Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 531: Mountain Flood Blocks the Road
The rain didn't stop until noon the next day.

Mountain torrents arose and the river water rose rapidly.

As Black Bear had expected, the entire Youzhou army entrenched in various mountainous areas was almost paralyzed.

There are objective factors such as poor information exchange and difficulty in mobilizing the army.

This allowed his large group to move forward unhindered, but new difficulties soon arose.

The river flooded and destroyed the water ferry bridge.

The current situation cannot be repaired or forced across before the river water recedes.

There was no other way but to set up camp in a circle and continue slaughtering the weak horses accompanying the army.

Under the cover of night, swimming underwater, is the Yuan army camp.

Due to the rainfall today, the river water surged and also washed away the wooden bridge between Jixian and Zhuoxian.

The entire Yuan army was divided into two parts, the north bank and the south bank. After the rain stopped, the Yuan army on both sides moved to higher ground. By nightfall, the move was not completed and they were all too tired and unable to move.

Yuan Shang still lived in the village near the river. He went out for patrol in the afternoon and was now worried about the troops on the north bank.

The Youzhou army has sent the latest battle report. Black Bear was eager to break out and even forced his soldiers to attack the Yukou Water Fort in the heavy rain. Although it was broken in one fell swoop, considering the strength of the two camps and the number of defenders, Black Bear's casualties last night were at least 500.

Taking into account the casualties from the previous battles, Black Bear now has less than two thousand soldiers able to fight, and the rest are mostly wounded.

what does this mean?
This means that the enemy is very likely to abandon their troops and break out with light equipment!
Fortunately, the water level rose sharply and washed away the wooden bridge in the mountains.

If there is no more rainfall in the mountains in the near future, after the flood peak recedes, the other party will be able to repair the wooden bridge in two days at the fastest, or three days at the slowest.

The road surface tends to be drier during this period, which also makes it easier for the army to pursue.

So now we are afraid that the enemy will abandon the army and run away. With the enemy's magical horse that can walk on mountains and rivers as if it were flat land, it is really difficult to chase and kill it.

Completely annihilate the enemy's elite central army. These are the elite troops who followed Black Bear to fight against all parties. They are the core force that will control the world in the future.

This hatred is too great. If we let the black bear escape, the soldiers from Guanzhong will march into Hebei in the future and may impose the most severe punishment on the big families and powerful people in Hebei and Youzhou.

Just like how the other side dealt with the various Hu people, all the men were demoted to slaves and the women were assigned at will.

Even for myself, the little friendship we had in the past would not play any role.

From the mother on down, even the unborn child could not escape the knife.

While Yuan Shang was deep in thought, Li Fu brought Tian Chou to see him.

There was no corridor outside the house. When the two men arrived, their feet were covered in mud, so they used discarded bamboo slips to scrape the mud on the soles of their boots outside the door.

Then he took off his boots, put on light clogs, and went into the house to meet Yuan Shang.

Tian Chou's mental state also improved a lot. He said with a smile: "General, the black thieves have been cut off by the mountain torrents. It can be seen that the fate is unfortunate and the destiny hates them."

Yuan Shang did not smile: "So, the heroes of Youzhou have been able to avenge the late emperor on their own and eliminate this scourge for the country and the world. This is indeed a good thing."

"Uh, why do you say that, General?"

Tian Chou was stunned: "The black bandits are vicious and stubborn, and their troops are brave and fierce. Even if they are trapped by mountains and rivers, our state cannot wipe them out. Without the help of the general, how could we have the current situation? Please don't be polite, general. We just need the general to take charge now."

"Do you really want me to take charge of Youzhou's affairs?"

"Yes, this was signed jointly by the generals of Xishan."

