"The safety and security of life and death depends on the opportunity." [Tou Bi Skin Tan·Ben Miao]
Xia Pi State, Huai Ling.
Huailing is located in the southwest of Xuzhou, adjacent to the Huaihe River in the north. It can reach Shouchun and Zhongli directly to the west, and can contact Guangling County to the east, always keeping an eye on Xiapi, which is weak after a tragic victory.
This is the place where Yuan Shu finally chose to stay after he fled south and gathered his remaining troops and defeated his generals.
Now it has been more than ten days since the defeat of Xiapi. In addition to the more than 10,000 remnant soldiers collected by Yuan Shu, there are also some garrison troops transferred from Guangling, plus the young and strong soldiers recruited, barely recovering 30,000 people.
Although the number of subordinates has recovered, their momentum is not as good as before. Under the imperial court's next conquest, whether they can sustain several battles is a suspenseful question.
"Given the current situation of our army, it is impossible to engage in external battles, let alone attack the city. We should retreat to Huainan, divide our troops to guard important towns such as Shouchun, Zhongli, and Liao County, and wait for news from the north." The person who spoke in the mansion was the only remaining member of Yuan Shu's achievements.
General Ji Ling pretended to be a deserter. When he was pretending to be surrendered, he suddenly rose up, killed people and seized horses, and fled south along the Yangtze River with hundreds of Huainan soldiers. It took a lot of trouble to catch up with Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu was originally feeling sorry for Zhang Xun and Ji Ling. After the loss of his two closest generals, he would have no one to use. He happened to hear that Ji Ling had "resurrected from the dead" and realized that what the enemy said that day was actually a lie. From this, it was
Angry at Liu Bei's shamelessness in the military, he was also moved by Ji Ling's loyalty, and he promoted Ji Ling to a higher position, showing great kindness and trust.
"Zhang Xiu is attacking Zhongli at this time. If we want to return, we must not only abandon the land of Xuzhou, but also face Zhang Xiu's strength." Yuan Shu looked down at the map and saw that Zhongli County is leaning on the Huai River, sandwiched between
Between Shouchun and Huailing. Once Zhongli changes hands, Yuan Shu's retreat will be cut off by Zhang Xiu. The two counties of Lujiang and Jiujiang will be leaderless and unable to say: "There should be a good strategy at this time!"
Yuan Shu tapped the table and raised his eyes to look at Li Ye, who was silent.
Li Ye noticed Yuan Shu's gaze, glanced at the map, and then shook his head without saying a word.
"Humph!" Yuan Shu snorted dissatisfiedly. Li Ye seemed to be angry with him these days. He always pretended to be dumbfounded at every meeting. If he didn't still have a trace of guilt towards Yan Xiang, how could he allow Li Ye to do his own thing?
Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Chief Shi Yang Hong gave a dry laugh and said softly: "Huainan is the foundation of our army and must not be lost. Soldiers must use the right combination to win by surprise. Although Zhang Xiu is brave, he only has thousands of troops under his command.
If the enemy cannot attack the city, his morale will decline prematurely. If Yuan Gong makes a big show of his power, makes more banners and golden drums, falsely claims to be a hundred thousand reinforcements, and cooperates with Li Feng in the city to counterattack, he will definitely defeat Zhang Xiu."
"Good, good!" Yuan Shu hurriedly raised his hands and said with a smile, boasting that he had mastered the plan. The plan was initially decided. He would only wait for the stronghold after returning to Huainan and wait for the situation to develop before making a decision. However, he still couldn't let go of Xuzhou Guangling, which he had finally obtained.
While waiting, they looked at Yang Hong with some reluctance: "Who should be sent to guard Guangling?"
Yang Hong frowned upon hearing this, secretly thinking that now that the matter has come to this, why are you still thinking about Guangling? Liu Bei is unable to fight for that place, and he is unable to defend it, so why not just abandon it? At least Guangling still has officials appointed by Yuan Shu, who can also provide some
Food and baggage.
On the contrary, Li Ye suddenly interjected and said out of the blue: "The situation is critical. How about sending Sun Ce to lead the troops north to guard Guangling?"
