The big man is on the run

Chapter 184

For these old officials, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were both traitors and traitors, and it would be better if they both died in a fight.

It is not impossible to let Gongsun Zan defend the city to consume Yuan Shao's strength, but there are still two issues involved here, how long Gongsun Zan can defend, and how long it will take for the officers and troops to arrive.

If the officers and soldiers linger, Gongsun Zan is wiped out by Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao takes over half of Youzhou in one fell swoop (except Gongsundu's territory in Liaodong), then the imperial court's strategic situation will change from half-encircled initiative to passive encirclement by Yuan Shao.

At this time, after all, there is still someone who can stand up.

Xun You, the servant of the household department, was silent for a long time, and then he came out and said: "I think what the scholar Sun Pushe said is wrong."

The court hall became silent, and a needle could be heard.

"It's true that Gongsun Zan committed the murder of the clan, but the court has pardoned his crimes. In any case, we can't use this as a judgment to decide whether to support or not, or whether the speed of support is fast or not, otherwise"

Xun You didn't continue to speak, but everyone understood it.

There are too many people with black history in the imperial court, not to mention the guards in far away places, if you follow the standards of Shi Sun Rui, how do you let Jia Xu and Ma Teng deal with themselves?
If they lead the army and are surrounded outside, will they think of today's words, thinking that the imperial court will let them defend the city and die and will not try their best to rescue them?

After a moment of embarrassment, Xun You continued: "Of course, I don't mean to say that sticking to this strategy is not good. Zhuojun, Guangyang, and Yuyang are the heartlands of Youzhou. Daijun and Shanggu in the west The counties, or Youbeiping County and Liaoxi County in the east are all barren and cold places, and Guangyang County must not be easily obtained by Yuan Shao."

"What does that mean?"

Xun You simply replied: "We must stick to it and save it quickly."

At this time, Taiwei and Shangshu ordered Zhu Jun to ask: "Half of the officers and soldiers are in Guanzhong, and half are in Bingzhou. If the rescue is urgent, should they be gathered together or go in batches?"

"Going together, it is easy to be defeated in batches, and if there are few people, it will not be effective at all. The main force of the government and army must be grouped together."

Zhu Junfu asked again: "From Guanzhong, the officers and troops gathered to cross the river, went north along the Fenshui River Valley to Yanmen County, then eastward to Dai County and Shanggu County in Youzhou, and arrived in Guangyang County. , how long will it take at the earliest?"

Xun You couldn't answer this question. After all, he was usually only in charge of the Ministry of Households. He knew about food and grass, but he didn't know about the distribution of the army.

"It will take 25 days."

Fazheng, a doctor in the last row who is advising the sect under the door, stepped forward to respond.

The admonishing doctor was originally an official of Guanglu Xun with a rank of six hundred stones, but after adjustments, he was classified as a close minister of the provincial emperor with a rank of one thousand stones.

The ministers were not surprised by this. In Menxia Province, Fazheng was originally a military adviser for the emperor. Although he was not an official of the Ministry of War, he also had the right to know when it came to military mobilization.

"25rd."

Zhu Jun nodded. The question now is whether Gongsun Zan can survive the onslaught of Yuan Shao's army of at least 25 for [-] days.

In the past, Yuan Shao's center of gravity was in Bingzhou. For Gongsun Zan, he only used Qu Yi's partial division to deal with it. Even so, Gongsun Zan was beaten and could only rely on the Yishui defense line to defend.

Now that Yuan Shao's entire army came to attack, Gongsun Zan simply threw away Yi Jing, which had been in business for many years, and returned to Ji County. It's really hard to say whether he can hold it.

Faced with this question, some people have already flinched a bit.

Shang Shu Zuo Pushe and Situ Zhang Xi saw that the proposal to let Gongsun Zan temporarily avoid the edge was rejected, so they simply went to another extreme.

Zhang Xi then stood up and advised Liu Yi, who was still silent, and said, "Your Majesty, even if our entire army is deployed now, not counting the field troops and local county soldiers, there are only less than [-] soldiers ready to fight, and Yuan Shao But there are about [-] paces. Even if Gongsun Zan can temporarily drag Yuan Shao to Ji County by virtue of the advantage of the city, we cannot replenish the food, grass and supplies in the city! But Yuan Shao has enough food, grass and supplies Supply, if our army supports from afar, and confront Yuan Shao head-on, I'm afraid we will suffer a lot!"

This is what it means to simply give up supporting Gongsun Zan.

In fact, what Zhang Xi said was not bad. His suggestion all along was not to confront Yuan Shao head-on. Before, he wanted Gongsun Zan to retreat, but now he wants the officers and soldiers not to rescue him.

After all, a decisive battle of this level is about the fate of the country, and no one dares to say that they will bet all their fortunes at once.

Moreover, the rescue of Gongsun Zan this time is different from the previous Battle of Hedong.

