Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 378 The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit
The Nanqin River flows out of Taihang Mountain and merges with the Beiqin River in the northeast, and the two rivers converge into the Dalu Lake. On both sides of the Nanqin River, there are more than 100,000 soldiers and horses gathered.

The Ji army was facing the Nanqin River in front and backed by the Cishan Mountain. Its large camp was in the shape of a ladder, stretching from the mountain to the riverside. The camp was more than ten miles long, with flags fluttering and soldiers and horses coming in and out like a swarm of ants. The momentum was not to be underestimated. The Bing army was stationed in Hejian, with a submarine camp in the south along the Nanqin River and a camp in the north near the Beiqin River. The large camp was like a cone, and the Bing army's horses played in the water along the Qin River. Their momentum was no less than that of the Ji army.

The sky is clear and the river is clean.

Zhang Yu rode his horse slowly, guarded by his civil and military entourage, and they stopped by the bank of the Qin River, gazing across the water at the camp of Yuan's army.

After looking around for a while, Zhang Yu raised his whip, pointed at Yuan's camp, and asked his men, "Yuan Shao is occupying Cishan and blocking the Qinshui River. He has the advantages of mountains and dangerous waters. Our army is stationed in Hejian. Do you have any strategy to win?"

Jia Xu pulled the reins, looked up at the Cishan camp, and said, "Shanxi has the danger of Taihang Mountain. The towering Taihang Mountain and the danger of the Eight Passes are the key to stopping the enemy. Now we are attacking Hebei. The Eight Passes are narrow, which is the key to Hebei to stop us. I see that the morale of the Ji army is high, and the camp is dangerous with mountains and rivers. You may as well keep your troops in place and wait for the morale of the Ji army to decline."

"Stand still?"

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Our army's food and fodder have to be transported over long distances, while Yuan Shao is seeking food in Hebei. If we do not move our troops and continue the confrontation, we may be able to weaken the enemy's morale, but we will not be able to defeat him."

"My Lord, do you not forget the armies of Liu He and Li Song?"

Jia Xu said, "Before the expedition, you relied on Liu He and said that if the troops of Youzhou could go south, Yuan Shao would be scared and flee, so the key to victory lies in Youzhou. I was worried that Liu He's prestige would be weak and it would be difficult for the generals to be devoted. Now, according to the scouts, Yuan Shao is invading Youzhou with Tadun and Gongsun, and the generals of Youzhou will unite to resist in order to protect their hometown."

"Your Excellency is facing Yuan Shao here, watching the developments in Youzhou and Changshan. If Youzhou wins, Your Excellency can send your generals north and transfer the generals of Youzhou to the south. If Youzhou is in danger, you can send your generals north to relieve the siege, and then lead the generals of Youzhou to the south. If there is a sudden change in the northern border, Yuan Shao will be on pins and needles. Your Excellency can take advantage of the situation and attack him, and you will surely be able to defeat Yuan Shao."

"The strategy of Wenhe is stable!"

Zhang Yu nodded slightly, thought for a moment and said, "When I conquered Youzhou in the past, I showed great kindness to Xianyu Fu, Qi Zhou, and Tian Chou. Now I am going to conquer Hebei, and the generals of Youzhou dare not fail to help. If we can order the troops of Youzhou to move south, the situation will be favorable to our army."

The key to the victory of Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao was that the Shanxi civil and military officials had a consensus before the expedition, that is, tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry from Youzhou went south to attack the empty hinterland of Jizhou, which would completely change the situation. Now Jia Xu's strategy remained unchanged, and he still placed his hopes on Youzhou.

In fact, Jia Xu's strategy is not so much about pinning hopes on Youzhou as it is about adopting a steady strategy. After all, you can't pin your hopes on an unpredictable decisive battle in a war, but you have to gain more advantages for your army before the battle.

"I am afraid that Xianyu Fu and his generals are no match for Tadun and Gongsun Zan. If Youzhou is in danger of destruction, they will become a burden to our army." Guo Tu said worriedly.

"If Youzhou is destroyed and taken over by Yuan, our army will be in great trouble and it will be of great benefit to Yuan. Therefore, the victory or defeat depends on Youzhou, and it is not an empty statement!" Jia Xu said bluntly.

Zhang Liao was full of fighting spirit and said, "Your Excellency is not moving troops now, and you want to hold out for a long time with Yuan. However, Youzhou is a motley crowd, and we will win few but lose many. So it is better to fight quickly. You should be cautious. Liao is not afraid of Yuan!"

