Chapter 131: Hebei Situation
As expected, the Southern Xiongnu and the Baibo bandits jointly attacked Jizhou, dividing their troops into two routes.
They marched eastward from Shangdang and headed straight for Yecheng.
They advanced eastward from Taiyuan with great fanfare and without any concealment, even approaching the border of Youzhou.
Faced with the bandits from Taiyuan, the local officials of Jizhou fled as if they had made an agreement with the enemy, and evacuated in an orderly manner all the way eastward. Tens of thousands of troops were stationed directly on the border between Youzhou and Jizhou, forming a standoff with the bandit army.
After getting the information, Tian Ze held his forehead and sighed.
What kind of magic potion did Yuan Shao take to make the Southern Xiongnu and the Baibo bandits so obedient? They really acted like dogs to him. They would attack wherever he told them to.
Originally, there were more than 60,000 officers and soldiers stationed on the border of Youzhou and Jizhou. Now, there are nearly 100,000 more barbarians and bandits.
On the surface they were in confrontation, but in reality they were all eyeing Youzhou.
However, these barbarians and bandits also gave Tian Ze an excuse to intervene in Jizhou.
However, just as Tian Ze was about to send his troops, news came from Jizhou.
A Southern Xiongnu army of more than 30,000 soldiers marched eastward, breaking through several passes, and in just a few days they reached Yecheng. Tens of thousands of Baibo soldiers followed and plundered everywhere.
Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, was on the wall, and seeing that his life was about to be lost, he immediately agreed to Xun Chen's suggestion and gave the position of governor of Jizhou to Yuan Shao.
Upon receiving the news, Yuan Shao led light cavalry to Yecheng in less than a day. It was obvious that he had made preparations in advance and legitimately obtained the position of Governor of Jizhou from Han Fu.
However, such behavior cannot be hidden from the eyes of knowledgeable people in the world.
Everyone despised this "poor" plot directed by Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao was very calm, after all, he had the right to do so. Any accusation without any substantial evidence was slander.
With his directing skills, he could actually make the plot more realistic and not give anyone any reason to criticize him.
But after experiencing the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, he learned his lesson.
Man proposes, God disposes.
If the plot tries to take everything into consideration, it will be more likely to go wrong, so it is better to keep it simple to avoid mistakes. At this point, don't worry too much, just take Jizhou in your pocket first.
If we delay any longer, it would be disastrous if an accident like what happened to Dong Zhuo happened again.
After almost seamlessly obtaining the post of Governor of Jizhou from Han Fu, Yuan Shao immediately integrated the Jizhou troops and, with Ju Su, Xu You, Shen Pei, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and Chunyu Qiong, led an army of 100,000 straight to the You-Ji border.
At the same time, he ordered Feng Ji, who had been waiting at the border, to lead Gao Gan and Gao Lan to take over the command of more than 60,000 officers and soldiers.
Only Guo Tu, Xun Chen and Jiang Yiqu were left to lead tens of thousands of defenders to guard Jizhou.
The Southern Xiongnu and Baibo Army, which had originally prepared to besiege Yecheng, immediately dispersed after Yuan Shao came to power. Instead of evacuating, they began to plunder various places in Jizhou.
With Yuan Shao's tacit approval, or perhaps his inability to control him, the Southern Xiongnu and the Baibo bandits looted Jizhou for a whole month, affecting half of the state, before they withdrew.
At the same time, on the border of Jizhou, Tian Ze, accompanied by Guan Yu, Le Jin, Ma Teng, Pang De, Dian Wei, Gao Shun and others, personally led an army of more than 60,000 and arrived in Yi County.
Xu Huang led an army of 20,000 to garrison Zhuo County in the rear, and Jiang Qin led 10,000 naval forces as reserve.
Yi County is located in Hejian County, but is very close to Zhuo County. Next to it is Yijing, where Gongsun Zan fought stubbornly in the original historical trajectory.
At this time, Yuan Shao's army had not arrived yet, but there were nearly 100,000 Southern Xiongnu and Baibo troops surrounding them. In addition, the 60,000 Jizhou troops with Feng Ji as military advisor and Gao Gan and Gao Lan as generals had already built camps and were ready to defend.
"Military Advisor, the enemy and our forces are now similar in strength. However, we have the support of the Southern Xiongnu and the Baibo bandits. Perhaps we can take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold and attack them."
In Yuan Jun’s camp, Gao Lan spoke first.
