Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Zhang Yan arrived very quickly. On the third day after Gongsun Zan received his letter, 15,000 soldiers arrived. The troops rested for two more days. On the sixth day, Gongsun Zan sent out his troops, and the four armies lined up in the wilderness to decide the outcome in one battle.

Zhang Mo followed Lu Bu's army and looked towards Gongsun Zan's army formation. In that era, there were no telescopes and the two sides were far apart. She could only see the other side's general formation, but could not tell which side was whose army.

"Amo, what kind of formation is Gongsun Zan setting up? I can't understand it after looking at it for a long time." Xu Chu, who was following the guards, asked curiously.

Zhang Mo said, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the cross-echelon attrition formation of Han Xin's Ten-Sided Ambush Formation."

Xu Chu: ???

Seeing his bewildered expression, Zhang Mo pointed at the enemy formation and explained, "Look at that formation. Doesn't it resemble the tail feathers of an arrow?"

Regarding formations, Zhang Mo had only a rough understanding of a few common ones in her previous life. Han Xin learned this formation from Lu Zhi in Luoyang in this life. Gongsun Zan was also Lu Zhi's direct disciple, so it was not surprising that he had learned this.

Xu Chu looked at it carefully again and nodded, "It really is!"

"As the name suggests, the Ten-Sided Ambush Formation should be a ten-sided formation, but Gongsun Zan lacked sufficient troops, so he only deployed eight. These eight rectangular formations are like the feathers on an arrow's tail, spread diagonally to the left and right, facilitating encirclement. The central passage is like the arrow shaft, allowing the wounded to retreat and the reinforcements from the rear to advance."

"Our army charged head-on, first encountering the first two crossed formations. Most of them were shield-bearing soldiers, not very strong offensively, but very good defensively. Our momentum would be stalled the moment they made contact, and the crossbowmen behind them would fire arrows incessantly, inflicting heavy casualties. Furthermore, the enemy cavalry were deployed in the two crossed formations in the middle, allowing them to flexibly respond from both inside and outside."

Xu Chu suddenly realized something and asked hurriedly, "Amo, since you understand this formation, you must have a way to break it?"

Zhang Mo said, "Why do I need to break it? Advisor Tian is knowledgeable and talented. He must have seen this formation before. I just need to tell Lü Bu and Qu Yi the key points of this formation, and they will know how to break it."

As the war drums sounded, Yuan Shao's troops began to move, and the battlefield immediately rang with the rhythmic footsteps and regular shouts of the soldiers.

Zhang Mo raised her voice to explain to Xu Chu, "We can't charge head-on in this formation. We should send shield soldiers to slowly advance from the front, while archers lean back to shoot to suppress the enemy's crossbows."

Xu Chu looked around and saw that just as Amo had said, the soldiers Yuan Shao had sent in the front were all shield soldiers.

"After the shield soldiers close in, send two light cavalry units to bypass them from the flanks. First, attack the mobile cavalry in the center. Once these units are trapped, we can then send another elite unit to launch a surprise attack on Gongsun Zan's center. Now it will depend on whose soldiers are more stable and more capable of fighting."

As early as when Gongsun Zan formed his battle formation, Lu Bu and Yuan Shao had assigned the tasks. Yuan Shao's two thousand cavalrymen and Lu Bu's two thousand cavalrymen were responsible for dealing with the enemy's cavalry on the left and right flanks respectively. Qu Yi led two thousand men to stand by temporarily, looking for an opportunity to attack Gongsun Zan's central army.

As for Lu Bu's other two thousand men, they serve as mobile troops and can provide support at any time if a crisis occurs on either side.

Zhang Mo's eyes were fixed on the battlefield. At this moment, the cavalry of Yan Liang and Hua Xiong on the left and right sides were fighting with the cavalry of Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yan. The shields and crossbows in the front row were also deadlocked. Qu Yi was leading a team of soldiers to advance from the middle of the arrow shafts. Only Lu Bu's team in the rear had not yet encountered the enemy.

"Then where are the people from our Juyi Village deployed?" Xu Chu asked again.

Zhang Mo pointed to the troops in the middle of the left side. "Yesterday, Ziyi sent someone to deliver a message. They were deployed in the middle of the left side of the formation along with Zhang Yan's cavalry. They are currently facing Yan Liang's troops."

