Abnormal Three Kingdoms

Chapter 554
"Yecheng has been broken, and a large number of defeated soldiers have come here." Niu Jin also knew that the news was shocking, and bowed his head.

Cao Ren, Cao Hong and others were a little lost. Yecheng was destroyed like this?
Cao Zhen said in a deep voice: "Where are those defeated soldiers? Has the news spread in the army?"

"It's already dispersed. There are too many routs. Hundreds of people came over at once, shouting at one another. When the general wanted to stop them, he was powerless." Niu Jin said helplessly.

"How could Yecheng be breached so easily?" Cao Hong still couldn't believe it, Yecheng was a strong city, and the fortification of the city far surpassed that of Chaoge.

"I heard that Duke Yuan led the elite to leave Yecheng." Niu Jin said.

"At this time, leave Yecheng?" Cao Ren instinctively sensed something was wrong. At this time, Yuan Shao didn't sit in Yecheng but left with his elite. What did he do?
Niu Jin shook his head, saying that he did not know the specific situation.

Cao Zhen said in a deep voice: "Go and bring those defeated troops and ask carefully how the city of Ye was broken."

Cao Ren added: "Go to Yecheng to see for yourself, don't come close, just make sure that Yecheng has really been breached."

"Here!" Niu Jin agreed, turned and left.

Soon, a large number of defeated soldiers were brought in. After cross-examination by everyone, Cao Zhen knew that there was a high probability that Yecheng was really broken.

Niu Jin came back that day, and the news he brought shattered the last chance of Cao Ren and others.

"No wonder Huang Zhong is nowhere to be seen when defending the city these days!" Le Jin sighed. He was so impressed with Huang Zhong that he almost took him for Lu Bu. Such a fierce general disappeared on the battlefield. Before, they were surprised that Huang Zhong Where did Zhong go? Cao Ren also wrote a letter to Xia Houyuan, telling Xia Houyuan to be careful about Huang Zhong appearing on the battlefield.

Everyone knew that the Black Mountain Army was the dark hand of Chu Nan, but although they were guarding against it, they never thought that the Black Mountain Army could break through Yecheng.

"General, please see Mr. Sima." Niu Jin came back again and bowed to Cao Ren.

"Please!" Cao Ren nodded.

Soon, Sima Yi walked in quickly and saluted everyone.

"Sir, do you know about Yecheng?" Cao Ren asked Sima Yi after he was seated.

"I heard about it." Sima Yi nodded: "Now the matter has spread in the city!"

Hearing this, Cao Ren's eyes dimmed. This would surely shake the army's morale. After a moment of silence, Cao Ren looked at Sima Yi and said, "Zhongda, what should we do now?"

The city of Ye is lost, is there still a need to keep this court song?How to keep it?
Sima Yi obviously came here for this purpose: "First of all, we need to appease the morale of the army."

"But many family members of the generals in the city are in Yecheng, including you and me. Now that Yecheng has been captured, ordinary soldiers are fine, but how should the generals appease them?" Cao Hong frowned.

Not to mention these generals, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and Cao Cao's family are also in Yecheng, and they all have some thoughts of not wanting to fight, let alone ordinary generals.

"As far as I know, every time Chu Nan passes through, the gentry must be slaughtered. Most of the generals in the army are from the powerful gentry. I think, since the rumors of Yecheng being destroyed have spread, can these rout soldiers bring some Good news for our army?"

"What news?" Cao Ren's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Sima Yi uncertainly.

"Yecheng slaughtered the city, and it was dedicated to slaughtering nobles!" Having said this, the corners of Sima Yi's eyes twitched. His family members were also in Yecheng.

Judging from the hostility Chu Nan showed towards him last time, he probably wouldn't let the Sima family go.

"Is this feasible?" Cao Hong asked puzzledly, "I'm afraid it will be counterproductive and make all the officers and men feel more homesick."

"Yes, if I knew about this, I would definitely try my best to go back." Cao Hong said in a deep voice.

"We want them to go back. During this period of time, we will re-select new generals and gradually remove them." Sima Yi looked at the crowd and said in a deep voice: "Now that Yecheng is destroyed, it is these generals who have the most influence. The commander in the army spread the word, saying that our army is doomed, and these generals can already threaten our army's morale if they stay, so they should not stay."

Seize power?

Cao Ren and the others changed their expressions. They were not fools. Although Sima Yi didn't mention seizing power, he was talking about seizing power. Getting rid of these veteran generals and promoting new generals will definitely cause turmoil in the army, but the same, Most of these new generals came from poor families or even directly from low-level families. They would not have the same sense of identification with Yuan Shao as these old generals. Instead, they would be grateful to those who promoted them. This is human nature and a basic way to seize power.

But is it appropriate to do this at this time?

Cao Ren raised a question: "Zhongda, this is not easy to do! If you are not careful, the morale of the army will be in chaos."

"After the general has spoken, you only need to stick to it. These people will take the initiative to bring their personal guards to Yecheng. When the time comes, the general will propose to choose a suitable person to lead the army on his behalf!" Sima Yi looked at Cao Ren and said: "General Others can vote for Chu Nan, but none of you generals and subordinates can vote for Chu Nan, if you can’t fully control the general power, we will go with the defeated soldiers, and it will only be a man-made sword!"

