Chapter 79 Yuan Shu was defeated and fled to Huainan, and Yuan Shao was unable to advance or retreat!

Yuan Shu's army was temporarily stationed in Yongqiu, Chenliu County. Faced with the continuous military intelligence and battle reports, they immediately held a high-level meeting.

Yuan Shu's adviser was originally Yang Hong, but in order to steal and transmit the imperial seal and the six seals of the emperor, Yang Hong personally went to the capital. He and Yuan Shao's adviser Xu You had their own calculations.

But in the end, both of them died in the capital.

Yuan Shu's current lineup of advisers is mainly composed of Yan Xiang, Yuan Yin, Yuan Huan and others. These people are all first-class advisers, or even top advisers.

Now Yan Xiang raised his hands and said:
"My Lord, the situation our army is currently facing is -

"To the south, the troops of Chen Wang Liu Chong and Chen Guo Xiang Luo Jun are surrounding us. To the southwest, there are troops of Zhang Liao in Yingchuan. To the north, there is Liu Dai of Yanzhou, and to the east, Cao Cao is leading his troops to attack us.

"Now our army is surrounded by enemies and in danger. There are only two ways to go -

"First, continue to march north and seize the entire Chenliu County and Dong County. Cao Cao, the governor of Dong County, is approaching Xuzhou and Pengcheng to avenge his father. Even if he turns back and leads his troops to attack, it will be difficult to catch up in a short time. We still have time.

"At this time, as long as we attack Yuan Shao of Jizhou from both sides, we can seize Dongjun even if there are still forces like Liu Dai in Yanzhou. At that time, we can form a horn with Yuan Shao of Jizhou to face the enemies who come from the outside."

Yuan Shu glanced at a piece of intelligence, which was a military report on Yuan Shao leading his troops across the Yellow River to attack Dongjun.

As long as they continue to move north, they can definitely attack Dongjun with Yuan Shao and seize Dongjun. They can support each other and defend back to back.

But after hearing this, Yuan Shu shook his head!
If they continued to head north, they might be able to capture Dongjun and Chenliu counties and tear open a gap in Yanzhou.

However, he might face siege and attack from multiple armies, such as Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai, Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin, Dongjun Prefect Cao Cao who turned back and attacked, and even Yuzhou Chen King Liu Chong, Chen State Prime Minister Luo Jun and other forces!
The situation is even more serious than in Nanyang!

After all, Nanyang is close to Runan, which is the territory that the Yuan family has operated for decades. After the death of the eldest son Yuan Ji, the second eldest son Yuan Shu took over the foundation and strength of the Yuan family and could give back to Yuan Shu in Nanyang.

But if Yuan Shu occupied Dongjun, the only one he could rely on would be Yuan Shao of Jizhou!
In the future, Yuan Shu can only rely on Yuan Shao, like a hungry baby. If Yuan Shao runs out of food, he will be in great danger!

Even though the two brothers were now allied, Yuan Shu looked down on this adopted son of a maid from the bottom of his heart. He was the legitimate son, so why should he rely on the illegitimate son Yuan Shao? It would be better to kill him!

Thinking of this, Yuan Shu asked: "What about the second way?"

When Yan Xiang saw Yuan Shu's expression, he had actually guessed Yuan Shu's worries, so he paused and continued:
"Second, decisively give up attacking Yanzhou. While the enemy has not yet surrounded us, we should go south along the Yingshui River, cross the Huai River, and occupy Huainan. We should use the natural barrier of the Huai River to block the enemy's troops."

Yuan Shu hesitated for a moment, then decisively ordered: "Lead the troops south to Huainan immediately!"

"promise!!!"

Neither the civil officials nor the military officers had any objection, not even any surprise.

In fact, they were already prepared for this step.

When Yuan Shao wanted to provoke Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, and Cao Cao, the governor of Dongjun, Yuan Shu chose the path of Tao Qian of Xuzhou and provoked a dispute between Tao Qian and Cao Cao.

This was not only intended to plunge Yanzhou and Xuzhou into chaos, but also to affect areas adjacent to Xuzhou such as Yangzhou.

Yuan Shu and his advisers had conceived a strategy long ago - that is, to split Huainan, manage Jiangdong, use the natural barrier of the Huai River to block the imperial army, and divide the world into two by relying on the Huai River!

Now, it’s just a matter of going with the flow!

But before Yuan Shu's army could gather and march south, an urgent military report suddenly arrived: "Report! The troops of Cao Cao, the governor of Dongjun, have entered Suiyang, Liang State, and are less than fifty miles away from our army!"

"What?!!!"

Yuan Shu's army was shocked and couldn't believe it!

