Yuan Shao convened the generals to discuss the matter, and first informed them of the news: the Han army on the eastern front had been defeated by Tanshihuai, Zhao Bao was killed in battle, and Gongsun Zan was seriously injured.

Things have gone through twists and turns.

Zhao Bao and Gongsun Zan led 10,000 cavalry in Liaodong and Liaoxi to pursue all the way, and the Xianbei tribe in the east, Mijia, Suli and others retreated from Rao Leshui to Gonglushui according to the plan of Tanshi Huai, just when the Han army was about to stop pursuing, Micah accidentally found Zhao Bao's mother among the captured Han people, he felt that the opportunity had come, and did not wait for him to personally command the battle according to the pre-arrangement of Tanshi Huai, but greeted him first, and wanted to use Zhao Bao's mother to force Zhao Bao to surrender and make a meritorious contribution first.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Bao faced his mother who was captured before the battle, just dismounted and kowtowed three times, and ordered an immediate attack, Miga was caught off guard, killed Zhao's mother in anger, and led the army to meet the battle, but this not only did not help, but aroused the fighting spirit of the Han army. 10,000 angry Han troops rushed and fought under the leadership of Zhao Bao and Gongsun Zhan, and beat Micah and others to the ground at once, and when Tanshihuai arrived, Micah and others had already collapsed.

Tanshi Huai was furious, and then reassembled the army of Xianbei in the east to counterattack, Zhao Bao was too sad, and went deep into the enemy formation during the battle, and was surrounded by Tanshi Huai and ordered the personal guard battalion to be surrounded by regiments, and died heroically, and Tanshi Huai immediately attacked Gongsun Zan with all his strength. Although Gongsun Zhan was brave, he killed and injured two Xianbei warriors, Micah and Suli, one after another, and snatched Zhao Bao's body from the encirclement of Tanshi Huai, but he also paid a heavy price, was seriously injured, and was unable to fight again.

Yuan Shao said that Zhao Bao is good, he is the pride of our scholars, and we must avenge him.

One sentence stirred everyone's blood.

Zhao Bao is a native of Wucheng in the east of Zhao State, and often serves Zhao Zhong's younger brother, but Zhao Bao not only does not rely on Zhao Zhong to take office, but also deeply ashamed, and never interacts with Zhao Zhong, so he has never been a big official, and he was promoted to Liaoxi Taishou until the year before last. Although he did not associate with Zhao Zhong, the scholars refused to accept him, and he had no reputation in Shilin.

But today, Yuan Shao's words promoted him to a very high position, and the entire Jizhou people felt honored, and everyone almost unanimously demanded that troops be sent to help Gongsun Zan and avenge Zhao Bao.

Yuan Shao rejected their opinions. He said, Gongsun Chan is at least a thousand miles away from us, and now he is still retreating in great strides, we rushed over there, maybe the war has ended, but since Tanshi Huai appeared in the east, it is speculated from the time before and after, his main force is not far from us, it should be within two or three hundred miles, we will not save Gongsun Zhan, we will attack the main camp of Tanshi Huai.

Almost everyone stopped talking, some people thought that Yuan Shao didn't dare to fight against Tanshihuai, and he wouldn't save him when he saw death, and some people thought that Yuan Shao was guessing randomly, how could he be sure that the main force of Tanshihuai was within two or three hundred miles?

However, Yuan Shao was very resolute, and he immediately ordered Xia Yu and Tian Yan on both flanks to march forward, and then the army pulled out the camp and marched quickly eastward along Gonglushui. He Hao and Guo Tu both objected to him doing this, saying that until they got accurate information from the scouts, the rapid march had no meaning except to consume the physical strength of the army. Only the trial matched to support him, and the trial retorted to Guo Tu that waiting for the news of the scout to take action would take at least one to two days, and what we need now is time. Time is a fighter, a gentleman sees the opportunity to do it, the opportunity must not be lost, and the time will never come.

As a result, good luck befell Yuan Shao's head, when he was less than a hundred miles away from Daze, Yuan Shao received a report from the scout, the main force of Xianbei in the central part was between Daze, and Tanshi Huai was not in the camp, and now it was presided over by Murong Feng, but Murong Feng was seriously injured and had difficulty moving.

Yuan Shao was overjoyed and immediately ordered an attack, and the 40,000 Han troops rushed a hundred miles and launched a fierce attack on the Xianbei people.

