When the news of Tian Kai's sudden "anti-water" reached Yecheng, Changyi and Nanpi, Gao Ran had already led his army to Pingyuan County and fought a battle with Tian Kai in the city.

When Gongsun Chan was alive, there were few military generals with both civil and military skills, and the only good seedling Zhao Yun was abducted by Liu He, but this does not prove that his subordinates are all wine bags and rice bags, and all of them are straw bags.

In fact, Gongsun Zhan's ability to grow from a low-level officer to a prince who dominates the north is not only related to his bravery, but also inseparable from a group of his subordinates. In the official history, there are very few records about Tian Kai, Shan Jing, Yan Gang, Zou Dan and others, but it is only said that these people are Gongsun Zhan's subordinates, and even where they are not explained, so these people are likely to be the old subordinates in the army who have been following Gongsun Zhan's southern expedition and northern war.

Because Tian Kai and others do not have a prominent family background, there are almost no records about them in the official history; Because Tian Kai and others have been following Gongsun Chan to fight hard, they are deeply trusted and reused by Gongsun Chan; Because the Gongsun Chan family eventually turned to ashes in Yi Jing Tower, almost all the clues about his followers disappeared in the long river of time.

Gao Ran led 20,000 arrogant Yuan troops to Pingyuan County, originally intending to force Tian Kai to withdraw through intimidation, but Tian Kai was not frightened by Gao Ran, but calmly commanded his soldiers to fight back a round of tentative siege launched by Yuan Jun.

Although Gao Ran didn't look down on Tian Kai, he couldn't really launch a more fierce onslaught regardless of the lives of the soldiers, because he didn't bring large siege equipment with him when he came this time.

In the siege of the city, even if the attacking side had ten times the strength of the defending side, it did not dare to guarantee victory, and although Gao Ran brought 20,000 soldiers, it was only four times that of the five thousand defenders in the plain city.

Gao Ran after being frustrated outside the Plains City. He did not dare to decide on the follow-up action without authorization, so he stationed his troops twenty miles east of Huang County, waiting for further orders and instructions from Yuan Shao.

When Yuan Shao received the news from Gao Lan, he thought that it would be the good news that Gao Lan's army had successfully occupied Pingyuan County, but it turned out that Gao Lan's army was unfavorable, and he was blocked on the bank of the Yellow River as soon as he entered Qingzhou.

Yuan Shao, who was furious, scolded Xu You, saying that he was fooled by Cao Cao last time he went to Changyi, because Cao Cao failed to subdue Tian Kai at all! Xu You, who was scolded, couldn't say that he was full of grievances. He didn't expect Tian Kai to go back on his word, obviously he had already agreed to take refuge in Cao Cao, why did he turn against the water in a few days.

The strategist Tian Feng persuaded Yuan Shao not to spill all his anger on Xu You, because the fault was not Xu You, and Cao Cao could only be blamed for being too cunning, and he had long expected Tian Kai's unreliability. Tian Feng still insisted that Gao Ran was not suitable to enter Qingzhou at this time, since Tian Kai temporarily turned against the water, it was just time to withdraw Gao Ran to Jizhou, and then look for a suitable opportunity in the future.

Yuan Shao didn't like to hear Tian Feng speak ill of his good buddy Cao Cao. He didn't want Gao Ran to waste money halfway, he didn't follow Tian Feng's advice, but asked Guo Tu, who advocated entering Qingzhou: "If you order Qinghe Liyi to lead 10,000 elite soldiers and carry siege weapons to reinforce Gao Lan." Can Tian Kai be removed? ”

Guo Tu saw that Tian Feng was snubbed by Yuan Shao, and he was secretly happy in his heart, and he replied: "Gao Ran and Lu Yi are both the main generals, if the two of them besiege Tian Kai at the same time." Then the master is never divided, and it is not conducive to the war, so it is better to send General Chun Yuqiong, the governor of the East Road, to personally go to the plains to supervise the war. Stay in Koji to defend Jizhou. ”

Aside from the elements of internal intrigues, Tian Feng also agreed with Guo Tu's opinion, rather than transferring Gao Ran and Liyi to the plains at the same time, it was better to let Gao Lan's top boss Chun Yuqiong go with soldiers and horses to reinforce and supervise the battle. Because, getting two masters of equal status together, the effect may not be stronger than one person, and sometimes it will even backfire.

