Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 84: Gongsun Zan Goes Crazy (More to come, please subscribe)

Qingzhou, Yuan Shao’s central military camp.

The detailed process and results of the Battle of Yanzhou were presented to Yuan Shao as soon as possible.

Yuan Shao held the battle report sent back by Zhu Ling and the various intelligence collected by the spies, and read it over and over again carefully.

Although there were many officers and counselors in the big tent, they all seemed very quiet at this moment. It was obvious that they were all shocked by the news of Cao Cao's victory over Yuan Shu.

I thought that my victory over Gongsun Zan was already very remarkable.

Who would have thought that Cao Cao would defeat Yuan Shu's army of 200,000 with only 50,000 troops. It was simply shocking.

After a full half-minute, Yuan Shao finally sighed and said with emotion, "I never thought Cao Mengde could actually defeat Yuan Gonglu, and it was such a decisive victory..."

As always, Ju Su was the first to stand up and said:
"Now that Cao Cao has defeated Yuan Shu, there's no one in the Central Plains who can check and balance him. His rise is likely unstoppable. Our top priority now is to defeat Gongsun Zan and unify Hebei before Cao Cao's power grows."

Yuan Shao couldn't help but glance at Ju Su, thinking to himself, "When you said Cao Cao could defeat Yuan Shu, I thought he was just exaggerating... I never expected that he would actually be right."

Although he felt a little regretful for not listening to Ju Su, Yuan Shao would never admit that he was wrong.

He just listened to Ju Su's words with an expressionless face without making any statement.

Ju Su's words also reminded everyone that their top priority at the moment was indeed how to defeat Gongsun Zan, their mortal enemy.

As for Cao Cao, even if he had the land of Yanzhou, Yanzhou was surrounded by enemies and was easy to attack but difficult to defend. As long as he could unify Hebei, it would not be difficult to defeat Cao Cao.

But during this period, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan fought a series of fierce battles. Although Gongsun Zan suffered more defeats than victories, he still fought stubbornly. It was not easy to win a quick victory.

Just when everyone was silent, Xu You suddenly ran in with a letter in his hand and a happy look on his face.

"Lord! Lord! This is great news!" Xu You shouted loudly while running.

Xu You's call cheered Yuan Shao up, and he hurriedly asked, "Ziyuan, what good news is this?"

Xu You quickly walked to the center of the tent and, bowing, reported, "My Lord, the spies I sent out have learned that Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, is extremely dissatisfied with Gongsun Zan's continuous wars and excessive military spending, and has secretly cut off his food and fodder supplies!"

"Ah! Is this news true?! Happiness came too suddenly, and Yuan Shao couldn't believe it for a moment.

If Gongsun Zan really cut off his food supply, wouldn't that be God... no, Liu Yu, giving Yuan Shao a great victory for nothing?
"It's absolutely true!" Xu You raised his hand and swore, "I'm willing to guarantee it with my own head!"

"Hahaha! Liu Yu is really a timely rain for us!" Yuan Shao laughed out loud.

Ju Su saw this and quickly said, "My Lord, this is a golden opportunity sent by heaven! We must not miss it, as it will not come again. We must send our troops immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao suddenly stood up, his aura rising.

"Generals, obey the order!"

"I am here!" all the generals responded in unison.

"Return to camp immediately, gather all your troops, and launch a general attack on Gongsun Zan's camp half an hour later!"

"The last general takes command!"

The generals received the order and left their tents, ready to go.

……

Unlike the situation in Yuan Shao's camp where soldiers were sharpening their swords and morale was high, Gongsun Zan's camp was now filled with gloom and misery.

Gongsun Zan had fought against Yuan Shao several times before, losing more than he won. Now he was being plotted against by Youzhou Governor Liu Yu behind the scenes and his military supplies were cut off. The anger in Gongsun Zan's heart seemed to be burning through his chest.

Seeing that everyone was silent and no one dared to speak, Liu Bei stepped forward and said, "Brother Bogui, our army has run out of food and grass, and the soldiers have no desire to fight. In my opinion, it is best to retreat for the time being."

