By September, Yuan's army's camp had been completely built. The camp was several times larger than Cao's camp, which greatly shocked Cao's army.
In the early morning of this day, the gates of most of the Yuan Army's camps were opened, and countless Yuan Army soldiers came out of each camp. Under the command of generals at all levels, they began to assemble on the north bank of the Guandu River.
The camps of both sides were built on the Guandu River, three or four miles apart. There was a huge open space in front of Yuan's camp, with tens of thousands of Yuan's troops arrayed and crowded, boundless.
Yuan Shao personally led the troops to the expedition. The opposite bank of them was Cao Jun's camp, so naturally they could not forcefully cross the river to attack Cao Jun's camp. Under Yuan Shao's command, the army went west along the Guandu River, crossed the river in the upper reaches of the river, and launched an attack from the northwest of Cao Jun.
Cao Cao also led his troops out of the camp for defense. He originally wanted to use some fortifications built outside the camp in the north to counterattack. However, the strength gap between the two sides was too large. Cao Cao's army was defeated soon after the battle and had to retreat to the camp.
At the camp, Cao Jun used bows and arrows to repel Yuan Jun. Yuan Shao ordered his people to build towers outside the camp, pile up mountains of earth, and shoot arrows at Cao Ying from high places. The arrows rained down like rain, blocking out the sky and the sun, almost covering the entire northeastern part of Cao Ying.
The camp was flooded, and the soldiers in Cao's camp had to walk with their shields covered. The morale of the soldiers was very low.
This situation lasted for several days, until Cao Cao used catapults to destroy Yuan Jun's wall towers and earthen mountains, which restored the decline. Yuan Shao secretly dug a tunnel leading to Cao's camp, and Cao Cao dug long trenches in the camp for defense.
Both sides went back and forth and fought for seven or eight days.
"Bang bang bang!"
Inside Cao Jun's camp, which was three to four miles long, earth mountains were built. There were catapults on the earth mountains, which continuously projected huge rocks. Stones weighing tens of kilograms drew a gorgeous arc in the sky, and then crashed onto the earth mountains and walls.
Above the stairs.
Suddenly sawdust flew everywhere, and screams were repeated. Many archers could not even utter a groan, and were smashed into pieces by stones and torn apart. Many more saw that the situation was not good and jumped off the earthen mountain wall.
However, the height of such buildings is often several feet or even more than ten feet high. If you jump from it, you may have your legs broken, or you may lose your life. Therefore, Yuan Jun suffered heavy casualties.
"Mingjin!"
Fifty-year-old Yuan Shao frowned and looked at Cao Ying with a deep gaze, a trace of solemnity and worry flashing in his eyes.
When he was in Yangwu, Jushu once said that the Northern Army had more soldiers, but they were not as brave and good at fighting as the Southern Army; the Southern Army had less food and material reserves than the Northern Army. The Southern Army was good at fighting quickly, while the Northern Army was good at slowing down the troops. Therefore, our army should fight for a long time
Fight and delay.
At that time, Yuan Shao believed that he had many soldiers and horses and was powerful, so he could wipe out Cao Cao along the way, and he should not be timid. Therefore, he did not follow Ju Shou's advice and marched south in a mighty manner.
After several days of fierce attack, Cao Jun's tenacity was beyond imagination. He sent a large number of soldiers and horses to besiege Cao Jun's camp from three sides, and not even one of Cao Jun's camps was broken.
Obviously Yuan Shao's attempt to annihilate Cao Cao in a short period of time was shattered, and any further fight would be nothing more than a waste of troops.
Therefore, he had to choose to withdraw his troops, withdraw the army to the camp, and then think of other methods.
As for returning troops to Yangwu, that is absolutely impossible.
Just like later Yuan Shao did not listen to Tian Feng's words and was predicted by Tian Feng. When he returned, he did not reuse Tian Feng and instead killed him.
Now the heroic words have been spoken, saying that Cao Mengde is just a mantis using his arms as a chariot, and he does not know his own strength. Now he has not been able to conquer it. He is riding a tiger and it is difficult to dismount. He, Yuan Benchu, cannot afford to lose this person.
Soon the soldiers of Yuan's army retreated like a tide. After they retreated, Cao Cao, who was watching the situation of Yuan's army on the mountains in the distance, breathed a sigh of relief and said in a deep voice: "Send the order, collect the enemy's arrow clusters, and dig the gully deeper.
.”
"Report!"
