Liu Bei's order to Gongsun Zan was not to attack, but to build an army for defense and to deter Yuan Shao.
Liu Bei also specifically asked Gongsun Zan to tell him his encirclement plan, and asked Gongsun Zan to wait for orders. Without orders, he was not allowed to send troops to attack Yuan Shao privately. He had to wait for the army to encircle and crush Yuan Shao and the Jizhou rebel group in one go.
Gongsun Zan thought the same way at first. He didn't plan to do anything, but just waited for the order from the Luoyang court.
However, there were too many scoundrels around him, who wanted Gongsun Zan to make great achievements, and they themselves would also follow suit to make great achievements, gain the approval of Liu Bei and Lu Zhi, and thus be promoted to Luoyang.
They gathered together to discuss state affairs, and believed that Gongsun Zan's appointment as the governor of Youzhou as a Youzhou native must have been the result of emergency deeds. Adjustments were inevitable after the war, so whether he could be promoted at that time would all depend on his performance in this battle.
If you don’t gain more military exploits now, then when will you wait?
They analyzed that Liu Bei had arranged too many people for this battle, including Dong Zhuo, Liu Yu, Qiao Mao, and the Central Han Army in Luoyang, plus Gongsun Zan, and the five-pronged army attacked Yuan Shao. This was to cut Yuan Shao into pieces.
Rhythm.
Yuan Shao will undoubtedly die, and correspondingly, Gongsun Zan may not be able to achieve more achievements.
The governors of the other states are not easy to deal with either.
Fortunately for Qiao Mao, Dong Zhuo was a veteran general and fought fiercely. Liu Yu was also an old bureaucrat. I heard he was very good at dealing with the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and his army was also quite strong.
Everyone wants credit, but there is only so much credit. If one person eats too much, there will not be enough for the rest. If his meritorious service is not enough, how can Gongsun Zan be promoted to Luoyang with his military exploits?
So a group of people began to give suggestions to Gongsun Zan, asking him to take the initiative.
Yuan Shao is now messing around in Jizhou, making people hate him. Many people in Jizhou hate Yuan Shao and will not cooperate with Yuan Shao. If they can strike first and catch Yuan Shao off guard, they may be able to achieve great results.
By then, being promoted to Luoyang will no longer be a dream.
After Gongsun Zan heard this, he thought it was unacceptable at first. It was definitely not a good thing for him to violate orders like this.
"Without an order, how could I attack without permission?"
As a result, his subordinates persuaded him.
"When you are outside, your orders will be ignored. When you find a good fighter opportunity, you must seize it vigorously, take the initiative to attack, catch him by surprise, and defeat Yuan Shao in one fell swoop. If you gain meritorious service, you can defeat Yuan Shao in one battle, eliminating the need for a large-scale war."
Regarding military expenditures, the general may even thank you later."
At that time, Gongsun Zan still hesitated.
"But sending troops without permission is not a good thing, right?"
"Given your relationship with the general and the lieutenant, is this a serious problem?"
Shan Jing, one of Gongsun Zan's subordinates, advised: "As long as you make meritorious deeds, ask for favors from the general and the Taiwei, and make up for the merits, there will be no problem. Otherwise, after this battle, you will definitely step down as the governor of Youzhou. What position will you hold?
?”
After being persuaded like this, the balance in Gongsun Zan's heart began to swing.
So after learning that Liu Bei had dealt with Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan began to discuss with his subordinates how to deal with Yuan Shao. Finally, he made an initiative with his cousin Gongsun Yue, his subordinates Yan Gang, Shan Jing, Tian Kai, Guan Jing and others.
Attack Yuan Shao's plan.
He found out that Yuan Shao had troops stationed in Gaoyang County to prepare for war. There were not many soldiers and horses, about three to five thousand, and he had more than 30,000 soldiers, so he thought that he could win and attack Yuan Shao by surprise.
After thinking about it for a whole night, Gongsun Zan made up his mind.
Subsequently, Gongsun Zan ordered his generals Tian Kai and Yan Gang to lead 10,000 troops south to attack Gaoyang County on October 29th, preparing to catch Yuan Shao off guard.
Yuan Shao was indeed caught off guard.
Because there was no accurate news that Gongsun Zan was going to send troops, the war in Gaoyang County happened suddenly. When Qu Yi, the defender of Gaoyang County, learned that Gongsun Zan's army came to attack him, it was still three months before Gongsun Zan's soldiers arrived at the gate of Gaoyang County.
hour.
The incident happened suddenly, and the generals around Qu Yi were panicked and asked Qu Yi if he wanted to retreat.
But Qu Yi was not panicked.
"If you run away without fighting, what awaits you when you return will be harsh military laws, and you may even be beheaded for this. Do you want to be beheaded for this? I am not willing to do so anyway."
Of course, everyone didn't want to be killed, but Gongsun Zan had a large number of people, and because Gaoyang County was regarded by Yuan Shao as the least threatening route, the least number of security troops were arranged, only more than 3,000.
How can more than 3,000 people fight against an army of more than 10,000 people?
Qu Yi believed that field operations were of course not possible, but defending the city was possible. Although there was a lack of soldiers and horses in the city, food could last longer. It happened that Qu Yi just finished counting the supplies on hand yesterday and determined that he had enough supplies to support the army for four months.
food.
