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"Zhongde means, Liu Jing wants to unify the south first." Cao Cao understood Cheng Yu's meaning a little.

Cheng Yu nodded, "It must be like this. It is not difficult for Liu Jing to destroy Jiangdong, but he is very afraid that Cao's army will support Jiangdong on the front line of Jingzhou. Once Sun Cao joins forces and the Han army attacks Jiangdong, Cao's army will attack Jingzhou in large numbers, and the Han army will have to return troops to rescue Jingzhou. But if the Han army takes over Hefei, it will force us to deploy a large number of troops on the front line of Qiao County and Xuzhou, so that we are unable to conquer Jingzhou again, and the Han army can calmly advance to Jiangdong and unify the south."

Cao Cao actually felt a sudden realization. He was also a talented and stubborn person. He was only troubled by the fact that he had recently been distracted by the world's creation and his energy was dispersed, so he could not see through this. Cheng Yu pointed out him at the critical point, which made Cao Cao's lost path suddenly clear.

In fact, after Liu Jing conquered Chang'an, he took a defensive position in the north, including forming an alliance with him to fight the Huns, and willing to marry him and constantly release his goodwill. All of this shows that Liu Jing is no longer willing to launch a war in the north and further destroy the already fragile northern economy.

It’s a pity that Cao Cao did not see through this. When he was still worried about Liu Jing’s attack on Luoyang, Liu Jing’s strategy had quietly moved south and moved to Hefei. Xun You also saw this, so he wrote about the unity of Zongli and the world division, which was actually reminding Cao Cao of the importance of keeping Jiangdong.

Once Liu Jing destroyed Jiangdong and Jiaozhou and unified the south, he would have no worries and would have strategic encirclement from the west and south. It would be impossible to destroy Wei and unify the world.

Understanding this, Cao Cao sighed: "It seems that the battle in Hefei is definitely not a war between Cao and Liu."

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Since Duke Wei understands this, we need to bring Sun Quan in and continue to negotiate the alliance that was not completed last year. If Duke Wei does not object, I am willing to serve in Jiangdong for Duke Wei."

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and said, "The reason why the agreement was not reached last year was that Sun Quan was afraid of Liu Jing and had no confidence in us. We must make Sun Quan have confidence in us, otherwise even if I go to Jiangdong again, the negotiation might not be successful."

Cheng Yu smiled slightly, "This time, that time, and then. If Sun Quan knew that Liu Jing wanted to destroy Jiangdong first, he might be more accumulating than Duke Wei. If Duke Wei was really worried, I had a plan, but I could do it with both hands to give Sun Quan confidence and eventually promote the Wei-Wu alliance."

Afterwards, Cheng Yu whispered to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao nodded, "The problem of Eastern Wu is not a big problem. The key is that in Lujiang, will we have a chance?"

"I believe that Yuan will never disappoint Mr. Wei."

Cao Cao pondered for a long time and finally made up his mind. Since he decided to let go of a fight with the Han army, he could no longer be afraid, "Okay, I'll give the order to Yuan now."

.........

Cao Cao deployed 100,000 heavy troops on the front line of Hefei, mainly distributed in two cities, Hefei and Shouchun, with Shouchun as the auxiliary, and the deputy general Man led ten thousand troops to guard it, mainly Hefei, and the commander Zhang Liao personally led 70,000 troops to guard it.

In terms of generals, in addition to the deputy general Man who guarded Shouchun, Cao Cao appointed two deputy generals for Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and Yu Jin, as well as counselors Xin Pi and Sima Jiang Ji, which can be said to be a skill and complementary force.

Although Cao Cao's inspection of Hefei had just ended and everyone should have breathed a sigh of relief, the military order sent by Cao Cao immediately made everyone nervous again.

In the lobby, Zhang Liao slowly said to everyone: "Duke Wei has decided to form an alliance with Sun Quan and fight with the Han army fiercely with Hefei. This is a fight with the overall situation. Duke Wei sent a military order early this morning, ordering us to seize Ruxukou and advance to Wuhu. Let's discuss how we should fight this battle."

The lobby was silent. The news came suddenly. Everyone was unprepared and speechless for a moment. Zhang Liao also understood this and smiled at everyone: "I know everyone is not prepared, but I have an idea. The plan I have been considering for the past month is that I dare not implement it without the order of Duke Wei. Now, it may be an opportunity to cooperate with Duke Wei's request."

Staff Sinpi nodded, "I would like to listen to the strategy far away."

Zhang Liao ordered people to hang out a large map that was one meter long and wide. He pointed to several red circles on the map with a wooden pole and said: "These red circles are currently the Han army stationed at the Han army, including ten thousand troops in Ankou, and the veteran general Huang Zhong is in charge; there are five thousand troops and warships at Ruxukou, led by general Lou Fa; there are two thousand garrisons in Likou Town opposite Wuhu, and 150 warships. In addition, there are five thousand garrisons in Nanling County between Ankou and Ruxukou, with a total force of about 42,000, but we have a hundred thousand troops, and the strength is far better than the other side. It's a pity that the navy is insufficient."

"Do you want to compete with the Han army in the future?" Yu Jin couldn't help but interrupt Zhang Liao's introduction.

Zhang Liao shook his head, "I only introduce each other's troops. I need ships not to fight against the Han army in order to complete the preparations. Now a large amount of food and supplies are stored in Shouchun. Although the river has been cleared, our cargo ships are less than fifty, and there are less than ten ships over a thousand stone, and it is very dilapidated. It is almost impossible to complete the preparations for combat with this little ship. I originally wanted to buy civilian ships from Jiangdong, but the Yangtze River was blocked by the Han army and the ships could not pass. The Han army warships in Wuhu alone can wipe out us. This is the main reason why the Han army is fearless. Therefore, to complete the preparations for Wei Gong, the key is to get the ships."

