Great Han Empire

Chapter 639
"At present, we have not received any news from Brother Bogui. It is obvious that Brother Bogui and tens of thousands of troops have been surrounded by Li Hong and Yuan Shao in the area of ​​Xifeng Pavilion and Jieqiao. The army and the Jizhou army joined forces to strike hard, and they may even be surrounded and wiped out by them, so..." Liu Bei pointed to the boundary bridge on the map, and said in a low voice, "Let's go to the boundary bridge, detour behind the Beijiang army, and defeat Li Hong , Rescue Brother Bogui."

Tian Kai frowned, leaned over to look at the map carefully, and fell silent.

Liu Bei tapped Gaotang City on the map heavily with his finger, and then moved north along the Dahe Gudu on the map, "We will take the army from Gaotang to Pingyuan City, and enter Panhe along the Dahe Gudu. Then enter Heilong Bay from Panhe River, and cross Qinghe River from Heilongwan Bay, so that we are at the back of the Northern Army. After crossing the Qinghe River, we rushed two hundred miles along the north bank of the Qinghe River and hit the Jieqiao. The Northern Army was caught off guard and must Big defeat, so Brother Bogui can successfully break through."

Tian Kai's hand followed the trajectory that Liu Bei had drawn just now, and drew a big arc on the map, "Xuande, this big bend is more than 500 miles away. How can you ensure that the whereabouts of the army will not be exposed in about a day?"

He looked up at Liu Bei, and continued worryingly, "Brother Bogui doesn't know that we will rescue him from the direction of Jieqiao, and we can't get in touch with him. If he tries his best to break out from the direction of Xifeng Pavilion, then we will win the battle." After the Lower Boundary Bridge, we have to continue to attack fifty li before we can join him. Do we have such strength? We detoured to Jieqiao and suddenly launched an attack on the Northern Army. It is indeed huge, but the Northern Border Army will launch a counterattack immediately, and we simply do not have the ability to continue going south to join Brother Bogui."

"Xuande, your method is too risky. If the rescue fails, our entire army will be wiped out."

Liu Bei smiled helplessly: "My lord, if Brother Bogui's entire army is wiped out, how long can we last? Who can resist the attack of the northern border army? Who can stop Li Hong from overthrowing the country? Now that this is the case, we can only take a risk .As long as we can rescue Brother Bogui, there will be hope for everything."

=

Liu Bei then explained his strategy in detail.

The reinforcements from the Northern Border Army have already moved south. Although it is not clear how many troops have come, from the perspective of Li Hong's determination to occupy Jizhou, there will be [-] if not [-]. Otherwise, it will be difficult for him to defeat Yuan Shao after defeating the Youzhou Army. .However, Yuan Shao's own survival was immediately threatened after he saw the northern border troops marching southward. He would definitely not do his best to help Li Hong wipe out Gongsun Zan.Gongsun Zan's entire army was wiped out, and Yuan Shao was not far from death, so Yuan Shao's purpose was not only to severely injure Gongsun Zan, but also to ensure that Gongsun Zan could escape back to Bohai County alive.With Gongsun Zan alive, Yuan Shao's survival will be guaranteed, and the possibility of Li Hong quickly occupying Jizhou will be gone. This is the result Yuan Shao is most willing to see.

What Yuan Shao was thinking in his heart, Li Hong must be very clear. He wanted to try his best to wipe out Gongsun Zan, but also had to guard against Yuan Shao's defection, so the deployment of troops would inevitably be stretched.Facing Gongsun Zan's [-]-strong army, Li Hong's best choice was to trap Gongsun Zan in the Xifeng Pavilion and Jieqiao area, surround him without fighting, and wait until the Youzhou army ran out of food and grass.

Of course, Gongsun Zan would not sit still. He had reinforcements outside and a hundred thousand soldiers inside. His strength was huge and he was bound to break through.According to Liu Bei's guess, Gongsun Zan's first breakout direction should be Xifeng Pavilion.After the army crossed the Xifeng Pavilion, they could quickly return to Ganling City and be supplemented with food, grass and military equipment. Even if the breakout was blocked, they could stand firm and wait for help.

Gongsun Zan thought so, and so did Li Hong and Yuan Shao. The Northern Border Army and the Jizhou Army must have placed heavy troops on the Xifeng Pavilion line.There is a danger of Qinghe River in the Jieqiao area, and the Northern Xinjiang Army can completely rely on the natural barrier of Qinghe River to prevent the Youzhou Army from breaking through.