Cao Cao was fighting in Pei County, where Pengcheng and Pei State bordered, not long ago. How come he had already reached Suiyang in Liang State in just half a day? !

This is simply an accelerated march of a thousand miles a day, which is unbelievable!

Yan Xiang frowned and asked anxiously: "Is it Cao Cao's vanguard? Or the main force?! Who is the leader?!"

"The cavalry unit is led by Xiahou Yuan, but we don't know the specific details!" the messenger replied.

Yan Xiang asked some more details, and then the messenger was allowed to go down.

Yan Xiang pondered for a moment, then bowed and looked at Yuan Shu and said:
"My lord, this is only Cao Cao's vanguard, led by Xiahou Yuan. It is said that this unit is called the 'Tiger and Leopard Cavalry', and is a cavalry unit that Cao Cao personally built after he took office in Dongjun.

Xiahou Yuan is good at running thousands of miles. He may seem to be coming with great force, but he is already exhausted after a quick march. We can wait for him to tire himself out and try to ambush him near Kuangting."

...

"Follow the plan!"

Yuan Shu immediately gave orders, but when he learned that it was only Cao Cao's vanguard, and that they were marching thousands of miles at a rapid speed, he immediately sneered.

Can you scare me with just this?! Do you really think that Yuan Shu is a vegetarian?!
...

Yuan Shu's army immediately set up an ambush at Kuangting near Xiangyi, but when Xiahou Yuan led the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to attack, he did not rush into an attack. He did not even fall for it and hovered near Xiangyi without attacking.

Even though Yuan Shu's army took the initiative to attack and try to lure the enemy deeper, Xiahou Yuan did not fall for it. He just used the mobility of the cavalry to slow down the march of Yuan Shu's army.

It was not until this time that Yuan Shu’s army realized that they had fallen into a trap again!

Cao Cao was worried that Yuan Shu would directly attack Yanzhou, so he sent Xiahou Yuan to delay the enemy's speed and buy time for the main force to arrive.

When Yuan Shu found out, he was furious!
He never expected that Yuan Shu, the great general and governor of Nanyang, would be fooled by Cao Cao, the daughter of a eunuch.

Yuan Shu immediately ordered his troops to march into Liang State and engage Cao Cao's large army. He defeated Cao's army by taking the initiative to attack!
But the counselor Yan Xiang tried his best to stop him: "My lord, our army's strategic intention is to march south to Huainan, not to fight with Cao Cao. If our march speed is really delayed, we will fall into Cao Cao's evil plan!"

"Cao Cao is just the descendant of a eunuch. He got the position of governor of Dongjun by flattering and fawning on his superiors. What is there to be afraid of? When he was in the capital, he was just a younger brother of Yuan Shao. There is no need to be afraid!
"And after we defeat Cao Cao, we will march south to Huainan. This is called killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, and it can also avoid being blocked and disturbed by scoundrels on the road. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?!"

There is nothing wrong with what Yuan Shu said. Although he is arrogant and narrow-minded, he can become a powerful warlord and gather capable ministers and generals under his command, so he naturally has his strengths.

But the problem is that Yuan Shu underestimated Cao Cao too much!

Yuan Shu's army was unable to persuade Yuan Shu, so they could only act according to the plan. They took the initiative to attack Cao's main force to attract Xiahou Yuan and other Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, hoping to kill them with one blow and defeat Cao's army!
however!
They met in Ningling of Liang State, and a fight broke out immediately!

Finally, Yuan Shu's army was defeated!!!

"Impossible!!! I'm not as good as a maid's adopted son, but now even the eunuch can step on my head and show off his power?!!!"

Yuan Shu roared in disbelief.

But defeat was already inevitable and the army had no choice but to retreat to Yongqiu.

Cao Cao immediately led his army to besiege Yongqiu, but Yuan Shu's army made a feint, avoided the encirclement of Cao's army, and successfully fled south to Kuangting.

It was equivalent to going around in circle, and finally luring Cao Cao to the north, creating an opportunity for them to move south.

However, at this time, King Chen Liu Chong and Chen State Prime Minister Luo Jun led their troops north and encountered Yuan Shu's defeated army!
A battle broke out between the two sides at Kuangting, and Cao's army chased them up. In a three-way melee, Yuan Shu's army was defeated again!
Yuan Shu's army fled to Ningling again. Just when they gathered their defeated soldiers here, Cao's army and the allied forces of Prince Chen attacked them.

Yuan Shu's army could only flee southward, being chased and killed all the way. After more than ten battles, Yuan Shu's army was defeated every time!
When Yuan Shu's army finally escaped across the Huai River, only four or five thousand defeated soldiers were left.

