The undercurrent is surging in the south, and Youzhou in the north is equally thrilling.
In the wilderness, thousands of cavalry were rolling with the force of wind and thunder, rushing towards the distant land like an overwhelming mountain.
There are forests on both sides of the river. It is approaching early spring and the plants are taking root and sprouting. Because it has rained a few days ago, the official road leading to Yongnu County is swampy and muddy.
A small green grass emerged from the mud with difficulty, breathing the fresh air greedily. The horses' hooves galloped past, and crushed it into the soil again, trampling it into dust.
Although it will be the beginning of January in two days, the weather in the north is still so bone-chillingly cold, as if it would freeze people into stiff snowmen.
It's just that compared to western Liaoning, Yuyang County is considered good. It's still snowing in western Liaoning, and snowflakes as big as goose feathers are flying. If you don't have strong liquor and cotton clothes, you will really freeze to death in the snow in that winter.
Gongsun Du was riding on his horse. He patted the dust on his body and saw from a distance that the vanguard cavalry he had sent had arrived at the bank of the Lei River. He said to his trusted general Liu Yi: "Zhijian, we have arrived.
During the feeding time, the soldiers are also hungry, so let the army rest for a while and eat something before setting off."
"only."
Liu Yi then sent a messenger to issue orders to the mighty infantry army of more than 30,000 people behind him.
Gongsun Du got off his horse and looked around at the surrounding environment. He saw a large grassland next to the river with trickling water. There was a herd of wild deer on the other side of the river. Before the cavalry arrived, they had already fled far away. They looked at it greedily.
By the river, he refused to leave.
"Father."
Gongsun Du's eldest son Gongsun Kang originally wanted to take his people to hunt the herd of wild deer. Just as he was sending people to find a ferry to cross the river, he found that his father had also arrived at the Xianshui River, so he hurried over and followed his father.
Walk with him behind you.
"Well..." Gongsun Du just nodded thoughtfully, but his face was very solemn, as if he was worried, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
"Is father still thinking about going to war?"
Gongsun Kang asked.
Gongsundu pressed his hand noncommittally, without shaking his head or nodding, as if to signal his son not to continue talking on this topic.
After waiting for a while, he said: "You guys should spread out first and let me think about it by myself."
"I'm going to hunt a wild deer for my father to cook."
Gongsun Kang wisely stepped away.
Yang Yi, another confidant of Gongsun Du, also followed him.
When they were a little further away, Gongsun Kang glanced at Gongsun Du, who had his back turned to them, and whispered in Yang Yi's ear: "Uncle, what happened to my father?"
Yang Yi was Gongsun Du's adviser, and this dispatch of troops was the result of long discussions between him and Gongsun Du.
After hearing the young master's question, Yang Yi glanced at Gongsun Du in the distance who seemed to be worried, and then responded in a low voice: "Ming Gong still cannot make a decision."
"My father is obviously a decisive person, why are he so hesitant on this matter?" Gongsun Kang couldn't help but said: "Now that the soldiers have been sent out, You Beiping and Yuyang will soon be under the rule, then Gongsun Zan
All my property has been transferred to my father's hands. How can I retreat when an arrow is on the string?"
"You do not understand......."
Yang Yi shook his head: "Ming Gong is king in Liaodong. The sky is high and the emperor is far away. No one can threaten him. But it will be different if he rashly intervenes in the war in the Central Plains. Gongsun Zan is also very powerful in Youzhou. This time we attack him.
, if we cannot annihilate him, the consequences will be endless.”
"Well...of course I know, so we must do our best in this battle." Gongsun Kang licked his dry lips and looked towards the distant west: "As long as Gongsun Zan can be killed, the entire Youzhou
It’s ours.”
"It's not that easy."
Yang Yi smiled bitterly and said: "Although we have formed an alliance with Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan has gathered more than 100,000 people, and his strength cannot be underestimated. And there is Liu Bei of Qingzhou. Duke Ming once wanted to send troops to occupy the land of Donglai, but the result has not been implemented yet.
Liu Xuande from Qingzhou has already occupied all our islands outside, and even the port of Dashi County is almost in danger. Fighting against these Central Plains forces is by no means an easy victory as imagined!"
Gongsun Kang tightened the handle of the sword at his waist and said coldly: "Liu Xuande bullied my father too much. This dispatch of troops may not be because his ships have entered Liaodong several times and bullied our Liaodong warships. I heard that this year Yuan Shao and
Liu Bei has reached the critical point of the war. If we can help Yuan Shao defeat him, we will not only take all the land of Youzhou, but also send troops to Donglai to get a glimpse of the prosperity of the Central Plains!"