After Gongsun Zan's attack at Xifeng Pavilion was blocked, the food supply would become less and less, and the situation would become more and more critical. In order to survive, he had only one choice at the end, which was to immediately turn around and attack Jieqiao. Open the gap to break through at all costs.

At this time, if our reinforcements suddenly appear behind the boundary bridge and defeat the northern border army defending the boundary bridge, Gongsun Zan will surely escape.

=

Tian Kai thought for a long time after listening to Liu Bei's analysis.

"Xuande, this is just your guess, it's just a possibility, in case Brother Bogui doesn't break out in the direction of Jieqiao, the fate of the reinforcements..."

Liu Bei sighed, "My lord, even if we attack Ganling with [-] troops from Qingzhou, how sure are we of rescuing Brother Bogui? We don't have iron cavalry. As long as we set foot on Ganling, the iron cavalry of the northern border army will take us out." We lost our helmets and armor, and were completely defeated. Have you forgotten the great achievements of Li Hong and Fengyun Iron Cavalry?"

Tian Kai thought of Li Hong's past achievements, and couldn't help but feel lingering fear.Eight years ago, Li Hong defeated the Xianbei invasion in Yuyang with only [-] cavalry. He also killed the two Xianbei generals, Murong Ji and Murong Qin, and beat Xiong Ba, Li Kuangfeng and others to death. escape.As long as Li Hong has an iron cavalry in hand, no one in the world can defeat him, this is something Tian Kai firmly believes in.

"My lord, give me five thousand elites for ten days." Liu Bei begged, "I will let each soldier bring ten days' worth of dry food. Brother Gui, I will definitely bring the army back to Bohai County on time."

"Okay." Tian Kai no longer hesitated, nodded resolutely and agreed, "I immediately ordered the army to cross the river to attack the Ganling Kingdom, and at the same time ordered Gongsun Hong and Fan Fang of Nanpi City to lead 5000 troops to follow up, and tried every means to attract Northern Xinjiang. The attention of the army and the Jizhou army will cover you to reach Heilong Bay and cross the Qinghe." Tian Kai reached out to hold Liu Bei's big hand, and patted it hard, "After crossing the Qinghe, everything is up to you. You have to take care .”

Liu Bei smiled faintly, "See you in Bohai County in ten days."

=

On the second day of March, Ganling State, Yunting.

In the early morning, the Youzhou soldiers were dispatched suddenly to clear the horse-rejection formation on the hillside with all their strength.

Yu Digen received the report and flew out of the camp.He observed carefully, and immediately ordered the drums to be beat, and the whole army lined up to wait, "Gongsun Zan is about to break through."

"Urgent report to Mr. Zhang Yan for immediate support."

=

Zhang Yan led his army to station on a hill five miles behind Yu Digen's camp.Hearing the dense sound of war drums coming from the front, Zhang Yan hurriedly led people to the front line.

Yu Digen rushed up to meet him, and said with a smile, "My lord, Gongsun Zan is in a hurry. He just had a bloody battle with the general yesterday, and he is going to turn around and go south today. It seems that he is in a mess."

Zhang Yan looked solemnly at the soldiers of Youzhou who were busy on the hillside in the distance, waving the horsewhip in his hand from time to time, thoughtfully.

He has received Li Hong's reply letter, and he also understands the heavy losses in the Jieqiao battle yesterday.Due to the strong strength of the Youzhou Army and the lack of its own troops, the general had to change his strategy and adopt his own method of "surrounding but not fighting" to wipe out the enemy.Since it is a siege and not a fight, of course I will not put my limited troops into the battlefield to fight against the crazy Youzhou army.

"Let's retreat." Zhang Yan turned to look at the excited Yu Digen, and pointed to the rear with the whip, "Retreat five miles."

The smile on Yu Digen's face faltered, "Withdraw? Why? Gongsun Zan has already been disabled by us. As long as we beat him hard again, he will be finished."

Zhang Yan smiled slightly, "Although Gongsun Zan is injured, he is still a violent and angry horse. Anyone who wants to kill him will have to pay a heavy price, especially now." Zhang Yan tugged at the rein lightly and turned around Stuck the horse's head, "Let's get back. When the horse has bled dry, exhausted its strength, and collapsed, we can walk over without any difficulty and kill him with one blow, without any effort."

"Commander..." Yu Digen yelled very dissatisfied, "The general and Qu Yi have already hit Gongsun Zan hard, but we didn't fight..."

