Under Xu Ji's ability, the war in Yanzhou was about to break out, but what no one expected was that it was not Yanzhou that ignited the war first, but Hongnong County in Sizhou.

Just when Zhang Yan was "escaping" to Dongjun, Tian Feng and Fu Zhu, who had received Xu Jijun's order, had already come to Hedong County to assist Yu Ban, who replaced Xu Huang. The men sent by Liang Xi also came to Hedong County at this time, saw Yu Ban, who was already ready to attack, and reported the development of the battle situation to Yu Ban.

After Yu Ban learned the news, he was overjoyed, and immediately led the 30,000 troops of Yanzhou under the command of Xu Huang to unexpectedly enter Hongnong County, crossed the Yellow River to Mianchi, and attacked the Jingzhou defenders of Mianchi.

The Yanzhou army that entered the city was in groups of three or five, easily defeated the originally small number of defenders of Michi, and controlled the south gate and east gate of Michi, only deliberately leaving the west gate, and the guards of Michi fled in a hurry and fled to the southwest to report to Caoyang City.

Yu Ban, who had been slightly modified, only left 5,000 people to garrison Michi, and then Yu Ban led a large army to divide into two routes, one led by Tian Feng to march to the southeast to attack Yongning, which had not yet received the news of the loss of Michi, while Yu Ban Ze and Fu Zhi and Dian Wei marched southwest to Caoyang and attacked the defenders of Caoyang, who had already prepared.

Although Cao Yang's defenders had already made some preparations, the Yanzhou army's offensive was too fierce, especially Dian Wei's mad beast-like slaughter, which made everyone who saw it immediately lose the desire to fight with it.

In just one battle, Yu Ban's army made Caoyang's defenders tremble. Don't dare to engage it at all. However, Zhang Yun is also a famous general in Jingzhou, after getting the news. Soon sent reinforcements and quickly rushed to Caoyang, which was able to resist Yu Ban's army, which had no intention of defeating the Jingzhou army in a battle.

For Yu Ban. After all, the main trouble for Xu Ji now is internal instability, in other words, the main battlefield is Yanzhou.

At this moment, Zhang Yun received news that Yongning City at the eastern foot of Sankun Mountain had also been attacked by the Yanzhou army, and by surprise, Yongning City had now been taken by Yu Ban's army.

Zhang Yun was shocked, so that the Yanzhou army could set off from Yongning City at any time and bypass the southern foot of Sankun Mountain. Attacking Hongnong City from behind, he was most afraid that the Yanzhou army would attack the Lu clan, where his army's grain and grass was located, and hurriedly sent troops to camp in the back mountain at the southern foot of Sankuo Mountain to intercept the Yanzhou army.

However, Tian Feng had no intention of advancing westward, but only commanded a large army to defend Yongning City. This made Zhang Yun feel at ease.

At the same time, Yu Ban's army, which was attacking Caoyang City, also weakened its attack. Zhang Yunjun of Cao Yang was given a chance to breathe.

The frightened Zhang Yun was very angry, and after strengthening Cao Yang's defensive strength, he even sent an envoy to the Yu Ban camp outside Cao Yang City to question Yu Ban: Why did he attack the Jingzhou army for no reason.

Yu Ban didn't bother to explain so much to the envoy, but ordered his subordinates to cut off the envoy's ear. asked the messenger to take his ear back to Zhang Yun and ask him: Didn't you hear that Xu Ji was being hunted down and killed in Jingzhou? and also said Huang Zhong's name in a matter-of-fact manner.

Watching the messenger who was bleeding profusely because of the loss of his ears crying to himself, and looking at those ears again, Zhang Yun finally understood the reason for the Yanzhou army's attack. I couldn't help but be shocked and angry, and I couldn't understand how such a confidential thing was leaked. You must know that although Huang Zhong is a master of Jingzhou, this is only limited to Jingzhou. There are very few people in the world who know the names of the two people.

Where did Zhang Yun get this name, Xu Ji directly wrote to Yu Ban, and thought it was the reason why he had heard about Yanzhou's powerful intelligence agency.

So he hurriedly sent someone back to Jingzhou to ask Liu Biao. Let's see what words to reply with, after all, it's your own fault now. Then lead the generals to Caoyang. The battle is forbidden. Moreover, Hongnong and Lu have deployed heavy troops to prevent the sneak attack of the Yanzhou army.

Yu Ban was not in a hurry after seeing Zhang Yun's envoy, and he just kept sending people outside Caoyang City every day to fight against the enemy, but in the face of Dian Wei, none of Zhang Yun's generals were willing to fight with Dian Wei, it was really terrible, so he could only strictly guard the city and close the door.

