The night is charming, with a silver moon hanging high in the sky.
Gongsun Zan's camp was busy.
The soldiers dismantled the camp and discarded many things except the baggage.
Such as various fences, fortifications, and even some obstructive luggage.
In addition to the carriages that transport goods and the need to transport grain, grass, ordnance and other supplies to the seaside, you can basically throw away anything you can.
The wealthy Gongsun Zan never had to worry about this. As long as he returned to Youzhou and his own territory, everything would be fine.
The moon is as cold as water, and its silvery light shines on the earth. The whole world seems to be covered with a layer of white frost.
The Youzhou Army had just returned from a great victory, and everyone was in high spirits. While celebrating the joy of returning home, they were busy in the camp. No one thought that there were enemies coming to attack them at this time.
Even the sentries scattered everywhere have gone back - they are leaving soon. All the soldiers have to return to camp and prepare to leave. There is no point in staying here any longer.
Under a steep slope in the distance, Ju Yi looked down the slope and saw that about two or three miles away, Gongsun Zan's camp was in full swing.
The officers shouted to the soldiers to step up their action. The soldiers who kept shuttling back and forth pulled all the carriages outside the camp. People came and went carrying food and baggage and loading the supplies that needed to be carried on the shelves. It was obvious that they were planning to retreat.
Ju Yi didn't know the specific situation, but by the moonlight and the countless torches held by Gongsun Zan's soldiers, he vaguely guessed that Gongsun Zan might be moving tonight, but he didn't know where he was going.
"General, Gongsun Zan seems to be retreating."
Ju Yi's lieutenant looked around and said.
This time when they came, the army was already more than ten miles away. Ju Yi personally led the scout team to investigate.
What surprised them was that there were no sentries along the way, not a single enemy investigator, and no obstruction at all. The defense was so lax that it was incredible.
But now they have a clear understanding that Gongsun Zan no longer intends to wait for death in this place. After defeating the Ju Yi tribe, he immediately plans to start a strategic shift.
Of course Ju Yi didn't know that Liu Bei had sailed over to pick him up. He thought Gongsun Zan was planning to escape from the Hejian Kingdom to the west, so he immediately said to his lieutenant: "This is a good opportunity. Gongsun Zan thought he could repel me within two days."
You must be worry-free, but you don’t know that I have no intention of retreating. They are unprepared in this battle and will definitely defeat the enemy. Go and order the soldiers to come over. Be careful and don’t make too much noise."
"only!"
The deputy general took the order and left.
Gongsun Zan's camp over there was brightly lit, but it was still being demolished and destroyed.
Generals at all levels packed their subordinates' luggage and ordered the soldiers to prepare to leave. Everything was going on in an orderly manner.
In the dark night, the first group of soldiers preparing to leave lit up a long line of torches and headed east.
As for Gongsun Zan himself, he personally led the cavalry brigade and urged his subordinates at all levels to take action as soon as possible. At the same time, his son Gongsun Xu took the lead and led dozens of cavalry to the seaside to contact Liu Bei and ask him to send people to prepare for the response.
"strangeness......."
Ju Yi saw that Gongsun Zan's tribe was not heading west, but to the east. He was puzzled for a while. Was he planning to cross the Hutuo River from the lower reaches, or was he planning to go south from the Bohai Sea to Qingzhou?
This is not common sense.
The further downstream a river is, the more rapid it becomes.
Because China's terrain is generally higher in the west and lower in the east, most rivers flow from west to east and flow into easterly oceans such as the Bohai Sea, the Yellow River, and the East China Sea.
The downstream estuary area of the river is the convergence point of water flow, and the water flow will be very large. Historically, once large rivers such as the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Huai River flooded, it was basically in the middle and lower reaches, and it is rare to hear that the upper reaches of the river flooded.
Therefore, when the water flow is so fast and the water flow is very huge, even if Gongsun Zan wants to risk crossing the river, according to common sense, he should choose to go from the area within the Hejian Kingdom instead of the lower reaches of the Hutuo River.
As for going from the Bohai Sea to Qingzhou, it is even more unreasonable. As mentioned before, ancient roads were not as developed as modern ones. Popular official roads were basically roads between county towns.
