Once the war starts, it progresses extremely quickly.
As the saying goes, soldiers are valuable and speed is important. Yuan Shao thought he had seized the opportunity, so he naturally had to take the initiative to attack quickly and decisively, trying to achieve his strategic goals as soon as possible.
As mentioned before, Liu Bei's camp was not built near the bridgehead, but on a slope about two miles away from the bridgehead.
There are commanding heights on both sides of the river. Liu Bei occupied the commanding heights on the east bank. A large number of crossbows, watchtowers and other equipment were placed on the slopes. From a commanding position, it was very difficult for Yuan Jun to attack.
However, Yuan Shao himself did not plan to attack their camp by force, but planned to wait until Yuan Shang and Guo Tubu attacked together, and then the three groups would outflank them.
It's just that Yuan Shao never dreamed that the Qingzhou Army in the direction of Weiqiao was just the navy disguised as the main force, and no large force was dispatched at all.
Originally the Qingzhou Army had 70,000 troops, plus 8,000 cavalry and 2,000 black armored heavy cavalry, the total strength was about 80,000. However, Yuan Shao had about 112,000, and still lacked cavalry and only had a large number of infantry.
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In a head-on confrontation, Yuan Shao actually doesn't have the advantage. In a wild confrontation between the two sides, as long as there are no big flaws in their tactics, they will be at most 50-50, and the Jizhou Army may even be at a disadvantage.
But now Yuan Shao thought that the main force of the Qingzhou Army was going south, and the only ones left in Jieqiao were Liu Bei's 30,000 men, plus Gao Shun's 5,000 men and 10,000 cavalry, for a total of 45,000.
The huge military advantage dazzled Yuan Shao's mind, 100,000 versus 45,000, and made him choose to take the initiative to attack Liu Bei's heavily guarded camp.
This is destined to be a failure.
A steady stream of Yuan's troops have gathered on the east bank of the river. Yuan Shao also has his own understanding of the Qingzhou army's failure to stop the attack at the bridgehead - he believes that the Qingzhou army has few soldiers and is flanked by three sides, so he can only choose to defend the camp instead of in the best position.
Launch a blockade at the bridgehead position.
Chen Mu had figured out Yuan Shao's mentality and deliberately lured him to attack the Qingzhou Army barracks, which had been built like a copper wall and an iron wall. Not to mention the defensive facilities around the barracks, there were more than a dozen trenches alone. It was not that easy to break through.
At this moment, at the east gate of Liu Bei's military camp, Liu Bei personally led the Zhang Liao and Dian Wei tribes, preparing to go north to surprise Yuan Shang, who was stationed in Chengu Township. Guo Tu had now captured Yi County and was marching in the direction of Ganling.
Because he was advancing alone, Guo Tu did not bring much food and grass, so he had to seize the time to meet Yuan Shao at Jieqiao as soon as possible and could not continue to delay in Yi County.
As for continuing to march eastward to attack the plains, Guo Tu had considered it. However, the walls of Pingyuan City were high and thick. If he was delayed in the plains for a long time, the small amount of food and grass would be consumed quickly. Therefore, he still followed the original plan and started
Encircle the boundary bridge.
When Guo Tu arrived in the Xiajin area, a scout came to report: "Supervisor, a large group of cavalry from Ganling City is heading north to Chengu Township."
"To the north?"
Guo Tu stroked the three-inch goat's beard under his chin and said to his generals: "This must be Master Shang's cooperation with the master who has already begun to attack Liu Bei's camp. Liu Bei could not resist and sent Zhang Fei to support."
General Ma Yan said: "Supervisor, what should we do? Should we go to support Young Master Shang, or should we continue to attack Ganling as planned?"
Support Yuan Shang?
Guo Tu sneered in his heart. Unlike Shenpei, he supported Yuan Tan, so he and Xu Youfeng Ji Shenpei and other people who supported Yuan Shang were political enemies. The two sides slandered each other in front of Yuan Shao, causing a huge quarrel.
