Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 92 The Art of Speaking

After Yuan Shao had scolded Yuan Shu, Shen Pei asked, "My lord, how many casualties have we suffered?"

The Jizhou army formed a brief alliance with Lu Bu in Yangzhou to attack Yuan Shu together.

Now that the Battle of Huaihe has been won, the first thing to be concerned about must be the casualties of the army on the front line.

If the casualties were too high, Yan Liang and Wen Chou might be left behind in Yangzhou by Lu Bu. After all, he was a notoriously treacherous villain.

Yuan Shao handed over the report from the front line and said in a complicated tone: "The casualties of the army are not high."

The loss of several thousand men in exchange for such a great victory can be said to be very minor.

But Yuan Shao couldn't be happy.

Yuan Shao originally issued an edict in the name of the emperor to order Lu Bu to attack Yuan Shu, with the aim of making him consume Yuan Shu's troops and cause both sides to suffer losses.

However, since the beginning of his attack on Yuan Shu, Lu Bu had been making rapid progress, conquering cities and territories without ever losing a battle. His territory became larger and larger, and his troops grew in number.
In contrast, the Jizhou army led by Yan Liang and Wen Chou had not achieved any results.

What’s even more exaggerated is that in this decisive battle with Yuan Shu, Lu Bu achieved a great victory with minimal casualties and annihilated Yuan Shu’s 60,000-strong army!
This is like divine help!
After reading the report from the front line, Feng Ji said with a worried look on his face, "Sun Ce is already eyeing Yangzhou covetously, and now Cao Cao has also sent troops... My lord, we also need to send more troops immediately, otherwise we may not get any benefits."

"That's right." Guo Tu agreed after hearing this: "The situation in Yangzhou is becoming increasingly chaotic. After Shouchun falls and the false emperor is defeated, a war will surely break out."

"The army led by Generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou alone is not enough to compete with Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce for Yangzhou. We need to send more troops immediately to help. We must not miss the opportunity to lose the fruits in our hands to others!"

After Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, Sun Ce simply ignored Yuan Shao's call for the emperor's help. Lu Bu responded positively, but his purpose of consuming his troops was not achieved, and instead, he became stronger step by step.

All of this was because Yuan Shu was defeated too quickly! This was something no one had expected.

Right now Yuan Shu is besieged in Shouchun by various armies. The day the city is broken will be the day for all parties to fight for Yangzhou!

Sun Ce, needless to say, annexed a large area of ​​Yuan Shu's territory, occupied the six counties of Jiangdong, and became very powerful.
Cao Cao, with Yu Province at his back, led an army of 50,000 to join the battlefield, with ill intentions;
As for Lu Bu... thinking of Lu Bu's achievements since the campaign against Yuan Shu, the advisers under Yuan Shao were a little desperate.

In comparison, Yan Liang and Wen Chou are the weakest!
If he didn't send more troops, Yuan Shao wouldn't even have meat to eat and could only pick up some leftovers.

"My lord, no more troops!"

As soon as Guo Tu and Feng Ji finished speaking, Tian Feng objected with a serious face: "Jizhou and Yangzhou are far apart. It would be unwise to rashly increase the troops."

"What's more, Gongsun Zan is still in Youzhou. If we withdraw the army to reinforce Yan Liang and Wen Chou, once Gongsun Zan takes the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, the consequences will be disastrous!"

There were two purposes for sending troops to attack Yuan Shu.

First, it was to break away from Yuan Shu and let the world know that although Yuan Shu was a traitor, he, Yuan Shao, was still a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty;
The second was to take the opportunity to seize Yangzhou and strengthen their own strength.

Now the first goal has been achieved, but the second goal has encountered an unexpected problem.

Now that all parties have come together, the situation is too chaotic. If we want to fight for the Yangzhou territory, we must send more troops.

And this is exactly where the problem lies.

Jizhou and Yangzhou are separated by Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Xuzhou. Conducting large-scale battles across regions is a taboo in military strategy, not to mention that there is a Gongsun Zan who is eyeing them covetously behind their base camp.

It is obviously an unwise decision to continue to increase troops at this time.

Yuan Shao was already in a bad mood, and became even more angry after hearing what Tian Feng said. He slammed the table and said, "Yuan Shu and I are of the same clan. Yangzhou should belong to me!"

