In September of the sixth year of Jian'an, Qu Yi's troops marched along the Xinzheng and Changshe lines and reached Xudu.
The main force was the Yellow Turban Army, which relied on the tactics of "encouraging the people, overdrafting manpower, and forming a sea of people" along the way. It seemed to snowball, and by the time it reached Xudu, there were already nearly 100,000 people!
Sounds pretty scary?
In fact, the manpower consumed is about the same as that of 20,000 regular troops, and there is no need for training at all - not because they are elite, but because... training is of little use.
The main battlefield formations include the three moves of "swarming up", "scattering birds and beasts" and "pig suddenly and wolf rush"...
This is also the typical Yellow Turban style tactics during the Yellow Turban Rebellion!
In the early days of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban troops suddenly appeared. Generally, there were only two or three thousand standing garrison troops in a county. Some special garrison places may have more...
The troops of the Han Dynasty were all stunned when they came up!
Even the imperial court began to encourage local people with lofty ideals to strive to be diligent kings and brave people, and actively save themselves. Liu Bei, Cao Cao and others all shined at that time.
It wasn't until the imperial court stabilized its position and really started to deploy troops and generals to organize and quell the chaos that they discovered how capable these Yellow Turbans were!
A regular Han army that will not be easily intimidated by numbers can defeat the Yellow Turban Army that is five times their size at a very small cost. If there are elite soldiers and strong generals, they can try it by ten times or even more.
Later, the number of Yellow Turban warriors increased, and the Huang Tian type Yi Ji could always cheat. Although there was no direct damage, they could summon some fog, black smoke, light wind and rain, and they could also use talisman water to heal themselves... It’s truly a tough nut to crack!
Tao Sheng didn't have Huang Tianji, so he could only use the same tactics as in the early days of the Yellow Turban Army.
It will cause great damage to the manpower, material resources and productivity of the local area, and it will be arrogant if you win consecutively, and you will collapse after losing once... but it is really useful in the short term!
In particular, although the Yellow Turban warriors are insufficient, they have the Euphorbia warriors as sharp swords.
Xu Du had Xun Yu around, so originally there wouldn't be any opportunities for these rabble to take advantage of him, but Xu Du couldn't stand it and still had internal conflicts!
The night Xun Yu learned the news, he ordered a curfew to be strictly enforced. Anyone who took to the streets for no reason could be killed by Xu Duwei with a cane.
Even because Xun Yu was usually considered to be the prime minister in the palace, he was more protective of the dignity of the Han Dynasty - before, because Cao Cao was "drunk" at a banquet, Xun Yu had even privately approached Cao Cao for remonstrance - so when the Yellow Turban Army came to Xudu That night, Liu Xie also summoned Xun Yu into the palace.
If it were any other person from the Prime Minister's Palace, Liu Xie would not want to try...
No one would go to the palace at this time - how did He Jin die back then?
But since it was Xun Yu, Liu Xie felt that he could talk to him - am I not as good as Cao Cao?
Even though Dong Cheng was very jealous because of this, Liu Xie still thought he could give it a try. As long as he persuaded Xun Yu, he could show off his power and imitate Emperor Guangwu Zhongxing.
However, to Liu Xie's dismay, when Xun Yu came to see him, he also brought 300 soldiers with him, making it clear that he would not take hard or soft tactics!
Even when Liu Xie was hinting at Xun Yu, Xun Yu was also hinting at Liu Xie, asking him not to do anything that would embarrass him or make the prime minister feel disheartened - obviously in Xun Yu's heart, Cao Cao still came first, and the Emperor of the Han Dynasty would eventually Just white moonlight.
Liu Xie was so angry that he sent the guest off directly!
And before Xun Yu left the palace, fires broke out everywhere in Xudu. The generals of each family heard the news and shouted to put out the fire. However, there were more and more people on the street, but the fire became bigger and bigger...
When the guards enforcing the curfew wanted to stop these people and help put out the fire, they were attacked inexplicably.
Very few people knew about this plan before, but who in the court does not have some generals with tiger talismans? Who does not have some ordinary weapons? Who...doesn't understand what is going on?
After taking the lead, everyone took advantage of the situation and danced wildly, including some courtiers who had flirted with Cao Cao before and knelt down to lick the Prime Minister's Mansion!