Now Yuan Shang and Shen Pei are very likely to be attacked by Liu Bei's cavalry. It is even possible that Liu Bei is planning to fight to the death and break out from the north. How could he care?
Therefore, Guo Tu rolled his eyes and reprimanded without hesitation: "Confused, Ming Gong is currently attacking Jieqiao. If we go to Chengu, it is very likely that Ming Gong's attack will fail. Our primary target is Liu Bei.
As long as Liu Bei is eliminated, Duke Ming can unify Hebei and rule the world!"
"yes."
Ma Yan heard that what he said made sense. Although he wanted to think about whether Yuan Shao would be angry if he refused to save Yuan Shao, but since Guo Tu said so, there was nothing he could do.
In fact, Guo Tu had already begun to make plans in his mind at this time.
Liu Bei's camp is firmly entrenched, and it will definitely be difficult to capture it in a short time. And they have sent Zhang Fei north, most likely to attack Chen Gu. If they go to Liu Bei's camp now, even if they cooperate with Yuan Shao to attack from both sides, they may not be able to capture it.
Liu Bei's army camp was captured.
He had seen Liu Bei's camp on the east bank of the boundary bridge before. It occupies the commanding heights of the slope bank. There are more than a dozen trenches and canals around it, as well as countless tall oars and arrow towers. It can be said that it is impregnable, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is not that easy to break through.
The only way is to besiege Liu Bei and cut off Liu Bei's source of food and grass. In this way, an army of 40,000 will consume food and grass every day. Even if there are millions of stones hidden in the army, Liu Bei will be exhausted within two months.
It is a pity that this decisive battle was carried out by taking advantage of the opportunity of the main force of Liu Bei's army in Weiqiao. It took too long. When the main force of Weiqiao came back, it would no longer be a case of fighting more with less. Therefore, during Guo Tu's trip,
There is another task.
That is to cut off the food and fodder for Liu Bei's army and Weiqiao's main army.
According to the intelligence, Liu Bei stored grain warehouses in Xiabao, Jianzhong, Dongzhao and other rural pavilions. This place is just between Jieqiao and Qingyuan Guantao and other places. Liu Bei's army and Weiqiao's army must get food from here.
Pick.
Therefore, according to the deployment of Yuan Shao's advisers, even if Liu Bei's army cannot attack in a short time, Guo Tu should immediately go south and destroy Liu Bei's army's granaries in Xiabao Jianzhong and other places.
In fact, he was sent by Yuan Shao this time to attack Yixian County around the long road. In itself, he was cutting off Liu Bei's army's food and grass. At the same time, he also had to attack the granaries in Xiabao, Jianzhong, Dongzhao and other places to completely cut off Liu Bei's source of food and grass.
, trapped Liu Bei to death in the place where the dragon was imprisoned in the sand dunes of the boundary bridge.
His previous idea was that if Yuan Shang arrived at the boundary bridge with him, then the two groups of soldiers and horses would cooperate with Yuan Shao to first help Yuan Shao's main force stand on the east side of the bridge, and then Guo Tu would lead the troops south to attack the lower part of the east Zhaojian Tomb.
Forts and other rural pavilions.
But now there are new changes in the war situation. Liu Bei seems to be planning to go north to defeat Yuan Shang first. His route is obviously safer and has more options for him.
"Liu Bei's troops only have about 45,000 men. Among them, Zhang Fei's troops have gone north, and Gao Shun's troops and Liu Bei's troops are in the camp."
Guo Tu rubbed his chin and thought to himself: "If I send a small group of troops to Chengu at this time, pretending to support Young Master Shang, Liu Bei is afraid that our 70,000-strong army will converge, and he is also afraid that Zhang Fei's troops will be besieged by us. Zhang Fei will make a mistake.
It is very likely that our troops will be sent to rescue, and then..."
At that time, he can take advantage of the empty troops in Liu Bei's camp and attack Liu Bei's camp with the main force. As long as he takes down his camp and arrests Liu Bei, it will be a great achievement. I'm afraid he will be rewarded in the future.
