Zhang County, the imperial army camp.
There was a military discussion going on in the tent, and Liu Cheng asked: "What's the situation over there in Anping?"
Chen Qun stood up and replied: "Back to my lord, Yuan Shao has made no other moves for the time being.
It seems that he is letting the army regain its strength and strength.
My subordinates think that Yuan Shao wants to wait for work.
After all, a long-term confrontation is not good for our army.
We need to transport grain and grass supplies."
It is a big burden for our army.”
Liu Cheng walked up and down in front of the map with his arms folded.
As he walked, he asked: "How many cavalry does Yuan Shao have?"
"There are three thousand cavalry," the scout battalion captain stood up and answered with clasped fists.
Liu Cheng thought for a while and ordered: "We must find a way to lure out Yuan Shao's three thousand cavalry and kill them.
Send a few small groups of cavalry to attack Yuan Shao's grain road Zhangxiu.
You personally lead the forward three thousand cavalry to ambush near Anping City.
As long as Yuan Shao's cavalry leaves the camp, then take action to deal with it."
"Yes, Your Majesty" Zhang Xiu agreed with his fists clasped, turned around and left with a flick of his cloak.
Liu Cheng smiled and said: "Yuan Shao wants to use this confrontation method to bring down our army's food and grass supply line.
I will make it difficult for his troops and horses to eat.
I want to see how he can continue to confront me."
The supply of food and grass for tens of thousands of troops is indeed a very troublesome problem, especially when the food and grass are constantly attacked.
In less than ten days, the rations of tens of thousands of Yuan's soldiers in Anping were reduced.
Half a year later, they could not get food supplies from Raoyang for several days.
There was a scolding from Yuan Shaoxing's palace in Anping City: "Young Liu Cheng, you are so shameless and you have the ability to let your horse come over to fight.
What kind of skill is it to send cavalry to attack the grain road?
You bastard, you bastard."
All the counselors in the hall looked at each other.
They always resorted to all possible means in battlefield battles.
It is their freedom to send cavalry to attack the grain road.
What does it matter if you call someone shameless?
On the battlefield, the competition is to see who is more shameless and more shameless. vicious Jushou stood up and cupped his hands and said: "Please calm down, my lord, the top priority is to find a way to solve the security problem of the food road, otherwise the army will be dispersed in less than two days."
Yuan Shao said angrily: "If you have any ideas, just tell me."
Jushou shook his head and said: "My lord, I haven't thought of any good solution yet.
Please forgive me, my lord."
Yuan Shao was very annoyed.
He couldn't think of a way.
What are you doing here?
He looked at the other counselors and asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"
Guo Tu looked at the others and saw that no one came out, so he stood up and said: "My lord, General Gao Lan's troops are in the southeast of us.
Liu Cheng sent cavalry to attack our grain road and could only send a small group of cavalry.
The scale cannot be too large.
A slightly larger cavalry attack on the grain road will not be able to hide from General Gao Lan's ranger sentries.
My subordinates think that we can send cavalry and use cavalry against cavalry.
This is the only way at present."
Yuan Shao thought for a moment and then ordered: "Yuan Tan, send a grain transport team to Raoyang to transport grain.
I order you to lead your cavalry out of the city to ambush Liu Cheng's small group of rangers on the grain road.
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They will come with their lives and lose their lives."
"Back" "Yes," Yuan Tan agreed, clasping his fists and turning to leave.
In less than an hour, a huge transportation team went to Raoyang to transport food.
There were more than 500 carriages transporting food.
The spies hiding nearby immediately spread the news.
Zhang Xiu, who was thirty miles away, led his team to hide in a forest.
He quickly received the news.
"Yuan Shao is out of food.
It is inevitable to send people to transport food.
This is okay.
It's just that the size of the food transport team he photographed this time is three times the size of the past.
This is a bit strange.
They want to transport a month's food and grass at one time.
Don’t worry, send people to continue to monitor Anping.”
"Yes, General" That night, Yuan Tan quietly led three thousand cavalry out of Anping City and walked forward along the grain road.
In the middle of the night, Zhang Xiu was sleeping soundly when someone woke him up.
"General, Yuan Jun's cavalry has dispatched, three thousand troops, absolutely correct."
Zhang Xiu stood up and asked, "Which direction did they go?"
"They are heading towards the place where our food transport team was attacked several times.
It seems they want to ambush nearby and deal with our sneak attack team."
Zhang Xiu became energetic.
He immediately ordered: "Let the brothers be ready and set off with me in a quarter of an hour to kill Yuan Jun's cavalry."
"Yes, General" In the early morning, Yuan Tan was woken up by a burst of panicked shouting before he woke up from a deep sleep.
He stood up and got angry: "Why are you making such a noise?
What happened?"
A school lieutenant ran over and reported: "My eldest son, something is not right.
A cavalry force is coming from ten miles away, heading in our direction.
If we don't get out immediately, we will be blocked in this valley."
Yuan Tan was shocked and immediately asked: "Whose troops are they?"
"What we are flying is the banner of the imperial court, and the leader is Zhang Xiu."
