It's strange to say, Yuan Shu usually has eyes above the top, and he doesn't want to be remembered by him. However, Tao Qian, an elder who is known as the "old naughty boy", is quite in line with Yuan Shu's temperament.

"Brother Gongzu, what does this volunteer Liu Bei have to do with the Tianping Army?"

"Liu Bei and his two subordinates are rare warriors. When the army was broken, all three of them had many meritorious achievements. However, a few days ago, Liu Bei led his subordinates to attack this thief army at night, and he was defeated and returned. His two subordinates at the level of 'Thousand People Broken' were actually lost in the chaos of the rebel army's counterattack. ”

"A thousand people broken?"

Yuan Shu crooked his neck, not very convinced.

He stayed in the Changshui camp for two years, carefully selected the brave warriors under his command, and got Ji Ling and Zhang Xun, two fierce generals who reached the level of "Thousand People Broken". Thinking about Liu Bei, a civilian with a white body, what virtue and how can he easily subdue two fierce generals who can be called "thousands of people"?

Tao Qian didn't say much about Yuan Shu's suspicions. After all, in this matter, even Tao Qian felt that Liu Bei's luck was really too good. And luck is the most envied thing. In order to protect Liu Bei, Tao Qian did not intend to emphasize the topic of luck.

"So, Brother Highway Virtuous, you dare to go deep into the heart of the thief army with more than ten horsemen today, it's really daring!"

After saying this, Tao Qian also felt a little thirsty, poured a glass of wine, and tasted it slowly.

The alcohol of the Han Dynasty, due to technical reasons, was extremely low. Although the ingredients and taste are different from those of later beers, they are similar in their function of making people drunk. Just like Yuan Shu and Tao Qian, they are both good at drinking, if they are let go to drink, it is not impossible for one person to drink a stone of wine.

"I want to send troops to defeat this thief. What does Brother Gong think? ”

Regarding the risks and frightens encountered today, Yuan Shu didn't say anything, but he had already made a note of the Tianping Army in his heart.

Tao Qian drank the wine unhurriedly, and said while thinking:

"These thieves are hard bones! Even in the face of an unexpected night attack, the thieves were able to resist bravely and not break up easily. None of the volunteers under my command can do such a skill.

To be honest, although there are more volunteers in my hands than the thieves, I don't dare to take these poorly trained boys to fight the thieves head-on! ”

As he spoke, Tao Qian glanced at Yuan Shu:

"Originally, I personally wrote a letter to General Huangfu Zhonglang, wanting General Huangfu Zhonglang to support me with 1,000 elite soldiers. With these elite soldiers as the main force, plus 3,000 volunteers, they have the strength to annihilate the Tianping Army in one fell swoop. But ......"

Tao Qian drained the remnants of wine in the cup in one gulp and continued:

“…… In the end, I only waited for your light horsemen of 100 people! ”

Hearing this, Yuan Shu smiled and said proudly:

"Are you afraid that the army is too small, and you are afraid that you will not be able to win the thief army?"

"No, I'm just worried, I can't do it all at once."

"It's not that I'm boasting, although in this eagerness, I can't find a thousand northern troops. However, to gather thousands of county soldiers, it is regarded as an idle matter. Tao Gongzu, you said that these thousands of county soldiers are worth a thousand northern troops? ”

Yuan Shu's tone surprised Tao Qian. He asked in a low voice:

"The elite soldiers of Yanzhou are all in the hands of Bao Duwei [Bao Xin]. Highway, did you contact Captain Bao Du, and Captain Bao happened to lead his army to the vicinity? ”

"Bao Xin?"

Yuan Shu asked, with his eyes narrowed:

"What's the matter with him?"

"So?"

After pouring another glass of wine and drinking it unhurriedly, Yuan Shu picked up the topic.

"Now within a radius of 100 miles, there are three big and strong and seven medium and strong. Under the current emergency situation of the war, if I want to transfer hundreds of soldiers from each of these powerful families, I expect that these families will not refuse this small request of my Yuan family. ”

Tao Qian listened and smiled slightly:

"It turned out that it was filled with powerful private soldiers."

"Who said it was a strong private soldier? As a captain of Changshui, I have the right to make decisions on the spot. Now that I am outside, I said that these people are county soldiers, and they are county soldiers. Who dares to talk more? ”

Tao Qian nodded in agreement. Today, a few months ago, he issued many edicts, asking the family to bravely go to the national disaster and contribute to exterminate these staggering moths. With the power of the Yuan clan in Runan in the court, there was no problem at all to temporarily recruit some powerful private soldiers and serve them as county soldiers.

