Han officials

Chapter 195: Sympathy [22]

The existence of the Montenegrin Army is a historical issue.

Although the Yellow Turban Rebellion failed in the first year of Zhongping, the remaining Black Mountain Army still influenced the Han Dynasty.

However, the Black Mountain Army today is different from the Yellow Turban Army back then. It is just a very loose alliance.

The reason why it was called the "Black Mountain Army" was mainly because of the Black Mountain at the southern end of the Taihang Mountains.

However, the distribution area of the Black Mountain Army is extremely vast. They are present in almost all the valleys of the Taihang Mountains in the five counties of Zhongshan, Changshan, Zhaojun, Shangdang and Henei.

Although Zhang Yan was named "General of the Central Army to Suppress Rebellions", he was actually unable to control the bandits in other valleys.

For example, the Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu and other tribes that invaded this time were active in the Taihang Mountains area of Henei County.

The reason why Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu and others led the people out of the mountains was not only to plunder supplies, but also to escort Hu Shou, the governor of Jizhou, who was appointed by the Chang'an court, to take office.

Apparently, after being promoted to Grand Tutor Dong, Prime Minister Dong was itching to show off his skills and wanted to make his presence felt.

Yuan Shao naturally knew nothing about this. He only knew that if he did not stop the Black Mountain Army, Jizhou would be lost.

After all, Gongsun Zan alone was enough for him to deal with, and he really wouldn't be able to handle another Black Mountain Army coming under Ye City.

So when people were in panic, Yuan Shao immediately made a decisive decision.

Yuan Shao looked at Chunyu Qiong on the left side of the hall and laughed, "Zhong Jian, do you dare to meet this thief?"

"Why not?" Chunyu Qiong said without hesitation, "These Yellow Turban remnants have only managed to survive in remote mountains and waters. Now that they dare to come out, I will make sure they never return!"

Yuan Shao's face lit up with satisfaction as he nodded, "Okay, in that case, I'll leave Henei County to you. You must stop Yu Du's troops."

Upon hearing this, Chunyu Qiong immediately bowed his head and accepted the order without any fear.

This person was really badly slandered by Luo Guanzhong. He was clearly loyal to his duties, but was falsely accused of being incompetent and making mistakes.

The story that Chunyu Qiong was defeated in battle and captured because he was drunk, and was beheaded by Yuan Shao in anger after being released, is actually all imaginary.

In fact, it was already a good thing that Chunyu Qiong could hold out until dawn under the sudden attack led by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry led by Cao Cao himself.

But even so, Chunyu Qiong still fought to the last moment and died fighting.

In terms of military ethics, Chunyu Qiong is much better than Zhang He, Yu Jin and others.

In fact, when Xu You leaked the grain storage location of Wuchao to Cao Cao, Chunyu Qiong had already lost.

After all, who would have thought that Cao Cao could accurately find the place where Yuan’s army stored grain in the enemy territory.

Interestingly, after arranging the defense of Henei County, Yuan Shao turned and looked at Cao Cao.

At this critical moment, Yuan Shao still trusted his old brothers more.

Zhang He, Qu Yi and others may be brave, but their reliability is ultimately not as good as Chunyu Qiong and others.

Seeing this situation, Cao Cao was not panicked at all. Instead, he stroked his beard and smiled, calm and composed.

Yuan Shao felt relieved upon seeing this, and immediately recommended Cao Cao as the governor of Dongjun, responsible for stopping Bai Rao's troops.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao immediately stepped forward and resolutely accepted the order.

As for Wang Gong and the other two, the governor of Dongjun, they didn't take them seriously at all.

Because he was also a pirated one, and was appointed by Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai after he killed Dongjun Prefect Qiao Mao.

If Liu Dai could appoint someone, Yuan Shao could naturally recommend him as well. Perhaps there would be even more people in Yanzhou who would give Yuan Shao face.

……

On the other hand, Gongsun Zan, who had captured Liangqi County in Weijun, finally received a letter from Yuan Shao.

After reading the letter, Gongsun Zan couldn't help laughing when he saw that the envoy was full of words asking for peace and his expression was extremely respectful.

Only Gongsun Zan himself knows the bitterness of this.

When Gongsun Zan thought about Yuan Shao, a man of three generations of righteousness, begging him humbly and even willing to cede land for peace, the frustration that had accumulated in Gongsun Zan for more than half a year finally dissipated completely.

However, although Gongsun Zan felt refreshed, he had no intention of stopping while he was ahead.

Gongsun Zan didn't even bother to pretend and deceive Yuan Shao anymore. He just threw Yuan Shao's letter to the ground with a defiant look. As for the two seals in the secret letter, he didn't even look at them.

"Go back and tell Yuan Benchu that if he surrenders now, I can spare his life."

