Tiger Guards

Chapter 260 Difficult Choice
Today, Zhao Ji and Yuan Shao have reached a tacit understanding on curbing the revival of the court's authority.

The Zhao family's foundation was unstable, and it was all thanks to Zhao Ji who suppressed both internal and external forces.

If Zhao Ji were gone, the three counties of Hedong, Taiyuan and Shangdang would instantly become the property of the imperial court, which would be disadvantageous to Hebei.

So tonight, more than 100,000 officers and soldiers from both sides were stationed on both sides of the tributaries of the Zhang River, but they all remained silent and spent a safe night.

The silence of the night began to fade and the sun came back.

The various units of the Black Mountain Army began to pack their luggage, and Yuan's army also stopped repairing and strengthening the camp. From time to time, military officers came out of the camp and looked to the north on the shore, observing the various camps near the river bank.

These camps began to pack up first, and Zhao Ji adopted the method of withdrawing troops in batches.

He guarded the river bank defense line at the front line, while Zhao Yun guarded Zhending County.

The various units of the Black Mountain Army first evacuated the front-line camp, then evacuated the rear, and finally he and Zhao Yun evacuated alternately.

This is a very sincere way of withdrawing troops. If they want to bluff or play tricks, they should withdraw the rear first, hold the front line, block the scouts, and make it difficult for the enemy to figure out their true strength.

Then the rear evacuated to set up the new camp, and the front line retreated to the old camp in the rear.

In this way, the troops can curl up and stretch like a caterpillar to retreat, and the entire army can be gathered at any time to deal a fierce blow to the pursuing enemy.

Zhao Ji's withdrawal was a blatant act, so Yuan Shao could give it a try if he wanted to chase him.

Does Yuan Shao dare to chase?
Of course I dare to chase him, but at least I will give him a symbolic pursuit.

However, Shangdang's Tiger Infantry had already begun to withdraw to the north and was about to reach Jingxing Road... Theoretically speaking, if the Tiger Infantry made a feint and moved eastward along Jingxing, it would be bad if they encountered Yuan's pursuing troops at that time.

In Jingxing Road, Yuan's scouts had already been defeated by Xu Huang, and Zhang Nan was trapped in Baoduzhai and unable to scout westward.

Yuan Shao's side could only confirm that the Tiger Infantry Army retreated to the north. Whether they went west to return to Taiyuan, or went east to meet Zhao Ji... this was almost unnecessary to consider. Zhao Ji was the leader of the entire army. By traveling an extra 500 miles back and forth, they could ensure Zhao Ji's safe withdrawal.

Therefore, there is no need to analyze or measure things like asking soldiers to run more errands to ensure the safety of the commander.

Judging from their own experience, Yuan Shao's side concluded that Zhao Ji would dispatch the Tiger Infantry to provide support.

In that case, what's the point of chasing?

In a place like Jingxing Road, the pursuing army could easily lose control due to their greed for wealth.

Once you are ambushed, it will be difficult to take care of the front and back, and you will suffer a great defeat.

In this way, Zhao Ji's journey to Zhending came to an end.

All in all, he led more than 3,000 cavalry to reinforce Zhending. On that day, 500 cavalry wiped out more than 1,000 cavalry of Qian Zhao; that night, he attacked Wuji and wiped out 5,000 infantry and cavalry of Yuan Xi.

Just when Yuan's army was about to waver on all fronts, the Black Mountain Army attacked Gengxiang the next day. Ju Su crossed the river in advance to send 2,000 reinforcements. Wen Chou had enough troops to defend and successfully repelled the Black Mountain Army's repeated attacks.

At the same time, Yuan Shao also decisively led his entire army to attack. After the two sides confronted each other across the river, the morale of Yuan's army gradually stabilized.

That is, on the third day after Zhao Ji arrived in Zhending, the Black Mountain Army began to withdraw.

Throughout the third day, the seven Black Mountain Army camps deployed on the front line retreated, and at the same time burned down all flammable camps and villages, and filled in well water to prevent Yuan's army from using them.

On the fourth day, the remaining Montenegrin troops began to withdraw.

Zhang Yan led his troops to the rear, and he accompanied Zhao Ji on horseback to inspect the surrounding terrain and draw a more detailed map.

This retreat was just to prepare for a decisive battle on a larger scale.

