The World of Yellow Sky

Chapter 766
A group of important ministers of the Ming court stood on both sides of the lobby of Yongning Pavilion.

There is a huge sand table in the hall. This sand table is not a sand table of one state and one county, but a sand table covering the entire thirteen states of Han Dynasty.

On the sand table, in Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Youzhou and other places, there are densely packed red and blue flags, which are intertwined and intricate.

Among them, the largest red and blue banners are not far away, and those two-colored banners represent Yuan Shao and Sun Jian.

After Xu An walked into the Yongning Pavilion, the Yingwei who was waiting outside the courtyard also brought a hanging screen specially used for hanging maps.

A map that did not draw the terrain, but only depicted the states, counties, and cities of the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty was then hung up by the Eagle Guard.

The places occupied by the Han, Wei and Ming parties are marked in red, blue and yellow, which is clear at a glance.

The offensive direction of the Han army, the defensive direction of the Wei army, the garrison direction of the Ming army, and the positions of each military region are marked and depicted very clearly.

Even people who don't understand military affairs can see the general idea.

As for the people in Yongning Pavilion, naturally there is no one who is not familiar with military affairs.

Even Ge Zhou, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, who has always been a talisman, once fought with a spear in his hand.

Fu Qi, Minister of the Ministry of Households, and Yang Ji, Minister of Rites, both had military careers, just like Yan Zhong.

The reason why the markings on the sand table and the map are so clear in all aspects is that all of this must be attributed to the Eagle Wolf Guard.

The prefectures and counties occupied by Taiping Road are sheltered by passes. Although the wars continue, most of them take place outside the borders. Therefore, the territory has been stable for a long time, and there has been no war for a long time.

Especially in the past two years, due to the overall contraction of the Taiping Road and the intensification of the disputes between the Han and Wei courts, it has no time to look around, and even the troops guarding the border have inevitably been affected.

But the Eagle Wolf Guards did not relax, especially the Eagle Guards lurking in the Han and Wei Dynasties, they were always paying close attention to the situation in the Han and Wei Dynasties, not letting go of even the slightest disturbance.

It is only now that there are extremely detailed maps and sand tables, as well as the movements of the soldiers of the Han and Wei courts everywhere.

Yingtian Mansion is the political center of the Ming court today, and the government offices of the three mansions and six ministries are located in Yingtian Mansion, so everyone in Yongning Pavilion knew the specific situation before Xu An.

Xu An sat on the seat, staring at the map hanging behind the sand table not far in front of him.

"At present, the stalemate between the two courts of Han and Wei has been broken. The Han army is in full swing. Yecheng is isolated and helpless. Sun Jian has "throwing chariots" to help. The closed wall of the revolving gate can't stop the "throwing chariots". It's also mostly useless."

"Wei court has no reinforcements outside, losing consecutive battles, and being attacked into the confidant, the morale of its army is bound to be low, and the hearts of the people will be scattered. I am afraid that soon after Yecheng is besieged, Wei court will gradually collapse."

It seems that Yuan Shao just lost for a while, and was attacked by Sun Jian into the hinterland. It is not that there is no chance to turn defeat into victory.

But war is never just war.

The Han army invaded Inner Huangcheng, which was only a hundred miles away from Yecheng.

Now in the land of Wei State, wars are raging everywhere, and the defeat is obvious.

All the powerful families in Youji, including the Zhen family who has always supported Yuan Shao, may have different thoughts.

These aristocratic families will not put all their eggs in one basket, the risk is too great.

People's hearts are fluctuating. If Yuan Shao can't come up with a countermeasure in a short time and turn defeat into victory, I'm afraid that the whole family in Jizhou will rebel.

The theory of destiny will become a help at some point.

Yuan Shao faked the jade seal before, and ordered people to forge the sound of dragon chant with utensils, burned the ancestral temple of the Han Dynasty in Luoyang, and preached the destiny of the destiny. In the end, he became the emperor in Yecheng as he wished, and the founding of the country was called the system.

With the decline of red morality, Yuan is Huang Yin, and it is appropriate to follow the will of heaven and follow the hearts of the people.

At that time, under the impetus of Qi Mei, such a statement even became the mainstream of the world for a time, even in the areas controlled by the Han court, there were still rumors about it.

At that time, Yuan Shao occupied Sili, Jizhou, Qingzhou, Youzhou, Xuzhou, the land of the five prefectures, and he was at the height of the sky, and he had the tendency to swallow thousands of miles like a tiger.

If Sun Jian hadn't stabilized the situation, I'm afraid Yuan Shao would have taken advantage of the founding momentum and went south directly to defeat the Han court.

Although the Han court at that time also occupied several states, most of them were the southern states and counties. In the eyes of most powerful families, the southern states and counties were just wild lands with poor mountains and bitter waters and inconvenient roads. It is quite difficult to use manpower and material resources, and the loss is huge.

At that time, Yuan Shao occupied the rich states and counties in the Central Plains, and his strength was extremely strong.

But under the current circumstances, the Mandate of Heaven has become Yuan Shao's urging talisman.