Yuan Shu's face darkened and he looked at the other party with cold eyes, while Li Ye looked calm and showed no guilt. After a long time, Yuan Shu looked away and secretly thought about the feasibility of this suggestion: "Not bad, not bad. Sun Ce's subordinate
There are many soldiers and horses, and having him guard Guangling not only makes people feel at ease, but also allows him to take the opportunity to go north and capture Xuzhou for me."
The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was feasible. Although Liu Bei was victorious and defeated, his strength was extremely weak, and Cao Cao was focused on dealing with Yuan Tan and could not get away. If Xuzhou was empty, as long as Sun Ce led the elite troops northward, he would be able to make a strong progress along the way and cooperate with Yuan Tan.
It is easy for Tan to attack and destroy Cao Cao.
As for whether Sun Ce would obey orders, in Yuan Shu's view, the other party had indirectly caused the deaths of Wei Jie, Lu Kang and other court ministers. His father Sun Jian was also a lawless and lawless man who would kill governors and governors at the slightest disagreement. He had all kinds of misdeeds.
In the past, how could the imperial court tolerate the Sun family? Therefore, no matter how much disagreement he and Sun Ce had at the moment, they should abandon it in the face of the overall situation.
"If you didn't tell me, I would have forgotten." Yuan Shu said happily. He had been ignoring Sun Ce's movements these days, intentionally or unintentionally. Now that he thought of him, he didn't know the other party's situation: "Where is Sun Ce? Immediately order him to mobilize his troops to the north.
I recommend him to be the governor of Guangling. No, let him be the pastor of Xuzhou!" After saying that, Yuan Shu thought and added: "Isn't Yuan Yin the governor of Danyang? Let him lead the partial general again and organize the county soldiers in Jiangdong.
, thought it would be used later!”
At this juncture, Yuan Shu was still thinking about how to take over the power of Jiangdong from Sun Ce and make this place his next retreat. If things went wrong, he could at least retreat to Jiangdong.
After Li Ye made the suggestion, he didn't care whether Yuan Shu accepted it or not, and lowered his head again. The light cast a shadow on his face. Yuan Shu thought that he was still mourning Yan Xiang and ignored him, but he never noticed the fleeting look in his eyes.
of determination.
"At the beginning of the war, Sun Ce reported to the east of the Yangtze River that the Shanyue in Kuaiji was in chaos and needed to be put down. Although Lu Kang died, his old officials were defeated, and his subordinates, Dong Xi, and Tai Mo Chang He Qi and others still stayed in the city to defend the city." Yang Hongshen
As a long history man, he knew all the forces under Yuan Shu's rule, but he had always disliked being in the limelight. If Yan Xiang hadn't died, he wouldn't have come to the forefront: "Sun Ce should be gathering troops to attack Shanyue and Kuaiji now."
"It's really sacrificing the basics for the sake of the weak!" Yuan Shu said angrily: "What's there to fight about in Shanyue and Kuaiji's remnants of soldiers? Are they worthy of his whole army? Where is the most critical situation now? Can't he see it? It's really unorganized.
, call him immediately!"
Ji Ling felt something was inappropriate and stopped talking: "Sun Ce has always been unruly and untamable, just like a tiger. No matter whether he obeys orders or not, Duke Ming must be on guard."
Yuan Shu had an idea, and while he was thinking about it, the bridge leader suddenly said: "I would like to go to Liyang until Sun Ce leads his troops into Guangling, and then it won't be too late to turn back."
When Sun Ce was by Yuan Shu's side, he was famous for his bravery and chivalry in the army. At that time, Qiao Rui was Yuan Shu's general, and Zhang Xun was befriended by him. Yuan Shu then remembered the good relationship between Qiao Rui and Sun Ce, and immediately denied it in his heart.
He didn't accept the other party's proposal, but instead looked at the other party calmly and suspiciously.
Now the only people Yuan Shu can use are Ji Ling and Qiao Rui. Ji Ling is the most effective at making military plans. Yuan Shu is reluctant to let him do such a thing, and Qiao Rui can't reassure him. After thinking about it, Yuan Shu had to say:
"Let Liu Zitai go! He has gathered a group of bandits in Wancheng and has a strong army."
Liu Xun was Yuan Shu's former official and was now the governor of Lujiang. He asked his most trusted people to guard his rear, and ordered his son-in-law Huang Yi to follow him. Yuan Shu felt that he had done everything possible.