Chapter 72: The situation is changing (Hangzhou Spicy Soup, come on, Henan!)
In early December, the Xianbei people entered Zhuojun from Daijun.
Gongsun Zan was extremely anxious and led his army northward.
Of course, his army did not gather together and charge north.
Because the territory was too large, his troops were relatively scattered. Wangmen had 5,000 men in Hejian, and he himself divided his troops into Nanpi, Dongguang, Fuyang, Zhangwu and other places. The total strength was about 40,000.
His main force originally numbered 60,000 to 70,000, of which 30,000 were cavalry. However, these cavalry were hired from Wuhuan and Xianbei, and the war ceased in the past two years, so they have been disbanded and returned.
Moreover, after the Battle of Geting, Gongsun Zan's main force suffered considerable losses. So he later recruited a large number of infantry, and the total force remained at about 60,000. Except for those who stayed behind in Guangping, Yuyang's hometown in Zhuojun, most of them
He brought all his troops with him.
The hasty assembly at this time will take some time.
After two or three days, the troops from Dongguang and other places in the south gathered first, and then began to move north. This force was about 30,000 strong. Gongsun Zan left 10,000 for Gongsun Fan, and he led 5,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry.
Go north to Fuyang in a mighty way.
However, almost not long after he arrived in Fuyang, Jizhou had completely completed the concentration of troops, with a total of 50,000 troops. Zi Chengping entered Bohai County and had already reached the outskirts of Fuyang. The former army was only three meters away from Fuyang.
Ten miles.
"What?"
In Fuyang County, Gongsun Zan just arrived the day before yesterday. He has been organizing troops and horses in the past two days, preparing to prepare Fuyang's defenders and food and grass tomorrow, and then return to Zhuo County via Zhangwu. He suddenly heard that the Jizhou army was invading. He was shocked and roared:
: "What's going on? What does Wangmen do for food? There's no warning at all!"
Tian Yu said coldly: "The Wang Clan must have surrendered to the enemy. General, you must be careful. Please send people south to Qingzhou immediately to ask for help."
"How is it possible that the Wang Clan surrendered to the enemy?"
Gongsun Zan was shocked. Although he was dissatisfied with the incompetence of the Wang family, the Wang family was his confidant, so how could he surrender to the enemy?
However, Chief Shi Guan Jing frowned and said: General, the river where the Wangmen is located is the only way for the Jizhou army to come to the Bohai Sea. If Yuan Shao's army wants to move, it will definitely not escape the eyes and ears of the Wangmen. If he had not surrendered to the enemy, how could there not be any news."
"this......"
After being reminded by Tian Yu and Guan Jing, Gongsun Zan finally came to his senses and sat down on the table, lost in thought.
Hejian Kingdom is a barrier to the Bohai Sea, and Wangmen occupies Hejian, with Chengping to the east and Gonggao to the south. No matter which direction the Jizhou army comes from, even if Wangmen cannot resist it, they can still do it by sending early warning.
Now that the Jizhou army came so quietly, there are only three explanations. One is that the entire Wangmen army was wiped out and annihilated by Yuan Shao. The second is that the Wangmen army was surrounded by Yuan Shao and could not send out any manpower. The third is that the Wangmen army was surrounded by Yuan Shao.
He had already rebelled and surrendered to the enemy, and deliberately let Yuan Shao's army cross the river.
The first two are almost impossible, because the troops are not all stationed in the city. Under normal circumstances, there are guard sentries outside the city. For example, in the battle of Guandu, Cao Cao used the password provided by Xu You to get through unimpeded, and Lu Meng sneaked into Jingzhou.
, it was only by disguising himself as a businessman that he could cross the river swaggeringly under the eyes of Guan Yu's military guard tower.
If there is a warning, even if the city is surrounded, the security soldiers on the periphery can fly to Bohai to send a message. Now there is no news, which shows that it is really only the case where the Wangmen surrenders to the enemy.
