Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 212: Troops Dispatch and Hebei is Shocked
March, Zhending.

"My lord, although Gongsun Zan was defeated at Jieqiao, the troops of Youzhou are strong. Gongsun Zan took advantage of Cui Juye's withdrawal and defeated him at Jumashui, beheading thousands of people. Now he is leading his troops to plunder Jizhou in the south."

Zhang Yan sat on the chair and reported to Zhang Yu on the current situation in Hebei.

"Gongsun Zan is famous in Hebei, he must be quite capable!"

Zhang Yu raised his lips slightly and asked, "How many counties in Jizhou does Gongsun Zan still have?"

Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm afraid not much. Before the battle of Jieqiao, Yuan Shao already controlled the five counties of Wei, Zhao, Julu, Dong, and Ganling. After defeating Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao sent his general Cui Juye to the north, while he led his troops to the east."

"Cui Juye went north, and the two counties of Zhongshan and Boling sent people to surrender, so Cui Juye was able to besiege Zhuo County and keep it safe. Yuan Shao led his troops eastward and conquered Anping County, and he should have the intention of taking Hejian and Bohai counties."

"Gongsun Zan has now defeated Cui Juye, who has retreated to Zhongshan County. Although it is unknown whether Gongsun Zan can retake Zhongshan County, the two counties of Hejian and Bohai should still be in Gongsun Zan's hands."

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and asked, "Except for the three counties of Changshan, Bohai, and Hejian, all the other counties in Jizhou have been conquered by Yuan Shao, right?"

"not sure!"

Zhang Yan shook his head and said, "Yuan Shao was once the governor of Bohai. He should have some old subordinates in Bohai County. However, Gongsun Fan is the governor of Bohai County. He should have defended the city for Gongsun Zan. The news is mixed now. Yan still does not know the situation in Bohai."

"Yuan Shao is so fast!"

Guo Tu frowned and said, "When Yuan Shao succeeded Han Fu, he only had one county in Wei. Now he has taken over most of Jizhou and controls the key points of the Yellow River with Dongjun."

Zhang Yan complained, "Yuan Shao took control of Jizhou and made great use of the scholars in Hebei. Since he defeated Gongsun Zan, all the counties have sent letters to surrender and are happy to welcome Yuan Shao. Many of the nobles in Changshan counties have contact with Yuan Shao. If you don't stop them now, Yuan Shao will dominate Hebei alone."

Yuan Shao was able to issue an edict to all the counties in Hebei not only because of his high reputation and admiration, but more importantly because he possessed a strong ability to integrate resources.

Yuan Shao relied on the Yingchuan scholars to lobby Han Fu for him. However, after Yuan Shao came to power, in order to stabilize the situation in Hebei, Yuan Shao vigorously promoted the civil and military officials of Hebei who were frustrated under Han Fu, such as Shen Pei, Ju Su, Tian Feng, Zhu Ling, Zhang He and others.

Thanks to the loyalty of the nobles of Jizhou, Yuan Shao was able to gather 20,000 to 30,000 elite troops within two or three months to resist Gongsun Zan's attack. Now, after defeating Gongsun Zan, he could issue an edict to surrender all the counties.

Fortunately, Gongsun Zan had Youzhou to rely on. Although he suffered a great defeat at Jieqiao, he still had enough strength to gather an army and make a comeback. However, even if Cui Juye was defeated today, it would be difficult to change the situation where Yuan was strong and Sun was weak.

Unless Gongsun Zan can defeat Yuan Shao and regain the lost Jizhou counties!
"Sir, now that Gongsun Zan has defeated Cui Juye, the danger in Zhuo County has been temporarily resolved, but the dangers in Bohai and Hejian are difficult to eliminate. So in my opinion, in order to prevent Bohai from being taken by Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan will definitely lead his troops south and look for an opportunity to fight Yuan Shao again." Xin Pi said.

"I thought so too!"

Guo Tu agreed and said, "Bohai County is a rich county with a population of over one million. It is the foundation for Gongsun Zan to fight for supremacy in Jizhou. If Bohai is taken by Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan will have no choice but to withdraw to Youzhou."

Zhang Yu stared at the map of Jizhou and, based on his remaining historical memory, outlined the trajectory of Gongsun Zan's actions in history.

