From the very beginning, the war was full of calculations and intrigues. And the killing and blood.

Whether it was Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, whoever won the battle would lay the foundation for the first largest sergeant group in the north.

From the very beginning, Yuan Shao held the initiative in the campaign. Who made him have more people?

First, a letter scolded Cao Cao to the point of blood, trying to gain the upper hand in righteousness. He then ordered Yan Liang to lead his army to attack another key ferry along the Yellow River, "White Horse". was attacked by Cao Cao's army. not only killed Yan Liang, but also attacked Yuan Shao's pursuers again in the south of Yanjin, and killed the general Wen Chou.

Yuan Shao, who lost the first battle, regrouped and took advantage of the huge advantage in troops to give up the "surprise soldiers" and change them to "confrontation". Confronted Cao Cao's main force in the Guandu area, seeking a decisive battle.

Cao Cao, who did not have the advantage of troops, soon exposed an Achilles' heel of his side: its logistical potential.

Although it sits on the land of heaven and earth, food is not something that can be bought with money in many cases. It has been in turmoil, far from Yuan Shao's territory, and the materials are abundant.

The food consumption of 20,000 troops stationed for one day is extremely staggering. One or two months was fine, but after holding on for three months, Cao Cao himself almost lost confidence.

At the critical moment, Cao Cao's strategist Xun Yu made it clear that he had a strong relationship, making Cao Cao understand that he had no other way out now than gritting his teeth and resisting. So I continued to resist with the hope that there might or may not appear.

But Cao Cao did seem to be haunted by luck, and just when he already felt that he was about to be consumed by Yuan Shaosheng, a turning point appeared.

October of the fifth year of Jian'an. Cao Cao, who was on the verge of collapse due to logistical suffering, received a secret report that most of Yuan Shao's military rations were stored in Wuchao, twenty miles behind Yuan Shao's camp. And Cao Cao wanted to defeat Yuan Shao, and his only hope was to surprise attack Wuchao and burn Yuan Shao's military rations hoarded in Wuchao.

Cao Cao left most of the elite to continue to guard the camp of Guandu. He personally led 5,000 soldiers, quietly crossed the river at night, and then took a detour from the path and went straight to the black nest. It's a bit of a ruin.

Yuan Shao, who got the news, was shocked, and while sending heavy troops to storm Cao Cao's camp overnight, he personally led the troops to rescue Wuchao.

But it was too late. Cao Jun had already been in battle at the Guandu camp and could not defend it to the death, and he couldn't pry it open for a while. And as soon as the fire of the black nest burns, it is simply not something that can be extinguished by manpower.

This was one of the most victorious and losing points in the war.

No matter what plane it is in, no matter what level of war it is, it is always labeled as a "critical" existence.

Even if Yuan Shao's army still has extremely strong combat power at this time, the logistics supply has been destroyed, and it is impossible to gather these grains again for two or three months. Who can go two or three months without eating? Only the dead!

In addition, the fire is soaring at night, and you can see it clearly dozens of miles away, as long as you have a little experience, you will know that the big thing is not good.

What the two armies are most afraid of in the confrontation is the situation that Yuan Shao is facing now. The logistics are ruined, and there is simply no way to hide it. This is a devastating blow to the morale and momentum of the military. So there is a word called "rout".

is a thousand miles away, talking about the situation that Yuan Shao needs to face now. It is not an exaggeration to even describe it as "losing in one move, losing in a full game".

The loss of logistics and the momentum of the rout together cannot be reversed. Not only did the soldiers in Yuan Shao's base camp begin to scatter in a hurry, but even Zhang He and Gao Lan, who were arranged by Yuan Shao to raid the camp of Cao's army, raised their troops and surrendered after discovering the Wuchao fire.

The general trend has gone, and Yuan Shao can only take a few hundred personal soldiers and flee back to Hebei in a hurry. At this point, the battle of Guandu was declared over. At the same time, Cao Cao also determined the position of the first military group in the north and the only overlord at the same time.

