While waiting for the generals and counselors to rush to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Chen Mu and Liu Bei studied the maps and plans of the surrounding areas.
At present, the overall defense deployment in Qingzhou has begun to shrink on a large scale. The main area is Yimu County in the west of Pingyuan County as the front line, and then Liguo, Gaocheng and other places in the north.
The main area in the southwest is along the Yellow River, and part of it belongs to Yanzhou, which is Bocheng in the north of Dongjun, Liaoping.
The reason for arranging the defense line like this is the same as the defense line Cao Cao deployed in Guandu during the Battle of Guandu.
The reason why Cao Cao chose Guandu for defense was because its territory was so large that if Yuan Shao wanted to attack, the entire Yellow River could become an attack point. With so many ferries, he simply could not defend them all.
But this does not apply to Qingzhou. If you look at the topography of Qingzhou, you will know that it is located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. There are the towering Taishan Mountains to the west, Yimeng Mountain to the south, the sea to the east, and only one entrance to the north, and it is also talked about endlessly.
The Yellow River is blocked.
So if Yuan Shao wants to attack Qingzhou, the only way is to enter Pingyuan State, then cross the Yellow River, attack Qi State from Jinan and other places, which is the route used by Le Yi to attack Qi during the Warring States Period in history, and unite the five-nation coalition to cross the Yellow River.
Captured Gaotang, marched from Jinan to Linzi, and then wiped out the entire Qi state.
Since there is already an example of Le Yi in history, the Qingzhou adviser group headed by Chen Mu will naturally conduct tight defenses along the Yellow River north of Qingzhou to ensure that even if Yuan Shao wants to attack Qingzhou, the mighty Yellow River will surely do so.
It has become an insurmountable chasm.
This is much easier to deploy than Cao Cao, because Cao Cao's capital at the time was in Xuchang, and the Yellow River stretched from Sili to Qingzhou, a full area of seven to eight hundred kilometers. Except for the defenses in Zhencheng, Baima, Yanjin and other places in Dongjun, other places
The place is almost undefended.
The Yellow River section in Qingzhou is only about 200 kilometers from Chiping to Lijin. There are many tributaries of the Yellow River, and there are the ancient Jiuhe Defense Line, Luoshui Defense Line and Jishui Defense Line behind it. It can be said that the terrain is layered on top of each other.
It will only become narrower and narrower, and the strategic depth is not large. It is almost like a bottleneck is stuck in the battle.
When he originally laid out this line of defense, Chen Mu had worked hard. He had been in the Han Dynasty for many years and traveled all over the world. Every year when he passed by places like the Yellow River or Guandu River, he would take a look and pass by.
Study the Battle of Guandu, which did not exist in this life, to plan the defense line.
Historically, his memory of the details of the Battle of Guandu has been blurry, and he has not studied it carefully. But after observing on the spot, he truly realized how stupid Yuan Shao was in his later years. How could a god like Guo Tu have established a solid foundation for the Cao family?
What a great contribution.
In the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao's biggest disadvantage was that he had too few troops and too much strategic depth. The Yellow River moat was in vain, there was no external support, and people's hearts were floating internally. Countless officials took pictures of Yuan Shao's power, and countless people wanted to surrender.
number.
However, the outcome of this battle took an unimaginable turn.
Under normal circumstances, with such a large strategic depth, the more troops there are, the greater the advantage will definitely be. Cao Cao has fewer troops and Yuan Shao has more troops. He can completely divide his troops to attack, surround the enemy from all sides, and slowly encroach.
Based on this point, Tian Feng gave Yuan Shao his own opinion, thinking that it would be better to divide the troops to attack instead of rushing into a large-scale attack.
Jushou also proposed a plan to weaken Cao Cao in three years. He should not start a decisive battle with Cao Cao immediately, but should slowly make plans.
certainly.
Tian Feng's plan has indeed been seen through by Cao Cao's advisers. Otherwise, Cao Cao would not have deployed defenses in Hanoi and Qingzhou, just to prevent Yuan Jun from launching a roundabout pincer offensive from Sili and Qingzhou respectively.
The problem is that if you see through it, you will see through it, but the gap in hard power lies here.
At that time, Cao Cao was besieged on all sides. Not only did he have to fight Yuan Shao, he also had to deploy troops in the south to prevent Liu Biao and Sun Ce from going north. As a result, the troops on the front battlefield were stretched thin. Even the troops deployed on the periphery were pitifully few, with only a few hundred or even a thousand.
Just people.
If Yuan Shao was smarter and listened to Ju Shou's opinion that "things need to be slowed down, haste makes waste", and then listened to Tian Feng's plan to disturb the enemy and attack from all sides, with Jizhou's foundation, he could drag Cao Cao to death.
