"The next step is to set up a surprise army. Does the young master have any candidates?" Guo Jia asked Yuan Xi. As a counselor, he had finished planning for Yuan Xi, but he left the decision-making and appointment and dismissal powers to Yuan Xi. It is the duty of a minister not to overstep his position or to be exclusive.
Yuan Xi looked at Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun and said decisively, "Zilong is brave and resourceful. He can take on this important task. Zilong dares to take the order."
Zhao Yun quickly stepped out to receive the order, cupped his hands and said, "Zilong will do his best! Don't you dare not do your best."
Guo Jia pointed to the march map and showed it to Zhao Yun, and said, "General Zilong, when our army besieges the plains and Jinan, Tian Kai will definitely dispatch troops, horses, and food to set off from Linzi. Zilong, you will lead two of our troops." Thousands of cavalry rushed from the junction of Jinan and Taishan County of Yanzhou to Qi State, Tian Kai's home base."
"How should we attack Tian Kai's army after arriving in Qi? Please give me some advice from the military advisor." Zhao Yun asked cautiously.
"General Zilong, you should follow Tian Kaijun's reinforcements along the march route, follow and outflank them, and burn the strongholds where they store military supplies along the way. Remember not to be reluctant to fight." Guo Jia instructed.
After Guo Jia gave a few more instructions, Yuan Xi asked Zhao Yun to go down and prepare to take charge of the matter. He was very quick in making decisions. He never hesitated in making decisions, just like Taizong Emperor Li Shimin.
The rest of the generals were ordered to go down to prepare. Tian Feng also went to distribute materials and coordinate the luggage. Everything was being prepared in an intense and orderly manner. At this time, Yuan Xi and Guo Jia were left in the camp.
"According to teacher Zhang Hong's secret guard report, Wen Ruo is now with Cao Mengde." Yuan Xi said to Guo Jia coldly.
Guo Jia smiled lightly and replied casually, "It is difficult to change what Wen Ruo believes. Not only Wen Ruo, but also Xun Gongda has joined Cao Mengde. The young master will really have a headache."
Guo Jia used his lazy and casual words to resolve Yuan Xi's suspicion. As expected, being with a king is like being with a tiger.
"It's really difficult for you to be hostile to Wen Ruo on the battlefield, but I want to know if I can be honest with you Fengxiao." Yuan Xi stared at Guo Jiadao closely.
Guo Jia knew that Yuan Xi had forced him to express his position. Although he had previously resisted Yuan Xi's threat to stay, after so many things, Guo Jia had unknowingly integrated into Yuan Xi's clique.
His impression of Yuan Xi was quite impressive. In his opinion, Yuan Xi was decisive and even had the potential to be ruthless, but at the same time he also had a frank side. Such a hero is indeed worthy of assistance, maybe this is his destiny.
After Guo Jia sighed, he knelt down to Yuan Xi and said solemnly, "Guo Jia is willing to use all his knowledge to assist the lord and achieve a great cause together."
Yuan Xi was so happy that the previous gloomy mood was gone, so he quickly helped Guo Jia up. He thought to himself: My Zhang Liang has finally returned to his position. It is indeed not easy.
Pingyuan County Government Office.
Liu Bei held a letter in his hand and read it silently, without saying a word for a while. It was such an eventful autumn when the house leaked and it rained all night.
"Brother, what does Mr. Tian Kai's letter say that there is a war?" Zhang Fei asked impatiently.
Liu Bei looked at Zhang Fei, then at Guan Yu who was stroking his long beard, raised his head and said. "Well, Tian Qingzhou said that Yuan Shao sent his second son Yuan Xi to lead the army to station in the Qinghe Hualu area on the north bank of the river. They might invade Qingzhou Jinan Kingdom and Pingyuan County, so we should be on guard."
"We, Pingyuan County and Xiangyong, only have more than a thousand soldiers. How should we deal with Yuan Xi's army?" Jian Yong, dressed as a scribe, said worriedly, not to mention that his opponent was the powerful and wealthy Yuan family, so he was unsure.
