Great Han Empire

Chapter 745: A Storm of Troubled Heroes

In March, Changyi, Yanzhou.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao and others discussed the attack strategy day and night.

In the new imperial court, Yuan Shao's strength occupies an absolute advantage, and in the upcoming crusade, the coalition forces must rely on Yuan Shao's army in the Guanzhong and Guanxi directions to contain the Northern Army in the east direction, otherwise they will not be able to launch the attack smoothly, so Yuan Shao was still the same as in the past, and deservedly became the commander of the coalition forces. However, what was different from the past was that people like Cao Cao and Liu Biao were now high-ranking officials.

Yuan Shao set the attack time from mid-April to early May.This is the time for spring plowing and spring harvesting. An attack at this time can force the southern counties of Jizhou to be unable to carry out spring plowing and harvesting. In this way, in the second half of the year, the number of refugees and hungry people in Hebei will increase sharply, and the situation in Hebei will be in jeopardy.If the Jizhou refugee riots can be brought about, then Jizhou will basically be in hand this year.

Yuan Shao's attack strategy was to garrison Guanzhong and Kanxi with heavy troops, threatening Hedong and Jinyang, so as to effectively contain the strength of the northern army. All the way to attack Jizhou.

This approach has many advantages.First of all, armies from all walks of life can rush to the bank of the Yellow River in the fastest time and speed, and cross the river nearby. In this way, the attack time can be advanced, the soldiers can reduce the marching distance, and the food and grass can also be saved.Secondly, the seven armies of the coalition forces advance together, which can greatly increase the speed of advancement.The faster the coalition advances, the more panic Hebei will become, and the more favorable the situation will be for the coalition.Third, the most powerful of the Northern Xinjiang Army is the iron cavalry, and the most terrifying thing about the iron cavalry is its elusive appearance.If you want to get back this disadvantage, the best way is to split the attack.Splitting the attack together can not only allow the various armies to support each other, but also greatly reduce the range of cavalry activities, forcing them to lose their flexibility and maneuverability.

Fourth, Hebei's wealth is limited. The reason why Li Hong wants to modify the military system is because Hebei's wealth is unable to support its huge army.Hebei first sent troops to Guanzhong the year before last, then suffered disasters, and fought outside the Great Wall last year. This year, it is unable to support a protracted war anyway. Therefore, in order to keep Jizhou, the best and fastest way for the northern army is to fight a decisive battle with the coalition forces in the south of Jizhou as soon as possible.The coalition forces did the opposite, delaying the time of the decisive battle as much as possible, and shifting the location of the decisive battle to the central part of Jizhou. To achieve this goal, the only way to advance is to divide the troops.One, the coalition forces can take advantage of the superiority in numbers to consume the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army; two, they can destroy the morale of the Northern Xinjiang Army; three, they can force Hebei's wealth to collapse; , Pushing the Northern Xinjiang Army into desperation.

However, this seven-way attack strategy has a very obvious disadvantage. The armies of each group are easily defeated by the Northern Xinjiang Army one by one, and finally lead to the defeat of the entire army.

Cao Cao proposed to change the seven-way simultaneous attack into a three-way simultaneous attack, so that each army has enough strength to resist the attack of the northern army.If one of the armies of one route can entangle the main force of the Northern Army of Jizhou, then the other two armies can go all the way unimpeded, quickly reach the central part of Jizhou, and then turn around and encircle the main force of the Northern Army.

The two sides debated this.

=

At the same time, news from all over the world was sent to Changyi.

The Jizhou Northern Frontier Army is gathering towards the Yellow River from all directions.The roads and rivers in Jizhou are full of horse-drawn carriages and boats, and hundreds of thousands of people are sending a large amount of food, grass and baggage to Handan, Yecheng, Ganling and the plains.The people of Jizhou rumored that the Northern Xinjiang Army was about to go south to suppress the rebellion.

The Northeast Frontier Army of Hebei Province remained silent.

The troops of the states and counties in the Central Plains were dispatched one after another, alarming Guan Cheng and Guan Hai who were stationed in the Taishan area, Wu Ba in Xuzhou, Liu Pi in Yuzhou and other Yellow Turban Army remnants.These Yellow Turbans have been active recently, and they may take the opportunity to loot the grain and supplies transported to Yanzhou.

The Jiangdong war became more and more intense.Sun Ce asked for help several times, but Yuan Shu had no choice but to send his troops south to Jiangdong.

