Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 166 Yuan Shao's Northern Strategy

The south is busy, and the north is not idle either.Since Gongsun Zan and Zhou Cang defeated the Xianbei tribe, they won the military exploits and were named the magistrate of Zhuo County. They defended the frontier fortress. The chief Qiu Liju's rebellion was blocked, and Gongsun Zan made great achievements in the attack and was named the captain of Jianglu.When the Yellow Turban Army was rising, Gongsun Zan massacred tens of thousands of people in Qingzhou, and was promoted to General Fenwei. Gongsun Zan took the opportunity to seize Qingzhou and appointed his subordinate Tian Kai as the governor of Qingzhou.

Gongsun Zan, who thought he was strong and strong, wanted to occupy Jizhou again, but he was unfavorable in the battle with Yuan Shao at Jieqiao, so he had to retreat to Youzhou.Gongsun Zan was warlike and murderous, and his strong suppression of nomadic tribes was feared by nomadic minorities such as Wuhuan in the north.This was also incompatible with Youzhou's Muhuairou policy, and the contradictions became more and more intensified, which eventually led to Gongsun Zan killing Liu Yu and occupying Youzhou.

Yuan Shao used Lu Bu to drive the Black Mountain Army into the Taihang Mountains, and Jizhou was completely safe.Taking advantage of the opportunity when Cao Cao and Lu Bu competed for Yanzhou, he sent his eldest son Yuan Tan to Qingzhou. The eldest son Yuan Tan had a long face, defeated Tian Kai and Kong Rong, swept Qingzhou, and broke Gongsun Zan's arm. Yuan Shao adopted Yuan Tan to his deceased brother Yuan The base is the stepson.

Although Yuan Shao was very concerned about the melee in the Central Plains, he had no time to take care of it. Instead, he longed for the more chaos the better. Therefore, when Liu Bei asked him for support as Xuzhou Shepherd, he agreed without hesitation, and devoted all his energy to eliminating Gongsun Zan and unifying the north.

Yuan Shao appointed Liu Yu's son Liu He and general Ju Yi as the left and right vanguards, and himself and Yan Liangwen Chou as the central army, and sent troops to Youzhou to attack Gongsun Zan in three routes.

After Liu Yu was killed by Gongsun Zan, Liu He vowed to avenge his father.He contacted Liu Yu's old department: Xian Yufu, Qi Zhou, and the cavalry governor Xian Yuyin led the soldiers and horses in Youzhou, and elected Yan Rou as Sima.Yan Rou recruited Xianbei, Karasuma and other troops, and gained a total of 3 Han and Hu soldiers. He held high the banner of avenging Liu Yu and fought Gongsun Zan's Yuyang prefect Zou Dan in the north of the Lu River. Gongsun Zan's army was defeated. Kill Zou Dan.

Because Gongsun Zan fought and killed foreigners in the north, it had already aroused public anger, and he dared not resist because of the strength of Gongsun Zan's army.Now that someone took the lead, all tribes in Wuhuan raised their troops to resist. Among them, King Qiao of Wuhuan led his tribe and more than [-] Xianbei cavalry to respond, and accompanied Xianyufu to welcome Liu He.So Liu He and Ju Yi combined [-] troops to attack Gongsun Zan, defeated Gongsun Zan in Baoqiu, and beheaded more than [-] people.Gongsun Zan was defeated repeatedly, so he fled back to Yijing and stood firm.

Yuan Shao got another tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, he was ecstatic, he named Yan Rou as the general who protects Wuhuan, and feasted on the leaders of Wuhuan tribes.The Wuhuan chief, who had been suppressed for a long time, was convinced by Yuan Shao's approachable demeanor, and offered horses, cattle and sheep one after another. room woman.These chiefs had never been treated like this before, and all of them expressed their loyalty to Yuan Shao with gratitude.

"The general's heart is kind and cherishes us. We are willing to serve the general as the master. It's just that in recent years, the Xianbei tribes in the north have become more and more powerful. They often invade our grasslands, rob my cattle and sheep, and plunder our people. Please be kind and righteous Army, protect us."

