I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 716 Pursuing Nanyang

It is not easy for Yuan Shao to retreat. After all, Liu Jian's army is opposite him. If Yuan Shao wants to retreat now, he will inevitably face Liu Jian's full pursuit.

But things have reached this point, and they must eventually retreat.

If you retreat, you will face a lot of losses.

But if he does not retreat, the result he will face is that Liu Jian may engulf his entire army in one battle after another.

In February of the third year of Jian'an, Yuan Shao and Liu Jian fought in Luoyang. Yuan Shao was defeated in repeated battles and his morale was frustrated. In addition, all the powerful men in Jingzhou asked Yuan Shao to withdraw their troops. Now, neither the military nor the people are willing to fight anymore. Therefore, even if Yuan Shao forces himself to stay here, it will be of no use.

Finally, Yuan Shao had no choice but to withdraw his troops.

But there is no doubt that the risk of withdrawing troops now is still very huge.

Once the Northern Army attacks, Yuan Shao will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

But even if there are losses, we have to withdraw.

In order to evacuate properly, Yuan Shao found his close friend Wenpin.

And Wenpin was also the best defensive general among Yuan Shao's subordinates.

Today, he also recommended two newcomers to Yuan Shao, saying that these two people can be of great use.

One person was from Yiyang, his surname was Wei, his name was Yan, and his courtesy name was Wen Chang.

The other was a native of Yuan Shao, named Shuzhi from Chen Dao in Runan.

The two were young, but they were valued by Wenpin and had been kept under the account for a long time. Now they found a good opportunity and recommended them to Yuan Shao.

Regarding Wenpin's recommendation, Yuan Shao immediately agreed and promoted them all.

"Zhongye, Luoyang is no longer accessible. No one has the intention to make progress, so they can only retreat. However, if he wants to retreat, Liu Jian will attack with a large army, and the losses may be considerable. You are the longest defensive general in Yuan's camp. Is there any way you can teach me at this time?"

Wenpin's face showed a bit of solemnity.

He thought seriously for a moment and then said slowly: "My lord, according to the general's opinion, it is impossible to retreat without any losses. The only way is to minimize the losses."

Yuan Shao nodded seriously and said, "How to reduce it to the minimum?"

Wenpin said seriously: "We can only do it in separate departments. The generals of each department will lead their troops and horses back to Nanyang County. In this way, Liu Jian's main force should not know which army to attack, so he can't." It will divide... Liu Jian's division of the army is of great benefit to us. After all, his cavalry are all gathered together, so the destructive power is quite huge."

"Once the two sides engage in a head-on battle, the damage their cavalry can do to us is almost unparalleled."

"But if the troops and horses can be divided, his cavalry will also be divided. Although it will also cause damage to our various units, it will not be able to exert such strong combat effectiveness. In this way, the losses can be minimized."

"Although this will still cause losses, it is already the safest method."

When Yuan Shao heard this, he let out a long sigh.

"Now, this is the only way we can do it. I have asked Huang Zu and Zhou Tai to lead troops and horses from Nanyang to respond."

"If the two of them greet us, it will have some effect."

……

Afterwards, Yuan Shao began to give orders for all his troops to retreat.

The news that Yuan Jun wanted to retreat soon reached Liu Jian.

He had already made preparations here.

According to Liu Jian's idea, in order to prevent his own side from pursuing him fiercely, Yuan Shao would definitely break up his troops into small groups and retreat towards Nanyang County from different directions and roads. After all, Nanyang County is far away from Sizhou. Very close, as long as these soldiers and horses enter the jurisdiction of Nanyang County and enter any city in Nanyang County, they will be able to station themselves and obtain food supplies at the same time. "

Although all the troops and horses along this route will still be chased and beaten by Liu Jian, the losses will be much less.

Now it turns out that Yuan Shao did what Liu Jian wanted.

Liu Jian immediately called for Guo Jia and Xun You.

He asked these two people for their opinions on how to launch the next attack on Yuan Shao now?

Xun You immediately gave Liu Jian advice.

He believes that Yuan Shao's troops and horses were reduced to pieces, which indeed avoided the situation of being attacked by one's own side and causing the greatest losses.

But this does not mean that he will not suffer losses. Our side can also divide the troops and horses into several routes, but there is no need to disperse the troops and horses into as many routes as Yuan Shao, as long as the main pursuit route is blocked.

No matter how many groups of troops the opponent is divided into, they will still take the most important roads to retreat to Nanyang County in the end.

As long as we can follow these main roads to pursue them, we can achieve the greatest war benefits without being led by Yuan Jun. How many roads they divide into, our own side will divide into as many roads to pursue.

In this way, not only will the best results not be achieved, but there is also the possibility of being counterattacked by the opponent, which will in turn cause losses to one's own side.

