The great man will live forever

Chapter 324 Let’s see what the world wants
"Holy girl, I don't think we can cross the waterway. Although the Bohai Sea is not wide, it is still a sea. There are winds and waves on the sea. If you are not careful, the boat will be destroyed and people will die. It is too risky for our 100,000 troops to cross the sea.

Moreover, as soon as we attack Qingzhou, the princes of the imperial court may react immediately. Cao Cao in Yanzhou, Tao Qian in Xuzhou, and Yuan Shao in Jizhou are all afraid that they will regard us as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their flesh, and they may besiege us.

Especially Gongsun Zan, he is powerful and controls most of Qingzhou, most of Youzhou, and part of Jizhou. This will be our biggest obstacle. "

The speaker was Gongsun Du, and his opinions were very good.

In fact, the largest power among the princes in the early stage was not Yuan Shao, but more like Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shu.

Why is this happening? We have to first look at the major events that happened in the past few years. Two years ago, that is, 190 AD.

The coalition's campaign against Dong generally did not go well, and Dong Zhuo burned down Luoyang. Cao Cao was beaten by Xu Rong until almost his entire army was destroyed, and he went to Yangzhou to recruit troops. Only Sun Jian had a smooth journey, but later withdrew from Luoyang.

At that time, Gongsun Zan was General Fenwu, and Liaodong was the governor of the country.

Gongsun Zan was inferior to Liu Yu in terms of official position and reputation, and there was no doubt that he and Liu Yu had a superior-subordinate relationship. However, due to the way he conquered the northern barbarians, and Gongsun Zan secretly asked Yuan Shu to detain Liu Yu's son Liu He, suspicion began to arise.

Then, in the second year of Chuping (AD 191), a year ago, Yuan Shao deceived Jizhou from Han Fu, the Mu of Jizhou, and became one of the most powerful princes in the world.

At Jieqiao, Yuan Shao personally led his troops to fight against Gongsun Zan. The two armies met twenty miles south of Jieqiao.

It's a bit similar to Director Qi, who married Bai Fumei and then started to reach the top of his life.

Then, Yuan Shu began to break up with Yuan Shao and competed for Yuzhou. Yuan Shu represented Sun Jian as the governor of Yuzhou, and Yuan Shao represented Zhou Ang as the governor of Yuzhou.

Gongsun Zan himself appointed Yan Gang as the shepherd of Jizhou, Tian Kai as the shepherd of Qingzhou, Shan Jing as the shepherd of Yanzhou, and appointed county governors.

Where righteousness comes, life and death follow! The sky is a guide, and the white horse is the proof!

Cao Cao, who had collected 4,000 soldiers from Yangzhou, was passing by the east county of Yanzhou when he received a big gift from the sky. The Black Mountain bandits Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu and the southern Xiongnu Yu Fuluo joined forces to kill the prefect of the east county.

His white horse Yi Cong gradually developed into the first cavalry at that time.

The wife Cao's military genius was demonstrated for the first time. Relying on a patchwork army with low morale, he defeated Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, Yu Fuluo, etc. Yuan Shao declared him the prefect of Dongjun, and from then on he had the third A stable turf.

But in the early days, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were not outstanding people. Those who can leave their names in the history books are the heroes among millions of people.

The general process was the rebellion of Qu Yi, the subordinate of Han Fu, the shepherd of Jizhou, and Gongsun Zan's attack on Han Fu, all of which were attributed to Yuan Shao.

When he was the county magistrate of Zhuo County, Gongsun Zan was ordered to lead 3,000 cavalry on an expedition to pursue Zhang Chun and other rebels, and was promoted to captain of cavalry for his merit.

Gongsun Zan arranged 20,000 infantry in a square formation, with more than 5,000 cavalry on each side of the left and right wings.

Finally, around the sixth year of Zhongping (189), he was promoted to General Fenwu and granted the title of Jihou.

Later, because of his outstanding appearance and outstanding intelligence, he gained a certain status by marrying the daughter of the prefect.

Yuan Shao was a little scared. In order to express his apology, he gave his seal and ribbon as governor of Bohai to Gongsun Zan's cousin Gongsun Fan. Gongsun Zan accepted the land and seal but did not appreciate it.

Then, it was now, the third year of Chuping (AD 192).

However, in the winter of that year, the Battle of the Boundary Bridge occurred. With Ju Yi's epic performance, Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan.

Historical records record: "He served as a secretary to the county gate. He had good posture and a loud voice. He was used by the Marquis Prefect. He took her as his wife and sent him to Lu Zhi of Zhuo County to read the scriptures."

Because Youzhou, where Gongsun Zan is located, is adjacent to Wuhuan and others, it is often invaded by these nomadic peoples. It was during the battles with these ethnic minorities that Gongsun Zan's power began to develop rapidly, and his army became more and more powerful. More and more, the official position is getting higher and higher.

