When Yuan Xi saw the letter sent by Liu Bei, he sighed: "This Guangling matter has finally come to an end."
Guo Jiadao: "Don't take it lightly, be careful Sun Ce abandons Tancheng and comes back again."
Yuan Xi said: "The possibility is not very high, right?"
Guo Jia nodded and said: "It is indeed not too big, but be careful of him jumping over the wall in a hurry. After all, when he attacked Guangling that day, he was outrageous."
The two of them sat on both sides of the stone table in the yard and talked. Now that Guangling was no longer threatening, the conversation between the two became casual.
Mrs. Wu was squatting in a corner of the yard, wiping the door frame with a wet cloth. In fact, she was listening to the conversation between the two.
She hardly spoke these days and just worked hard. On weekdays, she silently wrote down everything she heard. The more she listened, the more surprised she found that Yuan Xi's team and the generals and counselors under her son Sun Ce In comparison, he did not fall behind at all. In many aspects of planning, his layout far surpassed that of Sun Ce. He was really his son's formidable enemy.
Yuan Xi said: "Right now, should we invite Liu Bei to Guangling for talks, or should we go to Haixi?"
Guo Jia thought for a while and said, "Actually, it's not appropriate."
"According to my opinion, I simply suggest that Liu Bei send troops together, and then join forces at the border of Xiapi in Guangling to attack Tancheng together."
Yuan Xi thought for a while and said, "Did you act too hastily?"
Guo Jiadao: "If it's too late, we might not have a chance."
Yuan Xi said: "Mr. Fengxiao, do you think Sun Ce can't stop him?"
Guo Jia shook his head and said: "If I were the Cao family, I would not continue to send troops to places like Tancheng, because the current troops are already enough."
"It hasn't been defeated yet. On the one hand, Sun Ce's resistance was extremely tenacious, which was beyond Cao's expectations. On the other hand, Cao Cao probably did not go all out."
"But even so, Cao Cao's deployment of troops in this battle far exceeded my expectations. This should be due to his unusual obsession with Xuzhou."
Yuan Xi nodded in agreement. Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou three times in more than a year and used all kinds of methods to massacre and loot the city. It can only be said that Xuzhou is really attractive.
Guo Jia added: "If it is as I think, Cao Cao will take action in the direction of Yanzhou and Yuzhou."
"Furthermore, the harvest in Yuzhou and Yangzhou this year is not good, and Yuan Shu's grain and grass may not be able to sustain it."
Yuan Xi thought for a moment and suddenly said: "It's really possible!"
He understood that Yuan Shu's obsession with Xuzhou was no less than that of Cao Cao, so he gave up attacking Yangzhou first and sent Sun Ce and several generals to attack Xuzhou, which was difficult to support with food and grass. It was obviously not rational.
Now the two sides are engaged in a war of attrition. For Yuan Shu, both in terms of food, grass and soldiers, the consumption is greater than that of Cao's army.
If Cao Cao, in the name of attacking Tancheng, drags Yuan Shu's most powerful generals here and divides his troops to attack Yuzhou, Yuan Shu will inevitably have to shrink his defense and let Sun Ce and others return to the army.
Because for Yuan Shu, he only occupies a part of Jingzhou, Yuzhou, and Yangzhou. Yuzhou is connected to the other two states. There is no room for loss, but he must save it!
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi suddenly realized: "Cao's army attacked Tancheng and has not withdrawn yet. It is possible that he is waiting for Yuan Shu's order for Sun Ce to withdraw!"
Guo Jia nodded: "If Sun Ce is forced to abandon the city at that time, Cao Jun can easily capture Tancheng."
"Now we can talk with Liu Beijun, but the chips are not big enough."
"If we can find a loophole like Tancheng, it will be difficult for Liu Bei not to give in to us."
"The key is that Sun Ce in Tancheng, although he was once an enemy, at this point in time, he may not be able to become a pawn against Cao Cao."
Mrs. Wu listened from a distance, her palms were sweating, this counselor named Guo Jia was no less talented than Zhou Yu, whom she valued, and this time he plotted against everyone!
