Cao Cao¡¯s eyes moved, as if he had suddenly received some kind of revelation.
He stared at the map for a long time, and then looked at Cheng Yu.
"The land of Jingxiang is rich and wild for thousands of miles, and the household registration is millions. It is indeed a big fat piece of meat."
Cheng Yu nodded slightly and said thoughtfully: "Although Liu Biao is weak, he has the support of Jingxiang's powerful men. His strength cannot be underestimated. The most important thing is that if you want to take over Jingxiang, you must have a naval army. But we don¡¯t have it, so Yu thinks we might as well join forces with Sun Ce to carve up Jingzhou quickly.¡±
Cheng Yu's words made Cao Cao suddenly enlightened, as if he had seen a new way out, and his eyes began to flash with excitement.
After a while, Cao Cao laughed: "Ziyuan, you are indeed very resourceful. If you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost missed such a treasured place."
"Mengde has given me the reward. I have come all the way to defect to him, but I have struggled with my efforts. This suggestion should be regarded as my gift to Mengde to defect to him."
The man who was so proud and smiling while stroking his beard was none other than Xu You.
After he turned his back on Yuan Shao that day, he thought he deeply hated Yuan Fang and did not dare to defect. After some consideration, he had no choice but to take a small road south and go to Yuzhou to defect to his old friend Cao Cao.
Just as Xu You expected, Cao Cao missed his old friendship and appreciated his talent. Not only did he accept him happily, but he also treated him as a distinguished guest.
Xu You was repeatedly insulted by Yuan Shao and his face was disgraced. How could he be dissatisfied when he was treated so politely by Cao Cao?
Under the tent, Dian Wei, Cao Ren and other generals in the Cao camp were listening to Xu You. He actually openly called Cao Cao his cousin instead of his lord. But he secretly clenched his fists with a sullen look on his face.
Cao Cao was generous, but he didn't mind. After praising Xu You, he immediately wrote a letter and sent people to Jiangdong to unite with Sun Ce and carve up Jingzhou.
"Yuan Fang, Yuan Fang, you are indeed amazing. First you drove me out of Yanzhou, and now you defeated Yuan Shao's 200,000-strong army. However, the grudge between you and me is not over yet. After I capture Jingzhou and regain my strength, You and I will show off again"
Cao Cao stroked his short beard and stared at the vast land of Jingzhou on the map. A hint of coldness and ferocity quietly appeared on the scorched face.
¡¡
South of Baima City.
The victorious Southern Army of 70,000 men surrounded this small town. The people trapped inside were General Yuan Shao and less than 6,000 remaining soldiers.
Being surrounded at the same time. There were two other people.
One is Yuan Tan.
After being wounded by an arrow and having his face burned, Yuan Tan has been placed in Baima to recuperate and has not participated in the frontline battles.
Who would have thought that Yuan Shao's defeat was too sudden. The army collapsed thousands of miles away and fled to Liyang. In the panic, he forgot to pick up his son Yuan Tan from Baima first.
The other person is Ju Shou who was imprisoned by Yuan Shao and imprisoned.
Now, these two people are trapped in this isolated city together with Zhang Jaw, who was ordered to stick to the White Horse and cover the retreat of the defeated troops to the north.
Yuan Shao's desperate move still played a life-saving role. Under the cover of Zhang Jaw, nearly 70,000 defeated soldiers finally escaped back to Hebei alive.
If the white horse does not dismount, Yuan Fang will not be able to take advantage of the situation to cross the river, seize Liyang in the north, and point his sword at Hebei.
So he ordered to stop the pursuit, surrounded Baima with his entire army, and first defeated Yuan Shao's last stronghold on the south bank before considering heading north.
After three days of siege, Baima City still did not fall.
"This Zhang Jaw is really quite capable. He is still able to defend the city after such a huge defeat. He is indeed a talented general."
Zhu Ma looked at the remaining White Horse City from a distance, and Yuan Fang sighed, without concealing his appreciation for Zhang Jia in his words.
