Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

In the spring of the second year of the Wude reign of the Tang Dynasty, the conscription order issued by the Tang King Lu Bu made the southern princes nervous. The first of them was Cao Cao. After failing to capture Qingzhou the year before, he had lost confidence in defending his foundation.

Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou are different from Dongwu and Shuzhong. They are flat and have almost no natural barriers to defend.

To the east, the Tang navy and cavalry could attack Xuzhou from both land and water; to the west, the eight passes of Luoyang and Chenliu County were all in Lu Bu's hands, making it very convenient for the Tang army to attack Yuzhou in the south or Yanzhou in the east; to the north, although Dongjun and Jizhou were separated by the Yellow River, Yanzhou had been half-surrounded by the Tang army, and this natural barrier had almost lost its function.

Under such circumstances, Cao Cao had no chance of winning without external support, and his downfall was just a matter of speed.

The second person to feel nervous was Liu Bei.

This guy had terrible luck two years ago. Liu Fan of Yizhou died suddenly of an illness. Because he had no children, his two younger brothers Liu Dan and Liu Zhang fought each other for the throne. Liu Bei took the opportunity to invade Bashu and took advantage of the situation.

In recent years, he paid attention to people's livelihood in Hanzhong, worked hard on military affairs, and treated people kindly. He also called himself the Emperor Liu. After Liu Dan and Liu Zhang were eliminated, officials from all counties and prefectures in Bashu surrendered to Liu Bei.

The reason why he felt nervous was not because he was really worried about Cao Cao, but because once Cao Cao was defeated, he might be the next one. He had just occupied Shu not long ago and his foundation was not stable. He needed someone to hold Lu Bu back so that he could rely on the geographical advantage to carve out a territory and form a three-way balance of power.

So, upon learning that Lu Bu was preparing to attack Yanzhou, the benevolent Emperor Liu immediately sent an envoy to Changyi to meet Cao Cao, expressing his willingness to join him in fighting against the Tang army.

The third person who felt nervous was naturally Sun Ce.

Ever since Gan Ning lured a group of Jingzhou navy to join Lu Bu, the Tang navy has grown at a rocket speed in the past three years. He initially thought it was Gan Ning's credit, but later investigation revealed that the Tang State actually exchanged salt for various items with merchants all over the world. In just a few years, the Tang State gathered a large amount of ship materials, shipbuilders, ironware, food and other necessities for war.

In addition to the growth of the navy, what made Sun Ce even more depressed was that the war horses he desperately needed could not be shipped to the south in recent years. The Tang State controlled several major horse farms in Liangzhou, Hetao, and Youzhou, and would not sell them no matter how much the merchants offered.

Therefore, in the past few years, apart from some of the spoils seized from Yuan Shu and his own foals, his cavalry team has hardly expanded.

And he failed to capture Jingzhou in these three years. Now Lu Bu is going to use his troops against Cao Cao. Once Cao Cao is defeated, he may be the next one.

At this time, Sun Ce had to change his original strategy and could only fully support Cao Cao. As long as he was not destroyed, they would all be safe.

The last one is Liu Biao.

Compared to the nervousness of Liu Bei and Sun Ce, Liu Biao was relatively more Buddhist. Firstly, he was old and had no desire to fight. Secondly, his two sons were not outstanding. He knew that if he died, they might not even be able to withstand the attack of Eastern Wu, let alone resist Lu Bu.

Liu Biao's current idea was that if Cao Mengde could hold on, he would continue to serve as the governor of Jingzhou for a few more years. If the general situation finally tilted completely in favor of Lu Bu, the worst that could happen was that he would let his son raise the white flag and surrender. Although Lu Bu suppressed the aristocratic families and powerful people, he was trustworthy and tolerant. He even let Yuan Shao go and let Yuan Shao's son follow the Prince of Tang. There was no reason why he would not tolerate his family.

So now he just wants to be a spectator and watch the final outcome of the battle between Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Ce against Lu Bu before making the next decision.

