Tiger Guards

Chapter 248: Surprise Attack
After leaving Xu Huang to guard Tunliu, Zhao Gongshi led more than 3,000 knights north.

This group of knights was a mix of Han and Hu people. According to Zhao Ji's plan, this group of knights would only participate in the war in the Zhending area.

After finishing the battle in Zhending, we will retreat to Taiyuan.

In order to conserve the physical strength of soldiers and horses as much as possible, Zhao Ji marched normally, covering forty to fifty miles a day.

The main force of Yuan's army in the east of Taihang Mountain also began to gather towards Changshan State, marching in an orderly manner.

The decisive battle can only take place in Zhending, so there is no point in leaving in a hurry.

The various units of the Black Mountain Army used the Hutuo River as the boundary, dug trenches, built antlers and fences, and constructed a relatively solid defense circle around Zhending City.

"Report~!"

The scouts led Zhang Yan's envoys to gallop over. Zhao Ji had already camped in the afternoon. The camp was built by Xu Huang's troops during the march.

It was barely enough to spend the night, saving Zhao Ji the trouble of setting up camp again.

The camp also contained food and fodder that had been transported some time ago, giving the horses more time to recuperate.

Even when the soldiers were cooking meals, they still had extra time to prepare horse feed and feed the horses.

The armed regimes of Hedong and Taiyuan were not owned by Zhao Ji alone; the officials and soldiers involved all had similar shares.

Therefore, the spoils of war can be distributed to the greatest extent possible, and the army can get the best supplies during the march.

There is no room for grain officials to embezzle money or pass off inferior goods as good ones.

It takes time for corruption to breed, and the military directly manages its own logistics and currently has no independent logistics system.

Under this distribution system that prioritizes military collectives, many military officers in charge will naturally develop a sense of ownership.

Zhao Ji also had less to worry about here. Since leaving Tunliu, they had set out at four o'clock in the morning and spent the entire morning marching. When the weather was hot at noon, they could arrive at the new camp and the entire army could rest.

The overall morale is high and there is a sense of urgency.

Seeing the scouts leading Zhang Yan's envoy to arrive, many officials and soldiers gathered around.

Zhao Ji, who had been practicing his left-right archery skills, tossed his bow to Han Shu and came to see Zhang Yan's envoy: "What's the matter?"

During this period, Zhang Yan's envoys ran back and forth several times and became familiar faces here.

The messenger handed over a silk scroll: "Your Highness, Yuan Shao is dispatching cavalry from Youzhou south to aid in the battle. Rumors are spreading in Changshan that Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan are negotiating a peace agreement. Yuan Shao will take Jizhou, and Gongsun Zan will take Youzhou."

The messenger looked anxious and obviously believed the rumor.

Upon hearing this, Wei Xing and Chang Mao turned to look at Zhao Ji: "Minister?"

"No rush. Yuan Shao has killed so many of Gongsun Zan's subordinates and followers, and Gongsun Zan is a man of strong character. How could he easily negotiate peace with Yuan Shao?"

Zhao Ji took the silk scroll, shook it open, and read it, then passed it to those around him. "Take a look, everyone! In my opinion, this is Yuan's tactic to suppress the morale of General Zhang's troops with rumors, and to force me to speed up my march. The more this happens, the more calm our army must remain."

Han Shu knew few words, and Chang Mao knew even fewer. The two of them tactfully stood on either side of Ximen Jian. Ximen Jian recited in a low voice, while Wei Xing leaned over and read silently to himself. Reading silently was faster than reciting.

Wei Xing finished reading first, and waited until Chang Mao and the others had finished before speaking: "General Zhang said that Yuan Xi commanded no fewer than 5,000 soldiers and horses?"

The other people also had serious expressions. They looked down on the Hebei armies which were mainly composed of infantry. This time, Yuan Shao transferred Yuan Xi to the south, and the people he supervised were mainly Han and Hu knights from Youzhou... As one of the three major border armies, they should be vigilant and treat Yuan Xi's troops seriously.

Zhao Ji pondered for a moment and said, "Yuan Xi's army cannot exceed 3,000 cavalry. Although Tadun and other Wuhuan kings have allied themselves with Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan has risen again and is the first to threaten the Wuhuan in the three counties. They are incompatible with Gongsun Zan, and even a truce is difficult. How could they possibly divide their forces and follow Yuan Xi south in the midst of a conflict?"

Zhao Ji turned to look at the envoy from Zhang Yan and said, "Please comfort General Zhang and tell him not to worry. In three days, our army will be able to leave Jingxing Pass and join forces with him."

"Here."

Zhang Yan's envoy knew that he could not persuade Zhao Ji, so he quickly took Zhao Ji's reply letter, changed horses, and returned with another group of scouts.

As the sky grew darker, Zhao Ji sat in front of the lit campfire after dinner and couldn't help feeling a little lonely.

It’s not that he misses women, but he misses Jia Kui and Pei Xiu. With these two people around, he can discuss military affairs with them.

Leaving them in charge of the military and political affairs of Pingyang and Jinyang respectively would allow him to concentrate on fighting outside, but people like Wei Xing were not really capable of discussing military affairs.

When planning tactics before a battle, these people can also offer some useful suggestions.

