Section 25: Division of troops

While Cao Chong was discussing calligraphy with Wei Dan, Zhang Song strode in with Shi Kang, sweating profusely. When Wei Dan saw their anxious look, he knew that something must have happened, so he quickly stood up and said goodbye. Cao Chong smiled, put down the brush in his hand, reached out to take the urgent item handed over by Zhang Song and glanced at it, and his face changed immediately.

"Han Sui is going to die?"

Zhang Song signaled Shi Kang, and Shi Kang, who had a thin face, hurriedly said: "According to all aspects of the situation, the news of Lord Jiang should be correct. Recently, many actions in Jincheng are mainly Han Yin, and Han Sui rarely comes forward. Han Yin is not a meticulous person. When he asked for money from those big clans, he was very arrogant and not as polite as before. He almost fought with the people of the Guo family. In addition, Han Sui's personal army was basically handed over to Han Yin. Those people who were originally led by General Yan were unwilling to accept his leadership. Recently, someone fled over and asked General Yan for help. General Yan had already told us the situation."

Shi Kang said a long sentence quickly, a little anxious, stopped to take a breath, and then came to a conclusion: "From all aspects, Han Sui may feel that his body is not good, so he has to transfer his strength to Han Yin's hands."

Cao Chong touched his chin and lowered his head to ponder, his face was very serious. Han Sui died, and Ma Chao had no help, which was of course a good thing for him. But from another perspective, it was not a good thing. Han Sui knew that advancing and retreating, and knew that joining forces with Ma Chao needed to restrain each other, so he could compete with him, and gathered all the people from several aspects together. Now the situation in Xiliang has basically become two major forces. He could not swallow it for a while and also had the opportunity to fight to settle Xiliang. If Han Sui died, with Han Yin's ability, Han Sui's power would definitely not be able to control those generals. Han Sui's power would be completely split into a dozen again. Although it should be easy to fight, they were scattered in a vast area of ​​thousands of kilometers. If they wanted to clean up one by one, it would take a long time, which means it seemed like a good thing, but in fact it became a big trouble.

"Please come with Mr. Wenhe, the Chief of the Martial Arts and others." Cao Chong waved to Sun Shao on the side. When the young Jiang Wei heard this, he put down the ink he was packing and said at first: "General, I'll go."

"Okay." Cao Chong nodded and said to Jiang Wei with satisfaction. Jiang Wei had only been in the mansion for two or three days, but he was very well-behaved. He only took a short time to get familiar with the people and things in the mansion. He laughed three times when he saw everyone and was very popular. Because his father died as a guard Wei Kang, the people in the mansion valued him very much, especially Wei Dan, who took the initiative to teach him to read and write.

Jiang Wei walked out quickly, and soon Jia Xu came. Jiang Wei walked quickly to Cao Chong and whispered: "General, Lord Pang, Lord Ma will arrive soon. Lord Fa is not in the mansion. He said he was going home to visit his mother."

Cao Chong nodded and did not speak. Fa Zheng was from Mei County, and his home was not far from here. However, he fled to Yizhou twenty years ago and did not have much reputation in his hometown. Of course, his reputation was not bad when he was at home. Now he is the chief minister of the General's Mansion of Cheqi, so he has to earn back all the face he had lost before. So when it comes to rest, he will drive into the car and go back to his hometown to see his widowed mother solemnly. The most important thing is to shake his majesty in front of relatives and friends. He likes this feeling very much, especially when he sees those who insult him before saying hello with smiles.

However, if Cao Chong hadn't warned him that he actually wanted to kill those people to relieve his anger.

Jia Xu sat down and took two sips of tea. Pang Tong and Ma Su arrived. When Cao Chong told the situation, they all frowned. They had long analyzed the situation in Guanzhong and had been holding their troops recently, hoping to stabilize Ma Chao and Han Sui. After the mobilization of Guanzhong's troops was completed, they would annihilate them in one fell swoop and completely solve the problem of Xiliang. Unexpectedly, because of Han Sui's body, things had changed again that they did not want to happen.

"Mr. Wenhe, what suggestions do you have?" Cao Chong first turned his attention to Jia Xu.

