Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 83 Dare to Fight a Tough Battle

On February 20th, it was dawn.

After Liu Bei finished arranging things, he left Zhao Yun to lead the Huben Cavalry to defend the plain, using the cavalry's mobility to guard against the enemy cavalry that could penetrate deep into the hinterland and burn the wheat fields.

They also set up wooden fences and horse traps around the fields. If there was an enemy attack, they could hold it off for a while and buy time for the guards to light beacons.

Liu Bei liked to prepare for a rainy day and would not wait until the enemy actually arrived before he hurriedly thought of something.

Then it's too late to do anything.

Before leaving, he instructed the remaining generals and captains: "If Yuan Shao's army arrives, no matter how they provoke us, we just need to defend the city. Even if all the fields on the plain are burned, we still have Jinan, Anle, and Beihai counties to supply food and grass."

If the combat troops are transferred to Dongjun, the soldiers in the plains will be stretched to the limit and will not be suitable for fighting outside the city. It is better to proceed with steady steps.

After explaining things to Xun Yu, Yin also took her young son out of the city to see him off.

She slowly tied the jade Si Nan pendant, which was entrusted with peace, around Liu Bei's waist. Under her watchful eyes, the soldiers marched farther and farther away in orderly steps...

With flags in hand and armor on their shoulders, and drums and gongs beating, the soldiers were in high spirits and full of vigor.

Except for the war horses and draft horses of the Huben Cavalry, Liu Bei gathered the remaining horses, as well as the horses and donkeys and mules borrowed from the wealthy families, and deployed them all to the army.

He also promised them that when the army returned, the properties would be returned to their original owners. If they were unlucky and the horses died on the battlefield, they would be compensated with money.

The powerful men greeted him with smiles and said, "It's nothing. The most important thing is to defeat Yuan Shikai. We just walked a few more steps. It's nothing compared to the hardships you went through."

Since they were so kind, Liu Bei assumed that they were all willing.

Private discussions have nothing to do with him unless someone reports it.

The wealthy families in Dongjun also offered food and fodder, and refused to accept even money or cloth, just to do their best to help Liu Shijun in helping the people.

Thinking back to when they saw Xue and Wu visiting and had the opportunity to be alone with the envoy, the two of them came out with smiles on their faces, making the clan leaders who were seeing the scene nearby drool.

It was obvious at a glance that they had gained a lot of benefits, and the two old men walked with a much lighter step.

The two families were already powerful to begin with, and now they are on the rise with many of their sons becoming officials. It won’t be long before they become the most powerful families in the county.

If we continue to suppress all the families, then wouldn’t the surrender be in vain?
Several clan leaders with sparse white hair looked at each other for a few breaths and then looked away, their smiles not diminishing.

But in his heart, he raised the stakes, just hoping to defeat the other party.

Liu Bei knew that the powerful families were competing against each other secretly, and some even had enmity with each other.

If we don't want them to become an iron block, we should beat some and pull others aside so that they won't unite to fight.

The powerful families you win over will even help you hold down the hands and feet of the enemy powerful people so that you can stab them.

Even within one's own family, people are not united, let alone with other families.

Liu Bei had already developed a set of methods through years of fighting with the powerful families.

Keep the soldiers farming, cut off the tentacles of the aristocratic families in the countryside, reduce the burden of corvée on the people, and then hold the power to promote and dismiss officials.

Only then can the soldiers be loyal to you, the people will be allegiance to you, and the nobles will flock to you.

In fact, it is much easier to win over the common people than the powerful families, as long as you treat them as human beings.

They will fight to the death to serve you because they are afraid that if you really die, there will be no such people left.

The common people have long been accustomed to life and death. As long as there is hope for a future in life, who would not fight for their life?

