At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 351 Ziyi’s disastrous defeat

It is not without reason why Zhao Yun only brought 2,000 cavalry when he went to Pei State, but instead asked Tai Shici to lead 5,000 troops to Xiapi County.

The combat effectiveness and mobility of the cavalry are far beyond that of the infantry, and even if something happens to Peiguo, there will be Xiapi County as a buffer in the middle.

Xiapi County is different. It is located just southwest of Xuzhou. It is the intersection of Yangzhou, Yuzhou and Xuzhou. Its geographical location is extremely important.

The most important thing is that the geography of Xiapi County is somewhat similar to a bent arm, like a sharp blade piercing the heart of the entire Xuzhou. Except for Langya Kingdom in the far north of Xuzhou, it borders all other counties in Xuzhou.

Once Xiapi County is lost, Xuzhou, which is basically undefendable, will inevitably become a sieve for leaks, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

Not only that.

Due to the special location of Xiapi County, once Xiapi County was lost, Guangling County, located south of Xiapi County, would also become an enclave. At that time, it was impossible for Liu Bei to send troops to Guangling County.

It is precisely because of the special geographical location of Xiapi County that even though Liu Bei did not think that Wen Chou dared to risk the rule of the world and provoke a war, he still had to treat it with caution and sent General Tai Shici and five thousand troops.

Perhaps for powerful princes like Yuan Shao and Zhou Qi, five thousand soldiers and horses is not much.

But as far as Xuzhou is concerned, it can be regarded as a large army going out.

After much thought, he finally wrote a letter to Liu Bei, requesting that five thousand more troops be dispatched to Xiapi County and then garrisoned in every county to guard against emergencies.

It's not that Zhou Qi can't do this.

Although Liu Bei now occupies Xuzhou, he has no sense of security at all, and there are not many troops and horses he can mobilize. Five thousand is already the limit without wasting people and money and delaying the autumn harvest.

Taishi Ci couldn't help but feel worried when he saw traces of Yuan Jun's activities everywhere.

If Zhou Qi knew the order issued by Liu Bei, he would definitely think of a certain bald man, but Liu Bei was better than that person, at least he did not issue a non-resistance policy.

On the banks of Hongze Lake, Yuan Jun acted more and more unscrupulously. At first, he only broke into people's homes to steal food. However, as the conflict intensified, several murders actually occurred.

Not long after the petition was sent, the magistrate of Suiling County suddenly sent an emergency report, informing Taishi Ci that because Yuan Jun was robbing food, a fierce conflict broke out with the people of Suiling. One Yuan Jun and more than a dozen people were killed.

Although only one person died, Yuan Jun was very angry that the people dared to attack them. After killing more than ten villagers, he even began to openly rush into the village to steal food.

Once Yuan's army plunders the people and Xuzhou's army does nothing, Liu Bei will inevitably lose the support of the people.

After Taishi Ci read the letter, his heart sank.

Especially the people in the Hongze Lake area close to the Huaihe River. In addition to the Han people, there are also some ethnic minorities with strong folk customs.

If Suiling County Magistrate had not exerted great pressure to suppress it, I am afraid it would have caused larger-scale conflicts and bloodshed.

Although Taishi Ci felt aggrieved, he also knew that this was for the sake of the overall situation, so he could only accept the order and leave.

After all, Xuzhou has no danger to defend, and many places border on Yuan Shao. For the safety of Xuzhou, Liu Bei had to divide his troops and station them in various places. This would greatly disperse Xuzhou's small military strength.

"No, stop marching!"

Although he would not let Taishi Ci take the initiative to provoke disputes, if Wen Chou really took advantage of it and robbed the people within the territory or attacked the county town, Taishi Ci would no longer have to endure it and would not hesitate to start a war with Yuan Shao.

This is why, even though Xuzhou is close to the East China Sea, is the hometown of Saint Confucius, and has a household registration of one million, making it a wealthy and blessed place, Zhou Qi still did not consider Xuzhou when he first chose the place where he started.

Taishi Ci did not dare to neglect and left three thousand soldiers and horses to garrison several relatively important counties. However, he took two thousand soldiers and horses to Suiling all night long to control the further deterioration of the situation.

The conflict between the two sides was getting bigger and bigger, and it was difficult for the county magistrate to control the situation, so he asked Taishi Ci for help.

The food that the people had worked so hard to grow was easily snatched away by Yuan Jun. Even if there would be government subsidies in the future, the people could not see the food now, and they felt a little uneasy after all.

It is the autumn harvest season now. Although some migratory birds have begun to fly south, Suiling is close to the Huaihe River, so the migratory birds here migrate later than those in the north.

