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Bingzhou has always been the sphere of influence of the Xiahou family. From the earliest Xiahou Yuan, to Xiahou Dun, and then to Xiahou Shang, the army of Bingzhou has always been in the hands of the Xiahou family, among which the original city is the top priority of Bingzhou.

After Xiahou Dun took away 20,000 elite troops from the original, the Cao army in Bingzhou was reduced to 10,000 troops, and another 5,000 troops were divided to Zhang He to guard Jingxing. The only 25,000 troops in the original city were left. Seeing that winter was approaching, the grain reserves were insufficient, which became a heart disease for the original general Xiahou Shang.

After years of occupation by the Huns, Bingzhou formed a pattern of southern Han and northern Hu. With the original counties as the boundary, the Hu people were the animal husbandry area north of the original counties, and to the south was the agricultural area where the Han people were concentrated. The agricultural areas were mainly concentrated in Pingyang County, Hedong County, Hanoi County and Shangdang County.

Although the Xiongnu in Bingzhou had been destroyed for four or five years, it did not change the pattern of Northern Hu and Southern Han. On the contrary, a large number of southern farmers gave up their land and fled to Guanzhong, causing the agriculture in Bingzhou to wither.

The biggest impact of the decline of Bingzhou's agricultural industry on Cao's army was that it did not have sufficient military rations, and 200,000 grains were transferred from Hebei every year to supplement the insufficient military rations.

Today's winter came particularly early. It was only mid-November that the first heavy snow fell in Bingzhou, which also made Xiahou Shang feel uneasy. The Han army headed north quickly, and the 200,000 stones of grain from Hedong and Pingyang County were not in time to transport back to the original city, and there was only 50,000 stones of military grain reserves in the original city, which was only enough for his army to eat for two months.

Xiahou Shang stood on the top of the city, looking at the heavy snow fluttering in the sky, his eyes full of contradictions and hesitation. This was the second heavy snowfall in Bingzhou, and the world turned gray.

Xiahou Shang received a letter from Zhang He yesterday and learned that the main force of the Han army was besieging Jingxing. No wonder there were no traces of the Han army south of the original. They all went to Leping County.

In the letter, Zhang He suggested that he could send troops south to raid Huguan County, Shangdang County, a major Han army logistics area, to alleviate the strong pressure encountered by Jingxing.

Although this suggestion is good, Xiahou Shang is a cautious person. He only has 25,000 troops. If he goes south and encounters the Han army turning around and counterattack, the consequences will be unimaginable. Xiahou Shang really does not have the courage.

Besides, even if he had this courage, he would rather send troops to the counties of Pingyang County to collect food, which would be a real move to defend the Yuan Dynasty. But now, he did not even have the courage to send troops to Pingyang County, let alone send troops to the Huguan County of Shangdang.

Xiahou Shang sighed, turned around and got off the city wall, and returned to the Bingzhou Governor's Office. He changed his clothes and returned to the military hall. He stood alone in front of the sand table and pondered without saying a word.

At this time, a personal guard reported in the hall: "Governor, Military Advisor Mao is here!"

Xiahou Shang nodded, "Please invite him in."

Mao's military advisor was Mao Jie. He was appointed as the military advisor of the Bingzhou Governor's Office to assist Xiahou Shang in guarding Bingzhou. He advocated that the troops could not be dispersed, especially when facing the strong Han Dynasty and the weak Cao Cao, he had to concentrate his troops to defend the key points. His plan was eventually adopted by Xiahou Shang. For this reason, Cao's army abandoned most of the Bingzhou counties and counties and defended Yuancheng and Jingxing.

Xiahou Shang himself also has some ability, otherwise he would not have stood out from the many Xiahou brothers, but compared with his father Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun and others, Xiahou Shang still has a certain gap. First, the force is slightly weak, and secondly, the overall strategy is insufficient.

It is precisely for this reason that Xiahou Shang relied on Mao Jie very much and almost obeyed his suggestions. Mao Jie walked into the lobby and smiled and said, "Is the governor worried about Jingxing's affairs?"

Mao Jie had heard of the main force of the Han army's besiege of Jingxing. Xiahou Shang happened to send someone to invite him, so he guessed that it must be for this matter.

