Chapter 425 I regret it

"My Lord, don't panic."

After the initial surprise, Xun Chen quickly calmed down and his voice became steady and calm.

This performance undoubtedly gave Yuan Shao a reassurance. Yuan Shao exhaled heavily, as if he was spitting out all his previous anxiety and urgency. He firmly believed that with Xun Chen around, all the difficulties were only temporary.

Thinking about it, Yuan Shao simply pulled Xun Chen to sit down, and personally brought Xun Chen a cup of tea, and patiently asked: "Oh, what strategy do you have?"

"Mingsir, please listen to me carefully."

Yuan Shao nodded and held out his hand, saying, "Please."

Xun Chen drank tea while slowly saying, "Gongsun Bogui is brave and resourceful, but arrogant; his brother Gongsun Yue is brave but not resourceful, and most of his subordinates are like this. They have the upper hand now, and an easy victory is enough to make them lose their heads. At first, I planned to feign defeat, let them chase and fall into the trap I set, and then reduce their strength and disrupt their morale."

"Who would have thought that there are unexpected events, and not everything can go as I wish. According to the messenger, the man who fought with us in the street is most likely not a general of Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Yue, and his soldiers are not the White Horse Volunteers. This man is bold and careful, and his soldiers are extraordinary and brave. If my guess is correct, this man and his soldiers should be generals under Liu Xuande, and they should be the elite soldiers of Chang'an who escorted Liu Jingsheng to Youzhou."

After hearing what Xun Chen said, even though Yuan Shao had calmed down, his heart skipped a beat and his hand holding the teacup trembled uncontrollably.

Thousands of people alone are so powerful. If Liu Xuande leads hundreds of thousands of people to attack Jizhou, wouldn't that be a disaster?
Soon Yuan Shao denied this idea in his heart. No, it was impossible. Liu Xuande could not have so many elite soldiers like this!
You have to know that he only has a few thousand halberd soldiers!

Even if Liu Xuande had trained soldiers since he was a child, it would be impossible for him to train hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers! If that were the case, why would they fight? They would just surrender!

Yuan Shao's panic calmed down after a moment of trance, but he still sighed in confusion: "Liu Xuande is so willing to do this? I'm afraid he didn't lend the most veteran soldiers and the most elite soldiers to Liu Jingsheng? And Liu Jingsheng actually has the courage to hand over the personal soldiers who protect his safety to Gongsun Bogui."

He rubbed his sore brows and continued to ask Xun Chen, "Youruo, now that things have come to this, what should we do?"

"Of course." Xun Chen seemed to have it all figured out. He said slowly, "Since Liu Jingsheng's elite troops in Chang'an are difficult to deal with, we don't need to fight them head-on. If this method doesn't work, there are other methods. My lord, my purpose in this battle is not to annihilate Gongsun Bogui, but to repel him and stabilize the minds of the Jizhou nobles. If you want to make them withdraw, the best way is..."

Yuan Shao understood what Xun Chen meant without him saying anything more. His eyes lit up and he blurted out, "Cut off their food supply! Burn down their granaries!"

"good."

Seeing Xun Chen nod, Yuan Shao felt relieved again. However, ever since he learned that Yan Liang was besieged by Zhang Fei, he has been uneasy and unable to sleep or eat.

He had so many talented and capable generals under his command that he couldn't even count them with his fingers. But why did the situation deviate from his initial expectations? He seemed to be passive and controlled everywhere.
Therefore, his thoughts could not stop wandering, and this wandering made it easy for him to think of the worst situation, so he asked: "What if cutting off the food supply doesn't work? What if burning the granary doesn't work? What if..."

As Yuan Shao asked the question, Xun Chen's expression became visibly solemn. "Mingsir, I have also considered your concerns. If all the plans to force Gongsun Bogui to withdraw his troops end in failure, then we can only defeat Gongsun Bogui. This is undoubtedly the only solution."

"." Yuan Shao drove all the other people out of the tent, then looked at Xun Chen deeply and asked in a low voice: "What if we lose to Gongsun Bogui?"

This was not an empty statement. Gongsun Zan had always been regarded as a thorn in Yuan Shao's side. When he first got the Qingzhou troops, he was full of energy and thought that no one in the world could be his opponent! Even Liu Xuande was not taken seriously by him! Unfortunately, the subsequent changes were too fast, so fast that people were caught off guard. In the blink of an eye, Yan Liang was surrounded.

This forced Yuan Shao to be fully alert and face up to this predicament.

"If we lose," Xun Chen sighed helplessly, "if we lose, there will be no room for maneuver. Before the news leaks out, we have to clear out the food and houses in the suburbs, relocate the people, take care of the nobles, and rely on the terrain to resist Gongsun Bogui. In order to plan for a great victory in the future."

"I see." Yuan Shao closed his eyes and clenched his fists. It seemed that he could only win this battle and not lose.
In Guangchang City.

"General Yue"

Hearing Tian Yu's address, Gongsun Yue's heart was bleeding, but he had to pretend that he didn't care, which made his already depressed mood even more depressed.

Gongsun Yue tried to reply in a calm tone, but his voice was still a little annoyed. "What's the matter?"

"I thought we couldn't give up this city."

"!"

Gongsun Yue frowned and wanted to yell, "There are not many people in this city. Even the city walls are in tatters. There is nothing extra in the treasury. What's the point of occupying this city? Isn't it just tying a burden to your leg? We want to fight against Yuan Benchu!"

But when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he stopped decisively. He looked at Tian Yu suspiciously, and a terrible thought emerged in his heart.

Could it be that Tian Guorang's real intention was to make me speak out what was in my mind? !

So that I can lose face in front of everyone?!
The more Gongsun thought about it, the more he felt that this was possible. Ever since Tian Yu defeated the remnants of Yuan Shao and said those words, he had become more wary of Tian Yu. Tian Guorang was definitely not an ordinary person! He should not be underestimated!
So Gongsun Yue decided to wait and see.

Gongsun Zan didn't take it seriously. He asked, "Oh? Why is Guo Rang doing this?"

Tian Yu expressed his thoughts, "General Gongsun, although we are responding to the emperor's order, our mission is not to capture Jizhou."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Gongsun Zan became interested.

Tian Yu confessed, "Yuan Shao personally led the battle to fight this battle. His purpose was to appease the Jizhou nobles. They were eager to win a battle and stabilize the Jizhou nobles who were caught in a dilemma. Yuan Benchu ​​was in a hurry, so we should slow down, take steady steps, and nibble away at Jizhou step by step. I think General Gongsun also had this in mind, right?"

"Um"

Gongsun Zan hesitated for a moment, then nodded immediately, "Not bad, not bad, that's what I think!"

Gongsun Yue secretly rejoiced that he almost fell into Tian Guorang's trap.
But he had to admit that Tian Yu was indeed quite talented. Alas, he regretted giving him a minor official position.
(End of this chapter)