Yuan Shao used the charm to spread that he was the destiny, and Hanting also used the embroidered clothes messenger to spread that the Hanting was the real destiny.

If it had been before, such propaganda would not have yielded much results.

However, when the Han army fought and won victories, and even invaded Wei County in Jizhou, when the soldiers pointed directly at Yecheng, the capital of Wei State, such a statement could affect most people.

Criticism and morality, people's backs.

The current state of Wei is already in jeopardy. The situation Yuan Shao is facing is far from the problem that the Han army is approaching the city, but how to solve the problem that people's hearts are scattered and the whole Wei state is about to fall apart.

Now all the eyes of the world are focused on the outside of Yecheng. I am afraid that the confrontation between the Han army and the Wei army in Yecheng has already begun.

The result of the confrontation in Ye City will affect the entire Wei State and the entire Central Plains.

Once Yuan Shao was defeated, or showed signs of defeat, the powerful families in Wei State would never be merciless, and they would be buried with Yuan Shao, and they would definitely turn against him and surrender to the Han court.

Yuan Shao's self-willedness and self-righteousness eventually led to this defeat.

"Whether it's from the power on paper, or from the strategic deployment, and the comparison between the generals of the two sides, I don't see the slightest possibility of Yuan Shao winning."

"Yuan Shao's ambition is too great, he wants too much. He wants the northern border, Qingzhou, Luoyang, and Taihang. Although there are many soldiers under his command, they are too scattered after all."

In fact, Yuan Shao's strength was at the beginning, and it can be said that he was the strongest among all people. Even Sun Jian, who was famous all over the world because he recovered Luoyang, was far inferior to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao's carelessness caused him to lose Yanzhou's control.

Nepotism, let Yuan Tan lead Qingzhou, making Qingzhou's combat power weak, difficult to win, and losing consecutive battles. Not only did Qingzhou not help Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao had to use the power of Jizhou to help Qingzhou.

During the Battle of Dongjun, Yuan Shao twisted all his forces into one rope, not only blocked the morale of the Han army's offensive at that time, but also gained control of Luoyang area and Taishan County.

But Yuan Shao didn't continue to maintain it at that time, and marched southward in one go. Instead, he stopped in Luoyang and sent troops to northern Xinjiang, hoping to use the power of Xianbei in the east to put pressure on Xu An.

Yuan Shao wanted to take into account the overall situation, but he missed the best opportunity.

It's a pity that Yuan Shao didn't have the courage to break the boat like Sun Jian. He was born in four generations and three princes, after all, he didn't have the courage and determination of Sun Jian.

The indecision at the critical moment caused Yuan Shao to lose his chance to win the world.

If you are not careful, you will lose the whole game.

Yang Ji frowned slightly. He and Xu An had different views. As long as the Wei army in Pingyuan County of Qingzhou supported Yecheng, Yuan Shao still had a certain chance of winning.

"Although the Qingzhou Han army won, it is not easy to cross the river. The Wei army on the north bank of the Yellow River only needs to leave part of the army to guard the ferry and the river bank. It is not easy for the Qingzhou Han army to cross the north."

"The Wei army on the north bank can keep all the infantry and a few cavalry to defend the north bank, and then most of the cavalry can return to Yecheng."

"The main force of the Wei army's cavalry that rushed to aid Qingzhou is not damaged. We only need to leave thousands of Wuhuan cavalry, and only need their tiger and leopard cavalry and Youzhou cavalry to return to aid. There is a high probability that the situation in Yecheng can be broken."

"The tiger and leopard cavalry broke through the formation of tens of thousands of Han troops in the battle of Qingzhou, and almost caused the entire Han army on the East Road to collapse."

"The situation in the Central Plains should not be out of control, right?"

Yan Zhong shook his head.

"The Wei Army is not the Yellow Turban Army, and Wei Ting is not the Taiping Dao."

"Sun Jian is a brave man, hard to beat, but he has few strategies in battle. However, Xun You, Guo Jia and others in the residence of King Chen and Liu Chong are first-class advisers."

"Leaving aside, the Han army has already taken precautions against the possibility of returning from Qingzhou Pingyuan County to aid the Wei army, and has made complete preparations."

"I'm afraid Yuan Shao can't mobilize the army currently located in Pingyuan County, Qingzhou."

Yang Ji narrowed his pupils and looked at Yan Zhong, and all the generals and officials in Yongning Pavilion also looked at Yan Zhong.

Although Xu An personally said that Wei Ting would definitely be defeated, and that it would fall apart in an instant, they actually believed that Wei Ting could persist for a while and would not be defeated quickly. After all, the main force of the Wei army did not have much loss.

"If Tian Feng is not dead, maybe Wei Ting can persist for a while, and it is not impossible to win the battle of Yecheng."

"It's a pity that Tian Feng is dead, and Wei Ting has no room for turning around."

"The Wei army in Qingzhou was originally headed by Tian Feng, with Qu Yi, Lu Zhao, Jiang Yiqu, and Wang Xiu as followers."

