Chapter 390: Reward for the Brave, Slash for the Cowardly
Yuan Shao thought about it for a long time and realized that the best option was impossible. Although he liked the lower option, it was too risky. In the end, he endured his heartache and decided to adopt the middle option.
Envoys were sent to all directions to contact Cao Cao, Liu Miao, and Zhou Xin, asking them to hold Yuan Shu back.
Only by holding back Yuan Shu can the strategy of dealing with Liu Xiang and Liu Chong be carried out.
The news that Yuan Shao was going to send Pengcheng to reconcile with Liu Xiang was naturally spread by the scholars, and it spread like wildfire. Liu Chong felt uneasy, and the Prime Minister Luo Jun was sent to Kaiyang to find out about Liu Xiang.
tone of voice.
At the same time, Chen Deng, as an envoy, also arrived in Kaiyang.
Liu Xiang met with the two men one after another and did not reply directly to Chen Deng. He only said that he needed to consider it. When he met Luo Jun, he vowed that he would not betray his allies. Clan members are a family and are connected by blood. How can they fight against each other?
He also asked him to give Liu Chong a message to prepare the army for war and be careful. This is Yuan Shao's alienation plan, so don't be fooled.
After sending Luo Jun away, he discussed with the two brothers Xun Yu and Xun Chen whether to take over Pengcheng Kingdom.
After Xun Yu finished allocating the land and establishing the militia, he resigned as the governor of Qingzhou and concentrated on being the chief clerk of the Hussar General's Palace. In addition to all matters in the palace, he also had to act as an agent for the gentry and clans in the territory to develop the Lelang Peninsula.
More than a dozen families and more than 2,000 people have been persuaded. When the temperature rises a little, they will take the Liaodong Fleet's free ship to open up wasteland on the peninsula. Because they are the first to respond, Liu Xiang has given good policies. In addition to
Strategic locations and wastelands elsewhere are at your disposal.
The governor of Qingzhou was succeeded by Guo Dian.
Guo Dian was the governor of Julu in Jizhou and was very good at defensive operations. When the three Zhang Jiao brothers started an uprising in Julu, he was able to defend the county in the face of hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans. He was definitely a talent.
In the past few years after the surrender, he still served as the governor of Julu, and he was safe and sound. He was very cooperative with the policies of dividing the land, building militia, reducing taxes, and cutting down the tribes of wealthy families. I had no complaints and could be used.
Therefore, he was transferred to Beihai Prefecture and concurrently serving as governor of Qingzhou, with the purpose of allowing him to guard Qingzhou.
Liu Xiang has no plan to capture Yanzhou and Xuzhou for the time being. The terrain is too peaceful and there are too many enemies to defend. It will tie up a large number of troops and is not cost-effective.
Pengcheng Kingdom also has this problem, and it has to conflict with the Seven-Nation Alliance that it has built, which is useless.
The three of them discussed it for a long time and decided that taking over Pengcheng would do more harm than good, so it was okay not to do so.
Pengcheng and Langya are separated by Donghai County. Unless the Yellow Turbans in Donghai are wiped out, it will be an enclave. The current situation is complicated and it is not a good time to expand territory.
After deciding this matter, the topic of supporting Liu Chong and attacking Yuan Shao was discussed again.
Xun Chen was a little worried: "My lord, whether we attack Pengcheng across the East China Sea, or go around Mount Tai and Lu to attack Pei, our army's food routes will not be stable. This is a huge hidden danger and we must not be careful."
"Friends, if you don't have to worry, I won't attack Yuan Shao on a large scale. The infantry will go south to the East China Sea, pretending to attack Pengcheng, and contain the enemy's forces. I will lead the cavalry to detour to Lu to support Liu Chong, and the food and grass will naturally be left to them.
Provided that if there is any disagreement, the speed of the cavalry will be enough to escape."
Xun Yu smiled and said nothing. His lord only promised to help Liu Chong and never said that he would attack Yuan Shao alone. It was them who should fight hard and they should be anxious.
This is the fact. Liu Xiang plans to leave 20,000 troops for Guo Dian to defend Qingzhou, and the rest of the troops will be divided into three groups to go south.
