Chapter 94: Yuan Xi and Gongsun Zan joined forces to attack, but Liu Yu noticed it in advance and counterattacked!
"Short-sighted, Yuan Shu is really short-sighted! Do you really think that this general can't do it without your help? Just stay in Huainan and watch!!!"

When Yuan Shao's envoy returned to Jizhou and informed him of the content of the discussion with Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao became furious and started cursing.

In fact, although the two brothers seem to be allied, there has always been rift in their hearts, and they are just huddling together for warmth.

But because Yuan Shao originally asked Yuan Shu to go north to Yanzhou, who would have thought that after Yuan Shu failed in the north, he went directly south to Huainan, which put Yuan Shao in a passive position, caused heavy casualties and losses.

The alliance between the two brothers is in name only, maintaining only a superficial relationship.

Now, because his adviser Feng Ji was there to be prepared for any eventuality, Yuan Shao sent an envoy to Huainan to form an alliance. Who knew that Yuan Shu would take advantage of him!
The plan to establish a new emperor was Yuan Shao's idea. Why should Yuan Shu get the advantage for nothing? !
Yuan Shu is a short-sighted guy who even wants to ascend the throne and become emperor. He doesn't know his own limitations.

Dry bones in the grave!

The civil and military officials under Yuan's camp were silent, and dared not refute or persuade Yuan Shao when he was angry. They waited anxiously for Yuan Shao to calm down.

But at this time, a messenger came to report:

"General, the Second Young Master has led his troops to Youzhou and is joining forces with Gongsun Zan to deal with Liu Yu!"

This time, Yuan Shao sent his troops to Youzhou and joined forces with Gongsun Zan to deal with Liu Yu's general - his second son Yuan Xi and Yuan Xianyi.

Yuan Shao's successor was still undecided, and his eldest son Yuan Tan and second son Yuan Xi had been fighting for the throne.

This time, Yuan Tan led his troops to Pingyuan County to deal with Liu Bei of Qingzhou, but he had suffered a series of defeats not long ago and his reputation had been damaged.

Seeing the opportunity, Yuan Xi immediately requested to go to war to aid Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, hoping to improve his prestige through military achievements and increase his chances of becoming heir.

"Xianyi has already marched quickly towards Youzhou."

Speaking of his second son, Yuan Shao's anger gradually calmed down. "Order the scouts to pay close attention to the dynamics of Youzhou and send back the military intelligence reports of Youzhou as soon as possible."

"promise!!!"

The messenger retreated again.

Yuan Shao looked at the civil officials and military officers, feeling a little embarrassed about his own gaffe, but it was gone in a flash, and he changed the subject and asked:

"We have divided our troops into Youzhou, the imperial garrison in Guandong, Liu Dai in Yanzhou, and Liu Bei's troops in Qingzhou. Are we going to make any rash moves?"

"not at all!"

Guo Tu shook his head and said, "It seems that the court has really been deceived by our plan!"

"Youzhou is far away from the border, with high mountains and long roads. It is understandable that the court did not receive the news immediately!
"As long as we create a time difference, we will be able to defeat and capture Liu Yu alive before the imperial court can react, and then control Youzhou!"

"By then, even if the imperial court issues an edict to reprimand us and sends troops to attack us, we have enough noble families to deal with it. We can even directly support Liu Yu to become emperor and rebel against the imperial court!"

"..."

After Guo Tu spoke, all the counselors also echoed his words.

Of course, Feng Ji and others were still a little worried, fearing that this was a strategy of the court to lure the enemy out and lure the snake out of its hole.

At this point, Yuan Shao would not hesitate. He nodded and said:
"Keep a close eye on the imperial army in Guandong, Liu Dai in Yanzhou, and Liu Bei in Qingzhou. If anything goes wrong, we can withdraw immediately. It won't be a big problem!"

"Yes!!!"

Everyone took orders.

……

Youzhou.

Liu Yu's capital was in Yuyang County, Yuyang Commandery, while Gongsun Zan was now in Wuzhong County, Youbeiping.