"Although the enemy is still far away from us now, Yuan Shao is so powerful that it is impossible to send only one army. I predict that he must have set up many checkpoints on our way back. Now Zhang Wu and Nan Pi will definitely be attacked.
"Whether Ming Gong goes north or south, I'm afraid it won't be so easy. I think we should stick to this place and wait for reinforcements."
Tian Yu made an analysis.
Bohai County is backed by the sea, with Youzhou to the north, Qingzhou to the south, and Jizhou to the west. Yuan Shao launched his offensive from the direction of Jizhou. At this time, it was not advisable to go north or fight Yuan Shao head-on. But let Gongsun Zan give up Youzhou.
It was impossible for the state to move south to join Liu Bei, so he had to stick to this path.
Gongsun Zan also understood his situation very well, nodded and said: "This is the only way. I will immediately send a message to Qingzhou and ask them to send troops northward."
"Youzhou must also send people to ask Xianbei and Wuhuan to send troops."
Guan Jing suggested.
"I see."
Gongsun Zan closed his eyes. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes and said: "Yuan Shao wants to kill me at this time. I will never agree. Generals, obey your orders!"
"exist!"
Tian Kai, Shan Jing, Gongsun Xu, Wen Ze and other generals responded one after another.
"I will lead the cavalry out of the city to ambush, and you will stay in the city to wait for reinforcements. When the reinforcements arrive, we will raise fire as a signal and fight out together. Do you understand?"
"only!"
All generals respect the order.
Gongsun Zan did not disband all the Hu cavalry, but still retained some. Together with his own Youzhou cavalry, the total number of cavalry was more than 10,000.
Gongsun Fan left three thousand with him, and the rest were basically in Zhuo County, led by his younger brother Gongsun Yue.
As a result, Gongsun Zan only had 5,000 cavalry in his hands.
But it's enough.
Because of the blessing of horseshoes and stirrups, the role of cavalry on the battlefield is no longer what it used to be, which can only strangle or shoot from the flanks.
The changes brought about by these two things are revolutionary.
In large-scale wars, cavalry can also charge into battle, especially heavy cavalry like the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry, which is more powerful than the heavy infantry like the Zhizhao camp. Unfortunately, the cost of building heavy cavalry is too high, and even Yuan Shao is currently unable to do so.
Only 500 men were built, which was far inferior to Qingzhou's scale of 2,000 black armored heavy cavalry.
In fact, Yuan Shao had heavy cavalry in history, but the number was very small. After all, there were no horseshoes and stirrups. Now everyone sees that Qingzhou invented horseshoes and stirrups, and built heavy cavalry. Many princes are also trying to reform, but it is a pity that they do not have it like Qingzhou.
Money is powerless.
Jizhou has been an economic center since ancient times. On the eve of the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao had a million armors and Canggu could be used for ten years. However, he still did not build heavy cavalry. He only built a heavy infantry group of Euphorbias. It can be seen that the heavy cavalry
How expensive it is.
But overall, the five thousand light cavalry is also a very powerful force that can be used on the battlefield and can influence the situation of the battle. Therefore, Gongsun Zan was full of confidence and believed that he would be able to repel the invading Yuan Shao.
Soon, two days later, Gongsun Zan's letter asking for help had gone south and arrived at Gaocheng.
Today's Bohai County was actually Cangzhou, Hebei and Leling, Shandong in later generations, with Cangzhou City to the north and Leling City to the south.
At this time, the Qingzhou Army completely withdrew from the Ganling Kingdom, but Gaocheng, Chonghe, Qiantong, Yangxin and other places in the south of the Bohai Sea were still occupied by the Qingzhou Army and became an important part of the ancient Jiuhe defense line area.
During the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao gave up the natural barrier of the Yellow River and only used the Yellow River as the first line of defense. Although the Yellow River was large, there were too many ferries to defend against. Therefore, his main defensive force was as the second line of defense.
Guandu, the second line of defense.