"How many troops did Yuan Xijun bring this time? And Tian Qingzhou, can you tell us what we are going to do?" Guan Yu asked.
Liu Bei frowned and said, "It is believed that Yuan Xi's army is about 20,000 to 30,000. Tian Qingzhou asked us to strengthen the city defense and wait for an opportunity to attack Yuan Xi's army."
"It's still a problem for more than a thousand people to defend Pingyuan County. How can we attack Yuan Xi's son? It's true that a full man doesn't know how hungry he is. Why don't he give it a try." Zhang Fei said dissatisfied.
"Yuan Xianyi's reputation has been booming recently, and his reputation has spread far and wide. He is a great hero for a while, and he may not be easy to deal with. Yong thinks that we should join forces with Kong Beihai and Tian Qingzhou to send troops to fight against him." Jian Yong suggested.
"Well, Xianhe will go to Linzi of the State of Qi to discuss with Tian Zhoumu how to fight against Yuan Xijun, and then suggest that Tian Qingzhou join forces with Kong Beihai." Liu Bei's expression was a little dull. He didn't want a big enemy to come just after he had a piece of land. , and after the Battle of Jieqiao, he had some shadow of Yuan Xi that lingered.
"Third brother, you go recruit the people and soldiers in the city to strengthen the city's defense. Second brother, you step up the training of soldiers to defend the city." Liu Bei ordered, and he could only take one step at a time.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei accepted the order without saying a word. Sometimes God is fair. Although Liu Bei did not have the same family background as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, as soon as he debuted, he had two sworn brothers who were loyal to thousands of enemies. , but God has to take care of it.
In Jinan City, Huang Yun, the Jinan County Lieutenant appointed by Tian Kai, stood on the city wall and watched the movements of thousands of He's troops outside the city.
Although the Qingzhou Tian Kai Army and the Jizhou Army had small-scale battles with each other before, they were often diversionary attacks carried out by the Tian Kai Army. He did not expect that the Jizhou Army would suddenly attack Jinan City in a large scale, and in such a hurry, there was no time to clean up the people's supplies outside the city.
There are more than 2,000 defenders in Jinan City. Although there are not many soldiers, for the defenders, they can defend for several months with the city walls. At that time, reinforcements from Lord Sun Zan should also arrive, and perhaps the enemy army will retreat. Huang Yun planned to wait for help from the beginning.
This is not a game, it does not mean that you can sweep everything with a few generals and counselors with a force value of over 90, that is not the case.
What is being competed here is the quantity and quality of the enemy's troops, the generals' commanding ability, strategy, the number of heavy troops, morale, etc. There are too many factors, and it is definitely not a single comparison of computer data.
Zhang He's army formed a fan-shaped camp on three sides to surround the city of Jinan. Three of them were surrounded and one was missing to prevent the enemy from counterattack. According to Yuan Xi and Guo Jia's strategy, Zhang He set up banners and beat drums to shake the sky to intimidate the Jinan defenders.
Sure enough, the Jinan defenders did not dare to attack easily, and their goal of besieging and holding down Jinan City was initially achieved.
At night, Zhang He's army lit many torches, and the crossbowmen and cavalry came out of the camp to form a formation. Together with several newly built catapults, they fired at the city to confuse the audience and the acting had to be more realistic.
Huang Yun couldn't help but feel his heart beating wildly as he listened to the war drums outside the city. He hid behind a large shield set up by several soldiers and ordered the defenders to set up defenses to prevent Zhang He's army from sneaking in at night.
From time to time, one or two stones hit the city wall and made a buzzing sound, and the soldiers on the city also clearly felt the shaking.
Suddenly several fireballs were thrown onto the city wall.
Several defenders were burned and fell to the ground crying. Although the soldiers nearby immediately brought sand and soil to extinguish the fire, the defenders' skin and flesh were charred and black and they were all dying.
