Baima Ferry, Dongjun, Yanzhou.

The banks of the Yellow River are sandy, and willows face the city at Baimajin.

Baima County is adjacent to the Yellow River. Everywhere you look, you can see rippling water and willows swaying in the wind. Amid the rolling waves, a flat-bottomed cargo ship sways and slowly approaches the shore.

With a dull bang, the ship hit the pier.

Wang Jing stepped on the pedal to get off the boat. Xun You and Guo Jia, who had received the news in advance, had also been waiting on the shore with their men. When they saw Wang Jing, they immediately bowed and saluted: "My Lord."

"Has there been any news from Yecheng?"

Wang Jing left a few people to take away the Jueying horse for him, and he himself got on the four-wheeled carriage that came to greet him.

In the spacious carriage, Xun You took out a secret report from the secret guards and handed it to Wang Jing, then reported to him: "Just yesterday, Yuan Shao left 20,000 Jizhou soldiers to garrison Yecheng, and then led the main force to approach Panhe River, assembled in the Jieqiao area, and took a decisive battle posture."

Wang Jing flipped through the secret report and asked casually, "Who are the people accompanying them?"

"In terms of military, there are Qu Yi and Wen Chou, and in terms of civil, there are Tian Feng and Shen Pei. These four are all outstanding figures in Jizhou, especially the great general Qu Yi. The elite infantry he led is called 'Xian Deng'. Although they have a small number of soldiers, their combat effectiveness is very good. In addition, Qu Yi also trained thousands of elite soldiers in Jizhou for Yuan Benchu, named 'Da Ji Shi'. With these people, as long as we can take advantage of the geographical advantages of Jie Bridge, Yuan Shao will undoubtedly win this battle, and Gongsun Zan is doomed to lose here."

Xun You was well versed in military tactics and was able to deduce the outcome of the war based solely on the intelligence at hand.

The terrain of Jie Bridge seems flat and open, which is conducive to cavalry charges.

In fact, the Pan River stretches from north to south, just blocking the cavalry's charge route. After all, the Baima Yicong could not swim, let alone fly. The river was like an insurmountable natural chasm for the cavalry.

However, due to the restrictions of the terrain, the Youzhou cavalry under Gongsun Zan were unable to use flanking tactics and could only choose to charge head-on.

In this way, Yuan Shao only needed to send a small team of elite soldiers to block the bridge, so as to defeat the enemy's front at its strongest point and defeat Gongsun Zan's seemingly powerful Youzhou cavalry by taking advantage of the situation.

Of course, the risks of this tactic are also high.

After all, most of the soldiers under Yuan Shao, whether they were recruited from Bohai County or Yecheng, were from the counties and states of Jizhou. It was a pipe dream to want to use these miscellaneous troops to fight against the White Horse Volunteers.

Unless Yuan Shao has an elite heavy infantry that is strong, motivated, and experienced in fighting against cavalry.

Coincidentally, because of Qu Yi's joining, Yuan Shao just happened to have such an elite heavy infantry who were familiar with the Qiang people's tactics and had the tactics to restrain cavalry - Qu Yi's Xiandeng Camp!
The more he analyzed, the more Xun You shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity for Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers. After this battle, they may disappear into thin air."

Guo Jia also sighed: "Yes, even if they were not annihilated, after such a disastrous defeat, I am afraid that the military spirit would be destroyed and it would be difficult for them to rise again."

But after a moment of sighing, Guo Jia began to gloat over the misfortune and said in a teasing tone: "Although it's a pity, this is exactly the situation we are happy to see."

Xun You nodded and smiled: "Yes, the north has many plains and vast land, which is conducive to large-scale military operations. A powerful cavalry that is not under our control is indeed a huge threat. Rather than letting it exist, it is better to let it disappear."

"But we can't let it disappear too quickly. Otherwise, once Yuan Shao occupies the entire north, he will surely seize the opportunity to move south, putting our army in a difficult situation where we will be attacked from both sides."

Guo Jia's eyes stayed on the map, pointing to two areas specially marked with red circles: "We can send Lü Fengxian and Zhang Yide to send troops from Henei and Dongjun, and order them to pretend to attack Yecheng, creating enough pressure to force Yuan Shao to return to the rear base camp after victory, so that he cannot pursue the remnants of Gongsun Zan's army."

Because he had seen Yuan Shao in person in Luoyang, Guo Jia knew Yuan Shao's character very well. He knew that Yuan Shao was a man of indecisiveness and would not dare to ignore the threats posed by Lu Bu and Zhang Fei.

As long as he sent troops to attack Yecheng, Yuan Shao would have to respond and send troops to rescue. In this way, it would naturally be difficult for him to devote all his efforts to achieve greater results.