Yuan Xi immediately sent a letter to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei replied within a few days. After Yuan Xi received it, he asked Taishi Citianyu to take the army and horses out of the city to join Liu Bei's army at the border of Xiapi Guangling, while he himself He and Guo Jia were in charge of Guangling City.
As the days passed and the weather became colder, news finally came that Cao Cao quickly sent troops and captured a county in Yuzhou. Yuan Shu's army could not resist and sent a message asking Sun Ce and others to return to Yangzhou.
Yuan Xi looked at the map and thought that Cao Cao would not let Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao go.
After Cao Cao captured the northern part of Yuzhou, he completed the siege of Chenliu County. Now Chenliu County is the only remaining county in Yanzhou that is not in Cao Cao's hands. Cao Cao is obviously going to take action against it next.
A few days later, the good news finally came.
Liu Bei retakes Tancheng!
But this was not a good thing for Mrs. Wu who had been eavesdropping. When she heard the news, her eyes turned black. Is something going to happen to Sun Ce?
But then she learned from Yuan Xi and Guo Jia's discussion that Sun Ce had fled back to Yangzhou, and she felt at ease.
However, her heart became even heavier, because now, Sun Ce could no longer count on him. From now on, she could only rely on herself and find a way to escape back.
She turned to look at her daughter who was having fun with Zhen Mi next to her. She thought that where to escape, how to escape, and what time to choose all needed to be carefully planned.
Before that, she had to find out the habits of everyone around Yuan Xi and create opportunities to escape. She believed that she would be able to escape with her daughter!
Over there, Guo Jia said with a smile: "This time we have Cao Cao and Sun Ce working together. Without Master Yuan Tan's amazing army, no one would have thought that we would be the ones who benefited in the end."
Yuan Xi sent Tai Shici and Liu Bei to join forces. Cao Cao's army and Sun Ce's army had known about it for a long time, but neither of them took it seriously at first.
Without him, there were too few soldiers, with only more than 3,000 people on both sides combined.
Cao Cao's army exceeds 10,000, and Sun Ce's army has more than 5,000 soldiers in Xiapi City. How can it be possible for the Yuan and Liu coalition forces to gain advantage?
However, the result was unexpected.
When Sun Ce received the order to withdraw his troops, he was actually very reluctant, but now that he had run out of food and grass, he couldn't hold on even if he wanted to fight.
Therefore, Sun Ce had no choice but to break out. Cao Ang, on his side, had already known Sun Ce's movements, and immediately ordered the siege to be complete, leaving the south gate open for Sun Ce to escape. On his side, Cao Ang sent Cao Ren to enter from the north gate and take the opportunity to occupy it. Tancheng.
There is nothing wrong with this idea, but at this time Taishi Ci and Liu Bei's army broke into the battlefield and wanted to occupy the north gate.
How could Cao Ang not have expected this? He immediately ordered the entire army to attack. Nearly ten thousand people surrounded Liu Bei's army and Taishi Ci. At that time, the north gate had not yet been breached. Seeing that Liu Bei and Taishi Ci's coalition forces were about to be wiped out, on the battlefield at this time variables appear.
Yuan Tan's Qingzhou Army broke into the battlefield!
Regarding this previously unexpected oriole, Cao's army suddenly fell into chaos. Although he immediately organized his troops to fight back, facing the recuperating Yuan Tan's army, Cao's army, which had been fighting for days, soon showed signs of failure.
Cao Ang saw that the situation was over and the city gate was close at hand, but he could not break in, so he had to temporarily withdraw his troops and retreat to the camp.
Here Liu was captured by the coalition forces of Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan, who took the opportunity to enter the city and occupied Tancheng.
After the two sides were in a stalemate for several days, Cao Ang saw that the other side was still adding troops continuously, and knew that there was no chance anymore, so he had to retreat with hatred.
After reading the battle report, Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Brother really sent troops to help Liu Bei, which almost cost him all his family wealth. It seems that the conditions Liu Bei offered him are definitely not low."
Guo Jia also had a great heart. He and Yuan Xi had been deliberating on this plan for a long time, and the outcome turned out to be exactly as they planned. It was a great sense of accomplishment.
The key is Liu Bei's idea.
After this battle, Liu Bei will definitely have to pay a huge price, but for Liu Bei, it is the best choice at the moment.
