Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 833 Everyone makes it possible

To be fair, Yuan Tan, as the commander of the first army, was naturally prepared for a possible surprise attack, but he still underestimated the opponent's decisiveness, so he lost the opportunity.

But after all, Yuan Tan was experienced. He immediately gave instructions to the guards and asked them to lead the soldiers to the wooden tower of the camp. At the same time, he shouted an order and asked the soldiers in the camp to be guarded by armor and form formations on the spot.

Suddenly, when the Qingzhou soldiers saw someone commanding them, they immediately calmed down. Yuan Tan also climbed onto the wooden building and personally directed the soldiers below to form formations, gradually blocking the roads in the camp and compressing the enemy cavalry's space for movement.

At this time, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang each led hundreds of cavalry to attack side by side, and had already killed a considerable number of Qingzhou soldiers. They were about to break through the camp at one go, when they heard orders from the wooden tower above, and their expressions suddenly became solemn.

Zhang Liao saw the Qingzhou soldiers starting to form an orderly formation and said: "No, the coach on the other side is experienced and well-trained. If we continue to delay, we won't be able to leave."

"Turn around and break out the way you came from!"

Xu Huang responded immediately, and with an order, the two men turned their horses' heads and went back to fight.

The two of them had broken through the defenses along the way, so although it took some effort when they exited, they still led the people to rush out. When they looked back, they saw that the densely packed infantry in the camp had already formed a formation, heading towards the camp. The doors poured out.

Zhang Liao said: "Let's go and see if there are any flaws when the other side pursues us."

The two led the cavalry to run for more than 20 miles away from Yuan Tan's camp. Seeing that the enemy did not fall into the trap and pursue them, they gave up their last hope and led the army back.

Zhang Liao rode on his horse and sighed: "My lord told us to be careful when he came. When we meet him tonight, it turns out that Yuan Tan is very clever."

Xu Huang also nodded and said: "The children of the Yuan family are all not easy-going people."

"Do you think if they didn't fight among themselves, they would have wiped out Cao Cao long ago?"

Zhang Liao thought for a while and said: "Maybe it's because they are all so powerful that they don't obey anyone else."

Zhang Liao and Xu Huang led the cavalry all the way back to Dongwu. When they entered the city, it was already dawn. The two of them arrived at Yuan Xi's mansion. When they heard that Yuan Xi had gotten up, they went in to see him.

After the two people explained the whole story, they knelt down and said: "The general is incompetent, please punish me."

Yuan Xi quickly got down from his seat, helped the two of them up, and said, "What are these two generals talking about? My original intention was to harass Yuan Tan, and I didn't ask for much."

"I knew his ability in leading troops when I fought with him in Qingzhou and Xuzhou. He is not an opponent that can be defeated in one battle. You two have tried your best in this battle, so what's the mistake?"

After Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were pulled up by Yuan Xi, they both said at the same time: "The general did not expect that the opponent would be able to counterattack under such an unexpected attack on the camp. This is something we have never encountered before."

Yuan Xi sighed: "That's why I didn't want to break up with him so quickly when I was not strong enough."

"Yuan Tan has been fighting with Benchu ​​Gong, and he has never been absent from major and major battles. His rich battle experience is unmatched by Yuan Shang and I."

"To deal with him, I don't seek to achieve success in one fell swoop. I only seek to slowly weaken his spirit. When he loses control and reveals his flaws, I can then attack with all my strength."

"Before that, you two must be careful, especially when attacking the camp. Don't be surrounded by them. If you don't let them, you will be in trouble."

"In the next few days, we will mainly focus on harassing the tired troops. I have prepared enough war horses that can be rotated, and I would like to ask the two generals to bother."

Zhuge Liang said from the side: "The two generals must protect themselves and retreat decisively if they can't do anything. After all, the key to victory or defeat is the frontal battle in Dongwu City."

"In the past few days when Yuan Tan's army is marching, as long as it is not allowed to rest and its morale is low, the goal has been achieved."

After hearing this, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang quickly accepted the order and went back to rest. After all, they would continue to attack Yuan Tan's camp at night.

After Zhuge Liang waited for the two men to leave, he said: "Both generals are rare good generals. When they attacked Jiangdong, they were unstoppable. I didn't expect to fight the Qingzhou Army on the first night, so I hesitated."

"It can be seen that Yuan Tan is really good at managing the army."

Yuan Xi sighed: "When the battle comes, the military advisor will know how difficult the opponent is."

"It was said at the beginning that I used tactics to win the battle in Qingzhou and Xuzhou, but if it hadn't been for Yuan Tan's deployment of troops and generals, it would have been difficult for me to achieve my goal."

"It's a pity that he broke up with the Yuan family and went to the dark side, otherwise I wouldn't want to be his enemy."

Zhuge Liang heard this and said, "I already have a rough understanding of his capabilities."

"If we fight him face to face, we may suffer a lot of casualties."

"This loss may be too heavy and we cannot accept it."

Yuan Xi said: "If that's really the case, we will have to trouble the military advisors with their plans."

Zhuge Liang listened and nodded silently. Now, he had to face a difficult choice. In the next two nights, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang went to attack Yuan Tan's military camp at night as usual. Yuan Tan's counselors did not anticipate this stalking approach in advance. As a result, when Zhang Liao came again, the Qingzhou soldiers were still To cope with slight deficiencies.

