"My lord, the battlefield has been roughly accounted for. Our army has achieved a great victory in this battle. We killed more than 46,000 of the enemy and captured more than 100,000 of them. The defeated troops killed each other and trampled on each other. The dead were not counted! The formation killed horses and played.
Yang Qiu, Zhang Heng and more than 40 officers above the rank of captain, captured enemy generals Cheng Yi and Cheng Yin..."
"As for our army, the Taishan Army sent out 18,000 soldiers. After the war, after excluding casualties, there are still 15,000 soldiers that can fight; the Yulin Army sent out 10,000 soldiers, and there are still 7,000 soldiers that can fight; the Thunder Army
Five thousand soldiers went into battle, and the total casualties were nearly a thousand; the Gale Wind Army went out to fight with eight thousand cavalry, and suffered more than 1,500 casualties in total; the Fire Army..."
"Although the enemy chief Ma Chao escaped by chance, his left and right bodyguards were all wiped out by General Ziyi's pursuit. He should have been unlucky. But he didn't want to have his younger brother Ma Dai lead thousands of cavalry to support him at the foot of Daling City, so he actually escaped.
Fortunately, General Zilong arrived in time with his troops and did not give him a chance to resurrect, blocking him in Pingtao City."
"At present, in addition to the direct troops of the Ma family, there are more than a dozen Qiang soldiers and horses gathered in Pingtao City, totaling about 20,000 people. In addition, Liang Xing, Hou Xuan, Li Kan and others gathered more than 30,000 people, and they were
Blocked on the east bank of the Yuan Gong River, the two generals Zilong and Ziyi are now dividing their troops into two groups and setting up formations on the west bank of the Yuan Gong River and west of Pingtao City to block them."
On the second day of the battle, Wang Yu led his army to Daling City. Xu Shu and other generals came out to meet him, and military information gathered like water.
This is a battle involving 100,000 people. In a sense, deciding the outcome on the battlefield is just the beginning. The subsequent steps often take longer than the battle.
The number of generals of the Xiliang Army who died on the battlefield was nearly twice the total number of the Qingzhou Army. Adding in the 100,000 captured and those who escaped, the total losses exceeded 200,000. Even so, the Xiliang generals were in the process of escaping.
, still regrouped 50,000 troops and came out.
These remaining defeated generals are just a group of frightened birds, and they are not much of a nuisance. However, it is indeed not an easy task to capture them in a short period of time with as little damage as possible.
A trapped beast still fights, let alone a human being? With Ma Chao's 50,000 soldiers and horses at his command, even a group of defeated soldiers cannot be underestimated.
The only good thing is that Ma Chao and the Xiliang rebels have now completely split. It was Ma Dai and Ma Yunluo who came to rescue Ma Chao. Liang Xing and others, who had more complete troops, no longer regarded Ma Chao as a rebel since they decided to escape.
The commander in chief.
If not, the gale force cavalry, which is divided into many directions, may not be able to completely block the remaining Xiliang army. At least it will be difficult to prevent Ma Chao, Liang Xing and others from joining forces.
The 50,000 Xiliang remnant soldiers scattered are much easier to deal with than the troops united in one place.
"The last general is willing to lead his troops to attack Pingtao!" After hearing the military situation at the front, Xu Huang took the lead in asking for battle: "Most of the people in Pingtao City are Qiang and Hu, and they are all powerful and handsome people. The possibility of surrender is very low. Instead of spending a lot of money,
If we are surrounded by time, it is better to rely on our equipment advantages and the power of the Longshan victory to win a quick victory."
Ma Chao hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in several cities such as Pingtao and Daling. Because these cities were very close to each other and not far from the front line, he adopted an even stocking method to spread the risk. To a certain extent,
Reduce transportation costs.
The Xiliang army was short of food and grass before, mainly because there were too many soldiers to take care of it. Now the army is reduced to ten or two, and food and grass are suddenly abundant. Pingtao's remaining soldiers will definitely not have food and grass in three to five months.
The risk of scarcity will lead to long nights and many dreams, so a quick attack on Pingtao is a feasible strategy.
However, hearing Xu Huang's request for war, Xu Shu couldn't help but frowned and questioned: "Although there is sufficient food and grass in Pingtao City, it is a dead place after all. The Qiang have abandoned their homeland and come to merge with the state. Their morale will not last long. It doesn't matter in a short time.
There will inevitably be chaos. Instead of attacking Pingtao by force, it is better to besiege it first, and then attack after Liang Xing and others are managed to make a forced landing."
No matter how superior the equipment is, siege warfare is still very difficult. Most of the Qiang heroes in the city have heard of Wang Yu's attitude towards foreigners. Even if they break the city wall, they will fight to the death and attack Pingtao, which will definitely result in losses.