Jia Xu put down the teacup, frowned slightly, and thought for a moment and said, "Since Han Wenyou is almost out of reach, he must consider his affairs. He will hand over the power in his hand to Han Yin now, and let Han Yin come forward in everything. I am afraid he is still interested in testing Han Yin's ability and loyalty of his subordinates. However, judging from the current situation, Han Yin's method of handling is still lacking. Now Han Wenyou is still in his arms, and he can no longer suppress those big clans. How can he control Xiliang when Han Wenyou dies? In my opinion, Han Wenyou is afraid he will be uneasy."

Cao Chong nodded understandingly: "Mr. I mean, I am trying to force Han Wen to surrender before he made an appointment?"

Jia Xu smiled: "The general is right. Since Han Wenyou is not at ease with his son, he will definitely choose a better result for Han Yin. Otherwise, after he dies, Han Yin will definitely die without a place to die. Neither the general nor Ma Chao will let him take charge of Jincheng anymore, and those generals and the clans will not be willing to surrender. With Han Wenyou's eyes, how could he not see this? He is still hesitating now, but he is still reluctant to leave, and he is just trying to get greater benefits."

Cao Chong pondered without saying a word. Jia Xu's psychological analysis of Han Sui was very good. Han Sui was a rebel and he was also a father. Before he died, he had to consider his son. He knew his son better than his father. He should also know which piece of Han Yin was. If he really felt that Han Yin did not have the ability to take charge of Jincheng, he would exchange his strength for himself to get a relatively stable high position for his son. Perhaps the best way was to do so.

If he wants to make this fact happen before he dies, he will put some pressure on him to break his remaining luck.

But how to put pressure on Han Sui? Ma Chao is still entrenched in Jicheng. Meng Da and Li Yan will not be able to reach Wudu for a while. Niu Jin from Hanzhong has just set off. His troops at hand are not at the advantage. If he divides his troops again, he may lose both ends.

Time, if Han Sui could die a few months later, he would have recovered. Cao Chong sighed secretly.

"Our troops are limited, how can we increase pressure on him?" Cao Chong asked.

Jia Xu smiled and said nothing. Cao Chong looked at Ma Su again. Ma Su hesitated for a moment and said respectfully: "Although our army lacks military strength, it has strong combat power. Although the material reserves cannot meet the needs of the same time, there is still no problem with one defense and one attack. Reinforcements from Hanzhong will arrive in about a month. Before these reinforcements arrive, we can attack Han Wen's appointment first."

"If you tell me in detail, how can you attack Han Wenyou first?" Cao Chong did not express anything, and signaled him to go downstairs. He reached out to the case to get the teacup, but found that the teacup was empty, and the teapot was being held in his hand by Jiang Wei who was listening carefully. He smiled and knocked on the case table, which woke Jiang Wei who was fully focused. He was so excited that he heard Jia Xu and Ma Su analyzing the situation in Xiliang. When he heard Cao Chong knock on the case table, he realized that his job was not done well. He blushed and quickly took the teacup and poured tea in a little busy manner. He was a little nervous. The tea suddenly became anxious. The water splashed out and wet the paper on the case, wet Cao Chong's clothes. He became even more nervous, his face was swollen and red. He put down the teapot and reached out to wipe it.

"It's okay." Cao Chong smiled and picked up a piece of tea from his clothes and threw it on the table: "The Buddha said that he was spitting on his face, what does it have to do with my tea?"

Jiang Wei didn't know what the Buddha was about Cao Chong, but he could hear that Cao Chong was not angry and was very grateful. He quickly took the cloth and wiped the table face. Ma Su and others looked at Jiang Wei's busy look and smiled heartily, which diluted the tense atmosphere a lot.

"You Chang, continue talking." Cao Chong smiled at Ma Su.

"Here, although Ma Chao has 30,000 troops, our army has strong troops to defend, and Jicheng is new, so he may not dare to move lightly. The general can send people into Wudu to threaten his retreat, making it difficult for him to take care of the beginning and end. Then the leading general leads the troops to attack Lueyang, take the road to Pingxiang to attack Yuzhong and Jincheng, avoid Ma Chao's threat and put pressure on Han Sui." Ma Su spoke very slowly, as if every sentence was said after careful consideration.

