Chapter 165: Prelude to the War
"Report, leader, the army has left Hulao Pass, and after confirmation by several generals, the bandit leader Guo Pengju is in the central army!"
Yuan Shao was immediately overjoyed and began to issue orders to mobilize troops. He had previously ordered the army to withdraw in an orderly manner to free up space in order to allow Guo Hao to pass through.
"Ju Shou and Tian Feng will follow my central army. The main battle formation will be handed over to you two. Don't be careless. The victory or defeat of our army depends entirely on you!"
“Yes!”
Following Yuan Shao's order, the coalition forces carefully selected 150,000 soldiers, and then, led by the assembled generals, formed a five-army formation according to the arrangements of Ju Su and Tian Feng.
Soon the army was in battle formation, waiting for Guo Hao to lead his troops. The battlefield chosen by Yuan Shao just avoided the connecting line between the coalition forces and Hulao Pass. It seemed extremely fair. No matter whether it was Hulao Pass or the coalition camp, if anyone wanted to join the battlefield later, they would be restrained by the other side.
The coalition forces are terrifyingly strong on paper. There are more than twenty generals with the ability to separate internal energy from their bodies, and over a hundred of them in the counterfeit version. There are also more than thirty counselors in the army.
The only drawback is that among the 150,000 troops, there are only less than 20,000 elite soldiers with double talents, and the rest are all soldiers with single talents.
You should know that the combat casualties of double-talented elites against single-talented elites are close to one to five, and Guo Hao has 80,000 double-talented troops under his command, and even 15,000 guards and military souls.
Even if Guo Hao withdrew all 60,000 auxiliary troops, his army would still be stronger than Yuan Shao's. To be honest, Guo Hao really didn't understand how Yuan Shao dared to challenge him.
Even if Yuan Shao had a way to capture Luoyang and Hulao Pass, Yuan Shao, with his frontal army, would definitely not be able to escape Guo Hao's clutches.
Is Yuan Shao willing to serve as a vanguard for others ? The key is that Yuan Shu, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Ce and Sun Jian are all in the front of the coalition army.
Is it true that Yuan Shao sacrificed his entire life to pave the way for Dong Zhuo?
Guo Hao found it funny to think about it. How could Yuan Shao be that kind of person? Even if he was, so what? In the face of absolute power, all conspiracies and tricks were useless.
What's more, he is not a rookie. There are so many traitors hidden within the coalition forces. Why should the coalition forces fight him?
The arrangement of the five armies is very confusing.
The Four Pillars of Hebei are stationed in several large armies respectively. Speaking of it, these four men are all good generals, and their ability to lead troops is not weak at all.
As for Gao Chong, it's OK that he can fight, but he's almost good at leading troops to fight.
Yuan Shao's left and right wings were led by Yan Liang and Wen Chou, each leading an army of 20,000, and each had several powerful generals to help them.
Yan Liang's deputy general is Qin Qiong, and Wen Chou's deputy general is Le Jin. Both of them are the type that are good at command but not so good at fighting. They are a perfect match for Yan Liang and Wen Chou.
Yuwen Chengdu and Xue Rengui were stationed on the left and right wings respectively, in order to lead their elite troops with double talents to make a breakthrough at the right time.
The central army was composed of Yuan Shao, Ju Shou and Tian Feng. Gao Lan, Jiang Qi, Lu Kuang, Lu Xiang and others led an army of 20,000 to guard the city. The only guards around Yuan Shao were Gao Chong and Yuan Shao's personal guards.
Moreover, the central army was not headed by Gao Lan, but Yang Lin was the main general, Ju Su was the central commander, and Tian Feng and Yuan Shao were the assistants.
Gao Lan brought a large number of sword and shield soldiers, and with the help of a large number of powerful crossbows deployed on the front, he was determined to protect the central army to the death.
As for the vanguard, it was led by Ji Ling. The troops of Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Jian were all left in the vanguard.
To be honest, Yuan Shao's original intention was to just leave Liu Bei's subordinates in the vanguard. Since there had to be a vanguard anyway, it would be most appropriate to let Liu Bei's unstable subordinates serve as the front line.
Not afraid of any unusual movements from Liu Bei's subordinates, Gao Lan in the central army was equipped with a large number of powerful crossbows. Once Liu Bei's subordinates wanted to defeat the central army, a few rounds of arrow rain could resolve the crisis.
However, in the end, at the suggestion of Guo Tu, all the generals of the three royal families were sent to the front line.
Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xiong Kuohai, Huang Gai, Han Dang and other generals from the Three Imperial Households were placed in the front army, leading small troops of 1,800 each, with a total of more than 20,000 people forming more than a dozen small triangles.
