Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 466 Pacifying the Central Plains
The day of departure is August 17th, but it is now the beginning of July. We need to inform the troops of all the divisions so that they have enough time to make arrangements.

Inside the Privy Council, Zhang Yu discussed military matters with his advisors and civil and military officials.

"Your Highness has mobilized 100,000 troops for the expedition. I wonder which units you have ordered to conquer the coast, and which units Your Highness will personally lead?" Xun You asked.

Looking at the huge map on the wall, Zhang Yu said, "When we go down to Hebei, we will organize 30,000 soldiers into six armies, Youzhou can send 10,000, and Guanzhong can send 60,000, for a total of 100,000."

"Remember this, Jun Chu!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu instructed, "Now we will divide our troops into two routes. The eastern route will be led by Man Chong, the governor of Haizhou, with Zhang Yan as the deputy general, Tian Feng as the military protector, and Xin Ping as the military advisor. It will be led by Generals Hao Zhao and Gao Lan, with a total of 20,000 infantry and cavalry. Together with Yuan Tan's troops, we will attack Yuan Shang and focus on the coastal areas."

Zhao Zi quickly sketched to keep up with Zhang Yu's speaking speed.

"The Western Route Army gathered at Liyang, with Xun You as the commander-in-chief, Jia Xu as the protector of the army, Guo Tu as the commander of the army, and Guo Jia and Xun Chen as military advisors. I am the commander-in-chief, and Zhang Liao, Li Song, Xu Huang, and Zhang Yang concurrently serve as commanders-in-chief, along with generals such as Zhao Yun, Xu Shu, Zhang He, Qu Yi, Gao Shun, Xu Chu, Meng Ningzhi, Ke Bi, Zhang Xiu, and Xianyu Yin, totaling 80,000 infantry and cavalry."

Besides Zhang Yu, the most experienced commanders of a large army are none other than Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. However, considering various reasons, Zhang Yu chose Man Chong to be the commander-in-chief of the eastern route army.

As for why Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were not used, the reason is not hard to understand.

When a general leads troops alone for a long time, he inevitably develops deep relationships with his subordinates. More importantly, if one person achieves too many merits, he may be suspected of being too powerful and overshadowing his superior. Now, in order to protect Zhang Liao, Zhang Yu chose Man Chong, who was capable of commanding troops but had few experience in leading them.

Historically, during Liu Xiu's unification of China, he frequently rotated generals to serve as commanders-in-chief to prevent their achievements from overshadowing his own. Zhang Yu should now learn from Liu Xiu's approach; after all, if a general's achievements are too great, even if Zhang Yu doesn't care, trouble might still arise.

"He also ordered General Lü Bu to lead his army north to attack Yuan Xi, first defeating Yuan's army in Heji, and then joining forces with the main army to attack Zhang Miao in Chenliu."

"Yes, sir!" The person in charge accepted the order.

Commandant Lü Fan stepped forward from his seat, cupped his hands, and said, “Your Highness, our dynasty is only 800 li away from Nanyang via the Wuguan Pass. If the enemy invades through Wuguan, Chang’an will be in danger of being disturbed. Therefore, I believe that Your Highness should leave troops in Chang’an to prevent Yuan Shu from sending generals to attack Lantian.”

"Ok!"

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Ziheng will be appointed as the Commandant of the Capital Region, stationed in Chang'an, and will supervise Generals Zhang Feng and Cheng Pu. He is authorized to mobilize the Xiongnu troops in Xihe to prepare for any unforeseen events at Wuguan."

Compared to the last campaign against Yuan Shao, where only Zhang Feng guarded Lantian in Guanzhong, Zhang Yu now has a large and well-equipped army, allowing him to leave Cheng Pu with 5,000 troops to garrison the region. In reality, if Zhang Yu were pursuing a large-scale military campaign, he could have mobilized at least 150,000 troops for this southern expedition to the Central Plains, even if he couldn't mobilize 200,000. It's just that Zhang Yu prefers to use elite troops.

Of course, if Yuan Shu is defeated, and the next step is to attack Jing and Yang, 100,000 troops will not be enough. After all, the south is vast and requires a large number of troops to garrison many places, and the troops should be divided into multiple routes.

"Yes, sir!" Lü Fan replied.

Lu Fan sat down briefly, and Tian Feng rose and said, “Yuan Tan surrendered to Your Highness because he was desperate. If things change, Yuan Tan will surely betray Your Highness. In my opinion, the Eastern Route Army should not advance alongside him. Yuan Tan should be allowed to lead his own army to conquer other prefectures separately. If he advances alongside the main army, and Yuan Tan wishes to rebel, he will turn against us, and our army will be defeated!”

