Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 305 The grudge against the white horse, I will avenge it today!
Inside the main tent, seeing that Yuan Shao had agreed to Guo Tu's plan, Wen Chou hurriedly stepped forward to accept the order.

"This humble general is willing to atone for his sins by performing meritorious service. Tomorrow, I will surely conquer this city for my king!"

"it is good"

However, before Yuan Shao could continue speaking, Ju Shou stepped forward and offered his advice:

"My lord, you mustn't!"

"To offer such a disastrous plan, one must be a spy for Yuan Shu. I request that Guo Tu be executed!"

Guo Tu rebuked him, saying, "Lord Ju, it is common for us to disagree on political matters. If I have made any oversights, please point them out!"

Why would someone's innocence be tarnished for no reason?
You claim the map represents spies from Huainan; isn't that a distortion of the truth, an attempt to sow discord between the ruler and his ministers?

Ju Shou sneered at him, "Openly offering such a foolish plan is only meant to deceive those with limited knowledge."

"You still dare to say you're not a spy for Yuan Shu?"

He bowed to Yuan Shao and began to explain.

"My lord, please hear me out."

If we follow Guo Tu's strategy, sending only a minor general to impersonate General Wen Chou would indeed divert the enemy's attention from their arrows.

What can a mere soldier sent to his death possibly accomplish?
If he were unfortunately shot and killed by the Yan army, the Yan army would immediately shout: "Wen Chou is dead!" and our army's morale would surely collapse!

If that's the case, then defeat is inevitable, so how can we talk about the real General Wen Chou scaling the city walls and opening up the situation?

"This"

Ju Shou's words left Guo Tu speechless, and he could only manage to say, "General Wen Chou can reveal his identity later, and the rumors will be dispelled."

Even so, Guo Tu's voice grew softer and softer, clearly indicating that he knew that in the midst of the chaotic battle, even if Wen Chou himself wanted to reveal his identity and dispel the rumors, it would be no easy task.

However, upon hearing Ju Shou's words, Yuan Shao showed no joy whatsoever.

There was no other reason than Ju Shou refuted Guo Tu's plan as worthless, saying it was a foolish scheme.

Then wouldn't I, the lord who just thought the plan was good and called it "good", become a short-sighted and reckless person?

As a wise ruler, Yuan Shao suppressed his anger and forced a smile to mediate between the two opposing sides.

"Alright, Master Ju."

Guo Gong was also worried about the war and eager to make meritorious contributions, so he did not consider everything thoroughly at the time.

He's been with me for years, following me since the uprising began, never abandoning me. How could he become a spy in Huainan because of a single scheme?

After finishing speaking to Ju Shou, he looked up at Guo Tu, intending to casually rebuke him to let the matter drop, but Guo Tu spoke first.

"Your Majesty!"
Tu Gang pondered the plan carefully, but found it flawed. However, he already had a countermeasure, making the capture of Yijing as easy as taking candy from a baby!

Yuan Shao was surprised to hear this, clearly not expecting that Guo Tu would have another plan in such a short time.

As expected, he is the strategist who wins my heart the most among all the advisors. He is quick to adapt to changing circumstances and responds to unpredictable situations.

He immediately asked him about it, and then he heard Guo Tu say what he had heard.

"What Ju Gong just said, if the fake general we arranged was shot and killed by the enemy, it will surely damage our morale and cause our soldiers to lose heart."

Since that's the case, it would be better to send more men, all dressed in embroidered robes and golden armor, wearing silver helmets and red tassels, so that the enemy would have difficulty distinguishing the real from the fake.

Tomorrow we can release a hundred generals, each leading three to five hundred men to attack the city!

If that's the case, even our army wouldn't know which route is the real Wen Chou, so how would the enemy distinguish them?
Even if one of them is shot dead, there are still ninety-nine Wen Chou present. As long as they all acknowledge him as the real Wen Chou and lead their three to five hundred men, they can continue the siege.

This ensures that the morale of the army remains high and the battle formation remains orderly.

And the real General Wen Chou

Before Guo Tu could make any arrangements, Wen Chou spoke up first, "I can pretend to be a lowly soldier and hide under the command of a certain Wen Chou. Once I get onto the city wall, I can use my martial arts skills to open up the situation!"

The reason he rushed to answer was because of his previous experience of Ju Shou pointing out Guo Tu's lack of strategy; he intuitively felt that this Mr. Guo's advice was somewhat unreliable.

