My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 319 Free Trial Package How Much Do You Expect?
After Yuan Tan received the aid equipment, he quickly equipped a group of troops that had been withdrawn from the previous battle with Cao Cao.

Then he was handed over to the Qingzhou Commandant Guan Tong to lead the reorganization and prepare to launch a counterattack against Cao's army and temporarily lift the siege of Nanpi.

After making up his mind, Yuan Tan immediately informed Taishi Ci of his counterattack plan through Xin Pi, hoping that Taishi Ci could help him as a reserve force.

Before Taishi Ci came this time, he had obtained authorization from Liu Bei and the care of Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang.

Liu Bei originally allowed him to act according to his own convenience and to flex his muscles when necessary, so that Yuan Tan could see the benefits of forming an alliance with Liu Bei and make Yuan Tan more dependent on Liu Bei.

As for how to fight specifically and what can and cannot be done in principle, the Zhuge brothers also helped him plan a plan, which is similar to the "magic bag" mentioned by novelists. Taishi Ci only needs to evaluate himself according to that guiding ideology.

Of course, the plan given by the Zhuge brothers was definitely not as mysterious and specific as what Luo Guanzhong wrote.

They are all relatively general and principled things. For example, even if you join the war, you can only participate to a certain extent, you are not allowed to be a pioneer, you are not allowed to fight in the front line, you are not allowed to lose independent command, etc...

So after hearing about Xin Pi's request, Taishi Ci did not agree immediately. Instead, he compared his authorization and, after listening to Yuan Tan's strategic goals, he proposed his own plan.

Taishi Ci first confirmed with Xin Pi who delivered the message:

"Does Yuan Qingzhou want to take advantage of the fact that the military aid has just arrived and Cao's army is not on guard yet, and launch a counterattack in order to temporarily relieve Nanpi City?
Cao's army has been attacking Nanpi for two months without success, and now they are indeed slacking off. Have they already transferred some of their troops to the western front to attack elsewhere?"

Xin Pi's mind was full of Yuan Tan's mission, so he answered Taishi Ci's questions with all his heart and sincerity:

"General Taishi is indeed sharp and got to the point right away. The eldest son's plan is exactly what the general expected. Moreover, Cao Cao is now at the foot of Nanpi City, and the siege has indeed been relaxed, and the number of troops is not very large.

Cao's attitude towards Nanpi should have changed from an initial one-shot attack to a protracted siege - after all, after he entered the hinterland of Hebei, there were thousands of miles of fertile plains and flat land.

The first stage of Cao's goal was to advance northward to Yishui River, cut Jizhou into two parts, and then divide and surround it. Then the second step was to capture the most populous and richest enclave of Bohai County, which was separated from Yecheng where my lord was located.

But Cao Cao didn't expect that our lord would make a decisive decision in the face of danger and hand over the defense of Bohai County, which was divided into enclaves, to the eldest son, asking him to rely on Qingyou to defend it. In the previous two months, the eldest son transferred Zhang Nan and Wang Men from Youzhou to Bohai to defend Nanpi.

Seeing that Bohai County is no longer an easy target, Cao Cao changed his plan and turned west to attack Anping County and Julu County in the middle of Jizhou. The troops left outside Nanpi City are no longer strong enough to break the city and can only besiege it. This is a good opportunity for our army to take advantage of the opportunity and counterattack!"

Xin Pi gave a long and eloquent analysis and shared with Taishi Ci the latest front-line intelligence he had just obtained after returning to Yuan Tan's camp.

After listening to this, Taishi Ci also felt that if all this was true, then the opportunity was indeed good. It would be easy to win a small victory unexpectedly to boost the morale of Yuan Tan's side, and at the same time make Yuan Tan realize the benefits of cooperating with Liu Bei.

It is reasonable for Cao's army to turn back to Anping and Julu counties after the offensive was blocked in the past two months. Because the hinterland of Jizhou is all plains, after the initial excavation and division, it was found that the enclaves in the east were not easy to get, so it would naturally turn back to squeeze the "less easy" persimmons.