Next to him, Guo Jia smiled slyly and said: "My lord, don't forget, Zhang Jia is just a general, and Yuan Tan is the real commander in chief of the city. These two people are trapped together, why don't my lord use some tricks."
Guo Jia smiled conspiratorially, Yuan Fang's eyebrows moved slightly, and he immediately understood what Guo Jia meant.
With the corner of his mouth slightly raised, Yuan Fang smiled and said, "Wen Ziqin, come with me to the front of Baima City."
?????????????????? Yuan Fang has already ridden out on horseback. Wen Chou has a rough mind and hasn¡¯t realized it yet. He doesn¡¯t have time to think too much and hurriedly follows.
The two horses galloped towards the south gate of the white horse.
On the top of the city, Yuan Tan was holding his crutches and supervising Zhang Jaw to lead his army to resist the Southern Army's attack.
Seeing the Confederate Army retreating, Yuan Tan relaxed his tense nerves and let out a long breath, secretly glad that he had escaped another disaster today.
The remnant soldiers on the left and right were not excited about repelling the enemy. They were all dejected and their mood became even lower.
Zhang Jaw, who was beside him, even murmured: "If my lord doesn't send troops to rescue us, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for a few more days"
When Yuan Tan heard this, he immediately became angry and said sternly: "Father will never abandon us. He will definitely regroup and fight across the river to save us. Don't say such depressing words."
Being scolded by Yuan Tan, he opened his jaw and frowned deeply, a trace of anger flashed in his eyes, but he had to suppress it.
At this moment, outside the city, Yuan Fang and Wen Chou were galloping towards them on horseback.
As soon as Yuan Fang attacked, even though he only had one horse, he was like a god descending from heaven, making all the enemy troops on the city wall tremble with fear, and their nerves immediately became tense.
Yuan Tan was also panicked, wondering what Yuan Fang's purpose was.
Yuan Fang was stationed outside the city, his razor-like gaze directed towards the city, and he said loudly: "Listen, all the soldiers in the city, Yuan Shao has been scared to death by me, and he has no courage to come to save you. It's not too late to surrender now, otherwise the city will After it¡¯s broken, don¡¯t blame me, Yuan Fang, for being ruthless!¡±
The thunderous shouts shook the city, and the enemy soldiers all changed their colors after hearing it.
Seeing this, Yuan Tan shouted anxiously: "Don't let him disturb the morale of the army. I am the eldest son of Yuan. As long as I am here, my father will never abandon us."
Then, Yuan Tan yelled at Yuan Fang again: "You bitch, don't be too proud. This time you just won by chance. Father, he will make a comeback soon and will definitely destroy you, the traitor!"
Yuan Tan was yelling hysterically, but Yuan Fang turned a blind eye and glanced at Zhang Jia next to him.
"Zhang Jia, I know that Yuan Shao refuses to listen to your advice to Yuan Shao many times. Yuan Shao can put even a loyal minister like Jushu in jail. Do you really want to be buried for such a narrow-minded mediocrity?"
Yuan Fang openly rebuked Yuan Shao in front of Yuan Tan, and the intention of surrender in his words was clear.
Opening his jaw, he was shocked and fell silent, as if he was shaken by the words.
Yuan Tan became even more furious, knowing that Yuan Fang was trying to alienate him. He opened his mouth to retaliate.
At this time, Wen Chou pointed his gun at Yuan Tan and said angrily: "Yuan Tan, you despicable villain, when I, Wen Chou, fought desperately for your Yuan family and was trapped in Baima Crossing, you deliberately did not send a ship to rescue me. You want to put me to death, so you are abandoned by Yuan Shao today, which is the retribution you deserve!"
The soldiers at the top of the city all looked at Yuan Tan in surprise, shocked by their eldest son. To be able to do such a thing.
He opened his jaw and glared at Yuan Tan, his eyes full of shock and doubt.
You must know that both he and Wen Chou are generals in Hebei. Although they are both members of Yuan Shang's faction, they are still serving the Yuan family.
