Yuan Shao's strength is stronger than Yuan Shao's strength in history.

Tao Shang, however, was much weaker than Yuan Shao's opponent Cao Cao in history.

In history, Cao Cao also owned half of Qingzhou in addition to the three prefectures of Yan, Xu and Yu, Huainan, and half of Sizhou.

But now, the Tao merchant did not get involved in a county in Qingzhou, and Sizhou only controlled the broken Luoyang area.

Moreover, Cao Cao was competing with Yuan Shao with his strength in the Central Plains that he had been in charge of for many years, while Tao Shang fought with Yuan Shao by relying on the Central Plains that Cao Cao had just won for less than half a year.

It is natural that the pottery merchant is weak.

"Although Yuan thieves are strong and have a military force of as many as 150,000, they are divided into two factions, which are fighting each other secretly, and have great internal friction. Although our army can be used for a decisive army in front, with only 40,000 people, we are united and have the same heart as the top and bottom. As long as we fight to the death, the chances of victory are still very high."

Chen Ping's words revealed the superiority of both the enemy and us.

Tao Shang naturally knew the words he analyzed.

Although there are many talented people under Yuan Shao's command, unfortunately, Yuan Shao did not do enough to suppress factional internal struggles, which made the elites under him divided into two factions, led by Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, each with ulterior motives.

Faction struggle will inevitably focus on the interests of one's own faction as the primary priority, and will ignore Yuan Shao's overall situation, which will seriously weaken the combat effectiveness of Yuan Shao's army.

The Tao Shang is different. The main forces of his military generals and counselors are all summoned heroic souls. These people are only loyal to themselves and there is no factional dispute.

Therefore, although he is weak, he can easily condense his five fingers into a fist and concentrate his all-out effort.

On the other hand, Tao Shang himself was united in the civil and military affairs, and there was no factional dispute. It can be said that it was a solid piece of law.

At present, his troops have reached 70,000 or 80,000, and the number is quite considerable.

However, he wanted to leave troops on the Huainan line to guard against Sun Ce, and to send troops in the Nanyang area to guard against Liu Biao, so the troops could be used for the front battlefield, with only 40,000 troops.

Forty thousand to 150,000, the gap between troops is nearly four times, which is a huge difference.

However, based on the advantages analyzed by Chen Ping, the pottery merchants are confident that they will defeat the strong with the weak.

In the past six months, the Central Plains have been well-received by Xiao He's management. The grain and grass storage has at least one million hu of hu. With a strong backing, it has also added a lot of confidence to the pottery merchants.

"Yuan Shao not only has many infantry soldiers, but also has 20,000 elite Youbing Iron Cavalry, as well as powerful generals like Yan Liang and Wen Chou. This is a terrifying force." As a cavalry general, Zhang Xiu saw through Yuan Shao's true power at a glance.

The expressions of the generals changed slightly. Just hearing the four words "Twenty Thousand Cavalry" was enough to make their scalp numb.

Yuan Shao didn't have so many cavalry, but after he captured Youbeng's two prefectures, he obtained Ma Yuan. In addition to the cavalry troops that recruited Gongsun Zan, the number of cavalry increased to 20,000 in a short period of time.

Although the pottery merchants have always placed cavalry construction in an extremely important position, the victory of several major battles is inevitable that the cavalry troops will play the role of surprises at critical moments.

However, his territory was in the Central Plains, and the source of war horses was limited. In recent years, he purchased it from Liaodong and other places, and seized it from several princes such as Cao Cao, and the plan was only less than 5,000 cavalry.

In addition to the remaining troops, Tao Shang mobilized all the mobile forces he could use, including 5,000 cavalrymen, and went north to fight with Yuan Shao's 150,000 infantry and cavalry.

...

Jizhou, south of Yecheng.

The flags cover the sky, and the sea is shining. The wilderness within ten miles is occupied by the Yuan army's camp.

From Yecheng to the south, on the road leading to Liyang, an important town on the north bank of the Yellow River, countless soldiers, tens of thousands of civilians, and countless mule carts loaded with military supplies, traveled south continuously, stretching for more than a hundred miles without ending.

The golden banner with the character "Yuan" is flying proudly over the land of Hebei.

Under the guidance of that big banner, the 150,000 Yuan army infantry and cavalry, nearly 50,000 logistics Ding Fu were heading south and heading straight for Liyang.

