Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 731

Only Yuan Xi and a few of his men knew where the money originally used to expand the army in Youzhou was spent. A considerable part of it was used to build intelligence and transportation networks.

As a person of later generations, Yuan Xi understands better than anyone else what a smooth traffic intelligence route means in this era where news transmission is entirely dependent on human power and has great lag.

For a long time in human history, the daily mileage of long-distance travel has been between fifteen and twenty kilometers.

Even during the German Blitzkrieg during World War II, excluding the distance in our own occupied areas and deep into the enemy's hinterland, without the support of roads and railways, the daily advancement distance was still about [-] kilometers.

This is because after entering an enemy-occupied area, in order to prevent being ambushed and attacked by the enemy, a large number of reconnaissance troops must be dispatched to detect the enemy's movements. At the same time, in order to ensure that the large army forms a whole and prevent falling behind, each unit must search for On the forward route, while marching in coordination with each other, the marching speed was greatly slowed down invisibly.

Of course, this is based on insufficient intelligence. If in one's own occupied area, the troops can greatly increase their marching speed while ensuring basic tactical requirements. It is not impossible for the cavalry to travel hundreds of miles a day.

Of course, there was a unique infantry unit in later generations that also reached this speed, so it is beyond the scope of discussion.

Yuan Xi knew that in order to increase the marching speed, on the one hand, he must ensure the mobility of the troops, and on the other hand, he must ensure the smooth flow of intelligence. Both are indispensable.

So very early on, he purposefully deployed a secret intelligence network outside his territory just for today.

On this network, hidden stakes dotted here and there formed intelligence lines. After receiving orders, they would appear and send out intelligence to guide Yuan Xijun along the most efficient route.

Of course, it is not easy to establish an intelligence line. Being able to maintain contact with each other under unexpected circumstances requires many preventive measures, including Yuan Xi asking Tian Chou to learn pathfinding skills for this purpose.

Moreover, intelligence points may be discovered and destroyed by the enemy. They must be repaired in time to ensure the perfection of the entire network. Therefore, the cost of supporting this intelligence network is definitely not a small number.

If all these resources were used to recruit troops, Yuan Xi might have tens of thousands or tens of thousands more light infantry, but the strategic significance of the two is absolutely incomparable.

Now with the support of this intelligence network, Yuan Xi's marching speed has nearly doubled. At the same time, this intelligence network is extremely exclusive and can detect enemy spies in time and eliminate them, thus ensuring the secrecy of the march. .

With the support of this network, Yuan Xi led his army eastward from the exit of Weijun in Montenegro on the day Yang Feng returned. From Weijun to the border of Hanoi and Dongjun, he then went straight to Yin in Henan and avoided Yuan Shu's attack. Hanoi's defense line unknowingly reached behind Yuan Shu!

Yes, Yuan Xi planned to go to Nanyang, but he would not let Yuan Shu cut off his retreat. Although he had offered Yuan Shu generous terms before, Yuan Shu had always been ambiguous and had not made his position clear.

Yuan Xi understood that Yuan Shu was preparing to wait for the price between himself and Cao Cao, and wanted to take advantage of both sides.

But Yuan Xi will not give the other side another chance. Yuan Shu's mentality is his talisman, and how can Yuan Xi truly negotiate peace with someone like Yuan Shu? Everything is just Guo Jia's tactic to delay the war.

Guo Jia accurately grasped Yuan Shu's psychology and offered Yuan Shu extremely generous conditions, but Yuan Shu would not agree immediately because such conditions would make Yuan Shu misjudge his own value and make him feel that he was a piece of cake.

But in fact, in Yuan Xi's heart, Yuan Shu is no different from a shit stirrer. Even if there is no value in joining forces, this kind of person has allowed him to live until now. It has to be said that luck accounts for a large part, and now Yuan Shu occupies Henan Yin, which is extremely influential. After Yuan Xi mobilized his troops, his end came.

The reason why Yuan Xi went to great lengths to get behind Yuan Shu was because if he attacked from Heishan and fought south from Hanoi, even if he could defeat Yuan Shu, his remaining army would want to flee south to Yingchuan, so that Cao Cao would know about it and alert the enemy.

So he is now leading troops to attack from the south. Even if Yuan Shu can let him go, he can still escape towards Huai City in Hanoi. There will be people waiting for him there!
  He looked at the counselor and general standing in front of him.

Guo Jia, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang.

That's enough of these people.

Compared to Zhao Yuntai Shi Ci, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were not well known and were somewhat ignored by other camps, so their whereabouts did not cause too much alarm.

But only Yuan Xi knew that the two of them were much more reliable than most generals in the world.

He said aloud: "In order to rush on the road this time, we are bringing cavalry. Obviously we cannot attack the infantry formation head-on."

"So this time, most of the cavalry will be fighting as infantry."

"Do you have any questions, generals?"

Zhang Liao and Xu Huang clasped their fists at the same time and said: "Please rest assured, my lord, they have been training with the trapped camp for the past six months!"

"Coupled with the armor and shield, they are no weaker than anyone except those trapped in the camp!"

Yuan Xi nodded. The heavy infantry rode on horseback to attack, and then dismounted to engage in battle. This was not his first initiative. It is said that the prototype of this era was formed by Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in later generations.

There are many records showing that the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry often ran long distances for several days and then immediately went into battle. The war horses could not withstand such high-load exercise, so it is likely that a considerable part of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were mainly elite heavy infantry, and most of the war horses Time is used to get to the battlefield in time.

