Battle of Gongsun Zun and Jieqiao

III. Participation in the war

So the Battle of Jieqiao broke out. Gongsun Zan participated in the war with 30,000 troops, and Yuan Shao was a little more than him, about 35,000 people.

Gongsun Zan has 10,000 cavalry, including the frightening heavy armored cavalry. The European battlefield of the same era is an unimaginable fighting force. The fundamental reason is that China mastered the steel irrigation method in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which made the efficiency of producing high-quality iron products much better than that of Europe. This lead was maintained until the Industrial Revolution.

100 steelmaking is good, but the manufacturing cost is very high. Although the quality of steel produced by the steel filling method is not as good as that of 100 steelmaking, the cost is greatly reduced. Therefore, later, the Chinese army had many scales and armor, which was a defect of the steel filling method and could not be manufactured as a whole. Western armor is a whole steel plate according to its size, but this method is extremely expensive, so only noble warriors can afford to wear armor. That's why there are swords and armor inherited by the family in European novels.

If there is not a certain amount of battlefield equipment, it will have little impact on the battle. The strength of China's smelting is that it can be produced on a large scale. Especially the heavily armored horse team is not afraid of crossbows and charge, which is simply a tank phalanx.

In addition to heavy cavalry, Gongsun Zand also has light cavalry. These armies that have been fighting with the Xiongnu in the Yan Dynasty for a long time are called Baima Yicong, and they are no less than the Hu people. This power may not even be possessed by Dong Zhuo's Xiliang cavalry.

Yuan Shao is mainly an infantry and lacks armor, food and fodder. He can only protect Jizhou if he fights to the death with Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan just broke the yellow scarf, and his population, territory, food and grass, and morale all have an advantage over Yuan Shao.

At that time, Gongsun Zan was a strong soldier in the world, and only Dong Zhuo's Xiliang cavalry could compete with him. Later, Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses were strong, mainly by destroying Gongsun Zan. Later, this strong cavalry was inherited by Cao Cao and became the foundation of Cao Cao's family.

IV. Battle of Boundary Bridge

The Battle of Boundary Bridge took place in the third year of Chuping, that is, 192 AD. This is the only time in the history of the Three Kingdoms, and there is a battle recorded in the formation of troops in the historical materials.

Both sides are two-wing cavalry and middle infantry. Gongsun Zan's cavalry was rich, and the two-wing cavalry were heavily equipped. He also used the white horse Yicon to strengthen the charge in the infantry phalanx in the middle. Yuan Shao's deployment is the middle infantry and two-wing cavalry.

At the beginning of the battle of Jieqiao, it was Gongsun Zhan's powerful attack. In the middle of the two wings, they are aggressive. In both wings, Gongsun Zan's heavy cavalry quickly defeated Yuan Shao's cavalry and took a clamp attack to attack the rear commander. In the middle, Bai Mayi was the first, and the infantry was behind and launched an attack together.

Yuan Shao's infantry could not resist, but the commander in the middle, Qu Yi, was a hero who had been fighting in Liangzhou for a long time. He led the infantry, defended with a long shield, and supported a spear to resist the attack of the cavalry.

In fact, there are a thousand strong crossbows hiding behind his infantry phalanx. When the white horse approached from the charge, thousands of crossbows rose together. Of course, Baimayi is never covered. They can ride and shoot, so everyone shoots against each other. The infantry, shield soldiers, spearmen used to resist the charge of the white horse... suffered a lot of losses, but bought time for the bow and crossbowmen. The crossbow is powerful, and the crossbow is protected by a big shield. Therefore, in the stage of shooting against each other, Yuan Shao's infantry phalanx gained an advantage.

If he also takes an offensive, Yuan Shao's infantry has no chance of winning under the docking situation. Because the big shield is very heavy, plus long guns, bows and crossbows, the advance will be very slow, so he set up an iron barrel array in the middle to deal with the fast-attack cavalry that may appear in the middle of Gongsun Zan. But the big shield has its shortcomings and is not easy to move, so it can only squat to defend and put the long gun outside.

