Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 586 Mutual Suspicion
Yuan Tan's face was gloomy. The news that Lijin City was attacked had already reached his ears by the spies, less than three days apart.

The reason why he got the news so quickly was because he led his army back all the way to the north and happened to enter Qingzhou. He had not yet crossed the Yellow River and was not very far from Lijin.

In fact, Yuan Tan reacted quickly. After receiving the news that Cao Cao had crossed the Yellow River to threaten Yecheng, he immediately ordered the entire army to break out of camp. He also abandoned Donghai and immediately withdrew his troops and rushed to Yecheng.

The army went all the way north, entered Langya, then crossed Mount Tai, then crossed the Yellow River, entered Jizhou from Qingzhou, and then rushed to Yecheng.

But he has gone too far into Xuzhou, marching with tens of thousands of troops, and has to bypass Yanzhou. Even if he marches at a speed of fifty miles a day, it may be nearly a month before he reaches Yecheng!

But he had no other choice but to rush back all the way. Then he heard from the spies who came behind him that Yuan Xi's Xuzhou Army soldiers were following him all the way to take over the city.

Yuan Tan was so angry that he vomited blood. He had deliberately pushed the battle line to the Huai River area, and now he has sent them all back!

He even suspected that Yuan Xi might have colluded with Cao Cao. How come it was Yuan Xi who benefited the most from Cao Cao's attack on Yecheng?
But now Yuan Tan can't care about anything else. The safety of Yecheng is nothing more important to the Yuan family. Once Yecheng is lost, Jizhou will be over. By then, the offensive and defensive momentum between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao will be over. It’s turned upside down!
Yuan Tan also felt guilty. He suspected that Yuan Xi and Cao Cao had a conspiracy. But for Yuan Tan, he had really had a private connection with Cao Cao. Otherwise, the two parties would not have such a tacit understanding to beat Pengcheng. A dozen East China Sea.

If Yuan Shao discovers what happened between him and Cao Cao, Yuan Tan doesn't dare to think about it anymore, he will regret it. Who knows that Cao Cao would dare to fall out with Yuan Shao?
Guo Tu and Xin Ping, who were accompanying him, also had dark faces, and they were also worried in their hearts, because the ideas before and after were all theirs, but they did not foresee that Cao Cao would go back on his words so quickly. This was a major problem for them. unwise!
This is still a trivial matter, but if Yuan Shao later finds out that Yuan Tan has secretly colluded with Cao Cao, then Yuan Tan's position as head of the family will be completely ruined!
Xin Ping was thinking about how to remedy the situation, but Guo Tu had other thoughts.

He was furious in his heart, knowing that if Yuan Shao really knew the truth about this matter, according to his temper, his life might not be saved!

We must find a way!
He rolled his eyes, stepped forward on horseback, and said to Yuan Tan: "Your Majesty, the soldiers have been marching for more than ten days and are already exhausted, but they are not even halfway through the journey. If we continue like this, even if we can reach Yecheng , and we can’t fight.”

Yuan Tan said impatiently: "What should we do?"

"If we fall behind others, let alone Yecheng, if something unexpected happens to my father, whoever comes first will most likely take over Jizhou. What else will we have to do at that time?"

Guo Tu said softly: "Your Majesty, that's not what you said."

"Those who walk fast may not always get what they want."

"Those who walk slowly may have the last laugh."

Yuan Tan was startled, "You mean?"

Guo Tu had a sinister look on his face, "Anyway, at this speed, we can't rush anymore. It's better to march normally, recharge our batteries, and have some remaining strength."

Yuan Tan frowned and said, "But if this happens, Yecheng will be in danger."

Guo Tu sneered: "Aren't there two other young masters?"

"The envoy also heard from the spies in Lijin City that Yuan Xianyi's fleet has entered the Yellow River westward for several days."

"And we haven't crossed the Yellow River yet. Calculated, the distance is at least close to 20 days. We can't catch up."

"That's the case. They are in a hurry to rush back, so just let them go. Anyway, Cao Cao's army is waiting for them."

Yuan Tan hesitated and said: "Xianyi used a fleet to transport troops, and the number will never exceed [-]. Xianfu rushed back from Montenegro, and the number should not exceed [-]. Together, can they really defeat Cao Cao?"

"If Yecheng is defeated, my father."

Guo Tu lowered his voice and said, "Isn't this the best situation for the envoy?"

"If anything happens to Duke I, of course he respects his elders. As for his will, who will admit it?"

"When the time comes when Shi Jun is the strongest, many losers will switch over. As long as we support Shi Jun as the head of the Yuan family, who will dare to object?"

Yuan Tan was stunned and stared at Guo Tu, but Guo Tu's expression remained unchanged, "Tu's plans are all for the envoy."

"Regardless of whether those two people can defeat Cao Cao, their vitality will definitely be severely damaged afterwards, so that you can reap the benefits of your own strength."

Yuan Tan said in a deep voice: "But sir, I forgot one thing."

"If they defeated Cao Cao and were appreciated by my father, and my father had nothing to do in Yecheng, wouldn't we get nothing?"

Guo Tu said in a deep voice: "Didn't Cao Cao send someone to hint that Benchu's destiny will be over soon?"

"At that time, we only need to wait for Duke Benchu ​​to pass away, and then we can take action against the two young masters."

Yuan Tan said anxiously: "Who knows whether what Cao Cao said is true or false!"

"What if he defrauds me again?"

"If the matter is exposed in the end, we will become traitors to the Yuan family!"

