Chapter 213: The Death Field At this time, Tian Ze only had more than 90,000 troops. Dian Wei, Gao Shun and Qu Yi each led nearly a thousand elite troops, Zhao Yun and Ma Teng led 20,000 elite cavalry as the left and right wings, Le Jin led 20,000 elite troops as the vanguard, and Zhang Liao led 30,000 elite troops in the center. After learning that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's targets were him, Tian Ze was a little confused. You want to abandon the geographical advantage, take the risk of running out of food and supplies, and being cut off from retreat, and carry out a decapitation operation against a cultivator like yourself? If it weren't for the restrictions of the rules, he would at least teach these two people the skill of wielding a sword and let them see what a real decapitation operation is. Not to mention anything else, just based on his physical strength, even if he stood there, Lu Bu couldn't hurt him. But by putting himself in their shoes, Tian Ze also understood what Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were thinking. Is there any better opportunity than this? However, looking at the neatly-organized army of more than 90,000 soldiers, eight generals, and military advisor Guo Jia around him, Tian Ze felt that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were overthinking. Although, in order to stabilize Bingzhou, Tian Ze sent a small half of his original 150,000 troops, but they were still no match for him. "My lord, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao came here this time, ready to fight to the death," said Guo Jia. "They have come from a long distance and their retreat is cut off, so they must not have enough food and grass. Even if they can replenish some at Pingxingguan, they will definitely not be able to last long."
Although he didn't know how many troops Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were leading this time, Guo Jia estimated that it was at least 150,000. Otherwise, there would be no hope of defeating Tian Ze. However, considering the situation in Jizhou, it is impossible for it to exceed by much. At this time, Guo Jia had already realized that Li Ru's intention of transporting military supplies to various passes was not to defend to the death, but to provide support. But even if Li Ru was capable, manpower and time were extremely limited. Pingxingguan could not have too much food and grass to sustain the consumption of such a large army for too long. The opponent’s goal must be a quick and decisive battle! "Then let's fight!" Tian Ze said lightly. What Yuan Shao and Cao Cao desired was also what he hoped for. Tian Ze also didn't want to keep fighting with Yuan Shao in Jizhou. Even if he had sufficient troops, it would still be difficult to take Jizhou as long as Yuan Shao was determined to defend and resist. In a battle of siege, the attacker is bound to suffer. Facing an enemy stationed on a wall, more energy and manpower must be spent. In addition, many issues such as rear stability and logistics and food supply must also be considered. Especially in Jizhou, which is mainly plains with few natural barriers, unless Tian Ze can capture it in one go or completely destroy Yuan Shao's main force, Yuan Shao can continue to harass and contain him. Otherwise, Tian Ze would not have relocated the population immediately after taking over the northern part of Jizhou, because this place was too difficult to defend and could only serve as a buffer zone. Tian Ze also wanted to fight a decisive battle with Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao did not give him this opportunity because it was meaningless to Yuan Shao. The impregnable defense line of Youzhou made Yuan Shao have no idea. Yuan Shao could only hope to kill Tian Ze in one battle to have a chance of winning. But in Jizhou, this possibility was too low. The Xinding Basin is different. The terrain here is destined to mean that whichever side is defeated will suffer heavy losses or even be wiped out. It is a place of death. "Notify Ruan Yun at Yanmen Pass and order him to guard the pass and store up food and fodder. Troops inside the pass must not be mobilized under any circumstances." Tian Ze said. Even if you are fully confident, you must still leave a way out first, just in case. The Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, the Battle of Hefei, the Battle of Yiling, who would have thought that the outcome would be like that if they had not known the outcome? Who could have imagined that a flying dragon could still lead to a defeat? Betting the fate of a country on a battle is often a last resort. But for the advantaged party, it is taking unnecessary risks. Why rush into a game that can be won by just rolling and developing?