The main road can accommodate the passage of carriages and horses. At the stage of Xiangting, there are basically only small roads for ordinary people to walk. It is difficult for carriages and horses to pass. Even if you are traveling lightly, you should not bring so much luggage.
What on earth is Gongsun Zan thinking?
Ju Yi, who had been marching and fighting for many years, couldn't understand it, but this did not prevent him from thinking that he could take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
Rustling sounds appeared nearby, and his lieutenant had already arrived with his men and horses.
Groups of soldiers slowly appeared down the slope, approaching the enemy.
"It feels so peaceful. Logically speaking, Yuan Shao's troops should arrive tonight, but there are no enemy reconnaissance soldiers at this time. It's surprising."
Gongsun Zan was riding a horse and standing on a hillside, overlooking the many soldiers coming and going down the slope.
Everything is quiet. In this season when spring is about to awaken, it seems that apart from the sound of the rolling Hutuo River not far away, there is only the sound of soldiers and horses coming and going.
Counselor Guan Jing smiled and said: "The general has just defeated Yuan Shao. At this time, there are no enemies coming to die. When we return to Youzhou, it will be the day of revenge."
"snort."
Gongsun Zan snorted coldly and said: "Yuan Shao actually attacked me while Xuande was going south. I will avenge this. I will first put down the Xianbei kid, and then go back and deal with Yuan Shao."
Guan Jing nodded and said: "That's right. The Xianbei people are causing trouble in Youzhou. It's like entering an uninhabited land. When our army returns, we must make them pay the price."
At this time, countless rustling sounds suddenly appeared in the surrounding wilderness, like birds chirping or crickets chirping.
"Haha, as soon as I said quiet, didn't the birds start chirping?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Gongsun Zan smiled and did not care at all.
However, in the shadows that he didn't know, there were countless black shadows slowly approaching just two or three miles away from his army.
It is not an easy task to coordinate an army of more than 10,000 people, but Ju Yi has very strong command skills. He used the team he brought from Xiliang to invent a unique set of communication skills.
Xiliang Qiang people observe the neighing of animals, the cries of birds and the calls of horses, and learn to imitate the sounds of animals. Sometimes a whistle sounds like the cry of horses and birds to others, but it is the sound of Qiang people attacking and retreating, one after another, and soon
will be communicated to all levels.
This kind of thing was not uncommon in ancient times. The famous idiom about chickens crowing and dogs stealing is a typical representative of it.
Ju Yi shouted, and suddenly he remembered the sound of birds chirping in the periphery, followed by the calls of various birds, the chirping of crickets, and the sound of cicadas swaying, which was particularly awakening in the silent night sky.
"Did you hear it? Why are there suddenly so many birds chirping?"
On Gongsun Zan's side, some soldiers carrying heavy goods stopped and looked around in confusion.
The movement came so suddenly that people had to be confused.
Someone laughed and said, "Who might have disturbed the birds in the forest? Don't you know that at night, the birds will fly back to the forest. If you disturb one, you will disturb a group of them?"
This is also considered military common sense. It is often not easy to set up an ambush in the forest at night, because the birds fly out to look for food during the day and return to their nests at night.
If you go to the forest to set up an ambush at night and startle the birds, you will be seen through by the enemy at a glance.
Although the camp Gongsun Zan chose was on the south bank of the river, he also followed the principle of not being too far away from the forest and cut down trees to build the camp. Therefore, there was a large forest not far from here about two or three miles away, and it was not unusual to disturb the birds.
People around him felt relieved when they heard the explanation.
However, some people think it's normal, and some people think it's strange. It's just that the military order is like a mountain. Since the superiors have no objections to this matter, the soldiers below are naturally unable to investigate. Everyone still does their own thing without stopping.
This is a reflection of the difference in commanding ability. Gongsun Zan actually heard unusual noises, but he did not immediately order the entire army to be on alert. He just sent a few cavalry over to see the situation.
After a while, before the cavalry he sent over came back, the chirping and hissing of birds in the air suddenly became more urgent, and bursts of sharp screams could be heard.
Only then did Gongsun Zan realize that something was wrong, and he was about to order all the soldiers to be on alert, when countless heads suddenly appeared outside.
"kill!"
