Chapter 757 Battle of Jizhou!
The State of Chu took the initiative to provoke the war.
The army crossed the Yellow River and joined forces with some of the recovered Yan troops to attack Wei's Hebei region.
This time, the State of Chu mobilized an unprecedented military force. In addition to the necessary defensive troops, the first batch of soldiers entering the Jizhou battlefield alone had a total of 30,000 soldiers!
There are still 30,000 soldiers gathering, and they will head to the Jizhou battlefield after the gathering.
Sixty thousand infantry and cavalry!
There are nearly 300,000 auxiliary troops and logistics. Although this ratio is not as high as the extreme 11:1 ratio, it is also close to the limit.
The State of Chu, which only had Qing and Xu states, was almost completely hollowed out after this battle. For the State of Chu, which had no strategic buffer, this was almost a battle to gamble on its national destiny.
Either they win a great victory, break out of the cage, and from then on they can fly freely in the sky and jump freely in the sea, or they suffer a crushing defeat, suffer a slow death after their military strength is greatly damaged.
The Chu army had two main attack directions. One was that Liu Bei and Guan Yu led the main force of Chu into Jizhou, seeking a decisive battle with Cao Cao.
There are many generals along this route, including Guan, Zhang, and Zhao, as well as strategists such as Fa Zheng and Liu Ye.
The other route was to guard the rear. The Chu army crossed the river into Jizhou to prevent Cao Cao from attacking Qingzhou from Yanzhou. Lu Shen and Taishi Ci were guarding this route. The task was extremely heavy and difficult.
Fortunately, Lu Shen has gotten used to it.
Luo Qi left Linzi. The alliance trust between Jin and Chu needed someone to maintain, and no one else could do it except Luo Qi.
The general trend of the world is such that a single move can affect the entire body.
When the State of Chu took action, all the other countries in the world followed suit.
…
Wu State.
Luo Chu, dressed in a crown and gorgeous clothes, looked at the officials of Wu State with deep emotion.
Civil officials including Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Zhuge Jin, Gu Yong, Pang Tong, Kuai Yue, Lu Xun, and military generals including Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, Sun Ce, Ling Tong, Han Dang, and Zhou Tai.
He took a deep breath. Unconsciously, the strength of Wu State had become so strong.
The quality and quantity of Wu's advisory group were not inferior to those of Cao Wei, and its military generals were also very strong. Perhaps the only flaw was the fierce internal strife.
Everyone was waiting for Luo Chu to speak, he raised his glass high and said loudly: "Gentlemen.
King Liu Bei of Chu has led the Chu army northward. Our Wu State has formed an alliance with Chu to fight against King Cao Cao of Wei. Now is the time to raise an army, attack Runan, break through Yuzhou, seize the Huai River, and become Wu's iron wall. Now is the time! "
Lu Su smiled and twirled his beard. His strategy on the river had finally reached this step. After defeating Cao Cao, the next step would be Xuzhou of Chu. To defend the Yangtze River, one must also defend the Huai River. The gateway to Xuzhou could only be in the hands of the Wu State.
All the officials of Wu State were excited. Shu State was like an old turtle hiding in its shell. They had bitten many things but failed to take it down. However, Runan was not that difficult to conquer.
After all, the entire Jingzhou and Yangzhou were in the hands of the Wu State. With the four counties in the north of the Yangtze River, there would be a bridgehead for attacking Runan, and the Wu State could attack from three directions at the same time.
Luo Chu gave the order generously: "Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, I order you to lead 3,000 naval forces and 8,000 infantry to garrison Xiangyang and guard against Cao Wei's attack on Wu from Nanyang!
Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Sun Ce order you to lead an army of 20,000 from Jiangxia to attack Runan.
I will personally lead the main force from Huainan to attack Runan, and the rest of the generals will each follow the orders of the three armies. "
As soon as Luo Chu's order came out, everyone in Wu was in awe. This order was extraordinary.
It was quite reasonable for Kuai Yue and Cai Mao to guard Xiangyang. They were two of the four major families in Xiangyang, so there was nothing much to say.
But Luo Chu let Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Sun Ce go together, which was quite beyond everyone's expectations. Zhou Yu and Lu Su were both close to Luo Chu, but Sun Ce was not.
Zhou Yu and Sun Ce had a good relationship, and Zhou Yu and Lu Su also had a good relationship, but Lu Su and Sun Ce had a very bad relationship.
Especially since Sun Ce and the Jingzhou faction have a deep hatred, which is one of the few irreconcilable contradictions. His influence in the Wu State is neither big nor small. According to common sense, in this situation, Sun Ce, who is not close to Zhou Yu, should be suppressed, and it would be better to let Zhou Yu and Sun Ce have less contact. What is the purpose of arranging them together?