The Qingzhou Army's defense line was different from Cao Cao's defense line at that time. After all, Pingyuan Country was not as big as Dongjun, and the downstream area included the Jiuhe River Basin. The terrain here was complex, with many hills, rivers, plains, lakes, and swamps. In addition to the natural barrier of the Yellow River,
In addition, there are a large number of tributaries of small rivers. There are many embankments here, the river is slow and wide, and there are several feet of sand and silt. It is almost impossible to move without a boat.
Therefore, with the Yellow River as a barrier, Qingzhou can use the Yellow River as the main line of defense, but Cao Cao can only use the Yellow River as a secondary line of defense. After briefly blocking Yuan Shao, he immediately retreated to Guandu. Qingzhou, on the other hand, can use the complex water system to form a naval army.
Sniping in sections and constantly harassing them, no matter how tough the Jizhou military leaders are, they will never be able to break in.
Now the generals on the front line of Qingzhou include Zang Ba, Taishi Ci, Huang Zhong and Xu Rong. Xun Yu and Xun You are in charge of the overall situation. The total force is about 40,000. It was originally supposed to be 60,000, but Liu Bei took 30,000 south and Chen Mu went south.
Mobilized 10,000 soldiers from counties in the hinterland of Qingzhou to go north, and recruited a group of people to go to Korea.
The batch of North Korean soldiers are new soldiers. They will first fight against Three Koreas to practice their skills. However, the soldiers in the hinterland counties are all veterans from the past and have very strong combat effectiveness. Therefore, despite the fact that there are only 40,000 soldiers on the front line, relying on the favorable terrain and solid defense lines, Yuan Shao has 200,000 soldiers.
Don't be afraid of the whole army coming.
Gaocheng belonged to Zang Ba's defense zone. After receiving the letter, he immediately sent it to Pingyuan.
In Pingyuan County, Xun Yu received the letter and immediately sent someone to call Xun You and Yan Zhong to discuss the matter.
Yan Zhong and Tai Shici sneaked into Jizhou in August to meet with party members, and they have returned a long time ago. One works in the Military Intelligence Department, and the other is a general of the unified army. The 10,000 county soldiers mobilized by Chen Muxin are basically for Xu Rong
Configuration.
In the county government office, since Tian Feng, the original Pingyuan Prime Minister, is currently serving as Liu Bei's military advisor and is on the battlefield in Yuzhou, Xun Yu is now Pingyuan Prime Minister and is in charge of Pingyuan's military affairs.
The three met in the hall. After everyone was seated, Xun Yu looked at the two of them and said, "Yuan Shao has indeed taken action against Gongsun Zan."
"An expected thing."
Yan Zhong said calmly: "Zi Gui left this time just to deal with the aftermath of Gongsun Zan."
"To help Gongsun Zan deal with the aftermath?"
Xun You arrived late and didn't quite understand the current strategy of Qingzhou. He wondered: "What kind of consequences can he do if he goes to the land of three Koreas overseas?"
Xun Yu smiled and said: "Youzhou is Gongsun Zan's home base. If Gongsun Zan is allowed to escape, Yuan Shao will not be able to annihilate him so easily. However, Youzhou is also very complex and has many forces. Just in case, Zigui will send out a surprise force to rescue him."
.”
"oh."
Xun You didn't ask any more questions. Since Chen Mu was handling this matter, let him handle it. What matters now is Qingzhou's attitude, so he pondered: "So this time Gongsun Zan asks for help, do you want to save him?"
"Of course we need to save him."
Xun Yu said without hesitation: "If we don't save him, with Yuan Shao's ability, he will definitely destroy Gongsun Zan, which will seriously affect our overall layout."
"Then how to save it?"
Xun You asked again.
Xun Yu smiled and said: "Before Zigui left, I once said that I will set the general direction, and I will leave it to you two to decide how to implement it. You have the final say on how to rescue and send troops."
This means making the best use of people and making the best use of materials.
Anyone who knows something about the history of the Three Kingdoms knows that Xun Yu is a strategic talent and is suitable for controlling the general direction.
For example, when deciding whether to save Gongsun Zan this time, it was his choice.
