In the Western Liaoning Corridor, a war broke out concerning the ownership of the territory outside the customs. The cavalry of both sides galloped, and more than 100,000 cavalrymen fought decisively in the not-so-wide mountain and river corridor. The cavalry tried to cut off the other side's food route, and conflicts broke out from time to time.

In the end, the cavalry of Mingguan, the prefect of Liaodong, entered the Liaoxi Corridor at the cost of tens of thousands of cavalry, and managed to force Prince Yan, the prince of western Liaoning, and Gongsun Zan, the prefect of Youbeiping, to a decisive battle in the Guzhu City area of ​​Liaoxi County.

As major princes with horse-producing lands, both sides had a higher proportion of soldiers and civilians outside the customs, so they each invested a large number of cavalry.

Gongsun Zan and Prince Yan placed the heavy cavalry in the middle, under the command of Di Qing himself. Gongsun Zan commanded three thousand white horse Yi Cong and a large number of right Beiping cavalry to serve as the left wing, and the brave and aggressive Wuhuan cavalry served as the right wing.

Prince Yan and Fan Zhongyan ascended to command this decisive battle.

Mingguan's cavalry was more powerful than they imagined, and many sneak attacks were of no avail.

The Liaodong Army often fought on the border with Choi Jaesan, the lord of Korea, and was considered a very experienced army.

At this time, Choi Jae-sun, the lord of Korea, and Lee Min-cheol, the lord of Korea, were competing to unify Korea, and Mingguan had the opportunity to attack Liaoxi...

Mingguan gave up the attack on Koryo, mainly considering the complex mountainous terrain between Liaodong and Koryo, and worrying about the Liaoxi Army's sneak attack on Liaodong, so he decided to capture western Liaoning first.

"Xiwen, what do you think our army has a chance of winning in this battle?"

Prince Yan looked at the Liaodong Army on the opposite side, feeling a little desperate in his heart.

The Liaodong Army has been at war with the Goryeo Kingdom, and few princes directly faced the attacks of the Liaodong Army. At this time, the Liaodong Army turned its focus to civil war and was equally unstoppable.

"My lord, do you want to hear the truth or lies?"

"Of course it's the truth."

"Our army's chance of winning may be less than 30%."

"Isn't it less than 30%..." Prince Yan felt heavy, clenched his fists, and finally loosened his fists, "A 30% chance of winning is enough. After all, the opponent has Chang Yuchun, Li Chengliang and other powerful generals. The generals at that level may be better than Di Qing."

Even more brave."

Prince Yan was proud enough to be able to kill tens of thousands of Liaodong Army cavalry before the Liaodong Army marched westward to Guzhu City.

Mingguan, the governor of Liaodong, and Yao Guangxiao, the prime minister in black, also stood on the high ground and commanded the Liaodong Army.

In this attack on the Western Liaoning Corridor, Mingguan must defeat the sworn brothers Prince Yan and Gongsun Zan, who were separatist in Western Liaoning, in order to open the passage into the pass.

The war between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was concentrated in Liaodong in the early stage, in the Western Liaoning Corridor in the middle stage, and in the Pass in the later stage. If the Western Liao Corridor is captured, the Liaodong cavalry can enter the Pass without restraint. The princes in the Pass will face a country with a large number of elite cavalry.

and the princes outside the pass with heavy infantry in Liaodong.

"Military advisor, in your opinion, what are our chances of winning?"

"90% chance of winning."

"Western Liaoning is already in my possession. Order the Guan Ning cavalry to launch an attack!"

"The cavalry in front of the Northern Song Dynasty Palace launches an attack!"

Mingguan and Prince Yan issued the order to attack almost at the same time, making a desperate move to start a decisive battle to determine the ownership of the area outside the pass!

Iron hoof clank, the winner is king!

In Yingling County, Qingzhou, the forces of Mr. Zhao and the forces of Chutian are confronting each other. Mr. Zhao wants to protect Yingling County, where he founded his family. Le Yi's army launches an offensive and presses forward step by step.

After occupying Taishan County and defeating Yuan Shu, Chutian turned to the offensive in some areas, turning passivity into initiative.

