I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 443 Danger Lies in the Details

Since Yuan Tan wanted to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements, wouldn't it be better to bring Lü Bu to Xuzhou or Jiangdong?

Now that the Han Dynasty can sail near the coast, it is obviously not difficult to bring Lü Bu out alone.

but……

Chen Gong knew this, so surely Yuan Tan didn't?
If we're talking about who knows the sea routes between Qingzhou and Jiangdong better, then if Yuan Tan claims to be second, then no one would dare to claim to be first.

If Lu Su hadn't led his army to land in Qingzhou, joined forces with Zang Ba, and then turned Lü Bu against him, Yuan Tan might have actually had the chance to drink from the Yangtze River, and then, as he wished, obtain the position of crown prince and reach the pinnacle of his life! Instead, he's still struggling to climb Mount Tai now...

Therefore, Liu Miao did not believe that Yuan Tan was unaware that the Han Dynasty had the capability to transport troops by sea.

"Tsk tsk tsk! You little bastard!"

Liu Miao sat in his tent, legs spread wide, and casually picked up a tangerine from the table, its color already somewhat dull, and began to peel it.

"The art of war is based on deception!"

"Now, he's just letting us guess."

"If you guess right, there will be a reward; if you guess wrong, the momentum will shift entirely to Yuan Jun's side!"

This was the first time Liu Miao had ever experienced a war of this scale.

This war, which stretched from east to west and from south to north, saw even intelligence transmission taking several days or even more than ten days.

There were no specific figures. Scouts, who came and went, obtained information, some true and some false, from the size of the camp, the number of supply wagons, the flag numbers, and the marching routes. Their staff then analyzed and judged this information before carrying out activities that even they themselves did not know were correct.

What we see and hear today may be completely different from what we see and hear tomorrow.

In this situation, where can one make an absolutely correct choice?

"Gongtai wants me to go and rescue Fengxian?"

"Of course!"

Liu Miao then turned to Zhao Yun: "Is Kongming currently with Fengxian?"

Zhao Yun immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Indeed."

"Did Kongming ask you to convey any message to me?"

"The strategist said that everything is decided by His Majesty! And..."

Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment.

"The strategist said that His Majesty is likely more intelligent than him and should be able to make the right judgment!"

"what!"

Liu Miao chuckled: "Kongming really knows how to talk!"

"If that's the case, does that mean Kongming can accept whatever decision I make?"

Zhao Yun, out of his unconditional trust in Zhuge Liang, also unconditionally trusted Liu Miao at this time!

"Yes!"

"it is good!"

Liu Miao nodded: "Then I won't go to rescue them; let them figure it out themselves!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun trembled, but dared not utter a word.

Chen Gong, on the other hand, became excited!
"Your Majesty! That is the Great General of Han!"

"It is precisely because he is the General of Han that I need to keep Fengxian in Qingzhou."

The smile on Liu Miao's face gradually disappeared.

"The Han Dynasty can have great generals who die in battle, but it cannot have great generals who flee!"

Chen Gong felt a lump in his throat for a moment!

It is widely rumored that Emperor Liu was harsh and ungrateful!

But Chen Gong never expected that Liu Miao would actually be able to stand by and watch someone die!

Chen Gong wanted to argue, but Zhou Tai's burly figure was already standing in front of him, separating him from Liu Miao.

Chen Gong knew that Liu Miao did not want to continue talking to him, so he simply turned and left without giving Liu Miao a friendly look.

Lu Su swallowed hard. "Does His Majesty dislike Chen Gong?"

Liu Miao waved his hand: "What nonsense!"

"I like this kind of strong-willed and capable person more than I can bear to, why would I dislike him?"

"Then why..."

Liu Miao looked at Lu Su, who seemed hesitant to speak.

"Zijing, do you think Yuan Tan might be following Chen Gong's suggestion to use Lü Bu and the people to lure my army to Qingzhou?"

Lu Su had been pondering this question as well.

If what Chen Gong said is true, then Yuan Tan is far too arrogant!

They actually chose a place like Qingzhou, where they wanted to suppress Lü Bu while also fighting a decisive battle against the Han army sent by Liu Miao.
Lu Su was aware of Yuan Tan's troop strength.

His own Guanzhong army, plus the Wuhuan cavalry that came to his aid.

True.

This force far surpasses that of Chunyu Qiong and Yuan Chunqing on the western front.

But a flank is still a flank.

If Yuan's army was truly so powerful that it could crush Lü Bu and the main force of the Han army with such a small force, then why fight this war at all? Wouldn't it be better to just hand over the empire to the Yuan family?
Therefore, based on the intelligence currently available, Lu Su did not actually believe Yuan Tan's plan to "besiege the point and attack the reinforcements".