Xiahou Shang hurriedly bowed and said, "It's not just about Jingxing, but also about the lack of food. I also want to discuss with the military advisor."

Mao Jie nodded and walked slowly to the sand table. He stared for a moment and said, "Is the governor ready to respond to Zhang He's suggestion and send troops to raid Huguan?"

Xiahou Shang sighed, "I just can't make up my mind now. In fact, I want to take advantage of the opportunity of the Han army besieging Jingxing and quickly go south to Pingyang County and transport grain and grass to the north."

Mao Jie smiled slightly, "Actually, there are also a large amount of Han army food and grass in Huguan. The governor was worried that he would be intercepted by the Han army to attack Huguan. I'm right!"

Mao Jie hit Xiahou Shang's thoughts with one sentence. He smiled bitterly and said, "That's right!"

"Actually, I have a plan. I wonder if the governor would like to give it a try?"

Xiahou Shang was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to salute, "I wish to listen to the good advice of the military advisor!"

Mao Jie said calmly: "I have been thinking about a problem recently. The chief general of the Han army who attacked Bingzhou this time was Guan Yu, and the military advisor was Zhuge Liang. They were all surrendered generals of the Jiaozhou division. If Ma Chao had not happened, I could still think that Liu Jing was broad-minded and tolerant. But before the Ma Chao incident, how could Liu Jing still trust Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang so much? At least he would have to appoint an influential deputy general, so I always feel that something seems strange here."

"What does the military advisor think is the reason?"

Mao Jie said slowly: "I think Liu Jing is actually taking this opportunity to test Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang."

"But...what does this have to do with us?" Xiahou asked in confusion.

"Of course it has something to do with us. From this we can infer that Liu Jing will not let Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang play too much, such as... they will withdraw their troops after they conquer Jingxing. I think Liu Jing will not let them occupy the entire territory of Bingzhou and let them occupy one side alone, that is a hidden danger!

Xiahou Shang was silent and speechless. He disagreed with Mao Jie's analysis. After all, this was just Mao Jie's guess. Liu Jing's kingly thought was not their energy. If Mao Jie's plan was based on his guess, Xiahou Shang would rather not adopt it.

Mao Jie also realized Xiahou Shang's resistance clearly. He smiled and said, "I'm off the topic, my plan has nothing to do with this."

"I would like to listen to the military advisor's plan!"

Mao Jie realized that Xiahou Shang was a very practical person and would not guess the strategies and tactics of the Han army, but only made decisions based on the current situation. Since this is the case, he could not explain it in depth and must be practical and easy to understand.

Thinking of this, Mao Jie smiled and said, "We lack food, and the Han army should also know that we plan to transport grain in Pingyang County, and the Han army can also think of it, but our plan must be something that the Han army could not imagine."

Xiahou Shang suddenly felt energetic and hurriedly said, "What is the specific plan?"

Mao Jie picked up the wooden pole and pointed at Jiuyuan County in the north of the original state. "At present, there are still tens of thousands of Huns in the northern part of Bingzhou. They go to the north to grazing in spring, but in winter, they will go south to hide from the wind and snow. There are at least 20,000 Huns in Jiuyuan County and Yu County. They have no army guards, and they have at least tens of thousands of cattle and sheep in their hands."

Before Mao Jie finished speaking, Xiahou Shang suddenly reacted and was so excited that he fisted and palmed together, "Why didn't I expect it? Tens of thousands of cattle and sheep! It's enough for our army to last for a year."

Mao Jie smiled and said, "It is very simple to preserve beef and mutton. In midsummer, we also have ice cellars. Put the killed beef and mutton in the ice cellar and it will be fine for two years. In this way, the governor will no longer have to send troops south. However, to confuse the Han army, I suggest that each send one army to Pingyang and Huguan."

After saying that, Mao Jie looked at Xiahou Shang and saw that he seemed to be a little hesitant. Mao Jie knew that Xiahou Shang was worried about the safety of Jingxing, so he smiled and said, "As for Jingxing, if Zhang He could not defend Jingxing Pass, he could retreat eastward and then Weize Pass, and even go eastward to defend Tumen Pass. In short, as long as Zhang He did not surrender to the Han army, the Han army would not easily break through Jingxing. When the Han army retreated south, we would cooperate with Zhang He inside and outside to retake Jingxing. What do the governor think?"

