Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 643 The Four Conditions
While the battle outside Jianchang City was about to start, there was also a small-scale military meeting being held in Xiangyang's State Shepherd's Mansion.

Not many people participated, only a few people such as Cai Mao, Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Pang Ji, and Han Song.They still don't know that Xuzhou has launched a surprise attack on Jianchang, but the focus of discussion is on Nanyang.

"General, what exactly does Cao Mengde mean?"

Pang Ji frowned, stroked the thin beard under his lips, and looked puzzled: "Didn't you say that in his previous letter, he already said that he was the Yangzhou Army who promised to help me attack the king's government in Jingzhou? Why did Zhang Xiu A letter from Bian, saying that a Yanzhou army has entered the territory of Nanyang, and even stationed at Bowangpo outside Wancheng?"

Cai Hao hadn't spoken yet, but Kuai Yue on the side had already echoed, "That's right, although it is said that the garrison is only fifty miles away from the city, and there is no stance of attacking the city, but this kind of behavior is very suspicious. Cao Cao still looks down on Nanyang. It's really hard to say what the intention is."

Cai Hao sat cross-legged on the couch, slightly closed his eyes, as if he was listening to what Kuai Liang and Han Song were saying, but he didn't seem to be listening. After a while, he opened his eyes, picked up the teacup on the desk, and took a sip , just now said unhurriedly: "Then according to the two opinions? What kind of mystery do you think Mr. Cao's move contains?"

"From what I see below." Kuai Yue pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Cao Cao may have two purposes for this move."

Cai Mao cupped his hands and said, "Please tell me Yidu (the word of Kuai Yue), I will listen with all my ears."

"For one thing, Cao Cao wants to watch from the sidelines first, to see how far the battle between us and Yangzhou will go after the official start of the war."

Kuai Yue said: "Wang Zheng was originally a member of the Qingzhou Army under Cao Cao's command, but he surrendered and rebelled. Not only that, but he also indirectly destroyed Cao Cao's plan to conquer Xuzhou. Cao Cao naturally hated him deeply. The two sides are at a stalemate, and even if we lose a little bit, Cao Cao will just let go of this opportunity, just as he agreed with General Cai, he will immediately send troops to help and attack the king's government together, but if the situation does not develop like this, then It's hard to say."

Cai Mao's expression changed when he heard the words: "Brother Pang, what do you mean, if Yangzhou's army is as powerful as a broken bamboo and wins all battles, Cao Cao will backtrack?"

"Probably so." Kuai Yue said: "In terms of strength, Cao Cao is not as good as Wang Zheng now, and Yanzhou is adjacent to Xuzhou. If he is not fully sure, Cao Cao would not dare to fight against him. Then the final result will be Yanzhou. Not only will the army not help us, it may even be possible.”

When he said this, he stopped talking, but the people present already understood what he meant, and everyone's heart shuddered.

What else could it be?Of course, it is to take advantage of the fire to rob, and take advantage of the fact that most of the Jingzhou army's main force is in the south, to conquer Nanyang!

"The analysis of Yidu is also reasonable."

Perhaps it was finally promoted from the second person to the highest position. Cai Mao, who has real power now, has more cities than before, and his expression is still calm. He just nodded slightly, and asked: "There is one, there must be another Bar?"

"Secondly, Bowang's soldiers and horses may just be the forwards of the Yanzhou Army. They are stationed here, waiting for the follow-up reinforcements to arrive before they all go south. Didn't the sentry cavalry sent by Zhang Xiu say, The movement of soldiers and horses on the border of Yingchuan is very frequent recently, maybe it is Cao Cao who is dispatching troops and generals."

Hearing this, Pang Ji on the side couldn't help but said: "Just wait for the number of people to be ready, why should we station in Nanyang, you know that Jingnan is the front line of the war?"

"Maybe it's because Cao Cao thinks it's unrealistic for our army to "keep the enemy out of the country"."

Hearing this, Kuai Yue glanced at Cai Mao, hesitated for a moment, and said carefully, "Perhaps he still thinks that the main battlefield of this war is still in Nanjun."

This analysis is reasonable. In fact, it is not only Cao Cao who thinks this way, but even Brother Kuailiang privately thinks that it is unrealistic to stop the Xuzhou Army's southern march in Yuzhang.

After all, the achievements of the Xuzhou army in the past few years are indeed too brilliant. From Kong Rong to Liu Bei, from Yuan Shu to Sun Ce, and even the world's most powerful army Jizhou Qiangnu, they all suffered hatred and defeat under Wang Zheng's hands. Against such an enemy, To be honest, few people really have much confidence that they will win, let alone defend against the enemy outside the country.

