Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 269 Zhang Yu is fighting a very new kind of war
March, the first year of Xingping.

When Cao Cao's biological father Cao Song passed by Mount Tai, Tao Qian took advantage of the fact that Ying Shao, the prefect of Mount Tai, had not yet led his troops to arrive and sent his subordinate Zhang Kai to lead cavalry to rob and kill Cao Song and his family.

After Cao Song was killed, Zhang Kai, fearing that he would be held accountable, took Cao Song's money and fled south to Yuan Shu; Taishan Prefect Ying Shao, fearing that Cao Cao would blame him, led his army north to Yuan Shao to seek refuge.

When Cao Cao heard the news of Cao Song's death, he was furious and ordered Xun Yu and Cheng Yu to guard Juancheng, while he sent troops from Yanzhou to attack Xuzhou. Tao Qian was terrified and sent Cao Bao to lead troops to resist, and sent people to ask for help from Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, hoping to help Xuzhou.

When the war broke out in Henan, undercurrents had already been surging in Hebei.

Zhang Yu and Liu He combined an army of about 60,000 and stationed them in Juyang, hoping to break through Juyong and enter the pass; Gongsun Zan sent Guangyang Prefect Shan Jing to guard Juyong, and Yuyang Prefect Zou Dan to support him, in order to suppress Zhang Yu; Yuan Shao sent Qu Yi, Chunyu Qiong, Zhang He, Wen Chou and other generals to station in the three counties of Wei, Changshan and Boling, hoping to observe the outcome of Youzhou and then use military force.

On March 15, Li Song and Qi Zhou led their troops southward and deliberately released news of the use of troops from Puyin Pass to Yannan to Youzhou. Zhang Yu asked Xianyu Fu to be the guide and led his troops to explore the small road to Gubei Road.

Zhuojun, Zhuo County.

Inside the palace hall, Guan Jing looked worried and said, "Zhang Yu conquered Bai Bo and defeated Li Jue, making him a famous general in the world. My Lord, you left Zou Dan and Shan Jing to lead the troops to defend the city, but I'm afraid they are no match for Zhang Yu."

Gongsun Zan was full of confidence and said, "Juyong Pass is dangerous. I have 10,000 soldiers stationed at Juyong, which is enough to resist Zhang Yu. In addition, Yuyang prefect Zou Dan has 10,000 infantry and cavalry. The two of them have 20,000 soldiers in total. With the dangerous pass of Yanshan in hand, how can Zhang Yu break through the pass and enter Yan?"

Gongsun Zan then said, "If we follow your plan, Zhang Yu will enter Zhuo County from Puyin Road. If I don't lead the troops to station there, won't I just leave Zhuo County to Zhang Yu? Yuan Shao has sent Qu Yi and Wen Chou to station troops in Boling. I can't help but worry!"

How great it was to deal with Liu Yu then, how miserable Gongsun Zan is now. Zhang Yu stationed his troops in the north of Yan, and Yuan Shao deployed his troops between Zhao and Yan. Gongsun Zan had to choose one side to deploy his troops, and the other half to send his generals to station.

After careful consideration, Gongsun Zan decided to let Shan Jing and Zou Dan block Yanshan, while he would guard Zhuo County in order to stop Zhang Yu from invading from Puyin Xing and Yuan Shao, whose intentions were difficult to predict.

"Report!"

While Gongsun Zan and Guan Jing were discussing, an attendant quickly entered the tent and said, "Yuan Shao has sent someone to deliver a letter to you, sir!"

Gongsun Zan took the letter and read what Yuan Shao had written. He immediately sneered.

"Does Yuan Benchu want to deceive me because I have no strategy?"

Gongsun Zan said to Guan Jing sarcastically, "Yuan Shao said that he would not forget the alliance between the two families. Now he told me not to worry about the affairs of Zhao and Yan, and to go north to fight Zhang Yu. I am afraid that when the army goes north, Yuan Shao will send troops to attack me!"

Guan Jing's brain was running out of ideas. He knew that the situation of the three families in Hebei was complicated, but he always felt that he had missed something. It was difficult for him to figure out the direction of the three families' situation in this battle based on the current situation. In particular, it was difficult for him to make a clear judgment on whether Yuan Shao was an enemy or an ally.

