Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

On September 21, Yuan Shao's 40,000-strong army crossed the Zhuozhang River and deployed outside Hukou Pass and in front of Longli Mountain.

As Zhang Mo expected, Yuan Shao's strategic policy was to fight a protracted war. Therefore, after the troops arrived, he first ordered people to build a large camp, dig trenches and set up roadblocks outside the camp to prevent Lu Bu's cavalry from attacking the camp. He sent a team out of the camp every day, either to attack Hukou Pass or to take a detour to attack Lu County, but he did not want to confront Lu Bu's main force. If he did, he would fight briefly and then retreat.

Of course, Yuan Shao's strategy of protracted war was the safest plan when there was no opportunity to take advantage of. If the war went smoothly on Qu Yi's side, or if Cao Cao could take Henei with ease, and finally the three parties could encircle Shangdang, the war would basically be over.

Jia Xu agreed with Yuan Shao's strategy. In terms of economic strength, Bingzhou could not compete with Jizhou, but in terms of military combat effectiveness, Yuan Shao's 40,000 troops might not be enough to withstand two rounds of attacks from the lord's 8,000 troops.

No matter how powerful Yuan Shao's halberd soldiers were, they had only been in existence for less than two years. They were still inferior to veterans like Lu Bu who had experienced hundreds of battles. Moreover, with the pervert Lu Bu around, Yuan Shao had to be extremely careful.

Jia Xu had originally worried that a prolonged war would be detrimental to Bingzhou, but Lü Bu had vowed that if there were no rain in the spring and little in the summer, there would be a severe drought. Droughts are usually followed by locust swarms, so he wasn't worried about the war dragging on. If his 40,000-man army could afford it, why couldn't our 8,000? It would only take half a year, no problem at all.

Jia Xu wondered how Lü Bu knew there would be a drought next year. Naturally, Lü Bu couldn't reveal A-Mo's identity as a time traveler. Just because he wasn't afraid of reincarnation didn't mean others weren't. What if word got out and everyone mistook A-Mo for a ghost? He also couldn't tell Jia Xu about his past life dream.

Lu Bu could only continue to deify Amo as a master and tell Jia Xu that Amo could read the stars and predict natural disasters.

Jia Xu was half-believing and half-doubting, but no matter whether what Lu Bu said was true or not, they had to wait for news from Cao Cao first.

…………

In Juyi Village, Yuan Shang, who was collecting bird eggs in the forest with his friends, had just slipped down a tree trunk when someone covered his mouth from behind, then put him in a sack and took him away from the village.

On the way, Yuan Shang sat on horseback, turned around and glared at the man who had stolen him, "Why are you arresting me?"

The man said, "I don't want to be a bandit anymore. I heard that you are the son of Yuan Shao, the governor of Jizhou. I want to send you back to Jizhou. Your father will definitely give me a lot of money!"

Yuan Shang was captured and brought to Juyi Village at the age of four. Two years had passed, and his memories and feelings for his father had faded. He angrily said, "You're meddling in my business. I just like staying in the village. Send me back, and I'll have Xu Ziyuan give you the money."

The man sneered, "What kind of money does that old man have?"

"Of course not! He gets three times as much food rations every quarter as everyone else. He's very rich."

The man burst into laughter as if he had heard a huge joke.

"Little kid, I'm afraid you don't know what it means to be rich. When you return to your father, you'll find that the old man's rations are not even enough for your father's daily expenses."

Yuan Shang started to make a scene, "I don't care, I won't go back, I want to go back to the stronghold, let me go..."

The man held the kicking child with one hand so that he could not move. He kicked the horse's belly with his legs, and the horse accelerated towards Jinyang. When they were leaving Taihang, they met several patrolling soldiers. Then Yuan Shang was rescued by the soldiers and finally sent to Zhang Mo.

The reason for using this method to bring Yuan Shang out alone was to prevent Yuan Shao from suspecting the relationship between Lu Bu and Juyi Village. Although this method was crude, it was completely sufficient to fool a six-year-old child.

