The ink pen in Cao Cao's hand fell off, and a piece of snow-white silk book was splashed with ink.
A look of surprise flashed across those unfathomable eyes, and that look of disbelief had never been seen even during the Guandu defeat.
Guo Jia, who was next to him, also had a look of shock and confusion on his face. His calmness, which he had always been able to predict, was also lost due to this shocking surprise coming from Nanyang.
A man as resourceful as him could predict that the little overlord Sun Ce would die at the hands of his enemies, but he could never predict that the Nanyang War would end like this.
According to his prediction, even if Yan Liang was not defeated in the Battle of Nanyang, he would at least have to pay a heavy price and fend off the Xiliang Army's fierce attack, forcing the Xiliang Army to fight repeatedly without any results.
When all is done, return to Guanzhong.
But the current result was that the 40,000 Xiliang cavalry were beaten to a pulp by Yan Liang and were defeated in a panic.
For the first time in Guo Jia's mind, three words appeared in his mind - I don't understand.
"I don't understand. You all say that Yan Liang is no more than a man. Even if he causes a few waves, it is just a short-lived flower. But now, this night-blooming flower has bloomed too long and too big."
Cao Cao suppressed his surprise, and a look of anger appeared on his scorched face.
Guo Jia coughed dryly, his handsome face looking slightly ashamed.
"It is indeed unexpected that Yan Liang can defeat the Xiliang coalition, but at least the strength of the Xiliang princes is greatly damaged. The prime minister can take this opportunity to defeat Guanzhong first. As for Yan Liang, I think even if he wins, he will not be defeated.
The price is small, and it will be difficult to recover in a short period of time. It won't pose much of a threat to us for a while, so the Prime Minister doesn't need to worry too much."
Guo Jia did not lose his sense due to shock, and his thinking was still quick. After some analysis, Cao Cao's expression softened a lot, and he nodded slightly in agreement.
After regaining his composure, Cao Cao picked up the pen again and wrote the two characters "Yan Liang" on the ink-stained silk.
After staring for a long time, a cold look burst out in his eyes, and he suddenly swung his pen and made a cross on the word "I".
"Yan Liang, I won't let you be proud for too long... Fancheng, the county government.
In the lobby, Yan Liang had a proud look on his face and listened with interest to the latest battle reports from everywhere.
Biyang's Wenpin sent an express report. Zhang He's 10,000 Yuan army, which had been advancing step by step, quickly retreated to Runan after learning the outcome of the Wancheng battle. The threat to the east of Nanyang was eliminated.
Wen Chou's troops came quickly to report that Deng, Caiyang and other counties surrendered without a fight. Basically, the Nanyang counties north of the Han River abandoned Liu Biao and went to Yan Liang's command.
Si heard about Cao's detailed work lurking in Xiangyang, and reported back in a secret report that Xiangyang was currently in panic. There were rumors everywhere that Yan Liang's army would cross the Han River and launch an attack on Xiangyang. People were panicked, and many soldiers and civilians had already started to attack Xiangyang.
The whole family moved south to try to escape the war.
There are also rumors that Liu Biao fell ill due to excessive fright, and that major military and political affairs could only be entrusted to Kuai Yue and Cai Mao for the time being.
After hearing this information, all the subordinates present were in high spirits.
"General, since Liu Biao's old dog is sick, why don't we just cross the Han River in one go, conquer Xiangyang, and take away Liu Biao's position as Sizhou Shepherd."
The high-spirited Hu Cheer shouted excitedly.
Listening to this "barbarian"'s heroic words, Yan Liang smiled and said nothing.
"You are a reckless man who talks more than you think. Do you think Liu Jingsheng is really a loser and you just want to take his position?"
Jia Xu glared at Hu Che'er and scolded him angrily.
Hu Che'er was stunned for a moment and muttered: "What can't be done? Liu Biao's 50,000-strong army was defeated by General Yan, so what's the big deal in attacking Xiangyang?"
"No big deal? Haha, don't forget, there is a Han River in front of Xiangyang, but our army does not have a navy. Is it possible that you have to swim across it?"
Jia Xu exposed his weakness with one word, and Man Chong and others on the left and right also nodded slightly, obviously they had seen it before.
Only then did Hu Cheer react, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment and laughing at himself.
After his subordinates all started talking, Yan Liang finally said: "Che'er's ambition is good. The general will take Xiangyang sooner or later. However, as Mr. Wen He said, our army does not have a naval force at the moment, so we blindly launch an attack on Xiangyang."
Attacking is not a wise move, Che, please save your fighting spirit first."
Everyone nodded, agreeing with Yan Liang's calmness and calmness.
Although Yan Liang did not plan to attack Xiangyang immediately, after everyone reminded him, he put the establishment of a naval army on the agenda.
After all, Jingzhou is known as the land of thousands of lakes, and two water systems, the Han River and the Yangtze River, traverse the state. If you want to capture Jingzhou, if you don't have a strong navy, you will end up like Cao Cao in history. Although he can
For the time being, they tried to seize Jingzhou with their strong strength, but in the end they were defeated at Chibi due to the lack of elite naval forces.
What's more, Yan Liang's strength at this time was far from comparable to Cao Cao at that time.
Since we want to build a naval army, we must have a good general who is proficient in water warfare. Yan Liang asked himself that he was the best in land warfare, but he was still a novice in water warfare.
As for the number of good generals Yan Liang currently has under his command, he doesn't have many choices, only Wenpin and Gan Ning.
Wenpin was a native general of Jingzhou, and he should still have the ability to fight with water. However, in history, Wenpin spent most of his time guarding Jingbei and rarely had outstanding records in water warfare. This shows that his ability to fight with water is still limited.
In this case, the only candidate left for Yan Liang is Gan Ning, and in Yan Liang's opinion, Gan Ning is also the most suitable candidate.
