Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 176: White Horse's Sorrow
Salt-drawing. Originally, everyone thought that the important thing was the "salt", but now they realize... it is the "drawing" that is scary.
With a salt field that produces a million tons of salt per month and two salt fields under construction as a guarantee, the "Salt Guide" attracted the wealth of the world. Just a difference in pricing naturally formed a siphon for the Central Plains and Jingzhou...
This is because the commodity economy of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not developed in itself, or to put it simply... ordinary people simply did not have the "wealth" beyond survival, otherwise the siphoning would be more obvious.
Even now, Yuan Shu, who was already on the verge of death, was about to fall before Bai Tu could take any action.
Even now, the grain of Xuzhou is coming under Bai Tu's control from Guangling. If Bai Tu did not have a good relationship with Liu Bei and therefore did not give any preferential treatment to Xuzhou's grain, the effect might have been more obvious.
After all, going south from Xia Pi to Guangling is much closer than going from Kuaiji and Poyang to Guangling, and the transportation cost is much lower, and Guangling County is also within the scope of "disaster relief benefits".
At the same time, if Liu Bei did not overreact to the outflow of grain from Xuzhou, and even thought that Bai Tu's decision to set salt permits as "disaster relief priority" was a very wise and benevolent move, then Cao Cao was already a little furious after learning the news.
In fact, the situation in Yanzhou and Yuzhou was much better than that in Jingzhou. After all, half of Runan County was still in the hands of Yuan Shu. It was not an easy task to transport grain from the Central Plains to Huainan, and it was easy for it to be "confiscated" by Yuan Shu.
Not everyone has the connections to transport food from Shouchun...
However, the "salt-tender" policy made Cao Cao feel threatened!
Or rather, long before this, when Cao Cao received the news of "Guangling's surrender of the city", he had already begun to regard Bai Tu as a powerful enemy.
Moreover, Cao Cao and his think tanks naturally understood that Guangling was just the beginning. It can be said that from the moment Guangling offered the city, Baitu had already broken through the geographical restrictions of Jiangdong...
Although people did not understand the meaning of "to defend the Jiang, one must defend the Huai River" in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, how could Cao Cao, who had a group of top think tanks such as Xun Yu, Guo Jia, and Mao Jie, not see the huge difference between "Jiangdong" and "Huainan + Jiangdong"?
Not only did the population and cultivated land double, but in terms of geographical advantages, the country also changed from being at a disadvantage facing the Central Plains to being in a balanced position.
However, no matter whether it was the suspicious Cao Cao, the talented Xun Yu, or Guo Jia who was always wary of Bai Tu... no one had thought that Jiangdong would have so much food, so it was too late to stop it, let alone imitate it.
They could only watch helplessly as most of Huainan fell into Bai Tu's hands due to the lack of food.
Think about how they suffered heavy casualties in their efforts to capture Shouchun last year, and in the end they also gained little due to a lack of food supplies, and they couldn’t even completely occupy Runan… Many people discovered for the first time that the saying in “The Art of War” that “the next best thing is to attack the troops, the next best is to siege the cities” really makes sense!
The information about the salt permits has also been presented to Cao Cao.
Although they still don’t understand why Jiangdong’s salt production suddenly increased, the changes they brought are already obvious.
Now... no matter how Bai Tu behaves, Cao Cao will no longer believe that he is a "harmless saint", not even Xun Yu!
It doesn’t matter whether Bai Tu has ambitions or not. Jiangdong… no, it should be said that Bai Tu’s General of Chariots and Cavalry’s Mansion has developed to the point of “sticking to each other”.
Even though it was not cost-effective and he even refused to "aid" Yuan Shao with food and fodder, Cao Cao transported the grain from Yanzhou to Xu Du.
If we continue to let this go, Cao Cao might not even have soup to drink!
And just when the Central Plains, Jiangdong, Guanzhong, Jingchu... focused their attention on Huainan, a shocking piece of news grabbed the world's attention first - the showdown between the two heroes in Hebei officially came to an end!
In August of the third year of Jian'an, Yuan Shao sent an envoy to deliver Gongsun Zan's head to Xudu...
After all, Gongsun Zan was the one who killed Liu Yu, a traitor, and Yuan Shao attacked him for the sake of upholding the righteousness of the imperial court.
Even though his cousin had already raised the flag of rebellion, the imperial court...or rather, Cao Cao, still appointed him as a "general" as a way of appeasing him.
In fact, many people had anticipated this day. After all, Gongsun Zan's performance in the later period seemed as if he was cursed. After the defeat at Jie Bridge, he had completely lost his previous wisdom and decisiveness.
Especially after retreating to Yijing, Gongsun Zan became unwilling to trust his own soldiers. He built a large Wubao outside the city, cast an iron gate, dismissed his attendants, and moved in with his wives and concubines. He prohibited men over the age of seven from entering, and even refused to see his own generals...
Even when issuing orders to the outside, they were conveyed by the strong women in Wu Castle, so naturally his subordinates became increasingly alienated.
Cao Cao wondered if this guy had suffered some kind of violent blow, and even wanted to send a few women over to comfort him - after all, Cao Cao didn't want Gongsun Zan to be defeated so quickly.
However, considering that Yuan Shao was still in the middle, it would be bad if they were discovered, so they didn't go...
