After Yuan Xi rushed to Yuan Shao's tent, the generals and counselors came one after another, but their faces were not good-looking.
Calculating the time, if we march in a hurry, Zhang Yan's vanguard will arrive in about ten days!
No one is sure whether Yi Jing can be captured within this period of time.
Xin Ping first said: "Now we have to respond."
"Should we divide our forces to intercept Zhang Yan, or attack Yi Jing with all our strength."
Jushou said: "Isn't there another option, retreat?"
Xun Chen said coldly: "The army is pressing down on the city and they are making false promises to retreat. Should we call for military law?"
The judge said: "As a supervisor, you naturally need to consider the worst case scenario. What should you do if it rains heavily again?"
Everyone was silent. It rained the day before yesterday. Not only did the food get damp and the soldiers' armor was damaged, many people also got sick and even died.
If it rains again, I'm afraid Gongsun Zan won't have to leave the city to counterattack, and Yuan Junji will collapse and retreat.
Who knew the weather would be so weird this year? It’s already October and it’s still raining!
Pang Ji spoke up: "The current situation is one of progress and no retreat. This year there is a locust plague in all states, but Jizhou is the least affected, so there is extra food and grass to raise troops."
"The mobilization of this large army will cost a lot of money. If we withdraw our troops at this time, it may take two or three years before we can recruit such a large army again."
Guo Tu echoed: "If this good opportunity is missed, let alone two or three years, even three to five years, it is hard to say what will happen in the future."
Tian Feng sneered and said: "But if we fail to attack the city and our army is cut off by the Black Mountain Army, not only will our main force be lost, but even Ye City will be in danger."
"I heard that Cao Cao sent troops to attack Yecheng. Fortunately, our army was prepared and temporarily scared them back."
Xu You said: "It's hard to say. Cao Mengde is an ally of our army. How could he launch a sneak attack at this time?"
"I think Mr. Yuan Hao is unfounded."
Tian Feng sneered: "I think you are on good terms with that Cao Cao, so you speak for him, right?"
Xu You blushed, "Yuan Hao! How could you taint my innocence out of thin air!"
Yuan Xi saw a group of counselors quarreling and thought that the more counselors, the better. Just like now, it was simply counterproductive.
If I were in Yuan Shao's position, I wouldn't be able to deal with this group of people.
This group of counselors is backed by their own noble clan and has long been unable to defeat them. Although they are all working hard, they will speak from their own standpoint rather than being absolutely neutral.
Among the counselors present today, Shenpei Tian Feng Jushou is from the Jizhou faction, Xunchen and Guo Tuxinpi are from the Yingchuan faction, and Xu You and Pangji are from the Nanyang faction. The relationships among them are intricate. When planning, they not only wanted to increase their reputation, but also at the same time
Want to overwhelm the opponent.
The hidden problems here will become more and more intensified as time goes by. Today is just the tip of the iceberg, and the Jizhou faction is already dissatisfied with being suppressed by the other two factions, and has begun to feel war-weary!
The Jizhou faction should have supported Yuan Tan, but now it has been suppressed by the other two factions supporting Yuan Shang. Yuan Tan's chances of becoming the heir are becoming increasingly slim.
Moreover, the benefits distributed to Jizhou counselors were far lower than expected. It can even be said that after the Yingchuan faction and Nanyang faction gained power, they greatly weakened the local influence of Jizhou counselors.
Therefore, the Jizhou faction began to show a tendency to sing the opposite tune. Tian Feng's so-called culpability can only be attributed to the fact that he had seen this fact clearly a few years ago and took the opportunity to vent his dissatisfaction with his bad mouth.
Yuan Xi thought to himself that this world is really wonderful. He was originally planning to attack Yi Jing, but now it is Yuan Shang's group who supports the attack on Yi Jing. Instead, Yuan Tan's group has the idea of retreating!
Yuan Shao's counselors are really troublesome. Yuan Xi feels that Yuan Shao has not balanced the conflicts between these factions so far. In this regard, he is far inferior to Cao Cao.
Even though Cao Cao had many counselors and generals under his command, Cao Cao controlled them quite well.
Cao Cao had a very clear idea of counselors, which was mainly the Yingchuan faction.
From Xi Zhicai to Guo Jia, and then to Xun Yu and Chen Qun, they were all from Yingchuan. Cheng Yu, who followed Cao Cao at the beginning, became completely marginalized in the later period, not to mention Jia Xu.
, I kept a low profile and bided my time.
So when Cao Cao couldn't make up his mind, he just had to talk to the Yingchuan people behind closed doors and the matter was settled. Moreover, Cao Cao himself was a very powerful military strategist and could suppress people.
In terms of military affairs, Cao Cao led the army with the Cao family and the Xiahou family as the core. No matter how successful other generals with foreign surnames were, they could only serve as deputies most of the time.
This effectively eliminates internal fighting. Although battles may be lost, at least stability can be guaranteed under this system.
But Yuan Shao's problem is much bigger in comparison.
Not to mention the infighting among the counselors, even the military commanders are full of factions.
There is the veteran Chunyu Qiong, the four court pillars standing on the top of each mountain, and the Bingliang generals who have been squeezed and suppressed.
When Yuan Shao personally took charge and won the battle, it was easy to say that if he lost the battle, various factions would inevitably shirk their responsibilities. At this time, the generals without backers became scapegoats.
When Qu Yi betrayed Han Fu and joined Yuan Shao, it was because he lost a battle and wanted to be punished by Han Fu, so Qu Yi was forced to rebel against Han Fu.
As a result, after he took refuge with Yuan Shao, because of his bravery in battle, his men were the first to kill him, and because of Yuan Shao's fear of ambush, he almost died.
