Chapter 713: Departure
Once the strategy is laid out, all that remains is execution.
This time, Yuan Shao wanted to use the manor warriors under his rule as usual. On the one hand, these people were indeed brave, and on the other hand, he had already paid these people.
That was the land and manor he had given away. So it works, it’s easy to use and it doesn’t cost any money, so why not use it?
To this end, he first recruited more than 10,000 warriors who had participated in the Jingzhou war before, and asked them to gather at Guangcheng Pass with Yu Ding, soldiers and horses.
Then he very forcefully recruited all the disciples and tribes of various powerful forces under his rule into the army. Since you people are waiting for the future, you have no need for these military forces now, so give me Yuan Shao.
At the same time, Yuan Shao also opened up his treasury and used all the accumulation of the four generations of Yuan clan and the military supplies seized over the years to recruit refugees and knights from all over the country.
Yuan Shao expects that the war with the Taishan Army will last until next year, and around the second half of the year, he will be able to train an army of 100,000 people. By then, combined with the current military strength, he will have a military strength of 200,000.
With such a huge military strength, how can the Taishan Army win with the constraints of its surrounding allies?
After dispatching about 10,000 warriors to Guangcheng Pass, Yuan Shao allocated 20,000 soldiers from his own army to form the first offensive army.
In this legion, Yuan Shao streamlined the original complex organization and arms, and instead consisted of three types of soldiers: infantry, cavalry, and chariots.
Among them, the infantry consists of three soldiers: steps, swords and crossbows, and is organized in a qu camp. Among them, there are hundreds of people in each song and about 500 people in each battalion, forming the most independent basic unit.
Then three battalions form a captain's department, and four captains' departments form an army. The number of each army varies, ranging from 4,000 to 6,000.
Each army has its own independent cavalry and chariots, responsible for forming what Ju Yi calls a stacked formation. Then several armies cooperated with each other and belonged to the same commander.
This time, the commander appointed by Yuan Shao was Ju Yi. He would serve as the commander of this attack and lead an army of 30,000 to surround and kill more than 5,000 enemy troops.
In addition to organizing and training this advance army, Yuan Shao's army also has a very important component, which is the personal army with the core of his Yuan family's children, retainers, disciples, and tribes.
The officials who personally served in the army were all the best in each army. They numbered about 10,000 people, half of which were cavalry.
Within the Qin Congjun, there is also an army under Yuan Shao's tent. They were all personally selected by Yuan Shao from among his old soldiers. They are the best of the best.
Their nature is the same as that of the Taishan Army's Hengchang General. They are not only a symbol of force in the army but also the cradle of Yuan's army's middle-level officers.
In addition, there are Yuan Shao's assault cavalry troops.
Yuan Shao attaches great importance to cavalry, but because it is located in the Central Plains and not close to the surrounding horse-producing areas, Yuan Shao's entire cavalry force adds up to about seven or eight thousand people.
It is these seven or eight thousand cavalry that form the core of Yuan Shao's military equipment. Except for some cavalry units attached to various armies as breakthroughs and liaisons, only the Beifu Knights and Xifu Knights use the cavalry as a complete military system.
Almost all of the Beifu knights were powerful children who fled from the north to the Central Plains in the south. These people had a blood feud with the Taishan Army. Their commander was originally Gao Lan, but now he is Zhang He.
The Xifu Knights were exiles who fled to Nanyang from the Sanfu area. These people came here to join Yuan Shao's troops, either because of the war or because of Yuan's temptation.
Yuan Shao appointed his personal general Wen Chou as the Xifu Cavalry General, commanding three thousand Xifu knights.
How much does Yuan Shao trust Wen Chou? Let's put it this way, if ordinary people had lost Yuan Tan's life, let alone death, all three clans would have been killed by Yuan Shaoyi, but in the case of Wen Chou, Yuan Shao deducted three months of his salary.
An heir like Yuan Tan is worth three months' salary.
This army is Yuan Shao's veteran army from Runan that conquered the Central Plains and Jingbiao. It can be said that apart from the Taishan Army, this army is the strongest force in the Central Plains.
The fighting spirit of this unit was actually built on its hatred of the Taishan Army.
Whether they are the direct victims of the Taishan Army's land-sharing storm, such as the Beifushi, or the indirect victims, such as the Xifushi, they all hate the Taishan Army.
It was these fools who caused rebellion in Guizhou that made the golden age of the Han Dynasty become a thing of the past.
They nostalgic for the past era of civilized clothing and politeness, when people's hearts were kind, Guizhou's leaders were peaceful, and the nobles were benevolent.
Instead of being filled with uneasy subordinates and superiors like now.
It was these remnants of the old era who formed the backbone of Yuan's army. Under the banner of Chen Gong and Yuan Shao, they fought in the north and south. The army was everything, and they followed wherever the military flag pointed.
