Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 238 A Little Miscalculation

Seeing the letter from Liu Bei, Yuan Xi sighed, "The matter of Guangling has finally come to an end."

Guo Jia said: "You can't take it lightly, be careful that Sun Ce abandons Tancheng, and come back with a carbine."

Yuan Xi said: "It's not very likely, is it?"

Guo Jia nodded and said: "It's really not too big, but beware of jumping over the wall in a hurry, after all, when it attacked Guangling that day, it was outrageous."

The two sat on both sides of the stone table in the courtyard and talked. Now that Guangling was no longer threatening, the conversation between the two started casually.

Madam Wu was squatting in a corner of the yard, wiping the door frame with a damp cloth, but she was actually listening to the conversation between the two.

She hardly speaks these days, she just keeps her head down on her work, and usually silently writes down everything she hears. The more she listens, the more she is surprised to find that Yuan Xi's team and the generals and advisers under her son Sun Ce In comparison, he is not at a disadvantage in the slightest, and even in many aspects of planning, the structure is far superior to Sun Ce, and he is really his son's enemy.

Yuan Xi said: "Right now, should we invite Liu Bei to come to Guangling for a talk, or go to Haixi?"

Guo Jia thought for a while and said, "In fact, none of them are suitable."

"According to what I mean, I simply suggest that Liu Bei send troops together, and then join forces at the border of Xiapi, Guangling, and attack Tancheng together."

Yuan Xi thought for a while, and said: "Is it too hasty?"

Guo Jia said: "If it's too late, maybe we won't have a chance."

Yuan Xidao: "Mr. Feng Xiao thinks that Sun Ce will be unstoppable?"

Guo Jia shook his head and said, "If I were the Cao family, I wouldn't continue to send troops to places like Tancheng, because the current troops are already enough."

"It hasn't been defeated yet. On the one hand, Sun Ce's resistance was extremely tenacious, which was beyond Cao's expectations. On the other hand, Cao Cao probably didn't go all out."

"But even so, Cao Cao invested far more troops in this battle than I expected. This should be due to his unusual obsession with Xuzhou."

Yuan Xi nodded in agreement. Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou three times in a row, and used all kinds of massacres and looting. It can only be said that Xuzhou is really attractive.

Guo Jia said again: "If it's what I think, Cao Cao should attack in the direction of Yanzhou and Yuzhou."

"Besides, the harvest in Yuzhou and Yangzhou is not good this year, and Yuan Shu's grain and grass may not be able to support it."

Yuan Xi thought for a while, and suddenly said: "It's really possible!"

He understood that Yuan Shu's obsession with Xuzhou was no less than Cao Cao's, so he gave up attacking Yangzhou first, and sent Sun Ce and a few generals to attack Xuzhou where food and grass were difficult to back up, which was obviously irrational.

Now the two sides are caught in a war of attrition. For Yuan Shu, whether it is food or soldiers, it consumes more than Cao Jun.

If Cao Cao dragged Yuan Shu's most powerful generals here in the name of attacking Tancheng, and divided his troops to attack Yuzhou, Yuan Shu would have to shrink his defense and let Sun Ce and others return to the army.

Because for Yuan Shu, he only occupies a part of Jingzhou, Yuzhou and Yangzhou. Among them, Yuzhou is connected to the other two states. There is no room for loss, but it must be saved!

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi suddenly realized: "Cao's army attacked Tancheng and has not retreated so far. It is likely that they are waiting for Yuan Shu's order to let Sun Ce withdraw his army!"

Guo Jia nodded: "At that time, if Sun Ce was forced to abandon the city, Cao Jun could easily get Tancheng."

"Now we can talk to Liu Beijun, but the bargaining chip is not big enough."

"If we can find Tancheng's leak, it will be difficult for Liu Bei not to give in to us."

"The key is that Sun Ce in Tancheng, although he was once an enemy, may not be able to become a chess piece against Cao Cao at this point in time."

Mrs. Wu heard it from a distance, and her palms were covered with cold sweat. This counselor named Guo Jia is as talented as Zhou Yu, whom she valued, and this time she actually plotted against everyone!

