Three Kingdoms: I, the Emperor of Wei, am loyal and pure!

It was the second day of April in the third year of Jian'an.

Liyang, Yuan Jun’s camp.

Brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang stood at the top of Liyang City. Across the Yellow River, they could see the Cao Jun camp on the other side.

Although they were twenty or thirty miles apart, from a commanding position, the layout of Cao's army's camp and the strength of its troops could be roughly seen clearly.

Coupled with the fact that there were scouts patrolling the river bank, they quickly found out the strength of Cao's army.

"This time Cao Jun's Northern Expedition was divided into two groups.

Along the way, Zang Ba and other 80,000 troops from Taishan County crossed the river and marched towards Qingzhou. There, my chariot Wang Xiu led the people and county troops to fortify the walls and clear the wilderness, so that Zang Ba and other 80,000 troops could be trapped under the fortified city.

In addition, Liu Yi, the governor of Yingzhou appointed by Gongsun Du, the governor of Liaodong, in Donglai County, will also lead his army to help.

Therefore, Zang Ba’s troops don’t need to worry for the time being.

We only need to deal with Cao's army in front of us."

Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan, who is nearly thirty years old, has begun to grow a thick beard. He does not look like a young man, but like a middle-aged man.

At this moment, he looked at Yuan Shang, who was less than twenty years old, with a complex expression, and slowly He opened his mouth and said.

Although he temporarily cooperated with this third brother, the so-called new king of Hebei, Yuan Tan was still dissatisfied.

He was the eldest son of his father Yuan Shao, and he also had the support of many civil and military men under Yuan Shao.

Now that his father Yuan Shao suddenly passed away, but Instead of naming Yuan Tan, the eldest son who had grown up and established a career, as his heir, he instead named Yuan Shang, the third son with no hair, which made Yuan Tan very unconvinced.

After all, Yuan Tan got married early, and his eldest son was already in his teens, so he was older than Yuan Shang. Only a few years younger.

How can he, the eldest brother, be submissive to Yuan Shang, a young boy? The temporary cooperation at this moment is just Cao Ang's reputation, which puts too much pressure on them.

Although Yuan Shang is young, he is also somewhat smart. The wise man understood after looking at the look on his eldest brother's face. So he put on a majestic look, not wanting to be looked down upon by Yuan Tan:"What eldest brother said is wrong. Cao Ang is best at attacking in the east and hiding his troops.

It would be hard to believe that Cao Ang put all his troops in front of us.

Maybe Cao Ang has other troops and horses arranged to cross the river from other places.

Just like last year, he secretly sent cavalry across the river to burn our army at Chaoge to store food.

Therefore, more rangers should be sent to patrol the river banks and keep in contact with officials and soldiers of Qingzhou, Bingzhou and other counties along the river.

We should also recruit brave warriors from all over the country to patrol the river day and night to prevent Cao's army from crossing the river!"

As soon as Yuan Shang said these words, he was considered cautious, and many Jizhou civil and military officials on his left and right immediately nodded their heads.

Even Feng Ji agreed:"What my lord said is absolutely true! Then Cao Ang's tactics are treacherous, don't let him go!

Not to mention the 80,000 soldiers and horses on Zang Bana's east road, let's just say that on the other side of our army, looking at the banner of Cao's army, there are Hussar Army, Flying Cavalry Army, Hujie Army, Hebei New Army and other units, but there is no banner of Xiaoqi Army!

The elite cavalry army was collected by Jia Xu after he defeated the Xiliang princes in Guanzhong. They were all Xiliang elite cavalry.

At this moment, he is not in Cao Ang's camp, which shows that Cao Ang has other plans for him.

If by any chance Cao Ang sends his cavalry troops to attack our army, it will be a no-brainer!"

The words of Yuan Shang and Feng Ji Junchen denied Yuan Tan's words, and even made it appear that Yuan Tan was reckless, arrogant and underestimating the enemy. Yuan Tan immediately turned pale and couldn't help but snorted.

But he also felt that he was indeed just now To put it simply, Yuan Shang's words still have some insight.

But only a little.

Therefore, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang each sent a lot of patrols along the river bank, and even ordered Hebei to govern the counties along the river to organize counties The soldiers were brave and patrolled the river day and night.

For a while, the counties and counties along the four states on the north bank of the Yellow River were quite uneasy.

