The civil and military officials were noisy again.
What is this requirement?
Doesn’t this mean that Qingzhou should be separated and established as a country, China?
Pang Tong sneered: "Why don't you discuss this matter with Yuan Shao's army?"
Sun Guan chuckled and did not answer.
Xu Shu said coldly: "After Yuan Shao was the fourth and third prince, his family had a great business and he was confident that he could dominate the world. How could he accept such a threat?"
"It's very possible that Yuan Shao's army has been looking for them before and wanted to destroy them."
"However, it was not found."
"After all, if a group of bandits want to escape, there are still some ways."
"It's precisely because they haven't been found and don't know their exact strength. I just thought they were a group of bandits, so they concentrated on dealing with us."
Sun Guan clicked his tongue in surprise and asked Xu Shu, "I wonder what the general is called?"
Xu Shu did not answer Sun Guan, but said to the soldiers: "Take them to the side hall first."
The soldiers immediately escorted Sun Guan away.
It wasn't until Sun Guan disappeared from sight that Xu Shu asked everyone, "How do you say that?"
Pang Tong said solemnly: "I'm afraid Wu Hou will not agree to separatist rule as king. Once he really allows it, others will rush to follow suit in the future. What should we do? The reason why Zang Ba found us instead of Yuan Shao's army is definitely the same Because Yuan Shao’s army will definitely not agree.”
Zhao Yun nodded and said: "This kind of shameless bandit commander has such fantastic ideas, I don't agree with him either!"
Xu Shu looked at Lu Su and said, "Brother Lu, what do you say?"
Lu Su pondered for a moment and said, "I think I can agree."
Everyone looked at Lu Su in shock.
Lu Su asked back: "In the current situation, let alone Qingzhou, it is our Xuzhou. Whether we can keep it or not is still a question."
“If we can’t even protect Xuzhou, how can we talk about Qingzhou?”
"As for the Qingzhou issue after defeating Yuan Shao in the future, I don't think it is a big problem."
"If we in Jiangdong really have the ability to dominate the world, by then, will everyone in the world be afraid that he will occupy a Qingzhou?"
"Be obedient and let him continue to be the shepherd of Qingzhou, and then divide it up."
"If he doesn't obey, he will never be able to finish his life!"
"At that time, we controlled the world, so why should we fear the land of one state?"
"What's more, if this Zang Ba really has the ability to dominate the world by relying on a single state, he will not be so shameless that as the Cavalry Commander of Xuzhou, he would run away when Cao Cao invaded!"
"This Zang Ba, in my opinion, is brave when he is brave, but he is just a little thief who lives in a corner."
"The reason why he wants to separate Qingzhou is simply to use our strength to fight against other princes."
Chen Jiao, the governor of Pengcheng County, said: "I also agree with Guangling Cheng's view."
"Now our situation in Xuzhou is critical and we need to unite all available forces."
"Besides, you may not know something. Although Zang Ba is hateful, he has good relations with the big families in Qingxu and Xuzhou."
"After taking Qingzhou, with this person occupying Qingzhou, the big families will not have much rebellion, and the possibility of betrayal is very small."
"Moreover, with Qingzhou acting as a buffer point, we in Xuzhou don't have to face Yuan Shao's army directly."
When everyone heard what Chen Jiao said, they immediately started talking.
Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Lu Su, Zhang Zhao, and Chen Jiao stood together and murmured.
After a long time, Xu Shu said: "How many objections are there? Those who oppose, stand on the left side."
Scattered, some people walked to the left.
However, there were only a dozen people.
Xu Shu took a long breath and said: "The minority obeys the majority. I will bear all the blame. I agree to Zang Ba's request and help him capture Qingzhou and let him separatist rule."
After saying that, he asked the soldiers to bring Sun Guan over.
The bamboo tube that Sun Guan brought before contained the alliance agreement proposed by Zang Ba: Zang Ba cooperated with the Xiapi defenders to attack Yuan Shao's army, and the Xiapi defenders helped capture Qingzhou and let him separatist rule.
Xu Shu signed his name and stamped his seal.
Sun Guan stayed in Xiapi as a hostage.
Xu Shu then sent a dead man to take the agreement outside the city. When Sun Guan came, he brought other people over, but they were not allowed to enter the city.
This time, the dead man brought the agreement and Sun Guan's seal to join these people and went to report to Zang Ba.
At the same time, Xu Shu formally sent an envoy to write a letter of war to Yuan Shao's army, agreeing that the two sides would fight to the death in an open space twenty miles east of the city in three days!
Yuan Shao's army was in command. Yuan Tan was quite excited when he received the letter of war. He immediately sent people to find Yan Liang and all the generals.
Originally, they used frozen soil to build mud walls, which was a last resort.
The Jiangdong garrison cowered down and remained motionless. They defeated the mastermind Zhou Yu again. For a while, they couldn't decide how to attack the city.
Finally, after everyone discussed it, since the other party couldn't retreat, then we should also retreat on our side!
Mud walls were built with frozen soil outside the three city gates in the north, east and west of Xiapi City. Only part of the troops were sent to guard the city walls and trap the Xiapi defenders. The main force of the army temporarily abandoned Xuzhou and went around to Xiaopei, heading south from Xiaopei to Shou. In spring, go south from Shouchun to Hefei, or simply attack Xudu!
However, doing so requires more energy.
Moreover, it also violated the separate attack routes planned by Yuan Shao for the two armies.
But there's no other way, right?
However, they did not expect that the Jiangdong defenders could not stand it any longer and wanted to go out of the city to fight.
