Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 662
Arrows rained down from Heishan City Fortress, and the few Xiliang soldiers who rushed to the front to provoke were instantly shot into hedgehogs. Ma Chao from behind cursed secretly when he saw this, and quickly rode back to the formation.

He has also been extremely depressed these days. The Heishan Pass Walled City in front of him was temporarily reinforced and renovated by the Youzhou Army. Its construction speed was several times faster than he imagined. It was laid out in just two days. A large number of Haogou deer villages.

When Ma Chao arrived with his army, the fortifications of the city wall had been fully repaired. Although the Liangzhou army was much larger in number, they tried several times but could not break in.

Only then did he realize that the Jizhou soldiers and the Xiliang cavalry had completely different fighting methods. They were truly powerful armies famous for their fortifications, and this method of warfare was extremely effective against the cavalry.

Seeing that today's harassment was fruitless, Ma Chao led his troops back. On the top of the city, Taishi Ci, Zhang Liao and others saw it and asked to go out to fight. Yuan Xi thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Let the soldiers rest for now."

The generals took the order, but they all murmured in their hearts, what exactly did Yuan Xi and his advisers think? Could it be that they would just spend it here until winter?

Lu Xun secretly observed Yuan Xi from the side, looking for a look of reluctance on his face, but found that nothing could be seen.

Lu Xun thought that if it were him, he would have gone smoothly in the past few years without a single defeat, but he was deceived several times by Cao Cao. He would definitely not be able to swallow this breath, not to mention that Yuan Xi is now one of the best in the world. It is normal for princes to be young and energetic and want to come back for revenge.

But the key problem is that Lu Xun and Jushou have talked several times, but they don't think Huaicheng can continue to make a fuss.

Lu Xun guessed that Yuan Xi wanted to drag the enemy to death here, wait for his food to run out, and then wait for an opportunity to win?

But the problem is that although the Xiliang soldiers are short of food, they still have a way to grab food on the spot. I heard that they have begun to plunder in the Sili area, causing many people to flee to Montenegro for refuge.

The food problem also exists for Yuan Xijun.

Although after the capture of Heishan, Youzhou leveled the roads in the northern part of Heishan, which greatly improved the road conditions and greatly accelerated the transportation of logistical equipment. However, after all, it was still land transportation, with considerable losses during the journey, and the southern part of Heishan belonged to Yuan Shang. The unconstructed roads were in extremely poor condition, so nearly half of the grain transported from Youzhou was lost.

Youzhou is not a granary that can produce food out of thin air. If this continues for a long time, Yuan Xijun may not be able to afford it.

These are still issues on the battlefield, but in terms of overall strategy, Lu Xun feels that Yuan Xi seems to be still hesitating.

According to officials in Huaicheng who escaped, the cause of the incident was the Yidai Zhao incident.

Lu Xun saw a look of self-blame on Yuan Xi's face and wondered in his heart. This matter had nothing to do with Yuan Xi. Why did he seem to think it was his own mistake?
In fact, Lu Xun's guess was correct. Yuan Xi did have some regrets. He had too preconceived ideas and formed a fixed mindset. As a result, when the dress edict incident occurred in advance, he failed to respond promptly and effectively.

Under Cao Cao's blow, the forces that opposed Cao Cao around the emperor in Huaicheng were almost uprooted, causing heavy losses, which made Yuan Xi feel frustrated.

Although Yuan Xi's own strength has not been damaged much in the battles with Cao Cao in the past few years, but has been strengthened, the stability of the territory and the rough planning are actually not as clear as Cao Cao's purpose.

Rather than saying that he is fighting for hegemony, it is better to say that he is preventing Cao Cao from fighting for hegemony, and he is not clear about the positioning of his own route.

However, Cao Cao always put his family and life on the table as a bet, and would risk his life in every battle. For this alone, Yuan Xi felt ashamed.

Yuan Xi knew that he might be too impatient. After the Three Kingdoms had been in stalemate for decades and nearly half a century, he only participated in this chess game for only a few years, which was enough to be proud of.

But Yuan Xi is not satisfied. The competition for hegemony is all-round strength. In terms of foundation and foresight, he is one step behind Cao Cao, and he may fall behind step by step.

Especially the news coming from the south yesterday shocked Yuan Xi even more. Sun Ce was actually assassinated at this time!

This point in time was two years earlier than later generations. Yuan Xi thought that he and Sun Ce could still cooperate for a while, but this wish also came to nothing!

What followed was that the situation in the Jianghuai area behind him was unstable. No one knew whether Jiangdong would turn his back and attack Lujiang, Jiujiang occupied by Yuan Xi.

The future of the alliance that Yuan Xi had painstakingly built is now uncertain. Speaking of Yuan Xi's current allies, one is Liu Bei and the other is Sun Ce. However, both of them were involved in the Belt Edict incident without telling Yuan Xi. .

It's not their fault. The root cause is that although Liu Xie wanted to deal with Cao Cao, he didn't believe in the Yuan family who had long been willing to stand on his own, so he excluded Yuan Xi and even Lu Bu. However, the matter was not kept secret. , tasted the bad consequences, and thus severely cheated everyone.

The news of Sun Ce's assassination was sent to Montenegro by Liu Bei. This was Yuan Xi's last remaining comfort. After all, it seemed that Liu Bei had become his only reliable ally.

A large part of the reason why Yuan Xi stayed here was that when he checked the contents of Liu Bei's secret letter, he guessed that he had not received the news that Cao Cao had entered Huaicheng and held him hostage. Otherwise, Liu Bei would not have gone north at all, and would have taken his clothes with him. Tell Yuan Xi about the imperial edict.

