The failure of the Xuzhou soldiers led by Liu Bei marked that it was no longer possible to organize effective resistance on the ground in Qingzhou.
After this battle, Yuan Tan returned to Yecheng and should be able to be granted the official position in charge of Qingzhou, and from then on he would have his own territory.
Of course, what was in front of him was a mess. Tian Kai and Kong Rong were gone in Qingzhou, but there were still dozens or even hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban remnants.
There are men, women, old and young among them, and they are half-people, half-bandit gangsters. They used to take advantage of the turmoil in Qingzhou when they had no time to take care of themselves, and they often came out to plunder.
Once the officers and soldiers arrived, they hid in the mountains and forests, hiding themselves, leaving the officers and soldiers helpless.
These people, together with the rogue bandits from several counties in Xuzhou, are called Taishan bandits. Their generals include Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Sun Kang, Chang Xi, Wu Dun, Yin Li, etc. They are a force that cannot be underestimated.
In addition, there are Baibo bandits led by Yang Feng, Han Xian, Hu Cai, Li Le, etc. in Hedong, Heishan bandits led by Zhang Yan and Yang Feng, Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, Tao Sheng, etc. in Bingzhou. They are also known as the three major bandits of the North.
These people are all around Jizhou, but they don't have a good relationship with the Yuan family. This is one of the important reasons why Yuan Shao has been unable to expand his territory.
Yuan Xi knew that Yuan Tan would have to face the troublesome problem of how to deal with the Taishan bandits for a long time, but now it seemed that neither side had any immediate plans to start a war.
After pacifying Qingzhou this time, the next person Yuan has to deal with should be Gongsun Zan.
Qingzhou was captured two years in advance, and Yuan's attack on Youzhou was also greatly advanced. This speed was faster than Yuan Xi expected.
This shows that his efforts in Beixincheng over the past three years and the accumulation of learning bit by bit in the internal affairs battle have not been in vain.
Moreover, the Battle of Qingzhou also made Yuan Xi understand the difference between leading a large army to fight and a small force to fight, and he matured a lot.
He thought that although he could grasp the opportunity of fighting in some aspects and use tactics appropriately, he was still far less skilled than Yuan Tan in commanding tens of thousands of different troops to fight together at the same time.
Sometimes, the more soldiers, the better. For example, if a general has a maximum command of 3,000 men and is given 5,000 men, he may lose command on the battlefield. The soldiers may be distracted from each other and hinder each other, resulting in the failure of the 5,000 men. A fighting force of 3,000 men.
The reason why Han Xin is called the Soldier Immortal is that no matter how many people he brings, he can bring out the strength of his soldiers. Regardless of whether the opponent who fights against Han Xin has a stronger or weaker army than Han Xin, he will always lose, and he will always lose in a confused way. , I don’t even know how I lost.
That's why Han Xin could confidently say that Liu Bang could lead one hundred thousand troops, and the more troops he could lead, the better.
Anyway, Yuan Xi himself could not imagine how Han Xin could command hundreds of thousands of troops and still control the situation on both sides of the battlefield in this era where orders were basically delivered by shouting.
In contrast, in these melee battles involving tens of thousands of people, both sides had too much to worry about in the end. It took the victorious side half a day to gather the remaining troops.
Yuan Xi deeply felt that he still had a lot to learn.
In the next more than half a month, Donglai surrendered after hearing the news. Kong Rong resisted for a while in Beihai, and then ran to Xuzhou to join Liu Bei.
Yuan Tan saw that Qingzhou had almost been pacified, and further south was the territory of the Taishan bandits. This was no longer the purpose of sending troops. He immediately discussed with Jushou and prepared to return to Jizhou.
Jushou was also very optimistic, and the loss this time was much lower than he imagined.
And in fact, the original purpose of Yuan's attack on Qingzhou this time was to cross the Yellow River and capture a few cities, and establish a firm foothold in half of Qingzhou, which would be considered a success.
In other words, in the plan of Yuan's counselors, Qingzhou would have to be conquered at least once or twice, and this attack was inherently tentative in nature.
Judging from the comparison of the strength of the two sides, the Jizhou soldiers did not have any advantage, so Tian Kai, Kong Rong, and Liu Bei dared to fight the Jizhou soldiers in the wild.
If Tian Kaifang's troops were inferior, they would have hid in the city to defend themselves, and it would be difficult to annihilate their main force.
Unexpectedly, due to various coincidences, Yuan Tan rushed in and was surrounded first, but Yuan Xi, who was not optimistic at first, stood up, turned the tide, and advocated a decisive battle with Tian Kai.
After the first battle, Tian Kai's main force was completely wiped out. Yuan Xi then defeated Kong Rong alone, fought with Yuan Tan in time, and then induced Liu Bei to pursue him, and finally achieved success in the battle.
And Yuan Xi played a very important role in this. Without him, the outcome of the Battle of Qingzhou might have been completely different!
Jushu knew that after this battle, Yuan Xi would become famous in Yecheng!
Whether he is a general or a counselor, Yuan Xi's status will be re-examined!
Moreover, Jizhou captured Qingzhou at a very small cost. It is estimated that in the coming year, Yuan Shao will personally lead an army to fight Gongsun Zan.
If he could defeat Gongsun Zan and occupy Youzhou, Yuan Xi would be able to follow Yuan Tan and become a noble official in charge of a state.
Thinking of this, Jushou felt not only happy but also worried.