Zhou Ang captured Sun Jian's headquarters in Yangcheng. Gongsun Zan sent his younger brother Gongsun Yue to help Yuan Shu attack Zhou Ang. Gongsun Yue was killed in the battle.

The two camps began to fight fiercely. You beat me and I beat you. Generally speaking, the two camps were indistinguishable this year, but Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had a slight advantage.

According to historical records, the Wuhuan people at that time even painted Gongsun Zan's portrait on the arrow target. The Wuhuan leader shot Gongsun Zan's head, and the Wuhuan people shouted long live.

The reason why Gongsun Zan rose to prominence at that time was because of his domineering power. He was also heroic and determined to not be afraid of death. The high-spirited Gongsun Zan gave people the impression that he could swallow thousands of miles like a tiger.

After that, Gongsun Zan led the army to conquer the Wuhuan nobles who were harassing Youzhou and Jizhou as the cavalry captain. Then he led thousands of infantry and cavalry troops to garrison in Youbeiping County as the captain of the surrender. Later, he was promoted to Zhonglang general and commander-in-chief. Liaodong belonged to the state Chang Shi and was granted the title of Tinghou, thereby controlling a relatively powerful military force.

There is also the Yuan Shu faction, whose allies include Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, the Southern Xiongnu, and the Black Mountain Army.

At this time, Gongsun Zan was very angry because he was used as a spearman. His younger brother was killed by Yuan Shao's men, and he was even more angry.

Yuan Shao ordered Qu Yi to lead 800 elite soldiers as the vanguard, and used thousands of powerful crossbows to cover Qu Yi's troops. He personally commanded tens of thousands of infantry behind.

If God wants it to perish, he must go crazy, that's probably it.

Han Fu was seduced by Yuan Shao's lobbyists and led the wolf into the house, but Yuan Shao captured Jizhou without any bloodshed.

In the chaotic situation at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, although Gongsun Zan entered the officialdom as a minor official, like other separatist forces, he inevitably embarked on the path of military development.

The average person back in the late Han Dynasty, without the knowledge of later generations, would not have survived more than three episodes based on their own IQ and abilities.

Yuan Shaosao then planned to support Liu Yu as emperor, but Liu Yu firmly disagreed and gave up.

Thus, he encountered his first major defeat.

At this time, Gongsun Zan's reputation was greatly improved, and the territory and the number of troops he actually controlled increased greatly, reaching a level that frightened Yuan Shao, who had newly conquered Jizhou. However, he was still nominally Liu Yu's subordinate.

Therefore, with the help of his father-in-law, he first served as a planner, and later became the governor of the Liaodong vassal state after being promoted as Xiaolian, and was later promoted to the county magistrate of Zhuoxian County.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when princes were competing for hegemony, many people often only saw the victors, such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan.

But in terms of power, Gongsun Zan not only occupied most of Youzhou, Qingzhou and part of Jizhou, but his power had penetrated into Xuzhou and Yanzhou, making him the first separatist group in Hebei. On the surface, it was very strong.

At this time, the princes in the world were clearly divided into two camps, one was Yuan Shao's, and their allies included Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, and Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou. Cao Cao was only the prefect of Dongjun at this time, and was nominally controlled by Liu Dai.

Yuan Shu ordered Sun Jian to attack Liu Biao in Jingzhou, but Sun Jian was killed in battle.

The foreigners feared him like a tiger and wanted to kill him, but they could only tamper with the portrait. Isn't it awesome?
But as his fame grew, Gongsun Zan began to drift away. It seems that everyone has this shortcoming and is prone to pride. And proud people are prone to failure.

Gongsun Zan was born into a family of officials, with a "family background of two thousand dan", so he should be regarded as a powerful person. However, due to his mother's low status, in the era when "son is more valuable than mother", Gongsun Zan could only serve as a county official and serve as a subordinate of the county gate. Shu Zuo.

Seeing that Yuan Shao had few troops, Gongsun Zan immediately ordered his cavalry to charge, preparing to trample the enemy's formation.

"rush!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The cavalry rushed forward like the Yellow River bursting its banks, and the heaven and earth seemed to be shaking.

"Do not move!"

When most people saw this scene, they would probably be frightened to death and even turn around and run away. However, Qu Yi ordered the soldiers to calmly lie down under their shields. When the enemy cavalry rushed to a place only a few dozen steps away, they would all jump up and slash at them.

"Pfft!"

"Fire arrows!"

"Shhhhhh!"

At the same time, thousands of powerful crossbows fired at Baima Yicong.

"what!"

"Dong dong!"

"thump!"

Blood splattered everywhere, horses' hooves neighed, and people kept falling off their horses.

"escape!"

Gongsun Zan's army suffered an unexpected blow, and the whole army fell into chaos, with both cavalry and infantry scrambling for their lives.

