I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 658: The two Yuans exchanged positions, and the fierce tigers of Jiangdong became violent (Chapter 5K4)

A few days later, Yique Pass.

"What? Marquis Wucheng occupied Nanyang?!"

Yuan Tan, Feng Ji and others looked at each other.

No one present had expected that the governor of Changsha, Sun Jian, Marquis of Wucheng, would be so bold, and that there seemed to be the shadow of Yuan Shu behind him.

"You said this is what the rear general meant, are you sure?" Feng Ji asked the scout hurriedly.

The scout nodded quickly:
"I can confirm that the document does have the seal of the rear general, and the soldiers under Sun Jian also admitted that they were acting on the orders of the rear general."

Feng Ji frowned when he heard this and looked at Yuan Tan. Both of them saw the worry in each other's eyes.

Especially Yuan Tan, he is feeling so regretful now.

He never imagined that he had only stayed in Luoyang for two days to greet the princes after Yuan Shao and Su Yao left for the Western Expedition, but his uncle actually plotted against him behind his back and ruined his own territory.

Although they knew that the recent relationship between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao was not harmonious, Yuan Shu's current behavior was no longer a simple hindrance, but a real estrangement!

Yuan Tan and others immediately discussed countermeasures. On the one hand, they reported Yuan Shao and Su Yao's western expedition army, and on the other hand, they wrote a letter to Yuan Shu to ask him why he did so, hoping that the matter could be resolved peacefully.

In the letter, Yuan Tan spoke sincerely and politely. He expressed his dissatisfaction with Yuan Shu's unauthorized seizure of Nanyang, and gave him more explanations and a way out, hoping that he would recognize the whole story and that it was all a misunderstanding. He hoped that his uncle would consider the overall situation and avoid disputes within the family.

However, Yuan Shu laughed out loud after receiving the letter:
"You are worthy of being lectured by me?"

Yuan Shu threw the letter aside with disdain, his face full of disdain and contempt.

Frankly speaking, misunderstandings do exist.

Due to the information transmission, when Yuan Shu ordered Sun Jian to capture Nanyang, they had no idea that Su Yao had given Nanyang to Yuan Shao.

It was not until two days ago, when Sun Jian handed over the Nanyang Pass to him, that Yuan Shu learned the whole story from the Nanyang county officials.

The people of Nanyang County were outraged and unanimously demanded that Yuan Shu severely punish Sun Jian.

Yuan Shu was indeed a little surprised at that time, but he didn't take it seriously.

You can't write two "Yuan" characters with one stroke.

Yuan Gonglu is the legitimate son and heir of the Yuan family. It is naturally much better for him to govern Nanyang City than to let his illegitimate son Yuan Shao govern it.

Besides
"Yuan Benchu ​​is weak and incompetent, and only knows how to rely on Su Yao. He is not worthy of representing the Yuan family's business at all."

Immediately, Yuan Shu asked his chief clerk Yan Xiang to write a reply.

In the letter, Yuan Shu bluntly stated that Su Yao and Lu Zhi were traitors like Dong Zhuo.

The orders issued by these two people in Luoyang City were typical chaotic orders, and a loyal and capable general like Yuan Gonglu would naturally not approve of them.

Nanyang is an important place in the world. He took Nanyang for the sake of the safety of the country and the future of the Yuan family. Even if Yuan Benchu ​​came in person, he would not give it up.

However, as the head of the Yuan family, he would not make it too difficult for his nephew to ask for help.

Although Nanyang City (Wancheng) would not be given to them, as long as Yuan Tan was willing to hand over his troops honestly, Yuan Shu would be happy to be a good uncle and let them settle down in Wudang.

"Where is this Wudang?"

Yuan Tan stared at the reply letter with wide eyes and asked Feng Ji.

Feng Ji on the other side rolled his eyes and said:

"Nanyang Wudang County was named after Wudang Mountain, with its seat at Yancen City, and bordering Hanzhong."