Lu Su, who was the best at this, immediately felt something was wrong.
Zhou Yu is currently the commander-in-chief of Wu State second only to Luo Chu. Luo Chu is in charge of the Regency Council, needless to say. Zhou Yu is the Grand Commander-in-Chief, but this time he was thrown into the army.
This must be some kind of political signal!
Then Lu Su began to ponder his own existence. Why did Luo Chu arrange him to be part of this detachment? What did he want to do?
…
Jicheng.
Emperor Yan Lin of Yan was the first to receive the news of Chu's march into Jizhou. After all, Yan occupied half of Jizhou's land, especially Bohai County, which was in Yan's hands. Yan reacted to the news from Qingzhou very quickly.
The situation in Yan State is now extremely complicated. After stabbing Zhao State in the back and occupying half of Jizhou and the entire Youzhou, something happened in Yan State that Yan Lin had never expected.
That is, a large number of Yan nobles demanded to exchange land!
Exchanging the land of Liaodong for Youzhou and Jizhou was not just an exchange of land. Almost all the people of Yan, whether they were Hu or Han, demanded to migrate to the land of Youzhou and Jizhou to live.
This is really normal. Liaodong is such a cold and bitter place that there is even snow that is more than one person tall.
Who wants to live there?
Generation after generation of Yan people have been tirelessly trying to move south, willing to risk everything, even paying with blood and sacrifice. On the one hand, returning to their homeland is one thing, and on the other hand, isn’t it just that they want to go to the warm south?
We are all people of the Xia Dynasty. Why do the Han people live so well while we live in such a bitter and cold place?
Our lives were so hard before Yan entered the Central Plains. Now that Yan entered the Central Plains, our lives are still so hard. Then wasn’t our entry into the Central Plains in vain?
This wave of thought is so terrifying that even the royal family of Yan State thinks so.
Yan Lin simply did not realize that there had already been dozens of military mutinies and civil uprisings in his hometown of Liaodong.
This incident frightened Yan Lin so much that he quickly began to appease the people still living in Liaodong and began to let them move inland in batches. But this was not an easy task. How could these Yan people from Liaodong survive when they came to Youzhou and Jizhou without land and food?
They could only use the pretext of levying the powerful and other people's forces, which led to extremely fierce conflicts between the immigrants and the natives in Yan State.
The attitude of the Han people in Youzhou and Jizhou towards the Yan people is that they are outsiders who come to us to beg for food.
The Yan people thought that you defeated generals still dared to be so arrogant, so naturally the two sides could not agree.
In this situation, facing the olive branch offered by Liu Bei, he immediately grabbed it and announced to the entire Yan State, "Stop arguing, follow me to the south to grab more land, and then there will be no more trouble."
The best way to divert internal conflicts is to provoke external conflicts, and Yan Lin’s move indeed achieved excellent results.
For a war-driven country like Yan, foreign wars can at least temporarily reduce conflicts within the country.
As long as you can get enough loot later, you can keep playing this game.
In essence, the nomadic and fishing and hunting habits of the Yan State have not been completely eliminated, and the political and economic systems have not yet adapted to the Central Plains model.
This gives them powerful immediate combat capabilities, but also drags down their war potential. Compared with stronger generals, the current Yan State needs a top strategic design master.
Yan Lin was a military emperor. He did not realize this and could only choose the simplest way. After unifying Yan State and Youzhou, the largest and most powerful cavalry army in the world, except for the Hu people, rushed to southern Hebei under his command.
"This battle will defeat Wei and Chu!"
ally?
The noble Yan State does not need allies, they all must die!
…
The capital of Wei State, Luoyang.
Here Cao Cao received news that the three countries of Chu, Yan and Wu were jointly attacking Wei.
In the hall sat the ministers of the State of Wei.
There was no trace of panic on Cao Cao's face. He even wanted to laugh, or rather, he had already laughed.
He said with a strong sense of sarcasm: "These people really united together, and it really did not surprise me.
Do they think they can defeat me by uniting together?
Didn't the King of Hanzhong and the King of Shu send troops together?"
Xun You laughed loudly and said, "Your Majesty, the King of Hanzhong has sent you a message of congratulations. He is respectfully obedient to you. The King of Shu is even more useless. He is just a piece of shit that can be used at the request of a envoy."
All the ministers of Wei State had a matter-of-fact expression on their faces. How strong is Wei State now?
He owned the entire Guanzhong, Sanhe, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou, each of which was a major grain-producing area and a populous province. There was no shortage of all types of soldiers. The cavalry, which was previously in short supply, was greatly supplemented after he gained Guanzhong.
In this battle, Cao Cao was able to directly mobilize an army of 200,000, which was not even the limit of the Wei State.
