In Ganling City, the autumn wind is bleak and the lingering fragrance of osmanthus fills the city.
There was no Mid-Autumn Festival in the Han Dynasty. The three major festivals were the Spring Festival, the Cold Food Festival and the Double Ninth Festival.
There are still eleven days to go until September 9th, and people inside and outside the city have already begun to prepare dogwood, harvest festivals and next year's chrysanthemum wine.
Chrysanthemum wine was brewed during the Double Ninth Festival of the first year and then drank out of it the next year. This was one of the customs at that time.
In addition, there are activities such as wearing dogwood, celebrating the harvest, worshiping ancestors, etc. The Han people attach great importance to it far more than other festivals, second only to the Spring Festival.
In the prefect's mansion, Yuan Shao and several close advisors had a private banquet. The fragrance of chrysanthemums filled the entire hall, mixed with the smell of wine.
"Come on, everyone, have a drink."
Yuan Shao raised his wine glass and toasted to everyone.
Xu You, Shen Pei, Geng Wu, Xun Chen, Xin Ping, Liu Hui, Li Li and others all raised their glasses and drank it all.
"Ming Gong, Gongsun Zan, has fallen into the trap."
Liu Hui wiped the wine stained from his beard, turned around and said to Yuan Shao with a smile: "And Chen Zigui has also happily agreed to stop the army."
"Um."
Yuan Shao nodded: "This delaying strategy needs to be done with great fanfare and let everyone know about it."
"It would be better to go to the imperial court and send troops southward at the same time."
Xu You rolled his eyes and proposed a plan.
"Sending troops south?"
Yuan Shao frowned: "Am I really going to help Yuan Gongli?"
"Of course not."
Xu You said with a smile: "Sending troops south can be described as a strategy to dispel the enemy's doubts and divert their attention. This is the Marquis of Huaiyin who built the plank road openly and secretly attacked Chen Cang."
"Can you elaborate?"
When Yuan Shao heard this plan, he stuck his head out and looked at him with interest.
Xu You smiled slightly: "Think about it, now that we are negotiating peace with Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, we are trying to make them relax their vigilance. If we follow Liu Bei's example and divide our troops and go south, pretending to help Yuan Shu mediate the war situation, they will be even more convinced.
"
"Yes, Qingzhou is recruiting troops aggressively now. In fact, because we are afraid that Liu Bei will lead his army south, our troops have surpassed Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei by far."
Shen Pei took over the conversation and said: "If we also pretend to divide our troops, Qingzhou will inevitably relax its defenses."
Xu You is from the Nanyang sect and Shen Pei is from the Jizhou sect. Xu You is not surprised at all that Shen Pei speaks for him, because Shen Pei is a relatively upright person and often takes the wrong approach to the situation.
If you make an opinion that he thinks is good, he will agree with it even if you are from a different faction. If you make an opinion that he thinks is not good, he will oppose it even if you are from the same faction.
Xun Chen of the Yingchuan faction remained silent, while Liu Hui nodded secretly, seeming to think that this strategy was not bad, and it was a rare moment of unity of opinion.
"Okay, what Ziyuan means is exactly what I want."
Seeing that everyone seemed to think this strategy was okay, Yuan Shao's narrow eyes flashed with light: "Gao Dao is also my "blood brother" after all. How can I watch him die? Although I can't ask the court to forgive his sins.
, but we can’t watch him go astray, right?”
"Ming Gong is wise."
Everyone stood up and saluted.
Yuan Shao laughed heartily while sitting at the table.
As he deposed the false emperor and declared himself a vassal to the imperial court, the benefits soon became apparent. Liu Bei expressed his goodwill and withdrew from the Qinghe Kingdom. At the same time, the number of troops in Luoyang and Qingzhou was greatly reduced, and he went south to conquer Yuan Shu.
But Gongsun Zan was still guarding him. At the same time, he also knew that Chen Mu had been recruiting troops in Qingzhou with great fanfare recently, and he could tell with his toes what he was planning.
Therefore, even if he has declared himself a vassal and has eased the conflicts among the surrounding hostile forces, he will still be on guard and will not relax his vigilance too much.
So how can we continue to convince the surrounding hostile forces that Yuan Shao has no ambitions in the north at all?
Naturally, we sent troops south.
Separate some troops and horses, and report to the court that Yuan Shu rebelled against the court, but was deceived by his subordinates, and begged the court for forgiveness. In the name of going south to mediate the war, he sent troops and horses to the border of Yanzhou, as if he was going south to negotiate.
Express his desire to save Yuan Shu.
Of course, he couldn't say that he was going to help Yuan Shu fight Liu Bei. The banner should be that Yuan Shu had taken the wrong path, but it was still a member of the Yuan family. He, Yuan Shao, could not watch Yuan Shu die, so he sent troops south to assist Yuan Shu in negotiating peace with Liu Bei.
Once Yuan Shu is stubborn, he must fight Liu Bei decisively. If he loses, he must at least save Yuan Shu's life and bring him to the north.
