Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 104 Pre-War Arrangements
If the soldiers and horses are not moving, the grain and grass will go first.

Now, in order to attack Qingzhou, Jizhou has been preparing for nearly a year, and this time it is almost devoted to fighting with all its strength.

Previously, in Qingzhou, Yuan Tan and Jushou, General Fenwei and the supervisor of the army, led [-] troops to garrison. After Yuan Tan went to Beixin City, Jushou temporarily led the army.

Now that Yuan Tan has mobilized troops to open the passages to the two cities near Beixin City, if Gongsun Zan counterattacks and attacks Jushou's army in Qingzhou, he will have to bypass these two cities and Hejian County in Jizhou. The time spent is hard to say .

In the south, Yanzhou and Xuzhou are too busy to take care of themselves, and they will not be able to support Qingzhou in the short term.

So this rare window of opportunity, with Yuan Xi's efforts, was made ahead of time.

Of course, Yuan Tan has a lot of credit for this, but Yuan Shao knows what Yuan Xi did before others.

In addition to the trip to Xuzhou, Yuan Xi proved that he has the ability to lead the army alone, so Yuan Shao asked Yuan Xi to participate in the attack on Qingzhou.

Normally speaking, if Tian Kai had no one to support him, he would not be able to survive the Yuan family's massive attack. Therefore, Yuan Shao's purpose was obviously to train Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi.

Yuan Tan had already experienced many battles, but it was the first time for Yuan Xi to participate in such a large-scale battle of siege. Yuan Shao's intention to cultivate Yuan Xi was clearly seen by the Yuan family.

That's why Yuan Shangcai was so furious. He is good at government affairs. He is not good at battle but less. Now that Yuan Tan has already led the army, Yuan Xi will also lead troops to control Youzhou alone. These two elder brothers are not against him. How will he control it in the future? Jizhou Army!
What made Yuan Shang especially uncomfortable was that some time ago, Yuan Shao had asked Yuan Xi to participate in the rescue and treatment of locust plagues, with Tian Feng assisting him hand in hand, which was clearly to improve his ability in government affairs.

Yuan Shang guessed that he might have done something about the Zhen family, which caused Yuan Shao's dissatisfaction, and training Yuan Xi in this way was also beating himself by the way.

However, Yuan Xi pretended to take care of the overall situation from the beginning to the end, and did not take any action, which made Yuan Shao feel that Yuan Xi was an honest man, and compensated him with a post of prefect. As a result, Yuan Xi suffered a small loss and took the Big deal!

At this time, Yuan Xi didn't care what Yuan Shang thought in Yecheng. His trip to Qingzhou was very crucial. If he performed well, his position might change when he came back, and he could lead the affairs of Youzhou by then.

He rode on the horse, chatting with Zhang Yun all the way, and found that the situation in Qingzhou is extremely complicated.

Tian Kai confronted Yuan Shao's army directly in the plains, and Kong Rong supported them in Beihai. The two sides had been fighting for two years, and they often ran out of food and were forced to plunder each other's people.

Yuan Xi understood a little when he heard this, even though Yuan Tan was out of food, the food and grass in Beixincheng could still be delivered from time to time, which was considered pretty good.

In addition, there are also tens of thousands of remnants of the Yellow Turbans, known as Mount Tai bandits, looting and looting all over Qingzhou.

In Donglai County in the north, Gongsun Du of Liaodong often harassed and occupied coastal villages with sea ships in an attempt to establish camps.

Yuan Xi got dizzy when he heard that, the situation in Qingzhou is worse than he imagined?

No wonder the descendants of Yuan Tan failed to govern Qingzhou well after they conquered Qingzhou. Thieves and thieves swarmed up, and the gentry were powerful and disobedient, which led to a messy situation.

"Kyushu Spring and Autumn" - "If you recruit a wise man, you will not be able to get it; if you don't go to the army, you can live in the clan party and you can't be guilty."

