Chapter 3: The Tempest, Section 12

"At present, we have not received any news from Brother Bo Jue, and it is obvious that Brother Bo Jue and tens of thousands of troops have been surrounded by Li Hong and Yuan Shao in the area of Xifeng Pavilion and Jieqiao. If we attack rashly, it is very likely that we will be hit hard by the Northern Xinjiang Army and the Jizhou Army, and it is even possible to be surrounded and annihilated by them, so ......" Liu Bei pointed to the boundary bridge on the map and said in a low voice,

"Let's go to the boundary bridge, make a detour behind the Northern Frontier Army, defeat Li Hong, and rescue Brother Bo Jue." Tian Kai frowned, leaned over and looked at the map carefully, and was silent.

Liu Bei's finger clicked heavily on the Gaotang City on the map, and then moved north along the big river on the map.

"We set out from Gaotang with the army, went to Pingyuan City, entered the Pan River along the Great River, and then entered the Black Dragon Bay from the Pan River, and crossed the Qing River from the Black Dragon Bay, so that we were behind the Northern Frontier Army. After crossing the Qing River, we traveled two hundred miles along the north bank of the Qing River and hit the boundary bridge. The Northern Frontier Army was caught off guard and was bound to be defeated, so that Brother Bo Jue could successfully break through. Tian Kai's hand followed the trajectory that Liu Bei had just crossed and drew a big arc on the map.

"Xuande, this big bend has more than 500 miles of road, even if the army travels lightly, day and night, it will take about five days, how do you ensure that the whereabouts of the army will not be exposed?" He looked up at Liu Bei and continued worriedly,

"Brother Bo Jue doesn't know that we will rescue him from the direction of the Boundary Bridge, and we will not be able to get in touch with him, if he does his best to break through from the direction of the Xifeng Pavilion, then after we take the Boundary Bridge, we will have to continue to attack forward for fifty miles before we can join him. Do we have such strength? We detoured back to the boundary bridge and suddenly launched an attack on the Northern Frontier Army, and the Northern Frontier Army was caught off guard, and the possibility of losing the boundary bridge was indeed very high, but the Northern Frontier Army would launch a counteroffensive immediately, and we simply did not have the ability to continue south to join Brother Bo Jue. ”

"Xuande, your method is too risky. If we fail, we will be wiped out. Liu Bei smiled helplessly: "My lord, if Brother Bo Jue is wiped out, how long can we hold out?" Who can withstand the attack of the Northern Frontier Army? Who can stop Li Hong from overthrowing Sheji? Now that it's over, we have to take a chance. As long as we can save Brother Bojing, there is still hope. Liu Bei immediately explained his strategy in detail.

The reinforcements of the Northern Xinjiang Army have already moved south, although it is not clear how many troops have come, but from the perspective of Li Hong's determination to occupy Jizhou, there are not 50,000 but also 30,000, otherwise it will be difficult for him to defeat Yuan Shao after defeating the Youzhou Army.

And after Yuan Shao saw that the Northern Xinjiang Army was moving south, his own survival was suddenly greatly threatened, and he would definitely not do his best to help Li Hongquan annihilate Gongsun Zhan.

Gongsun Zhan's entire army was wiped out, and Yuan Shao was not far from death, so Yuan Shao's purpose was not only to severely damage Gongsun Zhan, but he also wanted to ensure that Gongsun Zhan could escape back to Bohai County alive.

If Gongsun Chan is alive, Yuan Shao's survival will be guaranteed, and the possibility of Li Hong quickly occupying Jizhou will be gone.

This is the result that Yuan Shao is most willing to see. What Yuan Shao thinks in his heart, Li Hong must know very well.

He not only has to strive to completely annihilate Gongsun Zhan, but also has to guard against Yuan Shao's defection, and the deployment of troops is inevitably overstretched.

