Although Tan County is the prefecture, it was not used as the focus of defense by Liu Bei from the beginning. When Pei County was unexpectedly lost and Xuzhou was opened, people were panicked, Mi Fang was ordered to arrive in Tan County to set up defense, but she was still powerless.
Turn the world back.
Faced with the rapidly approaching Yuan Shao's army, Mi Fang wisely chose to give up and took some subordinates to Qu County.
Wang Lang had no choice but to leave Tan County before Yuan Shao arrived and headed westward.
Tan County surrendered without fighting, and Xuzhou was shocked.
Liu Bei, the governor of Xuzhou, was trapped in Pengcheng, and Wang Lang, who was in charge of the battle, ran away. Chen Deng's troops were wiped out by Zhang He and Gao Lan in one battle. Xuzhou people saw Yuan Shao's military advantage. Not everyone has the confidence of Chen Deng, and they are extremely proud.
Most people chose to surrender to Yuan Shao.
Tian Feng's strategic concept was successfully achieved, and he immediately assigned his troops to conquer counties and counties, and the main force returned to Pengcheng.
At this point, in addition to Zang Ba and others who were still struggling to support in Langya, only Pengcheng was left in Xuzhou.
——
Liu Bei stood at the top of the city and looked at the gradually forming Yuan Junyingluo, feeling a little depressed.
He thought that the situation would be difficult, but he didn't expect that the situation would be so difficult and collapse so quickly.
In less than half a month, Xuzhou was lost and he was trapped in an isolated city.
"Can we hold on until the reinforcements of the court arrive?" Liu Bei slapped the city wall and said softly. He seemed to be talking to himself, and he seemed to be asking Jian Yong and Sun Qian beside him.
"Yes." Jian Yong and Sun Qian said in unison.
Liu Bei was a little surprised and turned to look at them. "How can I see it?"
"You will know when you look at the morale of the soldiers." Jian Yong stretched out his hand and pointed to the soldiers who were training. "The soldiers are good and the food is enough, and it is not a problem to stick to it for a year. Even if the city cannot send news, such a big war will not happen.
Maybe there is no sound of the wind."
Sun Qian echoed: "But the emperor is far away in Liangzhou, and it takes time to communicate with each other. It takes time to mobilize the army. The lord should still be patient. The general should be the courage of the three armies. The lord will sit in the police and the soldiers will not be in chaos."
"Yeah." Liu Bei nodded and said with some regret: "If I had known this, I would not have asked Chen Deng to return to Xia Pi and asked Mi Fang to go to Tan County, but to summon them to Pengcheng.
If you go down and his ten thousand elite troops are here, why are you afraid of Yuan Shao's attacking the city?"
Jian Yong chuckled. "It's a blessing to have a husband lost his horse. If it weren't for Zhang He, Gao Lan would have wiped out Chen Deng's troops, how could the soldiers train so hard? Regardless of whether it was Yuan Shao's instruction, his reputation for leading beasts to eat people was unavoidable.
Now.”
Liu Bei also frowned.
He didn't understand why Gao Lan did this. Even if there were many Wuhuan and Xianbei people in the cavalry they led, they would not be able to do so well without clear orders.
Chen Deng had many children of the Chen clan. He was destroyed in one battle, so Chen Deng was afraid that he hated Yuan Shao.
However, as Jian Yong said, Zhang He and Gao Lan's ruthlessness greatly stimulated the soldiers in the city and helped him persevere.
The only question now is when the reinforcements from the court will arrive.
——
Liu Xie, who is thousands of miles away, is also discussing the situation in Xuzhou.
After Yuan Shao crossed the river, he kept receiving messages, but the lag was serious, usually about half a month later. Unimportant news lags more severely, and details were lost, which did not have much reference significance.
It is unrealistic to outline the situation in Xuzhou with a few words, so I can only make some analysis from a macro perspective.
Strictly speaking, although he gave Liu Bei a promise to restore his clan to Xuzhou, he did not think that Liu Bei could really defend Xuzhou and block Yuan Shao's pace of going south.