Xu You also hurriedly suggested to Yuan Shao: "This time General Gao was blocked in the plains, and it has something to do with Cao Mengde, the lord can immediately send someone to question, Cao Mengde will definitely send troops to punish Tian Kai for the sake of his own reputation!" ”

Yuan Shao saw that no one objected to Guo Tu's suggestion, so he immediately gave an order to Chun Yuqiong, who was stationed in Quzhou, and Lu Yi, who was stationed in Ganling, at the same time, and ordered Lu Yi to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to Handan to take over Gao Lan's defense area, and ordered Chun Yuqiong to lead another 10,000 soldiers and horses of the Li Yi Department to Huang County to join Gao Lan, and be fully responsible for the task of attacking Tiankai in Qingzhou. Yuan Shao adopted Xu You's suggestion again, and this time sent Guo Tu, who had a somewhat hard temper, to Changyi to find Lao Cao's "bad luck".

Cao Cao, who was in Changyi, learned about Tian Kai's anti-water incident a few days earlier than Yuan Shao, and he said to the strategists around him with a big smile: "Fortunately, I followed the advice of Wen Ruo (Xun Yuzi) and did not send Yuan to let He Zhicai go to Qingzhou, otherwise the future will be unimaginable!" ”

Xi Zhicai reminded Cao Cao: "Yuan Benchu's subordinate Gao Lan touched a nose of dust in the plain, but I am afraid that he will send someone to Changyi to express his dissatisfaction again." ”

Cheng Yu continued: "I'm afraid that just expressing dissatisfaction is not enough, with Yuan Benchu's character, this time he will definitely not let Gao Ran return in vain, if he increases his troops in the plain, he will definitely let the lord send troops from Yanzhou to strengthen his momentum." ”

Cao Cao had a headache, he had long been familiar with Yuan Shao's character of being generous on the surface and actually refusing to suffer, and it would be strange if Yuan Shao didn't send someone this time.

"Our set goal is Xuzhou, if we divide our troops to help Yuan Benchu attack Qingzhou at this time, wouldn't it be a waste of time?" Cao Cao asked a few strategists.

Xun You said: "At this time, it is not the best time to attack Tao Qian in Xuzhou, it is better to wait until Tao Qian's body deteriorates further, and the internal strife of all roads in Xuzhou will rise before making a move!" ”

Cao Cao said a little irritably: "I'm afraid I'm afraid that Liu Xuande will be the first to get there, and sit back and enjoy it!" ”

Xun Yu suggested: "Liu Xuande has no foundation in Xuzhou, even if Tao Qian intends to let him succeed him, he can't afford to take Tancheng Danyang, Hailing Chen, Donghai Mi and Kaiyang Zangba for his own use. The lord can send people to secretly contact Cao Bao, Chen Qi, Mi Zhu and Zang Ba and other Xuzhou forces to secretly contact Tao Qian's posthumous layout. ”

Cao Cao nodded, and asked again: "So, should we send troops to attack Tian Kai this time?" ”

Xi Zhicai suggested: "You might as well let General Xiahou Yuan lead 10,000 infantry to Luxian slowly, and if Yuan's army attacks Tian Kai is successful, let General Xiahou enter Qingzhou and sweep away the remnants of Tian Kai; If Yuan's army is blocked in the plains, or if the prince in the north suddenly sends troops south, General Xiahou will stay out of the matter. ”

Several other people nodded together, feeling that Xi Zhicai's proposition was more stable and "shameless".