In the face of Gongsun Zhan's 100,000 army, Li Hong's best choice was to trap Gongsun Zhan in the area of Xifeng Pavilion and Jieqiao, surround but not fight, and wait until the Youzhou army was exhausted in food and grass, and the victory was within reach.

Of course, Gongsun Chan will not sit still. He has reinforcements outside and 100,000 soldiers inside, and his strength is huge, and he is bound to break through.

According to Liu Bei's guess, Gongsun Zhan's first breakthrough direction should be Xifeng Pavilion. After the army crossed the Xifeng Pavilion, it could quickly return to Ganling City, be replenished with grain, grass and ordnance, and even if the breakthrough was blocked, it could hold on and wait for reinforcements.

Gongsun Zan thought so, Li Hong and Yuan Shao also thought so, the Northern Xinjiang Army and the Jizhou Army must set up heavy troops on the front line of Xifeng Pavilion.

In other words, the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army on the front line of the boundary bridge will definitely not be too much. In the vicinity of Jieqiao, the danger of the Qinghe River water, the Northern Frontier Army can rely on the natural barrier of the Qinghe River to block the Youzhou Army from breaking through.

After Gongsun Zhan's attack on Xifeng Pavilion is blocked, there will be less and less food, and the situation will become more and more critical.

In order to survive, he had only one choice left in the end, immediately turned around, attacked the boundary bridge, and opened the gap to break through at all costs with his superior forces.

At this time, if our reinforcements suddenly appear behind the boundary bridge and defeat the northern frontier army defending the boundary bridge, Gongsun Chan will definitely be able to escape.

After listening to Liu Bei's analysis, Tian Kai thought for a long time.

"Xuande, this is just your speculation, it's just a possibility, in case Brother Bo Jue doesn't break through in the direction of the boundary bridge, the fate of the reinforcements ......" Liu Bei sighed: "My lord, even if we use all 30,000 troops from Qingzhou to attack the Ganling Kingdom, how sure are we to rescue Brother Bo Jue?" We don't have iron cavalry, as long as we set foot in Ganling Kingdom, the iron cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army will kill us to the point of losing our armor and defeating us. Li Hong and Fengyun Iron Cavalry's outstanding achievements, have you forgotten? Tian Kai thought of Li Hong's past achievements, and couldn't help but feel palpitations.

Eight years ago, Li Hong defeated the invasion of the Xianbei people in Yuyang with only 2,000 iron horses, and also killed Murong Ji and Murong Invasion, two Xianbei marshals, and beat Xiong Ba, Split Wind and others to flee in embarrassment.

As long as Li Hong has the iron horse in his hand, no one in the world can defeat him, which is one thing that Tian Kai is most convinced of.

"My lord, give me five thousand elites for ten days." Liu Bei pleaded,

"I asked each soldier to bring ten days of dry food, and after ten days, no matter whether I can reach the Jieqiao or not, and whether I can rescue Brother Boqi, I will definitely return to Bohai County on time with the army." Kai no longer hesitated, and resolutely nodded in agreement,

"I immediately ordered the army to cross the river to attack the Ganling Kingdom, and at the same time ordered Gongsun Hong and Fan Fang of Nanpicheng to lead five thousand men and horses to follow up, and do everything possible to attract the attention of the Northern Xinjiang Army and the Jizhou Army, and cover you to reach Heilong Bay smoothly and cross the Qing River." Tian Kai reached out to hold Liu Bei's big hand and patted it hard,

"After the Qing River, everything is up to you. Take care of yourself. Liu Bei smiled faintly,

"See you in ten days." On the second day of the first month of March, Ganling Kingdom, Yunting. In the early morning, the Youzhou sergeants suddenly dispatched to clear the horse rejection array on the hillside.

Yu Yigen received a report that Pegasus left the camp. He observed it carefully, and immediately ordered the war drums to be beaten, and the whole army lined up to wait for each other.

"Gongsun Chan is about to break through."

"Urgently report to Lord Zhang Yan, support immediately." Zhang Yan led his army to garrison on the mountain bank five miles behind the camp in Yugen.