Cao Chong turned his head to look at the map. Sun Shao had already hung the map and pushed it in front of Cao Chong. Cao Chong's hand drew a circle in Lueyang, and pointed it at Yuzhong through Pingxiang, and nodded in agreement. It was more than 200 miles away from Jicheng, and Ma Chao might not dare to leave Jicheng. If he left Jicheng, he would leave the territory he controlled further and further, and there was a danger of his retreat being cut off.

Of course, this is also a guess. It is really unknown whether Ma Chao will follow their ideas, but Ma Su's plan obviously makes sense. Cao Chong drew back and forth several times on the map. Although he thought this plan was risky, he still couldn't think of a better way, so let's take a gamble.

"Do you think it's possible?" He gritted his teeth, and when he turned around, he looked relaxed and at the same time, he was holding the winning position.

Jia Xu's eyes flashed with admiration, and soon returned to his calm face. Pang Tong smiled and said, "Young Chang's plan is very good, but I have two more points to add. One is that there should not be many people sent to Wudu County, nor can it be less. If there are too many people, Ma Chao will abandon the city and walk away. If there are too fewer, he will not take it seriously and will still go north. Second, I suggest that before the general leads to move forward, increase troops, disrupt his thinking, make him dare not act rashly, reduce the pressure on the general leads, and buy a certain amount of time for the general leads."

"It's feasible." Cao Chong nodded solemnly and said, "In addition, I want to transfer the dragon cavalry to it, which is safer."

"The general is very concerned." Pang Tong said: "In addition, I suggest whether you should send Youchang to the leader general to help."

Cao Chong looked at Pang Tong and understood what Pang Tong meant as soon as he thought about it. Ma Su knew his behavioral habits. With him around Xiahou Yuan, the two sides would have a more tacit understanding when they cooperated. Ma Su was not very high in official positions, and was more steady and low-key. When he was around Xiahou Yuan, he would not arouse Xiahou Yuan's disgust. If Xiahou Yuan made great contributions, he would naturally not be stingy to give Ma Su some benefits. This is more suitable for several aspects. With Jia Xu and Fa Zheng around him, Ma Su did not have many opportunities to stand out.

"You Chang, what do you think?" Cao Chong looked at Ma Su with a smile. Ma Su suddenly understood what Pang Tong meant. He nodded to Pang Tong gratefully, bowed and replied, "Ma Su is willing to go."

"Since that's the case, you can clean up and set off with General Yan." Cao Chong said with a smile.

After receiving Cao Chong's urgent letter, Xiahou Yuan was overjoyed. He took Xiahou, Zhu Ling and Zhang He, and left Zhu Shuo and Deng Ai to guard the city. He was afraid that Zhu Shuo would not accept Deng Ai, so he took care of them. Deng Ai had the final say. Then he rushed north and took Longxian with lightning speed. Then Ma Su and Yan Xing arrived with two thousand dragon cavalry. After receiving Cao Chong's military order, Xu Huang also left two thousand people to guard Jieting, and rushed up with three thousand men and one thousand crossbowmen. A total of 20,000 troops surrounded Xingguo.

Xingguo City is a castle of the Di kings of tens of millions. He had long been in contact with Ma Chao and Han Sui. This time Ma Chao entered Hanyang was attracted by him. After Ma Chao took Jicheng, he immediately raised an army to respond. Xiahou Yuan was very unhappy with him and wanted to deal with him. He had already caught a chance this time, so how could he let him go?

However, Ma Su did not agree with Xiahou Yuan's attack on Xingguo. As soon as Xingguo City was solid, there were more than 3,000 Di people guarding it. This was the nest of the Di king's tens of millions of Di kings. He could not give up easily and would definitely hold on to the city. Ma Chao was attracted by him. If he rescued Ma Chao, Ma Chao would not be able to sit idly by. He would probably leave Jicheng north and come with Han Sui to save Xingguo. That would disrupt the initial arrangement. But Xiahou Yuan had his reason. He said that we would go to Jincheng thousands of miles to fight Jincheng, how could we keep Xingguo behind me and threaten my food route? If Ma Chao came, he would be unable to defend Jicheng. Without Jicheng, what's the use of many others? In a few days, he would have to hunger. Will he give up Jicheng for a Di king? Obviously impossible. As for Han Sui, if he was willing to come and fight, it would be better, so that I would not have to rush over thousands of miles away.

