But Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said: "Lei Gong used money to seduce the people of Bingzhou and help them make fires, cook and build camps. Therefore, Lei Gong's troops did not need logistics for their march. The 200,000 men marched at a speed of 40 miles a day. It was not much worse than the elite of my big man.
We are still about 300 miles away from the Lei Gong headquarters."
Gongsun Zan said angrily: "Are these still the people of my Han Dynasty? They are not afraid of the court punishing them!"
He led 10,000 cavalry from Jizhou to Bingzhou and traveled more than a thousand miles. They were exposed to the wind and sun every day and had to eat unpalatable dry food. However, the bandits seemed to be in their own country, with ordinary people helping them handle logistics.
, eat hot meals, sleep in a house, who is the soldier and who is the thief! No wonder Gongsun Zan is so angry.
Zhang Fei on the side said: "Brother, since the Yellow Turban thieves can use the people to help, why can't we? If the people help us bury pots to make rice, provide campsites, and provide fodder, we can march more than 300 miles a day. This will cost the most
You can catch up with the Yellow Turban Thief in two days."
Liu Bei looked at Zhang Fei awkwardly but said nothing, while Gongsun Zan even ran to the front of the team angrily.
Zhang Fei felt baffled.
Finally, Guan Yu said: "The Yellow Turban thieves spent hundreds of thousands of dollars a day to achieve such speed, but we don't have that much money!"
Zhang Fei wondered: "How is it possible that the Yellow Turban thieves are richer than us? Aren't they so poor that they can't even eat?"
Guan Yu said: "Yide, you have forgotten that Lei Gong ransacked the homes of all the noble families in Wei County.
Lei Gong is now richer than us, even richer than the imperial court, and the people also trust the Yellow Turban thieves, but the people will not trust us Youzhou soldiers, so the local people dare not approach us at all, let alone ask them to help provide
It’s logistics.”
The military discipline of the Han Dynasty has declined a lot in recent years, especially in the border areas. The sky is high and the emperor is far away. Dong Zhuo often kills good people in Xiliang and takes credit. The Bingzhou Army is not much worse than the Xiliang Army, so the people do not dare to approach the Han Army.
, let alone provide logistics.
Zhang Fei said helplessly: "What kind of thing is this!"
Liu Bei ran to the front of the team to find Gongsun Zan and said: "Brother, Lei Gong's march has far exceeded our expectations, and it is also more popular than we imagined. Now not only has our march time been extended, but our possibility of exposure has also been increased. If we want to make a surprise attack, I'm afraid
It’s no longer possible, why not slow down and follow behind the Thunder God’s troops!”
Liu Bei was worried that his soldiers and horses would not be able to withstand such a long-distance attack. They had already run thousands of miles from Youzhou to Jizhou, and then ran thousands of miles around the corner to Bingzhou. In a few months, they had run four times.
After five thousand miles, both men and horses were exhausted.
Since the purpose of the surprise attack has been no longer achieved, Liu Bei naturally wants to slow down his marching speed and regain some combat effectiveness. He remembers that Lei Gong's troops are powerful. It is obviously not a good thing to deal with Lei Gong in a tired state. If Lei Gong counterattacks and ambush him, then
It's even worse.
Gongsun Zan thought for a while and said: "Let's chase after him. We can march 150 miles in one day, and the horses can bear it. Even if Lei Gong has spies, it will be difficult for them to deliver the news faster than us! And if Lei Gong really discovers us, it will be a big deal for us."
If we retreat again, he won't be able to outrun our horses!"
This is the best thing about cavalry. They can advance and retreat freely and can fight whenever they want.
Gongsun Zan was very upset about his defeat and wanted to personally kill Lei Gong, the man who brought about his defeat.
But Gongsun Zan didn't expect that he would be discovered by Xu Wei much earlier than he thought!
The 3,000 elite men left behind by Xu Wei discovered Gongsun Zan's cavalry following them after marching for three days. These soldiers immediately ran up the mountain to hide, but Gongsun Zan was busy on his way and did not notice these soldiers.
After seeing the tens of thousands of cavalry, these soldiers were worried about the safety of Xu Wei and the others, so they sent a team of 10 people, with all their horses, to catch up with Xu Wei and the others from another route overnight, and passed the news to
Niugui
After Niu Gui learned the news, he immediately went to Xu Weidao and said: "Captain, the Han army has led 10,000 cavalry in pursuit. What should we do?"
When Xu Wei heard the news, he was stunned and said: "It's so haunting. We almost ran to Taiyuan County, and we actually chased him."
Xu Wei summoned Wang Lei and others and explained the matter to them: "Niu Gui and I led 10,000 veterans to break up the rear. Wang Lei, you can lead everyone to move forward without slowing down. As long as we come to Taiyuan County, we will be safe."
Taiyuan County is considered the most prosperous place in Bingzhou. You may not be able to see a town even if you travel hundreds of miles from Taiyuan County. Xu Wei and the others have 2 million shi of grain and can solve logistical problems on their own, but how can Gongsun Zan and the others feed their 30,000 soldiers?
Xu Wei concluded that Liu Yu's team could pursue them as far as Taiyuan County at most. Beyond this range, they would have insufficient food and grass, and they would not be able to pursue them even if they wanted to.
Wang Lei said: "Captain, I'll be the one to cut off the queen!"
But Xu Wei smiled and said: "How can you be better than me? Now is not the time to show off. This is related to the safety of our 200,000 people."
And he said seriously: "If I lose the battle, you can take everyone to hide in the mountains. Things can be discarded. Remember that human life comes first."
He said to Old Man Wang and Old Man Niu: "Two uncles, you should watch Wang Lei more. Wang Lei, if you have anything to do, discuss it with these two uncles."
After giving instructions, Xu Wei left the team with 10,000 veterans.
In order to deal with Gongsun Zan's cavalry, Xu Wei asked Niu Gui to recruit local people to help check the terrain, and finally found a place with narrow terrain and a river.
This place can seriously weaken the impact of the cavalry, and also allows Xu Wei to attack halfway across the river, so he chose this battlefield. Xu Wei then asked the soldiers to cover their bodies with straw leaves, and dug several trenches to hide them in the middle of the mountain.
In the trenches.
At the same time, he sent another 3,000 soldiers, made dust from leaves, disguised as tens of thousands of people, and marched on the road.
Soon Gongsun Zan's scouting horse discovered Xu Wei's disguised troops and determined that this was Xu Wei's main force.
"Okay! I finally caught the Thunder Lord again, and I won't let him go no matter what this time!" Gongsun Zan was extremely happy when he heard that he had discovered the Thunder Lord, and he could defeat the Thunder Lord this time.
Liu Bei dissuaded us and said: "Brother, even if we catch up with Lei Gong's troops, we are still exhausted. It is better to correct it for a day before taking action."
Gongsun Zan said: "Soldiers are valuable and quick. If we rest here, we will definitely be discovered by Lei Gong's spies. At that time, we will only have to attack this road. If we rush up now, we will definitely catch them by surprise. Most of Lei Gong's troops are
The old, weak, women and children will be caught off guard and their formation will be thrown into chaos and they will be defeated by us!"
Obviously Gongsun Zan wanted to recreate the battle in Youzhou.