Chapter 158 The time has come to raise troops tomorrow
Chapter 158 The time has come, the troops will start tomorrow
It was already October 6th at Liu Bei's Chenchen Military Camp, more than ten kilometers away from Kunyang.
Shen Chen has been reorganizing his troops recently, reorganizing his own, Gan Ning's, and Liu Bei's troops and arranging them according to their combat effectiveness.
In terms of combat effectiveness, Huangmenting's soldiers were the strongest, followed by the three thousand or so elite Yuan troops brought by Liu Bei, and then Gan Ning's troops.
The total strength of this part is about 9,000. There are still 1,600 Huangmenting soldiers left, and less than 4,000 Gan-Ning troops. Together with Liu Bei's 3,000 troops, the current strength of Liu Bei and Shen Chen's coalition forces is All combat power.
certainly.
There are also some soldiers and horses.
For example, Liu Bei later gathered three or four thousand soldiers from Yuan's old army who had been defeated, as well as the troops of Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang brought by Guan Yu.
However, these people have extremely low combat effectiveness and are called a mob. They can only be used to garrison the city or escort food and grass. If they go to the battlefield, they will most likely be held back.
So for now, these are probably the available troops.
However, there are plenty of generals. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Tai Shi Ci, Shen Chen, Gan Ning, Lou Fa, Shen Mi, Deng Zhao, Shen Zhen and others can lead troops in battle. There are quite a few generals with fewer troops. the meaning of.
After reorganizing the troops and horses, Shen Chen ordered people to drill every day. There was a sufficient supply of food, fodder and food. The troops were stationed on the plain between Xiangcheng and Kunyang, adjacent to Ziyun Mountain and about 20 kilometers away from Xiangcheng.
Zhao Yuntai Shici led the defeated soldiers of the Yuan family's old tribe and more than a thousand yellow turban and young soldiers of Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao to garrison in Kunyang and Wuyang respectively. In the rear, there were also Jian, Yong, Sun, Qian, Mi Zhu and others who were responsible for continuing to gather the people who had fled from Henan. , resettled in Duyang, Ye County and other places.
Liu Bei, Chen Chen and others lived in the camp. In addition to supervising food and grass, soldier training, and various ordnance supplies every day, they were also always waiting for news from the north to see whether the stalemate between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in Guandu had come to an end.
"Report!"
Xu Du flew on horseback to report, and the scout entered the camp, raised his hands and said: "General, Cao Cao burned down Wuchao four days ago, and Yuan's army ran out of food and grass."
"Well?"
Shen Chen's face remained calm, he nodded slightly and said, "I understand, you can investigate again when you return to Xudu."
"only."
The scouts left immediately.
Shen Chen left the camp with a worried expression on his face.
In fact, he had known about this for a long time, but he didn't want to stop it because Yuan Shao was too powerful. If he tried every means to remind Yuan Shao that Cao Cao would be eliminated, then Yuan Shao would gain the entire north and be stronger than Cao Cao in the 13th year of Jian'an. horrible.
Therefore, it is in his interest for Yuan Shao to be defeated.
It's just that we can't let Yuan Shao lose too badly. We have to find a way to rescue him so that he loses less, so as to maintain the 50-50 situation in Henan and Hebei.
Soon he came to Liu Bei's camp. At this time, Liu Bei was training soldiers on the school field outside the camp. Hearing that Shen Chen was looking for him, he immediately returned to the camp, went to the tent and asked: "Little sir, what's the matter?"
"Xuan De Gong, Yuan Shao hoarded grain and grass in Guandu, but Cao Cao burned it. Now that Yuan's army is short of grain, it will inevitably be defeated."
Shen Chen immediately told him the news.
"What?"
Liu Bei was extremely surprised and said: "As expected by Mr. Xiao, let's attack Xu Du immediately?"
Shen Chen said: "No, Yuan Shao has not yet been defeated at this time, and Xudu will be heavily guarded. We should march into Xiangcheng first, pretending to attack Xudu, but actually camp step by step, so that Cao Cao cannot take care of both the head and tail, and send reinforcements to rescue him."
"Why is this?"
Liu Bei was confused. Now that Yuan Shao's food and grass had been burned out, Cao Cao would definitely take the opportunity to defeat Yuan Shao. Wouldn't they take the opportunity to attack Xu Du?
