My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 790: Guan Yu Returns to Hulao Pass
A small group of loyal and righteous people in the court, including Geng Ji and Wei Huang, went through great difficulties to establish contact with the emperor and then devised a plan to persuade Cao Cao.

Finally, it was confirmed that "he went to Beimang Mountain under the pretext of paying homage to Queen Fu, and after returning he made Cao Jie the new queen."

However, it will take time to implement this plan because Empress Fu has not been dead for long.

According to the etiquette of the Han Dynasty, since Empress Fu did not die because of a crime but died of "wrong medication for illness", she must have been honored after her death.

Ordinary wealthy families would also keep the body for 49 days until the seventh day before burying it.

If Liu Xie found that Geng Ji was slow in handling the matter and wanted to keep his wife's body for a few more days before burying her, he could easily find an excuse.

Even if the body was buried, the emperor did not have to go to Beimang Mountain to pay tribute on the day of the burial. He could wait. Therefore, Liu Xie's side was very flexible in the timing of taking action. Within a period of one or two months, he could take action any time he saw a good opportunity.

Before the final action was taken, of course, someone had to be sent to deliver news to Guandong. On the one hand, this was to inquire about Liu Bei's military progress, and on the other hand, it was to ask Liu Bei to find a way to support them.

These all need to be arranged in advance, there is no rush.

The only pity is that Liu Xie is now under strict surveillance, and it is impossible for him to get a substantive secret decree out - the ministers who meet Liu Xie will be searched by Cao Cao's confidants when they leave.

Since Dong Cheng's case thirteen years ago, Cao Cao has never made any exceptions to the rule that those who come to see him must be searched. With Cao Cao's intelligence, he would not fall into the same trap twice.

……

While Geng Ji, Wei Huang and others were planning in Luoyang, the wheel of history quietly turned to April of the 18th year of Jian'an.

As the New Year passed and the busy spring farming season was over, Liu Bei's camp re-accelerated its military offensive against Cao Cao, and the intensity of the confrontation on all fronts increased.

All of this was indeed a coincidence and indirectly supported Liu Xie's escape plan.

On the third day of April, less than ten days after the offensive was resumed, the first important victory of this spring appeared.

Liu Bei's army first achieved a major breakthrough in the direction of Chen County. A detachment under Zhang Fei finally broke through Chen County and then captured most of the small counties around Chen County.

There are not many details worth elaborating on the results of this battle, because as Suiyang, Dingtao and other places were captured before the end of last year, Chen had formed a new salient for Cao's army, and was attacked from three sides.

In addition, Cao Cao did not have much intention to defend Chendi. The war in the plains was originally a winner-takes-all, Matthew effect. Liu Bei did not take this place before because the cold weather was not conducive to the attack.

Once the weather warms up completely and the logistical difficulty is reduced again, won’t it be easy to take over Chendi?
After Liu Bei took over Chen County, the next direction of attack was Puyang, the core of Yanzhou East County in the north.

Puyang is relatively easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, it is backed by the Yellow River. On the opposite bank is Liyang of Wei County, and further north is Yecheng. Therefore, it is not as easy as Juancheng to be completely cut off by the enemy.

Even if the areas south of the Yellow River were surrounded by Liu Bei's army, Cao's army in Puyang could still retreat to the north bank and join the large military group around Yecheng.

Therefore, when Guan Yu led the troops from Juancheng and Dingtao to continue westward in mid-April and advanced to the outskirts of Puyang City, the Cao army in Puyang did not panic, but chose to defend firmly.

Lu Su, who was accompanying the army, made some plans and divided his troops to bypass Puyang City, encircling the east, west and south sides of Puyang, leaving only the north side backed by the Yellow River unencircled. Then, Guan Yu's main force continued to advance eastward, picking on other weak points behind Puyang and expanding the territory.

This is how Lu Su analyzed it to Guan Yu at the time: Since Puyang is easy to defend but difficult to attack, the enemy's retreat cannot be cut off, and Puyang's economic and political value is not high. It is not a throat that must be breached, so it is better to surround it without fighting.

In the future, if Zhuge Jin in the Hebei war zone can lead Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Zhou Yu and others to capture Liyang and take over Yecheng and the Yellow River ferry cities held by Cao's army in the Weijun war zone, Puyang will naturally become a dead fruit on a withered vine, and will collapse on its own without a fight.

This situation was the same as the previous one when Zhuge Jin conquered Guantao, Dunqiu and other places north of the Yellow River, which cut off the retreat route of Cao's army in Juancheng to the other side of the river, forcing Cheng Yu to withdraw his troops.

Cao Cao's important strongholds distributed along both sides of the Yellow River actually all have this weakness.

If the south bank of the Yellow River is more difficult to attack, Liu Bei's army can first surround half of it, wait for friendly forces on the north bank to advance and catch up, cut off the enemy's water retreat on the south bank, and completely encircle and force them to surrender.

Similarly, if Zhuge Jin on the north bank advanced too quickly and encountered a strong city backed by the Yellow River that was difficult to capture, he could also wait for Guan Yu on the south bank to catch up.