Many soldiers and horses.
In this war, the Bingzhou battlefield was just a sub-battlefield, and the Central Plains played the real decisive role. The Western Front was mainly about support and containment. If there were too many losses here, it would definitely be quite detrimental to the subsequent war.
What's more, more than 100,000 prisoners were captured in this battle, and the number has reached three times that of the Western Front Army. Before these prisoners are properly dealt with, it is not appropriate to lose strength anymore. Without enough troops to suppress it, if so many prisoners make a fuss
As it turns out, the problem is not as serious as usual.
When questioned, Xu Huang, who has always been strong-willed, did not mean to tell the difference. Instead, he sighed meaningfully: "Yuan Zhi, you don't know something. You must seize time now..."
"But why?" In fact, before Xu Huang said this, Xu Shu had vaguely noticed that something was wrong. Now thinking about it carefully, although it was a day later, after such a great victory, Wang Yu and the people who came after him
There was not much joy on the general's face, something was obviously wrong.
Xu Huang turned to look at Wang Yu, and when he saw the latter nodded slightly, he said in a deep voice: "There may be changes on the Yanzhou battlefield."
"Yanzhou?" Xu Shu's heart skipped a beat. He took a deep breath, suppressed the surging anxiety, and asked word by word: "Didn't the Lord make arrangements before going north? Those arrangements may still be
It can’t be said to be foolproof, but it should be pretty sure, right?”
He looked at Xu Huang and then at Wang Yu, feeling shocked and confused.
Before Wang Yu deployed for the decisive battle with the Xiliang Army, in order to reassure the generals, he explained his strategic deployment in Yanzhou and the significance of such deployment.
On the surface, Wang Yu was forced to go north, giving up the opportunity to completely defeat Cao Cao, and providing Cao Cao with room to rebound. But in fact, things were not that simple.
According to the analysis put forward by Wang Yu, even if he does not lead the main force northward, whether he can defeat Cao Cao at Hulao Pass is still uncertain, because Wang Yu believes that Cao Cao is very good at fighting defensive battles and is very resilient.
Out of their trust in Wang Yu and after summarizing Cao Cao's achievements since he started his army, Xu Shu and others agreed with this statement.
Cao Cao is indeed very good at attacking from behind. When he first dealt with Yuan Shu, he defended first and then attacked. He first stretched Yuan Shu's supply line, and then linked up with Liu Biao to attack from the front and back, making it difficult for Yuan Shu to look at each other.
The army attacked and launched a decisive battle, defeating Yuan Shu in one fell swoop.
Although Cao Cao started the war against Dong Zhuo, the general trend of the battle was that Cao Cao took advantage of Dong Zhuo's unpreparedness and launched a quick attack, then set up defenses on the spot to kill Dong Zhuo's army's fighting spirit. He secretly formed an alliance with Ma Teng and attacked from both front and rear.
Successfully captured Chang'an.
As far as the current record is concerned, Cao Cao won all the battles he fought defensively and counterattacked, but basically lost all the battles he took the initiative to attack.
Using this as an argument, we can draw the conclusion that instead of attacking Cao Cao forcefully, it is better to show the enemy's weakness, lure him out of his own territory, and then launch a fatal blow with lightning speed to try to annihilate his main force.
, and then attack Cao Cao’s territory.
Because there were not enough examples of Wang Yu's actions, Xu Shu once thought that this was his lord's deliberate attempt to comfort him, but after carefully studying Wang Yu's deployment in Yanzhou, he finally agreed and was once again shocked by his lord's majesty.
When the Western Front is in a great crisis, he can maintain an ice-like calmness, directly take advantage of the situation, and make strategies to lure the enemy. Who else in the world can do such a generous thing except the Lord?
Since there are such calculations, the lord should not be in a hurry to end the war on the Western Front, at least not before getting the exact news of Yanzhou's arrival.
According to Xu Shu's understanding, during the period when Wang Yu left, although Cao Cao met with Sun Ce and actively mobilized his troops, he did not make any big moves. There were no large-scale battles on several fronts in Qingzhou. It seemed that
, just like Cao Cao saw through Wang Yu's strategy of luring the enemy and did not intend to let the latter get his wish.
In this case, Wang Yu has no reason to rush back to Yanzhou.
Instead of rushing back to Yanzhou to scare Cao Cao back, it is better to stay in Bingzhou, eliminate the last resistance of Xiliang's remnant army as soon as possible, and stabilize the place. Then cooperate with the Western Front Corps to attack Hedong to threaten Hongnong and Guanzhong, or pass through Hanoi and threaten Cao Cao.