Xun You, on the other hand, was a tactical talent. How to implement the specific plan fell to Xun You and Yan Zhong.
This not only makes good use of their strengths, but also gives Xun You and Yan Zhong the opportunity to make meritorious deeds.
After all, both of them had nominally defected to Qingzhou not long ago and had not yet made any achievements. Unlike Xun Yu, who had been in charge of Linzi Central for several years and already had prestige.
If they fought a good battle this time and allowed Gongsun Zan to successfully fight out of the Bohai Sea without being annihilated by Yuan Shao, then the two of them would have done a great job, and their promotion would naturally be much smoother.
Xun You and Yan Zhong looked at each other, nodded and said, "Okay."
"Bring me the map."
Xun Yu shouted to the soldiers outside the door.
After a while, the soldiers brought the map of the Bohai Sea area.
In fact, there is no need for a map.
Because Xun You had followed Liu Bei in his early years, participated in the suppression of Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju's rebellion, formulated tactical plans in the Bohai Sea, surrounded and suppressed Qiu Liju, and had gone to the Bohai Sea several times to survey the terrain and compare it with maps, so he was very familiar with the topography of the Bohai Sea.
The main purpose of getting the map now is to show it to Yan Zhong.
The three of them gathered around the table. Yan Zhong worked in the Military Intelligence Department and could get first-hand information, so he immediately analyzed: "The Military Intelligence Department sent a secret report this morning. I have sent it to the prefect's mansion. I wonder if Wen Ruo has read it."
Xun Yu said: "I dealt with some trivial official documents this morning, but I haven't had time to read them yet."
"Then I'll tell you."
Yan Zhong pointed at Zhang Wu and said: "Yuan Shao sent Yan Liang as the vanguard to capture Zhang Wu and cut off Gongsun Zan's retreat."
Then he pointed at Fuyang and said: "For some reason, the king's gate in Hejian opened the door and let the main force of Yuan Shao's army enter Hejian. Gao Lan was the front army and attacked Fuyang."
Finally, he pointed at Nanpi and said: "Yuan Shao's main force went straight to Nanpi, obviously intending to trap Gongsun Zan on three sides and trap him in Fuyang."
Three bread sandwich?
Xun You thought for a moment and said calmly: "This is to guard against our Qingzhou."
"Yes, Gongsun Zan said in his letter asking for help that he is now trapped in Fuyang, but Yuan Shao's main force went straight to Nanpi."
Xun Yu took his words and said: "It can be seen that this is to prevent us from going north to ask for help. Ming Gong led the army south to aid Sun Jian. Our army's strength has been greatly reduced. Even if all 40,000 troops are dispatched, it will be difficult to shake Yuan Shao's main force."
"So we have to find another way."
Xun You pondered: "I wonder if we can surround Wei to rescue Zhao and attack Wei County to relieve the pressure on Gongsun Zan?"
Yan Zhong shook his head: "No, the Military Intelligence Department secretly reported that Yuan Shao mobilized only more than 100,000 troops this time. Another nearly 100,000 troops, most of which are concentrated in Wei County, to guard against the Ming Dynasty's force heading north and attacks from the direction of Luoyang."
Yuan Shao is not stupid, how could he not take precautions against Qingzhou.
Therefore, his deployment of troops and horses this time was very appropriate. First, Yan Liang was the vanguard, leading 3,000 light cavalry and 7,000 elite soldiers to go straight to Zhangwu to cut off Gongsun Zan's retreat. Gao Lan led 50,000 troops to attack Gongsun Zan's main force in Fuyang.
, and he himself led 50,000 troops, plus Ju Yi's 10,000, for a total of 60,000 troops, and marched directly to Nanpi.
The 60,000-strong army maintained an absolute advantage. First, it cut off Gongsun Zan's southward defection to Qingzhou, and secondly, it prevented Qingzhou's northward march. Even if Gongsun Zan and the Qingzhou army attacked from the north and south at the same time, he could combine with Gao Lan's troops to achieve a total of eleven
Wan Dajun's superiority struck both of them.
