Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 279 The Battle of Hebei
In the middle of April of the third year of Jian'an, Zhang Liao attacked Anyi, and Yang Feng of Dong opera surrendered.

Anyi is about to fall, Yang Feng is about to fall, and the [-] troops who were standing with Gao Shun in Huayin also surrendered.

Gao Shun's troops besieged Huayin, and Xu Huang also led his army to help Zhang Ji. He had no choice but to open the city and surrender.

Zhang Ji descended immediately, and Guanzhong descended.

Luo Zheng immediately condemned Xu Huang to surrender and led [-] soldiers from the east of Huayin to march eastward from Huayin and take Hangu Pass directly.

General Gao Shun was ordered to lead the army northward, stationed troops in the east of the river, and suppressed Xihe and the Xiongnu tribes in Shangjun. He also ordered general Zhang Liao to lead [-] cavalry to go south in the starry night, stationed in Wuguan, and guarded the gates of various passes in the pass.

Unexpectedly, before Xu Huang's army arrived, Li Jue sent someone to take the opportunity to rob Hangu Pass.

Hangu Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack. There is one man who can block the pass, and ten thousand men can't open it. Luo Zheng ordered Xu Huang to attack Yue Yu by force, so he had to order Xu Huang to garrison Xin'an to prevent the Xiliang rebel army under Li Jue from issuing a letter Guguan looted Guanzhong.

Zhang Lu, the prefect of Hanzhong, and Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, all mobilized troops and horses at the first time, and strictly guarded the passes in order to prevent Luo Zheng from taking the opportunity to attack. It is true that Luo Zheng is aggressive. Anyone who is a neighbor of him will fight 12 be careful.

As for the Qiang, Di, Xiongnu and other Hu people in Xihe and Shangjun, they sent people to send cattle and sheep for safety.

The change in the situation in Liliang immediately aroused the vigilance of princes from all walks of life in the world.

A group of ants fight in a nest, everyone is about the same size, and it doesn't hurt if there is a particularly strong one occasionally.

But if a praying mantis rushes in, it will be a big problem.

Originally, the princes in the world were all about the same strength, even if there were strong and weak, the strong would not be much stronger.

After the downfall of Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu can be said to be strong and full of ambition.

But now he is in a state of desperation, and has been defeated by the joint efforts of Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Liu Biao and other princes.

Guo Si is a martial artist, even if he occupies Guanzhong, no one will care.

But Luo Zheng is different. This guy is a real wolf. He has been nesting in Liangzhou for two years. His strength is not weak. Now that he has taken down Guanzhong, he immediately becomes a big praying mantis in a group of ants. Attention will not work.

While fighting in full swing, the princes were also thinking about this issue in their hearts.

At this time, Yuan Shu once again fell into Cao Cao's tricks.

Originally, when he heard that Cao Cao had led his troops into Runan, he had attacked more than ten cities and surrounded Pingyu.

Unexpectedly, Cao Cao took advantage of Guo Jia's skills and repeated the old tricks. He forced a group of people to conscript a group of people. Hundreds of Cao's soldiers had a stomach, and Li Dian led 2000 people to guard these people. They rushed to a valley [-] miles north of Xiyang to lay an ambush, and rushed out while Yuan Shu's army was crossing Yingshui.

Yuan Shu was caught off guard and was defeated, and the [-] army was approaching Yingshui.

And most of the soldiers were not able to swim, and were drowned alive.

Yuan Shu threw away his helmet and armor, and led more than [-] remnants of the defeated general to escape across the Huai River, only to get rid of Cao Jun's pursuit.

However, at this time, there were only less than [-] defeated generals left among the more than [-] soldiers and horses. Most of the soldiers were either killed or captured by Cao Jun when they retreated in a panic, or they scattered for their lives.

Yuan Shu was so angry that he couldn't get sick, he lay on the bed for more than half a month before he barely recovered.

Cao Cao took the opportunity to capture all the land north of the Huaihe River, including the entire territory of Yuzhou.

At the same time, Sun Jian was also winning consecutive battles in Jiangdong, defeating Xu Gong and defending Nanchang.

In June, Sun Jian raised his troops to attack Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou who temporarily lived in Pengze, and captured Tai Shici alive according to the strategy of Xiping. Later, he recruited Tai Shici to surrender, worshiped him as the comfort of the cavalry under his tent, and commanded the cavalry, so he won Tai Shici's allegiance .

In July, Sun Jian's troops entered Nanchang, but after several months of fierce attack, they had no choice but to surround the city, preparing to trap Xu Gong to death.

In the same month, at the request of counselors such as Guo Jia and Cheng Yu, Cao Cao moved to Xu County in Yingchuan and changed his name to Xuchang because Puyang was connected to Jizhou in the north and located at the junction of Yanzhou and Jizhou. .

Cao Cao seized Yuzhou, and the two prefectures of Yan and Yu were already under his rule, and the atmosphere suddenly changed.