Anyway, if they follow this strategy, as long as Liu Bei's army has an absolute advantage in numbers and equipment, and also maintains a morale advantage, they can push forward all the way, and sooner or later, except for Yecheng and Hulaoguan, the fat meat on the North China Plain can be eaten up.

After bypassing Puyang, Guan Yu went all the way along the Yellow River to capture the key ferry crossings on the south bank, Yanjin and Baima, and also captured the inland county towns of Lihu, Yanxian, Changyuan, Kuangting and Pingqiu on the plain.

All this was completed in April.

Cao Cao only had Puyang, an isolated island surrounded on three sides, in the north of Yanzhou. In the central part of Yanzhou, only Chenliu, Fengqiu, Suanzao, and Guandu were left.

In other words, except for important cities such as Puyang and Chenliu, Guan Yu had almost conquered all the other weak spots on the plains.

Guan Yu's army was less than a hundred miles away from Hulao Pass.

……

While Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were gradually advancing south of the Yellow River, Zhuge Jin, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Zhou Yu were certainly not idle on the battlefield in Hebei throughout April and May.

Last year, Zhuge Jin had already forced Cao's army to the area around Yecheng and Handan. After the busy farming season ended in the spring, he continued his efforts and gradually devoured more counties within a month.

At the end of April, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao's troops finally arrived at the city of Ye.

Xiahou Dun himself also assembled the vast majority of Cao's troops in Hebei, preparing to defend Yecheng to the death.

At the same time, it also ensured the main transportation routes for Yecheng to retreat to Taihang Mountains and return to Bingzhou via Huguan, so as to avoid being completely surrounded and unable to retreat in the future.

Because Xiahou Dun had limited military strength and Zhuge Jin's offensive was like mercury pouring out of the ground, Xiahou Dun could only selectively pick some rear routes for protection.

Judging from the map, if Cao's army fails in Yecheng in the future and wants to retreat, there are three main options.

The first route is to retreat from Yecheng to Huguan along the land route, and then cross the Taihang Mountains from Huguan and enter the territory of Bingzhou.

The second option is to go south through Liyang, go upstream along the Yellow River, and retreat to Luoyang or Henei. Of course, on the way to Liyang, you can also turn slightly southwest and follow the land route to Henei County in Sili.

The Henei area is located in the south of Bingzhou, but when the Taihang Mountains spread southward to the Henei area, the mountains are not as steep as those in the north because they are getting closer to the Yellow River. The road from Weijun to Henei is relatively easier to travel, and it needs to pass through Chaoge and Weihui, which are later Hebi and Xinxiang.

However, precisely because this road is easy to travel, if by that time Xiahou Dun's land combat forces are no longer sufficient to support a field battle with Zhao Yun and Ma Chao, he may not dare to take this road.

He needed to consider how to avoid being intercepted and killed by Zhao Yun's pursuers when his army retreated in the hilly area.

So in reality, Xiahou Dun only had two safe options. One was to retreat westward through Huguan and across the Taihang Mountains, and the other was to go through Liyang and follow the Yellow River to Heluo and Henei.

Zhuge Jin, who was attacking the city, discovered a few days after his troops arrived at Yecheng that the city was strong and there were tens of thousands of Cao's diehard troops defending the city, so he could not attack it by force for the time being.

So Zhuge Jin naturally thought of cutting off Xiahou Dun's retreat routes as much as possible first.

Zhuge Jin discussed with Zhou Yu and quickly analyzed that Xiahou Dun had only two feasible retreat routes. Finally, Zhou Yu suggested that Zhuge Jin choose to cut off the southern route first.

Zhou Yu analyzed it this way: "Please see, the road from Yecheng to Huguan is along the remnant of Taihang Mountain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The terrain is dangerous and it is relatively difficult for our army to cut off this road.

Even if we cut it off, since Xiahou Dun's retreat to Huguan is not far, we cannot guard against thieves for a thousand days. If one day he makes a desperate attempt to break out, he only needs to catch us off guard and buy half a day or a day's time difference, which is enough for him to retreat to Huguan. Therefore, cutting off this route is relatively less profitable and more difficult.

It is much easier to cut off Xiahou Dun's route to the Yellow River through Liyang. The area from Yecheng to Liyang in the south is all on the plain, which is suitable for our superior corps to penetrate and cut off. In addition, our army has the advantage of naval forces, so it is very easy to control the surface of the Yellow River, which is much better than fighting to the death in Taihang Mountains.

Please give the order, I am willing to cooperate with General Zhao. General Zhao will attack Liyang, and I will control the Yellow River waterway, advance by land and water, and cut off the communication between the remaining enemy in Hebei and Henei and Heluo. "

Zhuge Jin thought the same, so he and Zhou Yu hit it off and left Taishi Ci and Ma Chao to continue to keep pressure on Handan and Yecheng.

Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu divided their troops to capture Liyang and other places, completely cutting off the enemy's route back to the south in Yecheng.

