In late August, Yuan Shao brought the last 20,000 soldiers he had left in Qingzhou to Luoyang City. There was no more Yuan Shao's soldiers in the entire Qingzhou.
Yu Du, who had been lurking near Mount Tai, suddenly discovered that there were not many Han troops left in Qingzhou. Especially since almost all of Yuan Shao's army had left.
This discovery made Yu Du overjoyed. Since the Yellow Turban Army was defeated by the Han Army in the Central Plains War, the development momentum of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army was completely interrupted. The Yellow Turban Army hiding in the mountains saved their lives, but their lives were not good. Dashan
There are not enough supplies to feed the Yellow Turban Army. At this time, the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou is about to run out of food and grass. Even if Yuan Shao and the others do not leave, Yu Du plans to go down the mountain to grab food during this autumn harvest!
Although Xu Wei taught Yu Du and others how to fight guerrilla warfare, the Yellow Turban Army and others did not learn very well. Guerrilla warfare is not only military tactics, but also requires political and economic cooperation.
They have been fighting against Po in the military for several years. The veterans who are still alive are basically people who have experienced hundreds of battles. They can still do the tactics of avoiding strong points and attacking weak points.
But how to create a base area and develop the economy of the base area so that the Yellow Turban Army will not starve to death and even develop and grow. The Yellow Turban Army is very poor at this point. They do not have enough officials to govern the place, and it is difficult for them to be like the Tengjia Army.
They can also penetrate deeply into the people, but they cannot do this. They say they are fighting guerrilla warfare, but they are actually rogue tactics. Their food problem has never been solved.
In this era, the food output was not high. In the mountainous areas occupied by the Yellow Turban Army, the food output was frighteningly lower. They did not get a lot of food in the mountainous areas.
However, there were so many refugees who defected to the Yellow Turban Army. It can be said that the food reserves of the Yellow Turban Army were a big problem.
Therefore, Yuan Shao's departure from Qingzhou was a God-given opportunity for Du and the others. The autumn harvest was approaching and they could take the opportunity to grab food for the winter.
So when Yuan Shao's army left Qingzhou, Yu Du and his men came out with 100,000 Yellow Turban troops and divided their forces into three groups to attack the big cities in Qingzhou.
The unprepared county officials in Qingzhou were beaten back by the Yellow Turban soldiers, and a large number of counties were captured by the Yellow Turban soldiers!
After conquering these counties, the Yellow Turban soldiers obtained a large amount of food. With this food, the Yellow Turban soldiers finally solved their survival crisis.
At this time, the most prestigious person in Qingzhou was Kong Rong, the governor of Beihai. When they could not find Yuan Shao, the herdsman of Qingzhou, they all turned to Kong Rong, the governor of Beihai, and asked him to come up with a way to quell the Yellow Turban rebellion in Qingzhou.
But what could Kong Rong do? He came to Beihai County to be the governor, and all he did was to do light corvee, pay little taxes, and save criminal laws. These methods of his were of some use in peacetime, but at this time Qingzhou was no different from the troubled times.
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He could neither collect food and grass to resettle the refugees, nor could he control the noble families under his rule and restrict them from annexing land and creating refugees.
It can be said that Kong Rong was not suitable for the situation in Qingzhou. Without the support of the Han Dynasty, Kong Rong was just a puppet of the Qingzhou nobles, and his decrees could not leave the government.
But now facing the attack of hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban troops, he didn't know how to respond. He went to various places to close the city gates and defend the city. At the same time, he sent messengers to ask for help from all parties.
Cao Cao was not the only one he sought help from. He sent envoys to Lu Zhi in Jizhou and Tao Qian in Xuzhou.
It is a pity that Lu Zhi of Jizhou is now seriously ill and cannot afford it. The person in charge of the situation in Jizhou is Chang Shi Shenpei.
Although Jizhou has a large number of soldiers and horses, they are used by the Jizhou clan to guard homes and hospitals. They do not agree at all that Jizhou's soldiers and horses go to support Qingzhou.