Yanzhou and Yuzhou have always been the largest states in the world, with dense population and abundant food and money. Although the two states have experienced wars since the first year of Zhongping, and Yuzhou was ravaged by Yuan Shu for several years, the people have long been exhausted.

But after all, the foundation is there, and it only takes a few years of hard work to recover.

Cao Cao was ambitious. While using Yuzhou gentry to govern the region, he actively recruited troops and bought horses, preparing to take the opportunity to take Xuzhou. When he unified the Central Plains, Yuan Shu, who fled to Huainan, made a comeback again.

In August, Yuan Shu renamed Jiujiang County as Huainan County and moved it to Shouchun.

Yuan Shu couldn't wait to conscript troops and pay food, preparing to recapture Yuzhou.

Cao Cao had no choice but to temporarily abandon his plan to enter Xuzhou, and temporarily deployed his army north of the Huai River to meet Yuan Shu's army.

There is no danger to defend the Central Plains. Geographically speaking, it can be said to be extremely passive and unfavorable.

Although Cao Cao drove Yuan Shu to the south of the Huai River, he had to garrison troops in Ruyin, Fubo, Yuanlu and other cities north of the Huai River to prevent Yuan Shu from crossing the Huai River and entering Yuzhou again.

In terms of geography alone, Guanzhong has a great advantage.

As long as a few passes are guarded with a small number of soldiers and horses, foreign enemies can be firmly blocked outside the pass.

And just when Cao Cao moved to Xuchang, in July, after the autumn grain went to the ground, Gongsun Zan, the governor of Youzhou, raised enough money and grain to go south again, and Yuan Shao, the governor of Jizhou, had to lead his army north to meet the enemy again.

Luo Zheng defeated Guanzhong, Cao Cao drove away Yuan Shu and occupied Yuzhou.

Yuan Shao also felt the pressure was great, and after calling together a group of counselors for discussion, he decided to complete his work in one battle.

In order to realize Tian Feng's grand strategy of flattening Hebei first, then setting up the Central Plains, and then driving south to Jingyang, it is necessary to eliminate Gongsun Zan, the greatest enemy in the North, and Yuan Shao is running out of time.

The rapidly growing Cao Cao made Yuan Shao feel great pressure. In order to slow Cao Cao's pace, Yuan Shao even adopted the land of Tianfeng, condemned people to form an alliance with Li Jue, donated some military rations, and asked Li Jue to send troops to attack Xuchang.

Cao Cao was caught off guard, and Xuchang was almost attacked, and he suffered a big loss.

Cheng Yu found out that Yuan Shao was playing tricks behind his back, and Guo Jia immediately offered a plan to lure the Black Mountain Army to send troops.

When Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were fighting inextricably at Jieqiao, the Black Mountain Army suddenly sent troops to help Sun Gongzan attack. Yuan Shao was defeated and retreated for more than a hundred miles until he retreated to Wangdu before he managed to stabilize his position and let the army rest.

Tian Feng offered another plan, promising some money and food from the Black Mountain Army to make the Black Mountain Army retreat.

Unexpectedly, during the delivery of money and grain, soldiers from the Ji army were disguised as Youzhou army and robbed the grain and grass.

Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army, was on guard against Gongsun Zan, and the garrison did not move forward, so Tian Feng used a series of schemes to alienate him.

Zhang Yan sent someone to question Gongsun Zan, but Gongsun Zan who was also full of anger drove him out.

In a rage, Zhang Yan led his army back to Taihang Mountain.

Gongsun Zan led the army to attack fiercely, and he lost his spirit.

At this time, Tian Feng offered another plan.

Yuan Shao then led the army to retreat and led Gongsun Zan's army to the swamp plain north of Lunu. The two armies fought with horses and horses. Gongsun Zan sent cavalry to attack. Many pits were dug and many traps were laid, which made Gongsun Zan suffer a lot.

Just when he was about to regroup and fight again, Yuan Shao ordered his army Ju Yi to lead [-] dead soldiers to rise up and attack. Everyone held hard crossbows and shot at Gongsun Zan. When he wanted to escape into the camp, he was followed by him. The pursuing Jizhou army took advantage of the situation and broke through the camp.

The big camp is lost, and the three armies have no place to stand.

According to Tian Feng's words, Yuan Shao led the army in pursuit regardless of the fatigue of the soldiers, and chased all the way out of the border of Jizhou.

Gongsun Zan was hunted down for nearly [-] li, most of the [-] troops fled, and when he fled to Zhuo County, there were less than [-] soldiers around him.

Tens of thousands of troops were wiped out in one battle, and no one could stand it.

Under Gongsun Zan's rule, there was only one state, and his troops were full of troops, but only 3 to [-] soldiers and horses. Besides the national troops stationed in various places, there were more than [-] soldiers and horses that could be mobilized. They were wiped out in one battle. hurt.

More importantly, even the money and food that was stationed in Fanyang was taken away by Yuan Shao.

Affected by this blow, Gongsun Zan was so devastated that he fell ill after returning to Ji County, and ordered his eldest son, Gongsun, to continue the state affairs temporarily.

(End of this chapter)