When Cao Cao came down from Tushan, the scouts came to report: "We found that Yuan Jun had a large number of grain and grass vehicles at Yanjin Ferry to be sent to Yuan Camp!"
Cao Cao pondered for a moment and nodded slightly: "Okay, let's explore again."
After saying that, he turned and left.
That night, Yuan Shao's grain truck was attacked by Cao Cao, but fortunately, he had countless vehicles. There were countless grain trucks of Yuan's army crossing the river from Yanjin, Liyang, Juan County and other ferries. Only a small part was lost.
How much damage will it cause.
On the second day, Yuan Shao also learned about the attack on the grain transport truck. In the general's camp, Yuan Shao looked at the official document and said to his subordinates: "The review and distribution has mobilized a new wave of grain and grass. When it was transported to the front line, it was
Cao's army has been destroyed, but there is still a large amount of food and grass to follow. The food route must not be cut off, Chunyu Qiong."
"The end will be here."
Chunyu Qiong stood up and said with cupped hands.
Yuan Shao said: "I order you to lead an army of ten thousand, go north to escort the grain trucks, and first store the grain and grass in Wuchao."
"only!"
Chunyu Qiong took the order and left.
Jushou on the side quickly advised: "Ming Gong, you can send an additional force of Jiang Qi to the outside of Chunyu Qiong to prevent Cao Cao from sneak attack."
"No need."
Before Chunyu Qiong had gone far, when he heard this, he quickly said: "The last general will be able to protect the food and grass."
"okay."
Yuan Shao nodded: "Go."
"Follow orders."
Chunyu Qiong left happily.
At this time, Xu You stood up again and said: "At first, Cao Cao had few troops and concentrated all his strength to resist our army. Xu Du was guarded by the remaining people and the defense was empty. If he sent a team to advance lightly and attacked overnight, he could capture it.
Xudu. After occupying Xudu, we will welcome the emperor to attack Cao Cao, and we will definitely be able to capture Cao Cao. If he does not break up immediately, he will be unable to take care of both ends, and will be exhausted, and we will definitely defeat him."
"Hahahahaha."
Yuan Shao laughed arrogantly and said: "Ziyuan, have you forgotten that Cao Cao is just a clumsy man after an eunuch. Back then, he followed me like a servant boy, but he only kept his voice and was worthy of competing with me for the northern hegemony? Now Xu
They all sent me countless letters. I know that his army does not have much food and grass. I will send people to cut off his food routes at that time. In less than a month, I will be able to capture Cao Cao and humiliate him in front of him. Why bother?
How about dividing your troops to attack Xudu?"
Xu You thought about it and said with a smile: "What I said in the beginning is absolutely true. Cao Cao and we have been friends since we were young. He was captured alive by Sun Ruogong. It will definitely be very interesting when we meet again."
"It's natural."
Yuan Shao nodded proudly and said: "Give me the order to send cavalry south to plunder Cao Cao's grain road."
"only."
All the soldiers agreed with a roar.
The entire Guandu seemed to have been surrounded by Yuan's army at this time.
Yuan Shao's earthen mountains and fortresses were built almost to the entrance of Cao Jun's camp, and the flags covering the sky and the sun seemed to have no end at a glance.
There were 80,000 elite men under his command, and there were more than 20 or 30 generals above the rank of lieutenant. Among them, Gao Lan, Zhang He, Chun Yuqiong and others were the main generals. They formed a dense formation outside Cao Jun's camp and surrounded Cao's camp.
At the same time, a large number of cavalry and infantry went south, invading cities such as Weishi and Yuanling, and even reached the Yanling area, constantly plundering Cao Cao's grain roads and harassing the cities in the rear.
In addition, small groups of Yuan's troops attacked Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou, and the entire Henan area was in flames of war.
There were three nobles and nine ministers in Xudu, and there were aristocratic families. The letters sent to Yuan Shao's camp were as numerous as snowflakes and piled up like mountains.
If the Yingchuan family headed by the Xun family had not gathered private soldiers and worked hard to maintain order in Xudu, I am afraid that the families in other places would have rebelled in the rear and started a fire in the backyard.
The Battle of Guandu was not only a war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, but also a dispute between the Yingchuan family and foreign families.
The Xun family, the Guo family, the Chen family, the Zhong family, the Yu family, the Han family, and the Yingchuan tycoons of all sizes all supported Cao Cao, so Cao Cao moved the capital to Xudu, which brought great political influence to the Yingchuan family.
