Looking at Chen Qun's departure back, a gloom flashed in Sima Zhao's eyes.

Sima Zhao was not afraid of Chen Qun's threat at all. Now that the entire clan died, his body was already incomplete. All that supported him to survive was hatred, so he was not afraid of anything.

The reason why he still listened to Chen Qun was that Sima Zhao was interested in the power in the other party. As long as he held the power firmly like Zhao Gao, he could do whatever he wanted.

The border troubles of Wei State are constantly occurring, and people in China are rioting frequently. Sima Zhao first showed signs last year, and those who are interested secretly came to him.

The eunuchs had no offspring and were able to interfere in politics and power all depended on the emperor's tacit support. The emperor liked to cultivate eunuchs, either to fight against the civil servants or to check and balance the nobles of foreign relatives and nobles.

Because eunuchs have no foundation and are easily degenerated into political victims, Sima Zhao was educated by Sima Yi when he was young. He knew that in addition to relying on the emperor, officials should also win over civil officials or military generals, so that they could do what Zhao Gao did.

Sima Zhao settled the little gentry in Luoyang and the minions of the Henan clan, and was appreciated by the Hebei clans. He secretly contacted the young man. They encouraged Cao Pi to move the capital back to Yecheng, because the emperor could not be in danger at all times, and if the Central Plains could not be defended, he could still rely on the Yellow River to block the Han army.

Yecheng was one of the crimes where the Sima family destroyed the Sima family. The proposal of the scholars in Hebei coincided with Sima Zhao. On the surface, he promised Chen Qun to actively manage the government, but privately informed the scholars in Hebei. These people had more time to meet the emperor than Chen Qun, and the news of moving the capital was slowly spoken by Cao Pi.

In the third year of Zhangwu in the Han Dynasty, the sixth year of Huangchu in the Wei Dynasty.

At the end of February, the Central Plains was still cold, but Cao Xiu from Wancheng could no longer sit still. He mobilized his troops to cross the river from the south of Wancheng, and walked around the direction of the Qingshui River to find Guan Yu to fight to the decisive battle.

The troops in Jingzhou have been stationed in Bowang for two months, and they are not as if they are hungry and frozen at all. The reserves of soldiers and food in Wancheng are continuing to decrease, which is even more dangerous. The news from the Central Plains is severing, and there is no response in Runan.

Cao Xiu first admitted his defeat in the war of attrition. The Wei army followed Zhang He's broken river to cross the river. Cao Xiu thought that even if he could not conquer Bowang City, he could send a side army to bypass the city during the war and go to the Central Plains to report on the battle situation in Nanyang.

Cao Xiu also planned to take time out the garrisons of Yingchuan, Chenliu, Hanoi, Shanyang and other counties, and select a general to integrate the county soldiers and the Wei soldiers in Nanyang to attack Guan Yu in front and behind.

The Wei army was mobilized on a small scale and reconnaissance. Guan Ping's troops could handle it himself, but this time the Wei soldiers in Wancheng came out in full swing, so he could only shrink his range of activities and return to Bowang to customs declaration for treatment.

Cao Xiu appointed Rencheng King Cao Zhang as the vanguard in the front, and left general Zhang He cut off the rear and protected the food. He led the central army with a total of 80,000 troops and horses. After crossing the river, he drove towards Bowang City.

In the Central Plains war, military formations hedge, there is no cover, and hidden objects can be blocked, which is purely a competition for the combat effectiveness of soldiers and the ability of generals to control and dispatch.

According to Guan Yu's style of avoiding the main force and attacking weaknesses last year, Cao Xiu was sure that Guan Yu's few soldiers would stick to his hopes, and the Wei army could simply attack the city for a few days to put pressure on him.

It doesn’t matter whether you can conquer Bowang or not. You just need to take the opportunity to send the information back to the Central Plains and recruit soldiers and food from Nanyang from each county.

Bowang is dry and windy in winter, but the defenders inside and outside the city live freely because Guan Yu asked the entire army to implement three meals a day, which was better than the treatment during the war.

