Chapter 138 General, leave quickly, all defeated [Subscribe]

"For now, we should retreat first and then plan for the future!"

When the sun set, Yuan Shu returned to Fengqiu City and summoned civil and military officials to decide to withdraw from Fengqiu.

They were worried that Cao Cao's rear army would come up and complete the siege of Fengqiu.

Although they lost the first battle, they could still have a chance to counterattack by withdrawing from Fengqiu and making adjustments.

The only fast cavalry in Cao's army was their cavalry, and even if they caught up with them first, they would not be able to complete the siege of Fengqiu.

It's a good opportunity to evacuate.

They went north from Nanyang County and entered Yanzhou East County, so it was not difficult for them to withdraw.

After receiving the order to evacuate, the other generals made their own preparations.

But when he heard that Yuan Shu was leaving, Fengqiu Magistrate Zhao Chun was really frightened.

He came because Yuan Shu brought the imperial edict, and he also received a letter from Yuan Wei. Like Ji Shi of Changyuan County, he opened the city to welcome Yuan Shu.

Unexpectedly, just two days later, Yuan Shu was defeated and had to flee.

Zhao Chun stamped his feet in anxiety. He had no choice but to throw away everything in Fengqiu and run away with his whole family.

If it had been left in Cao Cao's hands, the result would have been predictable.

Other generals went to gather the remaining troops and prepare to withdraw from Fengqiu.

Yuan Shu sat in the hall with a gloomy face.

He took out the few remaining briefs and wrote on them: "My troops were ambushed by Cao Cao and I have to temporarily withdraw from Fengqiu..."

On the other side, at the Taifu Mansion in Chang'an, Yuan Wei stared blankly at the message sent by Yuan Shu.

He led the attack with superior forces, carried the imperial edict, and contacted his students, former officials, and the Yanzhou gentry for help, but was still defeated.

Moreover... we entered Yanzhou less than four days after the war began.

Yuan Wei's hand trembled as he wrote, dropping a drop of thick ink onto the brief:
"It's fine to retreat temporarily. You can retreat south. I have confirmed that Cao Cao has dispatched troops from Qiao County, Yuzhou, to fight you."

"If you retreat first, there may still be a chance to turn defeat into victory."

Yuan Wei pondered for a while, then sent another message: "Find an opportunity to throw the Fengqiu Order to Cao Cao, and do it without leaving any traces..."

Yuan Shu was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and secretly praised in his heart.

Yuan Wei said that throwing Fengqiu Ling Zhao Chun to Cao Cao was a bloodless way of killing people.

Zhao Chun was a local nobleman in Yanzhou. Cao Cao must have been extremely angry at Zhao Chun for welcoming Yuan Shu's troops into Fengqiu.

Throw Zhao Chun to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will kill him.

At that time, the hatred with the Yanzhou gentry will deepen.

Cao Cao's situation in Yanzhou will become increasingly difficult, and he will be further in opposition to the gentry.

After figuring out Yuan Wei's intention, Yuan Shu sat in the lobby of the county government office, thinking about his escape route.

In order to fight Cao Cao, he gave up the confrontation with Liu Biao of Jingzhou.

Liu Biao took the opportunity to cut off the water transportation route to the south of Nanyang County, and the situation in Nanyang was not good.

If Yuan Shu wanted to escape, he could only retreat to the southeast.

The night is dark.

There were still faint shouts and screams outside the city.

Cao Cao's subordinates were still chasing after the Yuan army's infantry who were fleeing in all directions and had not yet had time to return to Fengqiu.

The defeated soldiers must be killed completely, otherwise they will attack the local areas and cause disasters everywhere.

The escape of these defeated soldiers helped Yuan Shu delay Cao's army and provided him with a good opportunity to evacuate.

The south gate of Fengqiu was wide open.

Yuan Shu led his troops and marched out of the city to the southeast. The process was smooth and he did not encounter any obstruction from Cao's army.

Yuan Shu traveled for more than a hundred miles and was slightly relieved to see that there were no pursuers.

"General, shall we retreat to Xiangyi first and wait and see?"

The one who spoke was Yan Xiang.

Yuan Shu was riding on a white horse and nodded slightly:
"Cao Cao has drawn troops from Qiao County to attack us, leaving Yuzhou empty.

Coincidentally, before we set out on the expedition, we had already ambushed some troops in preparation for taking back Yuzhou, with the main direction of attack being Qiao County.

