The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

On the third day after Xun Zhen met Chen Zhi from Chen Xinzhi, in the south of Yi County, Chunyu Qiong's army camp welcomed a force.

The number of soldiers and horses was not large, only two or three thousand cavalry.

The leader who led this cavalry was young, in his twenties or thirties, and was Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan.

Chunyu Qiong knew about Yuan Tan's arrival in advance, and Guo Tu and others sent people to send him news in advance.

Chun Yuqiong welcomed Yuan Tan to Yi County to supervise the battle.

For one thing, although Yuan Tan came, the main general of the army was Chun Yuqiong. Yuan Tan was just here to boost morale.

Another, Yuan Tan is the heir of Yuan Shao who is supported by Chunyu Qiong, Guo Tu and their faction, then the arrival of Yuan Tan means that after defeating Gongsun Zan, with this great merit, Yuan Tan will be able to overpower Yuan Shang.

Therefore, Chunyu Qiong naturally welcomed his arrival.

After Yuan Tan arrived, Chunyu Qiong held a banquet that night, despite the military discipline prohibiting drinking in the camp, to wash away the dust for Yuan Tan.

Drinking all night, until almost dawn.

But at the banquet, Yuan Tan asked about the situation of attacking Yi County.

Chunyu Qiong confidently said to Yuan Tan, "It has been ten months since the attack on Yi County, and although he has not yet been able to conquer the city, Gongsun Zan has only been out of the city to counterattack once a few days ago. The intention of going into battle is from this, it can be seen that he must have been frightened by our army, and his troops must also have no fighting spirit."

In addition to the defenders in the city, Gongsun Zan also had two military camps outside the city. Yuan Tan knew this, so he asked Chunyu Qiong and said, "General, the city of Yi County is strong, and it is not easy to conquer, but its city is not easy to conquer. Can the camp outside the city be pulled first? In my humble opinion, if the camp outside the city can be overcome by our army, the morale of the defenders in the city will be even lower, and it seems that it will also benefit our army to overcome it.”

Chunyu Qiong stroked his beard and replied with a smile, "Young Master, the last general has already thought of this, and he has been attacking Gongsun Zan's military camp outside the city for the past two days. The moat has been filled, and it won't take long before these two battalions will be conquered by our army! And as soon as these two battalions are taken down by our army, I will launch the final general attack on Yi County! Young Master, You came at the right time. Now the morale of our army is very high. Now that the son is coming to supervise the battle, the morale of the soldiers will definitely be higher because of this. Defeat Gongsun Zan, capture him alive, and dedicate it to the general. Right in front of you!"

Not only was Chunyu Qiong full of confidence in this, but the generals in the tent were also full of confidence, and the atmosphere in the tent was relaxed.

However, Yuan Tan noticed that the trial match seemed a little out of place.

The trial partner was inherently stern, and because he did not agree with Chunyu Qiong's aggressive attack strategy, he was sitting in the crowd with no smile on his face, and it became more and more like an iceberg. Yuan Tan stared at him, and after pondering for a while, he asked him, "If you feel unpleasant, sir, dare to ask, why?"

Shen Pei and other Jizhou scholars supported Yuan Shang, and they had a bad relationship with Yuan Tan, but Yuan Tan was Yuan Shao's eldest son after all. On the surface, Shen Pei still needed to show respect to him.

Therefore, when he heard Yuan Tan's question, he stood up, bowed to Yuan Tan, and said, "Young master is coming to the camp today, as General Chunyu said, my whole army is even more motivated because of this, and I will go down again. Where is the unhappiness?"

"It's not unpleasant, why is your face so frosty?"

Shen Pei said, "I don't dare to hide the son, although there is no unpleasantness here, but I have something on my mind."

"What's on your mind? I dare to hear it."

Since it is like this by nature, it is also because his family is a right surname in Jizhou, so even in front of Yuan Shao, Shen Pei always has something to say, what about Yuan Tan? He glanced at Chunyu Qiong, but he did not hide his thoughts, and said bluntly: "Young master, the next thing on my mind is that I think that the strategy of attacking Yi County that General Chunyu has decided is not very reliable."

"How do you say this, sir?"

Shen Pei said: "Master, although Gongsun Zan is at the end of the road and is about to fall, Yijing is still strong, and Gongsun Zan's troops and horses are also numerous in the city. In addition, the wives and children of Gongsun Zan's officers and clans are also in the city. Their wives, sons, old and young, they will definitely fight to the end, because if they attack the city in the manner of a general, it will encourage them to resist more and more stubbornly, which will be detrimental to our army. , Gongsun Zan has sent his son to ask Zhang Feiyan for help, please think about it, son, if Zhang Feiyan's troops arrive when our army and Gongsun Zan are head-to-head, and both are lost, what should we do?"