"Don't you understand what I'm saying?" Zhang Yan frowned and asked, "What we want is Jizhou. If all the soldiers are exhausted, can we still gain a foothold in Jizhou?"

Zhang Yan raised his horsewhip, pointed at Yu Digen who was aggrieved, and said firmly, "Retreat five li."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Withdraw another five miles."

Looking at Zhang Yan's thin back, Yu Digen smiled wryly and was speechless.

=

After advancing three miles, the Youzhou Army stopped.

Surrounded by Baima Yicong, Gongsun Zan hurried to the front.The scene in front of him made him so angry that he almost vomited blood.

The one-mile-long avenue in front of them was completely destroyed by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and there were nearly a hundred roads densely packed with ditches.The fields on both sides of the avenue were also dug by the Northern Xinjiang Army, which was uneven and full of ravines of different sizes.

The convoy transporting grain, grass, and luggage can't get through. No matter how they fight, they will lose this battle, let alone break through.Now tens of thousands of civilians have been abandoned on the battlefield of Jieqiao. If you want to fill the road, Youzhou soldiers have to do it yourself.
After Gongsun Zan cursed angrily, he waved his hands and ordered the cavalry to stand guard in the field on both sides of the road to prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to attack.Order [-] infantry to take turns to repair the avenue.

In the process of transporting grain, grass and luggage, civilian husbands often have to temporarily repair the road surface, and sometimes help the army build camps and cities, so they generally carry various commonly used utensils.Now that there are no civilian husbands and no common utensils, the soldiers have to use their hands, feet, and even weapons as tools for road construction. Not only is the progress slow, but the physical strength they put in has also greatly increased.

Gongsun Zan watched silently for a while, then sighed in frustration.It is estimated that this insidious idea came from a few subordinates around Yuan Shao. This method can not only stop and slow down Gongsun Zan's attack speed, but also preserve their own strength.When the army ran out of food and the powerful Northern Xinjiang army came up from all around, it was completely over for him.

"Morale, if things go on like this, we will die with nothing to do." Gongsun Zan said to the sad-faced Guan Jing, "The Jizhou Army is most in need of civilian husbands. There is also the Beijiang Army, and the refugees from Changshan and Zhongshan counties are all them. Today they dug a mile-long avenue, and tomorrow it may be two miles. We should turn around and break out from the direction of Jieqiao."

Sima Zhao Heng immediately persuaded: "My lord, absolutely not. Yuan Shao avoids and does not fight, there is a lot of mystery in it."

Gongsun Zan turned to look at Zhao Heng.Zhao Heng is in his 20s, looks heroic, resolute and somewhat aloof.He is from Yuyang and his family is poor.In the past, he was a disciple of Zhang Ju, and he followed Zhang Ju to revolt in Youzhou.After Zhang Ju failed, he was recruited into the army by Gongsun Zan together with the captured soldiers.When Gongsun Zan resettled the refugees in Youbeiping, he made a lot of efforts and offered many strategies to calm the people and strengthen the army.For this reason, Gongsun Zan admired him very much and reused him.

"Ziyu, what mystery is there?"

Zhao Heng immediately analyzed the current situation in Jizhou, and believed that if Yuan Shao and Li Hong jointly wiped out the Youzhou army, the future situation would be extremely unfavorable to Yuan Shao, and he might be quickly driven out of Jizhou by Li Hong or killed by Li Hong .It was impossible for Yuan Shao to hand over Jizhou to Li Hong, so Zhao Heng believed that Yuan Shao would definitely give the Youzhou army a way to break through in the end, allowing Li Hong and Gongsun Zan to continue fighting.The longer the two fight, the more beneficial it will be for Yuan Shao.

Gongsun Zan nodded, then pointed ahead and said, "Then how do you explain this? What is Yuan Shao's purpose?"

"The reinforcements of the Beijiang Army are coming south one after another, and their strength is getting stronger and stronger." Zhao Heng said, "I even suspect that Yuan Shao has been surrounded by the Beijiang Army at this time. He was worried that he would be attacked by us and the Beijiang Army, so he had to wait for a day It's a day, wait for the situation to change."

"Changes in the battle situation?" Gongsun Zan raised his brows, "You mean, Yuan Shao is waiting for Tian Kai and Liu Bei's Qingzhou reinforcements?"

"Yes. As soon as the reinforcements from Lord Tian Kai and Liu Bei arrive, the Northern Frontier Army will be dispatched to stop their attack. At this time, Yuan Shao's chance has come, and our chance to break through has also come."

