Five hundred and seventieth chapters ill-conceived
"Don't contain the enemy when they return, surround the enemy's remains, and don't press against the poor enemy. This is the way to use troops." [Sun Tzu's Art of War: Military Struggle Chapter]
In the eyes of outsiders, Liu Yu, the Marquis of Xiangben, who was the governor of Bingzhou, led the Pingbei general, and oversaw the military affairs of Youji, was trusted by the Emperor of Shenhe. He commanded an army as a clan sage and a well-known figure in the country, and was able to recommend Jizhou scholars on a full-time basis.
, he had great authority, and his son Liu He was one of the Nine Qings. Father and son were equally distinguished.
But in Liu Yu's own view, there is a bright and smooth road in front of him, but under his feet is an abyss. Especially after Gongsun Zan died in the battle, Liu Yu felt that there were many crises around him, and he was afraid that he would follow his footsteps one day. In order to ease his feelings, Zhao Gai was there
The people around him tried to persuade him several times: "Gongsun Zan's defeat was due to his people's inability to fight. It is expected that the siege of Yi Jing is strong and there are millions of grain and grass. Once it is defended, how can it be broken day and night? For the sake of caution, Ming Gong did not dare to lightly attack the army and go deep.
In the hinterland, the military strategists are advancing steadily. If people in the world have slander, why should they criticize it? Ming Gong must not worry too much about it."
Liu Yu said worriedly: "I'm just afraid of how the country will treat me."
Zhao Gai said strangely: "The emperor has always trusted Liu Gong and his son, and Gongsun Zan did not have time to report anything to the court. When the court sent troops, it did not grant him the same authority as Cao Cao did. It can be seen that in the emperor's mind, Gongsun Zan was not taken into consideration for this war.
Now the main cause of Gongsun Zan's death lies with him. At best, Liu Gong was overly cautious. It would be unjustifiable if the country blamed him for this."
"Eh!" Liu Yu sat back and watched Gongsun Zan's defeat in Yi Jing. Regardless of whether it was for business or private reasons, Liu Yu had many reasons, including unresolved feuds, current situations and immediate interests that involved him. For a long time, he had been
He was hiding his thoughts, and even the tough-minded Zhao Gai never revealed them. Now he was upset and walked restlessly on the spot for a few steps. He suddenly stopped, turned around and said to Zhao Gai: "Do you remember that I once talked to you?
Have you ever mentioned how Wei Jie, the former governor of Yangzhou, died?"
"It's not because of Sun Ce." Zhao Gai suddenly remembered that Liu Yu had discussed this matter with him in Taiyuan, but at that time Liu Yu only tried to stop it and refused to discuss it in depth with him. Now the situation has gradually changed, and Xu Yu has not contributed much to the battle of Huainan.
Except for Huang, Sun Ce and others, almost all of them will be separated by the Yingchuan clan or the allies of the Yingchuan scholars. It can be seen that if Wei Jie is still there, he must be the leader of the side that attacks Yuan Shu from the north and south with Xu Huang. How can he be like this today?
Like a scene?
"How did Wei Jie die? How did Gongsun Zan die?" Liu Yu sighed heavily and said a little tiredly: "It's a pity that I am not capable enough and there are no capable people around me, otherwise..."
Zhao Gai looked at him quietly for a while, seeming to be trying hard to digest the other party's words. After a while, he swallowed his saliva and hesitated to avoid this sensitive topic: "No matter what, it is for the sake of the world."
Stabilize it as soon as possible. In recent years, the people of Yingchuan have been relied on more and more in the court. This may be due to the tacit approval of the country, but it is still unknown."
Liu Yu closed his eyes, nodded, and shook his head.
Zhao Gai looked at the ambiguous attitude of the other party and didn't know what the other party was struggling with. But what Liu Yu was worried about at the moment was that because of Gongsun Zan's death, he might suffer considerable criticism, and the emperor would doubt his intentions. In this case, then
It's easier to deal with: "Actually, you don't have to worry too much about Duke Ming. Now that Duke Ming is relied upon by the court, and with his reputation and virtue, there are no obvious faults. If the country wants to rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty, it will not be easily dismissed."