Yan Liang and others were all smiles.
If we go out to fight outside the city, our side will be completely worthy of the other side.
On his side, including the cavalry, there are nearly 80,000 troops.
The Jiangdong garrison in Xiapi totaled up to 60,000 troops.
However, there are ten thousand cavalry on our side!
The soldiers are also stronger.
But the Jiangdong garrison in Xiapi had nothing.
As for the strange chariot used to deal with cavalry, it is indeed very intimidating in a small place.
But in a battle in an open field, the number of those strange chariots was far insufficient and they could not stop the huge cavalry.
Yan Liang immediately asked Yuan Tan to agree to the challenge.
Both sides made a declaration of war and reorganized their armies.
Yuan Shao's army also temporarily abandoned the earth wall and geared up to take down the Jiangdong defenders in a battle.
This time the Jiangdong defenders were defeated, and there was no pressure for Xuzhou's subsequent offensive.
It’s really all accomplished in one battle!
In Xiapi City, Xu Shu and other generals mobilized all the soldiers.
In the next two days, under the command of Xu Shu, the army practiced according to the established formation.
The food is also much better than usual.
This battle will determine the ownership of Xuzhou, and Xu Shu is preparing to fight in person.
In addition to civil servants such as Lu Xun, Zhang Zhao, and Chen Jiao, all other officers and soldiers, including the three young generals Ling Tong, Zhou Fang, and Zhu Ran, were also incorporated into the battle array.
Xu Shu even wrote a suicide note.
Once the war is defeated, Lu Su will take over as president, and he will commit suicide in front of the battle.
Everyone among the civil and military officials became serious.
On the last day of the war, Zang Ba sent his eldest son Zang Ai with twelve soldiers. On the one hand, he communicated and fought with the Jiangdong garrison at Xiapi; on the other hand, it also reassured Xu Shu: his eldest son was in the hands of the Jiangdong garrison. Here, there is no need to worry about them running away like before.
Zang Ba's army has arrived sixty miles away from the north gate of Xiapi City, and is lurking in a woods forty miles behind Yuan Shao's army camp.
Xu Shu asked his soldiers to contact Zang Ba with a letter and asked him to move the army to the east gate of the city, at the foot of a hillside thirty to forty miles away.
The two sides agreed to use thick smoke in the city as a signal.
Once thick smoke rose from the city, Zang Ba led his army out and attacked Yuan Shao's army from the rear.
After that, Xu Shu mobilized the army.
In this battle, he personally sat in the rear of the Chinese army, commanded five thousand infantry, and lived and died with Xiapi.
No personal guards!
Everyone, except the soldiers who defended the city, went into battle!
Zhao Yun is in the center of the Chinese army, commanding 20,000 spearmen, swordsmen, archers and other types of troops.
Xu Sheng, Zhou Tai, Ling Tong, Zhu Ran, Zhou Fang, Wei Yan, and Gan Ning each commanded three thousand vanguard troops and were stationed at the front of the Chinese army.
Jiang Qin and Ding Feng commanded five thousand chariot troops, occupying the front of the central army to resist the shield troops.
Zhang Xiu commanded all 3,500 cavalrymen as the left army.
Huang Zhong commanded five thousand armored soldiers as the right army.
Among them, Gao Shun's Seven Hundred Traps camp was also included.
And Lu Su took Chen Jiao, Zhang Zhao and other civil servants, as well as Huo Jun to guard the west wall of Xiapi City.
Chen Jiao is responsible for lighting cigarettes.
Lu Su was responsible for dealing with the defeat.
Once the Jiangdong garrison is defeated this time, Lu Su will open the city gates, enlarge his troops to retreat to the city, and take over Xu Shu's position as president to deal with the subsequent crisis.
All matters were arranged, and the army did not conduct any further drills this time.
Everyone was arranged to rest in their respective residences in preparation for tomorrow's battle.
Even though they are resting, how can anyone sleep?
In various residences, some soldiers were chatting about the richness of the last dinner, some were talking about their wives and children at home, and some were saying their final farewells.
More soldiers were silently wiping their weapons.
In tomorrow's battle, facing the powerful Yuan Shao's army, how many people are confident of surviving?
Xu Shu knelt down alone in the government office's bedroom, writing a letter to his mother and fiancée in the Lu family in Wu County.
If he is defeated tomorrow, the marriage that Wu Hou promised to hold for him when he returns victorious will have to be cancelled.
In the letter, Xu Shu expressed his apology to his fiancée Gu Hui and asked Wu Hou to help his mother provide for her in her old age.
After writing the letter and handing it to Lu Su, Xu Shu practiced his sword alone outside the room.
Although over the years, he has been accompanying Taishi Ci on his campaigns in all directions, acting as a military advisor.
However, he never forgot his special skills as an assassin.
Outside the government office, Zhao Yun and Zhang Xiu were chatting and laughing, and met with Wancheng soldiers one by one.
Zhang Xiu regarded these Wancheng soldiers as his family.
These Wancheng soldiers were all brought from Wuwei by his uncle Zhang Ji.
Zhang Xiu exchanged greetings with these veterans one by one: No matter who survives tomorrow, they will bring the ashes back to Wuwei for the dead, including him, Zhang Xiu.
If Zhang Xiu died in battle, the surviving Wancheng soldiers would be dominated by Zhao Yun from then on.
Zhao Yun also asked Zhang Xiu that if he died in battle, he would take his ashes to see his second senior brother Zhang Ren in the future.
Although he has never met, he still wants to see his remaining relatives in this world.
(End of chapter)
