Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

After accepting Xu Shu and Shi Tao, and adding the barely usable Fa Zheng, Bingzhou's team of civil officials finally grew stronger, and Zhang Mo also had some free time, so Lu Bu prepared to have a third child.

Lu Bu was not only good at archery, but also good at conceiving. As long as he didn't use birth control pills, he could conceive every time. A month later, Zhang Mo was found to be pregnant again.

However, along with this good news came three other pieces of news that Lu Bu considered to be good news.

One was from the Yanzhou Flying Eagles, which was news about Cao Cao's frequent mobilization of troops and food supplies in recent times.

The second one was from Youzhou. Gongsun Zan's repeated plundering of the people finally angered Liu Yu, who personally led an army of 100,000 to attack Gongsun Zan. Unexpectedly, he was defeated by Gongsun Zan. Then Gongsun Zan slandered Liu Yu and Yuan Shao for planning to become emperor, and used this as an excuse to kill Liu Yu's entire family. Gongsun Zan then took control of the entire Youzhou.

The third was the news that Yuan Shao of Jizhou sent Zhang He and Gao Lan to mobilize troops from the three kingdoms of Hejian, Anping and Qinghe.

In this life, because of the fierce tiger Lu Bu who occupied Bingzhou, Henei and Hedong counties, the alliance between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao became stronger than in history. This time, the two of them mobilized troops at the same time, and Lu Bu had to pay attention.

In Lu Bu's opinion, Cao Cao should be going to attack Xuzhou now, and Yuan Shao will definitely go to fight Gongsun Zan. This is a good thing for Bingzhou, and he can take advantage of the situation to rob. Even Zhang Mo thinks this should be the case.

Because the two knew history in advance, they often couldn't help but follow the historical trajectory when thinking about problems. However, people like Jia Xu and Xu Shu who didn't know history didn't think so.

Jia Xu said, "Xuzhou's Tao Qian is already old, and his descendants are useless. He's like a toothless tiger, or rather, not a tiger at all, but just an old lamb, barely able to bite or escape. If Cao Mengde wants to attack Xuzhou, when can he not?"

Jia Xu's words woke Zhang Mo up from his dream, and her face became heavy. If Tao Qian of Xuzhou was an old lamb, then Lu Bu of Bingzhou was a tiger ready to bite people at any time. With the tiger by his side, how could Cao Cao feel at ease to expose his back to slaughter the lamb?

Bingzhou and Yanzhou had no borders, but Henei County was separated from Yanzhou Dong County by only a river. In addition, Henan Yin had almost become an ownerless land, so Cao Cao's army could easily cross the river through Henan and head north.

The last time Yuan Shao cleared Fukouxing and Baixing in Taihang, Jizhou's troops could also invade Shangdang through them. Could it be that these two people mobilized their troops this time in order to unite and destroy Lu Bu first?

Zhang Mo's expansion strategy has always been to eliminate the strong enemies first and then slowly attack the weak princes. In her eyes, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are the strongest enemies. Similarly, in the eyes of the other party, Lu Bu is also the strongest enemy. As for Gongsun Zan of Youzhou, although he is strong, he is also reckless. Although it is difficult to deal with him, it is not as difficult as Lu Bu.

Xu Shu said, "Once Liu Yu is dead, his former followers will undoubtedly unite with the Wuhuan and Xianbei to attack Gongsun Zan. Yuan Shao anticipated that Gongsun Zan would be too busy to attack the south, so he planned to take advantage of this opportunity and join Cao Cao in conquering Bingzhou."

Jia Xu nodded slightly, "Yuan Zhi is right. This is a rare opportunity for Yuan Shao!"

However, for Bingzhou, the opportunity to take advantage of the situation turned into a huge crisis. Cao Cao's strength has greatly increased since he defeated the Yellow Turbans and repelled Yuan Shu two years ago. In the past two years, he has also actively engaged in military farming. It is roughly estimated that the food and grass in Yanzhou should be enough to support 50,000 to 60,000 troops in a campaign for half a year.

