"My lord, a general should be in charge of military affairs. Otherwise, who will be in charge of military affairs?" Cui Yan suggested, out of public interest.
Yuan Shao looked at Yan Liang who was kneeling aside, then at Yuan Xi beside him, and then turned to Yuan Tan and Ju Yi on the right.
"My lord, the eldest son is a good commander of the army. He is the eldest son and has great prestige in the army. It is best to let him temporarily take charge of military affairs." Guo Tu advised, he was trying to stop Yuan Xi.
"My lord, the eldest son has not been leading the army for a long time after all. In terms of seniority in the army, he should be the second son who joined the army with you in Luoyang!" Feng Ji retorted, saying that he was fighting for Yuan Xi.
Yuan Shao coughed for a while, which affected his wound again. Weak and speechless, we have finally reached this point.
The doctor quickly went up to support Yuan Shao and persuaded him, "My lords, my lord needs to rest!"
Yuan Shao waved his hand and looked at Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi who were kneeling in front of them. His eyes flickered and he looked very embarrassed and hesitant for a moment.
"Military Talisman..." Yuan Shao said softly.
Ju Yi took two steps forward and handed the troop deployment order to Yuan Shao.
"I have... three sons... Xiansi, although capable, is impetuous. Xianfu... is arrogant. Only Xianyi is not only benevolent and filial, but also good at civil and military affairs..." Yuan Shao said with a sudden change of mind.
A hint of sadness arose at the end of the hero, but was quickly swallowed up by his innate arrogance. Yuan Shao stared at Yuan Xi and gasped: "I have been a father for a lifetime, so why not be afraid of death! I only ask you , after my father’s death, can you establish the Yuan family and bring glory to the Yuan family, annihilate the heroes, and pacify the world?”
The tears in Yuan Xi's eyes could no longer be suppressed: "Father, nothing will happen to you. You will definitely recover and wield your horse and sword again. Throughout the world, my child is willing to be his father's right-hand man for the rest of his life, and will conquer the world with you. I only ask you to be healthy and recuperate. take care!"
A relieved smile appeared on Yuan Shao's lips. He shook his head and said: "Idiot, in this world, no one is immune to death. Why should I avoid it? Haha, even though I failed as a father, I have a good child, so I have no complaints."
Everyone pricked up their ears, as Yuan Shao's words at this time seemed to be asking for help. Among them, Yuan Tan's heart felt cold, and he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Try not to make a sound. After all, there are Yuan Xi's people outside the big tent.
Because of the Battle of White Horse, Yuan Tan's main force was severely damaged. At this time, Yuan Xi's Qingzhou Army became the largest force. Yuan Shao also considered this, should Yuan Xi kill his brother and force his father before his death? so. Yuan Shao is protecting the last dignity of the Yuan family and his last love as a father.
"The position of Crown Prince... has not been established for a long time. Now, I am seriously injured. If there is an accident..." Yuan Shao then said weakly: "Today, in front of you, I will establish Xian Yi as the Crown Prince. Military affairs will be handled by He will handle it on your behalf..."
"Lord, the order of elders and younger ones must not be disturbed!" Guo Tu advised.
"Gongze, put away your...those thoughts!" Yuan Shao said impatiently, and handed out the military talisman as he spoke.
Yuan Xi knew it was not the time to be pretentious. Step forward and take the soldier talisman. The unofficial history of the Jin Dynasty said it was "robbing".
Yuan Shaoqiang gathered his wits and then ordered: "Xianyi will take care of all affairs. You should treat him as you treat me..."
"I obey my lord's order, and I will do my best to assist the second young master!" Feng Ji said first.
"I will do my best to assist the second young master." Xu You also rushed to swear loyalty.
With these two people taking the lead, except for Guo Tu and Yuan Tan, all the other civil and military officials made some promises.
Yuan Xi picked up the military talisman and made a gesture of invitation: "Everyone, please speak outside. Don't disturb my father's recovery."
This secret story of the big account comes from the "History of Jin". Whether it is the historical truth is unknown. Just like the candlelight ax shadow of brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi in the Northern Song Dynasty, it has become a historical unsolved case.
But Yuan Xi won, right? Yuan Tan lost, right? Then you have to accept the facts and accept the trial. The winner is the king and the loser is the enemy.
At this time, after the battle between Yuan and Cao, except for the Qingzhou Army, which suffered less damage, Yuan Shao's Jizhou Army and Yuan Tan's Youzhou Army were both severely damaged in combat. Hebei's power situation changed suddenly, and Yuan Shao had no choice but to do so.
This is why Li Yuan had to pass the throne to Li Shimin in the end. At that time, Li Shimin's power was already too huge and there was nothing he could do.
Later, Emperor Ruizhong passed the throne to Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, also because Li Longji had made too great a contribution, and because Li Longji had already matured and was beyond the reach of the eldest son. In order to reduce the harm and losses of internal strife and to abdicate honorably, It is a last resort.