At this point, Gongsun Zan sneered and said, "If not, I don't mind chopping off his head as a military merit."

After saying this, he casually waved his hand and ordered his men to drive Yuan Shao's envoy out.

Although the people had left, there was laughter and joy in Gongsun Zan's tent.

Both Gongsun Zan and his generals could not help but realize that this war was no longer uncertain.

Gongsun Zan even jokingly said that he would hold a celebration banquet in Yecheng tomorrow and asked the generals not to delay.

It can be said that Gongsun Zan's army, from top to bottom, was full of confidence.

However, in the afternoon of the next day, when Gongsun Zan's army crossed the Fu River and was still twenty miles away from Yecheng, Yuan Shao actually led his troops personally to fight Gongsun Zan.

This surprised Gongsun Zan quite a bit, as he had thought that Yuan Shao, a man with a strong exterior but a weak interior, was the one defending Ye City.

After the scouts had retreated, Gongsun Zan said to his attendants with a smile, "I never thought this man would be so brave in a field battle. How bizarre!"

Yan Gang, who was standing by, chimed in with amusement, "He's brave, but unfortunately, he's brainless."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Gongsun Zan was puzzled.

Yan Gang immediately laughed and said, "This fellow, knowing the sharpness of the white horse, still dares to fight us in the open. Isn't that unwise?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Gongsun Zan burst into laughter, and the generals around him laughed even more.

No one took Yuan Shao seriously and only regarded him as a mantis fighting desperately.

So with Gongsun Zan's order, his army marched towards Yuan's army in a mighty manner.

A moment later, the two armies clashed in the northern suburbs of Yecheng, and the battle became intense from the very beginning.

Gongsun Zan used more than 10,000 infantry as the central army, attacking with the simplest square formation, and more than 5,000 cavalry on each wing.

In order to quickly deal with the people in front and enter Yecheng to hold a celebration banquet, Gongsun Zan attacked fiercely and violently from the beginning.

However, Yuan Shao, who had been well prepared, used equipment such as chevaux de frise and chariots to build simple fortifications to block the attack of Gongsun Zan's army. With the help of Yuan Shao and his generals' personal presence in the battlefield, they were able to withstand the offensive of Gongsun Zan's army.

Seeing that the army had been unable to capture the city for a long time, Gongsun Zan, who was under the banner of the central army, frowned slightly.

He hadn't expected Yuan Shao's tortoise shell to be so difficult to crack. Seeing that the front army's offensive had slowed down, Gongsun Zan, feeling impatient, immediately reined in his horse and rushed forward, whipping his whip and shouting:
"Where is Baima Yi from?"

In an instant, more than a thousand elite cavalrymen from Youzhou responded enthusiastically:
"Where righteousness comes, life and death follow it. The sky can tell you, and the white horse is the proof!"

Gongsun Zan burst into laughter upon hearing this, and then turned his horse around without hesitation. With the Baima Yicong as the spearhead, he led the reserve troops kept as a backup and rushed towards Yuan's position with murderous intent.

It’s true, with the addition of the White Horse Volunteers, Yuan’s front line was defeated.

However, just as Gongsun Zan was preparing to defeat Yuan Shao's army in one fell swoop, he suddenly saw more than a thousand people suddenly emerge from the ground fifty steps ahead. Before he could see what was going on, more than a thousand powerful crossbows were fired at the White Horse Volunteers in the front.

It turned out that Yuan Shao had ordered his men to dig pits here early on for the soldiers to hide in, and covered them with shields, so that they could walk without any problem.

Of course, not everyone can do such a dangerous job.

Yuan Shao also thought it over again and again before letting Qu Yi's troops, who were most accustomed to cavalry charges, serve as an ambush.

Facts proved that Yuan Shao was right about the person.

Before the battle, he had clearly given orders that the ambush could be launched as soon as the enemy cavalry approached within a hundred paces.

But in order to maximize the lethality, Qu Yi actually waited until he had taken more than fifty steps before getting up.

However, Qu Yi's ruthlessness was met with the wailing of the White Horse Volunteers.

In a blink of an eye, when arrows made of fine iron rained down on the cavalry in front of him, there was even a buzzing sound in the air, like the echo of a powerful crossbow. Yan Gang, the cavalry general of the White Horse Volunteers who was rushing in the front, watched helplessly as a fine iron arrowhead pierced through the iron armor, but he had no time to dodge at all.

Gongsun Zan's flag-bearing officer was nailed by three crossbow arrows and flew more than ten feet away. He was deader than dead.

There's no way, the distance is too close, and it doesn't matter whether you have armor or not at this distance.

Whether it is iron armor or leather armor, it will suffer the same fate under the close shooting of a powerful crossbow.

