Since Zang Ba succeeded in the raid on Liyang, countless thousands of stone cargo ships appeared on the Caohe River from Hefei to Shouchun. The mine ships that originally transported ore back to Jingzhou became Cao's food and grass. The continuous grain from Shouchun to Hefei greatly enhanced Hefei's defense ability...

In order to prevent the Han army scouts from sneaking into Hefei, Cao Cao made a major decision a month ago, moving tens of thousands of Hefei people to Shouchun, making Hefei a real military city.

In fact, in several Hefei wars, a large number of Hefei people had moved out to avoid the war, with less than 30,000 people remaining in the city. This time, Cao Cao simply ordered all to move away, leaving only 70,000 troops left in Hefei city to garrison, and another 30,000 troops stationed in Shouchun.

Of course, at this time, Cao's army was spreading abroad. Zhang Liao led 30,000 troops into Wujun to assist in the battle. Zhang He was stationed in Ruxukou, Zang Ba was stationed in Wuhu, Hefei and Shouchun had only 50,000 troops.

At this moment, a bad news came to Shouchun. Nanyang's chief general Cao Hong was killed and Nanyang County had been occupied by the Han army. This news brought a heavy blow to Cao Cao. After Xiahou Yuan, Cao Cao lost his close relative again, and Cao Hong's death made him feel deeply sad.

Cao Cao locked himself in the room. He had not yet entered the water for a whole day and no one saw him. The guards came to persuade him several times, but he ignored him. It was not until the evening that the military advisor Cheng Yu rushed from Hefei.

Cao Cao's guards seemed to have welcomed a savior and welcomed Cheng Yu to Cao Cao's study. Xu Chu whispered to Cheng Yu: "If Wei Gong sees a military advisor, the military advisor should never mention Cao Hong's affairs again. Wei Gong is old and can no longer withstand such a blow. A good novel:."

Cheng Yu smiled and nodded, "Don't worry! I know it in my heart."

A guard came forward to report. After a moment, Cao Cao's tired voice came from the room, "Please come in!"

Cheng Yu walked into the room and came to the inner room before seeing Cao Cao sitting behind the table. Cheng Yu was shocked. Before he saw him for a few days, Cao Cao seemed to have been ten years old, his face was full of wrinkles, his complexion was dark, and his spirit almost disappeared. He looked at the table with a dull look in his eyes...

"Why is Mr. Wei like this?"

Cheng Yu burst into amazement. Just Cao Hong was killed, and Duke Wei was hit so hard that it seemed even more serious than Xiahou Yuan's death.

Cao Cao sighed, "Although Zi Lian's death hurts me, judging from Jia Kui's report, he also brought his own blame. He sent the Han army at the head. He was beaten to death by the people of Wancheng. I believe this fact, the loss of Nanyang County, which made me feel sad, lost an important strategic fulcrum on the Western Front, and also meant that I changed from strategic offense to strategic defense. I hated myself for being stupid. I didn't expect that the Han army would open up the Nanxiang Pass and integrate Guanzhong and Nanxiang. Now I understand that it's too late to regret it!"

Cheng Yu was also secretly ashamed. As a military advisor, he did not remind his lord in time that this was a dereliction of duty. Without the attacking fulcrum of Nanyang, they could not put pressure on Jingzhou from both east and west lines at the same time. The entire battlefield moved eastward to Hefei. The Han army could do its best to prepare for Hefei. From this perspective, the Nanxiang Battle was also part of the Hefei Battle, which made the Han army no longer have any worries.

Thinking of this, Cheng Yu slowly advised: "Duke Wei, please be content with peace of mind. I believe that the failure of Nanyang is only the two Han and Wei families have different strategic deployments. The Han army focused on Nanyang and attacked with all its troops. Therefore, Liu Jing could open up the Nanxiang Pass, while our strategy was in Jiangdong. Therefore, we could help Sun Quan reunify Jiangdong and make the Cao-Sun alliance stronger. This will help us gain the upper hand in the southeast direction. If we lose the east corner, we will inevitably gain the slums. Why should Duke Wei lose his composure for the gains and losses of a city and a corner?"

Cao Cao nodded, "Zhongde is right. When Liu Jing attacked Nanyang with all his might, we were helping Sun Quan recover Jiangdong. The focus was indeed different. A few days ago, Chen Qun advised me to take the opportunity to destroy Jiangdong and unify Yangzhou. What do Zhongde think?"

Cheng Yu shook his head and said earnestly to Cao Cao: "I'm not hiding the possibility of Duke Wei. I have repeatedly considered this possibility. But the conclusion of the minister, although we can destroy Sun Quan and expand the territory for a while, in the end, we made Liu Jing a wedding dress, giving Liu Jing an excuse to send troops to Jiangdong. On the contrary, leaving Jiangdong, there was a force to restrain Liu Jing and make the southeast a stalemate. The two plans, which one is better or worse, Duke Wei himself considered..."

Cao Cao laughed and said, "Zhongde's words are in line with my wishes. We not only cannot weaken Jiangdong, but also strengthen the strength of Jiangdong. I have ordered Zhang Liao to give Sun Quan 10,000 barrels of turmeric oil and give him the recipe for turmeric oil. Sun Quan will soon have the ability to attack fire soon, which is crucial to the navy. As Zhongde said, as long as Jiangdong can restrain Liu Jing's eastern front troops, we can place our troops in Luoyang, Xudu's front line, and it is not yet known who will win to death!"

