Although he was reluctant to give up his infant son, Yuan Mai also knew that his journey had just begun, and it was not yet time to enjoy the joy of family, so after leaving an affectionate kiss on his son's little face, he embarked on the journey of the Northern Expedition to Yijing again!

Four thousand five hundred elite cavalry, facing the warm and cold spring breeze, all the way to the north. After four and a half days of trekking, we arrived at the foot of Yijing City.

Lema overlooks the iron wall of Yijing, towering like a fortress. The moat outside the city is too wide, the thorns and antlers are all over the city, and the arrow towers on the city are lined up, and the banners are hunting; The soldiers cruising back and forth are clearly armored and heavily guarded, and they are really impregnable!

Yijing City was already large enough, and Gongsun Zan ordered his subordinates to build three auxiliary city walls on the periphery, and the area of the city was doubled. 110,000 Yuan soldiers approached the city, but they could not surround the city, and there were still many gaps and paths leading in all directions, so they could not completely cut off the connection between Yijing and the periphery.

Since the troops approached the city half a month ago, the Yuan army launched three large-scale strong attacks, all of which were repulsed by the men and horses defending the city, with more than 4,000 killed and more than 5,000 wounded, and heavy losses. More than 10,000 troops were lost, but they did not even break through the first wall of the periphery. The soldiers in the city were well fed and their morale was high, and Yuan Shao was at a loss for anything, so he could only give an order to stop the assault and Xu Tu had a good strategy to break the city.

Yuan Shao's more than 100,000 people were distributed around Yijing, and people from all walks of life set up camp about three miles away from the city. Han Meng led his troops to attack the north gate, Gao Ran attacked the west gate, Yan Liang attacked the south gate, and Wen Chou attacked the north gate. Yuan Shao led the men and horses to set up camp on the high slope ten miles to the south, and commanded the four people.

Yuan Mai took Zhang Liao and Zhou Cang around the city for half a circle. The herald set up camp in Xi'an, Yijing City, and set up camp next to Gao Lan's 20,000 horses. There were companions to support him in attacking the city, Gao Ran naturally couldn't ask for it, and personally brought 2,000 people to help Yuan Mai build a camp; In less than half a day, a camp large enough to accommodate 5,000 people was established in the west of Yijing.

"It's been a year since I said goodbye to my son last time. Childe has also changed from obscurity at the beginning to high-spirited and famous all over the world, which is really impressive! The last general has already ordered someone to prepare a wine feast, can the son appreciate it? Go to a certain camp to have a drink? "Accompanied Yuan Mai to inspect the camp that had just been erected. Gao Ran complimented again and sent an invitation to Yuan Mai.

Gao Ran, as one of the "Four Pavilion Pillars of Hebei", is tied with Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and Zhang He, and still has some skills. It's definitely not as unbearable as it is described in the romance. was stabbed by Zhao Yun in ten rounds. was a ghost who died unjustly, and this Yuan Mai really wanted to be close to him. However, the top priority should be to visit my father who has been absent for nearly a year. And then do other things. After nearly a year of absence, if I don't go to visit my father, I'm afraid I can't say anything about love and courtesy!

"General Gao, thank you for your kindness. However, I'm afraid I won't be able to spare the time to drink with you today. My father is not far away, and I haven't seen him for a year, so I should pay my respects before I can do anything else. Yuan Mai smiled, patted Gao Ran's shoulder, and said apologetically.

"What the prince said is very true, I should go to pay homage to the lord first, but I am reckless." Gao Ran hurriedly arched his hand, signaling that he didn't mind, "Since that's the case, I won't bother my son, and when I have work another day, I'll have a drink with you!" After saying that, he returned to his camp with his subordinates.

After Gao Ran left, Yuan Mai left Zhang Liao and Wang Shuang to sit in the camp, and he took Zhou Cang, escorted by a hundred personal guards, and quickly whipped up his horse and went straight to Yuan Shao's camp seven or eight miles away.

At the time of a cup of tea, Yuan Shao's base camp was gradually in sight. On the high slope, the fence is lined up, the flag covers the sky and the sun, and the 30,000 troops set up tents and are stationed on this wilderness.

Yuan Shao was discussing the plan to break the city with the staff in the big tent of the Chinese army, and suddenly heard the doorman come to report, saying "Gongzi Yuan Mai asks to see", which made Yuan Shao a little stunned and said in surprise: "Oh...... Xianyong is not in Hanoi Haosheng Town, what did he suddenly come to Yijing for? ”

Although he was puzzled, after all, he was his own son, and after a year, Yuan Shao also missed it a little.

waved his hand and ordered all the staff to retreat for the time being, "Let's go back to their tents and rest for the time being, I will talk about the relationship between father and son with Mai'er, and I haven't seen each other for a year in the blink of an eye!" ”

"Wait for the resignation!" After listening to Yuan Shao's orders, the civil and military staff led by Xu You and Feng Ji retired one after another, and Yuan Shao was left alone in the big tent.

After a year, Yuan Shao's mood has not improved much, and the general trend of the world still makes him anxious, and even more uneasy. Although he has the three major states of Hebei, Qingdao, and Youzhou, and more than half of the land in Youzhou is in his hands, Yuan Shao's advantage over the princes of the world has not expanded, but has become smaller and smaller.

In the past year, Cao Cao has been on a fierce offensive, not only firmly controlling the three prefectures of Yan, Yu and Si in his hands, but also sweeping Lu Bu and holding Xuzhou in his hands. Xiahou Yuan, who sat in Chang'an, expanded his territory, and pushed Cao Cao's forces westward step by step, successively taking down the three counties of Youfufeng, Anding, and Guangwei, and mastering 70% of the land in Yongzhou.

