According to the scouts, the place where Yuan Jun stored grain was a valley with mountains on three sides, and there was only a passage in the middle, which was similar to the place where Lin Mo chose to store grain.
The number of guards is unknown, but judging from the number of outside scouts, it should be around six to eight thousand. With such terrain and such a number of people, it is a relatively reasonable distribution.
Originally, finding Yuan Jun's grain garrison was equivalent to seizing the opportunity to strike a fatal blow. Grain and grass were the lifeblood of the three armies. If it could be destroyed, it would be worth paying a certain price.
For this reason, Lu Bu, who sat down again, rose and fell like a breathing mountain. If he could destroy this food and grass, he would not have to fight Yuan Tan's army. It is typical to win with less.
Just when they were about to declare victory, they found that Lin Mo and Chen Gong had no expressions on their faces. Could it be a scam?
Lu Bu suppressed his excitement and began to think calmly. But before he could speak, Zhang Xiu took the lead and said, "Rutt marks are not allowed when transporting grain and grass in the army. This is not a time of intense war." , Why did the Northern Army have such a big flaw?"
Lu Bu opened his mouth. I thought the same thing. He coughed twice and nodded, "What Ziwen said is exactly what I thought. This is probably a trap set by Yuan Tan. Didn't he just use it a few days ago?" They came to lure Boping and the others with food and grass, but Wen He saw through it, and now they want to make money from us, which is simply a delusion."
Although he said this, Lu Bu felt itchy in his heart like a cat scratching his head. He always had a bit of luck in his heart, thinking that it might be Yuan Jun who accidentally left the rut marks.
Lin Mo and Chen Gong remained silent. Just as Zhang Xiu said, when the army is transporting grain and grass, there will be special people at the end of the team who are responsible for cleaning up the ruts left behind, and they are almost exclusively responsible for transporting food and grass in the dark. Food is extremely difficult to detect, and this exposure method is too clumsy.
It seems that Yuan Tan is a little impatient.
"How about we go take a look?"
Lin Mo's suggestion made Lu Bu, who was not firm in his stance, echo him: "It doesn't hurt to take a look."
According to the scouts, Yuan Jun's grain and grass camp was more than thirty miles northwest of the Chinese army's stronghold. It couldn't be seen on the map because it was a mountainous area.
Lu Bu brought a hundred Bingzhou wolf cavalry, along with Zhang Xiu, Gan Ning, and Lin Mo, to go and have a look in person. Chen Gong didn't go, so the camp still had to be guarded.
He really has a knack for picking out candidate roads. In the tangled terrain of rivers, mountains and plains, he can find the most convenient yet extremely secretive roads. After all, this is what he does for a living.
At dusk, under the cover of twilight, a group of a hundred people looked at Yuan Jun's grain and grass camp from a distance above the valley.
As reported by the scouts, this is a valley with only one passage. Different from the place where Lin Mo chose to store grain, this place is more spacious. Although the passage is not big, it is impossible to squeeze tens of thousands of people into this valley to fight. question.
There is no way, the Northern Army is rich, and the food and grass for 200,000 people is naturally not comparable to Lu Bu, who went to aristocratic families to borrow money to maintain ordnance before setting off.
"There are three squads of sentinels, each with only thirty people. This is a patrol army system of 8,000 people." With just one glance, the old father-in-law told the number of troops stationed in the village.
Of course, this is only the theoretical number of troops stationed there. With such a large village surrounded by mountains, forests and lowlands, he could ambush tens of thousands of people without leaving any trace.
"If we want to attack, we have to rush from outside the valley to Dazhai, which is about three miles away. The distance is too long, and the Northern Army has enough time to react." Zhang Xiu also made his own judgment.
Gan Ning, who had little experience as a leader and limited familiarity with land warfare, took note of what they said in his mind very carefully, and also tried to think about some issues from the position of a general.
As a water bandit who was born as a Jinfan thief, he not only had a rebellious temperament, but also had a banditry that refused to be disciplined. There was nothing he could do about it. In the past, Gan Ning's martial arts skills were quite difficult to match.