"What do you, a minister from Pingyuan who lost his territory, know? How can you have the right to speak here?!" Before Gongsun Zan could say anything, his cousin Gongsun Fan spoke first.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he launched a personal attack on Liu Bei, and his words were full of contempt.

Liu Bei pretended not to hear and just stared at Gongsun Zan, hoping he could give him some advice.

Gongsun Zan hesitated for a while before he gritted his teeth and said, "We can't retreat!" A trace of disappointment flashed in Liu Bei's eyes, and he silently stepped aside without saying a word.

At this time, Gongsun Zan said again: "It's just military rations. If Liu Yu won't give it to me, can't I get it myself?"

"This..." Liu Bei couldn't help but frown when he heard this, and a trace of uneasiness arose in his heart.

Gongsun Fan was the first to ask Liu Bei's question, "Brother, where can we get food and fodder?"

Gongsun Zan's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, and he coldly spat out two words: "Youzhou, civilians!"

"What?" Liu Bei felt a buzzing in his head, and then looked at Gongsun Zan in disbelief, "He...he actually wants to rob the people?"

As if to confirm Liu Bei's suspicions, Gongsun Zan said in a firm and cruel tone, "If Liu Yu won't give me food and fodder, then I can only ask for it from those lowly people. Hasn't he always claimed to love his people like his own children? I want to see if this is the result he wants!"

Liu Bei's face was filled with sorrow, and he sighed inwardly, "I never imagined that Gongsun Zan would be such a heartless and heartless person, a cruel and cruel person to the people. I was wrong about him after all..."

Thinking of this, Liu Bei already had the intention to leave.

Liu Yu's idea is actually very simple.
He just felt that Gongsun Zan's continuous wars with the Wuhuan and Yuan Shao had made the people suffer terribly.

Therefore, he wanted to restrain Gongsun Zan's behavior so that the people could recuperate.

But his method was problematic. He actually used the method of cutting off food supply to force Gongsun Zan to withdraw his troops.

Doing so not only failed to work, but instead completely angered Gongsun Zan, causing him to become even more aggressive and target the people.

In this way, the contradiction between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan will only become more irreconcilable and increasingly acute.

really,

Yuan Shao took advantage of the perfect opportunity when Gongsun Zan was out of food, and led his army in person, storming Gongsun Zan's camp with all his might.

Gongsun Zan tried to hold out for a while, but ultimately his army was demoralized and unable to resist, so he had to retreat back to Youzhou with his remaining troops.

After returning to Youzhou, Gongsun Zan became even more brutal, plundering and persecuting the people.

In order to stop his evil deeds, Liu Yu gritted his teeth and personally led an army of 100,000 to attack Gongsun Zan.

Gongsun Zan defended the city to the death.

Liu Yu's soldiers had not been in battle for a long time, so their fighting capacity was not as good as before.

In addition, Liu Yu strictly ordered his soldiers not to disturb the civilians or damage their homes. This made the army very restricted when attacking the city and it took a long time to capture it.

Gongsun Zan took advantage of the moment when Liu Yu's army was slack, and personally led hundreds of elite soldiers, taking advantage of the wind, set fire to Liu Yu's camp and attacked.

Gongsun Zan's soldiers were as fierce as wolves and tigers. Liu Yu had no way to resist them. He was defeated in an instant and had to flee in panic.

Liu Yu fled north with several thousand remnants to Juyong County.

How could a vindictive person like Gongsun Zan let it go?

He pursued them relentlessly all the way and captured Juyong City in just three days. He captured Liu Yu and his wife and children alive and brought them back to Ji County.

Coincidentally,

At this time, Duan Xun, the envoy sent by Li Jue, happened to arrive in Ji County.

Originally, Duan Xun wanted to grant Liu Yu additional territory and make him the governor of six states. At the same time, he wanted to promote Gongsun Zan to the rank of General and confer the title of Marquis of Yi on him in order to win them over.

As a result, Gongsun Zan took the opportunity to falsely accuse Liu Yu and Yuan Shao of conspiring to become emperor in front of the envoy, and coerced Duan Xun to behead Liu Yu and his wife and children in Ji City.

After Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, he took control of the entire Youzhou as he wished.

But he has become increasingly arrogant since then, not caring about the people, forgetting mistakes easily, and vindictive...

(End of this chapter)