Liu Yu led an army of 100,000 and attacked Gongsun Zan.

Of course, there are also many people who oppose it.

Before leaving, Cheng Xu took off his helmet and gave Liu Yu some advice:

"Mingsir, although Gongsun Zan made mistakes, his crime has not been proven, and he is still an official appointed by the court.

"You should report this to the court and wait for the judge to interrogate you before making a decision. Going to war directly and starting a war within the country is not good for the country.

"Besides, the outcome is unpredictable, so it is better to stop the war and force them to surrender by force. Gongsun Zan will surely regret his mistakes and apologize. This is what is called 'subduing the enemy without fighting'."

...

Some people also think.

"Mingsir, Gongsun Zan's military and literary skills are enough to rely on. Even if he does some minor evil, we should tolerate him for now."

...

Liu Yu directly beheaded those who advised him!
Why did he say it right before the army set out instead of earlier? Isn't this deliberately disrupting the morale of the army?!
Behead him directly!

Liu Yu said to the generals:
"Gongsun Zan spread rumors and slandered, and quoted out of context. Your Majesty clearly said, 'Solitary locusts are poisonous, and solitary locusts are non-toxic. The non-toxic ones can be eaten.' But he deliberately spread the rumor that 'locusts can be eaten,' causing countless deaths and injuries among the people.

"This is a treacherous plot by Yuan Shao and other rebels in Jizhou, who are trying to use the public anger to fight against the imperial court and destroy your majesty's reputation. Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao are fighting on the surface, but secretly colluding with each other. They are actually traitors!

"They have taken advantage of the country and the people in this way. They are disloyal, unfilial, unkind and unjust. Such disloyal traitors should be killed. I have already reported this to the court. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility.

"But everyone, remember, don't hurt anyone else, just kill Gongsun Zan!"

Hearing this, the morale of all the officers and soldiers was high and the army was inspired!
But because of this, some of the Jinyiwei spies among them were staying in Bengbu!

Did Liu Yu really think that the battle between the two armies was just a child's play? What did he mean by just killing Gongsun Zan and not harming others? !
At this time, we should act quickly and not put too many shackles and fetters on the soldiers. Otherwise, being timid will only put them in a passive position and give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage.

The Jinyiwei were speechless, but they couldn't persuade anyone!

The army sets out.

He went to Youbeiping Wuzhong to attack Gongsun Zan.

Naturally, there are informers among them.

For example, Gongsun Ji, a subordinate of Liu Yu, was treated well by Gongsun Zan because they had the same surname. He wanted to run to Gongsun Zan at night to report Liu Yu's plan.

But he was killed in advance by the Embroidered Uniform Guards!
Liu Bian trusted Liu Yu's loyalty, but was a little worried about his benevolence, because Liu Yu was too soft-hearted.

Everyone says that Liu Bei is benevolent and righteous, but Liu Yu is even more benevolent and righteous than Liu Bei, he is simply a saint.

For this reason, Liu Bian placed many spies around Liu Yu, who not only monitored Youzhou but also helped Liu Yu.

But Liu Yu was really too amazing!
"You must cherish the people's houses, do not trample on the people's farmland, do not burn the city, and do not demolish the people's houses to build siege equipment. We will only kill Gongsun Zan, do not harm or affect others!"

With the secret help of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, those informers and Gongsun Zan's spies were eliminated one by one.

This caused Liu Yu's army of 100,000 to approach the city, and Gongsun Zan only realized belatedly that he had been surrounded in Wuzhong County.

However, Youzhou Youbeiping is close to the sea and near the mouth of the Haihe River, with dense water networks. Wuzhong County not only has tall city walls, but also moats and other defenses, and siege equipment is needed to attack the city.

Due to the marching speed and inconvenient road transportation, heavy objects such as siege equipment were built directly using local materials.

however!
However, Liu Yu did not allow his soldiers to demolish the houses of the people. He could clearly provide them with compensation and subsidies afterwards and capture the city with lightning speed, but he just did not allow them to do so.