...In order to ensure an undefeated battle with Yuan Shao, Liu Bei also mobilized the Armored Battalion, the Sound-shooting Battalion, the Vanguard Battalion, the Horizontal Spear Battalion, and the Liangdu Battalion, leaving half of the auxiliary soldiers in Pingyuan County and recruiting all the more than 7,000 combat soldiers.

Fifteen thousand auxiliary soldiers and thirty thousand civilian laborers were dispatched to transport food along the way to various counties in Qingzhou.

The generals who went on the expedition to Jizhou included Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci, and Guan Hai, and those who followed included Xun You and Guo Jia.

If it weren't for the fact that Yuan Shao had many powerful crossbows, cavalry, except for the heavy cavalry, would not be suitable for charging the battle formation and would have been placed on the plains.

The Wugang chariots and large shields that were originally used to resist Gongsun Du's cavalry were also brought back after being repaired by craftsmen.

Before setting out, he pretended to attack the newly recovered Bohai County in Jizhou with Gongsun Zan, and then made a feint and set up camp with decoy troops.

The army then marched south along the river to Dongqiu and Weixian, and rested for two days before marching into Fanyang, Yin'an, and Neihuang in Wei County of Jizhou. As long as these three cities were captured, they would be able to see Yuan Shao's base camp, Yecheng, from afar.

During the short rest on the way, the soldiers silently ate the dry food in the bamboo tubes, added some meat soup and drank a sip of water from the water bag, chewing and swallowing it slowly.

The horses were also brushed and fed with beans, hay and water.

Scouts and sentinels were scattered in the front, back and middle of the army to guard every place.

Taishi Ci handed some dry food to Liu Bei who was looking at a map.

Liu Bei thanked him and took it, but did not look up.

He kept stuffing food into his mouth and looked down at the map intently.

He suddenly asked, "Fengxiao, how is the siege equipment supervised by Yunchang going? How many are there now?"

In order to confuse Yuan Shao, weapons were being manufactured in several places in Dongjun and Pingyuan.

This time we have to use force to attack the city. There is no extra time to dig tunnels outside the city. We have to use the troops sent by the powerful families to charge in the front.

Next came the auxiliary soldiers, and then the combat soldiers climbed the city wall first.

It's not that Liu Bei didn't want to conserve his military strength, but sometimes he had to be willing to risk his life and fight tough battles regardless of casualties.

The purpose of attacking instead of defending is to drag Yuan Shao's army into a battle near Yecheng and prevent him from transferring his troops to the Qingzhou Plain.

This battle could be fought at random, or Yuan Shao should be thoroughly inflicted and the elite troops of Yuan's army should be eliminated as much as possible, as long as the natural disaster can be delayed for one or two years.

The right to decide the battle on that battlefield was no longer in Yuan Benchu's hands.

Guo Jia replied: "We currently have three siege rams and eight siege ladders..."

The equipment was being built quietly, but progress was very slow.

However, Liu Bei was still very satisfied. The rapid siege caught the enemy off guard, and they had to climb the city wall bravely and quickly.

Try to shorten the confrontation time between the two sides and capture the county town in one fell swoop before the enemy reinforcements arrive.
There are battering rams that are taller than the city walls. As long as more than ten people from the Armored Battalion successfully rush up, a gap will be opened, and others can follow in without having to worry about not being able to take the city down.

Xun You smiled and said, "Fortunately, half a month ago, Cao Cao and Lu Bu had a battle in Puyang, and the two led their armies to flee. Cao Cao went to Chenliu, and Lu Bu fled to Henei."

"Dongjun has fewer worries now. Fengxiao is indeed insightful."

Guo Jia waved his hands and chuckled. It was just a small trick. If there wasn't a rift between the two of them, how could it succeed?

The most powerful enemy at hand is Yuan Shao. With Puyang as a buffer, even if Liu Dai of Yanzhou suddenly gets hot-headed and leads the county troops to attack, we can ensure that the rear is safe and try to reduce the pressure on the envoy. This is what the staff should do.

(End of this chapter)