"Unless Xu Rong dies, it will be difficult to own Yanzhou!"

In Jiyin County, Cao Cao's army launched a counterattack against the Yanzhou Allied Forces. However, Li Dian, who was in charge of transporting grain, was ambushed by Xu Rong, the Cavalry Commander of the Yanzhou Allied Army. Seven thousand units of grain were lost and more than a thousand soldiers were killed.

Li Dian fought and retreated, so he was not captured by Xu Rong.

Xia Liang worshiped Xu Rong as the cavalry captain and came to support the Yanzhou coalition forces to suppress Cao Cao, with great results.

Xu Rong performed outstandingly and used his superior troops to cause Cao Cao a lot of trouble, greatly delaying Cao Cao's advance.

In particular, Xu Rong's special attack on the grain road made Cao Cao, who was on the offensive side, passive.

Now Cao Cao is no longer the stupid young man he was back then. He has gradually become a powerful man and has a team of elite veterans.

Even so, Cao Cao was still tortured by Xu Rong and restrained in every way.

The Yanzhou coalition, with Pang Juan as the infantry commander, confronted Cao Cao head-on, while Xu Rong and other cavalry generals attacked Cao Cao's flanks or grain roads in an attempt to force Cao Cao to retreat and prevent Cao Cao from unifying Yanzhou.

Prince Wen, the governor of Jiyin County, still did not give up the idea of ​​competing with Cao Cao for Yanzhou.

During this period, Zhou Yafu and Zhou Cang led an army of 40,000, with Xiliu Camp as the core, and set out from Pengcheng to attack Peixian (Peiguo of Yuzhou) and Fengxian (Peiguo of Yuzhou), expand the territory of Xuzhou to two counties, and open up Xuzhou and Yanzhou.

Passage of Jiyin County.

Xiaopei belongs to the Yuzhou Pei Kingdom, but it is sandwiched between Yuzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou. It can threaten the three states and is a battleground for military strategists. Therefore, many battles in the Three Kingdoms occurred around Xiaopei. Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Lu Bu,

Yuan Shu once attacked Xiaopei or garrisoned troops in Xiaopei.

Xia Liang realized the importance of Xiaopei, so he sent Zhou Yafu to capture Peixian County in the name of supporting the Yanzhou coalition forces, and also captured Fengxian County, gaining a bridgehead to attack Yanzhou or Yuzhou.

After Zhou Yafu's army captured two counties, it established a supply line and then marched into Jiyin County.

Cao Cao faced unprecedented pressure.

His military strength was always at a disadvantage, and with Zhou Yafu's 40,000 Xuzhou soldiers supporting the Yanzhou soldiers, Cao Cao had to use the strength of one county to fight against the soldiers of two states.

"In this way, our army will be destroyed."

Cao Cao marked the advancing routes of various troops on the map, among which Zhou Yafu's army posed the greatest threat.

Zhou Yafu's army is a full force with no losses. Once Zhou Yafu arrives in Dingtao, Cao Cao's strategic intention to capture Dingtao will undoubtedly be shattered.

Encirclement and reinforcements were ineffective. First of all, there were many Yanzhou coalition forces in Dingtao, and Cao Cao did not have the extra troops to mobilize reinforcements while besieging the city. Secondly, he might not be able to defeat Zhou Yafu if he divided his forces.

Zhou Yafu played steadily, and the probability of being ambushed, tricked, or confused was extremely small.

If you want to defeat Zhou Yafu, you can only fight Zhou Yafu head-on.

Xu Rong's Yanzhou cavalry made up for Zhou Yafu's disadvantage of having only a small number of Xuzhou cavalry.

Therefore, Cao Cao's situation was worse than imagined.

"Perhaps this is not a good opportunity to capture Dingtao. The lord can divide his troops to attack Chenliu County. Chenliu lacks the governor and the Yiren lord is weak. He holds Dongjun, Chenliu, Yuan Shao to the north, Yuan Shu to the south, and Liu Dai and Bao to the east.

