Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 99 The time is ripe
"drink!"

With a roar, Yu Jin slashed at the neck of the opposite soldier.

The enemy soldier clutched his neck and staggered back, blood sprayed from his fingers, reminding Yu Jin of the scene when he killed a chicken when he was a child.

The soldier staggered and fell to the ground.

Yu Jin raised the ring head knife in his hand. It was already chipped and mottled, and it was almost useless. The knife just now was almost a wound made by pure force.

He stood on the top of the city and looked around. Almost all the Xuzhou soldiers had been killed, and the soldiers of Cao Jun had already climbed up one after another behind him.

The soldiers turned down the city wall, hacked to death the last few soldiers guarding the city gate, and pulled the city gate open.

"The city is broken!"

The soldiers of Cao Jun shouted loudly and poured into the city like a tide.

Sitting on the top of the city, Yu Jin watched the fireworks in the city, and the cries and screams were heard endlessly, and suddenly felt a little bit less interested.

When Bao Xin, Prime Minister of Jinbei, was alive, it was obviously not like this.

Yu Jin used to be Bao Xin's subordinate. Bao Xin was from Yangping, Taishan County, and Yu Jin was from Jiping, Taishan County. The distance between the two places was not more than a hundred miles.

In the first year of Zhongping (AD 184), during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Bao Xin recruited Yu Jin to fight against the Yellow Turban together.

From then on, Yu Jin followed Bao Xin until the third year of Chuping (192 AD), when Bao Xin died in battle to save Cao Cao.

From then on, Yu Jin was recommended to Cao Cao and worshiped as the Sima of the army. After attacking Xuzhou in the fourth year of Chuping, he was worshiped as the captain of Chen Chen.

Yu Jin knew that Cao Cao was kind to him, but this attack on Taishan County made Yu Jin very troubled.

Yu Jin was still a little dazed when he saw his fellow Qingzhou soldiers slashing at the civilians in his hometown with their knives.

He stood up, watched the people in the city flee in all directions, and sighed, feeling tiredness suddenly invaded his body.

He looked back at Cao Jun's camp. Inside, Cao Jun saw that Hua County had been broken, and the camp was wide open. Several army horses that had previously attacked the city and retreated came out. It seemed that they were about to slaughter the city.

Yu Jin shook his head, and was waiting to go down to the city, but he heard the sound of Ming Jin retreating from the camp!

Several troops retreated immediately, and Yu Jin quickly let the guards enter the city, and ordered the sergeants to hunt down the enemy first, and postpone the massacre of the city.

He wondered, what happened?
After a while, a fast horse galloped out of the camp and sent an order to go back to the camp quickly.

When it was equal to rushing to Cao Cao's big tent, he found that almost all the counselors and generals were there, and the atmosphere was extremely dignified.

Cao Cao sat at the head with a gloomy face, and the copper plates and wine vessels on the table in front of him were all swept away by him, and everyone looked panic-stricken.

At this moment, one person spoke.

Hearing Xi Zhicai's voice, everyone in the tent explained with a sigh of relief.

He said, "Master Ming, don't worry, there is still room for redemption."

"Now Wenruo (Xun Yu) is guarding Juancheng, the governing seat of Yanzhou, Zhongde (Cheng Yu) has rushed to Dong Afan County, and Yuan Rang (Xiahou Dun) has returned from Dongjun to help Juancheng."

"If these three places are not lost, the Duke of Ming can quickly summon General Zixiao (Cao Ren) who is still in Jimo to go south to join forces, rush back to Yanzhou, and quickly put down the rebellion."

Only then did Yu Jin understand, what happened to Yanzhou?
And with Ting Xi Zhicai's tone, except for the three cities, have all the other cities been lost?
He was puzzled, didn't the Yanzhou gentry all support Duke Ming?

Cao Chun said: "This urgent report must be wrong!"

"Chenliu prefect Zhang Miao, how could he betray Duke Ming!"

Yu Jin was surprised, Zhang Miao also betrayed?
how can that be!

Logically speaking, even if he rebelled, Zhang Miao would not be able to rebel!

Zhang Miao, one of the Eight Master Cooks, was born in Shouzhang, Taishan County, and also Bao Xinyujin's fellow villager.