Benefit.
But the foreign aristocratic families naturally do not allow the Yingchuan family to dominate. For them, there is no difference between Cao Cao's power and Yuan Shao's power. Moreover, there are many former disciples of the Yuan family who have climbed to the top of the Yuan family, which is of greater benefit to the family.
, so he is more willing to side with Yuan Shao.
It's just that the foreign aristocratic families don't have enough foundation in Yingchuan. Their property, fields, and population are all located elsewhere, and they don't have the local advantages compared to the Yingchuan aristocratic family. Therefore, most rebellions like this are suppressed and do not cause much trouble.
But even so, it dealt a huge blow to Cao Cao's rule. The foundation was in turmoil, like a lonely boat in the vast sea, which might capsize at any time due to violent storms.
By mid-September, the situation became even more unfavorable for Cao Cao. It was the late autumn, the autumn wind was killing everything, and everything was withering.
Yuan's reputation was extremely high, and the mighty army entered the river like a giant net. It seemed that he had captured all the Henan area. From July when Yuan Shao's troops entered Guandu, to September, the two sides were in a stalemate for two months and more than 60 days, causing the people to wither.
People's livelihood was difficult, and countless people moved from Henan to Hebei.
There were raging wars and endless wars. A large number of people from Yingchuan, Chenliu, Chen State, Liang State, Runan and other places migrated to Nanyang and even Jiangdong because of the fighting between Yuan Jun and Cao Jun in these places, causing the population of Henan to drop sharply again.
In these days, Liu Bei and Shen Chen accepted tens of thousands of people in Wuyang, Kunyang and other places. Groups of people from the north supported the elderly and young and fled to the south.
They accepted all the people who came from Henan. In just one month, a large number of people moved south and were settled in Wancheng, Xi'e, Bowang, Zhixian, Duyang and other places, and in the rear areas
An unknown number of refugees are still migrating one after another.
The migration of people in ancient times was actually an extremely terrifying event. People like Huangmenting, who were organized and disciplined, gathered the food of the entire clan and redistributed it, after all, only a few.
When most people fled, they didn't have time to bring much food, they had to take care of their families, and they didn't have much property. Many people starved to death on the way. Even wealthy families would suffer losses from diseases, hunger, military disasters, and plagues.
It is destroying people's lives every moment, making their lives fall like dust.
For this reason, Shen Chen asked Huangmenting from the rear to transport a few more batches of grain that had been accumulated in the past few years. In fact, he had always had enough grain. Before the army was sent out, he had 6 million shi in stock. It has been almost a year since the army was sent out.
Of time, it only consumed less than half a million stones.
Most of them still lacked meat. They had to sell some old grains in exchange for a large amount of dried pork, beef, and chicken from Xiangyang and send them to the front line to supplement the nutrition of the soldiers. This was how much was consumed.
Otherwise, based on the calculation of his sending 10,000 troops, he would consume less than 300,000 stones of food and grass in one year at most, which would be more than enough for another twenty years of fighting.
Now there are suddenly tens of thousands more refugees to assist, and although the city has enough military rations, it cannot be replenished with military rations all the time. Therefore, Shen Chen asked the rear to urgently transport another 500,000 shi to Duyang to resettle the people and allow them to live in Duyang. Villages were re-established in the north of Nanyang, taking root and increasing the population.
It's just that when there are more refugees, there are always various things that happen. Most of the people are still very simple and kind, but when they line up, it is inevitable that they will be in a mess. Zhang Fei happened to be in charge that day. Seeing that everyone was in bad order and was close to looting, Angry, he raised his whip.
On September 21st, outside Kunyang City, starting from last month, Liu Bei and Shen Chen ordered the soldiers to open porridge shops to feed the people. They also asked the officials from the rear, such as Bowang and Duyang, to recruit civilian men to provide food for the refugees. People build homes.
Zhang Fei and Gan Ning were of the same mind. Both of them were indifferent and didn't care about the lives of the refugees. They either spent the whole day hunting in the mountains, or led their cavalry northward for reconnaissance in the name of guarding against Cao's army.
On weekdays, Liu Bei, Shen Chen, Guan Yu, Mi Zhu, Jian Yong, Sun Qian and others are busy with these matters, but today everyone happens to be busy, because not only Kunyang, but also Wuyang Ye County is dealing with refugee matters, and the work of resettling the refugees in the rear area also needs to continue. Continuously, so Kunyang was short of manpower, so Zhang Fei was asked to take charge for a day.
