Chapter 201 Strong walls and clear fields When Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's troops reached Huguan, Taishi Ci began to lead his troops to harass Henei, Weijun and other places, and waited for opportunities to attack Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's rear grain transport troops to relieve the pressure of Huguan. However, Yuan Shao had already accumulated a large amount of grain and fodder in cities such as Yecheng, Handan and Wu'an, and had heavily guarded the grain transports, so attacking the grain transport troops had little effect. The surrounding villages were directly cleared out by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Taishi Ci achieved some results in the beginning, but gained very little later on. After sending out scouts to gather information, Taishi Ci led his army and even approached Yecheng at one point. However, it also didn't have any effect. As early as when he started the rebellion, Yuan Shao had made preparations and moved the political center to Linzi, Qingzhou. The cavalry led by Taishi Ci were not good at attacking cities, and they dared not act rashly without knowing where Yuan Shao's main force was. However, the existence of Taishi Ci's army still made Cao Cao and Yuan Shao quite wary, and they had to allocate a large number of troops to guard the grain team and the rear, thus achieving their established goals. In Bingzhou, Tian Ze has led his troops to Yanmen County. Looking at the movements of all parties on the "small map", Tian Ze kept marking them on the map beside him.
Guo Jia, the military advisor accompanying the army, looked at the intertwined situation between the three parties and suddenly let out a light exclamation. "My Lord, it seems we have been set up." When Guo Jia reacted, he immediately thought of Li Ru's talent. Tian Ze was slightly stunned. Then Guo Jia explained the situation one by one, and Tian Ze suddenly realized. His thoughts were not actually affected, he simply did not think of this. After all, he was only a third-rate military expert. However, the matter was done. Looking at the large number of red dots not far from him, and Lu Bu's cavalry only a hundred miles away from him, Tian Ze gave up the idea of turning to Jizhou. "It doesn't matter. It's too late to go back now. Yuan Shao did this just to capture the Taihang Mountains before we take Bingzhou. But with Xuan Gao and others here, no matter how ingenious Yuan Shao's plan is, it can only be wishful thinking." Looking at the large number of red dots on the "mini map" that were retreating and scattered from the direction of Huguan, although Tian Ze didn't know how many troops there were, he knew that there must be quite a few. His "mini map" still has certain limitations. He can only check the situation nearby in detail, but once the distance is far, he can only see a rough idea and cannot tell the number of troops at all. However, even if he knew Yuan Shao's arrangements clearly now, he had no good solution. After all, he couldn't send the message to Zang Ba via telepathy over a long distance. Even Guan Yu, who also has a "mini map" and can see this, is in a dilemma at this time. The 250,000-strong army led by Gao Lan was no showpiece and was pressing forward step by step. He really didn't dare to split his forces and advance westward. It would be fine if there were any loopholes in the Taihang Mountains, but the Jizhou defense line must not have any problems, after all, Youzhou is behind it. Fortunately, when Xu Huang came to support, he left behind 20,000 troops. Cheng Xu led 10,000 troops to station in the northwest plain of Jizhou, and the other 10,000 troops were commanded by Tian Ning to garrison in the northern part of Taihang Mountains. If the Zang Ba defense zone in the south is besieged, Tian Ning, who discovers anything unusual, can provide support. But soon, Guan Yu realized that the situation was troublesome. Yuan Shao squeezed out his last 50,000 troops, led by the brothers Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang, and marched to the northwest of Jizhou. Relying on their advantage in military strength, they engaged in a fierce confrontation with Cheng Xu's army. On the one hand, it blocked the possibility for Guan Yu and Xu Huang to withdraw troops to the west for assistance. On the other hand, their fierce offensive forced Cheng Xu to ask Tian Ning for help.