The chance of winning when cavalry attacks a heavy infantry array is not high. This has been proved by Qu Yi's first soldiers. Therefore, people in the world are exploring ways to deal with it. Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were the first to combine the mobility and mobility of cavalry. The frontal decisive battle of the heavy infantry was combined.

Moreover, after the battle, the horses rest for half a day and the infantry can turn into cavalry at any time to harass the opponent. It can be said that the proficiency of switching between the two arms determines the outcome of the battlefield. This method of warfare was gradually carried forward by the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms. Several decisive battles were fought with cavalry and heavy infantry, ending in the defeat of the enemy.

As an enemy of Cao Cao, Yuan Xi had to admit that Cao Cao had a very extraordinary strategic vision.

Yuan Xi glanced at Lu Lingqi who was beside him and said in a deep voice, "Okay!"

"According to the spies' report, Yuan Shu's army is located thirty miles ahead."

"Luoyang!"

"Today's Luoyang, Dong Zhuo burned down the city, the city walls collapsed, and the moat dried up. Now it is just a large village."

"From now on, we will spend most of the day approaching Luoyang with a horse in its hooves and a horse in its hooves. It will be late at night when we arrive."

"That's when we launch a surprise attack. Success or failure depends on this. Xi Hui will personally sit in the center of the army to support and coordinate the two generals!"

Zhang Liao and Xu Huang heard this and responded loudly at the same time: "No!"

The two generals took the order and went out. Guo Jia also went out to rectify military affairs. Lu Lingqi said to Yuan Xi with some worry: "It's dangerous to fight at night. Don't you want to go into battle yourself?"

Yuan Xi understands Lu Lingqi's concerns. Night battles have great benefits but also great risks. The risks are the same for both the enemy and us. The dark night can infinitely amplify people's fear, and even small factors can lead to the collapse of the military formation.

Yuan Xi sighed: "I'm still a little afraid of going to the battlefield."

"But I have no other choice. I have to set an example in front of the generals and soldiers. After all, I am not relying on the nobles and their private soldiers, but on these soldiers, who are mostly from good families and common people."

Yuan Xi knew why so many people joined forces with Cao Cao.

Because Cao Cao also wanted to kill all the wealthy noble families at the beginning. After encountering strong backlash, he used the wealth collected from the farming system to bribe the poor noble families. He shouted the slogan of valuing talent over virtue, and with the title of emperor, he attracted Many people attached themselves to it.

But Yuan Xi couldn't do it. What he did in Youzhou made the nobles very wary. The public land in Youzhou was equivalent to digging up their roots.

Although Yuan Xi himself is from a wealthy family, his actions are somewhat concealed, which makes the wealthy families think that Yuan Xi simply wants to prepare for becoming emperor, and they are not as wary of him as they are of Cao Cao. However, only Yuan Xi knows what he will do in the future. Sooner or later the world will be plowed.

Without the aristocratic family, Yuan Xi did not have no support. Because of Yuan Xi's voluntary study and charity, many people from poor backgrounds began to slowly fall in favor of Yuan Xi.

For example, Taipingdao, Taishan bandits, Black Mountain bandits, as well as counselors and generals who have no deep entanglements with their families.

Strictly speaking, Yuan Xi's subordinates do not have the support of a big family. If they did, Yuan Xi would be very cautious when recruiting them.

After all, if those people knew what Yuan Xi was going to do in the future, they would probably stay away from Yuan Xi.

Lu Lingqi raised her halberds, waved them a few times, and said solemnly: "In this case, I will protect my husband."

Yuan Xi saw Lu Lingqi's solemn face and sighed inwardly. Since Lu Bu's death, the smile on Lu Lingqi's face has disappeared a lot.

But Yuan Xi knew that Lu Lingqi's heart knot could not be completely resolved with his own words. This hatred and entanglement could only be diluted by time and the blood and fire on the battlefield.

He took Lu Lingqi's hand and said: "Okay, let's fight side by side this time, defeat Yuan Shu as quickly as possible, and then go south to Nanyang!"

Luoyang.

The palace in the city is quite new. It was newly built by Yuan Shu's subordinates after he occupied Yin in Henan. Although it is a bit crude and not as rich and luxurious as Shouchun, it is still much better than the previous panic-stricken days of fleeing.

In recent days, Yuan Shu has been in a much better mood, but when he thinks about losing Shouchun, he still feels quite uncomfortable. Especially when he thinks that after Yuan Xi conquers Shouchun, he will definitely take his harem for his own use, and Yuan Shu's heart is bleeding. .

This ferocious tiger still has the nerve to negotiate with him. When he makes a comeback, he attacks Yecheng and kills Yuan Shao's entire army!
  But Yuan Shu could only think about it. Now he could only rely on Cao Cao to survive. He could not compete with any of Yuan's three sons.

So he could only stay in Luoyang, living in a state of drunkenness and dreaming with the robbed woman in his arms. Fortunately, although Henan Yin had gone through wars, it still left many common people behind. Yuan Shu's soldiers could gain a lot when they went out to plunder. Yuan Shu's life was easy Not bad at all.

And recently he found that he had become a target, and many parties came to woo him, which made Yuan Shu very proud. Especially today, his soldiers snatched several young women. Yuan Shu chose the one that looked the most pleasing to him, and then He hugged him and fell asleep.

He didn't know how long it took before he was woken up by a loud noise.

(End of this chapter)