According to the supply of Cao Xiu's 100,000 troops in various parts of the Central Plains, there was too much food delivered in the past two months, and the official warehouses in Bowang and Duyang could not be stored at all. They were easily affected by moisture and deterioration when stored in the wild.

In addition to increasing the daily food supply, Guan Yu also distributed it to poor people. He had a high prestige in the Central Plains. He cooperated with the kindness of giving grain, so the common people were determined to be a Han family.

Since the chaotic times of the late Han Dynasty, Nanyang County was ruled by Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao. The warlords kept exploiting the people and even massacres occurred from time to time. In addition, the rampant plagues in those years made Nanyang County, the largest population in Jingzhou (540,000 households and 2.43 million people), became a Shura Purgatory, with starving people everywhere and no rooster crowing thousands of miles away.

During the Central Plains War, the people of Nanyang fled to survive, mainly moved to Nanjun, Hanzhong, Runan and other places, which almost became a scene of nine out of ten families. Now, most of the people in Nanyang are refugees from Hebei and Sanfu.

The former treats the people like grass, while the latter treats the people with rice and millet.

Which one is better or worse, the right one is right.

Cao Zhang led the pioneer 20,000 and arrived twenty miles south of Bowang. He found that Guan Yu did not resist the city defense like Cao Xiu speculated, but took the initiative to line up here. From a distance, Jingzhou soldiers were waving and the army was in order, and the number was not smaller than that of his own.

"The Grand Sima miscalculated again. Guan Yu is probably old and has repeatedly acted against military tactics. The young man dares to fight against us. Today, I am just making a name for myself." Cao Zhang looked at the general beside him and stroked his beard and laughed.

"King of Rencheng, the last general sees that Jingzhou is fully prepared and its troops are still above our army. Why not wait until the main force of the Grand Sima arrives and we will attack forward?" The general was frightened when he saw Guan Yu and tactfully reminded Cao Zhang not to underestimate the enemy.

"How pedantic are you? When the late emperor was alive, I often broke the army independently. How could Wen Lie (Cao Xiu) be better than me? Guan Yu was arrogant and arrogant. When I fight in front of the formation, this person will definitely be stimulated to fight. Even if he cannot be killed on the spot, he will exhaust his vitality like Zhang He fought against Yan Yan." Cao Zhang snorted coldly.

During Cao Cao's lifetime, Cao Zhang often led his troops alone to fight. He almost never suffered defeat in the fight against Wuhuan or the suppression of rebellions in various places. However, due to his embarrassment of his identity, Cao Pi was removed from his military power after he ascended the throne, and drank in his fiefs all day long.

What is even more ironic is that Cao Zhang's former general Xiahou Shang is now the general of the East and the commander-in-chief Xu Yangzhu's military affairs, becoming a military official to guard one side. He actually wanted to surrender to Cao Xiu. Few people can understand this unwillingness and reluctance.

In the crisis of Wei State, Cao Zhang abandoned the rift and was ordered to come to Nanyang. He originally planned to fight hard, but Guan Yu's tactics surprised him and repeatedly did not follow the military strategy and made strange plans. Now that Guan Yu is in an orthodox formation and is waiting for battle, Cao Zhang will not miss this opportunity at all. He wants to prove that he is better than Cao Xiu with practical actions.

The general was so refuted by Cao Zhang that he dared not retort, so he could only follow the other party and slowly greet him.

When they were about to get close, Cao Zhang called several subordinates to their side and told them to perform their duties later. After fighting or killing the generals in front of the formation, they would use their weapons to send orders to let the generals press forward while the enemy was defeated.

Cao Zhang was wearing exquisite fish-scale armor and rode a Dayuan trotter under his crotch, holding a long halberd in his hand and slowly walked to the two armies. He stared at the old man with a long beard in the parrot robe, raised his weapon to make provocative moves.

"The rebel Guan Yu, when I see this king, I haven't gotten off the horse and got tied up?" Cao Zhang sneered loudly.

Guan Yu was unexpectedly not angry, but instead spoke two words with confusion: "This halberd."
Chapter completed!