It’s not that Liu Bei is incompetent—although Liu Bei’s ability to use troops is indeed not very good—but that the strength gap between the two sides is too big. Whether it is family background, reputation, or military strength, or hard power such as money and grain, Yuan Shao is enough to crush it. Overwhelm Liu Bei.
Unless Liu Bei is also a time traveler and has a cheat.
Compared to how Liu Bei could defend Xuzhou, Liu Xie considered more about how the situation in Shandong would change after Liu Bei lost Xuzhou, and where would Yuan Shao attack in the next step.
Liu Xie’s judgment is Jiujiang.
Yuan Shu is a thorn in Yuan Shao's heart. If he doesn't pull it out, Yuan Shao will be unable to sleep or eat.
Moreover, Yuan Shu's combat effectiveness is not as good as Liu Bei, and he is likely to be defeated by Yuan Shao.
Next, it should be Cao Cao.
Liu Xie was very curious about how Liu Biao would choose between the court and Yuan Shao?
——
Zhou Zhong arrived and asked for a meeting as soon as possible.
When Liu Xie learned that Zhou Zhong was about to arrive, he was a little surprised, but he didn't think deeply. After all, Zhou Zhong had nowhere to go, and since he didn't want to surrender to Yuan Shao, it was reasonable to return to the court.
But when he saw Zhuge Liang, he was really surprised and his impression of Zhou Zhong changed a lot.
Although this old minister is a little stubborn, he still has a vision of knowing people.
This is also considered the ancestral skill of the Zhou family in Lujiang.
After a few chats with Zhuge Liang, Liu Xie appointed Zhuge Liang as a doctor, stayed by his side, and was responsible for military and political affairs. This is the practice of young people entering the government. Even if Zhuge Liang's personal dazzling halo was removed, Liu Xie would do it based on Zhou Zhong's recommendation alone. Do this.
The old minister still needs to give face.
When Zhuge Liang learned that Yuan Shao gathered heavy troops to attack Xuzhou, he couldn't help but take advantage of the opportunity to discuss and he took the initiative to make suggestions.
"Your Majesty, I dare to speak out, Zang Ba cannot defend Langya."
"How can I see it?" Liu Xie responded casually.
"Zang Ba and others occupied the mountains as enemies and were not good at defending the city. Moreover, they often robbed in order to survive, which inevitably hurt innocent people. The people of Langya did not have a good impression of them. As soon as Yuan Shao arrived, many responders would be. Zang Ba was in trouble with internal and external affairs, so he had to abandon the city and go up the mountain and hand over Langya to him."
Liu Xie agreed with Zhuge Liang's view, but he did not agree completely.
He knew that Zang Ba could not defend Langya, but it was not that easy for Yuan Shao to drive Zang Ba away. Yuan Shao could only control Langya County nominally at most, and in the end he would either leave troops to garrison or use the condition of handing over Langya to Zang Ba, to induce surrender. Zang Ba, to prevent fire from catching a fire in the backyard.
No matter which result it is, there is no big difference for him.
"In your opinion, is Langya good or bad falling into Yuan Shao's hands?"
Zhuge Liang was stunned for a moment and looked at Liu Xie in confusion.
Liu Xie smiled. "To be more accurate, will the people of Langya support Yuan Shao?"
Zhuge Liang was silent for a moment and shook his head. "I thought that the people of Langya would not support Yuan Shao, but in the face of Yuan Shao's force, Langya had no other choice, so he could only bow down and surrender. Not only Langya, but also the whole of Xuzhou."
"Is that true?" Liu Xie was very surprised. "I thought at least the Xuzhou clan would support Yuan Shao."
"Your Majesty is talking about Yuan Shao five years ago, not Yuan Shao now." Zhuge Liang's voice suddenly became a little higher. "Since Cao Cao slaughtered Pengcheng, the people of Xuzhou have lost confidence in Yuan Shao. If it weren't for this, Chen Deng and Mi Zhu Even I will not recommend Liu Bei as the governor of the state and take over Xuzhou."
Liu Xie raised his head and saw the anger in Zhuge Liang's eyes, and couldn't help but feel moved.