Chapter 332 Stay calm, this is our routine operation, Prime Minister Xiao! If I ascend to the throne, I will share the country with you!

Not defending Xuchang?

Want to go out of the city to fight?
Do we still need to annihilate 20,000 Wei troops?

Such a wild tone and such a big appetite!
Wei Yan and Zhang Xiu's faces changed and they were both shocked.

However, when the two looked at each other, their eyes quickly changed from surprise to joy.

If such arrogant words came from someone else, they would be called arrogance.

Since it comes from Prime Minister Xiao, it is reasonable.

Using the few to defeat the many and winning by surprise, isn't that our Prime Minister Xiao's normal operation...

"Does the Prime Minister have any ingenious plan to defeat the enemy? We would like to hear the details!"

Wei Yan's surprise immediately turned into joy, and he hurriedly bowed and asked.

Zhang Xiu, Xu Chu and other generals all widened their eyes and looked at Xiao Fang with excitement.

"In fact, it is not difficult to defeat Yuan Shang. We just need to..."

Xiao Fangbian gently waved his feather fan and explained his plan in a casual tone.

The generals' eyes gradually changed from joy to surprise, and then from surprise to astonishment.

The last one was a surprise.

"The general understands!"

"This plan, Prime Minister, is the same strategy that Han Xin used to defeat Long Ju!"

Wei Yan slammed the table and shouted, revealing the inspiration of this plan.

Xiao Fang nodded slightly and looked at Wei Yan with admiration.

It seems that this little Guan Yu has been hanging out with Xu Shu for these years and has learned a lot of military strategies from him.

The fact that he was able to point out the reference point of this plan shows that Wei Yan's military strategy has improved far beyond what it was before.

"Wen Chang, I haven't seen you for three days. You want me to look at you with new eyes."

Xiao Fang laughed and praised.

With Xiao Fang's approval, Wei Yan couldn't help showing a look of joy, with a hint of pride in his eyes.

"This plan of the Prime Minister is indeed a brilliant plan to win. Yuan Shang would never have dreamed that the Prime Minister would dare to turn defense into offense, and he never thought that the Prime Minister would defeat him with such a brilliant plan!"

After praising him, Wei Yan suppressed his admiration and reminded:

"But if this plan is to succeed, the river we choose is extremely important. It can't be too wide or too deep, nor too shallow or too narrow. We have to consider it carefully."

Wei Yan's words were praised by Xiao Fang again.

At that moment, Xiao Fang called his personal guards to bring the map and spread it out in front of the hall.

Yingchuan is rich in water resources, with seven or eight large and small rivers, including the Yingshui River, the Hongshui River, and so on.

"Prime Minister, as far as I know, the Jialu River is neither deep nor shallow, neither narrow nor wide, which is perfect for your plan!"

Wei Yan pointed to a water system twenty miles north of Xuchang.

His judgment coincided exactly with what Xiao Fang was thinking.

"Okay, let's listen to Mr. Wen. Let's use this strategy here at Jialu River!"

Xiao Fang waved his feather fan and said cheerfully:

"Wenchang, Wenjin, the two of you will lead 6,000 infantry and cavalry to the north of Jialu River to defeat Yuan Shang's 20,000 Wei troops!"

"I am leading two thousand soldiers and horses, stationed in Xuchang, waiting for your victory report!"

Wei Yan and Zhang Liao accepted the order with great enthusiasm.

...

A few days later, north of the Jialu River.

Battle flags covered the sky and dust and fog rolled.

More than 20,000 Wei troops were marching southward along the main road, and their vanguard had already reached the northern bank.

"After crossing the Jialu River, there are only about thirty miles left to Xuchang."

"Ji has sent people to Xuchang in advance to contact the loyal and righteous people who are loyal to our Great Wei. They are just waiting for our army to besiege the city and attack it immediately."

"Ji believes that even if Xiao Fang is very capable, he cannot defend Xuchang with only 7,000 soldiers."