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "The Wuhuan intend to plunder. The soldiers of Youzhou are good at defending the city. If they cannot break through the city for a long time, they will retreat. Gongsun's troops are few, and when the Wuhuan retreat, they are not to be feared. Our army is facing across the river. If we want to defeat Yuan, we can only rely on cavalry. Now the river is blocked, which is beneficial to the enemy, so it is difficult to predict the outcome."

Zhang Yu thought about it for a while, then looked at Xun You and asked, "What do you think, Gongda?"

"I agree with Wen He. Yuan's army is in high spirits right now, so we should not clash with them. Besides, the enemy is occupying Cishan, and our army is camping by the water. They can see our strengths and weaknesses. If they insist on fighting, the outcome will be beyond our prediction." Xun You said solemnly, "This battle is about our success or failure, and whether you can conquer Hebei. We should be cautious in using our troops!"

Xun You pointed to Yuan's camp and said, "We are only a few feet away from the enemy camp, separated by a canal of water, and there are no large fields around. If Yuan Shao crosses the river and builds a bridge, he will slowly approach our camp, and our cavalry will be unable to move. We will suffer more defeats than victories."

"So, according to Youzhi's opinion, why don't you lead the army to retreat to Shangquanyi, lure the enemy out of the camp, and when the enemy leaves, we will return, and when the enemy returns, we will leave. Then we can use light cavalry to cross the Qianshui River, penetrate deep into the heart of Handan, and plunder their baggage. If there is any change in Youzhou, within a few months, we will be able to defeat the bandits!"

"good!"

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said, "Our army is good at cavalry, and we need to use the open field to win. Now the enemy has a floating bridge to cross the river, and the cavalry can't gallop, which will cut off our own hands and feet. We can follow Gongda's strategy and lead the troops to withdraw slightly to Shangquanyi, 40 miles away, and set up camp to lure Yuan's army out of the camp."

It was said before that the area between the Qinshui River and the Qinshui River is less than 200 miles from east to west and only 40 miles from north to south. Now we are going to Xiaying in Shangquanyi because we consider that the camp is too close to Qinshui River and the cavalry cannot charge. Moreover, Cishan Mountain is adjacent to Qinshui River, and from a high position, we can see all the changes of Zhang Yu's troops.

Therefore, setting up camp in Shangquanyi will create space for the cavalry to charge, breaking Feng Ji's plan to turn the tables, and avoiding continued observation of Yuan's army in Cishan and changes in their military operations.

As the name suggests, Shangquanyi has a spring flowing out of the mountain. When Zhang Yu's troops set up camp in Shangquanyi, they could occupy a high position and have a panoramic view of the movements of Hejian.

There is a lot of knowledge in choosing a camp and setting up a camp for war. In the final analysis, it is to benefit yourself and not the enemy, and you must consider it carefully. Don't be like Ma Su who forced his way up the mountain just to get a commanding position. The key is that without water, the army will inevitably be defeated.

When Zhang Yu and his attendants were directing Yuan's army camp, a cavalryman came galloping over on a fast horse, knelt down a few steps ahead and reported.

"My Lord, a spy from the Ji army has come to report!" "Tell me!"

"promise!"

The cavalry officer said, "Two days ago, Yuan Shao learned that Yan Liang was killed by our army, and wanted to order Wen Chou to lead the army to attack again. Tian Feng urged Yuan Shao to hold on to Julu, which made Yuan Shao very angry, so he put him in prison."

Since Yuan Shao chose to be the Duke of Wei, a few pro-Han scholars secretly joined Zhang Yu. Therefore, Zhang Yu was able to know the secrets of Yuan Shao's army thanks to these scholars.

After a pause, the cavalry officer said, "That day, Tian Feng proposed a plan to defeat our army. He wanted the army to retreat to Handan and hold it firmly, so as to lure the army away from Xingkou and consume our army's morale. When our army was short of food and grass, he would sneak out and occupy the land between the Qinshui River and the Qinshui River to cut off the food supply route to Fukou. Within a month, our army would be defeated."

Zhang Yu was amazed when he heard this, and said to his men, "Tian Yuanhao's strategy is similar to yours. If he gives up Cishan and lures our army to Handan, our army will not be able to take the strong city in front and will be in danger of losing its food supply in the back. Our army will be defeated. Yuan Shao failed to use Tian Feng's strategy and imprisoned the wise man. This is a sign that our army will defeat Yuan Shao!"