"But......"
"There is nothing to regret. Now that we have sent troops, there is no need to regret it. I am the vanguard in this battle. I must open up territory for my father and capture the entire Youzhou!"
When Gongsun Kang saw the cavalrymen looking for the ferry coming back in the distance, he quickly walked to the river, mounted his horses, led more than ten guards to join the cavalrymen looking for the ferry, and prepared to cross the river to hunt deer.
Yang Yi looked at his ambitious and energetic back and sighed: "Today's young people are really... full of ambition..."
Liaodong, after all, could not escape the fate of participating in the Central Plains War.
Last year, Yuan Shao sent envoys to find Gongsundu's alliance, but it was not until this year that Gongsundu decided to send troops.
During this process, Yang Yi was opposed at first and was unwilling to get involved.
They are kings in Liaodong, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, no one can control them.
But Gongsundu thought for a long time, and after countless repeated deliberations and constant suffering, he finally decided to send troops.
There is only one reason for not sending troops - that is, they are kings and hegemons in Liaodong. If they have no ambition, there is no need to go to the Central Plains to get involved in this matter.
Although the northeastern land is bitter and cold, it is normal for people to prefer the head of a chicken to the tail of an ox.
But there are so many reasons to send troops.
The desire for the prosperous land of Youzhou...the fear of Liu Bei's navy often cruising in the Liaodong inland sea...the coveting of cotton, spirits, and grain trade, and the desire that burst out from his heart.
So little ambition...
The richest places in Youzhou are the three counties of Yuyang, Zhuojun, and Guangyang, with a combined population of more than 1.2 million. The other counties of Beiping, Liaodong, and Liaoxi have a population of only tens of thousands to 300,000 each.
It is not as densely populated as Zhuo County.
Therefore, if you are willing to just be king in the bitter cold land of Liaodong, it is naturally better not to get involved in the affairs of the Central Plains. But if you have some ideas, then Gongsun Du's only way out is to march west to Zhuojun.
In addition, Gongsun Zan's fur, wine, and cotton trade are all industries that Gongsun Du covets. Over the years, as a neighbor, Gongsun Du has watched this brother with the same surname prosper in Youzhou, taking advantage of the supplies that the northerners desperately need.
, it is impossible to make a lot of money and not feel envious.
Finally, is the most important point.
That is, Gongsundu already felt a deep sense of crisis, and his fear of Qingzhou made him unable to imagine what would happen to him once Liu Bei finally won.
So after tossing and turning for more than a year, and even waiting and watching for more than half a year, Gongsun Du finally decided to send troops to attack Gongsun Zan's lair.
Some people may wonder, what is the intersection between Gongsun Du and Liu Bei?
But we need to understand one truth, that is how close is Dalian, Liaoning to Yantai, Shandong.
It is less than 200 kilometers by sea, and there are more than ten islands of various sizes in the middle. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, these islands were inhabited. Emperor Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went to these islands to search for elixirs, which is the so-called
Penglai, Fangzhang, Yingzhou Sanshen Mountain.
In order to search the American continent, Chen Mu introduced food crops, industrial crops, and cash crops that were urgently needed by the Han Dynasty, vigorously developed the navy, and carried out maritime trade with Youzhou, Yangzhou and other places. At the same time, he also carried out militarized rule over the three Koreas.
Therefore, it can be said that Qingzhou and the Liaodong Peninsula are actually very close to each other.
Qingzhou's navy has long occupied most of the islands south and east of Dalian City, almost threatening Gongsun Du's home base.
Historically, Gongsun Duke used these islands as a springboard to occupy Donglai County in Qingzhou. Now Liu Bei has turned his back on foreigners and is encroaching on Liaodong step by step. How can he not be worried?
Therefore, under the pressure of the Qingzhou Navy, Gongsun Du had to start thinking about how Liu Bei would deal with the remote Liaodong region in the future if he won a complete victory in the Central Plains War.
After all, Yuan Shao did not have such a powerful navy. Even if Yuan Shao won and betrayed his trust and failed to give Yuyang Zhujun and other places to him as agreed, he would still be as secure in Liaodong. There is no reason why Yuan Shao would come all the way overland to attack him.
But Liu Bei was different. Liu Bei did not need to go by land. He could land directly from Liaodong through his powerful navy and overthrow his regime at any time.
One is far away from the sky, and the other is right next to him. If he still doesn't understand the simple principle of making friends at a distance and attacking at close range, then Gongsun Du will be ashamed of his reputation as one of the princes of the late Han Dynasty.