Zhang Yan had originally planned to rally other forces to aid Gongsun Zan, but Zhang Mo relayed a message to Guan Hai, who then sought out Zhang Yan, offering him assistance. Zhang Yan had no reason to refuse the offer, so Guan Hai instructed Taishi Ci to bring 500 men and see how the situation unfolded.

Zhang Mo's instructions to Taishi Ci were that if Yuan Shao had the upper hand in this battle, he should do his utmost to cooperate with Zhang Yan to destroy Yan Liang's troops. If Gongsun Zan had the upper hand, he should hold back a little during the battle.

Of course, how to strike the right balance depends on Taishi Ci's ability, just like Zhang Liao's dangling of the Xiongnu troops outside Gaolang City, which tests the general's command ability. Zhang Mo's goal is to balance the forces of Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, preventing one from completely overwhelming the other.

Lu Bu's idea was the same as his wife's. While helping Yuan Shao to repel Gongsun Zan, he couldn't weaken Gongsun Zan too much. That was why he refused to send troops before Zhang Yan arrived.

Bingzhou has many Hu people and bandits, and the country is already unstable. If Yuan Shao comes to make trouble from time to time, the frequent wars will not only make the soldiers tired, but the population will continue to decline. How can we talk about developing the economy?

Therefore, in the next few years, Lu Bu needed Gongsun Zan to harass Yuan Shao in the east and attract Yuan Shao's attention so that Bingzhou could have a relatively stable time and space for development.

Lu Bu swept his eyes across the battlefield. At this moment, Zhang Yan's cavalry and Gongsun Zan's cavalry on the right were both trapped, and Qu Yi's troops had also killed their way to the middle of the cross-echelon formation. The infantry of the four front phalanxes were also completely entangled together.

At this time, the two thousand white horse volunteers reserved by Gongsun Zan in the rear were rushing over to block Qu Yi's troops. The war horses were galloping on the field, and the screams of fighting were everywhere.

Looking at the overall situation, Yuan Shao's infantry in the front was already showing signs of defeat due to the large number of troops compared to Gongsun Zan. On the left, Yan Liang's team and Zhang Yan were fighting on equal terms. On the right, Hua Xiong clearly had the advantage and was pressing forward step by step. In the middle, Qu Yi's team had its momentum blocked and was now fighting with the Baima Yicong.

Overall, the two sides were almost evenly matched, and there were no heavy casualties among their own troops and Amo's Juyizhai soldiers.

Yuan Shao rode up to Lü Bu and pointed at the troops of Qu Yi, who were locked in a fierce struggle with the Baima Yicong, and said, "Fengxian, if you lead two thousand cavalry over now, you can break through the Baima Yicong and strike back to cut off Gongsun's head."

"Why should we chop off his head?" Lu Bu pretended to be stupid.

"Once Gongsun Zan dies, the enemy will collapse, and the soldiers won't have to fight so hard. Fengxian was able to single-handedly decapitate two groups of Liangzhou rebels at Wangyuan. Today's situation should be much easier than it was then."

Lü Bu nodded. "It is easier, but I am now the ruler of a state. How can I risk my life so easily? If Benchu ​​is willing to go with me, I will take you to behead Gongsun."

Yuan Shao was sweating. This guy must have done it on purpose. He wanted him to follow him into the battle. Wasn't that just asking him to die?

Lu Bu glanced at him, stopped teasing, and said seriously, "Let's wait and see. If General Qu really can't be killed, I will send more people to help him."

Gongsun Zan's army was more than twice as large as Yuan Shao's. At this time, there were still two armies behind him that had not moved. As time went on, the evenly matched situation would inevitably tilt towards Gongsun Zan. The reason why Lu Bu delayed time was just to let the two sides consume more troops, and then he would take action when both sides were defeated.

As for the 2,000 cavalrymen who participated in the battle and Amo's 500 Golden Eagle Guards, they were all elite cavalrymen. As long as the battle situation did not completely tilt towards the other side, these troops would not suffer too much loss.

Yuan Shao knew what Lu Bu was planning, but since Lu Bu refused to take action, he could do nothing about it. He just felt that he had spent a lot of money to invite the old man back.