And now that he is sending people back to ask for help, Yuan Shao will definitely send people to help. It does not take four months to get relief from the siege. There is still a possibility for everyone to survive, so we cannot abandon this city no matter what.
After some analysis, Qu Yi stabilized people's hearts, so the army rushed to clear the country around the county before Gongsun Zan's army arrived.
They destroyed roads, burned houses, torn down bridges, blocked wells, and tried their best to make things difficult for Gongsun Zan's soldiers.
Then the residents of the city were mobilized to heighten and strengthen the city wall, carry the defense equipment to the city, and bury urns at the foot of the city wall to make emergency preparations for the city defense operation.
Qu Yi was a professional military commander with strong professional skills. Under his arrangement, the city defense work was completed in an orderly manner when Tian Kai and Yan Gang's troops arrived, and the city defenders were ready.
Tian Kai and Yan Gang first tried to persuade Qu Yi to surrender. They used their righteousness to persuade Qu Yi not to follow Yuan Shao and do rebellious things. Qu Yi wanted to laugh when they heard this.
Previously, he responded to Yuan Shao's call and followed the liquidation of the eunuchs' forces. He robbed many eunuchs' properties and became a wealthy man in Jizhou. He lived a luxurious life. Although he regrets it now, there is nothing he can do about it.
People have been killed, money has been robbed, and the life of luxury has been passed. What else can he do?
There is only one way to go until it gets dark.
So he killed the envoy who persuaded him to surrender and decided to fight to the end. Yan Gang and Tian Kai were very angry, so they ordered to surround the city on all sides, attack the city with all their strength, raze the city to the ground, and kill everyone in the city.
The war began like this. Gongsun Zan's troops attacked fiercely, while Qu Yi defended. The battle was so fierce that for a while, the winner could not be determined.
Qu Yi sent the news to Yuan Shao and asked for reinforcements. Yan Gang and Tian Kai also sent the news to Gongsun Zan, hoping that Gongsun Zan would also send more troops as soon as possible to win the nail as soon as possible and launch a further attack on Jizhou.
The news about Yan Gang and Tian Kai was sent to Gongsun Zan first. When he learned that the raid failed, Gongsun Zan was very angry. He felt that Tian Kai and Yan Gang were useless and wanted to plead guilty.
Guan Jing, the chief minister, quickly persuaded Gongsun Zan.
"It is unwise to punish a general on the spot during a war. I hope you can restrain your anger and wait until the war is over before making a decision. Right now, you should capture Gaoyang County as soon as possible and defeat Jizhou before Yuan Shao's army reacts. Otherwise, wait until the end of the war."
When he realizes it, the first credit will no longer be yours."
Gongsun Zan felt that what Guan Jing said was reasonable, so he immediately ordered the main force of the army to advance towards Gaoyang County with an army of 20,000 people.
On the third day of November in the sixth year of Zhongping, when Gongsun Zan's vanguard troops arrived in Gaoyang County and began to intensify their attack on the city, Yuan Shaocai had just received a battle report from Qu Yi asking for reinforcements. He was very surprised to learn that Gaoyang County was besieged by Gongsun Zan's 10,000-strong army.
"There was no news before. Dong Zhuo, Liu Yu, and Qiao Mao didn't move either. Why did Gongsun Zan move first?"
Regarding Gongsun Zan's sudden attack, the think tanks under Yuan Shao did not know what was going on.
A few days ago, they had just determined the military situation of an encirclement circle. The garrisons in Bingzhou, Yanzhou and Qingzhou showed no signs of marching. Why did this happen to Gongsun Zan, whom they planned to take the initiative to attack?
Could it be that Gongsun Zan already knew that they were going to attack and contacted foreigners?
Is that why you strike first to gain the upper hand?
It shouldn't be. Even if this news leaks, it won't happen so quickly.
Yuan Shao and his advisers were puzzled, and they could not figure out the reason why Gongsun Zan initiated this action.
But this is not important. Since Gongsun Zan has already taken action, they must launch a counterattack to defeat Gongsun Zan as soon as possible and destroy Youzhou. Otherwise, once the siege is launched, Jizhou will be defeated.
Time is needed now.
Yuan Shao immediately dispatched his general Yan Liang to lead a vanguard force of 10,000 people to rush forward to support Gaoyang County. He also led the main force to march as fast as possible in order to reach Gaoyang County and face Gongsun Zan as soon as possible.
After the order was issued, Yuan Shao felt happy, but the local common people and local officials were unlucky.
The crossing of large armies has always been a very scary thing. It is a severe test for both local officials and the people. Although this time there is a forced march mission and the army is not allowed to stay at will, it will have a great impact on local material preparation and road maintenance.
Wait for more requirements.
Some places that usually had good habits were fine, but some places that usually neglected official duties exploded. The chief led his subordinate officials and staff to work around the clock all night long, and they must complete the task before the army arrived.
Otherwise, if they delay their advance, Yuan Shao will definitely reward them with a knife to move their heads.
Yuan Shao didn't care about this. He only asked for the speed of the march. During the entire march, he would reward local officials when they encountered smooth areas, remember their names, and prepare for promotion. Once he encountered obstructions, he would seize the local officials and behead them.
, and then send other capable and capable subordinates to take over the place.
The march of tens of thousands of troops made many places miserable, but thanks to them sacrificing their lives, Yuan Shao's reinforcements arrived before Gaoyang City was broken.