Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 853: Arrange a retreat

Yuan Shang was lying in the house, his chest rising and falling slightly, he was already dying and was about to die.

Over the past month or so, his health has been deteriorating. News of the epidemic spreading in the city had reached his ears a few days ago, but out of luck, he didn't pay too much attention. Because he has no way to deal with it now.

In Yuan Xi's previous letter, he also warned Yuan Shang to be careful about possible epidemics after the city was flooded, and also suggested that if nothing could be done, he could abandon Yecheng and retreat to Anping in the north to regroup.

There was a sentence at the end of the letter that said, if you save the land and lose the people, you will lose both the people and the land; if you save the people and lose the land, you will save the people and the land. These words were quite appreciated by Tian Feng and several counselors, but after Yuan Shang thought about it again and again, he decided to try to defend the city.

As a result, Cao Cao's two unexpected water attacks prevented Yuan Shang from advancing or retreating, so he could only hold on in the city. Now the epidemic broke out rapidly, and many soldiers and civilians fell. If this continues, there will be no soldiers in the city within ten days. Can stand!

Regarding how to solve the current predicament, the counselors were divided into two groups. One group believed that they should try to break out of the encirclement and go to Anping County to regroup and gather soldiers for defense.

The other group believes that although Cao Jun attacked the city with water, it was difficult for them to enter the city. Cao Jun's dozens of large and small warships had previously tried to board the city, but Cao Jun was not good at water warfare and lacked the means to attack the city, so they were all defeated by Chun Yu. Qiong, Zhang He and others led troops to fight back.

Therefore, the counselors believe that the current plan of Cao Jun is to besiege Yecheng and kill all the people in the city. At this time, when breaking out of the siege, the soldiers can only use driftwood to swim across. If this happens in the hands of Cao Jun, what will happen? Didn't you just throw yourself into a trap?

Moreover, this faction also vaguely hinted that even if they go to Anping County, Yuan Shang's body may not be able to last for long. If he is healthy, troops from all over Jizhou can be mobilized to respond. However, Yuan Shang is now seriously injured and dying. After learning the truth , will only accelerate the collapse of Jizhou.

Although the former group is quite resistant to this view, they have to admit that a large part of the Jizhou Army's current military morale is due to Yuan Shang's physical condition.

Yuan Shang felt tired and said, "Everyone, please go out, I want to rest."

After everyone heard this, they hurriedly persuaded Mrs. Liu who was still distressed to go out. Yuan Shang lay down and looked at the roof. After a while, he slowly sat up.

The judge, Tian Feng, and others quickly knelt down, kowtowed deeply, and said with tears in their eyes: "Please rest assured, we are loyal to the Yuan family!"

He tried several times, but couldn't straighten up. Seeing the Hong family outside the house, he quickly came in to persuade: "My husband is lying down to take care of himself. If anything happens, I'll come."

But it is precisely because of this that the fact that Yuan Shang's life is not long made them sad. They were about to lose a qualified lord, but they did not cherish it before and felt that they had great advantages, so they kept fighting among themselves out of various selfish desires. When they were about to lose When all this happened, I realized it was too late.

What's even worse is that Yuan Shang has no heirs!

"Why didn't you listen to my mother? Did you let me collect the body for you? This is unfilial!"

Everyone was stunned and looked at Yuan Shang in disbelief, but saw him slowly saying: "I don't have much time left, why should I run away?"

These two decisions are actually quite correct and can be said to be the best choice at the moment. However, after the counselors heard about it, their first reaction was not joy, but desolation and loss.

"It's difficult to break out of the city. The road is bumpy. I'm afraid I'll die before I get there."

"You don't need to worry about me. Each of you can do your own thing. Just take all the Yuan family members out."

Yuan Shang lay on the couch and tried his best to open his mouth, explaining various matters to everyone one by one. Shen Pei said in a voice: "I will try my best to build a ship and send you out first."

Everyone was silent, and Mrs. Liu started to cry, "Shang'er, are you going to abandon my mother?"

If Yuan Shang dies, who should everyone be loyal to?

The dispute between the two factions continued, and more and more people fell ill in the city, especially generals such as Gao Lan who had been injured and were already weak. They also fell one after another. Yuan Shang realized that no matter which path he chose, there would be no left in Yecheng. Of these people, it would be good if one or two out of ten could survive. After a while, none of them would be able to escape.

"This is the place where my father died. I have not fulfilled my father's will, so I can only live and die with this city."

So he summoned his important subordinates and Yuan clan members and announced two pieces of news.

Yuan Shang shook his head and said to Shen Pei and others: "Everything will be done for you."

They are not dissatisfied with Yuan Shang, but very satisfied. If given time, they may not be able to reach the height of Yuan Shao.

One is to collect as much firewood as possible in the city and build a floating fence. At the same time, those who are still able to move in the city will break out of the siege and go north from Wei County to Anping County. At the same time, they will send a letter to Jizhou Army and Yuan Xi Army to meet them.

The other one is to find a young boy among the Yuan family's children and adopt him as his heir.

Yuan Shang shook his head and said, "I won't leave."

Yuan Shang said in a deep voice: "Help me go to the table and grind the ink."

Hong didn't dare to disobey, so she helped Yuan Shang lie down, took out the pine ink and started grinding it.

Yuan Shang took out a piece of silk, lifted the brush with trembling hands, and wrote lines of writing on it crookedly.

He wrote very quickly and sloppily, and Hong did not dare to look up to see what he had written. After a while, Yuan Shang put down his pen, rolled the silk into a roll, and sealed it in a bamboo tube.

