Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 528 Opening the Net and Waiting
At four o'clock in the morning, on the south bank of the water.

After Yuan's army sent scouts northward to confirm safety, they began to cross the river.

At the original wooden bridge, Yuan Jun transported felled and trimmed logs to the north bank in truckloads.

After crossing the bridge, the trucks were unloaded, trenches were dug on the spot and logs were buried.

On the south side of the bridge, Yuan Shang stood on the chariot, looking around with a calm expression.

Soon as the arc-shaped fortifications were repaired, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and watched the Julu and Changshan soldiers cross the bridge with bows and crossbows and establish a defense line relying on the fortifications.

He didn't notice it until the scouts came closer and called out. Yuan Shang turned around and said, "Tell me."

"The north gate of Ji County was wide open, and the enemy's chariot and cavalry camps filed out."

The scout took a breath and said quickly, "Knights also poured out from the west and south gates of Ji County. We were unable to resist them, and most of them have retreated south. The line of sight is unclear, and it is unclear how many soldiers poured out from the north gate of Ji County."

At this time, Tian Chou spoke up: "The black bandits have captured a lot of horses. Their soldiers have several horses to one man. If the West Mountain camp cannot resist them, the general will not be able to catch up with them."

Yuan Shang glanced at Tian Chou and said, "Tian Yu has not replied to me yet. I don't know how many troops there are in Xishan. How can I dare to send troops out so easily?"

Li Fu saw that Tian Chou looked unhappy and immediately said, "My lord, we should send troops quickly at this critical moment. Even if we stay behind the enemy, we can divide the black bandits' strength and provide support to the Xishan defenders. If the black bandits are not able to advance smoothly, our army can attack them from behind, making it difficult for them to take care of both ends."

As he spoke, Li Fu glanced at the officers and generals. Most of them were from powerful families and wealthy families, and they all looked very excited at the moment.

Liangxiang was quickly captured, which proved the enemy's ability to attack.

When the Guanzhong troops return in the future, unless they defeat the enemy in a field battle, they will be defeated one by one if they defend their positions in different places.

In the future, the enemy will have more troops, ten times more than now, and it will be more difficult to deal with.

So right now is the best opportunity. If we miss it, we should consider how to disperse and relocate our children to seek refuge elsewhere.

They are all well-read and well-dressed young men, so it is clear to them how to make the choice.

If you are afraid of death at this time, you will definitely die in the future.

Only with a willingness to die can you put the evil thief to death and then survive.

Yuan Shang saw that the army's morale was good, but he was worried that this was a trick by the other side to lure him.

The last battle of Liangxiang had only been less than two days and two nights, but considering the casualties suffered by Black Bear, it was concluded that the enemy lacked the manpower to carry out such a rapid counter-attack.

While he was thinking, he saw Jiao Chu, the Youzhou general who led the main cavalry group, step out first: "General, the black thief killed my partner, and I have an irreconcilable hatred with him! In this battle, I will be the vanguard."

"Okay, General, don't be reckless. The key is to contain the black bandits' forces."

Yuan Shang wanted to give detailed instructions, but just as he agreed, Jiao Chu said in a hurry: "Yes, I will deploy the troops in several battle formations and take up my position behind them. I will never repeat the mistakes of Zhang Nan, Lu Kuang, and Lu Xiang!"

Seeing that Jiao Chu had figured out the worst possible outcome, Yuan Shang nodded and said, "Okay, I will transfer the soldiers from Hejian and Zhongshan to serve as the general's reinforcements."

"Thank you for your understanding, General!"

Jiao Chu bowed and thanked him. He was born in Zhongshan Kingdom. Hejian was just south of Zhuo County. Yuan Xi had once controlled the two counties and had experience of cooperating with the powerful coalition forces of the two counties. There would be no problem now.

Jiao Chu immediately left quickly, and his personal soldiers also came up with horses. Jiao Chu jumped on the horse nimbly, took the lance and raised it high: "Order each camp to cross the river in order!"

Surrounded by a dozen personal riders, Jiao Chu rode first and crossed the bridge.

The rest of the military officers and bodyguards quickly ran to the cavalry area, without having to prepare any military tents or baggage, and they all drove their horses towards the wooden bridge.