Not far away either.
Thinking of this, Guo Tu's heart suddenly surged with excitement. While urging to march faster, he secretly thought about the plan in his heart.
When it was dark, Guo Tu arrived at Ganling and occupied the city.
The grain and grass in Ganling City had long been transported to the front line. Even the people here and a large number of manor landowners had moved to Qingzhou many years ago. Guo Tu only got an empty city, but he didn't care. He sent people around to find out information.
At the same time, the soldiers were ordered to rest in the city for the night.
On the next day, Guo Tu continued to set off and arrived in Linxi. After arriving in Linxi, Guo Tu looked at the Linxi granary where he had fled in embarrassment more than ten days ago. While Guo Tu was filled with emotion, he also ordered the soldiers to stop. It turned out that
stationed on ground.
There was a former Qingzhou Army camp to the east of the old Linxi Granary. After discovering this camp, Guo Tu finally understood why he had been fooled.
The main base of the Qingzhou Army is just east of the granary. There are actually not many defenders inside the granary, they are all outside the gate.
As soon as he entered, the gates of each camp were sealed. The fire at the north gate was also lit by the Qingzhou Army themselves. It was this time that the entire Jizhou cavalry army was annihilated. However, Guo Tu also lamented that misfortune depends on blessings.
, blessings come with misfortunes.
Because if the Jizhou cavalry had not been completely wiped out, Liu Bei would most likely not have chosen to take the risk of attacking Weiqiao, and naturally he would not have been given the opportunity to annihilate Liu Bei.
Guo Tu thought smugly that by noon, the scouts who had gone out to gather information had already returned.
"Supervisor, I saw Liu Bei's army heading north to attack Chen Gu."
The scout told him.
Guo Tu was sitting in the camp drinking water. When he heard these words, he stopped drinking water and immediately asked: "Can you see clearly the enemy's situation?"
"I don't know yet. There are many cavalry scouts cruising around the enemy's perimeter. I dare not get too close."
"Um."
"Supervisor, what should we do now?"
Ma Yan asked again.
Guo Tu pondered for a moment and said: "Chen Gu is in danger and we have to save him. I have a plan. I'm bluffing my name. Ma Yan, you lead five thousand people and use my flag to march north to Chen Gu. Pretend that our army wants to rescue Young Master Shang. The enemy will get it."
I know, we thought that the main force of our army was approaching and we would inevitably retreat. This way, we would not delay the bridge between us and Ming Guild's division, and secondly, we could break the siege of Chen Gu."
Ma Yan didn't know that this strategy was not actually aimed at the enemy, but at him. After thinking about it for a while, he readily agreed: "Okay, I'll go right away."
Watching Ma Yan leave, Guo Tu smiled inwardly.
This move is not a bluff, but a move to mobilize the tiger away from the mountain. If some of the troops inside Liu Bei's camp are mobilized, even if there are only 10,000 people, it will be enough for him to join forces with Yuan Shao to attack and destroy the remaining Liu Bei troops in the camp.
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When Ma Yan left the camp and led his troops north, another general Shi Huan asked Guo Tudao: "Supervisor, should we go west to Jieqiao immediately?"
Guo Tu shook his head and said, "There's no rush. We'll first send someone to inquire about Duke Minggong's situation. We'll discuss it later after confirming that Duke Minggong has already attacked Jieqiao."
"clear!"
Shi Huan nodded. They had already agreed to attack together, and there was nothing wrong with doing so.
And just when Guo Tu had his own plans.
Liu Bei, Chen Mu, Xun You, Jushou and others were still in the camp at this time. They were on the top of Po'an Mountain, about two miles away from the river beach below, overlooking the bridgehead in the distance.
After Yuan Shao's army crossed the bridge, they were not in a hurry to attack. After all, Yuan Shao was not a fool. If he forced an attack on the bank against the enemy's bows and arrows fired from the commanding heights, he would definitely die.
Therefore, after his army arrived at the east bank of the bridge, they began to build a wall and fortress on the east bank beach and set up camp step by step.