Liu Yu raised his eyebrows. He knew that even if the emperor wanted to, he would not touch him, and he would not be able to touch him easily. This is the biggest weapon he has, but what if the world is peaceful? The emperor is the most unpredictable, who knows if he will
Will someone settle old scores for him?
"There is only one thing Duke Ming wants to do now, which is to perform meritorious service." Zhao Gai persuaded in a low voice: "Yuan Shao was defeated and retreated to the Bohai Sea. Zhongshan, Julu, Zhao and other places have all surrendered anyway. All these are done by Duke Ming with benevolence and righteousness.
It's a waste of soldiers and soldiers. Looking at Hebei now, only Youzhou can be compared with the enemy. If Ming Gong recaptures Youzhou in one fell swoop, captures Yuan Xi, and conquers the two states, who else can compare with him?"
Liu Yu twirled his beard, shook his head slightly and said: "This is to take credit. It is not something done by a human minister. I cannot do this."
Seeing that the other party's thoughts were pedantic, Zhao Gai secretly sighed. He was worried about his future, but he also refused to bear the reputation of being self-reliant and intimidating the emperor. Where could he find such a good thing that would kill two birds with one stone? He simply changed his explanation and stepped forward.
He said: "The only concern of Duke Ming was that Gongsun Zan was defeated because of the failure to rescue him. But what was the reason for Gongsun Zan's defeat? If he had not made a mistake in the battle and left the city rashly, if Yuan Shao and his son had not continued to attack the city and vowed to kill all the ministers...
...And if Yan Rou and others hadn't colluded with Hu Bing to break our boundaries..."
"Ming Gong." Zhao Gai's eyes were bright and he said in a very sincere and affirmative tone: "Isn't it the Yuan family who killed Gongsun and destroyed Youzhou? Gongsun Zan once worked with Ming Gong, guarding the territory, and they are affectionate.
Deep and heavy. Now Duke Ming leads his army back to Youzhou, not only to serve the country, but also to avenge the old friends. To be loyal and righteous, this is the best solution!"
"What do you mean, you want me to conquer Youzhou in the name of revenge for Gongsun Zan?" Liu Yu suddenly heard this statement and felt that it was feasible for a while.
"As long as the blame is put on Yuan Xi, Yan Rou and others, and Ming Gong personally leads his troops to attack them, and his head is sacrificed in front of Gongsun Zan's tomb, so benevolent and righteous, then who in the world will talk about Ming Gong again?
?" Zhao Gai said in one breath.
Liu Yu did not speak, but nodded heavily.
This time he quickly accepted Zhao Gai's opinion. In fact, the approach was still the same. As long as he conquered Youzhou and won the victory, even if the emperor had any objections to him, he would not show it. So Liu Yu was full of confidence.
He led Zhang Yan, Hao Zhao and other soldiers and horses of ten thousand people to march to Youzhou, and gathered the old officials Xian Yuyin and Xian Yufu, as well as the surrendered general Lu Xiang and other soldiers and horses, as well as Wuhuan's several Hu cavalry, tens of thousands of people, and the force was huge. 1
When the counties and counties they passed on the road heard that Liu Yu was back, they waited for the wind to come down and prepared all the food, grass and military supplies, and soon arrived at Zhuoxian County.
Youzhou Mu Yuan Xi and General Yan Rou who stayed in Ji County only had more than 20,000 people under their command. The Xianbei, Wuhuan and other ethnic Hu soldiers they originally recruited had retreated after hearing the news of Liu Yu's return, or were in the local area.
Follow the trend and rebel.
Yan Rou was not considered a general of Yuan Shao. He grew up outside the Great Wall and worked as a horse herding slave for Wuwan and Xianbei. Later, because of his intelligence and intelligence, he got close to the Hu people.
The relationship serves as a bridge between Han and Hu people, but in fact, they are also half-Hu people.