It is a pity that Yuan Shao was stupid and was eager for success. He did not send any troops to harass and restrain him from the left and right wings. Instead, all troops entered Dongjun directly from Liyang in an attempt to attack Xudu. As a result, after crossing the river, Cao Cao set up the first line of defense.
Baima, Yanjin and other places were blocked by Cao's army in sections. Guan Yu killed Yan Liang, but Wen Chou fell into Xun You's plan and lost Yan Liang and Wen Chou.
Then they forced a positional battle with Cao Cao in Guandu. The two sides faced off for a long time and could not attack. Not only did Cao Cao repulse several attacks, they even forced Xu You to rebel and asked Xu You to go to Cao's camp to inform. Cao Cao took the opportunity to burn Wuchao.
, completed the comeback.
To be honest, looking at the entire Battle of Guandu, it was so difficult for Cao Cao to win even though Yuan Shao's strategy and tactics had made huge mistakes. Without Xu You, the outcome of this battle would have been Cao Cao's failure, but
There is no denying how stupid Yuan Shao's performance was in the first battle.
Feilongqi was completely defeated, almost no different from Sun Shiwan's performance in the Battle of Hefei.
As a latecomer, Chen Mu naturally had to learn from Yuan Shao's failure and summarize the reasons for Cao Cao's success. Moreover, the Battle of Guandu was of far greater reference significance to him than any other battle in history in which a small number defeated a large number.
After all, what he is facing now is Yuan Shao himself. Through the Battle of Guandu, he can analyze Yuan Shao's playing style, personality, decision-making, etc., and find the key to victory.
The two brothers were studying the map. The first one to come was Xun Yu and Xun You.
, one is the military advisor Zhonglang General, who spends most of his time in the military camp. For example, Tian Fengzheng and Zhang Fei are in the Boping area, and Jushou and Dianwei are in the Li Kingdom area.
Then there are Taishi Ci, Huang Zhong and others on the Gaotang defense line, Zang Ba in the Gaocheng area, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun Qianzhao and others on the front line of Yimu County west of Pingyuan County, and Xu Rong was sent to the Three Hans
On the other side, Gongsun Du has another secret move that he needs to deal with.
Therefore, even though Liu Bei has many talents under his command, everyone is not together, and it is still very troublesome to hold a meeting.
From afternoon to dark, it lasted almost three or four hours. By eight or nine o'clock in the evening, except for Zang Ba who was the farthest away, everyone else was basically there. After all, Qingzhou's defense line was very tight now, even if Bo
It's only more than seventy miles from level to plain, and it only takes an hour or two to get there quickly.
After Xun Yu came, then Yan Zhong, then Zhang Liao, Gao Shun Qianzhao, and then Taishi Ci Huang Zhong. These people are not far away, whether from Yimu County to Pingyuan County or from Gaotang County.
From the county to Pingyuan County, it is basically within the range of thirty or forty miles.
Jushu and Dianwei were a little further away. It was about fifty miles from Li State to the plain. They were the second to last group to arrive. By the time Zhang Fei and Tian Feng arrived, it was naturally dark.
At about eight o'clock in the evening, Zhang Fei walked into the hall in a dusty manner. As soon as he entered, he shouted: "Brother, why are you calling me back from Boping in such a hurry?"
At this time, Liu Bei, Chen Mu, Xun Yu, Xun You and others were studying the defense lines deployed by Yuan Shaojun in Qinghe State, Bohai State and other places. They slightly modified the hall, erected a large map and pasted it on the wooden board.
There were a large number of oil lamps, and all the soldiers gathered around to listen to their explanation.
Seeing Zhang Fei come in, Liu Bei turned around without saying anything, waved his hand and said: "The third brother is back, please sit down first."
Everyone sat down one by one.
According to the arrangement, Chen Mu sat first under Liu Bei's right hand, Zhang Fei sat first under his left hand, and then Ju Shaodian, Wei Taishi Ci, etc. Xu Chu stood behind Liu Bei as a bodyguard, and more than ten people gathered together to carry out the ceremony.
The first important meeting in Qingzhou.
In fact, Liu Bei's army naturally has more than just these people. Among the middle and high-level officers, there are quite a few captains, military commanders, assistant generals, and generals who have left their names in history. There are also as many as thirty or forty advisers under his command, such as Sun Qian and Jian Yong.
, as well as Zhong Yao, Hua Xin, Wang Lang, Shiyi, Sun Shao, Zuo Ji, Liu Qian, Cui Yan, Guoyuan, Gongsun Fang, Wang Xiu, Mao Jie and so on.
But just like Cao Cao had as many as 102 counselors in his life, but only nine key counselors. Liu Bei currently has only four key counselors, Chen Mu, Jushou, Xun Yu, Tian Feng,
Not even Xun You and Yan Zhong are included, because they only joined in the past two years, and their credit and seniority are relatively late.