As for dividing the main troops and horses of each party into several groups, Xun You felt that his troops included Zhao Yun, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Zhang Liao, and Hua Xiong. Five groups of soldiers and horses were enough to pursue them. The rest of the generals were led by five generals. Carry out a hunt.

At the same time, Xun You also suggested that Liu Jian dispatch Xu Huang, who had just attacked the city in Hongnong County, as a supporting force that could respond to these five troops from the side at any time, so that it could act as a surprise force.

Finally, Xun You stood in front of the map again and gave Liu Jian a rough analysis of the border situation between Luoyang and Nanyang.

At the same time, he made clear considerations on the road from Luoyang to Nanyang County and how many troops should be sent by the generals.

It can be said that Xun You basically gave Liu Jian a very comprehensive and detailed pursuit of the pursuit battle this time, so that Liu Jian could directly use it and implement it without any modifications.

After listening to Xun You's words, Liu Jian was very satisfied and nodded constantly.

"Thanks to Gongda being here, I was able to make such exquisite remarks."

"I feel so relieved!"

Having said this, Liu Jian turned to look at Guo Jia aside and said with a smile, "Is Feng Xiaojue's fair words feasible?"

Xun You's arrangements were very thorough, and there was no fault at all. Guo Jia nodded in admiration and said: "Gongda's arrangements for the Prime Minister are so thorough. There is absolutely no other person who can think so hard for the Prime Minister."

"Guo agreed with the fair opinion regarding the pursuit of Yuan Shao's troops."

Xun You seemed to have heard what Guo Jia meant.

"In the pursuit of Yuan Shao's troops, Fengxiao completely listened to my opinions. It seems that after chasing Yuan Shao's troops, Fengxiao has other strategies to advise the prime minister?"

Guo Jia smiled and nodded, and said: "Gongda is indeed an expert, and he immediately saw through Guo's intentions."

Xun You hurriedly raised his hands and said: "Why should you be so modest about being a filial piety? You and I are from the same county and know each other. You, Guo Fengxiao, are very famous in Yingchuan. I have admired you for a long time. Now I can hear the high talk about filial piety." , it is truly a lifetime blessing.”

Guo Jia waved his hand hurriedly and said: "Don't dare, don't dare, how dare you give me such high praise."

"Since Gongda said this, I will tell you."

"Prime Minister, in my opinion, just chasing Yuan Shao's troops this time is not enough. We should take this opportunity to conquer Nanyang County in one fell swoop to achieve the greatest strategic gain."

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Jian and Xun You were stunned.

Then I heard Liu Jian say slowly: "It's not that I haven't thought about conquering Nanyang County, it's just that I have been looking for a suitable time. Does Fengxiao think now is the right time?"

Guo Jia nodded affirmatively. "Prime Minister, no matter what others think, Guo feels that now is the most appropriate time."

"Although the Prime Minister had previously made plans to capture Nanyang County, for the tribes in Nanyang County, although the Prime Minister was prepared, they would never have thought that after Yuan Shao withdrew his troops, we would pursue him while Make preparations to capture Nanyang County."

"After all, we have just experienced a battle between all parties. On the Jiangdong side, although Cao Cao and Liu Xuande have reached a negotiation agreement, they have not completely withdrawn their troops. Sun Ce, on the other side, is fighting General Gongsun Zan and seems to still have the upper hand."

"Although Yuan Yi of Yizhou retreated back to Hanzhong, his troops and horses were still displayed in Hanzhong and did not return to Chengdu."

"Over in Liangzhou, the battle between Han Sui, Ma Teng and Zhang Yide was inconclusive."

"At this time of year, the Nanyang tribes never thought that we would turn from defense to offense at this time. While pursuing Yuan Shao, we would counterattack Wancheng and put Nanyang County into our hands."

"Besides, even if they had thought of it, they wouldn't have thought that we were so fast."

"According to the inferences people in Yuan Shao's army have about us, they will think that after this pursuit, we will first gather troops and horses, mobilize food and grass, and prepare siege equipment, and then we will raise our troops to Nanyang."

"And we just did the opposite."

"In this way, the other side will only think that we are chasing the enemy, but not that we are going to launch a large-scale attack on Nanyang County. This will seize an unexpected opportunity."

"What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Liu Jian stood up slowly and paced back and forth in the handsome tent.

After a while, I saw him stop.

"The method Fengxiao said is feasible, but it also involves some risks."

"It's just that the risk is not high, and it's really worth a try."

When Guo Jia heard what Liu Jian said, he immediately raised his hands and said, "Please prime minister make preparations in advance."

Liu Jian nodded with satisfaction.

……

Just when Liu Jian was repelling Yuan Shao in Luoyang.

Zhang Fei's battlefield on the Western Front also saw tremendous progress.

The Han army's penetration into Jincheng County has reached a certain extent.