It is not necessarily a good thing for the Yuan family that each of the Yuan family members is independent.
Seeing that the twelfth lunar month was about to enter, most of the Jizhou soldiers, except for the generals and soldiers who stayed behind in various cities, had returned to Jizhou.
When Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Ju Shou and others settled their soldiers and returned to Yecheng, almost the entire Yecheng nobles came out to greet them.
The Yuan clan they were attached to occupied Qingzhou, which meant that the Yuan clan was one step closer to conquering the world!
Of course, one person may be an exception.
Yuan Shang stood in front of everyone and saluted Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan respectfully: "Eldest brother, second brother, it's been a hard trip, so I'm here to greet you."
Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi looked at each other, dismounted and helped Yuan Shang up. The three brothers were hypocritically polite.
Seeing the two brothers couldn't hide their pride, Yuan Shang secretly felt jealous, let's see how long you can be proud!
However, he has deeply felt the crisis, especially his second brother Yuan Xi, who now poses an increasing threat to him. He has obviously taken refuge with his eldest brother Yuan Tan. Now, he must be kicked out first!
The three brothers entered the city all the way, and many people lined the road to see them off. Although most of these people came out spontaneously, they actually didn't know much about what Yuan had done.
They only know that if the Yuan family comes back victorious, Yecheng will be safer, and the people living in Yecheng will of course be able to continue to live a good life.
As for how many soldiers died in this battle, and what would happen to the families of those soldiers, they were beyond their consideration.
Of course, there were also women with their children standing in the cold wind, silently watching whether there were any family members among the sergeants entering the city.
Some people were so excited when they saw familiar faces that they waved their arms and shouted the names of their husbands and fathers, hoping that the other party would hear them.
When their eyes met, the people on both sides showed happy smiles at the same time.
It wasn't until the last soldier passed by that the faces of the remaining people changed, showing disappointment and worry because they had not found their families.
Some people were worried that their relatives had been killed and cried on the spot. Some people comforted themselves that they might not have entered the city with the army this time and muttered to themselves. Some people tried to follow them to the military camp to inquire. In the end, they all had to feel unspeakable and lost. return home.
Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night for many people.
For many of them, this is a huge sadness that is enough to crush the family, but for others, it is just some cold numbers.
In the near future, similar things will continue to happen, and these numbers will continue to increase. What is even more cruel is that in the long river of history, these numbers are just a small ripple.
"The families of the fallen soldiers should receive corresponding compensation before the Chinese New Year." Yuan Xi said.
Yuan Tan spoke up: "You have to ask your father about this. If it involves sending troops after the new year, this pension is not a small amount. I'm afraid it will be difficult to come up with it."
Yuan Shang smiled and said: "They are just soldiers. If the soldiers die, the remaining orphans and widows will be useless. It is my kindness and righteousness to keep them in Yecheng."
"Besides, I'm in charge of Jizhou's money and food. If I'm not a householder, I don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. This money will really affect the Yuan family's next big plan."
Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi looked at each other and stopped talking.
The three of them entered Yuan's house, took off their armor, changed into sandals, and went into the house to pay homage to Yuan Shao.
At that time, Yuan Shao and his advisers and generals were almost all present in the house.
When Yuan Shao saw Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi come in, he looked pleased: "You are doing a good job, sit down."
The three sons sat down respectively.
Yuan Shaoxian turned to Yuan Tan: "Although you are assisted by Gong and (Jushu), you are already able to take charge of your own affairs. You will also be involved in the northern attack next year."
Yuan Tan believed that this was going to attack Yi Jing where Gongsun Zan was, and he quickly bowed and said, "Thank you very much, father, for your compliment."
He paused and then said: "I actually made a lot of mistakes this time. Thanks to my second brother's decisiveness and outstanding strategy, I was able to defeat the enemy coalition."
"This battle in Qingzhou is all due to the contribution of my second brother."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi quickly bowed: "Brother, you are too modest. I just did what I could."
This time Yuan Shao did not reply immediately.
When the two saw them, they didn't dare to raise their heads.
After a while, Yuan Shao came out and said: "Xian Yi did a good job indeed."
Yuan Shao is actually quite confused now.
He has already learned about the whole process of the Battle of Qingzhou in detail.
Yuan Tan's performance has many highlights, after all, he has been fighting with Yuan Shao.
But Yuan Tan also had shortcomings. He was ambushed by the opposite side and almost failed.
But what Yuan Shao couldn't understand the most was Yuan Xi's performance.
The real situation, coupled with the purposeful boasting of Yuan Tan's counselors, in Yuan Shao's eyes, Yuan Xi has already become a key figure in turning the tide of the Qingzhou War.
His strategies and decisions in every battle have already far exceeded those of ordinary people, and are incomparable to his previous performances.
Yuan Shao did not believe that Yuan Xi could do this alone. He concluded that a group of counselors must be supporting Yuan Xi behind him!
But Yuan Shao didn't understand why anyone would be willing to take refuge in Yuan Xi?
Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were fighting each other for the position of the next head of the family. Yuan Shao knew about it, but he thought he could control the situation, so he didn't pay much attention.
Now that Yuan Xi has intervened, Yuan Shao is a little confused. According to the order of succession according to Han law, it is absolutely impossible for Yuan Xi to be ranked before Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang.
Now Yuan Xi has unexpectedly shown his potential and shown the momentum to compete for the throne. What exactly does he want to do?
(End of chapter)
