Chapter 666: Horses gallop across Jizhou and the mountains and rivers shake!
The effect of the imperial edict was so good that even Li Jue and Guo Si were shocked. They never expected that the emperor in their hands would be so useful.
The establishment of the Three Alliances to Fight Bandits and the Three Alliances of Uyghurs and Hans makes people think back to the distant Zhou Dynasty, when strategists united the countries and formed various alliances to fight against each other.
This war that is about to take place in the Central Plains has made the surrounding countries secretly frightened, fearing that blood will splash on them.
Upon seeing this, Li Jue and Guo Si once again issued an imperial decree, demanding that Gongsun Zan attack Yuan Shao in an effort to completely ignite the flames of war in the Central Plains.
Gongsun Zan was waiting for this opportunity to launch a war with a legitimate reason. As soon as the imperial edict from the Chang'an court arrived, he summoned all the officials in Youzhou.
"Yuan Shao, the so-called fourth generation of the Three Dukes, has received the emperor's grace for many years, but he brazenly rebelled, disobeyed the imperial will, and even accused Your Majesty.
I am an important official in the imperial court. Can I turn a blind eye to Yuan Shao's actions?
Now the imperial court has issued an edict, which means that Your Majesty can no longer tolerate the existence of rebellious people like Yuan Shao. I have no choice but to respectfully carry out Your Majesty's edict.
The civil and military officials of Youzhou can only respectfully carry out your majesty's orders, attack Yuan Shao, drive him out of Jizhou, and present his head to your majesty."
Liu Yu watched Gongsun Zan coldly. He had a deep understanding of Yuan Shao. Besides, who in the world didn't know about Yuan Shao's deeds?
Gongsun Zan actually dared to compare himself with Yuan Shao. He was really stupid to the extreme. Liu Yu was ready to see Gongsun Zan fail.
When Gongsun Zan fails, Liu Yu will let him know why Emperor Ling appointed him as the governor of Youzhou!
After encouraging everyone, Gongsun Zan prayed to the Lord of Arms, and then led 50,000 elite infantry and cavalry to station in batches in various counties in northern Ji. This place was only a few hundred miles away from Yecheng, which could be said to be very close. His purpose was to oppress Yecheng.
Youzhou lacked everything except war horses. The Youzhou Iron Cavalry and the White Horse Volunteers all had more than three horses each. The whole of Hebei was trembling with the fierce power of the Youzhou Iron Cavalry. The Hebei gentry who supported Yuan Shao were all shaken and uneasy when they saw the mighty military force of Gongsun Zan.
Yecheng.
As the news came in, all the civil and military officials of Jizhou sat in a solemn manner. Yuan Shao looked around and said, "Gongsun Zan is leading the elite infantry and cavalry of Youzhou and is coming aggressively, claiming to have an army of 200,000.
In fact, it should be around 50,000, but it should not be underestimated.
I have decided to fight Gongsun Zan to the death. If I win, I will take back the lost land of Jizhou and even invade Youzhou.
defeat.
Hebei cannot fail!
Jizhou only has the southern counties left. If we fail, we won't even be able to find a place to stay. Let's work together and win this battle."
Although we have made all the preparations, who wouldn’t be nervous when the moment really comes?
Just as Ju Shou said, war is not a matter of determining the outcome by simply listing troops and food supplies. There is no war in this world that can be won.
After Gongsun Zan took advantage of the situation to seize the land of Jizhou, Yuan Shao's forces had to face an extremely serious problem.
That is, although the remaining land is still densely populated and is the most prosperous area in Jizhou, it has no depth at all. Moreover, Jizhou is a vast plain, which is most suitable for the Youzhou cavalry to charge and kill.
Everyone in the room had a solemn look on their faces, and they were all very clear about the current situation in Hebei.
Yuan Shao nodded slightly when he saw the expressions of the crowd, and then turned his gaze to the four pillars of Hebei and Qu Yi. Yuan Shao had many generals under his command, but no more than ten of them were the ones he valued the most.
"Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Gao Lan, Zhang He!"
"I am here!"
Yuan Shao said in a deep voice: "The four of you will each lead a cavalry corps. You must keep an eye on the White Horse and Youzhou Iron Cavalry. Do not let the White Horse run wild."
This is a very difficult task. The Hebei cavalry is not as good as the Youzhou people who grew up on horseback in any aspect. After the four people responded to the order, Yuan Shao looked at Qu Yi and said loudly: "Zhengze, can the Xiandeng Camp and the Daji soldiers you trained fight?"
The so-called vanguard soldiers and halberd soldiers were a typical fusion of heavy infantry and crossbowmen. Qu Yi integrated the Qiang people's tactics to train these soldiers.
Whether it is attacking a camp, besieging a city, or engaging in a frontal battle, they are all top-notch troops. Hearing Yuan Shao's question at this moment, Qu Yi changed his usual arrogance, and his whole person exuded a gloomy look, but there was an endless flame of madness burning in his eyes. He had been waiting for this day for too long, and Gongsun Zan actually dared to let him taste the taste of failure.
Qu Yi stood up, clasped his fists, gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "My lord, just look at Bai Ma, I will make sure he never comes back!"
Seeing his generals so spirited, Yuan Shao laughed loudly and said, "All right, all the generals, go ahead. I will personally lead 30,000 infantry and cavalry to the rear to support the battle."
Although Yuan Shao's territory is small now, his population is still larger than Gongsun Zan's.
After the peace talks a year ago, Yuan Shao quickly recovered and his military strength increased rapidly. When Gongsun Zan attacked, he dispatched a total of 60,000 elite infantry and cavalry.
