Although the little overlord is brave, he can only return home in the face of the well-prepared and well-defended Shouchun City. It is already an impossible task to take Shouchun in a short period of time. In the past, Sun Ce was invincible, in addition to his own bravery, the strength of the opponent was also an objective factor.

For example, during the conquest of the six counties of Jiangdong, Sun Ce almost never encountered any powerful opponents, and the only one who was a young general of Qu A, Gao Favor, also switched to Sun Ce because of Liu Xuan's distrust. But the opponent at this time is very different from what he has encountered in the past. Zhang Ren, that is a famous general, before he joined Liu Xie, he was a famous general in Shuzhong, and after serving Liu Xie, he conquered the Western Regions and served as the chief general of the begging army. If Zhang Ren was just a frog sitting in a well watching the sky when he was in Shuzhong, then when he was ordered to guard the Western Regions, and later was ordered to form a white army to follow Liu Xie's expedition to the west, his vision and personal talent have been significantly improved.

Dealing with local heroes like Liu Miao and Yan Baihu, Sun Ce can defeat them with strength. But against people like Zhang Ren, Sun Ce's previous invincible means failed, as long as Sun Ce dared to go into battle in person, there would be two hundred crossbowmen specially arranged for him by Zhang Ren to meet him.

The guards around Sun Ce have been changed twice, and the guards who follow Sun Ce are all selected in the third batch. The first two batches were killed in the process of blocking Sun Ce's arrows.

suppressed Sun Ce, the backbone of the Jiangdong Army, and it was even more difficult for the Jiangdong Army to forcibly capture Shouchun. In desperation, Sun Ce had to send someone to ask Zhou Yu for advice, but Sun Ce didn't know that Zhou Yu's situation was not much better than him at this time.

When you meet an opponent in chess, you will meet a good talent. Zhou Yu can be said to be a masterpiece of a generation, but Jia Xu is also not easy to match. Zhou Yu is resourceful, Jia Xu is scheming, and it is not easy to take advantage of Jia Xu. In addition, Jia Xu has Fa Zheng and Liu Ye by his side, and it is more than enough to deal with a Zhou Yu.

One person is short, two are long, not to mention that at this time, the Han army is three wise men in the world teaming up to deal with one. Even if Zhou Yu can defeat any of the three on the Han army's side alone, but now that it is a three-on-one situation, Zhou Yu will have some difficulty coping with it.

The combined army said that there were 120,000 horses, Cao Cao and Yuan Xi were kind, and although the people handed over to Zhou Yu's command could not be regarded as fierce soldiers, they still had the strength to fight, but the 30,000 people that Liu Bei took out were not good, and they were not of great use, so they could only help manage and manage logistics. Zhou Yu can actually call only 90,000 people. And the only thing that can really come in handy is the 30,000 Jiangdong Army given by the good brother and lord.

On the other hand, on the side of the Han army, the two armies of Xiaocai and Fubo, each with 50,000 people, are not comparable to the men and horses that Liu Bei used to make up the numbers. The county soldier system proposed by Liu Xie at the beginning made the imperial court a big step ahead of the princes from all walks of life in terms of the quality of soldiers. Don't look at it as a temporary conscription, but the combat power is very different.

The armies of the princes of all walks of life, except for the descendants who have the strength to compete with the Han army, most of the soldiers and horses are forcibly conscripted into the army by catching strong men. If a gun is fired and sent to the battlefield after three or five months of training, it is conceivable how much combat power it can exert.

Zhou Yu also thought about a quick victory at the beginning, but after three or five real confrontations with the Han army, Zhou Yu finally reluctantly admitted that even if he was all the way, it was really difficult to break the Han army in front of him, and it was already reluctant to maintain undefeated, and if he wanted to break the current stalemate, he could only hope for several other battlefields.

After learning that Lu Xun had a small victory over Sun Quan, Zhou Yu couldn't help but worry about Jiangdong's future. It wasn't until the news that Sun Quan intended to send troops to attack Jiangxia again reached his ears that Zhou Yu's hanging heart was put down.

At present, the situation is the same as riding a tiger, the princes of the four roads are unwilling to sit still, and preemptively provoke the war, and the Han army after five years of recuperation, but also to the need to "eat people" time, the war is easy to stop and difficult, the Han army will definitely not follow the retreat because of the princes' retreat, they will only step by step, gradually encroach on the states and counties occupied by the princes of all walks of life, and finally achieve the great goal of restoring unification.

It is a matter of life and death, and naturally no one is willing to retreat. But how easy is it to defeat the Han army? The pre-war estimate was insufficient, although the vigilance of the Han army had been raised, but I didn't expect the Han army to recover so quickly, and the goal set before the war was probably difficult to advance in advance, and the only thing that could break the current stalemate was probably to see how Yuan Xi performed there?