However, Chen Gong himself said that Yuan Tan intentionally drove the people to Jiaodong.

Moreover, as a vassal state of Han territory and a former governor of Qingzhou, Yuan Tan should have had no affection for Qingzhou whatsoever.

However, Yuan Tan actually allowed the Wuhuan cavalry to rampage and harass the people of Qingzhou, which is truly puzzling.

The key is……

The Wuhuan cavalry were actually quite formidable in combat.

The fact that Yuan Tan suddenly deployed such an elite force, second only to the heavy cavalry, in such a grand manner makes one feel that something is amiss.

Therefore, all things considered, Lu Su surprisingly made the same judgment as Liu Miao.

No help!

At least, before figuring out exactly where Yuan Tan got the guts, or even the confidence, to fight the Han army in Qingzhou, not coming to his aid was the most advantageous military option.

Lu Su also learned to take shortcuts at this time.

"Or should we go find Xu You again?"

"Alright! He probably didn't hold back last time."

Liu Miao abandoned Xu You's approach.

"Moreover, Gongjin wrote to me before, saying that he felt something was amiss. Coincidentally, I also felt something was amiss!"

Liu Miao believed that since both he and Zhou Yu had sensed something was amiss, it meant that there was something right in front of them that neither of them had noticed.

Since Liu Miao arrived at the front lines, he has only met Zhou Yu twice.

One time, he went to find Zhou Yu and go to see Yuan's army camp.

On another occasion, Zhou Yu came to find him and gave him two pieces of intelligence from Hebei.

As for Yuan Jun's main camp... Lu Su even went inside himself, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

That being the case...

Liu Miao pulled out two intelligence reports from the table and spread them out on the table.

The letter concerning Yuan Tan's battle plan ends abruptly with Yuan Tan's attack on Qingzhou.

The detailed steps described above were exactly the same as what Yuan Tan actually did, and there was nothing that made Liu Miao feel that was wrong.

Therefore, Liu Miao shifted his focus back to the intelligence regarding the mobilization of grain supplies.

Lines of numbers came into Liu Miao's view, quickly making him dizzy.

But amidst this dizziness and lightheadedness, Liu Miao suddenly noticed a rather strange number.

"Paper! Pen!"

Lu Meng, who was standing nearby, reacted quickly and placed the items in front of Liu Miao.

Liu Miao quickly wrote these numbers into a bunch of symbols that no one could understand, leaving those around him looking at each other in bewilderment, wondering what Liu Miao was doing.

Liu Miao did not respond, but continued to write and draw on the paper.

Soon, Liu Miao's lips curled up.

"So that's what happened."

"I always thought Yuan Tan was more decisive than his father. But now it seems I was wrong."

"The one who truly had guts was always Yuan Shao!"

For some reason, those around him crowded around and looked at the pile of scribbles on Liu Miao's desk.

"Your Majesty, this is..."

"Ah!"

Liu Miao rewrote it, copying out the core data.

"I now understand why Gongjin always felt something was amiss!"

"I have marked the amount of alfalfa that Yuan's army transported in three directions. Take a close look!"

The intelligence sent by Xu You clearly shows that the amount of alfalfa sent to the three locations is quite different.

On the western front, Chunyu Qiong and Yuan Chunqing received 3,000 shi of alfalfa.

Meanwhile, on the Central Plains battlefield, which was Yuan Shao's main camp, 20,000 shi of alfalfa were sent.

However, 20,000 shi of alfalfa were still transported from Hebei to the eastern front where Yuan Tan was located!

Alfalfa, used as fodder for warhorses, could be a good indicator of the number of enemy cavalry.

Now, the amount of alfalfa transferred to the Central Plains battlefield is the same as the amount transferred to the Eastern Front battlefield.
What does this mean?
This means that Yuan Shao now has the same number of cavalry as Yuan Tan!

But how is this possible?

During the time that Zhou Yu and Yuan Shao were locked in a standoff at the front, Zhou Yu had basically ascertained that Yuan Shao's main force of cavalry numbered around 20,000.

If Yuan Tan and Yuan Shao had the same number of cavalry, wouldn't that mean that Hebei could now field nearly 50,000 cavalry?

If Yuan Shao could really muster that many cavalry, then Liu Miao might as well just hand over the Central Plains to him! What else could the two sides possibly do?
If Yuan Tan truly had 20,000 cavalry, coupled with the Wuhuan cavalry that had already been exposed, let alone Lü Bu! Even Xiang Yu could be overwhelmed by this massive force! What strategy would be needed then?

“It is clearly impossible for Yuan Tan to have 20,000 cavalry.”

