Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 491 As State Shepherd
Guan Yu stood at the bow of the boat, anxious. Although he would soon be able to enter the pier east of Xiapi along the Han River, what he was most worried about was that by the time he got there, everything would be over.

Fortunately, the worst didn't happen. When he disembarked from the pier and led the soldiers to march quickly towards Xiapi, he found that although the city of Xiapi was being attacked by enemy troops, fortunately the city was not destroyed.

However, there was a group of soldiers and horses going out of the city to fight, and they were surrounded by Yuan Shu's army in the center. His general led the army to rush from left to right, and was extremely brave. Look, isn't this Zhang Fei?

Without any further hesitation, he shouted loudly, and the leader of the army galloped out, heading straight for the generals of Yuan Shu's army.

Although Yuan Shu's generals surrounded Zhang Fei, they could not defeat him, so they had to take turns wearing down Zhang Fei's strength until he was exhausted.

But he was unaware of an army coming from behind. Before they could react, Guan Yu charged forward, raised his knife and cut down a general of Yuan Shu's army under his horse.

The rest of the people were shocked and backed away in a hurry. Zhang Fei saw him and laughed loudly, "Second brother, you came just in time!"

"Together with my brother, kill all these thieves!"

The combination of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei was invincible, and Yuan Shujun immediately fell into decline. The two took advantage of the situation to hide and kill for a while, and Yuan Shujun lost his helmet and armor, fled, and retreated into the camp in a hurry.

Zhang Fei wanted to take this opportunity to attack the stockade, but Guan Yu stopped him and said, "Third brother, beware of the enemy's ambush, go back to the city first."

The two of them returned to the city after victory. Liu Bei greeted them and asked in surprise: "Second brother, why are you back?"

Guan Yu said: "I have to report urgently that Xiapi is under siege and is in danger, so I led people back by water at night to save Xiapi's siege."

After hearing this, Liu Bei chopped off his feet and said, "I was cheated!"

"The siege of the city was very urgent that day, and rumors spread everywhere in the city. I felt that I could not bear it anymore, so I sent an urgent letter to my second brother!"

"In the past two days, I found that Yuan Shujun's offensive has eased up a lot. That's why I don't think it's necessary to call my second brother back like this!"

"Afterwards, I wrote a letter to my second brother. I am afraid that my second brother had left the city at that time, so I missed it!"

After hearing this, Guan Yu frowned and said, "Even if I'm not here, Mi Fang should still receive letters in Qu City. He won't send a fast boat to chase me?"

"Could it be that he hated me for transferring all the soldiers in the city and deliberately delaying the letter?"

Liu Bei was shocked when he heard this: "My second brother transferred all the soldiers in the city?"

"Then how to defend Qucheng?"

Guan Yu wondered, "Who does Qucheng need to guard against?"

"To the south is the fierce tiger Haixi. It can't be his plan, right?"

Liu Bei stumbled and said, "It's not him, it's Cao Cao!"

"Do you know why I'm so flustered?"

"Because the spies came to report a few days ago, Cao Jun had suddenly appeared from the border of Taishan County in Yanzhou, near Ju County and Houqiu!"

"If it lays down thick hills, Tancheng will be to the south. Once it is occupied, our Xiapi will be cut off from the rear, and we will not be able to run away!"

"What's even more frightening is that there is no news from Pengcheng Kingdom so far!"

The former Xuzhou government was located in Tancheng at the junction of Donghai and Xiapi County. After Zhang Fei lost Tancheng and Liu Bei's wife and daughter fell, Liu Bei asked the Yuan brothers for assistance and recaptured Tancheng.

But Liu Bei already had a grudge against Tancheng, so he simply moved the government office to Xiapi City in Xiapi County, and used the original Tancheng as the place to garrison troops and farm.

Guan Yu was shocked when he heard this, "Cao thief dare to attack at this time?"

"If that's the case, it's really treachery!"

Liu Bei sighed, "He didn't stop fighting with us."

"However, he chose the timing very well. It happened to be when Yuan Shu's army was attacking the city, which made us feel uncomfortable!"

Zhang Fei said angrily, "Did this guy team up with Yuan Shu?"

After hearing this, Liu Bei shook his head and said, "It's unlikely, it should just be an opportunity to weaken us and expand our territory."

"After all, Xiapi blocked the road from Yanzhou to Yuzhou in the south. It is reasonable for him to see us as a thorn in his side."

"However, the timing of his calculations is extremely ingenious, and he cleverly used Yuan Shu's timing to dispatch troops. It is really a good calculation."

"Cao Mengde is a real enemy."

Guan Yu said, "Then what shall we do now?"

Liu Bei sighed: "I'm afraid Qucheng is in danger, we'll wait for the news first."

In less than half a day, the news came.

Qucheng was captured by Taishan bandits, and Mi Fang fled, but the road to the south was cut off by Taishan bandits, so Mi Fang had to flee into Houqiu.

As soon as they entered the city, they were besieged by Cao Jun. Mi Fang was shocked, and sent a letter for help before being surrounded.

The three of Liu Bei looked at the distress letter in silence, which meant that almost all of Donghai County was lost!
If Cao Jun takes Tancheng again, Liu Bei will be trapped to death in Xiapi, and he will not be able to run away from Yuan Shujun!

And it's strange that Mi Fang was able to send the letter out from the siege. I'm afraid it wasn't Cao Jun who lured the rescue here, and then surrounded the place to fight for help?