In this way, even if Gongsun Du did not want to participate in the Central Plains War, he could only bite the bullet and start marching towards Zhuojun with his own troops.
certainly.
It's one thing to make friends at a distance and attack at close range, but it's another thing to actually start a fight.
At least for now, the Qingzhou Navy is just cruising around its coastal waters and has not taken the initiative to launch an attack.
If he went to war with Qingzhou directly, Gongsun Du would not be able to weigh the consequences.
Therefore, it is called entanglement along the way.
After all, looking at history, Gongsun Du's ambitions were limited to Liaodong. It would be really difficult for him to participate in the Central Plains War.
But after much thought, Gongsun Du realized that since he had already sent out troops, there was no way to regret it.
The issue he is considering now is whether to send troops directly to Zhuo County to support Yuan Shao's troops, or to sneak attack on Jixian County and occupy Gongsun Zan's lair.
After walking along the river for a long time, it was not until his son Gongsun Kang came back from hunting a few wild deer and cooked them before sending them to him that Gongsun Du made up his mind and said to his son Gongsun Kang: "Kang'er, change the route and go to Quanzhou.
.”
"Quanzhou?"
Gongsun Kang was surprised and said: "Father, aren't we going to attack Jixian?"
Gongsun Du said indifferently: "Since you want to offend, you have to offend to death. Attacking Ji County is just to force Gongsun Zan to return to the defense and relieve Yuan Shao's pressure in the north. But to directly attack Zhuo County, he will attack from the north and south and kill Gongsun Zan."
Once and for all, otherwise we will cut the grass without eradicating the roots, and the consequences will be endless.”
Hearing his father's words, Gongsun Kang said happily: "My father's words are very good. I have said long ago that Gongsun Zan must be killed to get rid of future troubles. If we only plunder Guangyang, Yuyang, Youbei and other places, these
What can this place bring us? Only by seizing the entire Youzhou and taking possession of the wealth of one state can we dominate the north and watch the world!"
When Gongsun Kang happily returned to his forward cavalry and was about to lead the cavalry south to Quanzhou, Yang Yi stepped forward and said to Gongsun Du: "Ming Gong..."
"I know what you're going to say."
Gongsun Du shook his head and said: "At the beginning, we only planned to capture Ji County, take away all Gongsun Zan's wealth, and cause chaos in his rear. We left the main attack to Yuan Shao. But I also figured it out along the way.
If you are torn between the two sides, it will not be good. It is better to completely surrender to one side and cut off the other side. With Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei by your side, it will be difficult to sleep and eat well."
"well......."
Yang Yi sighed, nodded and said, "This is the only way."
After the soldiers rested, the army set off again. Gongsun Du was actually not very strong. Although at the end of the Han Dynasty, due to the chaos in the world, many people moved to Liaodong to avoid disaster, but after so many years, the total population of Liaodong is still no more than six.
There are 700,000 troops, and the number of available troops and horses does not exceed 40,000 to 50,000. This time, more than 30,000 troops were sent out, which was already the limit.
Therefore, Gongsun Du and Yang Yi's idea at the beginning was to take advantage of Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao's fight to the death to plunder the population and wealth in the west of Youzhou. One was to weaken Gongsun Zan's strength, and the other was to see Qingzhou's attitude step by step. If Qingzhou didn't care
In this matter, no troops were sent from the sea, and they could continue to advance westward.
But Gongsun Du thought about it and decided that it was better to do something. If he could kill Gongsun Zan completely, then the entire Youzhou would be his. By then, the population and wealth of the people under his rule would become the middle and upper class princes in the world, with millions of people.
The population also has the strength to peek into the Central Plains.
Although the Central Plains area is far more cruel than the corner of Pian'an, Gongsundu is already nearly fifty years old, and his increasingly poor health can no longer support his youthful ambitions. However, whether it is for the sake of future generations or not to be defeated after Liu Bei takes over the Central Plains,
He sent a large army from the sea to destroy himself, but he had to fight hard and give it a try. At least, even if he failed, he could still escape back to Liaodong and hold on for a while.
A few days later, the Liaodong army marched west from Quanzhou, passed through Fangcheng, went south to Fanyang, and approached Yijing. During this period, Gongsun Zan and Xian Yufu often fought with Yuan Shao's army. Both sides suffered nearly 10,000 casualties and were in an anxious confrontation period.
Before Gongsun Du approached, he had already sent someone to inform Yuan Jun. The two sides agreed on a time to send out troops together.
Late December, early January.
Outside the city of Zheng County, at midnight, with fire as a signal, two armies attacked from the north and the south and stormed Gongsun Zan's camp!