In addition, another piece of news caught the attention of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others.Yanzhou Diannong Zhonglang told Cao Cao by Ren Jun that since the first lunar month, there has been no rain in the Central Plains. It has been three months now, and the rivers and canals are on the verge of drying up, which is very likely to affect the spring plowing.If the Central Plains suffers from drought this year and the number of refugees increases sharply, it will be very dangerous to attack Hebei.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others urgently discussed the countermeasures.

At this moment, Hebei must have received news that the coalition forces of various states and counties are going to attack Hebei, so the Northern Xinjiang Army was dispatched.They may cross the river and go down the river before the coalition forces launch an attack, pushing the battlefield to the Central Plains.When the northern Xinjiang army reached the Central Plains, it could not only keep Jizhou, but also take advantage of the scattered forces of the coalition forces to attack them hard.The situation suddenly became serious.

However, since more than half of Yuan Shu's troops had fallen into the Jiangdong battlefield, the threat of Xuzhou was completely removed, and Liu Bei could mobilize more than [-]% of his troops to go north to join the battle, which gave the coalition an even greater advantage in strength.

Yuan Shao didn't hesitate any longer, and ordered the troops of all states and counties to immediately go north to the Yellow River and garrison all the ferries to strictly prevent the troops from the northern border from crossing the river.

Yuan Shao still decided to use the seven-way attack strategy.According to his speculation, the main force of the northern border army, apart from the southern and northern armies of the Jinyang court, is the cavalry outside the Great Wall.There are 6 soldiers in the southern and northern armies, and it is impossible for all of them to rush to Jizhou. In addition, the main force of the northern army in the east of the river needs to be taken care of.Last year when Li Hong fought outside the Great Wall, the desert may not be stable, and it is impossible for all the cavalry outside the Great Wall to go south.Calculated in this way, the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army that can be invested in Jizhou is only about 6 at most.As for the strength of the seven army battalions in Jizhou, Yuan Shao believes that those are all field soldiers recruited after the implementation of the recruit system in Hebei. The training time is short, they have little combat effectiveness, and are vulnerable.

Cao Cao didn't insist anymore.At this time, whoever can cross the river first will have the upper hand, let's kill and cross the river first.

Eight hundred miles of fast riding rushed to Changyi City, roaring in all directions.

Tian Kai, Liu Bei, Zhang Yang, Ma Teng and others also went out of the city to join their respective armies.

=

April of the first year of Jianxing (AD 197) of the Han Dynasty.

=

At the beginning of April, Li Hong, the great general of the Great Sima, arrived in Handan and built the Xingyuan of the great general.

Left General Qu Yi, General Hu Lie Yan Liang, Commanders of the Seventh Battalion of Jizhou Wang Dang, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Wen Chou, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Xu Huang, Governor of Jizhou Guo Ce, Governor of Weijun Ding Li, Minister of Ganling Xu Hun Wait until the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs of Hebei rushed to Xingyuan to meet Li Hong.

Sima Fugan explained the attack strategy in detail and reported the approximate positions of the armies currently participating in the battle.

Right General Zhang Yan and Fenwei General Lu Bu led the Northern Army to cross the Taihang Mountains. It is estimated that in seven or eight days, the army will reach Handan.

General Long Xiang Zhao Yun's [-] cavalry have arrived at Feihu Fortress.Fenwu General Gongsun Zan's [-] cavalry had already arrived in Hejian Kingdom.Wu Feng Zhonglang led Li Su's [-] cavalry to Jicheng. Ten days later, they could reach Xindu Camp.

The soldiers and horses of the Seventh Battalion have arrived at the designated ferry and have completed preparations for crossing the river, ready to start crossing the river at any time.

If all goes well, after ten days, the soldiers and horses of the seven battalions will start to cross the river, and after fifteen days, the iron cavalry will enter the Central Plains.

=

General Zuo Shi Yanzhi then explained the movement on the south bank of the Yellow River.

The rebels moved very slowly. So far, only Tian Kai's 1 troops in Qingzhou and Cao Cao's [-] troops in Yanzhou have rushed to the south bank of the Yellow River.Hanoi Zhangyang's [-] horses are still near Montenegro, and there is no sign of attack.Liu Bei's army in Xuzhou, Yuan Wei's army in Yuzhou, Yuan Shu's army in Yangzhou, and even Yuan Shao's army have not been found so far, and they are probably on their way.If the rebels had assembled by mid-April, we'd be attacking just a few days ahead of them.

"Have you figured out exactly how many soldiers and horses there are in the rebel army?" Li Hong frowned and asked Qu Yi.