Hearing the dense sound of war drums in front, Zhang Yan hurriedly led people to the front. Yu Yigen hurriedly greeted him and said with a smile,

"My lord, Gongsun Chan is in a hurry. Yesterday he had just fought a bloody battle with the general, and today he will turn around and go south. Looks like he's in a mess. Zhang Yan looked solemnly at the busy Youzhou soldiers on the hillside in the distance, and the whip in his hand waved lightly from time to time, thoughtfully.

He had already received Li Hong's reply, and he also knew about the heavy losses in the Battle of the Boundary Bridge yesterday. The general was forced by the strong strength of the Youzhou Army and the lack of his own troops, so he had to change his strategy and adopt himself instead

The method of destroying the enemy by "encircling but not fighting". Since it is surrounded but not fought, of course he will not put his limited forces into the battlefield and fight with the crazy Youzhou army.

"Withdraw." Zhang Yan turned his head to look at the excited Yu Yigen, and pointed behind him with a horsewhip,

"Retreat five miles." A smile on Yu Yigen's face suddenly fell,

"Withdraw? Why? Gongsun Chan has already been disabled by us, as long as we beat him harder again, he will be finished. Zhang Yan smiled slightly,

"Although Gongsun Chan is injured, he is still a violent and angry horse, and whoever wants to kill him will have to pay a great price, especially now." Zhang Yan pulled the horse's reins with a relaxed demeanor and turned the horse's head.

"Withdraw. When the horse has dried up its blood, and has finished its struggle, and has fallen, we can go over without any difficulty and kill him with a single sword, without any effort. ”

"Handsome ......," Yu Yigen shouted very dissatisfied,

"The Great General and Koji Yi have already hit Gongsun Chan in a row, but we haven't fought a ...... battle"

"Don't you understand me?" Zhang Yan frowned and asked,

"What we want is Jizhou, if the soldiers are all exhausted, can we still gain a foothold in Jizhou?" Zhang Yan raised the horsewhip, pointed at the angry Yu Yigen, and said very firmly,

"Retreat five miles."

"Tomorrow?"

"Evacuate another five miles." Yu Yigen looked at Zhang Yan's thin back and smiled bitterly. After advancing for three miles, the Youzhou army stopped.

Gongsun Zhan, surrounded by the white horse Yicong, hurried to the front. The scene in front of him made him so angry that he almost vomited blood.

The one-mile-long avenue ahead was all destroyed by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and there were nearly 100 ditches densely packed. The fields on both sides of the avenue were also dug by the Northern Xinjiang Army into potholes, horizontal and vertical, and there were ravines of different sizes everywhere.

The convoy transporting grain and grass and baggage could not pass, and this battle would be lost no matter how it was fought, let alone break through. Now that tens of thousands of people have been abandoned on the battlefield of Jieqiao, if they want to fill the avenue, the soldiers of Youzhou have to do it themselves, and when the soldiers are done, they are already exhausted and out of breath, where is the strength to fight?

After cursing angrily, Gongsun Chan waved his hand and ordered the iron cavalry to implement a guard on the fields on both sides of the avenue to prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to sneak attack, and ordered 30,000 foot soldiers to take turns to repair the avenue.

In the process of transporting grain and grass, the people often had to temporarily repair the road surface, and sometimes helped the army build camps and cities, so they generally carried all kinds of commonly used utensils.

Now that the people are gone, and the usual tools are gone, the soldiers have to use their hands, feet, and even weapons as tools to build roads, which not only makes slow progress, but also greatly increases their physical strength.

Gongsun Chan watched silently for a while, and sighed in frustration. It is estimated that the idea of this yin damage was all made by several subordinates around Yuan Shao, and this method could not only stop and delay Gongsun Zhan's attack speed, but also preserve their own strength.

When the food of the army is exhausted, the powerful Northern Xinjiang Army will kill from all sides, and it will be completely finished.