"What a shame! I was chased for more than 600 miles by a eunuch like Cao Cao? What a shame!!"

Yuan Shu was furious.

However, he suffered defeat after defeat along the way and lost all his prestige. When he fled to Shouchun in Jiujiang, the person guarding Shouchun was Chen Yu, a general under Yuan Shu, who refused to let Yuan Shu enter the city.

A tiger in dire straits is bullied by a dog!!!
Yuan Shu was worried about this accident at the beginning, so he took the initiative to attack Cao's army, wanting to kill the chicken to scare the monkey and deter the villains. In this way, he could go south smoothly and easily capture Jiujiang.

However, who could have thought that Cao Cao, a eunuch, would be so brave and diligent, and his military strategy would be so outstanding? !

Yuan Shu suffered defeat in successive battles and was surrounded and intercepted by the troops of Chen Wang Liu Chong and others. Finally, he fled to Huainan like a stray dog.

At this time, how could Yuan Shu still have any prestige? !
It is estimated that Yuan Shu’s disciples, former officials and followers who once depended on Yuan Shu or even submitted to him are now in power!

Yuan Shu was so angry that he could only retreat to Yinling. He regrouped, recruited more soldiers, and attacked Shouchun. Finally, he captured Shouchun and finally had a chance to catch his breath.

……

Cao Cao chased Yuan Shu for more than 600 miles and originally wanted to kill him on the other side of the Huai River. However, because he had no boats prepared in advance, he could only look at the river and sigh!
At the same time, news came from the rear that Yuan Shao was attacking Yanzhou. After all, he was the governor of Dongjun, so he immediately led his troops back to defend.

However, when passing through Qiao County of Pei State, Cao Cao heard a strange story - when Cao's army was fighting with Yuan Shu's army, Yuan Shu's defeated army scattered in all directions, and the soldiers passed like combs, harassing the surrounding counties.

Xu Chu of Qiao County gathered thousands of able-bodied men and clansmen to build defensive facilities to resist the invasion of bandits.

At that time, tens of thousands of Yuan army soldiers were defeated and surrounded Qiao County. In fact, they wanted to dig up Cao Cao's ancestral tomb. Due to lack of food, they asked the surrounding people for food and fodder, but Xu Chu refused, and the two sides fought.

In the end, Xu Chu was outnumbered, exhausted, and ran out of arrows. He ordered both men and women to find Dashi to fight off the enemy.

When the enemy soldiers rushed forward, Xu Chu threw stones to repel them with his immense strength, so the enemy soldiers dared not approach.

When the food was almost gone, Xu Chu pretended to ask for peace with the bandits and discussed exchanging cattle for food.

After the bandits moved the cow away, the cow ran back by itself. Xu Chu then went to the front of the battle line, pulled the cow's tail and walked more than a hundred steps. The bandits were frightened and dared not come to take the cow again!
They did not even dare to stay in Qiao County, and went south to plunder.

The name of Xu Chu is well-known in Qiao County!
I believe that as time goes by, it will become famous in Huai, Ru, Chen, and Liang! …

"To drag two oxen by their tails for hundreds of steps, the two oxen must weigh at least a thousand pounds, not to mention they are live. The oxen are moving forward and the man is pulling them backward. The opposing forces must be at least four or five thousand pounds!"

Cao Cao was greatly shocked when he heard this: "I never thought that such a brave man would appear in my hometown! It's amazing!"

“It’s really amazing!!!”

Brothers Xiahou Yuan and others were also amazed!

It should be noted that the Cao family and the Xiahou family were both from Qiao County, Pei State, Yuzhou. Xu Chu was naturally closer to them.

They immediately paid a visit to Xu Chu. After Cao Cao extended an olive branch, Xu Chu thought about it and led the able-bodied men and clansmen to follow Cao Cao and submit to the court.

This great general joined Cao's army!

Cao Cao reorganized his troops in his hometown and marched quickly back to Yanzhou.

...

The entire Yuzhou and Yanzhou were affected by the war. Not only did they cause great loss of life and ruin to the country, but the impact was also serious, causing many people to be separated from their wives and children and their families to be destroyed.

A speck of dust from the times weighs on a person's head, like a mountain. Otherwise, why do people suffer from prosperity and decline?
Emperor Liu Bian of the Han Dynasty immediately issued an edict ordering Prince of Chen Liu Chong, Prime Minister of Chen Luo Jun and other governors of Yuzhou counties/states to pacify the people in their jurisdiction, provide relief to the people, and restore people's livelihood.