When Yuan Xi puts himself in Qu Yi's shoes, he can feel deeply depressed. No matter what he does, it doesn't work. Isn't this the same as being slapped regardless of whether he wears a hat or not?
No wonder Zhang He Gao Lan in later generations surrendered immediately after attacking Cao Jun's camp without any left. Although he was not loyal enough, he probably also understood the method of play in Yuan Shao's circle. If they went back, they would definitely not end well, so they would naturally choose to surrender.
In the final analysis, there is still no grouping together for warmth and forming a circle.
The counselors huddled together to keep warm, but different factions started fighting again.
The counselors were still arguing, but Yuan Shao finally couldn't help it and said: "It is impossible to retreat. I will never return to Yecheng until Yi Jing is captured!"
As soon as he said these words, everyone calmed down. The Yingchuan faction and Nanyang faction looked happy, while the Jizhou faction had expressionless faces.
Because in their view, Yuan Shao's words were supporting Yuan Shang and suppressing Yuan Tan.
When Yuan Xi saw it, he was really convinced. The reason why a few counselors dared to play this way was because Jizhou was too powerful, so they were confident and thought that even if they fought against each other, it would not affect the success or failure of the matter.
If Yuan Xi hadn't read the script, who would have known that Yuan's advantage was so great that it was wasted and then lost?
But since Yuan Shao has made his attitude clear, there are only two ways left.
Attack with all your strength, or divide your forces to block the Montenegrin army.
Zhang Yan's three-pronged attack went straight to Yecheng. Yuan Shang was stationed there, and there were enough troops left in Yecheng. It was no problem to just defend the city.
Now it is the road that goes around to the south of Yuan Shao's army. After everyone discussed it, it was decided that Yuan Tan would lead 10,000 people to stop it.
Zhang Yan only had 30,000 to 40,000 people on his way, and most of them were civilian militiamen armed with wooden spears. Yuan Shao's army's 10,000 elite soldiers were enough to stop him.
Then it goes through the south of Beixin City and around to the back of Yijing.
Everyone looked at Yuan Xi. Upon seeing this, Yuan Xi knew that he was the most familiar with the defense lines of the three cities of Zhuojun, and he was the only one who was the most suitable.
He said: "I came all the way, but now I only have more than 2,000 people left, I'm afraid it's still less. If I can make up 5,000, there will be no problem."
Yuan Shao pondered for a moment and said, "Okay!"
"I will allocate you five hundred more cavalry and two thousand infantry!"
Yuan Xi made up his mind, relying on the three-city defense, it would not be a problem to block the Black Mountain Army.
The key is whether he can come back in time to see Gongsun Zan's final outcome.
Before he left, he glanced at Yuan Shao. The father and son looked at each other, understanding each other tacitly.
Before setting off from Yecheng, the father and son had a private conversation. Only the two of them knew that there was a key that could be used. As for whether it could be used, it would depend on the next situation.
He returned to the camp, summoned Zhao Yun and Tai Shici, and told them to recruit soldiers, reorganize their troops, and return to Zhuojun the next day to stop the Black Mountain Army.
The two of them followed the order and left. Yuan Xi asked Sun Li to bring Tian Yu and said, "Brother Guorang, I may have to break my promise."
"Originally, I wanted to bring my brother and Gongsun Zan to see each other for the last time, but when the Montenegrin army invaded, I had to go back to fight them."
Tian Yu was being escorted by Sun Li to watch the attack and defense of Yi Jing these days. At first, he was quite angry when he saw the defenders at the top of the city being killed. But later, when he saw Yuan Jun returning to the camp, he was still missing arms and legs, and he was wailing.
Over the days, it gradually became silent.
After listening to Yuan Xi's words, there was no change in his face. He said, "This is not the fault of the young master. Why should I apologize to Yu?"
Yuan Xi sighed: "Because I always promised you first."
Tian Yu thought to himself: Why did you promise me? I want to go back, but you won’t let me go back!
He opened his mouth and said: "Young master, there is no need to explain this to me. I have received the favor of Jihou, so I won't have any second thoughts."
Sun Li listened on the sidelines and couldn't help but mocked: "That bitch Gongsun Zan even killed his own people. You are foolishly loyal."
Tian Yu listened and remained silent.
Yuan Xi had already arranged things, and when he had some free time, he patiently said to Tian Yu: "Actually, I am very interested in Brother Guorang, but I also have many questions that I don't understand."
"For example, Liu Yuzhou and Gongsun Zan are from the same sect, but their actions are much more benevolent and righteous, and the elder brother has been with Liu Yuzhou longer. Why did the state let the elder brother abandon him and return to Gongsun Zan?"
Tian Yu didn't expect Yuan Xi to know about his affairs. He hesitated and said, "I won't hide the matter from you, Master."
"I defected to Jihou in the first place because my clan uncle was working under Jihou."
"On that day, Liu Yuzhou and his clan uncle carried Yuan Tan together, so I naturally defected to Liu Yuzhou."
"Afterwards, Liu Yuzhou abandoned Jizhou and his clan uncle and switched to Tao Qian. Due to human feelings, I naturally chose the clan uncle's side."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi wondered: "Who is Guorang's brother and uncle?"
Tian Yu had a strange look on his face: "Young master, I have dealt with him many times."
"The one who was appointed as the governor of Qingzhou by Jihou, was defeated by the young master, and was forced to flee by sea."
Yuan Xi suddenly realized that it was Tian Kai, no wonder!
The gap between the two sides is deeper than what he wants. He has taken care of Tian Kai's hometown. How can Tian Yu look good on him?
No wonder Tian Yu is so stubborn, it turns out the reason lies with Tian Kai!
This time it’s troublesome because Tian Kai is even more stubborn!