"Kill!" "The whole army attacks!"

Qu Yi's army became more and more courageous as they fought. They killed Yan Gang, Gongsun Zan's appointed governor of Jizhou, and killed more than a thousand people. They took advantage of the victory and pursued him to Jieqiao.

Since ancient times, cavalry has been naturally superior to infantry. In ancient times, it was at the level of tanks. Infantry killed cavalry, and even with less, they defeated more. This has not happened many times in history books.

Seriously:
Climb the mountain like an unshakable mountain first, and overwhelm Gongsun Zhenbaima.

Eight hundred people ascended to the north and saw three thousand white horses with broken hooves.

The soldiers are majestic and their white horses are descending. The best soldiers in the world are the first to ascend.

Everyone knows that the heavenly horse tramples the flying swallow, even if you see me, you must lower your eyebrows

……

White horse, nothing more than that!
Gongsun Zan tried to hold the boundary bridge, but was defeated again. Qu Yi pursued Gongsun Zan all the way to his camp.

"Chase."

When Yuan Shao saw that Qu Yi's 800 cavalry had defeated Gongsun Zan and fled, he was naturally very happy. He drew his sword and ordered his troops to pursue the enemy. He advanced slowly, carrying only dozens of powerful crossbows and more than a hundred guards with halberds.

More than ten miles away from the boundary bridge, I heard that the front had won, so I dismounted, unsaddled and took a rest.

At this time, more than 2,000 fleeing cavalry from Gongsun Zan's tribe suddenly appeared and surrounded Yuan Shao. Arrows rained down.

Don't drive, Tian Feng pulled Yuan Shao and said, "Lord, hurry up and hide in the wall." He asked him to retreat into a low wall. Yuan Shao slammed his helmet on the ground and said, "A man would rather rush forward and die in battle than hide behind the wall." Can you survive behind the wall?"

He commanded the crossbowmen to fight and killed many of Gongsun Zan's cavalry. Gongsun Zan's troops did not recognize Yuan Shao and gradually retreated.

After a while, Qu Yi led troops to meet Yuan Shao, and Gongsun Zan's cavalry withdrew.

At this time, Yuan Shao was so high-spirited and heroic, just like when he reprimanded Dong Zhuo in court.

"My sword is not bad at all!"

Unfortunately, how could he have imagined that just a few years later, he failed in the Battle of Guandu, and his 800 troops were wiped out in ashes, and he fled back to Jizhou in panic with people.

After Qu Yi, in the second year of Xingping (195), Gongsun Zan was defeated in the Battle of Baoqiu.

He is really like a tiger, a rare warrior.

It's a pity that Qu Yi was hated by Yuan Shao because of his self-reliance on his merits and his arrogance. In the fifth year of Jian'an (200 years), Yuan Shao killed Qu Yi on the pretext that he was plotting evil.

Let’s talk about Gongsun Zan. In the third year of Chuping (192), after the Battle of Jieqiao, Gongsun Zan did not give up after losing the first battle. He immediately mobilized his troops and sent Shanjing Army, Qingzhou Army (Liu Bei) and Xuzhou Army to besiege Yuan Shao in three directions. As a result, all three groups were defeated by Yuan Shao.

Then, Yuan Shao launched a counterattack against Gongsun Zan's forces in Qingzhou. This battle lasted for two years.

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty" records: "Shao sent tens of thousands of soldiers to fight with Kailian for two years. The food was exhausted, the soldiers were exhausted, they plundered each other's people, and there was no green grass in the fields. Finally, they forced the First Lord (Liu Bei) and Tian Kai to camp together in the east."

Gongsun Zan was defeated and his forces were forced to withdraw from Qingzhou.

In the fourth year of Chuping (193), when the battle between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao continued, Liu Yu, the shepherd of Youzhou, also took the opportunity to attack Gongsun Zan and raised troops to attack Gongsun Zan. As a result, he was defeated and Liu Yu, his wife and children were captured.

At that time, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty sent an envoy to Youzhou to confer a title on Liu Yu. Gongsun Zan then coerced Duan Xun to kill Liu Yu, his wife and children on the grounds that Liu Yu intended to proclaim himself emperor.

Killing Liu Yu was a bad move. Although it allowed Gongsun Zan to annex the entire Youzhou, Liu Yu had a very high reputation among the wealthy people in Youzhou and the northern minorities.

In addition, Yuan Shao deliberately used Liu Yu's son Liu He to attract people's hearts in the name of revenge, which resulted in a fire in Gongsun Zan's backyard.

Not only Xian Yufu, Qi Zhou, and Xian Yuyin in Youzhou rebelled, but Wu Wan, Xianbei, etc. also raised troops to attack Gongsun Zan.

