The exact distance between Handan City and Ye City is fifty-seven miles, and the cavalry general Yuan Shao who set out from Ye City led his most elite troops to cross the Ke River that day and settled in Liangqi City, which was right between the two cities.

He regarded this city at a moderate distance as his base camp and prepared to arrive at the front line, Handan City, the next afternoon to personally supervise the battle.

The reason for such haste was not only because the attack on Handan was a strategy from the beginning, but more importantly, when Yuan Shao came to Yecheng, he quickly discovered that the atmosphere here in Wei County was not right... He originally had a good impression of him.

For a time, Jushou was closed behind closed doors, and the local scholars were also talking about it. Needless to say, there was no need to talk about Xun Wenruo's return to his hometown with everyone.

And Yuan Benchu ​​soon woke up. His previous actions towards Han Fu still aroused strong dissatisfaction among Hebei noble families, wealthy households, and even some Yingchuan people!

However, Yuan Cheqi also knew his mistakes and could correct them. On the one hand, he hurriedly went to the homes of Jushu and Liu Hui, local talents in Jizhou, and invited them face to face with great gifts;

After holding it in hand, he immediately adopted the suggestion of Chen Gong and others, that is, immediately launched a military attack on Handan.

The reason for this is very simple. First of all, war is inevitable and is meant to start immediately. Secondly, military operations have always been the most serious and thorough gambling. Once a war starts, it does not even require a military victory.

If military activities need to be launched, any previous internal conflicts will be immediately covered up or even eliminated.

In other words, although this expedition was planned, it was still somewhat hasty... The most obvious flaw was the lack of political propaganda!

Chen Lin's article was written in a hurry within half a day, and it had not been printed for two or three days, and it was not known whether it would be revised after it was sent out; then Yuan Che, a rider with 80,000 people, unexpectedly wrote it in a daze.

It was just a false claim of one hundred thousand... It could have been a false claim of five hundred thousand; in the end, the two sides faced each other along the entire Yellow River Basin, and they had already started a war before temporarily formulating an overall military and diplomatic strategy. This seemed very crude.

Therefore, that evening, in Liang Qi City, Yuan Shao had to find every opportunity to make a general review of the overall situation with a group of staff and generals, just in case.

"How about there in Hejian? Zhang Junyi led five thousand troops in Muxian County, can you withstand Gongsun Zan?" As a map of Jizhou was hung on the screen in the lobby of the county temple in the city, with the candlelight in the hall, a little

After taking a closer look, Yuan Shao asked about one thing first. "Do we need more troops?"

"Zhang Junyi is appropriate. He is fighting in his own village. The five thousand soldiers are also elite. It is a pity that the generals have to be separated to defend the road alone. It seems wasteful. How can we talk about adding more troops?" As the general shogunate?

Chen Gong naturally did his part.

"He is Duizi. With Zhang Junyi leading 5,000 troops to fight against Gongsun Bogui's more than 4,000 cavalry, and Gongsun Fan behind him, it is good enough." Feng Ji disagreed.

"If that's not the intention, we can just confront him there, but Handan must be captured!" Chen Gong's reason was quite straightforward.

"No matter what, there are already 80,000 people here. It is appropriate to besiege a city, right?" Feng Ji also frowned more and more.

"Where did the 80,000 troops come from? It's obviously just 50,000 combat troops and 30,000 auxiliary troops. There are 10,000 new troops among the 50,000 troops..." Chen Gongtai sneered.

"Auxiliary soldiers are also soldiers! After these auxiliary soldiers and new soldiers have participated in two battles, if there is a shortage of soldiers in the front, they can make up for it, and the civilians can recruit them again... Besides, this force has taken into account the autumn harvest.

When the grain is stored in the warehouse after autumn, we can start a large-scale mobilization. Our lord has Qingqing in his hands. Yan and Hebei's nineteen counties are all large counties. Each county has 10,000 soldiers and 10,000 civilians. There will always be 10,000 people! An army of 400,000 will be available in a moment.

Let’s gather together!” Guo Tu also joined the discussion.

"Are you kidding me?" Chen Gongtai was furious. "The army of 400,000 has not yet gathered in Hebei, but it has to defeat itself. Who in the world can afford it? Moreover, the maximum number of 100,000 soldiers in one battlefield is already the limit. Is there any more?"

use!"

"I'm just saying that we have no shortage of reserve troops and there is no need to worry about this matter. As for the 400,000 yuan, we want to take advantage of the people to transport food after the autumn. Maybe we can take the opportunity to falsely claim it and intimidate the world..." Guo Tu knew it.

I had some trouble in Wei County before, how could I dare to confront Chen Gong directly?

"Who is Tianxia? Who is Tianxia?" Chen Gong has been under Yuan Shao's command for more than half a year. How come he doesn't know who Guo Tu is, so he is too lazy to give face to such a person. "General Wei has been fighting for more than ten years, and our logistics

He doesn’t know how many troops it can support? And the only small prince around who can affect the overall situation at this time is Hanoi Zhang Yang!"