"Wuuu, please send me back to the mountain stronghold. I want to go back to the mountain stronghold..." Yuan Shang looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and pleaded pitifully.

"But you are Yuan Shao's son, why do you want to go back to the mountain stronghold?" Zhang Mo looked at him and smiled gently.

"I don't want to be Yuan Shao's son. My mother is in the mountain stronghold. I want to go back..."

Zhang Mo wiped his tears with a handkerchief. "It's not that I don't want to send you back to the stronghold, but I don't know where the stronghold you're talking about is. Besides, your father is leading his troops to attack Bingzhou, and I just happened to save you. Didn't your teacher tell you that you should be grateful and repay kindness?"

Yuan Shang stopped crying and nodded blankly.

"So, you have to repay the favor first."

"How do I repay you? After I repay you, will you send me back to the village?"

"After repaying the favor, you can ask your father to send you back to the village. Your mother is there, and your father might agree."

Yuan Shang nodded again, then suddenly thought of something and asked, "Will my father lead his troops to attack the stronghold?"

He really likes the village, but Xu Ziyuan said they were all kidnapped. If his father knew, he would definitely be angry, right?!

Zhang Mo spread her hands and said, "I don't know about that. You can also ask your father not to beat you and see if he listens to you."

Yuan Shang thought hard and thought, it seemed that his father had liked him very much when he was a child, and his mother had always said that his father loved him the most, so this should be possible, right?!

He raised his little head, looking ready to die a heroic death, "Then I will repay you first!"

Zhang Mo patted his little head and said, "What a good boy!"

She squatted down and looked Yuan Shang in the eye, saying softly, "Don't be afraid. No matter what they say about killing you or cooking you, it's all fake. You can cry, but don't be afraid. I will definitely send you back to your father."

Yuan Shang didn't know why she said these words to him, but he nodded obediently, "I'm a man, I'm not afraid!"

"Yeah! So good!"

Zhang Mo picked up a plate of cake from the table and waved it in front of Yuan Shang, continuing to act as the Big Bad Wolf to coax Little Red Riding Hood.

"Do you want to eat it? This dessert is called cake and it's delicious!"

The cake was covered with a layer of cream and decorated with many fruits. Yuan Shang was attracted by this beautiful appearance. He sniffed, and a sweet fragrance rushed into his nose, and his saliva was almost flowing out.

"I want to eat!" He looked at Zhang Mo eagerly.

Zhang Mo said, "Then if you promise me one thing, I will give it to you."

"What's the matter?" Yuan Shang said readily.

"If your father asks you when I rescued you, just tell him it was during a winter with thick snow."

Yuan Shang didn't know why she asked him to agree to such a simple condition, and nodded without hesitation.

Zhang Mo held up her pinky finger and said, "Let's make a pinky promise. Men should keep their words and not cheat!"

Yuan Shang stretched out his little hand and shook hands with her, then patted his chest and said, "My teacher also said that a man should keep his word and do what he promised to others. Don't worry!"

Zhang Mo handed him the cake and instructed him, "You must remember this. It was snowing heavily the day you were taken out of the village and rescued by me. You must not tell your father this. I taught you that..."

Yuan Shang nodded as he ate. "I've got it. I can memorize a whole poem, so I can definitely remember such a simple sentence."

Zhang Mo touched his head again, packed some snacks for him to eat on the road, and said a few words to Fa Zheng, asking him to take people to send Yuan Shang to Sishui Pass.

However, before Yuan Shang arrived at Sishui Pass, the battle in Ji County, Henei, had already begun.

Cao Ren's 20,000-strong army crossed the river from Bai Ma, and all the places they passed through were Yuan Shao's sphere of influence. Not only did they not have to worry about being ambushed, but when they passed through some counties, local officials cooked meals for Cao's army, so Cao Ren marched very quickly.