Everyone was thinking, but no one understood Zhang Liao's intentions. At this time, Zhang Liao saw that Jiang Ji was enlightened, and smiled and said, "Did Jiang Sima think of it?"

Jiang Ji has been a former Yangzhou driver and Danyang guard. He has been an official in Jiangnan for a long time and knows the situation along the Yangtze River. Zhang Liao mentioned that he needed a ship. He suddenly thought of a place. Jiang Ji smiled and said, "Is it that he is far away to fight the civilian ships in Jingzhou?"

Zhang Liao laughed, "Sima Jiang is worthy of Jiangnantong. He hit the nail on the head with one sentence. Yes, my plan will seize the civilian ship in Jingzhou."

Zhang Liao pointed to Liyang on the east side and said to everyone: "Liyang's high-quality iron ore. In the past, the Tao family bought a large iron ore in Liyang, and later transferred it to the Jingzhou government. Every year, Jingzhou transports a large amount of iron ore from Jingzhou. I sent someone to investigate. Nearly five civilian ships transporting mines are moored in Liyang, all of which are more than 1,000 stones. When the wind direction changes after spring, these mine ships will transport ore again. We can completely seize these civilian ships, and then use manpower to lead the fleet southward and return to Hefei."

Xinpi, a counselor next to him, smiled and said, "If this happens, I'm afraid you have to launch a large number of troops to Ruxue's mouth."

"Mr. I must not seize the Ruxukou, and the mine ship cannot sail back to Hefei. However, if the troops sent to Ruxukou, attack Liyang and Shi, and combine the Wei and Shi, we can complete the heavy trust of Duke Wei."

At this time, Zang Badao, who had been silent, said: "Our Hefei City has not been built yet. Will our large-scale troops be launched in advance? Have the Governor considered this dangerous situation?"

"Of course I've considered it."

Zhang Liao glanced at Zang Ba and saw that there was a worry in his eyes. He smiled and explained: "Just from the battle of Hefei, our actions of sending troops to Ruxukou can be meaningless. It will only give the Han army an excuse to launch the battle of Hefei. But will Huang Zhong launch the battle of Hefei from this? I think it will never happen. As the number one general of the Han army, how could he not know Liu Jing's strategic intentions, how could he not know the importance of launching the battle of Hefei.

In this case, if he responded hastily, it would destroy Liu Jing's battle deployment and have an immeasurable impact on the battle in Hefei. Therefore, with Huang Zhong's caution, he would inevitably shrink his troops first and reduce losses, and at the same time report to Liu Jing urgently. This will take at least one month, and what Duke Wei wants is time and the retreat of the Han army."

Yu Jin and Zang Ba both nodded, acknowledging Zhang Liao's analysis, Xinpi stroked his beard and sighed: "With the far-reaching and far-sightedness, even I, as a strategist, are ashamed of myself."

Seeing that everyone had no objection, Zhang Liao immediately made a decision: "Since there is no objection, we will follow this strategy."

............

There are about a miles apart from Hefei to Liyang. The landform is mainly plains, and there are also hilly and mountainous areas. The mountains are generally not high and are covered with large forests. Famous mountains such as Baochan Mountain, Hanshan Mountain, etc., and famous passes like Zhaoguan. Wu Xu's hair turned white here. Zhaoguan is also the Jieguan between the Wei State and the Eastern Wu.

Zang Ba led 10,000 elite troops and went out toward Zhaoguan for a day and night. He was not worried about a fierce battle with the Jiangdong army. He was mainly worried that Zhaoguan would ignite the beacon and alarm the Jingzhou mine ships anchored in Liyang County. If these mine ships fled into the Yangtze River, all their efforts would be wasted.

Therefore, seizing Zhaoguan became the key to the entire operation. Once they seized Zhaoguan, they could bypass other beacon towers and attack Liyang County, but Zhaoguan was the first hurdle they could not bypass.

Of course, Zhaoguan cannot be seized by force, so he can only take it. Fortunately, Cao's army was confronting the Han army in Hefei, and the Jiangdong army would never dream of Cao's army raiding Zhaoguan, which would seize the most favorable part of Zhaoguan.

At dusk, a caravan was hurried to Zhaoguan. This small caravan, dozens of mules carrying stone salt, only seven or eight people, led by a middle-aged man, it was almost dark. They were obviously afraid of missing the Sutou, so they rushed to Zhaoguan.

At this time, Zhaoguan was not closed. More than a dozen Jiangdong soldiers checked the people and merchants before closing. When the mule team drove to the front of the closing, they were immediately stopped by the soldiers and "stopped"

A chief walked up and looked at the mule team and asked, "Where comes from, what goods are transported?"

"We come from Shouchun to transport some salt and a small business, so please let Jun Ye let it go."

Then, the middle-aged man took out a official quotation and handed it to Shi Chang. This was issued by the Shouchun government to prove that the salt they were trafficking was legal. In fact, in the chaotic end of the Han Dynasty, the official salt had long been separated. Only official quotations could go through formal passes and suffer less difficulties.

Although Shi Chang was not very literate, he knew the official seal on the back. He nodded, "Since there is an official introduction, you can pay a little less and pay fifty."

The caravan has to pay for passing the rules. Zhaoguan is no exception. The middle-aged man obviously knew that he immediately took out a handful of money and counted sixty pieces to Shi Chang. Seeing that he knew the rules and was very hard, Shi Chang laughed and waved his hand to "let it go"

The caravan quickly entered Zhaoguan, but did not rush to leave. He found a hostel in Zhaoguan. It was getting dark soon and they had to spend the night in Zhaoguan.
Chapter completed!