The idea of Guo Tu and others was very simple. If they tried to resist Guo Hao's elite troops head-on, the front army would surely not be able to be saved. It would be better to abandon the front army directly and turn them into a dozen nails driven into the chaotic army to reduce the pressure on the central army. If necessary, they could be sacrificed together.
Yuan Shao cherished Cao Cao as his playmate, but Cao Cao’s subordinates were nothing but clouds to him. He didn’t feel sad if they died.
In order to win over the people and for other considerations, Yuan Shao ordered the 20,000 soldiers in the front army to be his own troops.
One general has thousands of soldiers, and Yuan Shao only used a thousand soldiers to accompany his general. The entire coalition army could not find any reason to find fault with him.
The 150,000-strong army was spread out front and back, with the coalition's rear army occupying a full half of it. It was filled with the rest of the coalition's generals, including the subordinates of players like Wu Yunzhao and Wei Wentong, and the generals of other princes were also arranged among them.
Of course, Yuan Shao filled the army with his own civil and military officials. Shen Pei, Xu You, Zhao Rui, Wang Mo and others were all in charge of the rear army.
Because the rear army has a large number of people, the entire rear army appears extremely bloated and very large.
In contrast, the central army where Yuan Shao was located was directly exposed to the front. A large flag with the word "Yuan" on it was erected in the central army, and Yuan Shao stood under the flag, telling all the soldiers that the flag was there.
Yuan Shao's extremely ostentatious behavior completely exposed himself to Guo Hao's firepower, or it could be said that Yuan Shao's purpose was to attract frontal firepower.
"What does Yuan Shao mean by this arrangement?" Chen Xi was a little puzzled. Yuan Shao did not have an advantage in terms of military strength, and there was also a gap in quality. What did you mean by this formation?
"No matter what he means, it is enough as long as we catch him, not to mention that those princes are all around him." Guo Hao said excitedly. He felt excited every time he went to the battlefield, as if he was born for the battlefield.
Yuan Shao was surrounded by twenty-eight princes, and Yuan Shao did not dare to put them in the coalition. All his strength was put into this five-army formation. If he put a prince like Liu Bei in the camp, who knows what kind of trouble might happen.
To be on the safe side, Yuan Shao even brought Yuan Shu out with him. There might be only a few small people left in the entire coalition camp. He also only left Chunyu Qiong to guard the camp. Yuan Shao racked his brains for a decisive battle with Guo Hao.
Sun Jian, Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan stood together with expressionless faces. Their troops had been deprived and they could not even laugh.
Among them, Gongsun Zan was the most depressed. He really couldn't expect that Yuan Shao was so insidious. He used the excuse of having a heart-to-heart talk with him and finally got him drunk and took away his military power. His White Horse Volunteers were taken away by Zhang He. He couldn't believe that the White Horse Volunteers could be taken away so easily.
The Baima Yicong, which were once as easy to use as his own arms, had quietly become a force that could be captured by others. There was no expression on his face. When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Gao Chong was not on guard against Guo Hao, but against these princes.
Liu Bei and Cao Cao were also extremely depressed, but it did not show on their faces.
Their troops have been deployed on the front lines, so even if they wanted to turn against us, they can't do it now.
However, the two of them were not stupid and had already left a backup plan among the coalition forces.
One of them secretly hid Chen Dao, and the other secretly hid Cao Hong, and the two of them hid in the coalition forces waiting for an opportunity.
To be honest, they don't have much confidence now. It is a trend for them to join Guo Hao, but Gao Chong who is guarding them is no pushover.
They also didn't know whether Yuan Shao was really blessed by heaven, as he actually picked up such a terrifying and peerless general during such a great war.
If Gao Chong had not been there, even if Yan Liang had been guarding Yuan Shao, they would have been confident that they could capture Yuan Shao during the battle between the two armies.
After all, Xu Chu beside Cao Cao and Xu Shu beside Liu Bei are not soft persimmons.
In addition, Liu Bei himself was a master of swordsmanship, and he had two peerless warriors as sparring partners every day. Even if Liu Bei himself did not make progress, he would learn a few skills through watching and listening, not to mention that Liu Bei himself was a man of strong mind.
In fact, no matter in the novel or official history, anyone can criticize Liu Bei for anything except his firm will. He fell down countless times in his life and kept getting up. He wandered around for most of his life and finally founded Shu Han. His firm mind was terrifying.
Liu Bei was confident that he and Sun Jian were equally matched. As long as someone could tie up Yuan Shao's guards, it would be easy for him to capture Yuan Shao.
Sun Jian was already mourning for Yuan Shao in his heart. His expressionless face did not mean he was depressed. He almost laughed out loud.
It is true that Han Dang, Zu Mao and others were left on the front line, but Sun Ce was left in the main camp. Zhou Yu's trick of lowering people's intelligence was simply terrifying, and combined with the talent of Xun You under Cao Cao, he managed to make Sun Ce's existence invisible.
