Fu Zhu hurriedly returned to the camp and told Yuan Shao what Li Yi had said.

Yuan Shao discussed with many subordinates for a long time, and could not determine whether Li Yi's words were true or false.

Fu Zhu, Xian Pei and others all believed that the Northern Xinjiang Army outside the Saiwai had already moved south or was moving south, and with Li Yi's character and use of troops, he would never fight such a battle that was bound to be lost. But Yuan Shao, Feng Ji, Guo Tu and others do not agree with this view.

Yuan Shao thinks that Li Yi is a person who fights and cannot use common sense to speculate.

"What does the lord mean is that the Yellow Turban Army recruited by Gongsun Chan may defect?" Geng Bao asked suspiciously.

"I think Li Yi is eager to defeat Gongsun Zhan." Yuan Shao walked around the big tent with his hands behind his back and said, "He came to threaten me with six thousand iron horsemen today, which shows that he is very anxious. In order to prevent the Northern Army from becoming bogged down on two fronts in the coming months, he had to attack immediately. ”

Yuan Shao then said his plan. At present, the Yellow River has not yet thawed and opened, and the Yellow Turban Army is stranded in the Liyang area. If they could cross the Yellow River and go south to join Gongdu in early March, then the Yellow Turban Army would not be able to cross the Yellow River north to attack Jizhou until around April at the earliest. Gongsun Chan will definitely hold out until April, but will the Yellow Turban Army go north in April?

In the first battle of Dongguang last year, the 300,000 Yellow Turban Army was completely annihilated, so Yuan Shao was not sure that the Yellow Turban Army would once again risk the destruction of the entire army to go north for a second expedition.

In order to ensure that the Yellow Turban Army could cross the Yellow Turban Army to the north in April, Yuan Shao believed that it was first necessary to ensure that the Yellow Turban Army of Montenegro could cross the Yellow Turban Army to the south in March, and secondly, to cut off the road for the Yellow Turban Army of Montenegro to return to Montenegro and force them to move south quickly.

In order to smoothly cut off the retreat of the Montenegrin Yellow Turban Army, Yuan Shao planned to agree to Li Yi's request and send troops to Qinghe State with great fanfare to deceive and paralyze the Montenegrin Yellow Turban Army. After the Yellow Turban Army of Montenegro crossed the river, the army immediately broke away from the battlefield of Qinghe Country and killed Montenegro as quickly as possible.

Whether or not we can successfully capture Montenegro and sweep away the Yellow Turban Army stationed in Montenegro has a direct bearing on the stability of Hanoi and the security of the army after it enters Luoyang. For this reason, Yuan Shao ordered the various armies in Yanzhou to retreat appropriately, allowing Yu Poison and Zhenggu to cross the river with more Yellow Turban troops to the south, and at the same time ordered Yuan Tan, the Taishou of Dongjun, to lead the army to Montenegro to help.

Yuan Shao also asked the senior cadres of the garrison Chen to launch an attack on Yuzhou as soon as possible, so that he could flank Yuan Shu with Liu Biao before and after.

"The Northern Xinjiang Army lost Yuzhou, and the Guanxi Battlefield and the Jizhou Battlefield fell into a bitter battle at the same time, in this case, Li Yi's best way is to abandon Luoyang and concentrate his forces to attack Jizhou." Yuan Shao finally said, "Compared with the strategy we have made in the past, there are two differences. First, our army will leave Wei County and enter the Qinghe Kingdom, and the cities of Wei County must strengthen their garrisons to avoid being attacked by the Yellow Turban Army. The second is that Xiansi (Yuan Tan) went to Montenegro to attack and kill the Yellow Turban Army with us. When Xiansi comes, our strength will be stronger, and at the same time, we can also transfer some troops to garrison Wei County. ”

Yuan Shao stopped, looked at everyone, and said with a solemn expression: "Since Gongsun Chan occupies the Bohai Sea, our supply of money and grain is very tight this year. Now we have to supply not only our own army with food and wages, but also food and salary for the northern Xinjiang army, and we can no longer sustain it. In a few months, if we can't take Luoyang and Yuzhou as soon as possible, the army will have to rely on Wei County for part of its grain and grass baggage. Therefore, the stability and security of Wei County is extremely important to us and cannot be missed. ”

………………

Gongsun Chan received a letter from Li Yi.

