The cold north wind blows through the banks of the Qinghe River, the grass and trees on the fields on both sides of the river are withered, the pale sunlight shines on the body, but there is not much warmth, the crystal clear ice cubes are sometimes visible in the riverbed, shining in the sun, emitting a strange light.

Between the vast heaven and the earth, there is a solemn atmosphere.

On the official road on the bank of the river, the yellow smoke and dust are like a long dragon, rolling past, and the howling north wind cannot hide the sonorous iron armor and the long roar of the sword.

In troubled times, this kind of scene can be said to be commonplace, and for the people, it is a signal, a signal to flee for their lives. Passing a soldier is better than a bandit, whether it is being pulled into a strong ding, or encountering the expropriation of grain and grass, it is an unbearable pain for the grass people who have no family business.

Therefore, normally, when the army crosses the border, the people will take a small amount of belongings and help the old and the young to avoid it, but today it is slightly different.

The people did not run away, but gathered at the entrance of the village in twos and threes, looking at something on the official road, and their faces covered with wind and frost did not see panic, but had a trace of anticipation.

Like this vague emotion, whispers floated through the crowd.

"Uncle, don't you really need to avoid it?" The questioner was a young woman with a baby in her arms that had just spoken.

Although Li Zheng said that there was no need to hide, no one dared to nest at home like that. People are outside, and they find that something is wrong, but they can still run a few steps, and if they are blocked in the house, it will be all over.

Of course, if possible, no one wants to abandon their homes and run away, even if they can outrun the pursuers, they can't outrun the bitter north wind. At this time, the barren mountains and mountains are not a good place to go, especially for women, children, the elderly and the weak. If you don't freeze to death, you have to freeze out.

Therefore, Li Zheng's decision is exactly what everyone is looking forward to, but in this expectation, there is also a little apprehension.

"What to avoid?" An old man laughed, his expression was extremely calm, he raised his hand and pointed to the marching army, and said in a loud voice: "Whose army do you think it is?" That's the Qingzhou Army under the command of the champion Hou! ”

"Wow!" The name of the champion Hou came out. The crowd was in an uproar.

"No wonder, the prince is the most benevolent and righteous, his soldiers are indeed different from other families, there is nothing to hide."

"Isn't it? Princes are never Latin. I heard that in Qingzhou, if you want to join the army, you have to go through the assessment, and if you don't really have the ability, the prince doesn't want it at all! ”

"Yes, the prince doesn't grab food!"

"This is wrong, the prince is not not robbing. It's just that he doesn't rob us haha, he specializes in dealing with those rich and powerful, robbing the rich and helping the poor, and opening up for our small people! Things have been so bad these years. If it weren't for the autumn harvest, this winter would not have been easy. ”

Everyone sighed.

Hebei is full of fertile soil, and the people also work hard all year round, but the harvest in autumn. What does it have to do with them? The fields have long been carved up by the powerful people from all over the country. The poor are either dependent on others and become serfs; Either they don't even have a place to stand, and they can only struggle to survive.

At one time, everyone thought that this miserable day was a day with no end in sight, until the world-shattering prince planted his battle flag on the land of Hebei.

"Qinghe, it will be the land under the rule of the prince and the prince in the future, right? I heard that not long ago, Wang Junhou defeated Liu Dai in Henan, and then scared Cao Cao away, did he win? ”

"Well, it's still far away." Li Zheng shook his head and sighed: "Don't forget, there is also General Yuan, now that the news outside has spread, I heard that the prince and the marquis have repelled the two allied forces one after another, General Yuan is furious, and the Jizhou army has been killing day and night." ”

"Huh?"

"Ahhhh Otherwise, how do you think the army of the prince would pass through here? Qingyuan has been surrounded, if the rescue is a little late, I am afraid it will be ......" Li Zheng is the head of a village after all, and he is relatively well-informed, although the battle situation in Hebei is complicated, he can also say a rough idea.

"The army of the prince is very strong, it should be able to win, right?" The villagers asked nervously.

The news of this era is closed, but Wang Yu's reputation is too loud, Qinghe is also a thoroughfare, there are many business travelers between the north and the south, and most people have a lot of understanding of Wang Yu and Qingzhou.

The most basic Tuntian policy in Qingzhou's new policy was originally a bit abstract for the people, but after getting the benefits, everyone's attitude became eager.