By crossing the Yellow River from Liyang to the south, they will enter the Central Plains.

At dusk, three hundred miles north of Liyang, outside the inner city of Huang.

Starting from Yecheng, Yuan's army advanced slowly at a speed of more than 30 miles a day, at a snail-like speed.

Yuan Shao seemed not in a hurry to cross the river, as if he was determined to win. No matter when he crossed the river, the pottery merchant would undoubtedly lose.

Yuan Shao was so leisurely because he had ordered the literary master Chen Lin to write an excellently written "The Proclamation of the Anti-Thief of the Pottery", which copied more than 100,000 copies, and sent detailed works to all over the prefectures in Henan.

Yuan Shao believed that with his four generations and three masters of the Yuan family, his disciples were all over the world, and with his military power, before his army could cross the river, the Tao Shang ruling area would be full of people, and the scholars, civilians and officials from all prefectures and counties rebelled and responded to him.

The reason why he was not anxious was that he was waiting for the Central Plains to fall into panic and crowded people. At that time, he crossed Henan and went south, but he was afraid that the Tao merchant would be in trouble before the war.

It was dusk and Yuan’s army set up camp.

In the central army camp, Yuan Shao, wearing golden armor, sat high above in the huge camp camp, listening to the secret reports sent back by the Seizure, his eyes full of arrogance that dominates the world.

"Before the army of the father and commander went south, there were so many heroic people expressing their support. It can be seen that the pottery thieves are extremely unpopular in the Central Plains. Just wait for the army of the father and commander to cross the river, I am afraid that within a month, the pottery thieves will collapse and unify the Central Plains. It seems that it is a foregone conclusion." Yuan Tan took the opportunity to flatter his father.

The secret reports were all from the powerful men of the aristocratic families in Runan and other places. The Yuan family’s disciples and former officials secretly showed their kindness to Yuan Shao and expressed their desire to surrender.

After hearing his son's words, Yuan Shao stroked his long beard and smiled slightly, and the arrogant look on his face became even stronger.

Obviously, Yuan Tan's flattery hit Yuan Shao in his heart, making him completely forget that Yuan Tan was angry when he was going to assassinate Tao Shang without telling him.

Yuan Shang stayed in Yecheng and could not fight head-on with Yuan Tan. Seeing that Yuan Tan was favored by his father, the scholars of the Hebei faction could not sit idly by.

Tian Feng immediately stood up and bowed, "Young Master, don't underestimate the enemy. Although the Tao thief is weaker than our army, this person is extremely cunning to use troops. When the eldest prince was in Qingzhou, his troops were far superior to the Tao thief. In the end, he was defeated and even captured by him. The working lord personally came forward to rescue the eldest prince. How could the eldest prince heal the scar and forget the pain?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Yuan Tan's ugliness was revealed in public, and he immediately made Yuan Tan speechless and looked embarrassed and angry.

He glared at Tian Feng, and before he could speak, Feng Ji followed: "The Tao thief has led 40,000 troops from Xu Du to fight. As Yuan Hao said, we must not underestimate the enemy. Ji thought that we can use the advantage of cavalry to divide our troops deep into the enemy's back and harass its back. We are advancing head-only, so that the best strategy is to use the advantage of cavalry."

Tian Feng exposed Yuan Tan's ugliness, and Feng Ji offered another plan. In a blink of an eye, Yuan Shang's faction gained the upper hand.

Yuan Tan was angry, but he made plans and winked at Xu You.

Xu You understood it and smiled disdainfully: "Yuantu is so arrogant that little thief. I admit that this thief does have some deceitful plots, but under the lord's 150,000 infantry and cavalry army and its absolute superior force, any conspiracy will be easily crushed. Why do you need to divide the troops and plagiarize the enemy's rear? This is an extra move."

Yuan Shao was self-reliant and arrogant, so he didn't take the pottery merchant seriously at all. Xu You's crazy words were exactly what Yuan Shao wanted.

Yuan Shao nodded immediately and sneered: "I have an absolute advantage in my army of 150,000. There is no need to use any conspiracy. This time, I want to use the righteous and kingly army to travel all the way to Xudu."

Xu You made another move for Yuan Tan.

Feng Ji frowned and looked at Tian Feng again.
Chapter completed!