Cao Jun's letter of persuasion caused a great commotion in Yecheng, and although Yuan Shang ordered all the letters to be confiscated, many people read them. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoYecheng's military morale has indeed been greatly affected, and Yuan Shang is now starting to worry a little about whether he can hold Yecheng.

Yuan Shang convened the three of them, Feng Ji, and Yuan Xi to discuss the next step.

The judge said, "Yecheng City is high and deep, and Yuan Gong has been in business for many years. The grain and grass in the city can support at least half a year. If Cao's army can't attack for a long time, sooner or later it will have to retreat. Now what I am most afraid of is that there are some families in the city who are both heads and rats, and they are unwilling to fully support them. The general can be handsome, and the generals will hold the city. I will take a team of people to take charge of the security in the city, and if anyone tries to fish in troubled waters, they will definitely have nothing to hide. ”

Feng Ji said: "Having said that, Cao Cao personally besieged the city, plus the previous soldiers and horses, and the besieging soldiers were no less than 200,000. If any one of them is breached, it will be burned. It's not a pity for me to wait for death, how can I put the general in danger. I think we should take advantage of the unpreparedness of the Cao army, break through the siege as soon as possible, gather the soldiers and horses of Jizhou, and then fight the Cao army before it is too late. In this way, the initiative is in my absence from Cao Jun. ”

The judge said: "Feng Ji, what is your intention? Now the foundation of the Yuan family is in Yecheng, and it is because of this that the Yuan family can fully support us to hold the city. Once he leaves Yecheng, won't the lord become a lost dog? Moreover, in the plain battle, our cavalry has always been inferior to Cao's army, and the victory or defeat is unpredictable. Now that he is holding on to the city, he is just making use of his strengths and avoiding his weaknesses, so he has no choice but to abandon it. ”

Feng Ji wanted to refute, Yuan Xi said: "Third brother, I think what Feng Ji said is not unreasonable. If the Cao army besieged the city, it would be fine, but Yuan Tan's rebels were outside the city, and it was difficult to ensure that the people in the city had no other ideas. I think it's better to break through and retreat to Youzhou. Where there is Yijing Jiancheng as the gateway, I still have 50,000 soldiers and horses in Youzhou. If we give the three counties Wuhuan some more benefits, we are not afraid that they will not go south to help. Why is it difficult to win Cao Cao when the time comes? In my opinion, it's better to break through. ”

Yuan Xi's words made Yuan Shang tempted, although he always wanted to inherit the throne, but he had always been under Yuan Shao's wings, and he had never led the army alone, let alone such a large-scale battle. Although Yuan Shang didn't admit it, he was afraid of death in his heart. Once the city is broken and the jade is burned, he can't imagine it. But if you break through, you must be a simple soldier, but I am afraid that my family will not be able to take care of it. Yuan Shang hesitated again and again, but finally decided to break through in three days.

The interrogator tried to persuade him again, but he knew Yuan Shang too well and knew that as long as he decided something, it could not be changed. He suddenly felt that it was wrong for him to support Yuan Shang at the beginning, otherwise he would not be in the situation he is in today. The judge said to Yuan Shang, "Since the general has decided to break through, then he must bring elite soldiers, in order to facilitate the breakthrough of the army and prevent the Cao army from pursuing, Yecheng still needs to hold on." The trial was willing to stay in Yecheng and lead 10,000 horses to drag Cao's army. ”

Yuan Shang said, "Shang is now relying on Mr., I will arrange the people who defend the city, and I don't need to worry about Mr." ”

"My lord, if you know that the army is withdrawing, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the defenders to hold on." But if it is judged in the city, the defenders will not doubt each other. The main princess only needs to arrange the withdrawal of the army, and don't think about judging one person. ”

Yuan Shang knew that the trial had made up his mind to defend Yecheng to the death, so he no longer persuaded and let everyone go down to prepare. Yuan Shang went back to the house and told his mother about the breakthrough, and Liu couldn't stop crying. But there was no way, so he had to order someone to pack up the soft and prepare to go out of the city with Yuan Shang.

Three days later, when the moon was dark and the wind was high, the north gate of Yecheng suddenly opened, and 30,000 horses were killed in the city. The cavalry took the lead, in the foot play, the sword and shield hands protected the left and right wings, and the archers were behind, and the 30,000 horses protected the Yuan family and rushed towards the Cao army camp.