Guan Jing Nianxu smiled, "Ziyu's words are reasonable. In my opinion, after we filled up the road, we immediately turned back and continued to station troops at Yunting. Yuan Shao always digs roads like this, which is very unfavorable for us to break through.

Gongsun Zan thought about it for a while, and ordered decisively, "Stick to Yunting, recharge your energy, and prepare to break out."

=

On the sixth day of March, Ganling Kingdom.

After the Qingzhou Army gave up the strategy of forcibly attacking the Ganling Kingdom, Tian Kai immediately thought of many ways to create the illusion that the Qingzhou Army was about to assemble to rescue Gongsun Zan.

Tian Kai ordered the follow-up army to cross the river only 1000 people a day. After crossing the river, they set up military tents in the wind shelter and pretended to be an army of 5000 people.Five days later, the Qingzhou army camp stretched for several miles, and there were many military tents. From a distance, the banners were unfurled, and the momentum was astonishing.

Zhao Yun, who was stationed ten miles away from the wind shelter, was very surprised and hurriedly reported to Li Hong.

Within five days, at least 3 Qingzhou troops had crossed the river, but the Qingzhou army was still continuously crossing the river, and the Qingzhou army's camp was also expanding day by day.According to reports from the scouts who sneaked into the Yellow River Ferry, there were more and more ships on the Gaotang Ferry, and they were very busy coming and going. Qingzhou soldiers, food, grass and supplies were transported to the north bank of the Yellow River by whole ships.

Zhao Yun demanded an immediate attack, fearing that it would be too late.

At the same time, Jiang Wu, who was stationed in Dongwu City, also asked General Li Hong for help.The scouts of the Beijiang Army found the reinforcements of the Youzhou Army in Dongguang City, Bohai County, and its forward battalion had reached Panhe.According to the estimates of the scouts, the reinforcements came from Bohai County and Hejian Kingdom, with a number of about 1 people.There are also [-] iron cavalry in this army, and the commander of the army is Fan Fang, Gongsun Zan's subordinate.

=

Li Hong hurriedly summoned all the generals to the Hussar General's camp for a military meeting.Protector General Zhang Yan also made a detour to Kailu Pavilion.

Zhu Mu told the generals about the latest battle situation.

Gongsun Zan had recently stationed troops in Yunting, and there was no movement. He was obviously recharging his energy and staunchly waiting for reinforcements.The Youzhou Army, which was besieged in Ganling City, showed no signs of breaking through.Sun Qin sent news from Yecheng that scouts frequently appeared in Guantao, Wei County and other areas in the southern part of Wei County. So far, no trace of Yuan Shao and Jizhou Army has been found.

With Gongsun Zan in their mouths and Ganling City in their hands, the Northern Frontier Army was looking at the two support armies from Qingzhou and Bohai County. Because of their serious shortage of troops, they didn't know which one to attack first.

Qu Yi, Yang Feng and others insisted on attacking Gongsun Zan first, but because Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu's cavalry were blocking the enemy from the east, the northern army could only mobilize 5 troops to attack Yunting, and at this time Gongsun Zan had already rested for five days However, there is still a surplus of food, grass and supplies. In this case, attacking Yunting will cause too much loss to the northern army.

Li Hong, Zhang Yan, Zhu Mu and others all believed that the time to encircle and wipe out Gongsun Zan had not yet come, and they had to wait until Gongsun Zan had run out of food and grass and the morale of the army was in turmoil.

Zhu Mu proposed to capture Ganling City first, so that Wang Dang's army would be free to participate in the decisive battle to encircle and wipe out Gongsun Zan, or to help Zhao Yun or Jiang Wu repel Gongsun Zan's reinforcements first.

Zhang Yan and Zhao Yun believed that they should take advantage of the Qingzhou Army's unstable foothold, and attack the shelter first, so as to destroy the reinforcements that threatened the Northern Army the most.After destroying the reinforcements, Gongsun Zan's life would be wiped out, and his army would become even more disorganized.This is good for encircling and annihilating Gongsun Zan.

Li Hong also tends to fight the Qingzhou Army first.The combat effectiveness of the Qingzhou Army may not be very strong, but with so many people standing aside and staring at it, it is always disturbing and always a trouble.