"You will be the commander of the Eastern Route Army, and we will proceed as Tian Jun has suggested," Zhang Yu said.

"Feng accepts the order!" Tian Feng solemnly accepted the command.

After arranging everything, Zhang Yu looked at Jia Xu and Xun You and asked, "Do you two have any different opinions?"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and pondered, then said, "Your Highness's army is gathered in Hanoi. It would be better to select a general as the vanguard and join forces with Lü Bu to attack Yuan Xi. If we let Lü Bu go alone, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold the line."

"it is good!"

After a moment's thought, Zhang Yu said, "Let Li Song, the governor of Yinzhou, be the vanguard. Let him cross the river and join forces with Lü Bu to attack Yuan Xi, pacify the enemy on the Heji River, and ensure the smooth transport of grain."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu looked at Xun You and asked, "How is the collection of provisions going?"

Xun You said, "Your Highness, the grain from Hebei will be transported down the Baigou River to Henan, then transferred to the Yellow River, and finally carried down the Guandu River to the Central Plains. As for the protracted conflict, the grain from Guanzhong will be transported down the Yellow River and then transferred to the Guandu River to supply Your Highness's army."

"All boats have been requisitioned. There are three hundred boats on the Yellow River and four hundred boats on the Hebei River. Seven hundred boats are used to transport grain, and supplies are continuously provided."

After a pause, Xun You analyzed, "Compared to our army's transport of grain to Henan via canal, Yuan Shu's army needs to transport grain by both water and land, which is not as convenient as ours. If the stalemate continues for a long time, and winter comes, the waterways will dry up, and Yuan Shu's army will likely run out of grain."

Henan has a complex water network, but the major rivers all run either northwest to southeast or south to north, eventually flowing into the Huai River. Therefore, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, most of the Southern Dynasties' northern expeditions started from the Huai River, using the waterway to transport grain.

Another key point about the Southern Dynasties' northern expeditions to the Central Plains was that they did not choose to wage war in winter, because the waterways dried up, making it difficult to transport troops and supplies, and sometimes even resulting in no way to retreat.

Historically, Huan Wen's last northern expedition began in Huainan, passed through the Sishui River in Xuzhou, and then flowed into the Yellow River at Qingshui in Yanzhou. It was already autumn by then. Xi Chao advised Huan Wen to either directly attack Yecheng to secure victory, or to hold the river and control the supply lines, waiting for the summer to launch his attack. Huan Wen rejected both of Xi Chao's strategies, choosing instead to confront Murong Chui at Fangtou. Ultimately, due to the river drying up and his army running out of food, he was forced to retreat. Murong Chui then pursued with 8,000 cavalry, defeating Huan Wen twice and killing 40,000 to 50,000 men, greatly damaging Huan Wen's reputation.

In this southern expedition, Zhang Yu chose the autumn and winter seasons to restrict the movement of boats and ships in Henan's waterways. If Yuan Shu wanted to maintain the confrontation, he would need to conscript laborers to transport grain by land, which would cost about ten times more than water transport. Using a combination of land and water transport could reduce the cost by several percent.

Of course, the waterways of Henan are affected by winter, as are the waterways of the north, such as when rivers freeze in cold weather. However, the key is that Zhang Yu was able to concentrate grain in Henan during the summer and autumn, and then transport it to Henan by land. The land transport distance to Chenliu was only one or two hundred li, which was much shorter than the distance Yuan Shu had to transport grain from Yuzhou.

Zhang Yu paced back and forth, laughing, and said, "Yuan Shu is fond of empty boasts and grandstanding. With the strong troops of Hebei, defeating him will be easy!"

Compared to previous campaigns, Zhang Yu's campaign this time was the easiest. In the past, he had endured considerable mental pressure when leading troops. For example, when attacking Guanzhong, Dong Zhuo's remaining troops were numerous and elite, and Zhang Yu had to cross the Yellow River and defeat Li Jue with a smaller force; when campaigning against Gongsun Zan, if Zhang Yu could not quickly eliminate Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao would definitely intervene.

Or perhaps when he was fighting in Longyou, he had to face the Longyou coalition and Han Sui, who could escape into the Hehuang region at any time; the last time he attacked Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao had more troops and more supplies than him, which was crucial to whether he could conquer the world.

