Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 846 Go straight to the hinterland

After hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Yuan Xi hesitated and asked, "Is this too late?"

"Can we march and inquire about the news at the same time?"

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "My lord, you should understand that Cao's army is best at laying ambushes around the city and then attacking the reinforcements."

"It used Yecheng to mobilize enemy troops and horses several times to gain the upper hand. If it continues to be led by the nose, the situation will only become more and more passive."

Yuan Xi sighed: "I don't want to either, but if he gets Yecheng, there will be another nail in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and I may be troubled for many years to come."

Zhuge Liang said: "Ye City is important, but it is just a city."

"If Cao Cao can defeat him, why can't we defeat him?"

"When the time comes, Liang will definitely try his best to obtain this city for the Lord."

"But this is not the best time. Qingzhou has not yet been decided, and the lord's territory has not yet been connected. If the fight for Yecheng fails at this time, and Cao Cao takes the opportunity to invade Qingzhou, Xuzhou, how should the lord respond?"

"Besides, I can be sure that Cao Cao's infantry united with Yuan Tan is not at its full strength. There must be other ambushes near Taishan County, waiting for my lord to rush to Jizhou and then suddenly attack!"

After hearing what Zhuge Liang said, Yuan Xi could still think like this?

"Both of them are bound to win Yecheng. There will inevitably be discord when the time comes, and we will have an opportunity to take advantage of it."

"But before that, Yecheng cannot be saved and cannot be saved."

"In this way, it must also attach great importance to Langya County, which connects the two places. I am afraid that our plan to raid Xuzhou will fail."

Yuan Xi sighed: "Then Yuan Shang's side..."

Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "My lord has hit the mark, that's all we need."

Cao Cao made several predictions about the actions that Yuan Xi might take. If Yuan Xi's army rushed to Jizhou, Cao Cao's main force left in Taishan County would take advantage of the situation to attack Xuzhou and Qingzhou, leaving Yuan Xi with no time to take care of himself.

"Only by defeating it can we enter Jizhou with confidence."

Yuan Xi thought for a long time and sighed: "This is the only way."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Of course I will use a trick to force him out."

Of course, Chen Qun believed that it was also possible that Yuan Xi would sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight and reap the benefits. Now the situation is developing as he expected.

"But whether Yuan Shang will have the courage to abandon Yecheng is still unclear."

He said aloud: "Can the timing be so accurate?"

He knew that it was useless to worry about things that were beyond his own ability. If he could deceive Cao Cao, he had to work hard in advance. Cao Cao would only make mistakes if he felt that he had a chance to win and was overconfident.

"I have a plan, which I have sealed in my bag. If Yuan Shang can adopt it, it will definitely cause discord between Yuan, Tan, and Cao Cao's army."

After the news reached Taishan County, Cao Cao summoned his advisers and said: "The situation is exactly as what Chang Wen had imagined. Fierce Tiger chose a path to abandon Jizhou and focus on gaining Qingzhou."

Zhuge Liang said decisively: "You can send an urgent message. If nothing can be done, you can abandon the city and go northward and give it to Cao Cao and Yuan Tan."

Yuan Xi nodded, "I also guessed a little bit, so what should I do now?"

A few days later, Yuan Xi divided his troops in Qingzhou and began to occupy large cities in Beihai, Jinan Plain and other counties. At the same time, Donglai's navy also entered various ports to open up the sea route from Youzhou to Xuzhou.

Zhuge Liang said: "That's why we have to find out as much information as possible and make a decision before taking action."

Yuan Xi hesitated and said: "If we defeat Cao Cao's ambush, he will definitely be alert. How can there be internal fighting?"

Xun You said: "Zhang Wen is right. Fierce Tiger is indeed a man who sees profit and forgets his righteousness. Yuan Shang is in danger, but he refuses to save him. This shows that he is a hypocrite who talks about benevolence and righteousness."

Everyone agreed, but what they were actually thinking was, wouldn't the same thing happen to Cao Ying?

Earlier, Yuan Tanhe was attacked from both sides, so we didn't go to save him, right?

However, fighting for the world is like this. Whoever has the kindness of a woman will be unable to move forward, just like Liu Bei who led the people to flee.

Cao Cao said: "There is no need to belittle Fierce Tiger. He is the most difficult enemy I have ever encountered in my life. If Yuan Benzhu could have made him the head of the family, what would the Central Plains have to do with me now?"

"After Fierce Tiger took Qingzhou, he completely connected the territory. He may be our biggest enemy in the next ten years or even decades."

"You must not be careless."

A group of counselors and generals quickly accepted the order. Chen Qun said: "Then should we attack Xuzhou?"

Cao Cao said flatly: "Of course we will fight!"

"Not only must we fight, but we must fight with all our strength. If we fight, we will send troops from Qingzhou to come for reinforcements. This way, they will have no time to take care of themselves and cannot interfere with our capture of Jizhou!"

"I am going to attack Langya Qinghai with all my strength tomorrow, and let the troops in the Beihai Plain try to rescue them as much as possible, so that we can mobilize them and take the opportunity to return to Jizhou to make a final decision!"

All the counselors understood, and Xun You spoke up: "Ye City should have been flooded. It is not difficult to defeat it."

"According to the information from the spies, Yuan Tan marched very quickly and blocked Cao Renle's advance. It seems that he entered Yecheng first." "If he were to capture Yecheng, I'm afraid he would be ambitious and a greater threat than Yuan Shang. ,after……"

After hearing this, Cao Cao said to everyone, "What do you think?"

