Three Kingdoms: I, the eldest son of Cao, a loving father of a great man!

Chen Gong's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Yuan Tan wanted to establish himself as an independent ruler?

Yuan Tan ignored Chen Gong's reaction and continued, "Now the Hebei noble families have been wiped out by Lu Bu and Liu Yu.

We can definitely send our elite troops to Hedong. After occupying Hedong, we can slowly nibble away at Jizhou."

"Well." Chen Gong fell into silence.

Although he knew that Yuan Tan was going to deal with Liu Yu, Chen Gong was unwilling to become a sword and gun under Yuan Tan.

Chen Gong wanted to achieve great things, and the current situation was very favorable for him.

"Yuan Hao, I know you have concerns. But we can sign an agreement.

We can each govern ourselves and not invade each other. What do you think?" Yuan Tan said.

"This." Chen Gong was still hesitant. After all, the conditions offered by Yuan Tan were too generous.

Yuan Tan sneered in his heart, he knew that this kind of agreement could not restrain Chen Gong at all.

It’s just that Yuan Tan still needs Chen Gong’s strength now and cannot fall out with him.

"Yuan Hao, we can discuss this matter in detail." Yuan Tan persuaded gently.

"My lord, since you invite me sincerely, I cannot refuse." Chen Gong considered for a long time and finally agreed to Yuan Tan's proposal.

"Okay, okay." Yuan Tan was overjoyed. He was afraid that Chen Gong would refuse.

"Then we can issue the decree at the morning court tomorrow." Yuan Tan said happily.

"Isn't this a bit too hasty? After all, neither of us has signed any alliance.

"Im afraid that issuing an imperial decree so rashly will cause a backlash from the scholars of the world," Chen Gong warned.

"Haha, I know this too, so we can let the scholars all over the world witness it." Yuan Tan said confidently.

Yuan Tan's confident look gave Chen Gong a bad omen.

Sure enough, early the next morning, Yuan Tan sent someone to Chang'an to ask for Liu Xie's will.

In Chang'an, Liu Xie was a little surprised after hearing Yuan Tan's request. How could someone dare to disobey the emperor and let the world witness it? This was simply courting death.

But Liu Xie didn't care about all this and readily agreed to Yuan Tan's request.

Then, Yuan Tan ordered civil and military officials to gather outside the imperial city, held a grand ceremony, and announced it to the world.

He said that the Yuan family had unified Qingzhou, and now they wanted to deal with Lu Bu and Liu Yu, and hoped that the scholars in the world would support them.

Yuan Tan's edict spread throughout the world, and many scholars expressed their support.

"The Yuan family is a relative of the Han Dynasty. Now that they are in trouble, how can we just sit back and watch?"

"The Yuan family is loyal to the emperor and loves the country. They are fighting for the lord to conquer the world. We should support them."

These were a group of scholars and bureaucrats who firmly believed that they should support Yuan.

However, some officials in the literati circle were dismissive, saying that no matter how powerful the Yuan family was, they were still foreigners. Even if the foreigners defeated Liu Yu, they would not pose a threat to them.

"Hmph, then you just watch the Yuan family being destroyed by Liu Yu." Yuan Tan said coldly after seeing the performance of those people.

"My lord, let's proceed according to the plan." Chen Gong advised.

"Yuan Hao, we can't delay any longer, otherwise Liu Yu will break through Yecheng." Yuan Tan said hurriedly.

"This." Chen Gong hesitated.

"Yuan Hao, you don't need to say more, this is an order!" Yuan Tan snorted coldly, and then ordered: "Notify Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao, and let them prepare to take action."

Yuan Tan's subordinates took the order and retreated.

Outside Yecheng, Yuan Tan stood on the city wall and looked into the distance with an extremely cold look in his eyes.

"Liu Yu, Liu Yu, you forced me to do this."

Yuan Tan was no longer willing to endure, so he decided to launch a general attack to capture Yecheng in one fell swoop. Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao also received Yuan Tan's order and began to act.

Cao Cao of Yanzhou and Zhang Xiu of Xuzhou had reached an agreement last night that both sides would jointly send troops to attack Yecheng, and it would be best if they could surround Yecheng.

In this way, Yuan Tan had no way to escape.

"Everyone, we must win this battle." Cao Cao said solemnly.

"Prime Minister, please rest assured. We will complete the mission to the death." Everyone echoed.

Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction.

The troops from Yanzhou and Xuzhou quickly mobilized and headed towards Yecheng.

Yecheng was heavily guarded, with strong fortifications and a sufficient number of defenders.

After the arrival of the allied forces of Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao, they launched several tentative attacks, all of which ended in failure.

Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao looked at each other, and both saw solemnity in each other's eyes.

"Prime Minister, Yuan Shao's garrison is too strong. We have suffered heavy casualties." Cao Chun said bitterly.

These defenders were indeed strong, and every attack would take away a large number of soldiers' lives. However, Yuan Tan's men did not decrease at all, which was really weird.

Cao Cao frowned. He didn't expect Yuan Tan to have so many soldiers. It seemed that Yuan Tan had gathered a lot of troops during this period, even in Qingzhou.

"Yuanlong, what should we do now?" Cao Cao asked.

"Prime Minister, this won't work. We must find another way," said Xun You.

"What do you mean?" Cao Cao asked.

"Prime Minister, I think we cannot fight head-on. We can use guerrilla tactics to attract the enemy's attention, and then take the opportunity to raid Yecheng." Xun You suggested.

"Guerrilla tactics? What do you mean?" Cao Cao was puzzled.

Xun You said: "Yuan Tan has built countless camps around Yecheng, forming a solid wall.

If we attack by force, the losses will be too great.

The only way is to use guerrilla tactics, gradually weaken the enemy's strength, and finally capture Yecheng in one fell swoop."

Cao Cao nodded slightly, what Xun You said made a lot of sense.

Xun You looked at the surrounding environment, pointed to the west and said: "If we go around here, we can get behind Yecheng and break out."

"Great idea. Let's do as you say." Cao Cao agreed.

Zhang Xiu looked around and said with emotion: "This is a good plan, but it's a pity. We don't have cavalry, otherwise it would be much easier."

"Cavalry?" Cao Cao was stunned, then laughed and said, "Zi Ji, you think too much. Where can we get cavalry?"

"This." Zhang Xiu scratched his head awkwardly.

Xun You coughed lightly and reminded, "Prime Minister, what Zi Ji said is not without reason.

Our army is short of horses and without training, cavalry is simply impossible."

Cao Cao also felt that what Zhang Xiu said made sense. The training of cavalry was very difficult. In addition to requiring a huge amount of material as a foundation, it also required a strong physique as a foundation.

With a physique like Zhang Xiu's, there is no hope.

"What should we do? Should we just sit there and waste time?" Cao Cao asked.

“Prime Minister, although we cannot use cavalry, we can use vehicles instead.

We can set up checkpoints at the north gate, south gate, and east gate to block the invasion of the Jizhou army." Chen Gong said.

"Well, Yuan Hao's plan is good." Cao Cao was delighted. (End of this chapter)