This is the battlefield, where people die. The blood of countless people was lost for the dream of Yuan Xi and other heroes to strive for hegemony. Sometimes the heroes are the creators of the chaos of the times.
Zhang He's army's crossbowmen were also spaced apart and scattered towards the city. Although Zhang He's army's attack had little effect, the defenders became frightened when they saw the fires burning under the city and listened to the dull drums. , this is what Guo Jia calls a battle of momentum.
Huang Yun and the defenders were deeply afraid of the unknown number of Zhang He's troops in the dark night, and the purpose of Zhang He's night attack was to attack the enemy's mind and break the enemy's will.
In the early morning, Zhang He led his army back to the camp. The defenders of Jinan were tired both physically and mentally, and everyone was in fear and uneasiness. This is what war is like, attacking the heart first and attacking the city second.
A lieutenant general on the city wall worriedly said: "Sir, you see that the enemy army seemed to be feigning an attack last night, but our army is so small that we can't attack. It's really hateful."
Huang Yun shook his head and said: "It's not just a feint attack. After several feint attacks, the enemy can take advantage of our negligence and attack us. If the fake attack comes true, it will be over."
"Then our situation is very dangerous. No, we must ask Mr. Zhou Mu to send reinforcements as soon as possible." said the deputy general.
Huang Yun nodded and said, "I will immediately send a letter to ask Mr. Zhou Mu to send reinforcements, and then we will cooperate internally and externally to defeat the enemy troops outside the city."
The State of Qi is located in the Mufu of Zizhou.
Tian Kai slapped his forehead in worry, thinking about the suggestions brought by Jian Yong.
It's not that he doesn't want to unite with Kong Rong. Previously, Kong Rong was supported by the powerful and common people of Beihai County and became the governor of Beihai.
When Tian Kai came to Qingzhou and occupied Qi State, Jinan State, and Le'an County, he naturally wanted to control Beihai County and open up the passage to Donglai County, so that he could truly occupy the entire Qingzhou.
But Kong Rong did not buy him. This Qingzhou pastor appointed by Gongsun Zan was politely declined by Kong Rong several times.
Kong Rong was a defender of Confucianism and a typical royalist hardliner. Historically, he dared to confront Cao Cao, not to mention the little Qingzhou Makita Kai.
Gongsun Zan sent more than 20,000 elite troops to Tian Kai, and Tian Kai recruited a group of soldiers from three places. His military strength reached more than 40,000, but there were many places and the troops were scattered.
Therefore, they had to divide their forces to defend Jinan, Qi, and Le'an, especially against Yuan Shao in the north, so they did not have excess mobile forces to invade Beihai and Donglai.
Tian Kai was angry that Kong Rong didn't buy it before, and now he asked him to humble himself and form an alliance, which really embarrassed him. After all, he was not the hero Liu Bei, and he couldn't do his flexible and flexible skills.
Jian Yong saw the hesitation on Tian Kai's face and knew that he was in trouble, so he helped, "Sir, if it is inconvenient for you, I am willing to go to Beihai and persuade Kong Beihai to fight Yuan Xijun together. I don't know what your wishes are."
Tian Kai was exposed to embarrassment, his face suddenly turned ugly, and he said angrily, "Kong Wenju has always been at odds with our army. He will not offend Yuan Shao, the leader of the Kwantung Alliance Army, for our army. Don't mention this matter again."
Jian Yong wanted to say something else, but Tian Kai immediately stopped him and said arrogantly, "It's ridiculous that Yuan Benchu, Shaozhi, actually sent a young boy to seek death. He only needs to gather all his troops and attack with one blow." The Yuan family's son is fighting back to Hebei."
Jian Yong sighed secretly and continued to persuade, "I'm afraid Yuan Xi will attack Pingyuan first. Please send reinforcements to help Liu Pingyuan defend. My lord will be very grateful for your kindness."
