At the end of May, Gao Shun led 10,000 troops to cross the Yellow River and came to Baima.

The generals in the army who had already gotten the news before were naturally excited, because Xiahou Yuan was a horse card, and he was the spring horse with the first horse card, and this feat was enough to make all the generals in the army who had experienced the seven phases before but none of them enjoyed the title of knighthood.

"Su Qing crossed the river hard, stayed behind in Baima, and monitored Puyang." Gongsun Xun's words were concise and to the point, and he said nominally at the beginning. "The rest of the army of 40,000 will come out and fight with me! Komeito! ”

"The subordinates are here!" Xu Huang immediately came out of the ranks.

"North of Pushui, east of sour jujube, the enemy has a large, three, small and four cities as shelter, but Yanxian, Wei Township, Wating, Taocheng, Wei Township, Wating, Taocheng The three cities are in front of Baima, all of them are entrusted to you!" Gongsun Xun sat upright in the tent, holding the knife and raising his voice to distribute. "The deadline is until noon tomorrow, and after the three small cities are taken, they will be immediately deployed to ensure that the main force of Cao Cao's army on the south bank of Pushui will not break through Pushui from the front!"

"Whoa!" Xu Huang did not hesitate to take on the most difficult, difficult, but least meritorious task of tackling and hindering.

And this inevitably made the other generals excited for a while.

"Woo Woo!" Gongsun Xun suddenly shouted another name that made people look sideways.

"The minister is here!" The jaw opened and immediately excited.

"Yan County is a big city, it is difficult to attack, but there is no pressure to block reinforcements, so I will give you 5,000 foot soldiers." Gongsun Xun calmly commanded. "I don't care about anything, as long as you take this city, then defend this city, and make sure that Xiahou Yuan replenishes you to escape, and other things outside the city have nothing to do with you!"

"Whoa!" Zhang Jaw immediately answered loudly.

In other words, Zhang Junyi, as a general, although he has always been stationed in Yexia, is not one of the so-called 'Yexia generals', but has always held the official position of a Wei County lieutenant, and his status cannot be compared with other generals at all.

However, this time, he was able to lead the Wei County conscription troops to attack Baima from Xu Huang, and then after the soldiers and horses of Wei County in his headquarters were actually absorbed and reorganized into a field army of 10,000 people by Xu Huang, he was able to lead 5,000 soldiers to fight alone, as if Gongsun Xun deliberately cultivated it...... And how can you care about what combat missions?

In fact, although it was still a peripheral attack, and it was a big city that was going to be the most difficult to fight, its people didn't care at all, but were extremely excited.

At this time, with the three generals of Xu Huang, Zhang Jaw, and Gao Shun divided, the rest of the real generals in the account were none other than Han Hao, the middle guard, Pang De, and the general Zhang Liao...... The army also has 10,000 people led by Zhang Liao, Gongsun Xun directly under the Chinese army, and 15,000 people, including Baima Yicong.

However, if you listen to the official position, you will know that Pang De and Han Hao must be acting for the Chinese army to escort Gongsun Xun, so Zhang Liao is naturally excited.

"Wenyuan!" Gongsun Xun really called Zhang Liao.

"The minister is here!" Zhang Wenyuan became more and more excited.

"You and Lone," Gongsun Xun commanded in a deep voice. "To the south of the sour jujube, to the north of the upper reaches of Pushui...... If Cao Cao really intends to rescue Xiahou Yuan, he will definitely march from there! ”

Zhang Liao was stunned, and almost blurted out: "In this way, who will go to the Xiahou Yuan headquarters in the area of Sour Jujube, Yucheng, and Yanjin?" ”

However, as soon as he spoke, the partial general immediately came to his senses, and then leaned over to plead guilty: "The minister is presumptuous." ”

"It doesn't matter." Gongsun Xun replied while looking at Jia Xu who was standing on the side.

