At dawn, Xu Da received a battle report.

Although it intercepted Yuan Shao's rear army and captured more than 10,000 horses under Yuan Shao, it still let Yuan Shao escape.

Not only did Yuan Shao run away, but the important people under him also ran away, and none of them were caught. This made Xu Da very disappointed.

As Yuan Shao led most of his men to flee, it was also announced that Li Yi's strategy to stabilize Jizhou in a war had failed.

Xu Da ordered the army to go directly to the Qinghe Kingdom.

………………

Yufeng Pavilion.

In the morning, when the Northern Xinjiang Army was assembling and preparing to go out of the camp to attack Gongsun Zhan, they heard the earth-shattering sound of war drums suddenly from the opponent's camp, and Gongsun Chan took the lead in attacking.

Li Yi was overjoyed, and he and Li Jing led the army to battle.

The Northern Xinjiang Army set up a defensive formation, with Xu Huang's army in front, Li Xin and Bian Xi's army on the left and right flanks, Li Jing commanded in the center, and Li Yi led the hussar guards in the rear.

The Northern Xinjiang Army is powerful in the world, and its sharpest weapons are iron cavalry and ballistas. Iron cavalry rushes into battle, ballista kills the enemy, and there is nothing in the world to deserve it.

Today, although the iron cavalry of the Northern Xinjiang Army is not there, the ballista still makes Gongsun Zan very cold. The battle of Panhe gave him a full insight into the power of the Northern Frontier Chariot Battalion. A hundred ballistas may not be terrible, but the power of five hundred ballistas is not something that any army can bear. Gongsun Zhan was unwilling to let his iron cavalry die in vain under the ballista of the Northern Frontier Army, so he asked Shan Jing to take the lead in attacking the Northern Frontier Army with 10,000 foot soldiers.

You have ballistas, I have somebody, see who's great.

The strong bows and ballistas of the Northern Frontier Army caused thousands of Gongsun troops to fall on the way to the charge.

Compared with the Battle of Panhe in November last year, the armament of the Gongsun army has been greatly improved, and the soldiers generally put on new armor and have picked up heavy new weapons in their hands, especially the number of bows and arrows, which is innumerable.

These weapons were made by the ordnance workshops of Danyang and Wujun in Yangzhou, and were also sent to Bohai County by merchants from those two places in huge sea ships. Yangzhou merchant Jia told Gongsun Zhan that these weapons were originally ordered by Jizhou Mu Yuan Shaotuo Yangzhou Assassin Zhou Qian, but now that Yuan Shao drove away General Gongsun, he should sell them to General Gongsun at a preferential price.

Xu Huang only has 4,000 people, of course, he can't stop the crowds and angry Gongsun Army. Xu Huang struggled to hold on for a while, and then retreated.

The Northern Xinjiang Army then used the three phalanxes of Li Jing, Li Xin, and Bian Xi to resist the attack of the Gongsun army.

As soon as Gongsun Zhan saw that the time had come, he immediately ordered Yan Gang and Gongsun Fan to lead 5,000 iron cavalry each to attack the left and right flanks of the Northern Frontier Army, and ordered Zou Dan to command 20,000 foot soldiers to charge and kill from the front again.

Li Yi did not hesitate and immediately ordered the whole army to withdraw urgently.

Gongsun Zhan defeated the world-famous hussar general Li Yi, and Gongsun Army defeated the famous Northern Frontier Army. At this moment, both Gongsun Chan and the soldiers of Gongsun Jun were immersed in great excitement and joy.

Looking at the large camp abandoned by the Northern Xinjiang Army and the heavy grain and grass hoarded in the large camp, Gongsun Zhan was full of ambition and gave the order to pursue.

However, he was very careful, he ordered Yan Gang to take 3,000 iron horsemen in front, and he took 10,000 Youzhou foot soldiers in the middle, and he personally led the army to follow.