Those coming from Luoyang are even more powerful.
Guan, Luo, and Yingchuan are Cao Cao's destiny. If any one of these three places is lost, it will shake the strength of Cao's army to a great extent. If all three places are lost, then Cao Cao will only be able to survive.
.
Since he is good at leading the main force in defensive counterattacks and cannot be induced to do so, then simply don't give him this opportunity and directly open up multiple battlefields, making it difficult for him to take care of one and the other at the expense of the other!
"This general may have underestimated the enemy." Wang Yu sighed softly: "Kong Ming, please tell Yuan Zhi."
"Yes." Zhuge Liang bowed to accept the order, then turned to Xu Shu and explained concisely and concisely: "I learned from the prisoners Cheng Yin and others that before yesterday's battle, Cao Cao sent Xun Gongda to Bingzhou as a liaison officer.
His main mission is not to urge Ma Chao to fight decisively as soon as possible, but to urge Ma Chao not to rush into a full-army battle, but to maintain a state of confrontation."
"Is this happening?" Xu Shu was shocked. Cao Cao took great pains to instigate the Xiliang Army to advance eastward. No matter how he thought about it, he should make full use of the opponent and consume the strength of the Qingzhou Army as much as possible. How could he possibly persuade Ma Chao to adopt a steady and steady strategy?
However, judging from the expressions of Zhuge Liang and others, Cheng Yin's confession must not be false. If so, then there is something wrong with it.
It would be fine if Cao Cao was attacking Yanzhou's defense line. It can be considered that he only regarded Wang Yu as a threat, thinking that as long as Ma Chao could contain Wang Yu, sooner or later he would be able to break through the defense line built by Yu Jin, Lu Bu, Zhang Liao and others. All it takes is time.
But at least five days ago, Cao Cao had not taken any large-scale military action. He asked Ma Chao to advance steadily, but what was his intention?
While thinking, Xu Shu asked in a deep voice: "Is Xun You still in the Xiliang army now?"
Zhuge Liang replied: "Before the war started, Xun You tried to dissuade Ma Chao to no avail, so he took his followers out of the camp. His target was small, and he would be quick to spot an opportunity. Even if he stayed on the battlefield for a while, he would not be gone.
The army is in chaos, so..."
Zhuge Liang didn't finish his words, but Xu Shu was so smart, how could he not hear the unfinished meaning of the former? He took a breath, gritted his teeth and said: "So, Cao Cao is indeed a once-in-a-century hero...
...Then, while the lord is away from the country, he must have some plan, a plan that can inflict heavy damage on our army without relying on the Xiliang army! It should be understood this way, right?"
This is the reason why Xu Huang is eager to go to war. Presumably the lord also held a military meeting overnight yesterday to discuss this matter and came to a similar conclusion.
"Of course." Wang Yu nodded heavily, with a solemn expression.
His evaluation of Cao Cao was based on a comprehensive analysis based on what he knew about Cao Cao's deeds in his previous life and what he actually saw. He believed that Cao Cao was not good at attacking enemies head-on, but was very good at defensive counterattacks, and even better at using borrowed weapons.
potential.
The most famous battles that Cao Cao fought were when he was in a weak position, defending first and then attacking, and turning defeat into victory. These include the battle against Yuan Shu, the defeat of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, the counterattack after being taken back by Lu Bu, and the Battle of Guandu and the battle against Ma Chao on the Weishui River
battle.
However, he lost several battles where he had the advantage and fought head-on, such as Xingyang's battle with Xu Rong, Wancheng's battle with Zhang Xiu, and the classic Battle of Chibi and the Battle of Hanzhong.
From Wang Yu's own experience, Cao Cao seemed to be in danger at Hulao Pass, but he always felt that the opponent still had some strength left. Anyway, every time a stalemate formed, no matter how many new troops and new forces Wang Yu invested, he could not successfully crush him.
The opponent. This is the biggest reason why the Central Plains battlefield has an advantage but cannot turn it into a victory.
Therefore, after receiving the news of Bingzhou's crisis, Wang Yu did not hesitate much and made a decisive decision to go north for reinforcements. His purpose was to draw out Cao Cao's main force. For this, he was willing to pay a considerable amount of money.
The price, even if it means repaying all the previous battle results and adding a few more counties, it won't be a problem.
In addition to his resilience in combat, Cao Cao's ability to connect and take advantage of the situation is too strong. As long as his main force still exists, he will continue to draw new forces to his side to help him.
Wang Yu could confirm that this was not the butterfly effect caused by his arrival, but Cao Cao's inherent ability.
Historically, Cao Cao was known for taking advantage of situations.