Moreover, once they are incorporated into the county soldiers, the armor and weapons of these powerful private soldiers can be replenished by the state and county treasury. When this battle was over, Yuan Shu issued another order to dismiss these temporary county soldiers. Then, those weapons and armor that have been issued have become the personal armor of the powerful.

With such benefits, coupled with the prestige of the Yuan clan in Runan for many years, I am afraid that Yuan Shu will raise his arms and exclaim, and the private soldiers he can gather are not under three thousand.

This is still considering the problem of time, the number of wealthy families who can respond to Yuan Shu's call in time in the last day or two. If Yuan Shu had more time, he would be able to gather at least 20,000 powerful private soldiers in Jibei alone. Of course, the elite degree of these powerful private soldiers cannot be too demanding.

The potential strength of the Runan Yuan clan can be seen from this.

Tao Qian was a person who was quite loyal to the Han family. When he thought that the Runan Yuan clan, who was just a courtier, actually had such a deep and terrifying potential unknowingly, his heart couldn't help but twitch. This moment made Tao Qian even more determined to make friends with Yuan Shu.

-- A split Yuan is the Yuan that makes people feel safe. Let me support Yuan Shu to fight against the even more surprising existence in the Yuan family!

As for the character who made Tao Qian feel jealous, of course, it can only be Yuan Shao and Yuan Benchu, who are praised as "models in the world" by the Jingshi scholars!

Yuan Shu and Tao Qian are both impatient, and since they have made a plan, they immediately started a busy execution. In the afternoon of the same day, more than a dozen messengers served as elite soldiers of the Changshui Battalion, riding fast horses, under the guidance of the locals, galloped in all directions.

As the captain of Changshui, Yuan Shu also rushed to Linyi County, thirty miles away, overnight, to urge the local county order to repair the armor and prepare grain in order to provide enough military resources for the upcoming powerful private soldiers.

According to the regulations of the Han Dynasty, counties with a population of more than 10,000 households, the county officials are called county orders, and the rank is 600 to 1,000 stones; Those below 10,000 households are called county magistrates, and their ranks are 300 to 500 stones. Yanzhou is one of the thirteen states in the Han Dynasty known for its dense population, and Linyi County is also a large county in Yanzhou. Although Yuan Shu came suddenly, he could still allow Linyi County to prepare enough weapons and armor to arm eight hundred people in one or two days.

As for Tao Qian, after receiving a group of money, silk, grain and grass demanded by Yuan Shu from the local Haoqiang, he also encouraged several volunteers with relatively strong combat effectiveness to launch a series of harassment activities against the Tianping Army in order to delay the Tianping Army's plan to cross the river.

-- Attacking them halfway through the river is the right thing for a soldier.

As a result, the arrogance immediately felt troubled.

Yesterday, in one day, there were actually three powerful private soldiers with a number of about 100 people and different banners haunting the camp of the Tianping Army. This is something that did not appear in the previous few days, and Zhang Qiang does not think that this matter is purely a coincidence.

Although Le Jin led his cavalry team, he attacked once, won more than forty heads, and drove away these pesky flies. However, in the middle of the night, there was actually a bold and powerful private army, taking advantage of the night, to sneak attack the boats used by the Tianping Army to cross the river.

Zhang Mad had already sent scouts and sentinels to guard as much as possible, but after a hundred secrets, he was still successfully attacked by the enemy, burning four small boats, and reducing the water transportation capacity of the Tianping Army by nearly half overnight!

Of course, after a period of strict training, the Tianping Army has rich combat experience, and its ability to counterattack in night attacks has also made the attacking enemy suffer a big loss. If you just look at the personnel losses on both sides, at the cost of eleven casualties, beheading the twenty-four-level Tianping Army is actually the victorious side.

However, such a tactical victory is meaningless. Zhang Mad would rather not have these gains, so that his troops could cross the Yellow River quietly. Even if you can use the money to buy the road to solve the problem at hand, you may agree.

Fortunately, most of the personnel of the Tianping Army, especially the families of the elderly, weak, women and children, and most of the baggage, have already crossed the river. The more than 700 people who are now stranded on the south bank of the Yellow River are all sturdy men. Even if there are more than 300 auxiliaries in it, these auxiliaries belong to the category of "strong and courageous bears", who can take up arms at any time and fight the enemy.

If it were in other Yellow Turban Army ranks with a very poor degree of regularization and a lack of obvious division of labor in the army, where would there be any difference between soldiers and auxiliaries? Each person is given a large scythe, and they can be driven into battle by the leaders of the Yellow Turban Army.

Now that the pursuers behind are pressing, Zhang Qiang naturally will not abide by the old-fashioned saying that no auxiliary soldiers will go into battle. With the surplus weapons and equipment in the battalion, he also armed all the auxiliaries and prepared to launch a stern counterattack against the pursuers!