However, these people are internal affairs counselors, and military strategy is not their director, so even if they are uneasy, they still let Cai Mao formulate the overall plan for defending Yangzhou.

"Hehe," Cai Mao was noncommittal when he heard the words, just smiled, took another sip of tea, and asked Han Song, "What do you think of Mr. Degao (Han Song's character)?"

Han Song is a very talented person, and Liu Biao has always relied heavily on him. When Jingzhou changed hands, he happened to go to Wuling to inspect the area. Because of the embarrassment of standing on the wrong team, Cai Mao was still very polite to him.

Hearing Cai Mao's question, Han Song was not in a hurry to reply. Instead, he walked to the map hanging on the wall, stared at it for a long time, then turned around and said loudly, "What Mr. Kuai said is true. The reason why the Yanzhou army is in Bowang It is very likely that it is really because of these two reasons, but apart from these two points, there is another guess at the bottom."

Cai Mao looked sideways and asked, "What guess?"

"It's just an idea, not mature. Maybe it's not right."

"Just tell me, sir."

Han Song nodded, pointed at the map and said, "I don't know if the general still remembers that many days ago, Huang Zu sent someone to report that a group of soldiers and horses suddenly appeared in Jiangxia territory, about five thousand."

"I will remember." Cai Mao asked, "So what?"

"The place where this trilogy first appeared was Pingchun County in the northwest of Jiangxia."

Han Songdao: "Based on the marching route, the opponent should enter Jiangxia from Runan, Yuzhou, so it is very likely that it is the Yanzhou Army sent by Cao Cao. , no whereabouts, as if suddenly evaporated."

"From my point of view, this army horse may be the root cause of Cai Mao's inaction.

"how do I say this?"

"Where soldiers are used, they use righteousness and odds to win. Although Cao Mengde was born, hey, he is not a famous family, but he is proficient in the art of war and has a strategy in his belly. Back in Yanzhou, he was hunting, and even the invincible Wen Hou Lu Bu was defeated by this man Although some of Yuan Shao's subordinates are part of Yuan Shao's help, it is enough to prove that Cao Cao is by no means a mediocre general, and seeing that he used troops in the past, he liked to use strange troops to win. The 5000 men and horses do not seem to be many, but perhaps it was Cao Cao who aimed at Wang Zheng. A wonderful hand that was planted in advance."

"Even if this soldier horse is used as an ambush and a surprise soldier, what does it have to do with Nanyang's soldiers and horses standing still?"

Cai Mao was stunned and said: ""Can you explain in more detail, sir? ""

"General, please think about it. This soldier and horse can completely avoid the eyes and ears of Jiang Xia sentry cavalry. It seems that they deliberately covered their tracks. Since they deliberately covered up, it is impossible to march fast."

Han Song said: "In this way, in a short period of time, they may not have reached the location Cao Cao planned. The Yanzhou Army in Nanyang is standing still, and they are also waiting for this road to be in place."

"Among the princes in the world, Cao Cao has the deepest relationship with Wang Zheng, the earliest acquaintance, and the most familiar with his ability and strength. It is for this reason that even though Cao Cao hated this son to the bone, as Kuai Jun said, he has always restrained himself. In the past few years, there has never been a direct conflict with Wang Zheng."

"It is precisely because of this that if Cao Cao helps me Jingxiang this time, his purpose is not only to destroy Wang Zheng's southern expedition plan, but to defeat Wang Zheng head-on! This son has suffered a disastrous defeat, his vitality has been seriously injured, and he will not be able to recover within a few years!" Han Song said loudly: "And if you want to accomplish such a strategic goal, general, tell me, will Cao Cao take the lead again and highlight his tricks? ?”

"Ben will understand."

Cai Mao pondered for a moment, then clapped the case and shouted: "Sir, the real intention of Yanzhou Army's garrison in Nanyang is that they don't want to alert Wang Zheng in advance, and they want to use our Jingzhou Army to attract Yangzhou Army. Sudden attack at a critical moment, taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, to deal Wang Zheng a head-on blow?"

Han Song nodded: "Exactly."

Cai Mao thought so, and was about to speak when Kuai Liang, who hadn't spoken since entering the hall, suddenly said: "Today, Wangzheng has nine counties, and the total number of soldiers and horses dispatched this time is not one hundred thousand, at least close to it. As a surprise soldier, the [-] Yanzhou Army wants to control the overall situation, is it a little too small, and there is no doubt that they are too powerful?"

"The sages have said that the soldiers are more expensive than the more expensive." Han Song laughed: "If five thousand cavalry suddenly appeared at the critical moment of the confrontation between the two armies or the fierce battle, it would actually be enough to stir up the situation and reverse the outcome!"

