Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Killing one person is killing, killing a group of people is also killing. Since Cao Cao had already massacred Pengcheng, he didn't care about committing more murders. On the way to attack Donghai County, he massacred two more cities to replenish the military treasury.

The news of Cao Cao's massacre of three cities in a row soon reached Yanzhou. Chen Gong, who stayed in Dongjun, was so shocked that he was speechless for a long time.

Chen Gong was a man of upright character. After the death of Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, he used diplomatic means to secure Yanzhou for Cao Cao. He has been highly valued by Cao Cao over the years. A few months ago, Cao Cao failed to seize the throne. Chen Gong, who knew the inside story, did not blame him. Instead, he actively worked for him to clarify the facts.

However, some time ago, Cao Cao killed famous scholars in anger because he was scolded by someone, which made Chen Gong begin to feel dissatisfied with him. This time, he slaughtered three cities in a row, which made Chen Gong's dissatisfaction rise rapidly.

"Cao Mengde, how dare he?" Chen Gong said this almost gritting his teeth.

"Those were hundreds of thousands of living people, not animals. How could he have the heart to do that? No military rations? Who isn't short of food this year? Who would do something like him, like massacring a city? Even someone as tyrannical as Dong Zhuo never massacred a city..."

Chen Gong was so angry that he paced back and forth in the room, cursing.

"Master, don't be angry..." The housekeeper followed carefully and comforted him. To be honest, in this year's situation, there is really no way but to massacre the city. The Qingzhou soldiers will mutiny if they have no food, and the people will gather together to become bandits if they have no food. Yanzhou simply cannot withstand the turmoil.

After a long time, Chen Gong calmed down, walked out of the room with heavy steps, and looked at the sky of Yanzhou with melancholy. The azure color turned gray in his eyes. He had misjudged the person after all. Why did he welcome this jackal to be the governor of Yanzhou?

Cao Mengde and I are not on the same page after all. What should I do next? Should I continue to be his accomplice? Or should I turn to someone else? And who should I turn to?

Chen Gong stood at the door and thought for a long time, then said to the housekeeper, "Prepare the carriage and go to Chenliu!"

…………

The first year of Xingping was a year of great disasters. First, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong, then there was an insect plague in the Central Plains, and then Emperor Xian died. Then wars broke out everywhere. Except for Yizhou and Jingzhou, almost the entire Han Dynasty was affected by the war, and the people suffered terribly.

On October 20th of the first year of Xingping, Han Sui and Ma Teng's 100,000-strong army arrived 20 miles west of Huayin and Linjin County of Zuofengyi respectively.

If the Liangzhou army wanted to enter Hongnong and Hedong, it had to capture two important locations. One was Huayin, known as the gateway to Chang'an, and the other was Puban in Hedong County, also known as Puzhen Pass.

Puzhen Pass is an important pass on the Puzhen Pass Road, which is a highway connecting Chang'an, Zuofengyi, Hedong County, Taiyuan County, and Yunzhong County. During the many wars between the Western Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, the main force of the Han army passed through Linjin on this road many times and went north from Hedong County and Taiyuan County.

Therefore, Ma Teng had to capture this pass in order to continuously transport troops to Bingzhou. This pass was also a ferry crossing the Yellow River. It was much more difficult for the soldiers of Liangzhou to cross the river and fight than on land.

Puzhou Pass is an important ferry connecting Chang'an with Hedong and Bingzhou. Originally, there were two pontoon bridges here. However, after learning that the Liangzhou army was sending troops, Lu Bu ordered the pontoon bridges to be dismantled. Even the various facilities at the ferry on the west bank were demolished. Gao Shun, who was transferred back to garrison Hedong County, set up his camp directly on the east bank of Puzhou.

If we only talk about Puzhen Pass, the geographical advantage of the battle is obviously on the side of the Bingzhou Army. However, there is more than one place in Puzhen on the bank of the Yellow River where one can cross the river. There are also Heyang, 60 miles upstream of Puzhen, Xiayang, 100 miles away, and even Caisangjin, 170 miles away. All of these places can cross the river.

However, the road became increasingly difficult the further north they went, especially in Caisangjin, where the roads were mostly mountainous and hilly, and the loess plateau was riddled with gullies, making it almost impossible for the army to move forward.