In the second year of Xingping (195), under the attack of all parties, Gongsun Zan was defeated again and again. Daijun, Guangyang, Shanggu, Youbei and other places rebelled. In desperation, Gongsun Zan had to retreat to Yijing.

Yijing was the northwest of the later Xiongxian County in Hebei Province and bordered Yishui in the south. Gongsun Zan ordered ten ditches to be dug around it. The hills were piled up and called "Jing", each five or six feet high, and camps were built on them to garrison troops.

The hill in the center is ten feet high, and a building was built on it. Gongsun Zan lived there, set up an iron gate, and tied a rope to deliver documents.

What's even more terrifying is that Gongsun Zan stored 300 million dendrobium in the city.

However, at the critical stage of the struggle for world hegemony, Gongsun Zan actually did this. What did he want to do?
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were many people with such strange ideas. Dong Zhuo once built a military castle and declared it unbreakable.

Gongsun Zan obviously adhered to this idea. Regarding this, he said: "In the past, it was said that the affairs of the world can be decided by the subordinates. Today, it is not up to me to decide. It is better to stop the army and focus on the fields and livestock. The art of war is not to attack a hundred buildings. Today I There are thousands of oars in the building, and if you eat all the food in this valley, you will be able to know the affairs of the world."

To put it bluntly, this is the earliest version of "build walls high and accumulate grain widely", but not everyone can play this strategy smoothly. Zhu Yuanzhang took his time to become king and did not show off his skills in the early stage.

Finally, he showed his teeth step by step, occupied the south, and unified the world.

But Gongsun Zan was not like this. He was too aggressive in the early stage. At that time, there were 13 states in the world, and Gongsun Zan won almost four states, including almost the current Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong and northern Henan. His strength was so strong that he seemed to be unrivaled.

As the old saying goes, if the first bird is shot, the first bird will die first.

Therefore, if the trees are beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy them; if they are piled up on the shore, the current will be turbulent; if they stand taller than others, the crowd will reject them.

He has offended many people, and now if he wants to keep a low profile, no one else will allow him.

At this time, he was no longer as high-spirited as before. He had lost many battles and was somewhat depressed. He just wanted to stick to it for a long time and then attack again.

If he had been indomitable and fearless for several years, he might not be able to fight.

Yuan Shao wrote a letter to persuade peace, but Gongsun Zan ignored it. Yuan Shao sent his generals to attack again, but could not defeat them for several years.

With strong fortifications and sufficient reserves of grain and grass, Gongsun Zan held on to Yijing for four years.

However, in the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Yuan Shao finally used earthworks to break into the city. Gongsun Zan knew that he would be defeated, so he committed suicide.

A generation of heroes was defeated.

In fact, the biggest mistake Gongsun Zan made was his poor macro-strategic level.

In the troubled times at that time, the only way to win the world was through fighting. How could you imprison yourself in a castle and sit there, waiting for death?

Even from a strategic perspective, the biggest advantage of Gongsun Zan, who was based in Youzhou, was actually the cavalry, which used speed as an advantage to fight mobile warfare.

However, Gongsun Zan finally gave up fighting mobile warfare and fought trench warfare. This was using his own disadvantages to compete with others' advantages.

Also, he did not win over the wealthy families. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, local wealthy families were already an extremely huge force. Looking at the separatist forces in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, as long as they can get the support of local wealthy families, they can quickly separate themselves.

I don't know if it was because of his background, but Gongsun Zan not only failed to win over the local wealthy families, but the relationship between the two parties was extremely tense.

On the other hand, Yuan Shao was the Fourth Generation and Three Dukes, actively trying to win over the aristocratic family, because his family was one of the largest aristocratic families.

Finally, Gongsun Zan's control area was too narrow.

After his rise, the expansion of his sphere of influence was extremely rapid, but it had a fatal impact, that is, the control area was too narrow.

Moving south from its base in Youzhou, passing through Jizhou, Qingzhou and then to Xuzhou, its sphere of influence is basically concentrated in the coastal areas of the Bohai Bay.

The control area is narrow and long, which brings about a fatal flaw, that is, it is very easy to be cut off from it. I am afraid Gongsun Zan is also very aware of this.

Therefore, after Gongsun Zan defeated the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and Xuzhou, he immediately competed with Yuan Shao for control of Jizhou.

Unfortunately, several successive battles ended in Gongsun Zan's defeat, and his main force had to retreat to Youzhou. As Yuan Shao's control over Jizhou became stronger and stronger, Gongsun Zan's power was already in a dangerous situation of being cut off at any time.
……

In this way, Gongsun Chan, who originally had the hope of unifying the world, was defeated in just a few years. It is true that his rise was rapid but his demise was sudden!
However, Zhang Ning's arrival and her preparations will inevitably change these situations. Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Liu Bei...

What will be their fate? We can only wait and see.

(End of this chapter)