People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 268 Wait

"Wen Ruo, do you think Yuan Shao can defeat Xu Chen in this battle?" During the march, Cao Cao, wearing a military uniform and riding a horse, chatted with Xun Yu beside him while swaying.

Speaking of Xun Yu, Cao Cao really has to thank Yuan Shao. This guy was a talent sent to him by Yuan Shao.

As a member of the Yingchuan Xun family, Xun Yu initially joined Yuan Shao together with his relative Xun Chen. However, later Yuan Shao sent Cao Cao into Yanzhou and sent Xun Yu over to assist Cao Cao.

In Yuan Shao's eyes, he had many talented people under his command, and a mere Xun Yu was not worthy of attention, so it was no big deal to arrange him out.

But after Cao Cao had more and more contact with Xun Yu, he found that Xun Yu was actually a great talent in the world. He could give him many excellent suggestions in both military and political affairs, and he could do everything perfectly.

The most intuitive feeling is that after Xun Yu followed him, everything in his hands became well organized, which made him feel much more relaxed.

Cao Cao certainly valued such talents very much and gave Xun Yu great respect and trust, which also moved Xun Yu very much. The relationship between the two became closer and they felt more and more like master and minister.

Of course, this was also Xun Yu's choice. Since he was not valued by Yuan Shao, there was no need for him to go back and be ignored.

Since Cao Cao valued his talents, it would naturally be more beneficial for him to follow Cao Cao.

Moreover, this choice is two-way. Cao Cao values ​​my talents, and I also value Cao Cao's potential.

Both sides knew each other, and Xun Yu was also very sure that Cao Cao had the potential to be a hero and had a promising future.

Hearing Cao Cao's question, Xun Yu also smiled and answered: "If there are no accidents, Yuan Shao will naturally win this battle, but even if he can win, he will not win a big victory."

Cao Cao raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why do you say that?"

At this moment, the young scholar on the other side of Cao Cao also spoke.

"Now Xuan Xia controls Youzhou in the north, and will later take Changshan and Zhongshan counties. It has a population of millions, and has long been stable and prosperous. Its real strength is no less than Yuan Shao. It just hasn't forced Xu Chen into a corner yet. If Xuan Xia is really forced to fight to the death, I'm afraid it's Yuan Shao who should be afraid."

The person who was speaking was thin. While he was talking, he picked up the wine jug and took a sip. He looked relaxed and free and easy.

This person's name was Xi Zhicai. He was a talent recommended by Xun Yu after he followed Cao Cao, and was also highly valued by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao nodded when he heard what Xi Zhicai said: "That makes sense. Then do you think Xu Chen will fight to the death?"

Xun Yu pondered for a moment and shook his head: "I see that although Xu Chen is young, he is cautious and steady. If he had a choice, he would not choose to risk his life like this."

Xi Zhicai agreed with him, took another sip, and said with a smile, "What Wen Ruo said is very true. Xu Chen is a man who uses benevolence and righteousness to establish himself, and is good at manipulating people's hearts. If he fights to the death, it will definitely cause resentment, which is what he does not want."

Cao Cao laughed and agreed with what they said.

Although they were chatting animatedly, they actually didn't care much about what would happen to Yuan Shao.

By now, Cao Cao has gained a certain amount of strength, and has apparently slowly withdrawn his role from Yuan Shao's thug. If Yuan Shao were not still strong enough and difficult to turn against, he might not be willing to send troops to assist in the war.

Of course, a big reason for sending troops this time was that Cao Cao himself was wary of Xuan Xia, and if there was a chance to strike Xuan Xia, he didn't mind taking action.

In this battle, he only hoped that Yuan Shao and Xuan Xia would fight as fiercely as possible. The more serious the damage to the strength of both sides, the more beneficial it would be to him.

As for himself, his mission this time was not on the frontal battlefield, but to go to Changshan and keep an eye on the Yellow Turban troops in Changshan. This task was much easier than frontal combat, so Cao Cao was happy to watch the fun.

"Lord Cao, we are not far from Changshan now. We can slow down our march a little to maintain our strength." After taking out the map and looking at it, Xun Yu quickly turned the topic to business.

Xi Zhicai also became a little more serious: "The Changshan Yellow Turbans may be slightly weaker than the main force of Xuanxia, ​​but they should not be underestimated. Our army of 30,000 soldiers does not have any advantages. We need to be cautious in this battle."

Cao Cao nodded. This time he brought out most of the troops he had developed from Dongjun, leaving only Cao Ren to lead thousands of troops to guard Dongjun. It can be said that he brought out all his old assets, which also meant that this army could not withstand major losses.

Although he assisted Yuan Shao in the battle this time, Cao Cao never thought of fighting to the death. Helping Yuan Shao to deal with the Yellow Turbans in Changshan was considered as the most he could do. As for the situation on Yuan Shao's front battlefield, that was not his concern.

He couldn't help but stare towards the east: "I think Yuan Shao should be meeting with Xu Guangtou by now. I wonder what the situation is like now."

Just as Cao Cao expected, when he arrived near Changshan, Yuan Shao had indeed led an army of hundreds of thousands back to Jizhou and was heading all the way to Bohai.

In this battle, Yuan Shao not only had to defeat the main force of Xuanxia and conquer Jizhou, but also had to take advantage of the victory to counterattack Xuanxia from within.

This time, he led not only his own Jizhou army of hundreds of thousands, but also a cavalry team of more than 10,000 people, which was the Xiongnu cavalry led by Yu Furuo.

