After Dong Zhuo's crusade, the Kwantung Alliance army was disbanded, and Yuan Shao reluctantly returned to Bohai County. At this time, in addition to wearing the two top hats of the Fourth Third Duke and the Kwantung Army Ally On his head, in fact, there was only a small piece of land in Bohai County. In that era of the weak and the strong, if you can't quickly expand your power, you will soon be eaten by others, no matter what kind of celebrity you are or an ally. At that time, Bohai County belonged to the rule of Jizhou, so Yuan Shao naturally set his sights on the territory of Mu Hanfu of Jizhou.
At that time, there was a contradiction between Han Fu and Gongsun Zhan of Youzhou, so Yuan Shao adopted the strategy of the strategist Feng Ji, while leading the army to the east, posing a posture to attack Jizhou, while secretly writing a letter to Gongsun Zhan and agreeing to jointly attack Jizhou. As a result, Han Fu was indeed not an opponent of Gongsun Zhan, and he was defeated in the first battle, and even his general Koji Yi took the opportunity to rebel. Yuan Shao sent emissaries to befriend Koji Yi on the one hand, and on the other hand, he sent his nephew Gao Gan and the counselor Xun Chen and others to Yecheng to lobby Han Fu. Yuan Shao's hand was both inside and outside, soft and hard at the same time, playing really beautifully, Han Fu was cowardly by nature, had no strategy, and under the coercion and inducement, he really agreed to give up Jizhou and invited Yuan Shao to be the pastor of Jizhou. In this way, without spending a single soldier, Yuan Shao obtained the richest Ji Prefecture in the thirteen states under the heavens, while han Fu, the unjust head, was deprived of his military power and died in fear.
Jizhou, which was rich in land and materials, gave Yuan Shao an inexhaustible supply of soldiers and talents, and at this time Yuan Shaowen had frustrated teachings, trials, Guo Tu, Tian Feng, Xu You, Feng Ji, Xun Chen, Wu Youliyi, Yan Liang, Wen Ugly, Zhang Gao, and Gao Lan, and initially built up his own core team. However, at this time, the situation facing Yuan Shao was not optimistic, although Jizhou was rich, it was a place of four wars, surrounded by strong enemies: Qingzhou in the east and Yanzhou in the south were the gathering places of the remnants of the Yellow Turban, and after years of conquest, chaos was unbearable, and the western prefecture was once the domain of Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, and the north was even more dangerous, because the powerful warlord Gongsun Zhan was entrenched in Youzhou, and the tiger was looking at it.
At the beginning of 192 AD, Gongsun Zhan, who had long been unable to hold back, first launched a large-scale attack on Jizhou, and for a time, the counties and counties surrendered, Yuan Shao personally led soldiers and horses to meet the attack, and the Battle of Jieqiao broke out. Gongsun Zhan was lined up in a phalanx with 30,000 infantry, with 5,000 light cavalry on each flank, and in the middle was the most powerful cavalry unit, Baima Yicong. Baima Yicong was Gongsun Zhan's most elite cavalry escort, the number was about three thousand, the war horses were all white, and the soldiers were all masters of a thousand miles, they had strong mechanical power and combat effectiveness, and they were very loyal to Gongsun Zhan, and they were the biggest reliance of Gongsun Zhan to intimidate the outside of the earthquake, and even the brave and warlike Wuhuan cavalry saw Baima Yicong and walked away. But this time they encountered their nemesis, the Eight Hundred First Dead Men of Koji. In fact, Yuan Shao's arrangement in this way was a helpless move, if you want to talk about the strength of the infantry, Yuan Shao is not weaker than Gongsun Zhan, but the number of Yuan Shao's cavalry is not much, if you take it out hard, it is not enough for Gongsun Zhan to plug the gap between his teeth, and there is a natural disadvantage in the infantry resistance to the cavalry, not to mention that there are only eight hundred people, Gongsun Zhan will inevitably despise it, and this effect is what Koji wants. In fact, these eight hundred people were just bait, and there were a thousand crossbow machines hidden behind them, and the firing power of the crossbow machine was very powerful, far from being comparable to ordinary bows and arrows, which was the real killer of Koji. Sure enough, Gongsun Zhan saw that there were few soldiers on the other side and ordered the cavalry to launch a charge and trample on the enemy position. At that time, The general Yan Gang under Gongsun Zhan, in leading Bai Ma Yi to rush from rushing to a place dozens of steps away from Koji Yi, suddenly found the thousand terrifying crossbow machines, the fierce cold light on the dense arrow, and the brain of Yan Gang was blank in an instant, what the crossbow meant to the cavalry, Yan Gang knew better than anyone, but at this time it was too late, before Yan Gang could react, Koji Yi jumped up with eight hundred dead soldiers and slashed and killed, at the same time, at the same time, The crossbows were fired in unison, and the sharp arrows flew straight at Gongsun Zhan's cavalry like shooting stars, and where they were, like lightning strikes, the bloody air was mixed with the wailing of the cavalry before their deaths and the long hiss of the war horses, and a large piece fell in an instant. Gongsun Zhan's entire army was in chaos, the soldiers were all scrambling to escape for their lives, Koji Yi became more and more courageous in the war, and attacked the boundary bridge all the way, and Gongsun Zhan led the remnants of his troops to retreat to Jixian County.
