Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1079 Temptation
Qiu Tai saw that Cao Ang agreed very readily, so he laughed and said, "Okay!"

"If we can defeat the fierce tiger, force it to retreat, and resolve the siege, I will immediately send you back to the Central Plains!"

Qiu Tai had confidence in saying this. According to various intelligence reports, Yuan Xi's fleet did not bring many soldiers with it on the expedition, and it suffered heavy losses after the battle with Jiangdong. The number of people it could mobilize now was no more than a few thousand.

In the capital, not to mention Cao Ang and Jia Xu's nearly 1,000 private soldiers acting as vanguards, there were nearly 10,000 Baekje soldiers. This was because Weili City was lost too quickly and Baekje did not mobilize its troops. If Yuan Xi's army could be held off for two months, tens of thousands of reinforcements would come out from all over the country, and the other side would be forced to retreat.

Qiu Tai was confident about this. The capital of Baekje had been in operation for many years. It was not a small city like Wirisong. Moreover, the capital was located in the upper reaches of the Han River, and Wirisong was at the mouth of the Han River. In comparison, it was more difficult to be attacked by the fleet, so it would be no problem to hold on for a month or so.

Qiu Tai's calculations were very good, but when Yuan Xi's army arrived on the third day, Qiu Tai realized that he had miscalculated one thing.

The enemy's main force was not the previous cavalry and infantry, but hundreds of brand new warships!

Qiu Tai stood on the top of Weili City, staring at the densely packed warships coming up from the lower reaches of the Han River in amazement. The sails that blocked out the sky and almost covered the entire river surface in white. Qiu Tai couldn't help but feel his head buzzing. Weren't most of the ships destroyed after a fierce battle with the Jiangdong Army? How come there were still so many ships left?

What he didn't know was that when Yuan Xi formulated the strategy of luring Jiangdong into his trap, he intentionally controlled the number of warships so that his own soldiers could control the coast while having enough energy to attack the city, while not having so many ships that would arouse the Jiangdong army's suspicion. So in the end, the number was controlled at around 300 ships, many of which were troop transports, so he would not feel bad about burning them.

Otherwise, if Yuan Xi gathered thousands of ships, how could the Jiangdong generals be so easily fooled as to launch an all-out attack and destroy all the warships under the city of Weili?

After Yuan Xi defeated the Jiangdong army, Tian Yu once again defeated the remnants of the Jiangdong army, cleared the waterway from the Korean Peninsula to Qingzhou, reopened the shipping route, and then came to the rescue with repaired ships. Yuan Xi parked most of the ships in the open sea, resulting in Qiu Tai not getting the detailed number of warships at all, and thinking that Yuan Xi only had more than a thousand infantry to fight him.

After Yuan Xi rested in Weili City for a few days, more repaired ships arrived from Qingzhou. Among them were siege ships equipped with siege equipment, which were specially used to attack water forts and cities near the water. Yuan Xi saw that the time had come, so he ordered the soldiers to board the ships and march towards the capital of Baekje in a mighty force.

Qiu Tai panicked immediately, because there were at least hundreds of warships on the river, which were many times more than the navies of Baekje and the Three Han combined. Even if there were only a hundred or so people on one ship, there would be tens of thousands of people!
If the enemy had so many soldiers, why didn't they use them when fighting Jiangdong?

Qiu Tai didn't know that Yuan Xi actually had only about 10,000 soldiers, and these were the troops he was going to leave for Tian Yu to continue fighting the Three Han Kingdoms after conquering Baekje.

The others were young and strong laborers who voluntarily came to Baekje to reclaim wasteland. They were all refugees who had fled here before. Now that the land in Youzhou had been divided up, it was difficult to resettle these people, so they simply let them go to Baekje to farm and trade.

The reason why so many people were willing to come was naturally because Yuan Xi offered very favorable conditions, and these people were equivalent to semi-military households, which would make it much easier to recruit soldiers in the future.

Qiu Tai didn't know the inside story. From his perspective, it seemed that the entire Youzhou army was attacking him. He couldn't help but feel cold hands and feet and his vision went dark.

Cao Ang beside him said calmly: "My king, do you still want to go out of the city to meet the enemy now?"

Qiu Tai was about to nod subconsciously, but then he reacted and laughed dryly, "Wait a minute, I'll discuss it after I get back."

He was not stupid. If there were only a thousand people on the other side, it would be reasonable to let Cao Ang lead the same force to meet the enemy. But now there are so many enemies. If Cao Ang was sent out again, it would be pure suicide. The other side would definitely not agree.

Cao Ang watched Qiu Taifei fleeing from the city wall, then looked back at the warships on the Han River. He thought that it would not be a problem for Yuan Xi to capture the royal city without relying on his internal support. So why bother adding an unstable variable and involving himself, a descendant of the Cao family, in such matters?

Isn't he afraid that I will take the opportunity to escape or betray him?

Thinking of this, Cao Ang couldn't help but shook his head, thinking that this fierce tiger was of the same generation as himself, but was able to share the world with his father and even make his father lose face time and time again. There must be something about him that he could not achieve, and it was normal for him not to understand his thoughts.

However, the days in Youzhou seemed very interesting. The other party did not force me to do anything. Instead, I felt happier than when I was in Xudu.

Cao Ang guessed that he might never be able to return to Xu Du. After all, Yuan and Cao were fighting for the world, not playing house. But for some reason, this vaguely eased the entanglement in his heart.