After the defeat at Jie Bridge, perhaps because Yuan Shao's troops had reached Zhuo County, Liu Yu provided more food and troops to Gongsun Zan in order to prevent Yuan Shao's forces from dominating Hebei, and drove Cui Juye out of Youzhou.

After the victory, Gongsun Zan led his troops south to relieve the difficulties in Bohai, but was defeated by Yuan Shao and withdrew from the battle for hegemony in Hebei. Afterwards, Gongsun Zan attacked and killed Liu Yu, reoccupied the counties of Youzhou, and was eventually eliminated by Yuan Shao.

The situation is now very clear. He must protect Bohai County, which has a population of one million, for Gongsun Zan. Otherwise, if Yuan Shao controls Jizhou alone, he will turn around and fight for Qing, Bing and Youzhou.

Although Wei County was the seat of Jizhou, its population was not the largest. At its peak, it had only about 700,000 people. After the Yellow Turban and Black Mountain Rebellions, the population was estimated to have declined significantly. At its peak, Bohai County had a population of 1.1 million, more than Bingzhou, and second only to Nanyang, Runan, and Shu.

Seeing that Zhang Yu remained silent for a long time, Zhang Yan asked tentatively: "Sir, what should we do now?"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment, looked at Zhang Yan, and asked, "Can Yu Du and Sui Gu be used now?"

Zhang Yan said, "My Lord, Yu and Sui are plundering Dongjun and are fighting with Cao Cao, the governor of Dongjun. What do you think?"

Zhang Yu walked to the map, pointed at Yecheng, and said, "Yecheng is close to Linlu. Now that Yuan Shao has led his troops to the east, his capital must be empty. If we can let Yu and Sui rob Yecheng, it will surely make Yuan Shao worried."

"My lord, do you want to attack Ye City to force Yuan Shao to withdraw his troops and rescue Gongsun Zan?" Zhang Yan asked.

Zhang Yu pursed his lips and said, "Cao Cao is in Dongjun. It may not be easy to force Yuan Shao to withdraw his troops."

After a pause, Zhang Yu asked, "I have 15,000 cavalry under my command. I wonder how many troops can you provide, brother Zhang?"

"Leave a few thousand old and weak to defend the land, and Yan can send out tens of thousands of strong and healthy people!" Zhang Yan said.

"good!"

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Gong Ze, have someone spread the word that I am leading 30,000 troops to station in Changshan. Also investigate the current situation of Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, and make a decision when the situation in Hebei is clear."

"Yes!" Since the news that Zhang Yu stationed troops in Zhending spread, all the counties in Jizhou were shocked. Shen Pei, who stayed in Yecheng, heard the news and reported it to Yuan Shao who was stranded in Anping County on horseback.

April, Xindu.

Yuan Shao sat on the couch, with civil and military officials headed by Ju Su and Qu Yi sitting on his left and right.

"My lord, since defeating Cui Juye, Gongsun Zan has led his infantry and cavalry through Hejian County and headed south. He has now arrived at Dongguang in Bohai and has joined forces with the troops of Bohai Governor Gongsun Fan," said Ju Su.

Qu Yi said with regret: "Cui Juye is not a great general. He led a large army deep into Zhuo County, but was defeated by Gongsun Zan. If you had replaced me, I would have been able to help you clean up the northern You and Ji areas. How could I have let Gongsun Zan make a comeback? Now that Cui Juye has been defeated, you have missed the opportunity to conquer Bohai."

Yuan Shao glanced at Qu Yi and felt annoyed.

Since defeating Gongsun Zan at Jieqiao and beheading Jizhou Governor Yan Ji, Qu Yi has become more and more daring. He had previously requested to lead troops to pursue Gongsun Zan, and he chose Cui Juye to lead the troops for him, considering the relationship of loyalty. Now, Qu Yi accused Cui Juye of incompetence in front of everyone, and said that he did not use him to lead the troops. Isn't this just saying that he has no ability to judge people?

"cough!"

As if sensing Yuan Shao's dissatisfaction, Ju Su interrupted Qu Yi's nonsense and said, "A thousand of Gongsun Zan's soldiers were killed, and thousands of soldiers were captured. Although Gongsun Zan can now lead troops to attack us, his troops will no longer be as strong as before."

"You have subdued the people of Leping and recruited the cavalry of Zhongshan. The elite infantry and cavalry under your command are far superior to Gongsun Zan. If we fight again now, Gongsun Zan will definitely not be your opponent."