Li Hong believed that fighting against the Qingzhou army did not require too many troops to be mobilized, and it would not affect the army's encirclement of Gongsun Zan.In addition, after the northern army defeated Gongsun Zan and occupied Jizhou, the next target was Qingzhou. If Gongsun Zan was attacked first, Tian Kai and Liu Bei fled after hearing the news, it would be very troublesome to attack Qingzhou in the future.Now we use Gongsun Zan to lure the Qingzhou Army into the Ganling Kingdom, and then destroy the Qingzhou Army before eliminating Gongsun Zan, which is completely correct.

Now that the general had spoken, Qu Yi, Yang Feng, Zhu Mu and others stopped sticking to their views.

Li Hong ordered Liu Ming to lead the army to the shelter immediately, and ordered Jiang Wu, who was stationed in Dongwu City, to move quietly towards the shelter. After the two joined Zhao Yun, they quickly attacked the Qingzhou army.

=

On the night of the sixth day of March, the scouts of the Youzhou Army reported back, and the cavalry army of the Northern Xinjiang Army quietly set off and hurried eastward.

Gongsun Zan and the generals immediately realized that reinforcements were coming, and cheers erupted in the big tent.Gongsun Zan then discussed with Guan Jing and Zhao Heng about breaking out of the encirclement.

"Tomorrow, we will attack Kailu Pavilion and break out from Jieqiao again."

Guan Jing and Zhao Heng looked at the energetic Gongsun Zan in surprise.Why did the adults suddenly change their minds?
"My lord, we don't know exactly how many reinforcements from the Northern Border Army have come. Although the scouts found that the Northern Border Army's cavalry were marching eastward, I can say with certainty that it was only a part of the Northern Border Army's cavalry." Zhao Heng He said eagerly, "Now at Kailuting and Jieqiao, there must be the main force of the Northern Frontier Army stationed, and it will be difficult for us to rush over."

Gongsun Zan smiled, and asked back, "Ziyu, why are you so sure that Yuan Shao will let us break through? According to the scouts' investigation, it was the Northern Frontier Army and Zhang Yan's army stationed at Xifeng Pavilion. Then, you know Where is Yuan Shao now? Has he been defeated by Li Hong?"

"The reason why I can live until now is because I never entrust my destiny to others, especially my enemies." Gongsun Zan patted Zhao Heng, "Remember, otherwise you will die soon. "

Zhao Heng was speechless.

"Everyone knows that we will break out from the Xifeng Pavilion, including yourselves, so..." Gongsun Zan pointed to the south, "The main force of the Northern Army must be at the Xifeng Pavilion."

Gongsun Zan slammed his palm on the table and laughed loudly, "I just didn't break out from the Xifeng Pavilion, so I want to surprise Li Hong, haha..."

On the seventh day of March, Gongsun Zan ordered Zhao Heng to lead an army of 2 to stay at Yunting to block the attack of the northern army. He led more than [-] infantry and [-] cavalry to attack Kailuting.

Li Hong and Qu Yi had been prepared long ago and led an army of [-] cavalry to meet the enemy.

After Zhang Yan received the news that Gongsun Zan had launched a breakout attack from the direction of Kailu Pavilion, Zhang Yan launched an attack on Yunting with his [-] troops.

=

On the seventh day of March, Jieqiao.

After Li Hong led the army to Kailu Pavilion, the Jieqiao was garrisoned by the troops stationed in Guangzong City.

Marquis Wu Jipan led two hundred soldiers to inspect both sides of the boundary bridge, and by the way, to maintain order on the bridge.Due to the battle ahead, the ordnance transported from Guangzong City to Kailuting today was one after another, and the bridge was bustling with people and vehicles.

At noon, Wu Jipan's men spotted a scout from the Youzhou Army a few miles away.This man was very powerful. He killed two Beijiang soldiers in a row and injured three. Finally, seeing that he could not escape, he stabbed himself in the neck and committed suicide.It is very common for soldiers on patrol to be attacked by enemy scouts. After Wu Jipan went to the scene to have a look, he ordered people to go to the city to report to the superior, and he took people to bury the three corpses.

Wu Jipan and a dozen people were in a bad mood and walked back listlessly.

Suddenly, a soldier walking behind uttered a scream and fell to the ground.Everyone was shocked and looked back.

More than 100 paces away, a group of heavily armed Youzhou soldiers were galloping towards them. The few running in the front held strong bows, and there were several long arrows screaming in the air.

Without even thinking about it, Wu Jipan turned around and ran away, "Go, go, go, go..."

=

(End of this chapter)