He applied fire paint, heated it on a lamp, stamped it with a seal, and then handed it over to Hong, saying, "If you can get out of the city and be saved, give it to your second brother."

Hong quickly said: "I stay here with my husband." Yuan Shang became irritated, "I told you to do whatever you want. Why are you asking for a beating after talking so much nonsense?"

"Put it away and get out!"

Hong quickly took the bamboo tube, lowered his head and retreated. When he was approaching the door, Yuan Shang said, "After I die, I won't be able to control you anymore."

"I don't care who you take refuge in the future, but you must take good care of the adopted child."

Hong quickly responded, but when Yuan Shang saw him standing still, he shouted: "You've finished talking, what are you still standing there for?"

"Come on, don't be an eyesore here!"

The news that Yuan Shang was preparing to break out was learned by all parties a few days later.

Most of the Wei County south of Yecheng was occupied by Cao's army. Now in Cao Cao's military camp, Cao Cao was personally in charge, and his counselors were all gathered together, and almost all of them rushed to the camp.

One of them was Xu You, who had no choice but to come over. He was sitting at the bottom, watching everyone talking and laughing happily, feeling out of place, and couldn't help but think of the scene where he had come here earlier.

When he first came over, Cao Cao was extremely happy. He took Xu You's hand and said, "I've been looking forward to this for a long time!"

"I think back when we, Yuan Benchu ​​and I, knew each other when we were young. We were both people with great ambitions and determined to change the world. However, Yuan Benchu ​​took the wrong path and unfortunately passed away. Now that I have a son to help me from afar, why worry about not being able to achieve great things?"

Xu You had a bitter look on his face, "The person I am now is no longer the person I was back then. I have long lost my ambitions. I just want to be a pawn under Ming Gong's tent and live out the rest of my life."

Cao Cao laughed even more after hearing this, "Ziyuan, this is not like you. Back then, you had much greater ambitions than me and Benchu!"

"Don't worry, when you come to my side, you won't be tied up like Yuan Benchu's subordinates. I will definitely give Ziyuan a chance to make contributions!"

Xu You quickly thanked him and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Ming!"

Cao Cao pulled Xu You into his tent and asked about things in Yecheng. Xu You answered them one by one. When he encountered the defense arrangements, he was confused and perfunctory. After Cao Cao finished asking, he smiled at Xu You and said, "Yes." If you are far away, why worry about Yecheng not being destroyed?"

"Let's have a good rest these days!"

Xu You thanked him immediately, said goodbye and left, but he didn't know that after he left, Cao Cao's face darkened.

Regarding the number of defenses in the city, what Xu You said was quite different from what his subordinates had inquired about. Was it because he didn't know how to pretend to know how to deal with himself, or did he have some other purpose?

He thought for a moment, called Xu Chu, and said, "Send two people to keep an eye on Xu You."

Now Xu You was sitting at the bottom without a trace. News came from Yecheng that the epidemic inside was very serious. Yecheng could no longer support it, so he began to plan a breakout. How could Cao Jun miss this opportunity?

If the Jizhou army wants to escape, they have only one choice, which is to go north, and in all likelihood they will ask Yuan Xi for help. In this case, Cao Jun's plan will turn to how to use this opportunity to defeat Yuan Xi.

Cheng Yu first proposed a strategy to drive away tigers and devour wolves. He suggested that Cao Cao order Yuan Tan of Qinghe County to send troops to attack Yuan Xi. This order seemed to be reasonable, after all, he was the one closest to Anping County.

If the two of them fight, Cao Jun will definitely reap the benefits!

Chen Qun proposed a two-pronged attack plan. Yuan Tan used the east road to contain Yuan Xi who was attacking Anping County. Cao Jun took the opportunity to go north from the Heishan area to the west of Ye City, circled to the north of Ye City, and attacked the Jizhou Army that escaped from Ye City. Attack the flanks of Yuan Xi's army, attack from both sides with Yuan Tan, and completely defeat Yuan Xi. If the plan succeeds, Cao's army will be able to capture all of Jizhou, and even push it into Youzhou.

But Xun You had a different opinion.

He said aloud: "If we march from the west, we will inevitably approach Black Mountain. The enemy's movements there are unknown. Zhao Yun has been harassing Huaicheng in it before, but if we approach our side."

As soon as these words came out, all the generals and counselors in Cao's camp looked unhappy. Xun You made it clear that he had no confidence in everyone to resist Zhao Yun, but this was also true. This was the reason why it was difficult for everyone to make a decision.

Xun You continued: "Instead of choosing the left path, why not go to the right path?"

Chen Qun came to his senses, "What do you mean Gongda, we should follow Yuan Tan?"

Xun You spoke up: "The overall situation in Yecheng has been decided. The key is to defeat the fierce tiger and weaken its strength as much as possible."

"The biggest variable now is Yuan Tan."

"This person is capricious and cunning. If he knows that we are using him to attack the ferocious tiger, he may not turn back and betray us."

"So we must keep an eye on him. If he really has this idea, we must strike first!"

Xun You's strategy is obviously more reliable. On the one hand, everyone does not want to face Zhao Yun. On the other hand, Yuan Tan is obviously not a fool. He was tricked once. It is difficult to say that he will obey and be cannon fodder this time. Cao Cao's style is to nip the problem in the bud. , he can trick Yuan Tan once, and he can trick Yuan Tan a second time.

As for allies, Yuan Tan has already lost this qualification. If Cao Cao wants to unify the Central Plains in the future, how can he have a place?

(End of this chapter)