Zhang Yu was not afraid of Yuan Shao blocking the mountain pass, but he was most afraid of leading his army far away. After all, his food supply route was limited and he needed to rely on the mountain road in Bingzhou for food supply. If Yuan's army blocked the pass, the soldiers and food could not go out, and Zhang Yu would really be defeated due to lack of food.

Guo Tu stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Yuan Shao is jealous inside but lenient outside. Tian Feng is stubborn and offends his superiors. Xu You is greedy and unruly. Shen Pei is authoritarian but has no strategy. Feng Ji is self-centered and self-centered. Now that Tian Feng is punished, it shows that Yuan Shao can gather people but cannot use them. He is not as good as you, my Lord!"

"From what I can see in the map, Yuan Shao is a commoner hero who has taken over Hebei by relying on the reputation of three dukes for four generations. You can lead a strong army to conquer him with your divine power and help the needy. Why should you worry about not being able to defeat Yuan Shao?"

Zhang Yu was deeply moved by Guo Tu's flattery and said self-deprecatingly: "If Yuan Shao is defeated, people will praise him for this; if I am defeated, I am afraid they will say that I am good at military affairs."

Xun You raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile: "Then people in the world should not call You a coward because of his resourcefulness!"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "Then people will probably praise me for being treacherous and treacherous."

"It's not that he is greedy and violates the law!"

"The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. It has been like this since ancient times!" said Zhang Yu.

Seeing Zhang Yu and his advisers making an ominous joke, Zhang Liao interrupted and said, "Sir, Wen Chou is leading his troops north to Changshan. Should we inform Li Song and send more troops to reinforce him?"

Zhang Yu calmed down and said, "Li Song has more than 10,000 soldiers under his command, so there is no need to send reinforcements north. Now send a message to Li Song, asking him to reorganize his troops and confront Wen Chou first. If there is a chance to defeat the enemy, it will not be too late to send troops to fight."

"As ordered!"

Jia Xu took the time to greet the cavalry and said, "Who came up with the idea of persuading Yuan Shao to send troops to Youzhou? Does Tian Feng have any suggestions?"

"Replying to Lord Jia, Feng Ji and Shen Pei advised Yuan Shao to order Tadun and Gongsun to attack Youzhou from both sides, while Tian Feng advised Yuan Shao not to send troops to Youzhou!" The cavalryman hesitated for a moment and said, "Tian Feng believed that although Youzhou had a large number of troops, the generals were not united and had no intention of fighting for you. Therefore, he ordered Tadun to attack Youzhou and sent Gongsun to the south to attack Zhang Yan in order to cut off the road to Bing and Youzhou."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and sighed, saying: "Tian Yuanhao is indeed a man of great wisdom. It is fortunate for our army that Yuan Shao cannot use him."

Jia Xu then bowed to Zhang Yu and said, "Yuan Shao did not accept good advice and put Tian Feng in prison, which was really cutting off his own arm. Given Yuan Shao's character, he will definitely not use Tian Feng's strategy again in this battle. If you can defeat Yuan Shao, you might as well recruit Tian Feng to severely damage the prestige of the Yuan family, which will help you sweep across Hebei."

Zhang Yu rode back and said, "There are many strategists in Hebei, such as Cui Yan, who is a top strategist in Hebei. If we can conquer Hebei, we will use a lot of civil and military talents, and Tian Feng is also among them. I am just afraid that Tian Feng is unwilling to surrender."

"Tian Feng has been imprisoned by Yuan Shao, and his life is in danger. If Yuan Shao is defeated, there is no need to worry that Tian Feng will not surrender to you, my Lord." Guo Tu said with a smile.

If Tian Feng had not been imprisoned by Yuan Shao, it is hard to say whether he would surrender at the critical moment. But now that Tian Feng was imprisoned by Yuan Shao, Tian Feng claimed to be loyal to him, so it was inevitable that he would feel resentful. If he met a wise king who wanted to surrender, he would most likely surrender.

"It's too early to talk about trying to persuade Tian Feng to surrender. Let's first discuss how to defeat the Yuan family," said Zhang Yu.

In addition to working every day, the scholars also planned the future for Zhang Yu.

For example, when everyone was chatting last time, Guo Tu mentioned the story of Liu Xiu ascending the throne in Changshan intentionally or unintentionally. It is estimated that after defeating Yuan Shao, everyone would persuade Zhang Yu to take the title of king. However, if Yuan Shu usurped the throne of Han, it is likely that they would persuade Zhang Yu to become emperor instead.

Zhang Yu was actually quite interested in becoming a king and an emperor, but the prerequisite was to defeat Yuan Shao.

(End of this chapter)