Yuan Xi sighed. At this point in the fight, if he and Yuan Shang attacked with all their strength regardless of losses, at least half of the opponent's people would not be able to return, including General Cao Ying.
Because of this reason, he fell short, which made him extremely unwilling.
But if he were in Yuan Shang's position, faced with the current situation, he would most likely make the same choice.
After all, what Yuan Tan did before made people very uneasy.
Moreover, when Yuan Tan entered Jizhou and rushed to Yecheng, no one would believe him if he said that he didn't even have any information about the battle of Yecheng.
After learning about the decisive battle between the Yuan family and Cao Jun, Yuan Tan not only did not come to the battlefield to rescue, but also made a move like heading straight to Yecheng. It can only be said what he was thinking, and it is worth pondering.
Logically speaking, Yuan Tan would never have the guts to do such a thing at such a critical moment. After all, if Yuan Shao pursues him afterwards, Yuan Tan will not only be punished, but may even be taken back as the governor of Qingzhou.
But Yuan Tan did it anyway. He ignored the battlefield and went straight to Yecheng, which shows that he must have something to rely on. The key question is, what made him so bold?
Yuan Xi had previously discussed this issue with several of his subordinate advisers. Although everyone avoided it, they finally reached an agreement on one point of view.
Only after knowing that Yuan Shao could not control the situation, Yuan Tan would have such courage.
This so-called uncontrollable situation certainly includes Yuan Shao's physical condition.
This leads to an extremely worrying prediction.
Yuan Tan may have known in advance that Yuan Shao was in poor health.
If this speculation comes true, combined with Yuan Tan's previous collusion with Cao Ying, it will be easy to draw a conclusion.
Even if Yuan Tan was not involved in the poisoning of Wushi Powder, he was at least somewhat aware of it.
Yuan Xi thought of this and looked at Yuan Shang's soldiers and horses rushing toward Yecheng with a sullen face, feeling full of frustration in his heart.
This is nothing!
Although he was not at a disadvantage when facing Cao Ying on the battlefield, and even gained some advantages, in other aspects, he was far behind.
This includes planning the situation, intrigues outside the battlefield, and accurately grasping the enemy's power psychology. Cao Cao's plans are all beyond Yuan Xi's own imagination.
Of course, from the perspective of counselors, Guo Jia was stronger than Jushou in these aspects, but Yuan Xi never made up his mind to take drastic measures. He guarded the nihilistic moral bottom line, so he was at a disadvantage in the fight with Cao Ying.
Yuan Xi feels guilty for Guo Jia. Compared with the other party, he feels that he can't use his tricks when dealing with a master like himself, right?
But the matter has come to this, and he can only take one step at a time. He retracted his thoughts and said to Lu Xun: "I issued an order to Ziyi Zilong and the others. When they pursue, they must not advance rashly and must maintain their formation to avoid being taken advantage of by the enemy. "
"At the same time, find someone to inquire about Zhang He and Wen Chou's two groups. If they retreat too quickly, Cao's troops from those two groups may come to attack our flanks, and we have to guard against them."
At this point, both Yuan Xi and Lu Xun saw the unwillingness in each other's eyes. It was a big victory, but because of Yuan Tan's interference, the victory changed from a big victory to a small victory!
Otherwise, maybe we can push Cao Jun back to the south of the Yellow River in one go!
After another half hour, the sun began to set and the sky turned dark. Yuan Xi was afraid that he would not have enough vision and would be counterattacked at night, so he had to order his soldiers to rest on the spot and set up a stronghold.
Zhao Yun and Tai Shici learned of the changes in Yecheng and could only obey the military order to stop the pursuit. They watched Cao Jun escape in embarrassment and led the soldiers back.
In fact, at that time, Xiahou Dun, Cao Chun, Yu Jin and others had all been wounded by arrows. Cao Chun's injury was particularly serious, and his cavalry had completely collapsed. If Xu Chu and Li Dian had not fought hard to cut off the rear, it would have been difficult for these two groups to escape.
After more than an hour, when the sky turned completely dark, the news about Zhang He and Wen Chou came through.
Zhang He, Wen Chou and Zhang He fought with each other and spontaneously joined forces. They fought many battles side by side and cooperated with each other tacitly. Although Cao Ying had the advantage in strength, it was never able to break through the formation of the two men.
But in the afternoon, Yuan Shang's order to retreat to Yecheng came. After receiving it, the two had no choice but to retreat while fighting. Cao's army took advantage of the situation to attack, and the Jizhou army suffered a lot of losses during the retreat.
The two also knew that it would be unkind to Yuan Xi to retreat like this, so they sent someone to explain the situation. However, even when Yuan Xi learned the news, he was no longer able to control the battlefield situation.
He stood on the wooden building, looked into the dark distance, and punched the wooden railing hard.
The battle in Yecheng ended in an anticlimactic manner.
Yuan Shang was fighting hard in front, while Gao Lan behind him looked in pain, because after the day's battle, the wounds on his body were almost open.
Gao Lan even felt that if he didn't go to Hua Tuo for treatment immediately after returning to the city, he was afraid that he would die suddenly tonight.
Yuan Shang was not in the mood to take care of Gao Lan's injury at this time. Now he could only rush back to Yecheng at all costs. If Yuan Tan entered the city first, Yuan Shang might not only lose everything, but he might not even be able to enter Yecheng in this life. went!
After several hours of rushing at all costs, Yuan Shang finally arrived at the gate of Yecheng in the middle of the night.