Zhang Liao led 15,000 infantry and 2,000 barbarian cavalry, along the Yishui River, southward to Donghai County to govern Tan County. It would be best if he could capture the city, but it didn't matter if he couldn't. The purpose of this journey was to attract the troops of the Yellow Turbans from the East China Sea.
Donghai County is a long strip of area running east-west, reaching the sea in the east, connecting Taishan County and Lu State in the west, and Pengcheng State and Xiapi State in the south.
Tan County is located in the middle of Donghai County, with Xiapi State to the south and Pengcheng State to the southwest.
After Zhang Liao threatened Tan County and attracted the attention of the Donghai Yellow Turbans, Guan Yu led 15,000 infantry, supplemented by Le Jin, marched southwest, attacked Lanling, and made a plan to capture the five western counties of Donghai County and move south to Pengcheng Kingdom.
The gesture attracted Yuan Shaojun's attention.
Liu Xiang led 6,000 cavalry to detour to the Lu State, and joined Liu Chong's 10,000 infantrymen and 10,000 civilian men who had been transferred to the Lu State to attack Pei State Gongqiu, and then stopped on the north bank of Zhaoyang Lake, waiting for Liu Chong's army to respond.
Liu Chong's other army, consisting of 20,000 infantry and 20,000 civilians, has been mobilized to lurk in Shanyang County. They will break into Pei State, capture Pei County, and assist Liu Xiang in crossing Zhaoyang Lake.
This road is the main force of the attack.
In the territory of Chen State and Liang State on the western front of Pei State, the King of Liang led 10,000 civilians and levied refugees to make noise and act as suspicious soldiers to confuse the enemy. They had no combat effectiveness at all and would not really send troops.
On the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, Liu Chong sent a message that the troops had been deployed and the supplies of food and grass were well prepared. He had led the troops to Hulu County, Shanyang County, which was less than a hundred miles away from Pei County, and could march eastward along the Surabaya River at any time.
Liu Xiang had been keeping Chen Deng in the dark these past few days, neither refusing nor agreeing. He was just stalling for time in an attempt to confuse Yuan Shao.
Now that Liu Chong has completed his mobilization, it is time for him to send out troops.
"Wen Ruo, let's start negotiating with Chen Yuanlong. Just say that I want Xuzhou." Liu Xiang smirked and raised his eyebrows at Xun Yu: "It's up to you to hold him back!"
Xun Yu smiled and asked back: "My lord, you want to conquer Chen Yuanlong? This man is indeed very talented."
Although Chen Deng was talented, his family was not easy to deal with. Liu Xiang did not necessarily want to use him, but just did not want him to be used by Yuan Shao.
"This person is a great talent, so we can't let him go. Let's hold him back for the time being. If that doesn't work, we will directly detain him."
Seeing that Xun Yu understood what he meant, he turned to look at Xun Chen and said, "If you go south with Zhang Liao to check for him and fill in the gaps, the situation along the way will be more complicated, so I'll spare you the trouble."
Xun Chen clasped his hands and accepted the order: "Don't worry, my lord, I will assist Zhang Wenyuan and handle the battle situation in Tan County."
The two groups of infantry set out as ordered. Liu Xiang led 2,000 Hu cavalry, 3,000 Yue cavalry, Xiaoqi camp and Suwei, a total of 6,700 cavalry, through the southern part of Taishan County, marching 340 miles.
Arriving at Fan County in the south of Lu State, they joined the 10,000-strong army of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.
This place is less than forty miles away from Peiguo Gongqiu, both on the north bank of Nanliang River.
The location of Gongqiu is very strange. It is at the northernmost point of Pei State, isolated by Zhaoyang Lake. It is like an enclave. It might as well be placed under Lu State for easier management.
The cavalry entered the camp and Liu Xiang successfully took over the command of the army without any objection from King Lu.
Liu Xiang was used to seeing the vigorous and muscular soldiers of the Anping Army, and now seeing the ten thousand lazy and weak soldiers in the camp, as well as the civilian husbands who were no different from the refugees, Liu Xiang felt very awkward.
It is too late to build up the body and train discipline. Morale must be boosted first, otherwise this kind of army will not be able to fight.
According to the Anping Army's combat model, after the armies converged, they would sweep the city with light cavalry, and the infantry would pounce on it and capture the city. There was no need to worry about boosting morale before the war started.
Waste of time.