As the first shout sounded, countless torches began to appear in the distance. Ju Yijun came over in the dark. Everyone prepared torches. After the order to attack was given, the soldiers lit the torches, raised their left hands, took weapons in their right hands, and began to attack the enemy.
Launch an attack.
The Youzhou army was in chaos instantly, and the enemy was already less than two miles away from them. No one expected that at this pass where they were preparing to retreat and had defeated the enemy greatly during the day, Yuan Shao's army actually chose to make a surprise attack in the middle of the night.
For a time, the entire Gongsun Zan army was in chaos. Without unified command, the battlefield situation became one-sided.
Gongsun Zan himself was also shocked. When he was at a loss, Tian Yu found him in a hurry and shouted: "General, the enemy is attacking. Please lead the cavalry to stop the enemy immediately and give the soldiers a chance to reorganize their army."
"Hold the enemy?"
Gongsun Zan hesitated for a moment. He had abandoned his subordinates in history, but the situation at that time was that he himself was besieged, so he decided not to send troops to rescue.
However, the situation had not reached that point yet, so after hesitating for a moment, he decisively ordered the cavalry to dispatch. He personally led the army out, and the mighty cavalry army swarmed out and attacked Ju Yijun.
This was supposed to be an order to reverse the situation, because Ju Yi's army was dispatched, and both sides chased and fled without even touching each other. It was just that Gongsun Zan's troops were dispersed by the sudden attack, and many soldiers instinctively moved toward
Escape towards the north river bank.
After the cavalry was dispatched, they immediately launched a counterattack against Ju Yi's army. The infantry was not harmed. Under the scolding of officers at all levels, they returned to the team one after another, regrouped, and prepared for a counterattack.
However, at this moment, the ground in the distance shook, and countless torches formed into long dragons, heading towards here.
At this time, the high-ranking cavalry brigade also appeared five or six miles away.
This situation directly disrupted Gongsun Zan's rhythm. He was afraid of being overtaken and entangled by the high-ranking cavalry troops, so in a hurry, he immediately ordered the expert players to blow the horns and the cavalry began to retreat.
As soon as he withdrew, Ju Yi's frontal pressure dropped sharply, and he immediately rushed forward again and began to attack Gongsun Zan's infantry team.
In ancient times, many soldiers suffered from night blindness. It was difficult to fight at night, not to mention in such a complicated situation. Although night battles were not absent in history, Cao Cao launched many attacks at night, but they were all organized and disciplined.
Attack, the field is now in chaos, Gongsun Zan's troops have not been completely assembled, and they were dispersed in an instant.
The entire battlefield seemed to be a replica of Gongsun Zan's attack on Ju Yi during the day. Both of them were careless and were suddenly attacked, causing the infantry team to scatter. Many soldiers fled blindly to the north toward the Hutuo River, and even more
Many soldiers followed the footsteps of Gongsun Zan's cavalry and fled to the east toward the sea.
For a moment, the wilderness was full of shouts and gasps. Some people were chasing and some were running. After losing their torches, many people fell into darkness and could only move forward with a little moonlight.
, and then he was caught up by the enemy, hacked to death, and died in the night.
Ju Yi made sufficient preparations for this battle. First, he approached the enemy in the dark, including many soldiers with night blindness. They stumbled and held hands, letting the soldiers without night blindness lead the way, and then they arrived at the outskirts of Gongsun Zan's camp.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Secondly, every soldier has prepared a torch. When the war starts, Ju Yijun will light the torch to serve as a lighting object and a reference object.
Because many of Gongsun Zan's soldiers would abandon their helmets and flee as soon as they were attacked, and would even throw away the torches in their hands. Therefore, if they meet with torches in the dark, there is a high probability that they are friendly forces. Even if they are not friendly forces, they can still pass.
Use the torch to observe the enemy's clothing and make your own judgment.
This is some small wisdom in war. Ju Yi was able to defeat the strong Gongsun Zan several times in history because of his strong control over the grassroots soldiers and the batch after batch of elite soldiers he trained.
"General, Gongsun Zan ran eastward."
Among the chaotic troops, fighting was going on everywhere. Ju Yi stood on a distant slope and watched the battle. The deputy general came back from the front and reported the situation to him.
Hearing Gongsun Zan's movements, Ju Yi sneered and said: "Going east is the sea, there is a dead end, chase!"
