Chapter 327: You treacherous villain who uses a knife to kill someone, I will kill you! Without sacrificing a single soldier? You are truly a god!
Thirty thousand Chu troops approaching Xuchang?

Or is it Commander Xiao Fang?

Xuchang is in danger?
Yuan Tan was indeed confused.

Isn’t Guan Yu leading 30,000 main forces on his way to attack Luoyang?
Doesn’t Yingyang City still have 5,000 soldiers and horses left to ambush us?
How come the entire division suddenly appeared in Xuchang?

Did these 30,000 troops have wings and fly over his head?

Thousands of questions buzzed in Yuan Tan's mind, tangled into a tangled mess, and he had no idea what was going on.

In the end, doubt turned into panic and fear.

No matter how Guan Yu's 30,000 troops flew to Xuchang, the fact is that Xuchang was in danger.

Fifteen thousand soldiers were lost. If he lost Xuchang, how would he have the face to meet Yuan Shao?
I might as well just draw my sword and commit suicide.

"Quick, the entire army will return to Xuchang immediately--"

Yuan Tan let out an almost hoarse roar.

He did not care about the moment he recovered from the shock, and with less than 5,000 remaining soldiers, he rushed towards Xuchang overnight.

Two days later, thirty miles northwest of Xuchang.

There was dust and fog rolling ahead, as if troops were coming from the south.

Yuan Tan immediately became alert and ordered 5,000 soldiers to line up on the spot and be ready for battle.

After a while, the troops approached and they could see clearly that they were the flags of their own troops.

"Could it be that……"

Yuan Tan shuddered, his heart immediately rose to his throat, and an ominous thought came to his mind.

Just as he was feeling nervous and anxious, the remnants of the defeated army were approaching in panic.

Soon, two men, one civil and one military, came galloping on horseback, dismounted from their horses, and knelt at his feet.

"Chun Yuchun? Ju Su?"

"You...you are not going to defend Xuchang, why are you here?"

Yuan Shao's eyes widened, his voice trembled, and his expression could not hide his inner panic.

He had obviously guessed the reason, but he still didn't dare to face it in his heart.

"My Lord, we have fallen into Xiao Fang's trap of luring the snake out of its hole!"

"Xuchang City has been lost~~"

Chunyu Qiong fell to the ground, speaking sadly and helplessly about the cruel truth.

Yuan Tan's head buzzed with a bang, and he felt dizzy all of a sudden. His body was swaying and he couldn't sit still. He actually fell off his mount.

"Master!"

Chunyu Qiong jumped up and hurriedly supported Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan’s eyes were closed tightly, his face showing extreme pain, as if he was being pierced by thousands of arrows.

The loss of 10,000 soldiers in the Battle of Yingyang was a heavy blow.

Now Xuchang has also been lost!

This blow was equivalent to cutting off half of his life!
"why?"

"Why can't you defend Xuchang? Tell me, why is that?"

Yuan Tan's eyes suddenly popped wide open, he grabbed Chunyu Qiong and shouted almost hysterically.

That ferocious and angry expression looked as if he would draw his sword at any time and kill Chunyu Qiong with one blow.

Chunyu Qiong was so frightened that he could only tremble as he told the causes and consequences of the fall of Xuchang.

"My Lord, this was all Xiao Fang's scheme from the beginning to the end!"

"Liu Bei's purpose of attacking Suiyang is probably to divert the king and the main force of our army away, just to make Xuchang empty of troops."

"Guan Yu's attack on Luoyang was probably a feint, also to divert the main force of the Xuchang garrison from the eldest son."

"From the very beginning, Liu Bei's goal was to attack Xuchang!"

Chunyu Qiong was filled with grief and anger, and almost cried out.

Yuan Tan was hit by another heavy hammer and his mind went blank again. He let go of Chunyu Qiong and staggered back half a step.

