Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Therefore, Chunyu Qiong also heard the voices shouting "Chunyu Qiong, don't run away", and his face turned red.

But Chunyu Qiong was now only wearing a robe, with neither weapons nor armor. It would only be more embarrassing to stand up and admit that he was Chunyu Qiong.

Immediately, Chunyu Qiong lowered his head, ignored those voices, and rushed out towards the west gate under the protection of a group of personal guards.

The defenders in Liyang City had not seen Chunyu Qiong show up to stabilize the morale of the troops for a long time, and their morale collapsed almost visibly.

A large number of Liyang defenders began to flee or surrender on a large scale.

Under the continuous attack of Cao's army, the city of Liyang, which was guarded by 10,000 soldiers, was completely captured and occupied in less than a short time.

After capturing Liyang and destroying the last threatening force left by Yuan Shao in southern Jizhou, Cao Cao continued to sweep across the entire southern Jizhou with Bohai County and Wei County where Liyang was located as the center.

……

The letter and jade pendant sent by Cao Cao were delivered to Yuan Shao almost at the same time as the letter of apology sent by Chunyu Qiong.

Yuan Shao had not yet had time to digest the sad news of the attack on Liyang. When he saw the letter and jade pendant sent from Nanpi, he felt his eyes go dark and almost vomited blood on the spot.

"Cao thief! How dare you do this?! How dare you do this?!"

"Ah! My son Yuan Shang! Nanpi!!!"

"Cao thief, I will fight you to the death!!"

Yuan Shao's reaction to the situation made all the civil and military officials in the tent feel that something was wrong.

Seeing that Yuan Shao looked furious and dazed, which was completely different from his high-spirited and ambitious demeanor not long ago, Tian Feng hurriedly stepped forward and spoke.

"My Lord, even if Liyang is lost, why do you have to do this?"

Yuan Shao said sadly, "What I am sad about is not Liyang, but the fact that Nanpi City has been captured by Cao Cao. My wife, Shang'er and all the other family members have fallen into the hands of Cao Cao!"

Immediately, Yuan Shao suppressed his grief and briefly explained Cao Cao's sneak attack on Nanpi.

what? !

In an instant, many civil and military officials in the entire tent changed their color.

Nanpi was Yuan Shao's previous base, so it might be that they wanted to show their submission to Yuan Shao, or they might want to take the initiative to get closer to Yuan Shao and seek progress.

Many of Yuan Shao's subordinates sent all their family members, young and old, to Nanpi to settle down.

Therefore, Yuan Shao's words were like a bolt from the blue to Tian Feng's ears.

It was not that Tian Feng felt pity and worried about his family and the elderly who were also in Nanpi City, but he realized that once Nanpi City was lost, countless civil and military officials under his command would inevitably be in panic.

Once people's hearts are gone, it will be the beginning of defeat.

"My lord, this is not the time to grieve. We should quickly withdraw our troops to support Bohai County and retake Nanpi City as soon as possible." Tian Feng said hurriedly.

Yuan Shao said hesitantly, "But my son is still in Cao's hands. If there is any disturbance, I'm afraid the whole family will be dead."

It would have been fine if it was any other son who fell into Cao Cao's hands. Although he was sad about the loss of Yuan Shao, he would not hesitate to this extent.

"This child is like me"

This is Yuan Shao’s evaluation of Yuan Shang.

Yuan Shang was undoubtedly Yuan Shao's most beloved son, and he had even secretly decided to make Yuan Shang his heir, whose importance was completely different.

Cao Cao's letter was meant only to greet Yuan Shao, but its content was full of threats, warning Yuan Shao that if he made any unusual moves, Yuan Shang would be the first to die.

Apart from Yuan Shao, there were many people present who were reluctant to leave their families and the elderly behind.

Guo Tu jumped out almost immediately and asked angrily.

"Do you want to put the lord in a situation where he is unkind, unfilial, and unjust?"

"Now, it's not just Master Shang who has fallen into the hands of the thief Cao. There are also a large number of family members and elders of civil and military officials in Nanpi City. If you use military force to force Cao Cao to kill the families of his subordinates, won't everyone hate you for your ruthlessness?" Suddenly, the hesitation on Yuan Shao's face became even more intense.