After thinking for a while, Guan Jing said, "Although Bohai had a population of one million before, after years of war, nearly half of Bohai's registered permanent residence has been lost, and most of them have fled north to Youzhou."

"So if the general is worried about Yuan Shao's rebellion, it would be better to use Bohai as a condition and send someone to temporarily cede Bohai to Yuan Shao. This will make Yuan Shao help me wholeheartedly. If Yuan Shao sends troops to Shangdang and Henei, he can force Zhang Yu to return to the Three Jins."

The widespread war in Jizhou not only caused the people to flee to Bingzhou on a large scale, but also to the peaceful Youzhou area. When Liu Yu was alive, Youzhou was not only free from war, but also had stable grain prices, as if it were a peaceful and prosperous era.

Most of the people who fled to Youzhou were from Bohai and Hejian, with a number as high as hundreds of thousands or even nearly one million.

Hearing this, Gongsun Zan became furious and said, "Do you think I am not as good as Zhang Yuer?"

"If Zhang Yu and Liu He raise an army to attack me, I will surely defeat them. If I cede land to Yuan Shao now, it will be like paying back the fire. The stronger Yuan Shao becomes, the weaker I will become. Moreover, if I am really defeated by Zhang Yu, it will not be too late to use Bohai to lure Yuan Shao to send troops!"

Gongsun Zan was more confident than nervous about the fighting capability of Zhang Yu's troops.

In his opinion, the reason for his previous defeat to Yuan Shao was simply because his infantry was not as good as Yuan Shao's elite, and Yuan Shao used powerful crossbows to deal with him. Zhang Yu and he were both born as frontier military men, so weren't the soldiers under his command good at riding and shooting?

He was well versed in the art of commanding cavalry, so how could he be inferior to Zhang Yu in the use of cavalry? Back then, he had used cavalry to attack the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou halfway across the river, beheading tens of thousands of them, and thus became famous all over the world!
Compared to Gongsun Zan's confidence, Guan Jing looked embarrassed. It seemed that ceding land to Yuan Shao was not a good choice. But if Zhang Yu won and ceded land to Yuan Shao, wouldn't Gongsun Zan lose more?

Ok?
Why does he always think from the perspective that Zhang Yu will win?

In order to ensure the safety of the Yanshan defense line, Gongsun Zan said sternly: "Send someone to inform Zou Dan and Shan Jing that if the Yanshan Pass is lost and the enemy soldiers break through, I will kill them both!"

"As you wish!" the attendant said with a serious expression and a bow.

When Gongsun Zan was feeling good, Xianyu Fu spent several days exploring and finally found a small path between Jundu Road and Gubei Road in Yanshan Mountain.

Upon learning of the trail exploration, Zhang Yu did not hesitate and led 10,000 soldiers and 5,000 cavalry each. The infantry used camels and pack horses as mounts, and the cavalry used pairs of horses as mounts. At that time, the army, with Xu Huang and Xian Yu Fu as the vanguard, headed northeast.

Although there were many valleys and gullies along the four or six hundred miles from Juyang to Beigukou, the army's route was mostly through river valleys because of Xianyu Fu's guidance.

The army first traveled 200 li to Gushui (today's Baihe River). Although Gushui River flows southeast and runs through Yuyang County, the river is difficult to navigate at the end of the Yanshan Mountains, with cliffs all along the way, so the army had to travel east to Baoqiushui River. After traveling more than 100 li to Baoqiushui River (today's Chaohe River), the army finally got out of the most difficult section of the Yanshan area and arrived at a relatively flat mountainous area.

The channels of Baoqiu River and Gu River in Yanshan Mountain are almost parallel, except that the steepness of the mountainous areas they flow through is different, so Baoqiu River still runs across Yuyang County.

After walking along the Baoqiu River for dozens of miles, the army could already see Gubeikou in the distance.

When the Xiongnu was strong in the Western Han Dynasty, the Han built a fortification at Gubeikou. However, unlike Juyongguan, it was not built into a pass, but a tower built based on the terrain.

There are still soldiers stationed at the Duntai, but the number is not large. The soldiers at the Duntai did not expect Zhang Yu to enter the pass from Gubei Road, and when they saw Xu Huang leading his troops to attack, they were in chaos.