This kind of compliment made Yuan Shao feel very honored, the younger brother has something to ask, of course the older brother has to show it, but who should he send under his command?What made him even more gratified was that all the generals under his command recommended Ju Yike to take on this important task. Yuan Shao followed the good example and sent Ju Yi to lead his army and horses and Han Hu miscellaneous troops to Xianbei.Ju Yi only thought it was a good job, led the camp and allied forces, defeated the Xianbei cavalry several times, and proudly called himself the No. 1 general in Hebei. .

Gongsun Zan repeatedly fought and failed, and when he had nothing to do, he suddenly had a whim. Taking advantage of the geographical advantage, he dug more than ten heavy trenches in Linyi River, and piled up five or six feet high earth mounds in the trenches, and built camps on the mounds.The mound in the center of the trench is the tallest, reaching more than ten feet, where Gongsun Zan lived with his wives and concubines. The iron gate was cast, and men over the age of seven were not allowed to enter. The women shouted loudly to convey orders. Take hundreds of steps.Gongsun Zan also hoarded 300 million dendrobium grains in his carefully crafted tortoise shell, enough to feed for ten years, and he thought it was solid.

Facing the tortoise shell, Yuan Shao smiled wryly: "What is Gongsun Zan going to do? Could it be that he has to hide inside for a lifetime?" He ordered Yan Liang and Wen Chou to go around and wipe out Gongsun Zan's remaining forces outside, and not to attack Yi Jing.

Faced with the fierce Yan Liang and Wen Chou, Gongsun Zan's subordinates suffered a lot, and they asked Gongsun Zan for help one after another.Gongsun Zan refused to send reinforcements, he said strangely: "If you save one person, then everyone will just wait for the rescue and will not fight hard." He asked his subordinates to carry forward the spirit of not being afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice to fight Yuan Shao to the end.

Without waiting for reinforcements, Gongsun Zan's subordinates had neither the courage to fight to the end nor the ability to hold back. Once Yuan Shao's army arrived, everyone gave up resistance or surrendered or fled, and Yuan Shao gradually took control of most of Youzhou.Facing the favorable situation, Yuan Shao divided his troops again. He sent his nephew Gao Gan to Huguan to occupy Bingzhou. Yao's nephew, Guo Yuan, quickly occupied Bingzhou, and Yuan Shao appointed Gao Gan as the governor of Bingzhou.

Gongsun Zan, who was in desperation, huddled in the tortoise shell and felt that the situation was getting worse. He sent his son Gongsun Xu to ask for help from the Black Mountain Army, and wanted to lead his troops to break out of the encirclement, occupy the Southwest Mountain, and rely on the Black Mountain Army to cut off Yuan Shaojun's retreat. .Guan Jing, the chief official, advised him: "Now your soldiers are all rebellious and unable to fight anymore. The reason why they can stick to it is to cherish their hometown, young and old, and regard you as the backbone, general. If you can stick to it for a long time , Yuan Shao will naturally retreat, and the armies of the four directions will definitely join up again. If the general abandons Yijing now, the army will lose its back town, and the fall of Yijing is just around the corner. The general loses his foundation and lives in the wilderness, how can he achieve his career?"

Gongsun Zan then decided to wait for his son to move in to rescue soldiers, and attacked Yuan Shao internally and externally.Looking forward to the stars, looking forward to the moon, and finally looking forward to his son's reply. Zhang Yan agreed to send troops to help Yuan Shao in order to avenge Yuan Shao.The messenger was captured by Yuan Shao's patrolling soldiers. Yuan Shao set up an ambush and set a fire outside the tortoise's shell to lead Zhang Yan into the encirclement. Fortunately, Zhang Yan found out in time and escaped from the encirclement at the cost of nearly ten thousand people and retreated back to Taihang Mountain. In the middle of the war, Gongsun Xu died in the chaos.

Without reinforcements, Gongsun Zan stayed in the tortoise shell without leaving Yi Jing even if he was killed.Yuan Shao's army tried to attack by force, but suffered heavy casualties. Facing the strong and thick tortoise shell, Yuan Shao was helpless, and his steps to the south were delayed again and again.

(End of this chapter)