Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 858 Looking for a way out

Facing Yuan Xi's question, Zhuge Liang thought for a long time before speaking out: "The situation has changed. Yuan Tan is about to die. Qinghe County is occupied by Cao Cao. The top priority is to prevent him from attacking Anping County and cutting off our retreat."

"I know that the envoy wants to meet the people in Yecheng, but Yecheng is besieged by water, and it is useless if there are too many people there. You can have someone lead an army to open the passage from Yecheng to Anping, and at the same time send an army to release Between Yecheng and Qinghe, to prevent Cao's army from merging and raiding Yecheng, it would be safe for the lord to stay here."

Yuan Xi asked: "If we divide our troops like this, will Cao's army defeat them individually?"

Zhuge Liang said: "Yes."

Yuan Xi was startled, but then he understood, "You mean, you deliberately exposed your flaws?"

Zhuge Liang said: "Yes, if it looks like everything is done perfectly, Cao Cao will not take the initiative to attack because of his caution."

"The opponent is immobile and has a tight defense, so it will be difficult to find loopholes."

"Only when we seem to have weaknesses to exploit will we let the other side take action. As long as we let go, we will inevitably find opportunities to take advantage of."

Yuan Xi understood that this was a tactic to lure the enemy, to lure Cao Cao into attacking, and then strike later!

Zhuge Liang said: "Calculating the time, the secret agents we laid down earlier have already marched towards Anping. As long as we attract Cao's army here for half a month, we can lure Cao's army to besiege the city, and then we will have the opportunity to counterattack."

Zhuge Liang said: "My lord, there is no need to take risks. Isn't there a substitute for my lord in Jicheng? Just ask him to come, and Liang will defend the city."

The judge sighed: "The news is conclusive. Someone saw Cao Cao's head hanging at the gate of his camp."

Yuan Xi shook his head and said: "The substitute should be useless. Cao Cao has already been fooled once, how could he be fooled again?"

"What's more, if the military commander is forced to walk in dangerous situations, as the coach, wouldn't it be like running away from the battlefield?"

As the houses in the city were demolished and scattered, the water near the city gate was filled with wooden rafts, and the day of the breakout was getting closer, Yuan Shang and his counselors finally got the news coming from outside the city.

"I will accompany the military advisor, that's it."

When Zhuge Liang saw that Yuan Xi had made up his mind, he felt a little moved. He bowed and said, "Liang will do his best to keep our lord safe."

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "But, the bait is myself, right?"

Moreover, when Yuan Shang asked the young and old of Yecheng to leave the city, many smart people had already asked their families to leave with a lot of money. Now, as long as they enter Youzhou alive, they can still rely on this money to make a comeback.

Because among the three routes, Yuan Xi has the greatest temptation for Cao Cao. As long as Yuan Xi is killed, Cao Cao will seize the Central Plains just around the corner, so he will never let go of this opportunity!

Yuan Shang and the counselors in Yecheng naturally knew their intention, but they had to choose this path because the disease had already infected more than half of the people in the city. If they didn't leave, they were afraid that everyone would die in the city!

At that moment, Zhang Liao led his troops to rescue Yuan Shang's army who had broken out of Yecheng. Xu Huang led his troops south to block the main road between Yecheng and Qinghe. Yuan Xi led Taishi Citian Yu to defend the city, preparing to confront Cao Cao head-on.

Yuan Xi is actually much more confident than Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang may not understand yet, but even Zhuge Liang doesn't know the value of Yuan Xi's generals and counselors. Among them, I am also one of the most powerful ones.

This naturally includes a series of things that happened in Qinghe. After hearing the news of Yuan Tan's death from the judge, Yuan Shangyou couldn't believe it and asked doubtfully: "Brother died like this?"

For a time, almost all the houses in the city that had not been submerged in the water were demolished. Many wealthy families cried and cried when they saw the mansions they had worked so hard to build. But now they have no choice. After all, no matter how much money they have, , It’s useless without the life flower.

Sure enough, the two groups of Cao troops began to mobilize.

Along the way, Xiahou Dun slightly relaxed the siege of Yecheng, and at the same time opened up the passage from Yecheng to Anping, clearly to lure the people of Yecheng to break out of the siege.

But if they knew that Yuan Xiyan was good at plucking hair, they should have understood that the money would probably have to be spent in Youzhou, but that was all for another time. What they were most worried about now was how to get Cao Jun outside the city. Surrounded by eager tigers, escape alive.

"Is he the kind of person who doesn't know how to advance or retreat?"

So Yuan Shang ordered Shen Pei to gather the remaining soldiers and civilians in the city, demolish the houses, remove the beams, and tie them into wooden rafts for use when breaking out.

Although Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun and others in this life are still young and have far less experience than they did at their peak in later generations, the generals and counselors on Cao Ying's side are not perfect either. The generals on his side can stand alone if they are blocked. If you haven't lived with Cao Cao, then you don't have to mess around.

Yuan Shang was very unhappy after hearing this, "Although I did something wrong, my brother, Cao Cao did this and really ruined my Yuan family's face!"

Shen Pei sighed: "In any case, there is no one left to compete with Shijun for the head of the Yuan family."

"But I heard that Yuan Yao was also killed. His assassination of the envoy can be regarded as an execution."