Murong Feng was very careful, when the Han army was hundreds of miles away, he got the news, but when he reported the news to the other tribesmen and asked them to prepare for war carefully, he encountered the cold eyes of those tribesmen, they scoffed, and some people even said to Murong Feng, you are frightened by the Han people, we have an army of fifty or sixty thousand here, they only have a total of 40,000 people, and they have just crossed the desert, and they have come from afar, it is difficult to say whether they can stand firm, they dare to attack us?

Murong Feng tragically discovered that not only was he physically injured, but his undefeated prestige had also left him, and no one took him seriously anymore.

It wasn't until Xia Yu, the vanguard of the Han army, began to chase and kill the peripheral guard troops, that the Xianbei people reacted, and they hurriedly began to line up, but it was too late, tens of thousands of troops were not so easy to command, and when they hurriedly finished arranging, Xia Yu and Tian Yan had already entered the camp of the Xianbei people one left and one right, and Yuan Shao personally led the army, and then killed, giving the Xianbei people a heavy blow.

Xia Yusuo's men and horses were the first to be equipped with stirrups in the Han army, when he led two thousand cavalry out of the fortress to pursue Huai Zong, he was keenly aware of the great changes brought about by this simple equipment, these years, he has not given up training, and the attack power is very eye-catching. The young master Lou Lu and Lu Pofeng of Shanggu Wuhuan, who partnered with him, were also very brave, and in this battle with the Xianbei people, they had been rushing to the front.

Tian Yan did not show weakness, the 10,000 cavalry under his command were mainly Huns, these people had more or less fought with Liu Xiu, and their understanding of this kind of raid tactics far exceeded that of others.

They are like sharp double knives, cutting off the flanks of the Xianbei people at once, and then going back and forth in the camp of the Xianbei people, killing wantonly and taking people first.

The Xianbei people hurriedly responded to the battle, and soon there was chaos, the people in front were still fighting, but the people behind began to flee.

Half a day later, Murong Feng couldn't support it anymore and broke through with the remnants of the army. The Han army, which marched more than 200 miles in a hurry and fought hard for a long time, was unable to pursue, so it had to watch the Xianbei people run away. However, the results of this battle were also very brilliant, they beheaded more than 17,000 ranks, captured more than 8,000 people, and captured countless livestock and baggage, which was a veritable victory.

Yuan Shao sat down by the lake, and the guards wanted to set up a table for him, but he shook his hand and refused, holding the cool lake water with his hand trembling because of the loss of strength, washing away the blood stains on his face, and taking two deep breaths to wake himself up from the ecstasy of victory.

He won the bet, captured the main force of the Xianbei people, and defeated them with a thunderous force, proving the Yuan family to the world, proving himself, and next, his task is to bring the army back safely, and if possible, to trap and kill Tanshi Huai, adding a strong touch to this expedition.

"My lord, we have gained a lot this time." Guo Tu trotted over all the way, "We not only won the Xianbei people, but also captured a large amount of baggage, so we don't have to worry about the grain and grass when we go back." ”

Yuan Shao had regained his composure, he pondered for a moment, and said lightly: "Pass my order, kill all the prisoners, take three days of dry food, burn all the rest, and prepare to retreat." ”

Guo Tu was stunned: "My lord? ”

The corners of Yuan Shao's mouth showed a cruel smile: "Can't wait, Tanshi Huai will get the news soon and rush back, if these captives are not killed, they will definitely defect, and if the baggage is not burned, they will also be taken back by Tanshi Huai, killed, burned, he will not get anything." ”

Guo Tu suddenly realized and immediately gave the order. Although everyone didn't quite understand, but after the big victory, Yuan Shao's prestige soared, and no one dared to disobey the military order, so he immediately separated the Xianbei prisoners, killed them all, and then took enough dry food for three days, and the rest were either rushed to the lake and drowned, or set on fire.

The army then returned along the same route, never stopping again, and quickly retreated to Monan.

As Yuan Shao expected, just one day later, Tanshihuai returned to the camp, and when he saw all this in front of him, Tanshihuai's face was like frost, and he was furious. After receiving the news of Tanshihuai's return, the scattered Xianbei people also regrouped, and the hearts of all the adults sank to the bottom in the face of a mess of corpses and livestock that had not yet been burned.