Cao Ren didn't answer the topic: "What is Zhongda going to do next?"

"Although Chunan won Yecheng, Yecheng is an isolated city. We just need to block the main force of Chunan and wait for Yuan Gong to return to Yecheng. Send people to inquire about Yuan Gong's news and get in touch with Yuan Gong. Now, people's hearts will not be scattered, if Yuan Gong can return to Yecheng in time, our army will still have leeway, if we can take this opportunity to encircle and kill Chu Nan in Yecheng, we may even have a chance to turn defeat into victory!" Sima Yi said in a deep voice. road.

Moreover, even if they win Chu Nan in the end, the status of Cao Ren and others will rise. The army is completely controlled by Cao Ren and others, and Yuan Shao will have to rely on Cao Ren and others. , the army had already been controlled by them, and if Yuan Shao wanted to forcibly take back his military power, he would have to bear the danger of turmoil in Hebei.

After this battle, Yuan Shao should also recognize the reality. Chu Nan's strength is no worse than the Yuan family's. By then, they will have more say in Hebei.

"How to say?" Cao Ren looked at Cao Hong and the others, and asked in a deep voice.

"The attack on the city will be very urgent these few days, and these veterans can't leave for the time being." Cao Hong said in a deep voice. After knowing that Yecheng has been breached, Yu Jin will definitely attack fiercely. He thinks it is inappropriate to do such a thing at this time.

"You can give it a try." Le Jin said suddenly: "I'm not taking the initiative to eliminate these people, they are going to leave by themselves, I can take advantage of these days to call out some soldiers from their side to take their place .”

The top ranks in the army are the four of them plus Sima Yi, and there are about [-] middle rank generals, and they must be the ones who want to go back to Yecheng the most.

"General, if we leave Chaoge at this time, our army will die. Even if we want to protect ourselves, we need to get rid of these generals!" Sima Yi said in a deep voice.

Now if they quit Chaoge, where can they go?There is still food and supplies in Chaoge City, so they can continue to guard, but if they find one, half of Jizhou will have to give up. Once this is connected, if Liyang does not follow suit, they will only be surrounded. Han Qiong It's the same over there.

On the contrary, they guarded here to prevent the enemy from crossing the border. Although the city of Ye was important, what was lost was only a city.

Cao Ren nodded and said: "Just follow Zhongda's plan, first stabilize the morale of the army, and then talk about other things."

The victory or defeat has not yet been decided at this time, it is too early to say a retreat at this time!
Cao Hong opened his mouth, and finally sighed helplessly. In fact, he wanted to know if Cao Pi and the others were okay, and wanted to counterattack Yecheng, but once they withdrew their troops to fight Yecheng, Yu Jin and they would definitely press up, and then they would lose the vitality of protecting the city. , they were pinched from front to back, and they were bound to lose!

The current path seems to be wrong no matter how he chooses. Sima Yi's strategy of sticking to Chaoge first seems unwise, but it is actually the best choice at the moment.

"I'll send someone to inform Miaocai!" Seeing that the crowd was silent, Cao Ren got up and said, "Wen Qian and Zi Lian, it's been a bit hard these few days, you two will guard the city in person!"

"Here!" The two agreed.

Cao Ren immediately wrote a letter to Xia Houyuan, and explained Sima Yi's strategy to Xia Houyuan clearly. The most important thing right now is not to let the war situation deteriorate completely. As for the rest, it depends on Yuan Shao. The battle still has to be fought, if not, the fall of Jizhou is also a foreseeable future.

After Xia Houyuan received the letter, he had already received the news that Ye City had been destroyed. The rout soldiers didn't just look for a city, but wherever they settled down, these rout soldiers would run there.

In addition to writing a letter to Xia Houyuan, Cao Ren also sent a letter to Han Qiong. Naturally, in the letter to Han Qiong, he could not blatantly make people support themselves. Han Qiong has a very high seniority and prestige in Jizhou. Even Yuan Shao They are all very respectful to Han Qiong. Han Qiong has no problems with Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan at all, so if he really tells Han Qiong about the generals under the tent, Han Qiong will probably yell at him immediately.

In any case, the morale of the army has been affected. Yu Jin, Zhang Liao, and Gao Shun were the first to get the news that Chu Nan had captured Yecheng. It's so embarrassing.

Both Zhang Liao and Yu Jin stormed Li Yang and Chaoge with their troops uncharacteristically. Unfortunately, in the face of such a well-defended city, it is difficult to achieve the desired effect. Over there, Han Qiong was defeated for a while, and was forced to withdraw from Pingyuan County, and continued to focus on defending the city, but Han Qiong really couldn't understand Gao Shun.

The eight hundred trapped camps had obviously been cut off by the green energy of the city guard, but the soldiers in the city's military formations were still beaten to the point of losing their helmets and armor, and they were defeated. He directly attacked the top of the city, tore through the defense of the city, and defeated Han Qiong.

On the battlefield this time, Gao Shun's trapped camp is undoubtedly the most eye-catching one. Everyone else is troubled by strong cities, but Gao Shun seems to have few strong cities in front of him. Nothing is impossible, even if a veteran like Han Qiong comes up, he will retreat in front of him...

(End of this chapter)