In Guo Jia's letter, he explained to the pottery merchants from another perspective the main reasons for not alliance with Liaodong Gongsun and Xianbei.
The Gongsun clan, headed by Gongsun Du, has been stationing troops in Liaodong for many years. They stayed away from the center, recruited troops, and established their own branch. Even if they have won their support now, if the Tao merchants defeat Yuan Shao in the future and their troops move south, will Liaodong be behind it?
No one can tell for sure if you insert a knife.
And if there is rebellion in Liaodong, it is too far away from the center of the pottery merchants. If it is an expedition, it will be too troublesome. It is better to complete the victory in one battle and take this opportunity to introduce Gongsun Du's main force into Hebei, annihilate it once and for all, and wait for the north
After pacification, the pottery merchants no longer had any worries in the north.
As for the Xianbei tribes, since the death of Dan Shihuai, their tribes have been divided and engaged in endless civil wars with each other. However, in recent years, a young leader named Kebineng has gradually begun to unify the Xianbei tribes and make
Xianbei has a tendency to unify. If Xianbei is unified, its strength cannot be ignored... Of course, including the current Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan, if they become stronger in the future, it will also be a disaster for the pottery merchants.
Before foreigners assimilate, they are still foreigners after all.
Guo Jia's idea was that instead of uniting all, it would be better to unite partially, and take advantage of this opportunity to let the potters send the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan tribes to change their military peaks and attack Xianbei, so that the northern tribes would merge with each other and weaken their power.
Only when the grassland tribes are at war with each other can China be able to absorb them one by one and solve these potential threats once and for all.
Although Guo Jia's method is more troublesome than other people's ideas, it is more far-reaching. The genius's deep thinking makes the potter admire him from the bottom of his heart.
He decided to make arrangements according to Guo Jia's words.
Tao Shang immediately ordered Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army to stay in place. On the surface, he threatened Jizhou with his military strength, but secretly he paid close attention to the eastward direction of Liaodong. Once Gongsun Du's troops entered Youzhou, the Black Mountain Army would
You can immediately turn your guns and declare war on the Liaodong Army.
The soldiers and horses of the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan Three Kingdoms turned their heads to compete with the Xianbei tribes, while Sima Yi stayed there to supervise the advancement of troops.
As a result, on the Jizhou side, in addition to Liu He and other old Youzhou troops, it was the Jinling army of the Tao Shang who faced the Jizhou army head-on.
But the pottery merchants are still very confident about this.
Although Yuan Shao has more soldiers and horses than him, he believes that his 100,000 Jinling Army is the real elite of the world. In a head-on confrontation, he will never lose to Yuan Shao.
The school officials reported that Yuan Shao asked Shen Pei and senior officials to garrison Yecheng, while he took his three sons and led the main force to leave Yecheng and come to fight the potters.
Now Tao Shang's army has entered the hinterland of Jizhou and reached Guangping. His next goal is to capture Handan first to use it as a basic point to connect the rear and clear the grain road from the east to Jizhou, and then
In Wei County, he fought a decisive battle with Yuan Shao's main army.
The generals currently guarding Handan are Yuan Shao's three generals: Qian Zhao, Zhang and Guo Yuan.
In the previous episode, Yuan Shao had sent these three men to lead his troops to fake defeat and used them as bait. At that time, Qianzhao, Zhang and others had a small battle with Huang Zhong. Although they did achieve their goal in the end, Zhang was shot by Huang Zhong with an arrow.
, which can be regarded as a big loss.
After recruiting his troops, Yuan Shao temporarily stationed them in Handan to serve as a barrier in front of Ye City.
The potter immediately summoned all the generals to discuss: "Now, Qian Zhao and Zhang, two generals are guarding Handan City to serve as a barrier for Ye City. Which of the generals dares to attack the city?"
The first person to stand up was Huang Zhong.
"Prime Minister, Qianzhao and Zhang have fought several battles with the camp led by me. Both sides were testing each other at that time and did not try their best. How can we not decide the winner this time when we meet again? I would like to ask for an order to fight!
"
Huang Zhong took the initiative to ask for the job, so the pottery merchant naturally trusted him.
"In this case, I will ask the old general to bring a force of troops and horses to attack the city. As for the siege equipment, Tao will naturally supply all of them, exactly."
"promise!"
…
After Huang Zhong received the order, he immediately led his troops to Handan.
Although Handan was the capital of the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period, the city has not undergone much repairs over the years. It is not as tall and thick as the city walls of Ye City, and is relatively low, so on the surface it seems to be easy to attack.