For Cao Cao, now is not the time to fight to the death on any tough bone, but the time to expand the results of the battle in the heart of the Hebei Plain as quickly as possible.

Although Yuan Shao was seriously ill and bedridden, the defense of Wei County, where Yecheng was located and Zhao County to the north of Wei County, where he was personally guarding, was still very strong. The western half of Julu County, the former site of Guangping between Wei and Zhao, should also have been well defended.

The entire Anping County in the central part of Jizhou and the eastern half of Julu County should be considered as weak fat meat. It is reasonable for Cao Cao to pick the fat meat first.

(Note: During the Western Han Dynasty, there was a Guangping County between Wei and Zhao in Jizhou. In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, Guangping County was merged into Julu County. Historically, it was not until the establishment of Cao Wei that Guangping County was separated from Julu again.

Therefore, at this time point in the sixth year of Jian'an, Guangping County does not exist. The current territory of Julu County is northeast-southwest, and is very long and narrow. Yuan Shao is very difficult to defend the part of Julu County northeast of Julu Lake. However, Yuan Shao is relatively easy to defend the part southwest of Julu Lake between Zhao and Wei.)
After careful assessment, Taishi Ci concluded that the Cao army outside Nanpi City was indeed at a relatively weak historical low.

If Yuan Tan's side had Zhang Nan and Wang Men defending the area from the inside and Guan Tong bringing reinforcements from the outside, plus his own support from the side, his chances of winning would be pretty good, at least he could surprise Cao Cao.

Zhang Nan in Romance of the Three Kingdoms is just a passerby, but his status in the official history is not low. The status of Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan in Youzhou is no less than that of Zhang He and Gao Lan in Jizhou. They are both among the top military generals in Youzhou.

It’s just because in history most of Youzhou surrendered directly when the Yuan family collapsed, and these people did not leave any military achievements.

As for Wang Men, he was not a famous general. He was originally under Gongsun Zan. When Gongsun Zan "stored food and defended Yijing Tower, and refused to send troops to rescue the generals scattered in other counties outside Yijing", Wang Men surrendered to Yuan Shao, and later turned against Gongsun Zan and participated in the final battle to attack Yijing Tower. After Gongsun Zan's demise, Wang Men was retained by Yuan Shao to garrison Youbeiping. Youzhou was now under the jurisdiction of Yuan Tan, so naturally he was also transferred here by Yuan Tan.

The three generals of Youzhou now used Jiaochu to defend the Yijing-Yishui defense line to prevent Cao's army from entering Youzhou. Zhang Nan and Wang Men guarded Nanpi City and other support points behind Bohai County respectively.

After understanding his own strength, Taishi Ci carefully asked another question: "Even if Cao's army besieging Nanpi has weakened and relaxed, who is still leading the siege? If there are famous generals guarding the city, our army should not underestimate the enemy."

Xin Pi had done his homework on this issue before coming, and he immediately revealed everything to reassure Taishi Ci: "General Taishi, don't worry about this! Since I dared to come here, I have already inquired about it.

Before Cao's army was divided, there were many flags outside Nanpi City, including scums such as Zhang He and Gao Lan, as well as miscellaneous surrendered generals such as Lü Weihuang and Zhao Rui. There was also Cao Hong, who was sent by Cao Cao to supervise Zhang He and Gao Lan, as well as Le Jin and Xu Huang under Cao Hong.

Later, Cao's army was divided, and Le Jin and Xu Huang were sent to attack Anping and Julu counties respectively. So now under Nanpi City, only Cao Hong is left in command, sitting on the eastern front, with surrendered generals such as Zhang He and Gao Lan under his command, which shows that his intention is to besiege rather than fight. "

Taishi Ci certainly didn't know that in the original history books, "Le Jin, Xu Huang and Zhang He" could be ranked third among the "Five Elite Generals".

As for the remaining two, Zhang Liao has already surrendered to Liu Bei, and Yu Jin is now on the southern frontier in the direction of Wancheng to guard against Liu Bei and Liu Biao, under the command of Xiahou Dun. At this point in time, it is exactly before and after the "Battle of Bowangpo" in history. Cao Cao also had to keep heavy troops in the south to guard against it, and it was impossible for all the famous generals to be sent to Hebei.