In the battle of Hedong, Yuan Shao would directly destroy the Guanzhong court if he did not take the next step. It was an elbow and armpit change. Even if the southern part of Youzhou, which is Yimapingchuan, was captured by Yuan Shao, it did not mean that he was capable of attacking Bingzhou, which was easier to defend.

In Bingzhou, the officers and soldiers are confident that they can rely on terrain advantages to make up for the gap in strength, but in the southern part of Youzhou, Pingguo cannot do so.

The current situation is indeed very grim. Gongsun Zan only has less than [-] troops left, and among these [-] are county soldiers with low combat power.

The imperial court removed the field soldiers and county soldiers who were a drag on the logistics, and the main field force that could be mobilized was less than 4.

The number of soldiers and horses in Yuan Shao's hands that can be used in field battles is estimated to be no less than [-]. If he can't think of a way to solve the problem of the gap in troops, the chances of winning are still very low.

Of course, military strength is not the only factor that determines a war. The morale of both sides, the organization of the army, the command of the general, the support of the logistics, the overall combat experience and training level of the soldiers, the level of equipment, terrain and weather conditions will all affect the victory of a battle. defeat.

But no matter what, the effective force that can be put into the field is a topic that cannot be avoided at all. This is also the most commonly used reference dimension for both parties to estimate the probability of victory or defeat.

Liu Yi frowned. The reason why he didn't say a word was not because of the emperor's tricks, but because he had also figured out a solution. It's just that he hasn't found a suitable method yet, and he doesn't know how to defeat Yuan Shao.

"Your Majesty, why not let Gongsun Zan drag Yuan Shao's troops to death in Ji County, and then we send some elite troops to take advantage of the chaos to attack Yuan Shao's rear and cut off their supply lines, just like the surprise attack on Yecheng during the Battle of Hedong. We will win a big victory!" Liu Yi was worrying, when suddenly, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment and Ting Wei announced.

"Xuan Shangshu is a bit..." Jia Xu originally wanted to take it for granted, but then changed his words: "Some don't understand the topography of the northern part of Jizhou and the southern part of Youzhou."

"Cough, I would like to ask Jia Shangshu to enlighten me." Xuanbo said it out of his head. Seeing Jia Xu's expression at this time, he probably knew that he might be talking on paper, so he simply lowered his attitude.

"Yuan Shao sent troops from Yecheng to conquer Youzhou in the north, and the supply routes must all be by water."

Liu Yi simply asked someone to bring over a map.

Jia Xu pointed to the criss-crossing river network in Jizhou on the map and said: "Although most of the rivers in Jizhou run from east to west, there are also a few rivers running from north to south. The most convenient way to supply logistics is to take Zhangshui River from Yecheng." , you can go down the river and enter the sea directly in Bohai County. Of course, Yuan Shaojun definitely doesn’t need to go all the way to enter the sea. He only needs to disembark at Lecheng in Hejian State, and then transport it to the north for dozens of miles to enter the water. , you can go all the way north to Yijing, and then you can take the land route, and the land route is where Yuan Shao's army gathers."

"That is to say, in fact, our army can't cut off Yuan Shao's food supply?"

"Yes, even if troops are sent from Jingxing to the east, it is still hundreds of miles away from Yuan Shao's grain road, and the road from Yecheng to Yijing is basically a waterway, so it is difficult to send cavalry to intercept it."

"What about attacking Ye City again?"

"Taiyuan County is in the hands of our army, but Jingxingkou is too far away from Yecheng. Shangdang County is still in Yuan Shao's hands, so he can't go to Huguan. If he travels thousands of miles to Hanoi County, Yuan Shao must be prepared."

After Jia Xu said this, the ministers immediately understood what he meant.

Yuan Shao's army is strong and his horse is strong, but he can't make any strange moves. Comparing the two, it is obvious who is stronger and who is weaker.

This battle is not easy to fight.

If the imperial court really sent elite troops to attack Yuan Shao's food road, it would be almost impossible to the south of Yijing, but to the north of Yijing, it would probably be ambushed by Yuan Shao's army, and Yuan Shao's army was much stronger than the official army. However, if sending troops to attack Yuan Shao's Liang Dao failed, and Yuan Shao's army surrounded him, then the elite officers and soldiers would definitely suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, the imperial court must not send elite cavalry to attack Yuan Shao's food road at the risk of great uncertainty.

However, if he didn't attack, he would have to face Yuan Shao's army head-on. At that time, if Gongsun Zan was surrounded and unable to move, the officers and soldiers would have to fight alone.

Caught in a dilemma, for a while, the hall was silent, and no one spoke. They all hoped that their suggestions would have an effect on the battle situation, but the reality was often cruel.

Inside the hall, there was silence.

After a long time, Liu Yi spoke slowly.

"Xiaozhi, how long will it take for the officers and troops to go out of Jingxingkou from assembly?"

Fazheng was slightly taken aback, and understood Liu Yi's meaning almost instantly.

"It only takes fifteen days to cross the river to reach Taiyuan County."

(End of this chapter)