Soon, under the guidance of Xianyu Fu, Gubeikou was easily conquered by Xu Huang, and then Zhang Yu was welcomed into Gubeikou.

In the deep ravine, the army was arranged in rows of two, with the infantry leading the horses and camels, the infantry dismounted and walked slowly, the military flags were fluttering, the army stretched for more than ten miles, and marched out towards the pass.

On both sides of the road, Xun You rode on his horse, looking at the fully mechanized army, and couldn't help but be secretly surprised.

Since he joined Zhang Yu's army, he saw many different things in the army, such as the cloth armor under the outer garment, the high saddle that was standard for cavalrymen, and the camels that both the infantry and cavalry in the army had.

Camels were especially important. He had only known about these animals from books and pictures. But when he arrived in Bingzhou, he realized that camels could be used in the army. Camels have a strong carrying capacity, almost several times that of horses, and their speed is similar to that of horses. In their spare time, camels can also farm. This is truly a miracle!
Now Zhang Yu seems to be relying on camels, so he dares to take a large-scale detour. The distance between the military road and Gubeikou is no less than 500 or 600 miles, and the army will not be short of food, isn't it relying on the powerful carrying capacity of camels?

No matter what the defending general thought, it would be hard for him to imagine that any troops would dare to take a long detour to fight without running out of food.

Even if the defenders knew about it, it would be hard to guard against it. A troop that can take a detour over long distances has a wide range of attack and many roads to pass through, so they have to set up defenses everywhere. And what is the difference between setting up defenses everywhere and having no defenses at all?

Xun You was sure that Zhang Yu's use of troops was very novel, turning long-distance raids into the norm and catching the enemy off guard.

Now, if we ignore Zhang Yu's lust and think about how he treats his subordinates, Xun You would think to himself, "Zhang Yu is truly an outstanding leader!"

"I wanted to establish my own regime in the beginning, but compared with Zhang Yu, I am far behind him. It is better for me to assist Zhang Yu and leave my name in the history books."

When Xun You was feeling lucky for joining his army, Zhang Yu was looking at the towering cliffs, and his heroic spirit suddenly rose.

Zhang Yu turned around, raised his whip and pointed to the sky, and said to his advisers with a smile: "Gongsun Zan actually thought that he could stop me with just the Yanshan Mountains. But now that I have passed the northern entrance, there is no danger to the south of Yan, and he will be defeated!"

Seeing Zhang Yu open champagne before the battle, Xianyu Fu was worried that Zhang Yu would get too excited, so he reminded him: "Sir, our army sneaked across Gubei, and the enemy's movements are unknown for the time being. Now we need to seize Guangping City and then defeat Zou Dan of Yuyang. And my Xianyu family is famous in Yuyang. If Zou Dan is defeated, I will persuade the officials in the county, and Yuyang will be able to surrender."

"Furthermore, you must take advantage of Gongsun Zan's dispatch of troops to rescue us, and then take Juyong Pass and welcome the army into southern Yan. Otherwise, you will be trapped in southern Yan without the support of the army, and the situation will be dangerous!"

"If we welcome a large army into southern Yan, with the remaining grace of Lord Liu, the counties will see that the situation is no longer in Gongsun Zan's hands and will surrender one after another. Gongsun Zan's power will be gone!" Xianyu Fu said.

"it is good!"

Although Zhang Yu was excited about smuggling through Gubeikou, he was not too excited.

Listening to Xian Yufu's suggestion, Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said approvingly: "My words are very much in my heart!"

"Where is Zilong?"

"I am here!" Zhao Yun rode his horse forward and replied.

"I order you to lead a thousand cavalrymen to help the army first break through Guangping, and then send cavalrymen to investigate Zou Dan's movements!"

"As ordered!"

After receiving the order to lead the army, Zhao Yun immediately went to his cavalry. He reined in his horse and waved to the cavalrymen, who then pulled the reins and mounted their horses and assembled under the flag.

After Zhao Yun left, Tian Chou looked at the blue sky, frowned and said, "In the past, it would rain in the spring, but why hasn't it rained for several days?"

"No rain today is a good thing!"

Guo Tu rode his horse forward and said with a smile: "If it rains in spring and the ground becomes muddy, our army will have a hard time moving forward!"

ps: There will be another chapter tonight!
(End of this chapter)