This kind of loyalty can be easily explained, because Yuan Shao is a master who conforms to all their beautiful imaginations, and is a worthy flag-bearer who can restore the era of clothes and clothes.
Since the four generations of the Yuan family, each generation has been kind to their subordinates. Over the past hundred years, I don’t know how many people and families have been helped by the Yuan family. The kindness that dripped from the water was repaid with the spring of spring, not to mention that Yuan Shao had such a charming personality. .
For these warriors in the army, Yuan Shao knew what they wanted and was very generous in sharing everything with them.
Those manors, land, and slaves were given to them by Yuan Shao. It was Yuan Shao who made them become masters and decent warriors.
Moreover, Yuan Shao was very fair during the enfeoffment process. As long as they met the requirements for military merit, he would reward them without hesitation and give them everything they deserve.
What's more important is that Yuan Shao's generosity is limited to warriors like them, and does not allow those humble mud-legged people to taint this glory.
This made these warriors more grateful and more sympathetic to Yuan Shao.
It was under a system like Yuan Shao's that many low-level warriors with ordinary backgrounds but courage were given the opportunity to become nobles from an illiterate wandering ranger.
Therefore, these people's recognition of Yuan Shao and Chen Gongguo is not inferior to the recognition of the Taishan Army by the children of Mount Tai.
You, the Taishan Army, have the ideal of "the great cause of the Yellow Sky", and we Yuan Jun warriors also have the dream of "the warriors ruling the country".
No one is more correct than anyone else, right?
But Yuan Jun also has hidden dangers.
Needless to say, the veteran troops under his command were all warriors who were accustomed to fighting. However, the troops formed after the Battle of Jiangxia were of mixed quality.
These second-line troops are filled with a large number of civilians, brave men, and tribesmen. These people have neither military experience nor are they trusted by the warriors in Yuan's army.
In the eyes of these warriors, these people come from humble origins and are easily attracted by the Taishan Army. However, these people have neither glory to speak of nor lands and houses to protect, so how can they be trusted?
Therefore, many warriors signed a letter to Duke Chen, objecting to the incorporation of these lowly people into the army. But Yuan Shao had no choice. There were only so many warriors, and he had to gather a large amount of military power to deal with the subsequent battle.
Therefore, even though some brave civilians continued to desert, Yuan Jun still did not stop their recruitment, and a large number of tribesmen and disciples were forcibly recruited into the camp.
Fortunately, Yuan Shao still had enough time to train these people, otherwise such troops would be destined to die if they were sent to the front line.
Guo Jia once persuaded Yuan Shao not to rush to form such a force, because the current military strength is enough to defend Dago Pass and Guangcheng Pass, and with the current distribution of military strength of the Taishan Army, it is difficult to directly threaten Yuzhou. Guo Jia still insisted on the previous plan. He believed that Yuan Jun should be more cautious in dealing with the war with the Taishan Army. When complete preparations are not made, allies in Qingzhou and Yanzhou can be allowed to infiltrate and harass the Taishan Army's inner lines.
He even believed that his own side would not be the next target of the Taishan Army, because Kansai, which had restored its strength, was even more of a threat to the Taishan Army, so Yuan Shao must not act blindly.
But Yuan Shao was not happy to hear what Guo Jia said. After all, Guo Jia still disagreed with his plan to actively attack the Taishan Army.
Mr. Guo Jia thought he was launching an army out of anger, but he underestimated himself. Although Yuan Tan's death made him heartbroken, it did not burn away his reason. He knew very well that now was his last chance.
Either the Taishan army will be driven north of the river in one fell swoop, or there will be nothing.
Yuan Shao had this truth and determination, but he didn't understand why the wise Guo Jia didn't understand it? So much so that he once thought that Guo Jia was jealous because he made Xu You the prime minister of the principality, so he would oppose whatever Xu You wanted to do.
Guo Jia saw Yuan Shao's disbelief in him, so he couldn't say anything more. He just hoped that Yuan Shao would let him return to Runan and assist Yuan Shang in sorting out military affairs.
Yuan Shao agreed.
In this way, one day before the army set off, Guo Jia went south to Runan by bicycle alone. There, he wanted to leave another escape route for the Yuan family.
……
No matter how difficult the process was, Yuan Shao believed that he endured it with his strong will. After half a month of preparation, on May 10th, he finally prepared the matters for the expedition.
At Guangcheng Pass, he held a grand expedition ceremony.
First, Chen Lin sang "A Letter to the Thieves of Mount Tai" in the beautiful Heluo Zhengyin, and then Yuan Shao put on a crown and slowly walked up to Guangcheng Pass.
There, 30,000 soldiers were waiting for him.
