The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 358 Volume Crossing the River!

After encouraging Gao Shun and Pang De, Liu Xie tilted his head slightly and looked at Liu Bei.

"Among the generals under the Emperor's uncle, Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Huang, and Ma can be called the Five Tigers, and have the potential to become pillars of the country."

"Yun Chang is now holding an axe and guarding Yuzhou together with Kong Ming. The rest of you should also work hard."

Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong, who were sitting in the tent, all had rosy faces. It was obvious that they had not expected that the emperor would compare them with the pillars of the country.

"Okay, I will make the following arrangements. After this meeting, we will act according to the plan."

Liu Xie asked Sima Yi to bring the map and place it horizontally behind his back.

"This is the situation on both sides of the river."

"Yuan Shao currently has three main garrisons, namely Huai County and Liyang near the river, and Yin'an in the rear."

"Among them, Yin'an is not near the river, but it can quickly support Liyang from the waterway. It belongs to Yuan Shao's reserve force. We only need to harass its water fort with light boats to prevent it from easily supporting."

Liu Xie turned to Lu Bu and said, "Fengxian, I'll leave this place to you!"

When Lu Bu heard the task the emperor had assigned him, he immediately became anxious: "Your Majesty, are you asking me to make a feint attack on the flank?"

Lu Bu didn't even have a place on the main battlefield. No wonder he was so anxious.

"Look at you, you're in a hurry."

Liu Xie placed his finger on the map and repeatedly drew the horizontal line representing the river.

"Fengxian's troops are mainly cavalry, but the battles to come will mainly be infantry and naval battles. Letting your cavalry fight on boats... you are willing to do so, but I am not!"

"In this war, the most important ones to rely on are the Xianzhen Camp under Gao Shun and the Jingzhou soldiers under the emperor's uncle who are good at water battles. Soldiers like yours, Fengxian, are not useful here!"

Liu Xie pointed his finger at Yin An again.

"Fengxian can only lead his troops to harass Yuan Tan in the early stages of the war, but once the army captures Liyang or Huai County and has a foothold in Hebei, they can quickly cross the river with cavalry and sweep across Hebei!"

"So the cavalry under your command must not suffer too many losses at this time, understand?"

Lu Bu looked at the river on the map with some dissatisfaction, and he also felt that the emperor's words made sense.

"Here!"

"If you win this battle, I will promise you one thing!"

At first, Lu Bu didn't know what the emperor was talking about.

But suddenly, Lu Bu remembered the agreement he had made with the emperor in the past!
So Lu Bu nodded quickly, with a look of pride on his face!
After arranging a place, Liu Xie looked at Liu Bei and Gao Shun solemnly.

"I have just said that the most important forces to rely on in this battle are the Xianzhen Camp under Zixun and the Jingzhou soldiers under the Emperor's uncle who are good at water warfare."

"So this battle, Yanjin will be handed over to you. Go and face Yuan Shao directly and capture the most important Liyang in one fell swoop!"

"Here!"

Obviously, no one in the tent expected that the emperor would only allow Liu Bei and Gao Shun to attack Liyang.

After all, Liyang is now the main camp of Yuan’s army, and Yuan Shao is personally in charge here.

The emperor only allowed Liu Bei and Gao Shun to go. Wasn't this a bit too arrogant?

But Liu Xie’s arrangements did not end there.

"I will let you go to fight, but you must be under unified command."

The emperor was obviously afraid that the situation during the Battle of Yingshui would happen again, where Ma Chao was not under Liu Bei's control.

Liu Bei and Gao Shun looked at each other and were both a little worried.

Gao Shun was worried that if he was in charge of the army, Liu Bei would be a pillar of the country and the emperor's uncle, so he didn't know if he could control Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was worried that if he was in charge, if the battle turned out to be like the Battle of Yingshui, he would be too embarrassed to come back and see the emperor again...

"Zhongda, you will hold my seal and command the troops of Yanjin."

The emperor surprisingly bypassed both Liu Bei and Gao Shun and handed over the command of Yanjin to Sima Yi.

Although the generals in the tent showed surprise in their eyes, they felt that it was reasonable.

Gao Shun lacked reputation and it was difficult for him to convince Liu Bei's generals.

Liu Bei had just led an extremely bad battle at Yingshui, proving that Liu Bei's ability to command large-scale troops was indeed insufficient. Gao Shun was actually a little worried if Liu Bei was really allowed to command the Xianzhen Camp...

But Sima Yi was different.

On the one hand, thanks to his experience in resisting Cao Cao in Xiangyang, Sima Yi enjoyed a high reputation among the soldiers in Jingzhou.

On the other hand, Sima Yi had been in the central government for a long time, and Gao Shun also knew Sima Yi's abilities.

By letting Sima Yi control and command the two men's troops, it is entirely possible to achieve a result where one plus one is greater than two rather than less than two.

"Finally, I will stay in Luoyang and begin repairing Mengjin to contain Yuan Shao's troops in Huai County."

"As long as my dragon banner stands here, Huai County will not dare to easily divide its troops."

"In this case, Yuan Shao's Liyang camp will only have 15,000 soldiers at most, as well as some civilians and corvée laborers."

"This amount of troops is far less than the troops we deployed to attack Liyang. It can be considered as using more troops to defeat a smaller force."