In addition to the eastern and western expeditions, Cao Cao also had a lot of gains in the south, conquering Wancheng Zhang Xiu, taking the south gate of Jingzhou, and laying a solid foundation for the future southern attack on Jingxiang. Through a momentum offensive, Cao Cao's strength skyrocketed, the land area was no longer inferior to Yuan Shao, the number of people under his rule also reached 4.5 million, and the number of troops under his command was 1560,000, and there was a great tendency to fight against Yuan Shao.

In Jiangdong, Sun Ce, who was given the title of Wu Hou by Cao Cao in the name of the imperial court, and the official worship of the rebellious general, rose rapidly, supervised his father Sun Jian's old department, and with the assistance of his friend Zhou Yu, first pacified Huiji County and forced Taishou Wang Lang to surrender. With the help of his uncle Wu Jing, he took control of the sixteen counties in Danyang, and the army became stronger and stronger, with 50,000 men and horses under his command, which made the heroes of the world look sideways.

Liu Biao in the south, since he rode into Jingxiang eight years ago, has been operating for many years, relying on the help of the Cai family and the Kuai family, the two local wealthy families, and his rule in Jingzhou has become increasingly stable. The people's hearts are attached, with 100,000 armor, and many capable hermits from all over the world migrate to Jingzhou for refuge, so the population is large, although it is only a state to the land, but Jingxiang Seven Counties has a population of 1.8 million, which is enough to support Liu Biao to continue to grow his strength.

Liu Zhang, who lived in Bashu, inherited his father's business, and the relationship with the local people gradually blended, constantly expanding his strength, and the number of troops reached 70,000. Bashu is rich, but there are natural dangers to hinder, so the residents of Shuzhong live and work in peace and contentment, and the number of residents in the nine counties of Yizhou is as high as 1.5 million.

Ma Teng and Han Sui in the west occupied the entire territory of Liangzhou, bewitched the Qiang people, collected them for their own use, and formed a 30,000-strong Liangzhou iron cavalry, crisscrossing the western region, so that the princes of the world did not dare to underestimate it.

The general trend of the world is in full swing. The princes have made many gains, but the achievements of the Yuan family are not worth mentioning. In a year's time, only relying on the sudden rise of his youngest son Yuan Mai, he barely captured the two counties of Hanoi and Binh Duong, which can be regarded as a slight expansion in territory.

In other respects, Gongsun Chan was entrenched in Yijing like a nail, indestructible. Black Mountain Zhang Yan gathered 100,000 people, more like a dagger inserted in the heart, although the pain was unbearable, but it couldn't be pulled out for a while, how could it not make Yuan Shao full of worries?

"Greetings to Father, Child!"

Just when Yuan Shao closed his eyes and pondered, Yuan Mai, who was dressed in armor, walked into the big tent of the Chinese army, knelt down in front of his "father" Yuan Shao, and made a big salute.

I haven't seen him for a year, this generation of heroes with a majestic appearance and heroic hair, his temples have gray hair, his face is much older, and there is a haggard worry between his eyebrows, which makes Yuan Mai feel a little uneasy in his heart......

In any case, this person is, after all, the father of this body, the biological father of this body. In all fairness, in the past year, he has patronized and expanded his strength, and how much worry has he relieved?

"Oh...... My son is coming? ”

Yuan Shao was interrupted by Yuan Mai's words, raised his head and stared at his son kneeling in front of him, his eyes unconsciously revealed a look of relief, this is a loving father's love for his son.

"Huh...... I haven't seen it for a year, my child has grown up, much more mature and stable than before, and his physique is also burly and strong, just like two people, and he looks like a general! ”

Looking at his son in front of him, Yuan Shao did not hesitate to praise him, praised him repeatedly, stood up in person, left the seat, and helped Yuan Mai up.

"Father, how old are you?" Yuan Mai's heart moved faintly, and he blurted out a sentence unconsciously.

Yuan Shao motioned for Yuan Mai to sit down next to the Shuai case, and he returned to sit on the Shuai case, and sighed and said: "The princes of the world are getting stronger and stronger, but we are struggling, there are grandsons outside who are difficult to get rid of, and Zhang Yan is troubled inside, how can we not worry about our father?" ”

After a pause, he asked again: "My father didn't recruit you to help in the war, why don't you defend Cao Cao in Hanoi." But he led his troops to Yijing? ”

"Back to my father, Hanoi has Tian Feng, Ko Yi, and Gao Shun in charge, and nothing goes wrong. The child heard that Yijing City has thick walls and deep ditches, and he is afraid that his father will not be able to overcome it for a while, so he led his troops to help! Yuan Mai hugged his wrist and replied with a "sincere" face.

Yuan Shao nodded, closed his eyes and pondered for a long time. The tone was a little complicated: "Father is very pleased with your growth, in the past year, what you have done has not ruined the prestige of our Yuan family." Then, the death of your second brother also made my father very sad, and he often dreamed of him at night......"

Listening to Yuan Shao's words, Yuan Mai's heart sank.

Listening to Yuan Shao's words and tone, it seems that there is an overtone on the strings, it seems that this cheap father is not unaware of Yuan Xi's death, perhaps in his heart, he does not fully believe that Yuan Xi died at the hands of the Huns. Although after a year, all kinds of rumors have gradually dispersed, it does not mean that Yuan Shao, as a father, has forgotten about it.

At this moment, he mentioned this matter in front of himself, perhaps in order to knock the mountain and shock the tiger. Warn yourself that no matter whether you did it yourself or not, you must refrain from doing it recklessly! (To be continued......)