Because of the problem of ships, Yuan Xi actually brought only more than 8,000 troops, although they were all elite soldiers of the Qingzhou Army. But compared with the Yanzhou Army, they are really at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.
There is another reason. Even Yuan Xi has to be on guard against the group of Yanzhou troops stationed in Mount Tai. Whether they can achieve their preset goals in this way is also a big test for Yuan Xi and others.
"This. What should we do? Didn't Yuan Cheqi stop Cao Cao?" asked a middle-aged squire next to him.
"My father has sent people to dissuade Cao Cao, but Cao Cao doesn't appreciate it very much." Yuan Xi said.
"Did Tao Shijun tell me how to deal with it? Where's Sun Jian, has he come to Xuzhou?" all the squires asked one after another.
"Well, Sun Jian and Yuan Gongzi are confronting Danyang and have no intention of sending troops to Xuzhou." Huang Yun also said a little discouraged.
"Everyone, after all, there are only a few soldiers in Qu County. If the Yanzhou Army raises food and attacks again, our troops will not be able to withstand it for a long time. In my opinion, it is better to move the entire county's soldiers and people to retreat to Xiapi." Yuan Xi timely. suggested.
"How can this be done? This is absolutely impossible!" Those powerful country squires objected one after another. In addition to money, silk and food, most of their property consists of land and tenants. **How can they give up their land and home unless they have to?
Yuan Xi and Jia Xu had already anticipated their reaction, and Jia Xu had already told Yuan Xi how to deal with it, which was to lead his troops to Xiapi. Those powerful squires must have moved their families to Xiapi because they were afraid of the retaliation of the Yanzhou army.
Yuan Xi didn't say anything to them. With his influence, it would not be a problem for the Mi family to move their last property to Xiapi. The life and death of other noble families was beyond his control.
Three days later, Cao Cao's army camped in Tancheng.
Cao Cao was in a very depressed mood. Tancheng was originally a fortified city, and the defenders, together with the Xiangyong soldiers, numbered more than 7,000 people. Zang Ba was also a talented general. Under his deployment, the Xuzhou Army defended Tancheng watertight. Even though the Yanzhou army had prepared many siege equipment, it was very laborious to fight.
Cao Cao was riding on the "Zhaohuang Feidian", and he ordered the soldiers who were attacking the city to retreat and rest.
"Zang Ba is really an opponent. If he were the defender elsewhere in Xuzhou, either the city would fall or he would abandon the city and surrender." Yu Jin frowned and said.
Indeed, although Zang Ba is not a good five-son general, his ability is no worse than that of a good five-son general. Wenpin is probably about the same as him.
Le Jin asked the soldiers to take off his armor. He said angrily: "Next time, give me a thousand sword shield bearers and more crossbowmen."
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes. If it weren't for the shortage of food, he wouldn't use the method of consuming soldiers and moths in order to rush to attack the city.
"Father. Uncle is back in seconds. He..." Cao Angce immediately stepped forward and hesitated.
Cao Cao was shocked and asked: "Miaocai and Mancheng were defeated? Did the Qingzhou Army really land in Qu County?"
Cao Ang nodded, and then Xia Houyuan drooped his head. Holding his bag, he knelt in front of Cao Cao and apologized.
"Miaocai, what's going on, where is Mancheng?" Cao Cao asked hurriedly.
Xia Houyuan looked sad and angry, and said, "My subordinates were incompetent and allowed the Qingzhou soldiers to land in Quxian and attacked our camp at night. The food and grass were burned by the Qingzhou soldiers, and the general had to return to Tancheng. General Mancheng In order to stop the pursuit of the Qingzhou cavalry, I personally led the troops to break up the rear. As a result, I was seriously injured in a deadly battle."
"Where is Mancheng?" Cao Cao asked.
"He was sent to the camp to be treated by the army doctor. His life was saved, but he won't be able to stand up for a few months." Cao Ang answered for Xia Houyuan.
"General Miaocai, how many people are there in the Qingzhou Army?" Xi Zhong asked.
Xia Houyuan recounted the battle situation and said, "Because it was a night attack by the Qingzhou Army. I didn't see it clearly at first. Then at dawn, I realized that there were only four or five thousand people in front and behind."
Xun You nodded and said, "That's right. Generals Zixiao and Yuanrang have not sent any news that the Qingzhou Army is going south, so the Qingzhou Army came by sea. If so, they can only have seven or eight thousand troops at most."
Cao Cao remained silent, holding the handle of his waist knife tightly.