However, Gongsun Zan sent his son Gongsun Xu to Zhang Feiyan to ask for help. Shen Pei and others all knew about it, but at that time, there was no encirclement of Yi County, so Gongsun Xu could not be stopped.

Of course Yuan Tan knew that Shen Pei disapproved of Chunyu Qiong's tactics.

Shen Pei's proposal to dig trenches, approach Yi County, and then find an opportunity to siege the city, Chunyu Qiong had already said in a letter to Guo Tu. And since Yuan Tan was coming to the front line, of course Guo Tu would pass the words in Chunyu Qiong's letter to Yuan Tan.

However, Yuan Tan pretended not to know, and asked slowly, "If so, in your opinion, how should this city be acquired?"

"I thought that the strategy of digging trenches, approaching with close quarters, and then looking for opportunities to conquer the city would be the same."

Yuan Tan said "Oh" and asked Chunyu Qiong and others, "Why do you think the generals are like this?"

Chunyu Qiong said with a smile: "In my opinion, this discussion of the judge is not desirable!"

Yuan Tan asked, "Why?"

Chunyu Qiong said: "This method is too slow, and as the judge said, Gongsun Zan has sent his son to ask Zhang Feiyan for help. The ditch dug by our army in Yijing has not yet come close! Then, at that time, there are reinforcements from outside and relying on the strong city, this Yijing is probably far away!

Shen Pei said: "However, using the general's method, for the sake of the wife, and fighting in the city, what will the general do?"

Chunyu Qiong said: "Manpower is sometimes poor! As long as our army continues to attack, the morale in the city will collapse!"

Shen Pei shook his head again and again, sneered at the corners of his mouth, disapprovingly, and said: "The defenders in Yijing City are mostly Gongsun Zan's old troops, and they are very loyal to Gongsun Zan. Will it be easy to fall down? I assert that it will only become more and more resistant and tenacious!"

Yuan Tan pondered and said, "Sir, since you share the same hatred with the enemy, what's the use of digging trenches?"

Shen Pei said: "Besides digging the ravines, you can show the inside of the city, only punish the wicked Gongsun Zan, and all the rest can be forgiven. After the city is out, they are allowed to bring their wives and children back to their hometowns. In this way, they no longer have the urgency of life and death. Watching our army dig trenches and approach the city, their morale will definitely become more and more panic! And once the atmosphere of panic spreads, they will naturally have no will to fight. At that time, the son will surrender again. If you don’t know the book, then they will collapse inside. Our army will attack at the right time, why is it difficult to conquer the city?”

"If Zhang Feiyan's ministry arrives, how will you deal with it?"

Shen Pei said: "Zhang Feiyan's troops are coming, he will definitely not dare to come from the west, but will definitely go to Zhuo County, that is, from the north of Yi County, our army can send scouts to pay close attention to the situation in the north of Yi County, Wait for Zhang Feiyan to arrive, send a group of troops, and go to block it first, that's all."

Yuan Tan thought about it carefully.

To be honest, he felt that the trial match's suggestion was quite reasonable.

It's just that Yuan Tan couldn't adopt it at this time even though he felt that the proposal was reasonable. For no other reason, it is because the trial and marriage are not one party with him. It is not Yuan Tan who is supported by Shen Pei, but Yuan Shang.

He laughed and said to the match, "Sir, this proposal is quite good, but in my opinion, Chunyu General's proposal is also very good."

The trial partner sighed.

Yuan Tan asked, "Why did you sigh, sir?"

Shen Pei said: "Young master doesn't follow my words, then you can still use General Chunyu's advice to continue to attack Yi County, and see if you can conquer Yi County as General Chunyu said! In my opinion, I'm afraid... "

Having said that, the trial partner will not go further.

Yuan Tan asked, "I'm afraid how?"

The trial partner smiled and said: "I'm afraid that in the end, this Yi County will still not be defeated, and I have to use my method after all."

These words are quite arrogant, and even almost arrogant, Yuan Tan is not happy, but even his father Yuan Shao has to rely on the strength of these local scholars such as Shen Pei, and naturally he will not turn against Shen Pei. , so I just laughed twice.

However, the next day, Chunyu Qiong's method continued to attack Yi Jing.