In this way, not only could Zhuge Jin expand his territory by half a county, but he could also divide the enemy army into two war zones that could not support each other.

Originally, Cao Cao's garrisons in Heluo and Yecheng could reinforce each other through communication between Henei and Liyang. If one side was in trouble, troops could be drawn from the other side to reinforce the defense.

But after being separated in this way, if the Cao army in Hebei and the Cao army in Heluo wanted to help each other again, they had to go through Bingzhou and Hedong first, and then cross the Taihang Mountains. If they encountered any urgent matters, it would be difficult for them to help each other.

Of course, it will take time for Zhuge Jin to implement this plan.

By the time he reached the outskirts of Yecheng, it was already the end of April. So it took him nearly another month to "take Anyang, Neihuang, Dangyin, Liyang and other counties, completely cut off the enemy's route southward from Yecheng, and eliminate the remaining local enemies.

By the time all this was done, it was already late May.

It can be said that God helped Liu Bei - as mentioned earlier, Guan Yu originally surrounded Cao's army in Puyang on three sides on the battlefield in Henan, leaving only the north side unattended, so the Puyang defenders dared to hold on for a long time.

When Zhuge Jin really captured Liyang and other places in Hebei, the defenders of Puyang finally realized that they could not delay any longer. This was a new desperate situation.

Therefore, on May 18, two or three days before the encirclement was completely closed, Cao's army in Puyang chose to abandon Puyang and retreat directly to Suanzao outside Hulao Pass to stay temporarily.

In late May, Guan Yu's army also achieved a new breakthrough on the battlefield in Henan, successfully captured Puyang, and then advanced to Suanzao with all its strength.

Within a few days, Guan Yu will be able to reach Hulao Pass.

At this point, Cao Cao only had a small area of Yecheng, Handan, and Huguan in Hebei, and only two areas around Xu County and Chenliu in Henan.

Relevant military intelligence was also continuously transmitted back to the Luoyang court.

Cao Cao has tried his best to keep it secret to avoid panic, but Geng Ji, Wei Huang and others are still considered "Cao Cao's followers" on the surface and are not suspected, so they also know the progress of Liu Bei's army.

Seeing that the army led by the Grand Marshal and the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan was making rapid progress, they knew that the escape plan arranged for His Majesty had finally reached the moment when it could be implemented.

They also made some advance preparations. On the tenth day of May, they secretly sent out private messengers, who rode fast at night and went downstream along the Yellow River to sneak past Cao Cao's blockade and contact Liu Bei's men.

Because Geng Ji's messenger also delivered the letter via the Yellow River, as soon as it entered the area controlled by Liu Bei's army, it was intercepted by Zhou Yu's navy on the Yellow River.

When Zhou Yu intercepted the secret envoy, he couldn't believe it, nor did he dare to act on his own, so he had to quickly find Zhuge Jin nearby, inform him of the matter, and ask Zhuge Jin to determine the authenticity.

Zhuge Jin was at the front line in Liyang at the time. After reading it, he was also quite shocked. He asked someone to copy a copy and keep it so that he could make preparations in advance. At the same time, he asked someone to escort the original copy and send it to Liu Bei in Henan by flying horses.

In this way, while waiting for Liu Bei's official approval, Zhuge Jin could have Zhou Yu and Zhao Yun prepare for the attack as soon as possible, so that Zhou Yu and Zhao Yun could respond as soon as Liu Bei's official order arrived.

Even if Liu Bei's order could not be delivered in time, Zhuge Jin could still take advantage of the situation and ask Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu to slightly adjust the battle plan for the next stage to create objective conditions for the support.

For example, Zhuge Jin secretly ordered Zhao Yun to quickly assemble the cavalry troops in the Hebei war zone, and attack Henei County of Sili from Wei County in advance according to the date of reunion requested in the secret letter from Geng Ji and Wei Huang.

Through Chaoge, Weihui and other places, they threatened the area controlled by Cao's army west of Hulao Pass and on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Zhao Yun did not have to capture cities like Chaoge and Weihui in just a few days. All he needed to do was for his cavalry to bypass the cities, pass through the hilly areas of Henei, and reach the north bank of the Yellow River.

Anyway, for an operation that can be completed within ten days or half a month, Zhao Yun does not have to worry about the food supply. The food carried by the cavalry and war horses is enough.

With Cao's army losing streak in Henan and Hebei, no one in Cao's army could spare troops to intercept Zhao Yun. If Xiahou Dun really dared to come out of his tortoise shell in Yecheng, Zhao Yun would give him a taste of his own medicine.

Zhuge Jin's order to Zhou Yu was naturally to let him control the ferry crossings on the north and south banks of the Yellow River, such as Liyang, Yanjin, and Baima, and then move the navy deployment further forward. At the appropriate time, infiltrate westwards through the Yellow River north of Hulao Pass.

Zhuge Jin also did not need Zhou Yu to go ashore and occupy the land. He only needed to patrol the surface of the Yellow River, harass and destroy, and let Zhou Yu control the rhythm and not alert the enemy in advance.

(End of this chapter)