Chapter 876 Yuan Shao Moves South

"General, Yuan Shao, Zhang Yang, and Zhang Yan gathered their troops and crossed the Taihang Mountains to attack Taiyuan. Zhang Wu defeated Zhang Yang. Dian Wei led the Black Armor Camp to kill Chunyu Qiong and defeated more than 10,000 enemies. Zhao Yun killed Zhu Ling and Jiang Qi and defeated more than 10,000 enemies. Liao Hua killed Yang Feng and Yu Du, and Zhang Yan fled to the mountains. Thirty thousand prisoners were captured, and the commander-in-chief Guo Jia is in Jinyang to deal with the aftermath."

After listening to the report of the communication sergeant, Wang Yan nodded with satisfaction.

He gave Guo Jia a lot of authority, and Shanxi was under Guo Jia's command. In other words, Zhang Wu, Dian Wei, Zhao Yun, and Liao Hua were all dispatched by Guo Jia, who was the de facto commander-in-chief.

General Wang has always had a big picture, and Guo Jia has the ability, so let him show it. After deciding to attack Yuan Shao, he sent someone to send a letter to Guo Jia and others, asking them to defend Shanxi and look for opportunities to attack.

The results of this battle were not bad. Chunyu Qiong was undoubtedly a general that Yuan Shao relied on. In addition, Zhu Ling and Jiang Qi were also highly valued generals. Yang Feng and Yu Du were the leaders of the Black Mountain Army. They not only hit Yuan Shao's manpower, but also killed useful people. They should have seized a lot of supplies. It was a perfect military operation.

Of course, the war was not completed in one day. It started in July and it is now the end of September. It has been fought from the end of summer to the beginning of winter. Now all the results reported to Wang Yan are the results of the battle, which marks the end of the battle in Shanxi.

But the battle of Julu was not over, or it was just entering a white-hot stage. From the beginning, the strength of both sides was less than 100,000, and now the strength of both sides has reached 500,000. The battle line stretched from Taihang Mountain to the seaside, and there were battles everywhere.

Yuan Shao was really crazy. Counting the battle of Wang Yan's surprise attack, Yuan Shao actually invested nearly 500,000 troops himself. The troops mobilized by Wang Yan, in the battlefield of Julu, were less than 100,000 of his own people.

But he had 150,000 soldiers, and the extra ones were all captured enemy soldiers. The younger ones were the reserve troops, and the older ones were sent to escort the grain and grass in the back. In the autumn harvest, the older ones were sent to collect the grain.

So overall, Wang Yan is the one who has the advantage now. In three months, he advanced 200 miles. If it weren't for Yuan Shao's large number of soldiers, Yuan Shao would have been with Gongsun Zan in medicine.

At present, there are actually two battlefields in the North China Plain. The most intense ones are in Julu and Anyang. Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and several other people are here. Because it is too close to Gaoyi, it is naturally necessary to guard it heavily. Wang Yan also sent all fierce generals, Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci, Lu Bu, Gao Lan, all of whom are capable of fighting. Of course, Gao Lan is only a military marquis now, leading 500 people, but his combat effectiveness is enough to complete the plan.

In addition, in the Bohai and Hejian areas, Zhou Cang fought back and forth with the deputy generals of Yan Liang and Wen Chou. Wang Yan sent Zhang He to assist Zhou Cang. Their individual combat effectiveness was not much different, and they were very stable in fighting. Their goal was to destroy Yuan Shao's troops along the coast and the Yellow River and break Yuan Shao's rule here.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Yan said: "Write back to Guo Jia and find an opportunity to go out of the pass. If the enemy defends and cannot seize the pass, you can attack Henei and march into Yanzhou to cut off Yuan Shao's retreat. Go."

The soldier who delivered the message responded and turned and ran.

Although Guo Jia would most likely do the same, he still had to say what he should say. It was an endorsement. If Guo Jia took action himself and suffered a defeat, it would be hard to say what would happen next.

After all, Guo Jia was not omnipotent. He was indeed wise and capable, but this was a war after all, and it was changing rapidly. No one could guarantee that every step would be successful.

Wang Yan stood up and looked at the map, thinking about the current situation.

Now the forces of both sides are mainly concentrated in Zhending (Shijiazhuang), Xiaquyang (northwest of Jinxian), and Nanshenze (Shenze), spanning Changshan, Julu, and Anping.