Liu Chong did not assign him a bunch of old, weak, sick and disabled people. There were 2,000 crossbowmen among the 10,000 regular soldiers. This was Old Liu Tou's treasure. He had less than 6,000 crossbowmen in total.
Luo Jun, who was in charge of leading the troops, and Chen Yi, the prime minister of Lu, who was in charge of logistics and supplies, were summoned. Liu Xiang asked for fish, meat, and labor for the army.
It's useless to tell these low-level soldiers that they should punish thieves and serve the country. It's better to have a big meal and then go into battle to kill the enemy.
Gongqiu County is not a dangerous city, and it won't be too difficult to capture. After Zhaoyang Lake, whoever wants to take care of this army will take care of it, but he doesn't want it anyway.
"General, the State of Lu is in dire straits and cannot provide meat." Chen Yi was crying.
Liu Xiang wanted to curse, but there was a lot of gold and silver in King Lu's palace, and valuable objects were scattered all over the floor, and he was not willing to provide a meal for the army.
Luo Jun, the Prime Minister of Chen Guo, also supported him: "General, I also hope you will be strong enough."
Liu Xiang sighed. On someone else's territory, he had to give his master face. If he had a falling out over a meal of meat, he would not look good.
You have to think of other ways to boost morale.
"I will handle the seizure of Gongqiu. You must not have any objections."
"Everything will be at the discretion of the general." Luo Jun spoke in support.
"Yes, I will obey the general's order." As long as the State of Lu is not allowed to pay, Chen Yi is particularly easy to talk to.
"Assemble the troops, I want to give you a lecture." Liu Xiang could only use future captures to reward the soldiers, in order to boost their morale and arouse their fighting spirit.
The troops gathered very slowly. He stood on a simple high platform with bumpy ground, which was barely considered a school ground, and watched the soldiers scurrying to the east and west, shuffling over, accompanied by the officers shouting, scolding, and kicking them.
.
It took almost half an hour to finally organize the 10,000 soldiers under the stage. Only the 2,000 crossbowmen were in a fairly orderly formation, while the rest were so twisted that they could not even form a square formation.
Liu Xiang has been trying to persuade himself not to be angry. The more the troops of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance stretch out, the easier it is for him to control them. If they become stronger, they will become a threat to him.
Pretend it's completely invisible.
He took the loudspeaker and said loudly: "I don't want to say anything hypocritical. Go into battle and kill the enemy. Those who move forward bravely will be rewarded! Those who retreat cowardly will be killed!"
Break through Gongqiu County, and use all the seizures from the treasury in the city as rewards. If you behead the first-level soldiers, you will be rewarded with one tael of gold. If you first enter the city, you will be rewarded with ten kilograms of gold. If you follow the army forward, you will be rewarded with a measure of corn.
However, those who do not follow the lead in battle should be beheaded; those who kill good people and take advantage of their merits should be beheaded; those who commit adultery and plunder should be beheaded.
I am Liu Xiang, the hussar general of the Han Dynasty. I clearly distinguish rewards and punishments, and I keep my word. Do you understand?"
The rewards and punishments are simple and clear, and all the soldiers below understand them. Those who want to earn rewards will naturally shout and applaud. Those who are afraid of being punished, who dares to raise objections? They can only applaud perfunctorily.
The sound was noisy and messy, buzzing and buzzing, which made Liu Xiang's head hurt, but there was no need to worry about it, and there was no way to use the modern nonsense method of "I can't hear you, are you women?" where others have to yell multiple times.
.
Liu Xiang gestured to the soldiers below to calm down.
The guards arrayed around the high platform shouted in unison: "Quiet!"
The loud shouts of five hundred people suppressed the buzzing of tens of thousands of people.
The cavalry around the school grounds prevented the infantry from making any mistakes. The crowd quietly looked at the general on the high platform.
"Have a hearty meal tonight, and there is no limit to the amount of food. Tomorrow, we will break camp and march to Gongqiu. Make money or lose your life, it is your choice." Liu Xiang waved his hand and ordered: "Bring them back, bury the pots to make rice, and those who deduct military rations will be punished on the spot.
Behead."
If it weren't for the fact that cannibalism is against morality and anyone who dared to withhold military rations under his nose would have been shaved and boiled.