Cheng Yu spoke up: "Yuan Tan can't recognize himself and wants to compete with Duke Ming for Jizhou. Jizhou is not his family heritage, so why should he give it to him?"

"Jizhou cannot be in his hands, and we can rest assured that it is in our own hands."

"Yuan Tan has lost Qingzhou and is of no use to us."

All the counselors nodded. When Cao Cao saw it, he sighed: "At this stage, I don't want to fall out with him. However, he is always on guard against me. He repeated it several times. For the sake of my family and my life, I can only use This is the last resort.”

Xun You said: "Yuan Tan's soldiers are very powerful. It seems very difficult to defeat him while we are going to Yecheng."

Cao Cao smiled and said nothing. He had already had an idea in mind, and he also had backup plans in Yecheng.

But now is not the time to reveal the inside story, so he said: "First defeat Xuzhou, mobilize the fierce tiger army, and then talk about other things!"

The next day, Cao Cao's army entered Langya from Taishan County, attacking the city along the way, and ordered the massacre to be carried out when they descended from the city, continuing the unfinished work of the second massacre of Xuzhou.

Langya suddenly fell into chaos, and people fled one after another.

Although Langya in Taishan is two neighboring counties, the family relationship is complicated. Zangba Changxi has many clansmen in the two counties. Now seeing Langya being slaughtered, the Taishan bandit Zangba Changxi and others who were left in Langya by Yuan Xi heard the news. , hurriedly rushed out of the mountains to rescue, but were ambushed by Cao Cao's troops. They suffered heavy losses, were almost surrounded, and barely escaped.

In the end, Zang Hong, who was in the East China Sea, led his troops to come to the rescue urgently and temporarily stopped Cao's army's offensive. Only then did the Tibetan tyrant Chang Xi escape in embarrassment.

After the three met, they retreated to Donghai City to discuss matters. Changyun kept yelling at Cao Cao. Zangba advised: "If you can't beat him, you can't beat him. We are indeed inferior in skills. There is nothing to say."

Chang Xi said depressedly: "Are we just going to watch Cao Cao massacre the city?"

Zang Hong said: "Of course we can't wait, but now we can only send a letter to the lord for help."

All three of them felt that they were disgraced, especially Zangba Changxi. When Yuan Xi left, he vowed to hold Cao Cao back, but when the other party got serious, he turned out to be so difficult to deal with!

In Langya Pingchang, Yu Jin just led his troops to capture the city. As usual, he wanted to issue Cao Cao's order to massacre the city, but he hesitated several times and still couldn't make up his mind because this place was very close to his hometown, Taishan County, and there were many people of the same clan and clan. , do you really want to take action?

He hesitated for a long time, and finally made up his mind and at least went all the way to the camp to see Cao Cao.

When they arrived outside the tent, they saw Xu Chu and his men on duty outside the tent. Yu Jin stepped forward and cupped his hands and said, "General, is Mr. Ming here?"

Since Dian Wei's death, Xu Chu took Dian Wei's place as chief of the bodyguard because of his ability, meticulous thinking, and high martial arts skills. He was highly valued by Cao Cao, so Yu Jin did not dare to neglect him.

When Xu Chu saw it, he quickly returned the greeting and said, "It turns out to be General Yu. Ming Zheng is discussing matters with others. Is there an urgent military situation? Do you want me to go in and report it?"

Yu Jin was hesitant at first, but after hearing this, he said: "No hurry, I'll wait for a while."

He stood waiting outside the tent, looking up at the sky, and sighed when he thought about his situation.

Xu Chu and Yu Jin had a good relationship in private. Yu Jin hesitated for a moment and then told him about the massacre.

After hearing this, Xu Chu shook his head and said: "Brother Yu, if you don't mind, I'll say one more thing. I'm afraid it's useless to say this kind of thing, and it will also put brother in an embarrassing situation."

Yu Jin sighed: "I know, but Taishan County is my hometown, and such dead people..."

Xu Chu listened and sneered: "Brother is really confused. When it comes to hometown, who can compare to that one?"

"How about Dong'a?"

"Since we are serving Duke Ming, we must be loyal and righteous. Brother, can you listen? Chu will say this."

After hearing this, Yu Jin gritted his teeth and said, "I still want to give it a try."

Xu Chujian shook his head disapprovingly and thought to himself, I have followed Ming Gong for a few months and I have figured out his temper. You have followed me for so many years, what are you still expecting?

Not long after, Xun You and others walked out of the tent. Seeing that there was no one inside, Xu Chu went in and passed the news, and Yu Jin was brought in.

The conversation inside didn't last long, just a cup of tea and ten minutes, when Xu Chu saw Yu Jin walking out in despair, without even saying hello to himself, and headed towards Pingchang City.

Looking at Yu Jin's lonely figure, Xu Chu shook his head, thinking why bother.

On that day, Cao's army massacred and looted the city of Pingchang, and the people wailed loudly for three days.

The news that Cao Cao's army had invaded Langya, Xuzhou and started massacring the city soon spread to the plains. Yuan Xi gritted his teeth and said, "Cao Cao has indeed attacked Xuzhou, and he is massacring the city again."

Zhuge Liang couldn't hide the anger on his face, "So Cao Cao must not be kept!"

"However, Zang Hong and the others still cannot stop them. Cao's army's combat power cannot be underestimated."

"Fortunately, I have left General Taishi to deal with it before, but this hidden move cannot be exposed in advance, so Qingzhou's troops to return reinforcements still have to be sent."

"And the weapons and armor cannot be too bad, and the number cannot be too small. The generals leading the army must also have names, otherwise they will not be able to deceive Cao Cao."

(End of this chapter)