It's an absolute catastrophe.

Tan Shi Huai knew what the problem was, if it wasn't for Mika's self-righteous unauthorized attack and the first crushing defeat, he wouldn't need to spend so much time to solve the battle on the Eastern Front, he could have rushed back at least two days earlier, and none of this would have happened.

Everything seemed to be providential, but in just two days, the battle that was originally in his hands was suddenly completely reversed, leaving him with nothing but a mess.

"Chase!" Sandalwood gave the order.

With just one word, the desperate Xianbei people were reintegrated, and under the leadership of Tan Shihuai, they chased Yuan Shao without hesitation, they wanted to wash away the shame with the blood of the Han people, and they also believed that under the leadership of the king, even if they suffered a huge setback, they could regain it on the battlefield.

Defeating the Han army and killing Yuan Shao, all the Xianbei people were enraged, and they twisted into a rope and chased after the Han army at a gallop. Two days later, they caught up with the Han army, and the battle began in the desert.

Yuan Shao had already prepared, he once again set up a position to fight to the death with Tanshi Huai, he believed that with the sophisticated equipment and high morale of the Han army, he could defeat Tanshi Huai again and consolidate his own military exploits.

But he soon found out the difference, although the Xianbei people had just experienced a fiasco, but their morale was high, and they launched wave after wave of attacks without fear of death, and what was even more terrifying was the three thousand personal guard battalions led by Tan Shihuai, all of which were equipped with white armor, iron ring-headed war knives, riding white war horses, as fast as the wind, and the momentum was like a bamboo, and they successively broke Xia Yu and Tian Yan, the two most elite cavalry, and then began to attack Yuan Shao's Chinese army.

Yuan Shao felt a huge pressure for the first time, in the face of Tanshi Huai's sharp attack, he was tired of coping, the originally flexible formation became stiff, the attack became more and more weak, and he was gradually at a disadvantage.

Yuan Shao immediately made a decision and ordered the defeated cavalry on both flanks to move closer to the Chinese army, pushed the baggage carts to the front of the formation, and a part of the cavalry dismounted and lined up into a dense infantry spear formation, giving full play to the advantages of the Han army's strong bows and crossbows, and stubbornly resisted.

In the face of the continuous rain of arrows, the casualties of the Xianbei people increased rapidly, the offensive was frustrated, Tanshi Huai saw this, ordered a slow retreat, waiting for the opportunity to attack again. They did not go far, but camped twenty miles away, maintaining constant pressure on the Han army.

At night, calm was restored in the desert after a day of bloody fighting, and Yuan Shao lay on the map, thinking hard about the best way to defeat the enemy. A vicious battle during the day made him personally feel the combat effectiveness of the Xianbei people, and at the same time felt the status of the Xianbei people in the hearts of the Xianbei people, the originally demoralized Xianbei people were simply a tiger descending the mountain under the command of the sandalstone huai, unstoppable.

He Hao opened the tent door and walked in, and saw that Yuan Shao was meditating, so he couldn't help but stop.

"Boqiu, I'm afraid it's not easy to go back safely this time." Yuan Shao beckoned, he knew that it would not be someone else who rushed over now.

"Yes, Tanshi Huai is worthy of a generation of heroes, no wonder he defeated Zhao Bao and Gongsun Zan so easily." He Hao's voice was a little hoarse, and when the battle was at its fiercest today, he kept rushing to the front to inspire the courage of the soldiers.

"How's the injury?" Yuan Shao glanced at He Hao's arms and limping legs that were hanging from the cloth.

"It's just a flesh wound, it's not in the way." He Hao smiled unmindfully: "You don't have to care about me, you should appease Xia Yu, Tian Yan, and the Wuhuan people, the Huns, they suffered the most losses today." ”

Yuan Shao nodded and thought for a moment: "I'm going to ask Liu Xiu to pick us up." ”

He Hao was stunned for a moment and thought for a while, "Will he come?" ”

"Yes." Yuan Shao's smile was a little bitter, but he did not lose his confidence. "If my guess is correct, the Northern Army originally commanded by me should have been assigned to his subordinates, and now there are at least 20,000 people under his command. If he doesn't come, our losses will be very large, and this time we will win first and then lose, and Your Majesty will definitely not let us go. I am likely to lose my military power in the north. ”

He Hao silently took a sip of tea: "Since this is the case, Liu Xiu will not come." He is already a smart man, and Jia Xu around him is unfathomable, if he comes to answer, won't he disrupt the deployment of the Son of Heaven? ”

"Yes, but ...... He will definitely come. Yuan Shao's voice was very soft, but very resolute, "We stabilized our position, fought and retreated, dragged Tanshi Huai, led him to the border, and when Liu Xiu arrived, we worked together to kill Tanshi Huai, Xianbei can be broken, and the northern Xinjiang can be determined, for Liu Xiu, this is a very big temptation, he will definitely be tempted." ”

He Hao didn't say anything more, pondered for a long time before nodding.