The Xudu defenders not only have to defend the city, but also fight in the streets all the time...
At the same time, the Xuzhou Army led by Zhang Fei also dispatched troops from the newly built "Xinpei" on the original site of Xiaopei, with light cavalry in front and infantry behind. Taking advantage of the chaos in Xudu and being unable to communicate with the surrounding counties,
On the pretext of supporting Xu Du, they directly bypassed Suiyang and Yangxia.
The distance between Xudu and Xiaopei is not far, and it is a smooth river. However, the defenders of several counties along the way heard that the Yellow Turban Army and the Yuan Army joined forces to approach Xudu. Xudu was in chaos, and there were even rumors that Xudu had been defeated.
On the other hand, as an "ally" of Xuzhou, they transited the border in the name of support...
It doesn’t matter if you stop it or pursue it, and even if you resist even a little bit, it won’t be proactive!
Zhang Yan's performance at this time... to be precise, his performance in the past six months was also very amazing. It was as if he had anticipated the Yuzhou Rebellion and sent his troops out of the pass at the right time to capture the entire Hedong.
And when Xudu was in chaos, together with Yang Feng, they also marched eastward in the name of King Qin!
In less than ten days, Xu's capital was on the verge of collapse, and the inner palace of the palace was now isolated from the outer city. The new bus order originally appointed by Cao Cao was unexpectedly instigated by Liu Bei, and Liu Xie's few remaining imperial troops, Liu
Ai, Dong Cheng's family general, blocked the palace together.
There are very few troops in the palace, and when the palace was being built, Cao Cao did not give it much defense. It was completely different from the palaces in Chang'an and Luoyang!
It's just that Liu Xie's intention now is just to "protect himself", with a look like "It's so chaotic outside, I'm so scared, Xun Aiqing resists, I give you a thumbs up", Xun Yu can't do anything to the palace.
However, when the news came that the Xuzhou Army was coming to "support", Xun Yu didn't care much, and decided to make a desperate move, storming the palace, kidnapping Liu Xie and Liu Bei, and heading north to join Cao Cao first!
However, when Liu Bei was in Simamen, he burst into tears, crying for Heaven, crying for the more than 20 ancestors of the Han Dynasty, and crying for the people... How could anyone who heard it feel sad, and everyone who saw it felt sad and angry, and the morale of Xun Yu's men was also affected...
In the end, both parties agreed on an alliance under the city...
Xun Yu didn't dare to take too many risks. After all, there were not only Liu Xie and the imperial court in the city, but also Cao Cao's family members and the family members of the prime minister's staff. If something went wrong and the front line collapsed, it would be a disaster!
Xun Yu let Liu Xie and the court officials leave. At the same time, Liu Xie issued an edict to grant Cao Cao the Nine Treasures, and reiterated that Yuan Shao was a rebel traitor and that Prime Minister Cao was the pillar of the country. Even Yuan Feng, who sacrificed his life for the Han Dynasty during Dong Zhuo's rebellion,
They were all labeled as rebels and their ancestral halls were demolished.
In other words, it was to confirm Cao Cao's status as a loyal minister and "grant the Nine Tins", that is, to allow him to be named the founding of Wei Dynasty, which would reduce the shackles of the court on Cao Cao in the future, and at the same time not give the court and the Yuan family a chance to reconcile!
Anyway, now that the Xuzhou Army has arrived, Liu Xie thought that Yuan Jun's utilization value had been squeezed out, so he accepted it completely...
Liu Bei also wanted Xun Yu to clear the way back to Xuzhou in the east, but Xun Yu's answer was very tough and stopped at letting them leave Xudu!
At the same time, Xun Yu has also made preparations to block Xuzhou, at least to prevent Liu Xie from being invited to Xuzhou...
Dong Cheng persuaded Liu Bei with a smile at this time. He had already contacted Yang Feng, his "old partner" who helped the emperor escape last time - Xuzhou, the place of the Fourth Battle, what was the emperor doing there?
Let’s go back to Sili!
Liu Xie now distrusts all the princes, so he politely asked Uncle Liu to send troops to protect him, and supported Hui Sili. He probably felt that this way all parties would restrict each other, and he would have a better environment to display the emperor's tricks...