Chapter 311: Early Action

Zhang Yan has been in a bad mood recently.

The morale of the Montenegrin soldiers has been unstable recently, and it has reached the point where they are almost out of control!

The incident started with a wave of refugees more than a month ago.

In recent years, Montenegro has suffered frequent famines. After the natural disasters, Montenegro launched several wars, but all ended in failure and even suffered heavy losses.

Failure is the most fatal because it means that no benefit can be gained from sending troops, and it is a pure loss-making business.

The peak of the Black Mountain Army was when, under the instigation of Yu Du Hu Shou and others, they attacked Ye City and almost raided Yuan Shao's lair. However, this move completely angered Yuan Shao, who personally led the army in dozens of battles, all the way to the heart of Black Mountain, and killed many generals.

At that time, Zhang Yan led the troops personally, but he was unable to withstand the attack of Lu Bu, who served as the vanguard of Yuan Shao's army. He was at a disadvantage for more than ten days in a row, and finally had no choice but to retreat back to the hinterland of Montenegro.

To be fair, Zhang Yan himself was a famous general. His nickname, Feiyan, was to describe the fact that he galloped on his horse on the battlefield at an extremely fast speed, which ordinary people could hardly keep up with.

But he happened to meet Lu Bu, who was more powerful than him. The Black Mountain Army was defeated and lost its courage. From then on, under the targeting of Yuan, they fell into a long-term disadvantage.

Unlike the prosperous Jizhou, the Taihang Mountains where Heishan is located have complex terrain and are isolated in many places. Dozens of Heishan generals each have their own mountaintops, and the people under their rule are more like a group of bandits rather than normal production activity areas such as counties.

Under the idea of ​​these generals who valued military power over agriculture, the people's lives were quite difficult. Coupled with successive years of natural disasters, having enough food became a luxury.

It would have been fine if it had been a few years of recuperation, and the situation might have improved. But at this time, Yuan Shao mobilized the entire Jizhou army to attack Yijing.

As an ally of Gongsun Zan, Zhang Yan naturally could not stand by and watch him die. Moreover, there were still millions of hu of grain in Yijing City. If they could repel Yuan Shao, the Black Mountain Army would also be able to get a lot of benefits from Gongsun Zan.

But the result was beyond Zhang Yan's expectations. He personally led the central army and attacked in three directions. However, the last three directions did not even see the city wall of Yijing before they were repelled by Yuan Shao's three sons.

Among the three routes, the Northern Army suffered the most. Tens of thousands of troops were almost wiped out, and Bai Rao, Li Damu, Zhang Baiqi and others died.

However, although Zhang Yan was angry at the time, he didn't care much. If these people died, they would die. It would also allow for some territory to be given up and there would be fewer mouths to feed. In another sense, it meant that Montenegro had reduced its burden.

After fighting against Yuan Shao for several years, Zhang Yan has reached a point where he can barely make ends meet.

Because the consumption on both sides was really uneven, the Montenegrin Army, including soldiers and civilians, had only a few hundred thousand people. Mobilizing 100,000 troops was equivalent to eating up several years of savings.

However, his opponent Yuan Shao, with the support of Jizhou, a country with millions of people, would suffer much less losses if he launched an army of 100,000.

What made Zhang Yan even more disgusted was that Yuan Xi, the governor of Youzhou, was blocking the north of Black Mountain. He had only a few thousand soldiers and horses fighting back and forth, but they were all elite troops that were extremely difficult to deal with. Not only were the battle losses small, but the loss of food and fodder was also several times less.

Zhang Yan found that he had no idea where to start in either Youzhou or Jizhou. He could neither win by fighting nor by wasting time. It really made him numb.

So after hearing the news of Gongsun Zan's defeat and death, Zhang Yan, who was confronting Yuan Tan, decisively withdrew his troops. If he continued to fight, he would be dragged down sooner or later.

He thought very clearly that this expedition had already caused great damage and needed to recuperate. Fortunately, many people had died, which could slightly alleviate the food shortage crisis.

As long as they don't start a war and go back to grow crops for a year or two, the Montenegrin Army will be able to recover!

