The Yellow River has been a natural danger since ancient times. It is not only the largest river in the north, but also the mother river that nurtured Chinese civilization. It can even be said that without the Yellow River, there would be no splendid civilization of China for 5,000 years. After Sima Shi failed in Jizhou, he retreated to the Yellow River, which was completely within Cao Liang's expectations.

But can the Bingzhou Army's pace of going south with just a natural danger? Cao Liang smiled. Sima Shi just wanted to catch this life-saving straw, but the straw is still straw. No matter how hard Sima Shi struggled, it would not be possible to save his destiny.

It is true that the Yellow River waterway has indeed formed a certain obstacle for the Bingzhou Army, which has a clear advantage in infantry and cavalry. If there was no Yellow River, the Bingzhou Army could now lead its troops south and sweep away the fallen leaves with the autumn wind.

But now after the Sima army retreated to the south bank of the Yellow River, it built defensive fortifications along the river, strengthening the defensive power of the entire river section. It was indeed not easy for the Bingzhou army to cross the river.

But Cao Liang was confident about crossing the river. Although the Yellow River was surging and wide, the defense line was thousands of miles long. No matter how fine the Sima Army was, it was impossible to cover everything. With the current Sima Army's troops, even if all the troops from the whole country were thrown into, it would not be possible to build a Yellow River defense line without any omissions. Sima Army tried to use the Yellow River to block the pace of Bingzhou Army's advancement, and in the end it would only become a laughing stock of history.

The best defense is attack. If you just shy away from defense, then even the most solid defense line will eventually collapse and disappear. After the battle of Jizhou, Sima's mobile power was basically eliminated, and he no longer had the ability to launch a counterattack. Under this general trend, it was completely unrealistic for him to try to defend the Yellow River defense line and achieve the goal of drawing rivers and governing the river.

Cao Liang did not need to break through the Yellow River defense line in all at all. All he needed to do was to find a relatively weak place on the Yellow River defense line and concentrate his troops to attack it. As long as he broke a little, the entire Yellow River defense line would collapse.

Is this difficult to find? Cao Liang felt that this was not a problem at all. The Yellow River defense line was thousands of miles long, which seriously diluted the Sima army's strength. With the Sima army's strength, even if they stood hand in hand on the Yellow River embankment, they would probably not be able to stand from Tongguan to the entrance of Qingzhou from Qingzhou. Such defense was as thin as a piece of paper, and the Bingzhou army did not need to use all their strength.

After Cao Liang arrived in Julu, the scouts of the Bingzhou Army had already reconnaissed all the information of the Sima Army. In just three days, the Sima Army had already crossed the Yellow River with the people of the four counties of Leling on the Qinghe Plain of Yangping, Qingzhou, and Qingzhou. There were no soldiers or soldiers of the Sima Army at present, and all the civilians were forced to move away. The city was burned, and within a hundred miles, there was a scorched earth.

Needless to say, Sima Shi continued to implement the Three Lights Policy of Strengthening Walls and Clearing the Fields, and it was implemented more thoroughly in the four counties in southeastern Hebei. All the houses and trees within the four counties were burned, and it was probably difficult for the Bingzhou Army to find even a piece of wood about a foot long.

Crossing the river requires building pontoon bridges and building ships. Whether it is building pontoon bridges or ships, a large amount of wood is needed. When the Sima army retreats, it burns all the wood to destroy the idea of ​​Bingzhou army building pontoon bridges and ships.

Although the Bingzhou Army could transport wood from Yecheng and nearby counties and states, the distance was much farther, and the wood itself was a bulky thing. If it could not be used locally, the transportation cost would be greatly increased and the time would be delayed a lot.

It is most beneficial for Sima's troops to be able to delay the attack of the Bingzhou Army. As long as the Bingzhou Army can postpone the attack for several months, Sima's troops will be confident that they will further improve the Yellow River defense line and make it truly an impregnable defense line.

Therefore, any means that can delay the attack of Bingzhou Army will be adopted without hesitation. Even if this causes people's livelihood to wither and the people are in trouble, it is not considered by Sima Shi at all. In his eyes, the people are just grass, and they are allowed to trample on and harvest. As long as it is in the interests of the Sima family, the lives and deaths of the common people are simply insignificant.

Cao Liang had completely different ideas from Sima Shi. He believed that people were the first, and without the people, there would be no world. War had brought heavy suffering to the people of the world. Wherever the Bingzhou Army went, this kind of suffering should not be deepened. Instead, it was necessary to treat the wounds, appease the people, end the disaster, and let all the common people in the world have food and clothing, and can live and work in peace and contentment.

Soldiers and civilians are the foundation of victory, and soldiers come from the people and need to be supported by the people. So in the final analysis, the people are the real backbone of the world. In the eyes of Sima Shi, he only valued the great scholars, thinking that with these great scholars, they could support the Sima family.

It is true that the world is now dominated by the great scholars, but this so-called great scholars will also be destroyed in the rolling wave of war.

What Cao Liang paid the least attention to was the so-called Shi family. Whether in Bingzhou, which was occupied first, or Youzhou and Jizhou, which were later taken, Cao Liang used relatively enlightened methods to select generals and appoint officials. Regardless of their origin, no matter whether they are noble or inferior, they only have talents. The disciples of the wealthy families of the Shi family came to join him, and Cao Liang did not reject them. Among the poor children, there were outstanding people who valued the promotion.

Although Cao Liang's move made many people complain, especially those local tyrants. Seeing Cao Liang relied on poor families and broke the number of gentry economies they monopolized, he expressed extreme dissatisfaction and even destroyed Cao Liang's policies openly and secretly.

Cao Liang showed his iron-blooded skills to those destroyers without hesitation. The powerful family of the scholars took them seriously. In the face of absolute power, Cao Liang was like killing them an ant.

After breaking the system of recommendation that has been followed since the Han Dynasty, Cao Liang's employing system has always been controversial, but Cao Liang was unmoved and always insisted on his own ideas and appointed others as a virtuous person. As long as he is a talented person, he will be respected by Cao Liang.

Moreover, Cao Liang has always been unswerving in this employment system. Anyone who attempts to destroy this system will suppress it mercilessly. This is a fundamental system, and Cao Liang will never allow it to be strangled by stubborn forces in its infancy.
Chapter completed!