Although Yuan Shu's territory is vast and his army is not much smaller than Zhang Yu's, he is nothing more than outwardly strong but inwardly weak. In particular, Yuan Shu is even less skilled in military affairs than Yuan Shao. Despite possessing the two provinces of Jing and Yu, he has been unable to conquer the two provinces of Yang and Yi, and his repeated expeditions into the Central Plains have all ended in defeat.

Therefore, for Zhang Yu, the difficulty in fighting Yuan Shu was not how to defeat or repel Yuan Shu, but how to decisively defeat Yuan Shu and clear away the obstacles to Zhang Yu's unification of Henan.

"Although Yuan Shu is frivolous and lacks strategy, he is not without capable generals and advisors. Your Highness's expedition is aimed at conquering the Central Plains, so you should be wary of Chen and Yuan."

Fearing that Zhang Yu might become complacent, Jia Xu subtly advised him: "Especially since I have heard that Kuai Yue has excellent strategies and is Yuan Shu's reliance. Huang Zu has the ability to shoot and kill Sun Jian, and he also has Huang Zhong and Ji Ling as his wings."

"With millions of people under Yuan Shu's rule, how could he lack capable civil and military advisors? It's simply a matter of whether Yuan Shu adopts their suggestions or not."

Zhang Yu composed himself and said, "If I destroy Yuan Shu, then only Cao Cao will be my enemy. However, if I conquer Ba and Shu, then Cao Cao will also be defeated by me."

Then Zhang Yu asked, "I wonder if Sun Ce has made any moves?"

"Your Highness, according to a secret report from our spies in Shu, Sun Ce intends to conquer the Southern Regions, and is now unable to look north to Hanzhong!" Guo Tu said.

"Sun Ce will not march north again, so I have no worries about the rear!"

While Zhang Yu was discussing military matters with his attendants, a servant rushed into the hall and exclaimed joyfully, "Your Highness, a great victory has been achieved in Hexi!"

"A great victory in Hexi?"

Zhang Yu was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Shi Yi and Yan Xing have been on campaign for half a year without any military reports. Now, before they even set off, a victory report has arrived. Could this be a sign of great joy?"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu urged, "General, please report back quickly."

"promise!"

Guo Tu stepped forward, took the military report, glanced at it, and then said: "Zhang Qi, a man from Jiuquan, rebelled by taking the governor of Jiuquan hostage and prevented Governor Wei Kang from taking office. General Shi Yi sent Yan Xing to suppress the rebellion, and Zhang Qi and his family were killed. When they arrived in Wuwei, the Lushui Hu people repeatedly plundered Han people. Governor Wei ordered the Hu chieftain Zhi Yuanduo to hand over the criminals and also reprimanded him with a letter."

"Zhiyuan rallied various Hu chieftains, amassing tens of thousands of troops in rebellion, intending to drive Wei Kang out of Wuwei. General Shiyi led troops to resist them, first feigning defeat with his own troops, then secretly ambushing them with elite cavalry, killing and capturing over ten thousand enemy Hu. General Shiyi selected elite prisoners as soldiers and advanced rapidly through the Lushui Hu tribes. Wei Kang mobilized wealthy households to transport grain, intending to completely annihilate the Lushui Hu. The outcome is still unknown!"

"Okay!"

Zhang Yu clapped and laughed, saying, "Shi Yi is skilled in raids and has the ability to know the enemy's numbers. He can lead elite infantry and cavalry in attacks. How can the mixed Hu tribes of Hexi match him?"

"If Liangzhou can be brought under the rule of the state, Shi Yi will be the one to make the greatest contribution, and the title of General Who Conquers the West will be truly deserved!"

The fighting prowess of the nomadic peoples varied, with the Xianbei being the most ferocious, followed by the Qiang and Hu tribes of Liangzhou and the Wuhuan, and then the Xiongnu. Although Shi Yi was frequently used by Zhang Yu to harass supply lines, as a Xianbei general, he was quite capable in tough battles. In particular, the 6,000 infantry and cavalry that Shi Yi led on his expedition to Liangzhou were not old or weak; in terms of fighting strength and equipment, they could all be considered elite warriors.

Given that the Lu Shui Hu people lived a relatively comfortable life, their fighting strength was far inferior to that of the Tang army. In addition, their equipment and weapons were inferior to those of Shi Yi's troops. It is not surprising that they were defeated when they suddenly encountered the strong Tang army.

"Your Highness, we congratulate you on your great victory in the western campaign!"

Xun You and Zhang Yang led the crowd in congratulating Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yuxu helped the crowd up and said with a smile, "There is no worry in Hexi. I trouble you to accompany me on a long expedition to Henan to wipe out the enemies in the Central Plains and restore peace to the world."

(End of this chapter)