Ju Su was furious when he thought about Chun Yuqiong abandoning Xuchang without a fight, and he said:

"My Lord, in fact, we might not have lost Xuchang at that time, if it weren't for Qiong Yu..."

"Ju Su!"

Chunyu Qiong predicted that Ju Shou wanted to complain, so he took the initiative to stop him with a stern voice.

Then he pointed at Ju Su angrily and said back:

"If you hadn't been so self-righteous and believed that Guan Yu wanted to attack Luoyang, why would you have cut off the Yellow River and why would the eldest son have led his army to attack Yingyang?"

"If the eldest son had not attacked Yingyang, Xuchang would not have been left without troops. How could Xiao Fang have taken advantage of the opportunity to attack?"

"This situation is all caused by you. You cannot escape the blame!"

Ju Su's face changed, obviously he did not expect Chunyu Qiong to be the first to complain.

He was stunned at first, then became furious and opened his mouth to refute.

"Ju Su!"

Chunyu Qiong interrupted again, pointed at his nose and asked:
"You knew long ago that this was Xiao Fang's plan to lure the snake out of its hole, but you deliberately concealed it and pretended to fall into the trap, inducing the eldest son to lead the army to attack Yingyang."

"You did this only to cause the eldest son to lose Xuchang and be blamed by the king."

"You even want to use the enemy army to get rid of the eldest son, so as to help the third son eliminate the only enemy vying for the position of crown prince!"

"Ju Su, Ju Su, how can you disregard the interests of the country and put the survival of the Wei Dynasty at risk just for your own selfish reasons?"

Ju Su was shocked.

It would have been fine if Chunyu Qiong had put the blame for the loss of Xuchang on him.

Now they falsely accuse him of wanting to kill someone with a borrowed knife and get rid of Yuan Tan?
This shit pot is too big.

"Chun Yuqiong, you——"

"Ju Su!"

Yuan Tan shouted angrily, unsheathed his sword, and put it on his neck.

"I knew that none of you Hebei people are good people. You all want to kill me!" "Tell me, did you receive instructions from Yuan Shang to deliberately make me unable to defend Xuchang so that you can get rid of me through Liu Bei!"

The tip of Yuan Tan's sword was against Ju Su's throat, and with just a little force, he could pierce his neck.

Ju Shou's face was filled with grief and indignation. He stared at the ferocious-looking Yuan Tan in amazement. He couldn't believe that this young master dared to question his character like this.

You have to know that although he is from the Hebei faction, he has always acted impartially and always put the overall interests of Wei State first. He has never deliberately targeted Yuan Tan like Feng Ji did.

Now Yuan Tan listened to Chunyu Qiong's instigation and openly accused him of putting personal interests above public interest and disregarding the country and people of Wei!

He even drew his sword, wanting to kill him as soon as possible.

This is a blatant trampling on his character!

Ju Su was filled with grief and indignation, so he faced Yuan Tan's sword and said sternly:

"Master, have you forgotten that I tried my best to dissuade you from leading the army to attack Yingri? I reminded you that Xiao Fang was extremely cunning and must have other tricks up his sleeve!"

"It was you, my Lord, who refused to listen and insisted on leading the army out of the city, which left Xuchang with a lack of manpower and allowed the enemy to take advantage of the situation and capture it."

"If I wanted to kill someone with someone else's knife, why would I have bothered to persuade you in the first place? I should have encouraged you to lead the army into battle!"

"My Lord, if you believe Chunyu Qiong's slander and regard me, Ju Su, as a treacherous villain who puts personal interests above public interests, and if you firmly believe that I want to kill you and disregard the king's foundation, then you can just kill me!"

After Ju Su defended himself impassionedly, he raised his head and closed his eyes, ready to die calmly.

Yuan Tan's rage was extinguished by Ju Su's words, and he finally calmed down from his rage.

"Clang"

The sword slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground.

