Yuan Fang took the lead with a skull-crushing stick in hand, with Zhu Ling and Hao Zhaohuan guarding him on the side. Guo Huai led two hundred cavalry to clear the way.
The 10,000 Yuan troops who attacked the ferry rushed to the north gate of Gaotang like a tide under the cover of morning fog.
Due to the sudden attack, Gaotang City had not noticed anything yet, so they still opened the city gate on time as usual.
While the soldiers guarding the gate were still dozing off, Yuan Jun's cavalry came to them like magic soldiers descending from the sky.
The iron cavalry rolled over and scattered the defenders at the city gate in a blink of an eye. Yuan Fang led 10,000 Yuan troops and poured into Gaotang City like a flood.
The army entered the city and killed everyone they saw.
In the blink of an eye, the Gaotang City in silence turned into a river of blood and screams shook the sky, turning it into a killing ground for Shura.
Yuan Fang danced the skull-breaking stick and smashed the heads of the enemy soldiers into pieces. Their flesh and blood flew everywhere, as if they were in an uninhabited land.
When Yuan Jun went on a killing spree, Zhang Fei was still holding the wine jar in the government office, sound asleep and yet to wake up.
Zhang Fei, who was unprepared, gathered his generals together last night and drank heavily until midnight.
Being so drunk, Zhang Fei was still not woken up by the murderous howls outside the house.
It wasn¡¯t until several military attach¨¦s rushed in in a panic and shook him awake that Zhang Fei opened his eyes in a daze.
"General Yide, wake up quickly, something bad has happened, Yuan Jun is coming to the city." A military attach¨¦ exclaimed.
Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, raised his hand and slapped him in the face, and cursed: "What the hell, how can the enemy come in across the Yellow River?"
"How dare you lie? Last night, Yuan Fang led his army to attack Dutou, secretly crossed the Yellow River, and took advantage of our unpreparedness to attack the city. Now he has almost reached the government office." The beaten military attach¨¦, Wu He explained with aggrieved face.
Zhang Fei raised his ears and heard vaguely approaching shouts of death, and his expression suddenly changed.
"How is it possible? Yuan Fang's son was injured and returned to Yecheng to recuperate. How could he lead his army to kill him? Hurry, prepare your horses~~"
Zhang Fei was shocked and angry, stood up unsteadily, and reluctantly left the government office with the help of his men.
The loud shouts of killing made Zhang Fei's eardrums buzz. To the north, large groups of Yuan's troops were coming from the other end of the street, while the troops defending the city were collapsing one after another.
Zhang Fei was horrified, and now he believed that Yuan Fang had really come in.
For a moment, Zhang Fei was frightened and annoyed. He climbed onto his horse with all his strength and wanted to lead his army to resist Yuan Jun.
The terrible thing is that Zhang Fei drank too much last night, and Zhang Fei is still so drunk that he is so wobbly that he can't even ride the horse steadily, and almost falls from the top.
Facing the approaching Yuan Jun, the morale of the army was broken, and the general Zhang Fei was too drunk to command the battle. The generals on the left and right had no choice but to hug Zhang Fei and flee towards the south gate in embarrassment.
At noon, the sound of killing gradually subsided.
The banner of Yuan Zi has been flying high at the four gates of Gaotang City, flying proudly, overlooking the bloody city
The second most important city in Pingyuan County and the largest ferry in the lower reaches of the Yellow River fell into the hands of Yuan Fang.
Most of the counties in Qingzhou are located to the south of the Yellow River, and only most of the plain counties are located to the north of the Yellow River.
Yuan Fang's capture of Gaotang City was equivalent to opening the door to the hinterland of Qingzhou and taking a crucial step towards capturing the entire Qingzhou.
This battle was a great victory. After capturing the city, Yuan Fang took all the Gaotang Treasury and rewarded his brave soldiers.
Yuan Fang made clear rewards and punishments. When the soldiers received rewards, they were all happy and admired Yuan Fang for his loyalty to the country.
On the same day, Yuan Fang held a banquet in the government office to reward the generals and discuss the next strategy.
"Tian Kai still holds most of Qingzhou. If he and Liu Bei hear that Gaotang has fallen, they will definitely mobilize all their troops to fight for it. Young Master, we still have to think of a countermeasure." Zhu Ling reminded.
Yuan Fang nodded slightly, convinced that the successful attack on Gaotang did not go to his head. He still clearly realized that the enemy was very powerful.
Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou, had at least more than 10,000 troops and horses, and Liu Bei also brought nearly 4,000 troops. If Kong Rong's troops were added in, the enemy would have at least 20,000 troops.