However, it was as expected, and they continued to attack for three days. Except for taking down one of Gongsun Zan's camp outside the city, Yi Jing was still indestructible, and Chunyu Qiong's attack was basically fruitless. On the contrary, the loss of our own soldiers is not small.

Yuan Tan, after the battle that day, inspected the camp and found that the morale of the soldiers was already a bit low due to the unsuccessful attacks for days.

After all, it has been more than half a month since the attack on Yijing, and the onslaught has continued, but not only has there been no progress in size, but also seeing the death and wounding of the comrades around him, and sieging the city day after day, will also be exhausted, so even if Depression and fear of difficulties will inevitably arise.

Yuan Tan noticed this situation and could not help but secretly worry.

That night, he invited Chunyu Qiong to his tent and said: "General, I am patrolling the camp today, and seeing the soldiers in each camp, my morale is very low. This Yijing, our army has been attacking for more than half a month, so far. I still can’t take it, but I don’t know what the general thinks, when will I be able to conquer this city?”

Chunyu Qiong said: "I don't know if you have found out that you have been attacking the city these few days. The reason why Yi Jing has not been captured so far is not because of the wrong way of attacking, but because of another reason."

Yuan Tan asked, "What is the other reason?"

Chunyu Qiong said: "Another reason for this is that the Youzhou soldiers would not do their best to cooperate with our army to attack the city! If they were willing to attack Yi County at all costs, like our army, our army must have already captured Yi County. Where will it be stuck so far?"

Yuan Tan recalled it, and it was exactly as Chunyu Qiong said. The soldiers in Youzhou were indeed very inactive in attacking the city in the past few days. Not willing to put in all the troops, and usually after attacking for a while, then retreating, very perfunctory.

Yuan Tan nodded and said, "There is indeed such a situation." He asked Chunyu Qiong, "But how to solve it, does the general have any countermeasures?"

Chunyu Qiong said: "It is not difficult to solve it. I have two strategies to offer and the son."

Yuan Tan said, "What do you have a good plan for, General? Feel free to say anything, and I will listen carefully."

Chunyu Qiong said: "Young Master can pass the order tomorrow, and kill the Youzhou soldiers who are passive and idle. In this way, their soldiers will naturally be afraid and have to attack Yijing. This is also a strategy."

Yuan Tan thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "I'm afraid this strategy is inappropriate. If this arouses the dissatisfaction of Youzhou soldiers, wouldn't it be worth the loss?"

The generals of the Youzhou soldiers were afraid of Yuan Shao's involvement in Youzhou, and they were already opposed to him, so if they killed their generals for no reason, it might make the remaining generals fear, but it might also make them even more detached.

Chunyu Qiong also took this into consideration, so he said: "If this strategy is not possible, the young master can use the second strategy of the last general."

Yuan Tan asked, "What is it?"

Chunyu Qiong said: "My second plan is that tomorrow, the son of Youzhou can call the soldiers of Youzhou to meet in the future camp, set up a banquet first, entertain them, and then make it clear that if you continue to be passive in the subsequent siege of the city. , then the military law is ruthless.”

This method is actually the same as the first method, but the first method is to kill directly, and the second method is to scare him first.

Yuan Tan heard this and felt that it was more appropriate to take the second method.

The next day, Yuan Tan summoned soldiers from Youzhou to meet in the camp.

If Chunyu Qiong's suggestion, first set a wine and set a banquet to entertain them, and then when the wine was in full swing, Yuan Tan got up and looked around the generals and said, "I have a word, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com said to you."

Everyone stopped their chopsticks, put down their wine glasses, and looked at him.

After the tent was quiet, Yuan Tan said loudly: "I am under my father's order to come to Yi County to oversee the army. My father gave me a strict order, ordering me to take Yi County within a month. , and the battle has been fought for almost a month now. If Yi County can’t fight it by then, and I can’t fulfill the military order that my father gave me, I am willing to go back and be punished, but everyone, I will punish you too!” After a pause, he looked at the people in the tent majestically, and said, "As for how I will punish, I don't need to say more, you can also know, the military law is ruthless!"

There was silence in the tent for a long time.

The generals of the Youzhou soldiers got up one after another, bowed down to the tent, and said to Yuan Tan, "I respectfully obey your son's orders!"

The next day, the siege of Yixian County continued.

Threatened by Yuan Tan, the Youzhou soldiers worked harder on the siege, but they were still unable to conquer Yijing after two consecutive days of attacking.

On this night, Yuan Tan had just fallen asleep when he heard the sound of chaos in the camp.