Yuan Tan was so shocked that he broke into a cold sweat and immediately ordered: "Quickly order everyone to assemble."
Three thousand cavalry led by Yuan Tan had just walked out of the valley when they encountered Zhang Xiu's men and horses.
This was how the two cavalry met.
Zhang Xiu came prepared, but Yuan Tan was unexpectedly tough.
Fight head on.
He originally planned to set up an ambush here to deal with the small group of cavalry sent by the imperial court to attack the grain transport team.
Unexpectedly, he failed to deal with the small group of cavalry who attacked the grain truck, but instead put himself in a disadvantageous situation.
Zhang Xiu did not have time for Yuan Tan and his men to prepare.
After the encounter, he immediately led his troops to kill them, and Yuan Tan had to rush to fight.
The sound of a large number of horse hooves soon came from outside the valley.
The birds in the forest were frightened and flew away, and the wild beasts fled one after another.
A large number of shouts of killing were heard in the distance.
Waves of arrows were shot from Zhang Xiujun and landed on Yuan Jun's head.
Yuan Jun's cavalry continued to fall to the ground and died.
After several rounds of arrows were fired, the two sides officially came into contact to fight.
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Yuan Jun's cavalry had never experienced such a large-scale cavalry battle.
The cavalry shooting skills of Zhang Xiu's cavalry had already caused heavy losses to Yuan Jun's cavalry before the official contact battle.
Once the contact and battle began, Zhang Xiu's cavalry were all brave, and Yuan Jun's cavalry They are timid and collapse at the first touch.
Yuan Tan did not expect that his cavalry were so vulnerable.
He was so angry that he yelled: "Come back, come back to me and kill them."
"Young Master, we can't beat them.
The enemy army is too fierce.
Our brothers are no match for us.
We have been defeated.
Retreat quickly.
If you don't retreat, it will be too late."
After speaking, a school lieutenant galloped away towards Anping.
"Master, let's go quickly."
Some personal cavalry escorted Yuan Tan and quickly retreated towards Anping.
Zhang Xiu led his troops to kill them all, killing all those who had no time to escape.
He immediately led his troops to pursue them, and only stopped after one of them reached near Anping, while Yuan Tan returned with only a few hundred cavalry.
Yuan Shao was furious when he saw Yuan Tan kneeling in the hall.
He angrily walked over and kicked Yuan Tan several times.
The counselors were shocked and stepped forward to dissuade Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao angrily stopped his hands, looking extremely anxious, and asked: "Everyone, what should we do now?"
Jushou stood up and said: "My lord, there are only two ways to choose now: First, order General Raoyang to lead the troops to escort a batch of grain and grass over in person, and guard against it along the way, so as not to give Liu Cheng's small group of cavalry a chance to make a sneak attack.
After obtaining the food and grass, he immediately sent his troops south to fight Liu Cheng's army; secondly, the whole army retreated to Raoyang and ate there, but so As soon as we arrived, we almost lost the room for strategic maneuver.
The advantage of this is that we no longer have to worry about attacks on the grain road.
The grain reserves in Raoyang are enough to feed our army for a year.
As long as we defend Raoyang, Liu Cheng can do nothing.
"Our troops don't need to be as small as his.
If he wants to use 50,000 troops to capture Raoyang with 50,000 defenders, he will rarely have the chance to do so."
Yuan Shao was a little hesitant.
If he chose to retreat to Raoyang, it would mean that he would temporarily lose the ability to deal with Liu Cheng and could only defend.
If the defenders from other places came to rescue, they would probably face the situation of encirclement and reinforcements.
At this time, a knight quickly ran into the hall and bowed to Yuan Shao: "My Lord, Zhang Liao's army bypassed Yijing City and captured Gaoyang."
There are many soldiers in Yijing City, so there is no need to worry about being breached for the time being.
However, Gaoyang, south of Yijing, is extremely empty.
Zhang Liao's troops are all cavalry and have no ability to attack the city at all.
Yuan Shao did not expect that Zhang Liao would risk falling into The danger of the siege bypassed Yi Jing and attacked Gao Yang.
Now comes the problem.
Gaoyang is not far from Anping.
Once Zhao Yun's army in the north firmly restrains the Yi Jing defenders, Zhang Liao's army can attack Anping and Liu Cheng to launch a north-south pincer attack.
Anping will be in danger.
"Withdraw, withdraw the entire army to Raoyang" Yuan Shao finally made this decision.
Yuan Shao made this decision very reluctantly, but now there is only this way.
He has not thought about a decisive battle with Liu Cheng, but he can't help but shudder when he thinks of the scene when the coalition forces of the princes fought against Liu Cheng ten years ago.
Although the Yuan Army at this time is no longer the Yuan Army ten years ago, and its combat effectiveness has been greatly improved, I am afraid that the combat effectiveness of the army under Liu Cheng will be even stronger.
If the two sides fight head-on, Yuan Shao is really not sure that he can defeat Liu Cheng, because Liu Cheng left such a deep impression on Yuan Shao back then.
Within a few days, Yuan Jun retreated to Raoyang, and Yuan Shao breathed a sigh of relief, but he was not satisfied with the status quo.
