Gongsun Zan naturally would not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He immediately attacked with Gongsun Yue, heading north from Daxingguan in the south, and crossing the northern mountain to attack Lin Lu.

At this time, the news of Zhang Yang's defeat in Yangyi had already been heard. The defenders of Daxingguan saw Gongsun Zan's army surrender without fighting. Then Gongsun Zan fully utilized his advantage of the powerful mobility of the Youzhou cavalry and rushed forward without stopping. The subsequent matters were left to Guan Jing and Yan Gang to clean up the situation.

Compared with Zhang Liao, Gongsun Zan's advantage is more than that of the generals he can use. Gongsun Zan rushed forward crazily, taking off Gaodu that night, and then made some adjustments. Gongsun Zan continued to advance north, and took off Gaoping in the early morning of the next day, and took off Changping in the afternoon, and made rapid progress along the way without stopping.

When Zhang Liao initially rectified the surrendered army and then led his troops south to capture Tongling and Xiangyuan, Gongsun Yue's troops had already headed north along Beishan, seized Hukou Pass, and then turned around and forced arriving in Lu County.

At this point, the race between Zhang Liao and Gongsun Zan ended. Shangdang County was divided by Zhang Liao and Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan also took a big advantage. More importantly, Lu County fell into Gongsun Zan's hands and firmly stuck the road to Zhang Liao's southward. The Yellow River blocked Lu Bu in the southward. In Hanoi in the middle, the southern part of Shangdang, the east of the west and the west of the northwards will all become the space for Gongsun Zan to survive.

Sure enough, Gongsun Zan then entered Anze and opened up a passage from Xihe to attack Taiyuan County, making Zhang Liao no longer dare to put pressure on the south. On the contrary, Zhang Liao had to fully consider the advantages of Gongsun Zan's cavalry. Now the gateway of Xihe is wide open, which means that Gongsun Zan's cavalry can attack all territories from Xihe to Yanbei.

On the other hand, Yan Gang advanced from Gaodu to the west, occupied Yangcheng and began to penetrate into Hedong County.

No one expected that Zhang Liao had worked hard to defeat Zhang Yang, and the one who got the greatest benefit was Gongsun Zan. Now Gongsun Zan's situation has suddenly become wider, and the originally difficult living environment has been greatly improved. It can be said that Zhang Yang's failure has nourished Gongsun Zan's growth.

As for the good guy Zhang Yang, he went east and crossed the Taihang Mountains. He defected to Han Fu. Dong Zhao was discovered by Gongsun Zan in Lu County. Dong Zhao followed the situation and defected to Gongsun Zan.

Although Zhang Liao was very dissatisfied with this ending, the facts had already formed. Not only did Zhang Liao not dare to attack Gongsun Zan, but he also had to beware of Gongsun Zan's cavalry at all times. Zhang Liao had to accept this unexpected result.

Lu Bu was even more dissatisfied. Over the past period of time, Lu Bu himself knew that many things were not something he could do at will. Although he could fight, he could fight but could not let everything develop according to his will. On the contrary, if he did it arbitrarily, he might have a worse ending.

However, the only thing that could comfort Lu Bu was that Zhang Yang was completely finished. Although Zhang Yang was not dead, his Zhang Yang's nature had already been seen clearly by everyone in the world. Even if Han Fu was willing to take him in, Zhang Yang would probably not have a chance to make a comeback.

As for Gongsun Zan's growth, Lu Bu didn't like it, but he couldn't refuse to accept it, because Lu Bu had no choice but to use Gongsun Zan. According to Pang Yuan, he should have made a good match for Gongsun Zan, and then encourage Gongsun Zan to turn against Han Fu and Yuan Shu, or encourage Gongsun Zan to advance westward, strive to control Hedong County, and directly fight against Dong Zhuo.

In fact, when Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shu were looking across the river, their fear and vigilance towards Yuan Shu must be more serious than those of Lu Bu, so Pang Yuan's idea was very feasible.

....................................................................................................

Hanoi Gunyewangcheng, Gongsun Zan's mansion.

"What do you think about this suggestion from Shi Qi, Gong Ren and Lu Bu?"

Gongsun Zan looked at Guan Jing and Dong Zhao with some fun. Will there be a new competitive relationship between these two? Gongsun Zan was also very curious. Since the relationship between his younger brother and Guan Jing eased, Gongsun Zan has been trying hard to find an opponent for Guan Jing, and now it seems that he has already.

Dong Zhao glanced at Guan Jing and consciously gave up the power of speaking to Guan Jing first. This is called retreating to advance, and what you said first may not be good.

"Lord, there are two places bordering our army and Lu Bu. One is near Yanjin in the southeast, but the area is narrow and it is also separated by the Yellow River. Therefore, the threat on the south side of Lu Bu is not great. Looking at the north side, Zhang Liao is very capable, but he has a vast space to defend. On the other hand, as long as our army is stuck in Lu County and Huguan, Zhang Liao's army will be unable to advance. Our army can go out of Xihe from the west side and use cavalry to attack Taiyuan and even Yanmen. With such a long line of defense, Zhang Liao cannot defend himself. What can stop us is only our own strength."

"Well said!" Gongsun Zan praised. Of course, as long as he felt overflowing with compassion, he needed to vent a little.

Dong Zhao smiled slightly and nodded in agreement. The situation in Gongsun Zan is really good now, otherwise Dong Zhao would not be able to follow Gongsun Zan with peace of mind. However, in the failure of Zhang Yang, Dong Zhao has selected to forget his responsibilities. He believes that this is all because of Zhang Yang's incompetence. If Zhang Yang can conquer Yang Yi in advance, everything will be different.

