When the news of the fall of Taiqiu reached the main line of the Han army in Fuli, the general Liu Bei held a military meeting and ordered all the army officers to analyze the situation and discuss countermeasures. As a result, just as everyone arrived, another military report from Yanzhou came.
General Zhang Xian of the East wrote a letter saying: A large army from Linzi has come out of Mount Tai and has captured five counties in the state of Lu, with troops approaching Pei County.
It’s as if he’s about to fight for a decisive battle.
They lost Taiqiu first and then Lu. They never thought that after the Han army defeated Ru Ying, it actually aroused Qi and Han's desire to fight to the death. However, no one among the staff could have expected it, which made everyone uneasy.
It was already time to light the lamp, and everyone took a peek at Liu Bei's face.
Seeing that his complexion is dense and unpredictable, as deep as usual,
There were no angry faces, and everyone felt at ease.
Liu Bei calmly said to everyone: "After the great victory, I was so lax. Unexpectedly, the moth thieves suddenly showed up. It was all my negligence! It was just a move that affected the whole body. I think Han, Siam, Yang Feng and others must have also taken action. We
Let’s wait for the military report from Xiao County!”
After a while, a military report came from Xiao County. Zhang Fei, the general who conquered Liao Dynasty, wrote in a letter: A large army came out of Pengcheng and moved to Wuxian County. The flags of the armies were connected for more than thirty miles, and they were in an endless stream.
, with great momentum.
After reading the military newspaper, Liu Bei sneered and sighed, "Okay.
I knew that everything that should come has come. It seems that this battle cannot be avoided." After that,
He waved the messenger to go down and said to his subordinates: "The troops are divided into three groups, attacking from both inside and outside. The moth thieves are going to fight to the death. I didn't expect that they won't be able to rest until the end of this year, so I will spend the New Year with me in Guandong."
The staff didn’t even dare to say so.
Since last year, Fazheng has repeatedly come up with unexpected strategies and is highly valued by Liu Bei. Therefore, he first analyzed the situation. Fazheng stood in front of the map, frowned and thought for a moment, then quickly relaxed and said to everyone: "The moth thief seems to be coming menacingly."
, but judging from its intention, it is still showing weakness."
Seeing that everyone was puzzled, Fa Zheng wrote on the map on the toilet paper and said: "He was able to suddenly break out the cavalry and defeat Taiqiu in one day, but our army didn't know it. He was obviously the elite of the bandit army. But after he broke the city, he refused to burn food and leave.
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Instead, they want to sit in the city and defend themselves. This is because they want to mobilize our army to attack. Once our army moves to the city, the moth thieves will have two armies from the south and the north outside, which can threaten our army's flanks, and it will be difficult for our army to quickly attack.
Lower town."
When Fazheng said this, he paused for a moment, and Liu Bei naturally continued: "As time went by, our army ran out of food, so we had to withdraw our troops and return to the west, leaving Yuzhou to him." Everyone heard this.
After realizing this, Liu Bei chuckled and said: "Oh, this idea is quite smart, and I can't suffer any loss. But I can't fulfill his wish!"
So Liu Bei planned with Xu Shu, Xun You and other staff, and finally made the following arrangements:
Sima Fang, the prefect of Hanoi, moved ten thousand people to Taiqiu to monitor the Taiqiu rebel army.
Huangfu Li, the governor of Yuzhou, left 30,000 people to guard Fuli, stabilize the refugees in the rear, continue disaster relief, and beware of Baibo's army going south.
Zhang Xian and Cao Cao combined an army of 60,000 to attack Fenggao from Lu County, cutting off the Qi and Han army's retreat on the northern route and forcing them to return.
Liu Bei then joined forces with Zhang Fei and attacked Bai Bo's army with a force of 100,000.