Cheng Yu stood up and bowed deeply, "Since that's the case, why is Duke Wei so frustrated? It makes the army panic. The war is coming. I hope Duke Wei can cheer up his spirit, inspire the army's morale, and let the ministers and others see hope for victory."

Cao Cao nodded silently, "What Zhongde said!"

Cao Cao accepted Cheng Yu's advice and began to cheer up again. He ordered the general Yu Jin to lead 10,000 troops to station in Shu County. This was the only way for the Han army to attack Hefei by land. The 10,000 vanguards of the Han army had already been killed to Juchao County, only seventy miles away from Shu County, and the two armies confronted each other.

The area around Feichao is called "Wu Tou Chu Tai". During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the main battlefield of the battle between Wu and Chu was the most important among the countless city strongholds.

A Shu County, which is the Lujiang County of later generations, has a high terrain in the west and low terrain in the east, a Chaohu Lake in the northeast and a Yangtze River in the southeast. Two official roads in the territory meet, a thoroughfare, and a vast land of fish and rice. It has an extremely important strategic position.

Secondly, there is Wan County. Wan County has a large population and a developed economy. It is the first major grain-producing county in Lujiang. It can provide sufficient supplies to the army. Moreover, the Wan Water is wide and flat, and can be used for thousands of stone warships. It can directly enter the Yangtze River through the Wan Water. Historically, the Chu State attacked Wu State and was also a must-fight place for military strategists. At present, the main force of the Han army is stationed in Wan County. Other book friends are reading:.

The last strategic location is Lu'an County. Lu'an County is located in the eastern section of Dabie Shandong, just in the extreme area from the mountainous area to the plain. The county town is high and easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it is extremely conducive to the cavalry's attack eastward.

More importantly, Lu'an County is located between Hefei and Shouchun. It occupied Lu'an County. It can directly cut off the connection between Shouchun and Hefei by cavalry, and can also enter Shaopi Lake through water routes, destroying the water route transportation between Shouchun and Hefei. It is an important strategic location.

Cao Cao was also well aware of the importance of Lu'an County. He ordered the general Xu Huang to lead 10,000 troops to station in Lu'an. Cao Cao occupied two of the three strategic areas east of Hefei.

This formed the entire Hefei defense line with Hefei as the center, Ruxukou, Shuxian and Lu'an County as the outer defense, Shouchun as the back defense, and Xuzhou and Jiangdong as the strategic support. It was like a huge shield, guarding Hefei's important town from all directions to the west.

The Han army was like two sharp spears, attacking the giant shield on Hefei from both water and land lines. First, they chose to break through Ruxukou from water and land, or they either found a breakthrough by land.

Judging from the current deployment of the Han army, there is no sign of breakthrough from the water route. No Han army warships have been advancing eastward in large numbers, but there is movement on land. Huang Zhong sent a general to lead 10,000 vanguards to Juchao County, about 70 miles away from Shu County. The Han army seemed to be preparing to break through from Shu County.

Early this morning, a team of 20-person Cao's scout cavalry ran in the hilly areas south of Lu'an County. The chief general Xu Huang attached great importance to intelligence and sent 30 scouts to patrol within a radius of 100 miles. Moreover, Xu Huang was in charge of military discipline and did not allow soldiers to disturb the people. There was once a soldier stealing a fisherman's boat. After Xu Huang found out, he ignored the pleading of the generals and beheaded the soldiers and showed them to the public, which shocked the entire army. Xu Huang was thus deeply loved by the people of Lu'an.

This scout cavalry is already seventy miles away from Lu'an City, and they are also beginning to be alert. This area will be ambushed by Han army scouts at any time, and once it is ambushed, it is extremely likely to be fatal.

The cavalry slowed down and walked slowly in a valley. At this moment, someone shouted above his head: "You can't go ahead."

The scouts were startled and pointed their crossbows at the top of their heads. A big tree was seen on the top of their heads. A woodcutter about fifty years old slowly came down from the tree and bowed, "Several soldiers, there will be danger ahead and you can't go any further."

The head of Cao Jun garrison urged him to come forward and asked, "Brother-in-law, what threat is there in front of you?"

"The Han army is stationed in front!"

The scouts were startled and asked again, "Is it the same patrol as us?"

"No, there were at least tens of thousands or tens of thousands of people, and they just arrived last night."

Several Cao army scouts immediately realized the danger. They climbed up the mountain and looked down from the top of the mountain. Sure enough, there were a military camp stationed about ten miles away on the other side of the valley. Judging from the scale, there were at least nearly 10,000 people. There were sentry guards all around, with strong guards and patrols constantly. Their mountain road was relatively hidden and not discovered by the Han army.

The scout Cao's army was panicked, hurried down the mountain, rushed back to Lu'an County to report to the chief general Xu Huang.

In the big tent, Xu Huang stood in front of the map and pondered for a long time. He had received a report from the scout. He never expected that the Han army would appear in Lu'an County, and there were 10,000 troops. It seemed that the Han army's vanguard attacked Shu County was only a pretext, and his real target was Lu'an County.

Mao Jie, a strategist who came to Lu'an by the side, smiled and said, "It seems that the general's measures to protect the people have gained, and even the woodcutter also helped the general. How can the general not seize this opportunity given by God?"

Xu Huang pondered for a moment and said, "The Han army had many tricks. Perhaps they deliberately exposed it and led my army to ambush. Another Han army took the opportunity to seize Lu'an County. At that time, we were attacked from both sides and were in danger."

"The general's concern is very correct. I wonder how the general is going to deal with it?"
Chapter completed!