"Lord, Yecheng has sent a letter!"

Yuan Chang, who was comfortably in the study, saw Zhao Yun trotting all the way to him. Looking at Zhao Yun's expression, he seemed to be extremely happy.

It's no wonder that Zhao Yun is so excited, as a military general, he needs the battlefield to nourish him. After staying in Bohai County for so long, except for a few small battles, he has not experienced a major battle, which is the most unbearable for a military general. Let's just say that in history, Zhao Yun is already sixty or seventy years old, and he still has to go to the battlefield, and he can also kill Han De and his five sons, Zhao Yun is obviously a military general born for battle.

In this case, it's just that Ye Cheng has a letter, what does it have to do with Zhao Yunhuanxi?

Of course there is a relationship, and it is still a big relationship. Yuan Chang and Guo Jia have already discussed that Gongsun Chan will start a war with Yuan Shao sooner or later. Although Yuan Chang and Yuan Shao have divided the boundary, they no longer have a subordinate relationship. However, Bohai County is also in the territory of Jizhou, and once a war starts, it will definitely affect Bohai County, and when the time comes, Zhao Yun will not have a place to use? Therefore, Yuan Chang had already asked the spies of the Yuelai Restaurant opened by Li Rui in Yecheng to start paying attention to the movements of Yecheng Mansion. Yuan Shao can also become a prince of one party, and there are so many strategists under him, so he can naturally think that Gongsun Chan will make moves, especially after Gongsun Chan takes control of Youzhou.

Therefore, Yuan Chang directly asked the spies in Yecheng to inquire about the situation in Yecheng Mansion, and there was no need to send people to Youzhou to keep an eye on it, which could also save a lot of manpower.

And now that Yecheng is in a letter, it is obvious that Gongsun Zan of Youzhou has moved.

"Zilong, now that you're not young, I think it's time to start a family. ”

Yuan Chang took the letter handed by Zhao Yun, and did not open it directly to read it, but looked at Zhao Yun and said jokingly. Zhao Yun is now in his early twenties, and in today's era, most people are already fathers of several children. But Zhao Yun always said that he was still young, and he had to calm the world first, and then think about starting a family. Yuan Chang thought about it, when the world calmed down, even if he had the advantage of being a traverser, it would take at least ten years, maybe more. By that time, Zhao Yundu was already in his thirties, and it would be difficult to find a girl.

"My lord, my subordinates think that we should serve the country first, and then talk about family affairs. ”

Okay, Yuan Chang has nothing to say, Zhao Yun comes and goes like this, although Yuan Chang is the lord, he can't force Zhao Yun to start a family, right?

"Haha, isn't it Zilong that you have a long favorite object, so you excuse yourself like this?"

Originally, Yuan Chang was just a joke. However, Yuan Chang found that after he said this, Zhao Yun, who had always been extremely calm, had a slight shyness on his face, Yuan Chang almost thought that he had seen it wrong, but after thinking about it, he felt that he would definitely not be wrong, and suddenly, Yuan Chang knew that Zhao Yun really had a favorite object.

Thinking about it again, Zhao Yun has been following him, and there are not many women he has come into contact with. Some women are still Yuan Chang's people, and who else can make Zhao Yun like it, except for Zhen Tuo and Zhen Dao of the Zhen family? Although Zhen Tuo and Zhen Dao's two daughters are daughters, they don't like embroidery and needlework, but like to dance knives and guns, such a character, Zhao Yun, as a general, can like it is also very normal. Moreover, Yuan Chang heard Zhen Jiang say that it seems that Zhen Tuo and Zhen Dao's two daughters are also interested in Zhao Yun, and often ask Zhen Jiang about Zhao Yun. Obviously, both sides are interesting, but neither can wipe their faces to say it. Since this is the case, Yuan Chang felt that as the lord, he should make some efforts.

"Lord, lord?"

When Yuan Chang was distracted, he heard Zhao Yun's call, and saw Zhao Yun looking at him with a puzzled expression. Yuan Chang retracted his thoughts at the moment and didn't think much about it. Zhen Tuo and Zhen Dao's two daughters are now returning to Yecheng, and they are not in a hurry about this matter, and when they come again, they will take care of it and be a matchmaker for a while.

"Zilong, what are you calling me for?"

Zhao Yun looked at Yuan Chang a little speechlessly, and pointed to the letter in Yuan Chang's hand.