Yuan Shao immediately wrote a letter, and did not seal it, and then invited Xia Yu, Tian Yan, Lou Lu and Qiangqu to come, he first commended them, and then encouraged them to say, you don't have to worry, now fight a little harder, consume a little more Xianbei people's strength, and when Liu Xiu arrives, we can fight back, and when the time comes, the Xianbei people will be wiped out in one fell swoop.

Tian Yan smiled bitterly: "Lord Liu? He is in charge of the war on the Western Front, and the war on the Western Front is over, and he will come to meet us? ”

"I think he'll come, if we call on him for help." Yuan Shao pushed the letter in front of them, "I hope you can join forces with me, we have all had the experience of fighting side by side with Lord Liu, I don't think he will die without help." ”

Tian Yan exchanged views with Xia Yu, Lou Lu, and Qiang Qu and signed his name. Yuan Shao immediately asked people to send the letter out.

...... "Yuan Shao played well." Liu Xiu handed the letter in his hand to Jia Xu, and his fingers tapped quickly and slowly on the case, "Even Tanshi Huai has planted a heel in his hand, this fighter is very exciting, I didn't expect him to be so good at gambling." ”

Jia Xu quickly glanced at the letter, handed it to Xun You, shook his head and smiled: "Compared to his scheming, his tactics are much worse." Let Tian Yan and several of them jointly invite adults to go and make a fortune for him, this idea is really clever. ”

Xun You gently put the letter down on the table, put his hands together, lowered his head and thought about his thoughts, and after a while, he raised his head and said to Liu Xiu: "Although there is a possibility of taking advantage of the fire, it may not be a good opportunity to take advantage of the fire to rob." Yuan Shao still has the strength to fight, Tanshi Huai chased and killed all the way, and it will become the end of the strong crossbow, if we can kill him, in exchange for no major war in Northern Xinjiang in ten years, it is also worth it. ”

Jia Xu's eyes flashed: "Gongda, the ministers of the DPRK and China are all supporters of the Yuan family, whose credit is it in this battle at that time, I'm afraid it is not you and I who can have the final say, do you think the Son of Heaven will want to see this situation?" ”

Xun You didn't speak again, just put a burning gaze on Liu Xiu's face.

Liu Xiu was silent, he knew the differences between Jia Xu and Xun You on this matter, and he also knew that the best outcome would be for Tan Shihuai and Yuan Shao to die together, but God probably wouldn't listen to him. He made meritorious service, Yuan Shao also made meritorious service, if Tan Shi Huai chased and killed Yuan Shao all the way to the border, then Yuan Shao had one more credit for luring the enemy, even if Tan Shi Huai finally died in his hands, Yuan Shao's credit could not be erased, and it would not be so easy for the Son of Heaven to take away his military power.

However, if you sit back and don't care, not to mention whether Tan Shihuai can kill Yuan Shao in the end, but after thousands of miles of pursuit, and there are no reinforcements, the morale of the Han army will definitely plummet, and those soldiers who are urgently recruited will be able to fight a good battle, once they are in a weak position, morale will easily collapse, and they will be chased and killed by Xianbei people all the way, and the losses will be very serious.

Yuan Shao asked Tian Yan and them to jointly ask for help, which originally had the intention of boosting morale, if he didn't save it, the army's morale would collapse in the end, and the charge might fall on his head. Others may not know, Xia Yu and the four people will definitely blame him.

"Gongda, where would you like to pick up along the way?"