"My lord, order Zixiao to attack Qi, and show those Qingzhou people how powerful they are!" Le Jin said angrily.
"My lord, no!" Xun You urged, "The Qingzhou army has no less than 60,000 to 70,000 troops. He sent a few thousand troops to attack, but the main force is still in Qingzhou. They must have been prepared. If they attack rashly, they will only fall into a trap. "
"Yuan Xi obviously wants to rely on thousands of soldiers and horses to fight with us in Xuzhou. Youyuan can just ask General and the others to block Langya. General Zixiao can be asked to come and join the Chinese army." Xi Zhong suggested.
"Instruct Zixiao to withdraw from Mount Tai." Cao Cao ordered. He urgently needs to concentrate his strength and defeat Xuzhou quickly.
"As long as Yuan Xi doesn't go south with all his strength, it will be easy. We can abandon Tancheng and go straight to Xiapi. Thousands of Qingzhou troops will not be able to help Tao Qian hold on for how long." Xun You suggested.
"Qingzhou has been short of money and food for years of fighting. In previous years, military rations have been supplied by Jizhou. This year there is another severe drought, and Yuan Shao has too much to take care of in Jizhou. Even if Yuan Xi wants to go south, he can't raise so much food and grass, unless he collects food like our army does in Jizhou. Enemy." Xi Zhong said.
"Zhicai, Gongda, do you think those Qingzhou soldiers in Qu County will stick to the city or go to Xiapi?" Cao Cao asked.
"The Qingzhou Army has landed, and Qu County is just a small county to the east. It can no longer affect the war situation there. We only need to be prepared for our army to go south and join forces with the Xuzhou Army in Tancheng." Xun You analyzed.
"Let Lu Qian lead 10,000 soldiers and stay behind to monitor Tancheng. You will reorganize your troops in a few seconds and attack Xiapi immediately tomorrow morning!" Cao Cao said decisively.
Three days later, Yuan Xi led his troops to withdraw from Qu County.
After Xia Houyuan's troops retreated, Zhang Liao and Tai Shi Ci followed with a thousand elite cavalry to attack. They once achieved the result of annihilating two thousand enemies. However, Li Dian, who was at the rear, chose a dangerous spot to defend. Zhang Liao and others were unable to attack by force, so they were called back by Yuan Xi.
More than 4,000 Qingzhou troops marched out of the city, and 2,000 Mi family soldiers also protected their servants and tenants in Qu County, and they still had money, food and property to go south.
The other gentry and squires were anxious and angry. Most of the Mi family turned their family business into business. Even if they lost their land, they would not be hurt. Under the leadership of the Mi family, several other powerful noble families with small families had to follow their families south to Guangling to avoid disaster.
However, it developed in one day, and all the soldiers and civilians in Qu County moved south together, which was very powerful.
"Sir, the first step of the plan has been completed. With so many people moving south to Guangling to avoid disaster, it will inevitably put more pressure on Tao Qian and the others. As long as we fan the flames, it will not be difficult to persuade Tao Qian to move the remaining people, money and food to Qingzhou. Take refuge." Jia Xu said.
"Having said that, it is not an easy task to lead so many hundreds of thousands of people to break through the siege of the Yanzhou Army and go north to Qingzhou." Yuan Xi said worriedly.
Guangling Yandu.
Sea-going ships of all sizes docked at the berths one after another, and Qingzhou soldiers disembarked one after another and landed ashore. Most of them were seasick soldiers, and their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced at this time. Fortunately, Guangling was far away from the front line of the battle, so they did not need to go into battle immediately. But the disadvantage is that the distance from here to Xiapi is twice as far as the distance from Quxian to Xiapi.
The Mi family's large ship was easy to recognize. After local officials and defenders got the news, they began to supply food and some luggage to the Qingzhou Army.
Guo Jia also disembarked from the boat and landed with the help of several tiger guards.
"Sir, do you want a soft sedan?" asked the tiger guard responsible for protecting Guo Jia.
Guo Jia waved his hand and said, "It feels better to be down-to-earth! I can just walk like this."
At this time, two Qingzhou Army generals came over. Zhang Xiu reported: "Master Guo, the defenders promised to provide food, and we also asked the soldiers to camp in the north. But it may take two or three days for them to recover."
"With General Bowei presiding over the garrison, can I still feel uneasy? Let General Zhang He send scouts to Xiapi to contact the Major General. They may have already arrived there." Guo Jia said.
"Military advisor, you can rest peacefully and let us do the leading of the troops." Zhao Yun, who came with him, said.