The lethality of the crossbow is greater than that of bow and arrow. We all know that the power of the crossbow is not necessarily fired by the arms, and some even rely on the foot or the waist to open the crossbow, which can make full use of human strength. Only a strong crossbow can defeat the horse team with iron armor. However, the strong crossbow is also cumbersome and not easy to attack. If the opponent advances little by little with a shield with an infantry phalanx, his tactics will fail. Therefore, Qiyi hid the strong crossbow behind the shield and prevented Gongsun Zan from seeing it. And Gongsun Zan couldn't wait to attack quickly with Bai Ma Yi, so he fell into Yuan Shao's arms.

Yan's middle commander Yan Gang was shot dead by a crossbow. Bai Mayi encountered a strong crossbow sniper and could not resist it, so he retreated and defeated the infantry who followed him. Gongsun Zan's middle army completely messed up.

So Qiyi led the elite infantry to abandon the big shield and strong crossbow and began to turn to the attack.

On the other hand, the cavalry enveloped by Gongsun Zan has defeated Yuan Shao's cavalry and killed Yuan Shao. The war has become white-hot.

Here are the rules of ancient wars. The generals usually command under the banner on the high platform or high ground behind. Gongsun Zan's cavalry enveloped from both wings and directly crossed the central army and attacked Yuan Shao. Around Yuan Shao, there are only a hundred guards and dozens of strong crossbows. At this time, it was actually a race of time. Yuan Shao's infantry rushed to attack Gongsun Zan's battalion, while Gongsun Zan's cavalry tried to attack Yuan Shao's command platform.

Tian Feng saw that the situation was critical and advised Yuan Shao to avoid it quickly to save himself. Instead, Yuan Shao threw the helmet to protect himself on the ground, saying that the man should have died before the battle. Don't look at the rich generations, at the critical moment, Boss Yuan is still very bold.

Yuan Shao led a little guard in his hand and fought to the death. The other side's cavalry was afraid of Yuan Shao's strong crossbow and did not attack desperately. In the end, Qu Yi first broke the flag of Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Zan's cavalry withdrew, and Yuan Shao won a complete victory.

Summary, the impact of all parties

Yuan Shao

Gaining a foothold, changed the military pattern of Gongsun Qiang and Yuan, and broke the passive situation of besieged on all sides. The two sides as a whole began to form a balance of power, which was a key battle for Yuan Shao to dominate Hebei. He curbed Gongsun Zan's ambition to go south and made him take a defensive in front of Yuan Shao, forcing him to develop his power within Youzhou. Soon he defeated and killed his boss Liu Yu and controlled Youzhou alone. This behavior aroused public indignation, and Gongsun Zang became more and more unpopular. However, Yuan Shao consolidated his power in Jizhou because of this war, and soon relied on Liu He to appease Liu Yu's former officials who were dissatisfied with Gongsun Zan to create chaos within Gongsun Zan. After that, Yuan Shao stabilized the land of Jizhou, expanded to all directions, and finally destroyed Gongsun Zan and other Hebei princes. [ 6]

Gongsun Zun

White Horse was destroyed from the whole army, and his strength was greatly weakened and his spirit was frustrated. As a result, Gongsun Zang's ambition was greatly reduced. Soon after, he built the Yijing Tower and wanted to defend the Youzhou Tomb by himself.

Cao Cao

It avoids the situation of being attacked by Yuan Shu, Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan. At the same time, because of the strong aid of Yuan Shao, he can safely conquer all the princes in Henan. Cao Cao was not in the majority at that time, leaving appropriate strength for the later unification of the northern region.

Yuan Shu

The strength of Yuan Suntao Alliance was weakened, and Yuan Shu and Tao Qian were also defeated by Cao Cao, which was also the first major blow of Yuan Shu's desire to be emperor.