However, the young man from the Yuan family, who was known as the ferocious tiger, did not give himself this opportunity. Instead, he took the opportunity to use all kinds of despicable tricks to spread rumors in Black Mountain and instigate the people to flee.

Starting from the Chinese New Year, Youzhou offered a price. The refugees who escaped from Heishan would be resettled by the local Youzhou government and would be responsible for re-registering their household registration. No one would be turned away.

If there is someone in the family who volunteers to join the army, he will get more land. Of course, if you don't want to join the army, you can become an apprentice to a craftsman and make tools, which can also offset part of the corvee labor.

This is the most attractive thing for the people of Montenegro who have suffered from the war. Is there such a good thing as not forcing men to serve in the army?

You must know that throughout the dynasties, when various forces went to war, they would recruit young and strong people in their territories as soldiers. Once they went to the battlefield, their lives and deaths were unpredictable, and it was common for families to be separated.

This is also why it is said that it is better to be a dog in peacetime than a man in troubled times.

Zhang Yan did not pay much attention to such rumors at first. After all, in his opinion, Youzhou had nothing better to do. To accommodate so many mouths to feed, weren't they afraid of dragging themselves down?

But what happened afterwards was beyond his expectations. Youzhou seemed to have taken out all its previous accumulations, and even some of the aristocratic families in Youzhou gave their all to accept the refugees and fulfill their promises.

As the news that the first batch of refugees had been settled and had enough food to eat spread back to Montenegro, most people could no longer sit still.

Montenegro has run out of seeds for spring farming, and the higher-ups are not doing anything about it. They still have to pay rent, and if a war breaks out again, they will be conscripted!

In comparison, no matter what the purpose is in Youzhou, at least there is food to eat now. If you stay, you will die. The worst result of running away is to eat full meals for half a year and then die. The choice is self-evident.

So a large-scale escape began. Every day, countless people carried their meager properties, dragged their children, and fled over mountains and across rivers to Youzhou. Some villages were even completely wiped out in one night.

By the time Zhang Yan reacted, the most important spring plowing in Montenegro was already in a mess.

Now that everyone has run away, who will continue to farm?

Zhang Yan finally realized that the other party didn't want to give him any chance at all!

Youzhou has emptied out its resources and made every effort to accommodate the refugees. In fact, it has no way out. Its purpose is very clear, which is to bring down Heishan. The decisive battle will take place this year!

When Zhang Yan figured it out, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. Yuan Shao would be fine, but you, a member of the Yuan family, dare to openly compete with me with just a few counties in Youzhou!

Even Yuan Shao couldn't defeat me, where do you get your confidence from!

Zhang Yan was furious and thought, "You want to go to war with me? Then I will mobilize all my people into soldiers and use war to support the war!"

When you have harvest in summer and autumn, I will come out in full force to plunder and harvest the food on your land!

By then, I will have grabbed enough food to get through the winter, but you will have to feed a large number of refugees in Montenegro without getting any harvest. By then, you can just wait for a fire in your backyard and rebellion everywhere!

Yuan Xi had gathered everyone together in Jicheng. After listening to Liu He's description of the resettlement of refugees in the city, he said, "My previous plan was to wait until the summer harvest, then mobilize the entire army and attack the hinterland of Black Mountain."

"Now it seems that the plan needs to change."

"I would like you to talk about the feasibility of sending troops ahead of schedule."

After hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought. It was still two or three months before the earliest summer harvest of grain, so they had to prepare military rations.

A lot of food reserves have been used up in the resettlement of refugees in Guangyang, Zhuo County and other places. It is actually quite difficult to prepare military rations for sending troops now.

Zhao Yun, Tian Yu and others estimated that if they mobilized several thousand troops and horses, the food and grass stored in Youzhou might only last for two months.

But there must be a reason why Yuan Xi sent troops out in advance at this time.

Yuan Xi glanced at Guo Jia, who understood and nodded, saying, "Indeed, it is difficult for us to prepare military rations now. Isn't it the same for the Black Mountain Army?"

"According to the news, they have almost no spring farming. In another six months, there will be a large-scale famine."