Shen Chen explained: "Even if Yuan Shao burns out all the food and grass, there will still be some food in the camp, and he will attack Cao Cao's camp. If we attack Xudu now, Cao Cao is worried that Xudu will be breached, and he may send reinforcements to save him. By then, Cao Cao's army will be sent to Guandu. If we have few soldiers and are defeated by Yuan Shao, then the world will return to Yuan, which is really not a good thing."
This is all about keeping a certain degree of control.
We can neither let Cao Cao win nor let Cao Cao lose.
After Cao Cao lost, Yuan Shao went south and captured all of Henan and Hebei. In this way, the world belonged to Yuan.
If Cao Cao wins, it will still be the same as in history, then what is he still doing here?
Therefore, the two sides must fight to a draw. Even if Yuan Shao loses, the defeat cannot be too disastrous.
The key point lies in Xu Du.
Xudu was Cao Cao's home base, and all his people, including the emperor's officials and the Yingchuan family, were all in Xuchang.
Xuchang's military strength is now very empty. Ren Jun is still transporting grain and grass on the front line. Only Cao Hong, Xia Houyuan and Li Dian are left behind, with less than 10,000 people left, and there is a serious shortage of materials and weapons.
Once their troops advance too fast and cause Cao Cao to worry, they may send people to rescue them. When Guandu has not yet completely decided the winner, if Yuan Shao is really allowed to attack Cao Cao's camp, the situation will be very different. .
So they must plan carefully.
Liu Bei asked: "What should we do between Mr. Yi and Xiao?"
Shen Chen came to the general's table, took out a piece of silk, which was a map of the surrounding areas of Yingchuan that he had drawn these days. He pointed at it and said, "Please take a look, Mr. Xuande."
As a design dog, drawing is a basic skill. Although Shen Chen used to draw pictures on the computer, he did not miss the manual work.
Liu Bei came over and saw that the map clearly marked the locations of several cities in Yingchuan, as well as his own location.
The locations, distances, and surrounding terrain of these cities are clearly visible. Even Ziyun Mountain, the forests, fields, and mountains surrounding each city are marked one by one, which is of great strategic significance.
"According to the report from Tanma, Cao's troops in Yingchuan have gathered their troops and are entrenched around Xudu. This is Yingyin and Linying counties, which are the most important."
Shen Chen pointed to the two cities closest to Xudu and said: "In addition, there are two Cao camps outside Xudu, with about 10,000 soldiers and horses surrounding them. In fact, there is Ren Jun's army in the north, which is Transport food and grass, I expect he will come to help."
"Looking at it this way, it seems that the enemy's army is quite large and ours is small."
Liu Bei frowned.
Shen Chen laughed and said: "Those who stayed behind at Xudu were not the elite of Cao's army, and I had already frightened Cao's army twice by attacking outside the city of Xudu. Even if Cao Cao came in person, as long as he did not bring tens of thousands of his elite from Guandu, , I’m not afraid of him either.”
I have fought with Cao Cao many times. Although I have never won a battle with Cao Cao personally commanded, the soldiers and horses led by Cao Cao are all his elite men.
Now Xu Du only has the second-line troops left behind, and there are not many elite troops. If they fight fiercely in the wild, he is confident that he can defeat them.
Liu Bei nodded and said, "How do you plan to respond, young gentleman?"
Shen Chen said: "I expect that Yuan Shao will not be defeated in a short time. I plan to set up camp tomorrow and march into Xiangcheng. Then I will pretend to be the main force and march into Fenqiu to confront Cao's army in Fenqiu."
"Then what?"
Liu Bei asked.
"Then the rest of the troops went south to Jianqiang, bypassed the main force of Cao's army from Jianqiang, and went north to attack Xudu."
Shen Chen drew a circle on the map.
Liu Bei thought: "This is another young man's plan to attack the east and attack the west. It's just that Cao Jun has been fooled twice. Will he be fooled again now?"
Shen Chen grinned: "This is not about attacking in the east, but in surrounding areas and calling for reinforcements."
"Surround the site for reinforcements?"
Liu Bei was very surprised and asked: "What kind of strategy is this?"