Jizhou has always been rich and powerful. Yuan Shao never considers food and grass when sending troops, but only considers manpower. If there is no need to worry about Gongsun Zan, Jizhou can mobilize 70,000 to 80,000 troops this time!

Historically, after Liu Yu's death, Liu Yu's former subordinates joined forces with the Hu people and Yuan Shao to besiege Gongsun Zan. The two sides forced Gongsun Zan all the way to Yijing and remained in a stalemate for more than a year. Finally, the Hu people had to retreat because they ran out of food.

Then Yuan Shao only rested for a year before launching a large-scale military campaign again. Finally, it took him a year to eliminate Gongsun Zan and unify the north.

This time, Yuan Shao mobilized his troops, if not to join forces with Liu Yu's old subordinates to fight Gongsun, then to take advantage of the opportunity to seize Bingzhou while Gongsun Zan was being restrained.

"What reason will he use to send troops later?" asked Lu Bu.

The last time Gongsun Zan attacked Yuan Shao, it was because he was avenging his brother. In history, Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou because he was avenging his father. At that time, everyone was still covering their faces. Lu Bu couldn't understand what excuse Yuan Shao, who always cared about face, would find to attack Bingzhou?

Jia Xu said, "My lord, don't forget that there is an emperor in Chang'an, and there is also your mortal enemy."

Lu Bu raised his eyebrows, "Are you saying that Yuan Shao will bribe Li Su in the name of the Son of Heaven?"

Jia Xu nodded. "That's most likely the case. If Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are truly targeting Bingzhou, we can simply request an imperial decree to attack them, claiming that Bingzhou doesn't pay taxes to the imperial court."

Since Dong Zhuo's rebellious rule, except for Liu Biao and Liu Yu, basically no one paid taxes to the court anymore. This reason was too far-fetched. However, they could send troops as long as they put a label of justice on it. And the most righteous person in this world was the emperor in Chang'an who was controlled by Li Su and Li Jue.

"Although Bingzhou has stockpiled a lot of food and grass in the past two years, it can still hold out if we only fight Yuan Shao. Yuan and Cao have a combined army of over 100,000, which is not easy to defeat. My lord, you must be mentally prepared." Jia Xu said.

Compared to the worries of Jia Xu and others, Lu Bu and his wife seemed a little calmer. They both knew that there would be a great disaster next year. Although Cao Cao had a large number of troops, the newly recruited Qingzhou soldiers were unruly. Once they ran out of food, these people would be like gunpowder that would explode at any time. The threat from Yanzhou was not too great.

As for Yuan Shao, the northern half was separated by Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, and his Jizhou troops could only enter through Shangdang. The battlefield would not be too large, so he could still handle it.

If this battle really breaks out, a quick victory will be more advantageous for Cao Cao and Lu Bu, while Yuan Shao should be committed to a protracted war. In Zhang Mo's view, the strategic policies of Yuan and Cao are different, and there will inevitably be contradictions in their tactical arrangements. This is one of the reasons why she is not too worried.

To take a step back, even if Yuan Shao was wealthy enough to provide Cao Cao with food and fodder to fight a protracted war, by the end of spring or early summer next year at the latest, when they saw that it did not rain, they would be alert. By then, even if Yuan Shao wanted to continue the stalemate, he would not be able to do so.

It is already the beginning of August. The war will officially begin after the autumn harvest and until the end of next spring, which is only more than half a year. Bingzhou can definitely afford it.

Despite this, necessary preparations must be made quickly, especially the military defenses of Hanoi County, which must be rearranged.

Eight days later, news came from Jizhou and Yanzhou one after another that the troops of both sides were mobilized towards Bingzhou, confirming the speculation that they wanted to work together to eliminate Lu Bu. A war on a larger scale than the Battle of Guandu in history was brewing.

In early September, Cao Cao stationed 20,000 troops at Baima, a ferry crossing the Yellow River, and 30,000 troops at Suanzao, preparing to invade Henei County via Henan Yin. Yuan Shao stationed 60,000 troops at Sheguo County, Wei County, preparing to attack Shangdang County from Fukou Xing.