Yan Gang didn't even have time to despair. The huge impact threw him off the saddle and he fell into the iron hooves of his comrades behind him and was turned into a pulp.

For a moment, all that could be heard was the roar of people and the neighing of horses, and broken horse legs and mutilated bodies were almost everywhere.

Faced with the unexpected blow, Gongsun Zan's front army, which had been full of confidence just now, suddenly fell into chaos.

Although some of Qu Yi's soldiers were injured by the aftermath of the White Horse Volunteers, he did not hesitate at all and immediately rushed forward with a long spear in hand, making the already chaotic Gongsun Zan army even more chaotic.

Seeing this, Yuan Shao in the rear did not miss the opportunity. He threw his helmet to the ground and led the 30,000 infantry in the central army to counterattack Gongsun Zan's army.

Before long, the cavalry and infantry under Gongsun Zan's command were in disarray, and everyone fled in panic.

In a short time, the fleeing troops stretched for dozens of miles, with countless casualties, and the Fu River almost stopped flowing.

This was the strategy of making the soldiers arrogant that Shen Pei planned for Yuan Shao, which was completely a strategy of putting himself in a desperate situation in order to survive.

If any of this information had leaked out, Yuan Shao would probably have been killed today.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao won the bet this time.

……

A few days later, Ji County.

It was still the same lakeside, but Wei Zhe's expression was extremely solemn this time.

Seeing Xi Zhicai's puzzled expression, Wei Zhe couldn't help but sigh.

He didn't even hand the battle report to Xi Zhicai, but said directly with regret: "Gongsun Zan is dead."

Xi Zhicai immediately understood what he meant when he heard it, and he couldn't help but sigh to the sky.

Speaking of the Battle of Fushui, not only was Gongsun Zan defeated, he also lost his life at the foot of Yecheng.

There's nothing we can do. It's his fault for charging too hard. A strong opponent can't recognize the White Horse General.

Wei Zhe admitted that this time he was misled by preconceived notions.

After all, in the original history, Gongsun Zan fought with Yuan Shao for nearly ten years before he finally burned himself to death.

Although Gongsun Zan's power has been greatly reduced, Yuan Shao, who came to power through a military rebellion, no longer has the same righteousness as before.

With both sides weakened at the same time, Wei Zhe felt that the two of them could at least hold out for two to three years.

In this way, when the two tigers in Jizhou were fighting, he could steadily nibble away at them and eventually take over Jizhou.

But Wei Zhe never expected that Gongsun Zan would end up like Sun Jian.

But he died, and in the end Yuan Shao stepped on him to take the throne.

Originally, Yuan Shao had little prestige in Jizhou, but after the Battle of Fushui, he almost immediately became a powerful figure in Jizhou.

As arrogant as Gongsun Zan was in the past, Yuan Shao is as powerful now.

It took Gongsun Zan nearly three months to capture Ye City, but Yuan Shao took it back in just three days.

There is no way. The lord is dead, and it is useless even if some of Gongsun Zan's subordinates survive.

Gongsun Zan's son Gongsun Xu survived by chance, but what could a child who had just turned ten do?

Yuan Shao only needed to issue a written manifesto, and the two counties of Julu and Anping, which had been occupied by Gongsun Zan, returned to his allegiance.

Under the pressure of Yuan Shao's great victory, Changshan State and Zhongshan State, which had previously remained silent, also sent envoys to Yecheng.

And all this was because Gongsun Zan died in battle.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "I was negligent!"

There were no accidents on the battlefield. Xi Zhicai felt that he should have thought of this earlier.

He anticipated the best-case scenario but forgot to consider the worst-case scenario.

However, Wei Zhe did not blame him. After all, just like no one had expected that Sun Jian and Sun Ce, father and son, would die in their prime, and both were killed by arrows, how could anyone except God predict such a thing in advance!
Wei Zhe no longer had the heart to continue fishing. After a moment's hesitation, he ordered, "Tell Taishi Ci and Zhong Hu to take Bohai and Hejian counties. Don't be greedy or reckless."

Although he felt a little regretful, Wei Zhe was not too disappointed.

As long as we can completely digest Bohai County and Hejian State, we can be considered to have made a profit this time.

Anyway, Youzhou is now bordering Qingzhou, and Wei Zhe believes that it is only a matter of time before Bohai Sea is turned into an inland lake.

However, I don’t know if it was just a coincidence of fate.

When Gongsun Zan was shot dead by a powerful crossbow on the bank of the Fu River, Sun Jian also defeated Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, who came to support him outside Xiangyang City, and pursued him all the way to Xian Mountain. Just as Sun Jian was about to catch up, he was ambushed by Huang Zu's subordinates from the bamboo forest and shot dead on the spot.

One in the south and one in the north, the Yuan brothers increase and decrease, as if foreshadowing something...

(End of this chapter)