This tactic used by Cao Jun was used several times by Cao Jun when he was fighting with Lv Bu in Yanzhou, and it caused Lv Bu's army to complain endlessly.

Liu Bei was caught in a dilemma.

If Mi Fang is not rescued, once Houqiu is lost, Tancheng will become an isolated city, and it will immediately fall into Cao Cao's hands.

But if you rush to the rescue, not only will you be ambushed by Cao Jun, but the Xiapi City in front of you will also be able to hold it.

If Xiapi is lost and the counterattack against Donghai fails, Liu Beijun will be homeless!

But even in the current predicament, it is difficult for Liu Bei to break through the situation. I am afraid that the family property that he has worked hard for more than a year will be thrown away!

A thought arose in everyone's mind, Xuzhou is really a bad place!
Yuan Xi stood at the head of Haixi City, and the cries of the people driven away by the thieves could be faintly heard from a distance.

Qu City must have been attacked. Looking from a distance, dozens of thick black smoke columns shot up into the sky.

Everyone's faces were ugly. For more than a day, the other party's behavior seemed deliberate, but it was unbearable.

Seeing that Yuan Xi seemed to have made up his mind, Ju Shou said hastily: "My lord, think twice, now it seems that the enemy is very likely to lure you to go!"

Yuan Xi sighed, "Why don't I know?"

"But sir, don't forget my current identity."

"I'm Xuzhou Mu!"

"Right now the people in Xuzhou are being slaughtered, if I just sit back and watch, what use is this name for him?"

Lu Xun also said: "But the situation of the enemy is unknown now, neither how many people there are nor what their intentions are."

"The worst case scenario is that Yuan Qingzhou is behind the Taishan bandits, and Cao Mengde from Yanzhou may also be involved. With the thousands of us, it is difficult to change the situation in the East China Sea."

"Besides, General Taishi sent a letter, saying that Guangling County has been attacked by tens of thousands of Yuan Shu troops, which makes Guangling's defense quite difficult."

"In this way, General Taishi cannot be transferred here for the time being."

"If generals are recruited from Youzhou, General Zhao and General Tian are suitable. It may take more than ten days to come and go."

Yuan Xi was silent, and then said: "After half a month, how many people will die in Donghai?"

Ju Shou and Lu Xun looked at each other, they understood that it was not that Yuan Xi didn't know the other party's intentions, but the other party set up a trick that Yuan Xi had to follow!

Ju Shou sighed, "What is the young master planning to do?"

Xia Houyuan finally got the news he wanted to hear.

Several large ships from Haixi Port went out to sea and sailed towards Qucheng Wharf, as if they were about to enter the city.

He said to the spies: "Go to Qucheng immediately and tell all the soldiers in the city to withdraw."

The Cao Ying general next to him asked doubtfully: "In this way, the Qu city is not taken for nothing?"

Xia Houyuan shook his head and said, "The city of Qu is not important, what matters is the people."

"What's more, Youzhou's soldiers are strong, it's hard for us to fight."

"Its only weakness is that there is no leading general. Of course, if Youzhou or Guangling respond quickly, there will be generals to support Haixi in about five days."

"What we have to do now is to lure him out step by step before the general arrives!"

He immediately asked: "Then Mi Fang has been besieged in Houqiu?"

The general replied: "Li Dian, Xiahou En and others sent a message saying that he has fled into the city, and two generals have surrounded the city."

Xia Houyuan nodded and said: "The bait is ready, let's see if the other party eats it."

The key to his heart is still in Houqiu, and that journey will depend on Cao Hong's performance.

If you are lucky, you will not only catch one big fish, but two!

Several warships leaned heavily against the pier, and the vanguard soldiers of the Youzhou Army jumped out of the boat one by one holding their shields.

Lu Xun's voice came, "Set up defenses around the pier while others search for houses and ships on the pier to prevent the enemy from setting fire to it!"

After hearing this, the soldiers searched everywhere, but they were also shocked by the sight in front of them.

There were dead bodies everywhere, some with bloody wounds, suggesting they had been alive at least not so long ago.

Yuan Xi looked at the mutilated corpses on the pier, including women and children in scanty clothes, and clenched his fists involuntarily.

If Yuan Tan really ordered the Taishan bandits to do it, he will ask for an explanation sooner or later!
Not long after, a group of soldiers came back and said that the rudders of the large ships at the pier were all damaged, Yuan Xi and others understood why Mi Fang did not take the water, but abandoned the city and fled.

His heart tightened, Mi Zhen couldn't be dead already?
Thinking of this, he suppressed the restlessness in his heart, left the soldiers to guard the pier, and led the soldiers to the city with Lu Lingqi and Sun Li.

When he greeted Lu Lingqi, he couldn't help being a little speechless. He didn't know how to mess up. Now Lu Lingqi has become the most powerful general around him!

All the people passed by in line in the city, and the people who were still alive in the next room were trembling and did not dare to come out.

Yuan Xi ordered people to open the doors of several households and asked about the situation that day, and he was relatively speechless with Lu Xun.

This Mi Fang's work was too outrageous, and she used the people in her own city as bait to escape!

He said, "Why don't you run away?"

The common people hated and said: "So many people were trampled to death before they left the city. If they go out of the city, they will still die. Since they are all dead, it is better to stay in the city."

Yuan Xi sighed, and said to Lu Xun, "Arrange ships to take them to Haixi for refuge."

He rode his horse in the city, looking at the devastation in his eyes, he thought to himself that in this troubled world, there are too few roads that ordinary people can choose.

(End of this chapter)