"Cao's army in Xudu is not a fool. I took advantage of their desire to defend Xudu several times and kept attacking them. They must have guessed that we might repeat our old tricks, so they will definitely not fall into the trap again this time and want to attack by force. It’s hard to add Xu Du.”
Shen Chen pointed to the surroundings of Xudu and said: "So this time we must change our strategy. Some of the troops will confront Cao's army in Fenqiu and Linying in Yingyin, while the other part of the troops will go to Jian to contain Cao's troops stationed in Xudu. We Then order your elite troops to march northward at starry night to ambush Cao Jun!"
This is the plan to surround the spot and call for reinforcements.
Historically, in the battle of Guandu between the two men, Cao Cao burned Wuchao in October, and then Yuan Shao ordered to continue to storm Cao's camp. It was not until Zhang He and Gao Lan surrendered in November that there was a gap of nearly a month.
This means that there is actually a small amount of food and grass in Yuan Shao's camp, but it may only be enough to last for more than half a month. Therefore, Yuan Jun went hungry to fight in the later period and finally chose to surrender.
It's just that Shen Chen doesn't watch "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". He watches the TV series "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and has never even read the novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", so he only knows a rough history, and even many places because of the TV dramas and The reality is different and a big deviation has occurred.
Therefore, he always thought that after Cao Cao burned Wuchao in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Jun surrendered the next day, and then Cao Cao immediately ordered the execution of 80,000 surrendered soldiers. Yuan Shao fled north in panic, and died of illness within two years. Since then, he has returned to the north. Cao Cao.
But it was only after he came to ancient times and personally participated in the war that Shen Chen understood many truths.
For example, there is a high probability that Yuan Jun will not surrender the next day, because every time he marches, he really cannot bring much food and grass, but the army himself will also carry ten and a half days of food and grass with him. If he builds a camp, the stored food will be More.
And how can there be any reason to surrender immediately today after the food and grass were burned yesterday?
Then Yuan Shao failed too much as a human being.
Therefore, after Shen Chen's analysis, he believed that Yuan Shao made a wrong judgment when there was not much food and grass, and continued to let Zhang He Gaolan attack Cao's camp for many days. The small amount of food stored in his camp was exhausted, and then the army was defeated.
So if he immediately goes north to fight Cao's army in Xudu, with the current strength of Cao Hong, Xia Houyuan, Li Dian and others, it will be difficult to stop him.
It's not that I look down on them, it's just that their soldiers are not elite, and supplies such as bows and arrows are in short supply. It is indeed unlikely that they can compete with Liu Bei and Shen Chen's army, which has sufficient supplies.
Once he defeats Cao Hong and others head-on, Xu Du will be in danger, and Cao Cao will definitely come to save him.
Then he is on the Guandu front line, and it is really possible that he will be defeated before Yuan Shao's food and grass are completely exhausted. At that time, Yuan Shao can eat the little food left in his camp and wait for the subsequent food and grass to arrive.
Therefore, Shen Chen believed that it must be done neither too quickly nor too slowly, neither to make Cao Cao feel that Xu Du was in danger, nor to allow Yuan Shao to break through Cao's camp.
The best option is to besiege rather than attack. The two sides will remain in a stalemate for a period of time and wait for further developments.
After listening to Shen Chen's plan, Liu Bei couldn't help but praise: "Young man, you are really unpredictable in your troops. You are planning to surround Xudu first, wait until Cao Cao's reinforcements are eliminated, and then suddenly attack, forcing Cao Cao to come back to defend." , so that he cannot pursue Yuan Shao?"
"Exactly."
Shen Chen nodded: "My previous two attacks on Xudu were all to consume Cao's army. Now his rear is seriously empty, with only ten thousand soldiers and horses. This is a good opportunity for us to take advantage of the weakness."
"good."
Liu Bei followed his instructions and nodded: "I will follow your arrangements."
"Okay, the time has come, let's start our troops tomorrow!"
Shen Chen immediately went to prepare.
With the previous two lessons learned, Cao's army in Xudu will definitely be immobile. No matter who you want to mobilize, he will sit firmly around Xudu and will not move easily.
Therefore, if you want to pose a threat to Cao Cao again, you must use this method.