There is Fenyin City on the other side of Xiayang. If the Liangzhou army does not have enough boats, even if they cross the river, it will only be a reward for the Bingzhou soldiers.

For the Liangzhou army, Puzhen and Heyang are the only two places on the opposite bank where there are no cities and the roads are passable, making them the most suitable routes for advancement.

Although the Liangzhou Army had an absolute advantage in manpower, the number of troops it could deploy at one time when crossing the river to attack was limited, and it was impossible to concentrate its forces like a land attack. Therefore, as long as the generals on the other side commanded properly, there would be no problem in defending the ferry.

On the west bank of Pujin, Ma Teng, escorted by a group of soldiers, personally came to inspect the terrain of the ferry crossing. He stopped on a high ground, gazing at the Gao military flag fluttering across from him, and asked, "Is the commander of the Bingzhou Army Gao Shun?"

Li Su nodded with a somewhat grim expression.

"You have worked with him before, so you must be very familiar with his fighting style, right?" Ma Teng asked.

Li Su said, "Gao Ziyan is a cautious and rigid person. He is extremely skilled in infantry combat. Whether defending or breaking a formation, he excels. Most importantly, he is loyal to Lü Bu. Even if you offer him a mountain of gold, he won't have the slightest thought of defecting. This place is not going to be easy to fight!"

Ma Teng looked at the camp on the other side of the river. "This camp doesn't look large, so there shouldn't be many soldiers stationed there. If we transfer all the ferries from Heyang and Xiayang here, can we capture it?"

Li Su shook his head. "If the one guarding the camp is Li Li, there's still hope if we fight tooth and nail. But Gao Shun will be in trouble. Our first troops to cross the river will be defeated as soon as they reach the shore."

Ma Teng thought for a moment and said, "Then is it feasible to have the main force bluff here and send a small force to attack from Heyang?"

Li Su said, "If my guess is correct, there must be heavy troops stationed on the other side of Heyang. It's difficult!"

Ma Teng spurred his horse and said as he turned back, "Send a scout to check ahead. What if Gao Shun overlooked that spot? If that doesn't work, we can wait another month until the river freezes solid, and then we can cross the river directly on the ice."

Li Su, who knew Gao Shun well, was not optimistic. He said, "We only have 30,000 men here. Even if the entire army crossed, I don't think the chances of victory are great. You'd better pray that Han Wenyue can capture Huayin."

Ma Chao, Ma Teng's son, laughed when he heard this, "The commander of Huayin is Duan Zhongming. I've heard that he doesn't have any special abilities. Uncle Han's 70,000-man army will have no problem attacking the city."

Li Su said, "Besides Duan Zhongming, there's also Lu Bu's wife. She led a cavalry unit to support us some time ago. That woman is very cunning and treacherous, and she's not easy to deal with!"

Ma Teng was surprised for a moment, then sneered, "Madam Lu Bu? Did Lu Bu have no more generals to use? He actually let his woman lead the troops?"

Li Su warned seriously, "Don't underestimate this woman. Back then, Qu Yi's 40,000-man army was captured by her scheme in Jinyang."

Ma Teng laughed and said, "How to capture her? To seduce her with her beauty? I heard that Lu Bu's wife is extremely beautiful. I wonder what it's like. If she's not bad, I'll take her as a concubine."

Ma Chao's face turned cold upon hearing this. "Father was already lusting after women when he wasn't fighting. My mother gave birth to your children, but you never even thought about her. You've taken in one beautiful concubine after another. Since you started your army, I can count the number of times you've seen her on one hand. It's all in vain that she worries about you every day, afraid that something might happen to you on the battlefield, and she told me to protect you..."

Ma Teng's face flushed red as his son scolded him in front of everyone. He shouted angrily, "You brat! How can you interfere in the affairs of your elders? Besides, do I need your protection?"

"If it weren't for my mother, who would care about you!" Ma Chao snorted and rode away first.

"You little bastard, you have no respect for your parents!" Ma Teng roared at his back, "I'll beat your ass when you get home!"

"I'm afraid Shoucheng can no longer beat him?" Li Su said jokingly.

Ma Teng roared, "Whether he can beat me or not, he's still my father!"