The alliance of the princes of the four roads gathered more than 600,000 troops to attack the imperial court, and among the more than 600,000 people, Yuan Xi of Hebei accounted for half of them.

Yuan Xi's life is good, enjoying the remnants of the Yuan family, and he is alone in Hebei. Although Hebei has also experienced the scourge of war, the situation is slightly better than that of the Central Plains. And Yuan Xi is not a tyrannical person, Tian Feng and Xin Bi are assisted by others, in addition to the imperial court in the past five years, Hebei has the fastest speed of restoring people's livelihood.

Yuan Xi gave an order, 300,000 horses out of the pot pass and rushed straight to the party, and Zhang Liao, the guard general of the party, after learning that Yuan Xixing's troops were coming, ordered people to report the matter to the imperial court, and on the other hand, took the initiative to attack Yuan's army at night.

As the saying goes, the artist is bold. Zhang Liao is worthy of being the fierce man in history who can make children stop crying. Obviously, there were 50,000 horses under his command, but there were only 3,000 light horsemen who accompanied Zhang Liao out of the city to attack the camp.

The surprise attack made the Yuan army's camp a mess, Zhang Liao led people to rush into the Yuan army's camp and set fire to it everywhere, and then drove away, and when the Yuan army gathered the team to catch up, Zhang Liao had already led people to run away, leaving a burning camp waiting for Yuan Jun to put out.

Once or twice can be tolerated, but too many times, the clay figurines will also get angry. Zhang Jaw, who served as the vanguard of Yuan's army, was angered by Zhang Liao's deliberate arson. The two Zhang met in one night, there is a way to be an enemy to meet, the eyes are red, open the jaw to use all the ability, want to leave Zhang Liao "as a guest", how can Zhang Liao go very strongly, regardless of Zhang Jaw's efforts to stay, drift away.

"General, the lord has ordered someone to invite you." Just when Zhang Jaw was thinking about whether to take someone to chase him, someone came to inform Zhang Jaw to go to the Chinese army's big tent.

Zhang Jaw didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly put down the matter at hand and went to the Chinese army's big tent with the comer. Hebei Siting Zhu, after Yan Liang and Wen Chou died in battle, Zhang Jaw became the chief of the Four Court Pillars, plus Gao Ran and the new Zhu Ling and Zhao, known as the new generation of Four Court Pillars.

However, the current situation of the four courtyard pillars is not quite the same. Because Gao Ran and Zhu Ling did not obey the general's orders five years ago and sent troops privately, although Yuan Xi did not ask for the lives of the two of them in the end, he was also estranged from these two people a lot. After the alliance of the four princes, Takaran was sent to the northern land to guard against the Karasuma people. And Zhu Ling was sent to Qingzhou, the heart of harm is indispensable, the heart of defense is indispensable, although now Yuan Xi and Cao Cao are allies, but who dares to guarantee that the two families with deep grievances will not find an opportunity to stab the enemy.

This time, Yuan Xi brought the general of the Yuan army to the battle with him, only open his jaw and lead the move. At this time, Zhao Zhao is presiding over the overall situation in the rear army, and Yuan Xi is sitting in the middle army here.

"The last general has seen the lord."

"You don't have to be polite, sit down and talk." Yuan Xi said with a smile.

Zhang Jaw was not polite, and after sitting down, he asked Yuan Xidao: "I don't know what the lord ordered to summon the last general to do?" ”

"Ah, I heard that Jun Yi fought with Zhang Liao?"

“…… Exactly, it's a pity that Zhang Liao's thief ran away. Zhang Jaw replied regretfully.

"You don't have to worry about this, I think that Zhang Liao is now guarding the party, and our army only needs to take it step by step, and sooner or later he will be forced to lead the army to fight." Yuan Xi comforted gently.

For Yuan Xi's comfort, Zhang Jaw did not take it to heart. To tell the truth, including Zhang Jaw, many people in Hebei did not expect that it would be the second son of the Yuan family who was a little cowardly by nature to become the lord of Hebei. When Yuan Shao was alive, he favored the third son Yuan Shang the most, and the eldest son Yuan Tan accounted for the title of the eldest son, only these two sons were not only concubines but also not Yuan Shao's favor, but with the help of Tian Feng, he became the final big winner. Yuan Shang is now incognito and missing, while Yuan Tan is being raised in Yecheng, and it is estimated that he will not be free for the rest of his life.

Zhang Jaw is not very concerned about personal fame and fortune, so he has no objection to Yuan Xi becoming the lord of Hebei, and he does not feel that this is an unacceptable result. The only thing that made Zhang Jaw a little dissatisfied with Yuan Xi was Yuan Xi's attitude towards his friend Gao Ran in recent years.