"Oh!"

Yuan Chang suddenly realized that Zhao Yun wanted to know what was written in the letter. Yuan Chang had already told them that unless it was a private message about Yuan Chang, Guo Jia and Zhao Yun could open the letter to see what the content was. However, Guo Jia and Zhao Yun refused to do this, since the recipient of the letter was Yuan Chang, they should abide by the duties of their subordinates, and there should be no transgressions, although Yuan Chang would not care. However, in the future, when Yuan Chang becomes bigger, can he still be so casual? There are no rules, there should be such rules in the early days.

They are all like this, and Yuan Chang will not insist.

Yecheng's letters are packed in a kraft bag, which is very waterproof and is the best tool for delivering messages. Otherwise, if the letters are wet on a rainy day, what else can you see?

I opened the letter and browsed it casually, and it was about Youzhou.

According to the news that Yecheng's spies heard from Yecheng's mansion, Gongsun Zhan of Youzhou is reorganizing his troops, building weapons, and hoarding grain and grass, and it seems that he is ready to attack Jizhou. And Yuan Shao is also making corresponding preparations. Compared with Youzhou, Jizhou has a lot of grain, but the quality of soldiers and horses will be a little worse. Moreover, Gongsun Zhan has 30,000 white horse followers, and this cavalry gives Yuan Shao a headache. In the letter, it was also mentioned that Yuan Shao was buying fine iron on a large scale, which had exceeded the amount of armor, weapons, and arrows, and it was obvious that it had other functions. As for what exactly it does, the spies can't find out.

After reading it, Yuan Chang handed the letter to Zhao Yun, and Zhao Yun naturally would not refuse. Yuan Chang showed it to them after reading it, but it would not have any effect.

Zhao Yun read it more carefully than Yuan Chang, word by word, and it took him a long time to read it.

"Lord, why do you think Yuan Shao bought so much refined iron?"

There is nothing too prominent in the content of the letter, the only highlight is that Yuan Shao collected a large amount of refined iron. And Zhao Yun also noticed this, and then asked Yuan Chang.

Regarding this, Yuan Chang has a little understanding.

Before Yuan Chang crossed over, he often went to visit the forums of the Three Kingdoms, and some of the people in it were experts, professors, and fans of the Three Kingdoms, and their understanding of the Three Kingdoms was far beyond ordinary people. At that time, everyone once discussed a question, that is, about the elite troops under the command of the major forces during the Three Kingdoms period.

For example, Gongsun Zhan's White Horse Yicong, Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Liu Bei's Bai Yu Soldiers, and Sun Quan's Trouble-Solving Soldiers, these are all relatively famous elite soldiers, all of which are elite soldiers who can block ten with one. This elite is not affected by morale, victory or defeat on the battlefield, etc., they are always able to stay in the best condition and will not be affected by anything. Of course, the number of such elites must be small, and the amount of money spent to build them is also huge. The number of this elite class usually does not exceed 10,000, and Gongsun Zhan's White Horse Yicong can have the number of 30,000, which is also Gongsun Zhan's advantage.

First of all, the land of Youzhou is close to the northern alien races, and the quality of the alien war horses is beyond doubt, and Gongsun Chan does not have to buy them with money if he wants to obtain these excellent war horses. You must know that Gongsun Zhan's strategy for the northern alien race is to kill them all, and the northern alien race exists in the form of a tribe, with a tribe with a few hundred or thousands of people, a few thousand, and more than tens of thousands. Gongsun Chan specially selects a small number of alien tribes to fight, and improves the combat effectiveness of soldiers through battles, and the combat effectiveness of the northern alien races is also extremely strong, and it is simply the best object for military training. Secondly, by destroying these northern tribes, you can also get their money, cattle, sheep, horses, etc., which can improve the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, and you can also get money, and you can also get excellent war horses.

Moreover, at that time, the world was already in the midst of war, the internal chaos of the imperial court, and he was too busy to take care of himself, so how could he manage Gongsun Zhan? In addition, Liu Yu, who was the assassin of Youzhou, could not restrain Gongsun Zhan, and Gongsun Zhan could be said to have developed many years earlier than Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others, and it was inevitable that he would be able to have today's strength.