However, no matter how fast he was, he could not be faster than the Bingzhou Army. Thanks to the intelligence work of the Flying Eagle Team, Lu Bu got the news as soon as the Cao Army made any movement. Therefore, Song Xian was able to occupy Sishui Pass before Cao Cao, and Zhang Liao was able to reach Henei before Cao Ren.

"According to Boda, Yuan Shao still has 3,000 troops stationed in Chaoge City. This time, not only will our army be outnumbered by 8,000 against 23,000, but we won't be able to hold the city."

In the military camp outside Ji County, Xu Shu looked at a newly drawn map and said with a heavy expression.

"Why can't we just defend the city?" Wei Xu was a little confused.

After returning from a trip to Xianbei last year, this originally frivolous and lively young man became much more calm. This time, Lu Bu ordered Zhang Liao to fight against Cao Ren, and Wei Xu took the initiative to request to come together. On the one hand, he wanted to learn more about Zhang Liao's combat methods, and on the other hand, he also wanted to make another contribution to atone for the crime of losing the city and soldiers last time.

Although Wei Xu had followed Lu Bu for many years, Lu Bu's martial arts was too abnormal. No matter who he fought with or how many soldiers the enemy had, he would just charge forward and crush them. It was because he learned this habit from Lu Bu that when the Xianbei invaded, he was so impulsive that he chased them all the way to attack Yin, but in the end he was chased by the enemy.

If Lu Bu had been the main general that time, he would have been able to fight his way out even if he was facing a fresh force. However, Wei Xu was not able to do so, so he learned his lesson. Without his brother-in-law's abnormal martial arts, he could not learn his fighting style.

Xu Shu pointed at the map and explained, "East of Chaoge lies Luchang Mountain. Over twenty miles north and south are mountainous areas. This mountainous area and Chaoge City control the key road to Weijun. If our army wishes to attack from west to east, we must first capture Chaoge."

"However, Cao's army, marching westward, once they had escaped Chaoge and Luchang Mountain, the land south to the river was generally flat and vast. Northward, bypassing the mountain, there were also roads leading to places like Gong County in Hanoi. Chaoge and Luchang Mountain were like the gateway to Wei County. There was only one way in, but from there, there were multiple roads leading to Hanoi."

During the days since arriving in Hanoi, Xu Shu was very busy. He personally toured the area and drew a detailed topographic map from Chaoge to Jixian, Gongxian and other places.

"If our army divides itself up to defend, it will be hard to defend. Not only will it be difficult to stop Cao's army from advancing westward, but our already disadvantaged forces will be further dispersed. Therefore, in my opinion, we can only take the initiative to send troops to the outside of Chaoge City to block the main road where his troops are heading west, and prevent Cao's army from opening up too many battlefields in Hanoi." Xu Shu suggested.

The reason for this suggestion is that in addition to the terrain factors, the stability of the people's hearts in Hanoi must also be taken into consideration.

During this period, he learned about the Henei nobles and powerful families in detail from Sima Lang, the magistrate of Huojia County, and Yang Jun, the magistrate of Ji County. Although most of them had surrendered to Bingzhou, many of them were still close to Jizhou.

If there were no war, it would be difficult for these people to incite clan traitors and powerful people to rebel against Lu Bu with the Bingzhou garrison. But this time Cao's army is coming with great momentum. If the Bingzhou army cannot resist it and allows it to invade other places in Henei, it will inevitably cause panic among the people. Those who are pro-Yuan may incite them further, and perhaps many counties will voluntarily open their gates and surrender the city. Therefore, Cao's army must be blocked east of Chaoge.

Zhang Liao did not consider as many things as Xu Shu. Judging from the factors of military strength and terrain alone, it would be more appropriate to lead the troops directly to the doorstep of Cao's army.

He bowed and said, "My lord has appointed you as our military advisor. Liao naturally trusts you. Now we will assemble our army and march."

Ji County was not far from Chaoge. Zhang Liao set up camp on the same day and arrived outside Chaoge City on the third day. During this period, the generals stationed in Chaoge sent troops to try to stop Zhang Liao's march, but they failed.