It was even more forbidden to harm the people in the city. Liu Yu did not want to affect the lives of the people because of his war.

It's very kind, but it's too soft-hearted!

Without siege equipment, how could they break through the wide moat and tall city walls?!
An army of one hundred thousand strong was unable to capture Wuzhong for a while and was deadlocked outside Wuzhong County!
but!

If Liu Yu could continue to besiege Wuzhong County like this, he would be able to exhaust the food and grass in Wuzhong County, causing the people there to panic and make them attack.

But Gongsun Zan, a man of both military and literary talents, naturally understood this point. He did not sit and wait for death, but chose to take the initiative to attack.

When an army of one hundred thousand men approached the city, Gongsun Zan panicked at first, thinking he was no match for the enemy, and tried every possible way to break through the encirclement and escape.

But suddenly he discovered that Liu Yu's soldiers were restrained and timid!

After investigation, it was discovered that Liu Yu had ordered that the people's houses and farmland should not be destroyed, and that no one else should be harmed except Gongsun Zan.

This made Gongsun Zan happy!
This is not a battle between two armies, it's just playing house!

Gongsun Zan then summoned hundreds of elite warriors, first drove the people out of the city to disrupt Liu Yu's army, and then led his troops to launch a surprise attack, set fire to Liu Yu's camp with the help of the wind, and burned down Liu Yu's army camp, causing Liu Yu to be defeated.

However, Liu Yu’s army had secret agents from the Imperial Guard to help him!
Due to the brave fighting and infiltration and assassination of the Jinyiwei, the victory of Gongsun Zan's surprise attack was not expanded and was stopped!

Although Liu Yu was defeated, he still had an army of 100,000. After adjusting, he immediately formed an encirclement.

Gongsun Zan had to retreat back to Wuzhong County!
However, after this battle, Liu Yu suffered heavy casualties and the morale of the army was severely hit.

Gongsun Zan's side was full of morale and saw an opportunity to break the deadlock.

“Although we won a great victory in this raid, we must not get carried away or take it lightly.

“There are definitely experts lurking in Liu Yu’s army. These people may be heroes in the martial arts world, or they may be Liu Yu’s retainers.

“These masters are few in number, but they fight bravely and their assassinations are hard to defend against, creating serious obstacles to our surprise attack!
"We lost a lot of brothers this time!"

Gongsun Zan did not become complacent with the success of the raid, but instead became worried.

Because he had a guess in his mind that those masters might also be the secret agents under His Majesty's command - the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

The Jinyiwei force surfaced when the Xiliang Army was recklessly deposing and enthroning the emperor. It is one of the many forces that Your Majesty uses to turn the tide and save the situation. It should not be underestimated!
If it was Jinyiwei...

It means that your Majesty's sphere of influence has extended to Youzhou!
This made Gongsun Zan a little uneasy!
He secretly joined forces with Yuan Shao to rebel against the imperial court, all because Your Majesty insisted on implementing the land-based tax system, which damaged the interests of the Gongsun family.

But Gongsun Zan himself was actually loyal to the emperor and patriotic!
However, due to family interests and suppression from both his wife's clan, Gongsun Zan had to fight against the imperial court for the sake of his family!
Of course, no matter how helpless Gongsun Zan was, since he had already rebelled against the court and His Majesty, he should move forward bravely instead of being timid.

Just like Liu Yu, although he had already led an army of 100,000 to attack him, he was still restrained, causing the soldiers to be timid and thus suffer a great defeat!
Since Gongsun Zan has allied with Yuan Shao, he cannot regret it and can only go down this path to the end.

You can not have it both ways!

But if Liu Yu had the help of the Embroidered Uniform Guards behind him, it would be difficult for him to attack and kill Liu Yu!

This is also the reason why Gongsun Zan's sudden attack was loud and no one was surprised. After all, he was alone!
"Da da da--"

At this moment, a messenger suddenly came to report:
"General, after receiving our army's request for assistance, Yuan Shao sent troops north. His son Yuan Xi will soon lead his troops to Youzhou."

“Just in time!!!”

