Chapter 366: A force of soldiers besieged Ye City! Yuan Shao is ours, even gods can’t save him, I say!
Yuan Shao didn't even use his crutches, but forced himself off the bed and stumbled towards the map.

Upon seeing this, Zhang He hurried forward to support him.

However, Yuan Shao pushed him away and, relying on his own strength, staggered to the map.

Bingzhou, Taihang Mountains, Nanpi…

Yuan Shao's eyes quickly swept across these places on the map.

A glimmer of light gradually appeared in the originally dim eyes.

"Xianyi has always been the most filial and obedient child, and I want to make him my heir, so he will definitely come to save me!"

"As for Xiansi, doesn't he just want to be the King of Wei? If Yecheng is lost, my Wei Kingdom will be finished. What good will it do if he sits on the throne? For his own sake, he will definitely come to save me."

"And Zhang Yan, I allowed him to occupy the Taihang Mountains. If Liu Bei had taken over Hebei, how could he have allowed him to continue to rule over the country?"

"So, this Black Mountain bandit will definitely send troops to rescue me..."

Yuan Shao's thoughts were racing, the light of dawn in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and a hint of excitement gradually appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"boom!"

His fist hit the map hard, and his bloodshot eyes were filled with hope.

"Ju Gongyu, I take back what I said to you before. You are indeed the only counselor I can rely on!"

"I'll follow your plan. Send out an imperial decree immediately and tell these three groups of troops to come to Yecheng to defend the king!"

Yuan Shao suddenly turned around and cast a look of admiration and approval at Ju Su.

At this moment, he completely forgot how he had spoken harshly to Ju Shou before.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being blunt, but this is not a perfect plan. In my opinion, it is still a bad plan."

"As for whether these three groups of troops will come to the king's rescue, or whether they can be Liu Bei's opponent, I cannot guarantee it."

"In my opinion, the best strategy is still to abandon..."

Ju Su was more cautious this time and did not dare to accept Yuan Shao's praise. Instead, he poured cold water on Yuan Shao to lower his psychological expectations.

Originally, he wanted to persuade Yuan Shao to abandon Yecheng, but when the words came to his lips, he dared not say them out loud.

Yuan Shao, however, looked confident and said:
"Gong Yu, please don't say such discouraging words. Your plan is indeed a good way to turn the situation around."

"I have just thought about this. There is no reason for the three of them not to come and save me!"

"You can relax and lead the troops with the other generals to prepare for the defense of the city."

"I believe that within ten days, three reinforcements will arrive!"

Seeing Yuan Shao so confident, Ju Su didn't dare to pour cold water on him anymore and could only remain silent.

...

South of Yecheng was the main camp of the Chu army.

Inside the king's tent, a huge sand table of Yecheng had been placed in the tent.

"According to my spies, after Yuan Shao suffered heavy losses in Wucheng, the number of soldiers and horses that fled back to Yecheng was less than 10,000. Together with the soldiers and horses that stayed in Yecheng, there were no more than 17,000 soldiers and horses at most."

"With this amount of troops, there is no hope of defending Yecheng against my army of nearly 200,000."

"For Yuan Shao, the best strategy is to abandon the city and flee north, relying on the water network in northern Hebei to continue to resist stubbornly."

"They even gave up Jizhou and fled north to Youzhou, relying on the Yijing defense line left by Gongsun Zan and the Yishui River to stop our army from going north."

After Pang Tong pointed at the sand table and analyzed it, he sneered:
"But the essence of the pseudo-Wei is in Jizhou, and the heart of Jizhou is in Yecheng. If Yecheng is not protected, Jizhou will be lost. If Jizhou is lost, the fall of the entire Hebei Province is a foregone conclusion."

"Even if Yuan Shao flees to Youzhou, he will only survive and will never have a chance to turn the tables."

"I think Yuan Shao should be very clear about this. He will definitely not abandon the city and flee north even if he is trapped in an isolated city under siege."

After hearing Pang Tong's analysis, everyone nodded in agreement.

Liu Bei also stroked his thin beard and nodded slightly:

"Shi Yuan's words make sense. Yecheng is the capital of the pseudo-Wei state. It determines the support of the people in Hebei. Yuan Shao will definitely not give up."

"It seems that what we need to do is to set up camps around the city, making Yecheng an isolated city, and then attack from all sides to break it in one fell swoop!"

When it comes to the powerful attack, the generals immediately become motivated.

Guan Yu stroked his beautiful beard and said proudly:

"Yuan Shao, the old villain, has less than 20,000 remaining soldiers, while my Great Chu has nearly 200,000 soldiers. What's the point of mentioning a mere Ye City?"

"Within ten days, I will conquer Yecheng for Your Majesty and capture Yuan the thief alive!"

As soon as Guan Yu made the bold statement, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci and other generals all responded with enthusiasm.

In front of the elite soldiers and generals of the Great Chu, Yecheng was just a leaky earthen wall that would collapse with a single kick.

"Yecheng is the strongest city in Hebei after all. If Yuan Shao is determined to defend it, he can still hold out for a while."

"However, Yuan Shao is determined to defend Yecheng to the death, but he does not intend to sit and wait for death. I think he will have a trick up his sleeve and will make a last-ditch effort."

However, Xiao Fang gently waved his feather fan, which slightly cooled down the wildness of the generals, and there seemed to be some other meaning in his words.

Liu Bei became alert and turned his gaze to Xiao Fang, just about to ask a question.

Chen Dao hurried into the tent and brought the latest information about the enemy in Yecheng:
An hour later, dozens of Wei soldiers rode out of the city from the northwest and east gates, and took advantage of the fact that the Chu army had not yet completed the siege to escape, and their whereabouts are unknown.