Unexpectedly, he never took care of things. When others were busy, the order was very orderly. But when he was there, he knew that he was drinking on the side. The soldiers in the city did not come out to maintain order. They needed to be prepared for Cao Jun who might come.
Therefore, the personnel responsible for distributing food at that time were temporarily recruited from refugees, and some were small officials such as military logistics clerks. The scene became chaotic and hungry people gathered around the porridge stall to rob.
"Damn it, these untouchables."
Zhang Fei was furious when he heard this, and rushed over with dozens of guards, raising his whip and beating him randomly.
But the hungry people are in chaos. Some people have been hungry for several days. There is a long queue and they don’t know when they will get their turn. Then they go crazy with hunger and go to grab. Now they are beaten again. They don’t care about the pain. They even spilled the food on the ground. The food must be licked clean.
At this time, Liu Bei and Shen Chen, Guan Yu, came back from Wuyang where they had resettled the refugees there. Seeing this, Liu Bei said angrily: "Yide, stop!"
Seeing Liu Bei coming back, the soldiers around him quickly went up and grabbed Zhang Fei, but Zhang Fei was still cursing.
When the people around saw Liu Bei and a group of troops, their faces suddenly showed a look of fear. None of them dared to line up anymore. They dragged their families with them and stood far away. The harm done to them by the army in troubled times had been enough. Deep enough to make them instinctively fearful.
"Yide, what are you doing?"
Liu Bei rushed over, snatched Zhang Fei's riding crop, pushed him and glared at him: "We, the teachers of benevolence and righteousness, are here to save the people of Li, and we are not cruel people. You beat the people because you want to trap them." Am I being unjust?"
Zhang Fei argued: "Brother, why would I want to trap my brother in injustice? But these unscrupulous people, let them queue up to receive it, but rob them one by one, how are they any different from the mob? If they hadn't been beaten, I'm afraid they would be grabbing porridge now, and they would be robbed later. All the food in the city will be emptied by them."
Robbery?
Liu Bei frowned.
It's one thing to help people.
But if the people are looting, they are a mob.
Let alone Liu Bei, a benevolent and righteous man, he is not a holy mother.
Even the Holy Mother would not want all her food to be robbed.
So he also changed his color, looked at the beaten people, and asked sternly: "Everyone, I gave you food for the sake of morality, and I also arranged fields for you in Nanyang so that you can have a home.
Why do we need to plunder food when we are cultivating the land?"
A seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy who was beaten and bleeding, with a sallow complexion knelt down and kowtowed, crying: "General, we also know that the general is benevolent and righteous, but we have been hungry for several days and are about to starve to death. We have no choice."
"Yide?"
Liu Bei was furious, turned to Zhang Fei and said, "Didn't I ask you to give food to those who need it most first? Why can't they get it first?"
"Forehead"
Zhang Fei was obedient and looked around.
When Liu Bei saw him like this, he knew that he had made a mistake again. He was so angry that he raised his whip and wanted to whip it. Zhang Fei looked away and lowered his head, not daring to hide.
Seeing this situation, Liu Bei couldn't bear it anymore, so he threw away the riding crop. His mood was already very bad. He hated iron and said: "Yide, you missed my important event again!"
"Brother me"
Zhang Fei looked ashamed.
He could be indifferent to the people and soldiers, but he could not ignore his brotherhood with Liu Bei and Guan Yu.
At this time, Shen Chen had arranged for Sun Qian and others to reorganize the queues of the victims and let the hungry people eat first. He also had people bandage the wounds of the hungry people who were beaten by Zhang Fei and give them porridge.
After everything was in order, he came over and said seriously: "General Zhang, I know that you don't love the people and don't care about your subordinates. But when you were in Xuzhou, you already missed the important events of Xuande Gong because of these things. Are you going to do it again today?"
A repeat?"
"I"
Zhang Fei lowered his head and was too scolded to say anything.
Shen Chen said again: "The people and soldiers trust Duke Xuande and are willing to come and join him, but if you treat him harshly, wouldn't it embarrass Duke Xuande? By then, if everyone is disloyal, who will come to join Duke Xuande again?"
Where are you going to help the Han Dynasty?"
Zhang Fei's face turned red and he was speechless.
Shen Chen continued: "What you did, in a small way, is cruelty; in a big way, it hinders Xuande Gong's benevolence and righteousness to extend justice to the world. In the long run, Xuande Gong's reputation will save the Han Dynasty.