With the full support of Liu Bei and Sun Ce, Cao Cao's confidence increased greatly. He actively mobilized all the wealth he had accumulated over the years and wanted to fight a hard battle with Lu Bu.

…………

"Liu Bei and Sun Ce's envoys have successively gone to Changyi to meet with Cao Cao. According to the news sent back by the Flying Eagle, the two sides have been making frequent troop movements recently. Sun Ce has withdrawn his troops from Jingzhou. A portion remains in Pengze to defend against Liu Biao, while the rest are mostly transferred eastward. Liu Bei has also sent a large number of troops to Hanzhong, but the exact number is still unknown."

In Yecheng, in the meeting hall of the Tang Palace, Du Fei was reporting on the recent developments of the various princes. "The three parties have formed a united front. Cao Cao has handed over the eastern and western fronts to Sun Ce and Liu Bei, and has concentrated the troops from Xuzhou and Yuzhou in Yanzhou. Liu Jingsheng hasn't made any moves. It seems that he has no intention of taking advantage of this opportunity to cause trouble for Sun Ce, nor does he intend to send troops to help Cao Cao. He maintains a neutral attitude!"

"It's not surprising that these three people share the same hatred for the enemy, but I just find it a little magical!" Zhang Mo said with a faint smile.

magic?

Jia Xu, Xu You, Ju Su, Xun Chen, Chang Lin and others all looked at her at the same time. They felt that she was the most amazing. She had gone to Bohai and used a method of salt drying to not only solve the difficulties in the development of the shipbuilding industry, but also greatly promoted the prosperity of the commercial economy of Bohai and Qingzhou, allowing the Tang navy to achieve a qualitative leap.

That would be fine, the key is that she has a good eye for people, and almost all the talents she recruits are elite.

However, Lu Bu knew why Amo felt it was amazing, because in history it was these three parties that split the Han Dynasty into three kingdoms, and they fought each other endlessly, but now they joined forces to deal with the Tang Dynasty.

"Judging from the situation, there is no way to seek a quick victory in this battle. Your Majesty must be prepared for a protracted war!" Ju Su frowned and said.

"It's a bit difficult!" Lu Bu sighed.

If it was just to fight Cao Cao, with the current military and economic level of the Tang Dynasty, it could be done in about a year. But now with the full support of Sun Ce and Liu Bei, the Tang Dynasty has to compete with the entire southern forces except Jingzhou.

In terms of military, the combat effectiveness of the standing armies of Cao, Liu and Sun was certainly not as good as that of the Tang Dynasty, but the total number of their troops was definitely far greater.

In terms of economy and population, none of the three parties can compare with the Tang Dynasty if they are compared individually, but the combined territory of the three parties is about two or three times that of the Tang Dynasty, and the total population is also much larger than that of the Tang Dynasty. The population determines the replenishment of troops and logistical transportation capabilities.

In terms of field battles, no one in the world can compete with the Tang cavalry. However, if Cao's army uses the city as a stronghold to build a defense line (not if, but definitely), the combat effectiveness of the Tang cavalry will be reduced by more than half in the siege. On the contrary, as long as the opponent commands properly, the civilians can serve as auxiliary troops in the defense of the city.

Therefore, if a protracted war is fought, it will be more of a competition of economy, logistics, and consumption. If the Tang Dynasty only has to deal with Cao Cao, it can completely wear him down. But now it has to deal with the three families of Cao, Liu and Sun. If it really has to stalemate for seven or eight years, the Tang Dynasty will eventually lose all its advantages. After all, the Tang Dynasty's main grain-producing areas are only Guanzhong and Hebei, while Cao, Liu and Sun's Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Shuzhong Basin, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are all grain-producing areas, and it is impossible to outlast them.

Everyone had considered that Sun Ce and Liu Bei would support Cao Cao before, but they did not expect the support to be so strong. Except for some necessary defenses, almost all the spare troops in Jiangdong and Shuzhong were transferred to help Cao Cao resist the Tang army.

"We can't end the war quickly, nor can we hold on for too long. This war must be ended within three to five years at least!" said Zhang Mo.