The key points of this plan lie in three points: First, to abandon the strong city in order to fight. Since the long-term battle is disadvantageous, then simply not attack Taiqiu to avoid being controlled by the enemy. Second, to attack the east and west, forcing the enemy to return reinforcements. Since the Qi and Han Dynasties are all in power,
If Qingzhou is out, then the mainland of Qingzhou will be empty. Cao Cao and others attack Fenggao, and they will definitely let the northern road focus on one and miss the other. The third is to divide its two wings and defeat them one by one. The troops are divided into three routes, which means that each route has its own shortcomings. The Han army will use Mount Tai to top it.
If the force breaks through all the way, the rest will perish without a fight.
After some deliberation, all the generals came up with a brilliant idea and immediately acted according to the military orders.
At this moment in Taiqiu City, the Qi and Han cavalry were not aware of the Han army's arrangements and were stepping up the construction of fortifications according to the original plan. In addition to the soldiers they brought with them, they also used rice and grain in the city to win over some victims, allowing them to strengthen the walls and clear the fields.
, swept away the surrounding trees, then dug trenches at the foot of the city, built watchtowers and wooden compartments on the city walls, and quickly made all kinds of equipment to defend the city.
After clearing the fields, the view on the outskirts of the city was particularly broad. Zhang Fang, who was in charge of this department, knew very well that he had a heavy responsibility, so he climbed high and looked far away every day to take stock of the surrounding situation. However, after more than ten days in a row, Zhang Fang could only see a few errant riders.
Scouts were out and about, but there was no sign of an army at all.
Just when he was nervous and doubtful, on the ninth day of September, he finally saw the belated arrival of the Han army. But the scene in front of him made his heart sink: there were not many Han army cavalry, and their flags were ordinary.
There was no Liu Bei's flying tiger banner, and as soon as they arrived at the city, they began to build forts, dig trenches, and adopt a defensive posture, as if they were the ones to defend, not Zhang Fang.
Zhang Fang told Teng Dan who was accompanying him about this, and Teng Dan couldn't believe it. He asked himself: "What does this mean? Could it be that the west side can ignore this city? Or are they using a trick to trick us into leaving the city?"
But he couldn't convince himself, and he didn't dare to change his strategy immediately, so he had to send envoys to communicate with Guan Hai. During this period, they could only continue to repair the city defenses and wait for the situation to become clear.
However, the previous strong walls and clearing of the country not only facilitated our own side, but also facilitated the approaching Han army. Once the city gate was opened, the Han army immediately responded and ran out of more than a hundred knights from the camp to intercept the messenger. The Han army's horses were tall and healthy, and they were very fat.
Three times in a row, the cavalry intercepted the messenger and forced him back into the city. In desperation, Zhang Fang had to send thousands of cavalry to escort the messenger out of the city. The Han army failed to catch him, so he gave up the pursuit and watched the messenger leave. p>
But in this way, Zhang Fang became more convinced that the Han army would probably not attack the city. After he discussed it with Teng Dan, Teng Dan had to admit the matter. But not knowing the Han army's arrangement, everyone was worried.
Uneasy, he simply stopped repairing, and while eating and drinking every day, he speculated on the movements of the Han army.
On September 15th, a reply finally came, but the news in it was shocking: the Han army had divided into two groups. The Han army on the northern route marched from the north to the east, occupying Guishan and Taishan, and was no longer close to Fenggao.
At thirty miles, the Han army on the south route had already crossed the Suishui River and moved to Xiao and Xiangjian. They confronted the Baibo army in front of Wuxian County and repeatedly sent letters inviting battle. Obviously, the plan to the west had been decided and they must fight with them.
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Therefore, Guan Hai followed Tao Qiuxiu's plan and changed the general policy. Since the Han army was determined to fight, it was no longer appropriate to divide the troops to contain them. Considering that there were many dangerous places in Taishan County and Zang Ba and others were entrenched in Fenggao, even if Cao Cao was good at fighting,
It could not be captured in a hurry. So Guan Hai did not go north to rescue, but crossed south to Nanliang River, intending to join forces with the Baibo army and defeat the main force of the Han army first.