Xun You breathed a sigh of relief, "In my opinion, Luo Yueyuan and Tianma Yuan are more suitable, since Yuan Shao has defeated the main force of the Xianbei people, he can somewhat supplement some baggage, plus the battle damage of the soldiers, I estimate that he should have no problem supporting here." If we send the news as soon as possible, the army will know that reinforcements are waiting and the morale will be able to support it. ”

Jia Xu glanced at Liu Xiu, and stopped talking. Liu Xiu thought about it, shook his head and said, "No, whether it is Luoyue Yuan or Tianma Yuan, it is nearly a thousand miles away from us, and we have to rush there, so we may not be in time." ”

Xun You smiled: "Yes, if the army rushes over, it is indeed too late, but if it is a forward of about 1,000 people, it is completely possible." ”

"A striker of a thousand or so?" Liu Xiu was surprised: "What's the use of going?" ”

"Boost morale."

Liu Xiu didn't laugh out loud when he wanted to laugh, and he said that this guy Xun Yu was more poisonous than Jia Xu, saying that he had sent someone to answer it, but he only sent a thousand people to inspire the morale of the soldiers and fight hard with the Xianbei people. If you don't talk about morality, it's a very good tactic.

"What we have to think about is how to deal with sandalwood locust." Xun You picked up the letter again, "From Yuan Shao's very simple description, I found that this battle has a lot to do with Tanshi Huai, and the victory and defeat of the two Han armies are all because of Tanshi Huai. I suspect he has a very strong force that can turn the tide of battle at a critical moment. ”

Liu Xiu nodded, "I've heard that he has a guard battalion called the Xuanwu Battalion, which is about three thousand people, all of whom are carefully selected from various tribes, and they have both the role of entrapment and surveillance. These people are very well equipped, with armor similar to our Han army, ring knives, and now equipped with stirrups, plus the cavalry and archery they were originally good at, their combat effectiveness is quite considerable. ”

"Xuanwu?" Jia Xu pondered for a moment, "Is it the Xuanwu among the four spirits of our Han people?" ”

"Yes." Liu Xiu explained, some of these news came from Fengxue, and some of the information sent back by Xi Zhicai, this 3,000-person Xuanwu battalion is as its name suggests, with both the ability of a turtle to resist blows, and the agility of a snake, it is an iron horse that can attack and defend, and the warriors trained by Tanshi Huai himself serve as centurion and thousand-commander, and their combat effectiveness is very strong. Usually Tan Shihuai does not bring a large army to the command and operation of various tribes, only these 3,000 Xuanwu battalions, with him and the Xuanwu battalion, they can afford 10,000 troops anywhere.

If he guessed correctly, Tan Shihuai defeated Gongsun Zan and Zhao Bao this time, and it should be the Xuanwu Battalion that he relied on.

"So, we have to be more careful." After listening to Liu Xiu's explanation, Xun You's face became a little heavy: "If the Xuanwu Battalion is indeed as the adults said, we must be mentally prepared for a bloody battle." He frowned: "I'm a little worried about whether the army can safely retreat to Luoyue Plain. ”

"There are two ways to deal with cavalry." Jia Xu said lightly: "One is to break the cavalry with steps, use strong bows and crossbows, cooperate with spears, and form dense formations, Yuan Shao did this, we have heavy armor to help, we should be better." The second is to ride against ride, and in the case of similar combat strength, the one with the superior strength wins. Judging from our current situation, the cavalry we can mobilize is about 20,000, and it should not be a problem to surround and kill a sandalstone locust. So, our problem is how to catch his whereabouts, with foot soldiers, the speed can't keep up, with cavalry, 20,000 horsemen are far less flexible than 3,000 horsemen, we are likely to be broken by him one by one. ”

Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows: "Yes, no matter what method is used, first of all, we must accurately find the whereabouts of Tanshi Huai, if he has been with the Xianbei army, I am afraid we have no chance." You have to lure him out of the army. ”

Jia Xu and Xun You didn't say anything, they wanted to lure Tanshi Huai out of the Xianbei army? This sounds like a dream, in the middle of a big war, which lord will inexplicably leave his army and lead the guard battalion around.

"Others may not, but Sandalwood will." Liu Xiu smiled, "Look, didn't he leave his army to fight against Zhao Bao and Gongsun Zhan?" ”

"However, now that there is no fighting between the east and the west, there is no need for him to do it again."

"Then create an opportunity for him to feel the need." Liu Xiu smiled slightly, "I'm sure you two will be able to come up with a clever plan to transfer Tanshi Huai out of his army." ”

Jia Xu and Xun You looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

(To be continued)