"It's just to scare Zhang Yang." Seeing that Guo Tu didn't dare to say a word, Xin Ping had no choice but to step forward. "I think we don't expect Uncle Zhang Zhi to cooperate with us on this, but he is just a grassroots, so let's intimidate him and let him

It is necessary not to fall directly towards General Wei and get out of the way."

"That being said, claiming four hundred thousand is a bit ridiculous." Another person refuted, but it was Ju Shou. "I have been in Hebei for many years, and I have been fortunate enough to read some hand-written teaching materials of General Wei in Changping. He often

It is said that military affairs such as the harvesting of troops, horses, food and fodder are a matter of life and death, so we must seek truth from facts. False claims and false reports are useless except for self-promotion... In fact, in this battle, we are 40,000 elites.

Ten thousand new soldiers, thirty thousand auxiliary soldiers, and General Wei, the so-called Guanzhong and Youzhou armies have exactly forty thousand soldiers, plus the more than ten thousand garrison troops gathered here in Handan, it is exactly fifty thousand to fifty thousand, evenly matched

." At this point, Ju Gong paused for a moment, but continued to speak earnestly. "Even after the autumn harvest, with the advantage of our short logistics line, we can gather tens of thousands more soldiers, but General Wei mostly has cavalry, or

Evenly matched!”

"Everyone knows that General Wei and Ming Gong are evenly matched! Everyone knows that no matter how many soldiers and horses there are, due to logistics reasons, a maximum of 100,000 soldiers can be invested in a battle! As for what Gongzhi said just now, I just want to tell you

Everyone, our Ming Gong’s territory is more concentrated and the population is larger, so the subsequent replenishment of troops and horses is far better than that of General Wei! Moreover, if we capture Handan before he gathers his army here, the issue of even strength can be eliminated.

It's over." Xin Ping spoke seriously to everyone in the hall. Then, he turned to Yuan Shao and raised his voice to tell him. "Ming Gong, in fact, this is our chance of victory... Once the two sides fight in the future, the two generals of Wei will

The base areas are too far apart. Once the troops and horses are lost, it will be difficult to regroup. However, we do not need to be afraid of the good fighting skills of General Wei and his troops, because we can afford it, and the replenishment speed and potential of our soldiers are far superior.

To him!"

"Well said!" When Yuan Shao heard this, he immediately raised his hands. "Zhongzhi's words revealed the mystery! Gongsun Wenqi and I have been friends for many years. How come I don't know that I am worse than him when it comes to military matters?

However, although his troops and horses are strong, the land he holds is mostly barren and the population is smaller than mine. However, the terrain is long and narrow, making it difficult to change. In other words, if I suffer a defeat and retreat for a while, I can come back in a moment, but if he is defeated

After one battle, the front and back will lose strength and it will be difficult to move. At this time, it will be like before, allowing us to concentrate our troops to attack the city and capture the territory!"

All the staff agreed with this statement and all bowed their heads in agreement.

"I probably understood some of what you guys meant just now." With the bright candlelight in the hall, Yuan Shao waved his hand on the map again and made a brief summary. "Although Gongsun Wenqi and I have intertwined forces, it is difficult to distinguish them for a while.

, but roughly speaking, it is here in Jizhou, from the southwest to the northeast, a thousand-mile duel... And now, what we have to do is to stabilize Zhang Yang, defend Hejian, and then concentrate the army to capture Handan, right?

?”

"My lord is wise and mighty!" Guo Tu was the first to praise.

"What do you think of Julu? Should we divide our troops appropriately?" Before Yuan Shaoqian could say anything, Xu You, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly interjected and asked.

"Handan City is particularly forward-looking and can be surrounded by giant deer without moving. Moreover, there is a giant deer swamp in the middle of Julu County. It is surrounded by water networks and floods in the summer. It naturally hinders the march of the army, so there is no need to worry.

Dong Zhao, Dong Gongren, and the soldiers behind him jumped out from here to cut off our escape route." Jushou quickly added from the side.

"Although there is no need to worry about the other party attacking, we cannot leave it alone." Xu You said sternly. "Especially the seven or eight counties south of Juluze. Wouldn't it be ridiculous if we don't take advantage of the situation?"

"The key is Handan. Although our army has a large number of troops, it should be like a tiger fighting a rabbit, using all its strength. It would be inappropriate to divide the troops at this time..." Chen Gong still firmly opposed the waste of troops.

"I have a plan to capture half of the Julu County without having to fight with a single soldier." Xu You said proudly, cupping his hands.

"Zi Yuan, just say it." Yuan Benchu ​​didn't take it seriously.

"Please give me dozens of blank letters of appointment stamped with the seal of your cavalry general, and give me a cavalry as a guard. Let me go to Julu and visit the powerful local fortress.

A wealthy family..."

Everyone suddenly realized that Xu Ziyuan was going to sell his official position, and he might also want to make a fortune... but no one objected.

After all, this plan is absolutely feasible, and it is a matter of public and private matters. As long as it can really get Dong Zhao in the direction of Julu into trouble, what does it matter?