However, after the Guangling sneak attack, Lu Bu gave him a huge blow to the dimensionality reduction. Later, Zhao Yun Xiaoguan's impressive performance made him realize that he was actually nothing. In terms of leading troops, he was far inferior to Gao Shun. In terms of leading troops, he was far inferior to Gao Shun. Personal martial arts skills are not comparable to Zhao Yun.
However, Lu Ying is a place that does not bury talents. This feeling was particularly prominent after Wei Xu and others were killed in battle, so that he had more motivation, hoping that he could become the second Zhao Yun and lead troops into battle. day.
"It's almost time, let's go back." After looking at it for half an hour, he already knew what he was doing. The old father-in-law glanced at Lin Mo, saw that he nodded, and then turned around and returned the way he came.
The first thing after returning was to move the camp. Lin Mo suggested and moved forward fifteen miles, just getting stuck at the entrance of the passage.
There are sufficient considerations for doing this. First, although the advantages of Qishan and Juyangshui cannot be used, the Northern Army cannot spread hundreds of thousands of people to attack in such a position.
The second point is crucial. The distance to the camp here is shortened by more than ten miles from Yuan Jun's grain and grass camp. Although there is no good means to use it at the moment, the grain and grass camp may be exposed deliberately by the other party, but This is the key point to turn the tide of the battle, and even some risks are worth taking.
Just because there is no solution now does not mean there will be no follow-up.
As the camp advanced, the stronghold above the mountain lost its defensive significance, and the army naturally withdrew.
"Come on, come on, Wen He, today's celebration banquet is specially designed for you!" After Gao Shun returned with his people, Lu Bu personally went to the camp gate to greet him. When he saw Jia Xu from a distance, he walked up and pulled him cordially. hand.
Lu Bu has always known that Jia Xu is a very smart person. During the Anfeng War, he showed his skills in the upper, middle and lower strategies, but his actual military exploits were not.
Because most of the time, he doesn't look like a strategist, but more like a soy sauce character who just wants to get applause.
This time, the fire burned the whole mountain, which was a great success. It killed nearly 20,000 Northern troops in one go. What was commendable was that it did not lose any soldiers and horses. For this reason, in Lu Bu's heart, he was the strategist who could defeat Chen Gong. .
It has to be my son-in-law. Throwing him to Qishan is a very wise choice.
Not only Lu Bu looked down upon him in the past, but Chen Gong, Chen Deng and even Liu Ye also complained about his promotion to the governor of Donghai.
The positions of prefects are extremely limited. Jia Wen and He Dehe Neng became the prefects of Donghai. They must have relied on their nepotism with Lin Mo just like Zuo Rong.
Qi Shan's appearance has completely vindicated his name.
"You're welcome, Marquis Wen. I can only do so little, so I don't dare to take credit." Starting under Dong Zhuo, then to Li Jue and Guo Si, then to Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu, he has always been a qualified expert in life-preserving skills, specializing in stealth. .
In fact, no matter whether they are counselors or generals, since they have chosen to assist their master, they all want to be trusted, but not everyone likes this feeling of being held in the palm of their hands. For example, Jia Xu, who has always been low-key, is not used to it.
If this was considered in future generations, it would probably be a sign of serious social fear.
"In this battle, General Gao and Zilong certainly did meritorious service in defending the stronghold, but they were able to kill the enemy invisible. The defeat of Yuan Tan's 60,000-strong army was all due to Mr. Jia's plan. I give you a toast!" Lin Mo raised his glass with a smile.
"Yunwen is too flattering. Compared with you, my meager moral character is so small that the stars dare not compete with the bright moon." Jia Xu always felt that Lin Mo was holding back his bad intentions.
This is not an illusion, it is real. Through this incident, Lin Mo discovered that if Jia Xu's application is to achieve miraculous results, he must be killed and thrown into the most dangerous place.
Now, let him set up a think tank in the military camp. If he wants to fish in the future, he will have to weigh it carefully.
When people are in high positions, they have to participate in many things.