The performance of Prince of Chen Liu Chong was outstanding, and was not inferior to those of the Han royal family such as Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, and Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou.

But the problem is that King Chen Liu Chong is a vassal king!
After Emperor Ling of Han abolished the historian and established the governor, he made use of members of the royal family, but he was always wary of the princes because he was worried about the recurrence of the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms".

But Liu Bian was not worried, he had the confidence!

Every emperor who is wise, talented and powerful can suppress the ambitions of his subjects!

Such as the hero Cao Cao, such as King Chen Liu Chong!

These people are a double-edged sword.

If used properly, it can be a powerful weapon to kill the enemy and a capable general to govern the country! If used improperly, it will backfire and the ruler will be weak and the ministers will be strong!
And Liu Bian was confident that he could make perfect use of it!
……

Just as the battle between Cao Cao's army, Chen Wang Liu Chong's army and Yuan Shu's army was in full swing, a great battle also broke out along the Yellow River.

Yuan Shao of Jizhou launched a strong attack on Yanzhou.

The purpose of Yuan Shao's army was to share the pressure with Yuan Shu's army and attack Yanzhou from both sides. But they did not expect that all this was just a trick by the court to lure the enemy to attack!

Cao Cao, the governor of Dongjun, Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, and Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, pretended to fight in Pei County, but it was just a bluff.

As the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu attacked, Cao Cao moved westward to attack Yuan Shu's army. Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, immediately led his troops northward to support the battlefield in Yanzhou.

Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, and other loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty immediately formed a strategic defense line to block Yuan Shao's troops from advancing southward.

In fact, at this time, if Yuan Shu's army insisted on going north to Yanzhou and attacking from the front and back together with Yuan Shao of Jizhou, they could seize Dongjun and other places and open a breakthrough in Yanzhou.

This is also the result Yuan Shao hopes to see!

Qingzhou and Yanzhou have always been facing each other across the Yellow River. How can we allow others to sleep soundly beside our bed?!

Yuan Shao needs to support a force to open a breakthrough for him in Yanzhou and respond to Shanyang Prefect Yuan Yi!

Yuan Shu is the best candidate!
Brothers of the same heart, their profits cut through gold!
however!
After losing Nanyang, Yuan Shu gave up going north to Yanzhou and chose to go south to Huainan instead.

This also left Yuan Shao's army fighting alone!

Upon hearing the news, Yuan Shao was so angry that he almost vomited blood: "Short-sighted!!!"

Although he did not mention any names, the civil and military officials in Yuan’s camp knew that Yuan Shao was talking about Yuan Shu!
"Lord, we must withdraw to Jizhou!"

Feng Ji and other counselors said solemnly: "Now that we are fighting alone, it is no longer conducive to staying in Yanzhou!"

"withdraw!!!"

Yuan Shao gave the order decisively.

However, at this time, Yuan Shao wanted to withdraw, but the imperial troops would not let him go!
Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, led his army to attack Pingyuan. Liu Dai of Yanzhou and Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, dealt with Yuan Yi, the prefect of Shanyang, while attacking Yuan Shao's army.

At the same time, Wang Kuang, governor of Henei, sent troops to Weijun, and Qin Qiong, general of the expedition to the east, who was stationed at Hulao Pass, led his troops to attack.

The entire army was mobilized to the Yellow River front.

There is no way to retreat at this time!

As long as Yuan Shao's army ordered a forced withdrawal, the imperial army would rush forward and the central gate behind them would be wide open, and they would be defeated like a landslide!
Exposing your back to the enemy is a big taboo during marching!

Withdrawing troops is also a science!
Just like in the original history, after Zhuge Liang fell in Wuzhangyuan, he devised a plan to scare away the living Sima Qian with the dead Zhuge Liang, and the Shu army was able to withdraw smoothly.

Otherwise, if the Shu army withdraws hastily, Sima Yi will take advantage of the victory and pursue them, resulting in a crushing defeat!
Yuan Shao's army is now in such a dilemma.

Yuan Shao had no choice but to submit a petition to the court to apologize, hoping to be pardoned.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Liu Bian of the Han Dynasty sneered and directly ordered Yuan Shao to come to the capital to be interrogated by the Supreme Court.

"Humph! Do you really think I'm an idiot?!"

With the lessons learned from his uncle Yuan Wei and his brother Yuan Ji, Yuan Shao dared not go to the capital to stand trial.

He was unwilling to surrender. Since begging for mercy was useless, he could only end the war with war!
Yuan Shao mobilized troops from Jizhou and rushed to the Yellow River, deciding to use force to repel the imperial troops.