This exposed Yuan Tan's shortcomings of being stronger than the battle formation but weak in internal affairs, but Yuan Xi couldn't think of a good solution for the time being.

The two brought [-] soldiers and nearly [-] civilians to collect food along the way. After walking for nearly half a month, they finally arrived at Pingyuan Country on schedule.

Yuan Tan had already led his troops to arrive from Beixincheng, and went out of the camp ten li ahead of time to meet Yuan Xi.

At this time, seeing Yuan Xi and Zhang Yun had arrived, he galloped over and said with a big laugh, "Second Brother, you are here!"

Yuan Xi hurried over, cupped his hands on the horse and said, "Brother, you have worked hard."

Yuan Tan laughed and said, "I've heard about the second brother's stay in Yecheng. Although the third brother is not a thing, the second brother is really up to the task. Even my father looks up to me with admiration."

Yuan Xiqian said: "It all depends on brother's counselor speaking well in front of my father, otherwise I really have nothing to do with my third brother."

Yuan Tan said bitterly: "That guy is really dark, and I have suffered several times. Let's ignore him. Let's go see Mr. Jushou first."

In fact, Yuan Tan was also secretly afraid in his heart. As his second brother, he must have hidden his clumsiness a few years ago, otherwise it would be impossible for him to change so much.

Fortunately, the purpose of the second brother is adoption, and there is no conflict with his current interests. Otherwise, if the second and third brothers join forces, he will have nothing to play with.

When Yuan Tan saw Zhang He came up to pay his respects, he also saluted: "The captain has worked hard on this trip, and my younger brother relies on the help of the captain. Tan is very grateful."

Zhang He hurriedly lowered his head and said, "He is terrified."

Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi walked side by side, while Zhang He followed far behind.

Yuan Tan said in a low voice: "Over Beixin City, I kept the first thousand soldiers. That General Qu is a man who knows how to fight. With him in charge, the three cities will have no worries."

Yuan Xi quickly thanked him.

Yuan Tan said again: "Gao Lan also came with me, but there is something wrong with Master Xun Mou.

Yuan Xi was startled, "What's wrong?"

Yuan Tan sighed: "He was going to follow, but a few days before the departure, he talked with the four maids all night, and he contracted a cold and was bedridden. I'm afraid he will have to take care of him for several months."

Yuan Xi: .
Yuan Tan laughed loudly, and briefly talked about the current confrontation between the two armies in Pingyuan. Yuan Xi heard that it was a siege battle, and immediately said: "I am really not familiar with siege, but I can arrange it with my brother."

Yuan Tan laughed and said, "For the time being, we don't need our brothers to go into battle. Siege of the city is extremely troublesome. We have to control the situation at the top of the city. We don't have to compete with our generals for the achievement of being the first to ascend."

While the two were talking, they entered the camp, and saw someone wearing armor waiting at the gate of the camp.

The man was more than 30 years old, with a square face, a burly and straight body, and the posture of a general. After Yuan Tan introduced him, Yuan Xi found out that this man was actually Ju Shou!

Yuan Xi did not expect to meet this famous counselor for the first time, but the other party appeared in this image.

Only then did he realize that Jushou was no ordinary counsellor.

Ju Shou was once a maocai and served as a county magistrate. Later, he served as a Biejia under Han Fu, and he was also called a captain of cavalry. This is a proper military position.

The captain of cavalry is going to lead the cavalry in person, so this man can really go into battle!

It's no wonder that after Yuan Shao was awarded Ju, the official positions given to him were General Fenwei and Supervisor of the Army.

Seeing Yuan Xi respectfully coming up and bowing to meet him, Ju Shou quickly supported Yuan Xi's arm and said, "Second Young Master is really an old man."

Seeing Jushou's gentle attitude, Yuan Xi thought to himself that Jushou is easy to talk?
As a result, the three of them walked into the tent and found a human head hanging on the flagpole inside, and several soldiers were beaten with army sticks, howling endlessly.