"What do you think about the food and grass camp?" Lin Mo asked the question after he had had enough wine and food. He and Chen Gong had reached an agreement that they could not act rashly. Even if they had to attack the Beiguo Army's food and grass in the end, A few layers of fog must be lifted.
"It should be a trap." When the military camp suddenly moved forward, Jia Xu guessed what had happened, so he was not too surprised by the grain incident.
If I want to ask a more curious question, it is that Yuan Jun's methods are not very clever. Who would jump into such an obvious trap, and it also exposed the weakest point. No matter what plans he makes in the future, he will have to take this into account. Camp, not wise enough.
"Since we all agree that this is a trap, in the next few days everyone will focus on it. If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch the tiger's cub." Lu Bu held the wine glass with three fingers and turned it back and forth in front of him, showing a meaningful smile.
This is knowing clearly that there are tigers in the mountains and going to the tiger mountains.
As for playing with your brains, it has little to do with us. You guys should work harder.
Lin Mo, Chen Gong and Jia Xu looked at each other, smiled and bowed, "Here."
After the Battle of Baima City, a frustrated Yuan Shao came over with an army of 380,000 troops. The troops were hundreds of miles apart, and their banners covered the sky, blocked the sun, and halberds could cut through the sky.
In order to facilitate the start of the war and at the same time lengthen Yuan's army's supply front, Cao Cao chose to give up Baima City and dragged Yuan Shao to Guandu, creating a confrontation between the two armies.
Interestingly, Yuan Shao was really good to Yan Liang. Since the Battle of Baima City, he wrote to Cao Cao three times, asking for Yan Liang's ransom. If he wanted grain, grass or money, just ask.
Cao Cao's request was very simple. When the Northern Army returned to Hebei, he would release Yan Liang. However, in Yuan Shao's view, this showed no sincerity in negotiating. At least you want to cede Yanzhou, right?
I will give you the general of the three armies, and I have to give you a state. Cao Cao snorted, why don't you want my head? It's more direct, then just fight.
Yuan Shao's camp in Guandu is comparable to a county town, with a length and width of dozens of miles. There are also three auxiliary camps surrounding it, with more than 300,000 people. That is no joke.
And Yuan Shao is actually quite encouraging. He first talked about Yan Liang's story, saying that he had been humiliated by Cao Cao in Xuchang, but he would rather die than surrender. He was really heartbroken. Of course the soldiers were indignant when they heard this. .
After Yuan Tan's first military report was delivered, he proudly held it up in front of everyone and said, "Look, Tan'er designed to defeat Lu Bu. The camp advanced fifteen miles in one day, and the momentum was like a rainbow. We are preparing to launch a general attack."
The implication is that you must work harder, otherwise your military achievements will be taken away by others.
However, a slap in the face happened within a few days. More than 16,000 people were killed in a fire. This was a big deal, and Yuan Tan did not dare not to report it, so he even told him about withdrawing from the camp, but emphasized that He said that this was Tian Feng's plan.
The corners of his eyes twitched, and his heart was in turmoil. It was difficult for him to take on such a big task. In one victory, he killed more than a thousand of the opponent's people, but in one defeat, he lost more than 16,000 people.
If this was a family dinner, Yuan Shao would of course scold Yuan Tan severely, but what time is it now? A war between the two sides is imminent. In addition to teaching Yuan Tan a lesson, there are more important things, that is, the survival of the 380,000-strong army. Morale!
So, he took the defeat report and said meaningfully: "Tan'er just entered the army and retreated less than half a month ago."
Just when everyone's hearts sank, Yuan Shao changed the topic and said with a smile, "He wants to mobilize Lu Bu and jump into the trap he has set. He will use retreat to advance. He is worthy of my son!"
Of course, the civil servants and generals were full of confidence when they heard this. Once Lu Bu collapsed on the Eastern Front battlefield, Cao Cao had no power to resist at all, and they all clamored for battle.
However, the same battle report had a different story in Cao Ying.
"Lin Mo set up a clever plan in Qishan. Yuan Tan's 80,000-strong army was burned down with a fire. Yuan Tan was so shocked that he retreated thirty miles away. If we continue with this momentum, the war in Qingzhou will be over before the beginning of spring."
