"The food and grass are so abundant?!!!" Huang Zhong gently stroked his long white beard under his chin and sighed, "I only know that the food harvest was a bumper harvest in the past few years, but I didn't expect it to be so sufficient!"

"Jing, Yang, Jiao Sanzhou has mostly ripened twice a year, and Jiaonan can even ripen three times a year (three ripened rice has indeed appeared in Vietnam during the Three Kingdoms period, but the technology is not yet mature). In addition, water conservancy and irrigation facilities in various places are complete, as long as it does not encounter major drought and flood disasters, a bumper harvest can be expected." Zhuge Liang explained with a smile, "And, in order to cope with wars and possible natural disasters, the states and counties have made extremely sufficient grain reserves in recent years..."

Hearing this, the generals in the army breathed a sigh of relief from their hearts.

The final outcome of a war not only depends on the number of soldiers, quality of the generals, the implementation of strategies and tactics, and food, supplies and supplies are also one of the extremely critical factors.

People are iron and rice are steel. If food is insufficient, it will inevitably have a great negative impact on the morale of the soldiers in the army. Especially like the upcoming Northern Expedition. The baggage problem of more than 200,000 soldiers cannot be solved well, and the so-called Northern Expedition can only be just empty talk. All the generals present are those who have been on the battlefield for a long time, so they naturally understand this truth. In fact, when Zhao Yun proposed to question, Lu Xun, Gan Ning and others also showed deep thoughts.

"Yuanzhi, please continue to introduce the strategic deployment of this Northern Expedition to you!" The eldest brother raised his hand to Xu Shu and said in a harmonious voice.

"Yes!" Xu Shu nodded slightly and continued, "This Northern Expedition will be carried out in parallel with Jing and Yang. The purpose is to make it difficult for Cao's army to concentrate its forces to form defense or counterattack. The troops and horses of Jiaozhou and Guangling, as well as the navy units, are mainly responsible for supporting.

The first route was led by the army to attack Xuzhou. From Yangzhou to the north, although both Yan and Xuzhou could be attacked, the lord was once the governor of Xuzhou and was kind to the people of Xuzhou. In addition, during the plague last year, the lord once helped. Yanzhou was the place where Cao Cao made his fortune, and its foundation was relatively stable. If you attack Yan and Xuzhou at the same time, the troops were too dispersed. If you choose one of the states as your target, it is better to attack Xu than to attack Yan.

The Guangling Army was on land and the Jinfan Navy Army was on water and sea routes, and at the same time supported the Yangzhou army to attack Xuzhou. It was also assigned to the lord and marquis.

If the war progresses smoothly and after successfully capturing Xuzhou, a group of troops will be left to form a defense against the Qingzhou direction with the cooperation of the navy. The main army will take advantage of the victory to sweep westward and attack Yanzhou."

After scanning the generals in the hall with a wise look, Xu Shu continued: "In the second line, the general will personally lead the Jingzhou army to the north to attack Nanyang County. If the attack is smooth and after the Nanyang is captured, a group of troops will be used to occupy Wancheng to block Yong and Cao's counterattack. The main force of the Jingzhou army will immediately enter Runan east and attack Yuzhou."

With everyone's attention, Xu Shu hung on the huge map on the screen. His left hand started to mark the area of ​​Xiangyang on the left, and then passed through Nanyang, Runan, Yingchuan and other places. His right hand marked the area of ​​Shouchun and Guangling on the right, and then passed through Pengcheng, Xiapi... and then entered the boundary of Yanzhou to the left. He also drew a semi-ring trajectory. Finally, his hands marked Xuchang on the map and Chenliu's position completed the encirclement.

"Using such a siege between the two wings, completing the strategy of Xu, Yan and Henan, is the first strategic goal."

"Huh~~!" Although I knew that this Northern Expedition was not just to capture one city and half county, when I heard Xu Shu say that he wanted to "complete the strategy for Xu, Yan and Yu," someone couldn't help but exclaim.

Moreover, this is just the first strategic goal!

"If this strategic goal can be successfully completed, Cao Cao's power will be divided into two parts-Hebei Ji, You, and the three prefectures. Guanxi Yong, Si and Hanzhong. By then, the lord completely overwhelmed Cao Cao in terms of strength, and the whole world will be unified, and the Han Dynasty will prosper again." Xu Shu's confident and calm expression couldn't help but increase his confidence in this strategic plan.

"Military advisor, if the first step of the strategy is completed, should we continue to go north?" Liu Pan asked carefully.

"No..." Xu Shu smiled and shook his head, "After completing this strategy, our army will suspend the attack, and use two to three years to restore military strength, accumulate money and grain, and consolidate the Central Plains states, and accumulate strength for the second step of the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition.

If the three states of Xu, Yan and Yu can be successfully captured, the lord will be far stronger than Cao Cao in terms of strength (in terms of population, the three states of Xu, Yan and Yu plus the Nanyang County, which originally belonged to Jingzhou, account for more than 40% of the total population of Jiuzhou under Cao Cao's rule. This is still the case of heavy natural disasters and losses last year. At the same time, these three states are Cao Cao's main grain-producing states.). The longer the time delays, the greater the advantage over the lord.

So, if you really get to that point, the person you can't afford is not the lord, but Cao Cao."

"Military advisor, what is the task of the troops in Jiaozhou?" Lu Xun soon discovered that the Jiaozhou army was not mentioned in Xu Shudi's strategic plan, and asked slowly.