Xun You also thought that this feint attack was a good strategy, so he added: "In this battle, the cavalry should be the main force. As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war. Fengxian and Yide only need to sweep the counties and towns around Yecheng with lightning speed to create enough panic and chaos, and Yuan Benchu ​​will have to consider the public opinion of the Jizhou family."

The Jizhou nobles were in panic. If Yuan Shao rescued them, he would lose money, but if he didn't, he would lose face. So he ended up being blocked on both ends.

As long as Lu Bu and Zhang Fei were careful to avoid being caught by the enemy's main force, thousands of cavalry would be enough to make the entire Jizhou people panic.

Of course, if Yan Liang succeeded in intercepting and killing him, the feint attack would turn into a forceful attack, which would not be a good thing.

After all, one's own family knows one's own business. Xun You and Guo Jia both understood that the Northern Army's territory was too large and its troops were too few. It was already stretched thin just to defend itself, and it was impossible to continue expanding. Even if they swallowed it by force, they would have to spit it out afterwards.

Therefore, there is basically no need to dream of taking advantage of the opportunity to occupy the counties of Jizhou. At most, they can just cause some harassment.

Wang Jing followed the advice of Guo Jia and Xun You, and immediately ordered Lu Bu to lead his army from Henei County, pass through Sanchuan County, and head north to capture cities and territories. He captured counties such as Xiuwu, Chaoge and Dangyin, and marched straight to the Wei army, threatening Yecheng.

Zhang Fei also led the 3,000 elite cavalry from Hedong that Wang Jinggang had recruited for him, first heading north to capture Dongqiu and Yin'an, and then marching westward, successively conquering Fanyang and Neihuang counties along the way, and approaching the eastern suburbs of Yecheng.

Soon after, the two successfully joined forces outside the city and began to lead their troops to harass the surrounding counties and towns.

Whenever they arrived at a place, Lu Bu and Zhang Fei would open the treasury and empty out all the valuables they could take away. As for the grain piled up in the granary that was difficult to transport away, the two of them would simply use other people's money to distribute it to the local people on the spot.

It was now the turn of summer and autumn, and the summer grain stored in farmers' homes was almost gone, but the autumn grain had not yet been harvested. At this critical juncture, Lu Bu and Zhang Fei opened their warehouses to release grain, which naturally won the support and support of the people of Jizhou.

Therefore, wherever the Northern Army went, the people lined the streets to welcome them, offering food and drink to welcome the royal army.

Wang Jing's reputation quickly spread throughout Jizhou with the actions of Lu Bu and Zhang Fei. His influence continued to extend and began to shake Yuan Shao's rule.

Yan Liang was extremely upset when he learned about this. You know, these food and grass were all the assets of Yuan Shao’s army, but they were taken away by Lu Bu and Zhang Fei as red envelopes without him noticing. This was intolerable!

"Despicable and shameless, these two bastards Lu Fengxian and Zhang Yide really deserve to die!"

Yan Liang was sitting in Yecheng, and trouble was coming from the sky. Letters asking for help came from all directions. Today this county was robbed, and tomorrow some village was robbed.

The enemy seemed to be everywhere, and those who didn’t know would think that Jizhou was named Wang, the Wang from the Wang next door!

Yan Liang was already annoyed by the harassment tactics of Lu Bu and Zhang Fei. For a moment, he had no idea how many enemy troops there were and what the troop deployment was like. He was like a blind man. Without any understanding of the enemy's deployment, he dared not send troops to fight, for fear that they would be lured away and Yecheng would be lost.

The lack of intelligence was mainly due to the fact that Yuan Shao had just settled in Jizhou and had no time to extend his control to all counties and prefectures, which led to a very delayed transmission of information.

If it were normal times, it would be fine if it was late, but now it’s wartime!

The opponent is fully equipped with cavalry. Let alone being three or five days late, even if it is just three or five hours at night, you cannot see the opponent's horse's butt.

The cavalry of Lu Bu and Zhang Fei ran faster than rabbits and attacked various places at will, causing huge chaos and leaving Yan Liang completely at a loss.

The more Yan Liang was unsure of the actual military strength of Lu Bu and Zhang Fei, the more he dared not to leave the city and pursue them.

The more he dared not leave the city to pursue, the more Lu Bu and Zhang Fei dared to attack everywhere and create more chaos, thus falling into a vicious cycle.

At the same time, Jing County, Jizhou.

Yuan Shao's army of 30,000 infantry and cavalry had just entered the city when they received battle reports from the rear.

"Lü Bu! Zhang Fei!"

After reading Yan Liang's letter, Yuan Shao was furious. His eyes were red and his teeth were about to break. He cursed angrily: "You have conquered many counties and opened the granaries to release grain? You are so arrogant. Do you really think that there is no one in Jizhou?"

