Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 570 Shouchun Attack and Defense
Jushu took the urgent letter from Yuan Xi's hand, took a look at it, and subconsciously said: "Are you afraid that Cao Cao wants to advance before retreating, so he is setting up a suspicious formation?"

Yuan Xi was also inclined towards Ju Shou's statement, but he vaguely felt that Cao Cao's move was not that simple.

He said aloud: "Can Cao Cao's food still support him in such repeated marches?"

Lu Xun hesitated and said, "Is it possible that Cao Cao still has food and fodder in private?"

Yuan Xi thought about it, got up and walked to the entrance of the camp. At this time, he set up his camp on the hills, with an unobstructed view of the surrounding area for more than ten miles.

The land around Shouchuncheng had suffered from locust plague before, but there was still a small half of the land that was not serious. However, all the rice and millet in the fields had been taken away by Yuan Shu's army.

Agriculture in the Jianghuai region has been developed since ancient times, largely due to the suitable climate, which is suitable for symbiotic rotation of rice and wheat. Archaeologists of later generations even discovered evidence of the coexistence of rice and millet in the middle reaches of the Huaihe River 7000 years ago.

The important reason why the Wei State in later generations was so powerful and had a large population in the Three Kingdoms was that it promoted high-yielding rice in the Jianghuai region. In the later Sui and Tang dynasties, when Luoyang was established as the capital, canals such as the Tongji Canal were built to facilitate Transport materials from the Jianghuai region to Guanzhong.

This is also the reason why Yuan Xi wants to hold Jiujiang County and Lujiang County in his hands. He will never let Cao Cao take this place.

But on the other hand, the same goes for Cao Cao. How could he give up so much fat so easily?
After retreating ten thousand steps, Cao Cao gave up Shouchun, which was the area south of the Huai River. However, Ruyin County north of the Huai River was also an important grain-producing area. How could Cao Cao retreat like that?

Even if Cao Cao learns that his next step will be to support Liu Bei in capturing Yuzhou, he must at least do it once and wait until he sees the result, right?
Yuan Xi supported Liu Bei's idea of ​​seizing Yuzhou. First, he wanted to repay Liu Bei's favor, and second, he needed to use Liu Bei to contain Cao Cao.

Only Liu Bei had the ability to resist Cao Cao's constant harassment and drag him into the quagmire of war, leaving Cao Cao with no time to expand.

Wait, Cao Cao returns to Yanzhou.
Yuan Xi thought about it, and he thought of several possibilities, but he subconsciously ruled them out. After all, these guesses were too outrageous.

The most likely thing is that Cao Cao took the opportunity to seize Huaicheng and completely control the emperor to order the princes to go?

However, Yuan Xi remembered that he had already sent a letter to Lu Bu, saying that Cao Cao was likely to attack the east and west, plotting against the city, and asked him to be careful.

The situation in Liangzhou had changed previously. Lu Bu probably adopted Yuan Xi's suggestion and returned to Huaicheng to defend himself so as not to be taken advantage of.

Yuan Xi took a closer look at Cao Cao's whereabouts and activities, but felt that he still didn't have much of a clue, because according to the theory, Yanzhou had already been exhausted, and Cao Cao was unable to launch a large-scale attack.

He had a headache. It would be nice if Guo Jia was here. His personality is the closest to Cao Cao, so he should be able to guess some clues.

Yuan Xi thought that in the end, he still had no clue. He simply gave up and turned back to the camp. He finally turned back and forgot to take a look at the cleanly harvested farmland under the hills. He always felt that he seemed to have missed something.

He then said to Jushu and Lu Xun: "The matter is over. Tomorrow we will attack the city with all our strength and dig ditches at the same time. Let the soldiers in the city see that we are determined to establish Shouchun at all costs, even if we divert the Huai River to flood the city!"

In the early morning of the next day, as a large number of warships sailed from the Huai River into the tributaries near Shouchun, Shouchun City once again fell into large-scale fighting.

At this time, the defenders in the city were the ones who had failed to attack Guangling before and then merged to capture Tancheng. They were led by Ji Ling, Chen Ji, Qin Yi and others.

During the battle with Yuan Tan's army, Zhao Yun took the opportunity to steal Tancheng, and had to retreat to Jiujiang County to defend. After learning that Shouchun was attacked, he quickly retreated from Zhongli, supported Shouchun through Dangtu, and caught up with Yuan in time. Xi attacked the city.

At first, Ji Ling was eager to give Yuan Xijun a try, hoping to catch Yuan Xijun off guard while he was still on his feet.

As a result, Ji Ling led his troops out of the city, but happened to encounter the vanguard led by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. After a melee, Ji Ling was defeated and almost lost his life, so he fled back to the city in embarrassment.

When Yuan Yao, who was stationed in the city, learned about it, he was furious. Why were his men so miserable and defeated repeatedly? Even if a random team was pulled out from the opposite side, they could beat him to the point where he couldn't hold his head up.
Not to mention anything else, Zhao Yun, Tai Shici, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were all unknowns a few years ago. How could they defeat their own generals like clouds, and the numerically superior army was completely defeated? lose?

It was promised that all the heroes in the world would gather under my father’s command?
There must be something wrong!
He was sitting in his mansion, listening to the deafening cries of killing coming from the top of the city, and couldn't help but feel terrified. Yuan Shu said that by leading his army to capture Nanyang, he could open up the passage from Jiujiang to Jingzhou.

During this period, as long as he defends Shouchun and waits for Yuan Shu to seize enough food in Jingzhou, he can send troops to return to help and relieve the siege of Shouchun.