"There are three main problems in this Northern Expedition." Xu Shu nodded lightly to Lu Xun, indicating that he should not be anxious. "One of them is the threat that the Southern Barbarians and the Yizhou Liu Zhang's army may bring. Since all our main army goes north, Jing, Yang and Jiaozhou three states, especially the hinterland of Jingzhou, it seems empty, and the Southern Barbarians and Yizhou Liu Zhang may become potential uneasy factors."

"Has Liu Zhang repaired it with his lord?" Jiang Qinwei said in surprise.

"Although that's the case, Liu Zhang is weak in character and has no tight ears. If he is bewitched by his close confidants, it is not impossible for him to rebel against his lord. And Cao Cao is the best at starting from this aspect." Xu Shu said seriously, "As for the worst case, during our Northern Expedition, the Yizhou Army and the Southern Central Barbarians may be bewitched by Cao Cao and raise an army to pose a threat to our Jingzhou.

If this is true, relying solely on the county and state soldiers is probably unstoppable, so the Jiaozhou army is needed."

Pointing to the map again. Xu Shu said to Lu Xun: "There are two tasks of the Jiaozhou Army - Bo Yan personally led 20,000 troops to station in Hechi area, forming a defense and deterrence against the southern central barbarians; Lu Ziming led 10,000 troops north to Yiling, and coupled with the county and state soldiers of Jingzhou, forming a defense against the Yizhou Army."

Lu Xun nodded gently, not surprised at this arrangement at all.

"The second problem is that this Northern Expedition may encounter a large number of cavalry of Cao's army. Since occupying You and the two states, Cao Cao formed a large cavalry. It is initially estimated that no less than 40,000 cavalry. The Central Plains states have flat terrain, fewer rivers, and mostly plains, which is extremely beneficial to the cavalry fighting. Our army, except for the Feng Cavalry and Iron Cavalry, has no other cavalry, and in terms of number, it must be at least 30,000 cavalry less than the Cao's army. When each unit fights in the northern expedition, it must be more prepared for the Cao cavalry." Xu Shu reminded the generals earnestly.

In terms of the combat effectiveness of the infantry and local forces, our army is no less than the Cao army. But the cavalry is the real king of field wars. In the wars in the south, there are not many opportunities to confront large-scale cavalry clusters, but in the Central Plains or even Hebei, the situation will be completely different. A considerable number of our generals were born in the south and grew up in the south. They lacked the experience of cavalry warfare and were likely to have insufficient understanding of the threat of Cao's cavalry.

It can be said that Xu Shu’s reminder is extremely necessary!

"The third problem is the problem of the local people's quasi-clothing after seizing the prefectures and counties in the Central Plains. It has been said before that due to the continuous natural disasters last year, the five states in the Central Plains were almost unrecovered and food was extremely scarce. And Cao Cao was very likely to implement a strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields, and to give the meals of 100,000 or even one million people. This huge burden was thrown to the lord in an attempt to drag down our army.

If you really encounter such a thing, please be sure to restrain your soldiers under your command and not do anything extreme due to impulse. After using soldiers to maintain local public order, our Jing and Yang states will arrange officials to go to the newly occupied land to preside over local government affairs and be responsible for allocating food to help the people…………”

The strategic plan of the Northern Expedition and all the links that need attention are all combined with the wisdom of Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Lu Su. Even Sima Yi. The plan was made together, which can be said to be quite complete and meticulous.

With the wisdom of any of them, it can be said to be rare in the world, let alone the wisdom of several people.

During Xu Shu's explanation, generals occasionally asked some details and put forward some suggestions. The questions were explained by Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang and others, and the suggestions were decided whether to adopt them after consideration of the collegial proposal.

It lasted for three hours before the military discussion came to an end.

"Whether the Han Dynasty can prosper and whether the people can be rescued depends on this Northern Expedition." The eldest brother stood up and slowly swept over everyone in the hall. Then he gave a deep bow and said earnestly, "I'll be prepared to serve Your Majesty and the people of the Han Dynasty. Please ask all the officials!"

"For the Han Dynasty, Your Majesty, and the Lord, we are willing to do our best!" Starting with me and my second brother, dozens of civil and military generals in the hall took off at the same time, greeted the elder brother deeply, and replied in unison.

"Please get up!" The elder brother raised his hands slightly, signaled everyone to stand up, and then said with a sigh, "Although you cannot attack the thieves personally this time, the talents of the two are better than those of you (the Wujing here means a lot).

I firmly believe that this battle will lead to victory and success. On the day of victory, I wish to drink hundreds of cups with you!”

"The Northern Expedition will be completed, and Han Wei will be prosperous!"

The heroic oath echoed in the hall, heading straight into the sky of the nine heavens...

.

That night, the elder brother set up a feast in the General's Mansion, thinking of the farewell banquet before the Northern Expedition.

At the banquet, the elder brother personally toasted every military general who was about to participate in the Northern Expedition...

After the banquet was gone, the previously lively General's Mansion restored peace.

In the courtyard of the inner courtyard, under the cold moonlight, the mountains, rocks, plants and trees were covered with plain gauze, which looked particularly elegant.

He raised his head toward the vast night sky, and his elder brother's eyes closed slightly, as if he was receiving the baptism of the moonlight.

My second brother and I stood quietly behind our eldest brother, feeling the rare tranquility.
Chapter completed!