Yuan Tan staggered back a few steps and fell down on a stone by the roadside. His face had changed from ferocious and furious to one of endless despair and sadness.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

"Xuchang fell, and Yingyang lost another 10,000 soldiers. How can I explain this to my father?"

"Liu Bei, Xiao Fang, do you and your lord want to force me to death?"

Yuan Tan spoke to himself in a trembling voice, holding his head in his hands, as if his spirit had collapsed at this moment.

When Chunyu Qiong saw that Yuan Tan had collapsed, he could no longer put the blame on Ju Shou. He could only swallow his saliva and stood there awkwardly and helplessly.

Ju Su pulled one foot back from the gates of hell and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking down at Yuan Tan's collapsed appearance, deep disappointment flashed across his eyes, and he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"I have already told the king that Henan cannot be defended, and the best strategy is to retreat to Hebei."

"Now that Xuchang has been lost, our defenses are completely collapsing right before our eyes."

"My Lord, it's too late to regret now. You'd better cheer up and go to Suiyang to meet the king."

"I hope you will put the overall situation first. Let's persuade the king to give up Henan and retreat to Hebei for the sake of the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers."

Ju Shou leaned down, gently pressed Yuan Tan's shoulder, and persuaded him earnestly.

Yuan Tan's body shuddered, and when he raised his head again, there was a hint of enlightenment in his eyes.

After struggling for a long time, he could only sigh helplessly.

...

South of Suiyang City, the Chu army camp.

More than 90,000 Chu troops set up camps for several miles, posing a threat to Suiyang City.

"Shi Yuan, what strategy do you think Jing Lue used to quickly capture Xudu?"

Liu Bei stood at the door of the tent with his hands behind his back, his eyes fixed on Sui Yang City, but his thoughts were all on Xu Du.

After all, he led an army of 90,000 to attack Suiyang City, just to "serve" Guan Yu in his attack on Xu Du.

Whether he could capture Xu Du and how to capture Xu Du were what he cared about most.

"Prime Minister Xiao has always been very cunning and his plans are always hard to figure out. I really can't guess what plan the Prime Minister will use to capture Xudu."

Pang Tong smiled bitterly and shook his head, but then said:

"But in my opinion, the best way to quickly capture Xudu is to lure the enemy out of the city and annihilate them."

"In this way, Xudu will be short of troops, and General Guan will have an absolute advantage in conquering Xudu with 30,000 troops."

"As for how to lure Yuan Tan out of the city, I can't think of it."

Liu Bei seemed to understand something and muttered to himself:

"Lure the enemy out of the city, lure the enemy out of the city?"

"I wonder how Jing Lue will lure Yuan Tan out this time..."

Just as he was thinking and guessing, the curtain was lifted, and Chen Dao rushed in excitedly, holding a silk book high.

"Your Majesty, victory news! Minister Xiao has sent us victory news!"

Chen Dao raised the silk book in his hand and shouted excitedly:

"Prime Minister Xiao conquered Xudu two days ago!"

"My lord, we have captured Xudu!"

There was a sudden uproar in the big tent.

Whether it was Liu Bei or Pang Tong, everyone's faces were instantly filled with surprise.

"Shuzhi, what strategy did Jinglue use to break through Xudu so quickly?"

Liu Bei jumped up and asked excitedly.

Chen Dao then unfolded the silk book and explained the causes and consequences of the Battle of Xuchang one by one.

First, Guan Yu turned to attack Luoyang, then ambushed Yuan Tan in Yingyang, and then 8,000 troops pretended to be 30,000 main forces, in order to forge Yuan Tan's head and break the morale of the Xuchang defenders...

The whole cause and effect is explained.

"Prime Minister Xiao, you actually used such an unthinkable method to lure Yuan Tan out of his hole?"

"You managed to capture Xuchang without spending a single soldier?"

"Prime Minister Xiao is truly a god!"

Pang Tong gasped, his face filled with endless amazement and admiration.

(End of this chapter)