General comment

Gongsun Zan was born as a landlord. He was a special figure in the Gongsun clan. In his early years, he experienced ups and downs and fought all year round. He did not have a corrupt life of favored by the children of a rich family. He treated people sincerely and was willing to serve as prisoners and eunuchs. He was brave and loyal, experienced the battlefield and made outstanding achievements all year round. Killing made him later become cruel and have no political beliefs. He became more and more greedy in the war looting and killed the people.

After killing Liu Yu, Gongsun Zan's group lost its hearts and collapsed. He was hostile to the nomads, oppressed the nomads, destroyed Liu Yu's national unity policy, and plundered the gifts given to Xianbei by Liu Yu. As Yuan Shao said in his letter to him, "The Xianbei things are attached to each other, and they are driven by them." And within his ruling group, he used greedy and selfish treacherous villains. In his later years, he was greedy for pleasure, lost his fighting spirit, and finally gradually failed.

Comments from past dynasties

Wei You: "Zan, the literary and military talents are strong enough. Although there are small evils, they should be tolerated."

Yuan Shao: "Be detached and self-sufficient, and be deceptive." [ 20]

Chen Shou: "Zan is proud and proud, remembers that he forgets good, and there are many thieves"; "Gongsun Zan Baojing, waiting to be destroyed." [ 21]

Fan Ye: "Zan's talent, does not care about the people, remembers the good, and must be rewarded. Those who are famous in the state are on the right will be harmed by the law." Since the emperor's king's stomach, he has grown fat and does not know how to grow crops. He can do his best. He is outstanding and unheard of people or has never heard of it. Liu Yu guarded his reputation and pastored himself with loyalty and kindness. It's beautiful, Ji Han's name is Zongzi! If Yu and Zan are boundless, sympathize with and work together, correct people and complete the gathering, protect the mercy of swallows and thistle, and menify the soldiers to show their martial arts, so as to meet the gap between the heroes, sacrifice the fate of the heavens, and conquer the humanities, then the ancients are far away!"

Praise: "Biao is sparse and talented. Yu Hao has no end, and it is difficult to merge with Shao. [ 22]

Wang Bo: "District highways, I want to be respected by the county; trivial Bojiu, it is called the business of Baoyijing. Zan is embarrassed, and the art is also worried.

Wang Fuzhi: "Gongsun Zan, a stubborn and happy killer, and he is still self-sufficient."

Liu Conchen: "Although Zhuo was killed, the heroes rose together. Those who cross the state and counties such as Liu Yu, Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Liu Yan, Yuan Shu and Lv Bu all tasted their mascumen for a while, and their power was still enough to correct the imperial family."

Cai Dongfan: "The death of Gongsun Zan is the same as Yuan Shu. The art died of extravagance, and Zand did not die involuntarily. Looking at the building floor, the door was firmly guarded, the women preached, and the soldiers were disbanded, and they boasted. One says that I have three million deerium in the valley, eat all this valley, and then change from time to time. In addition, it is said that no one can sit in our city today. Unexpectedly, when Shao Bing suddenly arrived, the whole city was besieged, the drums and horns sounded in the ground, and the pillars and fire burned downstairs. There were those who wanted to avoid death but could not be obtained. Compared with the end of Yuan Shu, it was especially tragic!" [ 23]

Li Wencheng knew the final outcome of the Northern Expedition of the Taiping Army in history. After Cangzhou was surrounded by the Qing army, he almost completely lost contact with the outside world. It was not clear that the reinforcements sent by Tianjin had arrived in Linqing. So much so that the Northern Expeditionary Army has been trapped in the lonely city, depleted of materials, too many casualties, and completely lost the possibility of retreating completely.

