"Do you think that if our army faces the combined forces of the Yuan Shang brothers, what are the odds of victory?"

Hua Xiong asked.

Guo Jia thought for a moment and said softly,

"Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan's men and horses add up to about 170,000.

Although our army is less numerous, they are all elite generals, and their strength is not inferior to theirs.

If there is a real fight, it is difficult to say who will win and who will lose. ”

Jia Xu shook his head with a smile,

"Bonghyo is still too conservative. With the strength of the army under the command of the two Yuan brothers, even if they were given another 30,000 horses, it would definitely not be the opponent of our army. ”

The others nodded in agreement.

After all, the army under Hua Xiong's command has been tempered and tempered, and it is an elite that has undergone the baptism of war, and it can be called the army of tigers and wolves

The elite army in Jizhou had already been wiped out by the time of Guandu.

The soldiers who remained in the hands of Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan were not worth mentioning at all.

"You're not bad at all. If I really want to fight, I am eighty percent sure that I can defeat the Yuan brothers. ”

Everyone's faces couldn't help but show joy.

It is very rare to be able to have a fifty percent certainty on the battlefield, let alone eighty percent, that is almost a win!

"But!"

Hua Xiong's words changed sharply, and he said seriously,

"Even if you win, it's going to come at a cost.

After all, that's an army of 170,000! ”

"My lord, Ci is not in charge of the army. There are no immortals in war, and I think it is still possible to attack head-on. ”

Gan Ning Road.

Everyone's eyes fell on Hua Xiong, waiting for his decision.

However, Hua Xiong shook his head again.

"Lord, why not?" Xu Huang was a little breathless, "If you take down the two of them, the north will be completely calmed down, even if you pay a big price, it will be worth it." ”

"Yes, I support Xingba and Komeito."

"Lord, the two of them must fight."

Everyone spoke one after another, expressing their approval of Gan Ning and Xu Huang.

As long as Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan can be eliminated, the remaining senior cadres and others can also be eliminated.

At that time, the north will fall back into the hands of Huaxiong, and the plate of the imperial court can be doubled again!

The most important thing is that Huaxiong no longer has to spend huge troops to defend the north, and can free up his hands to deal with the princes in the south.

Faced with everyone's unwillingness and questions, Hua Xiong laughed,

"Who told you that I wasn't going to deal with them?"

"What does the lord mean?"

Hua Xiong slowly spoke, "The alliance between the two brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan is fragile.

As long as our side retreats, they will immediately fight, and we can come to the mountain and watch the tiger fight.

When they're almost done, wouldn't it be beautiful for us to clean up the battlefield again? ”

Hua Xiong's words made everyone's eyes shine.

Yes, if you do this, you will not only reduce your own casualties, but also easily take the north, so why not?

"Lord, what if the two brothers release their old suspicions and join forces together?"

Li Ru asked.

"You can rest assured at this point, although Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan are brothers, they actually have an extremely bad relationship, and they will definitely fight."

Simbi laughed.

"Yes, and don't forget. The grain and grass in Liyang were burned, and the grain around Yecheng was harvested.

Even if the two of them don't fight, in a few days, they will have a food shortage. ”

Hua Xiong chuckled,

"So what do you think of my proposal?"

"The lord's proposal, I approve it with both hands!"

"Let's let them eat dogs first, and when they lose both, let's kill them again!"

Everyone responded one after another, expressing their support for Huaxiong's proposal.

"Then it's decided, now retire."

In the end, Huaxiong made the final decision.

The mighty army quickly marched and returned to the south bank smoothly from the chain bridge over the Yellow River in the direction from which it came.

After all the troops had withdrawn, Hua Xiong ordered the non-commissioned officers of the engineer corps to dismantle the chain bridge again.

……

"Are you sure that Huaxiong's army has all withdrawn to the south bank?"

Yuan Shang stared at the spy in front of him and said in a deep voice.

"Back to my lord, this matter is true!"

The spy said respectfully.

"Got it, let's go down."

Yuan Shang waved his hand.

After the spies went down, several strategists from the trial and Feng Ji came forward.

"Lord, the news of these waves of spies is the same, it seems that Hua Xiong has really retreated."

Feng Ji said softly.

Yuan Shang nodded and asked,

"Where's my eldest brother?"

"Back to the lord, after Liyang City was burned down, he had already led an army of 50,000 and stationed outside Yecheng.

However, in the past few days, he has sent people many times to ask for military rations. ”

The judge replied.

Yuan Shang touched his chin, pondered for a moment, and said with a serious expression,

"Now that Hua Xiong has been scared away, it's time to attack Yuan Tan!"

Hearing this, everyone present showed stunned expressions on their faces.

They never thought that Hua Xiong had just retired from the army, and his lord was going to attack his brother.

"My lord, no!"

After Feng Ji was surprised, he came back to his senses and hurriedly persuaded,

"Last time, Hua Xiong didn't know what method he used, and suddenly appeared on the north shore.

What if he crosses the river again and attacks us when we are fighting with Yuan Tan?

Besides, now that Yecheng is short of food, it is the time to talk to Yuan Tan about peace and recuperate. ”

Yuan Shang rolled his eyes and said impatiently,

"It could just be that Hua Xiong took a long detour, or it could be that he built enough ships in advance."

Seeing that Yuan Shang insisted on going his own way, Feng Ji knelt directly on the ground and said bitterly,

"My lord, this is really impossible! If you don't agree, allow me to resign. ”

Feng Ji lost the Yellow River and killed and injured countless soldiers, but Yuan Shang didn't blame him too much.

This is because there are not many talents under Yuan Shang's hands, Feng Ji is his right-hand man, and he is quite reunited with Ji.

Yuan Shang saw that Feng Ji came directly to the palace, and hurriedly stood up, helped Feng Ji up, and said in a good voice,

"Strategist, it's not that I don't want to get along with my eldest brother.

It's just that he has a ghost in his heart, and he thinks about dealing with me all the time.

This is one of them.

Second, we don't have much food left in the city, and if we don't destroy my eldest brother and loot the food, we won't be able to last long. ”

"What the lord said is not bad at all." The judge opened his mouth and echoed, "Now that Yuan Tan is defenseless, our troops are superior, and it is a good time to do it!" ”

Everyone else is persuading Feng Ji every word you say and I say.

Feng Ji was silent for a long time, and then he sighed,

"It's up to the lord to decide!"

Yuan Shang was overjoyed and said, "That's good, listen to my orders, and do it immediately tonight!" ”

It was night, the stars were dim, and I couldn't see my fingers.

Yuan Tan Daying.

Because he had signed an alliance with Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan was not too guarded, and only a few teams of soldiers were patrolling.

At this moment, the dull sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded in the night.

Before the patrolling soldiers could react, a group of cavalry had already rushed to the gate of the camp.