Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 551 The Bottom Line
Three days later, after marching nearly 200 miles northward, the entire army finally arrived at a relatively important city, Guangning City.

After the Battle of Zhuolu, there were only two routes: either go north, or take the Sanggan River, the main stream in the west, pass through Sanggan County, and go directly to Dai County or Pingcheng.

But Zhang Fei had just crossed the Sanggan River, which was barely passable for infantry and cavalry, but not suitable for chariots.

Although the car camp was slow, it carried a large amount of spare equipment and saved time in setting up and breaking camp.

When fighting against the various Hu people, the help provided by the chariot camp may seem insignificant... but without it, you would waste time and energy setting up and breaking up the camp, and your army would lose vitality.

In particular, the supplies carried by the wagon camp and the convenience of quickly setting up camp will increase the cohesion of the army.

The camp is complete, which means that 'home' is here.

In the past, there was Wei Qing's Wu Gang chariot that defeated the Huns, and in the future there will be Qi Jiguang's chariot camp. With these two examples, Black Bear cherishes the chariot camp very much.

Moreover, when the various Hu tribes went on expeditions, although they seemed to be armed entirely with cavalry, they were actually also followed by a large number of horse-drawn chariots.

Therefore, they rejected the Sanggan Trail in the west and went north along the Chuochou River, a tributary of the river in the north. At that time, the great Xianbei leader Tan Shihuai built his royal court in the Chuochou River basin and completed the unification of the Xianbei.

The Chuochou River basin is not very large, and its main basin is located in the eastern part of Dai County and the western part of Yuyang County.

Tan Shihuai's royal court was almost built into the border. From this, we can know how heavy the pressure on the border counties was at that time.

"Dai County, the vast Dai County!"

On the hill on the east bank of the Chuochou River, Black Bear stopped his horse and looked into the distance, his heart in a state of excitement.

Within his sight, a large number of chariots and cavalry were marching in a line on the riverside road, each of them consisting of a hundred men.

The charioteers were in the middle, and the cavalry were divided into columns and marched on both sides of the road.

At the edge of the road, damaged vehicles are parked from time to time, and the soldiers are working together to repair them.

Except for the coolie baggage soldiers who were lightly armed and unarmored, even the auxiliary soldiers recruited and incorporated later wore leather armor, and either rode in vehicles or on horses.

Looking at Guangning City, which was more than ten miles away on the other side of the Chuochou River, he didn't know that this place would be called Zhangjiakou in the future.

The defenders of Guangning City refused to open the city gates to provide food and fodder. At this moment, Zhang Fei, who had arrived here first, was leading his 3,000-odd cavalry to set up a siege, cut down trees, and build a simple camp.

Three small camps that were about to be completed blocked the east, west and south sides of Guangning City, waiting for the main army to set up camp before launching an attack.

As he watched, Fa Zheng climbed up the hill, panting, and said, "Your Majesty, Liu Xuande's messenger has brought a letter."

Black Bear took the opened silk book and read it. Seeing that Liu Bei was determined to stay in the city, he said, "Lord Xuande still understands me. How are the Xianbei people?"

"They are still migrating, leaving from the many barriers north of Guangwu City, there are no less than 100,000 people."

Fa Zheng put his hands on his waist and gasped: "I never thought that there were more than 100,000 Xianbei people and more than 30,000 tribes in the eastern part of Dai."

These more than 100,000 people do not include children and the elderly.

Fa Zheng then said: "According to the scouts' report, the Xianbei people left more than 10,000 people to guard the barrier. They were the rear guards, intending to stop our army from pursuing, but they also blocked our army's way out of the border."

"Since they are leaving, let's chase them. The Xianbei people will definitely turn around and fight us to the death."

Black Bear no longer looked down upon the Eastern Xianbei represented by Kebineng, and pursuing and annihilating them would only alert the enemy.

"The plan remains unchanged. We will capture Guangning City tonight to seize food and salt. The army also needs to replenish its medicinal materials. We will rest for another day tomorrow, then march west to meet Liu Xuande in Pingcheng."

Seeing that Fa Zheng's face was not very good, Black Bear took out the small gourd he carried with him and poured out a honey pill made of Jiahe and blood peach: "Thank you for your hard work these days, sir."

Fa Zheng took it with both hands. He also knew that this pill was precious. It was made by Li Feng, the governor of Yizhou and a genius doctor. There were not many left, and it was currently only used for seriously injured soldiers in the army.

Without even having time to say thank you, he put it in his mouth and chewed it, then took the water bag handed to him by Gao Jun, tilted his head back and drank the water and swallowed it.

After taking the pill, his whole body immediately felt warm, his strength gradually recovered, and his spirit immediately lifted. He couldn't help but think of Tianshidao's Five Stones Powder.

After swallowing Wu Shi San, you need to drink wine to dissipate the stone power. I feel that my current state should be similar to when the stone power was dissipated.

Hanzhong is damp and cold in winter. When the stone-like force is radiating, those people wear thin clothes and are not afraid of the cold as if they are immortals, which makes ordinary people who are tortured by the cold envious.

