At the end of April in the twelfth year of Jian'an, Cao's army had been stationed in Fancheng for half a month, and the food and grass supplies from the rear had also been transported. The injured soldiers were sent back to Wancheng in the rear. Cao's army still had more than 190,000 troops.
While Fancheng and Liu Jun were facing off across the Han River, Cao Cao ordered the construction of warships!
Liu Cong's great victory in the night attack on Cao Ying was also spread throughout the world!
Xiangyang, Cai Mao's mansion, Cai Mao looked at the bamboo slips in his hand and was surprised for a long time.
"Degui, tell the people below to stop these actions." Kuai Yue said to Cai Mao.
"How do you know?" Cai Hao's eyes widened.
"My lord asked me to tell you."
"What do you mean? Are you leaning towards Liu Cong?"
"That's not true, but my lord has noticed that some people in Xiangyang are restless."
After Cai Hao thought for a moment, he nodded, "Xiandu, what should we do now?"
Kuai Yue recalled Liu Cong's decisiveness when he attacked Cao Ying at night in Fancheng, and said: "Degui, my lord is going to win!"
Cai Mao was a little disdainful: "Then why did you return from Fancheng?"
Kuai Yue said: "War is not about the gains and losses of one city or one place. Degui, please listen to my advice. In less than half a year, Cao's army will be defeated and the lord will win!"
Although it is almost May, Xiangping, located in Liaodong, can still feel the slightest chill.
The Xiangping here is not Pyongyang in later generations of Korea. From about 284 BC to 279 BC, the Yan general Qin Kai attacked Donghu and expanded the land thousands of miles away. Xiangping County was first established!
Xiangping is not a very big city, but after the governance and expansion of the father and son generations of Gongsun Du and Gongsun Yuan, Xiangping's population and prosperity have been improved.
Gongsun Gong hurriedly walked to the martial arts training ground of the Prefect's Mansion.
"Hey, ha!" Gongsun Kang, who was dressed in fancy clothes, was making a splash with a spear in his hand.
After some practice, Gongsun Kang's face remained as usual, showing no sign of fatigue. He took the face towel handed by the attendant and wiped it, Gongsun Kang looked at Gongsun Gong, "Second brother, is there any news?"
Gongsun Gong came over and handed the bamboo slip in his hand to Gongsun Kang, "Brother, Liu Cong attacked Cao Cao's camp at night, and Cao Cao lost more than 80,000 soldiers!"
Gongsun Kang's expression changed, and he quickly opened the bamboo slips to watch in detail. After a while, Gongsun Kang said: "The war in Jingzhou is in suspense."
"Yes, brother, among the envoys sent by Liu Cong, the one named Xing Daorong looks like a fierce general. Such a strong general is actually just a guard for the envoy. He can also defeat Cao Jun, which shows that Jingzhou's army is not weak."
Gongsun Gong analyzed.
"Summon the Jingzhou envoy immediately."
It had been more than two months since Ma Liang arrived in Liaodong. Gongsun Kang was interested in forming an alliance with Jingzhou and communicating with each other, but he was more afraid that Cao Cao would come back to deal with him after finishing Jiangnan.
Now that I heard that the situation has changed, I naturally have other thoughts.
"Meet the Marquis of Xiangping." After a while, Ma Liang arrived. After Gongsun Kang gave the heads of the two Yuans to Cao Cao, he was worshiped as General Zuo and granted the title of Marquis of Xiangping.
"Mr. Ma, please sit down." Gongsun Kang motioned.
"Thank you, General."
After Ma Liang sat down, Gongsun Kang told Ma Liang about Liu Cong's night attack on Cao Jun, "Congratulations to Liu Jingzhou for this great victory. Now, according to your opinion, what should I do?"
"When I first came to Liaodong, I already said that Cao Cao's army is powerful and all the princes in the world must unite. Our Lord also sent envoys to Xiliang to lobby Ma Teng and Han Sui. Therefore, it is not just the generals who sent troops. Even if Cao Cao settles the score afterwards, he will
Attack the nearby Xiliang princes first. At that time, my lord will not sit back and watch Cao Cao attack the other princes, but will send troops from Jingzhou to respond."