Moreover, at this time, the Tengjia Army has already assembled troops and horses in Youzhou. The Tengjia Army is ready to attack Jizhou at any time. The noble families in Jizhou want to ask for help from all directions. He still has extra troops and horses to support Qingzhou.
, Shenpei could only reject Kong Rong’s envoy.
The situation of Tao Qian in Xuzhou was not much better! After King Yang Biaoqin's edict was issued, he originally wanted to lead his troops to King Qin in Beijing.
As a result, Yuan Shu sent 50,000 troops to attack Jiujiang County in Yangzhou. Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, also asked Tao Qian for help. But Tao Qian did not dare to risk offending Yuan Shu to rescue Liu Yao. Because Yuan Shu's army also made
Tao Qian was worried about getting himself into trouble due to the Xuzhou attack, so he refused Liu Yao's request for help.
Tao Qian was even worried that Yuan Shu would take the opportunity to attack Xuzhou, so Tao Qian stationed the main force of Xuzhou in Guangling County. Tao Qian was familiar with Yuan Shu when he was in Luoyang City, and knew that Yuan Shu would go crazy and dare to do anything to stop him.
When Yuan Shu attacked Xuzhou, he had to let him know that Xuzhou was not easy to fight. So at this time, Tao Qian had no ability to rescue Kong Rong in Beihai.
Therefore, although Kong Rong asked for help everywhere, Cao Cao was the only one who came to the rescue.
Beihai County is not far from Taishan County, and Cao Cao arrived at Beihai County's territory in just three days' march.
At this time, Cao Cao's counselor Cheng Yu suggested to him: "Now Yu Du doesn't even know that we are coming to support Beihai County. The Yellow Turban Army is definitely not prepared for our attack. This is a good opportunity to sneak attack on the Yellow Turban Army. The Yellow Turban Army is in a disorganized formation."
, as long as these leaders are killed, they will become a piece of loose sand. It will be much easier to deal with them then.
Cao Cao immediately adopted Cheng Yu's suggestion of a beheading battle.
He led an army of 20,000 people on a rapid march to Beihai City, and then waited until midnight, while Yu Du and others were still sleeping. Cao Cao's army came out in full force and attacked Yu Du's camp!
They were completely unprepared for the sudden attack on Yu Du, and were caught off guard by Cao Cao. In the chaos, 30,000 troops were killed, and Yu Du himself was hacked to death in the chaos, leaving no trace of his body. And Yu Du's
His death in battle greatly reduced the morale of the Yellow Turban Army, and they were immediately defeated.
In this battle, although Cao Cao's army paid the price of 2,000 soldiers dying, they killed the leader of the Yellow Turban Army, Yu Du, and almost wiped out 30,000 Yellow Turban soldiers. It was considered a great victory. The siege of Beihai County was thus defeated by Cao Cao
The war is over!
After Kong Rong saw the Yellow Turban Army being annihilated by Cao Cao, he opened the city gate to welcome Cao Cao's army.
"If it weren't for Brother Meng De's support this time, I might have died on the battlefield!" Kong Rong thanked Cao Cao.
Cao Cao lifted up Kong Rong and said with a smile: "We are all colleagues, and we should help each other. Moreover, if the Yellow Turban Army in Beihai County cannot be controlled, I am afraid that Taishan County will also be invaded by the Yellow Turban Army!"
Kong Rong smiled bitterly and said: "Baiwuyi is a scholar. I finally understand the meaning of this. Compared with Brother Meng De, I am really a loser. I am really unworthy of the entrustment of the imperial court."
Cao Cao immediately said: "Wen Ju is too modest. You just have no experience. You just need to fight more battles!"
Kong Rong shook his head and said: "My little brother has no ability to fight anymore. The Yellow Turban Army in Beihai County was annihilated by Brother Meng De, but the Yellow Turban Army in other places in Qingzhou is still there. Please ask Brother Meng De to save my officials from Qingzhou! Defeat Qingzhou.
Yellow Turbans elsewhere!”
Cao Cao said happily: "It is my duty to do so!"
Isn't that why he came here? Now Kong Rong has brought Qingzhou to his doorstep.