Yuan Shao is now betting on this battle, but Tian Ze is not. Tian Ze was willing to fight this battle because the scale of the battle was still within his control. As long as we hold Yanmen Pass, even if we lose, we will just have to temporarily give up Taiyuan County and Shangdang County. At most, we can give up the southern part of Taihang Mountains, and the loss will be minimal. Now, most of Bingzhou is in his hands, and Youzhou and the northern and northwestern parts of Jizhou are still under Tian Ze's control. Relying on the Luliang Mountains, Taihang Mountains and Yanshan Mountains, the border defense is stable. Tian Ze has already achieved his original strategic goal, so what is there to worry about? If he wins this round, he can conquer Jizhou. If he loses, he will only lose two counties in Bingzhou. It is harmless, so Tian Ze is willing to gamble. And for Tian Ze at this time, he has no choice but to gamble. "Inside Shiling Pass, Lu Bu must have made preparations to contain us. It is too late to retreat to Yanmen Pass now, unless we abandon all the infantry." Guo Jia said, looking at the map. Although Yuan Shao's movements were discovered in advance, Shiling Pass was only a few days away from Yanmen Pass at the fastest speed, and it would take about fifteen days for Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's main forces to arrive. However, with the main force of Lu Bu's army desperately pursuing and harassing them from behind, Tian Ze's main force could not move at all. "Then let's choose a suitable battlefield and prepare for a decisive battle with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Lu Bu." Tian Ze said in a deep voice, looking at the direction of Yuanping on the map. Guo Jia followed Tian Ze's gaze and nodded slightly, saying, "My lord is wise. Yuanping County is indeed the best place for a decisive battle." "The northern part of this place is a plain, with Yunzhong Mountain to the west, Hutuo River to the east, and the remnant of Wutai Mountain to the southeast. This can greatly prevent our army from being attacked by Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao." After receiving Guo Jia's affirmation, Tian Ze no longer had any doubts: "Order the army to rest for a while. Send troops tomorrow to Yuanping County, advance slowly, and be careful of Lu Bu's surprise attack. Arrive within ten days." …… On the west side of the Great Xianbei Mountain, the Xianbei, who had allied with Yuan Shao, were already in trouble. In fact, Yuan Shao said that he was forming an alliance with him, but in reality he was just planning to trick him. Yuan Shao was such a cunning person. Although he did not have much resistance to foreigners, he would never unite with them to massacre the Han people. He knew that the defense line of the Great Xianbei Mountains was simply not something the Xianbei could break through, and he also knew that given Tian Ze's character, if he sent troops to Bingzhou, he would definitely establish a defense line on the northern border of Bingzhou as soon as possible. Therefore, the big plan he painted for the Xianbei was purely to get them to contain Tian Ze and make both of them suffer losses. The Xianbei were not fools, but they had to choose to believe Yuan Shao because they had no other choice. In the original historical trajectory, Yuan Shao contacted the Xianbei and Wuhuan many times, and they all agreed happily. Because if they did not unite, they were afraid of being killed by Gongsun Zan. The current situation is not much different. In the past, when the world was not in chaos, they could plunder the north almost at will. But things are different now. The Han Dynasty has been divided, but it has become stronger. As for the three northern states, there is no need to mention Youzhou. The Eastern Xianbei was directly destroyed, and even the Great Xianbei Mountain was lost. Bingzhou was also recovered by Lu Bu. The wolf cavalry led by him defeated the harassing Xianbei and made them flee in panic. He also took the initiative to go deep into the grassland from time to time to earn some extra money. The situation in Liang Province was similar. Although Gongsun Zan was not as crazy as Lu Bu due to logistical constraints, he had the White Horse Volunteers under his command! The Xianbei did not dare to approach him at all. Natural disasters have been frequent in recent years, especially in Xianbei territory, and the population has been reduced to less than one-third of what it was when Tan Shihuai died. If they don't go south to plunder and recover their blood, the Xianbei may not be able to survive. What else can they do except trust Yuan Shao?
As a result, they were cheated as expected. The 60,000 cavalrymen approached the border, which was almost the majority of the military force that the Xianbei could mobilize. However, they were forced to advance no further by Zhang He, who was good at taking advantage of the terrain and relied on the Taihang Mountains defense line. Merge one place, no progress. Divide the troops to attack, and Liao Hua chases them as experience packs. After more than a month, not a single checkpoint was broken through, and thousands of troops were lost in vain. Later, when they saw Lu Bu withdrawing his troops, they marched south to Bingzhou without hesitation, where they were harassed by Liao Hua who led thousands of cavalry. Then they met Pang De who led 20,000 cavalry to guard the border. Pang De's talent made the combat power bonus of his soldiers directly linked to their will. The soldiers, who had been brainwashed by Cheng Yu and others to "expel the Tartars", immediately exploded when fighting against the Xianbei. With Liao Hua attacking from both sides, the Xianbei were defeated in one battle. At this time, Yuan Shao had already arrived at the Xinding Basin, and the Xianbei had successfully completed their mission. (End of this chapter)