If the information was a little well-informed at that time, we could know the movements of the reinforcements. Even if the reinforcements made mistakes and were trapped in Linqing, as long as they could echo each other, there was still be more or less a chance to reverse the war situation. The worst can be to concentrate on the weak position of the Qing army's defense line after the reinforcements are defeated and take advantage of the Qing army to divide the troops.

This time, the reason why he led less than 600 remaining remnants dared to go north to contact Li Kaifang was precisely because he calculated that this was the best time for the Northern Expedition to break through. Instead of taking great risks with 600 remnants, leaping thousands of miles and facing several times the Qing army training, it is better to join the troops of the Northern Expeditionary Army. Many people are powerful. At least there is a response to the retreat all the way south, and the probability of successfully returning to Tianjing will definitely be higher.

Other generals in the farmhouse have gradually improved their faces. Although these people are uneducated, how can they not understand such a simple and clear truth in front of them after marching and fighting for so many years? They failed to hold on to the arrival of the "real reinforcements", but at least they got the news of the reinforcements and the Qing army's movements in time, which also made up for the shortcomings.

"However, even if the demon leader's troops turn to Shandong, there are still more than 20,000 Qing demon groups practicing in Qing County, Dacheng and Huanghua. We have been guarding the quiet sea and solitary for several months. There is a lack of weapons, winter clothes and food and fodder. The brothers are very tired, and there are many injured people. It is not easy to break through. The bearded general said rudely, and then sighed.

"Luo Daniu is right. If it had been a month ago, he might still be 80% sure. Now, I'm afraid he doesn't have 60 percent." Another general nodded solemnly and echoed.

"There is still 60% certainty of breaking through the siege; if you don't break through, you will sit back and wait for death, and you will definitely die." Zhao An said resolutely that he had just been to Li Wencheng's military station yesterday and had some understanding of Li Wencheng's plan, so he instinctively stood on Li Wencheng's side in this matter.

Li Kaifang frowned slightly and just stared at Li Wencheng, but did not speak.

What Zhao Jianjun said was right. There was no reinforcements, and it was obviously meaningless to continue to stick to it. It's not easy to break through, but it's not that there is no way out. Li Wencheng was as calm as ever. When he said this, he reached out again and pointed out on the map in front of him, "Yesterday, all 600 people in our department have moved to Guanjiatun, more than 40 miles away, right here."

Everyone gathered together and followed the direction pointed out by Li Wencheng. Guanjiatun was in the southwest of the independent stream.

"Guanjiatun? How dare you be so blatant?"

"Isn't that right? Isn't this under the eyes of the demon?"

"Lao Zhao, is that really the case?"

"Yes, yesterday afternoon, Zhang Minghan and I arrived at Cui Sihe first, and that night we moved to Guanjiatun with the reinforcement brothers. At that time, I was also shocked, but later I realized that Brother Li had been prepared for a long time. He had already arranged for all the reinforcement brothers to change into the clothes of the Qing demon and specially tied their braids. Two days ago, he had begun to try to walk around the nearby town, and the nearby Qing demons were not aware of it at all. Zhao An nodded solemnly and said.

Desp's confirmation from Zhao An, many generals still have lingering doubts in their hearts. Even if the Qing demon is no longer capable, it is absolutely impossible to turn a blind eye to the inexplicable team of 600 people!

"After breaking through the siege from the Qing Dynasty, our department attacked several villages under the control of regiment training and seized some materials from regiment training and villages. Using the seized materials, our department disguised themselves, and 600 people all changed into the costumes of the Qing Demon Group. It turned out that it was just to cover it up and avoid being the target of public criticism. After turning to Cui Sihe, after investigation, it was found that the nearby Dacheng County was actually a place for Qing demons to collect the wounded, and there were not many standing troops. There are only a small number of old and weak regimental training in the villages and towns below. Our department used several brothers familiar with Hebei dialect to falsely claim that they were newly recruited soldiers under the head of Wang of Hejian County. On the way, they were temporarily stationed here and transferred to the base camp of Huanghua another day. Li Wencheng explained.