But Yuan Yao sometimes wonders, is Yuan Shu lying to himself?
In fact, he was thinking of occupying Jingzhou and giving up Shouchun?
If that were the case, wouldn't he become an outcast?
Yuan Yao began to drum in his heart. He knew that at this time, he should consult Yuan Yin, the highest-ranking Yuan family member in the city.

But in his heart, Yuan Yao was very repelled by Yuan Yin, because as Yuan Shu's disciple, he not only had a high status, but also had great prestige, which made Yuan Yao feel a slight threat.

He thought for a while, but called in Li Ye, Yuan Shu's highly valued adviser.

When Li Ye came in and sat down, Yuan Yao asked immediately, "Sir, what will happen next?"

Li Ye thought for a while and said: "The enemy is attacking very urgently, and they are trying to dig up the Huai River. It is very likely that they will divert water to attack the city."

"What!" Yuan Yao was shocked. If the other party really did this, most people in the city would not be able to escape!

He trembled: "If this is really the case, will we have no way out?"

"Should we have a serious talk with the other side?" Li Ye heard this and sighed: "Your Highness, I surrender without fighting, but I can't negotiate the terms I want."

"Would you like to go to the city head first and take a look?"

Yuan Yao's face turned pale as he listened to the constant rumblings from the top of the city. "Isn't the top of the city very dangerous now?"

Li Ye said softly: "Mr. Yuan Fu is also up there."

The Yuan Mansion Lord that Li Ye mentioned refers to Yuan Yin, who previously served as the prefect of Danyang. After Yuan Shu became independent, he stayed in Shouchun to assist him.

When Yuan Yao heard this, his expression changed several times, but finally he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, put on your armor and let's go to the top of the city together!"

Not long after, Yuan Yao, guarded by a group of soldiers, climbed to the top of the Shouchun City in fear. At this time, a stone bullet as big as a watermelon came from below the city and hit the top of the city more than ten steps away from Yuan Yao, with a deafening sound. The sound was accompanied by splashing earth and rocks, and Yuan Yao was so frightened that he quickly lay down to avoid it.

After a while, he stood up and looked outside the city. He saw battles breaking out everywhere on the ground and in the river for dozens of miles.

Not to mention below the city head, dozens of trebuchets were deployed one after another, firing stones at Shouchun.

Of course, there are also more than a dozen trebuchets in Shouchun City, all of which are placed behind the city wall for shelter, and then continuously fire stones to fight back.

Although both sides were not very accurate, the catapults of the siege team calculated the distance very accurately. Most of them could hit the city head, but the trebuchets behind the Shouchun city wall were always a little behind.

This is the balance of power formed after both sides smashed several trebuchets. At present, no one can do anything about the other, but Yuan Xijun has not sent soldiers to attack the city for the time being, because the two sides are competing for control of the Huai River.

Shouchun is adjacent to the Huai River in the south and has a naval army with considerable combat power. This is also the reason why it can resist Cao Cao and Yuan Tan, and now it finally meets its opponent.

The navy led by Taishi Ci and Guan Yu!
As soon as the two sides fought, Yuan Shujun gradually fell into a disadvantage. They were horrified to find that they couldn't resist either side of Taishi Ci and Guan Yu!

Guan Yu relied on strict training to make his navy soldiers advance and retreat in a well-organized manner, both near and far. The soldiers were brave and often bravely boarded ships in boarding battles, defeating Yuan Shu's navy and retreating steadily.

Taishi Ci had a different style. He rarely let soldiers board the ship. Instead, he caught the long-range bows and arrows and firearms to suppress the opponent. At the same time, he used iron baffles to protect the opponent, so that the opponent gradually fell into a disadvantage in the bow and arrow exchange.

At the same time, he ordered the big ship to close in and suppress it, so that no one on the deck of Yuan Shujun's warship with its lower side dared to show his head.

When Yuan Yao saw that Yuan Shu's proud naval forces were being destroyed and burned, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "Why is the gap so big?"

Li Ye hesitated and said in a low voice: "Because almost all generals who are proficient in water warfare have defected to Sun Ce."

Yuan Yao's expression froze after hearing this.

Yuan Shu used Sun Ce to gain territory. Although he deliberately suppressed him, Sun Ce still cultivated his own direct troops in large and small battles along the Yangtze River, and these generals and soldiers were all good at water warfare.

As Sun Ce's power increased, generals who were originally attached to Yuan Shu but were related to Sun Ce, such as Sun Ben, Wu Jing and others, all defected to Sun Ce. As a result, Yuan Shu's navy generals became fewer and fewer. Therefore, when facing Taishi Ci and Guan Yu, In an instant, he fell into a disadvantage.

Yuan Yao looked at his own warships being defeated, his face was extremely ugly, and he said: "Is this the end of the navy?"

"Is there no way?"

At this time, Yuan Yin came over with his troops, and when he saw it was Yuan Yao, he was surprised and said: "Your Highness, this place is too dangerous. Please get down to the city quickly to avoid any accidents!"

Yuan Yao wanted to leave before, but when Yuan Yin said this, he refused to leave and said bravely: "My uncle is still taking the lead, how can I sit behind?"

"But I think the situation is dilapidated, especially the navy. Does uncle have any clever ideas?"

Yuan Yin looked back and sighed: "I'm afraid the navy won't be able to do it."

"If you are determined to resist, it is better to demolish the gate from Huaishui to the moat and sink the ship to block the entrance to prevent enemy warships from entering."

Yuan Yao heard the hidden meaning of Yuan Yin's words and frowned: "What does it mean to resist with determination?"

"Is there any other way I can find now?"

Yuan Yin hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Yes, there must be. It depends on whether His Highness can save face."

(End of this chapter)