"Han, Hanzhong?!"

"Isn't that the westernmost part of Nanyang?!"

When Yuan Tan heard this, his face suddenly became extremely ugly.

He remembered it after hearing Feng Ji's words.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Wudang County did not even have a reliable county town. The current county seat, Yancen City, was built by Yancen, a separatist rebel leader in Nanyang County during the chaos in the last years of Wang Mang's reign. Hence the name of the city Yancen.

It's a stretch to say that this guy is the western gate of Nanyang County. Although it is indeed bordering Hanzhong County, the place is remote, the roads are difficult to travel, the population is sparse, and the resources are scarce.

This can be seen from the fact that when Liu Bei later entered Shu, he would rather go upstream along the Yangtze River than take this land route to Hanzhong.

Compared with the prosperous and wealthy Wancheng County, Wudang County is simply a world of difference.

Yuan Tan never imagined that Yuan Shu would be so shameless as to give him the most barren area of ​​Nanyang County, and even called it for the sake of the future of the Yuan family.

"Yuan Gonglu! He really goes too far!"

Yuan Tan was so furious that he threw the letter in his hand to the ground and gritted his teeth. The people around him also looked angry.

However, no matter how angry they are, reality has already happened and they have to find a solution.

After Yuan Tan vented his anger, he saw that everyone was gradually falling silent, so he bowed and asked Feng Ji:

"Mr. Feng, in your opinion, how should we deal with this?"

Feng Ji pondered for a moment and said slowly:
"Since Yuan Shu has decided to become our enemy, Nanyang County is no longer our ally, but our enemy. As the governor of Nanyang, Lord Yuan should defeat the enemy, quell the rebellion, and recapture Nanyang."

"But Nanyang County is rich and prosperous, with high walls and strong defenses. Although Yuan Shu is a fool without strategy, he has his henchman Sun Jian to help him. With our current army of more than 10,000 troops, if we want to forcefully attack, we will probably suffer heavy losses, and may not succeed."

"So, instead of confronting Yuan Shu head-on here, it is better for us to take a step back, preserve our strength, and then make plans later."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Tan frowned. He was obviously unwilling to give up Nanyang County just like that.

"Retreat? Where can we retreat to?"

"Are we just going to let it go like this? Nanyang County is the foundation that my father worked so hard to build. How can I give it to someone else so easily when we haven't even gotten it yet?"

"When my father returns from his expedition to the west, how will I face him?"

Yuan Tan's face was full of reluctance. Feng Ji shook his head and continued:

"Don't worry, Master Yuan. I'm not saying that we should give up Nanyang County, but I'm saying that it's not appropriate to attack now."

Immediately, Feng Ji proposed two options: retreat or stay:

"If we withdraw our troops, we can first withdraw to Hebei, reorganize our troops, accumulate strength, and then make a comeback when the time is right."

"This is the old path set by Yuan Gong in the past."

"Not only is Jizhou Mu Han Fu a student of the Yuan family, but many of the surrounding princes under his command are also students and former officials of the Yuan family."

"You can start a new business there. Moreover, once we leave, Su Yao will face the threat from Yuan Shu. We can take advantage of this and look for opportunities."

Yuan Tan was silent for a moment, his reason telling him that this choice made sense.

However, Yuan Tan did not have the courage to change Yuan Shao's established arrangements without authorization.

Besides, they now have no legitimate reason like the Governor of Bohai to go to Hebei.

Living under someone else's roof like that, Yuan Tan could not guarantee that the local officials and noble families would treat him the same way they treated Yuan Shao.

Yuan Tan had no confidence in starting a new business under such circumstances.

"What if we don't withdraw our troops?"

"If you don't withdraw, we still have another choice."

Feng Ji smiled slightly, a sly look flashed in his eyes, and pointed to Yuan Shu's previous residence:

"Luyang! We can take this opportunity to seize it."

"Luyang?"