Ma Su had no choice but to have any disagreement with him as soon as he arrived at Xiahou Yuan's tent. Xu Huang, Zhu Ling and others did not want to have a Xingguo behind him. It would be useless to insist on him alone, so they had to keep silent.

Xiahou Yuan immediately ordered the siege. He did not send all the troops at once, but sent Zhu Ling to lead his troops to attack for a day at all costs, and then pretended to give up and retreat. Qian Wan was frightened by the aggressive Xiahou Yuan and sent people to ask for help from Ma Chao and Han Sui overnight. However, Xiahou Yuan came and went quickly. After a day of fierce attack, he left behind the bodies of more than 3,000 people and retreated. When the scout found that Xiahou Yuan had retreated to fifty.

After inside and outside, he felt relieved, and his nervousness had been nervous for two or three days. He drank some wine that night and went to bed. Unexpectedly, Xiahou Yuan only rested in the middle of the night and rushed to 50 miles overnight. At dawn, he was still sleeping soundly with his woman in his bed. Xiahou Yuan surrounded Xingguo City again, and 20,000 people rushed up and attacked with a simple ladder. If Xiahou Zhu hadn't stopped him, he would have almost committed suicide with his personal guards.

The city defense materials prepared in Xingguo City have been almost exhausted after one day of strong attack yesterday. I feel that since Xiahou Yuan has left, he will not come again for the time being, and no one has arranged for timely replenishment. The soldiers were attacked by Zhu Ling for one day yesterday, and more than a thousand people were killed or injured. Then they defended for the middle of the night. Only in the middle of the night did they dare to rest assured to sleep. When Xiahou Yuan came, most of them were sleeping soundly. The city could not organize effective defense at all, but Cao's army went all out. Except for the cavalry watching the battle next to them, Xiahou said that Xu Huang and Zhu Ling three generals took the battle personally. Xingguo City only lasted for half an hour before changing hands. The Di king was owled by Xiahou, the first Xiahou who entered the mansion, and Xiahou Yuan immediately ordered the slaughter of the city and killed all the adult men in Xingguo City.

Ma Su strongly opposed the massacre of the city. Xiahou said that Xu Huang and Zhu Ling had been staying under Cao Chong's men. He knew that Cao Chong was most disgusted with the people who massacre the city. However, when Xiahou Yuan's order was still persuading them, Xiahou Yuan's men had already swung their swords and quickly completed the task.

Ma Su had no choice but to stop Xiahou Yuan, so he had to write a report on the incident and give it to Cao Chong. Xiahou Yuan slaughtered Xingguo and did not rest. He immediately rushed west to Pingxiang. Or was his attack on Xingguo too fast, or his bloody means of massacre of the city were very deterrent, and the defenders of Pingxiang City did not hesitate at all. As soon as Xiahou Yuan arrived, he tied himself out of the city and surrendered.

At this time, Ma Chao had just received the news that Xiahou Yuan surrounded Xingguo City and was still hesitating whether to send troops, and then the news that Xingguo City was slaughtered came. Ma Chao was furious, and the Qianghu and Hu were all red in their eyes and came to ask for battle. Ma Chao ordered the troops to go out of the city, but was stopped by Ma Jian.

Ma Zong said it very simply. Xiahou Yuan’s methods are ruthless, but what’s the use of you going? Xingguo has been lost, and he has been dead, and you can’t save him even if you go. If there are fewer people, you don’t have enough food for Xiahou Yuan and there are too many people, what should I do if Jicheng? I heard that Shangbi has been increasing troops, obviously waiting for you to leave the city, so they can come and seize Jicheng. What’s more, since he killed Wei Kang, there are many people in Jicheng who have complained that you are here to keep you here, and they are still more stable. If you leave the city, can they still be stable?

Ma Chao's face turned red with anger, but he had no choice but to send troops at the risk of losing Jicheng for the sake of Xingguo City and the dead tens of millions. But if he didn't send troops, how could those Qiang and Hu appease him?