Yuan Xi understood Liu Bei's approach of concealing the truth about the Edict. After all, if Liu Bei really told the truth about the Edict, he would betray Liu Xie.

Therefore, Yuan Xi stayed at the Black Mountain Pass just to support Liu Bei, lest the other side be strangled by the coalition forces of Cao Cao and Ma Teng and Han Sui without knowing anything.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi was a little angry. Speaking of the good situation, it was all caused by Liu Gong's death. He was still not forbearing enough and misjudged the opponent's strength, which led to the current situation.

How much patience do I still have for this kind of emperor who is not worth saving? Why are I still wasting my time here?
A few dozen miles north of the southern pass of Black Mountain, Lu Lingqi leaned against the window and looked at the autumn colors outside the carriage.

After hearing the news of Lu Bu's death in battle, she was depressed for a few days, but as a person who had been used to seeing life and death since she was a child, she now gradually figured it out.As a prince who had killed two governors, Lu Bu's reputation was known to the world. Although Lu Lingqi was careless, she often felt that she couldn't hold her head high in front of others.

Although I hope that Lu Bu will live a long life, the outcome of dying in battle while protecting the emperor will undoubtedly help Lu Bu wash away part of his stigma.

She clenched her fists, but the revenge for killing her father must be avenged!

You can wait, one year, three years, five years, ten years. Sooner or later, one day, you will have to avenge your father with your own hands!
At this moment, her ears twitched slightly, and she stuck her head out of the window. Not long after, she saw a carriage approaching on the opposite road, escorted by several Youzhou cavalry.

Lu Lingqi thought for a while, stopped the carriage, and sent a sergeant up to inquire about the situation. At that moment, a guard rode out and ran towards the opposite side.

Those Youzhou cavalrymen felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy. They were relieved when they saw that they were among their own people. After hearing what the guard Lu Lingqi said, a man hurried over and bowed to the carriage: "I am the envoy to you. Wei, I have met Madam several times."

"This time, I was ordered by the envoy to escort Kong Beihai's wife and daughter back to Youzhou."

Lu Lingqi jumped off the horse and before she could react, she asked doubtfully: "Kong Beihai's wife and daughter?"

"What about him?"

The guard glanced at the carriage behind him and lowered his voice: "He was killed by Cao Cao in Huai City."

When Lu Lingqi heard this, she stood there blankly, and then she remembered that Lu Bu was not the only one who died in Huai City.

While he was talking, the carriage had already arrived. Kong Rong's wife and daughter, wearing sackcloth and mourning, got off the carriage, knelt down in front of Lu Lingqi, and said, "I have seen Madam."

Lu Lingqi hurriedly helped the two of them up, and they both felt sympathy for each other and were silent.

Seeing Lu Lingqi's gloomy expression, Mrs. Kong Rong couldn't think of words of comfort. She only briefly talked about how she escaped from Huaicheng, and finally said: "My mother and daughter panicked and fled into the Black Mountain Pass. Fortunately, they met the envoy and led the army." Only by coming here can we escape from our pursuers.”

"That night, it was the time when Marquis Wen was attacking the city to rescue the Emperor."

"But bad news came the next day, saying that after entering the city, Marquis Wen was ambushed by Cao Jun and Ma Teng Jun, and died in battle with hundreds of arrows in his body."

When Lu Lingqi heard this, her teeth chattered. When Kong Rong's daughter saw this, she held Lu Lingqi's hand and was speechless.

Lu Lingqi heard about the incident with Kong Rong's daughter from Yuan Xi. When she saw that the other party had a sick look and a delicate and delicate look, which really did not look like she would have a long life, she sighed and touched Kong Rong's daughter's head. A few words of comfort.

Mrs. Kong Rong whispered: "There is news in the city that my late husband denounced Cao Cao in the court and was imprisoned. He died in prison that night."

After hearing this, Lu Lingqi became angry and said angrily: "What a thief!"

"Madam, please go back first. My husband and I have our own issues."

Mrs. Kong Rong hesitated for a moment, then took her daughter to bow and said, "I hope you will cherish your life, and that you and your envoy will both be safe. That is the most important thing."

Lu Lingqi put the two of them on the carriage, watched each other disappear into the mountain road, then boarded the carriage and gave orders to move forward.

In Huai City, Cao Cao said to Xun Yu and Cao Ang: "It's almost done."

"I gave the entire Sili, except Hanoi, and the Sanfu area to two people. Although they occupied it before, at least they now have the title given by the emperor."

"Now they can contain Youzhou and Jizhou here openly and righteously."

"As for us, we will rush to Yanzhou with the emperor and some ministers."

"Among the remaining people, some are left by me to take charge of the overall situation, and some are unwilling to leave, so let them face Ma Teng and Han Sui."

Cao Ang secretly glanced at Xun Yu, who was silent, and thought that the other party was still worried about Kong Rong's death. A few days ago, Zhong Yao and Ding Chong wanted to launch a purge after Kong Rong's death. Xun Yu was on the spot. After falling out, Cao Cao finally decided to call it a day, and the ministers escaped unharmed.

He spoke up to smooth things over: "It seems that some ministers are completely different from each other."

"Let's just say that the Yang family of Hongnong, headed by Yang Biao, has never bought into my father's fault. Now Yang Biao's son has not only joined my father, but I also heard that one of the Yang families is going to marry Ma Teng."

After hearing this, Cao Cao sneered and said: "The four generations and the four princes are not that simple. They are just old and cunning."

(End of this chapter)