Gongsun Kang was still worried and said: "But I can only lead 600,000 troops in Liaodong, and only have more than 50,000 soldiers and horses. Zhang Liao of Youzhou and Tian Yu of Changli County combined have an army of 50,000. Cao's army is elite. I'm afraid I won't be able to defeat him."
Enemy."
Ma Liang smiled slightly, "General, there is no need to send troops to attack Youzhou."
"If you don't attack Youzhou, how can you support Liu Jingzhou?" Gongsun Kang was a little confused.
"The general only needs to gather troops and horses and make a posture of marching into Youzhou. If my lord defeats Cao's army again, Cao Cao will have to retreat because he is concerned about the general and the people in Xiliang. In order to repay the general for his side support to my lord,
, I will give the general a big gift."
With that, Ma Liang stood up and walked to the map, "General, look, Liao is connected to Cao Cao to the east, to the north to Xianbei, Fuyu and other nomadic fishing and hunting tribes. To the east is Goguryeo and its tributary Donghao Kingdom, and to the south is Baekje and Sanhan.
(Chen Han, Ma Han, 弁'bian' Han.)"
Gongsun Kang listened quietly, waiting for Ma Liang's next words.
"The general can gather troops and horses to attack Youzhou. When the situation in Xiangfan changes, the general turns around and attacks Goguryeo. At this time, Goguryeo thinks that the general is unprepared to attack Youzhou, and the general will definitely win. Goguryeo is the richest in the Northeast.
If a country is a country, its generals will plunder its population and convert it into Chinese to enrich itself."
With a population of nearly 300,000, Goguryeo was indeed the second largest country in Northeast China in this era.
"When the general has driven Goguryeo to collapse, he can continue to go south and attack several small countries in the south. North Korea is separated from the Northeast by a river (the Yalu River). The territory is mountainous and far away from the Central Plains. It is a rare place to establish a career. General
We can use North Korea as our base, advance or sweep away the tribes in the Northeast, or attack Youyan, and there will be room for advancement and retreat."
"In the future, even if Cao Cao questions the general, he will still call it a strategy to attack Goguryeo in the east and in the west."
After Ma Liang finished speaking, brothers Gongsun Kang and Gongsun Gong were like looking at a naked beauty, looking at the map, their eyes shining.
"Sir, you are a great talent. If you are willing to stay in Liaodong, I would like to take you as your teacher." Gongsun Kang actually began to recruit Ma Liang.
Ma Liang smiled and declined politely: "My family and clan are all in the south and cannot be far away. Today I will set off back to Jingzhou to return my life to my Lord."
Gongsun Kang was not angry and said, "I will see you off personally."
Outside Xiangping City, Gongsun Gong looked at the departing team and asked with some confusion: "Brother, why don't you force such a talent to stay?"
Gongsun Kang sighed and said, "As he said, his clan is all in the south. If we leave him here and refuse to serve us, it will be a small thing. If he is deliberately obstructive, how can you and I brothers be better than others?"
Gongsun Gong said again, "Brother, today I realized the gap between us in Liaodong and the princes in the Central Plains."
"Yes, such talents are only sent as envoys. It can be seen that the background of Jingchu and the gap between us and the Central Plains is here. From my father (Gongsun Du) to us, Liaodong has not made any great achievements. It is because we do not have such
What a talent." Gongsun Kang's face was full of regret.
"Second brother, gather your troops!"
"Brother, do you want it?"
Gongsun Kang's eyes revealed unlimited ambition, "Just do what Ma Liang said."
"Brother, why don't we attack Goguryeo directly?"
"Idiot, if Cao Cao is allowed to destroy Liu Cong and dominate the world, where will we have the time and opportunity to accomplish those things?"
Ma Liang was not worried at all that Gongsun Kang would not be able to afford troops, just like Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei's Longzhong rivalry. This is the general strategic goal. For Gongsun Kang to achieve this goal, given the strength of Liaodong, it will take three or five generations. This requires a
Under objective conditions, the Central Plains can never be unified!
[Author's digression]: When Ma Liang left, he didn't know about Liu Cong becoming the Marquis of Chu, so this chapter is still called Liu Jingzhou.