As the cavalry finished crossing the river, the Zhongshan and Hejian troops also arrived near the south of the bridge. Guo Huai led a dozen knights to stay nearby and watched the two armies crossing the bridge with torches, thinking of the previous coalition forces of Taiyuan and Hedong.

He watched for a long time, and suddenly said to his attendants, "It is strange that we have not seen Qian Zhao, one of the general's subordinates, yet."

A cousin was also suspicious: "Yes, he is also the governor of Bingzhou, and he has no less than 5,000 Wuhuan followers under his command. If he could arrive to join the battle, the general would not be in such a dilemma."

Yuan Shang's main cavalry was severely damaged, resulting in the mission of pursuit falling on Jiao Chu, a general under Yuan Xi.

If Qian Zhao was here, with his rich experience, he would definitely be able to perform this task well.

The core of this mission is to tie down Black Bear's forces, distract the enemy and prevent them from fully devoting themselves to breaking out and chasing.

As long as the black bear's attack is not strong enough and the pursuit is not fierce enough, the Xishan troops will have time to reorganize their defense line even if they are defeated.

Therefore, if you want to complete this task, you must learn to protect yourself.

Once people like Zhang Nan, Yan Rou, and the Lu brothers died on the spot, the army would be in danger of collapse and would naturally be unable to carry out the containment mission.

Qian Zhao had experience of working together with Black Bear and knew how fierce the opponent's cavalry was, so he would never put himself in danger.

Guo Huai thought for a moment and said, "The people of Youzhou still refuse to fully cooperate with the general. The general's temperament is similar to that of the black thief, but he is more bloodthirsty. After this battle, regardless of whether the black thief lives or dies, I predict that the general will annex Youzhou. If he takes Youzhou, the two states of Zhongyuan will also be incorporated into the general's shogunate."

Several cousins ​​were silent, and then Guo Huai continued, "The Black Bandits are strong and young. In comparison, Cao Cao and Liu Xuande are old. Only the general can contend with them for a long time. I predict that in the future, all parties will definitely join the general and work together to fight against the Black Bandits."

Another cousin wondered, "If Liu Xuande sends troops to Juyongkou and joins forces with the black bandits, the general may not be able to resist."

Guo Huai thought about the possibility of this happening, shook his head and said, "Although Liu Xuande's presence can make most of Youzhou's troops change their flags and turn against us, the black thief is cunning and he is more afraid of Liu Xuande becoming more powerful."

After that, he looked at his brothers and said, "Save some horses. If the war situation is not good, we will go to Liaodong."

A relative who was watching also spoke up at this time: "This battle concerns the survival of Hebei. How can the Wuhuan of the three counties avoid it?"

Guo Huai smiled and said, "When the Wuhuan arrive, the general will have a sure victory, whether the Wuhuan are there or not will be the same. If the battle is tough, the Wuhuan will pretend not to see them even if they are so close."

We cannot count on the Wuhuan people. Unless we force them to take the lead, they will never take the initiative to fight a tough battle.

After five o'clock in the morning, there was a blood-red light in the eastern sky.

On the south gate tower of Ji County, Black Bear took a sip of rice wine and looked at the several large groups of people marching with torches in the distance to the south, and couldn't help but smile.

His shogunate's Cao Yuan had already followed the chariot camp northward, and was now accompanied by more than a hundred heavily-armored puppet Taoist soldiers.

Wei Yan was sitting opposite him, taking a deep breath and occasionally glancing sideways at the large group of Yuan troops marching in the south with torches in hand.

Black Bear picked up the golden wine pot and shook it, and found that it was empty, so he said to Wei Yan: "The new soldiers in the camp are close to 6,000, and the original old soldiers are only more than 4,000. After I leave, I'm afraid it will take some time for the general to be able to use his arms as he wishes."

"I am willing to follow the orders of the Grand Marshal."

"Let them come. You send 5,000 soldiers to set up camp on the main road west of the city. When the two armies engage in battle, I will send Grand Historian Wen Gong to attack and kill their general."

"With such a great victory, I no longer worry about the safety of Ji County."

"Yes, I will go and deploy the troops right away."

Wei Yan agreed without any doubt.

Even without his help, Black Bear could still mobilize the defenders in the city. This was the prestige he had gained over the past few days.

(End of this chapter)