"If Zhang Yan wasn't stupid, they would definitely find a way."

"Either seek help or borrow food from the surrounding areas, or go plunder."

"If he wants help, he can only turn to the Southern Xiongnu in Bingzhou and Zhang Yang and Lu Bu in Hanoi. But they have also suffered natural disasters and may not have food to lend him. Besides, it is still unclear whether Lu Bu is on good terms with Zhang Yan."

"So Zhang Yan can only think of attacking Jizhou and Youzhou, that is, looting. But Zhang Yan has suffered a lot in the past, so he should be careful in choosing the targets to send troops to."

"If he chooses the weak, he will choose Youzhou. The most likely scenario is that he will come to rob food during the summer and autumn harvests. This is also the style of the Black Mountain Army."

"If we wait until the summer harvest to send troops, we will be in a passive position. The Black Mountain Army still has more than 100,000 troops. Although most of them are weak, they are still living people after all."

"With so many people pouring out of Black Mountain, we can't stop them with the current military strength of Youzhou. If thousands or tens of thousands of people leak in, it will also cause great harm."

"So the best option at the moment is to send troops into the Black Mountain Pass immediately, seize the key pass of the Black Mountain Army, and build a camp for defense."

"This way we can block their route into Youzhou, and at the same time we can use the camp as a base to attack the Black Mountain Army's hinterland."

After Guo Jia finished speaking, all the generals nodded. Indeed, the way to win a war is to seize the initiative in advance and not wait passively.

Now, sending troops in advance is a good idea. Although Youzhou is not fully prepared, the Black Mountain Army is even more hasty!

Ju Su praised: "Your Excellency and Feng Xiao are so thoughtful, I am really surprised."

Guo Jiaqian said: "Jia is only good at some small tricks, but he is not good at fighting in front of an expert. We still need you to take charge of the overall situation."

After hearing this, Ju Su chuckled and looked at Yuan Xi.

Seeing this, Yuan Xi said decisively: "Now I have made up my mind. I will personally serve as the commander-in-chief and make Beixincheng the first stop of the army."

"Mr. Gong and Mr. Liu will be the military supervisors, Brother Liu will be stationed in Jicheng to provide support, Zilong will be the commander, and Brother Guo will be the deputy commander. Reorganize the troops within three days and station them in Beixincheng. Then, divide them into three groups to occupy the Black Mountain Pass!"

After hearing this, everyone accepted the order with a roar.

The news of Yuan Xi's dispatch of troops soon spread to Jizhou.

Yuan Shao said to his subordinate Yuan Shang and his advisers, "Xian Yi is sending troops to attack the Black Mountain bandits. What do you think?"

Shen Pei said, "To mobilize the army without permission is to act on one's own accord and disregard the overall situation."

Tian Feng said coldly: "How can this be considered sending troops without authorization? Didn't Youzhou send a letter to Jizhou earlier?"

Everyone thought who could have thought of this. The letter downplayed the matter. Everyone was still arguing and bickering because the spring plowing had just ended and Youzhou had just experienced a war with Gongsun Zan and was short of food and infantry. It was really not a good time to send troops.

But who would have thought that Yuan Xi would not wait for Jizhou's reply but take action first!

Yuan Shang stood up and said, "I'm afraid Xianyi wants to take over Bingzhou for himself, right?"

Guo Tu sneered and said, "How is that possible? I heard that they can really defeat the Black Mountain Army of several hundred thousand by sending out only a few thousand soldiers this time?"

Everyone agreed in their hearts that there were many cases where the weak defeated the strong, but the gap in manpower between the two sides was too big, right?

Everyone had followed Yuan Shao in the battles with the Black Mountain Army and knew that the Black Mountain Army was definitely not a soft persimmon. Yuan Shao had mobilized all the troops in Jizhou at that time, but he failed to wipe out the Black Mountain Army. How could Yuan Xi, with just a few thousand men, possibly do it?

Unless there is a huge change, I'm afraid it will be impossible to kill all these hundreds of thousands of people if a few thousand people kill them while they are standing, right?