The news that Sun Ce was preparing to break camp and retreat soon spread to Guangling City, and everyone couldn't help but look happy.
Because Sun Ce's offensive was so fierce and such a desperate attack on the city, Yuan Xi's soldiers suffered a lot of casualties after a few days.
However, Guo Jia had a look of regret on his face and said to Yuan Xi: "When Qiao Rui was put back, Guan Yu happened to enter the city. Now that there is a problem in Tancheng, it seems reasonable for Sun Ce to withdraw his troops."
"It's a pity that this way, Sun Ce's intention of attacking Guangling can't be seen clearly."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said: "If Guangling is really important to Sun Ce, he should abandon Xiapi and capture this place regardless of casualties."
"After all, it was easier for Guangling to mobilize troops from Yangzhou, but in the end he chose Xiapi, which was more difficult to defend. Was it because he just couldn't bear the thought of Guangling being attacked by a sneak attack at first?"
Guo Jia pondered for a while, shook his head and said: "I can't figure it out, but even if he returns to Xiapi, it will be difficult to hold on. It can be said that he is focusing on one thing and losing the other."
His face showed sarcasm, "Sun Ce is still too young and has a huge appetite. He wants to eat everything, but in the end he can't eat anything."
"Especially in a place like Xuzhou, which has vast plains and is surrounded by ports. A county can be reached in a few days. How can it be so easy to defend?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said: "I understand what you mean, sir. With my current strength, Xuzhou cannot swallow it."
Guo Jia was very satisfied. One good thing about Yuan Xi was that he followed the good and was not blindly confident.
You must know that famous generals who are always victorious are prone to big defeats. Many times, it is because of their previous winning streak that they overestimate their own strength. Therefore, when they encounter a failure, they lose miserably and often fail to recover.
Unable to turn over.
Guo Jia said: "We still have to discuss how to defend Guangling City in the future. After all, all the young master's elite soldiers are detained here for the sake of such a city. This is a sacrifice of the fundamentals."
"Now that Sun Ce is withdrawing his troops outside the city, do you want me to pursue them in succession?"
Yuan Xi said: "I personally don't want to fight anymore."
"Sun Cejun's fighting spirit is very high. Even if we take advantage of it, won't it still benefit Cao Jun when he returns to Xiapi?"
After hearing this, Guo Jia smiled and said: "It seems that the young master is still more afraid of Cao Jun."
Yuan Xi nodded and said: "That's natural. I think Cao's army is much harder to defeat than Sun Ce's army."
"Oh?" Guo Jia became interested, "Is it because Cao Cao defeated Lu Bu that the young master had such an idea?"
"I think Cao Cao is indeed better than Lu Bu, but to what extent, I can't say."
"Master, do you think Sun Ce can't stop Cao Jun?"
Yuan Xi thought for a while and said, "It's very possible."
"Cao Cao is a very powerful person. From military to strategic, it is very difficult to deal with him. Now that I have met him, I cannot beat him."
Guo Jia was a little surprised after hearing this, "I didn't expect the young master to speak so highly of him?"
Yuan Xi thought that because of the Battle of Guandu in later generations, he had learned a very heavy lesson.
Although Yuan Shao took full advantage of the situation, he was unable to win. Although it is said that Xu You's rebellion played a decisive role, it is undeniable that Cao Cao defeated Yuan's army several times larger in several key encounters. This is real.
Achievements.
You must know that at that time, Yuan's army was well-equipped and had sufficient food and grass. It could be said that it was one of the strongest troops in the world. However, it was still unable to defeat Cao's army who was short of food, which shows how strong it was.
Moreover, Yuan Xi suspected that Cao Cao had a unique set of military training methods, and his book Meng De Xin Shu did not record the essence.
Yuan Xi's nearly a thousand elite troops now actually have more military merit and motivation, but their weaknesses are also obvious. They rely too much on senior generals like Tai Shici and are relatively lacking in a large number of middle and lower-level generals.
Cao Cao controlled the middle and lower levels of the army with a large number of Cao family members and good family members who were loyal to him. In this way, even if he was temporarily at a disadvantage on the battlefield, he could integrate his troops in time and regain combat strength.
Yuan Xi has a headache. He still lacks counselors who are proficient in military and political talent selection!
Guo Jia is not omnipotent. He is good at strategy, but not good at internal affairs. But looking at the world, it is extremely difficult to find talents for internal affairs.
It's funny to say that if we were to rank the internal affairs talents in the world at this time, the top two would be Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and the third would probably be Xun Yu.
Of course, in the future, Zhuge Liang may surpass them after he works hard and realizes the Tao, but now, he is just a fifteen-year-old boy who doesn't know where he is.
Yuan Xi cursed in his heart, what a troublesome mother!
He solemnly said to Guo Jia: "For me, Cao Cao is always the most dangerous."
"Moreover, this person is really untrustworthy. He openly and secretly joined forces with Yuan Shu and suddenly attacked Sun Ce in Xiapi."
"But this way, I can go north along the canal and meet Liu Bei in Haixi."
Guo Jia's eyes narrowed, "Master, go to Haixi in person?"
"I advise caution."
Yuan Xi finished and asked doubtfully: "Sir, don't you believe Liu Yuzhou?"
Guo Jiadao: "That's not the case, but the young master can't show such urgency."
"If you want to negotiate, of course the person who loses his composure will be at a disadvantage first."
"Young master, if you want to go, you have to wait for Guan Yu to return to Haixi and Liu Yuzhou to invite you, so that you can negotiate terms."