At noon, Yan Gang arrived at Yunting and was suddenly ambushed by the Northern Xinjiang Army. Three thousand iron horsemen desperately escaped from the arrow array, and more than half of them died.

Shan Jing immediately commanded an army of 10,000 and killed Shangyun Pavilion at any cost.

Xu Huang and Yang Feng each led their armies to kill from the mountain banks on both sides, and Li Jing led the army to turn back and fight again. Outnumbered, the army was almost wiped out. At this time, Gongsun Chan led a large army to kill. The iron cavalry of the Gongsun Army was unable to exert its power because it was blocked by the horse rejection array, so it had to let the foot soldiers pass through the horse rejection array first to rescue.

The strong bows and ballistae of the Northern Xinjiang army ambushed on the hills on both sides exerted their terrifying power, and the horse rejection array suddenly became a place of death. It didn't take long for the corpses of Gongsun Jun's foot soldiers to cover every corner of the horse rejection array.

Gongsun Chan was furious and ordered Gongsun Fan and Zou Dan to lead their armies to attack the hills on both sides of Yunting, and he personally led the army and launched a stormy attack on Yunting with the corpses of Gongsun soldiers.

Li Yi again ordered a retreat.

………………

In the afternoon, outside the city of Ganling.

Xu Da and Zhao Yun shook each other's hands, and there was no joy on their faces.

"You're late." Xu Da smiled bitterly.

Zhao Yun shook his head helplessly and asked, "Brother Tiande, how long did it take you to fight Yecheng?" ”

"One day." Xu Da said, "There are only 3,000 defenders in the city. That's something we didn't expect. We conquered the city at dusk, and it was very chaotic. Perhaps it was at that time that Yuan Xi and Xu You sent people to escape. ”

Zhao Yun comforted Xu Da and said: "If you beat Yecheng, you can be regarded as ending Yuan Shao's nest." Yuan Shao ran away this time, and he won't have such good luck next time. ”

Then he told about the opening of the Yellow River, and finally said: "I am worried that Tian Kai and Liu Bei of Yanzhou will immediately cross the river to help, so I want to ask you if you want to divide your troops to block the attack." ”

Xu Da opened the map and looked at it carefully for a while, shook his head, and said, "Don't divide your troops to block the attack, let them come." ”

Zhao Yun looked at Xu Da suspiciously.

"Yuan Shao has fled, and only Gongsun Chan and his hundreds of thousands of troops are left in this encirclement." Xu Da explained, "If you want to solve Gongsun Chan in one battle, it is best to bring all the forces of Gongsun Chan here." ”

Zhao Yun asked: "What does Brother Tiande mean to surround Gongsun Chan and use Gongsun Chan as bait to fight his reinforcements?" ”

Xu Da nodded, pointed to Ganling City in the distance and said, "I'll take the city first, and you go to chase Gongsun Zan and force him to the boundary bridge." ”

………………

Twilight.

Surrounded by hussar guards, Li Yi crossed the boundary bridge with his flying horse.

Xu Maogong and the others hurriedly caught up, and said with a very worried expression: "Lord, General Yue Fei Fei's flying pigeon sent a letter to report the military situation urgently. ”

After Li Yi read the letter, he shook his head, handed the letter to Li Jing who came in a hurry, and said, "Look at it, Dong Zhuo is eager to occupy Luoyang, and he is moving so fast. Pengju and Yide have a hard fight. ”

"If we can successfully complete the siege, the fighting in Jizhou can be expected to end before April." Xu Maogong said worriedly, "I wonder if the two generals, Xu Da and Zhao Yun, have already met?" ”

Li Yi smiled and said, "No matter how the battle in Jizhou is fought, Hedong must ensure that there is no worries." Tell Pengju that Luoyang can keep it, but if it can't, give up immediately, and let Dong Zhuo and the prefectures and counties fight each other. Northern Xinjiang should avoid fighting on two fronts as much as possible, and even if it cannot be avoided, it should shorten the time of fighting on two fronts as much as possible and reduce the loss of money and grain in northern Xinjiang to the greatest extent. ”

"However, if Kanto loses ......," Guo Jia stopped when he wanted to speak.