Ma Zong thought of an idea and said to Ma Chao: "It's not impossible to send troops to avenge tens of millions of people, but it's not possible now. Xiahou Yuan succeeded in the battle and was in a strong morale. Now he will definitely continue to go west. The more he goes west, the longer the supply line will be, and the more opportunities we have, we have more cavalry, and it's too easy to attack his food route. Now we have to find out how many guards there are in Shangji, so we can know how many troops we can call out to attack Xiahou Yuan. Moreover, General Han will not wait for him to come to the door, and will definitely set up defenses in Yuzhong. Xiahou Yuan ran for a long distance, and the veterans of the teacher were tired. We just attacked him in front and back, and we were just going to hit him."

When Ma Chao heard this, he was very satisfied. When the Qianghu heard this, he felt that the horse farm was more appropriate, so he stepped down. Ma Chao immediately sent people to Shangji to inquire about the situation. Unexpectedly, Deng Ai was very careful and his scout could not get close to Shangji at all. At this moment, some of the Cao army's troops were sent by Chen Cang to capture Sanguan and enter Wudu County. Ma Chao became nervous for a moment, and hesitated even more when he was not determined to send troops.

Seeing that Ma Chao did not send troops to chase him, Xiahou Yuan felt more at ease. He commanded the army to advance rapidly. In half a month, he advanced 500 miles and forced into the Warriors City in Jincheng County, leaving only twenty miles in Yuzhong. At this time, Han Sui also received the news and immediately sent Cheng Gongying and Han Yin to lead 20,000 troops to the Warriors City. Before leaving, he warned Han Yin that Xiahou Yuan came from afar. What he most hoped was that we would fight with him. Don't be fooled by him, defend the city well, and wait for his spirit first. After ten days and half a month, Ma Chao would definitely send people to attack his food route. At that time, he would be distracted. We would accumulate energy and attack Ma Chao's men and horses in one fell swoop.

Han Yin was a little unbelievable, and he doubted whether Ma Chao would send someone. Han Sui said with confidence: "Don't worry, Ma Mengqi will definitely come. If I lose, his back will be occupied by Xiahou Yuan. Even if he considers it for himself, he will come."

Han Yin left, and Han Sui immediately invited Jiang Gan. He said to Jiang Gan with a very ugly expression: "You are here to persuade me to surrender to the court, but Xiahou Yuan is at the city. What do you mean?"

Jiang Gan smiled and looked at Han Sui in a bit of incredible sense: "How can you say this by General? Although I have been in Jincheng for more than a month, you have never said that you should surrender to the court. General Xiahou led his troops to suppress the rebellion. This is a natural thing. What's so strange about this?"

Han Sui had a huge face and didn't say anything for a long time. Jiang Gan's words were a bit scoundrel, but it was the truth. Since you don't surrender, of course they have to beat him. As for which one he beats first, that's his right. Han Sui was very hesitant. In the past month, he had discovered that Han Yin was not a qualified heir. He had a rough personality. Although he made some progress with the assistance of Cheng Gongying, he was still too far from his request. He had no confidence in Han Yin and felt that he was dying by himself.

He could no longer maintain the current situation, and who else would he pass it on to him? His son-in-law Yan Xing is a good candidate, but he is Cao Chong's confidant, and this time he came back with Xiahou Yuan. He definitely did not come to show his goodwill to him, but he was probably to avenge his father. Apart from Yan Xing, it was only Cheng Gongying the most suitable, but Han Sui had to hand over such great strength to an outsider instead of his son, no matter how rational Han Sui was, he could not make up his mind.

If you can win a battle, you will propose to Cao Chong to surrender, and at least you must seek the position of prefect and leave it to your son.

Han Sui made up his mind secretly.

Just when Han Sui was about to give up, Ma Chao sent a quick horse to send a message, which immediately made Han Sui change his mind. Ma Chao's letter said that he had received a news that there were only more than 10,000 people in Deng Ai who were guarding him and was not strong enough to attack Jicheng. He decided to leave 10,000 people to defend the city and personally led an army of 20,000 to rescue Jincheng. He hoped that Han Sui would be prepared. The two worked together to severely damage Xiahou Yuan and hit Cao Chong's arrogance hard. If they could win, then Cao Chong would not be able to launch an attack on Xiliang for the time being. They could get more time and be more confident during negotiations.
Chapter completed!