Three hundred and eighty eighth chapter retreat to advance
On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Xiang received the battle report of Yan Rou's rush out of Longmen in Langya County. He was convinced that the most difficult stage of the war in Hedong had been passed.
As he expected, the good news came five days later. Xu Rong captured Pishi County, and Yan Rou defeated the Huns cavalry on the east bank of the Yellow River. They killed more than 6,000 enemies and captured 1,500 people. The rest fled, and there were still remnants of the enemy.
The shrinkage of Jie County is no longer a concern.
Looking through the detailed battle report, Xu Rong, with the support of a thousand cavalry, successfully walked out of Longmen on the 15th of the first lunar month, and began to attack the city the next day. The defenders of Pishi County were less than 3,000, mixed with old, weak, women and children, and their combat effectiveness was low.
Our army had no siege equipment. During the day, we mainly used bows and crossbows to kill and injure the defenders. At night, we used flying ladder ants to attack the city and attacked with all our strength. We successfully climbed onto the city and occupied Pishi.
The county was devastated by starvation and death, and only about ten thousand people survived. However, there was insufficient military food and it was difficult to provide relief.
Liu Xiang sighed, there was not much food in Xihe County, the Yellow River was about to be unblocked, and the roads were not smooth, so it was difficult to supply military supplies, so he really couldn't take care of these people.
Only by laying down the Linfen and Yong'an front lines and transporting grain from Taiyuan along the Fen River can we be able to provide relief to the victims. This is still the case in Pi's small county, and there may be more victims in other counties. The Baibo bandits have no trace of the Yellow Turban uprising.
They are thieves who harm and abuse the people.
Hedong was even more miserable than I expected.
Liu Xiang sighed and opened Yan Rou's battle report.
Four thousand cavalry from the Duliao camp went south, and two thousand light cavalry scattered out to attack the Huns' horses, cattle and sheep grazing outside. They killed thousands of herders and captured 500 horses, more than 7,000 bad horses, and 2,000 cattle and sheep.
This completely angered the Huns who were in the city.
Chanyu Yufuluo led more than 8,000 cavalrymen out of the city to pursue them all the way to the bank of the Yellow River. Yan Rou led 2,000 armored cavalry to attack behind them, seducing the Huns' light cavalry to detour along the river bank, attacking both wings, and defeated the Huns in one fell swoop.
People pressed into the Yellow River channel.
The Yellow River downstream of Longmen has not yet been unsealed. Although it is risky to ride horses on the ice, they can still fight. The Huns rushed onto the ice of the Yellow River without caring.
However, this section of ice was tampered with and was not stable. Thousands of cavalry were trampled on by their horses. The ice continued to crack and collapse. Most of the Huns cavalry who wanted to adjust their formation on the ice and return to fight fell into the water and died.
, only three to five hundred people were lucky enough to escape the disaster and rushed to the other side without looking back.
More than a thousand people near the river bank surrendered, and some more lucky ones were captured later. A total of 1,500 Huns were taken prisoner. The remaining war horses and pack horses were less than 2,000.
There are still more than a thousand Huns in Jie County who refuse to surrender and are blocked in the city, waiting for the infantry to come and attack the city.
After reading the battle report, Liu Xiang was even more relieved. The main force of the Xiongnu had been destroyed. Zhang He was in the north, Xu Huang was in the east, Yan Rou and Xu Rong were in the west. An army of 50,000 was surrounding them. The Baibo bandits were about to be destroyed.
When they were able to drive Niu Fu to Zuo Fengyi, it was not because of their own fighting strength, but because the flood dispersed the 30,000 main force of Li Jue, Guo Si and others. Niu Fu only had a few thousand men in his hands, so of course they couldn't deal with ten.
Thousands of thieves were recruited, but the remaining soldiers gathered in Pubanjin were only ten thousand in number.
Niu Fu was anxious to return to Guanzhong to recruit troops, so he naturally retreated.
Don't worry about the war situation in Hedong. Liu Xiang can handle the war in Xuzhou with peace of mind.
Three days ago, the Five Kings Alliance, with Liu Chong as its leader, offered sacrifices to heaven.
As expected, an accident occurred.
Before Prince Pei could ask for help, Liu Zhi, the king of Pengcheng whose territory was occupied by Yuan Shao, escaped somehow. On the day of the alliance, he cried out that Yuan Benchu was overbearing and rude, occupying the country's borders and plundering his people, and begged Liu Chong, the leader of the alliance, to give him Do justice.