In good conscience, Zhang Jaw does not feel that there is anything wrong with Gao Ran's decision five years ago. Fighting for hegemony is fighting for hegemony, but in the face of external humiliation, we should still be unanimous with the outside world. When the Xianbei people were ravaging the state, Zhang Jaw once thought about disobeying the order to switch and let the people of the state take refuge. It's a pity that it didn't work out in the end, which has always been a regret in Zhang Jaw's heart. And Gao Ran and Zhu Ling have been treated coldly in recent years, which makes Zhang Jaw feel a little chilly.

If it weren't for the righteousness of the monarch and the ministers, Zhang Jaw would have the heart to resign and go into hiding, but now that Hebei is at war with the imperial court, as a veteran who is deeply trusted by the Yuan family for two generations, how can he retreat at this time.

"Lord, Gao Ran and Zhu Ling are all good generals, this time to attack the party, although our army has the advantage in numbers, but we must not guard ......against Yanmen Xu Huang," Zhang Jaw suggested to Yuan Xi softly.

"Jun Yi, the wo came to you today for this matter, do you say to let Gao Ran come or let Zhu Ling come?" Yuan Xi interrupted Zhang Jaw's words.

“…… What does this mean, my lord? ”

"Mr. Tian reminded me yesterday that it was Yanmen Xu Huang who had to guard against it. After thinking about it, I want to take charge of the rear army now, and you are lacking in skills, and the rest of the people are not enough to take on the big task, so I want to transfer one of them to lead the army to guard against Xu Huang. Yuan Xi explained when he saw this.

Hearing Yuan Xi mention Tian Feng, Zhang Jaw nodded slightly, as expected, the most trusted by the lord in front of him is still that Tian Yuanhao, almost obedient, fortunately that Tian Feng is not a treacherous villain, otherwise I don't know whether this Hebei is surnamed Yuan or Tian.

"Since the lord asked, he would recommend Gao Guan. Gao Ran and the last general are old acquaintances, and the last general understands Gao Ran's temperament, as long as the lord gives an order, he will definitely put down what he is doing and rush here. ”

"However, I seem to have been a little alienated from Gao Yan in the past few years, and he won't have a grudge?" Yuan Xi asked hesitantly.

"No, Gao Ran is a straight gut, if he is really dissatisfied with the lord, he may have already resigned and returned to his hometown, instead of being ordered to guard Youzhou." Zhang Jaw replied with an affirmative expression.

Seeing that Zhang Jaw was so determined, Yuan Xi nodded slightly.

……

After discussing the business, Zhang Jaw got up and prepared to leave and return to the front army, but Yuan Xi did not stop him and personally sent Zhang Jaw out of the tent. didn't want to wait for Zhang Jaw to leave the Chinese army camp, but he was stopped by Tian Feng's nephew Tian Yuan, saying that Tian Feng had something to ask for.

Zhang Jaw couldn't help but wonder a little when he heard this, not that he suspected that Tian Yuan in front of him was someone impersonating, but that he couldn't understand why Tian Feng didn't show up with him when he went to see the lord by himself, but instead sent Tian Yuan to invite him alone. With doubts, Zhang Jaw followed Tian Yuan to Tian Feng's camp.

Before he entered the account, Zhang Jaw smelled a smell of medicine, and couldn't help frowning and asked Tian Yuan: "Zifang, is your uncle sick?" ”

“…… The general will know when he enters the account. ”

When Zhang Jaw heard this, he hurriedly entered the account and took a look, and saw Tian Feng lying on the sickbed, his face not looking very good. Zhang Jaw and Tian Feng are old acquaintances, and when they saw Tian Feng like this, they hurriedly stepped forward and asked with concern: "Mr. Tian, has your health improved?" ”

"Thank you for your concern, sit down and talk." Tian Feng opened his eyes and said to open his jaw.

After Zhang Jaw sat down, without waiting for Zhang Jaw to inquire about his condition, Tian Feng opened his mouth and asked Zhang Jaw: "Jun Yi, in your opinion, what do you think is the timing of this use of troops against the imperial court?" ”

"......" Zhang Jaw was stunned for a moment, and was silent for a moment before asking tentatively: "Mr. Tian, are you against the lord's use of troops against the imperial court this time?" ”

"No, although Tian Feng is sick, his brain is not confused, the enemy is strong and I am weak, if I don't act, I will sit back sooner or later. It's just that some people in Hebei don't know what's wrong and express their strong opposition to this dispatch of troops. Zhengnan did not go out with the army this time, in order to prevent someone from making waves in Yecheng. Tian Feng shook his head slightly and replied.

“…… Who is it? Zhang Jaw frowned and asked.

"Guo Tu, Chen Gong."

"What did the two of them say?"