Calculating the time, the troops are almost here. Let's see how Cao Cao will respond. In a few days, my troops will capture Qiao County, take back Yuzhou, and fight back again."

Yuan Shu went to Dongjun to start a war, and at the same time sent a group of troops to try to retake Yuzhou which had been lost before.

It was an accident, but it turned out to be a stroke of genius.

Yuan Shu considered the battle situation and regained some confidence.

At this time, a small town in the southern part of Dongjun appeared in front.

Yuan Shu planned to go around the city.

However, it was dark at night and they could not see Cao Cao, dressed in an official robe, standing on the top of the city wall, with Zhang Miao, Zhang Liao and others standing behind him.

"How can the governor determine that Yuan Shu is heading in this direction?" Xu Chu asked in a rough voice.

He and Dian Wei each had a roasted horse leg that was half the size of a human being, which they dragged back from the battlefield.

After the fierce battle, these two guys frantically replenished their consumed energy.

Two people can eat a horse.

"It's not hard to guess where Yuan Shu fled to."

"If he escapes back to Nanyang, I will chase him and occupy the east of Nanyang. Liu Biao will be in the west of Nanyang, and we will be encircled."

"Yuan Shu did not dare to return to Nanyang County, so he could only flee south from Fengqiu, where he could enter Yuzhou and Yangzhou, which he controlled, and there was room for negotiation.

He hasn't given up yet and still has the idea of ​​striking back at us."

Cao Cao: "Send out troops and kill Yuan Shu's troops again!"

"Order!"

Zhang Liao turned over and went down from the city wall.

When Yuan Shu passed by this small town, he suddenly found that the city gate was wide open.

Cao's army rushed out from it.

The momentum and the way of attack were almost the same as the previous ambush!
Zhang Liao led the army, with cavalry following behind him.

Dian Wei and Xu Chu jumped off the city wall one after another.

There are another ambush... Yuan Shu was shocked. They are actually... waiting for me here.

Seeing soldiers and horses rushing out of the city continuously.

Yuan Shu did not dare to delay and immediately urged his horse to gallop.

hum!
A terrifying murderous aura came from behind.

Yuan Shu lowered his head on his horse and heard a scream. He looked back and saw the Cao army general who had rushed into the battle formation to kill him in broad daylight, his eyes wide open, and he threw a short flying halberd through the air.

The flying halberd broke through the air like a spear chasing the sun.

A lieutenant from his personal army who was beside him had no time to dodge and was hit by a flying halberd, falling off his horse immediately.

Snapped!
Yuan Shu whipped the horse's buttocks wildly, lowered his body on the horse's back, and urged the horse to gallop faster.

His men also rode their horses and fled south together.

Yuan Shu ran fast, but left behind Fengqiu Magistrate Zhao Chun, who had his family with him, and was captured alive by Cao's army.

Zhao Chun was nearly fifty years old. He was a local celebrity and came from a prominent family.

He was captured by Cao's army and stood on the side of the road with his clothes torn. He fell while fleeing and looked in a miserable state.

There were children, wives and concubines around him, all crying and looking frightened.

Seeing Cao Cao riding up from behind, Zhao Chun bowed his head and said sadly:

"My family, Zhao Chun, has fallen into the hands of the governor. There are hundreds of people in my family. I only hope that the governor can spare my wife and children. Zhao Chun is willing to be killed."

The entire Zhao family, young and old, were abandoned on the road by Yuan Shu.

Cao Cao got off his horse, his face showing no joy or anger, and said:
"What's the meaning of Fengqiu Ling's words? Who hasn't made a mistake?
Yuan Shu came with the imperial edict, and Fengqiu Magistrate followed the order. What was wrong with that?"

Zhao Chun looked up in surprise.

Cao Cao helped him up and said, "Today's incident is over. You should take your family back to Fengqiu. If you know your mistakes, you should correct them and don't make the same mistake again next time."

Zhao Chun became more and more stunned and felt extremely ashamed. He led his family members to pay their respects to Cao Cao and thank him for sparing his life.

There was no emotion on Cao Cao's face, but murderous intent was rising in his heart.

He is actually a revengeful person and is not a magnanimous person.

He didn't mean to spare Zhao Chun, but to kill him later because the timing was too sensitive.

The aristocratic families were intermarried with each other, and when one of them died, the people involved could affect most of Yanzhou.

So in history, Cao Cao killed a famous scholar from Yanzhou, Bian Rang, and then there was the massacre in Xuzhou.

When he was on the march, the nobles felt insecure and colluded with each other to rebel against him.