"No need. Now Yuan Xi divides his troops to attack Jinan and Pingyuan. He just concentrates his troops and defeats them one by one. At that time, the threat of Pingyuan will be easily eliminated. That's it. As for the strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao, you go back and tell Liu Pingyuan, stick to the city and wait for an opportunity to attack. Jizhou Army, just leave the rest to Benzhou Mu." Tian Kai said proudly.
Listening to Tian Kai's arrogance, Jian Yong had no choice but to surrender.
Yanzhou, suburb of Shouzhang County.
In the Yellow Turban Army camp, all the leaders of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army gathered.
At the head of the group was a middle-aged man with a dark face, a short beard, and only one ear. He was Guan Hai, the commander-in-chief of the remaining Yellow Turbans.
Guan Hai sat on a pile of debris, holding a pottery bowl of wine in one hand and a large piece of barbecue with the other, and stuffed it into his mouth.
The leaders below were also laughing wildly while drinking and eating meat. These were all they had stolen from wealthy families, so they ate happily.
"Guan Shuai, although Cao Mengde has a great reputation, he is a useless idiot. He was beaten back far by us in the first battle." A leader named He Qun said with a smile.
"Why don't you let us take advantage of the victory and pursue it all the way to Cao Cao's lair?" asked a bearded man.
"You know nothing. When I and General Digong killed officials and distributed grain, you didn't know where you were." After Guan Hai drank a bowl of wine, he wiped his mouth and continued: "You know that General Digong, people How did General Gong die? He fell into the tricks of Cao Cao, Huangfu Song and other bird men, they are the best at this trick."
He Qun curled his lips and said, "But Cao Cao was indeed defeated by us. Guan Shuai was too timid and unworthy."
When Guan Hai heard this, he threw his hand and smashed the pottery bowl into pieces, and cursed, "You bastard, do you want to die? Even if I get past the ranks of the army."
When He Qun saw him getting angry, he suddenly became frightened and timidly said, "Don't be surprised, big boss, I just want to kill all those officers and soldiers, I have no other intention."
Zhou Cang took a sip of wine and advised, "Guan Shuai, don't be as knowledgeable as him. You are the general who started the rebellion together with General Tiangong. How can he, an old man, understand these things."
After listening to what a few people said, Guan Hai snorted and said nothing.
At this time, a yellow scarf soldier stumbled into the big tent and reported, "Big, something bad has happened. Cao Cao's army came back again and attacked a family camp of our rear army."
The Yellow Turban leaders could not tolerate the newly defeated Cao Cao's arrogance, and they all shouted to destroy Cao Cao.
Guan Hai kicked the table over and cursed, "Cao Cao's kid is here to die, I will help him."
Cao Cao looked at the soldiers and the families of the Yellow Turban Army escorting them distressedly. He did not expect that the Qingzhou Yellow Turban was not as easy to chew as the rabble from a few years ago.
The battlefield is indeed changing rapidly. Strategies are strategies and battlefields are battlefields. This requires the general to adapt to changes. This is the difference between the general and the counselor, because they are the implementers.
After receiving an urgent report that Shouzhang County was besieged by the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, Cao Cao led more than 10,000 troops and generals to attack the incoming Yellow Turban Army.
Cao Cao's concept of the Yellow Turban Army. They are still the current group of ragged civilians and homeless people, but after nearly ten years of fighting, they have become elite soldiers. Have you not seen the beggar army in the late Western Jin Dynasty? Their combat power is extremely powerful.
At this time, the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, after so many years of wandering around and struggling, its combat effectiveness had increased a lot. Coupled with the Qingzhou Yellow Turban soldiers being quite tough and having an absolute advantage in numbers, Cao Cao's army suffered a setback in the first battle.
On the advice of Xun You, Xi Zhong and Cheng Yu who were accompanying the army, Cao Cao pretended to retreat and set up an ambush at a strategic location.
But unexpectedly, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans did not pursue them. Finally, Cao Cao took Xun You and Cheng Yu's suggestion and secretly sneaked behind the Yellow Turbans to make a surprise attack to anger the Yellow Turbans.
