A few days after the battle of Cangting, Xutai City.
Yuan Fang is already in the city, not in the camp outside the city.
After two major victories in succession, Yuan Fang completely annihilated the Huainan Army and captured more than 20,000 Huainan troops. Yuan Shu's 60,000-strong army only had less than 40,000 left. The gap in strength between the two sides has further narrowed.
And the defeat of Cangting was another heavy blow to the morale of Yuan Shu's army. The strength of the enemy and ourselves has been greatly narrowed. Under this situation, Yuan Fang no longer has much fear of Yuan Shu.
In the lobby, Yuan Fang sat high, majestic and solemn.
On both sides, there are many swordsmen and axe-wielders, full of murderous intent.
Heavy footsteps sounded, and Ji Ling, who was knocked off his horse by Yuan Fang's stick, was escorted up by a group of soldiers.
Ji Ling's expression was gloomy. He had lost all his previous arrogance. His whole person was as listless as an eggplant beaten by frost.
Having been defeated and captured twice, Ji Ling's self-confidence and spirit have been completely destroyed by Yuan Fang. How can he still be arrogant?
Looking down at Ji Ling, Yuan Fang said coldly: "Ji Ling, I had good intentions to surrender before, but you refused to surrender. You dared to injure my soldiers and escape, and led the army to burn down my grain camp. What else do you have to say now?" It can be said!¡±
Ji Ling let out a long sigh and said sadly: "Yuan Zhoumu, you are extremely resourceful and unparalleled in martial arts. I, Ji Ling, am truly convinced that I am defeated by you again. I have nothing to say. The head is here, so just take it."
Ji Ling closed his eyes, looking like a tragic man about to be killed.
Seeing this, Yuan Fang nodded slightly, secretly appreciating this man's courage to not be afraid of death.
"Although this Ji Ling is only a general of the Yuan family, he is much more courageous than a member of a famous family like Gao Gan. It would be a pity to kill him"
Thinking of this, Yuan Fang grabbed a silk book on the case and threw it in front of Ji Ling.
"Take a look for yourself. After reading it, you can decide whether you still want to work for Yuan Shu." Yuan Fang said disdainfully.
Ji Ling was stunned, not knowing what Yuan Fang meant, and looked blankly at the silk book on the ground in front of him.
After hesitating for a moment, he picked it up. He spread it out in his hand full of suspicion.
He lowered his head and glanced only a few times. Ji Ling's expression changed in shock, and he suddenly raised his head and looked at Yuan Fang with an expression of shock.
"This isimpossibleit's impossible for Mr. Yuan to do this to me!" Ji Ling's voice was hoarse, and he shook his head violently and shouted.
Written in silk books. It was Yuan Shu who listened to Yang Hong's words. Thinking that Ji Ling has betrayed him. In a fit of rage, he brutally killed the three Ji clan members.
Yuan Fang snorted coldly, waved his hand and said: "This is the information I sent back all night long. The heads of your Ji family have been hung on the top of Shouchun City for a long time. How can I, Yuan Fang, bother to deceive a defeated general? If you don't believe it. , I will let you go, you can go back to Yuan Shu and see if he kills you."
After saying this, Yuan Fang motioned to the soldiers on the left and right to move out of the way and let Ji Ling do as he pleased.
Ji Ling's remaining doubts were shattered by Yuan Fang's words. His whole body froze in place, and the grief and anger on his face grew stronger.
Since Yuan Fang is willing to let him go, this proves that Yuan Fang did not lie to him at all, and what is said in the silk book is absolutely true.
"Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu, I, Ji Ling, am loyal to you, but you actually listened to the villain's slander and destroyed my entire Ji family. You fat-headed bastard, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you -"
Ji Ling was extremely sad and angry. He cursed angrily and tore the silk book in his hand to pieces. He was so excited that he almost lost control.