Having heard Guo Tu speak to this point, he could guess that Guo Tu was probably planning to arrange for him to mingle among the hundred "fake writers" and play some kind of trick involving deception and deception.

It seems like a brilliant and ingenious plan.

However, Wen Chou felt that it was better to be safe than sorry. If the Yan army generals couldn't distinguish between the real and fake soldiers, and randomly chose one of them to shoot, it wasn't impossible that he would be the unlucky one to be shot dead.

In his daily life, he had heard countless stories of strange plots and bizarre theories from novelists passed down from the pre-Qin period, all of which were plausible coincidences that seemed to defy explanation.

Although this was perfect for Guo Tu's plan.

Even if I am shot to death, the fake Wen Chous can say that I am fake, which will not cause any loss to the overall situation, and we can still break through Yijing.

But if you die, then you're truly dead!

Why should a true literary clown like myself risk associating with these fake literary clowns who are treated as expendable resources?

Their only purpose was to draw the enemy's attention with arrows; once they reached the top of the city wall, they would have to rely on their own bravery to fight their way out.

If you are a low-ranking soldier, you can actually better conceal your identity.

Wen Chou is not a reckless man; he is determined to nip even the slightest possibility in the bud. There is no need to gamble his life on that one percent of luck, is there?
Upon hearing this, Guo Tu was slightly taken aback, but he also felt that Wen Chou's arrangement was indeed more prudent, and said, "Good."

Yuan Shao was overjoyed upon seeing this and was about to make his decision.

However, having learned from his previous experience, and not wanting to appear short-sighted and reckless again, he first looked up at Ju Shou.

"What does Master Ju think of Guo's plan?"

Ju Shou's expression was very complicated at this moment. He originally intended to refute and suppress Guo Tu, but he did not expect that Guo Gongze would change his mind so quickly.

This actually helped Guo Tu perfect his plan. Although Ju Shou wanted to refute Guo Tu's current plan, he couldn't think of any points to refute it for the time being.

He just sighed and said something.

"This plan is ultimately a risky and unpredictable scheme, and its success is not guaranteed."

Our army has arrived with overwhelming force; we will not send generals, but only soldiers to attack the city. Why must you be in such a hurry, my lord?

As Ju Shou spoke, he noticed that Yuan Shao's expression on the main seat was growing increasingly grim, so he reluctantly added a sentence.

"If our lord is determined to achieve success quickly, this plan may have its merits."

Yuan Shao: "."

Those were kind words, but please don't say them again.

Did he not know that Ju Shou was capable?

Did he not know that Ju Shou's suggestions were all foolproof plans?

But every time, it's either a matter of playing it safe, or not being in a hurry, or taking things slowly!

Shao is not young anymore. If we follow your plan, how can we expect to see the world return to Yuan in our lifetime?
Thinking it over, he said no more and immediately gave the order to make arrangements.

"it is good!

Since Lord Ju also thinks this plan is worthwhile, then Lord Guo, you and Wen Chou should go and make the arrangements. The city will be captured tomorrow.

"only."

The next day, the Wei army attacked the city again. When Yan Tong looked down at the city, he was completely dumbfounded.

one hundred!
A full hundred banners bearing the character "Wen" and a hundred generals named "Wen Chou" riding tall horses, wearing embroidered robes and golden armor, and silver helmets with red tassels, led tens of thousands of infantrymen to attack!
All the literary clowns shouted in unison:
"Wen Chou of Hebei is here; who dares to fight me to the death? (*100)"

For a time, the cry of "I am Wen Chou from Hebei" was heard everywhere, reaching the heavens.

Yan Tong: "???"

Yan Tong was truly stunned. Not only was he stunned, but the soldiers guarding the city were also clearly stunned.

"General, yesterday we decided to specifically target those in embroidered robes and golden armor. What should we do about it?"

Yan Tong remained silent.

He realized that he might not really have the talent to be a strategist or a civil official. Yesterday, he had come up with a brilliant plan to defend the city, which he thought he could rely on to dominate the world and never be defeated.

Unexpectedly, the other party cracked it on the very second day.

If we were to fire at those hundred Wen Chou soldiers separately now, it would be no different from a normal volley of arrows used to defend the city. Even if we managed to kill a few Wen Chou soldiers by chance after several rounds of arrow rain, it would be a different story.

However, the time it takes for these few rounds of arrows to rain down is enough for the other Wen Chou to climb up the city wall, at which point the situation will be hopeless.