Cao Cao did not want to accidentally attack the family members of a Yellow Turban Army, which aroused the anger of the Yellow Turban Army.
Sometimes the battlefield is like this, and the direction of the battlefield is sometimes so dramatic. Therefore, excellent generals, such as Cao Cao, Zhou Yu, and Sima Yi, will organically combine pre-war strategies with battlefield opportunities.
When the Yellow Turban Army went out to plunder, they also brought their families with them. The family members were also organized into tribes and managed uniformly. This created the basic conditions for Yuan Xi and Cao Cao to later implement farming.
Cao Cao originally wanted to raid the main camp of the Yellow Turban Army, but instead encountered a family camp. Cao Cao's 10,000-strong army captured 70,000 to 80,000 Yellow Turban refugees almost without any blood, but these people were only part of the more than one million Yellow Turban refugees. .
In the absence of defeating the main force of the Yellow Turban Army, these tens of thousands of refugees became tasteless and discarded worthless food. This may be the reason for the command of the Battle of Hanzhong in history.
After Cao Cao ordered the generals to collect some property and supplies, he prepared to retreat and continued to implement the strategy of luring the enemy. In fact, sometimes the battlefield is either so thrilling or boring, or the tedious steps are repeated over and over again, which is boring until the appearance of fighter planes. Boring and bloody.
When Cao Cao was distressed, Bao Xin rode his horse with a panic look on his face, came to Cao Cao and others, and said loudly, "Mengde, it's not good, the main force of the Yellow Turban thieves is coming from all around."
The generals did not say anything, but all looked at Cao Cao, waiting for his decision, so the monarch is not that easy to do, this job is very brain-consuming.
After Cao Cao pondered for a long time, he asked Xun You and Cheng Yu with his eyes, "I am the master and you are the ministers, it is your turn to contribute."
"Our army should retreat first and then make plans," Cheng Yu said knowingly.
Xun You nodded and added: "The south is the road for our army to retreat to Shouzhang County, but we are afraid that the Yellow Turban bandits will be surrounded by heavy troops from there, so our army should break out from the north where the encirclement has not yet been completely encircled."
Cao Cao tightened the handle of the sword at his waist and ordered, "Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, and Cao Ang, you three, lead all the cavalry as the vanguard to attack north. The two generals Yu Jin and Le Jin lead the left army, Lu Qian, The two generals He Yuncheng (Bao Xin) led the troops on the right, Yuan Rang and Miaocai led the troops in the rear, and the two generals Li Tong and Li Dian followed me in the center to provide support."
After Cao Cao made arrangements, everyone agreed, and then hurriedly arranged Cao Cao's general orders and left.
There were more than 300,000 soldiers in the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army. The most powerful ones were the more than 30,000 old soldiers led by Guan Hai himself, and several elite soldiers led by Qu Commander.
Although they were in ragged clothes and didn't even have complete armor or weapons, the value lies in their numbers. In a wide area, a collective charge of more than 100,000 people could swamp a team of 10,000 people like Cao Cao's army, but facing more than 100,000 people Even if the enemy army stretches out its neck to chop you, Cao Cao's army will be tired of chopping and will curl up its sword.
This is the reason why even though Cao Cao has many capable ministers and generals, he is still defeated repeatedly by the millions of Yellow Turbans. War is not a child's play, and even a talented and strategist like Cao Cao has to succumb to the power.
Cao Cao had quite a lot of experience in dealing with the Yellow Turban Army. He knew that in a head-on confrontation with the Yellow Turban Army, it would be difficult to win unless he had a certain amount of troops. The so-called "attacking the weak and hiding the enemy" is a good thing.
And an emergency landing is even harder. Therefore, we can only set up ambushes but cannot take them. Of course, this is only theoretically feasible. The actual situation must be combined with the changes in battlefield fighters.
At this time, Cao Cao's army did not have many cavalry, only more than 2,000 cavalry. At this time, Cao Cao did not have the tiger and leopard cavalry to dominate the north.