Therefore, the people of Zhending also followed the soldiers led by Liu Sheng, Liu Qi and others to evacuate to Taiyuan. They also evacuated with the wounded soldiers from the previous and subsequent battles.

Zhao Ji's wounded, Yuan's captives and wounded, and the Black Mountain Army's wounded were evacuated along with more than a thousand of Zhao's servants.

Zhang Nan, who was in Baoduzhai, could only watch helplessly as the troops withdrew from under his nose.

In the dangerous terrain of Baoduzhai, if he rushed down too fast, he would either hit his head on the cliff or miss a step and roll down the mountain stream to his death.

On the fifth day, Zhao Ji began to move out of the camp, and the camp built by Zhao Yun was also burned down.

If they don't burn it, Yuan's army will come and burn it.

Actively set fire to create smoke to obscure the view and facilitate withdrawal.

Zhao Ji had more than 3,000 cavalrymen, each with three horses; and there were more than 3,000 captives on foot.

Zhao Ji retreated safely to Jingxingkou, while Zhang Yan retreated more than 20 miles inside Jingxingkou. There was a river valley road running north and south here, which was considered a small crossroads.

At this time, Yuan's army repaired the wooden bridge, and Yan Liang's troops, the vanguard of the central army, officially crossed the river, put out the fire in the camp, and re-set up camp. Yuan's scouts crossed the mountain and entered Jingxing Road for reconnaissance.

At this time, Zhao Yun's more than 2,000 cavalrymen were still in Zhending County. Each person was equipped with a horse and they were still guarding the city.

The Yuan army was faced with the choice of whether or not to encircle Zhending City. This was practically the bait Zhao Ji had laid before them. If they didn't take a bite, they would feel frightened by Zhao Ji. They were unwilling to just let Zhao Yun retreat.

Especially Wen Chou, who served as the vanguard, first broke Gengxiang, then defended Gengxiang and repelled the various units of the Black Mountain Army. Now Wen Chou is full of fighting spirit and wants to have another battle with Zhao Ji, Zhao Yun and Zhang Yan.

Yuan's army gathered together, and Ju Su, the vanguard, and Xu You, the lieutenant, also arrived at the central army for a meeting.

Yuan Shao didn't really want to pursue him. With too few troops, his generals would act arbitrarily and independently, and there was a high possibility that they would lose control and be eaten by Zhao Ji.

There were too many troops in pursuit, and the Jingxing Road was not open to maneuver... When they were fighting each other, if Zhao Ji did not withdraw his troops and join forces with the Tiger Infantry, it would be the turn of Yuan's army to suffer.

No matter how many troops are deployed in Jingxing Road, it will be difficult to deploy them. What will come down to it is the food supply of both sides.

By that time, if Yuan’s army wanted to evacuate, it would have to pay a heavy price.

Even if we wait for the imperial court's mediating envoy to arrive and reach a ceasefire, the imperial court will certainly take the opportunity to extort something from Hebei.

But if I don't pursue her, it would be a bit embarrassing.

Yuan Shao's several advisers had different opinions, and Yuan Shao was once again in a dilemma of making a decision.

Ju Su, in particular, had the strongest attitude. He believed that the entire army should be sent forward now to drag Zhao Ji to death on Jingxing Road!

"Zhao Yuansi is a man of extraordinary talent, whose abilities and abilities are beyond the reach of ordinary men. Gongsun Zan's foundation has been damaged, his ambitions waned, and even if he revives, it will only be a fleeting glimmer of hope. He has gathered only a motley crowd, so why should he be a cause for concern?"

Ju Su's voice was urgent: "If Zhao Yuansi returns victorious, his power will be consolidated and difficult to attack. If you attack Gongsun Zan in the future, Zhao Yuansi will surely send troops to support us. By then, our army will be caught between Zhao Yuansi, Gongsun Zan, and Zhang Yan. What use will it be to regret today when we grow old?"

Tian Feng, upon seeing this, expressed his opinion: "Zhao Yuansi is still young, like the rising sun. If we can't defeat him in one battle, he will become ten times more dangerous than Lü Bu and a hundred times more dangerous than Gongsun Zan!"

Anyway, the people of Hebei don't want to be tortured by the encirclement constructed by Zhao Ji. If they are tortured for more than ten years, everything will be over.