"If I don't send more troops to fight for Yangzhou, am I going to watch my Yuan family's territory being divided up by Sun Ce, Cao Cao, Lu Bu and the like?"

"Tian Feng, what on earth are you thinking?"

What belongs to Yuan Shu belongs to the Yuan family, and what belongs to the Yuan family belongs to Yuan Shao.

Yangzhou should have been his territory!

How could he be willing to watch Yangzhou fall into the hands of those three traitors!
Tian Feng was not afraid of Yuan Shao's anger. He stiffened his neck and said, "I am just speaking the truth! If we send more troops to Yangzhou now, not only will we lose soldiers and generals, but we will also attract Gongsun Zan to attack us due to the lack of troops in the rear, and finally lose our lord's foundation! Please think twice!"

"You, you--!" Yuan Shao was so angry that his face was shaking. He turned his head and looked around. Where is my sword?

At this moment, he just wanted to find a sword to kill Tian Feng.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Jia Xu could not remain silent any longer and said, "General, please calm down and listen to me."

As a new upstart of Yuan Shao's, Jia Xu's opinion still carried considerable weight at this time.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he attracted the attention of everyone present, and even Yuan Shao's anger was reduced by three points.

Yuan Shao took a deep breath and forced a smile: "Wenhe, please feel free to talk."

Jia Xu said calmly: "Whether to send more troops to fight for Yangzhou or not is nothing more than weighing the pros and cons. Is the benefit of taking Yangzhou greater, or is the disadvantage of sending more troops to Yangzhou greater?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao said without hesitation: "Yangzhou is a rich place with sufficient manpower and food supplies. If we can take Yangzhou, we will have a foothold in the Central Plains!"

"Besides, since I am Yuan Shu's elder brother, his territory should be inherited by me. How can I leave it to those traitors?"

In a word, the importance of Yangzhou is self-evident, and the benefits of taking it are also obvious.

Jia Xu nodded and said, "General, you are right. Taking over Yangzhou will indeed bring great benefits."

"But have you ever thought about this, General? Even if you take Yangzhou at a great cost, what will happen? It is just an enclave after all, and it cannot be connected with Bingzhou, Jizhou, and Qingzhou."

"What's more, Yangzhou is surrounded by Lu Bu, Cao Cao, Sun Ce and even Liu Biao, can the general defend it?"

"If the general can hold on, then there is nothing wrong with sending more troops. As for Gongsun Zan, don't worry. I have my own plan."

This is the art of speaking. Jia Xu did not directly say that Yangzhou could not be attacked, but analyzed the pros and cons of attacking Yangzhou to Yuan Shao.

If you can accept that, then attack.

After listening to this analysis, Yuan Shao gradually calmed down and began to think in his heart.

Is it worthwhile to send more troops to Yangzhou?

Not to mention whether it could be defended or not, just seizing Yangzhou from Lu Bu, Sun Ce and Cao Cao was already extremely difficult.

All the counselors remained silent, waiting for Yuan Shao to make the final decision.

"Wenhe's words enlightened me."

Yuan Shao spoke after a long while. By then, the anger on his face had completely faded and he had regained his composure.

"Although Yangzhou is important, increasing the number of troops right now will do more harm than good. Thank you Wenhe for your advice, otherwise I would have acted impulsively."

Putting aside the reluctance in one's heart and looking at it purely from the perspective of pros and cons, sending more troops to Yangzhou at this time is indeed not a wise choice.

Jia Xu smiled and said, "I just gave a little hint, I dare not take credit for it. Besides, there are pros and cons to increasing the number of troops or not, everything depends on the general's decision. We are just providing some superficial advice to the general."

These words made Guo and Feng on the side look a little more relaxed. They had just strongly advised against sending troops.

Yuan Shao no longer mentioned the issue of sending more troops to Yangzhou, but he was very satisfied with Jia Xu.

He looked at Tian Feng standing beside him. Although he felt a little guilty, he was also annoyed that his words were too sharp and he did not say anything to comfort him.

"Return to Yecheng!"

Yuan Shao gave an order and ended the trip.

He no longer had the heart to drink here, he just wanted to go back to the city as soon as possible to discuss the next plan.

Even if they decided not to send more troops, it did not mean that they had completely given up on fighting for the interests of Yangzhou. In any case, they had to let Yan Liang and Wen Chou bite a piece of meat off the mouths of Lu Bu and others.

(End of this chapter)