Ever since Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai had approached Xun Yu, Xun Yu took the initiative to contact Zhou Yu and discussed a plan with him.
Even Cao Cao didn't know about this plan. Xun Yu had already seen through the situation quietly. If Liu Bei's identity and motives were not too sensitive, Xun Yu would have contacted Liu Bei long ago.
Guo Jia and others could see that Yuan Shao had evil intentions, and Xun Yu could naturally see it too, but he had no allies and could only wait for the opportunity.
Zhou Yu had been giving off an aura of idiocy in the camp before. If it weren't for Xun You's talent that reduced his presence, Zhou Yu would have ignored Xun You, causing Xun You to notice that something was wrong with Xun Yu. Even Xun Yu didn't realize that he had been tricked unknowingly.
However, Zhou Yu's spiritual talent is the most terrifying when it is not noticed. Once discovered, he is really vulnerable. Xun Yu used his mental power to block Zhou Yu's intelligence decline, and also found Zhou Yu along the mental fluctuations and reached an agreement with Zhou Yu.
As the only person who knew the inside story besides Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and Xun Yu, Sun Jian knew very well what kind of trouble would arise in the allied camp.
It’s not that he looked down on Chunyu Qiong, it’s just that the gap between Chunyu Qiong and Sun Ce was too big.
Sun Ce planned unintentionally and with one move he released Chunyu Qiong, and at the same time he was able to take over all the troops in the remaining camp.
Although it is unscientific, Zhou Yu and Sun Jian are so confident that Sun Jian's personal charm will definitely not be a problem for him to take over the troops in the camp.
This was the promotion Zhou Yu designed for Sun Ce. With such an army of hundreds of thousands as his achievement, Sun Ce would definitely be in one of the most important positions under Guo Hao.
Although the combat effectiveness of hundreds of thousands of troops is low, and many of them even have less than double talent, they may not be able to fight well, but the surrender of so many people is definitely a great achievement.
To be honest, if these hundreds of thousands of troops were not so vulnerable, Zhou Yu might have started to have some thoughts.
For example, there are some questions like "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers all born with different species?" and "Why couldn't Sun Ce become the general when Guo Hao was the general?"
However, the cruel reality still made Zhou Yu determined to follow Guo Hao. After all, Guo Hao had too many trump cards in his hand, and as an insider, he could not see any hope of the coalition's victory.
Even if we take a step back, if Guo Hao defended Hulao Pass to his death, the coalition forces would never be able to take it down.
The coalition forces will disperse sooner or later, and it will not be so easy to gather together again at that time. By then, Guo Hao only needs to copy the way Qin conquered the world, and sooner or later he will be able to unify the world.
On the other side, Chen Xi slowly began his actions. Unlike the previous strenuous efforts, this time he easily mobilized the cloud energy and free mental power of the 150,000-man army.
Looking at the golden light floating on his body, Chen Xi knew that he had chosen the right person. He and Guo Hao were simply a match made in heaven.
He didn't even need to use his own mental power. He just used the blessing of the three-legged golden crow and the part of the golden crow that represented the country's destiny to easily mobilize an army of 150,000.
Following Chen Xi's movements, golden light representing the sun appeared on the bodies of the 150,000 soldiers.
Guo Hao and Chen Xi worked together to cover the entire army with the sun talent. Although the effect only lasted until sunrise in the early morning, it had a wide range.
This is the killer weapon that Chen Xi researched based on ancient books. Based on the research on complex energies such as human energy, internal energy, cloud energy, and mental power, Chen Xi discovered the common points of all these energies. In fact, all energies can be called essence, energy, and spirit.
Essence, Qi and Spirit complement each other. Essence represents the body, Qi represents breath and Spirit represents will. The three transform and cooperate with each other.
Chen Xi successfully studied the tens of thousands of Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist classics in the super encyclopedia in his mind and understood their significance, thus successfully achieving the first step in the change of the times.
"It's done. Give the order. With more than 800,000 strong laborers, I will try to solve the food problem within a year," Chen Xi said calmly. He was not good at fighting, but he might be good at strategy. Everything else was just talk on paper.
It would be better to end the war as soon as possible and enter the governance field that he is familiar with. 1.4 billion people, he couldn't believe the number he learned.
In this era of backward productivity where cannibalism is even possible, it is simply a miracle that there are such large populations.
If the land did not have the characteristics of the game world and did not need to be rotated, and the land was maintained at a minimum level every year, he couldn't imagine how many people would starve to death.
Even if God bless us, in the current situation, there are bandits and robbers everywhere, and there are too many people who cannot get enough food.
Chen Xi started preparing when he learned about this situation, and finally waited for the day when he could show his skills.