Faith can defeat Chu Zizhi's conspiracy."

The mastermind Xun You proposed the technique of combining vertical and horizontal lines.

"Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are mortal enemies, how can they come and go at the same time?"

"Yuan Shao was dissatisfied with Chu Zimou at Hulao Pass and had hatred for a long time. Furthermore, Chu Zimou became the shepherd of Xuzhou at a young age and was on an equal footing with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. The latter felt dissatisfied and would definitely be willing to send troops to attack Chu Zimou.

"

Not only Cao Cao, Xun You and other think tanks are thinking of ways to break the situation, but players in high positions in Cao Cao's camp are also trying to reverse the outcome for Cao Cao.

"It is said that Prime Minister Xia Pi is preparing to go to Dingtao to command the Yanzhou coalition forces to launch a second attack on us."

"Zhou Yafu's army will arrive soon, and our chances of winning are slim."

"How about a divorce plan?"

"The alienation plan is basically useless against Prime Minister Pi. She is a player and knows that the probability of Zhou Yafu's rebellion is very small, so she will not fall into the plan at all. Only some incompetent princes would do such stupid things as changing generals on the spot."

"How about sending assassins to kill Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, Yuan Yi, the governor of Shanyang, and Liu Chong, the king of Chen, and seize all their armies? In this way, we can at least get the possessions of Jibei Kingdom, Shanyang County, and Chen Kingdom.

The ability to compete with Chu Zimou. These counties are just a waste in the hands of those incompetent governors. If these troops are controlled by Cao Cao, they can exert huge combat effectiveness."

The player who once assassinated Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, once again proposed using unconventional means of assassination to seize control of nearby states and counties.

The other core players who defected to Cao Cao had never thought of carrying out such a large-scale assassination operation.

This time the target is several prefects, even governors, and royal family members!

The purpose of the assassination was to allow Cao Cao to legitimately control the above-mentioned counties and expand Cao Cao's territory.

The reason why Cao Cao was held back by the Yanzhou Allied Forces was mostly because the territory was too small and the troops were insufficient. It was already the limit for him to fight against several counties at the same time with the power of one county.

If Cao Cao could control half or even most of Yanzhou, this would not be the case at all.

"The relationship between Cao Cao and Bao Xin is not bad. If we assassinate Bao Xin, it may cause Cao Cao to be dissatisfied or distrustful of us."

"You are worrying too much. Cao Cao is a heroic figure. Now he is struggling to break the situation. If he can win through assassination, it is not a bad idea. So what if he sacrifices Bao Xin? After Bao Xin's death, Cao Cao can legitimately gain Yu Jin's allegiance. He

He will just turn a blind eye, and maybe he will promote me later."

"The pressure brought by Zhou Yafu's army is too great. Maybe you can try your assassination plan."

The interests of this group of players are tied to Cao Cao's power. They serve as officials under Cao Cao or command troops, and they consider issues from Cao Cao's perspective.

If they can successfully help Cao Cao expand through assassination, they may be able to prosper as a result.

"It is better to send assassins to assassinate Zhou Yafu or Xia Pi Prime Minister Xia Liang. As soon as they die, the civil strife in Xuzhou will be over immediately."

Some players have proposed a more risky assassination plan.

When an ordinary man is angry, blood will be splashed five steps. Assassins can sometimes change the direction of history.

Now Xia Liang is in charge of the internal affairs of Xuzhou, and Zhou Yafu is the one who goes to Yanzhou. As long as these two figures are assassinated, the pressure brought by Xuzhou will naturally be relieved.

"Inappropriate. We are just fighting for hegemony with Chu Zimou in a conventional way. We are Cao Cao's subordinates, not lords. Even if we are defeated, as long as we surrender, he will let us go. But if we use unconventional means to anger Chu Zimou, he will come back

In the future, if we get angry and massacre the city during the crusade against Yanzhou, we will be in misfortune. Furthermore, Xia Liang and Zhou Yafu must have a large number of guards around them, so it will be difficult for the assassins to succeed. Instead, they will be resented by the other side."