A large number of scholars who graduated from Taishan Academy serve as middle-level clerks in the army. There are hundreds of military commanders and chief clerks in the army. There are thousands of elite officers at all levels from top to bottom. Even Xu Chu is now
He is just a captain of the bodyguard, which shows that Liu Bei Group's wings are now quite full.
Liu Bei sat high on the throne, Chen Mu and Zhang Fei sat on the left and right, and then the counselors group Ju Shu, Xun Yu, Tian Feng, Xun You, Yan Zhong, followed by several generals, Dian Wei, Tai Shi Ci, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Huang Zhong
, lead the move.
Fourteen people, as well as Zang Ba in Gaocheng and Guan Yu and Zhao Yun in Luoyang, make up the current top management of Qingzhou.
Even Cai Yang, who guarded Xuzhou, did not enter this circle.
After all, although Cai Yang is Chen Mu's uncle-in-law, compared with these people, his qualifications, military achievements, and status are all inferior. Therefore, even though Cai Yang has become a miscellaneous general and can be regarded as a high-level member, he is still excluded.
Outside top management.
After everyone sat down, Liu Bei said loudly: "Everyone has been running around for a day, so we must be hungry. Let's serve the food first!"
The servants who had already warmed up the food and wine outside began to serve the dishes.
It's stir-fry.
In this era, it is not easy to eat a plate of stir-fried vegetables. It was only after Chen Mu invented it that he taught the cooks of the Prime Minister's Mansion how to satisfy everyone.
Everyone talked and laughed, ate big mouthfuls of meat, drank big bowls of wine, filled their stomachs, and worshiped the five internal organs temple before the official ceremony began.
After the banquet, Zhang Fei picked a toothpick with his head and said to Liu Bei: "This food is so delicious and this wine is so delicious. I can't bear to go back to Boping. Brother, please transfer me back to the plains."
.”
"Third brother, if you don't return to Boping, we won't be able to win this battle."
Chen Mu said with a smile.
Hearing his words, Zhang Fei suddenly became energetic and hurriedly asked: "Are you finally ready to start a war?"
"Yes, it is indeed time to go to war."
Chen Mu glanced at Jushou Xun Yu, Tian Feng and others. In history, when Yuan Shao attacked Cao Cao, all of Cao Cao's advisers led the battle except Kong Rong, who was a royalist and had his own interests. This gave Cao Cao great confidence.
In fact, how could those counselors fail to see the huge gap in strength between the two sides?
It's just that this battle has to be fought even if it's not a fight. After all, the fight is coming at the doorstep. If he doesn't fight, Cao Cao will have only one way out: surrender, so everyone bites the bullet and accepts it.
But it's different now. Qingzhou has the initiative. With such a tight defense line, Jizhou's attack would be as difficult as climbing to the sky.
It's like two giants, each weighing the same, and neither can do anything to the other.
On the contrary, no matter who strikes first, their weaknesses will be exposed and others will strike later, which is difficult to resist.
But now that Chen Mu is leading the battle alone, Ju Shu, Tian Feng, Xun Yu and others naturally have to support his opinion, because indeed, as Chen Mu said, due to various reasons, now is the only chance to defeat Jizhou.
If the time is delayed longer, all the old-school party members will die of old age, and the party's influence on Jizhou will further weaken. There may also be changes on Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan's side. If we continue to delay, it will only become more and more detrimental to Qingzhou.
, the balance of victory will tilt towards Jizhou.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! So if we don’t have to fight this battle, we have to fight it.
Hearing Chen Mu's affirmative voice, Zhang Fei became excited and immediately said: "Eldest brother, fourth brother, what do you think of how to fight and where to fight? I will listen to you."
Liu Bei waved his hand and said: "Third brother, please be patient and listen to the detailed explanations from the fourth brother and several military advisors."
Chen Mu looked around at the crowd and said: "To fight, you need to set a strategic goal. Tactics and war are all efforts to achieve this strategic goal, so before that, you have to set a strategic plan. What do you think?
What kind of result is the strategic goal we should achieve?"
Jushou pondered: "Capture the entire Jizhou?"
"This is grand strategy!"
Chen Mu said: "Defeating Yuan Shao and seizing the entire Jizhou is our ultimate goal. But before that, we have to make countless small strategies. Think about it, what is our advantage?"
Xun Yu thought for a while and said, "Our troops are not as large as those in Jizhou, but our soldiers are well-trained, well-equipped, and have sufficient food and grass?"
"These don't give us much of an advantage."
Chen Mu analyzed: "During Wang Fen's period, Jizhou did not practice martial arts, and the quality of the soldiers was indeed average. But after Yuan Shao took office, he used the elite divisions that defeated Dong Zhuo as the backbone to train the soldiers. Although the individual soldiers were still not as good as ours, they
It’s not too different. In terms of weapons and equipment, we are indeed slightly better, but he has more troops and horses, and the equipment is not bad, not to mention the food and grass, Jizhou Canggu can be used for ten years.”