Seeing this, Guo Tu did not express his opinion in public.

Xin Ping was seriously injured and could not attend the meeting, and Xin Pi was not qualified enough.

Xu You took the initiative and stood up to ask Ju Su and the others, "If we besiege Zhending now, General Zhao Yun will break through. Zhending is a large city, and it will be difficult for our army to encircle it suddenly. Zhao Yuansi and Zhang Yan are all brave and capable. They can observe the strengths and weaknesses of our army and attack our weak points. How should we respond?"

Wen Chou glared at Xu You, who also looked at Wen Chou. "Each army has its strengths and weaknesses, and now we're facing each other across the river, making it difficult for Zhao Yuansi to discern. If we all line up on the north bank, surrounding Zhending, we'll know the real strengths and weaknesses. When he strikes at our weakest points, if the other armies don't come to our aid, the defeated soldiers will trample over our formations. If we do come to our aid, our formations will be scattered, the strengths and weaknesses will be mixed up, and we'll collapse without a fight."

Wen Chou remained silent. He couldn't reason with Xu You. If he lost, he would be in trouble, and even if he won, there would not necessarily be a good result.

So Wen Chou went to see Yan Liang, and Yan Liang looked like he was listening to Yuan Shao's instructions.

Yuan Shao frowned, concentrating on thinking and pondering the changes in the battle situation.

At the same time, according to Ju Su's suggestion, the entire army pressed forward and dragged Zhao Ji to Jingxingkou. As long as they dragged him there and then instigated the attack from the rear, Zhao Ji would be in great trouble if he didn't die.

But if there is chaos in the rear, Zhao Ji will definitely fight him to the death... In a place like Jingxingkou, if Zhao Ji's charge cannot be stopped, Zhao Ji will never show mercy and will definitely make taking his head his first goal.

Not to mention Jingxingkou, even if he mobilized a large army to besiege Zhending, Yuan Shao himself would have to lead the central army across the river for such a large-scale troop movement.

If it is true as Xu You said, that Zhao Ji leads the cavalry to charge the central army and cannot be stopped, then the 70,000 Yuan troops crossing the river will suffer from confusion in command and cause chaos, which will be extremely disastrous.

Yuan Xi was still in Zhao Ji's hands, and Gao Gan was also in Zhao Ji's hands.

If the battle goes smoothly and the armies pursue, Zhao Ji will hold Yuan Xi to stop the pursuers. Who will dare to lead the troops to fight?

No one dared to force Zhao Ji to kill Yuan Xi, so the so-called pursuit and severe damage to Zhao Ji was simply not true!
For some reason, Yuan Shao felt that he had grasped the position of the people of Hebei.

They didn't care about the success or failure of their pursuit of Zhao Ji. What they cared about was... not being surrounded on three sides by Zhao Ji and trapped in a long-term prison trap.

If I pursue him further, Zhao Ji and Zhang Yan will lead their elite cavalry to charge into the center of the army and shoot me down...

In order to avenge themselves, it is reasonable that the former officials in Hebei endured humiliation and welcomed Gongsun Zan.

Thinking of this, Yuan Shao went to see Guo Tu and asked, "What do you think?"

Guo Tu bowed and said, "Mingsir, the war in the Central Plains is still undecided. We should take a cautious approach to prevent sudden disasters."

Seeing Yuan Shao stroke his beard, Guo Tu added, "From what I can see, Zhao Yuansi is withdrawing his troops, not out of fear of our army, but to reinforce Lü Bu with Zhang Yang. Cao Cao is becoming increasingly arrogant, so we should use Zhao Yuansi and Lü Fengxian to inflict a severe blow on him. When Cao Cao weakens and surrenders, Henan will be secure, and we can then easily defeat the Gongsun clan."

Guo Tu smiled as he spoke: "As for Zhao Yuansi's recurrence next year...if our army stationed 10,000 troops in Zhending, he would have difficulty leaving Jingxing, so what could he do?"

It doesn't require many troops, not even elite soldiers. Thirty to forty thousand people can block all the intersections and buy enough time to wipe out Gongsun Zan's army on the front line.

Seeing that Guo Tu spoke to his heart, Yuan Shao turned to look at Xu Xun, the attendant to the imperial court, and said, "Take my letter later and tell him that I will fight him again in Zhending next year."

"Here."

(End of this chapter)