The latter understood, and immediately stepped forward as a military advisor to explain a little: "General Tian Yu led the headquarters to recruit tens of thousands of soldiers from Shangdang and Taiyuan; General Cheng Lian led the headquarters and Shuozhou and Yanmen to recruit tens of thousands of soldiers; General Yang Kai led the headquarters to Shanggu and Daijun to recruit tens of thousands of soldiers; General Tian Chou led 6,000 Wuhuan cavalry; Yuwen Black Otter Captain Xianbei and Zahu cavalry 5,000; Liu Zhang's two lieutenants (Yu Fuluo and Xu Bu Juci) each led 3,000 Hun cavalry...... All have already crossed Luoyang Sanjin, stationed around Luoyang after the Tiger Pass, before His Royal Highness made up his mind, all the departments under the dispatch of Lou Junshi, moved to the gutter, the chasm, tomorrow's main attack, is the duty of these generals, they will cross the gutter, straight to the sour date, Yincheng, Yanjin, no matter where Xiahou Yuan is, should be able to win a battle. ”

As soon as this introduction came out, not only Zhang Liao, but also the rest of the generals in the tent were silent for a while.

One of them counts as one, which one is not a famous general of the moment? And now, combined with what happened before, how can they not react? What depicts Cao Cao as a monkey, what is the slow confrontation on a white horse, what rain stops the cavalry, what advances...... Is Gongsun Xun the kind of person who looks ahead and backwards?

Obviously, this Yan Gong Jiawei general had the idea of tempting the main force of Cao Cao's army to cross Pushui from the beginning, so that the other party would be caught in the middle of the two heavy army groups in the Luoyang area and the Baima region, in order to set the tone for this decisive battle.

Even considering the arrival of Gao Shun and Zhang Liao, Luoyang Sanjin in the west was crossed by Sanjin Qidu, and there were not only his colleagues who went to Hezhou to gather troops, but also Cheng Pu's local soldiers and horses in Sizhou, who may not know which side is Allah's power!

However, Cao Mengde just didn't hit the plan, in the past dozens of days, that Cao Fenwu just sat in Pingqiu behind Pu Shui, and then dispatched the reinforcements that gradually arrived behind him in an orderly manner...... The elite who had combat experience and could fight in the field were all stationed on their sides, and the armed but inexperienced auxiliaries were sent to the dense urban agglomerations throughout the Central Plains to build one defense line after another.

It must be known that during the field war, those local armed men and auxiliaries with little combat experience cannot be the opponents of the field elite at all, but once they have the city as a support, it will form an effective replacement ratio with the field elite attacking the city, so this arrangement is definitely a matter of course.

And Gongsun Xun was furious a few days ago because of the poem written by Wang Cang on the military order raft, some of which was angry with Wang Cang, and some of it was because Cao Cao's steadiness thwarted his Yan Gong's strategy of luring the enemy, I am afraid it is also a difficult thing to explain.

The generals had their own thoughts, and Zhang Liao, who had lost the opportunity to attack the main army, as the vanguard of Gongsun Xun's headquarters, had been leading his troops out of the White Horse Camp for seven or eight miles, and then he suddenly realized one thing - in order to eat the five thousand cavalry of Xiahou Yuan's department, even if you count the garrison troops in several cities on the south bank of Pushui, it is only one or two hundred thousand people, but this Yan Gong of his own family actually invested a full eighty or ninety thousand field army in one go!

Of course, it is completely understandable, because this formation was originally prepared for Cao Cao's monkey, not for Xiahou Yuan's horse.

It is common sense that monkeys are more valuable than horses.

Back in front of him, after breakfast that day, the 40,000-strong army was surging and mighty, and suddenly swooped out from three sides of the originally extremely magnificent white horse camp, and immediately alarmed the garrisons of the cities on the south bank of the Pushui of Cao's army...... But it's too late, because the proportion of cavalry in the main force of the Yan army mixed into an army is too high, and the number is too much, and many Central Plains soldiers are afraid that they have never seen so many cavalry troops in their lives!

The infantry behind the Yan army had just left the camp together with the ox carts and horse carts transporting armor and equipment, and the forward cavalry had basically arrived along the Pushui coast. A large force of cavalry roared in, and immediately and effectively blocked the battlefield, so that the city could only raise fire and smoke to report to the other side of Pushui...... Then passively wait for reinforcements.

Or else?

What can they do with such an extreme disadvantage in troops?

However, speaking of rescue, an important and interesting thing is that the Yan army's Baima camp and Cao Cao's Pingqiu camp are both thirty miles away from the nearest point of Pushui. It's just that Baima is easterly, Pingqiu is westerly, and Pushui flows from west to east, slightly northerly, so there is a distance of about thirty miles between the two sides to the nearest point of Pushui.