Yuan Tan was stunned when he heard this and asked in confusion:
"Luyang is just a small county under the jurisdiction of Nanyang County. What's the point of taking it?"

Feng Ji shook his head and laughed:

"My Lord, you may not know that although Luyang is small, its geographical location is extremely important."

"Luyang is located in the northeast of Nanyang County, bordering Luoyang to the west, Yingchuan to the north, and Runan to the south. It is the throat connecting the Central Plains and Nanyang."

"If we can capture Luyang, we can control this important transportation route and can attack or defend."

"If returning to Hebei means temporarily avoiding the limelight and retreating to one side, then taking over Luyang means forging ahead with determination and taking root in the Central Plains."

"Yuan Gonglu had stationed his troops in Luyang before, and then planned to seize Nanyang."

"Now that he has seized Nanyang with the help of Sun Jian and moved his army to the county seat, Luyang must be left empty."

"We can take this opportunity to borrow Su Yao's troops and attack Luyang."

"As long as we take this place, we can replace Yuan Shu, influence the Central Plains, and win over the power of the aristocratic families and the Yuan family of Runan."

"In this way, whether we develop towards the Central Plains or restore control of Nanyang in the future, we will be able to take the initiative."

"This, sir, is a brilliant plan."

Yuan Tan's eyes lit up:
"But, borrowing troops from Su Yao? Is this possible?"

Feng Ji laughed: "He probably wants it."

He had secretly instructed Dian Wei stationed at Yique Pass and Lu Gong and others in Luoyang to pay close attention to the situation in Nanyang, and to help Yuan Shao when necessary so that the war would not spread to Luoyang.

To be honest, Dian Wei didn't understand at first and didn't know why Su Yao said that.

Why couldn't Yuan Shao gain a foothold in Nanyang?
Could it be that the prefect of Nanyang has second thoughts?

This is simply impossible. Apart from Dong Zhuo who was forced to flee westwards, who else in the world would dare to go against Guan Junhou and Yuan Shao? Do they think their lives are too long?

Therefore, Dian Wei was skeptical about this order at first, but he just nodded in agreement and actually didn't take it to heart at all.

Instead, he kept a close eye on Yuan Tan's gang, fearing that they might suddenly launch an attack and follow Su Yao's example to seize Yique Pass.

As a result, when he heard the news of the sudden change in Nanyang, he almost dropped his jaw in shock, and was immediately impressed by Su Yao's instructions.

Oh my god, is this really so blind???

What’s the matter? Do you think that Champion Hou will never come back?

Dian Wei did not dare to delay this time. While Yuan Tan and Yuan Shu were fighting through letters, he hurriedly reported the situation in Nanyang to Lu Zhi and Xun Yu in Luoyang. At the same time, he also led a part of the troops and was ready to provide support at any time.

Naturally, Lu Zhi and Xun Yu were shocked when they received the news.

They did not expect that Yuan Shu would betray Yuan Shao at this critical juncture and seize Nanyang without authorization.

"When the late emperor was on his northern tour, I knew that Yuan Gonglu was extremely bold."

Lu Zhi slammed the table and said angrily:

"But I didn't expect this man to be so blinded by greed. Doesn't he know that doing this will completely infuriate the Lord and Yuan Benchu?"

Xun Yu also frowned:
"Yuan Shu has always been arrogant and conceited. He probably thinks that since he has occupied Nanyang, he has the capital to compete with Su Yao and Yuan Shao."

"Then he really underestimated the heroes of the world!"

Lu Zhi snorted coldly and immediately invited Guan Yu to discuss countermeasures.

They decided to first strengthen the defense of Luoyang and the surrounding passes, and to mobilize food and military equipment in case of emergency.

At the same time, everyone agreed with Su Yao's strategy of keeping the enemy out and began to implement it.

Immediately, Guan Yu led part of the troops in Luoyang to Yique, and at the same time released Dian Wei and asked him to be ready to provide support at any time.

