou, Wang Zheng will definitely be very concerned about it, including other princes in the world. The two heroes from the north and the south will face off in advance.
, or should they form a temporary confrontation, and then engage in a decisive battle after each side develops to half of the unity?
If Wang Zheng plans to go north, or Yuan Shao plans to go east, then the focus of both sides' forces will only be in central Xuzhou. If this is the case, Jiangdong will not be that important.
Needless to say, local bandits like Shanyue didn't have much ability to counterattack. Cheng Pu, on the other hand, had to cross Guangling or Jiujiang first, so he couldn't directly affect the situation of the two heroes hunting.
But it would be completely different if Wang Zheng planned to go south.
Because Yangzhou will become the focus of military garrison and the front line for commanding the war, under the changing situation, Wu
The importance of the county and Danyang has been greatly advanced, and Wang Zheng may even think that they are too close to each other, which is a bit of an eyesore!
Xun Yu pondered for a long time and nodded slowly: "What Zhongda said is true. My lord, I'm afraid Yuan Shao has a tacit understanding with Wang Zheng and has even made an alliance. Let's make preparations early."
If the Xuzhou army wants to go south, this is not something Wang Zheng can do alone. Yuan Shao must also nod and cooperate. How to cooperate? Naturally, Wang Zheng must be sure that Yuan Shao will not use force against Xuzhou this year, then he will have no worries.
So if Yuan Shao doesn't look east, where will he use force next? It goes without saying.
Cao Cao remained silent, suddenly showed a sarcastic smile, shook his head and sighed: "The easy ones will be easy first, and then the hard ones will be easy. The hard ones will be easy first, and then the easy ones will be easy. Everyone knows who is strong and weak between Wang Zheng and I, but Yuan Shao wants to make things easy first and then the hard ones."
, based on this section alone, we can see that it has no foresight and will never achieve great success!"
Although this is Cao Cao's personal opinion and may even contain emotions, it actually makes sense.
During the various dynasty changes in the Celestial Dynasty, in most cases, they were first divided among themselves by a group of heroes, each adopting a strategy of distant friendship and close attack, and gradually evolved into a powerful tripartite. This was true for the late Han Dynasty, the late Tang Dynasty, and even the late Yuan Dynasty.
Among the three, the late Han Dynasty is more special, because the strength of Wei State is far superior to the other two powers, and there is basically no "difficulty" distinction. However, Zhao Kuangyin who ended the Five Dynasties and Zhu Yuanzhang who ended the Yuan Dynasty happened to make completely different choices.
One chooses to go easy first and then the hard, the other chooses to go hard first and then the easy.
When Zhu Yuanzhang stood out from the crowd and qualified to compete, he asked the officials about the strategy of who to attack first. Because he was located between Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, with Chen Youliang to the north and Zhang Shicheng to the south, he had to attack first immediately.
Solve one of them and escape the dilemma of survival in the cracks.
As for who to fight first among the two, the civil and military officials all agreed after discussion that they should pick a soft persimmon and attack the good ones first. When they become stronger, attack the more difficult ones. Therefore, they all felt that it would be safer to attack Zhang Shicheng first.
.
Only the counselor Liu Jili disagreed with the others and said: "Shi sincerely defends himself as a prisoner, there is nothing to worry about. You Liang is threatening the lord, his name is not correct, and his territory is in the upper class. He has never forgotten himself, so it is better to plan for it first. The Chen family is destroyed, and the Zhang family is in power."
If you are alone, you can accomplish it in one fell swoop. Then head north to the Central Plains, and your career will be accomplished."
Liu Ji's suggestion was to do the hard things first and then the easy ones. After defeating Chen Youliang, everyone else was out of the question. However, Chen Youliang's strength was still higher than that of Zhu Yuanzhang at that time. If Zhu Yuanzhang directly met the final BOSS at this time, the chance of winning was actually not good.
So what is Liu Ji’s reason?
As long as Chen Youliang is defeated, one can strengthen his own momentum, and the other can intimidate Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youding and others so that they dare not act rashly.
And if Zhang Shicheng is attacked first, even if they are defeated, Zhu Yuanzhang's strength will be greatly depleted. By then, let alone taking the initiative to attack Chen Youliang, I am afraid it will be difficult to protect himself.
Liu Ji's analysis was from a strategic perspective, and it was reasonable. However, some people raised objections: "What if Zhang Shicheng participated in the battle with Chen Youliang?"
It was precisely this question that made Zhu Yuanzhang make up his mind and decide to attack Chen Youliang first. He made the same decision as Liu Ji, but the reason was different: "Youliang is arrogant, but his sincerity is small."
This is an analysis from a humanistic and military perspective.
A arrogant person is prone to trouble, but a small person has no future. Zhu Yuanzhang means that if we fight Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng will only choose to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. But if we fight Zhang Shicheng first, Chen Youliang will definitely come to cause trouble. So if we want to maintain
If you are fighting on a single line, you must fight Chen Youliang first!
The final facts also proved that Zhu Yuanzhang's choice of difficult things first and easy things later was extremely correct. He not only defeated Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng and others, but also sent his troops north to expel the Tartars, and finally unified the world.
However, Zhao Kuangyin's strategy in the Northern Song Dynasty was completely opposite. He chose to go from south to north, first easy and then difficult. As a result, after defeating weak opponents such as the Southern Tang Dynasty, his own strength also suffered a lot, and he no longer had the ability to go north.
In Cao Cao's eyes, Yuan Shao chose to attack him first because he had no foresight. Why?
Although Yanzhou is closer to you, the problem is that Wang Zheng has more soldiers and horses than me and is stronger than me. It is obviously more of a threat!
The key is that these things were accomplished in just two or three years. How long will it take you to defeat me?
How much time do I need to rest and recuperate after the fight?
All added up, it will take at least one year, right?
Do you mean to let that Zhuzi continue to develop for another year? Do you want to capture Jingzhou while you and I are at war?
Yuan Benchu, you have such a big heart!
At this point, it was useless to think too much. After once again warmly greeting Yuan Shao's female relatives, Cao Cao rubbed his eyebrows and asked in a deep voice: "If Yuan Shao goes westward, please tell me."
"When will he send troops, how many troops and horses will he use, and what will be the route of attack?"
Everyone was speechless, lost in thought, and the hall fell into an audible silence for a while.
After a while, Xun Yu was the first to speak out: "Yuan Shao's new acquisition of Youzhou is not yet stable, and it will take time to digest it. Regardless of whether the Jizhou army will move eastward or westward, at least it must first determine whether Gongsundu's position in Liaodong is friendly.
Only when we are not the enemy can we send troops with confidence."
"Based on this calculation, it will take at least about half a year. I estimate that if they want to start a border provocation, it will most likely be in the late summer or early autumn."