I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 903 Falling apart
As he unfolded the letter, Yuan Shu's hands were shaking badly.

In the letter, the old mother talked about how Su Yao restrained his soldiers from harming anyone after the fall of Shouchun, and his wives and concubines cried about how the people in the city were spared from the war. At the end, there were exhortations such as "I hope the general will think of the people and stop being obsessed."

Every word stabbed Yuan Shu's heart like a knife, especially the one that said if he surrendered early, the general would promise to kill only the main culprit, which made his eyes blaze with fire.

Good man, the main culprit?

Isn't that you?
If he surrenders, he will die, so why should he surrender?

As long as I can turn the tables in the end, I can have as many wives and children as I want, right?!
Yuan Shu immediately crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it to the ground, his face livid: "Bitch! A bunch of cowardly bitches!"

Seeing this, Yan Xiang hurried forward to pick up the letter and unfold it to read it carefully, his face becoming more serious: "General Hou, this matter is of great importance. Since the letter from home has been passed to the army, I am afraid..."

Seeing the generals looking at him, Yuan Shu said uncomfortably:
"It's just the opinion of some cowardly women. Su Yao wants to threaten me with his family? Dream on!"

"Inform the entire army, prepare to move camp, and follow me to Jiangdong."

Jiangdong, that’s right.

Yuan Shu is conceited, but he is definitely not a fool. When it comes to his life and property, he must consider the consequences of losing the bet.

So, ever since he learned that Su Yao was coming in person, Yuan Shu began to think about a way out.

Soon, retreating to Jiangdong became the best option agreed upon by him and his advisers.

Firstly, Jiangdong has the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, which can use the power of the water to resist the attack of Su Yao's cavalry.

Secondly, Jiangdong was full of powerful people who were extremely resistant to Su Yao's new policies. He had previously sent people to drive away Danyang prefect Zhou Xin and had also infiltrated Wujun, Kuaiji and other places.

Therefore, as long as he could cross the Yangtze River, gather his remaining troops and prepare for war, he might have a chance to make a comeback.

"The rear general is wise!"

Seeing that Yuan Shu finally decided not to fight to the death here, Yang Hong and Yan Xiang both looked relieved.

"But now that Shouchun has fallen, the army's morale is unstable, and Yuan Benchu ​​is still holding on. If we withdraw our troops now, he may take the opportunity to pursue us, and our army will be attacked from both sides."

Yuan Shu clenched his fists and sneered:
"That guy is just a few defeated soldiers left, and he can barely protect himself, so how can he have the energy to provoke our army?"

After thinking for a moment, Yuan Shu grabbed the half-full pot of wine on the table and drank it, then slammed the table:

"Order Zhang Xun and Yuan Yin to lead 5,000 elite soldiers to cover the rear. Anyone who dares to let Yuan Shao's soldiers come over will be killed immediately! The rest of you, burn down the camp overnight, load the baggage that can be taken away onto carts, and destroy the baggage that cannot be taken away on the spot. Don't leave it to Su Yao and that bastard!"

That night, the night was as dark as ink, and a huge flame suddenly broke out in the camp of the six counties.

Thick smoke carrying the smell of burning food and grass rose straight into the sky. Countless soldiers were running in the firelight, and the neighing of horses and the rumbling of wheels, together with the faint sound of war drums coming from the six county towns not far away, formed a chaos.

Zhang Xun looked at the sea of ​​fire and sighed inwardly - this fire burned not only the food and military equipment, but also the hegemony that Yuan Shu had painstakingly built up over the years.

"what?"

"Did the guy on the highway withdraw his troops?"

"Could it be that this is his evil plan to lure me out of the city?"

Inside the six counties, Yuan Shao, who received the report, sat up in shock despite his dying illness and frantically sought confirmation.

"Mr. Yuan, the scouts have confirmed again and again that the enemy troops are indeed withdrawing overnight!" Feng Ji reported excitedly.

An expression of disbelief appeared on Yuan Shao's face. He rushed out of the room, climbed up the city wall, held onto the battlement, and looked into the distance.

Thick smoke was seen billowing from the direction of Yuan Shu's camp, flames lit up half of the night sky, and the sounds of men and horses could be faintly heard.

The Yuan army camp outside the city was in chaos. The soldiers were packing their bags in a hurry, and carriages and bags were shuttling back and forth. It was obvious that they were not preparing for a feint attack.

"Just win like this?"

Yuan Shao's eyes were a little dull.