From Zhending, Xiaquyang to Gaoyi, it is only more than 100 miles, so the battle here is the most intense. It is impossible to expand westward, because there are mountains and Jingxing to the west, where Yuan Shao also has heavy troops. He is afraid that Guo Jia will attack from Shanxi, and then he will lose everything.

Now it is winter again. Although Yuan Shao also purchased a lot of cotton from Han Sui, how can he equip so many troops with cotton clothes? So they all acted like turtles and hid in the city.

Once Wang Yan makes a big move and wants to insert troops into Gaoyi, they will come out to fight desperately. If Wang Yan does not make a big move, they will support each other, and they are not far from the rear, and there is no way to cut off the food supply. Because once the food supply cut-off activity behind the enemy is carried out, hundreds of thousands of troops will come out from all directions to surround a few thousand people.

Wang Yan couldn't fight past, and they couldn't fight back, so they just stood there in a stalemate. This side was almost in a state of truce, giving Yuan Shao a chance to breathe, to repent for his reckless decision, to wake up in his dreams every dark night, and slap himself in the face.

Zhou Cang's side was relatively smooth, because the supply line was long, and the main force was on Huang Zhong and others. They didn't dare to support too many people, and it was winter, so Zhou Cang took advantage and had cleared a large part of Bohai and a small part of the Hejian area.

Yuan Shao was determined to be a cuckold and play rogue, and General Wang had no choice. If he had to fight, he could only attack the city. But the casualties of the siege were too great, and the gains would not outweigh the losses, which was not what Wang Yan wanted. Or another way was that he would mobilize more troops, flatten all the surrounding areas, and gradually shrink the encirclement. Such an investment was too large and it was not worth it.

After all, Wang Yan is not in a hurry. To be honest, it would be more beneficial to him to have this stalemate now. After all, Zhoucang has not stopped. When spring comes, Bohai and Hejian will definitely be able to conquer. Moreover, he was holding on here, there was no major military action, he just maintained normal winter activities, and even the consumption was reduced.

In the final analysis, war is still an economic issue. It's not that Wang Yan really has no way to expand the results of his victory and attack the people in the city, but it's just that this is the safest and most food-saving way. The casualties are small, the consumption is small, and it can encroach on Jizhou step by step. Although the men are transferred and the production in the rear is affected, it is not as big as imagined.

As for the most critical consumption of food and grass, the standard he originally set was very high, and these people's bodies were fully replenished, and they could eat chicken, duck, and fish, so their consumption of pure food was reduced a lot. Because of the war, there will indeed be an increase, but it is not as high as expected. This kind of fighting intensity will not strain the logistics.

In fact, he has never used his full strength. If he fights like this, he can continue forever. Moreover, with new land and population, the harvest will be greater next autumn.

Wang Yan found a balance between war and development, making this battle against Yuan look easy.

But if we can develop steadily, who wants to fight? That's why Wang Yan asked Guo Jia to take action in the south. With such a pincer attack from the north and the south, if Yuan Shao divides his troops, the situation here will not be maintained. If he does not divide his troops, then Yuan Shao's rule will be shaken, because those wealthy families will not agree.

They supported Yuan Shao, but now the king's thieves are all coming to their doorstep, and you, Yuan Shao, don't send troops to rescue them? Yuan Shao will be finished by then.

Therefore, Zhao Yun and others launched tentative attacks on various passes, but they were all blocked and could not overcome them.

It is no joke that an important military location is easy to defend but difficult to attack. When there are guns and cannons in modern times, brave warriors can rely on a dozen people to guard a high ground and repel several times the number of enemies.

Now there are also long-distance weapons like bows and arrows, as well as high walls and hard doors, which are really difficult to attack.

So there was no other way but to mobilize Liao Hua.

In Jinyang City, Guo Jia looked at the generals sitting in the field and said: "The general wants to break through Hanoi and attack Yanzhou. He will attack from the north and the south to destroy Yuan Shao. Zilong tried many ways and wanted to go east to Taihang but couldn't. For now The plan was to go to Sili, go around Huguan, and go straight to Hanoi. The surrender troops were not strong enough to march far away, so Wen Yuan and Shunyi stayed behind to prevent the surrender troops from changing and to prevent Yuan Shao from attacking.

Zilong, Yuanjian, and you two go to attack Hanoi. Supplies must be raised by oneself along the way, and people's assets must not be plundered. There is no harvest in the three auxiliary areas, and there are people dying of hunger everywhere. Everyone eats each other, so don't disturb them. You can raise food from the wealthy families in various places. "

Zhao Yun nodded with a smile: "Fengxiao, peace of mind, we know how to behave."