At the same time, he ordered Yu Fuluo to lead the Southern Xiongnu troops to harass Bingzhou, and Zhang Yan to lead the Black Mountain Army to harass the Henei County area.

He even sent a message to Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, asking him to keep an eye on Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, to prevent him from asking for leave and causing Yuan Shao's army to be attacked from all sides.

The entire Jizhou Yuan Shao military alliance was mobilized by Yuan Shao!

To be honest, if Yuan Shu's army had not fled to Huainan at this time, but headed north to Yanzhou, they would have been able to swallow up Yanzhou in one fell swoop!
This made Yuan Shao even more angry with Yuan Shu, and he felt very disappointed with him!
However, there were also many students and former officials of the Yuan family, as well as Yuan family aristocratic followers in Yanzhou, and Shanyang prefect Yuan Yi was a descendant of the Yuan family.

This is a huge force!
The fact that Shanyang Prefect Yuan Yi is still jumping around in Yanzhou today shows how powerful the Yuan family and the aristocratic families behind them are!

In this battle, Yuan Shao mobilized the power of the entire Yanzhou, or in other words, the power of the aristocratic families hidden in Yanzhou who were resisting the imperial power!
For all this, Yuan Shao still needs to thank His Majesty!
If it weren't for Your Majesty's insistence on implementing the "tax burden per acre", many aristocratic families would probably just stand by and watch, and would not secretly support the Yuan family with all their strength!
To distribute the tax according to the amount of land is to undermine the foundation of the aristocratic families!
Even if those aristocratic families do not dare to resist the imperial power on the surface, they will definitely resist it in secret!

The Yuan family is the representative of these aristocratic families’ resistance to imperial power!

Just like when these aristocratic families coveted military power and the upright officials hoped to lift the ban on party imprisonment, they pushed the Taiping Dao to rebel and launched the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

And now, they are also pushing the Yuan family to rebel against the imperial power behind the scenes!

...

Yuan Shao sent his nephew Gao Gan and eldest son Yuan Tan to garrison Pingyuan County.

Pingyuan County was actually under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou, but more than half of its territory was located on the other side of the Yellow River. It was naturally impossible for Yuan Shao to let Liu Bei's troops guard Pingyuan County, so he always sent heavy troops to guard it.

Just as Yuan Shu occupied Nanyang County in Jingzhou, Yuan Shao also occupied Pingyuan County in Qingzhou.

This was to prevent the troops of Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, from directly attacking Bohai and Qinghe in Jizhou from Pingyuan County and harassing the flank of Yuan Shao's army.

Now that he has decided to end the war with war, he naturally needs to contain Liu Bei of Qingzhou. Therefore, sending his nephew Gao Gan and eldest son Yuan Tan is enough to prove Yuan Shao's determination and his importance to Liu Bei!
Yuan Shao's main force attempted to cross the river and attack Yanzhou.

In fact, the only place where Yuan’s army could cross the river and land was the ferry along the coast of Dongjun, Yanzhou.

Because Qingzhou Jinan State and Yanzhou Jibei State seem to be bordering each other on the map, but in fact there is a Taishan mountain range blocking the two counties, which is not conducive to large-scale military operations.

Therefore, if Yuan Shao of Jizhou wanted to go south, his only marching routes were Pingyuan County of Qingzhou and Dong County of Yanzhou. These two counties had ferry crossings for marching and fighting!

Because Qingzhou had experienced the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the power of the aristocratic families was minimal and difficult to use. Instead, Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, took control of the situation.

If Yuan Shao's army chose to land in Qingzhou, they would be stuck in a stalemate, and Qingzhou is surrounded by mountains such as Taishan, Lushan, Yishan, and Mengshan.

By then, Yuan Shao’s army will be surrounded and fighting like a trapped beast!

Therefore, the attack location chosen by Yuan Shao's army was the coast of Yanzhou Dongjun!
This is also why, in the original history, Yuan Shao recommended Cao Cao as the governor of Dongjun.

Because Cao Cao at that time was dependent on Yuan Shao and was his younger brother, and Yuan Shao opened a breakthrough into Yanzhou through Cao Cao.

Dongjun became the bridgehead for Jizhou to enter Yanzhou after crossing the Yellow River!
However, this marching route map was easy to judge, so Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai, Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin and other troops immediately deployed their troops after Cao Cao led his troops to Pei County to confront Tao Qian.

The main force of Yuan Shao's army crossed the Yellow River to attack Yanzhou, and the main force was stationed in Yuancheng, Weijun, and tried to attack Dongwuyang County, Dongjun, Yanzhou. There has been no significant progress, and they are stuck in a dilemma!

……

(End of this chapter)