? And if Yuan Tan is just for his own selfishness. He went so far as to declare his hatred and was so cruel that he wanted to use the hands of his enemies. This method of getting rid of Wen Chou was simply despicable to the extreme.
"Don't listen to this traitor's nonsense. Who am I, Yuan Tan? How could I do such a shameless thing? You must not fall into his plan to alienate me."
Yuan Tan defended himself angrily, but in the end he had a guilty conscience and was not confident enough to speak, and he did not dare to look at him with his jaw open.
The open-jawed brows became deeper and deeper. Seeing Yuan Tan's angry expression, he was vaguely convinced that what Wen Chou said was true.
Yuan Fang saw all the changes in people's hearts on the city's top and knew that his goal had been achieved.
The eagle eye scanned the enemy city again, Yuan Fang pointed his halberd at Yuan Tan in the distance, and said sternly: "The only enemy of my Yuan Fang is Yuan Tan. I will give you two days. As long as you can capture Yuan Tan and surrender the city, you I, Yuan Fang, will not be held responsible for any of your previous sins, otherwise, I will raze the white horse to the ground and not spare a single life!"
After issuing the final warning, Yuan Fang said no more, turned around, turned his horse, and drove away with Wen Chou.
The enemy soldiers at the top of the city were frightened when they heard this, and they all secretly looked at Yuan Tan, as if staring at a fat prey.
Yuan Tan felt the change in the soldiers' thoughts, like a light on their backs, and shouted anxiously: "Quickly release arrows to kill them."
None of the soldiers moved, they all looked towards Zhang Jaw. Here, they only obeyed Zhang Jaw's orders.
But he opened his jaw and said coldly: "With their martial arts skills, even if they shoot arrows, they won't be able to hurt them. Why bother to lose face? Let them all rest."
After saying that, he opened his jaw, turned around and strode down the city.
¡°Zhang Jaw, you¡ª¡ª¡± Yuan Tan gritted his teeth, but had nowhere to vent, so he could only watch Zhang Jaw go away.
Looking back at Yuan Fang's leaving figure, Yuan Tan said bitterly: "You little bitch, my father will never abandon me. When I am rescued, I will kill you sooner or later. I will definitely"??~~¡±
¡¡
Liyang.
In the dim hall, the weak Yuan Shao was lying on the couch, looking at the information in his hand and sighing silently.
"My lord, the eldest son is surrounded in Baima City and is in danger. Please send your troops quickly, cross the Yellow River south again, and go to save the eldest son."
Xin Ping almost cried, begging Yuan Shao to save Yuan Tan.
Yuan Tan is the backbone of their Ru Ying faction. If Yuan Tan is in danger, the Ru Ying faction will lose power in the Yuan Shao Group. This is what he does not want to see.
"Of course the eldest son must be rescued, but our army has suffered a huge defeat, the army is disorganized, and the soldiers are exhausted. Under such circumstances, if we forcefully go south, I am afraid that not only will we not be able to rescue the eldest son, but we will be defeated by Yuan Fang again. If I lose again, I'm afraid"
The person who spoke was none other than Shen Pei, who had arrived from Yecheng. By listing the difficulties in this way, he naturally hinted tactfully to Yuan Shao not to save Yuan Tan.
Yuan Shao, who was lying on the couch, was in a very complicated mood. He was holding on to the information in his hand and weighing the pros and cons.
In his mind, Yuan Tan's figure gradually emerged, the one-armed body, and the face that was burned by the fire and was extremely difficult to see.
With such a maimed body and dignified appearance, there is no trace of his style at all.
Then, Yuan Shang's handsome face and figure appeared in his mind.
"Rescuing him will only make him live in humiliation in this world. Rather than doing that, it is better to let him die tragically in battle, which can be considered as a relief"
After thinking for a long time, Yuan Shao let out a long sigh and said sadly: "Send the order. The army will return north after defeating the sun. Let's go back to Yecheng."