This will give different people different feelings.
In the eyes of the world, Yuan Shao still cares about the reputation of the Four Generations and Three Dukes, so he tries his best to save Yuan Shu, which will win favor in the eyes of the noble family and powerful people.
In the eyes of the enemy, Yuan Shao was obviously more concerned about the south and had no intention of dominating the north by raising troops and mobilizing troops like this.
After all, a normal person would think that if Yuan Shao wanted to take Liu Bei by surprise when his troops were severely reduced, he would definitely have to gather his troops and attack him fiercely while his illness was killing him. How could there be any reason to divide his troops and go south?
But people would never have thought that all this was a smoke bomb arranged by Yuan Shao. It was clear that he wanted to send troops south to mediate the war situation in the south, but in fact he had other intentions.
This is similar to Xun You's strategy of seducing the east and attacking the west against Yan Liangyong in the Battle of Guandu.
"Ming Gong, in addition to dividing our troops and heading south, I think we should also withdraw our troops."
At this moment, Liu Hui suddenly made another suggestion.
Yuan Shao asked: "Why retreat?"
Liu Hui explained: "We have been facing each other for almost two years. Both our troops and those of Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan are tired and in a state of mental stress all day long. If we withdraw our troops, then the soldiers of both sides will
It will be easier, and the enemy's soldiers and horses will be more likely to slack off. If we attack suddenly at this time, we can win the battle in one battle."
"Um."
Yuan Shao nodded: "This is a very clever plan."
"Ming Gong can also send envoys to pay tribute to the imperial court, and at the same time send envoys to Cao Cao and Liu Bei to send 20,000 troops, pretending to be 80,000, and march south to Yanzhou, pretending to be uncertain."
Xun Chen also offered a plan.
His strategy was to make Liu Bei and Cao Cao unable to figure out Yuan Shao's attitude and make them think that Yuan Shao really wanted to help Yuan Shu.
Because in their view, two Yuans, one in the south and one in the north, are powerful.
If Yuan Shu is in trouble and Yuan Shao refuses to save him, then Yuan Shao may be the next one to be besieged.
Regardless of whether it was a matter of grief or ulterior motives, Yuan Shao should not sit idly by and ignore it.
So this move is also a strategy to make people suspicious.
"good."
Yuan Shao stood up, looked at everyone and said, "Everyone, let's do this."
"only."
Many counselors stood up and saluted at the same time.
During the headwind period, Yuan Shao's team of counselors did not have much conflict with each other. They all worked together to come up with a perfect solution.
At that moment, Yuan Shao did not hesitate and took action immediately, sending various envoys to the court, to Runan, and to the plains.
At the same time, the Bohai front line began to withdraw troops on a large scale, and all Jizhou troops retreated into the city.
After sending the envoy, he also sent 20,000 troops southward and arrived at Yanzhou.
A series of operations immediately attracted the attention of the world.
All the princes in the south, including all the princes in the south, noticed Yuan Shao's actions. Liu Bei's side had just concluded a battle.
The Battle of Linyang.
After Guan Yu went south, he joined Cao Cao and solved Sun Ce's siege of Linyang.
Zhang Xun was defeated and retreated, leading the remaining soldiers back to Gushi.
Although there is no winner yet in Pengcheng, Xiapi, Liu Bei's army clearly has a big advantage and can attack Yuan Shu in one fell swoop.
As a result, when they were preparing to attack, news from Yuan Shao had already arrived, which surprised Liu Bei.
At this juncture, Yuan Shao actually sent troops south, which is by no means good news.
Liu Bei immediately summoned Jushou Tian Feng to discuss the matter.
Inside the camp, three people were sitting in rows.
At present, the situation in Gushi is relatively clear. Yuan Shu has stationed his troops on the hillock, and Liu Bei has stationed his troops outside the city of Gushi. They are at odds with Zhu Zhi inside the city.
Originally, Guan Yu, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce's army would arrive in one day to attack Yuan Shu together.
Unexpectedly, bad news came at this time.
Although the envoy from Yuan Shao said that it was to mediate their war, and said that he would persuade Yuan Shu to surrender to the imperial court.
But who can know what Yuan Shao thinks?
What if he comes to take advantage of the situation and wants to open up the situation from the south?
"Gong Yu, Yuan Hao, what do you think?"
After explaining the situation, Liu Bei asked Jushou Tian Feng for his opinion.
Tian Feng frowned, touched his beard and said: "Yuan Shao actually intervened at this time. It seems that he does not want Yuan Shu to be destroyed."
"This is reasonable."
Ju Shou thought: "Two Yuans, one in the south and one in the north, own a large area of land and are powerful. They are a serious problem for the imperial court. Once Yuan Shu is destroyed, Yuan Shao will be unable to stand alone. In order to prevent himself from becoming the target of public criticism, he will inevitably choose to rescue Yuan Shu."
Liu Bei asked: "Yuan Shao sent 80,000 troops to go south to Yanzhou. It is said that they have arrived at Dongjun a few days ago. The attack is fierce. I am afraid the attackers are evil. What do you think we should do?"