He had always been on good terms with Cao Cao, but also had a rift with Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao asked Cao Cao to kill Zhang Miao, but Cao Cao did not obey, but turned against Yuan Shao.

And when he attacked Xuzhou last year, Cao Cao entrusted his wives to Zhang Miao before leaving.

With such a relationship between the two, how could Zhang Miao betray Cao Cao?
When Yu Jin heard the news, his first reaction was, absolutely impossible!
However, Yu Jin looked at the reactions of everyone in the account, and the news should be true, otherwise Cao Cao would not have lost his composure.

He suddenly remembered the rumors about Duke Ming, and felt quite ironic.

Pei Annotated "Sun Sheng Miscellaneous Notes": Taizu heard the sound of his food utensils, thought it was for himself, and killed him at night.Then he said sadly, "I would rather bear others than others!" He went on.

Now Duke Ming has also been blamed.

Xia Houyuan shook his head and sighed, "That's all for Meng Zhuo, what happened to Gongtai (Chen Gong)?"

Yu Jin was stunned, Chen Gong also betrayed?

That's the confidant who has been following Minggong since he started his army, what's going on?

Xi Zhicai looked serious, "Gongtai is a big trouble, and the key should be Wen Hou."

As the crowd began to talk about it, Yu Jin finally understood what happened in Yanzhou.

Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, and Chen Gong, a counselor under Cao Cao's tent, welcomed Lu Bu, the Marquis of Wen, and the gentry in Yanzhou responded. Now there are only three cities left that have not rebelled!
A sentence appeared in Yu Jin's mind, success is also a nobleman, and defeat is also a nobleman!

Cao Cao's military generals belonged to the Qiaoxian Group, and the civil service system was to the Yingchuan Group. The Yanzhou gentry didn't take advantage of it at all, and they would definitely be dissatisfied.

The Yanzhou gentry supported Cao Cao a few years ago as Yanzhou Shepherd, but now they have betrayed Cao Cao and supported Lu Bu!

This time, Cao Cao fell into an extremely disadvantageous situation!
Cao Cao can definitely figure out what Yu Jin himself can figure out. The key is that the cake is not enough.

Yu Jin had another thought that he dared not utter.

Cao Cao killed Bian Rang, a famous scholar from Chenliu, and took his wife Mrs. Huan as his concubine, which probably aroused public outrage among the scholars in Yanzhou.

"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" - "Kill him when he hears about it, and his wife". (It is not a verb here, meaning to incorporate.)
The current situation is that Cao Cao's army is running out of food, Tian Kai of Qingzhou in the north led troops to rescue Tao Qian, Liu Bei led troops in Tancheng of Xuzhou in the east to defend, and Lu Bu and Chen Gong watched from behind.

Enemies on three sides!

No, there is also Yuan Shu in Yuzhou to the south.

Besieged on all sides!

Now the only safe passage left for Cao Cao's army is Jizhou to the northwest, but in this way, isn't it just that they can only rely on Yuan Shao and be subordinated to others?

Cao Cao knocked on the table and said with a sneer, "Benchu ​​is well informed. This urgent letter from Lu Bu to rebel and Benchu's letter urging me to take refuge almost arrived at the same time!"

Xi Zhicai sighed inwardly, Yuan Shao's choice of this opportunity was extremely vicious.

Although Yuan Shao should not be behind the Yanzhou Rebellion, he must have heard some rumors, but he did not inform Duke Ming in advance.

If at this time Ming Gong is in a desperate situation, it can actually inspire the morale of the whole team to fight to the death and open a path, which is still very sure.

At this time, Yuan Shao gave Cao Cao a safe retreat, and his morale dropped a lot.

Since there is a way out, who dares to go all out?
This timing was chosen too well, Yuan Shao's side, there are masters planning!
Thinking of this, Xi Zhi was terrified, and said in a deep voice, "The contents of Yuan Zhoumu's letter must not be spread out!"

Only then did the crowd come to their senses and kept silent. Cao Cao nodded with a sullen face, "As Zhicai said, those who lie and retreat will be killed without mercy!"

Cao Ren stood up and said, "Duke Ming, we should make a decision early. If the enemies from all directions encircle us, our army will be in danger."

Everyone nodded and looked at Xi Zhicai.

