One kick to the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 407 The Battle of the Boundary Bridge
The second year of Chuping was an extremely extraordinary year for the Han Dynasty.In this year, Dahan officially entered the troubled times.

Strictly speaking, since the Yellow Turban riots, Dahan has not been in a peaceful and prosperous age.However, the foundation and majesty of the imperial court are still there, and the Han Dynasty still belongs to the unified dynasty.

However, last year, the Kwantung princes joined forces to attack Dong Zhuo, which greatly challenged the majesty of the imperial court.Later, the deposed emperor Liu Bian was restored in Yecheng, and two dynasties emerged in the Han Dynasty.This makes the world a little bit at a loss.

Today, in the second year of Chuping, half of the Han Dynasty is suddenly at war.Just after the New Year, Yuan Shu of Yuzhou sent troops to attack Liu Biao of Jingzhou.The feudal lords on the pastoral and defensive side attacked each other. This was the first time in the Han Dynasty.This also opened the prelude to the separatism of the princes.

Later, Gongsun Zan of Youzhou sent troops to attack Jizhou; Chang'an sent Zhang Ji to take control of Yongzhou, and Niu Fu to attack Hanoi County, intending to take control of Bingzhou.This battle involved Youzhou, Jizhou, Yongzhou, Yanzhou, and Bingzhou.In addition to Yuzhou and Jingzhou, which have already started wars, and the fourteen states of the Han Dynasty, seven states have started fighting, accounting for exactly half of them.

The wars between these seven states were all officers and soldiers against officers and soldiers.In this way, whether it was the Yecheng court or the Chang'an court, the last fig leaf was completely torn off.Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the so-called Han Dynasty, the so-called imperial court, has already existed in name only.The princes no longer listened to the government's decrees, and they all defended their lands for future affairs.

In addition to the wars between officers and soldiers, the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army also continued to fight, especially in Qingzhou and Yanzhou. The remnants of the Yellow Turban Army attacked and caused chaos from time to time, making the local officials exhausted to deal with it.

However, the situation exceeded everyone's expectations.Somehow, Dong Zhuo was executed by Wang Yun.As soon as Dong Zhuo died, the wars in Yongzhou, Yanzhou, and Bingzhou immediately came to an anticlimactic end.Yuzhou and Jingzhou will make peace after that.The big man seemed to see hope born from the ashes again.

However, the war between Jizhou and Youzhou did not seem to be affected by Dong Zhuo's execution.Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao were still beaten to the point where their brains were boiling.

Gongsun Zan has guarded the Northeast border for many years. He holds a powerful army and has a great reputation. His main force is all elites who have experienced battles, especially the White Horse Yi Cong under his command.

On the other hand, Yuan Shao, although he came from a famous family and was the leader of the coalition against Dong Zhuo last year, after all, he has only been in charge of Jizhou for a short time, so he is seriously lacking in background.

Gongsun Zan's offensive continued like fire. Although there were occasional defeats, the overall war situation was that Gongsun Zan was constantly attacking and Yuan Shao was constantly retreating.

This battle lasted for nearly three months, and the northern part of Jizhou had completely fallen into the hands of Gongsun Zan.On the tenth day of the sixth lunar month, Gongsun Zan stationed troops at Panhe and confronted Yuan Shao across the river.The Battle of Jieqiao entered the preparation stage.

After several battles, Gongsun Zan's army was seriously short of food and grass.Taking advantage of the summer harvest, he sent an official document to Liu Bei, who was already in the rear, and ordered Liu Bei to collect grain and grass and transport it to the front line of Jieqiao.

While waiting for Liu Bei to deliver the food, Gongsun Zan was not idle. While training the soldiers, he sent out food requisition teams every day to collect food nearby.

However, affected by the war, wherever Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao fought, the grain fields were almost destroyed.Even the fields that still grow crops are left unattended because the people have fled their homeland to avoid the war, and the harvest has been greatly affected.

After a few days, the grain collected by the grain collection team sent by Gongsun Zan could only last for about half a month.

As a result, Gongsun Zan painstakingly hoped that Liu Bei would bring food and grass as soon as possible.

However, Gongsun Zan did not wait for Liu Bei after all. Instead, he waited for Teng Yao, the magistrate of Tang County.

When Gongsun Zan saw Tengyao, Tengyao's clothes were shabby and stained.The two to three hundred soldiers led by Teng Yao all looked like beggars.

As soon as he saw Gongsun Zan, Teng Yao cried to Gongsun Zan and told Gongsun Zan how Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led their troops to capture Tang County.

After listening to Teng Yao's story, Gongsun Zan couldn't believe his ears. If several of Teng Yao's subordinate officers had not testified, Gongsun Zan would never have believed that Liu Bei actually betrayed him.

It seems that the food and grass cannot wait any longer.Gongsun Zan was angry and anxious.