If a single person is shot at, they are killed, and shouting "Wen Chou is dead" is meaningless.

The Wei army wasn't stupid either. There were a full hundred Wen Chou standing there; even a fool would know that ninety-nine of them were fake.

As long as the others shout, "The one who died was a fake! The Hebei Wen Chou is here!"

Even if our side manages to kill Zhen Wenchou by sheer luck, it won't matter.

"General, Wen Chou and his men are coming to attack. What should we do?"

"General, make a quick decision, who should we shoot?"

"General!!!"

Hearing the soldiers' urging and calls around him, Yan Tong gave a bitter smile.

Who to shoot?

Shooting at anyone won't work.

A full hundred Wen Chou (a type of clown in Chinese folklore) – is this a scheme that any human could come up with?
He didn't know which strategist under Yuan Shao had devised this plan, which not only completely thwarted his foolproof defense strategy devised just yesterday, but also created such an unsolvable situation for him.

Do you enjoy shooting down generals?

A full hundred Wen Chou are here for you to shoot! Precisely because it's obvious they're fake, both sides know they're fake, so shooting at anyone is useless.

Yan Tong sighed softly; it had finally come to this.

Well, after the volley of arrows at Qu Yi yesterday, I was going to issue this death order. I'm lucky to have lived one more day.

He then gave the order:

Where is the white horse?

The generals replied, "Heaven is our witness, and the white horse is our proof!"

Yan Tong laughed loudly!

"Defend the city?"
It's better not to defend this city!

Those who are not afraid of death and can ride horses, follow me out of the city to fight the enemy!
Killing one is enough to make a profit, killing two is a huge bonus!
Brothers, today we shall avenge the defeat at Baima under the walls of Yijing!

The generals shouted in unison:

"Where righteousness leads, I will follow even unto death!"

Yan Tong originally intended to have those who were afraid of death defend the city, promising them that if the Wei army came to the city, they could surrender.

However, to his surprise, most people remembered the deep-seated hatred between Jieqiao Baima and the enemy, and were willing to follow him to the death.

However, Gongsun Zan took all the white horses in the city with him when he left. Fortunately, the large ships had limited capacity, and Gongsun Zan only liked white horses.

So the group searched the city and found a total of 5,000 mixed-colored horses that Gongsun Zan could not keep.

Yan Tong selected the strongest and most capable men and divided them among himself.

Soldiers without horses remained on the city walls to kill the enemy with arrows.

Before long, a fake Wen Chou took the lead and quickly reached the city walls, shouting as he went.

"With Wen Chou of Hebei here, who dares to fight me?"

Just as they were about to scale the city walls, the gates of Yijing City opened wide, and a motley crew of cavalry charged out from the crowd.

One of the generals charged forward with his spear.

I dare to fight you!

Although Yan Tong's martial arts skills were not top-notch, he was still Gongsun Zan's number one general.

This fake Wen Chou was originally just an unknown junior general in the Wei army. It was only because they didn't care about wasting his time that they sent him to impersonate Wen Chou and attract arrows.

At this point, how could he possibly be a match for Yan Tong?

He was cut down from his horse after only three exchanges!
The Yan army shouted in unison, "Wen Chou is dead! General, you have won ten thousand victories!"

However, within the Wei army, a large number of fake Wen Chous cried out:

"Don't panic, the one who died was a fake."

Hebei Wen Chou is here!

Then a silver spear appeared and struck, and the corpse fell to the ground.

The Yan army shouted again: "Wen Chou is dead!"

"Hebei Wen Chou is here!"

The silver spear returns!

Wen Chou is dead!

Amidst a vast army, silver spears crisscrossed, their thrusts as swift as dragons!
Yan Tong never imagined that one day he would also have the unparalleled feat of taking down enemy generals as easily as taking candy from a bag, just like Zilong.

These Wen Chou, who were merely expendable troops brought in to draw arrows, were truly inadequate in strength. Even when riding alone, he was no match for Yan Tong for ten rounds!

The main reason was that the Wei army came to attack the city, but they never expected that the defending army would abandon the city and take the initiative to fight out.

Are you all going to abandon this city?
According to Guo Tu's plan, a hundred Wen Chou led tens of thousands of infantrymen to attack the city.

It wasn't that Yuan Shao didn't want to send 300,000 men directly, but he couldn't manage them all. Even if he attacked from all sides, the city walls only had so much space.