Tian Feng was so angry that his face turned red, but because of his upright character he was not good at arguing, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Ju Su, who was standing nearby and had just joined Yuan Shao's army, couldn't help but say something.

"Is Lord Guo a little short-sighted? Or does he have ulterior motives? At this critical moment, the best strategy is to cut the Gordian knot!"

"Let's not talk about whether Cao Cao would raise his butcher knife in Nanpi City. Even if Cao Cao really has the courage to do something that would anger heaven and people, it would only inspire our army to unite and share the same hatred for the enemy, and they would definitely not resent the lord."

Xu You said sternly. "Oh, it seems that Ju Biejia's family has not yet been settled in Nanpi City. Cao Aman's butcher knife cannot cut the neck of Ju Biejia's family, so he speaks in a tough manner."

"You are really judging others by your own standards!"

Ju Su frowned and said something, then turned his attention away from Xu You and bowed towards Yuan Shao.

"My Lord, what Tian Yuanhao said just now was good advice. Cao Cao's sneak attack on Bohai County shows his evil intentions. You must not have any other thoughts."

"The Cao army had just been defeated in Xuzhou, and they were raiding several states and attacking Bohai County. I think they must be exhausted and their morale is low."

"If you abandon Youzhou and return with all your strength, recapture Nanpi City as soon as possible, defeat Cao's army again, and don't give Cao's army a chance to catch their breath and rest, you will be able to recapture Jizhou like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves."

As for what would happen to the families in Nanpi City, Ju Su did not say clearly.

But if you want to achieve great things, how can you do it without any losses?

Furthermore, Ju Su was sure that even if Cao Cao secretly threatened Yuan Shao with his large number of family members, he would not carry out a large-scale killing.

If Cao Cao really killed all the families of civil and military officials in Nanpi City, it would only arouse the unity of Yuan's army.

By then, Yuan Shao only needs to give a little guidance, and the soldiers in his hands will surely be invincible.

"No, my lord!"

Xu You, Guo Tu, Chen Lin and others all spoke up to dissuade them.

Some, like Guo Tu, were worried about their family members and the elderly. Some, like Xu You, were afraid that Cao Cao would seize their homes and lose their accumulated property. Some, like Chen Lin, were worried that forcing Cao Cao would lead to a massacre in the city.

Cao Cao's reputation for cruelty and brutality was far ahead of others in the entire Han Dynasty, even worse than the once notorious Dong Zhuo.

Massacre in the city, Cao Cao really dared to do that.

No one would think that Cao Cao did not have the courage to kill people, but some people did not want their entire family to die under Cao Cao's butcher knife.

For a time, Tian Feng and Ju Shou, who proposed to return to attack Bohai County with all their strength, became a minority.

Especially Ju Shou, who joined Yuan Shao's army as an old subordinate of Han Fu, has now become a thorn in the eyes of many people. They think that Ju Shou is completely exchanging their families for his own wealth.

Yuan Shao, who was sitting in the upper seat, listened to the people arguing below and did not speak for a long time. Finally, he just waved his sleeves and left with a look of grief and worry on his face.

This made Ju Su very disappointed...

Previously, Ju Su was willing to defect to Yuan Shao, thinking that Yuan Shao was an outstanding leader. But now he was so hesitant and did not realize how critical the situation had become.

Qingzhou is poor and Cao Cao has few soldiers. This is indeed the common perception of the civil and military officials in Jizhou.

However, if Cao Cao was allowed to delay and gain a foothold in Jizhou, it would be extremely difficult for Yuan Shao to drive Cao Cao out of Jizhou.

Furthermore, the families of a large number of Yuan Shao's civil and military officials fell into Cao Cao's hands, so Yuan Shao should not delay any further.

Even if Cao Cao was forced to kill all his family members, it would be better than dragging it on like this and letting Cao Cao use those family members to stir up people's hearts and carry out various kinds of discord.

"Ugh……"

Ju Su sighed and was confused for a moment. (End of this chapter)