Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 541 Self Doubt

Yuan Xi secretly transported gunpowder from Youzhou, and instead of making hundreds of explosive bamboo tubes, he gathered them together and put them in several gunpowder barrels the size of buckets.

The two explosions at the top of Wancheng City were caused by Yuan Xi's orders to light gunpowder barrels and throw them over.

Of course, the gunpowder barrel was also mixed with a large number of iron nails and iron beads, which was extremely dangerous, so Yuan Xi asked the craftsmen to calculate the lead time before throwing it in with a small trebuchet.

The first barrel of gunpowder was thrown with too much force, and it went directly over the city head and fell into the city.

Following an earth-shattering explosion, a column of black smoke several feet high suddenly rose from the city. Along with the impact and loud noise, there were heart-rending screams and cries.

The second shot was immediately thrown out and landed squarely on the top of the city.

Accompanied by a loud noise that was almost unheard of in this era, and the large-scale lethality that followed, the formation and morale of the defenders on the city wall were completely defeated.

There were wailing sounds everywhere on the top of the city. The soldiers' broken limbs and bodies even flew more than ten feet away. The top of the city was dyed red by a blooming blood flower.

Although Yuan Xijun below blocked his ears in advance, he was still so frightened by the bombing that the action of destroying the city gate was paused for a moment.

Taishi Ci saw the scene on the top of the city from a distance and remained silent. Although the power of these two barrels was not even as powerful as a trebuchet salvo, the blow to morale was devastating.

He could even see the soldiers on the top of the city covered in blood, kneeling to the sky desperately, as if they were encountering ghosts and gods, unaware that their injuries were almost fatal.

Yuan Xi saw Lu Lingqi's body trembling slightly next to her. He covered Lu Lingqi's eyes with his hands and said softly: "Don't look at it."

He could understand Lu Lingqi's mood, not only the discomfort with her tragic situation, but also the fear of this unknown method.

Experts like Lu Lingqi and top generals like Tai Shici were well-equipped with weapons and armor, and were extremely confident that they would be able to protect themselves in most situations on the battlefield.

At their level of martial arts, few people can directly threaten their lives as long as they are not attacked by hidden arrows.

However, the explosion, an unprecedented killing method, caused the soldiers within a few feet to be hit by flying iron nails and beads, and their bodies were full of holes. Such power shocked the experts present when they saw it. They will suffer the same fate within this explosion range!

This made Lu Lingqi and others feel shaken. What was the purpose of practicing martial arts so hard?
If this kind of thing becomes popular in the future, will we still need ourselves?

The generals had to find a way to overcome this hurdle in their hearts. Yuan Xi found that among them all, perhaps he had seen this scene too much through various channels in his previous life, and he was the most indifferent to it.

On the contrary, he felt that the power of the explosion was not enough. As for the casualties caused, it can only be said that without these two explosions, both sides had been attacking the city for several days, and more people had been killed and injured.

After this, the morale of the defenders in Wancheng collapsed. Yuan Xi's army broke open the city gate with almost no effort, and when they rushed into the city, they encountered minimal resistance.

Because during the first explosion, many people behind the door were killed, and the remaining people had already fled in panic.

The trapped camp roared into the city, and Yuan Xi followed in. From a distance, he saw an army rushing towards this side of the long street. He thought to himself, how could anyone dare to resist?
As a result, several generals and officials knelt down holding the seal and asked for surrender. Yuan Xi thought to himself that these people are just chicken thieves. What have they been doing?
However, he also understood that judging from the appearance of these officials, they probably wanted to resist for a few days to show off, but he started so quickly that the city gate was broken down before these people could even come over.

He waved to Taishi Ci, who stepped forward to receive the seal and temporarily detained these people for future interrogation.

Yuan Xi said to Taishi Cixu Huang: "Please take the seal and go to the city to collect the remaining soldiers, ask them to hand over their weapons, and at the same time set up defenses at the top of the city."

"At the same time, the soldiers are ordered not to disturb the people, not to plunder, rape or humiliate the people. Violators will be dealt with according to the military law."

"At the same time, soldiers were sent to maintain peace in the city, and the bandits who took advantage of the situation were shot to death without mercy."

After hearing this, Taishi Ci and Xu Huang went to take orders separately.

Within a day, Wancheng was completely occupied by Yuan Xi's army. Several small riots broke out in the city as expected, but they were quickly calmed down after the trapped camp arrived.

Yuan Xi stood at the top of Wancheng, unable to hide his excitement. Lujiang was finally obtained!
For him, being able to capture the Lujiang River is no less than capturing Shouchun. Although the Lujiang River is difficult to defend, it is a barrier for Jingzhou. As long as he can get the support of the local nobles, he can let Taishi Ci guard the place while training the navy. , while connecting Xuzhou and Jiujiang, controlling the strategically important Jianghuai area.

More importantly, if he had defended this place, the Battle of Guandu might not have been fought at all.

Because in Yuan Xi's vision, in the future Taishi Ci would guard Lujiang, Chen Deng would guard Xuzhou, and Liu Bei would occupy the area between Jiujiang and Yuzhou, which would undoubtedly mean breaking into Cao Cao's rear.

If Cao Cao dared to start a war with the Yuan family in Guandu, Cao Cao would be unable to defend his hinterland by sending troops in three directions. If his logistics were cut off, it would be impossible to win the frontline battle.