Too many people could easily trample each other, so it's better to attack the city in shifts.

At this moment, among these tens of thousands of infantrymen, only a hundred fake Wen Chou were on horseback.

Suddenly, five thousand cavalrymen charged out of the city, but their "generals" were all incompetent and easily killed by the enemy generals.

This continued unabated, with cries of "Wen Chou is dead" echoing throughout the land, and banners bearing the character "Wen" falling one after another.

How could these ordinary soldiers possibly withstand the cavalry's might? Naturally, they couldn't.

This led to the scene where Yan Tong led his "White Horse Cavalry" across the enemy ranks, exuding a murderous aura.

"I am Wang Erhu from Hebei! General, please don't kill me!"

"die!"

A silver spear charged in, and the generals shouted:
"Yan Liang is dead! General, you have won a great victory!"

"I am not Wen Chou!"

I'm really not Wen Chou!!!

"Wen Chou, don't run!"

Before three rounds were even over, heads rolled.

The generals shouted:

"Zhang He is dead! General, you have won a great victory!"

"I'm from Henan, General, spare my life!"

Wen Chou abandoned his embroidered robe and golden armor, and fled on horseback.

Yan Tong came chasing after them, yelling, "Wen Chou, you rat, leave your life behind!"

As he spoke, he took the large bow from his back, drew his arrow, and shot!
The arrow flew like a shooting star chasing the moon, and even the fleeing Wen Chou could not escape his fate.

The generals shouted:

"Gao Lan is dead! General, you have won all the best!"

On the walls of Yijing, the generals and soldiers knew that Yan Tong was determined to die, and they were filled with unspeakable sorrow.

Unexpectedly, the general was seen slaughtering enemies on all sides below the city, leading five thousand cavalry in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. Although there were hundreds of enemy generals, none of them could withstand three rounds of fighting.

The morale was immediately boosted, and people beat drums to cheer them on!
They shouted in unison, "Heaven is our witness, and the white horse is our proof!"

Five thousand cavalrymen shouted at them from below the city.

"Where righteousness lies, I will follow even unto death!"

On this day, the White Horse Cavalry, which once roamed the grasslands and never suffered a defeat, reappeared on five thousand horses of various colors!
Yan Tong stabbed another Wen Chou to death with a single shot, his face splattered with blood, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Brother!
The grudge against the white horse, I will avenge it today!

After speaking, he raised his spear and strode about, looking in all directions.

"Where is Wen Chou? Fight me!"

"Wen Chou is here!"
"You thief general, come and fight me!"

All that could be seen was the group of generals in embroidered robes and golden armor, "Wen Chou," fleeing in panic. Meanwhile, among the infantry, there was a soldier who was furious!

He threw off his helmet, revealing his face, picked up his gun, and started chasing after Yan Tong and the others, as if he wanted to fight them to the death.

Yan Tong: "."

Yan Tong remained silent for a moment, then sneered:

"How dare a mere soldier presume to call himself a general?"

"Under the guns of this family, no nameless traitors are killed!"

After laughing, he ignored the soldier Wen Chou chasing after him and went straight after the remaining general Wen Chou, and rode away.

Isn't this nonsense?
Which of the "literary clowns" present would flee in disarray upon seeing that I had not?
If a nobody like you dares to chase after me and fight me, you must be the real Wen Chou. Do you think I'd be stupid enough to fight you?

As yet another "Wen Chou" fell to the spear, the generals cried out:
"King Wei is dead! General, you have won ten thousand victories!"

"King Wei is dead! General, you have won ten thousand victories!"

Surrounded by a large army, Yuan Shao's face darkened upon hearing these words.

He looked at Guo Tu and asked him in a cold voice.

"Guo Gongze, is this your foolproof plan for attacking the city?"

Guo Tu smiled wryly, "In terms of attacking a city, it's indeed foolproof, but now that the enemy has come out of the city, it's open field warfare. Strategies must adapt to the situation, so naturally it won't work."

Ju Shou remained calm and composed, muttering to himself.

“This is a foolish plan that only a short-sighted person would use.”

Yuan Shao was furious. He glared at him but didn't say anything. He just hurriedly shouted:
Where is Xu You?!
Send heavy cavalry to press forward!
"Since you dare to come out of the city to fight, I will take these white horses; none will return!"

Xu You smiled faintly.

"Benchu, just look at my methods! Taking Yijing will be as easy as turning my hand!"

(End of this chapter)