It was a great pleasure for Lu Bu and Zhang Fei to open the granaries and release grain, and they were even more pleased as they kept releasing grain.

But Yuan Shao, as the new master of Jizhou, felt very uncomfortable. Although those grains and grasses belonged to Han Fu's assets before, now that Jizhou was acquired by him, Yuan Shao, these things should naturally belong to him, the newly promoted Mu of Jizhou. How could he allow two outsiders to dispose of them at will?

Yan Liang had no choice but to ask in his letter whether to take back the food that had been distributed to the people. This matter concerned Yuan Shao's reputation, and Yan Liang did not dare to make his own decision. Just when Yuan Shao was hesitating whether to do so, Tian Feng spoke again: "My lord, the food has already been given to the people. If our army forcibly confiscates it, it will surely cause dissatisfaction. By then, the people will lose their hearts and minds, and there may be unexpected disasters."

Although in the eyes of the aristocratic families, the common people are nothing more than cattle and horses, cattle and horses also have tempers after all.

What's more, everything is afraid of comparison. Wang Jing sent people to distribute grain, but you, Yuan Shao, sent people to collect grain. What do the people think? What do people all over the world think?
By the time the people turn against you, what will you use to rule the world?

"Does the military advisor have any good ideas?"

Yuan Shao was troubled by this, mainly because he was in a very bad mood. Jizhou was the number one province in the world, and the grain stored in Yecheng was enough for ten years, so there was naturally no shortage of food and fodder.

These minor losses were just a drizzle to him, but the problem was that he couldn't stand being slapped in the face like this!
Why is it that I am the one who suffered the loss, but Wang Jing gets all the benefits?

The more he endured, the angrier he got. The more he took a step back, the more he felt at a loss. Yuan Shao wished he could return to Yecheng and fight Wang Jing to the death. Fortunately, his subordinates, such as Shen Pei, were all wise men. They knew that under the current situation, if Yuan Shao's army could not quickly defeat Gongsun Zan's army, it would be doomed.

Therefore, a group of counselors stood up to persuade Yuan Shao: "My lord, please put the overall situation first!"

"Yes, my lord, you must not be confused by the instigation of Wang Jing!"

In the land of Hebei today, Gongsun Zan successively defeated the Yellow Turban Armies in Qingzhou and Xuzhou. His military force was growing stronger day by day, and his fierce offensive overwhelmed the entire Hebei province.

Even though Yuan Shao had turned the tables, seized Han Fu's position, and became the governor of Jizhou, with a population of one million and countless food, fodder, armor and soldiers, his strength quickly became one of the strongest princes.

But as Gongsun Zan pointed his sword at Jizhou, counties and prefectures within the territory surrendered one after another. Many powerful families secretly contributed manpower and resources and joined Gongsun Zan with their entire clans. More and more people came to lead the way.

The only way to curb this momentum is to achieve a military victory!
Only by defeating Gongsun Zan's attack could Yuan Shao truly hold the hot potato of Jizhou. Otherwise, even if he could defend Yecheng, he would eventually be deserted by his friends and relatives and become an enemy of the whole world.

"Wang Yuanxu, you are going too far! When I defeat Gongsun Zan, I will march south and chop off your head to avenge today's humiliation!"

On horseback, Yuan Shao held the reins in his hands, his eyes gradually sharpened: "Keep advancing, tomorrow we will fight Gongsun Zan's army to the death, and we will not return until we win!"

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

The 30,000-strong army continued to maintain strict formation and marched towards the east.

When Gongsun Zan got the news, he also led the main force from Bohai City, with 30,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, passing through Dongguang and then marching towards Panhe.

The small Jie Bridge had gathered nearly 100,000 troops at this moment. One phalanx after another swept in like a black wave, covering the sky and the earth, and seemed boundless.

The two armies used the Jie Bridge as the central axis, facing each other across the river, and constantly gathering their main forces to be on high alert. The flags fluttering in the wind covered the sky, and the black crowds of people spread out on the open land, vast and boundless.

Yuan Shao personally led his troops to fight against Gongsun Zan, and the two armies clashed twenty miles south of Jie Bridge.

This was an open and fair battle. Both sides wanted to become the overlord of the north, so they disdained conspiracies and schemes and wanted to win openly to justify themselves.

Before the two armies, generals faced generals, soldiers faced soldiers, and a conflict was about to break out.

Gongsun Zan rode on a white horse, handsome and ambitious. When he looked at Yuan Shao, his eyes were full of contempt: "Yuan Benchu, how dare you appear in front of me?"

Yuan Shao carried the famous sword Tai'a on his waist. He looked handsome and had an extraordinary appearance, but his face was stern and his eyes were gloomy. "Gongsun Bogui, don't think I'm really afraid of you?"

"You are just a person with a false reputation, how dare you act so presumptuous in front of me?"