As everyone knows, this time Cao Ang really just divided his troops into two groups and did not arrange other troops..

As for the disappeared Xiaoqi Army, they were divided into two parts and joined the army that conquered Jiangdong and Jingzhou. They are indeed not here. It’s just that the Yuan brothers’ intelligence network has not found out so quickly.

As for the Beiwei Army , Cao Ang did not show his flag and reserved it for the use of surprise troops, but it was also in Cao Ang's camp

"Hahaha, the Yuan brothers are cautious enough, but they are too cautious!

On the north bank of the Yellow River, patrols continued, and even the common people and brave men were forcibly driven up, dividing them into two groups to patrol the river day and night.

I'm afraid that before our army can cross the river, they will conquer the people and drag them down..～！"

In Cao Angzhong's military tent, all the generals gathered together. Among them, Xu You couldn't help stroking his beard and mocking the Yuan brothers' actions.

In his opinion, the Yuan brothers were indeed too cautious and even made unnecessary responses, wasting people and money.

Although spring plowing is basically over at this time, the burden of ordinary farmers is not light. Every day they need to weed and patrol the fields, thin out seedlings and water, etc., in order to ensure the yield of the fields.

However, the Yuan brothers mobilized the people to patrol the river day and night, which meant that there were not enough manpower to patrol the fields in the counties and counties along the river.

Even if Cao Jun can be defended, it will lead to a reduction in grain production this year.

Without food and grass, not only would the army's rations be unable to be supplied, but the people would also be in dire straits.

At that time, there will be a fire in the backyard and they will retreat on their own...

Especially last year, Yuan Jun lost nearly 4 million shi of food reserves, and coupled with the consumption of the Yuan brothers this winter, Jizhou's treasury was empty.

Now is also the time of drought all over the world. All thanks to the hard work at this time, there will be a summer harvest in May...

But the Yuan brothers are tormenting the people like this, which is tantamount to drinking poison to quench their thirst.

What's more, if you think about it carefully, you will know that there is no need for Cao Jun to cross the river secretly elsewhere.

Because now Yuan's army has secured its walls and cleared the country, guarding the city everywhere.

Cao's army sent cavalry to cross the river from elsewhere, but it could not disturb them, and the cavalry could not attack the city.

Even if we can rely on internal support to capture several weakly defended cities, it will be of no avail.

Because the center of gravity of Yuan's army was only in Liyang and Yecheng, both of which were heavily deployed, they could not be captured by light or heavy cavalry.

And if the infantry crosses the river from elsewhere, there is no need to lose more than the gain.

It would take a lot of detours, and the roads would be mountainous and watery, making the progress slow.

I'm afraid that before I even start to cross the river, I will be discovered by Yuan Jun's patrol, and then be attacked halfway across the river. (To read Baoshuang novels, go to Feilu Novel Network!)

Just like when Yan Liang led the Yuan army forward to cross the Guandu River, they were suddenly surrounded and killed by Cao Jun...

Therefore, whether Cao Jun was on foot or cavalry, he was surrounded and killed. There is no need to divide the troops and cross the river secretly.

This time, in addition to Zang Ba and other 80,000 troops from the East Route marching into Qingzhou, tasked with uprooting Qingzhou cities one by one and blocking Gongsun Du's general and Yingzhou Governor Liu Yi, there was also the 100,000-strong Middle Route Army led by Cao Ang.

The two groups added up to over two hundred thousand.

There are no other soldiers and horses.

Therefore, what the Yuan brothers did was purely an overreaction.

If Yuan Tan hears Xu You's words, he will probably slap Yuan Shang on the spot. It is right to compare him loudly.

It's a pity that Yuan Tan is destined not to hear it...

But Cao Ang listened to Xu You's words and smiled slowly:"Brother Yuan needs to be cautious, so let him be cautious. If the bowstring is tightened for a long time, it will easily break. The danger of galloping.

The Yuan brothers mobilized their troops in such a way that the soldiers and civilians under their command were exhausted, but it was beneficial to our army to capture the four states of Hebei as soon as possible!"

After speaking, Cao Ang pointed his finger at the terrain map in the tent, and the generals' gazes also Everybody gathered here

"Zang Ba has already sent news that Yuan Tan's Qingzhou troops will not be driven by Wang Xiu, but they will strengthen their walls and clear the country, and defend all the cities.