The two sides fought so far, and finally fell into a stalemate.

And the news of the battle between the Yanzhou Army and the Jingzhou Army finally spread-

East County, the head of the city.

Yuan Shu, who was pale, stood on the city wall, looking into the distance, surrounded by a large and small civil and military officials. Yuan Shu put on such a grand scene, of course, to welcome Zhang Yan, who was "defeated".

Yuan Shu arrived in Dongjun a day ago, and after the meeting of Li Feng, the defender here, Yuan Shu's army in Dongjun had brought as many as 110,000. It also brought strategists Yuan Yin and Yan Xiang, fierce generals Ji Ling, Chen Fen, Le Zhuo, Xu Xuan, and General Yang, who is an all-round talent in civil and military affairs.

Li Feng, the defender here, was originally trembling, but when he saw the arrival of Yuan Shu's army and such a lineup, of course he couldn't stop smiling.

Just this morning, Yuan Shu got the news that Zhang Yan's army was coming, Yuan Shu was overjoyed, and immediately led everyone to the city to look.

It's been a long time, and they haven't seen the arrival of Zhang Yan's army, and everyone gradually lost patience, after all, Zhang Yan is just a common man from the Black Mountain Army, and everyone under Yuan Shu is the children of a wealthy family in Yuzhou.

At this time, Yuan Shu's handsome nephew Yuan Yin finally couldn't help it, leaned forward, and said to Yuan Shu: "Uncle, we don't have to wait here, right?" It's windy here, so it's better to go back to the council hall and wait. If Zhang Yan's army arrives, there are soldiers to tell him, and it is not too late to open the city to greet him. ”

Yan Xiang, who had been frowning thickly, also walked forward and said to Yuan Shu: "Holy Lord, Zhang Yan is just a reckless person, why do you want to be so reckless? ”

Everyone nodded.

Yuan Shu snorted coldly and said: "Of course Zhang Yan is nothing remarkable, what the widow values is the information that Zhang Yan can bring us, you must know that the Gaoshun Yanzhou army is a rare elite in the world, and even if we can win a battle with it, there will be a lot of casualties, but Zhang Yan is different." He has been dealing with the Yanzhou Army for a long time, and his understanding of the Yanzhou Army is even more than we can match. The so-called 'know yourself and know your opponent, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles'. If we can get useful information from this person's mouth, it will not be difficult to break the Yanzhou army, otherwise why would the widow stand here and wait for a long time now? ”

Only then did everyone suddenly realize.

Yuan Shu sighed and said: "Actually, the widow still wants to take over the army in Zhang Yan's hands, I heard that his army is as many as 50,000 people, and he did not suffer much loss in the battle with Gao Shun, although the combat power cannot be compared with Gao Shun's Yanzhou army, but it is far superior to the armies of other princes." If this army can be owned by our army, plus the 100,000 Danyang elite soldiers of our Yuzhou army, even if it is the Gaoshun army, what is the way? ”

General Yang, who was tall and thin and had a white face and beard, frowned on the side and said, "Holy Lord, the army in Zhang Yan's hands was mostly the old department of Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army. Needless to say, the degree of loyalty to Zhang Yan is needless to say, if the Holy Lord wants to win the elite soldiers under Zhang Yan, I am afraid that it will not be an easy thing, unless Zhang Yan can be subdued. ”

Yuan Shu nodded and sighed, "That's why I gave up this plan. ”

Ji Ling, a burly, taller than ordinary person, who had been silent by Yuan Shu's side, spoke up: "Shengshang, the reason why my subordinates have long heard that the Yanzhou army is brave and invincible is that the Yanzhou army has a unique set of methods for training soldiers, which can make the army from the general to the soldier all brave and die. If this kind of training method can be learned from Zhang Yan, then his subordinates are willing to train such an elite army for the saint. ”

Yuan Shu nodded, but Chen Fen, who was quite talented beside him, couldn't help but say: "It's just that Zhang Yan has always been extremely cunning, and it may be difficult to find out his tone." ”

Yuan Shu snorted coldly: "Zhang Yan is capricious and impermanent, so he naturally understands. The widow treats him well now just because he still has some use, and after getting rid of Gao Shun, the first thing the widow wants to clean up is this Zhang Yan. ”

Han Yin, a little white face with a pair of triangular eyes, said with a sneer: "The Holy One is far-sighted. The subordinates admired, and Zhang Yan came from afar. Although it is said to be a big defeat, in fact, the loss of strength is not large. If the lord wants to get rid of Zhang Yan in the future, I am afraid that it will not be easy, for the sake of today, of course, it is to use Gao Shun's hand to consume Zhang Yan's strength. ”