After Bai Tu's "treating the people as fathers" incident a year ago, Gongsun Zan suddenly cheered up and wanted to regroup the army and clean up the war situation. He also joined forces with Gongsun Du in Liaodong and Zhang Yan, a bandit in Hebei, to fight against Yuan Shao!
However, people's hearts are easily dispersed and difficult to gather, and the result of Gongsun Zan's recovery was that he was killed half a year earlier than in the "history of another world".
But this time he died with more dignity. He died on the battlefield when he personally led the White Horse Volunteers, who were still willing to be loyal to him, to launch a surprise attack on Yuan Shao's base camp.
Instead of lying in Yijing like a dead pig, watching Yuan Shao nibble at him, and finally committing suicide out of frustration...
Even during the decisive battle, Gongsun Zan's surprise attack was indeed just a little bit away from success. If it had been successful, Yuan Shao would probably have been defeated, and the battle between the two heroes in Hebei might have had a different outcome.
However, what Gongsun Zan did not expect was that Qu Yi, who had once beaten him to the point of autism, was actually kept by Yuan Shao to serve as his bodyguard?
A great general who was a genius in training troops was added as a guard?
Gongsun Zan's surprise attack had clearly taken advantage of the chaos to reach the central army camp, and there were the Black Mountain Army and the Liaodong Army in front to distract their attention. But Yuan Shao seemed to have anticipated this and left the "Great Halberd Soldier" and Qu Yi not far from the central army camp...
Earlier, during the Battle of Jie Bridge, it was Qu Yi who led the eight hundred halberd warriors he had trained and defeated Gongsun Zan's invincible White Horse Volunteers on the spot.
That battle was also the beginning of Gongsun Zan's decline.
Although the White Horse Volunteers led by Gongsun Zan were all elite troops who were still willing to be loyal to him after going through so much, they still became confused when they saw the familiar troops and formations in front of them...
Yuan Shao was so frightened that he broke out in a sweat - in this battle, he dispatched 150,000 troops and it was not a false claim, but a real 150,000.
This was also another large-scale battle with more than 200,000 soldiers and horses participating on both sides, following the Battle of Guangzong between the Yellow Turban Army and the Han Army and the Battle of Hulao Pass when the 18 princes fought against Dong Zhuo.
For a battle of this magnitude, it is necessary to deploy multiple divisions. Unless the military genius Han Xin is resurrected, no one can command so many troops alone.
It's not just a matter of personal ability. If every step has to be reported to the central army and then the order is passed back...
It is equivalent to jumping ping by thousands of times when playing League of Legends. Even professional players may be defeated by stubborn bronze players.
In addition to Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, there were also the latter's helpers Zhang Yan and Gongsun Du. In addition to the large camps in each direction, there were also many strongholds and even fortresses and watchtowers between them.
Originally, Yuan Shao deliberately suppressed Qu Yi because he became more arrogant and conceited after his achievements, and kept him in the central army under his nose. In Yuan Shao's view, the three-party alliance was nothing but a mob, including old wolves who had lost their cowardice , bandits who occupied the mountains and acted like kings, and local rich people in the bitter cold land... It was time to reap the rewards of their merits.
The inflated Bei Yi, you'd better stay back quietly!
In the "history of another world", Qu Yi died soon after because of Yuan Shao's fear. It was a pity that such a talented general who created a miraculous record of 800 infantrymen defeating tens of thousands of cavalry withered and died before he could bloom, and did not have time to leave too much ink in the real chaotic world that was about to come.
Qu Yi even felt that he had lost Yuan Shao's trust. As for guarding against sneak attacks? I don't trust you!
With bitterness in his heart, Zhui Yi was about to give up on himself, but who would have thought...
Oh my god! My lord didn’t lie to me! Was there really a sneak attack?
That’s right. While Gongsun Zan was feinting at the front, he led his White Horse Volunteers in an amazing way, and they attacked Yuan Shao’s central camp from an unexpected direction. The attack was successful in the early morning, and the enemy showed signs of blowing up the camp, but…
Qu Yi led five hundred halberd warriors to face the sharp knife. Even though other soldiers had already fled, the halberd warriors, who were all real warriors, would not!
Like a reef, the White Horse Volunteers who came like waves were scattered - this was also the sequelae of the battle at Jie Bridge. When the White Horse Volunteers encountered the Great Halberd Soldiers, their morale naturally dropped by three points...
The originally perfect sneak attack turned into a chaotic battle. In the end, although Gongsun Zan reached the central army camp, Yuan Shao was still protected by Qu Yi.
He even regained Yuan Shao's trust by risking his life to block Gongsun Zan's (laser) arrow!
On the contrary, Gongsun Zan was surrounded before the surrounding camps reacted and he had yet to kill Yuan Shao - this was a tactic of either failing or dying.
Even though the White Horse Volunteers shouted the false news that "Yuan Shao is dead", causing the troops outside to be thrown into chaos, Yuan Shao's central army had gradually stabilized.
Finally, after Gongsun Zan shouted "God has doomed me", he simply led his personal soldiers to cover the rear and temporarily attract the attention of Yuan Shao's central army, allowing the remaining White Horse Volunteers to break out on their own.
The White Horse General, who once terrorized the Wuhuan, has now withdrawn from the stage of history...