If they were to rely on military intelligence to judge the situation of a battle hundreds of miles away, they would lack experience and information to refer to. Pei Xiu and Jia Kui, at the very least, were familiar with various battle examples and could use them to analyze the current situation.

Simply put, Pei Xiu and Jia Kui have their own databases.

People like Wei Xing and Ximen Jian lacked combat experience and had little education, so they did not establish their own database.

Only by bringing them to the battlefield can these people make judgments based on the terrain and enemy information they have explored.

They still need to grow.

What Zhao Ji has to do is to save their lives as much as possible so that they can grow up.

The campfire crackled. Zhao Ji picked up several military intelligence silk books sent by Zhang Yan and Zhao Yun, and grabbed burning sticks to draw a topographic map of the area near Zhending on the ground.

Today's military situation is that Yuan Xi evacuated from Fan Yang and headed south to station in Wuji County of Zhongshan State.

Wuji County is located in the southeast corner of Zhongshan State, separated from Zhending by the Hutuo River and Zishui River. The two rivers serve as barriers, and Zhang Yan cannot harass with light troops, and Yuan Xi cannot attack Zhang Yan either. Both sides can only stare at each other.

The autumn night was a bit chilly. Zhao Ji looked up at the sky full of bright stars and said, "We can't delay."

Chang Mao, who was keeping watch with him, heard this and asked excitedly, "Minister, are you planning a light-army surprise attack?"

"With this idea, we will enter Jingxing Road tomorrow and walk an extra fifty miles."

Zhao Ji returned to the campfire and said to Chang Mao, "I'm afraid of heavy rains in autumn. If that happens, mountain torrents will flood our army. Now each man in the camp has three horses. Apart from the warhorse, the others can be ridden in turns, allowing us to travel at full speed. We usually save horsepower and raise it like our sons. Isn't it our goal to travel 600 miles in three days?"

It has been five days since we set out from Tunliu, and we have only marched 300 miles. We will have to march another 100 miles tomorrow to reach Shangai.

After passing Shangai, there are Jingxing and Zhending. It is about 250 miles from Shangai to Wuji where Yuan Xi is.

In other words, by quickly marching 350 miles, they could launch a surprise attack on Yuan Xi.

Before Yuan Shao's main army arrives, destroying or severely damaging Yuan Xi's Youzhou cavalry will not only eliminate the flank threat, but also undermine the morale of Yuan Shao's entire army.

In this way, when the troops retreated later, Yuan's army did not dare to pursue them further.

So tomorrow we will march a hundred miles during the day and another fifty miles at night; the day after tomorrow we will arrive at Zhending at night, and the whole army will rest... what the hell kind of rest, and join up with Zhao Yun, and Zhang Yan's elite troops will attack Yuan Xi directly!
There are so many cavalrymen, and Wuji is not a big county or a famous city. Even if Yuan Xi hides in the city, where are the cavalrymen?

Three thousand cavalry, including spare horses, there are at least more than five thousand horses. With such a huge consumption, how can the city maintain them?
Yuan Xi’s head is not important at all. What is important is the enemy’s cavalry.

Regardless of whether these cavalry were Han heroes or brought by the leaders of the various Hu peoples, there is no doubt that these Han and Hu heroes were all wings of the Yuan family.

Inflicting severe damage on them not only destroyed Yuan's tentacles towards Youzhou, but also cut off Yuan's subsequent channels for replenishing and expanding the cavalry.

No matter how slow Gongsun Zan reacted, he would suppress and attack Yuan's purchase of war horses.

Yuan Shao had no horses, and the Yuan army became short-legged, so there was no need to worry about many things.

The Han nobles in Hebei had no shortage of horses. With so many manors, they needed a lot of cattle and horses to help with farming.

But how could the horses of the Han nobles be easily consumed?
Especially on the battlefield, if Yuan Shao's central army did not gain an advantage, how could the various Yuan troops, which were called Yuan's army but were actually the subordinates of powerful people and private armies, swarm in?

Especially when pursuing, if Yuan Shao's own cavalry does not charge in the front, do you expect the cavalry of other families to charge first?

Zhao Ji made the decision, and Chang Mao was so excited that he couldn't help but say, "Minister, the soldiers and horses in the camp are full of energy. Why not advance at night?"

"They are already resting. There is no need to disturb the officers. I would rather kill three thousand horses than disturb their sweet dreams."

Zhao Ji wiped the map he had drawn on the ground with his foot and put away several silk books: "Have a good rest."

I wanted to make a joke about snatching a wife for Chang Mao, but I felt it was unlucky to make such a joke when a battle was about to begin.

After this series of battles were completed and the Yuan-Cao group was successfully curbed, the army withdrew to Taiyuan and began to distribute wives.

He set an example himself, and the officers and soldiers under him felt very uncomfortable when they went to the battlefield.

Then, I spent the entire winter staying indoors and focusing on having children.

We should act according to the seasons. Winter is very suitable for human resource reproduction.

As long as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's horse purchasing channels are destroyed and they lose their strategic raid and strike capabilities, they will be able to effectively hold back Gongsun Zan or other forces, and the initiative in future wars will be in their hands.

(End of this chapter)