Behind the army, there was a huge team of civilian laborers who were working hard to transport countless supplies.

These supplies included not only food and grass, but also armor that Yuan Shao had forged by smelting iron in Jizhou, which was enough to equip an army of 20,000. In order to achieve this, Yuan Shao turned almost the entire Jizhou upside down, and the nobles and powerful families also gave a lot of support, and finally achieved this goal, allowing Yuan Shao's army to form a 20,000-strong armored corps.

Ever since Xuan Xia's troops entered Jizhou, all the Jizhou nobles have been in a state of panic. They will do their best to satisfy Yuan Shao's needs, just to defeat Xuan Xia.

"Governor, Chengping is ahead and the enemy is just ahead." Tian Feng rode his horse forward and pointed into the distance.

Yuan Shao looked forward in the direction he pointed, then nodded and snorted coldly, "Then let the Yellow Turbans be destroyed here!"

Xu You looked confident: "Yan Liang and Wen Chou should be joining the army soon. Then Benchu ​​only needs to advance all the way and bring the might of the army to end everything."

Guo Tu's mustache trembled, and he also laughed: "Zang Hong has led 60,000 Qingzhou troops to Bohai. Our army only needs to threaten the Yellow Turbans head-on and wait for Zang Hong to join them. The Yellow Turbans will surely die!"

Yuan Shao, holding a horsewhip in his hand, laughed heartily. Just one look at the huge army he led made him feel very proud.

This battle will ultimately determine who has the loudest voice in the entire northern part of China.

In today's world, the central government has declined, and in the northern part of China, only Xuan Xia and Yuan Shao can compete for supremacy. Although Xuan Xia had suppressed Yuan Shao before, it was only a one-sided suppression.

Relying on the reputation of his family with three generations of officials being dukes, Yuan Shao attracted countless powerful families to follow him, and his influence was enormous.

The final winner in the north is bound to be between Yuan Shao and Xuan Xia.

And now Yuan Shao has unparalleled confidence in this. He feels that his strength is unprecedentedly strong and there is no reason why he cannot defeat Xuan Xia.

Not long after, Yan Liang and Wen Chou were seen leading the remaining 20,000 troops from the last defeat, and they came to Yuan Shao in a dejected manner to apologize.

Yuan Shao naturally had to scold them, but he did not blame them too much. After all, two people were needed for the subsequent war. However, he heard that there was no news about Xun Chen so far, which made Yuan Shao feel a little regretful.

In this situation, Xun Chen either died on the battlefield or was captured by Xuan Xia.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao had many talented people under his command, so he did not regret it for long. He turned his attention back to the current war. With his order, the army marched towards Chengping in a mighty manner.

Yuan Shao's army did not stop until the Chengping city wall appeared in front of them.

There are no passes to defend the North China Plain, and Yuan Shao's army can enter the hinterland of Bohai Sea at will. With cavalry, they do not need to worry about logistical supplies. On the contrary, the Yellow Turbans are short of troops and have no way to divide their forces to garrison many counties. They can only choose to abandon the rest of the places and hold on to one place.

If Yuan Shao divided his troops to recapture the counties and towns of Bohai, Xu Chen would have no choice but to accept it for the time being.

The 30,000 troops that Xuan Xia subsequently ordered to be mobilized will take some time to arrive. Currently, there are only 40,000 troops. If they cannot defend the city, there is no point in fighting.

After seeing Yuan Shao arrive, Xu Chen and Lu Ping divided their troops and acted as they expected.

Yuan's army left 80,000 troops to blockade Chengping, and the remaining tens of thousands of troops directly bypassed and entered the hinterland of Bohai. The plan was very obvious, that is, the main force would watch Chengping, first recover many counties and towns in Bohai, and then besiege Chengping as an isolated city.

"As expected, Yuan Shao is unwilling to attack head-on. Now that Zang Hong has sent troops to the south of Bohai, plus the large army they have deployed this time, it will be easy to recover the counties of Bohai. When we become an isolated city in Bohai, even if General Wang leads his troops to reinforce, it will be very difficult to conquer the city all the way to here."

Lu Ping stood on the top of the city wall with a serious expression: "We have been besieged for a long time. Once we run out of food, it will be dangerous."

Xu Chen looked into the distance with a telescope, and as expected, he saw from his field of vision the dark mass of armored troops in front of Yuan Shao's army, as well as the cavalry on the flanks of the army ready to move.

After putting down the telescope, he couldn't help but become serious. Yuan Shao nowadays was indeed not easy to deal with.

Xun Chen stepped forward and said, "Our army has fortified the city and cleared the fields. The food in the city can at least sustain our army for more than a month. By then, we should have news from Gongyou."

"We can only wait for good news from Gong Yu." Xu Chen nodded, his eyes becoming a little deeper: "If Gong Yu still doesn't work, when it comes to the last resort, Wang Dang also knows what to do."

Defending the city, Xu Chen was not afraid of Yuan Shao's attack. If Yuan Shao really dared to attack, he had enough confidence to make Yuan Shao suffer.

The Yellow Turbans, who were already elite and powerful, defending the city could definitely make the attackers despair.

Of course, Xu Chen also knew that Yuan Shao certainly wouldn't mind wasting time. Even if the Yellow Turbans could hold on, they would be besieged and killed sooner or later.

Yuan Shao continued the siege, waiting for the Yellow Turbans to eat up all their food supplies.

Xu Chen held on, waiting for the situation to change.

Is it possible to achieve the goal of forming an alliance?

(End of this chapter)