Facts have proved that Xuzhou cannot be defended by Liu Bei alone. Even if he pays a heavy price to block it this time, what about next time?
So Yuan Xi expressed an idea in his letter to Liu Bei that day.
Liu Bei, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Tan jointly ruled Xuzhou.
If an enemy invades, the three parties will work together to fight against the enemy. In this way, neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shu can pose a threat to Xuzhou on their own.
Liu Bei was a smart man. The loss of Tancheng made him fully understand that within a few years, it would be difficult for him to gain the support of the local gentry in Xuzhou. In this case, he simply introduced the Yuan brothers to suppress and conquer the local gentry together.
For Yuan Tan, he needed to get part of Xuzhou to complete the siege of the Taishan bandits at the turn of Qingxu.
He had been fighting against the Taishan bandits for two years. When the Taishan bandits could no longer be defeated, they retreated to the mountains and went to Xuzhou in the south to plunder, leaving Yuan Tan helpless.
If he can get part of Xuzhou Langya County, Yuan Tan can seal off the north and south sides of the Taishan bandits and slowly grind them to death.
For Liu Bei, the Taishan bandits, a force that no one wants to surrender to, are also a big trouble. If they can be eliminated with Yuan Tan's help, why not?
In the end, for Yuan Xi, what he wanted was to occupy the coastal waterway at the mouth of the Yangtze River to ensure his trade routes and Youzhou's outward expansion route.
The area around Youzhou was severely restricted. Yuan Xi's plan was to break out of this circle by sea and wait for opportunities to expand this territory. Guangling County was his bridgehead.
Normally, it would be difficult to defend such an isolated enclave, far away from Youzhou, but with Yuan Xi's fleet behind it, it would be much easier.
So the three parties hit it off immediately, and when Cao Cao and Sun Ce were fighting to the death, they took advantage from behind.
Yuan Xi finally said: "I still have a question."
"I repeated my old trick and transported Yuan Tan's Qingzhou military and merchant ships from Qingzhou to Xuzhou, thus bypassing Mount Tai."
"But this strategy has been used once. Logically speaking, Cao Cao should have thought of it. Why does it seem to me that Cao Cao's army is unprepared for the response?"
Guo Jia thought for a moment and smiled: "At least Cao Cao must have thought of it, but he probably didn't expect Yuan Tan to make such a determination."
"Although the strategy must take into account all aspects, it will not stop eating because of a small possibility. Cao Jun must have responded to Yuan Tan's dispatch of troops, but it should be that he underestimated the combat power of the three-party coalition."
"This time, Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, is leading the troops. It should be to cultivate his battle formation ability. It's not that Cao Cao doesn't pay attention to it, but at the same time, Cao Cao should have gone to Yuzhou to supervise the battle. That's what he values most."
"Cao Ang's miscalculation was due to the combat strength of the three-party coalition. Although Mr. Yuan Tan fought bravely this time, the intelligence said that Chen Deng also personally led the troops into the battle and played a big role in repelling Cao's army."
"Maybe it was this miscalculation that caused Cao Jun to miss Tancheng."
When Guo Jia said this, he said to Yuan Xi: "Young master, do you know what your strongest point is?"
Yuan Xi wondered: "What is it?"
"You have the ability to recognize people," Guo Jia sighed: "Young Master is very accurate in reading people."
"Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Tian Yu, I won't talk about it myself, they are all talented and talented at one time."
Seeing Guo Jia's serious look, Yuan Xi thought to himself that you know yourself very well and you are quite thick-skinned.
Guo Jia added: "Young Master said Chen Deng was a talent last time. I thought he was proficient in farming, but I didn't expect to be able to fight in battle. Young Master will surely win a place in the world with just this ability to recognize people!"
Yuan Xi felt embarrassed after being praised by Guo Jia, he chuckled and said, "Thank you sir for your kind words."
He knew that he was just an ordinary person. Even with the knowledge of later generations, it was not easy to reach this point, which made him extremely happy.
After fighting for so long in Xuzhou, the dust has finally settled. You must know that Zhao Yun, Liu and others in Youzhou have fought from Yuyang County to Jixian County in Guangyang County!
Now it’s finally time to pick the fruit!
(End of chapter)