"Lord!"

Le Yi, Hua Mulan, Xue Rengui, Zhao Yun and other frontline generals welcomed the arriving lord.

Chu Tian saw that the frontline generals looked somewhat tired. Apparently, the recent battles in all directions had made all the legions begin to show signs of fatigue.

"Once Mr. Zhao is defeated, the war in Qingzhou will come to an end, and the focus will shift to Yanzhou, where we can start a round of battles."

Once Chutian resolves the threat from Qingzhou, his generals can rest and recuperate in batches without having to fight all the time.

Conducting rounds of battles against Cao Cao's forces, leaving Cao Cao no free time to develop. This is Chutian's recent insidious strategy. He completely treats Cao Cao as an experience package, and every general goes to brush Cao Cao's legion and train his troops.

"Prince Zhao has assembled more than 100,000 troops, but most of them are temporary recruits and the Yellow Turban Army, so there is nothing to worry about. The 50,000 troops in Pingyuan supporting Prince Yan are veterans with certain combat experience, and their combat capabilities are unknown.

Be careful.”

The scouts sent by Chu Tian may not be able to obtain all the information. Unless there is a fight, no one knows the combat effectiveness of Tian Ji's army.

"Using the Leyi Corps as the main force, we will continue to advance into Yingling County and force Mr. Zhao to fight us. Write another letter to persuade Mr. Zhao to surrender. Zilong, lead 10,000 cavalry to protect the grain road."

Chu Tian deployed Zhao Yun to the rear to guard the grain road.

The importance of the grain road is self-evident. Zhao Yun is a stable general. If he is placed in the rear to guard the grain road before the decisive battle, there should be no major mistakes.

Hua Mulan's reconnaissance regiment spread out in large numbers to detect intelligence. Leyi's regiment in the rear marched based on the intelligence and made a gesture of attacking Yingling County.

Zhao Gongzi's high-level barracks and other important buildings are all in Yingling County, and Yingling County also accumulates a large amount of grain, grass and weapons. If Yingling County is lost, it will be equivalent to the huge impact that the fall of Xia City will have on the Chutian forces, which will make it difficult for Zhao Gongzi.

Imagine.

This is what must be saved when attacking the enemy.

Unless Zhao Gongzi surrounded Wei and rescued Zhao, he could not shake Chutian's determination to capture Yingling County.

It is extremely difficult for Mr. Zhao to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao. First, he has to break through the defense lines of Zang Ba and Sun Guan. Second, there are Li Xiuning and her Detachment of Women in Xia City. With the current 93% public sentiment in Xia City, civilians will voluntarily become village warriors to protect their homes and

The city of allegiance.

Even if Prince Zhao had Sun Bin as his military advisor, the strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao might not be successful.

"Xuzhou Mu sent someone to send a letter urging surrender."

Young Master Zhao was entertaining Tian Ji when a letter of surrender from someone sent by Chu Tian arrived, stating that as long as Young Master Zhao surrendered, he could be made the governor.

"It's such an attractive offer, but I'm still a little unwilling to do so. Liu Bei went into exile in many places, and he was finally able to divide the world into three parts. Why can't I do it?"

Faced with Chu Tian's persuasion to surrender, Mr. Zhao did not agree.

He also had many soldiers, horses and territory under his command, and with the help of Tian Ji's troops sent by Pingyuan Prime Minister Tian Qi, Mr. Zhao regained his confidence a little and believed that he could force Chu Tian to withdraw his troops by clearing Biye.

He moved all the surrounding population and resources to Yingling County, appointed Tai Shici as the garrison, and held it. At the same time, he, Dorgon, Guan Hai, Xue Wanche and others built forts and camps outside the city, forming horns with the county.

, not giving Chu Tian a chance to attack Yingling County with all his strength.

As long as Chutian cannot make every effort to attack Yingling County, it will definitely delay the capture of Yingling County and put huge pressure on Chutian's logistics.

"The last general will lead a cavalry to attack the Xuzhou Army's grain road and burn its temporary granary. Then the Xuzhou Army will definitely retreat."