"Looking at the west, Hedong County in the west is now a world of thieves and Yiren, while Xihe County is completely a territory of Yiren. These two places are like two fat sheep, both of which are our future goals, so they will not pose a threat to us. In fact, what poses a threat to us is Han Fu and Yuan Shu. Han Fu is now busy fighting with Yuan Shao, and they have no time to take care of us. Therefore, Han Fu and our army have signed a one-year alliance agreement. Now it is not us who are worried about Han Fu, but Han Fu is worried about us."

Gongsun Zan nodded again and agreed with Guan Jing's point of view. Dong Zhao also nodded with a smile. Guan Jing became a little proud secretly.

"The next thing is Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu is across the river from us, and Yuan Shu is already very strong. Although he lost some of Huainan and Runan one after another, the loss of these places is precisely good for Yuan Shu, especially after Yuan Shao enriched the population of Runan and Chen County in Henan. Yuan Shu's strength has undoubtedly become more concentrated. Now that Zhu Jun and Yuan Shu have married Yuan Shu, Zhu Jun has re-in charge of the army and has begun to form a navy army. Isn't the purpose of it ours?"

Gongsun Zan stroked the beard and thought for a while, nodded and said, "I understand what Shiqi means. Shiqi wants to make Han Fu and Lu Bu good, fight against Yuan Shu, and erode Xihe and Hedong, right?"

Guan Jing smiled proudly, glanced at Dong Zhao casually and said loudly: "That's true, lord!"

Gongsun Zan turned to Dong Zhao and asked, "What is Gongren's opinion?"

Dong Zhao smiled humbly and said, "Shiqi's view is very accurate. He has no better insights on the general direction."

Hearing Dong Zhao say this, Guan Jing smiled on his face, which was considered to be Dong Zhao knows the truth, otherwise he would have to suppress it severely.

"However, I have a question, that is, why do we have to be enemies with Yuan Shu? Now our army is in a good situation and it is time to speed up time to develop and build. If we can maintain a stable situation, it is best not to be enemies with anyone. This will reduce the vigilance of the surrounding princes towards us and also give more resources to invest in construction. I just don't understand it, and maybe it's wrong to think so. I'll ask Shiqi and the general to correct it, haha."

Dong Zhao said it very humble, but it was still very harsh in Guan Jing's ears. No matter how tactful the other person said it, objection was objection. Question was doubt. Guan Jing looked at the smiling Dong Zhao with some dissatisfaction.

"Gongren, it's not that we want to go against Yuan Shu, it's that Yuan Shu is plotting against us. Didn't I just say that Yuan Shu is building a naval army. Do they want to compete with Han Fu and Fang Zhiwen for the waterway? Obviously not. They want to take the initiative on the Yellow River, first to prevent us from crossing the river and going south, second to be able to attack our army at any time. In this case, if we cannot actively weaken the opponent's naval army and attack capabilities, the consequences will be unimaginable when the opponent takes a thunder strike in the future."

Gongsun Zan nodded secretly. On the grassland, Gongsun Zan, who always advocated attack as defense, could he turn a blind eye to his opponent's sharpening? As long as he has the ability, Gongsun Zan advocates the strategy of stifling his opponent in the cradle. Moreover, Yuan Shu's attempt to build a naval army is too obvious. If Gongsun Zan turns a blind eye, it is definitely not his personality.

But Gongsun Zan was not in a hurry to express his opinion, otherwise he would undoubtedly be even more arrogant towards Guan Jing, and Dong Zhao would definitely be hit. This is not the right way to do it. The superiors should be able to balance.

"Gong Ren, do you think Yuan Shu is not worth worrying about?"

"General, how can Yuan Shu be unfair? But it is precisely because of Yuan Shu that is strong, so we try not to be enemies with him. At least before we have the ability to challenge him, we should focus on development and endure those who can tolerate it as much as possible. If we fall into a lasting confrontation with Yuan Shu, it will inevitably slow down our development speed, and the surrounding princes will not wait for us. After all, our foundation is relatively the worst. In the long run, we don't need to compare with anything else. Just from the perspective of comprehensive strength, we will be left farther and farther away by our opponents. The result is self-evident! To deal with Yuan Shu, you only need to destroy his navy. Fang Zhiwen can help you!"

After Dong Zhao finished speaking, Guan Jing's face froze, Gongsun Zan also frowned slightly, slowly stroked his beard and thought. Dong Zhao's viewpoint starts from a downward perspective. If it is strictly speaking, it is higher than the strategic layout analysis at the beginning of Guan Jing. He essentially analyzed the core of competition with the surrounding princes, which is comprehensive strength.

Putting aside temporary victory and defeat, and temporary gains and losses, from the perspective of final balance of power and from the perspective of development of things, Dong Zhao opened a window for Gongsun Zan, so that Gongsun Zan could have a glimpse of the essence of the heroes fighting for hegemony.

"Well said, Gongren is worthy of being Gongren, and his family is convinced!"

Gongsun Zan's praise was slightly over, and Dong Zhao resigned humbly: "The general praised it, and his subordinates are just a matter of justice. If the general is not allowed to praise it like this, there is still a big gap between his subordinates and Shi Qi."

As the saying goes, excessive humility is pride. Now Guan Jing thinks this in his heart. Dong Zhao is such a smile! Isn’t this a naked slap in the face!
Chapter completed!