This was the reason why Yuan Wei asked Yuan Shu to abandon Zhao Chun.

Now surrounded by enemies on all sides, Cao Cao needs to stabilize himself.

Once the war is quelled, it will be difficult to appease the anger without killing a fickle person like Zhao Chun!

In the following period, Zhao Chun did work hard for Cao Cao because of this matter and became a pro-Cao person in Yanzhou.

Cao Cao continued to pursue the enemy.

Zhang Liao served as the vanguard and fought with Yuan Shu's troops all night.

Yuan Shu really became a defeated soldier this time. The more he ran, the less courage he had to turn back and fight.

On the morning of the next day, Yuan Shu ran to Xiangyi and stopped for a while, only to find that Cao Cao had caught up with him again.

Yuan Shu continued to flee southward from Xiangyi, and sent messages to all parties, including the troops that had been preparing to launch a surprise attack on Qiao County, asking them to withdraw and protect themselves.

The situation turned out to be just as Cao Cao had expected, and he launched a fierce attack on Yuan Shu.

All his other arrangements will be automatically invalidated.

One day and one night later, Yuan Shu ran to Taishou!
Taishou is close to Qu River and the city is not big.

Yuan Shu chose this route to evacuate because Yuzhou was originally under his jurisdiction and he could be supported along the way.

He ran to Taishou and prepared to take a temporary rest.

The troops that were previously arranged to attack Qiao County also turned back to Taishou and joined him here.

With the arrival of reinforcements, Yuan Shu calmed down a little.

Since yesterday, although Cao's army is still chasing, Cao Cao has not shown up.

Yuan Shu analyzed that Cao Cao might have already left, so he decided to stay in Taishou and wait and see.

At nightfall.

Inside the Taishou Palace, Yuan Shu held a letter in his hand and contacted Yuan Wei again:

"In addition to the Black Mountain Army, I had also arranged another ambush to lead them to attack Yanzhou and cooperate with me in my military operations.

But the troops on that route have not made any movement so far. Uncle is aware of the movements of all parties. Do you know the reason?"

In addition to the Black Mountain Army, Yuan Shu actually also contacted the Southern Xiongnu troops who were also in Bingzhou.

According to the agreement, they will also come from the northwest of Yanzhou to fight against Cao Cao together.

The commander of his troops was Yufuluo, the son of the Chanyu of Southern Xiongnu and also the Right Wise King.

A few years ago, he came to the Central Plains to assist the Han army in suppressing the uprising, and then stayed to join forces with the Baibo Army and became one of the powerful people in Bingzhou.

His subordinates are more elite than ordinary bandits, but they also plunder everywhere and will cooperate with whoever can offer greater benefits.

This time they contacted Yuan Shu and wanted to use each other to attack Yanzhou together. They borrowed each other's strength and hit it off.

However, the Southern Xiongnu did not show up at the agreed time.

Yuan Shu was in a panic as he was being chased by Cao Cao. He didn't know why Yu Fuluo didn't come, so he asked Yuan Wei.

"Yu Fuluo's army has been defeated by Cao's army, they won't come back!"

"Cao Cao still has troops to fight against the Southern Xiongnu?"

“There were only a thousand Cao troops fighting against Yu Fuluo, but they were brave and the general who led the troops charged in alone and almost killed Yu Fuluo.

The Southern Xiongnu tribesmen are being chased by the Cao army generals and have now fled to the north of Bingzhou. You don't have to worry about the Southern Xiongnu troops anymore!"

More than a thousand Cao troops chased the Southern Xiongnu people everywhere?

You must know that although the Huns were not as strong as they were in the early Han Dynasty or even in the Qin Dynasty, they were not weak to the level of a refugee army.

Which general under Cao Cao was so powerful?

All of Yuan Shu's plans were defeated by Cao Cao at this point, and there was no chance of reversal.

He held the letter in his hand and was stunned for a while, when he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly in Taishou City.

Moreover, the ground of the government office where he was working was also shaking.

Yuan Shu shuuld startled and listened attentively, and heard a rumbling sound, as if a thunder was about to explode.

But this sound is definitely not the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground. It is heavier than the sound of hooves.

Generals such as Yuan Shu and Ji Ling hurriedly climbed to the top of the city wall and looked out.

But I was shocked when I saw it.

"General, hurry up!" Ji Ling shouted.

When he turned around, he saw only Yuan Shu's back was left.

The man quickly got down from the city wall and climbed onto his horse.

(End of this chapter)