"Well......."
The two fell into thinking.
Yuan Shao's series of operations were very confusing. He kept gesticulating about the battlefield in the south, as if he wanted to be the center of attention. It really made it difficult for others to believe that he had other intentions at this time.
After all, from an overall strategic analysis, there is nothing wrong with Yuan Shao coming to rescue Yuan Shu.
Historically, the two Yuans were sworn enemies in the northern and southern factions. Yuan Shu was the strongest in the south, and Yuan Shao was the most powerful in the north. Cao Cao was caught between them, but he just survived in the cracks.
But now the imperial court is no longer a puppet, Liu Bei is no longer weak, and Chen Muhe has joined forces to win over many allies to jointly deal with the two Yuan Dynasties.
This made Er Yuan's situation quite isolated. In the entire Central Plains, except for Lu Bu and the already destroyed Tao Qian, there was no third person who could form an alliance with them.
Therefore, at a critical moment, Yuan Shao stepped in to help his brother to prevent him from becoming the next target of the court after Yuan Shu's demise.
The problem is that Yuan Shao has surrendered to the imperial court, and he is claiming that he is here for peace talks to help persuade Yuan Shu to recognize the current Luoyang imperial court. No one knows whether he will suddenly attack.
At least before they fall out, even if Yuan Shao's army has moved south, Liu Bei will not be able to take action directly. Because once he takes action, Yuan Shao can accuse Liu Bei of attacking him without authorization and accuse him, and then Liu Bei will be passive.
.
After Liu Bei was at a disadvantage in terms of justice, Yuan Shao launched a large-scale attack again, triggering a melee in the entire Central Plains. With the war in the south, from south to north, Liu Biao, Sun Jian, Lu Bu, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan, etc., all the princes would participate, and the consequences would be
Unthinkable.
So they were not thinking about any strategy, but thinking about how best to deal with this matter.
And just when Jushou Tian Feng was thinking, the guards outside the tent suddenly shouted: "Report."
"Come in."
Liu Bei let his guards enter the tent.
"Ming Gong."
The bodyguard came in and saluted: "The second general and Mr. Cao are here."
"Let them come in quickly, forget it, I'll go greet them."
Liu Bei was surprised and happy.
He thought that his second brother and Cao Cao would not arrive until tomorrow, but he did not expect that they would arrive today.
But if you think about it carefully, it's normal.
Zhang Xun was repulsed and fled to Gushi yesterday with the remaining soldiers. Even if his second brother and Cao Cao took a short rest, it would still happen today or tomorrow.
Immediately, Zhang Fei was called and the group left the camp.
Just outside the camp, hundreds of galloping horses were seen galloping towards them, causing dust to fly. Guan Yu and Cao Cao were at the forefront of the team.
The two of them were talking and laughing. From a distance, they saw a large group of people greeting them at the entrance of the camp, and burst into laughter.
They have a very good relationship. They established a friendship as early as seven or eight years ago when they were negotiating for the leadership, so they came together this time.
"Second brother, Meng De!"
"Second brother!"
Liu Bei and Zhang Fei happily greeted him.
"Eldest brother, third brother."
"Xuande."
Guan Yu and Cao Cao dismounted.
The three brothers gave a big hug first, and then Liu Bei saluted Cao Cao.
After Cao Cao returned the gift, Liu Bei asked: "Second brother, Meng De. I heard from the scouts you sent that we won't arrive until tomorrow. How come we have arrived today?"
"Isn't this because I'm afraid that my brother doesn't have enough troops?"
Guan Yu said.
Cao Cao said silently: "I heard that Yuan Shao sent troops south."
"Does Meng De know about it too?"
Liu Bei said in surprise.
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded: "His troops and horses entered our Yanzhou in large numbers, and he has great intentions of going south."
Sun Ce, Guan Yu and Cao Cao were not actually together. After they worked together to defeat Zhang Xun, Sun Ce needed to rest his troops due to many battles in recent days, so he arrived two days late.
Guan Yu knew that Zhang Xun had fled back to Gushi, and was worried that Liu Bei's side would not have enough troops, so he made a hasty march overnight.
Cao Cao considered the physical strength of the soldiers, so he planned to travel slowly and probably arrive tomorrow.
Linyang is not far from Gushi, about two to three days away. The battle of Linyang happened the day before yesterday. Normally, Guan Yu will arrive today, Cao Cao will arrive tomorrow, and Sun Ce will arrive the day after tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
But a few days ago, Yuan Shao suddenly sent troops south, and Xi Zhicai sent a message to Cao Cao overnight, forcing him to dispatch Qingqi, join Guan Yu, and hurried to find Liu Bei.
Compared with Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao is not easy to deal with, and he is powerful and has the ability to influence the situation of the battle. Naturally, Cao Cao has to discuss countermeasures with Liu Bei.
In fact, the most important thing is that once a war breaks out, his Yanzhou will be the first to suffer, so Cao Cao is very anxious.