Chapter 317: Take advantage of the enemy's weakness to kill him, the final attack of the Chu-Wei decisive battle! A tiger father will have a dog son, and he still has to rely on his son!

The Wei army retreated northward in panic.

The morale of the army was crushed, and coupled with the hasty retreat, the Wei army abandoned their armor and weapons, leaving behind countless weapons and flags.

One hundred thousand soldiers scrambled to retreat more than forty miles and fled back to Guling in a panic.

In the south, Liu Bei led 80,000 soldiers and pursued northward in a mighty force.

On that day, the Chu army arrived at Guling.

At this time, Yuan Shao was so angry that he was bedridden again.

Although the Wei army had a force of 100,000, their soldiers were in a panic and their morale had fallen to the bottom.

Therefore, although the Wei army was large in number, they did not dare to fight against the Chu army. They could only hide in the Guling grain camp and dared not show their heads, allowing the Chu army to force them to retreat.

The offensive and defensive situation of both sides changed.

As the setting sun set in the west, the Chu army camp.

Zhang Liao, who had originally withdrawn his troops south, turned back with 3,000 cavalrymen after learning that Liu Bei had led his troops to approach Guling to join the main force.

King's tent.

"I followed the king's order and feinted to attack the Guling granary camp, successfully luring out the main force of the Wei army."

"I have returned with my entire army of three thousand cavalrymen, and I am reporting to the king!"

Zhang Liao was in high spirits and asked Liu Bei for credit with a smile.

Liu Bei had a pleased smile on his face and praised:
"In this battle, Wenyuan, you went deep behind enemy lines, placed yourself in danger, and successfully lured out Yuan Shao's 100,000-man army. The credit for this goes to you!"

"Come, Wenyuan, drink this cup to the full!"

Liu Bei was in great joy and stepped forward to pour a full glass of wine for Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao was flattered and quickly took the wine glass.

After finishing the wine, Zhang Liao wiped the wine stains from the corners of his mouth and said with a proud smile:

"Your Majesty, although Yuan Shao still has 100,000 soldiers and horses, his army's morale has certainly been greatly crushed and has fallen to rock bottom!"

"I think we should beat the fallen dog hard and not give the Wei army a chance to recover their morale!"

"Our army should take advantage of the high morale and capture Guling in one fell swoop, defeat Yuan Shao's army of 100,000 and seize his 1 million bushels of grain!"

"If Yuan Shao is defeated again in this battle, the offensive and defensive strength between us and Wei will be completely reversed!"

"If Xuchang can be conquered, all the states south of the Yellow River can be easily captured!"

Zhang Liao was smart and decisively suggested to Liu Bei to attack Guling as soon as possible.

Liu Bei's eyes sparkled and he turned to look at Xiao Fang for advice.

"Your Majesty, Wenyuan is right."

"Now is the God-given opportunity to take the enemy's life while he is weak. We must not give Yuan Shao a chance to catch his breath!"

"There is no need to wait for the Hanwei Cannon. We can divide our troops into six groups tonight and attack Guling together. We will surely be able to defeat it with overwhelming force!"

"After this battle, offense and defense will change!"

Xiao Fang pointed his feather fan at the enemy camp, with murderous intent burning on his face.

Liu Bei was filled with heroic spirit, and he jumped up, waved his hand and shouted:
"Let's rely on Jinglue and Wenyuan. We will attack from six directions tonight and completely defeat the Wei army!"

...

The night is dark.

Eighty thousand Chu army soldiers, all wearing armor and holding swords, stood solemnly on a line of the camp wall.

The words “eager to fight” were written on everyone’s face.

When Liu Bei, wearing golden armor and riding a horse with a sword in hand, came into view, the blood of the soldiers of all armies boiled.

Everyone knows that tonight their King of Chu will lead them to launch the final attack on the 100,000 Wei troops.

If they win this battle, this decisive battle between Wei and Chu in the north and south will end with Chu's complete victory.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Liu Bei stood at the camp gate and shot his sharp eyes towards the Wei camp ahead.

The flickering lights seemed to show the Wei army's panic at the moment.

"My king, the soldiers are full of fighting spirit, let them fight to their heart's content!"

Xiao Fang pointed his feather fan at the surrounding Chu army soldiers.

Liu Bei glanced at his soldiers, took a deep breath, and drew his sword.

"Generals, listen!"

"All troops, march out and destroy the Wei camp!"

"Whoever kills Yuan Shao will be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"

The fighting spirit of the soldiers of the three armies was ignited in an instant.

"Kill Yuan Shao!"

"Kill Yuan Shao!"

Eighty thousand soldiers waved their weapons and shouted wildly.

The surging murderous aura rose into the sky and gathered above the camp, changing the color of the sky and the earth.

The gates of each camp were opened one after another.

Generals such as Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Zhang Liao, Zhang Xiu and others led their armies and rushed out of the camp like a flood.

The six armies, like six sharp swords, stabbed towards the Wei camp in Guling under the cover of moonlight.

...

Wei camp, the king's tent.

"Father, Father——"

Yuan Tan burst into tears and knelt down in front of Yuan Shao's bed with tears and snot.

"Xiansi, you, you..."

Yuan Shao looked at his son kneeling in front of him with an expression of disbelief and surprise on his face, as if he was in a dream.

It was originally thought that after Xiangcheng was defeated by Liu Bei, Liu Bei would no longer be afraid of him and would kill Yuan Tan to establish his authority.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Tan was intact and standing right in front of him.

After a long while, Yuan Shao was sure that he was not dreaming. He cried with joy and hugged his son.

The father and son hugged each other and cried bitterly, a touching scene of father and son reunion. Ju Su had a blank expression on his face, neither happy nor sad.