But that's just on the surface.
Huang Zhong looked at the city wall carefully for a while and felt that there was nothing special about it, so he ordered his soldiers: "Beat the drum and attack the city!"
"Dong dong dong!"
The drums of the Jinling Army rang out, and the previous troops, armed with ladders and charging carts, began to rush towards the city of Handan.
On the city wall, the general supervising the formation was none other than Yuan Jun's general Zhang.
Zhang looked at Huang Zhong who came to attack the city fiercely, gritted his teeth and said: "Huang Zhong, old man, you attacked me with a secret arrow last time, this time I will do anything to make you suffer!"
The Jinling army carried ladders and shields and gradually rushed into the city's arrow range. Zhang did not hesitate and immediately ordered the arrows to be released.
The rain of arrows did not cause much damage to the Jinling Army holding shields. After a while, the Jinling Army was seen setting up ladders under the city, and the soldiers began to climb the city wall.
Zhang showed no signs of panic and ordered: "Smash it with rolling stones and pour gold juice on it!"
The soldiers on the city wall began to throw rolling stones and gold juice down, blocking the Jinling Army's attack. However, the Jinling Army still boarded the city, but facing the Yuan Army holding swords and shields, they still could not stand on the city wall.
After standing for a long time, he was cut down from the top of the city.
Huang Zhong couldn't help but frowned when he saw this situation and said: "Yuan Jun under Zhang is really brave."
Liu Pi followed Huang Zhong and said: "Although Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses are not as elite as Cao Cao's drills, they are all from the north. The soldiers and horses in the north are strong and tall, so they still have some innate advantages.
"
Huang Zhong looked at it carefully for a while, nodded and said: "It is indeed brave and tight."
Although the Jinling Army's attack was fierce, Yuan's army's combat power was indeed beyond imagination. During this period, Qian Zhao and Zhang were extremely well prepared in Handan, with arrows, gold juice, rolling stones and other defensive materials sufficient for the Jinling Army to attack fiercely.
After half an hour, they still couldn't take the city pass.
Huang Zhong frowned and thought to himself that if he couldn't take the city, he would make his colleagues laugh at him if he took the initiative.
At that moment, Huang Zhong ordered his men to take the short sword and said, "I will attack the city myself!"
Liu Pi was startled when he heard this. He looked at Huang Zhong hesitantly and said: "General Huang, this... goes into battle in person, isn't it?"
Huang Zhong ignored him: "General Liu is here to hold the battle for me. I'll go and be back in a moment!"
At that moment, Huang Zhong was seen personally commanding the troops to attack the city. Behind him, Liu Pi ordered his men to beat drums vigorously to encourage him.
Huang Zhong personally participated in the siege, and the morale and fighting spirit of the Jinling Army were naturally greatly enhanced.
Zhang Ziran also saw Huang Zhong, he smiled coldly and said: "Okay, old man Huang, you are seeking death yourself this time! Shoot me hard, hit me hard! Aim at Huang Zhong and hit him!"
All of a sudden, rolling stones, arrows, gold juice and other weapons for defending the city came rushing towards Huang Zhong.
Huang Zhong held a short sword in his mouth, held a shield in one hand, and held a ladder in the other, climbing towards the top of the city. Fortunately, the iron shields in Jinling City were of good quality, and the shields were large and hard enough.
Those arrows and rolling stones were blocked by shields, but thanks to Huang Zhong's bravery, if it had been anyone else, they would have been bombarded with a heavy stone and knocked off the city wall.
Although Huang Zhong is old, his strength is indeed extraordinary.
But after all, he is almost fifty years old, and his right arm holding the shield is very sore and numb.
"Get out of my way!"
Zhang roared and pushed aside the people at the top of the city, and personally came to the place where Huang Zhong climbed to look down.
He squinted his eyes for a long time, then suddenly stretched out his hand and said to the soldier next to him: "Give me the boiled gold juice!"
A soldier nearby handed him a ladle.
Zhang looked down and saw Huang Zhong climbing up, with a sneer on his lips.
"Huang Zhong, you have fallen into my family's plan of leading the general. General Qian has already detached a force of troops outside the city, waiting to take your rear after these Jinling dogs attack the city! Don't you know?
?”
Huang Zhong was startled when he heard this, and subconsciously turned his head to look behind him.
Our own rear formation remains the same, nothing unusual.
And at this moment, the ladle of hot golden juice poured towards Huang Zhong from top to bottom.