Just now, he was trapped in the city and his food and grass were exhausted. Not only had all his war horses been slaughtered, but even the tree bark had been eaten up.

Who would have thought that the situation would change so drastically overnight.

"Congratulations, Lord Yuan!" Yan Liang said with a happy face, "The Shu bandit army collapsed without a fight. This is God's blessing, Lord Yuan. I am willing to lead my troops to attack and chase the bandits. We will definitely be able to cut off the Shu bandits' heads!"

Yuan Shao was invigorated when he heard this, but his reason immediately prevailed. He waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "In our current state, how can we pursue the bandits?"

"It would be better to send someone out to find out the truth, see the situation, and then gather some food and grass before making plans."

As he spoke, Yuan Shao closed his eyes to hide his fatigue.

He knew the condition of his army too well. After days of hunger and cold, the soldiers were already exhausted. If they rashly pursued Yuan Shu now, if Yuan Shu left some men behind to cover their retreat, they would not gain any advantage and might even waste the last bit of their strength.

However, Yuan Shao underestimated the chain reaction triggered by Yuan Shu's retreat.

The flames rising into the sky outside the city had clearly told everyone the fact that Yuan Shu was withdrawing his troops, and there was no way to cover it up.

When the soldiers and civilians in the city learned that the enemy army that had besieged them for months was fleeing in a panic, their long-suppressed emotions suddenly burst out.

Some people cheered, some knelt down and cried, and some even took the lead in attacking the city gate, ignoring Yuan Shao's ban.

"Stop! Stop right there!"

"Mr. Yuan has ordered that no one is allowed to leave the city. Anyone who enters the city gate without permission will be killed without mercy!"

Wen Chou was guarding the city gate. When he saw a group of rugged civilians rushing forward, he was so frightened that he waved his weapons and shouted, and even drew his sword and killed several disobedient people.

However, Wen Chou's actions could not stop the actions of the crowd at all, and even the soldiers guarding the gate began to waver.

"Open the door!"

"Open the door quickly!"

"There's food outside. If we're any later it will all be burned!"

The people's shouts were deafening, and the commotion at the city gate grew more and more intense.

Between starving to death and fighting to death, people chose to fight to death.

These people's desire to survive even motivated the guards.

Finally, I don’t know which soldier shouted, suddenly rushed forward and cut off the bolt of the city gate.

Then, with a loud bang, the city gate slowly opened, and the soldiers and civilians rushed out of the city gate and rushed to the fire outside the city, trying to snatch back the life-saving supplies from Yuan Shu's camp.

Wen Chou stood at the door, looking at the surging crowd, waving his weapons to try to stop them but he could not. Instead, he was pushed back by the crowd and almost fell and died in the last moments before dawn.

Yuan Shao saw this scene from the tower and his face turned pale instantly. He never expected that his ban would be so vulnerable.

If Yuan Shu is prepared, now is the best opportunity to break into the city.

"Mr. Yuan, it's no use!"

Yan Liang shouted anxiously:
"The soldiers are starving and are not listening to advice. If we don't take action, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"Asshole, bastard!"

"Leave the city, let anyone who wants to leave the city leave!"

"The rest of you hold the city gates, beware of sneak attacks from magic thieves!"

Yuan Shao was helpless and knew that continuing to force those people to stay would only lead to mutiny, so he simply decided to let those bold people go to reduce the pressure.

Upon seeing this, Yan Liang immediately led his troops to attack, thinking that even if something unexpected happened, having a general in command could help minimize some losses.

However, what they did not expect was that Yuan Shu's remaining troops were so vulnerable.

His so-called 5,000-strong elite rearguard troops began to lose morale the moment Yuan Shao opened the gate. They dispersed before the two armies had any substantial contact, and no one followed the orders of Yuan Shu and Zhang Xun.

The defeat was like a landslide. Under the exhaustion of the long siege and the blow of Su Yao cutting off their retreat route and seizing their lair, the morale of Yuan Shu's army completely collapsed.

This is naturally a matter of course.

Guan Yu, who was once a powerful figure throughout China, had his home stolen by Lu Meng, and his army, which had won victory after victory, collapsed in an instant. What about the remnants of Yuan Shu, who had been defeated repeatedly and whose morale had long been unstable?

Therefore, no matter whether it was Yuan Shao or Zhang Xun, when they saw this ridiculous scene in front of the fire, they were all dumbfounded.
(End of this chapter)