Yu Jin roared and slashed at the neck of the soldier on the other side.
The enemy soldier staggered back with his hands on his neck, blood spurting out from between his fingers, which reminded Yu Jin of the scene when he was a child butchering chickens.
The soldier staggered and fell to the ground.
Yu Jin raised the ring-shou knife in his hand. It was already chipped and mottled and almost unusable. The knife just now was almost a wound caused by sheer force.
He stood on the top of the city and looked around. Almost all the Xuzhou soldiers had been killed, and Cao's soldiers had climbed up behind him.
The soldiers climbed down the city wall, hacked to death the last few soldiers guarding the city gate, and opened the city gate.
"The city is broken!"
Cao's soldiers shouted loudly and poured into the city like a tide.
Yu Jin was sitting on the top of the city, watching the fireworks in the city, crying and screaming, and suddenly felt a little unmotivated.
When Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin was alive, it was obviously not like this.
Yu Jin was previously a subordinate of Bao Xin. Bao Xin was from Yangping, Taishan County, and Yu Jin was from Juping, Taishan County. The two places were only a hundred miles apart.
In the first year of Zhongping (AD 184), during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Bao Xin recruited Yu Jin to fight against the Yellow Turbans together.
From then on, Yu Jin followed Bao Xin until the third year of Chuping (AD 192), when Bao Xin died in battle to save Cao Cao.
From then on, Yu Jin was recommended to Cao Cao and worshiped as Army Sima. After attacking Xuzhou in the fourth year of Chuping, he was worshiped as the Duwei of Chenchen.
Yu Jin knew that Cao Cao treated him well, but this attack on Taishan County made Yu Jin very confused.
When he saw the Qingzhou soldiers he led from his hometown slashing at the civilians in his hometown with their swords, Yu Jin was still a little confused.
He stood up and looked at the people in the city fleeing in all directions. He sighed and felt fatigue suddenly invade his body.
He turned back and looked at Cao Jun's camp. Inside, Cao Jun saw that Hua County had been defeated and the camp was wide open. Several troops who had retreated from the previous attack on the city came out and seemed to be preparing to massacre the city.
Yu Jin shook his head and was about to go down to the city when he heard the sound of Ming Jin withdrawing his troops from the camp!
Several troops immediately retreated. Yu Jin quickly let the guards enter the city and ordered the sergeants to search for the enemy first and postpone the massacre of the city.
He became confused, what happened?
After a while, a fast horse ran out of the camp and gave the order to return to the camp quickly.
When Bianjin rushed to Cao Cao's tent, he found that almost all the counselors and generals were there, and the atmosphere was extremely solemn.
Cao Cao was sitting at the top, with a gloomy look on his face. All the copper plates and wine vessels on the table in front of him had been swept away, and everyone looked panicked.
At this time, someone spoke.
Hearing Xi Zhicai's voice, everyone in the tent breathed a sigh of relief.
He opened his mouth and said: "Don't worry, sir, there is still room for recovery."
"Now Wen Ruo (Xun Yu) is guarding Juancheng, the seat of Yanzhou, Zhongde (Cheng Yu) has rushed to Dongafan County, and Yuan Rang (Xiahou Dun) has returned from Dongjun to aid Juancheng."
"If these three places are not lost, Duke Ming can quickly summon General Zixiao (Cao Ren) who is still in Jimo to join forces south and rush back to Yanzhou to quickly put down the rebellion."
Only then did Yu Jin understand. Something happened in Yanzhou?
And from what Xi Zhicai said, except for the three cities, all the other cities were lost?
He was puzzled, didn't the Yanzhou nobles all support Duke Ming?
Cao Chun said: "This urgent report must be wrong!"
"How could Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu, betray Duke Ming!"
Yu Jin was shocked, Zhang Miao also rebelled?
How is this possible!
Logically speaking, even if he rebelled, Zhang Miao would not be able to rebel!
Zhang Miao, one of the Eight Famous Chefs, was born in Shouzhang, Taishan County, and was also a fellow countryman of Bao Xinyu Jin.
He had always been on good terms with Cao Cao, but also had a rift with Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao once asked Cao Cao to kill Zhang Miao, but Cao Cao did not obey and instead contradicted Yuan Shao.