"That's good. Today we will assemble the army, kill hogs and sheep, and tomorrow we will send troops south. It is better to hurry up, and change later. Yuan Jian has learned the true story of the general, and has learned the way of guerrillas. If he goes deep alone, if things fail, he should follow Walk across the river and return to Jizhou."

Liao Hua nodded in response, he knew all this.

"Today, the general and Yuan Shao are holding 400,000 men against each other at Julu. It is freezing cold and Yuan Shao cannot leave the city. They are citing each other and making it difficult for them to attack by force. You two shoulder a heavy responsibility. If you succeed, we will get all the land in Hebei. To build a tripod, the world is watching, so be careful."

Zhao Yun and Liao Hua responded and left.

The rest of the people also dispersed, doing their own things.

Guo Jia looked at the map silently, thinking about the war. He was surprised to find that the timing of this battle was actually perfect again. Because there was a war going on in Chang'an, the commotion never stopped. At this time, General Wang began to attack Yuan Shao without any worries.

If there is no chaos in Chang'an and Li Jue, Guo Si and others do not fight Han Sui and Ma Teng, then they will inevitably fight on both sides in this battle. Han Sui, Ma Teng, as well as the Xianbei and Xiongnu who were beaten away would never let go of this opportunity. A large army must be gathered to fight back to Bingzhou.

At that time, General Wang had to deal with it to protect Bingzhou's population and land. After all, countless roads had been built and countless water diversion ditches had been dug. The initial investment had already been made, and it was impossible to give up the land.

When Han Sui and others join forces, they must have 200,000 to 300,000 troops. In addition to Yuan Shao's 400,000 to 500,000 troops, even if their soldiers are more capable, with higher combat effectiveness and stronger fighting will, they can win the final victory. A victory, it would also be a tragic victory, destroying the prosperity developed under the rule for many years.

Unlike now, when Li Jue, Guo Si and others are messing around, scheming and attacking each other, General Wang can calmly attack Yuan Shao, gain the land of Hebei, and occupy half of China. With such a power, it only takes a few years to develop, and the world can be settled.

Guo Jia lamented the unfathomableness of the general, and Liao Hua and Zhao Yun began to organize the army.

There are many things to prepare for an army expedition. Food for people, food for horses, armor and weapons, and so on.

The standard light armor is made of iron and leather and weighs twenty kilograms. Military rations are a bag of powder, which is ground and mixed from grains, dried fruits, and herbs. The daily diet is one kilogram. In addition, there are dried salted fish, dried meat, pickles, etc. to supplement salt and energy. The standard for a long journey is to eat for half a month, which adds up to twenty kilograms. Then there are the kettles, quilts, tents, etc. that need to be carried for marching accommodation.

Even with horses carrying them, the infantry's load still reached forty kilograms.

The cavalry is much better, especially the Xiaoqi Battalion led by Liao Hua, because this is the norm for them. Every year, they go out with 15 days of food and don't come back for three months. So compared with Zhao Yun's troops, the Xiaoqi Battalion is more relaxed.

So, Guo Jia sent their troops to set off. On the one hand, it is to take advantage of the mobility of the Xiaoqi Battalion and the tactics fought on the grassland, and the most important thing is this ability to survive. But the cavalry can't attack, so Zhao Yun was sent to lead the soldiers of the Shenwu Guard to attack together, and they and the Xiaoqi Battalion supported each other and cooperated with each other. Destroy Henei and Yanzhou.

That is, to kill the nobles and officials on a large scale and disrupt order. This is their original mission, or to say, if they don't do this, where will they get food? Relying on robbing the people, they must be hungry for nine meals in three days. This is the consensus of everyone.

With this understanding, the next day, the Xiaoqi Battalion was in front and the Shenwu Guard was behind, with a total of 15,000 soldiers and horses, and they marched to the south in a mighty manner. The Cavalry Battalion was fast, so there was no need to wait for the Shenwu Guards. They began to clear the Shangdang area along the way, and headed for Henei...

The Sili area was in chaos now, with more than a dozen groups, big and small. The big ones were of course Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Han Sui, Ma Teng, Zhang Ji, etc., and the small ones were unknown. With a few thousand soldiers in hand, he dared to claim to be king.