In the early industrial era, infantry could walk 30 miles a day on a long-distance march while maintaining combat effectiveness, and a surprise march was a rush battle, that is, a rush battle, and a daily march of 60 miles was the limit; And in the earlier Middle Ages, that is, in this year, the whole world is the same, among them, for ordinary foot soldiers, the limit of thirty miles per day for long-distance marches has not changed, but the sudden rapid march is subject to the development of the times but is much lower, and the foot soldiers who can fight after marching thirty miles are definitely the top elite.

In other words, assuming that Cao Cao immediately dispatched a large army after seeing the beacon smoke at this time, it would take three days to rescue the cities on the north bank of Pushui facing the White Horse camp; If you react, abandon these cities, and directly cross the river from the upper reaches of Pushui, that is, directly north of Pingqiu, to rescue Xiahou Yuan, it will take two days; The best case is that Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan wake up together after seeing the beacon smoke, and then set out together, so that by noon or around noon or afternoon on the second day, it is still possible for the two sides to meet in the Pushui area.

But here's the problem...... Eighty or ninety thousand field elites were mobilized, of which it is estimated that there were thirty or forty thousand cavalry, and even Gongsun Xun, who personally led a large force of cavalry to supervise the battle, how could he give them this opportunity?

It was Xu Huang and Zhang Jaw that Gongsun Xun had given a death order, and before noon on the second day, he must capture the four large and small cities on the south bank of Pushui, and then link up with the cavalry to completely block the rescue route! At that time, the entire north bank of Pushui, the east bank of the gutter to the White Horse Camp and Wei Township, this narrow area will be densely packed, paved with 80,000 foot riders, does Cao Cao dare to come?

"Wenhe, did you say that Cao Cao would come tomorrow?"

On the evening of the same day, Gongsun Xun and the main force of the headquarters, plus Zhang Liaobu, a total of 25,000 people, successfully marched to the wilderness on the south side of the sour jujube in the middle of the night of the day, and then began to set up a village to build a camp, but after settling down, Gongsun Xun was aroused by the march along the way, and he couldn't help but have doubts, so he summoned one of the two military advisors who accompanied the army, Jia Xu Jia Wenhe.

"I will definitely come, but I will definitely not cross the river to fight!" Jia Xu seemed to have expected this question a long time ago, and even opened his mouth to give a definite answer.

Gongsun Xun sat on the couch for a long time when he heard this, but finally sighed: "Wenhe's wisdom is really unparalleled in the world, and it is even more rare that he can always peek into people's hearts...... As you said, Cao Mengde will definitely come to the rescue, but he will never really fight! ”

Obviously, this Yan Gong was very convinced of Jia Xu's judgment.

In fact, the logic of Gongsun Xun's doubts is very simple - he used such a large number of troops, such elite troops, and used such rapid means to hunt a Xiahou Yuan, from a military point of view, Cao Cao's rescue is actually of little significance, and the Cao army troops on the north bank of Pushui, including Xiahou Yuan, cannot expect Cao Cao to break through Gongsun Xun's heavy troops in a short time to complete the rescue; However, the question is, how could Cao Cao not save him?

That's Xiahou Yuan! That's seven cities and a port!

If Cao's army forcibly crosses the river in a hurry, it is likely that he will lose a large number of troops on the north bank of Pushui in vain, but if he does not save him, the people's hearts will be scattered!

It was precisely because of this thought that Gongsun Xun suddenly drilled the tip of the bull's horns - what should he do if he was in Cao Cao's position?

However, Jia Xu broke the word, it turned out that he could still send troops but did not fight, confronted each other across the river, and then waited until the dust settled in the north and left.

"So what are we going to do?" Gongsun Xunfu asked again. "Can you adjust it a little?"

"Under this situation, of course it can be adjusted, but it depends on whether His Highness intends to have more Xiahou Yuan or Cao Cao." Jia Xu replied calmly. "If it is intended for Xiahou Yuan, then early tomorrow morning according to the original plan, the troops will be set up to the south, that is, in the direction of Pushui, and set up defenses along the river, in order to connect with General Xu Huang and Captain Zhangjaw and completely lock the other party; And if it is more intended for Cao Cao, then why not pull out the camp and go north tomorrow, walk under the sour jujube city, and vacate a place on the Pushui side...... In this case, Cao Cao led his troops to Pushui, and did not march without a single soldier in front of him, which would naturally expose his unwillingness to rescue...... Although it can be said that there is an ambush on the other side of the worried river at that time, how can it be concealed from the real people with a heart? However, in this way, there will inevitably be dislocation and omissions in the encirclement, and if Xiahou Yuan gives up the rest of his subordinates and only leads the cavalry to escape from Yanjin overnight, he will really let him get out of this gap tomorrow! ”

Gongsun Xun sighed directly: "Xiahou Miaocai is definitely not a person who abandoned his subordinates and left. ”

Jia Xu immediately understood.