Prince Pei was a smart boy, so he immediately ran out of the crowd and cried with Liu Zhi.
Therefore, the Five Kings Alliance became the Seven Kingdoms Alliance. On the high platform of worshiping heaven, Liu Chong announced in front of everyone that he would attack Buchen and first kill Yuan Benchu, the traitor who occupied the kingdom.
Fortunately, the king of Xiapi, Liu Yi, died early and had no sons. The title of Xiapi Kingdom is still there, but there is no longer a king on the throne.
If he were still alive, wouldn't Liu Chong be able to create an Eight-Nation Allied Force?
The border was occupied, and there was a lot of resentment. There was no need to provoke it himself. Liu Xiang happily sent additional Tiqi and ordered them to closely monitor the princes living in Jizhou to prevent these people from causing trouble.
Today, the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, Chen Guoguo's Prime Minister Luo Jun is sent as an envoy on Liu Chong's order to formally form an alliance with Liu Xiang, hoping that he will send troops to attack Yuan Shao together for the sake of being members of the Han clan.
Whether it is the Alliance of Five Kings or the Allied Forces of the Seven Kingdoms, they only have more than 30,000 soldiers available. The common people have managed to raise another 40,000, but they cannot defeat Yuan Shao.
Without the Anping Army and the Xuzhou Yellow Turbans dragging them around, they might have been destroyed long ago. Liu Chong knew this very well, so he came to ask for help.
I brought many precious gifts.
Three carts of gold, silver and jewelry, and twenty beauties and musicians.
Luo Jun also promised that the seven kings would go to His Majesty and ask for a title for Liu Xiang.
He rejected the matter: "Forget it, the prince. The country's thieves have disrupted the government, and your majesty cannot exercise imperial power. Accepting the canonization at this time may be criticized by others. I accepted the gift. Don't worry, Mr. Luo. The day when King Chen sends troops will be When our army sets off."
"Thank you, General Gao Yi." Luo Jun left with satisfaction.
This period of time is not a good time to be crowned king. Dong Zhuo controls the government, which is tantamount to accepting his canonization. If his name is not justified, he will be scolded and easily besieged.
As for sending troops, this had been planned for a long time. Liu Chong would go first, and the Anping army would follow later.
Liu Xiang speculated that once he fought with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu would definitely take action.
The past two years have not been easy for the Yuan brothers. Yuan Shao only had two countries left. Yuan Yi, who was sent to Yangzhou by him, lost his territory. Liu Miao, the prefect of Jiujiang, and Zhou Xin, the prefect of Danyang, were only allies, not his subordinates.
Yuan Shu had a good start, but now Runan was defeated and Nanyang was occupied by Cao Cao. Although he occupied Lujiang County in Yangzhou, the population, soldiers and horses were not as good as before.
What will Yuan Gongli do at this time?
Should we unite with our enemy Yuan Benchu, or take advantage of the opportunity to send troops to kill this half-brother?
And how will Yuan Shao respond?
Fortunately for Pengcheng State, Pei State is surrounded by Liu Chong on both sides, borders Yuan Shu to the southwest, and connects Yangzhou Jiujiang County to the south.
To be honest, Yuan Shao is now in a dilemma. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Liu Miao, the prefect of Jiujiang, was also from the royal family. He was also the king of Langya who was driven out by the Yuan family. He was the fifth generation grandson of Langya Xiao Wang Liu Jing. The current Langya king Liu Rong was his brother. His brother suddenly died of illness and Langya was eliminated from the country. Then Yuan Benchu Come to be the governor.
It's really strange that he can sneak into Yuan Shao's camp.
Wouldn't Yuan Shao be suspicious? Especially in such a critical time.
His mastermind came up with another idea: "My lord, we are surrounded by enemies on three sides now. This is not the time to show off our strength. It is difficult for Pengcheng and Pei to raise large armies. It is better to retreat instead of advancing."
Although the strategy of dividing the troops to rescue Xuzhou before the meeting failed, Yuan Shao would not show distrust, and in times of crisis, he would win over people's hearts.
“Why retreat to advance?”
"Yangzhou is vast and can be cultivated and regenerated. The Yangtze River is naturally dangerous and can resist attacks. It is better to retreat temporarily, capture Yangzhou, accumulate strength, and then plan to counterattack."