Yuan Xi looked at Yecheng in the distance and hesitated for a moment. He knew that the more dangerous it was at this time, the more dangerous it was.
Because the tactic that Cao Cao was good at was to encircle a point and call for reinforcements. He used this method to defeat Lu Bu several times in Yanzhou.
Troops marching for long-distance reinforcements are already weak in physical strength and are in urgent need of rest. Moreover, during the march, the soldiers and armor are placed on the baggage carts of the team. If they encounter a sudden surprise attack, unless they are well-trained troops, they will be at a huge disadvantage. .
Now that the quiet Yecheng looks in the distance, who knows if there is a hungry wolf squatting next to this fat piece of meat?
Yuan Xi thought about it again and again, exchanged views with Jushou Lu Xun, and finally decided to camp on the spot, and then sent spies into Yecheng to deliver messages and inquire about news.
Not long after, several riders rode out and hurried to Yecheng. Yuan Xi asked the generals to set up camps according to the terrain, and at the same time sent spies to inquire about the surrounding news.
After that, the spies who inquired about the news came back one after another, and Yuan Xi finally knew that the area around Yecheng was so quiet.
Because the dozen or so villages and towns used for defense around Yecheng have all been destroyed.
In the ancient offensive and defensive battles around the big city, the soldiers did not huddle in a lonely city to defend the city, but built military strongholds around the big city. The large strongholds were called deputy cities.
There will be a considerable number of soldiers stationed in the auxiliary city, which will correspond with the defenders of the main city and help each other. In this way, when the siege party attacks, the troops of the auxiliary city will come out to support the attack and wait for opportunities to destroy the siege equipment, allowing the siege party to attack. Unable to successfully launch the offensive.
At this time, the siege team's response is either to be forced to divide their troops, or to turn around and attack the auxiliary city. In either case, it will reduce the pressure on the defenders.
At this time, the defenders will also assist the friendly forces in the secondary city in the same way, thwarting the siege's intentions.
On the contrary, if you just defend one city and one place and let the siege equipment of the siege team launch the offensive smoothly, the defender will be at a great disadvantage.
Of course, even so, the defenders are often in a passive position, because the siege force has far more troops than the defenders. The siege team can use methods to lure the enemy to attack, concentrate its superior forces, and defeat the defenders' attacking teams through field battles.
This is the case for more than a dozen garrisoned villages and towns around Yecheng. Yuan Xi guessed that Cao Jun probably still used the old method of encircling a point for reinforcements.
However, this method is extremely effective. Coupled with Cao Jun's high mobility, he can appear in unexpected places to attack the enemy. That's why Yuan Xi was so cautious.
As the spies returned, they also brought back some news one after another, which confirmed Yuan Xi's previous thoughts. At least two armies of Cao Cao's army were ambushing near Yecheng. During this period, they had defeated and eliminated several armies from Jizhou. Reinforcements sent by the county!
Based on the intelligence, Yuan Xi and Jushu circled locations on the map with charcoal. These were the places where Cao's army ambushed.
Yuan Xi said depressedly: "No wonder Cao's army didn't attack the city. Anyway, they had the ultimate trick of breaking the river to flood the city. Driving the soldiers to attack the city would cause huge losses. It is obviously not as cost-effective as blocking the reinforcements."
"This kind of bloodletting tactics is really difficult to deal with. If this continues, the few remaining troops in Jizhou's counties will be eaten bit by bit by Cao Cao, and eventually Jizhou will bleed to death."
Ju Shou said: "Young Master's metaphor is indeed exquisite. Cao Jun is clearly bullying Yecheng, which is undefended, and chooses to use superior troops to defeat the smaller ones."
Lu Xun spoke up: "Xun has something unclear, but as a result, the pace of the siege will be greatly slowed down, and digging rivers to flood the city does not necessarily guarantee that we can conquer the city in a short time."
"If during this period, several of the Yuan family's disciples, including Shi Jun, lead troops back to support him, wouldn't his plan be in vain?"
"The reinforcements from the counties in Jizhou are improvised at best. No matter how many casualties there are, as long as Yecheng cannot be defeated, Cao Jun's expedition will be meaningless.
As long as Yecheng defends and Cao's army runs out of food and retreats, Jizhou will be able to recover in a year and a half. Then won't it have to start all over again? "
After hearing what Lu Xun said, Yuan Xi and Jushou felt the same way. They were a little confused. Did Cao Cao think he could defeat Jizhou in a war of attrition, or was it because of other reasons?
After more than half a day, when it was almost dark, the spies sent to Yecheng also came back.
Yuan Xi looked at the spy who came back empty-handed and frowned: "Why did it take so long?"
"What happened in Yecheng?"
The two spies cupped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, you arrived at the city gate in less than half an hour."
"But the defenders didn't let me wait in. They just hung the young master's letter from the top of the city. They asked me to wait, and there was no news after that."
"After waiting for most of the day, the garrison at the top of the city told us to go back first."
"The four of us will leave two of us waiting outside the city, and the two of us will come back first to report the news to the envoy, so as not to delay the envoy's plan."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi felt angry and said angrily: "It's this time, what is going on in Yecheng!"
"Is it possible that they want to surrender to Cao Cao in Kaicheng?"