The soldiers on the left and right were all frightened by Ji Ling's madness, and they pressed the hilts of their swords tightly, fearing that something might happen to Ji Ling.
Yuan Fang waved his hand, signaling to the left and right to step back, allowing Ji Ling to go crazy.
After cursing for a long time, Ji Ling finally vented his sorrow and anger, and his out-of-control emotions calmed down a little.
At this moment, he no longer had any loyalty to Yuan Shu in his heart, and he just wanted to tear Yuan Shu into pieces.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
In full view of everyone, Ji Ling bent his knees and knelt down in front of Yuan Fang.
"Yuan Zhoumu has extraordinary bearing, wisdom and bravery. Ling has been convinced by Zhou Mu. If Zhou Mu does not dislike him, Ling is willing to surrender to Zhou Mu and go through fire and water without hesitation."
Ji Ling was filled with sadness and sigh, and finally put down his burden and decided to submit to Yuan Fang.
Yuan Shu listened to the slander and killed his entire army. He and Yuan Shu had changed from principal ministers to sworn enemies. He had no choice but to submit to Yuan Fang.
A trace of relief flashed in Yuan Fang's eyes.
He stood up happily, strode down the steps, lifted Ji Ling up, caressed his shoulders and said solemnly: "Zicong, don't worry, one day, I will let you kill Yuan Shu and Yang Hong with your own hands, and fight for your Ji family." Door, revenge. "
Hearing the words "revenge", Ji Ling's eyes gushed blood, he raised his hands and said excitedly: "Thank you, Lord!"
Yuan Fang comforted Ji Ling and planned to arrange for him to go down and rest first.
At this time, Ji Ling suddenly thought of something, raised his hands and said: "My lord, I will finally have a plan that can help my lord defeat Yuan Shu in one fell swoop."
Defeat Yuan Shu in one fell swoop
Yuan Fang's eyes lit up, he suddenly became interested, and asked Ji Ling what he had planned.
Ji Ling then said: "Yuan Shu's army is all in Xutai, and the rear is empty. If my lord can lead an army, march straight to Shouchun along the north bank of Huai River at starry night, and set a fire in Yuan Shu's backyard, Yuan Shu will definitely The morale of the army is turbulent and it will collapse without fighting."
Yuan Fang's figure was shaken, his eagle eyes turned sharply to the map hanging on the wall, and his excited eyes swept around the map.
The terrain of Huainan has its own special features, that is, almost all important cities are built along the Huai River, and Shouchun City is no exception.
??And the Huai River flows from west to east, not from north to south.
Such a flow layout means that the cities on the Huai River are almost all located on a parallel line, with no depth. In fact, everywhere along the Huai River cities can become targets of attack.
Ji Ling's plan is indeed a clever plan to quickly defeat Yuan Shu.
After pondering for a moment, Yuan Fang said: "This strategy is not impossible, but the road from here to Shouchun is at least hundreds of miles. Even if there is no heavy defense along the way, Yuan Shu will definitely arrange checkpoints to hide it. With his eyes and ears, it¡¯s probably not that easy to copy Shouchun City.¡±
Ji Ling said happily: "Don't worry, my lord, the enemy checkpoints on the north bank are fortified. I know everything about them. I can let the lord's army easily avoid all the checkpoints and reach Shouchun without anyone noticing." "
As soon as these words came out, Yuan Fang's confidence suddenly doubled.
He almost forgot that Ji Ling was originally General Yuan Shu, and he knew very well the secrets of the Huainan Army's checkpoints and troop garrison.
Just as Ji Ling said. He's there. Yuan Fang was able to avoid all checkpoints, and divine soldiers descended from the sky to appear in Yuan Shu's rear, catching him off guard.
Even if Shouchun cannot be captured, all he needs to do is disturb his rear. That was enough to shatter Yuan Shu's courage.
Weighed for a long time. Yuan Fang no longer hesitated. He resolutely decided to adopt Ji Ling's suggestion.