After saying that, he led his own soldiers to board the dead soldiers first, and when they headed east, the fighting had ended, and Ju Yi's soldiers, about seven or eight thousand people, who kept joining in, began to chase eastward.
Once caught in a chase situation on the battlefield, the soldiers and horses on both sides will often lose discipline, and the enemy and we are at odds with each other. You have me, and I have you. Therefore, Ju Yi cannot fully control all the soldiers and horses at this time, and can only temporarily move the troops along the way.
Recruit soldiers under his command to expand the army.
But even if there are only seven or eight thousand people, it is enough. Gongsun Zan has become a lost dog, and only a few thousand cavalry troops are left. For these cavalry, Xiandenshishi has prepared a large number of bows and crossbows. As long as Gongsun Zan dares to fight, he will be allowed to come.
No reply!
Over there, Ju Yi went to chase Gongsun Zan, but the senior officials were overjoyed to see so many of Gongsun Zan's infantry disintegrated on the battlefield. This was a military achievement, so they sent out cavalry troops to massacre these infantry crazily.
It was almost two quarters of an hour before someone reminded him that Ju Yi had gone to hunt down Gongsun Zan. Thinking that Gongsun Zan, a big fish, had greater military merits, the senior official came to his senses and immediately ordered the cavalry to go east.
The cavalry was of course faster than the infantry. This place was only twenty or thirty miles away from the seaside. Gongsun Zan spared no effort in running and ran away, almost reaching the seaside.
Even among the rebellious army, his cavalry were scattered a lot. They were disjointed along the way. Some were hundreds of cavalry following him in groups, and some were dozens of cavalry who went in the wrong direction and went to other places.
Some cavalrymen could not find their way and encountered obstacles such as forests, hillsides, rivers, etc. They were caught up by Ju Yi and eliminated.
The originally silent night was filled with killings.
Far away at the outlet of the Hutuo River, Liu Bei and Chen Mu, who were waiting for Gongsun Zan to evacuate, also stood on a high slope and saw several knights running towards them like wind from a distance.
"Ming Gong, something bad has happened. Yuan Shao's army suddenly raided General Gongsun's camp. General Gongsun was defeated and is fleeing this way."
These cavalrymen were scouts sent by Liu Bei, stationed seven or eight miles away to meet Gongsun Zan.
Liu Bei and Chen Mu were both shocked when they heard the news.
Gongsun Zan's son Gongsun Xu, who was next to him, was even more horrified and asked: "How is my father?"
The scout said: "I saw hundreds of horses coming this way in a hurry. The leader is a white horse. General Gongsun should be fine."
"Uncle, we must save my father!"
Gongsun Xu, who followed Gongsun Zan when he was only seventeen or eighteen years old, quickly asked Liu Bei for help.
Liu Bei looked at Chen Mu and said, "Fourth brother, what should we do now?"
Chen Mu muttered: "Brother Bo Gui is an expert in equestrian skills. He should be able to escape by himself. He has our army's scouts and guides, so he will definitely be able to find this way. Arrange people to meet him first. There must be pursuers behind him. You can order people to go to the front and left."
Set up an ambush on the hillside as an ambush."
"Okay, I'll go there myself."
Liu Beile turned around and quickly headed down the slope.
Amid his shouts, the soldiers of the ship guard followed him in an orderly manner towards a mountain canyon on the coast in front.
Gongsun Xu was not idle either. He also led the cavalrymen who came with him to help out. For a while, the coast became quiet.
Chen Mu looked into the distance, his expression neither sad nor happy.
It would be best for Gongsun Zan to return to Youzhou. If there is a mistake in the plan and he does not go back, then he will have to find another agent.
Whether the agent will listen or not is another question.
But it doesn't matter.
When people live in this world, they often cannot help themselves.
If he doesn't want to obey, then beat him until he obeys. As for how the situation will develop later, let's talk about it later.
At least if he gets the land of three Koreas, he will be in an invincible position.
The difference is just that.
Compared with Gongsun Zan who can coordinate the issue of Hu cavalry in the north, it would not be so convenient for Qingzhou to directly intervene in Youzhou.
If necessary, perhaps I can only go to Luoyang again to ask for the imperial edict.
Liu Yu.
His prestige in Youzhou is no less than that of Gongsun Zan.