In addition to the above elite troops, the Danyang soldiers are also counted as one, and so are the Xiliang Iron Cavalry. The Danyang soldiers are actually the predecessors of the Annoyance Soldiers, and the soldiers of the Annoyance Soldiers are all selected from the Danyang Soldiers. The Danyang soldiers did not shine in Tao Qian's hands, but they were made into troublesome soldiers by Lu Meng and sent troops. As for the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, it is because of the fall of Dong Zhuo, the destruction of the Xiliang Army, and the demise of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.

And there is an elite class among them, but there is a controversy.

This elite army is the euphorbia created by Yuan Shao under the order of Zhang He. And this euphorbia soldier is also rumored to be the key to defeating Gongsun Zhan's white horse righteousness.

This halberd is made from the elite of the army, and each soldier is a strong man with a length of nine feet, and the reason why a strong man with a length of nine feet is to be able to wear specially built armor and weapons. Then, they all wore more than 100 catties of heavy armor and were equipped with more than 100 catties of halberds, the purpose of which was to deal with Gongsun Zhan's white horse Yicong. Counting up, the Euphorbia belongs to the branch of the heavy infantry.

Many people understand that the combat effectiveness of the heavy infantry is not very high, and the heavy infantry mainly has requirements for defense and collective combat. Strictly speaking, heavy infantry is a meat shield on the battlefield, whether it is to block the enemy or to form an encirclement of the enemy, it has a great effect.

The halberd is a variant of the heavy infantry, usually the heavy infantry holds a huge shield of more than 100 catties, while Yuan Shao's halberd gives up the shield and replaces it with a halberd with attack power, as for whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, no one can be sure.

In fact, if it is a simple euphorbia, it is a joke to deal with the white horse Yicong.

As we all know, heavy infantry and other types of troops, their mobility ability is very poor, and the way of fighting is also carried out in the form of phalanxes. For example, at the time of battle, the heavy infantry stood in a square formation, and there was no definite number of platoons. Then, in this way of fighting, fight hard with the enemy and faithfully carry out their duties as a meat shield. The speed of the White Horse Righteous Servant is fast, and the individual combat ability is high, and he is the pioneer of cavalry archery. If you only rely on the Euphorbia to fight with the White Horse Yicong, the Euphorbia can only be crushed, and the White Horse Yicong can completely eliminate more heavy infantry units as long as he runs and shoots. Even if they don't attack them, the heavy infantry will take a huge amount of physical strength to move, and fatigue can exhaust them to death.

Therefore, it is naturally impossible for the Euphorbia to restrain the white horse's righteous obedience.

However, if the Euphorbia is combined with other classes, it can be used as a surprise soldier. In history, Yuan Shao's defeat of Gongsun Zhan's White Horse Yicong relied on the cooperation of the Euphorbia Warrior and another branch of the army to eliminate the White Horse Yicong.

The first soldiers were not Yuan Shao's men, but the soldiers of the general Lu Yi under the command of Han Fu, the assassin of Jizhou. At the beginning, Lu Yi, as Han Fu's general, also controlled a large number of soldiers under his command, with 100,000 men and horses. Otherwise, Lu Yi's betrayal of Han Fu would have been solved long ago. It is precisely because of this 100,000 men that Han Fu is helpless. Later, Lu Yi took refuge in Yuan Shao, which enhanced Yuan Shao's strength, in fact, this is also the reason why Han Fu was willing to give Jizhou to Yuan Shao. Therefore, Lu Yi is a very special existence under Yuan Shao, not Yuan Shao's henchmen, but he has a very high status, and a big reason is also because there are 20,000 soldiers under Lu Yi.

So, it's time to talk about what this pioneer army is all about.

The first soldier is not an elite class, speaking of which, the first soldier is a death squad that is not afraid of death. The first soldiers were carefully selected by Lu Yi from the army, and these soldiers must not have the slightest relatives, not a single one. Then, Lu Yi took special care of them, and gave them all kinds of preferential treatment such as money on weekdays. However, once it is time to fight, no matter what the environment is, as long as Lu Yi gives an order, he must carry it out without fear of death. Otherwise, Lu Yi will definitely be tortured in every way, and let him be tortured to death. Since they have chosen such a path, most of them, except for a few, have fun in time, and are not afraid of death on the battlefield, and if they are fortunate enough to receive great military exploits and some positions, they will be able to leave the camp first. To put it simply, this is to use the money in the future and use it in the front, although it is easy to die in battle, but there are many people who are willing to join the first camp.