On September 10, Yuan Shao announced the imperial edict issued by Emperor Xian to suppress the rebellion, saying that Lu Bu, as a Han minister, refused to pay annual tribute, maintained an army to strengthen himself, and had the intention of rebellion. He ordered Yuan Benchu, the governor of Jizhou, and Cao Mengde, the governor of Yanzhou, to lead troops to suppress him.

Everyone knows whether this imperial edict was written by the emperor or Li Su. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were just using it as a fig leaf to justify their sending troops. It's enough to just listen to it.

On September 12, Cao Cao's troops arrived at Suanzao and prepared to enter Henan Yin from Sishui Pass. However, before they set off, they heard from the scouts who went to explore the way that the long-abandoned Sishui Pass was occupied by Lu Bu's army again.

"How is it possible? Are you sure it's Lu Bu's army?" Upon hearing this news, Cao Cao looked puzzled.

This time, he and Yuan Shao mobilized their troops very quickly because they wanted to catch Lu Bu off guard. They had a rough idea of ​​the number of Lu Bu's troops stationed in Hanoi. Even if Lu Bu's scouts had discovered that they were moving troops towards Bingzhou, where would he get people to garrison Sishui Pass in such a short time?

"Perhaps he had foresight and sent people to guard Sishui Pass after capturing Henei," said Cao Cao's adviser Xi Zhicai.

Cao Cao sighed helplessly, "I was negligent in this matter. I should have thought of her help earlier. Lü Bu wouldn't be so careless. What should we do now? Should we open Sishui Pass or turn around and head for Baima Crossing?"

Xi Zhicai said, "Bingzhou's troops are strong but few. My lord, you have joined forces with Lord Benchu ​​this time. Your tactics should be to attack everywhere and open up more battlefields to disperse the Bingzhou army. This will make it difficult for them to deal with both ends and make them overwhelmed. Therefore, I believe we should continue to attack Sishui Pass."

Cao Cao recalled the scene when the Guandong coalition forces attacked Sishui Pass and said with regret, "It's so difficult to attack such a strong pass. This is not easy to fight!"

Xi Zhicai raised his head and glanced at Cao Cao. Although his lord said that the battle was difficult and his expression was a little conflicted, there was no intention of retreating in his eyes.

This time, Yanzhou joined forces with Jizhou to capture Bingzhou. The lord and Yuan Benchu ​​had discussed the division of the final results before sending troops. The lord got Henei and Hedong counties, and Yuan Shao got the four counties of Bingzhou. In order to manage Henei and Hedong, the abandoned Henan Yin must also be brought under his command. Only in this way can Yanzhou be connected with these three places, so the Sishui Pass must be fought.

The reason why the lord said this was just to give people a reassurance!

"Lü Bu may seem powerful, but his military strength is far inferior to Dong Zhuo's. With Lord Benchu ​​at Shangdang to contain him, there won't be many troops stationed at Sishui Pass. As long as you are determined, we may be able to capture it."

At this point, Xi Zhicai changed the subject and said, "If you are worried about the heavy casualties, you can first surround the city without attacking, tying down some of Bingzhou's forces. Once Zixiao's troops enter Henei and reach Huaixian, Sishui Pass will fall without a fight."

Logically speaking, if Cao Cao wanted to invade Henei from Yanzhou, the nearest ferry should be Yanjin. However, Yanjin was too close to Jixian County. Cao Cao was afraid that Lu Bu would send troops to block him on the opposite bank, so he chose Bai Ma, which was a little further away. After crossing Bai Ma, it was Weijun of Jizhou, and after crossing Baigou and Qishui, it was Chaoge in Henei. Although Chaoge belonged to Henei, it had been occupied by Black Mountain bandits such as Yu Du. After Yuan Shao eliminated Yu Du and others, this place came under Yuan Shao's control.

Cao Ren's 20,000 troops passed through the Bai Ma ferry, which completely avoided the possibility of being blocked by Lu Bu halfway. The army went directly into Henei, and then captured Jixian, Huojia and Xiuwu counties, and then could reach Huaixian, the capital of Henei.