"Wang Xiu rebelled, and now there are only three generals of the Wei army in Qingzhou, Qu Yi, Lu Zhao, and Jiang Yiqu."

"Among the three, Qu Yi has the most military power, the highest official position, and the toughest methods. The Qingzhou Wei Army will definitely fall into Qu Yi's hands if nothing happens."

The Qu family was a common surname in Liangzhou. Qu Yi had been in Liangzhou before, and he had a reputation for bravery. He was proficient in mastering the fighting methods of the Qiang people. Yan Zhong and Qu Yi actually had some friendship.

"We knew each other when Qu Yi was in Liangzhou in the past. Qu Yi has a volatile temperament, unpredictable thoughts, and great ambitions."

"If you say how much loyalty he has to Yuan Shao, I'm afraid it's not as good as a feather."

Although he didn't have a deep friendship with Qu Yi, Yan Zhong could clearly see Qu Yi's nature.

Tian Feng's death caused the military power to fall to Qu Yi's hands, and Qu Yi would never die loyal to Yuan Shao.

"At this time, Qu Yi will definitely not leave Qingzhou's Pingyuan County and return to Fangye City."

"Back to defending Yecheng, even if you are defending Yecheng, but so what?"

Yan Zhong walked to the map and pointed to the location of Qingzhou Pingyuan County.

"Give over Qingzhou's Pingyuan County? So that Gongsun Zan can support each other and connect with Qingzhou's Han army?"

"Then the entire Qingzhou was thrown away, and the Bohai Kingdom in Jizhou was added, so that Youzhou was completely divided."

"At that time, there will only be half of Jizhou left in Wei State, plus the Luoyang area that has become ruins, can we continue to fight for world hegemony with these things?"

"Wei Ting is weak, I'm afraid Qu Yi has already thought about his own way out."

"Now under Qu Yi's command, there are [-] cavalry, more than [-] infantry, and [-] troops in hand. This is his reliance."

"Rushing to help Yecheng, even if we win, it will only allow Wei Ting to live for another year or a half, but if we lose, we will die."

"And if he sticks to Pingyuan County, no matter what happens in victory or defeat, Qu Yi will be able to protect himself."

"Victory, the military power is in hand, Yuan Shao still needs to rely on him, lost, Qu Yi leads fifty thousand troops to join the Han court, how can the Han court not accept it?"

Yang Ji frowned, he didn't think of such a deep-seated problem.

The doubts in the hearts of everyone in Yongning Pavilion disappeared under Yan Zhong's words.

"If Wei Ting could be united, Yuan Shao would have already swept the entire world."

When Yan Zhong mentioned Wei Ting, his words were slightly contemptuous. After all, Yuan Shao's actions were sometimes outrageous.

He had a good hand, but he played it terribly.

What Yan Zhong wanted to say coincided with Xu An's.

Xu An didn't have much friendship with Qu Yi, but he knew that Qu Yi in history was arrogant, indulgent, and harboring evil intentions because of his self-reliance on meritorious service. Later, when Yuan Shao summoned him, he beheaded Qu Yi and annexed his followers.

Therefore, at this time, Qu Yi must first consider the future, and there is not much possibility of rushing to help Yecheng.

And the most important thing, when considering strategic strategies and other things, you must take into account the worst situation, especially in this era of extremely inconvenient information dissemination.

What Yan Zhong said, there was one thing that Xu An didn't know in advance, that is, Yan Zhong and Qu Yi were old acquaintances.

"Yan Gong, how is your friendship with Qu Yi?"

"Duke Ming wants to recruit Qu Yi?"

Yan Zhong reacted instantly, he knew what Xu An really wanted to ask.

"exactly"

Xu An nodded.

Wuhuan, the three prefectures, has been secretly deployed, and there are also many cavalry troops under the command of Gongsun Du in Liaozhou who can be mobilized, as well as a navy composed of hundreds of warships.

Those soldiers under Gongsun Zan's command were nothing to mention. As long as Xu An thought about it, the Ming army could capture the entire Youzhou in an instant.

Qu Yi has [-] troops under his command. If Qu Yi is willing to join him, the difficulty of capturing Jizhou will be greatly reduced.

At that time, the Ming army will send troops from Hangu Pass, Zhiguanxing, Taihangxing, Jingxing, and four places, and they can sandwich Weijun from east, west, north, and east.

At that time, even if the Han army broke through Yecheng and beheaded Yuan Shao, so what?

It's just useless work, and it's just a wedding dress for nothing.

Han Ting is indeed not stupid. He discovered the idea of ​​Taiping Dao sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, waiting for the internal friction between the two countries, and finally reaping the benefits.

That's why Sun Jian broke the boat and directly attacked Yecheng.

However, the Han court miscalculated some things, that is, the current combat power of the Ming army, and Wuhuan, the three counties, had already secretly served.

Moreover, the reason why several passes in Taihang Baxing are now controlled by Yuan Shao is not because the Yellow Turban Army is really invincible, but in fact, it is just to let Yuan Shao feel relieved and use more strength to fight the Han court.

(End of this chapter)