"The Art of War by Sun Tzu: The Real and the False"

“Thus, those who are good at attacking, the enemy does not know where they are defending; those who are good at defending, the enemy does not know where they are attacking. They are so subtle that they are invisible. They are so mysterious that they are silent. Therefore, they can control the fate of the enemy!”

A person who is good at attacking can make the enemy not know how to defend; a person who is good at defending can make the enemy not know how to attack. How wonderful! So wonderful that it can be seen invisibly; how magical! So magical that it can be done without revealing a single sound. Only in this way can one become the master of the enemy's fate.

Liu Xie remembered that when he was learning this military strategy, Dong Zhuo was very excited and asked him to remember this sentence. Become the master of the enemy's fate! Make the enemy not know how to defend, let alone how to attack!
According to normal combat, Lu Bu, the unrivaled general, and Liu Xie's imperial dragon flag should have appeared together in Yanjin, and fought against Yuan Shao soldier by soldier and general by general, in a complete battle formation.

But now, the most famous Lu Bu and the emperor's dragon banner were on the left and right wings of the battlefield, staring at Yin An and Huai County, who seemed not so important...

With such an arrangement, how could Yuan Shao dare to mobilize troops at will and focus on defending any one place?
If he focused on defending Liyang, wouldn't he be afraid that the emperor and Lu Bu would attack the left and right wings?

The same reason.

If he deployed his troops in Huaixian or Yin'an, wouldn't he be afraid of the other side launching a swift attack?
Therefore, Yuan Shao would certainly not dare to transfer all his troops to Liyang.

In this way, a military advantage was created on the local battlefield.

In particular, the soldiers from Jingzhou under Liu Bei's command were better at steering than those from Hebei, which could be said to be using one's strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses, which added another layer of advantage.

If Yuan Shao saw Sima Yi, Liu Bei, and Gao Shun attacking, he would definitely worry about where the emperor and Lu Bu had gone and whether they would suddenly attack... This would distract Yuan Shao from concentrating on the front battlefield.

With such preparations, Liu Xie was confident that he had made the arrangements to perfection!

In this battle, we already have a 98% chance of winning!
"Uncle, have the batch of Zhuge Crossbows I gave you earlier been properly placed?"

"Your Majesty, everything has been settled!"

"Zixun, have you prepared all the formations I taught you before?"

"Your Majesty, everything is ready!"

"good!"

After finally settling all these things, Liu Xie breathed a sigh of relief.

Years of planning.

Years of waiting.

All have been vented at this moment.

What remains is to see what flowers it can bloom and what fruits it can bear.

"Gentlemen!"

Drinking is no longer allowed in the Han army. Even Lu Bu and Zhang Fei did not dare to violate military orders. Therefore, when Liu Xie stood up, he only had a cup of tea in his hand.

Upon seeing this, the generals immediately stood up and raised their glasses.

"Hebei has been occupied for nearly ten years!"

"Ten years of hard work all starts today!"

"If we can win this battle and recover Hebei, the world will be 80% stable!"

Liu Xie raised his cup high: "Finally, I will give you one last order——"

"Cross the river!"

"promise!"

……

Liyang, Hebei.

Yuan Shao, who was eating, suddenly twitched his nose: "Why is there a strong smell of pig and sheep in today's food?"

Upon hearing this, the servants knelt down immediately and said, "Master Yuan! Your meals have always only included beef and fish. How could there be meats such as pigs and sheep that are eaten by inferior people?"

"Besides, the beef you eat is all freshly born calves, and the fish is all freshly caught river carp. There is absolutely no peculiar smell!"

Yuan Shao picked up a piece of meat from the plate and put it under his nose. As expected, he could only smell the aroma of beef, and no other bad smell.

"Strange, where does this smell come from?"

Yuan Shao followed the smell and left the tent, thinking that his own soldiers were cooking for themselves, so he was about to scold them.

But when they went out to take a look, they found that the soldiers in Yuan’s camp were constantly swallowing their saliva, their mouths full of saliva, and they were all staring at the Han army camp on the other side of the river.

Seeing this, Yuan Shao also came to the river.

There seemed to be countless smoke rising above the Han army camp, and then there seemed to be a cloud of auspiciousness rising that looked like a canopy. Yuan Shao's face suddenly changed!
The smell of pork, mutton, salt and vinegar, and even the luxurious aroma of pepper and spices, all blew towards Hebei!

There is only one possibility for a meal this sumptuous!
"The Han army is about to attack!"

as predicted!

Gao Shun on the other side of the river finished chewing a piece of beef tendon and threw it directly into the grass.

After wiping his hands casually on his body, Gao Shun couldn't help but lick the grease on his lips: "This beef is so delicious!"

The other soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp also agreed.

The beef is so delicious!

Unfortunately, it is strictly forbidden to slaughter oxen for farming. Even the emperor doesn't eat beef very often. Even if he does, it's just old and dead yellow cattle. He gives it to the queen and several concubines in the palace from time to time. This is the only stingy thing about the emperor...

But today, the emperor directly dispatched twenty strong heifers to the Xianzhen Camp to feed them!
"Are you all full?"

"I am full!"

Not just full, I'm totally stuffed!
"Now that you're full, cheer up and act like a man!"

Gao Shun wiped away the last bit of oiliness from the corner of his mouth and drew out his sword.

"Get on the boat! Cross the river!"

(End of this chapter)