Therefore, when Yuan Tan's last peace negotiations failed and he turned to seek military support, Dian Wei immediately led 2,000 troops from Luoyang to provide support, and of course, at the same time, there was also food and grass supplied by Luoyang.

Yuan Tan and others were overjoyed. They did not expect to get support so soon and were very grateful to Su Yao for his advance arrangements.

"Champion Hou Gaoyi, Yuan will remember this in his heart!"

Yuan Tan said excitedly, with gratitude shining in his eyes.

"Yes, Marquis Guanjun is really far-sighted. We are fortunate to have his help." Feng Ji also nodded in agreement.

Everyone expressed their agreement and expressed their sincere admiration for Su Yao's wisdom and generosity.

Yes, this was a pleasant surprise.

Two thousand troops are indeed not many, but they are well aware that this is a great help for Luoyang, where the defense is tight, not to mention the fierce general Dian Wei.

With the support of Luoyang, the morale of Yuan Tan and others was greatly boosted.

After Dian Wei exchanged a few polite words with them, the army immediately took action and headed straight for Luyang.

And everything went as Feng Ji expected, very smoothly.

However, all this was not due to his brilliant planning, but rather to the fact that what Sun Jian did was too ruthless.

In today's era, the Han Dynasty has always had a tradition of the people treating the governor as their own emperor.

Although the world was gradually in chaos at this time, Nanyang was the core territory of the empire and the people's thoughts here had not changed.

Zhang Zi had just taken office and had done nothing wrong. He was a friendly person, but Sun Jian shamelessly plotted to kill him. It was truly a case of humiliation for the lord and death for the minister. The people of Nanyang County hated him to the core.

At that time, the people of Nanyang County did not know that Sun Jian had a master and could only endure humiliation. Now that they learned that Sun Jian had offered Nanyang to Yuan Shu, they were immediately outraged and demanded that Sun Jian be expelled.

Although Yuan Shu entered Wancheng, facing the criticism and pressure from the local people and the noble families, he just went with the flow and appointed Sun Jian as the General of the Central Army and sent his troops north.

In order to transfer Sun Jian, Wancheng, as Yuan Shu's new hometown, was unstable and naturally required more troops, so he first sent the recruited soldiers from Luyang to carry out replacement defense.

It was at this moment of changing guards that Luyang's troops had already left, and Sun Jian's troops had not yet arrived.
Yuan Tan led Feng Ji, Wen Chou and Dian Wei's army and attacked Luyang.

Under the city of Luyang, Yuan Tan's army came like a dark cloud and quickly surrounded the small town.

The defenders on the city wall looked at the dark mass of enemy troops outside the city, and a feeling of despair surged in their hearts.

They thought General Sun Jian would be back soon, but they didn't expect the enemy to come so quickly.

"What should we do? The General of the Household hasn't arrived yet. What should we do?" a defender asked in panic.

The general next to him took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down: "Don't panic, let's hold the city gate first and wait for General Sun's reinforcements."

However, Yuan Tan did not give them too much time to wait.

Seeing that the defenses of Luyang City were weak, he ordered his troops to prepare for an immediate siege.

Faced with such a small county town, there was no need to prepare powerful siege equipment. They only spent a few days building simple ladders and several battering rams and launched the siege.

Luyang was a small city with no general stationed there, so it was naturally hard to resist such a powerful attack, and it would be like a candle in the wind in any moment.

In the battle, Dian Wei and Wen Chou fought bravely, competed to climb the city wall, killed many people, and were unstoppable.

Under the leadership of the two fierce generals, Yuan Tan's army was in high spirits. They followed the footsteps of the two generals and launched a fierce attack on the city wall.

Although the defenders fought desperately, they were still conquered within a day under the fierce attack of Yuan Tan's army.

Looking at the big flag with the word "Yuan" rising on the top of the city wall, Yuan Tan was filled with pride.