It was Lejin who defended the north gate, although there were only 15,000 soldiers and horses, and the camp was originally neat. However, three days ago, Cao Cao ordered to deliberately leave a defensive gap between the camps, so that the soldiers and horses of Jizhou thought that there was an opportunity. Unexpectedly, this time it made Jizhou soldiers and horses take advantage of the loophole.

Le Jin led the troops to block it, but he couldn't see it clearly at night, and it was inconvenient for the soldiers and horses to move, so he didn't stop the Jizhou army, but lost a lot of people and horses.

Cao Jun didn't expect Yuan Shang to give up Yecheng so soon, so he was caught off guard. Even the men and horses that Xiahoudun and Cao Zhen were going to set up an ambush had not yet reached the designated position, so Yuan Shang's 30,000 men jumped out of the encirclement smoothly and withdrew to Youzhou.

Cao Cao got the report from Le Jin, and he didn't know how many Jizhou soldiers and horses broke through for a while, so he only ordered Xiahoudun and Cao Zhen to lead the troops to pursue, and his own army had the right to attack Yecheng.

Although there are only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses here, he "invited" all the Ding parts of the families in the city to strengthen the defense of Yecheng. Cao Cao launched a large army to attack, but there was no way to conquer Yecheng immediately. On the evening of the fifth day, Yuan Tan attacked the west gate and set fire to the city. This allowed Cao's army to break through the defense of the West Gate and attack the city of Yecheng.

After a fierce battle, most of the defenders surrendered to Cao's army, and they were unwilling to surrender to Cao, so they drew their swords and killed themselves.

Cao Cao entered Yecheng to check the grain and grass in the household registration, only to find that the population of Yecheng was prosperous, and the amount of grain and grass exceeded that of Xu Du. It was unwise for Yuan Shang to sit on Baoshan and abandon the city and flee.

At this time, Yuan Tan intended to guard Yecheng, but Cao Cao did not allow it. Cao Cao transferred the guard captain Cheng Yu to lead the Jizhou Assassin History, and sent his second son, Wuguan Zhonglang, to guard Cao Pi with Yecheng. In the city, he found that he was under house arrest and assassinated Shi Gaogan, and Gao Gan was willing to surrender after being rescued. Cao Cao still regarded Yuan Tan as the history of Qingzhou and Gao Gan as the history of the state assassin, but he patted his cronies and generals as military horses and assisted the two in leading the troops, which was actually a disguised division of the military power of the two. Yuan Tan Gaogan was under the low eaves, although he was dissatisfied in his heart, he didn't dare to say it clearly. I had to lead the troops back to my own county.

After Cao Cao occupied Yecheng, he was not in a hurry to go north to pursue Yuan Shang, he needed a certain amount of time to digest the results of the battle, and at the same time calm the hearts of the Jizhou soldiers. After all, what he wants is a stable north, not just defeating Yuan Shang.

Tian Jing led his troops westward and crossed the Taiyue Mountain to the boundary of Hedong. Three days later, Tian Jing led more than 10,000 men to Pingyang. Now Zhang Yan and Xu Shu are worried about Hedong in Pingyang.

It turned out that after the defeat of the Guandu army. Ma Teng and Han Sui's soldiers abandoned the previous peace agreement and marched north to attack the counties of Hedong. The military advisor Xu Shu had the heart to fight back, but there were not enough soldiers in his hands. Xu Huang's 10,000 cavalry are still in the grassland. A few days ago, news came from Feiying, saying that Tian Jing ordered to go north to take Xihe County, Xu Shu took Wei Yan's "Wu" battalion as the vanguard, and Zhang Fang's "Yong" battalion behind the palace to seize Xihe. Now in Anyi, there are only Huo Jun's defenders, Wang Ping's Zhongzi battalion and Wu Fang's wolf cavalry of 3,000. The whole county in Hedong contracted its defense, and the walls were clear, and it only defended but did not attack. Only wait for General Xu Huang on the northern front to return from the grassland, and then prepare for a counterattack.

Unexpectedly, at this time, Tian Jing led the troops back, and Xu Shu was overjoyed.

After entering the city, Tian Jing introduced Tian Feng to Xu Shu and Zhang Yan. After a while, Zhao Yan, the Taishou of Pingyang, and Yang Xiu, the chief secretary of the General's Mansion, came, and Tian Jing discussed with everyone.