"Cao Cao and his 100,000 troops are besieging Xuzhou. We only have these 8,000 troops. How can we tolerate any negligence. You need to send more scouts to find out the news." Guo Jia paused, "There is one more thing I want you to send, Zilong. You choose a few smart soldiers to do it. They pretend to be civilians and go to Yangzhou to deliver the letter."
Zhao Yun didn't ask any more questions and agreed immediately.
At the same time, Yecheng, Jizhou.
Yuan Shao was discussing with several staff members about preparing food. Chen Lin quickly stepped forward and handed over a letter, reporting, "It was sent by the Major General."
Yuan Shao opened his gun and began to read silently, because he sent Gao Rou to mediate the war between Cao Cao and Tao Qian. At this time Yuan Xi. The letter stated that the war situation in Xuzhou had changed. Sure enough, Yuan Shao's expression changed after reading the letter.
"Lord, what did the second young master say?" Feng Ji asked with concern.
"Xianyi said that Cao Cao had been victorious in Xuzhou and had already reached Tancheng in Donghai County. In a few days, he might occupy the entire Donghai area. Tao Qian asked him for help many times. At this time, Xianyi had already led an army. Wan took a sea ship to Donghai County." Yuan Shao said.
"Ah! How can this be done? Cao Cao is still our ally. The second young master getting involved so recklessly is tantamount to starting a war with Cao Cao!" Guo Tu said with malice.
"At least we have to wait for the lord to send an envoy to send back the news before deciding whether to send troops." Xin Ping also agreed. He specifically emphasized the envoys sent by Yuan Shao, intending to explain that Yuan Xi disobeyed Yuan Shao's orders and made private decisions on major matters related to the direction of the Yuan family.
"Cao Cao is so aggressive that his words of revenge are false. His plan to plot Xuzhou is true. If he deliberately delayed Gao Rou, then when the Yanzhou army occupied the entire Xuzhou, Gao Rou would not be able to agree on anything." Feng Ji retorted.
"Then in order to get close to Tao Qian of Yuan Jiujiu, shall we fall out with Cao Cao who helps our lord resist Yuan Jiujiu?" Guo Tu said sarcastically. He emphasized that Yuan Shu and Tao Qian were allies on one side, and Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were allies on the other side.
"At this moment, Tao Qian has shown his kindness to the lord, and he will definitely not offend us for Yuan Shu again. And Cao Cao is developing very fast in the Central Plains, and its strength can already resist our Jizhou! Don't take the opportunity to weaken his strength and contain him The idea of expansion. After Xuzhou falls into his pocket, the next state and county will be Jizhou!" Shen Pei also joined in the debate.
"You Ruo, Gong Yu, you all tell me whether you should help Cao Cao or Tao Qian." Yuan Shao asked with a frown.
"Actually, my lord has known Cao Cao for a long time, and I should know his character better. My lord should have already made up his mind whether this king is loyal or good, an enemy or a friend." Xun Chen still threw the question back ambiguously.
Yuan Shao was silent for a while, and then said: "Cao Mengde seems to be loyal and noble, but in fact he is cunning and cunning. In order to avoid the discipline of his elders when he was a child, he resorted to deception. In those days when we were together in Luoyang, he also acted cunning and cunning. He was a trap. It’s a common thing with others.”
When he was young, he was with Cao Cao. Yuan Shao obviously suffered a lot. More importantly, Cao Cao has always performed better than Yuan Shao. Although Yuan Shao didn't say it on the surface, he was full of jealousy and resentment in his heart. Cao Cao was quite polite to Yuan Shao. For example, he accepted Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance and helped Yuan Shao resist Yuan Shu.
But Yuan Shao could detect the disdain in Cao Cao's heart. Just like when the heroes of Guandong met for an alliance, Cao Cao repeatedly refuted Yuan Shao's decision and even cursed him for being ashamed to associate with the princes of Guandong. This made Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, very embarrassed.
"This shows that Cao Cao is good at doing things and doing things in a deceitful way." Jushu replied, "Although Cao Cao is our ally in Jizhou, it is only for one moment and another. Now Yuan Shu has retreated to Yangzhou, and Hebei has been pacified. Looking around, Yanzhou is the largest A powerful enemy, so our army no longer needs to rely on Cao Cao."
"The whole territory of Bingzhou is not at peace, the Black Mountain bandits are erratic, and Zhangyang is entrenched in Hanoi. These two are our opponents in Jizhou." Xu You also chimed in, "However, Zhangyang is Cao Cao's private party, and he has seized Shangdang and Taiyuan. , it goes without saying that the target is aimed at us. Do we still need to be polite?"