Faced with such powerful strength, Cao Cao and the Wei officials didn’t even know how they could lose.
Cao Cao drank a glass of wine wildly, and then walked to the hall with the glass. He was wearing the clothes of a regent and a crown that only an emperor could wear. He already possessed the Nine Gifts and had everything that an emperor had.
Others did not dare to use it, nor could they use it even after being rewarded, but Cao Cao dared to use it and could use it.
He raised his hand high, and said with a face full of high spirits: "When the Taiping Rebellion broke out, I followed the emperor's order and fought against Zhang Jue together with Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and others. Although we were not victorious, we still had a good reputation.
Then I raised an army in Chenliu, killed Dong Zhuo, recovered Yanzhou, attacked Liu Bei, took Qingzhou, defeated Yuan Shu, recovered Runan, attacked Yuan Shao, and obtained southern Hebei. Then I led my army westward. The princes of Liangzhou surrendered, Ma Chao asked for surrender, and I got Guanzhong. Zhao Hong of the Taiping Army also surrendered, and I got the land of Nanyang.
Until now, Gu Jianguo has become the regent of the Han Dynasty, second only to the emperor.
In the past twenty years, I have been through so much to get to this position.
The stars are shining brightly, the sky is vast, I am so lucky to be here today!
Drink it! "
Cao Cao was full of heroic spirit at this moment, which shocked all the ministers in the hall and made them shout loudly. This was their lord, the most powerful person in the world and the one closest to becoming the emperor.
Everyone has confirmed that a new dynasty will be created under Cao Cao. At this point, there will be no more surprises.
The sound of drinking could be heard in the hall, and everyone's hearts were burning with excitement.
Cao Cao said loudly: "Now there are some people who are resisting stubbornly, and some people have ulterior motives. I don't care. Since ancient times, there has always been a lack of people who can stop a chariot with a mantis arm. Defeat them and unify the world.
I am already old, and this is the last time I will make a contribution to the Han Dynasty in this battle."
As soon as Cao Cao said this, there was thunderous cheers in the hall.
These people were all close to Cao Cao, and of course they knew what Cao Cao meant. After winning this battle, they would start preparing to become emperor.
The Han Dynasty will completely become a thing of the past.
In the future there will only be the Emperor of Wei, or even the Son of Heaven of Wei, and that will be a new era.
Cao Cao will transform from a Han minister into the emperor of the new dynasty, and he will even have a resounding temple name and posthumous title - Emperor Taizu Gao of Wei!
Cao Cao had this dream countless times in the middle of the night. With continuous military victories, his dreams became more and more real, and he even felt that they were within reach.
This banquet in Luoyang lasted until very late. At the end of the banquet, Cao Cao announced to everyone, "I will personally lead the army to Jizhou to fight Liu Bei.
Back then, I defeated Yuan Shao and laid the foundation for the hegemony of my Wei State. I personally led an expedition against Ma Chao and established my Wei State's position as the number one in the world.
As for my last old rival Liu Bei, I still have to defeat him with my own hands and completely put an end to his unrealistic thoughts.
All the generals and ministers, follow me to the battle and welcome victory in Jizhou. The unification of the north is now. "
Following Cao Cao's order, countless troops in the entire Wei State were mobilized. The conquered Xiliang cavalry marched towards Jizhou in a mighty manner. The gradually recovered Sanhe cavalry were also mobilized, as well as the battle-hardened soldiers from Guanzhong.
The order issued from Luoyang summoned all the former imperial guards of the Later Han Dynasty. This momentum made people feel like they had returned to the most prosperous era of the Later Han Dynasty.
This contrast is even more touching.
Because the one who owned these was not the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, but the King of Wei.
The current Han Dynasty has been completely hollowed out by the Wei State. Under the name of the Han Dynasty, it is completely the flesh and blood of the Wei State.
Just wait until the sign of the Han Dynasty is taken down and the sign of the Wei Dynasty is hung up.
A ceremony of abdication to transfer all legal authority.
Countless armies headed towards Jizhou. The whole world was filled with conscripted soldiers and waving flags.
After entering Jizhou, the Chu army first communicated with the Yan army. The two sides did not trust each other and did not work together, but fought separately.
When the vanguard troops of Wei State arrived, there were 40,000 vanguard troops alone.
Cao Cao led his main force of 100,000 infantry and cavalry and slowly came from behind.
The army in front had already started fighting before the army behind arrived.
Liu Bei took the initiative to start the war. He wanted to test the quality of the Wei army and see how to find their flaws later.
————
Wei Wu was a man of great stature. Although he was old, he still had great ambitions. He gained something from every expedition he made. He could write poems that were magnificent. He was a man of both literary and military skills. He was the most powerful ruler in the world among all the states in the late Han Dynasty. ——"Heroes of the Late Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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