Li Yi looked at him and said: "As early as when I left Luoyang to go north, I said to Pengju, whether it is Kanto or Luoyang, we can defend it, and if we can't defend it, we will let it go as soon as possible." Now our goal is Jizhou, Kanto and Luoyang are not our focus, and we do not need to consume troops there. ”

"The revitalization policy set by the imperial court is based on Hebei." Li Jing handed the letter to Xu Huang, who came later, and said with a smile, "No matter who occupies Luoyang in the future, as long as he does not return to the imperial court, it will be a dead end." ”

Luoyang's position in the heart of Guo Jia, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is supreme and the foundation of the Han Dynasty. Luoyang cannot be controlled by the imperial court, which means the overthrow of Sheji, and it means that the road to save Sheji is more difficult and tortuous.

Guo Jia let out a long sigh, very sad and bitter in his heart.

"Pengju doesn't seem to have confidence in our swift pacification of Jizhou?" Li Jing continued, "Can't we still solve Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao? ”

"Pengju's worries are very reasonable." Li Yi said, "According to the time calculation, the eastern section of the Yellow River has been thawed and opened, and the great battle of the Western Liang army to attack the east of the river has begun." ”

"If Niu Fu's tens of thousands of troops entangled the Northern Xinjiang Army in Guanxi and prevented the Northern Xinjiang Army from crossing the river to come back, and Dong Zhuo sent heavy troops to attack Hedong at the same time, then the 10,000 Tuntian soldiers in Hedong would not be able to stop the Western Liang Army. In order to secure Hedong, we must recruit more Tuntian soldiers into the battlefield. The more troops in northern Xinjiang participate in the war, the more astonishing the expenditure on food and salaries will be, and under such circumstances, northern Xinjiang is bound to be unsustainable, so it has to abandon two-front warfare. ”

"The lord, like Pengju, has no confidence in the battle of the boundary bridge?" Xu Huang asked as he stood aside.

"Of course there is faith." Li Yi smiled and pointed to the dark sky, "But I also need God's help." ”

………………

Part of the Northern Xinjiang army retreated to the north bank of the boundary bridge, and part relied on the horses, deer and trenches that had been arranged, and set up a defensive position, preparing to meet the Gongsun army.

Hundreds of bonfires were lit on both sides of the bridge, and the scorching light of the fires lit up the night sky. The officers and men of the Northern Xinjiang Army held their weapons and gathered around the fire to warm up and rest. From time to time, the slight snoring of the soldiers could be heard in the cold wind floating over the Qinghe River, the gentle neighing of war horses, and the occasional "crackling" sound of burning firewood.

In the big tent of the Chinese army on the north bank, Li Yi, Li Jing, Xu Maogong, Liu Bowen, Guo Jia, Jia Xu and other senior officials in the army were still discussing the military situation.

In today's two battles of Xifeng Pavilion and Yunting, the Northern Xinjiang Army lost nearly 5,000 people. Due to the haste of the retreat, all the seriously wounded were discarded, except for a part of the lightly wounded who could persist in walking back to the boundary bridge with the army.

The seriously wounded who were left on the battlefield had only one fate, and that was death, so Xu Maogong counted all of them in the number of casualties.

Li Yi's heart is like a knife.

In order to lead Gongsun Zhan to the boundary bridge, in order to pacify Jizhou in a war, the Northern Xinjiang Army paid a huge price. These brothers who once followed their expedition to the desert did not die under the iron hooves of the Hu people, but died under the rebellious sword of the Han people.

"If I don't kill Gongsun Zhan, I swear not to be a man." Li Yi gritted his teeth and was furious. (To be continued.) )