"For him, the wisest choice is to abandon the city and flee south."

"If he is determined to hold on to Xuchang and is unwilling to abandon the city, then he can just wait for the city to fall and be captured by the Third Young Master."

"After this battle, the Third Young Master will be the Crown Prince of Wei!"

"According to the king's current physical condition, I'm afraid that within a year at most, the king will..."

Feng Ji had only outlined half of the blueprint, but stopped there, smiling and saying nothing.

Yuan Shang's mouth corners slightly raised.

Naturally, he could understand the implication of Feng Ji's words.

He had witnessed Yuan Shao's physical condition with his own eyes, but it was still unknown whether he could survive another year.

This means that within a year at most, once Yuan Shao dies of illness, he will be able to succeed to the throne and ascend the throne of the King of Wei!
It only takes one more year to go from Crown Prince to King of Wei, which is quite easy.

"Yuan Tu, if that day really comes, I will never forget the contributions of you, Shen Pei, and all of you heroes of Hebei."

"I will share this great Wei kingdom with you all!"

While Yuan Shang was secretly delighted, he also did not forget to make a promise to Feng Ji.

After getting Yuan Shang's personal promise, Feng Ji was secretly delighted. Naturally, he was passionate and expressed his loyalty.

"Ji, let me be disrespectful. The king is too indecisive. He trusted the eldest son too much and gave him the power to control Qing Xu. He also gave him too many opportunities to make up for his mistakes."

"If not for this, how could we have lost Xuzhou, lost hundreds of thousands of troops, and lost Xuchang, and ended up in this passive situation, forcing you, the Third Young Master, to personally take action and come to clean up the mess."

"If Your Majesty had accepted the reality that the eldest son was mediocre and stupid earlier, and had abandoned him earlier, and appointed the third son as the heir earlier, why would it have come to this today?"

Feng Ji looked indignant. He belittled Yuan Tan, blamed Yuan Shao, and praised Yuan Shang to the sky.

These words hit the nail on the head for Yuan Shang, and he felt very comfortable. "You are right. Father is good in every way, but he is too soft-hearted."

"If I take the throne in the future, I will never follow in my father's footsteps. I will not show mercy to those who have committed crimes against my Great Wei, and those who have prevented me from becoming the Crown Prince. I will definitely settle accounts with them all!"

Yuan Shang spoke in a domineering tone, with a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.

The implication is, of course, to settle accounts with Yuan Tan and eliminate the roots of his evil.

In addition, all the Ruying factions including Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong must be liquidated to prevent future troubles.

A gleam of light flashed in Feng Ji's eyes.

What he was waiting for was Yuan Shang's promise.

As the backbone of the Hebei faction, what he was most worried about was that after Yuan Shang ascended the throne, he would learn from Yuan Shao's balancing act and re-support the Ruying faction to check and balance their Hebei faction.

In this case, wasn't it just a waste of their sincerity to support Yuan Shang to ascend the throne?

Yuan Shang's statement dispelled his worries and concerns.

Once the Ruying faction is liquidated, in the future the entire Wei Kingdom will be dominated by the Hebei faction!
"Third Master is wise. To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the internal situation. Only by eliminating internal troubles can we, the Great Wei, unite as one and become a united force..."

"Report——"

A horseman came galloping and interrupted Feng Ji's compliments.

General Su You reined in his horse and shouted, clasping his hands:
"Reporting to the Third Young Master, my scouts have discovered a large number of Chu troops on the north bank of the Jialu River. There are about 4,000 of them, and they are forming a battle array on the north bank with their backs to the water!"

Feng Ji's compliments came to an abrupt end, and he looked at Su You in surprise.

Yuan Shang was also surprised.

According to prior calculations, Xiao Fang had only about 7,000 to 8,000 people. Under normal circumstances, he should have led the entire division to hold Xuchang and not leave.

But the current situation is that more than 4,000 Chu troops actually dare to take the initiative to go out of the city to fight?