At this time, Yuan Shao was commanding tens of thousands of infantry in the rear command, and when he saw the great victory of Koji, he was somewhat light enemy, and he ordered the main force to quickly pursue the enemy, while he himself led more than a hundred guards, holding dozens of crossbow machines, and slowly marched behind. Walking more than ten miles away from the boundary bridge, he heard that Gongsun Zhan had been defeated, so Yuan Shao got off his horse and unloaded his saddle and rested for a while. At this time, more than 2,000 cavalrymen who had fled under Gongsun Zhan suddenly appeared and surrounded the hundred and ten men led by Yuan Shao. At that time, these people did not know that the one inside was Yuan Shao, so they did not rush for their lives, otherwise the small life of Yuan Meng's lord would definitely have to be accounted for, and after these people surrounded Yuan Shao, they only put random arrows on the periphery, and for a time the arrows rained down, and the situation was very dangerous. The strategist Tian Feng helped Yuan Shao and asked him to hide in a low wall to avoid arrows, but Yuan Shao was furious and slammed his helmet on the ground, saying: "The eldest husband would rather die in battle, hiding behind the wall, can he live?" Yuan Shao's heroism dispelled the fear in the hearts of the people, he boosted morale on the one hand, and calmly commanded the crossbowmen to fight, never letting the enemy army approach, and soon, Qi Yi led the troops to come to the rescue, and the cavalry quickly withdrew.
The Battle of Jieqiao is a classic example of infantry victory over cavalry in Chinese history, and it taught future generations strict discipline, the ability to choose the timing and the personal qualities of the commander are always the key to victory or defeat. After this battle, Koji Yi became famous all over the world, Gongsun Zhan's White Horse Yicong was basically completely destroyed, and the general Yan Gang was killed, while Yuan Shao stood firm in Jizhou and firmly controlled this rich foothold.
After Gongsun Zhan returned to Youzhou, he actively rectified the soldiers and horses, and prepared yuan shu in the south, preparing to fight Yuan Shao again. Soon, Gongsun Zhan ordered Liu Beitun to attack Gao Tang, through the Tun Bing Plain, and at the same time, together with Tao Qian of Xuzhou and Yuan Shu of Nanyang, to try to attack Yuan Shao from the east, south, and north, Cao Cao clique, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao discussed countermeasures, attacked separately, and broke the combined forces of Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zhan, and Tao Qian, and Yuan Shu retreated to Shouchun. At the end of the same year, Gongsun Zhan once again sent troops to Longzhu, but was defeated by Yuan Shao, and Gongsun Zhan had to retreat to Youzhou. After several fierce battles in a short period of time, both Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan were exhausted, suffering heavy casualties and running out of grain and grass. In early 193, the servant Zhao Qi came from Chang'an on the orders of Emperor Xian of Han to persuade him to make peace, and Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan both declared a truce.
Because Yuan Shao had always regarded Gongsun Zhan as the number one enemy, the focus of Jizhou's defense was always in the north, and now it was difficult for Northern Ji to temporarily truce, and before Yuan Shao could breathe a sigh of relief, there was a big chaos in Southern Ji. At that time, in the border area between Jizhou and Yanzhou, together with the area around Hezhou, the peasant rebel army was active, and in 193 AD, tens of thousands of people of the Black Mountain Army, under the leadership of the leader Yu Poison, took advantage of the fact that Yuan Shao's main forces were in northern Jibei and the internal emptiness, and unexpectedly attacked the capital of Jizhou, Yicheng, in one fell swoop. At that time, Yuan Shao and the families of his subordinates were all in Yecheng, and when they heard the news, some of them frowned and some cried bitterly, but Yuan Shao's appearance was self-assured, and he did not change his usual demeanor at all, which made the military feel a little at ease. Then, Yuan Shao led an army to conquest, the rebel army was defeated, retreated south to Chaoge, Yuan Shao led the army to arrive, after five days of fierce fighting, Yu Poison and more than 10,000 of his men were killed. Then Yuan Shao led his army all the way north along the Lugu Mountain, and successively suppressed Liu Shi, Qingniujiao, Huanglong, Guo Daxian and other Yellow Turban rebels, killing more than 10,000 people. Subsequently, Yuan Shao encountered Zhang Yan, the main force of the Montenegrin Army, at Changshan, and the two sides launched a large-scale battle, fighting for more than ten consecutive days, Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao were both killed and wounded, and then they each withdrew.