To put it bluntly, Xi Zhicai's suggestion was to let Xiahoudun go to Qingzhou to wait for an opportunity to pick up the "wallet", and let Yuan Shao's army act as the "wronged leader". If Yuan's army defeated Tian Kai, Xiahoudun would have been able to grab a piece of territory for Cao Cao without much effort; If Yuan Jun and Tian Kai were both defeated, Xiahoudun could just take the opportunity to destroy Tian Kai, not only to raise Cao Cao's prestige, but also to justifiably grab greater benefits; If Youzhou Liu He sent troops into Qingzhou, Xiahoudun could stay at the junction of Yanzhou and Qingzhou to wait and see the subsequent changes in the situation.

Cao Cao did not wait for Guo Tu, the envoy sent by Yuan Shao, to arrive in Changyi, so he made various follow-up arrangements in advance, which shows that his "think tank" is all powerful and extraordinary characters.

Xian Yufu, the Zhenwu general stationed in Nanpi City, was not as smart as those top strategists under Cao Cao, but he also made the correct deployment after receiving the news that Tian Kai was against the water and Gao Lan's troops had entered the plain.

First, Xian Yufu immediately dispatched a fast horse to spread this important news to Tai Shici and Zhang He as quickly as possible. After Tai Shici receives the news, he will report to Lu Zhi as appropriate, and after Zhang He receives the news, he will definitely take the form of relay and send the news back to the Jicheng Command Office as soon as possible.

Xian Yufu passed the news to Tai Shi Ci in order to make Tai Shi Ci pay close attention to the movements of Yuan's army in southern Jizhou and prepare for contingencies. For example, if Liu He temporarily changed his mind after receiving the news and ordered the Zhenwu army stationed in Bohai to go to Qingzhou, then Tai Shici would have to be ready to reinforce Bohai, and Youyan army would have to be prepared to go south to reinforce Gaoyi.

Second, Xian Yufu entrusted the task of staying in Nanpi to Liu Zheng, the Taishou, and then led 5,000 cavalry to rush to the area of Xiuxian, which was close to the Qinghe Kingdom, preparing to put some pressure on the Yuan army stationed in Qinghe. Although Liu He asked Xian Yufu not to set foot in Qingzhou easily during the secret meeting with Juyong, he did not stipulate that he was not allowed to move freely in the Bohai Sea, so Xian Yufu transferred all the cavalry to Xiuxian in the southwest corner of Bohai County, which was equivalent to containing the Yuan army from the side and delaying the Yuan army's attack on Qingzhou.

The enemy of the enemy is a friend, although Xian Yufu looks at Tian Kai very unpleasantly, but this does not prevent him from causing some trouble to Yuan Shao within the scope of his authority and fighting for some life for Tian Kai.

Pingyuan County is the farthest away from Jicheng, so when the news came back to Jicheng, it was several days later than it reached Yecheng and Changyi.

When Liu He saw the information that Zhang He asked Kuaima to send back, he looked at Guo Jia in disbelief and said, "There is really a surprise this time!" Tian Kai turned against the water temporarily, refused Cao Cao's order, continued to stay in Qingzhou, and beat Gao Lan, who went to receive the territory! ”

Guo Jia said indifferently: "Actually, it's not strange at all. If you change to someone else, if you suddenly find that the person who threatens you the most has become a backer, you will be bolder. I'm just curious about what Guan Jing said to Tian Kai now, and how Tian Kai's attitude changed so quickly and so resolutely. ”

Liu He nodded: "I'm also curious." I'm still worried that Guan Jing can't be trusted, in case he takes this opportunity to get out of my control, won't we be used by him this time? ”

Guo Jia shook his head: "Whether Guan Jing has other thoughts this time, as long as he says that Tian Kai is moved, the biggest winner is us!" ”

"Oh, tell me what we've won?" Liu He looked at Guo Jia excitedly.

"Childe, can you not pretend to be stupid? When Guan Jing left Jicheng, I was also present when you explained to him, do you dare to say that you didn't see the benefits of this? ”

"Well, just a little bit of it, I can't compare to you as a ghost."

"Childe, please don't call me a ghost!" (To be continued......)