After only one night, the messenger sent by Liu Bei arrived at the front line the next day.In the letter, Liu Bei first described to Gongsun Zan how he collected grain and how he was attacked by the Qin Yi army on the way to transport grain and grass, and the grain and grass were destroyed.

Later, Liu Bei explained to Gongsun Zan that Yuan Shao ordered Qin Yi to lead troops to attack Gongsun Zan's rear.Guangchang City and Tang County have been captured by Qin Yi.

Finally, Liu Bei advised Gongsun Zan to recognize the situation and withdraw troops as soon as possible.He also questioned Gongsun Zan in the letter, saying that Shijun was originally a minister of the Han Dynasty. He used to attack Jizhou because he obeyed Dong Zhuo's order, but now that Dong Zhuo had been executed, why did Shijun continue to commit crimes against the superior and persist in his obsession?

Liu Beiyan said that he was originally a clan member of the Han Dynasty, and now he was invited by Qin Yi to go to Yecheng to help protect the emperor. He hoped that Gongsun Zan could also rein in time and return to the Yecheng court.

It can be said that this is both a letter from Liu Bei confessing himself and a letter to persuade him to surrender.

After reading the letter, Gongsun Zan immediately tore the letter paper into pieces, and even cursed at Liu Bei.

But no matter how much Gongsun Zan scolded Liu Bei, it didn't work at all for his immediate predicament.After Gongsun Zan had scolded enough, he calmed down and called all the civil and military officials to discuss the matter.

After some discussion, Gongsun Zan decided to fight Yuan Shao as soon as possible. As long as Yuan Shao was completely defeated at Jieqiao, all problems would be solved.

On the eighth day of July, Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao fought a decisive battle twenty miles south of Jieqiao.

Gongsun Zan dispatched [-] infantry and [-] cavalry.With [-] infantry in the center, lined up in a square formation, with [-] cavalry on each side, it was Gongsun Zan's most proud white horse follower.

Yuan Shao led [-] troops to confront Gongsun Zan.He ordered General Qu Yi to lead [-] elite soldiers as the vanguard, with thousands of crossbows as cover, and he himself led the infantry to hold the formation behind.

Seeing that Yuan Shao's troops were few, Gongsun Zan ordered two wings of cavalry to charge Qu Yi's troops.Qu Yi responded calmly and ordered his soldiers to lie down under their shields. When Gongsun Zan's cavalry rushed dozens of steps away from his formation, Qu Yi ordered thousands of powerful crossbows to fire at Baima Yicong.

Baima Yicong was attacked unexpectedly, and the charge formation was immediately in chaos.Qu Yi seized the opportunity and personally led [-] elite infantrymen, armed with halberds, into the formation of Baima Yicong, stabbing the soldiers from above and hooking the horse's legs, causing Baima Yicong to fall into chaos.

Qu Yi's army became more and more courageous as they fought. Qu Yi personally attacked and killed Gongsun Zan's general Yan Gang.As soon as Yan Gang died, Baima Yicong lost his command and retreated one after another.Qu Yi led his troops in hot pursuit, and Yuan Shao immediately sent troops to cover up the attack.The two sides fell into a melee.

The morale of Gongsun Zan's army was exhausted, but the morale of Yuan Shao's army was greatly increased. In the end, Yuan Shao defeated many with fewer troops and drove Gongsun Zan's army back to the station north of Jieqiao.

This battle, from start to finish, lasted just over an hour.Nearly 5000 dead bodies were left behind by Gongsun Zan's army, with four to five thousand wounded.Although Yuan Shaojun won, he also suffered [-] casualties.

After this battle, both sides rested and ceased fighting for three days.

During these three days, Yuan Shao received a letter from Qin Yi.Yuan Shao was overjoyed to learn that Qin Yi had captured two cities and burned the food and grass that Gongsun Zan had transported.

Later, after discussing with his advisers, he believed that Gongsun Zan was no longer capable of launching a large-scale war, and he should try to negotiate with Gongsun Zan.

Yuan Shao then sent Tian Feng to personally go to Gongsun Zan's military camp to contact Gongsun Zan.Tian Feng persuaded Gongsun Zan with his sharp tongue.

The next day, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan met at Jieqiao, and the two sides reached an armistice agreement.

There are three items in the agreement.First, Gongsun Zan was appointed as the orthodox Han Dynasty by the Yecheng court. Yuan Shao reported that Gongsun Zan was the former general and the leader of Youzhou Mu.Second, Gongsun Zan returned to Youzhou, and Yuan Shao sent him a month's worth of military rations.Third, Gongsun Zan, as a former general, opened a government office and commanded the border army. He could make his own decisions on all military and political affairs in Youzhou.

Fundamentally speaking, Yuan Shao made a name for himself and Gongsun Zan made a profit from this agreement.Although Gongsun Zan agreed to support the imperial court of Yecheng, he listened to the instructions and did not listen to the announcement. In fact, Youzhou became an independent small kingdom.

(End of this chapter)