And Yuan Shao didn't dare to take Lu Yi's military power into his hands, and he was also a little afraid of this first-class army.

If Lu Yi is provoked, Lu Yi may send this first army to fight with him, Yuan Shao feels that there is no need. Anyway, now that Lu Yi is obeying his orders, these soldiers are in the hands of Lu Yi, and it is not a good thing that Lu Yi can let this first soldier work for him.

In history, the battle with Gongsun Chan was commanded by Lu Yi in the early stage, and the white horse Yicong of Gongsun Zhan's first soldier ** Gongsun Chan led the white horse Yicong into the encirclement of Yuan Shao's Euphorbia, and finally the first soldiers and the Euphorbia combined to completely eliminate the White Horse Yicong. It's just that because of the white horse Yicong who eliminated Gongsun Zhan, Lu Yi felt that he had made a lot of credit, and became more and more arrogant, and was killed by Yuan Shao. Lu Yi's 20,000 Xian Deng soldiers were killed and wounded in this battle, how could Yuan Shao not seize the opportunity to destroy Lu Yi, and wait for Lu Yi to train another Xian Deng soldier to come out. Therefore, speaking of Lu Yi, he is also a cup, Cheng is also the first to enter the army, and defeat is also the first to enter the army.

Because there is no historical data to prove the existence of the Euphorbia, it is only mentioned in the "Book of the Later Han": "The rest of the people are gone." (Yuan) Shao in the last ten miles, heard that (Gongsun) Zhan has been broken, sent a horse, only the guard tent under the strong crossbow dozens of people, halberd warriors hundreds of people. "According to the content of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Euphorbia exists.

Secondly, there is also controversy about the number of euphorbia.

Some people believe that this Euphorbia army has 800 people, just like Lu Bu's trapping camp. However, if you think about it with your head, you know that this is impossible, how can 800 people cooperate with 20,000 soldiers who are not strong in combat power to solve 30,000 white horse righteous followers?

Even if the halberds can block it, will they be able to block the charge of the ten thousand armies? It is estimated that in just one round of charge, all the 800 halberds will have fallen to the ground and will be slaughtered. In addition to poor mobility, heavy infantry is also a very fatal injury once it falls. There are hundreds of pounds of armor all over the body, and because the joints of the whole body are wrapped in armor, it is also difficult to stand up.

Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be only 800 Euphorbia.

In addition, another theory is that there were 10,000 euphorbias, but after the battle with Bai Ma Yicong, there were only 800 people left, and in some historical materials, it is recorded in three words and two words that people think that the number of euphorbia is only 800. And the number of euphorbia is 10,000, which is a more credible statement.

Yuan Chang had read it on the forum at the time, and the first thing that proposed that there were 10,000 Euphorbia was said by a guy named "I am from the Three Kingdoms" in the forum. This guy's obsession with the Three Kingdoms has reached the point where ordinary people can't understand it, and this guy can say three or five or six about various events in the Three Kingdoms, and it can be said that he is more expert than an expert, and he is more awesome than a professor. And this guy's claim that Yuan Shao has 10,000 halberds is also well-founded.

This guy checked all the historical materials he could find about Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan at that time, whether it was the official history or the wild history, he didn't let go of any of them. At the same time, he also checked the historical materials of Youzhou and Jizhou, verified the economy and population at that time, and finally made the judgment that there were 10,000 Euphorbia according to Yuan Shao's economy at that time, as well as the development of iron mines. Later, many professionals agreed with this point of view, and they all confirmed that Yuan Shao had 10,000 halberds in order to eliminate Gongsun Zhan. As for 20,000 or more, it's impossible. Because, Yuan Shao's economy does not allow it. The amount of money spent by the Euphorbia is also a heart-pounding amount.

Therefore, after reading the news on the letter, Yuan Chang knew that Yuan Shao had begun to build the Euphorbia. Therefore, Yuan Chang did not hide it, and told Zhao Yun what he knew.

"Euphorbia, there are still soldiers like this?"

Zhao Yun was obviously surprised, of course, he didn't doubt it, he still believed what Yuan Chang said.

Yuan Chang pondered for a moment, and then said to Zhao Yun: "Zilong, you go and let everyone go to the mansion, and we have to prepare too." ”

"Yes, my lord!"