However, what embarrassed Emperor Xuanwu of Taizong, Yuan Xi, was that he had always regarded Cao Cao as his enemy and enemy, but it was Cao Mengde who indirectly contributed to Yuan Xi's ascension to the throne.
How ironic, hahaha, hahaha!
After everyone took another look at Yuan Shao, they could only recognize the situation at this time. They all followed Yuan Xi to another tent.
"Mr. Zhong, tell the truth, how is my father's injury?" Yuan Xi asked seriously.
"Ah! Report back to the Second Young Master." The doctor bowed deeply and said, "I don't dare to hide it. General Yuan was stabbed an inch below the ribs by a crossbow arrow. It happened to be where the Qi, blood, blood, and internal organs gathered. The injury was very serious, and it was even more serious. What’s more, the crossbow arrows of Yanzhou people are often coated with poison..."
"What!" everyone exclaimed.
In this era, it was very common for swords and arrow clusters to be quenched with poison. However, the process of making poison is very complicated, and it is impossible for the army to poison all weapons.
Normally, weapons used for assassination missions are just poisoned, but Yuan Shao happened to encounter such a crossbow arrow.
"What kind of poison is it? Is there any danger to life?" Yuan Xi asked anxiously.
"It's made from aconite and aconite." The doctor replied with a sad face, "The arrow wound was very serious in the first place, and the poison penetrated into the internal organs. I'm afraid... General Yuan won't be able to survive."
"Mr. Wu, if you can't cure the master, you know what will happen!" Feng Ji threatened.
"Ah! I'm trying my best. But the injury is too serious, you adults are trying to kill me. There's nothing I can do!" The doctor knelt down in horror.
"Get up!" Yuan Xi shouted, "Try your best to heal!"
The doctor stood up in fear and said: "I have a junior brother, whose surname is Zhang Mingji and whose courtesy name is Zhongjing. He is good at treating typhoid fever and sores, and his medical skills are far better than mine. Unfortunately, this place is far away from Nanyang..."
"Zhang Ji?" Yuan Xi murmured, and then he realized that it turned out to be the one who was known as the medical sage in later generations, so he made up his mind to find the so-called miracle doctor Zhang Ji and Hua Tuo, and then tied them to around.
"It's a long way to Nanyang, how can we make it in time?" Feng Ji said anxiously.
The doctor also shook his head, "I can only do my best. Sirs, you must be prepared. I'm afraid... Mr. Yuan won't be able to last two days." After that, Wu Langzhong walked out.
Yuan Xi looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "My father is seriously injured and the white horse cannot be captured. The situation of the battle in Liyang behind is unknown. Our army is really in danger. I hope you can work together to overcome the difficulties! What do you think?"
Yuan Xi was establishing his authority and forcing everyone to take a stand and take sides. After all, the emperor and his courtiers were not the same.
"I will obey the orders of the Major General!" Feng Ji took the lead and bowed deeply. He was a party member of Yuan Xi, and he did not say when he would wait for more at this time.
Everyone, whether they were happy or not, followed suit, and the situation was stronger than others.
Yuan Xi was not excited about holding the military and political power in Hebei. Because the mess left by his father Yuan Shao gave him a headache.
"Report! Frontline battle report!" The herald ran into the tent.
Yuan Xi took the slender cylindrical emergency report, took it apart and read it.
After a while, Yuan Xi said in a deep voice, "Cao Cao launched a sneak attack on Liyang and Baimajin. Because the enemy army was so powerful, Baimajin fell!"
"Ah!" Everyone exclaimed.
"There are more than 10,000 people in Gaolan. How could it be lost?" Feng Ji said angrily.
"Cao Cao's army gathered tens of thousands of elites and crossed the river at the same time to attack Liyang. General Gao Lan fought to the death and transported the grain and fodder to Liyang. The remaining soldiers also joined Chunyu Qiong's troops. The two of them worked together to save Liyang. "Yuan Xi replied.
"In this way, isn't our army's retreat route cut off?" Ju Yi said anxiously, "There is still food and grass. There is less than three days of food and grass left in the camp!"
Yuan Tan on the side couldn't help but sneer. Although they were facing a powerful enemy together, he was still happy to see Yuan Xi's embarrassment.
"Yes! Please Major General, please order the recapture of Baima Jin as soon as possible, otherwise our army will collapse without a fight if the food and grass are cut off." Cui Yan advised.
At this time, the tent door curtain was lifted and Guo Jia walked in. He saluted everyone and handed over another urgent report.
Following Yuan Xi, Zhu Gongdao stepped forward quickly, took the urgent report and handed it to Yuan Xi.