Jushu and Xunyu looked at each other. Both of them had strategic vision, but at this moment they couldn't figure out what the next strategy should be. After a while, the two men shook their heads silently, and Jushu said: "Zigui, don't show off."
Okay, you can tell me, what are our advantages?"
Chen Mu laughed, pointed to the ground, and said: "Our advantage lies in the fact that we have deployed a strong defense line. Qingzhou is surrounded by the Taishan Mountains to the west and the Hukou of the Dahe River to the north. The defense line is narrow and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Yuan Shao basically
We can't attack in, but we can attack out at any time. On the contrary, although Jizhou is vast and rich in resources, it is flat and has almost no defensive land. This is the biggest advantage and disadvantage between us!"
"I can hit you, but you can't hit me?"
Xun Yu asked tentatively.
"Exactly!"
Chen Mu nodded.
Just like the war between Shu and Wei.
Zhuge Liang left Qishan on the sixth day and attacked cities and territories everywhere, but the Wei State was unable to do anything to him.
It is precisely because of the numerous natural defense lines in Bashu that it is difficult to attack.
That is to say, the size of the Shu Kingdom is too small. If it were larger, as long as the Wu Kingdom did not attack Jingzhou and owned Jingzhou and Yizhou, the outcome of the future war between Wei and Shu is still unknown.
Of course, compared with the defensive capabilities of Qingzhou, it pales in comparison to Yizhou. Not to mention that there is a flat road directly from Xuzhou Langya Kingdom to the hinterland of Qingzhou. It is not completely impossible to go to Mount Tai, but it is only possible to cross Mount Tai.
The cost is too high. Throughout the history of dynasties, no one would do it.
However, although Qingzhou's defense capabilities cannot be compared with Yizhou, Qingzhou is not Ji Han, and Jizhou is not Cao Wei. The strengths of the two sides are directly proportional. One is the strongest in the world, the other is the second strongest in the world, and the second strongest in the world also has a tight defense zone.
, no matter how hard you fight, you will remain invincible.
Chen Mu continued: "The lack of a defense line in Jizhou will become a big problem. If we launch a full-scale offensive, we can launch attacks from multiple directions. Just like a giant, it looks strong, but in fact it is full of flaws. And even if we lose,
We can also immediately retreat to the plains and lure the enemy to attack. This is the first strategy in my opinion! Lure the enemy deep into the city!"
Jushou said thoughtfully: "Our advantage is only useful in Qingzhou, but the enemy's disadvantages are everywhere. We can take the initiative to attack and at the same time drag the enemy into our advantage?"
"good!"
Chen Mu nodded, stood up, walked to the wooden board next to him, pointed to the map above and said: "Look, Jizhou is undefeable on all sides. Qingzhou is invading in a big way. Yuan Shao's defense line must be Qinghe State, Bohai Sea, Anping,
In the Hejian area, there is also Wei County to guard against Luoyang's second brother, Zhao, Changshan, Zhongshan and Julu will definitely be empty. What will happen if Zhang Yan and Brother Bogui attack at this time?"
Xun Yu said: "Contain the enemy's main force and let the friendly forces launch a fatal blow. When the time comes, Yuan's army on the front line will be in chaos, and we can take advantage of the situation to pursue him!"
"This is exactly what I consider the second phase of the strategy."
Chen Mu said: "In the first stage, Qingzhou will be the main offensive point, attacking Qinghe State and Bohai County, forcing Yuan Shao to defend. At this time, if conditions permit, feign defeat, lure Yuan Shao to attack the plains, and drag him into our territory.
In the defense zone, let them get stuck in the quagmire. This stage is a long one. We must give full play to our advantages, harass the cities in various places, relocate the people of Qinghe and Bohai, and turn the land of these two counties into scorched earth. We cannot let Yuan Shao
Continue to sit on so much fertile land!”
"And if Yuan Shao is not fooled, then we will continue to use harassment tactics and send troops out of Dahe. Even if we cannot move the people in Qinghe and Bohai, and cannot trap all the troops in these places in the city, we must still capture most of Yuan Shao's troops.
The main force will be attracted here, and then Luoyang will cooperate with our attack, and the war will officially enter the second stage!"
"From the first stage to the second stage, it may take a long time, maybe as long as several years. But no matter what, we must be patient, just like a pack of wolves hunting a huge
The buffalo would go up and take a bite from time to time, exhausting its energy before finally being able to eat it!"
"And this plan is our ultimate strategic goal!"
Chen Mu looked around at the crowd and said slowly: "I named it the wolf tactic!"