Yan Rou, who was deeply influenced by the culture of the Hu people, had no loyalty to the Yuan family. After learning that Yuan Shao's defeat was certain and that his advantage among the Hu people was not as good as that of Liu Yu, he was aware of current affairs and first chose to surrender to Liu Yu.
Surrendered and promised to counterattack Yuan Xi for him.
But Liu Yu refused. He believed that he was an upright division with many troops and horses, and there was no need for Yan Rou to play a role in it. What's more, Yan Rou was Liu Yu who followed Zhao Gai's suggestion and had to behead him in public.
people.
After Yan Rou tried several times to no avail, she was unwilling to stay in Jixian to accompany Yuan Xi to defend her life, so she wanted to go to Juyongbei and return to the outside of the Great Wall. After the storm had passed, she would lead some Wuhuan tribesmen who trusted him to surrender. But this time
The Xianbei and Wuhuan nobles who had good relations with him did not let him live after receiving his letter. Instead, they blocked the direction of Shanggu and Daijun, making it impossible for Yan Rou to escape or surrender.
Although Yuan Xi is not outstanding in intelligence, he is the most broad-minded among Yuan Shao's disciples. Although he has learned about Yan Rou's recent actions, he has not taken any countermeasures. Instead, he has learned about Yan Rou's current actions.
After being in a dilemma, he took the initiative to persuade him to join him in fighting the enemy: "The general's reputation is famous in Yanzhao. If he retreats now, he will be wiped out! For the current plan, we should make progress without retreating and fight with our backs against the enemy!"
Yan Rou thought in her mind that if she hadn't participated in defeating Gongsun Zan and didn't know Gongsun Du's position, he would have gone via Liaodong. At this time, he was really forced to have no choice but to do what Yuan Xi said.
A fight to the death.
So Yuan Xi left his chariot Han Heng to guard the rear, ordered all his troops and horses, and led Zhang Nan and Jiao Hu to go south to fight with Yan Rou.
Liu Yu was full of confidence. Because he had old feelings for the people of Youzhou, he warned all the soldiers before the war: "You must not harm the people of Yan and burn the houses, but just kill the Yuan family's soldiers and horses."
Due to various constraints, he had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, but he was unable to capture Zhuoxian for a while. Moreover, when Liu Yu saw Yuan Xi gathering all his soldiers and horses here, he wanted to complete the victory in one battle, but did not fully
After grasping the situation, they decided to attack the city in an all-out manner, thereby giving up the plan proposed by Hao Zhao and others to leave a force to contain it and divide their troops to recover other counties in Youzhou.
Liu Yu was determined to annihilate all the enemies and fight a tough battle with real swords and guns, so that no one outside would say that as a general, he had never fought a battle like Cao Cao and Xu Huang. So he sent Zhang Yan and Lu
Xiang, Hao Zhao and other soldiers and horses surrounded Zhuoxian. Although this blocked the connection between the city and the outside world, it also violated the principle of "encirclement three and one missing" in the art of war.
Yan Rou and others saw that they were in a desperate situation, and the only way to survive was to fight to the death. So after a few days of observation, Yan Rou keenly discovered that the Bingzhou garrison troops led by Zhang Yan outside the city had the lowest combat effectiveness, so she
Discuss with Yuan Xi to concentrate troops to attack Zhang Yan.
In a fine snowfall at the beginning of the fourth year of Jian'an, in order to confuse Liu Yu, Jiao Chu used Yuan Xi's banner to station a large number of suspicious soldiers in the south of the city, attracting Liu Yu to attack fiercely. Yan Rou, on the other hand, led thousands of horsemen under his command to open the door and leave the city.
, directly attack Zhang Yan's department, which has a weak front.
Zhang Yan was a Yellow Turban bandit and had never faced a barbarian cavalry charge. He could not withstand the charge at the moment and fled back. The defeated troops rushed the nearby Lu Xiang's troops into a mess, and Zhang Nan took advantage of the opportunity to follow him out of the city.