Is it good governance, just relying on saying that it is useless, saying that it is wild, and the implementation is still the same, and if you change the soup but not the medicine, how can anyone believe it? Wang Yu's method of first experiencing and then publicizing has achieved very good results, and it has established enough credibility among the people at once.

"Of course, if we can win, in the end, if we win, we will be the people under the rule of the prince in the future, but ...... General Yuan has more soldiers, you know, there are 100,000 troops coming, and the good tiger can't stand the wolves, this battle is ...... It's hard! ”

People fell silent, and the emotions in their eyes became complicated.

They hoped that the army in front of them would win and make a good life for everyone, but this blessing was weak and powerless, and it would not have helped, otherwise, they would not have to wait for the savior to come.

However, if you don't do anything, you are very unwilling, and after tasting the sweetness of hope, who wants to live in despair?

In silence, the army did not stop, and rolled forward like a stream, without the slightest fear of the enemy's huge army.

"I wish the prince and the marquis a victory, and the horse will be successful!" I don't know who shouted the first one, and the shouts of good prayers and good songs soon rang out. Everyone is looking forward to this from the bottom of their hearts, every shout is from the bottom of their hearts, and countless wishes are sent to the soldiers who go out on the expedition.

……

"The people's will is available, and our army will win this battle." Along the way, the Qingzhou Army has no example of the local autumn season, and has won countless praises, similar good prayers and good praises can be heard everywhere, and Tian Feng is also full of emotion.

"What's the use of shouting like this? Can you conjure up troops, or conjure up grain and grass, or can you scold Yuan Shao to death? Now, our army is still outnumbered! That damn Cao Cao, if he retreats in the face of difficulties, isn't it okay to be neat? I left, but I left half of the soldiers and horses, which is really enough. ”

Tai Shici interrupted Tian Feng very unhappily, and snorted coldly: "And that Liu Xuande." The lord clearly gave him an order, telling him to act at the opportunity, and retreat in battle, not to leave Yuan Shao with an opportunity to take advantage of, but he said that he couldn't bear to see the people being poisoned, and he was unwilling to retreat happily, and what tricks were he engaged in to protect the people and retreat together, he was really smart but was mistaken by cleverness, how is it now. Surrounded in Qingyuan, right? It's quite diligent to ask for help, isn't that harmful? ”

"Xuande Gong is also well-intentioned." Jia Xu interjected: "If you gather the hearts of the people, the new policy will be easy to implement, and besides, our army will completely annihilate Liu Dai." forced Cao Cao to retreat, the situation looks really good, and Xuande Gong is reluctant to land, which is also due to the righteousness. ”

"He is too selfish, and he has a good face, and he secretly always wants to compare himself with the lord, and he doesn't look in a mirror. The dragon and phoenix among the lords, even by him, dare to have this kind of thought? Jia Xu said more implicitly, Tai Shi Ci didn't care so much. He just thought about what to say.

In fact, Liu Bei's performance this time was indeed a bit off the chain. Wang Yu arranged for him to be stationed in Qingyuan City, mainly to cover the flank of the main force and contain Gao Lan of the Pavilion Taocheng. There was no intention of letting him stick to it.

For the sake of Cao Cao's heart, by the way, he continued to deter Zhang Jaw. At the same time that Wang Yu withdrew his troops from Leping, he also sent someone to inform Liu Bei and ask him to retreat together. As a result, Liu Bei saw that the situation was good, and he behaved himself.

Of course, Liu Bei can't be blamed for this, when Wang Yu withdrew his troops, Yuan Shao's main force was chasing and killing Zhang Yan in the Xiangguo area, and there was no danger in the Qingyuan area.

Wang Yu and Cao Cao retreated at the same time, Liu Bei did not retreat on the front line alone, and arranged for the people to retreat, which seemed to have the meaning of being the sole leader, and by the way, he could also make a name for himself and gather some people's hearts or something.

At that time, Wang Yu's attention was on Cao Cao's movements, and he didn't pay much attention to Liu Bei, not to mention that with the means of communication in this era, it was impossible for him to command Liu Beijun hundreds of miles away.

As a result, there is stubble.

Hearing that Liu Dai was defeated and Cao Cao retreated, he divided his troops into two ways. He himself led 10,000 main troops south, crossed the river from Cangtingjin, and returned to Puyang, but took Cao Ren

Left to stay.

Although he experienced a series of fierce battles, Cao Ren's headquarters has always served as a reserve and still maintains a complete structure. Cao's army of 5,000, plus thousands of soldiers and horses of the Lu Kuang brothers, abandoned Leping and went north, marched in a hurry, and rushed for 300 miles, which caught Liu Bei off guard.