Mao Jie's suggestion made Xiahou Shang nod. Not only was it a brilliant plan to seize the cattle and sheep of the Huns, but Xiahou Shang also knew that he could do nothing in Jingxing and could only rely on Zhang He to defend it. This was indeed the best plan. As for raiding Huguan, it was impossible to force the Han army to retreat. How could the Han army not gather heavy troops to defend in Huguan?

He immediately made a decision: "According to the military advisor's plan, I personally lead the army north to Jiuyuan County."

That night, Xiahou Shang ordered two lieutenants to lead 2,000 troops to disguise themselves as 5,000 troops, to rush to Pingyang County to urge grain, and to Huguan to raid the Han army's logistics center. Xiahou Shang led 10,000 troops north to Yuxian and Jiuyuan County under the cover of heavy snow, preparing to seize the cattle and sheep of the Huns.

.........

At the top of Jingxing Pass, Zhang He stared at the Han army camp. At this time, the heavy snow had stopped. The inside and outside of the city wall were covered with thick snow. Under the sunlight, the snow was so white that it was dazzling.

Zhang He's expression became more and more serious. He had been observing here for half an hour and found that the Han army camp was very quiet. Although there were troops active, there were no more than a thousand people.

"It's strange!" Zhang He said to himself.

"What did the general find?" asked several tooth generals next to him.

"You look at the Han military camp!"

Zhang He pointed to the Han army camp from afar and said, "According to common sense, after a heavy snow is over, the first thing to do is to clear the snow from the big tent, otherwise the snow will turn into ice and it will easily collapse the big tent. However, there was no movement in the Han army camp and no one cleared the snow. Isn't this very strange?"

Zhang He's reminder made everyone notice the abnormality. It was true. Although there were patrols of Han soldiers around, the Han army camp was extremely quiet. Even if the Han army kept a low profile, it would not even be cleared from the snow in the big tent.

At this time, everyone thought of a terrible possibility. After all, the heavy snow day and night blocked the sight of the city, and no one knew what happened in the Han army camp.

"General, let me go and test it!" A tooth general couldn't help but ask for orders.

Zhang He did not say anything, he only had a thousand troops left. If the Han army was using fraud and lured them out of the city to attack the Han army camp, the troops he sent would not be able to come back. This would be a heavy blow to Jingxing Pass, which had already had very few troops.

Zhang He shook his head, "Don't worry, wait a little longer and continue to observe the movements of the Han army."

Zhang He had never left the city wall for a whole day. By dusk, he was almost certain that the Han army camp was an empty camp and was definitely not a trick to lure troops.

The gate of the pass opened wide, and Zhang He led two thousand Cao troops out of the city and rushed straight to the Han army camp. When the Han soldiers patrolling around saw the Cao army coming, they evacuated and fled.

Zhang He didn't care about these Han army patrol soldiers. He led his army to break out of the Han army camp. Zhang He's judgment was not wrong. The Han army camp was indeed an empty camp, empty, and there was no Han army soldier.

But at this moment, drums were heard everywhere, and Zhang Bao and Guan Xing each led 5,000 troops to attack from both sides. For a thousand cavalry, the horses ran in the snow. They rushed to the front of Guan City and cut off Zhang He's retreat.

Zhang He was shocked and led his army out of the barracks, but 10,000 Han corps surrounded him. The sound of crossbows and thousands of Han corpses fired arrows at once. Cao's soldiers could not dodge, and countless casualties were immediately killed and injured. Screams and wailing sounds were heard.

The battlefield became quiet again. Thousands of Han soldiers raised crossbows together and pointed coldly at more than a thousand Cao troops. Zhuge Liang appeared in the army. He shouted loudly from afar: "General Zhang, why haven't he surrendered yet?"

Zhang He looked at the corpses and wounded soldiers on the ground, and then at his subordinates. They were all in panic and had no fighting spirit. He couldn't help but sigh and ordered: "Give up your weapons and surrender!"
Chapter completed!