"Actually...... Why didn't Cao Mengde want to fight desperately to save Xiahou Miaocai? This is a figure like his own brother, and he is a real general, a figure with an arm! After Gongsun Xun made up his mind, he couldn't help but sigh again.

"This is the helplessness of the superiors." Jia Xu sighed slightly. "Private affairs are private affairs, and state affairs are state affairs...... If he is really defeated, then the mud and sand will fall, and the person who will die will not be just Xiahou Yuan! ”

"That's why I said that this is a national war, and it can't be sloppy at all." Gongsun Xun was tolerant. "Cao Mengde and Liu Xuande are really forced to the point of breaking the boat, and our victory is not as big as we imagined. However, the arrogance in the army is pervasive, and even the arrogance of the subordinates is difficult to hide...... For example, my original intention was that Ah Ding should have stayed in Yexia to sit in the town, but his mother insisted on sending it, as if she thought that this battle would be won and wanted Ah Ding to earn some qualifications...... And because of the turmoil in Lishizi and the affairs in Liaodong, it is not good for me to refute his mother's meaning at this time. ”

Jia Xu was silent.

"Does Wen He have any good ideas to deal with arrogance in the army?" Gongsun Xun further raised his head and asked.

Jia Xu spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "The sword soldiers are gradually rising, and after a long time of see-sawing, the arrogance will naturally go, and if you want to go quickly, unless you kill Wei Yue again, can you kill the general for no reason?" ”

Gongsun Xun couldn't help laughing: "In this way, if Xiahou Yuan dies, Cao Jun will instead have the same hatred for the enemy, and it will be purged for a while?" ”

Jia Xu shook his head and didn't answer.

Gongsun Xun nodded in response, but he didn't say much anymore - war is a reality that has always been piled up with absurdity, God knows what the result of Xiahou Yuan is? Who knows how Cao Jun reacted after this battle?

was speechless all night, and on the second day, Gongsun Xun really ordered the whole army to go north, approaching Sujujube, and vacating the area for Cao Cao to cross the river. And as he guessed, Xiahou Yuan did not abandon his troops and flee alone. Even on the contrary, after realizing that he was suddenly surrounded, the general of the Cao army immediately made a decision, and overnight he took the 5,000 cavalry of Yanjin to the south, trying to collect the troops of Yucheng and Suojube along the way and flee together.

However, in the early morning of this day, not long after his troops left the city with the defenders of the city, there were suddenly Yan troops from the direction of the western ditch, and more and more, and in the end, it was only one morning, and the army that was completely beyond imagination almost covered the narrow area around Yanjin, Yincheng, and Suoju.

For a while, it seemed that there were banners of the Yan Army everywhere!

It turned out that Tian Yu and other generals in order not to lose the deadline, but also the previous war experience, plus the ditch water is just an artificial river, so they relied on the crowd to build the bridge overnight, and when it was dawn, the whole army crossed the ditch and went straight to Xiahou Yuan!

The quantity of the army is not at all of an order of magnitude, and neither is the quality...... The main force of Xiahou Yuan's department, that is, the five thousand horsemen that Cao Jun has always regarded as a treasure, are basically all horses that have been born and raised in the Central Plains for several generations, and the experience of large-scale cavalry combat is even more lacking, so as soon as the two sides encounter, Xiahou Yuan's troops will be defeated like an avalanche, and then become the object of pursuit by the Yan cavalry.

And as the Yan army gradually gathered troops and horses from all walks of life, especially Yanjin and Yucheng, which were already vacant, the attack troops booked there moved closer to the combat office...... At this time, Xiahou Yuan, who was in the midst of a rout, woke up to what kind of desperate situation he had fallen into!

This is not a battle at all, it is a hunt!

As a prey, what should you do at this time? And what can I do?!

————I'm embarrassed by the dividing line————

"Xiahou, Cao's family, the world is a marriage, so Xuan, Yuan, Ren, Hong, Xiu, Shang, Zhen, etc., and the old heart, precious to the left and right, salty and effective labor." - "Old Yan Book". Volume XXVII. The second of the family