However, he already had experience before. Under the command of Yuan Tan, he deployed archers on the inner wall of the camp in advance, and easily blocked the attack of Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. Several rounds of arrows from far away continued to harass until dawn, and then they led the army away.

After these two nights of harassment, many Qingzhou soldiers had not had a good rest and their morale was low. Upon seeing this, Yuan Tan ordered the soldiers to rest for two more hours before breaking camp and setting off.

On the night of the third day, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang came again. This was the last night before the Qingzhou soldiers came to Dongwu. The two men in the station harassed them with great force, but Yuan Tan was already used to it, so he asked some soldiers to defend , others are still resting and conserving their energy.

On normal days, these soldiers would have been able to rest well, but after three nights, they knew that the other side could not rush in. At that moment, everyone was shouting to kill, so they rested peacefully for half a night.

Zhang Liao and Xu Huang returned to Dongwu and reported to Yuan Xi. The two explained the situation in detail and said: "The general has tried his best, but there is no leakage on the other side. I am afraid that I will take this rest to regain a lot of energy."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said: "It doesn't matter. The two generals will go back to rest first and look at the sun. The other side will arrive in the afternoon. There is a possibility of starting a war immediately. The role of the two generals will be extremely important by then. Recuperate your energy beforehand. For the best."

After the two people left, Zhuge Liang said: "If the opponent is approaching, should we focus on attacking, or should we focus on defense?"

Yuan Xi said aloud: "What do the military advisors think?"

Zhuge Liang said: "If I were on the opposite side, compared to the main city that is difficult to capture in one fell swoop, there would be a high chance that he would choose two relatively easy secondary cities."

"If we can defeat it, it will not only boost morale, but also put Tobu under siege."

"And this move can also force us to go out of the city to fight. The losses will be much smaller than simply attacking the city."

"So when we meet at the beginning, it is destined to be a head-on confrontation."

"And there's a good chance the war will begin today."

Yuan Xi said: "It's okay, the battlefield is ultimately a process of wrestling."

"Let the soldiers be ready for battle at any time now!"

As Zhuge Liang expected, after Yuan Tan's army marched for more than ten miles, they did not choose to set up a camp. Instead, at noon, they launched a brazen attack on the sub-city to the north of Dongwu!

Zhang Xun was in charge of the city's defense. When he saw the dark army coming outside the city, he thought that the other side would seize the opportunity. Last night, Yuan Xijun's knights attacked all night long, and obviously did not get enough rest. Yuan Tanjun saw this. At one o'clock, the war started!

Zhang Xun shouted loudly and asked the soldiers to roll out the defensive equipment and place them behind the city wall one by one, waiting for the Qingzhou soldiers' first attack.

As for asking Yuan Xi for help, there was no need for him to do so. He could see it from more than ten miles away. Yuan Xi had his own ideas. What Zhang Xun had to do now was to defend the city.

Yuan Tan looked at the small sub-city a few miles away and began to mobilize his troops and generals to divide and encircle it, and at the same time cut off the passage between the sub-city and the main city.

As the Qingzhou soldiers arranged their formations in an orderly manner, the Jianghuai soldiers defending on the top of the city wall also became nervous. Most of them had followed Yuan Shu before. They won less battles and lost more. They lacked confidence. After surrendering to Yuan Xi, although they fought Two battles were won, but both were mainly based on support, but they had never encountered a situation where they had to fight with less and more, and I was even more panicked.

The leaders of the Youzhou soldiers who were fighting in the melee saw each other and ordered the soldiers to stay calm. At the same time, they gave words of encouragement, because these people had taken the lead in the battle of Wancheng and established a high prestige. With their words, the morale of the soldiers gradually stabilized. Come down.

Zhang Xun saw this and nodded slightly. Transforming soldiers mainly involves transforming their morale and discipline, so that they can transform from a defeated army to a victorious division. During this period, many things may need to be done, but now it seems that Yuan Xi's The approach has yielded very good results.

He stood at the top of the city and watched the black Qingzhou soldiers swarming up. He pulled out his Huanshou sword, raised it high, and shouted: "Defend this city to the death. I, Zhang Xun, will advance and retreat with you!"

The shouts of soldiers on both sides rang out, and then the sky was covered by overwhelming flying rocks and arrows.

Yuan Xi stood at the top of Dongwu City with a telescope, looked in the direction of Zhang Xun, and said to Zhuge Liang: "We really started fighting as soon as we arrived, without saying a word."

"And the total number of troops is probably at least 40,000 to 50,000."

Zhuge Liang's face was a little solemn, "This is indeed a good time. The cavalry of Generals Zhang and Xu have not yet recovered."

While he was talking, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang hurried to the top of the city and said to Yuan Xi: "The general is late in taking orders. Please give me the order to let us go to battle!"

Yuan Xi said: "Don't worry, let's take a rest first."

"I want the infantry to go out and test it out."

He said a few words to Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang asked someone to pass on the order. At that moment, there was an infantry waiting behind the city gate. Following its leader, he opened the city gate and rushed towards Yuan Tan's main formation.

Taishan thief Changxi.

(End of this chapter)