All my great achievements will be defeated by you!"
This is moral kidnapping.
Zhang Fei has a rough temper, and he didn't use his head when things happened in his early years. In his later years, he was killed by his subordinates because of this incident. Now, scolding him early and kidnapping him with the loyalty of Liu Bei and his brothers will save his life in the future.
"Achen."
Seeing that Shen Chen had trained Zhang Fei to be like his grandson, Gan Ning had been getting along well with Zhang Fei these days and said: "The matter is not that serious, right? We are rescuing the victims now, but there are countless victims in the world, how many can Xuande Gong save?"
What? Now that the victims are looting, Yide has no choice but to do so. No one will think that Xuande is unkind and unjust."
"No!"
Shen Chen's voice rose in pitch. He looked around and walked up to the hungry people who had been bandaged and devouring food after being injured by Zhang Fei. He pointed at them and said, "They will think that Xuande is unkind and unjust, even though Xuande and I
The father promised to give them food, but he made them wait in a long line and almost starved to death, and was beaten for no reason. Is this a benevolent thing?"
The hungry people were startled, and they quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "We all know Uncle Liu Huang's reputation for benevolence and righteousness, but we have no such intentions."
"I know you don't have this intention."
Shen Chen said: "But is this the way to help the world? Since we want to help the world, we must treat you with kindness. How can we beat you with a whip? If this matter spreads, how will the world view your uncle?"
As he spoke, his voice became louder and louder, and the people around him, including Liu Bei, Guan Yu and others, looked at him.
"The people all over the world are suffering due to the struggle of princes everywhere. If we don't take care of them, who else will take care of them? If we kill the hungry people today, the world will think that Xuande is unfair. Tomorrow, if General Zhang makes some mistakes again, no one will As the emperor's uncle established great achievements, the empire of the Han Dynasty collapsed."
Shen Chen delivered a passionate speech, and as his voice spread, countless people slowly gathered.
He simply stood next to a carriage bed used to store corn, looked down at the crowd and said loudly: "So that you all know that Uncle Liu is not only for the country of the Han Dynasty, he cares more about the people of the Han Dynasty. Although I am not talented , I am also willing to pour out food and grass to save him. But if you want to win the hearts and minds of the people, how can you not treat them with sincerity? What happened today was due to our negligence, and I apologize to everyone!"
Say it.
He bent down and saluted all the people.
Liu Bei was also very moved, jumped on the carriage, and said to everyone: "I failed to discipline my good brother, and I also apologize to everyone!"
It doesn't matter if Shen Chen bows and salutes, but if Liu Bei bows and salutes, it will frighten countless people.
The people around him immediately fell to their knees and shouted: "Uncle, please don't blame yourself. It was us who were rude and ran into the porridge shop and looted. We will never do this in the future."
"Everyone please get up quickly."
Liu Bei quickly got off the carriage and went to help many people.
Zhang Fei blamed himself and Guan Yu urged him to go up and apologize. He sincerely apologized to the hungry people who were injured by him.
For a time, many people praised Liu Bei and Shen Chen for their benevolence and righteousness.
You must know that although Shen Chen was famous in Jingzhou, his reputation at that time spread from north to south, and rarely from south to north.
Except for a few examples like Gan Ning, most of them, like Zhang Liao's ability to stop a child from crying, Liu Bei's unparalleled benevolence and righteousness, and his bravery in guarding and defeating tens of thousands of enemies, were all famous in the north, not spread in the south.
The reason why Liu Bei went to Nanyang to receive Liu Biao's courtesy and support from all the people was because of the reputation he had laid in Pingyuan, Xuzhou, Yuzhou and other places.
Therefore, Shen Chen's reputation in Jingzhou could not spread to the north at all.
Even if he attacked Xudu for the second time, it was only among the people in Yingchuan and Runan that everyone knew that there was such a powerful general in Nanyang and he attacked Xudu outside the city.
But northerners knew very little about his talents, poetry, and military achievements.
Even north of the Yellow River, few people know his name.
But after today, the people fleeing in the north praised him, and his reputation for being eager for public justice naturally spread.
more importantly.
Shen Chen not only spread his fame, but also taught Zhang Fei a lesson, so that he would not easily beat soldiers and people again. Coupled with the support of Liu Bei and Guan Yu, this also laid the foundation for him to command Liu Bei's troops in the future.