"I'll give it to you immediately!" Yuan Shao thought for a moment and replied simply. "I'll leave the matters regarding Julu to Ziyuan."

"Thank you... Mr. Ming." Xu You raised his eyebrows, feeling proud, but it was rare for him to change his title.

But at this moment, Feng Ji suddenly remembered another thing: "When it comes to everything being safe, what do you think about Yanzhou? If Handan is easy to go down here, will General Wei simply abandon Handan and drive out the elite from Guanzhong?"

Go straight to Chen Liu? Moreover, what about Cao Mengde? He is not embarrassed now. He is stuck in northern Henan, so he will inevitably feel resentful, right? What if instead of being able to stop us, he turns against us?

"

When Yuan Shao and Chen Gong heard this, they both frowned.

You know, what others don't know is that Yuan Benchu ​​actually knew very well that Yuan Jiujiu was a loser, so he was actually somewhat mentally prepared when he took action that day.

But he never expected that the waste would be in such a state - even Sun Jian's martial arts subordinates could not control it, which put him in danger, and also affected himself! Therefore, at this moment, Yuan Shao did not know what to do.

How to explain to Cao Cao, but if you don't explain, Feng Ji's reminder will need an idea, because Cao Cao, who was originally a barrier to Yanzhou, might become a big trouble!

After all, Cao Mengde and Yuan Benchu ​​were childhood friends, but they were also close friends with Gongsun Wenqi!

"Don't worry about Chen Liu." Seeing Yuan Shao frowning and Chen Gong also wanting to plead guilty, Xu You, who was already eager to try, disagreed. "Meng De will never let Gongsun Wenqi go straight to Yanzhou, let alone directly turn against him..."

"Does Ziyuan have anything to say?" Yuan Shao couldn't help but feel slightly in his heart.

"What can you say?" Xu Ziyuan twisted his beard and sneered. "The word "power" is as sweet as sugar, but how many people who have tasted it will really put it down? Cao Mengde, Liu Xuande, and Sun Wentai.

They are the heroes of the world. Such people certainly have their abilities and character, but now that they have actually divided the place and become the master of one party, no matter who they were attached to before or who they had close personal relationships with, they are gone.

Meaning, they will only think about what they can do... For them, this time, I am afraid they wish you and Wen Qi had fought in Hebei for seven or eight years before deciding the winner, and then they would take the opportunity to sweep the Central Plains, and then

Let's go back and show off! How could one party be allowed to steal the other's escape so easily? Therefore, Chenliu's place can just be arranged as usual. If it is really weak there, Cao Mengde will definitely go north to Chenliu.

, to help you Benchu! And on the other hand, if Benchu ​​really breaks Handan one day, leaves Taihang, prepares to join the Shangdang, and attack Taiyuan, you must take strict precautions in Yanzhou!"

Under the light of the lamp, Yuan Shao and everyone in the hall were silent. After a long time, he slowly nodded: "What Ziyuan said is true. The world has become divided. Everyone must have their own ambitions in their hearts.

For his master, it is only right to have the consciousness of fighting against old friends and brothers, and fighting against each other... However, if Meng De and the others are willing to surrender in the future, I will always have a place for him here!"

"It's the same now!" Xu You sneered even more when he heard the words. "At first, I saw that Meng De was weak today, so he was so generous. If he becomes more powerful in the future... you will win, and at most you will give orders while crying.

Let’s show it to the public, right?”

Yuan Shao was silent again, but when he came to his senses after a while, he dropped the topic and made a conclusion: "What you said tonight really touched my heart... In this case, I will treat Meng De with kindness and bully Zhang Yang."

, Hejian to defend, the giant deer to cause chaos, and finally sent out the entire army to attack Handan... Everyone, please go back and rest today, except Ziyuan, we will meet at the gate of Handan tomorrow!"

Everyone had their own concerns, and after hearing what was said, no one said anything more, but all handed their hands and left.

On the afternoon of the next day, when the weather was very hot, Yuan Shao actually came to Handan City despite all the hardships. Then he dressed neatly, beat drums and gathered his generals again, preparing to personally supervise and dispatch the war.

It is said that at this time, Yuan Shao's army was led by Chen Gong, and also included Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Xin Pi, Xun Kan, Guo Tu, Chen Lin, Shi Yi, Xi Lu, Guoyuan, Peng Qiu and others; independent The leaders of the army include Ju Sue, Cui Yan, Wen Chou, Yu Jin, Ju Yi, Ji Yong, Wu Anguo, Han Meng, Gao Lan, Li Qian, Li Jin, Lu Kuang, Lu Xiang, Zhao Chong, Cheng Wu, Tian Silver, Xue Fang...

These people, the former come from mixed sources, and some have a sense of dependence on Yuan Shao, but the latter are almost all local powerful factions from Qing, Yan, and Hebei provinces, and they may have different abilities, but in another time and space, Each and every one of them is a person who can be found in the annals of history, not just a bunch of people.
To be continued...