"Even as you said, I still have doubts about Cao Cao's intentions." Kuai Liang said in a deep voice, "Among these three guesses, in my opinion, the first one is actually the most likely."

Hearing this, Cai Mao was slightly displeased.

We must know that in the original history, the reason why Jingzhou surrendered without a fight when facing Cao Cao was that in addition to Cao Cao's power and prestige at that time, the personal relationship between Cai Mao and Cao Cao also played a key role.

Although there is no record in the history books that Cai Mao and Cao Cao ever met, after Cao Cao captured Jingzhou, Cao Cao visited Cai Mao in person, went into his private room, called his wife, and said to Cai Mao: "De Gui, our old friend, we have met together. Liang Mengxing. We won't see Liang Mengxing at this time. Now, you and I can meet again, it's really a pleasure." It can be seen that the friendship between the two is very strong.

However, Kuai Liang's identity is unusual after all, and if he hadn't defected again after Liu Biao's "stroke" and convinced Wen Pin, Cai Mao might not be where he is today. So, how should we deal with it?"

"No matter how aggressive the Yangzhou army is, the troops in Wancheng and Wuyin must not be mobilized for precaution."

After thinking for a while, Kuai Liang pointed to the map and said, "And Degui, you should communicate with Huang Zu in advance. No matter what, you must try to find out the details of the five thousand soldiers and horses. Who is the general and what is their purpose? Where are you going now?"

"Brother Han said that this is a cavalry route. I also agree with this point, but whether it is a surprise soldier targeting Wang Zheng, or a surprise soldier targeting me, Jingxiang. Hey, it is really hard to say at the moment."

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and the room immediately became quiet, so quiet that a needle could be heard.

Cai Mao stared at the map, thought deeply for a while, and then sighed, "Let's Yi Zirou."

Unexpectedly, Kuai Liang still didn't give up, continued to stare at Cai Mao, and said in a deep voice: "Degui, you seem to have forgotten another thing?"

Cai Mao was startled when he heard the words: "What's the matter?"

"How could Cao Cao help each other for nothing? He is not a benevolent and righteous gentleman like Liu Bei, and he would not be anxious for justice and help those in need." Kuai Liang smiled mockingly and said, "So did he put forward any conditions?"

Cai Mao was silent for a while before nodding.

Cao Cao’s letter said it sounded good, but naturally it is impossible to really help Jing Xiang for nothing. Of course, he will not come to talk to Cai Mao personally about such things. When the representatives of the two parties met privately, Yanzhou proposed three condition.

First of all, the soldiers and horses were not moved, and the food and grass went first. Since the army was sent to assist, Cao Cao asked Cai Mao to ensure the safety of logistics transportation after the Yanzhou army entered the battle.

Secondly, it is the same as when Wang Zheng helped Yuan Shu to quell the chaos. Since it is helping you in Jingzhou, then the consumption incurred in this battle, including food fodder, soldiers and horses, equipment, etc., will naturally be paid by Jingzhou.

The last one is related to Yuan Shao. What Cao Cao means is, this time I helped Jingzhou, so if Yuan Shao comes to attack me next time, you will reciprocate and help me fight against Yuan Shao's Jizhou army!

These three conditions are actually reasonable, especially the last one, which may best explain why Cao Cao chose to make a move this time. It is that after a complete break with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, who is not as strong as the opponent, plans to choose Jingzhou as a new ally , Mutual Watch.

But Kuai Liang was still a little dubious after listening to it, "Are these three really the only ones?"

"Are these three not enough?"

Cai Mao said with a smile: "Yuan Shaozhi and Cao Gong are just like the king's government is like Jingzhou. These two thieves are both rebellious officials who have no ruler and father, and thugs who are poor soldiers who redeem their weapons. Not only will the world be in chaos, but we will also have trouble sleeping and eating." Ann, I can't comfort you for a day!"

Of course he would not, and he did not dare to tell Kuai Liang and everyone present that Cao Cao actually had a fourth condition, that is, Cao Cao hoped that after defeating Wang Zheng, Nanyang County would return to the imperial court's control.

The so-called return to control, to be more specific, means that in all counties and towns of Nanyang County, all officials must be appointed, dismissed and dispatched by Xu Du.

To put it bluntly, this situation is to cede land and become a vassal.

Don't look at the fact that Cao Cao in history was able to conquer the entire Jingzhou without a single soldier. After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao unified the entire Northland.

What about now?How much strength and how many troops does he have?Not only is it not as good as Wang Zheng and Yuan Shao, but even Jingzhou is not as good.
How could such a Cao Cao be truly recognized by the local forces, let alone cede land and proclaim himself a vassal?

What an international joke!
(End of this chapter)