Ju Shou and Lu Xun also looked at each other. The other party acted like this, obviously to guard against Yuan Xi. If he acted like this at this critical moment, wouldn't he really be afraid of the fall of Yecheng?
Yuan Xi stood up, "There must be a faction in the city that opposes me, and they don't want me to be the first to enter the city!"
Jushu answered: "It seems that some unknown changes must have taken place in the city."
"Furthermore, I am very strange. Although Mr. Benchu is sometimes hesitant, he is not someone who is so unclear on important matters. Why would he make such a foolish move?"
"With Duke Benchu in the city, who among the other two young masters would be so afraid that the young master would enter the city and ruin their plans to do such a thing?"
Yuan Xi's body trembled, "What was your last sentence, sir?"
Jushou subconsciously said: "If Lord Benchu were here..." He immediately reacted and said in surprise: "No way?"
Yuan Xi became anxious, "No news has come out from Yecheng. I thought it was because they were surrounded, but now it seems that it is not that simple."
"If Duke Ben Chu has something to do, Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi both have reasons to prevent me from entering the city first. No wonder Cao Cao besieged and refused to attack, maybe he is waiting for internal strife in Jizhou?"
Lu Xun said: "There is another possibility that Cao Cao had already known that something had happened to Lord Benchu, so he took the risk to attack Yecheng, because he guessed that there would be a fight within the Yuan family, and it was a good opportunity to profit from it. "
Jushou also nodded in agreement. Yuan Xi felt heavy in his heart. It seemed that the situation in the city was worse than he imagined!
Was Yuan Shao assassinated, or something else happened?
Isn't he already dead?
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi became even more anxious. He stood up and said, "Do you think I should take drastic measures to enter the city?"
Jushu understood what Yuan Xi wanted to do and stopped him: "Master, don't be anxious. The situation is still unclear. Maybe it's not that bad."
"But we can't delay now. It's best to find out whether Lord Benchu is still alive. If so, find someone to send your letter to him. Only then can things turn around."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi immediately ordered people to go into the city to deliver messages and arrange operations. Another day passed, but there was still no movement in the city. However, when Yuan Xi repelled Xiahou Dun's army, Yuan Xi sent following spies back.
He said that Xiahou Dun's army did not march towards Yecheng or cross the river south, but fled westward. After Yuan Xi heard about it, he discussed it with Jushou Lu Xun for a long time, but they could not come up with a clue.
But another piece of news was not good. A scout came back and said that a Cao army had appeared in the west of Yecheng and was moving towards Yuan Xi. Apparently they had learned about the movements of Yuan Xi's army and were preparing to come and intercept the battle.
This means that Yuan Xi is likely to face the superior strength of Cao's army without the support of Yecheng. Moreover, this is only a confirmed enemy situation. Who knows if there will be reinforcements from other Cao's troops?
In the worst case scenario, Yuan Xi would be surrounded by Cao's army. He thought to himself, could this be the fate of those who rushed back for help first?
Was it Yuan Tan or Yuan Shang's people who prevented him from entering the city?
Did the two of them deliberately slow down the pace of return support and let themselves suffer?
In Yuan Xi's mind, he had roughly guessed who of the two was more likely to do such a thing, but now he had no good way to deal with it. He suddenly discovered that the current situation actually had a lot to do with him. Relationship.
Because Yuan Xi targeted Cao Cao several times, Cao Cao's strength at this time was much weaker than in history.
Compared with later generations, Cao Cao fought several battles that did not bring much benefit. Especially in the battles between Xuzhou and Yuan Xi and Yuan Shu, Cao Cao actually did not take much advantage.
Compared with Cao Cao who won the Xuzhou and Jianghuai areas in the later Battle of Guandu, these areas are now in the hands of Yuan Xi, so Cao Cao does not have the capital to be evenly matched with Yuan Shao.
What he relied on was the opportunity created by transferring the three sons of the Yuan family to the Jianghuai area.
But this opportunity is fleeting. As long as the three sons of the Yuan family unite as one, defend Yecheng and then counterattack Yanzhou, Cao Cao should have little chance of winning.
However, it is precisely because of this that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, who are competing for the position of the head of the Yuan family, have some thoughts.
Since Cao Cao is not confident enough to capture Yecheng, can he take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the head of the Yuan family?
Yuan Xi has already guessed who is more likely to have evil intentions, and it is most likely Yuan Tan.
After all, even if Yuan Tan in later generations faced a defeat in the Battle of Guandu and the Yuan family retreated to Jizhou, he would ignore the overall situation and fall out with Yuan Shang, let alone now?
But what Yuan Xi was more worried about was whether Cao Cao had anticipated the dispute between Yuan's children, so he made such unusual moves?
In Yuan Shao's residence in Yecheng, coughing sounds kept coming, and dozens of guards surrounded the door of the wing, as if facing a formidable enemy.
In the bedroom inside, Yuan Shao was lying on the couch with a pale face. The people taking care of him were Yuan Xing and Hong.
Yuan Shao's condition was so sensitive that even maids were inconvenient to avoid spreading the news, so he could only find the closest people to take care of him.
Yuan Xing looked worried. Although Yuan Shao didn't vomit blood today, his face became paler. It was obvious that his condition was continuing to worsen. If this continues, as long as it doesn't last ten days and a half, it's hard to say what will happen!
(End of chapter)