Feng Ji's brows were deeply furrowed, and his disgust and annoyance were almost unconcealable in his mind.

Yuan Tan came back alive.

This meant that there were complications with Yuan Shang being appointed as the crown prince, adding a bit of suspense.

Even though Yuan Tan lost his troops and territory and was captured, his reputation had been ruined and he had nominally lost the qualifications to be named the crown prince.

But Yuan Tan was the eldest son after all, and as long as he was alive, he would always be a threat to Yuan Shang.

Guo Tu and Xun Chen looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

With Yuan Tan's return alive, the Ruying people felt they had a backbone again and regained the confidence to challenge the Hebei faction.

What's more, Yuan Shao is angry with him now. If he really wants to punish him, Yuan Tan will plead for him.

For the sake of his son, Yuan Shao would not be so cruel.

"Xiansi, how did you come back? How come that big-eared thief didn't kill you?"

After calming down, Yuan Shao wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and the joy on his face turned into suspicion.

"That big-eared thief said that he had promised to release me, and now he is just keeping his promise, so I can come back alive and reunite with my father..."

Yuan Tan naturally did not dare to tell the truth.

Yuan Shao suddenly remembered that when Xuzhou was first lost, he asked Liu Bei for Yuan Tan on the condition that the two families should stop fighting.

At that time, Liu Bei did agree, but he just kept detaining Yuan Tan.

However, he didn't expect that just when he had given up the idea and thought Liu Bei was going to break his promise, Liu Bei actually kept his promise!

However, this timing happened to be chosen when he had just suffered a crushing defeat for Liu Bei.

In Yuan Shao's view, Liu Bei's move was more like a humiliation to him!
Yuan Shao clenched his fists, his face suddenly turned gloomy, and the fire of hatred and anger rekindled in his eyes.

"Father, although the fall of Xuzhou was caused by Xu You's miscalculation, it is still a shame for me to be captured by the big-eared thief!"

"I swear here that I will kill Liu Bei for you and destroy the false Chu for you to wash away your son's shame!"

Yuan Tan stood up and swore an oath passionately.

Perhaps it was because he had suffered repeated setbacks and was physically and mentally fragile that his son's return gave him a little comfort.

Looking at Yuan Tan who made a generous oath, Yuan Shao's previous resentment and disappointment had quietly dissipated at this moment, and he felt relieved instead.

"Okay, okay, very good!"

"Xiansi, I believe that sooner or later you will be able to kill the big-eared thief for me and avenge your father!"

Yuan Shao patted Yuan Tan on the shoulder and praised him, then said:
"I am not feeling well right now, so Xiansi, you will temporarily take charge of the entire army on my behalf. Can you bear this heavy responsibility?"

When these words were spoken, Feng Ji, Zhang He and others were shocked.

Yuan Tan is the shame of your Yuan family!
This son who brought shame to you has just returned, and you actually want to hand over an army of 100,000 to him?

Are you out of your mind?

Guo Tu was secretly delighted, with a smug sneer on his face.

Only he could see that to Yuan Shao, ability and reputation were secondary.

The most important thing is to be trustworthy.

In the current situation, apart from his son Yuan Tan, who else present could be worthy of Yuan Shao's absolute trust and be entrusted with an army of 100,000?

Even if Yuan Tan is covered in stains, he is more trustworthy than anyone here.

Yuan Tan was also overjoyed and bowed with great enthusiasm:

"Don't worry, Father. I will never let you down this time!"

"If that big-eared thief dares to attack Guling, I will lead my Wei soldiers to give him a head-on blow!"

Yuan Shao nodded with satisfaction, and a big stone in his heart fell to the ground.

Just when I was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

Outside the big tent, there were sudden shouts of killing, followed by the sound of gongs to warn people.

"Your Majesty, there are Chu troops everywhere outside the camp, and they are attacking our camp!"

The guards rushed in and shouted tremblingly.

Yuan Shao's expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed:

"Liu Bei... he actually came to attack so soon?"

All the ministers in the tent were surprised, and deep worry suddenly appeared on everyone's face.

Everyone knew that although the Wei army had 100,000 soldiers, their morale was low and unstable.

Liu Bei launched an all-out attack at this time, which was just the right timing.

None of them had confidence that they could resist the attack of the Chu army and defend Guling.

"Father, the big-eared thief has arrived just in time!"

"Father, please sit here for a while. I will lead my 100,000 soldiers to make the big-eared thief have a taste of what it's like to be defeated under the city wall!"

Only Yuan Tan was full of confidence. After making his boast, he turned around and left with his head held high.

At this time, he urgently needed a victory to rebuild his reputation and prove himself to Yuan Shao and the Wei State.

Guo Tu naturally knew what Yuan Tan was thinking, so he bowed and said with a smile:

"As the saying goes, a good father will have a good son. The eldest son has the style of a king in commanding troops. With him in charge of my 100,000 soldiers, the king can rest assured!"

Xun Chen also followed suit and praised Yuan Tan in various ways.

Yuan Shao's expression finally eased, and he waved his hand:

"Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Zhang He, what are you waiting for? Hurry and obey Xiansi's orders to stop the Chu army from attacking!"

Several Hebei military generals looked at each other. Although they were reluctant, they had to follow the order.

Yuan Shao secretly let out a breath, leaned back down again, and raised a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.

"Liu Bei, do you think that just because you won a battle and destroyed my 40,000 troops, you can turn the tide of the attack and defense?"

"I still have a hundred thousand troops, and I still have Xiansi!"

"Today, I don't have to fight myself. I will let my son give you a head-on blow!"

(End of this chapter)