Guo Tu had a stern look on his face, "So we must never let this happen."

"Your Majesty, we can't go back."

After hearing this, Yuan Tan's face became even more ugly, and he sat in a daze on his horse.At the same time, Yuan Shang in Montenegro was in trouble.

The upper half of the eight hundred miles of Black Mountain belongs to Yuan Xi, and the lower half belongs to Yuan Shang.

After Yuan Xi got the northern part of Heishan, he immediately recruited the civilian soldiers of Youzhou. Under the leadership of the Heishan surrender army, he established camps and gates at all possible passages and passes, and stationed people to garrison them.

Although most of the fortresses are very simple, they are sufficient for blocking small groups of enemies and reporting messages and warnings.

Because most of the bandits who want to pass through Montenegro are small groups of bandits, and when they see the city fortifications and soldiers garrisoned, they are generally unwilling to confront the enemy head-on. In this way, Yuan Xi has tightly defended Montenegro under his jurisdiction, so that outsiders cannot It is difficult for the forces to penetrate.

But Yuan Shang is different. What he does is to open up a few channels to ensure that he can go from Jizhou to Bingzhou and Sili. Moreover, he does not have Yuan Xi's courage to mobilize the power of a state to operate a business that in his opinion is not Montenegro of little value.

As a result, in the southern part of Montenegro he managed, there were many small passages and passes where no one was stationed, and outsiders could infiltrate at any time.

Yuan Shang has now tasted the consequences. The army he returned to Jizhou from Sili was constantly harassed and attacked by large and small bandits in the Black Mountains, and the rear army's food and grass on the opposite side had been burned twice!

Yuan Shangjun was panicked for a while, and Yuan Shang and Pang Ji discovered that the opponent was very familiar with the terrain of Montenegro and often appeared in unexpected places. The two guessed that these were the remnants of the former Montenegro Army!
But the Black Mountain Army was either captured by Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, or incorporated into the emperor's personal bodyguards. Where did these people belong?

Could it be that something slipped through the net before?
Then who brought it together?
What Pang Ji was worried about was whether this group of bandits could be instigated by Yuan Xi or the emperor?

The emperor would probably not be so boring to target Yuan Shang, but if it was Yuan Xi, then the matter would be serious!

This shows that Yuan Xi may have colluded with Cao Cao and plotted Yecheng together!

When Pang Ji mentioned this possibility, Yuan Shang punched the tree hard.

"It must be so!"

"I knew he was not a good slave!"

Pang Ji quickly dissuaded him: "This is just an idea of ​​mine."

"It is also possible that these bandits were ordered by Cao Cao to deliberately drive a wedge between Young Master and Young Master Xian Yi."

"The information on the battlefield is now false and true. It may not have been released by the enemy. The top priority is to rush to Yecheng as soon as possible."

"If there is internal strife among the Yuan family's children at this time, it will be a big deal."

"So even if it is really Young Master Xian Yi who did it, Young Master has to pretend not to know at this time and fight back Cao Cao's army first."

"When the enemy retreats, it won't be too late for the young master to settle accounts with him."

After hearing this, Yuan Shang suppressed his anger and said, "I'm afraid that he will collude with Cao Cao and plot Yecheng. If something happens to my father, I, the head of the family, will..."

Pang Ji sighed: "This is the worst case scenario, because from now on, Young Master Xiansi will also have a different heart. He now has a strong army and is good at fighting. He is really the Young Master's rival."

After hearing this, Yuan Shang felt irritated and said bitterly: "Everyone of them is an ignorant white-eyed wolf!"

Pang Ji advised: "As for the young master, it is better to rush back to Yecheng as soon as possible, see the lord, and then rely on Yecheng to defend."

"When Mr. Benchu ​​sees clearly the young master's intentions, no one will dare to comment on the young master's position as the head of the family."

Yuan Xi thought about it again and again and said: "Sir, what you said is true. Now I can't care about anything else."

He said to Zhang He, Wen Chou beside him: "Send an order to the whole army, leave one army behind, and the others will rush to Yecheng at full speed regardless of the enemy's harassment!"

After hearing this, Wen Chou and Zhang He took the order and left. The whole team began to march at a faster speed. Many heavy baggage was discarded and scattered all over the mountain road.

On the top of a mountain in the distance, a spy saw them. They rode all the way down the mountain and found hundreds of horse bandits ambush in the mountains. The leader was a general wearing a Taoist robe and armor.

This person is Huang Long, the leader of the Black Mountain Army who escaped with Zhang Yan during the Battle of Montenegro and whose whereabouts are unknown afterwards!
His name was taboo, so he did not surrender with Zhang Yan. Instead, he hid with the remnants of the Black Mountain troops. Their food and clothing expenses were all secretly provided by Zhang Yan.

After hearing what the spies said, he smiled at others and said, "It's almost done. We've done everything we can. We can't stop you even if we want to. Let's go."

A group of people disappeared into the mountains.

On the Yellow River, Yuan Xi, wearing armor, stood on the bow of the boat, looking into the distance with a telescope.

His fleet took advantage of the windy weather today, hoisted full sails, and sailed at full speed. Yuan Xi knew that someone must have seen him in such a large formation, and he didn't care. Anyway, the other party didn't know where he would disembark, and he didn't know where he would disembark. There was no time to inform.

He saw the dock appearing more than ten miles away through the telescope, and said to Taishi Ci: "Send the order to the entire army to prepare to land!"

(End of this chapter)