Cao Cao, who was wearing a big cloak, walked slowly among the civil and military personnel. As he walked, he said in a deep voice, "Tell brothers, you must be alert. Once Yuan Tan is defeated on the Qingzhou front, it will be the time for us to launch a large-scale attack. At that time, we want to If you want rich land, your soldiers will have to risk their lives if you have beautiful wives and concubines."
It was obviously a serious military discussion, but everyone was so amused that they laughed from ear to ear.
In fact, both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are qualified when it comes to controlling morale as the leader.
It's just that their choices are different. Yuan Shao is eager to break through Cao's camp, while Cao Cao hopes that Lin Mo can quickly deal with Yuan Tan.
What I said just now is not entirely to deceive the three armies. Once Yuan Tan is defeated on the Qingzhou front, Yuan Shao will definitely become a frightened bird.
Cao Cao was worried at first, but after Qishan's victory, he also felt that Lin Mo's probability of winning had greatly increased.
Therefore, his main belief this time is one word, wait!
He was willing to wait, but Yuan Shao was not willing. He sent Zhang He and Gao Lan to bring people to scold the formation. They scolded the formation for several days, saying a few words back and forth: Cao thief, traitor, evil thief, rebellious thief!
Cao Cao is already immune to these abuses, which is really much better than Lu Bu.
Seeing that there was no challenge, Yuan Shao sent people to start building a tower just a stone's throw away from Cao Ying. The so-called tower can be understood as a kind of watchtower.
After it is completed, due to the height advantage, you can shoot down at the guarding sergeants in Cao's camp. However, you are not high enough, so you can only be beaten passively.
You must know that it is an important defensive area of the village gate, so you cannot take targeted measures in time. In the end, under the sanctions of Lou Lu, the army can push your camp flat.
Really feeling the crisis, Cao Cao anxiously walked back and forth in the Chinese army tent, not knowing how to deal with it.
"Sikong, General, please order me to lead a group of cavalry out from the south gate tonight, go around the stronghold and destroy the high wall!" Since Chen Dao followed Cao Cao, although he held the rank of Army Sima, he was treated like a general, and he was treated like a general. He was allowed to directly participate in military discussions.
Recently, they have trained an elite infantry force of several hundred people, and they will be able to repay Cao Cao's kindness at the moment of life and death.
"My uncle's great ambition is commendable, but Yuan Shao will definitely set up an ambush on the side of the high wall. It would be unwise to rush out of the stronghold." Cao Cao sighed and clearly disagreed with this approach.
I called Guo Jia, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Zhong Yao, Chen Qun and others to discuss, but they couldn't come up with any decent countermeasures.
Generally speaking, everyone feels that there must be some price to pay to destroy this building.
"Sikong can send his troops to make a feint at Yanjin Ferry and make a gesture of cutting off the road, which may attract Yuan's army. If the cavalry suddenly rushes out of the stronghold, they will surely destroy the oars."
Xun You's suggestion is considered to be the more reliable among many suggestions.
Although the operation is more troublesome and the risk is not low, it has to be done. Once Yuan Jun's oar is formed, this aspect of the camp will almost become the target of public criticism.
Coupled with the wealth of the northern country and sufficient armaments, Yuan Shao could make the rain of arrows rain non-stop for twelve hours a day.
It's great to think that Lu Bu is fighting in full swing on the Qingzhou front, using the weak to control the strong and still taking advantage.
As for myself, am I actually being forced to do nothing by a mere man in the building?
Cao Cao let out a heavy breath and covered his chest, feeling a little depressed.
Um?
What is this?
Cao Cao clearly felt a foreign object when he was covering his chest through the black brocade uniform. He reached out to check and found that it was the brocade bag sent by Lin Mo before.
At the beginning, he also claimed that he could take it apart and examine it if the war was unfavorable.
Now that the war is going badly, Cao Cao sneered. Sitting on the handsome chair, he quietly took out his kit and opened it under the desk.
(End of chapter)