Liu Miao did not believe that Yuan Tan could support 20,000 cavalrymen even if he were just selling smuggled warhorses in Guanzhong.

"Since it's not just 20,000 ordinary cavalry, then the only ones capable of consuming so many resources are clearly heavy cavalry!"

Whether during Yuan Shao's unification of Hebei or during Liu Miao's previous standoff with Yuan Shao at Kunyang, heavy cavalry can undoubtedly be called the trump card of the day!
That devastating impact on the battlefield, wherever it appears, can bring about earth-shattering changes to the course of the battle!
However, at the same time, the resources it consumes are also astronomical!
Building such a well-organized heavy cavalry force is difficult, but maintaining and deploying such a heavy cavalry force is even more difficult!
Zhang Liao realized this, which is why he advised Liu Miao to abandon heavy cavalry and instead improve the formation of a mixed light and heavy cavalry archer force.

After all, the warhorses and other resources of the North are incomparable to those of the still-developing South.

If we really insist on competing with Yuan Shao in terms of the number of heavy cavalry, then it is very likely that before the war, Yuan's army will have 10,000 heavy cavalry, while the Han army will only have 5,000.

Therefore, the losses suffered by heavy cavalry in all aspects were absolutely astronomical!
Although there is currently no evidence to suggest that Yuan Shao entrusted his most relied-upon heavy cavalry to Yuan Tan, Liu Miao has ample reason to believe, based on alfalfa, a special fodder for warhorses, that the heavy cavalry that Yuan Tan relied on to defeat Lü Bu and the main force of the Han army was none other than the unexpected heavy cavalry that appeared in Qingzhou!

"That's quite possible."

Sima Yi, being a northerner, suddenly understood why Yuan's army chose Qingzhou as the main battlefield.

"Cavalry is certainly more suited to attacking on flat terrain like the Central Plains."

"But heavy cavalry is not very durable, so it is different from other cavalry and cannot carry out flanking maneuvers in the Central Plains."

"Qingzhou is characterized by its mountainous terrain, with numerous mountains and rivers frequently blocking the plains. This divides it into small, unavoidable battlefields, which actually makes it ideal for heavy cavalry charges! It's like—"

"Just like Tian Dan's great victory over the Yan army's fire ox formation back then!"

Fire Ox Formation...

It wasn't until Sima Yi reminded them that everyone suddenly realized what was happening.

Yuan Tan did not intend to place the battlefield in Qingzhou.

Strictly speaking, it should be placed in Jiaodong, southeast of Qingzhou!
The terrain there is extremely compact. If Yuan Tan were to block them in a small battlefield suitable for heavy cavalry charges, the Han army could very well repeat the mistakes of the Yan army under Yue Yi!

"You bastard! Your heart is truly filthy!"

Liu Miao is now convinced of this as well.

Yuan Shao truly gave his all for this battle!
It was not just Yuan Shao's own will, but also the result of preparations from all aspects of this battle.

To be able to devise such tactics, Yuan Shao must have spent countless days and nights discussing them with his top civil and military officials, such as Yuan Tan, Ju Shou, Guo Tu, Pang Ji, and Zhang He, before the start of this battle!

Liu Miao could even imagine that scene.

Ju Shou, with his exceptional wisdom and resourcefulness, was in charge of overall coordination, just like Zhou Yu.

Guo Tu, a man of great social skills, was in charge of coordinating various matters, much like Lu Su.

There are also seasoned and resourceful individuals like Pang Ji and Zhang He.

And Yuan Tan, the opponent most familiar with Liu Miao and the Han army, combined with the strengths and weaknesses of both Han and Zhao, finally chose Qingzhou, the place he was most familiar with, as the battlefield.

And most importantly, there was Yuan Shao, who was willing to pay any price for victory, even handing over his trump card, the heavy cavalry, to Yuan Tan...

They toiled tirelessly day and night, carefully guarding against countless people, before finally completing this tactic.

They probably never imagined that they would still be betrayed!
What exposed them was merely the inconspicuous alfalfa mixed in with the grain and fodder distribution...

"Tsk! Kongming is right! I am indeed a little smarter than him!"

"..."

Liu Miao's words caused everyone in the tent to turn their heads to one side.

"His Majesty."

Lu Su, seeing Liu Miao awaiting praise, remained unyielding, skipping the step of praising Liu Miao and moving directly to the next topic—

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"

Now that we've finally figured out Yuan Jun's entire plan and trump cards, we should act swiftly and decisively to avoid any unforeseen complications!
"What else?"

Liu Miao stood up, his voice loud but also tinged with a hint of languor.

"Of course, we should run up to Yuan Shao and give him a good taunt!"

"His decision not to keep his heavy cavalry around is clearly an insult to me!"

(End of this chapter)