What would happen if I went back?
Can you help your father defeat the ferocious tiger?

Even inheriting the Cao family is unlikely, right?
Cao Ang was certain that Cao Cao's subordinates in Xudu had already lined up in line, and that he had become a thorn in their side.

The most likely thing that Xionghu would do is to release himself back to Shouchun when Cao Cao is about to die or dead, causing civil strife within the Cao family, and taking the opportunity to completely destroy the Cao family.

After all, the next generation of the Cao family, including himself, simply cannot fight against the ferocious tiger in terms of military strategy, right?

After Cao Ang figured this out, he felt relieved. If this was true, he might as well stay in Liaodong.

On the surface of the river, the sound of horns was heard one after another. The siege ship in the front began to move forward slowly, and at the same time, it set up catapults, preparing to fire stones at Weili City.

Upon seeing this, Cao Ang went down to the city wall to hide. As soon as he went down, the first stone bullet hit the wall of the royal city and then rolled down, making a series of noises.

The soldiers and civilians in the royal city were in turmoil, and tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Over the next two days, warships threw stones from time to time. At the same time, Yuan Xi sent Qiu Tai an ultimatum, asking him to open the city and surrender within three days.

Moreover, the letter said that Yuan Xi had sent troops to cut off all the land routes to the royal city. Now the royal city has become an isolated city. If the city is not opened, it will be a dead end. Qiu Tai sent people to inquire and found that it was true. Yuan Xi actually sent cavalry and infantry to block all the roads in the direction of the royal city and set up camps. Now the people in the city can't escape even if they have wings!
Qiu Tai was shocked and angry about this. He shouted at the officials, "Isn't it said that when people from the Central Plains go to war, they surround three sides and leave one side open?"

"Why don't they give me a way to escape now?"

"Does he want to massacre the city?"

Jia Xu in the underground said leisurely: "The so-called siege on three sides and missing one is a siege strategy adopted by the attacker to avoid excessive losses when the strength of both sides is similar."

"Now that the other party has the upper hand and is determined to win, they will naturally not leave any room for retreat."

Qiu Tai roared, "Are we just going to let him kill all of us?"

Jia Xu said, "That may not be the case. Since King Jin Xionghu sent someone to write a letter, he still hopes to talk to the king."

"If the king follows his request and hands over the murderer who attacked the Tiger Caravan, then saving his life will not be a problem."

Qiu Tai felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He was the one who ordered the attack on the merchant caravan, and the soldiers used were from Baekje. How could he really hand over all his soldiers?
He couldn't help but ask, "Is there no other way?"

"If my foundation is destroyed in an instant, how can I face my ancestors?"

"If anyone can offer advice to repel the fierce tiger, I am willing to share Baekje and even the future Goguryeo with him!"

All the officials looked at each other and shook their heads. Although the conditions were tempting, they still had to survive to get them. The one facing them was a ferocious tiger that was famous all over the world. How could it be so easy to defeat him?

Qiu Tai was feeling confused when he suddenly noticed a strange look on Jia Xu's face, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. Qiu Tai immediately understood what was going on and asked everyone to leave, leaving only Jia Xu behind.

He pretended to be asking for advice humbly, and said: "I heard that you are the wisest person in the world. Now it is a matter of life and death, please help me!"

After hearing this, Jia Xu shook his head repeatedly and sighed, "It's difficult, difficult!"

Seeing him being so arrogant, Qiu Tai couldn't help but curse him in his heart and said, "Sir, Master Cao will return to Xudu sooner or later, but I wonder where you want to go?"

After hearing this, Jia Xu sighed and said, "I ruined the King of Wei's plan in Wancheng and caused the death of Cao's sons and generals. I have no face to go back. I just want to spend the rest of my life in Liaodong."

"But I didn't expect that Xionghu would unify the peninsula and kill me. This really makes me angry."

Qiu Tai was delighted and said, "Sir, you have great talent, but you have no place to use it. Although Baekje is small, we are willing to help you!"

"If you can help me defeat the fierce tiger and unify the peninsula, I am willing to support you to become the ruler of the Three Kingdoms of Korea!"

Jia Xu was tempted when he heard this, but then he covered his face and shook his head, saying, "I am old now, I really can't afford to make such a fuss anymore."

Seeing this, Qiu Tai laughed and said, "Sir, you don't know that although Baekje is good, the Three Kingdoms of Han also have their own merits."

"The women in Baekje are not as good as those in the Three Han. The Three Han produce beauties that are no worse than those in the Central Plains. You should have heard of this, sir."

"Although you are quite old, you still don't have any children, right?"

"When you become the ruler of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, you can recruit beautiful women and have as many children as you want, right?"

After hearing this, Jia Xu hesitated for a moment before he cupped his hands and said, "Okay, if that's the case, I'm willing to help you!"

Qiu Tai appeared overjoyed on the surface, but he was sneering in his heart. This old pervert was good at pretending, but unfortunately he had already seen through him. During the previous banquet, he had frequently looked at his future wife Gongsun Shuo, and it was obvious that he was quite bold.

However, now is the time for me to make use of him. When the ferocious tiger retreats, I will let him give me advice, squeeze out all his usefulness, unify the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and it will not be too late to settle accounts with him later!

He pretended to be shrewd and asked, "Sir, do you have any plan to repel the enemy?"

What Jia Xu said afterwards made him overjoyed.

"Naturally there is."

“It’s even possible to go further.”

(End of this chapter)