Jushou rarely agreed and said: "Of course, looking around at the situation in the world. I, Jizhou, occupy Hebei and Qingzhou. Dong Zhuo's Xiliang army was almost completely defeated, and Guanzhong is now a desolate land. Yuan Gongluo still has a certain strength since his last defeat. , but was dragged into Danyang by Sun Jian. Yuan Shu and Sun Jian would not be able to decide the outcome for a while, and it would have little impact on the pattern of the Central Plains. Liu Biaokong had more than 100,000 armored soldiers, but he was a defensive leader, and he also had Sun Jian. It is involved and cannot go north to compete in the Central Plains. The remaining forces such as Zhang Ji are no more than one county, and Yizhou is in a corner. The only ones that can pose a threat to the lord's great cause are Yanzhou and Yuzhou, trying to hold His Majesty the Emperor hostage, and now they want to annex Xuzhou Cao cao!"
Guo Tuxinping did not refute any more. After all, the situation was clear. Cao Cao's family was the only one that posed the greatest threat to Jizhou.
"Cao Cao has never put me in his eyes. He is respectful and humble on the outside. I also know that in his heart he wants to tear me away.
He made provocations in Xuzhou and Bingzhou, and we should respond to him severely!" Yuan Shao said angrily. In fact, the main reason he said this was because he had a deep personal dislike of Cao Cao.
"Report! Sir Gao Rou is asking for a meeting outside!" the herald reported.
"Ah! Let him in quickly!" Yuan Shao said hurriedly.
After entering the meeting hall, Gao Rou saluted everyone and said, "I am incompetent. I failed Yuan Cheqi's great trust and failed to mediate a truce between Cao Cao and Tao Qian."
Jushou, Fengji and others were not surprised. Because Cao Cao's intention to annex Xuzhou is very obvious. He will definitely not give up just to save face for Yuan Shao. Gao Rou told what happened in Cao Cao's military camp, and also talked about what he saw and heard in Xuzhou.
"How unreasonable! Cao A went too far to deceive me!" Yuan Shao said angrily.
"Cao Cao slaughtered the officials and people in counties and counties. This was a strategy to attack the heart. Now Xuzhou is as afraid of the Yanzhou army as tigers and wolves. Naturally, those small counties did not dare to resist and surrendered immediately. There are only a few big cities left in Xuzhou!" Feng Ji was anxious. road.
"It seems that the second young master did nothing wrong. Instead, he counterattacked Cao Cao in advance." Shen Pei agreed.
Yuan Shao's face was uncertain. He clenched his fists and said, "I hope Xian Yi can curb Cao Cao's ambition. But we can't be idle. We ordered all the officials and people in Jizhou Youzhou to dig wells and canals to ensure wheat planting this winter. !Give me another order to show off your power and let him make a random decision without any scruples."
Most of the wealthy families and common people in Qu County moved to Guangling for refuge. Only the soldiers and servants of the Mi family went to Xiapi with Yuan Xi's army.
The journey from Quxian to Xiapi is more than two days farther than from Tancheng to Xiapi. In addition, the Mi family's money and grain industry is inconvenient to transport. When Yuan Xi's army reached the boundary of Xiapi, the main force of Cao Cao's army was already stationed in the north of Xiapi City.
Mi Wei had already sent someone to notify Mi Zhu first. When the Qingzhou Army moved to the east of Xiapi City, the city gate immediately opened and more than 4,000 soldiers poured out to cover the Qingzhou Army's entry into the city. After the Yanzhou Army discovered the situation, they took action, but the Xuzhou Army and the Qingzhou Army were heavily guarded and never gave them an opportunity to take advantage of them.
A group of Xuzhou soldiers approached Yuan Xi's army, led by a red-faced general. Yuan Xi is naturally familiar with him, it is Guan Yu.
"Second Young Master, you are polite! I have been ordered by Tao Shijun to take the Young Master into the city." Guan Yu said. That's kind of said. But the arrogance in his heart remained unchanged.
"We have General Laoguan, but I can station the few thousand soldiers and horses in the east of the city so that we can rely on each other in Xiapi." Yuan Xi said.
"That's the best. Xiapi City houses a lot of soldiers and civilians, and there really aren't many free places." Guan Yu replied.
Yuan Xi asked Zhang Liao, Tai Shici and others to be on guard while commanding the soldiers to set up camp. After they set up their defenses, Yuan Xi led Xu Chu and several hundred tiger guards into Xiapi City.