In 195, Yuan Shao's Eastern Commandery Taishou Zang Hong announced a break with Yuan Shao and severed his affiliation. Yuan Shao personally led a large army to besiege the city for a year, the grain and grass in the city were cut off, and Zang Hong was killed after the city was destroyed. In the same year, The former Youzhou Mu Liu Yu's old subordinate Xian Yufu and others joined forces with Wuhuan to attack Gongsun Zhan, and Yuan Shao took the opportunity to send the general Koji Yi and Xian Yufu to join forces, totaling 100,000 troops, to attack Gongsun Zhan, and at Baoqiu, he broke the main force of Gongsun Zhan and beheaded more than 20,000 people, and Gongsun Zhan retreated to Yijing and could not hold out. Yijing city was very strong and difficult to conquer, and the Koji army ran out of food and could only withdraw, and Gongsun Zhan took advantage of the situation to pursue and defeat Koji. Although Koji was attacked on the way to withdraw, it had nothing to do with the overall situation, and after this defeat, Gongsun Zhan could be said to be in a slump, and the general trend had gone. Subsequently, Yuan Shao sent his nephew Gao Gan to Hezhou, appointed him as the Assassin of Hezhou, took over the prefecture that had been plagued by the Southern Xiongnu and plundered by the Black Mountain Army, and recommended his eldest son Yuan Tan as the Assassin of Qingzhou, and tun troops in the plains. Yuan Tanxiao was brave and good at war, and soon defeated Gongsun Zhan's subordinate, the former Qingzhou assassin Shi Tian Kai, and expelled Tian Kai back to Youzhou. In the spring of 196, Yuan Tan attacked The North Sea Xiangkong Rong to the east, Kong Rong fled to Xuchang alone, his wife and children were captured, and then Yuan Tan continued to march, sweeping away many coastal Yellow Turban army forces, and finally occupying the entire Qingzhou, and Qinghe Erzhou was officially assigned to Yuan Shao.
In 198 AD, Yuan Shao, determined to solve the problem of Gongsun Zhan in one fell swoop, personally led a large army to attack Youzhou, all the way invincible, invincible, and soon surrounded Yijing, Gongsun Zhan's generals some surrendered, some collapsed, and the soldiers had no fighting spirit. Gongsun Zhan felt that things were not good, so he sent people to break out of the city to ask the Black Mountain Army for help, and agreed with the reinforcements to start a fire and attack Yuan Shao. Unexpectedly, the distress letter was intercepted by Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao calculated and raised the fire as scheduled. Gongsun Zhan thought that the rescue troops were coming, and led the troops to attack the city, but was defeated by Yuan Shao, and had to retreat to the city again. Then, Yuan Shao dug the tunnel downstairs and burned the platform down with the method of burning the pillars. Gongsun Zhan knew that the general situation was gone, strangled his wife and children, and prepared to set himself on fire. At this time, Yuan Shao's soldiers arrived and beheaded Gongsun Zhan, who had attempted suicide, and all his troops were annexed by Yuan Shao.
At this point, Yuan Shao finally started from a small Bohai County, becoming the world's first male lord who sat in Jiqingyou and four states, with hundreds of thousands of troops. This was the peak era of Yuan Shao, not only was the territory vast, the soldiers strong and strong, but also the grain and grass were sufficient, there was no worries, the generals under him were also experienced in hundreds of battles, and the strategists and civilians were all famous soldiers of the moment, which could really be described as looking at the Central Plains and looking at the world obliquely. Therefore, in the same year that Gongsun Zhan was attacked, that is, in 199 AD, Yuan Shaodian's elite infantry of 100,000 and the cavalry of 10,000 Chen soldiers on the north bank of the Yellow River wanted to cross the river and compete with Cao Cao, and a large-scale decisive battle between Yuan Cao and Cao Cao's two families began.