He thought for a while and added: "It is convenient to go to Haixi. The merchant ships can go north to the Huaihe River and then to Lianshui. If everything goes well, Liu Bei will send people over soon after Guan Yu returns."
"We should take advantage of this period to reorganize the city's defenses in Guangling and turn this city into a stronghold for our march south."
"Besides, you didn't want to give this city back, did you?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled cheekily and said, "He who knows me is a gentleman."
He is a man who has no profit and cannot afford to do so early. I have already said that in the troubled times of the late Han Dynasty, no one could work for free for others. Even if he was willing, how could he deal with the dead soldiers under his command?
The biggest problem Yuan Xi faces now is how to expand.
Youzhou is a good place for farming, with salt and iron, a large number of excellent war horses, a rich water system, fertile land, and even a long coastline for trade.
But the shortcomings are also very obvious, and several directions are blocked.
To the north is the Xianbei Xiongnu tribe outside the Pass, to the east is Liaodong Gongsundu, and to the south is Jizhou.
Bingzhou in the west was a breakthrough, but it was crowded and cold. Although it occupied the Hetao area where "the Yellow River is full of dangers but only rich," there were millions of Southern Xiongnu and hundreds of thousands of Montenegrin troops.
In time, Yuan Shao, a later generation, sent high-ranking officials to occupy Bingzhou, but in fact, they only opened up a small part of the Heishan area, not even one-fifth of Bingzhou's territory.
To put it bluntly, even if Yuan Xi really conquered the Bingzhou area and opened up the route to Liangzhou and Xiqiang, he still had to turn to the Guanzhong area, which was equivalent to abandoning the original and chasing the weak.
To compete in the Central Plains, we still have to fight for the central areas with large populations. We can farm in a corner and farm until the end of the world. The peak example is just like the Shu Kingdom in later generations. Even Zhuge Liang can only return to the world and wait for death slowly.
.
Therefore, Yuan Xi had to open up a unique route, and Xuzhou was a crucial breakthrough point.
In the current situation, no one can eat Xuzhou, and no one wants to let others eat it.
At this time, Liu Bei had many talents under his command, and they were beaten into a state of disarray. If it were Yuan Xi, he would not be able to do better than Liu Bei.
But what if we change our thinking?
He slowly opened his mouth and expressed his thoughts to Guo Jia.
After hearing this, Guo Jia couldn't help but admired: "Young Master's idea is indeed a new approach."
"It's different from grain-producing areas with a large population, but it's based on the open sea. I'm afraid almost no one would think so."
"However, there are many key points in it that need to be carefully considered. After all, several forces are involved."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Thanks to Mr. Lai for putting so much thought into it."
Guo Jia sighed: "I really regret it sometimes. Are you using me like a donkey?"
"There are many talented people in Youzhou and Xuzhou, why can't you find more counselors?"
Yuan Xi asked: "Sir, you think I don't want to do it. Why don't you recommend some people?"
Guo Jia thought for a while and said dejectedly: "Forget it, most of the people I know are Yingchuan scholars. I guess they have all joined Cao Cao now."
"We can only search slowly. There are many famous people in Jiangdong, but it's a pity that we can't cross the river now."
Yuan Xi was thoughtful after hearing this.
Now Yuan Shu is plotting against Yangzhou. If he still dares to proclaim himself emperor like later generations, all the princes in the world will attack him together and drive him into ruin.
By then his power will fall apart, and it will be a great opportunity to steal people!
In this case, occupying Guangling County is a foreshadowing in advance. This place borders Yangzhou, so we can make some efforts in the future!
While Yuan Xi and Guo Jia were secretly planning bad ideas, Zhen Mi's room was also quite lively.
Zhen Mi and Cai Yan have just sent away Liu Bei's wife and daughter who came to pay their respects. In the next few days, Liu Bei's wife and daughter will return to Haixi with Guan Yu.
Although Mrs. Liu Bei looked fierce, she still knew the basic etiquette. She couldn't tell Yuan Xi directly, so she brought her daughter to thank Zhen Mi.
Zhen Mi turned around and said to Kong Rong's wife and daughter who were sitting in the guest seat: "At that time, my wife and daughter will also return with General Guan, right?"
Mrs. Kong Rong said: "Exactly, I am ashamed to say that I and my daughter have been saved by the young master twice. My husband couldn't help but feel embarrassed, so I had no choice but to thank my wife."
Zhen Mi smiled and said: "Madam, you are too polite. My husband has already told me that Madam should not take these trivial matters to heart."
Kong Rong's daughter hid behind her mother and looked at Zhen Mi secretly. She felt slightly sad and thought that she was not ugly, but she was really incomparable to others.
Mrs. Kong Rong sighed: "After this farewell, it may be difficult to see each other again in the future."
Zhen Mi asked doubtfully: "Madam, what does this mean?"
Mrs. Kong Rong said: "My husband heard that the emperor Luan drove eastward and returned to Luoyang. He wanted to be under the emperor's command and receive the favor. Therefore, after arriving in Haixi, he set off for Luoyang."
"When the time comes, our family will have to find a way from Jizhou to Guanzhong, and then we will probably have to settle in Luoyang."
Kong Rong's daughter felt even more uncomfortable after hearing this. She knew that when she returned to Haixi this time, her family would marry her to the Yang family. If things didn't work out, she would also go to Luoyang. It would be really difficult to see Yuan Xi again.
Zhen Mi suddenly remembered something and said to Cai Yan next to her: "Mrs. Cai, who was kidnapped by Sun Ce's army the day before yesterday, will she also return to Jingzhou?"
"We won't be able to return to Jizhou for a while, so why don't we ask her if she's anxious, would she be willing to come with my wife?"