Taishi Ci had long expected the bloody conflict between the two sides.

Taishi Ci was anxious and continued to urge his troops to move forward quickly.

However, it was precisely because of Yuan Jun's unscrupulous behavior that many people in nearby counties fled to the city, leaving many villages now deserted.

If he does not get the support of the people of Xuzhou, Liu Bei will not be far away from defeat.

Nowadays, they not only rob food, but also rob valuable things from people's homes, which immediately arouses the anger of heaven and earth.

Because Liu Bei was so popular in Xuzhou, there was no doubt about the loyalty of these Xuzhou troops. Even though they were exhausted from marching day and night, they still gritted their teeth and persisted.

Naturally, the people did not want the crops they had worked so hard to grow to be taken away. In some places, people even clashed with Yuan's soldiers.

In this case, once Yuan Jun has some bad ideas, Xiapi will become very passive.

"Brothers, if you hurry up, you can pass through the woods and walk ten miles south, and you will see Suiling County!"

It's just that Xuzhou, as a place of the Fourth War, is not as dangerous and defendable as Yangzhou and Yizhou. Once it is occupied, in order to ensure the safety of Xuzhou, a lot of troops will be spent, and the gain will not be worth the loss.

But he said that Taishi Ci took the order and left. Before leaving, Liu Bei repeatedly told him that he only needed to monitor Yuan Jun's movements. Unless the other party took the lead, no conflict would occur.

In addition, there are many mature crops in the geography at this time, which can also provide a good meal for the birds, so flocks of birds can be seen in many places.

Fortunately, the people were afraid of these sword-wielding soldiers, and Yuan Jun did not dare to attack the people rashly. The conflict between the two sides was not intense.

When Taishi Ci led his troops into the territory of Suiling, they clearly felt that the place had become desolate. After advancing for more than ten miles, there was no one there.

Taishi Ci was about to enter the woods, but after subconsciously observing the situation in the woods, his heart sank.

Because Liu Bei knew that in addition to his previous alliance with Zhou Qi, the most important reason for his ability to securely occupy Xuzhou was the support of the people of Xuzhou.

Taishi Ci was not surprised at all when the two sides clashed.

Yuan Jun didn't seem to care about the surveillance of Xuzhou soldiers and continued to harvest the crops his own way.

Even if Zhou Qi later had the opportunity to capture Xuzhou while Yuan Shu, Liu Bei, and Cao Cao were fighting, he never acted rashly.

While Taishi Ci asked the county officials to appease people's hearts, he divided his troops to inspect various places, closely monitoring the movements of Yuan's soldiers and preventing them from misbehaving.

But it is said that Taishi Ci led his troops to Xiapi County, and he saw Yuan Jun running around with sickles harvesting crops. Perhaps because of the lack of sickles, some soldiers even cut off the crops with swords, and then loaded them onto the cart. .

But when Taishi Ci observed the forest in front of him, he was shocked to find that there were no birds hovering in the forest.

The Art of War says: Don't enter the woods.

This refers to two types of woods, one is this kind of forest that is too quiet, with no birds circling at all.

Another kind is when birds happen to enter the woods, but after sensing that there are many people inside, they will keep hovering over the woods, but never dare to fall down.

In these two woods, there will either be ferocious beasts or ambushes.

"Line up and prepare for battle!" Following Tai Shici's order, the two thousand exhausted Xuzhou troops hurriedly began to form formation.

At this time, the famous Hebei general Gao Lan was leading three thousand soldiers to ambush in the woods. When he detected Taishi Ci's actions, he couldn't help but praise: "What a vigilant Taishi Ci!"

Since the ambush was no longer possible, Gao Lan simply issued the order directly and shouted: "The cavalry is in front, the infantry is behind, follow me and charge!"

Three thousand against two thousand, occupying a clear strength advantage.

The most important thing is that Gao Lan not only has a thousand cavalry under his command, but they are now waiting for work. It is not a problem to defeat the two thousand tired troops under Tai Shici's command.

Taishi Ci was also worried that there were cavalry ambushing in the woods, so he did not dare to rashly order a retreat.

If this is the case, by the time the cavalry begins to cover up the enemy, the retreat will turn into a rout.

"Tap Tap!"

The ground began to shake slightly.

When a thousand cavalrymen, led by Gao Lan, took the lead to rush out of the woods, Taishi Ci's heart sank to the bottom.

"We really encountered a cavalry ambush. Now we can't escape even if we want to, so we have to fight to the death!"

A stern look flashed in his eyes, and he gave the order without hesitation: "Pikemen in front, form formation!"