After Yuan Xi opened it and looked at it, his face relaxed. He said to everyone: "Two days ago, our troops were sent to transport grain, and they discovered the abnormal movements of Cao Cao's army. After they detected the enemy's situation, they attacked Puyang, which was empty of troops!"
"Ah!" Everyone was even more shocked. Bai Majin was lost just now, and then Puyang was immediately in the hands of the army. The sudden change between them was really unacceptable to them.
Moreover, there seemed to be something slightly inappropriate in Yuan Xi's words. But they couldn't grasp the key points for a while, so they could only let Yuan Xi explain.
After Xu You understood Yuan Xi's intention, he immediately said: "Our army has suffered successive defeats. Its morale has been greatly frustrated. The loss of Baimajin at this time has made it even worse. It will be detrimental to our army to continue fighting. It is better to retreat to Hebei and wait until later in the day." Go on a crusade against Cao Cao."
"Bastard!" Yuan Tan scolded: "My father was seriously injured by Cao's army. How can we retreat without revenge?"
"Yes, Second Young Master, if you can't avenge your lord, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public!" Guo Tu said helpfully.
Yuan Xi's face darkened and he shouted: "I wonder who urged my father to cross the river from Yanjin? Who urged my father to attack Baima! Huh? Tell me?"
Being rebuffed by Yuan Xi, Guo Tu suddenly turned red and pointed at Yuan Xi, speechless.
"Where is the Tiger Guard? Come on!" Yuan Xi ordered: "Drag Guo Tu out and behead him!"
"Here!" Zhu Gongdao responded. He shouted loudly and called in a few tiger guards to hold Guo Tu down.
"You can't kill the lord's subordinates!" Guo Tu shouted at the top of his lungs. "I want to meet my lord. You have no right to kill my lord's subjects!"
"Major General, wait a minute!" Ju Yi stood up and advised: "My lord just entrusted the affairs to the young general, and you immediately killed my lord's subordinates. This is indeed disrespectful to my lord, please spare Guo Tu for the time being." Depending on the fate of the earth, please ask the lord for instructions before making a decision."
"You really should ask your lord for instructions before executing him." Xun Chen also stood up and advised.
Yuan Xi looked at the two men. He originally wanted to kill Guo Tu to establish his prestige, but he also knew that he could not push these old officials into a hurry. So he got off the donkey and ordered: "Well, what you said makes sense, take Guo Tu into custody, and make a decision after returning to Jizhou."
Seeing Yuan Xi take a step back, Xun Chen couldn't say anything else.
"Father's great revenge must be avenged. But our army can no longer fight for a long time at this time." Yuan Xi said seriously.
"I agree with the Major General. We should return to Hebei first before making any plans." Xu You agreed.
"I second my opinion," Feng Ji also said.
The remaining generals thought about it and felt that another victory was not a big deal. They also seconded the proposal.
"Ju Yi, Qianzhao, come out!" Yuan Xi ordered: "Order Ju Yi as the chief general and Qianzhao as the deputy general. You two will select 7,000 infantry from the Jizhou army, supplemented by 3,000 Wuhuan cavalry. An hour later, we immediately rushed to Puyang to help defend the city!"
"Here!" Ju Yi and Qianzhao said in command.
"Two generals, be careful of ambushes on the Yanzhou Army Road!" Yuan Xi ordered.
The two agreed and retreated to mobilize their troops.
Yuan Xi was a little relieved. Although Ju Yi was arrogant, he was a veteran general. There should be no problem with him leading troops to help defend Puyang. Ju Yi can be compared to Taizong Emperor Li Shimin's Hou Junji.
Then Yuan Xi asked everyone to go down and prepare to evacuate to Puyang, leaving only Yan Liang, Guo Jia, Feng Ji, Xu You and Chen Lin.
"General Yan, go down and rectify the soldiers to guard the camp. You must not give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it." Yuan Xi ordered.
Yan Liang bowed deeply: "My whole life has been saved by the Major General. From now on, I can only risk my life to repay the kindness of the Major General!" After saying that, he turned around and retreated.
"Mr. Feng, you were in charge of dispatching troops before, but now I have to trouble you with the rectification of the Jizhou Army." Yuan Xi said meaningfully: "The Youzhou Army may not be willing to obey the dispatch order, so you should be patient."
Fengji understood and said: "There are less than 10,000 Youzhou troops left. We can't think of any tricks. But I will get the Jizhou soldiers to submit to the Major General as soon as possible."
Yuan Xi then ordered Zhu Gongdao: "Transfer the Tiger Guards and the guards from the four divisions to the Jizhou Central Army."
"Here!" Zhu Gongdao responded gruffly.
Cao Jun Camp
"When evil comes, where is the good."
"The general is here." Dian Wei and Xia Houyuan stood up together.
"You two, with 20,000 soldiers and horses, must capture Cangting within one day." Xia Houyuan and Dian Wei are both fierce generals who get excited at the sight of blood, and they like to accept such arduous and challenging tasks.