"Huh...... It is nothing more than some clichés about the invincibility of the imperial court, so I will not mention it here. Gentlemen, I ordered my son to come here because I have something to entrust. ”

"Mr. Tian, please command." Hearing this, Zhang Jaw said.

“…… If it is done, it can ensure that my Hebei is safe for ten years, but if it is defeated, then the end of my Hebei is not far away. For this reason, at this time, we need your help. ”

"When did Mr. Tian become so verbose? Let's just tell Zhang Jaw what needs to be done. Zhang Jaw looked at Tian Feng who was chattering and said.

"Huh...... Tian is a little long-winded. Tian Feng laughed self-deprecatingly when he heard this, and then said with a straight face: "Jun Yi, I want you to keep an eye on Gao Yan, if he is dedicated to the Lord, then after this battle, Tian will definitely ask the lord to reuse it for him, but if he has two intentions this time, then please Jun Yi can abide by the duties of the monarch and ministers, and don't indulge in favoritism." ”

“…… Mr. Tian, do you suspect Gao Ran of defection? Zhang Jaw looked at Tian Feng dissatisfiedly and asked.

"At this moment, you have to be cautious." Tian Feng smiled bitterly and explained: "It's not that Tian is suspicious, but the eyes and ears of the imperial court are all over the world, and it is impossible to prevent it." You are friends with Gao Ran, and I believe that Gao Ran will not defect to the enemy, but the lord does not understand Gao Ran's true temperament, and after being treated coldly for five years, you dare to guarantee that Gao Ran will still regard the lord as the master? ”

“…… Okay, Mr. Tian, the last general will take the order. However, the last general firmly believes that Gao Ran is not that kind of person. Zhang Jaw didn't waste time arguing with Tian Feng, since Tian Feng said that this was Yuan Xi's order, then he would carry it out himself. Rather than handing it over to someone who is not familiar with Gao Ran, it is better to come yourself.

Seeing that Zhang Jaw agreed, Tian Feng breathed a sigh of relief, and at this moment, Tian Yuan walked in with a bowl of medicine, "Uncle, it's time to take medicine." ”

"Hmm." Tian Feng responded, Zhang Jaw saw the opportunity to leave, Tian Feng was sick in bed, and it was not good to keep Zhang Jaw, so he ordered Tian Yuan to send Zhang Jaw out of the camp instead of himself.

"Zifang, what kind of illness does Mr. Tian have?" On the way to the camp gate, Zhang Jaw casually asked Tahara Road. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Tian Yuan shook his head with a bitter face and said: "I don't know, the doctor didn't find out the cause, but my uncle started to have nightmares some time ago, and he woke up every night. ”

"Then the medicine he drank was ......"

"It's just a general decoction for peace of mind, but I plan to go to the nearby masters to see my uncle in two days." Tahara replied, and said what he was going to do.

Do not believe all the things of gods and demons, nor do you disbelieve them. This thing has been widely circulated, but none of them have actually seen it. If others swear that they have seen it, but they have not seen it, then always maintain a skeptical attitude. Zhang Jaw just asked casually, and since Tian Yuan already had a countermeasure, Zhang Jaw didn't continue to talk about this topic.

After leaving the Chinese army camp and returning to his camp, Zhang Jaw immediately ordered someone to call his deputy general Zhang Xiong. Zhang Xiong is the biological son of Zhang Jaw, who has been practicing martial arts with Zhang Jaw since he was a child, and has won the true legend of Zhang Jaw. He is now eighteen years old and is responsible for commanding the elite halberd soldiers under Zhang Jaw.

"Father, what commands the child?" As soon as Zhang Xiong entered the tent, he asked Zhang Jaw. The eighteen-year-old guy is the age of spirit, Zhang Jaw looked at his son with relief, and asked with a smile: "Have you put aside martial arts in the past few days?" ”

"The father can rest assured that the child has never slackened for a day."

"That's good, for the sake of the Father, I have to order you to do it."

"Father, please command."

"Well, in a few days, your Uncle Gao will come from the North, and then your father will recommend you to serve under his account, and you will select ten people from the Euphorbia to be your personal soldiers in the next few days, and then recommend it to your Uncle Gao for your father."

“…… Father, isn't Uncle Gao not very well treated by the lord? How did you get transferred? Zhang Xiong asked puzzled.

"Bastard, have you forgotten the rules of the army? Is this something you can inquire about? Zhang Jaw turned his face and scolded unhappily.

It's just that Zhang Xiong didn't care, and said with a hippie smile: "Father, isn't it just our father and son right now, and there are no outsiders." Father, does the lord really plan to use Uncle Gao? ”

“…… At present, there is a shortage of people around the lord who can take on great responsibilities, so I think of your Uncle Gao, but this matter must not be known to your Uncle Gao. ”

"The child understands...... Father, the child is gone, what should I do here? ”

"What? Without you, would the father be a waste? ”