When Cao Ren's troops rushed to Chaoge and saw the camp outside the city with the military flag with the word "Zhang" flying on it, Cao Ren and Xun You both showed expressions of astonishment on their faces.

It is understandable that Song Xian was able to rush to occupy Sishui Pass so quickly, after all, Henei and Henan are separated by only a river. But hadn't Zhang Liao been stationed at Yanmen? Did he fly here?

"Although the entrance is blocked, it is in line with the strategy set by the lord. If we can repel this army, Hanoi will basically be taken, and there will be no need to divide the troops to attack again."

Xun You, the military strategist for the attack on Hanoi, was surprised but quickly analyzed that the current situation did not have any adverse effects on them.

Xun You, whose courtesy name was Gongda, came from a noble family in Yingchuan. He was the nephew of Xun Yu, but he was a few years older than Xun Yu.

Compared with Xun Yu, who was known as the "talented king's assistant", Xun You may not be as good as Xun Yu in other aspects, but he is better in tactics and military strategies to defeat the enemy. Historically, he had killed Yan Liang and Wen Chou in the Battle of Guandu, sent special troops to burn Yuan Shao's food and grass, urged Cao Cao to adopt Xu You's plan to attack Wuchao, and urged Cao Hong to accept Zhang He and Gao Lan who came to surrender. It can be said that if there was no Xun You, the Battle of Guandu might have had a different outcome.

It was precisely because Zhang Mo knew Xun You's strengths very well that he was so worried about the war in Henei that he had to abandon the first checkpoint on Jingxing Road and send Taishi Ci to provide support.

After hearing what Xun You said, Cao Ren was a little puzzled and said, "Didn't the military advisor say on the way that Bingzhou has few soldiers and that if they are divided, they will become weaker. Isn't it better for our army to divide the troops?"

Xun You said, "I originally thought that the Bingzhou army would defend the city and that a siege would be difficult, so I decided to split up the troops and attack them in various places to disrupt the morale of the people in Henei. Unexpectedly, the enemy anticipated our possible battle plan and came here to block the main gate. Now we have no choice but to engage in a head-on battle."

Xun You stood on the city wall, gazing at Zhang Liao's camp from afar. He continued, "According to the commander of Chaoge, Zhang Liao is only leading 8,000 soldiers this time. His numbers are small. The Bingzhou army is best equipped with cavalry. As long as we can contain their cavalry raids, this battle will not be difficult."

Cao Ren smiled and said, "That's no problem! Ever since you gathered the Qingzhou troops, my lord has been obsessed with defeating Lü Bu of Bingzhou. Back then, outside Sishui Pass, I witnessed it with my own eyes. Dong Zhuo's Western Liang cavalry completely defeated our Guandong coalition forces. Even if we fought with cavalry for several more years, we would never be able to defeat these border barbarians. Therefore, my lord has been practicing methods to restrain cavalry for the past two years. We have made some progress, and I will implement it."

Cao Ren turned around and was about to leave, but Xun You stopped him, "Wait a minute!"

Cao Ren turned around and saw Xun You staring into the distance with a slightly changed expression. He became nervous and asked, "What's the problem?"

Xun You pointed at Zhang Liao's main camp and said, "They've set up camp in the mountains to the north. They've dug trenches and deployed a stag-horn formation facing Chaoge. It's clear they want to defend their camp. If I'm right, the same is true to the south and west. If we try to bypass their main camp, they'll definitely send light cavalry to harass us from behind. They clearly don't want to engage us!"

"Don't want to fight? Then why is he here?"

"They just want to block our army and buy time!"

Xun You's eyes were filled with confusion as he spoke these words. From Bingzhou's perspective, a quick victory was the most advantageous. Was he waiting for reinforcements? But where could Bingzhou mobilize its troops?

Although there is a huge disparity in military strength this time, it is not too big. Given Lu Bu's fighting style, he should not be so timid.

Xun You said, "Send scouts first to investigate and then decide how to fight this battle."