The military strength is similar, but the gap in combat power is huge, and Liu Bei is not ready to meet the enemy at all, as a result, 8,000 soldiers and horses were beaten to a pulp, more than half of the losses were lost, and there was no way to escape, and finally they could only retreat into Qingyuan City.

Because of this battle, the battle situation in Hebei, which was already gradually becoming clear, became confusing again.

Liu Bei's capital is originally small, and of course the loss is not as big as Liu Dai, but relatively speaking, these two Han clan relatives have the same effect on both sides of the war.

Not counting Liu Dai's 30,000 troops, the Jizhou coalition army is also close to 100,000 people. On Wang Yu's side, even if all the remaining troops in Qingzhou are pulled, there are only more than 30,000 people, plus Liu Bei's soldiers, it is less than 50,000.

If Liu Beijun was completely annihilated, at least in terms of morale, the two sides would be equalized. In fact, the loss on Wang Yu's side may be even greater, because Liu Bei was not directly eliminated, he was besieged in the city after he was defeated.

If he is not saved, he will be completely annihilated, and Wang Yu will also have a reputation of not being saved, which will have a certain impact on the morale of the army and the stability of the alliance.

Save, that's complicated.

The first is that the initiative is gone, according to Wang Yu's idea, if Yuan Shao refuses to give up, then the battlefield should be set in the hinterland of Qinghe. One is to wait for work, and the other is that Qinghe is closer to Qingzhou after all, if there is something in the territory, you can return to help in time, so as not to fight in front of you and lose your nest in the back.

At present, Yuan Shao has left Zhang Yan behind, and rushed at full speed to go to Qingyuan to relieve the siege, once he is stuck by the enemy, Bacheng can't run away, and can only have a decisive battle in Qingyuan.

Qingyuan is too far away from Qingzhou, and for Wang Yu, the supply pressure and the safety of the territory are big problems; On the other hand, for Yuan Shao, the battle line has been shortened, and the pressure on supplies will be much less.

Wang Yu was very suspicious that this was planned by Cao Cao, and after defeating Liu Bei, he deliberately left a way for the latter to escape into the city, in order to create trouble for himself. Speaking of which, this move is similar to the one he used to deal with Liu Dai, leaving room for tactics, and in turn mobilizing the enemy strategically.

Cao Cao was forced to return to Puyang and fight with Liu Dai; He had to go north to rescue and lose the right to choose the battlefield.

It's really a drink and a peck.

Along the way, words about saving or not saving, saving or not saving. And how to deal with it, the civil and military forces have argued many times, Tai Shici is a staunch anti-Liu faction, and at this moment he is angry, and he brings up the old matter again: "Lord, let's just ignore him, we are fighting side by side, why do we have to give ......"

"Ahem......" Jia Xu coughed and glanced in the direction of Tian Kai.

This Hebei war. For Qingzhou, there is a feeling that it is not about itself, and at the beginning it was just a thousand light horsemen going north, and the situation was not bad. As a result, because of Gongsun Zhan's defeat, the scope of the war became larger and larger. The Qingzhou army is also using more and more resources and troops, and now, Wang Yu has not even neglected his hometown, and the whole division has gone north.

No one in the army questioned Wang Yu's authority and judgment, but he was a little slanderous about the Youzhou Army, and every time the Youzhou Army dropped the chain and helped to fill the loopholes. Gongsun Chan was a light enemy that time. Liu Bei is simply selfish and greedy for merit this time.

Qingzhou's troops were already at a disadvantage, and to save Qingyuan, they had to give up their geographical advantages and initiative. That's a big loss.

What's even more speechless is that it didn't help much to rescue Liu Bei, originally his soldiers were recruited to surrender and rebel, but now they have been beaten again. What use can it be used to rescue it? It's good not to hold back.

Tai Shici is a representative of the radical faction in the Qingzhou army, and he certainly agrees with this view. Let alone. He and Liu Bei were already a little dirty, and there was nothing strange about their dissatisfaction at the moment.

However, Tian Kai's face is something to consider after all.

Ziyi is quick to speak, and what he said is not bad, but Xuande is ...... with the lord after all How about this? The army must be cautious in its actions, a certain led thousands of soldiers and horses, light troops broke into Qingyuan to relieve the siege, and after rescuing Xuande, he withdrew as soon as possible, what did Peng Juxian think of it? Tian Kai is also a straightforward temper, and he was not dissatisfied with Tai Shici's disrespectful words, but put forward a suggestion.