Qu Yi shook his head, "Ever since Cao Cao formed an alliance of three families and rebuilt the imperial system, the situation over there has changed. It is no longer a state of disunity, but two huge forces have formed. Two voices speak, of course, more powerful than five." The six voices work, so it is possible for them to use all their troops and horses to attack northward. In this way, they have at least 20 people. Of course, these people have their own ideas, and it is impossible to take out all their belongings, so Let’s calculate that the number of rebels attacking Hebei should be around 15.”

To assemble an army of 15 people, raise food, grass, and military equipment for the 15-strong army, and recruit hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, it will take three or four months.We in Hebei started preparations as early as the end of last year, but we have not yet started our offensive. This shows that it is actually impossible for the rebels to cross the river to attack in mid-April.

"These rebels are not of one mind in the first place, and they have to greatly reduce the execution of orders. Now even if they are united from top to bottom, I think they will have to wait until the end of May at least if everything is ready to launch the attack smoothly." Qu Yi said dismissively. Waving his hand, he continued, "It seems that we can definitely win this battle in the early stage, but the question is, can we persist after we reach the Central Plains? Can we defeat the joint attack of this 15 army? Because of this If the rebels are defeated in the first battle, they will have to wait for death, and there will be no chance to stand up, and they will fight back desperately." Qu Yi smiled at Li Hong, "This is a life-and-death battle, and no one can afford to lose. "

Li Hong nodded, "What are you worried about? Worrying about our lack of troops? Or, the lack of wealth?"

"I'm worried about both." Qu Yi intertwined his hands and rubbed them a little.

After so many years of war in the northern border army, the real elite is only about 10 people. These soldiers are distributed in the border desert, Jizhou and Hedong. There is no absolute superior force in each place. This is why Hebei wants to modify the military system and expand the army. the main reason.The [-] troops of the seven battalions in Jizhou are almost all recruited from the refugees who excavated the Zhongxing Canal except for some middle and lower-level military officials. The training time is too short to be useful.

The troops of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, Tian Kai, and Yuan Shu are part of the original Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, and part of them are elite soldiers who have fought for several years. Opponents, but united together, the strength will surpass the Northern Border Army.Especially after we beat the Yellow River and drove them to a dead end, even if these people had bloody hatred for each other, in order to survive at this time, they had to let go of their previous suspicions and fight hand in hand.

Once the war is delayed, it will take half a year, and Hebei Caifu will definitely not be able to support it. With an army of 10,000+ cavalry and hundreds of thousands of civilians fighting for half a year, the amount of money, food and military equipment needed is a huge number. At that time, the Northern Xinjiang Army can only withdraw to Hebei, returning empty-handed, and fighting in vain.

Li Hong had already heard the meaning of Qu Yi's words. He pointed to Yan Liang, Zhang Xi, Gao Lan and others, and said with a smile: "You guys also talk about it. I stayed in the desert for a year, and the situation changed again and again after I came back." , I don’t know much about some things, so I must listen to your opinions.”

=

Yan Liang, Zhang Yun, Gao Lan, Wen Chou and others saw that Li Hong didn't intend to blame them, and immediately regained their spirits, expressing their views on the court's attack strategy.

These generals believed that the purpose of the court's battle was vague.

If you want to suppress the rebellion, you should prepare early and launch an attack at the end of March. At that time, the rebels have not yet formed an assembly situation, and they can hit Yanzhou with one blow and quickly occupy Yanzhou.The rebel army suffered such a heavy blow, and panicked, it will be difficult to gather again, so Yanzhou can go down.

If it is a passive challenge, the rebels should be blocked on the south bank of the Yellow River by virtue of the natural danger of the Yellow River. This can reduce the casualties of the army and save a lot of manpower and material resources.The rebel army has been fighting for a long time without success, and the morale of the army must be slackened. Coupled with the contradictions between them, they will soon scatter like birds and beasts, and Jizhou can be saved.

But today's strategy of the imperial court is to use offense instead of defense when the opportunity has been lost, and it does not hesitate to go to the Central Plains at the risk of defeat. This completely violates the principle of using troops.

What is the purpose of this court battle?

=

The right servant of Shangshutai, who was ordered to accompany the general, shot Tian Chou, and Shi Yupeng, the head of the two prefectures, and a group of main officials of the two prefectures looked ugly.

Obviously, the generals of the Jizhou Army have a negative attitude towards the strategy set by the imperial court, which is serious.The strategy of this battle was agreed upon by the general Li Hong and the officials of the two governments, and finally approved by the eldest princess in the name of the emperor. When the war was about to start, the generals questioned the correctness of the court's strategy, which was very unfavorable to the battle situation.

