Three Kingdoms Strong Army System

Cao Cao's scouts were not vegetarian either. They soon found out that Liu Zhang had sent two armies to attack Ping County and Yique Pass on the flanks of Luoyang.

The status of these two places, Yiqueguan, is far inferior to that of the Warring States Period, and Ping County is just a small town. Although it is near Luoyang, the population has long been inferior to previous years after being surrounded by Li Jue and Guo Si.

Moreover, the city of Ping County is not strong and it is difficult to hold on to it.

But at this time, you must stick to it.

Some defeated soldiers came back one after another. Cao Cao's available troops in the Luoyang area are still less than [-].

Xia Houyuan had 5000 troops in Yique Pass, and he sent [-] men from Yujin to guard Ping County. In this way, there are still more than [-] troops in Luoyang City.

Pingxian County and Yiqueguan guarded Luoyang's flanks, and the cavalry led by Ma Chao and Zhang Liao bypassed Luoyang, but they were also found out by the scouts at these two places, and they immediately reported to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao knew that these cavalry must have gone to the rear to cut off the food road.

Cao Cao envied such a large cavalry.

Now he also has some cavalry under his command, but only tiger and leopard cavalry can be called an elite cavalry unit.

But this army, numbering only [-], is still in Xuchang, Yingchuan.

It is obvious that the enemy cavalry who came up from the scouting report are elite.

To deal with cavalry, of course it is best to use cavalry, but Cao Cao does not have so many elite cavalry under his command.

Over the years, what Cao Cao envied most was that both Yuan Shao and Liu Zhang had a large number of elite cavalry under their command.

If the soldiers and horses are not moving, the grain and grass will go first.

For the army, food and grass are the key that can directly affect the outcome.

Guo Jia immediately suggested that Cao Cao also send cavalry to destroy these enemy cavalry, because there are more than [-] cavalry in Luoyang City.

However, Cao Cao believed that his cavalry was no match for the opponent's cavalry in terms of the same number, but if he didn't go and let the opponent harass his food road, it would be very dangerous.

For a while, Cao Cao was in a dilemma, and Cao Cao had difficulty making a choice.

Only a moment later, Cao Cao received the news that the two groups of enemy troops had already arrived outside Ping County and Yique Pass.

At this moment, Cao Cao regretted it.

He didn't expect that Liu Zhang's reaction was so fast, and his actions followed one after another. Doesn't his army need to rest?

However, no one could answer his question.

Because, no one thought that Hangu Pass could not hold on for half a month, and no one thought that Cao Cao would lead the army to fight Liu Zhang in person, and it would be a big defeat.

So much so that they built a line of defense in Luoyang in advance, and now they want to build a line of defense, build forts and strongholds in the dangerous places of Ping County-Luoyang-Yique Pass, and time is not enough.

The enemy will not just watch them build a line of defense.

If you just rely on Luoyang, the isolated city will be hard to defend.

For Cao Cao, this is not what he wants to see.

However, the situation will not change in the direction Cao Cao thought.

One by one, the news came from the front line through the scouts.

The enemies who appeared outside Ping County and Yique Pass sent out some troops to call for formation, and built camps under the pass.

Their aura that they were bound to break through made Cao Cao feel a little uncomfortable.

there is always a solution to a problem.

He didn't have anything to say, he just ordered the ministries to guard the line of defense and repel the enemy.

He recruited several confidants, Xun You, Guo Jia, etc., to inquire about countermeasures.

However, the army was defeated and morale was low, so it was really not suitable to fight.

Xun You proposed to guard the city tightly and wait for the enemy's army to be exhausted and show their weaknesses before counterattacking.

Guo Jia also had no good strategy, so Cao Cao had no choice but to do so first.

In the next few days, Liu Zhang's party and three groups of troops attacked Pingxian, Luoyang and Yiqueguan successively, but made no progress.

However, Liu Zhang was in no hurry.

Because his food road is very safe.

The grain transported from Guanzhong first went to Hongnong County along the Yaohan Passage, and then was stored in Mianchi.

Every three days, there will be a transport team to transport grain and grass from Mianchi to Gucheng through Gushui.

Because it is transported by water, the transportation volume is very large. The grain and grass transported from Guanzhong can be 100 shi for 80 shi. It is not a problem at all to maintain Liu Zhang's 10 troops.

But Cao Cao's side is different.

Because he has always been short of food.

Another five days later, the Luoyang defense line was still not breached by Liu Zhang.

However, Gan Ning and Yan Xing attacked the city many times, and Yu Jin was gradually unable to resist. The [-] defenders in Ping County are now less than half.

Yiqueguan is built on the mountain, and the terrain is more dangerous than Ping County, so it is still relatively stable.
Of course, this is not the point. The point is that Luoyang City has not received food and grass for two days.

At this time, Cao Cao remembered that Liu Zhang and two cavalry had bypassed Luoyang and headed to the rear.

They knew about this, but those cavalry were well-equipped, and they looked like Liu Zhang's elite cavalry.

As for Cao Cao's troops in Luoyang, there were not many cavalry. He was worried that he would lose the field battle with Liu Zhang's elite cavalry.

Ma Chao and Zhang Liao led [-] cavalry each. After bypassing Luoyang City, they shuttled through the hinterland of Henan Yin and finally found Cao Cao's food road.

They unceremoniously launched an attack on Cao Cao's grain transport team.

One side of the food transport team is composed of ordinary people and old and weak soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is limited.

Ma Chao and Zhang Liao's cavalry charged and defeated the food transport team. They killed everyone and burned the food and grass on the spot.

In the past few days, they have already killed three of Cao Cao's grain transportation teams.

The good news is that Luoyang is a big city, and there is a lot of grain in the city, so there will be no food crisis in a short time.

So you come and go, Liu Zhang's army is resisted by Cao Cao to the west of Luoyang.

After another five days, Ping County could no longer resist and was attacked by Gan Ning and Yan Xing. Yu Jin retreated towards Luoyang with thousands of remnants.

Fortunately, Cao Cao sent Li Dian and Che Zhou to rescue in time, so that the disabled army could return to Luoyang safely.

Once Ping County is lost, Liu Zhang can threaten Luoyang from the north.

After another ten days, Yique Pass was also in danger.

However, Xia Houyuan ordered the young and strong around him to help make defensive equipment such as meteorites, thunderstones and rolling logs, so he could hold on for a while.

At the end of April, Luoyang was still in the hands of Cao Cao, but Cao Cao lost 3 troops.

In the entire Henan Yin, his strength is only more than 7.

Guo Jia made a suggestion to him - stay away and let Luoyang out.

In this way, Liu Zhang's supply line can be lengthened, and the morale of the army can be adjusted to fight again.

After Cao Cao thought for a while, he adopted Guo Jia's suggestion and withdrew from Luoyang overnight, and the army went to Gong County and retreated to Rongyang.

He did not retreat south to Xuchang, Yingchuan County, because the south was mountainous and the army was inconvenient to move, but Rongyang was different.

Because there is Hulao Pass in Rongyang.

Hulao Pass is the gateway to the east of Luoyang, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. With Hulao Pass, Luoyang is very stable.