When Jushou saw him, he shouted, "Hit hard, don't keep your hands!"

When the disciplinary sergeant heard this, the stick in his hand became stronger.

Ju Shou turned around and explained: "The battle is imminent, and these soldiers spread rumors privately to shake the morale of the army. Therefore, according to military law, the leader of the culprit will be beheaded, and the rest will be publicly punished."

Yuan Xi saw that he was calm and prestige, and that the laws governing the army were strict, but when he spoke, he was gentle and gentle, and thought to himself that Yuan Shao's advisers were all extraordinary.

But it seems that Ju Shou has a good attitude towards him?

Several people entered the big tent, and there were two rows of generals standing separately, but Yuan Xi saw Zhao Yun in it, who had been declared by Yuan Xi as a partial general, and came with Yuan Tan.

When Zhao Yun saw Yuan Xi, he cupped his hands far away, but he didn't move a step. Because of this, all the generals stood still in the tent according to the regulations and were not allowed to move.

Yuan Tan wanted to invite Jushou to sit at the top, but Jushou said seriously: "Young master is attacking the general of Qingzhou, and the old man is just supervising the army." After speaking, he walked to the bottom and stood still.

When Yuan Tan saw him, he didn't refuse, and pointed to Yuan Xi at the vacant seat. Yuan Xi understood in his heart, and stood in. Zhang He also found his own seat and stood still.

Yuan Tan sat down and began to ask questions.

From siege equipment to food and grass, from the distribution of soldiers and generals, to the direction of their respective leaders, and the functions of the army formation in charge, Yuan Tan arranged them one by one in an orderly manner.

Yuan Xi listened intently, he knew that this was an excellent opportunity, and Yuan Tan, as the sole commander, had much more experience than himself.

As the generals came out one by one, Yuan Xi found that apart from Zhang Xi, several famous generals from Jizhou had arrived.

The most famous of them is Yan Liang!

Yuan Xi observed him carefully, and saw that Yan Liang had a big beard, his body was extremely grown, his belly was slightly protruding, and he was a little fat, probably about two hundred catties.

But Yuan Xi knew that these were all superficial appearances. The armor on Yan Liang's body was at least fifty or sixty catties, but when he came out to answer the question, his body was light, and he raised his hands and feet as if he was wearing a light sackcloth.

Wearing armor like this flexible and fat man, with strength and agility, must be a terrifying figure on the battlefield.

After listening to Yuan Tan's arrangement, Yuan Xi realized that the tens of thousands of civilian husbands he brought could be considered soldiers!
They are old and young, not suitable for fighting as soldiers, but they still have to go to the battlefield.

Although they are not required to kill the enemy, they are also responsible for many important functions, such as carrying soil under the city wall, pushing siege equipment such as rams, rescuing wounded soldiers, and even picking up arrows and weapons on the battlefield.

Yuan Xi's body trembled suddenly, and he faintly wanted to understand.

With these tens of thousands of mouths, no matter whether they go back or stay, food is difficult to deal with, and most of them are not fit for battle, so they can be used to fill the vacancy on the battlefield, which can play a role to some extent.

If you die, you can also save food.

Yuan Xi shuddered at his own thought, but he knew that it might be the truth.

No wonder later generations recorded that there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in battle, many of them are cannon fodder that can't even touch weapons, right?

So far, the Yellow Turban Army, which has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, is afraid that even the old, young, women and children are counted.

But in a real fight, the opponent doesn't care who is on the side. These old, weak, sick and disabled may lose their lives on the battlefield in an instant.

It's no wonder that there are hundreds of thousands of regular soldiers, and tens of thousands of 10,000+ Yellow Turbans collapsed, so that's the case.

Yuan Xi's body trembled slightly, this is the real war.

10,000+ lives were fought between the two sides, and tens of thousands of lives were lost until one side was completely defeated, which was completely different from the small fights I had in Beixincheng.

(End of this chapter)