Yuan Xi immediately sent someone to send a letter to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei replied within a few days. After Yuan Xi received it, he asked Taishi Ci Tianyu to take the army out of the city to join Liu Bei's army at the border of Xiapi and Guangling, and he himself Sitting in Guangling City with Guo Jia.

Days passed, and when the weather was getting colder, news finally came that Cao Cao quickly dispatched troops and took down a county in Yuzhou.

Looking at the map, Yuan Xi thought that Cao Cao would not let Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao go.

After Cao Cao took the northern part of Yuzhou, he completed the siege of Chenliu County. Now Chenliu County is the only remaining county in Yanzhou that is not in Cao Cao's hands. It is obvious that Cao Cao is going to attack it next.

After a few more days, the good news finally came.

Liu Bei regained Tancheng!
However, this is not a good thing for Mrs. Wu who has been eavesdropping. When she heard the news, her eyes turned dark. Nothing will happen to Sun Ce, right?
But then she learned from Yuan Xi and Guo Jia's talk that Sun Ce had fled back to Yangzhou, so she felt relieved.

However, her heart was even heavier, because in this way, Sun Ce could no longer be counted on, and she could only rely on herself in the future to find a way to escape.

She turned her head to look at her daughter who was having fun with Zhen Mi beside her, thinking where to escape from, how to escape, and when to choose, all needed careful planning.

Before that, she had to find out the habits of everyone around Yuan Xi and create an opportunity to escape. She believed that she would be able to escape with her daughter!
Guo Jia laughed and said, "This time, Cao Cao and Sun Ce have been put together. Without Mr. Yuan Tan's surprise army, I'm afraid no one would have thought that we would be the ones who will benefit in the end."

Yuan Xi sent Tai Shici and Liu Bei to join forces. Cao Cao's army and Sun Ce's army already knew about it, but they didn't take it seriously at first.

Without him, there are too few soldiers, and there are only more than 3000 people on both sides.

Cao Cao's army exceeds ten thousand, and Sun Ce's army has five thousand soldiers in Xiapi City. How can it be possible for the Yuan and Liu coalition forces to benefit?
However, the result was unexpected.

When Sun Ce received the order to withdraw his troops, he was actually very reluctant, but now that he has run out of food and grass, he can't hold on even if he wants to fight.

So Sun Ce had no choice but to break out of the siege. Cao Ang had known about Sun Ce's movements for a long time, and immediately ordered the encirclement, leaving the south gate for Sun Ce to escape. Tancheng.

There is nothing wrong with this idea, but at this time Tai Shici and Liu Bei's army rushed into the battlefield and wanted to occupy the north gate.

How could Cao Ang have not expected this, and immediately ordered the whole army to attack. Nearly ten thousand people surrounded Liu Bei's army and Tai Shici. variables appeared.

Yuan Tan's tens of thousands of Qingzhou troops broke into the battlefield!

For this oriole, which was not expected at all before, Cao Jun suddenly fell into chaos. Although he immediately rectified his team to fight back, facing Yuan Tan Jun who was recharging his energy, Cao Jun, who had been fighting for days, soon showed signs of being exhausted.

Cao Ang saw that the general situation was over, and the city gate was close at hand, but he could not break in, so he had to temporarily withdraw his troops and retreat to the camp.

Here Liu was taken by Yuan Xi, Yuan Tan and the coalition forces to enter the city and occupy Tancheng.

After the two sides had been stalemate for several days, Cao Ang saw that the other side was still increasing troops, and knew that there was no chance, so he had to retreat with hatred.

After reading the battle report, Yuan Xi said with a smile: "Brother really sent troops to help Liu Bei, which almost gave away all the wealth of his family. It seems that Liu Bei's conditions for him must not be low."

Guo Jia also had a big heart, he and Yuan Xi deliberated on this plan for a long time, and the outcome was exactly as the two planned, and it was considered a great sense of accomplishment.

The key is Liu Bei's idea.

After this battle, Liu Bei will definitely have to pay a huge price, but for Liu Bei, it is the best choice at present.

Facts have proved that Xuzhou cannot be defended by Liu Bei alone. Even if he paid a heavy price this time to block it, what about next time?
So in Yuan Xi's letter to Liu Bei that day, he expressed an idea.