After passing Sishui Pass, Cao Cao, who was the Yin of Henan, could cross the river directly from Wushejin and head north, join forces with Cao Ren to take over the entire Henei County, and then go out of Jiguan and attack Hedong County through Chenguanxing.

These were the two fronts Cao Cao planned for the south. Yuan Shao also planned two fronts for the north. The main force was to attack Shangdang from She State through Fukou Xing, and he also sent Qu Yi to lead a team to Jingxing further north.

Jingxing is still controlled by the Black Mountain Army. The largest bandit group on this road is Zhang Mo's Juyi Camp. The branch camp led by Taishi Ci is located in Jizhou and controls the eastern entrance of Jingxing.

The reason why Yuan Shao sent Qu Yi to Jingxing was, firstly, to see if there was a chance to attack Lu Bu's political and economic center, Taiyuan County, directly from here; secondly, he was afraid that Zhang Yan would help Lu Bu and come out of Jingxing to counterattack Jizhou. Therefore, Qu Yi's troops were both offensive and defensive.

Compared with Lu Bu's army, the combat effectiveness of the Black Mountain Army was really no different from that of a weak chicken in Yuan Shao's eyes. Although they used a tactic of both offense and defense, their main purpose was still offense.

If the county soldiers are not counted, Bingzhou has a total of only more than 20,000 troops. Not taking into account Juyi Village, the four fronts planned by Yuan and Cao are enough to tie up all the troops in Bingzhou. What's more, there are Southern Xiongnu and Xianbei in the north. No matter how good Lu Bu is at fighting, he cannot defend four places at the same time. In the eyes of Yuan and Cao, even if they cannot take the entire Bingzhou in this battle, they must bite off a few pieces of meat from Lu Bu.

Moreover, Lu Bu had just taken over Henei County for only two years, and the people in Henei were unstable. Perhaps if his Yanzhou army could capture one of the cities, the others would retreat. Then Lu Bu's garrison in Henei would become an isolated force, and if they did not retreat, they would be surrounded and suppressed.

No matter how you look at it, Lu Bu has little chance of winning this battle.

…………

"There really isn't much chance of winning!"

After receiving news from various places, Lu Bu summoned his advisers to discuss countermeasures, but this sentence was an exclamation uttered by Jia Xu.

"Sishui Pass sent 3,000 men, Jixian and Huojia counties sent 5,000 men, plus the original 5,000 garrisons in Henei, which means a total of 13,000 men have been used. The other counties cannot just keep county soldiers. Hedong and Xihe counties must each retain at least 1,000 mobile troops. Yanmen with 2,000 is barely enough, and Taiyuan with 1,000, which is another 5,000. Now our army can only mobilize 3,000 men. Add to that the 1,000 Feixiong troops from Dang County, Yu Fuluo's more than 2,000 Xiongnu soldiers, and Cao Xing's 2,000 Pingkou troops. Shangdang will have to use 8,000 troops to deal with Yuan Shao's 60,000 troops, and Henei will have to use 13,000 troops to resist Cao Cao's 50,000 troops. It's really precarious!"

With such a huge disparity in military strength, even someone as confident as Jia Xu couldn't help but look embarrassed.

“It’s a bit risky!”

Zhang Mo also frowned. She was not too worried about Shangdang because Lu Bu was in charge himself. The main problem was in the south. Although Song Xian was personally guarding Sishui Pass, and Zhang Liao and Xu Shu were dealing with Cao Ren and Xun You, the disparity in military strength was too great. They did not have such abnormal military power as Lu Bu. They had to fight in a real way over there, and the key opponents were all powerful people.

If other factors are not considered, there will be no problem in holding out in frontal combat for about half a year, but we are afraid that there will be traitors in Hanoi.

"Let's just give up the branch camp and let Ziyi lead 1,500 Golden Eagle Guards to Hanoi to support Wenyuan at any time." Zhang Mo suggested.

Jia Xu knew the locations of the main and branch camps of Juyi Village. Giving up the branch camp would mean opening up the first gate on Jingxing Road. This would put all the pressure from Qu Yi on the main camp. Jia Xu didn't know the combat effectiveness of the soldiers in Juyi Village, so he asked with some concern, "Is this feasible?"