Moreover, when he attacked Xuzhou last year, Cao Cao entrusted all his wives to Zhang Miao before leaving.
With such a close relationship between the two, how could Zhang Miao betray Cao Cao?
When Yu Jin heard the news, his first reaction was, absolutely impossible!
However, judging from the reactions of everyone in the tent, Yu Jin concluded that the news must be confirmed, otherwise Cao Cao would not be so gaffe-like.
He suddenly remembered the rumors about Ming Gong and felt quite ironic.
Pei annotated "Sun Sheng's Miscellaneous Notes": Taizu heard the sound of his food utensils and thought it was for his own benefit, so he killed him at night. Then he said sadly: "I would rather betray others than others betray me!" and so he did.
Now Ming Gong has also been betrayed.
Xia Houyuan shook his head and sighed, "That's all Meng Zhuo, what's going on at Gongtai (Chen Palace)?"
Yu Jin was confused and Chen Gong also rebelled?
That's the confidant who has been following Duke Ming since he raised his army. What's going on?
Xi Zhicai looked solemn, "Gongtai is a big trouble, and the key to it should be Wen Hou."
As everyone started talking, Yu Jin finally understood what happened in Yanzhou.
Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, and Chen Gong, the counselor under Cao Cao, welcomed Lu Bu, the Marquis of Wen. The scholars and tribes in Yanzhou counties responded, and now only three cities are left that have not rebelled!
A sentence appeared in Yu Jin's mind, if you succeed as a nobleman, you will lose as a nobleman!
Cao Cao's military generals were the Qiao County Group, and the civil service system was the Yingchuan Group. The Yanzhou nobles did not take any advantage at all, and they would definitely be dissatisfied.
The Yanzhou nobles supported Cao Cao and became the shepherd of Yanzhou a few years ago, but now they betrayed Cao Cao and supported Lu Bu!
At this time, Cao Cao was in an extremely disadvantageous situation!
If Yu Jin could figure it out himself, Cao Cao would definitely be able to figure it out. The key is that the cake is not enough.
Yu Jin also had an idea that he didn't dare to express.
Cao Cao killed Chen Liu, a famous scholar and Bian Rang, and took his wife, Mrs. Huan, as his concubine. This may have aroused public outrage among Yanzhou scholars.
"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" - "Kill Cao after hearing about it, and take his wife with him." (This is also a verb, meaning to incorporate and merge.)
The current situation is that Cao Cao's army is running low on food supplies. Tian Kai from Qingzhou in the north has led troops to rescue Tao Qian, and Liu Bei in Tancheng in Xuzhou has led troops to defend against it. Behind him, Lu Bu and Chen Palace are watching eagerly.
Enemies on three sides!
No, there is also Yuan Shu from Yuzhou in the south.
Besieged on all sides!
Now the only safe passage left for Cao Cao's army is Jizhou heading northwest. But wouldn't this mean that he could only seek refuge with Yuan Shao and become subordinate to others?
Cao Cao knocked on the table and sneered: "Benchu is well-informed. The urgent letter about Lu Bu's rebellion and Benchu's letter urging me to surrender arrived almost at the same time!"
Xi Zhicai secretly sighed in his heart, Yuan Shao chose this opportunity extremely viciously.
Although Yuan Shao was probably not behind the Yanzhou Rebellion, he must have gotten some rumors about it, but did not inform Duke Ming in advance.
If Ming Gong is facing a desperate situation at this time, he can inspire the morale of his superiors to fight to the death and create a way out, which is quite certain.
However, Yuan Shao gave Cao Cao a safe escape route at this time, and his morale dropped a lot.
Since there is a way out, who dares to fight?
This timing is perfect, there are experts on Yuan Shao's side who are planning it!
Thinking of this, Xi Zhi was horrified and said in a deep voice: "The content of Yuan Zhoumu's letter must not be spread out!"
Only then did everyone react and fell silent. Cao Cao nodded solemnly: "According to what Zhicai said, anyone who talks about a retreat will be killed without mercy!"
Cao Ren stood up and said: "Ming Gong, we should make a decision early. If enemies from all directions encircle us, our army will be in danger."
Everyone nodded and looked at Xi Zhicai.
Xi Zhicai said: "Xuzhou is not a place that can be conquered in the short term."