The other more than 100,000 troops were all stationed in Wei County and near Qinghe State to prevent an attack from the Luoyang direction. Moreover, Liu Bei was still on the battlefield in Yuzhou, and it would take some time before he could go north, which was enough time for Yuan Shao to defeat Gongsun Zan.
"If this is the case, I'm afraid things will be difficult. Ming Gong cannot rush back as soon as possible. Yuan Shao has an absolute military advantage, and Gongsun Zan does not have a good defensive terrain..."
Xun You hesitated for a moment.
There may be wars in which the weak defeat the strong, but there are some specific factors, and most of them are caused by the defender not being afraid in the face of danger and the attacker making many mistakes.
For example, the Battle of Kunyang, the Battle of Julu, the Battle of Pengcheng, etc., except for the Battle of Jingxing led by the soldier Han Xin, which is also the famous last-ditch battle, it is rare to see the attacking side defeat the strong by the weak.
Now that Yuan Shao is strictly guarding them, it is difficult for Qingzhou to find a breakthrough to launch a powerful attack, posing a threat to Jizhou.
The three people looked at the map and fell into deep thought.
After a while, Yan Zhong sighed and said, "It seems that I can only take out what's at the bottom of the box."
"Oh? Sir, does he have a clever plan?"
Xun Yu asked curiously.
Yan Zhong smiled and said: "Actually, it's not a clever plan. Before leaving, Zigui asked the court for an edict from the emperor."
"Edict from the Emperor?"
Xun Yu and Xun You looked at each other and said in unison: "Could it be Zhang Yan?"
They had also thought of Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army before.
However, the Black Mountain Army has been targeted and suppressed by Jizhou in the past few years. During Wang Fen's period, Lu Bu was sent to attack them many times. During Yuan Shao's period, the Montenegrin Army was also treated as an experience baby many times, and the new troops he recruited went to attack them for experience.
Therefore, the power of the Black Mountain Army is not as strong as it used to be. Regardless of whether they can pose a threat to Jizhou, it is just a question of whether they have the courage to accept Qingzhou's invitation to attack Jizhou.
Now that Chen Mu has requested Liu Yu's imperial edict in advance, he is sure of it.
Because the Montenegrin Army had already accepted the imperial decree as early as the period of Emperor Xiaokang of the Han Dynasty, and when the emperor Liu Yu succeeded him, he also applied for the title. Now he is the imperial court's general in trouble, and is nominally controlled by the imperial court.
.In addition, the Black Mountain Army has a bloody feud with Yuan Shao. As long as they are allowed to attack in the name of the emperor, they will definitely agree.
"It's Zhang Yan."
Yan Zhong smiled and said: "Zhang Yan is located in the Five Elements Mountains, at the rear of Yuan Shao. If he suddenly attacks, Yuan Shao will be frightened and uneasy."
Xun You nodded: "But it is not easy for Zhang Yan to succeed. In order to relieve the pressure on Gongsun Zan and provide favorable conditions for Zhang Yan, we must also build up momentum and make a gesture of going north to attack Yuan Shao."
Xun Yu asked: "How to make a plan."
Xun You pointed at the map and said: "Look, Yuan Shao concentrated half of his troops to attack Gongsun Zan and guard against us. The other half of his troops were hoarded in Wei County to guard against sneak attacks by Luoyang and southern forces. But there was still a weak point exposed, Qinghe State, but this
The weakness is too obvious."
"You mean this is a trap?"
Xun Yu asked.
"Yes, I suspect that Qinghe State is a trap. Once we attack, we will be attacked from three sides by Weijun, Anping, Hejian Bohai and other places."
"It seems that Yuan Shao has blocked us from all sides."
"But there is still one place that is not blocked."
"where?"
"Northeast of Gaocheng, along the coast of the Bohai Sea, in addition to this, we can also use shipping."