"Morale, if this continues, we will be tied." Gongsun Chan said to Guan Jing with a sad face,

"The most important thing for the Jizhou army is the people. There is also the Northern Xinjiang Army, and the displaced people from Changshan and Zhongshan counties are their people's husbands. Today they have cut a mile long avenue, and tomorrow it could be two miles. Let's turn around and break through from the direction of the boundary bridge. Sima Zhao Heng immediately persuaded: "My lord, by all means. Yuan Shao avoided but did not fight, and there was a lot of mystery in the inside. Gongsun Zhan turned his head to look at Zhao Heng.

Zhao Heng is in his twenties, heroic, resolute and a little arrogant. He is a native of Yuyang and comes from a poor family.

In the past, he was a disciple of Zhang Ju and followed Zhang Ju to start an incident in Youzhou. After Zhang Ju's failure in the uprising, he was conscripted into the army by Gongsun Zhan along with the captured soldiers.

When Gongsun Chan resettled the displaced people in Youbeiping, he made a lot of efforts and contributed a lot of strategies to calm the people and strengthen the army, and Gongsun Chan admired him very much for this and reused it.

"Ziyu, what's the mystery in this?" Zhao Heng immediately analyzed the current situation in Jizhou, believing that if Yuan Shao and Li Hong joined forces to annihilate the Youzhou army, the future situation would be extremely unfavorable to Yuan Shao, and he was likely to be quickly driven out of Jizhou by Li Hong or killed by Li Hong.

It is impossible for Yuan Shao to give up Jizhou to Li Hong, so Zhao Heng thinks that Yuan Shao will definitely give a way out of the siege for the Youzhou army in the end, so that Li Hong and Gongsun Zan can continue to fight.

The longer the two of them fight, the more beneficial it will be to Yuan Shao. Gongsun Chan nodded, then pointed ahead and said, "Then how do you explain this matter?" What is Yuan Shao's purpose? ”

"The reinforcements of the Northern Xinjiang Army are going south one after another, and their strength is getting stronger and stronger." Zhao Heng said,

"I even suspect that Yuan Shao has been surrounded by the Northern Xinjiang Army at this time. He was worried that he would be flanked by us and the Northern Frontier Army, so he had to delay it day by day and wait for the situation of the battle to change. ”

"The tide of the battle has changed?" Gongsun Chan raised his eyebrows,

"You mean, Yuan Shao is waiting for Tian Kai and Liu Bei's Qingzhou reinforcements?"

"Yes. As soon as the reinforcements of Tian Kai and Liu Bei arrived, the Northern Frontier Army would be dispatched to block their attack, and at this time, Yuan Shao's opportunity had arrived, and our opportunity to break through had arrived. Guan Jing twisted his beard and smiled,

"The fool is right. In my opinion, after we fill in this road, we will immediately turn back and continue to garrison Yunting. Yuan Shao always digs the road like this, which is very unfavorable for us to break through. Gongsun Chan thought about it for a moment and resolutely ordered,

"Stick to the Cloud Pavilion, recuperate, and prepare to break through." On the sixth day of the first month of March, Ganling Kingdom. After the Qingzhou army gave up the strategy of forcibly attacking Ganling State, Tian Kai immediately thought of many ways to create the false impression that the Qingzhou army was about to assemble to rescue Gongsun Zhan.

Tian Kai ordered the follow-up army to cross the river with only 1,000 people every day, and after crossing the river, he set up a military tent in the shelter pavilion to pretend to be an army of 5,000 people.

Five days later, the Qingzhou military camp has stretched for several miles, and the military tents are lined up.

Zhao Yun, who was stationed ten miles away from the Shelter Pavilion, was very surprised, and hurriedly flew to report to Li Hong. Within five days, at least 30,000 Qingzhou troops had crossed the river, but the Qingzhou army was still crossing the river to the north in a steady stream, and the Qingzhou army's battalion was also expanding day by day.