"If 20,000 troops come to counterattack, it will be difficult for Yuan Fang to cope with only 10,000 troops.
It is enough to just defend the city of Gaotang. The key point is that Yuan Fang also has to worry about the plain cities on the north bank of the Yellow River that may be threatened by Gongsun Zan coming directly to the north, which forces him to divide his troops and garrison them.
Once the troops and horses are divided, the number of troops that can be used on the front line of Gaotang will be greatly reduced, and the situation will become even more unfavorable.
??After pondering for a moment, Yuan Fang then asked the pen and ink to wait on him. He took up the pen and wrote a battle plan himself, and ordered people to send it to Changshan Kingdom overnight to Yuan Shao. On the one hand, he expressed his merits, and on the other hand, he asked Yuan Shao to add more troops.
"Young Master, my lord is partial to the Third Young Master. He was reluctant to increase our troops last time. But this time" Hao Zhao was not optimistic.
Yuan Fang sneered and said: "The situation is different now. I captured Gaotang and cut off the connection between Gongsun Zan and Qingzhou, which will definitely attract Gongsun Zan to send troops to attack. We have contained so many enemies. No matter how partial my father is, he will not Wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to ignore that.¡±
Yuan Fang is very accurate in knowing the pros and cons, but he is not blindly optimistic. He knows that Yuan Tan will definitely obstruct it.
Therefore, when Yuan Fang expressed his merits to Yuan Shao and asked for help, he sent another person secretly to Yecheng, asking Yuan Shang to use his power again to secretly assist him.
The messenger left from Gaotang and rushed to Jizhou on the day the battle ended.
At this time, Zhang Fei was leading his defeated troops and was fleeing to Beihai Kingdom in despair.
Beihai Kingdom, Duchang City.
In the Prime Minister¡¯s Mansion, the aroma of wine overflowed and the atmosphere was joyful.
Kong Rong, the Prime Minister of Beihai, was smiling warmly, welcoming his benefactors Tian Kai and Liu Bei.
These two men led an army of 15,000 people from Qi State to Beihai State, mopping up all the Yellow Turban bandits along the way. Outside Duchang City, they killed Guan Hai, the leader of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban bandits, and rescued Kong Rong, who had been besieged for a long time. .
With the death of Guan Hai, the remaining Yellow Turban thieves dispersed or surrendered, and the crisis in Beihai Kingdom was finally resolved.
How could Kong Rong, who was extremely grateful, not express his gratitude to Tian Kai and Liu Bei.
When several people were chatting happily, a soldier suddenly came in in a hurry and said with cupped hands: "I am reporting to the governor, urgent report from the west. A few days ago, Yuan Fang led his army to sneak across the Yellow River and attacked Gaotang City. General Zhang Yide was unable to defeat him and was defeated. And escape."
As soon as these words came out, everyone¡¯s expression changed.
All the joyful atmosphere was swept away in an instant, and the atmosphere in the lobby immediately fell into a state of shock and solemnity.
Tian Kai, Liu Bei, and even Kong Rong, everyone's faces were filled with shock and astonishment.
After a long while, Liu Bei asked in shock: "How is it possible? Didn't that kid Yuan Fang get wounded by an arrow? How could he lead his army to sneak attack Gaotang?"
The soldiers did not dare to answer, so they could only submit detailed information.
Tian Kai and Liu Bei took a look at it in a hurry. When he read the information about how brave Yuan Fang was, how he personally led his troops to kill all the Gaotang defenders, and how Zhang Fei fled in embarrassment, they were shocked. His expression changed drastically.
After a moment of surprise, Liu Bei suddenly realized that Yuan Fang's previous arrow was completely fake. It was a trap deliberately set by others to induce him to lead his troops to rescue Kong Rong with confidence and boldness. .
"Young Yuan Fang, you are so cunning and cunning. I fell into his trap again. It's hateful~" Liu Bei gritted his teeth secretly, his eyes flashing with cold anger.
"Xuande, what's the matter with you? Didn't you say that Yuan Fang would never attack Gaotang?" Tian Kai asked dissatisfied.
Liu Bei felt ashamed, but did not show it at all. Instead, he said sternly: "The matter has come to an end. Now is not the time to hold people accountable. Lord Tian, ??Gaotang is an important place and must not be lost. We must return our troops immediately to take it back." "
Tian Kai had no choice but to order his troops to return immediately.
In order to repay Tian Kai and Liu Bei for rescuing the siege, Kong Rong immediately proposed to send troops to Beihai and send his general Tai Shi Ci to follow Tian Kai and Liu Bei to the west to help them recapture Gaotang City.
That day, nearly 20,000 Qingzhou coalition troops marched from Beihai Kingdom to Gaotang.