Gongsun Zan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said anxiously: "Pay close attention to Yuan Xi's military developments and report back as soon as possible."

"promise!"

After the messenger retreated, Gongsun Zan finally became a little excited!

If Gongsun Zan relied on his own strength alone, he would be outnumbered when facing Liu Yu and his 100,000-strong army.

Now Liu Yu has the secret help of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Even if Liu Yu is too soft-hearted, Gongsun Zan's hope of a successful surprise attack is slim!

but!

If Yuan Shao sent troops north to provide support, Gongsun Zan would be able to inflict severe damage on, or even capture and kill Liu Yu!

This is the confidence and courage of Gongsun Zan, the White Horse General!

Advisor Fan Fang also said:
"General, when Yuan Xi gets closer, we can launch another attack on Liu Yu, and join forces with Yuan Xi and his men to defeat Liu Yu's army in one fell swoop!"

"That's exactly what I meant!" Gongsun Zan nodded and smiled.

As Gongsun Zan informed his senior brothers about this matter, the morale of Gongsun Zan's Baima Yicong and other soldiers was greatly boosted and their morale was high!
Even though Liu Yu's army of 100,000 was besieging Wuzhong County, they were not panicked but confident!
This kind of morale made Wuzhong County work harder and more excited to resist the attack of Liu Yu's army.

For two consecutive days, Liu Yu didn't make much progress!
Just two days later, Yuan Xi sent a special envoy to infiltrate Wuzhong County and informed Gongsun Zan that he had entered Yuyang County in Youzhou and was about to approach Wuzhong County.

Yuan Shao's second son, Yuan Xi, divided his troops and marched north, starting from Bohai. Jizhou Bohai County was adjacent to Youzhou Yuyang County, so the marching speed could actually be faster.

But in order to conceal their tracks and avoid being noticed by Youzhou, Yuan Xi's army had been hiding during the day and moving out at night, trying to launch a surprise attack!
Yuan Xi had high hopes for this surprise attack, and was determined to deal a heavy blow to Liu Yu!
After Gongsun Zan learned of Yuan Xi's plan to send troops, he immediately agreed to launch a night attack that night!
This is to avoid any further complications!

Yuan Xi agreed.

The two armies began intensive preparations!
Outside Wuzhong County, Liu Yu's 100,000-strong army seemed to them like fish on a chopping board, ready to be slaughtered at their will!

……

Liu Yu was stationed outside Wuzhong County.

In fact, from the choice of location for setting up camp, it is not difficult to see that Liu Yu had no military ability.

Liu Yu was most capable and skilled in domestic affairs, and his political achievements were remarkable!

The two armies fought, the three armies were mobilized, and other military preparations. If it were not for the help of his civil and military officials, Liu Yu would not have been able to get to this point.

Liu Yu's subordinates were unaware of the conspiracy between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Xi. It was really because Gongsun Zan and Yuan Xi hid it too deeply!

but!

Yuan Xi led his troops northward, and even though they hid during the day and moved at night, they could not hide from the detection of the Jinyiwei!
Because the news that Yuan Shao was trying to split his troops and march north had long been intercepted by the Jinyiwei, it would be easy to track which troop Yuan Shao sent north.

There is no impenetrable wall in this world!

The Yuan camp had leaked the news from the very beginning. Even if Yuan Xi was cautious and stayed hidden during the day and moved out at night, it was useless.

When Yuan Xi approached Youzhou, the Jinyiwei managed to inform Liu Yu.

At this time, the news that the court had approved the dispatch of troops and sent reinforcements also reached Liu Yu.

This gave Liu Yu a huge boost in confidence!

Although the imperial court's reinforcements had not yet reached Yuyang County in Youzhou due to the long and difficult road.

But Liu Yu had an army of 100,000 under his command, and he knew in advance about Gongsun Zan and Yuan Xi's plan for a night attack, so he thought he could take advantage of the situation.

After discussions among Liu Yu's civil and military officials, a plan to ambush Gongsun Zan and Yuan Xi at night immediately emerged.

……

(End of this chapter)