In the current Henei area, Zhang Yang has been defeated. His territory is small and his troops are not many. A few years ago, he lost 20,000 soldiers in the battle of Yanmen Pass. A while ago, he followed Yuan Shao to attack Shanxi, and lost another 10,000. Previously, Yuan Shao used Henei as a front and fought Cao Cao for more than half a year, and lost a lot of soldiers. Now he has no combat effectiveness.

When a large group of troops suddenly appeared under his rule and began to kill the nobles and officials, he knew that it was the king thief coming. In today's world, except for the king thief, no one dares to kill the nobles like killing pigs and dogs, or kill them like a sweep. The Yellow Turbans dared to do so before, but the various thieves nowadays don't have such courage.

And now it's winter again, so he can't organize troops to resist. Or he doesn't dare to organize resistance at all, or he can't organize it even if he wants to.

Because after Liao Hua and his men killed the powerful families, they would preach their policies to the nearby people, give the extra food to the local people, and tell them that the army would not take too long to arrive here. In this case, who would go to work for Zhang Yang? Even if they gathered together, they might be killed by him.

So there wasn't much he could do. First, he hid in the city and didn't go out. Second, he sent someone to report the news and ask for support.

But he was wrong. Zhao Yun and Liao Hua didn't stay in Hanoi for long. It was only more than ten days. They killed several powerful families, got food, and after resting, they went straight into Jizhou.

This made Zhang Yang breathe a sigh of relief, because he saved his life, but he didn't let go of his hanging heart, because he was going to die soon.

He was not stupid. He knew Wang Yan's strategic intention very well. It was to destroy Yanzhou and Jizhou, share the pressure of Julu, and cut off Yuan Shao's retreat, so as to take over Hebei.

Where could he go at that time? He would die if he surrendered to Wang Yan, and he would not live long if he surrendered to Cao Cao. In such a big world, where could he stay?

However, despite his uneasiness, he did not run away. Because the war was still going on, and the outcome was still unknown before the end...

Yuan Shao kicked the table away again. Today, he also understood that he was reckless this time. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he really might not be able to beat Wang Yan.

The current situation is already very critical. Even if Julu resisted Wang Yan's army, Zhou Cang was still advancing. Now he received news that Wang Yan actually let go of the grassland and sent the most powerful cavalry battalion to go around so far and come thousands of miles to attack his rear. He had a clearer understanding that defeat was only a matter of time.

Watching his men change tables, he drank a bottle of wine in depression and knocked the bottle heavily on the table: "Gentlemen, now the king thief is attacking from both north and south. If we divide our troops, it will be difficult to rescue. Julu will definitely be difficult to resist. If we don't rescue, he will attack Gaoyi sooner or later. In this situation, what should I do?"

This time, no one shouted, and the pro-war faction was silent. Now that they have been fighting for more than four months, spring is coming again. They are being suppressed and have no chance at all. The logistics of the king thief are not broken, but their logistics will not be able to withstand it. The situation is very clear, and they are too embarrassed to speak.

The surrender faction wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks, but when they thought that Yuan Shao was in favor of war, they did not make any sarcastic remarks.

After a long silence, Guo Tu, who came back from Julu to discuss the situation, stood up. He cupped his hands and said, "My lord, the war is not going well now. If you want to seek peace again, the thief Wang will definitely not agree. Judging from his use of troops, he intends to take all the land in Hebei, defend it by taking advantage of the river, claiming to be the world, and wait for sufficient food and fodder to rule the world. He has sent out all his elite troops and will not stop until he achieves his goal.

Now that our two families have been fighting, although I have lost 100,000 soldiers, I still have spare strength. The plan to go south before the war can still be implemented. My lord, set out today to take Luoyang and slowly withdraw the troops. We will take Yanzhou, then advance to Yuzhou, go to Xuzhou, go to Huainan, and take Jiangdong. In this way, we can rely on the two dangers of the river and the river to protect ourselves. The thief Wang will definitely not go south when he has just gained the land in Hebei. My lord, keep your business stable, sharpen your troops, and it will not be too late to fight again."

This is what he, the surrenderist, said. The pro-war faction wanted to save face and could not say this. What did Yuan Shao ask for when he asked for strategy? It was the surrenderist faction that said surrender, and he found a way out.

Yuan Shao looked at the silent group of wise men in silence for a long time, and then he said tiredly: "Just follow Gongze's words and abandon Hebei..."

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