The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 279 Zhang He and Gao Lan Surrender

Chapter 279 Zhang He and Gao Lan Surrender
Xun You smiled bitterly after hearing this.

Aristocratic families always have their own survival rules. Some of Xun Yu and others joined Qin Shou, some joined Yuan Shao, and some joined Cao Cao, all in order to preserve the vitality of the aristocratic family.

Xun You knew Xun Yu's ability.

Fortunately, this time it was an imperial edict, so whether Xun Yu listened to it or not was his business and had nothing to do with Xun You.

Xun You also believed that it was impossible for the other party to come to Chang'an, even if he had a reputation for being loyal to the emperor.

"Yes, I will issue the edict right away."

Xun You had a smile on his face.

He even had a feeling of gloating. He really wanted to see what kind of expression Xun Yu had when he received the imperial edict. He believed it must be very nice to see.

"My lord, urgent news from Guandu: Yuan Shao ordered Generals Zhang He and Gao Lan to lead a large army to attack."

There came news from the scouts outside.

"Yuan Shao is getting impatient. He wants to use his advantage to attack Guandu. He wants to fight us to the death!"

Qin Shou couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

"After all, if any of the 60,000 troops suffer losses, it would be a serious blow. What's more, his son and nephew are among them, so he is naturally worried." Xun You chuckled.

"Attack is good. I'm just worried that he will stay at home and waste my time. Let's go to Guandu."

Qin Shou was also under great pressure. Ma Chao's threat to Guanzhong was increasing. Fortunately, Xu Rong and Zhong Yao were in charge, and with the support of Xu Huang, they were able to barely stop Ma Chao's attack.

However, the amount of food and fodder consumed by an army of hundreds of thousands every day is an astronomical figure. The sooner the war ends, the more beneficial it will be for the Cavalry Army.

The best option is to let Yuan Shao attack as soon as possible and weaken his manpower.

On the front line, Guandu Port.

Zhang He and Gao Lan were leading a large army to attack Guandu Port. The tens of thousands of soldiers were riding on small boats, or even bamboo rafts, and they charged towards the enemy with fear of the Yellow River.

The two men actually wanted to attack Huang Zhong halfway across the river, but unfortunately, Huang Zhong did not do so. Instead, he stayed quietly in the camp, waiting for the two men to attack, without being in a hurry at all.

However, as a result, Yuan's army suffered heavy casualties.

After all, it was impossible for tens of thousands of troops to cross the river. They had to transport some soldiers each time, then turn the boat around and transport soldiers again. After going back and forth, the first batch of soldiers were almost all dead, and the next batch of soldiers continued to be killed.

But even so, they still couldn't do anything to the enemy, and Guandu Port still stood there, as if mocking the two men's incompetence.

"Hey! How do we fight this battle? Isn't this just lining up our brothers to die?"

Gao Lan slammed the sword in his hand hard to the ground and let out a roar.

"But the Lord asked us to attack with force. The enemy on the other side is Huang Zhong's army, which has only 15,000 soldiers, half of ours, and is not the main force of the Cavalry Army."

Zhang He smiled bitterly.

Crossing the Yellow River and forcibly attacking the enemy's stronghold seemed to him a foolish act. However, Yuan Shao believed that he could definitely defeat the enemy, as their number was half his own.

But war doesn't work that way. The enemy is well-rested and occupies strategic positions. When our 30,000 men rushed forward, half of them had already been lost before the fierce fighting. How could we fight?

“Hmph, if this continues, all our people will die and we will never see Puyang City.” Gao Lan said disdainfully.

He believed that at this time, they should decisively abandon 60,000 people and concentrate their main forces to fight again.

Looking at the soldiers falling off the boat into the river in front of him, Zhang He's face was as gloomy as water.

If this continues, all of his men will be lost.

Then he would be punished by Yuan Shao for failing to capture Guandu Port.

It’s frustrating just thinking about it.

"It's not scary for us to face a strong enemy. At worst, we will die on the battlefield, which is a worthy death. But they let us die in such a cowardly way. This makes me very angry. It's too unfair to die like this."

Zhang He sighed.

"Yes! These soldiers followed us and entrusted their lives to us. We knew that there were dangers ahead, but we still let them go and die. How can we face these soldiers?"

Gao Lan said bitterly. "An incompetent general will tire out the whole army. Our soldiers are all heroes of Yan and Zhao. How can they die here in such a cowardly way?" Zhang He suddenly said, "I am going to persuade the lord to postpone the attack and find another way. What do you think?"

"My lord will not agree."

Gao Lan shook his head.

"We'll do our best and leave the rest to fate. If it still doesn't work out by then, it won't be too late for you and me to make a decision." Zhang He whispered, "At the very least, send someone to take care of our little one first."

After hearing this, Gao Lan suddenly understood and nodded.

Two of them immediately wrote letters to persuade Yuan Shao, while the other sent his personal soldiers to Yecheng to settle his family.

In Liyang, Yuan Shao's eyes were red and he had sores at the corners of his mouth, which were signs of getting angry.

The number of trapped people increased from 30,000 to 60,000, which suddenly made Yuan Shao extremely angry.

Especially when he saw the letter sent by Zhang He, he became furious.

"What a Zhang He! He is incompetent, and he even advised me to abandon Puyang. Does he know how many people there are in Puyang? A full 60,000 elite soldiers! He advised me to abandon it? He is so bold."

The entire tent was filled with Yuan Shao’s roar.

Guo Tu, Ju Shou and others did not dare to persuade him.

They were even more impressed in their hearts. Everyone knew that the best way at the moment was to abandon the 60,000-strong army, and then rely on the natural barrier of the Yellow River to confront the Cavalry Army, and then drag the enemy to death.

But no one dared to bring it up.

Puyang has Yuan Shao's son and his nephew, who dares to mention it?

"Zhang He has 30,000 troops, while Huang Zhong only has 15,000 at most. Guandu Port is dilapidated. Under such circumstances, he still cannot take Guandu Port. It is clearly not his full effort."

"Order Zhang He and Gao Lan to capture Guandu within three days. If they fail to do so, I will execute them."

Yuan Shao said viciously.

"My lord, our army has few ships, and it is very difficult to cross the river. Huang Zhong is a skilled warrior, so isn't three days too short a time?"

Ju Su's face changed drastically when he heard this.

If it was ten days or half a month, Ju Shou would not be worried, but three days was really too short.

"If you don't force him, he won't try his best."

Yuan Shao waved his hand and said, "Press them first, then make a decision."

Everyone suddenly stopped talking after hearing this.

What everyone didn’t know was what kind of impact Yuan Shao’s order would have when it reached the front line.

"Three days? Not to mention three days, even thirty days may not be enough to capture Guandu Port. He wants our lives!"

Zhang He was furious.

"This is really too much. I am incompetent and coveted Yanzhou, which is why I ended up like this. Now I am forcing us to do this."

Gao Lan was also disappointed.

"Have we settled our little home yet?"

Zhang He asked.