Soon, this group of relatively sober players gave up the idea of ​​assassinating Xuzhou's top officials.

Assassins have a limited success rate and turn normal confrontations into mortal enemies.

They chose to become Cao Cao's ministers rather than set up their own business, and most of them cherished their own lives.

If one force falls, they can just change to another force. But once the lords and princes are defeated, the fate will be unpredictable.

They didn't know that their decision prevented the massacre of Yanzhou.

Cao Cao's army began to change its strategy of attacking Jiyin County. Xiahou Dun and Xia Houyuan led a partial army to quickly attack Chenliu County, clear out the alien lords in Chenliu County, and turn Chenliu County into their own territory.

Players who took refuge with Cao Cao also began a large-scale assassination operation.

Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin, who trusted Cao Cao, was unprepared. While patrolling nearby, he was attacked by more than ten powerful retainers and assassins and was killed on the spot.

It is said that it was carried out by a small group of cavalrymen belonging to Xu Rong, the cavalry commander of the Yanzhou Allied Forces.

When Cao Cao learned of this, he declared martial law across the entire army and stopped eating for a day.

He had already noticed who was instigating Bao Xin's assassination, but instead of punishing the person behind it, he acquiesced to this behavior. Because the military commander he favored lost his allegiance and formally surrendered to Cao Cao. At the same time, Cao Cao annexed Bao.

Xin's soldiers and horses have control over most of the Jibei Kingdom's territory.

His power expanded from Dongjun to Chenliu County, Jibei Kingdom, and several counties in Jiyin County. His living space was greatly improved, and the previous situation of imminent collapse of his power was reversed.

Cao Cao also became more aware of the importance of land and population. Only with a larger territory can he recruit more soldiers and horses.

After Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin was ambushed and killed, news came that Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai had been assassinated.

"Your Majesty, the latest information is that Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, and Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, were attacked and killed. Cao Cao claimed that it was our Xuzhou army. Cao Cao received tens of thousands of troops and was able to regain his strength and surrounded Dingtao.

while actively expanding outward.”

Xia Liang, who was in Xiapi City at this time, learned that Cao Cao had changed his strategy and was not eager to eliminate Gongzi Wen, but was actively expanding. Liu frowned.

She immediately understood that the person who actually ordered the assassination of Liu Dai and Bao Xin was either Cao Cao himself or Cao Cao's subordinates.

She could not turn a blind eye to Cao Cao's active expansion: "When Zhou Yafu lifts the siege of Dingtao City by Cao Cao's army, I will personally go to Dingtao City to take command. We must attack Cao Cao to force him back to Dongjun."

…

On the battlefield of the National War, Chu Tian successfully joined Hu Ma, the governor of Taiyuan County. Now his camp had seven cities, and the anti-Eastern Han alliance opposite also had the strength of seven cities.

There is little difference in the number of troops between the two sides.

The only thing that caused a headache for the Eastern Han camp might be the war elephant troops of the Kshatriyas, the first lord of the Mughal Empire.

Several lords from the Eastern Han Dynasty camp were discussing in the city how to defeat the enemy in battle.

"The opponent has heroes who specialize in buffing war elephants. Their war elephants are indestructible, and even fire arrows cannot make them violent. You should give up the idea of ​​​​confronting him and defend the city well. War elephants will not climb the wall. They cannot break the city.

, will retreat soon. Also, let me go."

Catherine poured cold water on the three lords of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

"If your cavalry encountered a war elephant, how would you respond?"

"Of course I have to cut off their supply lines. War elephants move slowly and consume a lot of food and grass. If they come to the Great Plains of Eastern Europe and I delay them until winter, a hundred thousand war elephants will all die."

"Winter in Moscow has no solution."
To be continued...