Suspicion suddenly appeared in Liu Bei's eyes.

At this critical moment, every soldier is extremely valuable to Yuan Shao.

The cavalry is the most precious of all treasures.

At this time, Yuan Shao was willing to send dozens of cavalrymen to leave the city and risk never returning?
There must be a conspiracy behind this.

"Jinglue, what do you think Yuan Shao means by this?" Xiao Fang's eyes fell on the sand table, his thoughts extending from the north, west and east sides of Yecheng. A larger map of Hebei emerged out of thin air in his mind.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Fang's mouth corners slightly raised.

"Yuan Shao sent these three precious cavalry to seek reinforcements."

"I just said that Yuan Shao will not sit still and wait for death. So if we want to defend Yecheng, our only chance is to rely on external aid."

“Among the various states in Hebei, there are only three forces that can save Yuan Shao.

"The first is Yuan Shang, who is stationed in Nanpi in the east and waiting. The second is Yuan Xi, who is stationed in Huguan in the west. The third group is Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, who is stationed in the Taihang Mountains in the northwest."

"These three armies combined can bring together nearly 100,000 soldiers. If they are willing to come to rescue Yuan Shao, we may be able to defend Yecheng."

Xiao Fang pointed his feather fan in all directions and revealed the secret.

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on, and a round of discussions immediately broke out among the generals.

Liu Bei hurriedly asked for a map and spread it on the sand table.

Taihang Mountains, Nanpi and Huguan are all within sight.

"I see. It seems that Yuan Shao is not at the end of his rope and can still struggle to the death."

"As Jinglue said, these three armies have a total of 100,000 people. If they really come to rescue Yuan Shao, the battle in Yecheng will not be easy to fight."

Liu Bei frowned, with a shadow between his brows.

Guan Yu pointed at the sand table and said in a deep voice:
"Then we will speed up the siege and attack Yecheng as quickly as possible. Before the three armies come to rescue Yuan Shao, we will capture Yecheng!"

Liu Bei's eyes moved slightly.

The strategy proposed by Guan Yu is indeed a solution to the problem.

Pang Tong shook his head and said:

"Once Yecheng is surrounded and isolated, Yuan Shao and his defenders will have no way to escape and will surely fight to the death. One can imagine how fierce their resistance will be."

"It is true that our army can break through the city, but it is still unknown whether we can break through Yecheng before the three enemy armies arrive to reinforce us."

"If we fail to capture the city, and the three enemy armies gather outside the city, won't our army be caught in a situation where we are attacked from both inside and outside?"

Pang Tong's reminder made Guan Yu's arrogance fade a little, and his drooping brows couldn't help but slightly frown.

"Shi Yuan is right. We can't put all our hopes on quickly conquering Yecheng."

Taishi Ci also nodded slightly and pointed at the map:
"I think that in this battle of Yecheng, we should be cautious and prudent."

"Your Majesty, you can first divide your troops into three groups and separately block the three groups of Yuan Shao's reinforcements to prevent them from gathering in Yecheng."

"This way, our army will not be threatened by attacks from both inside and outside. Your Majesty can lead our main army to besiege Yecheng with all our strength."

Liu Bei hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said:
"It seems that Ziyi's response is the most reliable."

"But if we divide our forces to resist the enemy's three reinforcements, the troops we have besieging Yecheng will inevitably be reduced, and the time to capture Yecheng will be delayed."

Say it.

Liu Bei turned his gaze to Xiao Fang. When he was about to ask for his opinion, he saw that his prime minister was staring at the map in silence.

"In my opinion, we don't need to divide our forces. We can just use all our troops to besiege Yecheng."

"I don't think any of those three armies will come to rescue Yuan Shao!"

After a moment of deep thought, Xiao Fang sneered, his tone full of meaning.

Everyone was shocked, with strange looks on their faces.

Liu Bei was even more excited and said in surprise:

"Jinglue, how can you be sure that none of the three armies will come to rescue Yuan Shao?"

Xiao Fang waved his feather fan and smiled confidently:
"Of course I have my own judgment. Not only do I conclude that these three armies will not come to rescue Yuan Shao, I also dare to conclude that among the three, Zhang Yan will not only not save Yuan Shao, but will surrender to the king!"

This statement came out.

Liu Bei's spirits were greatly boosted, and his eyes were filled with joy and deep surprise.

...

Hejian County, Nanpi.

In the county government, Yuan Shang sat high up in the throne, his brows furrowed, holding a piece of silk book in each hand.

One of them was an urgent report about the disastrous defeat in Wucheng and the killing of Yuan Tan.

The other one was a handwritten letter that Yuan Shao had just delivered.

In this letter, Yuan Shao promised to appoint him as the crown prince again and ordered him to lead his troops to Yecheng as soon as possible to serve the king.

"My stupid elder brother finally suffered the consequences and lost his life."

"It seems that I have to thank Liu Bei for helping me eliminate the hidden danger forever."

Yuan Shang sneered sarcastically, then held up Yuan Shao's letter:
"My father promised to re-appoint me as the crown prince and ordered me to lead my troops, join my second brother and Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, to Yecheng to defend the king and attack Liu Bei together."

"Zhengnan, Zhongda, do you two think I should lead the army?"

Shen Pei was overjoyed and said without hesitation:
"Yecheng is the capital of our Great Wei. It concerns the people's support. It must not fall into Liu Bei's hands. It should be saved."

"Moreover, the king has promised you that he will be crowned as the crown prince again. This is the best of both worlds. You should lead the army to rescue us."

Yuan Shang did not express his opinion and turned his eyes to Sima Yi.

Sima Yi coughed a few times, then said seriously:
"Sir, I think you must not go to Yecheng to serve the king!"

(End of this chapter)