, pursued bravely, Liu Yu's position was in chaos, and before he could make an effective response, the army completely collapsed.
Liu Yu had never experienced such a chaotic battle formation. He thought that marching and arranging troops was as simple as writing an article. Who knew that in an instant, he was defeated. At this time, Yan Rou hated Liu Yu for forcing him to die.
, seeing Liu Yu about to flee on horseback, but unable to catch up, he stretched his bow and shot arrows from a distance on horseback.
'call out!'
When the arrow was shot, Liu Yu suddenly caught up with someone behind him and blocked the arrow for him.
Zhao Gai screamed and fell on the horse. After a few steps, he was knocked to the ground by the horse.
Yan Rou saw this clearly, cursed with regret, waved his saber, cut a bloody path through the rebellious army, and chased Liu Yu straight away.
Liu Yu reluctantly climbed on the horse and kept whipping, but he didn't know the direction and just rushed around the battlefield like a headless fly.
Yan Rou finally approached behind him and raised his saber high, intending to strike Liu Yu in the heart.
Just hearing the sound of "dang", a long spear suddenly stretched out from the side. The fine iron spearhead just blocked Yan Rou's falling knife: "How dare you!"
From where the shouts started, a young general rode up to him, looking majestic and majestic, as if he was Hao Zhao, the uncle who was single-handedly promoted by Liu Yu.
"Good boy!" Yan Rou's mouth was numb with shock. He boasted of his extraordinary physical strength, but he didn't expect to be stopped by an unknown young general. On the other hand, the other person seemed to be completely fine. He was worried: "Who are you?"
"Escort the envoy!" Hao Zhao ordered the soldiers around him to put their spears across their waists and block Yan Rou's way. He ignored Yan Rou's question, but when he saw Lu Xiang, who had just surrendered,
In the chaos, he started shouting loudly again, trying to ask Yuan Xi to surrender, but he couldn't help but spit: "You bastard!"
Yan Rou was furious after hearing this, and immediately fought with Hao Zhao. Hao Zhao relied on his youth and strength to gradually gain the upper hand in the fight. However, at this time, the battle was irreversible. Hao Zhao had no intention of continuing and shot away
Yan Rou's saber fought and retreated, and was defeated all the way.
In the end, Liu Yu only fled south under the protection of his generals Hao Zhao, Xian Yuyin and others, and fled all the way to Gu'an before he stopped to take a breath. After people counted them, they learned that in this battle, Bingzhou Diannong Zhonglang
General Zhang Yan was beheaded by Yan Rou, and Zhao Gai was killed in the rebellion. As for the troops, horses, food and grass, most of them were lost. After hearing this, Liu Yu vomited a mouthful of blood and fell into despair.
Yuan Xi was very happy. Although he defeated Liu Yu and lost a lot of troops, the result was enough for him to boast. At this time, Zhang Nan captured Lu Xiang and came to ask for instructions. Yuan Xizhi was very satisfied and even
Without even looking, he ordered his people to drag down the rebel and surrender and execute him.
As soon as Liu Yu was defeated, the siege of Youzhou was immediately lifted. Not only was there no military pressure on the south, but even the Wuhuan tribes in Shanggu, Daijun and other places calmed down again and began to reconsider the final outcome of this war.
Seeing this opportunity, Yuan Xi sent people to report the victory to Nanpi, and at the same time tried to re-establish contact with the separated tribes such as Wuhuan and Xianbei through Yanrou.
The Hu tribe has a large number of soldiers and is powerful. As long as they borrow ten thousand cavalry, they can change the situation on this side.
Yuan Xi was neither his legitimate son nor Yuan Shao's beloved. He originally had no hope of inheriting the family business. After this battle, he suddenly felt a burning passion in his heart. It was a pity that he had this idea and this opportunity.
It was already too late. The general trend of the world could not be changed by winning a local war.
After Liu Yu's defeat, the emperor had no choice but to shrink his troops in Zhongshan and other places, but news from Yecheng made the situation turn for the better again.