At the end of the reply, Guan Hai told Zhang Fang that since they were determined to fight, his more than ten thousand knights were the indispensable main force. Therefore, he ordered them to abandon Taiqiu, detour to Xiayi, and Xiaopei to enter Pengcheng without further delay.
Hurry.
After reading this, Zhang Fang and Teng Dan looked at each other speechlessly. The original plan was completely seen through by the Han army, which had to be frustrating. But now the Han army was heavily arrayed, not counting the Han army in front of them, but also the Han army further east.
With the main force of the Han army, how easy is it to break through to Pengcheng? Fortunately, Guan Hai's response was appropriate, and neither of them had any objections. There was only one question that was not explained in the letter, and that was how to deal with the grain and rice in Taiqiu City.
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During these days, Zhang Fang's soldiers had a lot of food, but it was still a drop in the bucket for the 400,000 stone grains and rice in the city. Now that they are leaving, should they burn the rice and flour? Or should they be left with the Han army?
What? Zhang Fang couldn't make up his mind for a long time. After all, when he led people to inspect the mountains of granaries in the city, he always felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and peace of mind. No matter how he dealt with it, he would feel unprecedented heartache. Presumably Da Sima also felt this way, so in
Without saying a word in the letter, leave the power of choice to yourself!
What Teng Dan means is that since you are leaving, don't leave these rice and noodles. If you leave the grain and grass in the puppet dynasty, wouldn't your trip be in vain? If the grain and rice are intact, the military morale in the west will naturally be stable, and the initiative on the battlefield will be lost.
It's in enemy hands.
But Bai Rao, who was accompanying the army, disagreed. He advised Zhang Fang and said: "Now the two armies are facing each other between Sui and Ji, and there will be damage before they can be relieved. If our army wins, burning this disaster relief food will surely lose the hearts of the people of Henan.
We are also unable to advance. If our army is defeated and only retreats, what does it matter whether we burn the food or not? It is better to distribute the food to the people to show the benevolence and righteousness in the way. If we win, the people will eat the pots of pulp and welcome the king.
, even if you fail, you will not lose your good reputation, and you can teach the false dynasty not to pursue it."
After hearing this, Zhang Fang exhaled and slowly said to everyone: "Shuai Bai is right." Then he ordered the warehouses to be opened to release grain, and the rice and noodles in the city were distributed one by one to the victims entering the city.
Then they killed a hundred official cattle in the city and rewarded the sergeants. Some people in the Qi and Han army ate beef for the first time. They cried while eating and said, "I don't know if I can eat such delicious food again in this life!"
"The words reached Zhang Fang's ears, and he said to the whole army: "When the west side is defeated, I will definitely treat you to another meal!" The ambition of the army became more vigorous.
On September 17, at Chen time, Zhang Fang opened the city gate and allowed the victims in the city to take their food and leave the city one after another toward the Han army camp. The tens of thousands of people were so powerful that they completely covered the wilderness around Taiqiu.
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The Han army sergeant didn't know the reason. After some discussion, Sima Fang judged that there might be someone hiding inside and came to explore his own side. Therefore, he ordered all the troops to stick to the camp and only sent a military commander to go out with a small team of troops.
Camp inquire about the situation.
The leading victim conveyed Zhang Fang's words to Commander Qu, saying that the war between the two armies had nothing to do with the head of Guizhou. He would return some civilians now and return the city later. Commander Qu reported back, and Sima Fang finally realized that there were thieves in the city.
I want to take the opportunity to evacuate!
He wanted to take the opportunity to mobilize troops to intercept, but it was obviously too late. Tens of thousands of victims were blocked between them and the city, making it difficult to restrain them. If troops were to be mobilized forcibly, it would most likely cause riots.
Zhang Fang took this opportunity and openly opened the north gate, and the knights and horses filed out. With a thunderous sound, their figures quickly disappeared on the horizon.