From the first month of the fifth year of Jian'an to October, the ups and downs of this war can be described as thrilling. Not only did the two parties grit their teeth and kill red-eyed, but the princes from all walks of life who were closely watching this battle were also shocked. The outcome of the war was unexpected by many.

"Your Majesty. Yuan Shao's general trend has gone. Cao Shao's position in the north has been increasingly consolidated, but it will take a few years to completely eliminate Yuan Shao's forces. Shouldn't we also let Liu Zhang hand over Chengdu?" Chen Gong accompanied Liu Xie to stand on the wall of Nanguang City and take a walk. I thought about it for a long time before I said it.

There are the kind of two-crop rice seeds that Liu Xie got from Lord Yama, which is simply invincible for appeasing the displaced people in his hands, accumulating strength, and consolidating the rear control area.

It is said that the troubled times are uneven, and the mountain bandits are all over the world. But most of them are forced. I couldn't survive anymore before I embarked on the road of burning, killing and looting. Now that there are new rice seeds, the yield is still so amazing, and Liu Xie said that as long as he comes down the mountain, he will divide the land and seeds, and the tax will only be collected by 30%.

If you change the official face, such as Liu Zhang and others, the homeless mountain bandits may not believe it. But Liu Xie's external banner is the "Blood Flag Army", which to some extent can be regarded as a "mountain bandit" and is a fellow stream. So, when the first group of mountain bandits came out of the cottage and began to eat crabs first. One after another, a large number of people who were hiding in the mountains came out.

The rapid increase in the population under control has brought not only the abundance of labor, but also the expansion of the supply of soldiers.

The main battle force was controlled by Liu Xie at 10,000, of which 8,000 were Blood Banner troops who had drunk divine water, and the remaining 2,000 were carefully selected auxiliary soldiers from the displaced people.

The non-main battle soldiers were all scattered in various towns, with a total of more than 30,000 soldiers, collectively known as the militia. There is no need to be fed. Farming in peacetime and training in his spare time, Liu Xie only paid for "there are militiamen at home, and the tax grain is reduced by half".

In Lu Bu's words, that is, the quality of this kind of militia is far stronger than the "strong men" that are now popular everywhere. Although it is somewhat deficient compared to the elite of the princes, it is not much worse than that of ordinary sergeants. The war is together, and you can go directly to the battle after a month or two of training.

"Wait a little longer, until the end of the month, when the rice in the field is harvested. Let's start a showdown with Liu Zhang again. Liu Xie leaned against the wall and looked into the distance. replied to Chen Gong without looking back.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll take care of that in advance. ”

"Hmm. By the way, what's the situation on the Fazheng side? How many people have fallen to us?"

"It has been determined that Liu Zhang's subordinate is engaged in Zhang Song. The rest are still waiting. I guess we all want to see what we're planning for next. ”

and so on, and come down from the city. Liu Xie returned to his residence. He retreated, closed the door, and habitually walked to a shrine and knelt down, muttering words in his mouth.

The shrine is the Yama statue. This habit was learned by Liu Xie from the original 8,000 soldiers. It was also some soldiers who sought inner comfort at first, and had seen the miracles of Lord Yama, so they pinched the statue and worshiped it themselves. But then they were shocked by the feedback of the power of faith. It spread throughout the barracks, and then affected it layer by layer, until Liu Xie also joined the worship of the gods. Even this habit has spread to the homes of ordinary people in the areas occupied by the Blood Banner Army.

And Liu Xie found that his worship effect on the shrine was obviously different from others. In addition to the power of faith that comes back, there is also a clear sense of connection. If he asks for something, he will have a chance to get it answered. For example, those miraculous two-cropping rice seeds were obtained when he worshipped the idols.

"Lord Yama. I am preparing to start the attack on Liu Zhang at the beginning of next month. I hope Lord Yama can give me some more divine water to help me. ”

"Yes. ”

The result of Liu Xie's prayer was that in the next second, three large vats appeared in his house, and in the jars were the kind of "divine water" that he would never forget. Looking at the portion, it should be enough for two thousand people.

"Thank you, Lord Yama, for the reward. Liu Xie will definitely take Sichuan completely within this year!"

(End of chapter)