At the beginning of the army, he borrowed Yuan Shao's power, so he entered Yanzhou in name and divided Liu Dai's power. When fighting against the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, he borrowed Liu Dai's power. Not only did he take advantage of the power, he also successfully plotted
After conquering Liu Dai, they not only subdued the Yellow Turbans, but also successfully accepted Liu Dai's power. They then occupied the entire territory of Yanzhou and advanced into Yuzhou.
When he and Yuan Shao fell out, during the decisive battle in Guandu, he also won over Zang Ba's Taishan bandits and Xiliang's Ma Teng and Han Sui, and launched attacks from Qingzhou and Hedong respectively, forming an extremely effective containment of Yuan Shao and destroying Yuan Shao.
The strategy of opening up the second and third battlefields to force Cao Cao to disperse his troops.
Now facing Yuan Shao, who was more powerful than himself, Cao Cao took advantage of the situation to the extreme and pulled all the princes except Liu Biao onto his chariot.
From a strange point of view, Cao Cao was like a cheat, and he attracted a group of allies effortlessly. But in reality, as the number one hero in the Three Kingdoms era, this was what Emperor Wu of Wei originally had
s method.
As Sun Tzu said in The Art of War: The first step is to attack the enemy, then the second step is to attack the enemy, the third step is to attack the army, and the third step is to attack the city. The ability of a truly brilliant military strategist should be demonstrated in this order.
The reason why Wang Yu only focused on conquering troops and attacking cities, and did not compete with Cao Cao in terms of conquest strategy and friendship, was because he was self-aware and knew his own weight.
In his previous life, he was just a soldier with an average status and high professional quality. Relying on the insights of later generations and his judgment of the direction of history, he was able to repeatedly gain the upper hand in battles with eternal heroes like Cao Cao and Liu Bei. On a purely military level, he may not be inferior to
Heroes from all walks of life competed in political skills. How could he compete with Cao Cao?
The assessment of Cao Cao is definitely not wrong, and the conclusion that Xu Shu came to is also consistent with Wang Yu's inference.
"It will take at least half a month for the cavalry to return. It will be a little faster to go to Hanoi. However, the consequences of Zhang Yang's previous recruitment and rebellion have gradually been reflected. It is difficult to say whether Cao Cao will take action against Hanoi and set up a trap in advance..."
Wang Yu paused for a moment and continued: "At least before the general returns, Cao Cao should have the initiative. In terms of ways to severely damage our army, he can adopt at least a dozen strategies, including sneaking through.
Hanoi, attack Liyang, cut off our army's supply lines, and sneak attack Gaotang, etc. It is impossible to judge at the moment, the only priority is to end the Bingzhou war and return as soon as possible."
Xu Shu was suddenly stunned and asked: "Sneak attack on Gaotang? How is this possible?"
He couldn't help but be surprised. Gaotang's location was too far away from the front line. No matter how lax the defenses were, there was no danger. Moreover, Gaotang had a large population. If there was a war, it would be easy to mobilize 20,000 to 30,000 militiamen.
, even if Cao Cao could detach an army of ten thousand people to attack, he would not be able to capture it in a hurry. How could such a place be in danger?
"Well, you may not know Yuan Zhi, right? Liu Bei has been lurking under Yuan Shu for the past two years." Wang Yu sneered: "Uncle Zhi is his old subordinate, and he has been with Zhengnan for the past two years, responsible for Gaotang's affairs.
Defense. Considering Liu Bei’s temperament, it’s hard to say whether he will have any plans in this regard.”
After the war started, there were too many aspects involved, and it was impossible for Wang Yu to share all the military information with his generals. For such inconspicuous things as Liu Bei's comeback, Wang Yu just marveled and then forgot about it.
.
It was possible that Liu Bei had Chen Dao's idea and launched a surprise attack on Gaotang. Jia Xu was the first to give the hint, and Zhuge Liang explained it before Wang Yu came to his senses.
Think about it, when Liu Bei was defeated by Cao Cao in history, and even Guan Yu defected to Cao Cao, didn't he take the initiative to contact him and say something like, "If my second brother wants to make meritorious service, he is willing to sacrifice his head"?
Guan Yu was deeply moved.
Although the sneak attack on Gaotang seems fanciful, with Liu Bei's temperament and his gambling spirit, he might actually try it. This is indeed a great achievement. Once successful, it will be a huge profit!
"That's it." Xu Shu lowered his head, was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his head, with bright eyes, and said loudly: "In that case, my lord, there is no need to rush to send troops. I am not talented, so I would like to ask my lord for three days.
, put down the remnants of Xiliang! If you can't succeed, I will lead the army!" (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!)