Although the northwest part of Jizhou is not important, once it is lost, a gap will be exposed, allowing Yuan Shao's army to bypass the Taihang Mountains and enter Bingzhou directly. Although Yuan Shao was unwilling to engage in a large-scale decisive battle with Tian Ze, this small-scale battle could still be fought. Guan Yu wanted to send Xu Huang to lead the troops to help, but Gao Lan began to harass and march into Youzhou, forcing Guan Yu to continue to focus on Gao Lan. "Damn it! Gao Lan, you are so shameless!" Guan Yu shouted angrily. This was the first time he had fought such a frustrating battle. Gao Lan adopted the same pressing tactics as Sima Yi did against Zhuge Liang in later generations. Every time Guan Yu led his army forward, he would take a step back, and every time Guan Yu led his army backward, he would take a step forward. He followed Guan Yu closely but still kept a certain distance, that is, he defended his position without fighting. Moreover, relying on their superior military strength, they divided their forces on a large scale, carried out local blocking, fought guerrilla warfare, cut off food supply, and later even used the strategy of confusing the enemy to make him unable to determine the true situation and harassed him by all means. Even though Guan Yu relied on the power of his cavalry to kill hundreds of his soldiers every time, he didn't care at all, because he had more people and could afford it. Although Guan Yu has a "mini map" that can determine the enemy's position and layout, he cannot distinguish the number of people. At the beginning, Gao Lan's army was not clear and used troops conservatively, so they suffered a lot of casualties. Later, Gao Lan seemed to realize this and simply divided his troops more widely. This tactic really disgusted Guan Yu. "Gongming, you will lead 10,000 cavalrymen to return for support tomorrow. Don't worry about those stragglers and break through directly." Guan Yu said. "Okay!" Xu Huang nodded. He also realized that the other side had no intention of starting a war, but simply wanted to delay them. Cheng Yu, who was Guan Yu's military advisor at the front line, frowned and said, "Gong Ming, you still have to be careful when marching to prevent the enemy from setting an ambush." During this period of fighting, he realized that his opponent was not an easy opponent. His reaction speed and judgment were extremely good, and he seemed to have seen through the "mini map" effect that Tian Ze had added to Guan Yu. If this were true, the other party would definitely not let Xu Huang withdraw so easily. "Don't worry, Military Advisor." Xu Huang said in a deep voice. He was a calm person and knew that Cheng Yu would not say such a thing for no reason, so his originally anxious and frivolous mentality calmed down a little. At this time, in Gao Lan's army, Xun Chen was looking at the latest intelligence and the map on the wall, and was constantly making arrangements with Gao Lan. Gao Lan was responsible for the overall layout, while Xun Chen was responsible for checking for omissions and making secret arrangements. "Jingzhi, have the soldiers strengthen their defenses in the next few days. The two cavalry units deployed on the west side must be on standby at all times, as the enemy may break through in the next few days." "Lan understands." After cooperating with Xun Chen for this period of time, Gao Lan was already full of admiration for Xun Chen. Not only is he quick-witted and able to think clearly, but he is also able to see through people's minds and always anticipate his enemies' moves. "Fortunately, we have mastered some of Tian Ze's talents and abilities in advance, and this time we have basically figured them out. Otherwise, we would have suffered a great loss." Xun Chen said in a deep voice. Tian Ze's talent was too powerful. If it weren't for the information provided by Xu You, they would never have thought that he had such a perverted talent. No wonder most of the people who enter Youzhou cannot come back. The huge intelligence advantage brought by this talent is particularly obvious in the military. It can clearly see the enemy and ourselves, and will not be ambushed or cut off from food, so many strategies cannot be implemented. If an ordinary opponent is unaware of the situation and attempts to deploy troops on a large scale, set an ambush or launch a night attack, he will probably be beaten to the point of doubting his life.
How can we fight this war when our every move is under the surveillance of the enemy? Except for a head-on confrontation. But the problem is that the opponent is quite strong, and we probably won’t be able to win in a head-on confrontation! Fortunately, after constant testing, Xun Chen discovered that this talent still had limitations, and he was not yet able to understand the size of the army. Otherwise, Xun Chen really didn't know how to fight this battle. (End of this chapter)