Dorgon limped forward to ask for orders from Mr. Zhao. He was wounded by random arrows in the previous decisive battle and has not recovered yet.

"I will give you 10,000 cavalry, but you try to burn down their grain carts. If this road is blocked, retreat and do not go your own way."

Prince Zhao decided to allocate 10,000 cavalry to Dorgon to harass the Xuzhou Army's food routes.

With the support of his own soldiers, Dorgon got on his horse and led a handful of Eight Banners cavalry and 10,000 light cavalry to attack the Xuzhou Army's grain road.

"Why not have a decisive battle with the Xuzhou Army?"

After Tian Ji arrived with 50,000 troops, he urged Mr. Zhao to go to war.

After all, Tian Ji was not a general of Mr. Zhao, and wanted to end the war in Beihai Kingdom as soon as possible and return to Pingyuan County. The elite troops of Pingyuan County were transferred to Tian Ji to support Mr. Zhao, which meant that the remaining troops of Pingyuan County were insufficient.

"The Xuzhou Army's offensive is fierce and its invasion is like fire. Only by clearing the wilderness and weakening its spirit can we turn defeat into victory. If General Tian Ji trusts me, he should act according to my tactics."

Mr. Zhao has been on guard against Chu Tian for a long time and has figured out a way to deal with Chu Tian. The method is also quite simple, that is to hold on.

All the princes of the Eastern Han Dynasty were trying their best to expand and compete for territory. If the Xuzhou Army was delayed in Qingzhou for a year and a half, the Xuzhou Army might miss many good opportunities.

Mr. Zhao, who once teamed up with Chu Tian to suppress the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou, knew too well how terrifying the Xuzhou Army was. The Xuzhou Army opposite had 80,000 elite soldiers and a cloud of fierce generals.

If you take the initiative to fight, you will fall into the trap of the Xuzhou Army.

"My Qi martial arts may be able to defeat the Xuzhou Army. But I still follow your arrangements."

Tian Ji saw that Mr. Zhao had already figured out how to fight at a disadvantage, so he no longer insisted on going out to fight. Instead, he followed Mr. Zhao's tactics and insisted on holding on.

The Qi martial arts and Qingzhou crossbowmen led by him are good for defense, and they have an advantage when they are on the defensive.

Mr. Zhao's turtle tactics really gave Chu Tian a headache.

After Yingling County was occupied by Mr. Zhao, he regarded it as his base. It was a large city with complete defense facilities such as gate towers, arrow towers, horse faces, and moats.

Like Xia City, Yingling County has high-level military camps and recruits troops much faster than other cities in Beihai Kingdom.

Mr. Zhao left Taishi Ci to guard the isolated city. He believed that Taishi Ci would not betray him.

If Dorgon was left to defend the city, maybe Dorgon would surrender the city when he saw that he could not hold on, but if it was Taishi Ci, he would not betray his lord at the critical moment.

"After my careful management, Yingling has accumulated enough food to hold on for a year. If you can't get out of trouble after holding on for a year, then you can surrender to Xuzhou Mu."

Mr. Zhao did not force Taishi Ci to defend Yingling until the food was exhausted, and then he could surrender to Xuzhou Mu.

Even Mr. Zhao himself was unable to hold on until his troops were exhausted and his food supplies were exhausted.

Tai Shici replied: "The general will definitely hold on for a year and will not let down the lord's expectations!"

Zhao Gongzi silently led the army to leave Yingling, leaving Taishi Ci with 30,000 troops. Taishi Ci immediately recruited soldiers and horses in the city and continuously recruited soldiers to defend the city. It is expected that the strength of the garrison can be increased to more than 50,000.

"For a general to defend the city and then go out to contain the enemy, Mr. Zhao is really a formidable opponent."

Chu Tian knew that Mr. Zhao could strengthen himself during the catastrophe of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and had some tricks.

Because of Master Zhao's layout, the Xuzhou Army was somewhat passive.

If Yingling County cannot be captured as soon as possible, it may enter a long siege. One can imagine how difficult it is to attack a city that has been managed for many years and is regarded as a retreat by Mr. Zhao.
To be continued...