According to the report of the scouts who had infiltrated the Yellow River crossing, there were more and more ships on the Gaotang Ferry, and they were very busy coming and going, and the Qingzhou soldiers and grain and grass were transported to the north bank of the Yellow River in whole ships.

Zhao Yun demanded an immediate attack, but he was too late. At the same time, Jiang Wu, who was stationed in Tobu City, also complained to the general Li Hong.

The scouts of the Northern Xinjiang Army found reinforcements from the Youzhou Army in Dongguang City, Bohai County, and its forward battalion had reached the Pan River.

According to the scout's estimates, this reinforcement came from Bohai County and Hejian Kingdom, and numbered about 10,000 people.

There were also 1,000 iron horsemen in this army, and the military Sima led by it was Fan Fang, a subordinate of Gongsun Zhan. Li Hong hurriedly summoned all the generals to the hussar general's camp for a military discussion.

Zhang Yan, the general of the town guard, also made a special detour to Kailu Pavilion. Zhu Mu told the generals about the latest battle situation.

Gongsun Zhan recently stationed troops in Yunting, and there was no movement, obviously recuperating and waiting for help.

The Youzhou army, which was surrounded in Ganling City, also showed no signs of breaking through. Sun Qin sent news from Yecheng that scouts frequently haunted the southern part of Wei County such as Guantao and Wei County, and no trace of Yuan Shao and Jizhou Army had been found so far.

The Northern Xinjiang Army now has Gongsun Chan in its mouth, Ganling City in its hands, and its eyes are looking at the two support armies from Qingzhou and Bohai County, because they are suffering from a serious shortage of their own troops, and they don't know which one to fight first.

Lu Yi, Yang Feng and others firmly advocated attacking Gongsun Zan first, but because Zhao Yun and Jiang Wu's iron cavalry blocked the enemy in the east, the Northern Xinjiang Army could only mobilize 52,000 men and horses to attack Yunting.

Moreover, at this time, Gongsun Zhan had rested for five days, and there was still a surplus of grain and grass, so in this case, the losses of the Northern Xinjiang Army were too great to attack Yunting.

Li Hong, Zhang Yan, Zhu Mu and others all believed that the time had not yet come to encircle and annihilate Gongsun Zhan, and they had to wait until Gongsun Zhan ran out of grain and grass and the army was in turmoil.

Zhu Mu proposed to take Ganling City first, so that Wang Dang's army could free up their hands to participate in the decisive battle to encircle and annihilate Gongsun Zhan, or help Zhao Yun or Jiang Wu to repel Gongsun Zhan's reinforcements first.

Zhang Yan and Zhao Yun thought that they should take advantage of the fact that the Qingzhou Army was not firmly grounded and take the lead in attacking the Shelter Pavilion and defeat the reinforcements that posed the greatest threat to the Northern Xinjiang Army first.

After defeating this reinforcement, Gongsun Chan will be exhausted, there will be no hope at all, and the army will be even more scattered.

This is good for the encirclement and annihilation of Gongsun Zhan. Li Hong also tended to fight the Qingzhou Army first. The combat effectiveness of the Qingzhou Army may not be very strong, but so many people staying on the side and watching each other are always very unsettling and always a trouble.

Li Hong believed that the Qingzhou army did not need to mobilize too many troops, and it would not affect the encirclement of Gongsun Zan by the army. In addition, after the Northern Xinjiang Army defeated Gongsun Chan and occupied Jizhou, the next target was Qingzhou, if Gongsun Chan was attacked first, Tian Kai and Liu Bei fled when they heard the news, and it would be very troublesome to fight Qingzhou in the future.

Now we use Gongsun Chan to lure the Qingzhou army into the Ganling Kingdom, and then defeat the Qingzhou army before eliminating Gongsun Zhan, which is completely correct.