The Jizhou army had already gathered 30,000 soldiers at the border. Ju Shou and others followed the army to meet the enemy. Yuan Shao closed his eyes on the carriage. Ju Shou knew that he must still be nervous, so he comforted him, "My lord, don't worry.
Although Gongsun Zan's army was strong, he had not yet completely controlled the northern part of Jizhou. Youzhou was far away from Jizhou, and it was very inconvenient for Gongsun Zan's army to transport food and fodder.
On the other hand, our army has very smooth transportation of food and grass, and can continuously supply the army. If Gongsun Zan dares to fight with our army, he is simply seeking death. "
Yuan Shao nodded, indicating that he understood, and he slowly said: "Although I don't understand how to fight a war, I know that war exists to achieve a goal.
The reason why we must win this battle is to stop Gongsun Zan's determination to continue moving south, and to change the offense and defense situation between Hebei and Gongsun Zan!
Gongsun Zan was a man of arrogance and pride. When he had the upper hand, he became complacent. Once he suffered a defeat, he began to doubt himself and became devastated. At the beginning, all the princes who came to support the king attacked Zhang Jue together, but they were all defeated in the end.
He was disheartened at that time.
On the contrary, Liu Xuande beside him was full of fighting spirit. I knew at that time that this man must be a hero of the time. Sure enough, when Liu Xuande went to Qingzhou, he was recognized by the Five Surnames and Seven Families. He jumped from a subordinate of a prince to one of the great princes of the time, and even married the noble daughter of the Lu family!
As long as we can defeat him in this battle when he has the advantage, he will definitely be devastated.
What we gained was not just victory in a battle, but we could gradually seize the entire Youzhou by defeating Gongsun Zan.
Gongsun Zan is just a temporary hero!
He always thought that I looked down on him because of his identity as a warrior from the border counties. In fact, I just simply looked down on him. There are so many heroes among the warriors from the border counties, but unfortunately he is not one of them!
After defeating him, I must tell him, so that people in the world will not think that I, Yuan Shao, am arrogant and do not know how to respect others."
Ju Su and Xun Chen looked at each other. They could roughly judge Gongsun Zan's character, but they still didn't know how to comment on Yuan Shao's sharp comments on Gongsun Zan.
But from Yuan Shao's words, he looked down on Gongsun Zan in all aspects, and he even planned to humiliate Gongsun Zan later.
Neither of them commented on this point. The contradiction between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan was irreconcilable. It had been like this since the moment Gongsun Zan launched a surprise attack on Yuan Shao's foundation. Therefore, whatever Yuan Shao did to Gongsun Zan was quite reasonable.
The two were now certain that Yuan Shao might be nervous, but he was not afraid of Gongsun Zan at all, which made them feel relieved.
Yuan Shao seemed to sense what the two were thinking, and couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Gong Yu, Youruo, you don't think I'm afraid of Gongsun Zan, do you?
Hahaha.
Who is Gongsun Zan?
Back then, Zhang Jue defeated almost all of the coalition forces I led to support the king in one battle. It was truly a moment of life and death, but I never showed any fear!
Back then, Dong Zhuo was powerful and the entire court was filled with his soldiers, yet I still dared to draw my sword and confront him, shouting at him without any fear!
At the beginning, when Gongsun Zan was pressing on Jizhou and Hebei's strength had not yet recovered and was in imminent danger, I led my army north without any fear.
Now I have tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry, generals as numerous as rain, and counselors who are far superior to Gongsun Zan. If I were to be afraid now, wouldn’t it be a joke?”
Bingzhou, Jinyang.
Bingzhou encompassed a large amount of land of the Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period. Except for the northernmost county built on the Hetao River, the other Bingzhou counties were relatively high in population and prosperity.
After Ding Yuan's death, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao led the Bingzhou army back to Bingzhou. Naturally, Lu Bu was the leader between the two, especially after Lu Bu was named the governor of Bingzhou.
Lu Bu was a little inflated. He came from a humble family, but he had risen to the level of a local lord. Anyone would be inflated.
Especially since even Yuan Shao sent people to propose marriage to him, Lu Bu was even more proud. Just as Yuan Shao expected, he easily agreed to Yuan Shao's proposal and secretly formed an offensive and defensive alliance with Yuan Shao.
When the situation in Jizhou began to become tense, Lu Bu knew it was time for him to set off.
The family of three was having dinner in the house. Lü Bu smiled and said to Lü Qiling, "Look, I will fight for you to become the legal wife of a noble family!"
Hearing this, Lu Qiling was delighted by her father's love, but also felt like crying. She looked at her father's tall and majestic figure and said softly, "Father, you must be careful. On the battlefield, swords have no eyes."
Lu Bu touched Lu Qiling's head and said with a smile, "Don't worry, my daughter. After Zhang Jue's death, your father will be the best general in the world, the invincible flying general. No one can defeat your father.
Besides, I have to see my daughter get married and you have children. Don't worry, everything will be fine. Just wait for the news of your victory."
Lu Qiling nodded with tears in her eyes, and the family of three began to chat with smiles.
————
Zan then invited the sons of the noble families in the border counties of Youzhou to lead their own soldiers, and also bought good horses, with a combined army of 50,000. He boasted of his grand occasion and said, "I am the general. When my horses trample the mountains and rivers of Jizhou, the mountains and rivers will shake. When my soldiers fall to the north of the river, I will obey the will of heaven!" - "Book of Yan·Biography of Gongsun and Murong"
(End of this chapter)
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