Cao Chun was proficient in cavalry warfare, so the cavalry was commanded by him, Cao Ren, and Cao Xiu. As a direct descendant of Cao Cao, he habitually trusted and used clan generals. However, in history, Cao Wei became a clan that defeated the clan. This is a story later.
Cao Chun asked all the cavalry to wear ring-headed knives and long halberds. After the horn was sounded, the two thousand cavalry were like sharp knives, tearing apart the yellow turban army that had just surrounded them in the north. The impact of the ancient cavalry was indeed powerful, just like today's tanks.
The Yellow Turban Army in the north were on alert, and under the orders of the Yellow Turban Canal Commander, they fired at Cao Chun's cavalry. Don't expect the Yellow Turban Army to have high archery skills. On the contrary, a diffuse attack is the most effective method, although it is clumsy. But practicality is more important.
However, the soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army lacked training after all, and there were very few archers, let alone crossbowmen. Therefore, the battle situation was not very optimistic for the Yellow Turban Army.
After a while, Cao Chun's cavalry charged in front of the Yellow Turban Army, and the general's encounter was imminent.
Facing the fierce Cao Chun cavalry, some yellow scarf soldiers held long halberds and formed a small team to block the cavalry charge. This was a helpless move, just like the use of grenades to blast tanks later in the War of Resistance.
But this didn't work, as Cao Chun's cavalry was overwhelmed and torn open in just an instant.
Compared with the front army, the rear army of the Xiahou brothers was under the greatest pressure. Fortunately, they led the elite of Cao Cao's infantry. Although they were surrounded by heavy siege, they were able to cooperate with each other to fight and retreat. After several counterattacks, they were able to retreat. Under the fierce attack of Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, the Yellow Turban Army behind them did not dare to get too close to pursue them.
However, Lu Qian and Bao Xin of the right army were not so lucky. Guan Hai and Zhou Cang, with hundreds of elite yellow turban cavalrymen, caught up from the right and bit Lu Qian, Bao Xin and others.
Guan Hai and others swarmed to attack Bao Xin and others on the right. After a while, the entangled right army became the rear army. It was about to be divided. Cao Cao's right army was in crisis.
Seeing the crisis in the right army, Cao Cao was afraid that Bao Xin and others would make mistakes, so he quickly asked Li Dian to respond.
Guan Hai had a blood feud with the army, and he was red-blooded and wanted to kill the enemy general and avenge the Zhang Jiao brothers. They couldn't tell which of Cao Cao's troops was in the army, so when they saw someone falling, they swarmed around and killed everyone on sight.
Zhou Cang also took the lead. He split open a Cao Cao soldier who was standing in front of him, and then continued to charge inward.
Seeing that the situation was urgent, Lu Qian quickly picked up his gun and came to get him. When Zhou Cang saw someone coming towards him, he was not afraid. Zhou Cang swung his sword and slashed at Lu Qian several times with all his strength.
Lu Qian was not good at martial arts, and he was in a tight siege and didn't want to fight. After a few rounds, he rode his horse to miss Zhoucang and ordered his soldiers to retreat while resisting.
Zhou Cang was also furious and pursued him, but was blocked by Cao's infantry holding spears.
After he killed those few soldiers, Zhou Cang saw another general, Bao Xin, in annoyance, so he quickly killed them again. Killing one was enough, and killing two was profitable.
Bao Xin reluctantly retreated under the protection of his own soldiers, but they were getting farther and farther away from Cao Cao's central army. Bao Xin felt his arm was sore, but he didn't allow him to think too much. A bearded Yellow Turban Army cavalryman suddenly slashed at him.
Zhou Cang swung his sword to deflect the sword of Bao Xin's soldier, and then came straight at Bao Xin with his long sword. Bao Xin was immediately in crisis.
Compared with the long sword, the ring-shou sword held by Bao Xin was not superior in strength. After one slash, the ring-shou sword was knocked away.
Zhou Cang smiled ferociously and struck Bao Xin again.