Liu Yi, the governor of Yingzhou established by Gongsun Du across the sea in Donglai County, Qingzhou, also led an army of 50,000 to help Wang Xiu defend the city.

Everything is as I expected. Zang Ba's troops can play a role in containing and containing the enemy forces. There will be no major breakthrough in a short time.[]

Therefore, the focus of defeating the enemy lies in our army in the middle."

Cao Ang's hand first pointed to the Qingzhou area.

Although the main forces of Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan are all in the Liyang area, the cities and towns in Qingzhou are not empty. Don't drive Wang Xiu to organize county soldiers and village warriors. Field battles are not enough, but city defense is enough.

Just like in the Battle of Guandu in history, Cheng Yu was able to defend Juancheng, an important town in Yanzhou, with only 700 county soldiers, preventing Yuan Shao from dividing his troops from the east to attack Cao Jun's back.

In addition to Wang Xiu, Gongsun Du's general, Liu Yi, the governor of Yingzhou, was also an obstacle. Speaking of which, Gongsun Du, the governor of Liaodong, was really not a simple figure.

Although he was the governor of Liaodong, he opened up territory and expanded the territory, including Liaoxi County and Xuantu County. He controlled several counties including Zhongliao County and Lelang County. He also defeated Wuhuan and Goguryeo, and won the obedience of many Wuhuan tribesmen. Goguryeo surrendered, and Fuyu State even married Gongsundu as an ally. The position of governor of Liaodong is no longer in line with Gongsundu's territory and power.

Because the territory he actually controls is equivalent to the land of a state.

During this period, the powerful princes at least had the title of state pastor, such as Yuan Shao, the governor of Jizhou, Yanzhou Mu Cao Cao, Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao... and even the titles of various lieutenants were sold everywhere like cabbage, depreciating rapidly...

Therefore, Gongsun Du did not want to be inferior to others with the title of prefect, so he established himself as Marquis of Liaodong, Pingzhou

Mu Yes, among the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, there is no Pingzhou, let alone Pingzhou Mu.

However, Gongsundu created a state by himself, using several counties in Liaodong, and established himself as the tenth state of the Han Dynasty. Four states, Pingzhou...

Of course, Gongsun Du does have this confidence. He really controls the territory and power equivalent to one state...

But Gongsun Du is not satisfied with this. Taking advantage of Dong Zhuo's rebellion, , Gongsundu divided his troops to cross the sea from the Liaodong Peninsula and captured Donglai County in the eastern part of Qingzhou and Jiaozhou Peninsula. He also used the Donglai County enclave to create a new state for him, called Yingzhou.

His general Liu Yi was granted the title , as the governor of Yingzhou, guarding Donglai.

This shows that Gongsun Du (Okay, okay) has the strength of two states! He unilaterally created fifteen of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty!

At that time, Yuan Shao He was not the shepherd of Jizhou, let alone the four states of Hebei.

Later, when Yuan Shao won Jizhou and asked his eldest son Yuan Tan to capture Qingzhou, he did not touch Donglai County because of Yuan Tan's frivolity and fear of Gongsun Du.

It can be seen from this that, Gongsun Du is indeed a tycoon.

Even if Gongsun Du was not from a low background and was just the son of a county official, with his methods, Yuan Shao would have nothing to do with him.

If Gongsun Du had Yuan Shao's background, or even came from a noble family, he might have already Liaodong was the cornerstone and the four states of Hebei were captured.

In history, famous princes such as Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Yuan Shu, and Liu Zhang were all destroyed one after another.

Only Gongsun Du, Gongsun Kang and his son dominated Haidong and formed a country of their own. Any prince has existed for a long time.

It was actually the fourth country in the Three Kingdoms period!

Therefore, Cao Ang did not underestimate Gongsun Du and his general Liu Yi in this northern expedition. He not only supported Yan Rou, the captain of Wuhuan who protected Wuhuan, but also restrained Gongsun Du's main force from going south to Gong.

He also sent Zang Ba's 80,000 troops and horses into Qingzhou to block Liu Yi's troops, allowing Cao Ang to concentrate on dealing with the Yuan brothers.

At this moment, in front of all the generals, after analyzing the current situation, for Cao Ang , the strategic goal is obvious.

That is to use the more than 100,000 Cao troops in Baimajin to defeat the 300,000 Yuan troops in Liyang on the north bank, and enter Hebei!

But Cao Ang was not in a hurry during this process.

He is waiting for an opportunity!.