The sun shone on Yuan Shao's golden clothes, exuding infinite majesty. He promised that the soldiers who went out in battle this time would be given priority in allocating fields and mansions, and their descendants would also be recognized by the Yuan family, promising that within three generations they would all But the children can join the palace.
It can be said that Yuan Shao told everyone in an uncontroversial tone that his Yuan family must last for more than three generations.
Then, the bells and drums rang, and the songs thundered. The camp leaders walked to the pass one after another and bowed to Yuan Shao who was behind the pass.
They swore to the banner of Emperor Shun of the Yellow Emperor behind Yuan Shao that they would raise the banner to victory and offer prisoners to Chen Gongque.
Afterwards, the army, led by the commander-in-chief Ju Yi, stretched out of Guangcheng Pass. They would receive the last batch of personnel supplies at Dagu Pass, and then leave the pass to annihilate the Taishan Army stationed at the mouth of the valley.
……
When the news that Yuan Jun took the initiative reached the Taishan Army camp in Longmen, Commander-in-Chief Yu Jin was having a meal with the generals and discussing the current situation.
Half a month ago, the king ordered Yu Jin to go south with an army of 30,000 people. After some weighing, Yu Jin arranged the camp at the east foot of Longmen Mountain, which is also the east bank of Yishui River.
By choosing Longmen as the main camp, Yu Jin planned to capture the Yique Pass occupied by Yuan Shu first and protect the southwest passage to Kyoto.
But Yuan Shu in Yique Pass was very cautious, even cautious to the point of being obscene. No matter how Zhu Ling tried to seduce him, he would not come out.
However, Yu Jin was not worried because the defenders at Yique Pass did not come out, because he already knew that Hu Muqiu had led the Bohai Navy to move outside the Dagu Pass, blocking the channel for Yuan's army to send troops.
Therefore, Yu Jin's plan at that time was to temporarily deploy troops in the Yique Pass area, so that Yuan Shu would think that the main force was here, and then select elite troops to cross Wan'an Mountain and attack Dagu Pass at the mountain pass.
And while he was planning with a group of military generals, news of Yuan Jun's dispatch of troops was sent to him.
Yu Jin opened the military report, looked at it coldly, then looked overjoyed, and then said to the generals:
"It's really a blessing that fell from heaven. Knowing that we were worried about how to mobilize Yuan Jun from Dagu Pass, Yuan Jun went up and rushed out of the pass. This is really a blessing from God."
The other generals read the military reports one after another, and they also looked happy.
At this time, Xu Huang from the Flying Tiger Army suggested:
"Yu Shuai, now that Yuan Jun is about to set off, shouldn't we take action too?"
After Xu Huang finished speaking, other generals asked Ying to take charge of this task.
But Yu Jin laughed and didn't order anyone. Instead, he said to everyone:
"No, we are going to change our plan now. This time we will not attack Dagong Pass. Instead, we will directly release these Yuan troops out of the valley and place them on the Heluo Basin. Then we will surprise Dagong Pass and then encircle and annihilate the enemy. This is called Close the door and beat the dog.”
Yu Jin finished speaking, but everyone hesitated.
In the end, it was Yu Jin’s old subordinate, Long Jiejun Zhang Da, who spoke up and reminded:
"Yu Shuai, I'm afraid this is not good? Your Majesty is in Kyoto. If we let Yuan Jun enter Luo, if something goes wrong, we will never redeem ourselves."
Yu Jin was stunned for a moment, then looked around the generals and saw that they also meant the same, and then sighed:
"Since when do we have to think about these things when we fight? The only thing we have to consider when leading troops is how to win the battle, rather than trying to figure out what it means. Besides, what mistake did the king make?"
Zhang Da looked at the surrounding generals and saw the disapproval on their faces. He understood that if he was not convinced of this, these generals would not agree with Yu Jin at all.
So Zhang Da quickly added:
"The king must have made no mistakes, but we have to take it into consideration. Yu Shuai, your strategy is indeed good, but if you don't get the king's consent, I'm afraid this good thing will also turn into a bad thing."
Zhang Da didn't say more, but Yu Jin should understand.
Sure enough, after listening to Zhang Da's words, Yu Jin hesitated, then sat back on the mat, stroked his forehead and said tangledly:
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You can't miss it. Okay, I'll write a letter to the king to see how he responds."
So, he immediately wrote an urgent letter in the ban. In the letter, he elaborated on the entire combat idea. He added that this was a great opportunity to annihilate Yuan's army, but Yuan's army only had less than 100,000 troops. If not, Let them enter the basin, and there will be no room for the troops to spread out.
The king's reply arrived early the next morning.
As expected, Zhang Chong fully agreed with Yu Jin's battle plan and expressed his unconditional support.
Yu Jin was overjoyed and was busy preparing to mobilize his troops, but he didn't see Zhang Da's eyes looking at him, full of worry.