"What a good medicine." With a sigh, Fa Zheng guessed that the source of this medicine might have something to do with the talisman water of Taiping Dao.

Unfortunately, after the Yellow Turban Army in Hebei was defeated, General Chariot and Cavalry and Governor of Jizhou Huangfu Song governed Jizhou and implemented strict military control, which basically eliminated the remnants of the Taiping Dao in the territory.

Seeing Fa Zheng's expression, Black Bear smiled and asked, "Have you received Zhang Yan's letter?"

"Not received yet. No new scouts have been encountered so far."

"Well, issue another military order. After Zhang Yan captures Dai County, he should divide his troops to investigate the Sanggan River Basin. I don't want to fight on two fronts, and I don't want to fight hastily. If the Wuhuan people come along the Sanggan River, Zhang Yan can retreat to Dai County."

"Here."

Fa Zheng agreed, gently patted his still sore thigh, and went down the mountain with his wooden stick.

Black Bear still stayed on the mountain to get some fresh air. He had personally conducted reconnaissance last night and found that not only were the Wuhuan people chasing them closely, but the main force of the Jizhou army was also catching up.

The larger the army, the more likely it is that after gathering, it will either stay still or be deployed. If you want to withdraw after being deployed, it will cause more problems unless you have a plan in advance.

Gao Jun sent two of his personal soldiers to help Fa Zheng down the mountain. When they came back, they saw the black bear sitting cross-legged on the ground, with his eyes closed and his head tilted up to bask in the sun.

So Gao Jun squatted nearby and asked, "Your Majesty, Lord Xuande invited our army to meet at Pingcheng. Is it true or false?"

"When Zhang Yide appears, it is destined to be true."

Black Bear could feel the red sun even with his eyes closed, and continued, "I know what he is thinking. He wants to join hands with me to reorganize the troops near Pingcheng. This is not difficult to do, but it will scare Yuan Shang. So I will not get close to Pingcheng, but turn west to Gaoliu and pretend to go out of the border, which will force Yuan Shang and Tadun to speed up their pursuit."

Liu Bei's main force now has more than 8,000 people. It is difficult to wipe out the more than 20,000 people outside the city in one fell swoop. It's not that he can't wipe them out, but he can't wipe them all out in one go.

With his own army of more than 9,000 chariots and cavalry, the Han-Hu coalition forces in Pingcheng with an ambiguous attitude basically had no way to escape and could only passively accept reorganization.

The Han and Hu tribes in the border counties are not like the warlord armed forces in the interior, where they can be easily captured by killing their leaders.

Here, under each big chief are small chiefs with greater freedom, so the method used in the mainland to entertain the chief, smash cups as a signal, send out swordsmen and axes, chop them into meat paste, and then easily seize their followers is not effective.

The city is like a prison. If Liu Bei makes a large-scale and sudden troop movement, it may cause the Han-Hu coalition army to completely collapse on its own and flee all over the mountains and plains. How long will it take to catch them then?
Black Bear felt the warm sunshine, his mind was calm, and his tone was dull and long: "Yuan Shang is afraid of me. I was a little surprised that he pursued me decisively this time. I think he may have known my bottom line."

Then he opened his eyes and looked at Gao Jun: "If there is a chance to charge directly into Yuan Shang's camp and capture and kill him, would you do it?"

Gao Jun lowered his head and thought for a moment: "I am in charge of my personal soldiers. Even if a fighting opportunity arises, I will not move."

"If you were given a cavalry unit, would you command it to attack Yuan Shang's main camp?"

"No, if Hebei is in chaos, it will only benefit Cao Cao."

Gao Jun paused for a moment and said, "Lord Xuande intends to capture 20,000 Han and Hu soldiers in Pingcheng. If there is no Yuan Shang, the land of Yan and Zhao will still need to rely on Lord Xuande in the future. The remaining heroes of the two states will rely on Lord Xuande. Over time, I am afraid that Lord Xuande will become your enemy."

"Yes, I was worried about this kind of thing, so I invited him to meet when he was still unsettled. I didn't expect it to cause so much trouble."

Black Bear sighed. He really didn't expect to fight such a big battle this year.

Even if we fight, we have to delay it until next year and take the Qinghua Guard with us to join the war.

What he was really good at was micro-management of the infantry phalanx, not cavalry charges.

He just wanted to meet with Liu Bei and stabilize the eastern front so that he could operate and remotely control the battlefield in Jingzhou.

Now Xiangyang is an isolated city standing south of the Han River. I wonder if Lu Yi has taken the bait.

The autumn harvest in Jingzhou has also ended, and the temperature has turned cooler. Both armies can recruit more manpower, have more sufficient food, and can also wear heavy armor to fight.

If I don't fight desperately now, do I have to wait until I return to Guanzhong and call in Gan Ning for reinforcements before fighting?

Only by releasing Gan Ning can we truly stand on our own.

Gan Ning's most important role was to lead the navy into Yizhou after training in Jingzhou. By then, the two armies in the north and south would respond to each other, and with the converted Ba people's soldiers, the big families in Yizhou would naturally be able to accept land inspection and migration.

(End of this chapter)