The prestige of the Liangzhou Production Corps in Jincheng County is increasing day by day. Many local powerful people in Jincheng County and Beidi County began to take the initiative to contact Zhang Fei and express their willingness to submit to the imperial court.

These people were originally allied with Han Sui's rebels and were important supporters of the rebels.

From now on, they have been flattering Zhang Fei's Production and Construction Corps, which shows that the influence of the rebel troops in Liangzhou is getting lower and lower.

The reason why Han Sui's rebels were able to recruit the general's Qiang soldiers as their wings in Liangzhou was mainly because of the support of the powerful people in these places.

If the powerful people in these places also start to move closer to the imperial court, it is very likely that Han Sui will be cut off from recruiting Qiang soldiers in Liangzhou in the future.

This was something Han Sui absolutely could not tolerate.

Originally, Han Sui wanted to retreat to Jincheng County, Dunhuang County and other places, but now that his base camp, Jincheng County, has been so seriously infiltrated by the imperial court, Han Sui will not be able to do anything without getting angry.

However, Han Sui is also a sensible person. He knows that if he goes on a killing spree in Jincheng County and falls out with the local powerful, the final result will be that he will no longer be able to gain a foothold in Jincheng.

The reason why Zhang Fei was able to penetrate Jincheng County and the Beidi Army so quickly was because he had previously subdued four rebel leaders including Li Kan and Yang Qiu.

This move not only greatly increased Zhang Fei's power, but also made the morale of the rebels unprecedentedly low.

So Han Sui must now save the situation no matter what.

It was just that in order to chase down Li Kan and other four generals, he suffered a series of losses. He was defeated by Zhang Fei and almost lost all 20,000 of his most elite soldiers.

This battle greatly reduced Han Sui's vitality.

Now, let him immediately organize his troops and have another battle with Zhang Fei... and at the same time ensure that he can defeat Zhang Fei. To be honest, Han Sui had no confidence in his heart.

In the end, Han Sui had no choice but to consult with his good brother Ma Teng.

After Ma Teng thought carefully, he felt that it was still very difficult to completely defeat Zhang Fei with just the leaders of the rebels.

Now we need to gather other forces, cooperate with them, and fight Zhang Fei together.

Ma Teng believes that Yang Ju, the leader of the Baima Di people, and Song Jian, who proclaimed himself king and appointed officials to cause chaos in Fuhan, are candidates they can unite with.

Cooperating with the Di people and Song Jian can greatly expand the strength of the rebel army.

Han Sui deeply understood Ma Teng's words.

Later, Han Sui sent someone to communicate with Song Jian and Yang Ju, the leader of the Di people, saying that they had been ruling the roost in the northwest for many years. Once he was defeated, he would be in ruins.

On the one hand, Ma Teng was asked to lead Liang Xing and Ma Wan, two leaders, set off from Jincheng County and secretly directed their troops and horses towards Hanyang County, intending to intimidate Liu Biao in Hanyang County and make Liu Biao ask Zhang Fei for help to relieve the current pressure on Jincheng County.

Zhang Fei took action immediately after learning about Han Sui's actions.

Zhang Fei personally supervised Lu Bu and Zhang Xiu's troops to send troops to Hanyang County to attack Ma Teng's troops.

At the same time, he sent an envoy to Longyou to surrender He Shouping, King of Han Dynasty and Song Jian, in the name of the imperial court.

Zhang Fei made it clear that although Song Jian rebelled against the Han and became king, the current situation in Liangzhou was special. In addition, Song Jian was from a border county and did not understand justice, which could be forgiven. As long as Song Jian resigned from the title of king, he could return to the Han Dynasty.

He, Zhang Fei, was willing to serve as guarantee, recruit Song Jian back to the Han Dynasty, and grant him a title.

Although Zhang Fei did this, Song Jian may not agree.

Zhang Fei also knew this, he was just trying to contain Song Jian.

Later, Zhang Fei supervised Lu Bu and Zhang Xiu, and they fought against Ma Teng's army at the border of Hanyang County.

The two sides started a fierce battle.

Zhang Fei asked Lu Bu to lead an army to attack Ma Teng's main force and block Ma Teng and Ma Chao.

He and Zhang Xiu attacked Liang Xing and defeated it overnight.

When Liang Xing was running away, he was shot to death by Zhang Fei's knight Yanyun with a short arrow.

Later, Zhang Fei and Zhang Xiu returned to the army and attacked Ma Teng with Lu Bu.

But this time Ma Teng acted very tough and blocked Zhang Fei and Lu Bu's progress.

This time he reused a general, Nan'an Pangde, and he and Ma Chao led the left and right armies to attack in a sudden attack, which was extremely difficult to defeat.

However, there is no way to defeat Zhang Fei with this kind of tactics.

(End of this chapter)