Gongsun Zan showed a sinister smile, and his handsome face was filled with murderous intent. He was confident in his bravery and did not take Yuan Shao seriously.

After all, Yuan Shao had never had any impressive military achievements. In the battle outside Hulao Pass, he was defeated head-on by Wang Jing with an army ten times his size, which made Gongsun Zan look down on him even more.

However, in the face of Gongsun Zan's contempt and disdain, Yuan Shao remained calm and expressionless.

At this moment, he did not want to argue any more: "There is no point in talking too much, let's see for ourselves. This battle will decide not only victory but also life and death!"

The anger in his heart towards Wang Jing now became Yuan Shao's motivation to defeat Gongsun Zan. He wanted to take advantage of his opponent's contempt and carelessness to create a good opportunity for himself to win!
After a round of trash talk in front of the battle, the two men returned to their respective camps and started fighting.

dong dong dong~
The sound of war drums resounded through the sky and the battle flags fluttered in the wind.

"go ahead!"

Gongsun Zan, riding a white horse, raised his head and waved the whip. He personally commanded 30,000 infantrymen, arranged them into a square formation, and advanced forward with a majestic posture.

These infantrymen were composed mainly of veterans recruited from Youzhou, and were supplemented by a large number of Yellow Turban surrendered soldiers from Qingzhou. They still had some combat effectiveness and were very aggressive at the moment. It was obvious that Gongsun Zan's pre-war mobilization had been done well.

On both wings of the central infantry, there were 5,000 cavalrymen each, totaling over 10,000. They rode majestic war horses, wore leather armor, held spears in their hands, and had longbows and quivers hanging behind them.

These more than 10,000 cavalrymen are all frontier soldiers who have been fighting against the Wuhuan people for many years. They are veterans with superb riding skills and tactics, and are the backbone of Gongsun Zan's army.

Among these more than 10,000 cavalrymen, the strongest 3,000 were called the White Horse Volunteers, and they were Gongsun Zan's personal soldiers. They had followed Gongsun Zan in his conquests in the north for many years and were the elite among the elite, the aces among aces.

The three thousand white horse volunteers surrounding Gongsun Zan had honed their skills in years of fighting and were confident. Seeing that the main force of Yuan Shao's army was mostly infantry and lacked war horses, they immediately showed disdain and shouted, "A bunch of mud legs dare to brandish swords in front of us, they really don't know how to live or die!"

Almost as soon as the war started, Gongsun Zan was thinking about using cavalry to defeat Yuan Shao.

In Gongsun Zan's eyes, the soldiers of Yuan Shao's army were all weak county and state soldiers, a group of ragtag troops that could not withstand a single blow.

Moreover, in terms of formation, Yuan Shao's army was out of touch with the front and back. The main force of the infantry was located in the rear on the west bank of Ling River, while only less than a thousand infantrymen were guarding the east bank of Jie Bridge.

As long as they captured Jie Bridge, their superior cavalry would be able to continuously cross the Ling River to the other side and annihilate Yuan Shao's main infantry corps.

"attack!"

At Gongsun Zan's command, the Youzhou cavalry immediately launched a fierce attack on the enemy.

Yuan Shao was not panicked at all when he saw the aggressive cavalry coming. "You don't even understand the principle that arrogant soldiers will be defeated. Gongsun Bogui, I will use you as a sacrifice before I face Wang Yuanxu."

Yuan Shao then calmly followed the tactical arrangements that he had discussed with Tian Feng, Shen Pei and other advisers, and began to arrange his troops: "All soldiers, listen to my orders!"

At the beginning of the war, Yuan Shao understood that if he wanted to win this battle, he had to defeat Gongsun Zan's cavalry, otherwise there would be no chance of winning.

Although the plain area has open terrain, it is conducive to cavalry charges.

Facing Gongsun Zan's cavalry charge, Yuan Shao immediately ordered Qu Yi to lead 800 elite soldiers as the vanguard to lure the enemy to attack and hold the position.

"First, go to the camp, and hold on to the mountain formation!"

Qu Yi raised the iron spear in his hand high, and behind him, the eight hundred first-climbing soldiers hit their shields with their spears and roared loudly: "First to climb! First to climb! Either you die or you live!"

Qu Yi, who was born in Guzang, Wuwei, was a famous general family and a prominent family in the local area.

Therefore, Qu Yi, who had lived in Liangzhou for many years, was proficient in the Qiang people's tactics. In order to revitalize his family, he trained a group of private soldiers with very strong combat effectiveness, calling themselves "Xiandeng", all of whom were elite soldiers who had experienced many battles.

Although the Xiandeng Camp had only 800 men, under his leadership they were able to unite as one and remain resolute. Even when faced with the charge of thousands of cavalrymen, they remained calm and composed, as unmoved as a mountain. (End of this chapter)