Li Yi said very politely in his letter, saying that Brother Bo Jue defeated the 300,000 Yellow Turban Army in the Battle of Dongguang and made great contributions. With the order of the Son of Heaven, the eldest princess ordered to worship her brother as the general of Fenwu, the Marquis of Ji. I have sent the messenger to bring the decree and the seal, and I ask my brother to receive it.

Then Li Yi spoke earnestly, carefully described the difficulties of the imperial court and northern Xinjiang, and hoped that Gongsun Chan would put the society first and immediately dismiss the army. Li Yi even promised Gongsun Zan that as long as he could stop the army without fighting, not only could he garrison Jizhou, but he was also willing to go to the eldest princess and the court to recommend him as the pastor of Jizhou. Of course, the premise is that he must force Yuan Shao away.

In the end, Li Yi said, our brothers haven't seen each other for more than a year, I wonder if my brother can get together at Jieqiao?

Gongsun Zhan accepted the holy decree and the seal of General Fenwu, but he refused Li Yi's invitation and was unwilling to go out of the city to meet Li Yi.

Changshi Guan Jing carefully read Li Yi's letter, and he thought that Li Yi was deliberately delaying the time for the decisive battle, and the reinforcements of the Northern Xinjiang Army might be on their way to Jizhou.

From the end of December to the present, the Gongsun army sent thousands of scouts to Zhongshan, Changshan, and Zhao to inquire about the military situation, but no trace of reinforcements from northern Xinjiang was found. According to the speculation of Guan Jing, Yan Gang and others, the reinforcements from Northern Xinjiang may indeed have not arrived in Jizhou, because a part of the Northern Xinjiang Army is now fighting Dong Zhuo in Guanxi, and only the Saiwai army can rush to Jizhou to support.

It took a while for the army outside the northern Xinjiang to assemble from receiving the order, and in addition, it was a harsh winter, heavy snowfall, and the roads were blocked, and it was already the fastest speed for the army outside the country to complete the assembly within two months. There are more than 2,000 miles from Yunzhong, Wuyuan and other places outside the Saiwai to Julu County in Jizhou, that is to say, the army outside the Saiwai in the north will not reach the battlefield until at least the end of March or the beginning of April.

The opinion of Guan Jing, Yan Gang and others was to immediately launch an attack on the Northern Xinjiang Army.

Gongsun Chan also agreed with Guan Jing's opinion, but considering the comparison of forces between the two sides, Gongsun Chan did not have an absolute advantage, so Gongsun Chan was hesitant to start a decisive battle immediately.

At present, the Northern Xinjiang Army and Yuan Shao's army together exceed 50,000 people. Although there were about 100,000 people in the Gongsun army who could go to the battlefield, the main force was only 30,000 to 50,000, including 10,000 iron cavalry. Gongsun Zhan wanted to wait until early March, when the main army of Tian Kai and Liu Bei returned to help, and then start a decisive battle.

Guan Jing disagreed. He gave Gongsun Zhan a detailed analysis of the current situation in Jizhou, especially the movements of the Yellow Turban Army.

Tian Kai and Liu Bei fought in Yanzhou for more than two months, seized four counties in northern Yanzhou, and drove out hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban troops. The survival of the Yellow Turbans is becoming more and more difficult. At this time, if Jizhou is in turmoil, the Yellow Turban Army will see an opportunity to take advantage of it, and it will definitely go north for the second time.

Of course, the state and county officials of Yan, Qing, and Xu were willing to help the Yellow Turban Army, and they wished that the Yellow Turban Army would go north. After the Yellow Turban Army went north, the situation would be out of control, so Guan Jing strongly advocated that Gongsun Chan defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army first, and then go all out to deal with the Yellow Turban Army going north.