Tian Jing first talked about the current form of Jizhou after the Battle of Guandu. Including how he captured Shangdang and why he took the West River. After hearing this, everyone also felt that Tian Jing's policy of encroaching on and merging states was very suitable.

Tian Jing continued: "If Cao Cao conquers Yecheng, then Jizhou and Youzhou are only afraid that sooner or later they will be in Cao Cao's hands, plus Yuan Tan surrenders, and then we will be Cao Cao's biggest enemy in the entire north." So sooner or later, we will have a battle with Cao's army. I took advantage of the Shangdang because it was surrounded by mountains on three sides and was easy to defend and difficult to attack. The West River was taken in order to increase the strength of our rear. If it weren't for the fact that I didn't want to storm Taiyuan and lose my troops, I would also intend to take down the two counties of Taiyuan Yanmen. ”

Xu Shu said, "We took advantage of the presence of high-ranking cadres to march into the Shangdang West River, which has some element of luck." If Taiyuan is stormed, it is inevitable that the troops will be lost. The point is that after Cao's army conquered Jizhou, at least 300,000 troops could be mobilized. Even if we take all the lands of the annexed states, can our gate resist Cao Cao's all-out attack on the horse? ”

As soon as Xu Shu said this, Zhang Yan and the others had nothing to say. To be honest, they also know that the Northern Expeditionary Army has developed fast enough, but compared to fast, the foundation is unstable and the population is insufficient. Especially once the war starts, the defeat without a fight is certain.

Tian Jing also knew that this was the current reality, and there was no way to avoid it.

Xu Shu continued: "So we can't compete with Cao Jun for the gains and losses of one city and one place at the moment. Shrinking the defense and holding the city is the best policy. In addition, the strategy of opening up Liaodong mentioned by the lord before, Xu Huang has opened up the corridor outside the Saiwai, and now is the time, I don't know how the lord is going to arrange it? ”

Most of the people here, except for Xu Shu, did not know much about Tian Jing's Liaodong strategy. Tian Jing felt that the time had come, and it was necessary for everyone present to understand it comprehensively, so as to reassure everyone. Tian Jing told Lu Yu about it.

Tian Feng said, "With all due respect, Gongsun Kang of Liaodong has been in business for decades, and it is not possible to take it down with one Lu Yu and Xu Liang." I don't know how many soldiers and horses are going to take with him when he passes through Liaodong? “

Tian Jing also knew that this matter was not so easy, if he led more troops, not to mention affecting Hedong, and the army expedition, grain and grass logistics were all problems. What's more, there is a secluded state in the middle, and it is basically impossible to cross the state in the name of Zhang Dan. But there are fewer people, and the problem cannot be solved. Tian Jing is also in trouble.

Xu Shu said, "I heard that the general originally served under Gongsun Zhan's account, but I wonder if Youzhou still has the power to use now?" “

Tian Jing said, "I have a righteous brother Gongsun Xu is the eldest son of Gongsun Zhan, after the defeat of Youzhou, he led three thousand white horse soldiers to go to Saiwai, and took refuge in Shanggu Wuhuan Lord Nanlou, I heard that he married the daughter of Nanlou. He doesn't want to recapture the foundation of Youzhou all the time, and going to Liaodong can help me. ”

Tian Feng said, "Ling Zun Tian Chou was originally a local wealthy family, I heard that he has been in Tuntian in Xu Wushan, Yuan Shao sent someone to ask Tian Chou to go out of the mountain to engage in Youzhou, but Tian Chou did not want to be an official. I don't know if the lord may ask for help. ”

Tian Jingxin said, you know better than me in my family, Tian Chou once led Cao Cao to Lu Longsai to cross the White Wolf Mountain to conquer Liucheng and defeat Wuhuan in Liaodong. Naturally, the power of the father has to be borrowed. Tian Jing said, "My father doesn't have many soldiers and horses, but he is familiar with the geography of the local mountains and rivers, and he is the best guide to attack Liaodong." ”

Xu Shu said: "Since there are these three forces to help, I think it is not difficult to capture Liaodong, we are about to discuss a complete strategy today to ensure that the battle to conquer Liaodong is foolproof!" ”

Everyone discussed all night, and it was not until the morning of the second day that all the strategies were determined, and Tian Jing rested in the city for a day. After only three days, all the officials up and down Hedong were summoned to announce the next strategic plan.