Since Liu Bei occupied Xuzhou, he has also been worried about Yuan Shao's cavalry, so pikemen have become the standard equipment of the army's sergeants.

In this way, when facing a cavalry charge, the infantry will not have no room to fight back.

"The archers stand behind, shoot at the base and prepare to release arrows!"

"Chirp!"

As soon as Taishi Ci finished speaking, an archer shot out the arrow in his hand and planted it on the ground far away.

As long as Gao Lan's cavalry crossed the arrow, it was equivalent to entering the range of the archers. At that time, even though there were not many archers under Tai Shici's command, they were still able to inflict considerable damage on Yuan Jun's cavalry.

"The cavalry is divided into two teams and outflanks from both sides!"

Unexpectedly, seeing that the cavalry was about to enter the range of the archers, Gao Lan suddenly issued an order to outflank them.

As a famous general born and raised in Hebei, Gao Lan's command of the cavalry is definitely very important, and he naturally knows how to take advantage of the mobility of the cavalry.

Leading the cavalry into battle is something only a reckless man would do.

Utilizing the mobility of the cavalry to continuously outflank and penetrate, and deliver a fatal blow when the opponent reveals his weaknesses, is what the cavalry should really do.

as predicted.

As a thousand cavalry soldiers divided into two groups and began to outflank them, many flaws in Taishi Ci's battle formation suddenly appeared.

Taishi Ci did not dare to neglect and hurriedly ordered the spearmen to adjust their formation.

It's just that Gao Lan is a veteran on the battlefield, and his cavalry are not busy launching attacks, but constantly outflanking and intimidating them.

Gao Lan could decide when to attack, but Taishi Ci could only passively adjust his formation.

If Taishi Ci had more soldiers and horses, he wouldn't be in such a mess. However, things have come to this. Even though Taishi Ci was a famous general during the Three Kingdoms period, he could only be led by the nose.

What made Tai Shici feel most desperate was that after the two thousand Yuan Jun infantry also rushed out, he had to divide his troops and form a formation in front.

As a result, the defense on both wings will be significantly weakened.

"kill!"

The battle broke out without any suspense. Two thousand Yuan Army infantry took the lead in launching the attack, which immediately attracted the attention of many Xuzhou Army.

The infantry strength of both sides is the same, but one side is a tired division, while the other side is waiting for work.

The two fought, and even though the Xuzhou army was commanded by the fierce general Tai Shici, they still quickly showed signs of fatigue.

The reason for this, in addition to the above reasons, is also related to the constant harassment of a thousand cavalry led by Gao Lan.

If Taishi Ci did not divide his troops for defense, he would be worried that the cavalry led by Gao Lan would launch a surprise attack.

If Taishi Ci divides his troops for defense, the frontal battlefield will become more and more difficult.

Seeing that the Xuzhou army was focused on one thing and not on the other, Gao Lan never ordered the cavalry to join the battlefield. Instead, he kept wandering around and intimidating, forcing Tai Shici to suffer.

This is just like the intimidating Zhong Kui and King Lanling in later generations of King of Glory.

If Zhong Kui only throws the hook without moving out, the psychological pressure on the opponent will be extremely huge. No one is not afraid of Zhong Kui's hook.

Once thrown out, no one may be caught, and the deterrent effect is lost.

The same goes for King Lanling, who has been hiding next to the opponent's crispy hero. The opponent will definitely panic when they see the exclamation mark above their head.

Once King Lanling finishes a set, let alone whether the opponent can successfully kill the crispy one with the protection of his teammates. Even if he kills it, there is a high probability that it will be one for one, and it will be very difficult to escape.

Moreover, after finishing a set of Lanling King in a team battle, the deterrent effect will be greatly reduced.

Gao Lan's actions also had the same effect. He led the cavalry to always roam on the opponent's flanks, but did not launch an attack, which put enormous pressure on the Xuzhou Army.

This pressure also greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the Xuzhou Army, causing the front line to retreat steadily.

Seeing that the Xuzhou Army had fallen into decline and had no time to pay attention to the still wandering cavalry, Gao Lan keenly seized the opportunity and immediately ordered his cavalry to charge.

This battle, with almost no suspense, ended with the Xuzhou Army's disastrous defeat.

In desperation, Taishi Ci had no choice but to break through with several soldiers.

If it weren't for Taishi Ci's extraordinary bravery and superb riding skills, I'm afraid he would have suffered a loss this time.

Even so, after Taishi Ci broke out, there were only four or five riders left around him.

There were two thousand soldiers and horses when they came, and when they returned, there were only six including Tai Shici. Such a loss was definitely a heavy loss for Xuzhou, which did not have a deep foundation.

(End of this chapter)