"The purpose of the imperial court is very clear. The first is to defend Jizhou, and the second is to destroy the three-legged pattern." Tian Chou immediately stood up and said, "We have absolute confidence in defending Jizhou, which is beyond doubt, but defending Jizhou cannot solve the current situation. problem." Tian Chou then explained the obstacle of the three-legged confrontation to the pacification of the world.

"Cao Cao is not a simple person, far more farsighted than Yuan Shao." Tian Chou sneered, "Don't think he is a butcher just because he kills without blinking an eye. He is very smart and ambitious. Cao Cao is not strong enough, so he uses rebuilding The opportunity of Huangtong deliberately created a three-legged confrontation and joined forces with all parties to attack Hebei. If the strength of Hebei is damaged, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao will have time to develop their strength, and the loss of other small forces will give Yuan Shao and Cao Cao With the opportunity to annex them, the strength of the two can expand rapidly."

"Once the three-legged confrontation is strong, with the power of the three states of Hebei, it will be difficult to do anything." Tian Chou pointed to the map and said, "We will attack Guanzhong, and Cao Cao will attack Jizhou. We will attack the Central Plains, and Yuan Shao will attack Hedong. The two of us Attacking all the way, naturally nothing is gained, so far the big man has been three-pointed, and the country has collapsed."

Tian Chou looked at all the generals present and said solemnly: "This is the reason why we will go to the Central Plains at all costs. Even if we finish fighting the [-] troops in Jizhou, we will fight. Even if we can't defend Yanzhou and return to Hebei, we will not We must fight. As long as we completely smash this three-legged confrontation, we will complete the purpose of this war."

=

Qu Yi sneered, "Cao Cao is as smart as you? Why can't I see that there is a tripartite confrontation here? With the strength of our northern border army, we only have one or two years to develop, and we can sweep the world."

Li Hong looked at him and snorted dissatisfied.

Qu Yi became even more angry, "What nonsense is a three-legged confrontation? When Lao Tzu's army is killed, all human beings and gods will be destroyed. Let alone a three-legged confrontation, even a nine-legged confrontation, I will burn it down."

Knowing Qu Yi's temper, Tian Chou shook his head, ready to explain again.

"Zitai, what did you just say?" Yan Liang glared at him fiercely, "Even if you finish fighting the [-] army, you won't hesitate? Is there anyone who fights like this? You fight with a gang every day in Jinyang Are you spoiling your brain by staying together with lip service? Is this what you should say? Are these [-] soldiers of mine human?"

"General Hutou, this is a national matter, related to the survival of the country, not killing rebels in Xiliang and killing barbarians in the desert, do you know that?" Tian Chou was a little angry and said coldly.

"I know this is a national matter, but you can't play with the lives of soldiers?" Yan Liang fought fiercely and roared angrily.

Tian Chou was startled, and hurriedly took a step back.Qu Yi and the other generals turned a blind eye.With a smile on his face, Wen Chou looked at Yan Liang showing off his power with interest.

"Sit down." Li Hong patted the table lightly, "The attack strategy is determined by me."

Yan Liang turned his head and glanced at Li Hong, wanting to say something, but closed his mouth again, and sat down slowly.

Li Hong looked at the generals and said calmly: "Ten days later, cross the river and fight."

The generals responded with a bang.

=

After seeing off the generals, Li Hong walked back and forth in the big tent with a heavy heart.

Sitting behind the table, Sima Yi was engrossed in writing today's military meeting.Sima Yi looks a lot like his father, Sima Fang, tall and strong, with a dignified appearance and piercing eyes, but his personality is completely opposite to his father.Sima Fang is bold and forthright, while Sima Yi is restrained and cautious.

Li Hong walked up to him and stopped, and said in a low voice, "Zhongda, Mr. Guo said just now that the Central Plains is facing drought this year, and some counties and counties on the north bank of the Yellow River are also facing disasters. Under such circumstances, how should Yuan Shao and Cao Cao deal with it?"

"Fight, fight resolutely." Sima Yi raised his head and said without hesitation, "Only when the rebel army invades Jizhou can the pressure on the Central Plains be relieved by the drought and the victims will be prevented from rioting due to hunger."

Li Hong hesitated for a moment, then asked again: "What do you think, the suggestions of the generals today..."

"Once the Central Plains is hit by a disaster, the people will lose their crops, and the consequences can be imagined. It is indeed very dangerous to attack the Central Plains at this time." Sima Yi said cautiously, "But if we don't attack the Central Plains, how will we break this three-legged confrontation? General , this gain or loss is difficult to choose."

Li Hong patted his head affectionately, sighed softly, and continued to meditate in the big tent.

=

Tian Chou rushed over, "General, someone from Yangzhou is here."

(End of this chapter)