Tian Feng said, "What Ju Jun said makes sense. Gongsun Zan is brave but has no strategy. If he leads his troops to fight, he will definitely not be a match for you. In my opinion, it is better to lead the troops eastward, defeat Gongsun, and accept the surrender of Bohai and Hejian counties. Send a general southward to pacify the Qingzhou counties for you."

On the eve of the chaos, the governor of Qingzhou was Jiao He, who led his troops westward to fight against Dong. However, because he led his troops away from the country, the counties of Qingzhou were left empty, which led to the rebellion of the Yellow Turban Army. Jiao He had no military talent and could not suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion, so he gave up his official position and fled to Yuan Shao, which led to the growth of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou.

Gongsun Zan defeated the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, but because he intervened for a short time, he only sent Tian Kai and Liu Bei to control Pingyuan, and the rest of Qingzhou was temporarily uncontrolled. Therefore, when Yuan Shao led his troops to expand eastward, he would naturally annex Qingzhou.

"good!"

Yuan Shao looked dignified and said in a deep voice: "My son Yuan Tan has followed me in the conquests since he was young, and his merits have gradually become remarkable. Now I can appoint him as the governor of Qingzhou and let him lead a separate army into the plains."

"As for the governor, now that Jiao He is dead, we must have no one to govern the country. We can let Zang Hong be the governor of Qingzhou and help my son take charge of Qingzhou..."

Before Yuan Shao could finish his words, he saw the attendant hurried in and said, "Urgent news from Yecheng, according to a letter from the deputy driver, Zhang Yu led his troops eastward from Jingxing, and now he has joined forces with Zhang Yan to station 30,000 troops in Changshan and Zhending. I don't know what he wants to do, but I'm afraid that Bingzhou's troops will help Gongsun Zan!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the hall's faces changed in shock. Now Gongsun Zan led his troops to make a comeback, and Zhang Yu led his troops to appear in Changshan. They might be eyeing Jizhou.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind!"

Xu You said with a grim expression, "Mr. Mingshen, Zhang Yu must have seen that Weijun was empty, so he led his troops eastward to seize Weijun. Or Gongsun Zan may have written to Zhang Yu and asked him to divide Jizhou. In your opinion, we need to return to rescue Weijun now."

"not sure!"

Tian Feng pondered and said, "If Zhang Yu is determined to take Weijun, why not lead his troops east through Huguan and attack Yecheng directly? Instead, he went through Jingxing to Changshan so that our army would know his military movements?"

"So in Feng's opinion, Zhang Yu may not have any intention of plotting against our Yecheng, or he may not have been invited by Gongsun Zan."

"Huh? Why do you say that, Mr. Tian?"

Xu You sneered and said, "If Zhang Yu's ambitions were not mine, why did he send troops to Changshan?"

"This~"

Tian Feng frowned and hummed, feeling troubled.

Seeing everyone arguing about the reason why Zhang Yu sent troops, Yuan Shao became more and more angry at Zhang Yu's actions. After all, no matter what, Zhang Yu's troops were most likely sent against him.

Ju Su stroked his beard and thought, and said, "Mingsir, Zhang Yu's intention of sending troops is to attack Jizhou. Now it is better to withdraw the troops to Tangyang and send an envoy to Zhang Yu to inquire about his intention. If Zhang Yu takes Yecheng in the south, Mingsir can follow the strategy of saving Zhao and attacking Wei. Yecheng is strong and dangerous. If Shen Jun is stationed in person, Zhang Yu will not be able to take it. Mingsir can take Changshan in the north to relieve the difficulties of Weijun."

Yuan Shao restrained his emotions and said calmly, "Qu Yi leads 3,000 elite soldiers to defend Wuyi. I will withdraw to Tangyang. If Gongsun Zan attacks, Qu Yi will defend the city for me."

"I obey your command!" Qu Yi was overjoyed and stood up to receive the order.

"Order Xun Chen to go to Zhang Yu and find out for me the purpose of Zhang Yu's sending troops!" Yuan Shao ordered: "If Zhang Yu intends to attack me, I will defeat Zhang Yu first, and then defeat Gongsun Zan."

"Your Excellency is wise!" everyone said in unison.

(End of this chapter)