Gan Ning was known as the "Jin Sail Thief" and he went on the water rampage when he was young. In the novel, he even shot the Soochow general Ling Cao during a water battle.
You must know that most of the generals of Soochow are very good at water warfare. Gan Ning was able to kill Ling Cao in a water battle, which shows his strong water warfare ability.
Moreover, in history, Liu Bei and Sun Quan were at odds with each other. Guan Yu led 30,000 elite troops to attack Yiyang, which was guarded by Gan Ning. Guan Yu wanted to cross the river on foot at night, but Gan Ning said that it was enough for me to have 500 elite troops. Guan Yu
If you dare to enter the water, I will be captured alive.
As a result, he was as arrogant as Guan Yu. Hearing Gan Ning's bold words, he immediately withered and did not dare to cross the river.
Except for people like Zhou Yu and other commander-level figures, Yan Liang even believed that Gan Ning in history could be called the first general of the Soochow Navy.
Such a first-rate navy general, although his qualifications are still relatively young at the moment, Yan Liang believes that Gan Ning's talent is enough to take on the important task of building a navy for him.
With his thoughts settled, Yan Liang made new personnel arrangements for his generals that day.
Fancheng was newly acquired, and it was necessary to have a general with both civil and military skills who could not only appease people's hearts but also defend the city. Yan Liang made a decisive choice and ordered Manchong to take charge of Fancheng.
At the same time, Yan Liang ordered Gan Ning to be transferred from Wancheng to Fancheng, and ordered him to supervise the construction of warships, train soldiers, and build a navy for himself.
As for the important area of Wancheng, it must be defended by a capable general, so Yan Liang transferred Biyang's Wenpin to Wancheng and ordered him to take over from Gan Ning to guard this important town in Nanyang.
At the military meeting that day, Yan Liang finalized various plans and planned to lead his army back to Xinye.
At this moment, Jia Xu said: "General, I think it is too early for the general to call a truce now."
Jia Xu seemed to have another idea, and Yan Liang suddenly became interested. He sat down again after getting up just now.
"If Mr. Wen He has anything to say, you might as well say it directly."
Jia Xu coughed slightly. "The general has now taken over Nanyang County, and the number of soldiers and horses under his command has increased to more than 20,000. Although his strength is not comparable to that of Yuan Shao and other princes, he has achieved quite a lot. But I'll forgive my blunt comment.
The general’s current official position as captain of the Yue Cavalry School does not seem to match the general’s status.”
Jia Xu's eloquent words made Yan Liang's head tremble slightly. Jia Xu's words just reminded him.
When Yan Liang started his own army, his official position was that of a cavalry captain, which was one level lower than a general. In theory, he could only command 10,000 soldiers and horses, and he did not have the power to open a government or appoint an official.
Moreover, this so-called official position of Yueqi Xiaowei was only granted by Yuan Shao and was not recognized by the Han court.
Everyone in the world knows that the Han Emperor is a puppet, but in this era where status is important, being able to obtain an official position conferred by the Han Emperor is at least more "righteous" than an independent official position in the eyes of the world.
Powerful princes like Yuan Shao, in order to fight for a title, forced Cao Cao to make him a general in the name of the Han Emperor. It can be seen that if you don't have this thing, you may not be able to get along, but if you have it, you can
It becomes more "justifiable".
Yan Liang's territory is getting bigger and bigger, the number of soldiers and horses is increasing, and the number of civil and military personnel under his command is also increasing. If he is just a Yueqi captain, the positions of the civil and military officials under his command will not be promoted. This pair of charging
The human heart is obviously unfavorable.
Of course, Yan Liang could also declare himself to the Han court and appoint himself an official, but the value of this self-declared official would be greatly reduced.
Looking at Jia Xu's mysterious smile, after pondering for a while, a sneer gradually appeared on the corner of Yan Liang's mouth.
Suddenly, he looked solemn and said loudly: "I have given you my order. From now on, the army will move northward. I will attack Chang'an from the north."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone present was shocked.
Man Chong hurriedly advised: "Our army has just finished the fierce battle, and the soldiers are extremely exhausted. How can we fight again at this time? Furthermore, Chang'an is in danger of Wuguan, which cannot be broken in a short time. With the current strength of our army,
"We can barely defend ourselves, so how can we go on a long expedition? I ask the general to think twice."
Man Chong had a calm mind, and his advice was echoed by many people.
Yan Liang said calmly: "When did I say that I would really attack Chang'an? I just wanted to put on a show to scare our Prime Minister Cao."
Upon hearing this, Man Chong suddenly looked confused.
"Why, do you guys want to stay in your current official positions for the rest of your life? If you are willing, I am not willing to continue to be a Yueqi Colonel with such a hard work."
Man Chong was a smart man. After hearing Yan Liang's words and thinking about Jia Xu's previous words, he was stunned for a moment and suddenly realized what he said.
Yan Liang wanted to force the palace and force Cao Cao to grant Yan Liang an official title in the name of the Han Emperor.
After understanding the intention, Man Chong couldn't help but admired: "The general marched north with the remaining power of the great victory. Considering Cao Mengde's current situation, I am afraid he will have to surrender. The general's move is really brilliant."
The rest of the people reacted more slowly, but gradually understood Yan Liang's intentions and expressed their approval.
"Now that you understand my intention, you should get busy and make the noise as loud as possible. Cao Cao has made me work hard for a month, and I will make him sleep restlessly this time."
After the order was given, everyone became excited thinking about being promoted to official positions.
"Without further delay, we will set off tomorrow to march north."
When Yan Liang waved his hand to make a decision, he suddenly remembered something. A smile appeared on his lips and he murmured: "But before heading north, I have to visit one more person."