Tian Chou took out a piece of silk book and handed it to Li Fu with both hands. Li Fu opened his mouth and took a glance at it. He observed that the ink did not seem to be written recently. The corners of his mouth twitched, and he stood up and handed it to Yuan Shang with both hands: "My lord, there is no name of Xianyu Fu." Xianyu Fu had also left Dai County and led his troops to gather in Zhuolu at the confluence of Shui and Ju Rivers.

There are two roads to enter Dai from Ji County. One road goes through the Changping Mountains in the north to Juyongkou, and the other is the waterway through the western mountains. This road is basically washed out by water among the mountains.

Now that the black bear has entered the West Mountain and is trapped in the water, the Youzhou soldiers who have blocked the mountains in Changping can evacuate and join the West Mountain.

In terms of military strength, the Youzhou soldiers already have the foundation to surround and kill the black bear.

After all the calculations, the other side still has at most 2,000 combat-capable soldiers, and the rest are wounded.

Even if we don't fight, they can all be starved to death after a few months of siege.

Siege also has risks, and that is reinforcements from Guanzhong.

If my prediction is correct, the shogunate officials staying in Guanzhong should have already started dispatching reinforcements, which should arrive within a month at the latest.

The situation does not allow for a one-month siege and starvation of the enemy.

But it’s okay to go hungry for half a month or twenty days.

For some reason, Yuan Shang was in a bad mood. It might be because Black Bear's fate was about to end, or it might be because at this point, the people of Youzhou were still playing tricks on him.

Without Xian Yu Fu's signature, this list lacks practical significance.

Yuan Shang took the silk book with little interest, glanced at it, and threw it into the charcoal brazier beside him. "No one in or outside the surrounding area knows the black thief better than me. If I don't send troops, you can't trap him. Just like he was able to break through several camps in the rain last night, and you couldn't resist him. If he breaks out tonight, how confident are you to resist him?"

The flames from the burning silk book illuminated the room. The two guards standing in front of the door looked back and saw that there were no other problems, so they stood up straight again.

Tian Chou was speechless when asked this question. This was not a question that could be answered casually.

The mountain roads are difficult to travel after the heavy rain. Just as Yuan Shang said, if the black bear breaks out to the south tonight, who can stop it?

Yuan Shang thought for a moment and asked again, "Have the troops from Jundu Mountain and Changping Mountain been mobilized today?"

"I don't know, but the black bandits are trapped in Xishan, and Xishan is in urgent need of soldiers. Based on my understanding of Tian Guorang, he will transfer some of his soldiers to reinforce Xishan and will not easily transfer all of them away."

Tian Chou spoke seriously and said he was confident about this.

It's not that he has confidence in Tian Yu, but there is no possibility of adjusting the light at once when deploying troops.

"Well, you mobilize the troops in Changping to help fight in Xishan, and I will divide my troops to help defend Changping and block Juyongkou. Then, when you send me the new letter, I will lead the army to Xishan and join forces with you to encircle and kill the black bandits."

After Yuan Shang finished speaking, he felt a little tired and closed his eyes.

Youzhou alone is so difficult to deal with. Now that it has come to this, what are these people insisting on?
I couldn't help but compare him with the Black Bear. After he took over Guanzhong, he was able to gain control of the surrounding areas too quickly, especially Liangzhou, which was like a gift for free.

The so-called Liangzhou was just a province and Tianshui County at that time, but its status was heavy.

It's the same here. I urgently need Youzhou to increase my influence.

The incorporation of Youzhou into the administration would greatly speed up the progress of Feng Ji's work, and the two states of Yan and Yu could be finalized before the black bear breaks out or is surrounded and killed.

In this way, in name or on the map, his influence as a great general will increase unprecedentedly.

During the rising period, many conflicts will be resolved on their own and people will unite to face the outside world.

If these things cannot be resolved, the damage caused by the battles in the past few days alone will further aggravate the separatist trend of the Jizhou warlords.

If possible, Yuan Shang would have liked to emulate Black Bear and Cao Cao and destroy all the nodes and stubborn problems under his rule.

(End of this chapter)