"Second brother, in your opinion, what does Gongsun Xiao'er want to do?"
Yuan Xi hurried back to the city, and after delivering Cao Chun's head, he also described the negotiation with Gongsun Ming in detail. As a result, Yuan Tan was also confused, frowning and thinking After waiting for a long time, I still couldn't figure out what Gongsun Ming wanted to do.
"My younger brother is also confused. However, if the strategy he proposes seems to be quite beneficial to me, I might as well give him convenience. We can just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. If it doesn't work, our army can take it easy. Retreat to the plains to protect yourself.”
Yuan Xi was also full of doubts, but he was not opposed to cooperating with Gongsun Ming. Of course, the prerequisite was to ensure that his own side was safe.
"Well, Luowo is too close to Pushan City. If I give it to him, I'm afraid that this beast will turn his back and be ruthless. How about we let him move to Liaocheng to camp, second brother, can you think of it?"
Yuan Tan thought to himself that there was only hatred but no kindness between him and Gongsun Ming. How could he easily believe that Gongsun Ming would be so kind and come thousands of miles to send warmth? Even though he knew that if he followed Gongsun Ming's strategy, he would only gain and not lose, but in his heart Still somewhat unsubtle.
"this……"
As soon as Yuan Tan made such a suggestion, Yuan Xike was a little confused about what to say. There was no one else. Although Liao City was adjacent to Luowo City, there was still a distance of more than 80 miles between the two cities. In addition, Liao City The city is not close to the Yellow River, so it is obviously not suitable to be used as a transportation center for grain and baggage. There is no need to talk about it. Yuan Xi also knows that Gongsun Ming will definitely not accept this proposal, but it is obviously not easy to say it first. , Yuan Xi could only hesitate helplessly.
"Report to the envoy, my lord has an urgent letter here, please envoy to read it."
Before Yuan Xi could explain what was going on, he saw a reporter who was dripping with sweat hurriedly rushed into the city gate tower. He knelt on the ground towards Yuan Tan and said something in a hurry.
"Well……"
Hearing that there was a letter from his old father, Yuan Tan did not dare to be careless. He quickly reached out to take the letter, quickly picked off the paint on it, and took out two pieces of letter paper filled with words. , after going through it quickly, his face was suddenly filled with a strange look, and he was silent for a long time.
"Brother, does father have anything to explain?"
Seeing that Yuan Tan's expression was obviously wrong, Yuan Xi's curiosity couldn't help but arouse, and he asked from the side.
"Well...Father has an order for us to hand over Pushan City and the boat division to Gongsun Ming. The entire army will immediately withdraw to the plains. After the Youzhou Army has crossed the Yellow River, we can then march into Licheng as appropriate."
Interrupted by Yuan Xi, Yuan Tan finally woke up from his reverie. He shook his head with a bitter look on his face and simply stated the explanation in Yuan Shao's letter.
"Huh... That's good. Without further ado, I might as well go for a walk outside the city."
Yuan Xi was unwilling to provoke Gongsun Ming at this time. After all, after his own defeat, what he needed most was to seize the time to recuperate. He was really afraid that Yuan Tan would have to live and die in Pushan City. If this caused a conflict with Gongsun Ming, , the consequences must not be something that the severely damaged Yuan family can afford.
"That's fine, second brother, go and come back quickly. I will order the troops to gather together. When the second brother returns, the whole army will withdraw to the plains."
Qingzhou was conquered by Yuan Tan several years ago, and it was regarded as his private territory. If he could take it back from Cao Jun, he would not be unhappy. The reason why he hesitated before was not only because he was afraid of Gongsun Minghui. There was no ambush, and at the same time he was worried that Yuan Shao would find out and be blamed. Now that he had his father's order in hand, he felt a lot more relieved. However, his vigilance towards Gongsun Ming had not relaxed much, although he planned to follow his instructions. I acted according to my father's orders, but secretly I was prepared for the contingency...
"Everyone, let's talk about it. What exactly is Gongsun Xiao'er going to do?"
Cao Cao stayed up all night yesterday, tossing and turning on the couch, but still couldn't fall asleep. He was restless and felt that something big was about to happen. Sure enough, he had just gotten up early in the morning when the battle report from Qingzhou arrived. It was said that Gongsun Ming suddenly entered the army in large numbers. In Qingzhou, Xiahou Yuan's troops were attacked with surprise troops. Cao Chun was killed in battle, and the entire army of ten thousand was almost wiped out. Xiahou Dun, fearing that it would be disadvantageous to fight with his back to the river, led his troops to retreat to the south of the Yellow River and was on his way to Linzi. After hearing about this, Cao Cao Lei Lei was so angry that he vented his anger in the backyard, smashing the house to no avail. The riot lasted for more than half an hour, and then he managed to calm down the steaming anger in his heart and invited all the counselors. There was no idle chatter. When the winner, General Bo Yangxiu, finished reporting his memorial, Cao Cao got to the point with a dark expression on his face.
"Ming Gong, I secretly thought that Gongsun Xiao'er was trying to reap the benefits of the fishermen. Today, the main force of our army is exhausted, and Yuan Benchu has also lost his vitality. This son thought that he could do what Bian Zhuang did to assassinate the tiger, so he boldly raised an army to invade. However, , it has just annexed the territory of the Montenegrin Army, and is actually not very stable internally. As long as it persists without fighting, it will be unable to do anything, and it will undoubtedly retreat within three months at most."
As soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, Xun You, who rarely spoke at military meetings in the past, was the first to stand up and remonstrated loudly.
"Ming Gong, I secretly think that what Gongda (Xun You's name) said is exactly right. However, both Xiahoudun brothers are strong men. I'm afraid they won't be able to withstand Gongsun Xiao'er's provocation. I also ask Ming Gong to write a letter to remind you as soon as possible. Prevent our troops from getting into this bandit."
Guo Jia obviously agreed with Xun You's analysis, but his thoughts undoubtedly went a step further, and he immediately reminded Cao Cao from the side.
"Well... pass the order, Xiahou Dun's troops are to guard Linzi, and are not allowed to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy without permission. In addition, Qin Qi, the prefect of Beihai, mobilizes all the soldiers and horses in the county to march towards Ju County (today's Shouguang), and form a horn with Xiahou Dun's troops. The situation is strong, and we should hold on to it without fighting, waiting for the enemy to retreat."
Seeing this, both Guo Jia and Xun You agreed that they could not fight with the Youzhou army urgently. Although Cao Cao was eager to avenge Cao Chun, he could only suppress the urge to rush to Qingzhou with an army, but saw that he was depressed. After speaking out loud, he issued two general orders with a livid face.
"Brothers Ming Gong and Yuan Rang (Xiahou Dun's name) are both too strong-willed. Even with Ming Gong's strict orders, they may not be able to escape Gongsun Xiao'er's plot. I would like to rush to Linzi urgently to prevent any changes."
As soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, Cheng Yu suddenly appeared from the side and introduced himself loudly.
"Okay, now that Zhongde is going, I'll have no worries."
Cheng Yu was the first counselor to follow Cao Cao. He was always resourceful and trusted by Cao Cao. When he heard that Cheng Yu had volunteered to rush to Linzi, the last trace of worry in Cao Cao's heart was gone...