Therefore, Cao Cao sent only three of the five best generals to Hebei. Previously, he had placed all three of them in the direction of Nanpi, which shows how much he valued Yuan Tan. Now he could not bear this tough task, so he transferred two of them away.

Even if Taishi Ci didn't know about the "Five Great Generals", he would still assess the enemy's combat effectiveness. He saw that there was only one Zhang He left in the enemy camp with good combat effectiveness, and with Cao Hong who got the position of commander by being close to him, he did have a chance to fight.

However, Cao Hong and Zhang He are not weak after all. Now we can only say that they have a chance, not a sure win. Taishi Ci must also consider the depth and form of his intervention.

If Yuan Tan used a trick to drag Liu Bei's camp into the water, causing Liu Bei's camp to bear the main output of Cao Cao's side, Taishi Ci would have to apologize.

While thinking, Taishi Ci recalled the care and deductions of Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang before he set out, and finally came up with a feasible solution:

"It's not impossible for me to participate in this battle, but Yuan Qingzhou's battle plan must be coordinated with ours. After all, I'm not the governor of Donglai yet, and I don't have the responsibility to obey the orders of the governor of Qingzhou. Our army will only participate in the battle of Nanpi according to our own plan."

Xin Pi was very patient and did not express his opposition directly. Instead, he kindly asked Taishi Ci to tell him about his plan first so that they could discuss it.

The other party was only here to help out on a voluntary basis, and Yuan Tan's side really couldn't ask for too much.

Taishi Ci boldly told his plan: "First, this battle may require some time to prepare in advance, at least half a month for my army to plan, and I may also need to borrow some deputy generals from General Guan of Xuzhou to help.

Secondly, since we are planning to rescue Nanpi City, I think it would be better to raise a signal and take advantage of the opportunity before the Bohai Sea and Zhangshui River freeze in winter to rush to use the Zhangshui waterway to transport a batch of winter food and fodder to Nanpi City.

Our troops are all from the south, so they are definitely not as good as the Hebei troops in land warfare, but they have an advantage in naval warfare. If the Zhang River dries up in mid-November, the water level will drop, and large warships will no longer be able to enter. By the twelfth month, the riverbed will be completely frozen, and there will be no place for them to fight.

Therefore, this battle must be completed before the beginning of November at the latest, before the dry water in Qing and Ji freezes. Seeing the dry water coming, Cao thieves will not be on guard against the Zhang River, and they have never seen the new warships of the southern princes. How can they stop them in a hurry if they only rely on infantry and cavalry?
When Zhang He and Gao Lan fail in their attempts to intercept the grain transport fleet and their morale is dampened by the unfavorable battle, your army can send Captain Guan and Commandant Wang to lead troops to assist in the battle by land, and cooperate with General Zhang in Nanpi City, and perhaps we can defeat the enemy.

Even if Cao's bandits are stubborn and cannot inflict heavy damage on the siege troops, we can still protect the city of Nanpi, and our army can also withdraw while we are ahead, return downstream along the Zhang River, and retreat to the coast of Bohai Sea.

Because our army was fighting on the Zhangshui River the whole time, even if there were casualties, most of them could be towed away by the ships. As long as the warships were not sunk by the enemy, it would be difficult for Cao to capture our prisoners. In this way, even if our army raised the flag of Yuan Qingzhou's troops, Cao would find it difficult to distinguish them. "

Taishi Ci always insisted on "fighting Cao Cao under the banner of Yuan Tan's troops", which was to implement Zhuge Jin's plan for Liu Bei: "Don't raise the flag if you can, and try it with the posture of a proxy war first."

The easiest way to keep a low profile is to use the form of a fleet naval battle and participate in the battle via the Zhang River throughout the entire battle.

Yuan Tan can refuse to agree, but if he does, let Yuan Tan fight on his own and Taishi Ci will not accompany him.

They were here just to help out voluntarily and show their strength, which was equivalent to a "free trial package", and Yuan Tan couldn't ask for more.

(End of this chapter)