Yuan Shang felt relieved after hearing this, but then he smiled bitterly and said, "It's useless to talk about this now."

"I am already dead, and the city of Ye has been lost. The head of the Yuan family exists in name only. I am really ashamed of my father."

Shen Pei also wanted to say a few words of comfort, but he couldn't find the words for the moment, so he could only say in a low voice: "Jian Junji has his own destiny. After escaping, he will find a doctor and he will definitely be able to cure his injury."

Yuan Shang shook his head slightly. He knew his physical condition better than anyone else. Over the past few days, his body had been feverish. He didn't know whether the wound had worsened or he was infected with the disease, but now he barely had the strength to stand up.

He said aloud: "Excuse me, sir, to arrange everything, and we will break out at nightfall tomorrow."

Shen Pei followed the order and left. Yuan Shang reluctantly sat up. There was a faint stench wafting next to his nose. Yuan Shang could not tell whether the smell was coming from the corpses floating in the city outside or from his own body. He laughed at himself. He and Yuan Tan had been fighting for so long, and both sides used all possible means. Yuan Tan had done a lot of dirty things to him, but the irony was that he died before him. It was really unpredictable.

And even if he could escape from Yecheng, he would probably only have a few days to live. But in the end, the winner in the end was the second brother?

He sighed, feeling dizzy and trembling, and then fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up again, he saw Hong waiting uneasily aside. Someone seemed to be talking outside the house. He turned his head and looked out the window, only to find that the sun was about to set.

He was surprised: "I actually slept for nearly a whole day?"

Hong said loudly: "My husband has been sleeping for two days."

"What!" Yuan Shang was shocked, and immediately realized that his body was extremely weak, knowing that it was caused by not eating, "How could this happen?"

Hong said solemnly: "My husband's body is showing abnormality. The doctor came to see it and said that it is most likely that he was infected with an epidemic."

Yuan Shang didn't react much after hearing this. He had too many debts and was about to die, so he didn't care about the epidemic.

But then he remembered something, "Did you originally plan to break out tonight?"

Hong said hurriedly: "This is indeed the case, but my husband is in a coma and the counselors dare not make any decisions. They are all waiting outside the door now."

Yuan Shang heard this and said, "Call Shen Pei to come in."

Outside the house, the judge saw Hong calling and hurried in. Although he knew that Yuan Shang was infected with the epidemic, he couldn't care less at this time. Since Yuan Shang had already fallen ill, he probably couldn't escape either. It was just a matter of time. That’s all.

As soon as he entered, Yuan Shang asked, "How is it outside the city?"

Shen Pei said: "There are almost no Cao soldiers outside the north gate, but there should be an ambush."

"But the situation in other directions is even worse."

After hearing this, Yuan Shang said decisively: "Immediately issue an order and the equipment will be discharged from the city on wooden boats from outside the north gate."

"Everyone should leave, as many as they can. Leave those who can't move alone. I can't care about it at this time."

Shen Pei quickly accepted the order and said: "When the leading soldiers repel the enemy, you will escort the envoy out of the city."

Yuan Shang suddenly remembered that he was also a person who could not move. He felt ironic and could only say: "In that case, Mr. Lao is here for you."

As night fell, the remaining Jizhou soldiers, led by Zhang He, Chunyu Qiong and others, began to move towards the north gate.

They rode on a wooden raft and approached the city gate, which was mostly submerged in water, and tried to open the latch of the city gate.

The soldiers tied their bodies with ropes and dived into the turbid water. They tried their best to push the door latch, but found that the city gate did not open as expected.

After careful inspection, they discovered that the bottom of the city gate, which was soaked in the water, had long been blocked by silt. Now it was so tightly blocked that it was impossible to open the city gate in the water!

Zhang He had to urgently mobilize soldiers who were good at water and dived into the water with shovels to dig out the mud, but with little success. On the one hand, the water was mixed with too much dirt. Not only was it disgusting, but the sight was also unclear. The soldiers dived in After a while, it couldn't bear it anymore and floated up, making it impossible to clean up the mud quickly.

However, the city gate was thick, and the gates all opened outwards. There was more silt outside the city. In addition to pushing it open, with the current methods in the city, it was impossible to open the passage by destroying the city gate. Everyone was helpless for a while.

Zhang He saw that this was originally a means of blocking foreign enemies, but now it had become a roadblock to escape. He couldn't help but feel depressed. This water attack was too disgusting!

And the key point is that there is more than one city gate, and there are two outside. Even if you try to open the city gate, the next two gates will take a lot of time!

He thought about it, but could only think of one way, but he couldn't make a decision, so he had to go to Shen Pei. After Tian Feng and others came over, they listened to Zhang He's suggestion. Shen Pei was still hesitant, and Tian Feng said: "This is the only thing I can think of."

"do it."

Shen Pei said: "Do you want to ask the envoy?"

Tian Feng said: "When did Zhengnan hesitate so much? He is about to abandon the city. Do you still care about this?"

"If you don't dare to take the responsibility, I will do it."

After hearing this, the judge said, "I understand, let's do it."

After hearing this, Zhang He gave the order, and the soldiers began to climb up the city wall, holding various tools, digging and demolishing, and began to excavate the brick ground on the city wall.

Since the city gate cannot be opened, the only option is to demolish the city wall.

(End of this chapter)