Although the process was a bit tortuous, he still secured a foundation for his father and followers.

With Luyang, they no longer have to rely on others, whether it is local taxes or the radiation to the Central Plains and Hebei with Luyang as the center.

Immediately, Yuan Tan held a grand celebration banquet to thank Dian Wei and others for their help.

However, he did not expect that his grand plan would encounter unexpected twists and turns just as it was beginning.

Just as the celebration banquet was underway, scouts urgently reported that Sun Jian's scouts had been spotted in Luyang.

The notorious Sun Wentai actually came to seek revenge so soon.

Yuan Tan, who had been drunk and had forgotten everything, seemed to sober up immediately and asked hurriedly:
"Sun Wentai came with great force and ill intentions."

"Our army has just captured Luyang, and the city defenses have not been repaired. I am afraid it will be difficult to withstand a fierce battle. Do you have a good plan to repel the enemy?"

Wen Feng was speechless, slammed the table, stood up, and shouted with a bare face:
"Don't worry, young master. I am willing to lead the troops to fight Sun Jian!"

In today's battle, Wen Chou showed his skills and inspired everyone and the entire army to see it, and he himself was full of confidence after this great victory.

Yuan Tan was obviously infected by his passion and immediately agreed to let Wen Chou lead the troops to fight and stop Sun Jian.

However, considering the huge gap in the number of troops between the two armies, Feng Ji still advised Wen Chou to act cautiously, to make contact with the vanguard first, and to act prudently to prevent any accidents, so as to buy time for Luyang to repair the city defense.

"Sun Wentai is known as the fierce tiger of Jiangdong. He is a veteran of the battlefield and has won every battle. Captain Wen must not underestimate the enemy." Feng Ji warned earnestly.

Wen Shi was rumored to have agreed verbally, but in fact he did not agree with it.

Mr. Feng is obviously drunk. Where can he find so many generals who are invincible in every battle?
It's ok that champion Hou Yong is the strongest among the three armies, but is Sun Wentai qualified to claim to be victorious in every battle?
Apart from having some merits in fighting the Yellow Turban Rebellion, that guy would always try to trip up and use underhanded tactics against his serious Han colleagues.
In Wen Chou's opinion, he was just an opportunist who took advantage of the situation. He would make sure that rat showed his true colors on the battlefield.

Wen Chou left immediately and returned to the army. After a day of rest, he led his troops out of the city the next day and headed south of Luyang to seek battle with Sun Jian.
Then, as expected, Wen Chou was defeated and suffered heavy casualties.

To be honest, it was already the second day, and Wen Chou did not underestimate the enemy after sobering up.

He had never expected that it would be just a vanguard encounter where everyone could test their own capabilities. However, he did not expect that in this first battle, Sun Wentai would lead the charge and attack his army fiercely.

Wen Chou was caught off guard at first and thought they were just ordinary soldiers. By the time he realized how fierce the generals were and went to support them, the situation was already beyond redemption.

Not only did Sun Jian serve as the vanguard, but Huang Gai, Cheng Pu and others were also followed by his entire army.

Who wants to fight a vanguard battle? Sun Jian fought every battle with the intention of fighting a decisive battle.

Wen Chou was unable to bear this, and he was lucky enough to escape thanks to Feng Ji who was worried about him and asked Dian Wei to go out of the city to pick him up.

Otherwise, Wen Chou would have been killed by Sun Jian.

However, this defeat also meant that the control outside the city of Luyang was handed over to others. Sun Jian then easily completed the siege and surrounded the small city of Luyang, as if he was planning to annihilate it completely.

"The tiger from Jiangdong is so brave."

Yuan Tan gnashed his teeth, stamped his feet and said angrily:

"What should we do now?"

"Is there no one who can cure him?!"

——"Ha Qiu!"

Under the bright sun, Su Yao, riding on his horse, touched the tip of his nose in surprise:
"Hmm? Someone missed me?"

(End of this chapter)