Xun You said: "I think we can send a small force to harass Qinghe State to contain Yuan Shao's forces. At the same time, the larger army will bypass Gaocheng and go north from the Bohai Sea coast to surprise Fuyang and rescue Gongsun Zan."
Xun Yu and Yan Zhong immediately compared the map and studied it carefully.
As mentioned before, Bohai County was the later Cangzhou, Hebei, and Leling areas, Shandong. These two areas were connected together. At that time, the north of Bohai County was a plain area with a dense population and many cities.
Although the south of Bohai County is also a plain area, because it is located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the river overflows, divergent streams, sediments, especially depressions, swamps, and lakes are abundant. Once the Yellow River floods, it is easy to cause floods.
It was a disaster, so it was uninhabitable, and there was no city within a hundred kilometers.
Huanghua, Haixing, Yanshan, Mengcun Hui Autonomous County and other counties and cities located here in later generations were all uninhabited at that time. The nearest city was Gaocheng, 30 kilometers due south of Yanshan County in later generations, northeast of Gaocheng
In this direction, there is a large area of land that is no man's land.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Yuan Shao's troops have not occupied this area yet, because they still need to capture Nanpi County in the west before they can move eastward and block the road to the north from Qingzhou
, so now for Qingzhou Group, it is about grabbing time.
Originally, this place was not a particularly big loophole. After all, even if the Qingzhou Army moved north from here, Yuan Shao was still eager for them to come out of their turtle shells and fight them.
The total number of troops dispatched this time reached 120,000, but Qingzhou and Gongsun Zan combined only had 70,000 to 80,000 troops.
In a non-defensive terrain, in a wild confrontation, the one with more troops will naturally have the advantage.
But with foreign aid, things will naturally become different.
After studying Xun You's plan, both Xun Yu and Yan Zhong thought it was feasible. The three of them immediately agreed to the plan and immediately summoned the generals to discuss the matter.
Nowadays, the Qingzhou Army is huddled in the plains and the southern Bohai Defense Zone. Zang Ba leads 10,000 troops to guard the Gaocheng area. Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong disperse their forces in the Yellow River and many waters in the middle and lower reaches. Xu Rong leads 10,000 new troops to station in the plains.
Zang Ba remained in Gaocheng, and the three summoned Tai Shi Ci and Huang Zhong back to formulate a strategy to save Gongsun Zan.
First, Yan Zhong and Xu Rong started to attack Qinghe State from the direction of the plains. They pretended to be the main force of Qingzhou and divided their troops to harass. When they encountered large enemy forces, they immediately retreated. When they encountered small groups of enemy troops, they invaded. This required extremely clever tactics.
In terms of command ability, Xun Yu was a little worried that ordinary generals did not have this ability.
However, Yan Zhong knew Xu Rong's ability. He once fought against hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army troops with a very small number of troops, and also repelled several Kwantung Army attacks. He was a handsome man, so he highly recommended him.
After it was determined that Xu Rong would command the western battlefield and Yan Zhong would be the military advisor and staff officer, Zang Ba would be appointed as the main general, Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong would be the deputy generals, and Xun You would be the military advisor and staff officer. A total of 25,000 people would go northward. Xun Yu would lead five
Thousands of people guarded the plain, adopting the strategy of attacking from the east and attacking from the west, pretending to attack Wei County from Qinghe State.
At the same time, people were sent south. One party went to Luoyang and sent a message to Zhao Yun, asking him to lead troops to pretend to attack Wei County. The other party sent a message to Liu Bei to tell him Yuan Shao's true intention.
The last party circled from Dongjun to the Taihang Mountains and delivered the emperor's edict to Zhang Yan, asking him to attack Jizhou.
In this way, the entire troop deployment and tactical arrangements have been completed.
For a time, the situation on the battlefield in Jizhou changed. Five or six forces began to entangle. Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan, Qingzhou Army, Luoyang Army, Xianbei, and Heishan Army. These are just the armies that are about to participate now. The situation in the north will be more complicated in the future.
If the change occurs, there will be more than ten forces involved.