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He did not want to be a coward all his life.
"Why hasn't there been any movement from Cao Mengde?
Money and food have been sent to him.
He can't just take money and food without working.
Send someone quickly to tell Xu You and let him find a way to persuade Cao Cao to send troops to Hanoi."
Tian Feng stood up and said: "My lord, my subordinates estimate that Cao Mengde is unable to help himself now.
He cannot protect himself.
It is better to rely on others than to rely on yourself.
Putting your hope on Cao Cao, my subordinates think it is a risk."
Yuan Shao could no longer bear Tian Feng: "Why do you talk nonsense every time something happens?
You always hope that I, Yuan Benchu, will die soon?"
Tian Feng immediately bowed down and said: "My lord, please calm down.
I have no intention of doing so.
I am dedicated to my lord."
"That's enough!"
Yuan Shao shouted, "Come here and put Tian Feng in prison."
Tian Feng's face was ashen, and two soldiers came in and escorted Tian Feng out.
That night, Tian Feng was killed in prison.
Two days later, Liu Cheng sent troops to capture Anping.
Yuan Shao's general Gao Lan's army became a lone army outside Xiabo City.
In order to prevent this army from being eaten by Liu Cheng's army, Yuan Shao ordered Gao Lan to lead his army to retreat to Wuhan.
Then.
At the end of April, Zhang Liao led his army to Anping to join Liu Cheng's army.
There were nearly 100,000 horses in total, and the number of cavalry was more than half.
After two days of rest, the tens of thousands of cavalry heading south regained their morale and physical strength.
On the second day of May, Liu Cheng ordered Ma Chao to lead 10,000 cavalry eastward to Wusui to contain Gao Lan's army.
He only needed to contain it but not attack the city.
At the military meeting that day, Liu Cheng raised the issue of how to attack Raoyang City.
Chen Qun stood up and offered his advice: "Lord, Yuan Shao has fifty thousand people in Raoyang City.
The city wall is not very tall.
But if we want to capture Raoyang, our army will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
My subordinates suggest that Yuan Shao's territory in Jizhou originally belonged to All the surrendered troops were recruited to participate in the siege, and another 200,000 civilians were recruited to transport grain, grass and siege materials."
Liu Cheng thought about it and thought that this was the only way he could do it now.
He couldn't use cavalry to attack the city.
After making the decision, Liu Cheng immediately led his army to approach Raoyang.
Yuan Shao had no choice but to retreat.
He could only grit his teeth and hold on, hoping to defeat Liu Cheng with the help of Raoyang City, 50,000 defenders and a year's worth of food and grass in the city.
Army.
Liu Chengjun arrived in Raoyang four days later.
When he arrived at the city gate, his army of 100,000 soldiers had absolutely no moisture at all.
Standing on the city wall, all he could see at a glance were densely packed soldiers and horses and banners covering the sky and the sun.
Yuan Shao stood on the city wall, feeling a little timid for a moment.
The judge saw Yuan Shao's nervousness and said: "My lord, don't worry.
Even though Liu Cheng has an army of 100,000, in fact, he only has 20,000 to 30,000 infantry that he can really use, and the remaining 60,000 to 70,000 cavalry are attacking the city."
They can only be used as decorations during the war, and they are only a waste of food and grass.
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Liu Cheng's pressure is definitely much greater than that of my lord."
Although he said this, Yuan Shao still couldn't let himself relax.
There were 100,000 enemy troops outside the city staring at him, and no one could sit still.
Liu Cheng's army of 100,000 men set up camp outside the city that day and surrounded Raoyang City.
It was impossible to completely trap the city with 50,000 men and women with only 100,000 men.
If the defenders in the city all attacked one by one, Even if Liu Cheng's men and horses break through in a certain direction, they won't be able to stop him.
However, most of Liu Cheng's men are cavalry and are very mobile.
Even if Yuan Shao's men and horses concentrate in a certain direction to break out, he can organize his troops in time. pursuit.
That night, Liu Chenggong issued an order to have the military craftsmen work hard to build siege equipment.
Early the next morning, a large number of soldiers came out of the camp to cut down trees.
In just one day, a large area of surrounding woods was cleared, and all the wood was transported to the camp and handed over to craftsmen to build siege equipment.
A few days later, surrender troops recruited from various parts of Jizhou that had been captured arrived one after another, and the civilian men who had been recruited also successively brought large quantities of food, grass, stone bullets, kerosene, cloth, medicine, tents, ropes, and arrows.
More than two hundred trebuchets were built within ten days, as well as hundreds of shafts and hundreds of siege ladders.
On May 15th, Chen Qun reported to Liu Cheng: "Lord, all preparations are complete, and we can launch an attack on Raoyang City tomorrow."
In order to prepare enough stone bullets, 100,000 of the 200,000 civilians recruited worked day and night, digging up a nearby barren mountain and polishing all the stones into round stone bullets, enough for 20 people.
More than ten thousand.
Liu Cheng nodded and said: "Okay, leave 20,000 strong civilians as backup, and send all the other civilians back."