Liu Bei, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Tan ruled Xuzhou together.

If an enemy invades, the three sides will fight against the enemy with one heart. In this way, no matter whether it is Cao Cao or Yuan Shu, it will be difficult for one side to pose a threat to Xuzhou.

Liu Bei is a smart man. The loss of Tancheng made him fully understand that within a few years, it would be difficult for him to gain the support of the local gentry in Xuzhou. In this case, he simply introduced the Yuan brothers to suppress and subdue the local gentry.

As for Yuan Tan, he needs to get a part of Xuzhou to complete the siege of the Taishan bandits at the turn of Qingxu.

He had been fighting the Taishan bandits for two years, and when the Taishan bandits couldn't beat them, they retreated to the mountains and went to the south to plunder Xuzhou, so Yuan Tan couldn't do anything about it.

If he could get a part of Langya County in Xuzhou, Yuan Tan would be able to seal the Taishan bandits from both the north and the south, and slowly grind them to death.

For Liu Bei, the Taishan bandits, a force that no one wants to rely on, is also a big trouble. Why not use Yuan Tan's hands to get rid of it?
In the end, for Yuan Xi, what he wanted was to occupy the coastal shipping route at the mouth of the Yangtze River, to ensure his trade route and the route for Youzhou's outward expansion.

The surrounding area of ​​Youzhou was restricted. Yuan Xi's plan was to use the sea route to jump out of this circle and wait for an opportunity to expand this territory. Guangling County was his bridgehead.

Normally speaking, such a lonely enclave is far away from Youzhou, so it is difficult to defend it, but if it is backed by Yuan Xi's fleet, it will be much easier.

So the three parties hit it off, and when Cao Cao and Sun Ce fought to the death, they took advantage from behind.

Yuan Xi finally said: "I still have a question."

"I repeated the old trick and transported Yuan Tan's Qingzhou military merchant ship from Qingzhou to Xuzhou, thus bypassing Mount Tai."

"But this kind of strategy has been used once. Logically, Cao Cao should have thought of it long ago. Why does Cao Jun seem to be unprepared for his response?"

Guo Jia thought for a while and smiled, "At least Cao Cao must have thought of it, but he probably didn't expect Yuan Tan to make such a decision."

"Although the strategy must take into account all aspects, it will not give up because of a small possibility. Cao Jun must have responded to Yuan Tan's dispatch of troops, but it should be that the combat power of the three-party coalition was underestimated."

"This time Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, is leading the army. It should be to cultivate his ability in battle formation. It's not that Cao Cao doesn't pay attention to it, but at the same time, Cao Cao should have gone to Yuzhou to supervise the battle, and that side is what he values ​​most."

"Cao Ang's miscalculation is the strength of the three-party coalition forces. This time, Mr. Yuan Tan fought bravely, but the intelligence said that Chen Deng also personally led the troops into battle, which played a big role in repelling Cao's army."

"It may be because of this miscalculation that Cao Jun missed Tan Cheng."

When Guo Jia said this, he said to Yuan Xi: "My lord, do you know what your greatest strength is?"

Yuan Xi asked in confusion, "What is it?"

"The ability to recognize people," Guo Jia sighed, "My lord is very accurate in judging people."

"Zhao Yun, Tai Shici, Tian Yu, I won't talk about it myself, they are all talents at the moment."

Seeing Guo Jia's serious look, Yuan Xi thought to himself that you have a clear understanding of yourself and you have a thick skin.

Guo Jia said again: "The young master said Chen Deng is a talent last time. I thought he was proficient in farming. I didn't expect to be able to fight in battle. Only with this insight, young master will surely win a place in the world in the future!"

Yuan Xi was so embarrassed by Guo Jia's praise, he laughed and said, "Thank you for your kind words, sir."

He knew that he was just an ordinary person. Even with the knowledge of later generations, it was not easy to get to where he is today, which made him extremely happy.

Xuzhou fought for so long before the dust finally settled. You must know that Zhao Yun and Liu He in Youzhou fought from Yuyang County to Jixian County in Guangyang County!

Now it's finally time to pick the fruit!

(End of this chapter)