Xi Zhicai said, "Xuzhou is not a place that can be conquered in the short term."

"What's more, the people of Xuzhou are quite hostile to our army. Even if they are defeated, they may not be able to defend."

Everyone thought about the massacre of the city, and thought that this time they really shot themselves in the foot.

"The current plan," Xi Zhicai said, "Yanzhou rebelled, but the rebels from all over the country should not have a firm foothold. Now they rush back quickly, ignore the three counties of Jibei Dongping Rencheng, and directly enter Jiyin County to solve the Jiyin administration. The siege of Juancheng is the best policy!"

Everyone just woke up like a dream. Juancheng is where the family members of Cao Jun's soldiers are located. If it is lost, everyone will panic, there will be a large number of deserters, and the morale will be low. Cao Jun will collapse without fighting, and there will be no need to fight. !
Cao Cao listened and praised: "Zhicai is indeed my thigh!"

He suddenly stood up: "The whole army pulled out the camp and rushed back to Juancheng at full speed!"

One after another, armies rushed out of Cao Jun's camp like long dragons, leaving Taishan County and heading for Jibei County.

After Yu Jin was in charge, he gathered the soldiers in Hua County and returned. Most of the soldiers under his command were aggrieved and cursed in a low voice.

After finally conquering the city, they gave up before they had time to slaughter and loot the city?
Yu Jin also knew that this move would have a great impact on morale, but for some reason, he felt a lot more relaxed.

Following his order, a large number of people followed in the direction where Cao Jun's main force left.

Not long after the imperial army left, in Hua County, people in twos and threes crawled out of their hiding places and looked at each other. They couldn't believe it for a long time as if they were in a dream about this inexplicable surviving life after the catastrophe.

Not long after, Yanzhou was full of wars, and Cao Cao's army and Lu Bu's army surrounded Juancheng and launched an offensive and defensive battle.

When the news reached Yecheng, Tian Feng picked up a bamboo slip, which said Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou, sent people to lead troops into Jibei County, trying to copy Cao Jun's retreat, and Qingzhou's defense forces were therefore weak.

He read it out and said to Yuan Shao: "Congratulations to Zhou Mu, the time has come to attack Qingzhou."

Holding another bamboo slip, Guo Tu also said to Yuan Shao: "Young Master is really extraordinary. Not long after he arrived in Beixin City, he captured the adjacent Fanyang and Rongcheng."

Yuan Shang laughed and said, "Brother is really extraordinary. In less than two months, the situation in Zhuo County, which had not changed for three years, was completely reversed."

His mentality is a little out of balance now, and these words are obviously an insinuation of Yuan Xi's inaction in the past three years.

It didn't matter to Yuan Xi, but Yuan Tan was really a kind brother. Taking down the two cities of Zhuojun really helped him a lot.

After Yuan Tan's defeat by Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai, Yuan Tan didn't try to save face and want a fair confrontation. Instead, he decisively transferred [-] soldiers from Qingzhou and Tian Kai's confrontation to Beixincheng.

Gao Lan returned to Yuan Tan's command, saying to the outside world that he was spying on the enemy at night, was knocked down by the enemy in the valley, and was rescued by the mountain people.

Although Yuan Tan knew that there was something tricky about it, after Yuan Xi wrote a letter to explain, Yuan Tan began to pretend to be confused.

With Gao Lan, and with the cooperation of Qu Yi and Zhao Yun, Yuan Tan gathered all his soldiers and horses to force back Tian Yu with his white horse righteous followers, and then first broke Rongcheng in the south, and then defeated Fan Yang in the east.

In this way, the mobilization space of Gongsun Zan's army was greatly reduced, and a safe passage was opened between Youji and Hebei.

Yuan Xi wasn't envious, he had a lot of soldiers, but he was stubborn. Even if he had a few hundred soldiers in full armor, he could only fight in the field. In the end, the siege of a city depended on numbers and equipment.

Yuan Shao was in a good mood, he said: "Qingzhou is empty, it is indeed a good time."

He turned to Yuan Xi and said, "Xian Yi, temporarily assume the prefect of Zhuo County, and I will assign you two thousand troops to join Xian Si in the Qingzhou Plain and destroy Tian Kai!"

As soon as these words came out, Yuan Shang broke his defense again.

(End of this chapter)