"No." Wang Yu vetoed this proposal without hesitation, he waved his hand, stopped Tian Kai from arguing, and said softly: "From the worst-case scenario, the Qingyuan defenders are likely to have lost their combat strength. Cao Ren is also a good general, and he is in command of a strong army that has been fighting on the battlefield for a long time. ”

"Lord, I would like to go with General Tian to meet that Cao Ren!" Tai Shi Ci seized the opportunity and came out to ask for battle.

Tian Feng thought for a while, and also proposed: "Lord, or, you can make Gongming lead the troops and horses of his headquarters as the stamina, if the front army can't win, he will come forward to help the battle, and if he succeeds in rescuing the remnants of Qingyuan, he can also cut off the rear for him." ”

"Still not right." Wang Yu categorically vetoed, "The plan to raid Qingyuan should have come from Cao Cao's handiwork, he easily won the initiative, how could he be broken by our army so easily?" Don't forget, Xuande Gong's original task was to contain Gao Ran, he was defeated in Qingyuan, Gao Ran could go to help, so that Cao Ren had 20,000 soldiers and horses, and the light troops rushed forward, how could he win quickly? ”

"Yuan Shao's army is coming at the same time, and the speed of the march is faster than the speed of the scouts to transmit information, and it will appear in front of our army at any time. If the troops are divided to rescue and cannot win quickly, it will become a refueling tactic, which is extremely unfavorable to our army. ”

There was silence.

After receiving Liu Bei's request for help, even if Wang Yudang made a decision to return to the army to rescue, he didn't even have time to hold a military meeting, so he could only make up for it on the road. Now, everyone has reached a consensus on the necessity of saving Liu Bei, but the way of saving and the evolution of the situation after the rescue are worrying.

Now, Wang Yu's train of thought, everyone understands, is to try to solve Cao Ren before Yuan Shao arrives. If you can't catch up, then a decisive battle will be fought in Qingyuan.

Compared with Tian Kai's strategy of dividing the troops, Wang Yu still has the same style, either win or lose. However, for this battle, Wang Yu did not prepare the decisive move in advance as before. I haven't even determined the battlefield, what killing moves can I prepare? Is it a figment of the imagination?

Therefore, this decisive battle is likely to turn into a head-to-head duel of strength.

In this regard, the Qingzhou Army is absolutely inferior, even without Liu Dai, the strength of the Jizhou Army is still far greater than the Qingzhou Army, and there is a huge disparity in numbers.

Tian Kai was both moved and aggrieved. How did the battle situation become like this? After killing the two strong enemies in a row, it should have turned the situation around! The passing year is not good! For the Youzhou Army, this is really a year of many disasters and difficulties. No wonder the lord sent the righteousness from the remnants to Qingzhou, he had foreseen it, otherwise, he really couldn't repay this favor.

He sighed and said, "I hope Yuan Shao won't come so quickly, if Zhang Ping is difficult to turn around and contain it, it will be better." ”

"Report to the ......" While speaking, a fast horse suddenly galloped in front of the queue, and where it passed, the military columns gave way one after another, no need to ask, it must be the military situation ahead.

"Lord Qiqi, the soldiers and horses of Jizhou have crossed Zhangshui, and the three thousand foot soldiers of the pioneer Yan Liang have arrived in Ping'en, at the current speed, within two days, they will reach Qingyuan!"

"So fast?" Wang Yu was slightly stunned, and everyone lost their color.

Generally speaking, the speed of the march is closely related to the degree of training of the army, the size of the army, and the road conditions. Jizhou was originally mostly a plain land, and it was also a heavy tax place for the imperial court, and the official road was cultivated, and the main thing that restricted the marching speed of the Jizhou army was the baggage. The size of the army is large, and the baggage is more, and the movement must be slow.

But at present, Yuan Shao rushed over from Ren County, and the distance from the start of the Qingzhou Army was about the same, and he actually arrived at Qingyuan almost at the same time. Needless to say, Yuan Shao must have left his baggage behind.

Tian Feng was puzzled: "Yuan Benchu is so bold, he is not afraid that Zhang Yan will kill him and take his baggage?" ”

The next news of the scout answered Tian Feng's question, and at the same time brought an even greater shock: "Just as the Lord of Qi knew that General Zhang was attacked in the house city of Zhao State, the army was crushed for thousands of miles, and General Zhang's life and death are unknown!" ”