He saw that there was nothing unusual about the banner soldiers on the city head, and used his seal and ribbon to order the city gate to open. When the other party opened the city gate and came out to greet him, Yuan Shang recognized that the person facing him was his personally appointed trusted aide, and then he felt relieved.
After he led his troops into the city, he deployed all the soldiers to defend behind the city wall. He took a short rest. Before he could return to the mansion, the urgent report from the spies outside arrived.
Yuan Tanjun's cavalry has appeared thirty miles west of the city!
Yuan Shang let out a long breath. In the end, he won this competition!
He even felt that rushing this time was more dangerous than attacking Cao Jun during the day. If he had hesitated a little at that time, Yecheng might have changed hands!
Gao Lan limped off his horse and came over and said, "Generals Wen Chou and Zhang He have not returned yet."
Yuan Shang frowned slightly, "We are not completely safe while waiting for them to come back."
"I know that General Gao is injured, but if there is no general guarding the city at this time, we cannot suppress the opponent, so now we have to work hard for General."
Gao Lan was so busy that he said, "Young Master's words are serious. I will do my best to serve you."
He hesitated for a moment, "If you feel unsure, would it be safer to invite Master Xianyi back to help?"
Yuan Shang thought about the pros and cons of asking Yuan Xi to help.
The other party is definitely not a free person. If he wants his help to deal with Yuan Tan, he must pay a high price.
But the key issue is that Yuan Tan may not be able to afford the price he can afford.
Although Yuan Shang does not think that the possibility of Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan joining forces is very high at the moment, after all, the two parties have had the experience of cooperation. In comparison, it is even more bizarre that he received the help of Yuan Xi in Yecheng this time. Yuan Shang has so far Nor did he fully understand Yuan Xi's motives.
Is it really just for Yuan Shao's sake, as the other party said?
Yuan Shang shook his head. From his point of view, this reason was not sufficient, but now this matter is not the key to the matter. What he has to do now is to control Yecheng as soon as possible and keep Yuan Tan out.
As for Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang did not want the other party to get involved again and add variables.
He walked to the top of the city and waited quietly for the arrival of Yuan Tan's cavalry.
As the head of Jizhou and the next head of the Yuan family, it is time to show his majesty to Yuan Tan.
To the east of Yecheng, a cavalry army was rushing hard until a fine craftsman came over from the direction of Yecheng. He hurriedly found Yuan Tan in the team and talked about the situation in Yecheng. After hearing this, Yuan Tan's face suddenly changed.
His face was gloomy and uncertain, his teeth were clenching, and his movement of the horse slowed down.
Just a little bit closer, less than an hour!
He was still unwilling to give in and led the cavalry for another seven or eight miles. It was not until he met two returning spies again that he was convinced that Yuan Shang had returned to Yecheng before him.
Yuan Tan asked the team to stop, jumped off his horse, pulled out his waist and circled his head, roared, and chopped down on the big tree beside the road.
Guo Tuxin commented that the two men were riding horses and felt that their bones were falling apart. They were not good at riding, so they were half an hour behind Yuan Tan's front army. As a result, the two of them were walking and found that the front army had begun to set up camp.
The two of them were puzzled. After finding Yuan Tan, they understood the cause and effect. Guo Tu sighed: "Indeed. It's just a little bit worse."
Several people felt aggrieved. If there hadn't been so many accidents on the road, if the other party hadn't destroyed the dock, and if they had decisively crossed the river, maybe they would be the ones in Yecheng now!
Xin Ping shook his head and said, "If Mr. Xianfu doesn't leave the city, it will be difficult for us to find opportunities."
"It was so unexpected that he actually went out of the city to fight in person this time. After the news came that he was leading troops out of the city, we rushed over and it was already too late."
"This opportunity is fleeting and very difficult to seize. It is not a crime of war."
"But the key to the whole thing is Master Xianyi. From the beginning to the end, he kept Yecheng under control. He was even able to persuade Master Xianfu to help in the battle. He is really amazing."
"Our mistake this time was not on Mr. Xianfu, but on Mr. Xianyi."
Yang Di on the side felt quite complicated after hearing this.
Because Yuan Tan's situation was originally the best.
Yuan Shao had health problems, and Yuan Tan was the first to get the news. It can be said that he started faster than anyone else, and he also took the shortest route. If there were no accidents, Yuan Tan would be the first to rush to Yecheng. .
But the bad thing was that Yuan Xi's navy, which was traveling along the Huai River, arrived first and got ahead of Yuan Tan.
Yuan Tan was sure that the person who destroyed the dock was definitely Yuan Xi's people.
So although he later tried to find a way to cross the Yellow River and enter Jizhou, after learning that Yuan Xi had entered Yecheng, and on Guo Tu's suggestion, he did not rush back, but divided his troops into several groups and hid secretly. .
According to Guo Tu's prediction, if Yuan Xi occupies Yecheng, there is a high probability that he will be unable to suppress his greed and capture Yecheng.
The most anxious person at that time is not Yuan Tan, but Yuan Shang.
Yuan Shang was bound to fall out with Yuan Xi and attack Yecheng. In Guo Tu's view, although Yuan Xi could temporarily gain Yecheng, it would be unfair and the Jizhou gentry would not support him.
In addition, Yuan Xi's troops are not many, and Yuan Tan may not be able to attack Yecheng before that time. When the time comes, Yuan Tan can sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers and tigers. Watching the two of them fight, both sides will be injured, and he will be able to reap the benefits!
That is, no matter which side of Yuan Xi or Yuan Shang is at a disadvantage, they will seek Yuan Tan to join forces. If both sides are greatly damaged, Yuan Tan will eat them both!
(End of chapter)