As one of the Four Pillars of Hebei in later generations and a prominent family in Hebei, Gao Lan was Yuan Shao's confidant, second only to Yan Liang and Wen Chou. His talent "bringing the masses" allowed him to increase the physical fitness of his own soldiers according to the comparison of the strength of both sides when his troops outnumbered the enemy's.
Although they do not have the advantage in military strength at present, with the Southern Xiongnu and Baibo bandits present, he believes that Tian Ze would not dare to attack with all his strength, and his military strength will definitely be inferior to his own.
In this way, he will have a certain chance of winning.
Feng Ji glanced at Gao Lan, then thought of the neat marching formation of Tian Ze's army and the luxurious equipment of the soldiers he had just seen, and shook his head slightly.
"Jingzhi, Tianze has not yet attacked. He has only deployed troops on the border to defend against bandits. We should not attack them lightly, otherwise we will be at a disadvantage in terms of justice."
"What's more, the strength of the Youzhou army is known to the world. Although you have the ability to command troops, we have just entered Jizhou. These 60,000 troops are just a patchwork of various families. Most of them are new soldiers and their combat effectiveness is worrying. If we send troops to attack, I'm afraid the outcome is unpredictable."
"You'd better stay calm. My lord will arrive in less than ten days. By then, we will have an absolute advantage in terms of military strength and will definitely be able to defeat the enemy and perhaps take Youzhou."
Feng Ji is quite good at military affairs, and his talent of "finding opportunities" enables him to perceive the enemy's weaknesses more keenly.
But he could hardly see any flaws in Tian Zejun and felt a little uneasy.
However, after seeing the senior official nearby, he felt relieved.
Gao Lan and Gao Gan are brothers. Although Gao Gan is introverted and low-key, his talents are no less than his brother Gao Lan.
His talent "Holding on" can improve the morale and resilience of his soldiers when they are defending.
Yuan Shao arranged the two brothers here to make preparations for both situations.
If the Youzhou army is weak, Gao Lan will lead the army into Youzhou. If the Youzhou army is strong, Gao Gan will lead the army to garrison.
But from Feng Ji's perspective, the Youzhou army is not weak in strength and its quality is far superior to his own. They can be considered a formidable enemy, so it is better to be cautious.
Gao Lan and Gao Gan had received Yuan Shao's orders when they arrived, requiring them to act in accordance with Feng Ji's instructions, so they both nodded in agreement.
Feng Ji realized that the situation was not right and did not dare to attack rashly.
However, Tian Ze would not be frightened by this.
"As expected of Yuan Benchu, he leads an army of over 100,000 at a time, and he has another 100,000 troops on the way from behind. He is truly powerful!" Tian Ze couldn't help but sigh after learning about the current situation.
Originally, he wanted to take the opportunity to attack Yuan Shao, but he didn't expect that Yuan Shao actually started to want him instead, and on the surface he even had the upper hand.
However, Tian Ze was not worried. He could hardly figure out how many militiamen he had under his rule. It was no problem to mobilize 200,000 militiamen in Youzhou alone.
Although these local militiamen are weak, they can easily defeat the so-called Jizhou soldiers after being equipped with weapons and equipment.
"My lord, the Xianbei soldiers are approaching Daijun and Shanggu. As expected, if Yuan Benchu does not take action, it will be a fatal move. But with General Xu Rong here, Youzhou will be safe." Guo Jia said after taking out the latest intelligence.
Tian Ze's eyes narrowed slightly: "Yuan Benchu's appetite is too big, he just took over Jizhou and he wants to take over my Youzhou?"
"Not necessarily. Perhaps Yuan Shao just wants to show off his strength. After all, he has just taken over Jizhou and is not stable internally. He is making such a big fuss, but I'm afraid he doesn't necessarily want to have a decisive battle with us right now."
"Instead, he should use offense as defense and force us not to covet Jizhou in a short period of time, so as to buy time for development. Moreover, this will also establish his authority." Xun You said.
Yuan Shao would never have the delusion of quickly annexing two states with one county, unless he was the reincarnation of Liu Xiu.
After all, it takes time to digest territory and consolidate power. Otherwise, Yuan Shao would not have waited four or five years after occupying the four states in Hebei before deciding to move south to the Central Plains.
You have to know that at that time Gongsun Zan was basically half-crippled. The four states were all taken by Yuan Shao, and Gongsun Zan could only defend Yijing.
Don't even mention whether Yuan Shao has the ability to take it, he just can't take it. Yijing is just a county, and Gongsun Zan has been completely defeated and has no fighting power at all. Only a small army can besiege and kill him.
(End of this chapter)