Of course, the premise is to win Sun Ce to his side. Otherwise, if Sun Ce colludes with Cao Cao, then it will be his side who will be attacked from both sides!
Yuan Xi picked up the telescope and found that hundreds of boats were being closely guarded on the Wanshui pier in the distance, so he asked Ju Shu next to him: "Did Boyan seize all the boats escaping from Wancheng?" I think we will find a way to resolve this matter within a day or two. It is not an option to have someone take it on board."

Jushou said: "Bo Yan is waiting. A few days ago when the war started, he was busy blocking the Wan River and had no time to worry about screening. Now that the city has been calmed down, he has already begun to screen whether there are enemies in it."

"But he said there is one more thing for the young master to decide. What should I do with these people's property?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said calmly: "Since you can escape, it seems that you are quite rich."

"First confiscate their property and food. If there are no problems, let them return to their own mansions in the city first, and then the city will distribute food uniformly."

He did this out of necessity. There was already an extreme shortage of food in Wancheng. If it was not distributed centrally, people would probably starve to death at any time. Although the dead bodies would lead to diseases, forming a vicious cycle.

Jushou nodded and sighed: "This locust plague is really severe."

Yuan Xi spoke up: "It's just one of the factors. Military disasters and floods, no one cares about human life, but they all came together."

"We will repair here for a few days, and at the same time search for the food hidden by the rich households in the city. When the city is settled, we will set off for Hefei!"

Jushou smiled and said, "That's right. Once the rear is settled, it's time to capture Hefei."

At this time, in the Runan area of ​​Yuzhou, hundreds of thousands of troops from Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and Yuan Tan were already fighting together.

On the other side, Yuan Shang led his troops through Sili from the Black Mountain area and tried to go south to Yingchuan, but it did not go well because they encountered stubborn resistance from Yuan Shu's general Chang Nu.

As for Lu Bu, who had previously confronted Chang Nu, he returned to the Sili area, which was beyond Yuan Xi's expectation.

The reason for this is that news came from Huaicheng that there was a change in Liangzhou.

During the previous period, Duan Yan chased Guo Si to the Liangzhou area in the name of the Han court. Several battles were fought on both sides. Guo Si's morale was low and he became more and more defeated. The remaining cavalry became smaller and smaller and was forced to flee. Go west to the area where the Qiang people gather.

Xiliang, on the other hand, was an independent area ruled by Ma Teng and Han Sui. In fact, when Dong Zhuo was around, the two of them had already taken most of Liangzhou as their own. They did not respect the imperial orders and repeatedly led troops to attack Chang'an. Even Dong Zhuo couldn't convince them.

There were dozens of princes in the Guanzhong area, among whom Ma Teng and Han Sui were the most powerful. They had tens of thousands of troops, and even Duan Xuan did not dare to show his strength.

Duan Yan learned that Guo Si might have defected to Ma Teng and Han Sui, so he had to retreat to the Sanfu area to defend. It was peaceful at first, but in recent days, several groups of Xiqiang cavalry had invaded, trying to outflank Duan Yan's retreat.

Duan Xuan saw that things were not harmonious, so he retreated to Sili to prevent Huaicheng from being attacked.

As a result, the Guanzhong area was once again shrouded in the shadow of war, especially since Huaicheng was located to the north of Bingzhou. The Xiqiang cavalry was likely to bypass Chang'an and threaten Huaicheng. Therefore, under the persuasion of the ministers, Liu Xie issued an edict to let Lu Bu Retreat from Yingchuan to protect Huaicheng.

When Yuan Xi heard the news, he sighed inwardly, thinking that Lu Bu's current situation was the result of looking forward and looking back. He did not make good use of Liu Xie now, but was dragged down by Liu Xie.

If Lu Bu wanted to fight abroad with peace of mind, he should have considered finding a way to move Liu Xie out of Huaicheng. Whether it was Dongwuyang proposed by Yuan Shao or Youzhou proposed by Yuan Xi, they were actually good choices.

This would not only get rid of Cao Cao's influence, but also draw on the power of the Yuan family. However, Yuan Xi wrote to Lu Bu several times, but Lu Bu rejected them.

According to Yuan Xi's guess, Lu Bu probably couldn't save face. He was already a general, so why did he still need to rely on others?

Especially since one of them is an in-law and the other is a son-in-law. Lu Bu is a man who has the best reputation and would never make such a decision.

On the other hand, Cao Cao's faction was also very resistant. Lu Bu might have had similar proposals, but they were probably rejected.

Of course, the vetoes were not limited to Cao Cao's faction. Ministers loyal to Liu Xie also did not want to go to the Yuan family's territory. This meant that life and death were completely controlled by the Yuan family and they could no longer raise their heads.

Yuan Xi felt that his father-in-law, Lu Bu, not only liked to kill his adoptive father, but also was very particular about his actions. If he showed his madness and refused to kill people, and then took the emperor on the road, who would dare to stop him? ?
So in the final analysis, it is very likely that the final reason was Lu Bu's unwillingness.

Yuan Xi can't take care of Huaicheng now. Currently, almost all the Yuan family's children are involved in Shouchun. It's time for him to participate in the final battle.

He looked at Lu Lingqi, who had not spoken for a whole day, and was worried. Could this be post-war traumatic emergency syndrome?

There is a saying that war makes women go away, and maybe there is some truth to it.

(End of this chapter)