The matter was so important that Yuan Fang decided to go out personally and lead a thousand Qingqi. With Tai Shi Ci as the general and Ji Ling as the guide, they headed straight for Yuan Shu's lair, Shouchun, along the north bank of the Huai River.
On the same day, Yuan Fang summoned his close confidants, both civil and military, to reveal his bold plan.
Many people immediately objected. The reason was that Ji Ling had just surrendered, and this plan was quite risky, so it was a bit too much.
Yuan Fang insisted on implementing this plan.
The reason could not be simpler. The siege of Xiapi City was receding. He had no time. He had to deal with Yuan Shu before Liu Bei came out.
Apart from this strategy, Yuan Fang could not think of any other way to quickly defeat the enemy.
Furthermore, Yuan Fang also believed deeply in his ability to recognize people. He believed that Ji Ling had surrendered to him wholeheartedly after his entire clan was killed by Yuan Shu, and was only thinking about killing Yuan Shu for revenge. There was no way he had any different intentions.
Yuan Fang used his sufficient reasons and decisiveness to convince his subordinates.
After making some arrangements, Yuan Fang secretly transferred Qingqi to the north bank in the name of protecting food supplies. He then took Tai Shi Ci and Ji Ling as generals and headed straight for Shouchun City at starry night.
Facts have proved that Yuan Fang's ability to recognize people is correct.
Ji Ling was well aware of the enemy's defenses along the way. Under his guidance, Yuan Fang's thousand light cavalry cleverly avoided the eyes and ears of several sentinels of Yuan's army.
A few days later, Yuan Fang unexpectedly captured Xiacaicheng, an important town on the north bank. From there, he crossed the Huai River and headed straight for Shouchun City, which was twenty miles away.
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Shouchun City, northeastern suburbs.
In the wilderness, a little red horse is galloping happily.
Riding on the horse is a seven or eight-year-old girl, wearing a red coat and carrying a small bow, with a cheerful smile on her face.
"Miss, please slow down, be careful of falling." Behind him, an old servant, riding an old horse, was chasing after him with great difficulty.
"Xu~~"
The girl in red reined in the little red horse and looked towards the northeast with her big watery eyes, curious eyes flashing in her eyes.
In the field of vision, a high platform with a height of tens of feet stands majestically at the far end, and countless people are busy on it.
"Blessings"?, what is that? "The girl in red pointed her little hand and asked in a childish voice.
Uncle Fu looked up and gasped, "That's the Qitiantai that Yuan Zhengyi is building."
"Qitiantai?" The girl in red thought of something and frowned, "I heard that Yuan Shu forced tens of thousands of people to do hard labor for him, causing many people to lose their families, just to build this Qitiantai?"
Uncle Fu's expression changed, and he hurriedly said: "Miss, how can you call Mr. Yuan by his name? How could you forget it again?"
The girl in red snorted coldly, raised her nose in disdain, and turned her horse to the other side.
"Miss, our Huainan is currently at war with the Northern Army. The war is in chaos and it's not safe outside. It's better to return to the city quickly." Uncle Fu advised.
The girl said disapprovingly: "This is Shouchun. It's far away from the battlefield. What's there to be afraid of? I haven't caught a single rabbit today. I won't go back."
The girl was very persistent and continued to search north on her little red horse.
Suddenly, she felt like there was thunder in her ears, coming faintly, and the ground under her feet seemed to start to tremble.
The girl suddenly reined in her horse and stopped, looking up towards the north where the thunder came.
In the field of vision, the sky-wide sandstorm seemed to be rolling in from the end of the sky.
"How can there be sandstorms in a place like Huainan?" Curiosity appeared on the girl's face.
After a few breaths, she was stunned.
Because she has seen clearly that what is coming is not a sandstorm at all.
Rather, it¡¯s a rolling tide of iron cavalry!
A large flag with the word "Yuan" suddenly caught her eye. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!