Gongsun Chan smiled and said, "Shiqi, what do you mean, we made peace with Yuan Shaoyan?" ”

"Yuan Shao suddenly withdrew his troops from Montenegro and stationed his troops in Qingyuan, his purpose is too obvious." Guan Jing smiled, "Who is Yuan Shao?" Didn't he know that Jizhou was a dead land? Yuan Shao's foundation is in Yuzhou, and Yuan Shao's ambition is to plot the world. Therefore, everything he is doing now is to weaken the strength of Northern Xinjiang and us, and prepare for him to successfully occupy Luoyang and dominate the world in the future. ”

"Now that the reinforcements of the Northern Xinjiang Army have not arrived, we can take this opportunity to join Yuan Shao to inflict heavy losses on the Northern Xinjiang Army, completely drive the Northern Xinjiang Army out of Jizhou, and then we will turn around and deal with the Yellow Turban Army." Guan Jing said calmly, "We fought with the Northern Xinjiang Army and the Yellow Turban Army, and the strength consumption was very large, this is the result that Yuan Shao is willing to see, and he himself has no loss, why is he unwilling?" ”

"As long as Yuan Shao does not move, the 20,000 people of the Northern Xinjiang Army will die." Guan Jing said excitedly, "We still use the method of Panhe to consume a large number of Yellow Turban troops. They were not paid for two months, and they complained. Hum...... Without the benevolence and righteousness of the lord, they would have been white bones a long time ago, where would they have food and clothing? ”

"It just so happens that we don't have much food, and it's best to die 50,000 or 80,000, which can solve a big problem." Yan Gang said with a smile, "If they defect in the future, we will be miserable." As long as our main forces are still there, the Yellow Turban Army has nothing to worry about. ”

Gongsun Zhan thought for a moment, nodded, and ordered: "Order Tian Kai and Liu Bei to let them rush to the bank of the Yellow River with the army as soon as possible." As long as the river is opened, it will come to the aid immediately. ”

………………

In late February, Li Yi led his army to leave Jieqiao and march towards Ganling City, a hundred miles away.

In the afternoon of the same day, Gongsun Chan received the news and immediately led his army to meet Li Yi's army.

The two sides held each other at the Xifeng Pavilion fifty miles away from the boundary bridge.

Also on this day, Yuan Shao led his army to leave Qingyuan City and slowly walked in the direction of Ganling City.

………………

In late February, Jizhou, Wei County, Yecheng.

In the early morning, a trace of fish belly white has just been revealed in the east, and the ancient Yecheng is hidden in a faint mist.

The guards on the tower stretched out and looked out of the city with sleepy eyes. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to let out a terrifying howl: "Northern Frontier Army-"

The sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and a group of iron horsemen rushed out of the mist, past the dense soldiers, and went straight to the front of the formation.

The horse slammed to a halt and stood neighing with its hooves raised. Xu Da's face was grim, and he sat firmly and immediately looked at the city tower in the distance.

The big drums fluttering in the wind loomed in the clouds and mist, the figures running back and forth were faintly visible, and the rapid and fierce war drums resounded over Yecheng.

From the moment he received Li Yi's military order, Xu Da was planning the Jizhou War. If we want to win the Jizhou battlefield, we must take the lead and get the initiative on the battlefield.

And if you want to take the lead, you must first take Yecheng, take Wei County, and drive Yuan Shao out to ensure that the Northern Xinjiang Army will not suffer from the enemy.

At present, on the Jizhou battlefield, Li Jing's army has a limited number of troops, and can only play the role of containing and luring the enemy, and it is the foreign reinforcements that really solve the problem.

In order to allow the reinforcements from outside the Saiwai to enter Jizhou unconsciously and achieve the effect of winning by surprise soldiers, after Xu arrived at Pingcheng Tuntian District in Yanmen County, he ordered tens of thousands of troops to wear ordinary people's clothes, pretend to be people's husbands, divide into several teams, carry grain and grass, and hurry south. (To be continued.) )