While excavating the soil, they were building rammed earth walls, wooden curtains and other equipment to block arrows. At the same time, various equipment, such as rams, catapults, and large amounts of wood and stone, were continuously transported from the rear in an attempt to reduce
The Qingzhou Army's arrow rain offensive.
In fact, Yuan Shao is not only preparing to attack Jieqiao, but is also stepping up contact with Yuan Shang and Guo Tu to know their movements. As soon as the two of them are in place, the three parties can immediately launch an attack on Liu Bei's camp.
"Fourth brother, look, Yuan Jun is building a large number of walls and wooden barriers. It seems that Yuan Shao is not stupid. He knows to advance slowly and does not forcibly attack our camp."
Liu Bei held a telescope, looked at Yuan Shao's actions below the distant bank, and said with a smile.
Chen Mu nodded: "Yuan Shao knows that we have a large number of Molotov cocktails, and attacking them with shields or wooden boards is a dead end, so he can only gather soil to form mounds and advance step by step. There are mostly sand dunes on both sides of the Qinghe River. King Zhao Wuling is in Guangzong
The sand dunes of Qinghe River in the northwest are starved to death, so he can only transport soil from the other side of the river, and the fortifications will probably be very slow."
"Well, let him build it slowly. By the time he builds the wall, I'm afraid Changle Township, Chengu and other places will have been breached by us long ago."
Liu Bei laughed and said.
At this time, a scout came to report: "Bao, Ming Gong, thousands of people from Guo Tu's tribe appeared in the northwest of Linxi, heading towards Chengu."
"oh?"
Liu Bei was surprised and asked: "Could it be Guo Tu's reinforcements to rescue Yuan Shang?"
Chen Mu thought: "We just sent Zhang Liao and Dianwei over yesterday. The war hasn't started yet. Yuan Shang probably hasn't asked for help yet. How can we get reinforcements so soon? We only sent a few thousand people there. What a fool."
"Are you sure there are only a few thousand people? Are you using the banner of Guo Tu?"
Xun You asked.
The scout said: "I'm sure there are only a few thousand people. We saw it with a telescope, but they were flying quite a lot of flags. If you didn't observe carefully, you would have thought there were tens of thousands of troops."
Xun You immediately laughed and said: "This Guo Tu seems to think it's a clever trick. I'm afraid he wants to devise a plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain."
How did Guo Tu know that he asked Ma Yan to march forward pretending to be the main force, and placed a large number of horse scouts around him, and hoisted more flags at the same time, so that the Qingzhou Army scouts could not get close, and if they looked at it from a distance, they would mistakenly think that this was Guo Tu's main force.
It's a pity that people have telescopes, so they don't get closer to observe at all. Find a hillside and you can see their situation clearly from more than a mile away. There is no need to get closer to see.
Chen Mu also laughed: "Then why don't we come up with a general and take advantage of it!"
Liu Bei hurriedly said: "Fourth brother, please tell me."
Chen Mu then said: "We originally planned to defeat Yuan Shang first, but Guo Tu came to the door himself, so we sent people north to pretend to support, making Guo Tu mistakenly think that the camp was empty, and lured him to attack, so that we could take the opportunity to kill them all.
.”
"Um."
Liu Bei nodded: "Okay, let Xu Chu handle this matter."
When Xu Chu on the side heard that he finally had the opportunity to lead the army alone, he was surprised and happy. He quickly kowtowed and said, "Thank you so much, Duke Ming. Chu will definitely live up to Duke Ming's trust!"
"Go ahead and don't miss anything."
Liu Bei warned carefully.
Xu Chu said in a loud voice: "Xu Chu understands!"
After saying that, he turned around and left excitedly.
Watching his leaving figure, Chen Mu turned around and glanced at Yuan Jun, who was as thin as an ant on the distant bank, still working hard.
He suddenly sneered and shook his head slightly.
Yuan Shao has a top strategist like Guo Tu, so why worry about being undefeated?