Everyone nodded, and Yuan Shu said with a smile: "Speaking of which, there is no need for us to provoke, the grudge between Zhang Yan and Gao Shun is only afraid that it will be difficult to wash away the water of the three rivers and four seas." ”

Yan Xiang pondered for a while, and said to Yuan Shu: "The Holy Lord's words are very true, Zhang Yan's defeat this time is because he was attacked by the Liang Xi army and the Gao Shun army, because he lost Dongping and had no place to stand, he retreated from the front as a last resort, where can Zhang Yan be convinced?" When Zhang Yan came to my Dong County, the lord comforted him with kind words, and pretended to promise to give him a foothold in the future, Zhang Yan would definitely regroup and fight with the Gao Shun army that followed. Let them have a dead fish, and we will reap the benefits of the fisherman, and at that time, what should the Holy One worry about? ”

Everyone said yes.

As he was talking, he saw a large army coming slowly in the distance, and a big banner waving in the wind had a big "Zhang" character written on it. Without asking, it can be known that the person who came was Zhang Yan.

As soon as everyone's spirits lifted, Yuan Shu wanted to go down to the city to greet him, but was stopped by Yan Xiang, when everyone was puzzled, they saw Yan Xiang's face solemn, and said to Yuan Shu: "The lord can't open the city gate at this time, after all, Zhang Yan's army is not a descendant of the saint, so open the city gate to welcome them into the city, how inappropriate, and how inconvenient it is to command in the future, and Zhang Yan is scheming, who knows his true thoughts and position, cooperating with this kind of person is like seeking skin with a tiger, and has to be guarded against." What's more, the lord is already preparing to let Zhang Yan face Gao Shun, why not let Zhang Yan camp outside the city first, and then let Zhang Yan enter the city alone? ”

Yuan Shu suddenly realized, and hurriedly sent soldiers to open the city gate to deliver orders to Zhang Yan.

Chen Fen, the general on the side, frowned and said, "I'm afraid that Zhang Yan won't agree." ”

Yan Xiang Ha said with a smile: "How dare people not bow their heads when they are under the eaves?" Zhang Yan should be able to distinguish the situation in front of him, if he does not agree to this arrangement, it will only show that he is not sincere, and he will lose the qualification to cooperate with us, in this case, he should naturally know what to do. ”

As he spoke, Zhang Yan's army outside the city had slowly stopped, and then began to turn the direction of the army's advance, and came to the west city wall and the big river, relying on the favorable terrain, and began to camp well-trained.

Yuan Shu and the others had also come to the west city wall at this time, silently observing the actions of Zhang Yan's army. After a long time, Ji Lingchang sighed and said, "Although Zhang Yan is from a grass coat. But judging that its governance of the army really deserves its reputation, it is no wonder that it can stand tall in Yanzhou and Jizhou for many years. However, looking at the places he chose to camp and the well-trained troops to act, we can see that his ability to command the army is by no means child's play. ”

The generals were silent, although they were not convinced, but they had to admit that what Ji Ling said was the truth.

Not long after, Zhang Yan's army had already set up a large camp, and the soldier sent by Yuan Shu informed Zhang Yan to take a few people to ride a war horse to the eastern county town, and of course one of them was Zhang Yan. After a while, he came to the city gate and called loudly, and Yuan Shu ordered the soldiers defending the city to open the city gate. Led Zhang Yan and others into the city. Yuan Shu and others went down to the city to greet them.

When he arrived at the city wall, Zhang Yan, who was light and fierce, had already entered the Dongjun City, and saw Yuan Shu and others waiting to greet him from afar, and first greeted Yuan Shu's relatives in his abdomen, and then pretended to be panicked, and hurriedly dismounted and strode towards Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu saw that Zhang Yan had an abnormal temperament, and he had a sense of being upright and light, and his strength was even inferior to his generals Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, and Yang Dajun. I was quite surprised in my heart, and when I saw Zhang Yan bowing, I stopped and waited until Zhang Yan had finished saluting. Cai Ha Ha Da Lu smiled and helped Zhang Yan up.

Zhang Yan had already started scolding in his heart, he just saw Xu Ji, who made him happy and convinced, and the lord who was recognized by himself did not let himself bow down. Now this mediocre and incompetent Yuan Shu actually deserves to be polite to himself, which undoubtedly makes the arrogant and untamable Zhang Yan very annoyed. He was even more secretly determined that he would not let go of Yuan Shu in the future.