"What's more, the people in Xuzhou are quite hostile to our army. Even if they are defeated, they cannot necessarily hold it."
Everyone thought about the massacre of the city and thought that this time they really shot themselves in the foot.
"The current plan," Xi Zhicai said: "There is a rebellion in Yanzhou, but the rebels in various places are probably not yet stable. Now they rush back, ignore the three counties of Dongping and Rencheng in Jibei, and directly enter Jiyin County and remove the Jiyin Administrative Office
The best strategy is to besiege Juancheng!"
Everyone woke up from a dream. Juancheng was the place where the families of Cao Jun's officers and soldiers lived. If it were lost, everyone would be panicked and a large number of deserters would appear. With low morale, Cao Jun's army would collapse without a fight, and there would be no need to fight.
!
After hearing this, Cao Cao praised: "Zhicai is indeed my best friend!"
He suddenly stood up and said: "The entire army must break camp and rush back to Juancheng at full speed!"
One after another, troops rushed out of Cao Jun's camp, like long dragons, leaving Taishan County and heading towards Jibei County.
After Yu Jin was in charge, he gathered the soldiers in Hua County and returned. Many of the soldiers under his command were angry and yelling in low voices.
After finally conquering the city, you gave up before you even had time to massacre and loot the city?
Yu Jin also knew that this move had a great impact on morale, but for some reason, he felt a lot more relaxed.
Following his order, a large number of troops followed in the direction where the main force of Cao's army left.
Not long after the Imperial Army left, the people in Huaxian County crawled out in twos and threes from their hiding places and looked at each other. They felt like they were dreaming about this inexplicable aftermath, and they couldn't believe it for a long time.
Soon, Yanzhou was full of flames, and Cao Cao's army and Lu Bu's army surrounded Juancheng and launched an offensive and defensive battle.
When the news reached Yecheng, Tian Feng picked up a bamboo slip, which said that Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou, sent troops to enter Jibei County in an attempt to cut off Cao's army's retreat. As a result, Qingzhou's defense force was weakened.
He read it out and said to Yuan Shao: "Congratulations to Zhou Mu, the time has come to attack Qingzhou."
Guo Tu took another tube of bamboo slips and said to Yuan Shao: "The eldest son is indeed extraordinary. Not long after arriving in Beixin City, he captured the adjacent Fanyang and Rongcheng."
Yuan Shang chuckled and said: "Brother is indeed extraordinary. It only took less than two months to completely turn around the situation in Zhuojun that had not changed for three years."
His mentality is now somewhat unbalanced, and his words are clearly a metaphor for Yuan Xi's inaction in the past three years.
Yuan Xi didn't care. Yuan Tan, the eldest brother, was really kind. Taking the two cities of Zhuojun really helped him a lot.
After Yuan Tan was defeated by Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai, he did not insist on saving face and wanted a fair duel. Instead, he decisively transferred 5,000 of the 20,000 troops and horses facing off between Qingzhou and Tian Kai to Beixin City.
Gao Lan returned to Yuan Tan's command and told the outside world that he was spying on the enemy at night. He was knocked down by the enemy into the valley and was later rescued by the mountain people.
Although Yuan Tan knew there was something fishy about it, after Yuan Xi wrote a letter to explain it, Yuan Tan started to pretend to be confused.
With Gao Lan and the cooperation of Qu Yi and Zhao Yun, Yuan Tan gathered all the troops and horses and forced back Tian Yu who was leading the white horse Yi Cong. Then he first defeated Rongcheng in the south and Fan Yang in the east.
In this way, the mobilization space for Gongsun Zan's army was greatly reduced, and a safe passage was created between Youji and Hebei.
Yuan Xi is not envious. Having more soldiers means he is tough. Even if his several hundred soldiers are fully armored, they can only fight in the field. In the end, siege still depends on numbers and equipment.
Yuan Shao was in a good mood, and he said: "Qingzhou is empty, it is indeed a great opportunity."
He turned to Yuan Xi and said: "Xian Yi, you will temporarily take over the position of governor of Zhuo County, and I will allocate two thousand troops to you. You and Xian Si will meet up in the Qingzhou Plain first to defeat Tian Kai!"
As soon as these words came out, Yuan Shang's defense was broken again.