Since the general said it, Lu Yi, Yang Feng, Zhu Mu and others immediately stopped insisting on their own opinions. Li Hong ordered Liu Ming to immediately lead his army to the Shelter Pavilion, and ordered Jiang Wu, who was stationed in Dongwu Castle, to quietly move in the direction of the Shelter, and after the two and Zhao Yun met, they quickly launched an attack on the Qingzhou Army.

On the sixth night of the first month of March, the scouts of the Youzhou Army reported back, and the iron cavalry army of the Northern Xinjiang Army quietly pulled out and hurried eastward.

Gongsun Chan and the generals immediately realized that reinforcements were coming, and there was cheering in the big tent. Gongsun Zhan immediately discussed with Guan Jing and Zhao Heng about breaking through.

"Tomorrow, we will attack Kailu Pavilion and break through from the boundary bridge again." Guan Jing and Zhao Heng looked at Gongsun Zhan in surprise.

Why did the adults suddenly change their minds?

"My lord, we don't know exactly how many reinforcements from the Northern Frontier Army are coming. Although the scouts found that the iron cavalry of the Northern Frontier was driving eastward, I can say with certainty that it was only a part of the Iron Cavalry of the Northern Army. Zhao Heng said eagerly,

"Now in Kailu Pavilion and Jieqiao, there must be the main force of the Northern Frontier Army, and it is difficult for us to rush through." Gongsun Chan smiled and asked rhetorically: "Ziyu, why are you sure that Yuan Shao will definitely let us break through and leave?" According to the scout's investigation, it was the Northern Xinjiang Army and Zhang Yan's army that stationed troops in Xifeng Pavilion, so do you know where Yuan Shao is now? Has he been defeated by Li Hong? ”

"The reason why I am alive is because I have never entrusted my destiny to others, especially my enemies." Gongsun Chan patted Zhao Heng,

"You remember, or you'll die soon." Zhao Heng was speechless.

"Everyone knows that we will break through from the direction of Xifeng Pavilion, including yourselves, so ......" Gongsun Chan pointed to the south,

"The main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army must be in Xifeng Pavilion." Gongsun Chan slapped his palm on the desk and laughed,

"I just didn't break through from Xifeng Pavilion, I want to give Li Hong a surprise, haha......" On the seventh day of the first month of March, Gongsun Zhan ordered Zhao Heng to lead 10,000 troops to stay in Yunting to block the attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and he led more than 20,000 foot soldiers and 8,000 iron cavalry to attack Kailu Pavilion.

Li Hong and Koji Yi were well prepared and led an army of 19,000 cavalry to meet the enemy. After receiving the news that Gongsun Chan had launched a breakthrough attack from the direction of Kailu Pavilion, Zhang Yan used his 28,000 troops to launch an attack on Yunting.

On the seventh day of the third month, the boundary bridge. After Li Hong led his army to Kailu Pavilion, the boundary bridge was garrisoned by the troops who remained in Guangzong City.

Wu Jipan, a military candidate, led 200 soldiers to inspect both sides of the boundary bridge, and by the way, maintain order on the bridge.

Due to the battle ahead, the ordnance transported from Gwangjong Fortress to Kairuting today was one after another, and the bridge was bustling with people and cars.

At noon, Wu Jipan's men spotted a scout of the Youzhou Army a few miles away. This person was very powerful, killed two Northern Xinjiang soldiers in a row, and injured three, and finally saw that he couldn't escape, so he slashed his neck with a knife and committed suicide.

It was a common thing for the patrol soldiers to be attacked by enemy scouts, and after Wu Jipan went to the scene to take a look, he immediately ordered someone to go into the city to report to the officials, and he led people to bury the three corpses.

Wu Jipan and more than a dozen people were in a bad mood and walked back listlessly. Suddenly, a soldier walking behind let out a scream and fell to the ground.

Everyone was shocked and looked back. More than a hundred steps away, a group of heavily armed Youzhou soldiers were galloping forward, and a few people running at the front were holding strong bows, and there were a few long arrows roaring in the air.

Wu Jipan didn't think about it, turned around and ran,

"Go, go, go, go......" jumps to