Yuan Shu helped Zhang Yan. first looked at the guards behind Zhang Yan, and when his eyes fell on the sophisticated equipment of these soldiers, a look of surprise and greed flashed in his eyes, and then he looked at Zhang Yan carefully, and pretended to be emotional: "General Zhang Yan, it's really hard for you, the widow has already sent reinforcements to Dongping to support you, who knows that Lu Dao has not yet arrived in Dongping and heard the news of your defeat, the widow is afraid that Dongjun and other places will be lost, so he will withdraw the reinforcements, waiting for the general here, the general will not blame the widow, right?" ”

Zhang Yan scolded Yuan Shu in his heart for being shameless: This Yuan Shu is very good, but if he really rescues, now his army should be in Dongjun City, and now let himself camp outside the city, making it clear that he doesn't trust himself, but Zhang Yan doesn't care, after all, he is also deceiving the other party, so he doesn't bother to care about these details, on the surface, he just just smiled slightly.

Yuan Shu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhang Yan didn't show a dissatisfied look, but Yan Xiang and General Yang, who had been silently observing Zhang Yan behind Yuan Shu, turned solemn, and the two glanced at each other and saw each other's wariness: This Zhang Yan is silent, and he must be careful.

Yuan Shu's eyes flowed, but he found that Zhang Yan's arm was bandaged with a white cloth, and there were red blood stains on it, so he couldn't help but ask strangely: "General Zhang Yan, this injury ......?"

Zhang Yan glanced at his wound and said casually: "That night I went to rob the camp of Liang Xi, unlike being attacked by Gao Shun from behind, when I led the army to attack Gao Shun, I was stabbed by the Yanzhou cavalry, if it wasn't for this injury, how could I give up Dongping City?" ”

Li Feng, who was on the side, couldn't help but say: "General Zhang Yan, even Gao Shun is not your opponent, which general in the Yanzhou army injured you?" ”

Zhang Yan shook his head and said, "Where do I know the name of Lu Dao?" The Yanzhou cavalry in Gao Shun's hands is the elite of the Yanzhou army, all of them are the personal guards cavalry who have followed Chen Zhi since Xu Ji started the army, and each of them has the level of a general, and the weapons and equipment are excellent, especially when rushing to kill, it is even sharper, I was injured in the hands of a nobody. After a pause, he said: "Back then, my subordinate Yu Poison died because of the impact of the Yanzhou cavalry. ”

A look of horror flashed in the eyes of Yuan Shao's generals, and they didn't expect that a small cavalry of the Yanzhou Army could actually stab a general of Zhang Yan's level, and they all felt chills.

"So," Zhang Yan said with a wry smile: "Don't fight a charge battle with the Yanzhou army commanded by Gao Shun, it will be a nightmare." The people around Yuan Shu were speechless. Zhang Yan's information is too timely, if there is no reminder from Zhang Yan, he will definitely suffer heavy losses if he meets Gao Shun in the future.

Of course, the injury on Zhang Yan's arm was fake, Zhang Yan and Gao Shun had long expected that Yuan Shu was very likely to order Zhang Yan to fight with Gao Shun's army for the vanguard after Zhang Yan arrived in Dongjun, in front of Yuan Shu, how could the two of them cheat? Therefore, Zhang Yancai pretended to be injured.

Sure enough, a look of disappointment flashed in the eyes of Yuan Shu and the others, it seemed that it was impossible for this Zhang Yan to make a move with Gao Shun in a short period of time.

However, Zhang Yan's evaluation of the Yanzhou cavalry is true, of course, Zhang Yan told the truth for another purpose, and he could even deceive Yuan Shu and others into trusting him, thinking that Zhang Yan knew everything.

After a long time, General Chen Fencai sighed and said: "No wonder General Zhang Yan named Gao Shun as soon as he saw Gao Shun's army, it turned out that he wanted to avoid a head-on impact with Gao Shun's army!" ”

Zhang Yan's face flashed with a look of fear that he didn't even need to pretend and said: "Although Gao Shun is not a powerful general in front of the battle, his ability to command troops is really a little frightening, and the Yanzhou army with Gao Shun and the Yanzhou army without Gao Shun are not the same at all. If you want to defeat the Yanzhou army, you must kill Gao Shun first, otherwise don't even think about it. ”

The generals around Yuan Shu nodded slowly.

Zhang Yan looked at the reactions of the people around Yuan Shu, and sneered in his heart, what he wanted was this effect, since Yuan Shu had given up the attempt to fight a charge battle with Gao Shun head-on, then the Yanzhou army in Yanzhou would have a good opportunity to fight a sports war.

Subsequently, Gao Shun's army came to Dongjun the day after Zhang Yan's army arrived in Dongjun.

The war in Yanzhou is in full swing. (To be continued......)