Without saying a word, the two of them took the order and came out, selected 2,000 cavalry, 150,000 infantry, 3,000 archers, and 2,000 fortification soldiers, rushed out of the camp and went straight to Cangting.
The water of the Yellow River roars eastward, and the spring breeze is rippling, but it is filled with a bit of sadness and bleakness. At this moment, outside Cangting City, everything is covered with spring scenery. The spring light is mixed with blood and blood.
Xia Houyuan and Dian Wei led their troops to surround the three gates of Cangting, leaving only the north gate leading to Liyang, allowing the defenders to abandon the city and escape. Dian Wei could only be a general, but not a commander. He was not much better than a righteous and brave husband.
Xia Houyuan glanced at the weak tower of Cangting, then sneered, waved his hand and ordered the horn to be blown, the infantry in front, the cavalry in the back, the bows and crossbows, all pressed forward.
"This battle cannot be fought." Guo Huai walked to Zhang He. "General, Cangting cannot be defended."
Yes, Cangting is too small, with a radius of only forty miles. The city wall is less than three feet high. There are almost 500 arrows. There are no antlers. The enemy's blocking facilities such as traps and horse pits are mainly because I didn't expect Cao Jun to attack here.
How can I keep it? I can't keep it! In fact, these are not the most important things. The most important thing is that Yuan Shao is critically ill and the whole group is leaderless. Except for the Qingzhou soldiers, the morale of all the soldiers was low.
Zhang Xiu burst in from the outside covered in blood; "Junyi, the enemy has begun to attack the city, what should we do?"
Less than a stick of incense had passed since Zhang Xiu came in. The spies came in one by one and reported the battle situation between Xiahou Yuan Dianwei and the senior officials in the city. Cao Cao dispatched his troops to cut off the road between Cangting and Liyang, leaving Yuan Jun without a chance. There is a way to retreat; there are Wen Chou and Jia Xu, and the third batch of grain and grass escorted has arrived in Liyang and so on.
Unable to wait any longer, Zhang He said sternly, "My lord, from now on, the Qingzhou soldiers will take over the city defense. You all listen to me and withdraw immediately." At this time, Yuan Tan's troops came here to replenish supplies and change defenses.
Guo Tu and Xin Ping had already calmed down and kept winking at Yuan Tan, indicating that he would wait until he didn't run away now. Guo Tu said solemnly, "My lord's life is important. As long as my lord is here, sooner or later, we can make a comeback. This is a matter of righteousness, not an escape." Then the Youzhou Army cooperated with the Qingzhou Army to switch defenses.
Zhang He's anger burned wildly in his chest, and Yuan Tan's recklessness and rashness made it impossible for him to clean up the mess. Just looking at the small town of Cangting, one can tell that Yuan Tan does not have any combat command ability at all. Such an important stronghold had no defensive tools, including stone mills, kerosene, and lime.
There was originally a moat surrounding the city outside the city, but due to the passage of time, the moat had become dry and silted up and was no different than the plain. Yuan Tan saw this and did not send anyone to dig it in preparation for war. What to do?
Guo Huai once again said those words in Zhang He's ear; "General, we can repel Xiahou Yuan and Dian Wei, but we can't repel the follow-up troops. The land, urban and rural areas, farmland, and important roads four to five hundred miles outside Cangting. Everything is lost. Cangting is an isolated city. How can we defend it? What can we do if we defend it? At this moment, we have only one way to go, retreat to Liyang. Huai is confident that as long as we have enough food and work together, we can defeat Cao Cao in Liyang. A hundred thousand troops for one month will prevent him from taking a single step forward. General, please think again."
"Okay, let's evacuate slowly to buy time for the major general to cross the river, leaving the green mountains without worrying about having no firewood. But, how to evacuate?" Zhang He looked at Guo Huai. It would be great if military advisors Guo Jia, Jia Xu, and Liu Ye were here at this moment, and our army would not be so at a loss.
"Did you bring tung oil with you when you came?" Guo Huai nodded; "General, you want to use fire attack?" Zhang He smiled bitterly; "It's fire escape, not fire attack. You go and send an order to Zhang Xiu, tell him to let the cavalry withdraw first, and the infantry Each group of five hundred people will go from the north gate, and the three of us will lead two thousand personal soldiers to cut off the rear in person."
Guo Huai said: "It's okay for me and Bowei to break up. General, you can't take risks. If you make a mistake, the Qingzhou army will be at rest."
At this time, when Guo Huai persuaded Zhang He to fight against Hanzhong, Guo Huai advised Zhang He to temporarily act as marshal and temporarily command the army for the deceased Xia Houyuan. The reason is that a group of dragons cannot be without a leader.
"If I don't die, no one will move forward." This sentence has been said many times, but Zhang He always feels the need to repeat it.