This Xiao Fang doesn't play by the rules at all!

And it was a battle formation with their backs to the water.

It's so outrageous!
"Yuan Tu, what do you think the country bumpkin's intention is? Is there a trick?"

Yuan Shang couldn't help but become alert and looked at Feng Ji anxiously.

Feng Ji suppressed his doubts, and after thinking for a moment, he said in a deep voice:
"That country bumpkin has always been cunning. It is against common sense for him to dare to fight a weak enemy with a strong one. Now he is even more cunning and suspicious by forming a battle array with his back to the water."

"Third Master is right. I think he must be cheating."

Changing the subject, Feng Ji snorted again:
"But our army has already arrived here, and the arrow has been drawn. We cannot withdraw it. Even if Xiao Fang is deceiving us, we cannot retreat."

"Ji thinks that we should form a battle array here and advance southward step by step. At the same time, we should send out scouts in all directions to monitor the enemy situation at all times to prevent the enemy from ambushing."

"I believe that if we do these things, we can remain unchanged in the face of all changes. Even if Xiao Fang is deceiving us, he won't be able to do anything to us."

Yuan Shang was silent and thoughtful.

After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, he nodded heavily:

"Yuan Tu, you are right. Now the arrow is on the string, how can we not shoot it?"

"Let's follow your plan. Send out scouts to monitor the four directions. The army will form a battle formation and slowly advance southward. We will not change in the face of any changes!"

So more than 20,000 Wei soldiers formed their battle formation and began to advance steadily southward.

At the same time, hundreds of scouts were sent out in all directions to spy on any signs of ambushes of the Chu army.

At dusk.

The Wei army slowly advanced and finally reached the north bank of the Jialu River.

Yuan Shang looked up and saw that on the north bank, nearly 5,000 Chu troops had formed a battle formation, ready to fight to the death.

"Want to learn from Han Xin and fight with your back to the river?"

"Xiao Fang, you underestimated me, Yuan Shang, and the fighting power of my Wei army soldiers!"

Yuan Shang snorted disdainfully and raised his silver spear:
"Su You, you lead the 5,000 vanguard troops to advance in front, and I will lead the main force to follow behind. Continue to advance steadily until the Chu army is pushed into the river!"

Su You took the order and left.

The sudden sound of a horn broke the silence of the wilderness.

The Wei army soldiers, big and small, formed dozens of large formations, like a solid wall of iron and steel, and rushed towards the Chu army that was forming a formation with its back to the water.

The two armies were separated by nearly a hundred steps in a blink of an eye.

Following Su You's order, the archers of the Wei army bent their bows and drew their arrows, ready to shoot first.

Chu army formation.

Wei Yan raised the corner of his mouth and sneered:

"As Prime Minister Xiao said, Yuan Shang is only interested in playing it safe, so he has set up a snail formation."

After saying this, Wei Yan stopped smiling and shouted:

"Order all units to wade back to the other side immediately."

The four thousand Chu soldiers who were lined up for battle had already prepared for a fight to the death, but they did not expect that at this critical moment, their commander would suddenly retreat.

The army's morale was slightly shaken.

But the Chu army soldiers were veterans after all, and they immediately suppressed their anxiety and suspicion, resolutely carried out the order, and immediately turned around and retreated to the other side in an orderly manner.

The Chu army retreated across the river!
Yuan Shang saw this scene clearly, and doubt appeared in his eyes again.

"The Chu army actually retreated in the middle of a battle?"

"Yuan Tu, what kind of trick is that country bumpkin playing?"

Yuan Shang asked Xiang Fengji anxiously.

There were a few beads of sweat on Feng Ji's forehead, and his brows showed a hint of guilt.

He had previously judged that the Chu army wanted to fight to the death, but he did not expect that the Chu army would retreat across the river when the battle was about to begin. This was obviously a misjudgment on his part.

"Xiao Fang, Xiao Fang, what on earth do you want to do?"

Feng Ji's thoughts raced for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

(End of this chapter)