Chapter 107: Advance Instead of Retreating

Yuan Tan's army, while attacking the city, continuously sent out scouts in all directions to gather news.

Having successfully captured several cities along the way, Yuan Tan believed that Tian Kai might fortify the major cities in Donglai and other rear areas, waiting for the Yuan army to run out of food and retreat on its own.

It wasn't until this morning, before the start of the battle, that scouts reported an army of five or six thousand men approaching from the Xu province direction, about a hundred miles to the south, but Yuan Tan didn't pay much attention to it.

It would take them at least two days to arrive, and he was confident that he could capture Yu Ling City before then.

However, at the very beginning of the battle, scouts reported that Kong Rong's troops had been spotted about a hundred miles to the east.

At this point, Yuan Tan was still not worried. He still had the advantage in numbers, and as long as he captured the city, he could advance or defend as needed.

But after fighting for two hours, another scout reported that Tian Kai's ten thousand soldiers were attacking from about a hundred miles to the north, and Yuan Tan could no longer sit still.

It turned out that the enemy had been prepared all along, intending to encircle him and put him in a three-sided predicament!

At this time, his forces were only slightly larger than the enemy's, and because he was in a hurry to cross the river and attack the city, he had not yet established a camp!

It was too late to build a camp on the spot. If he attacked fiercely and captured Yu Ling City, and then defended inside the city, the enemy's three-sided encirclement would starve him to death with their food supplies.

If he failed to capture the city, the enemy could enter the city to defend, taking the initiative, and he would have to retreat and reorganize his troops.

But the problem was that the Ji River was behind him!

The retreat during the city attack almost turned into a collapse of the formation. If he retreated on a large scale, it would really turn into a rout, and he would be chased and beaten by the enemy, and his trip to Qing Province would be in vain!

He said to Ju Shou, "Sir, is the best plan for now to retreat temporarily, setting up camps and moats along the way to resist the enemy's offensive?"

Ju Shou listened and stroked his beard, saying, "That is indeed the most safe way."

He looked at the generals, "Does anyone have any other opinions?"

Yan Liang, Zhang He, Gao Lan and others were all veterans, and they said in unison, "We will follow the young master's and sir's advice."

Just kidding, we are responsible for fighting on the battlefield. The situation is so complex, no one is sure. If we make a wrong suggestion and lose the battle, we will be blamed?

Ju Shou's expression remained unchanged. Seeing Yuan Xi was silent, he said, "Does the Second Young Master have any objections?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, you are not a military supervisor, you must have had an idea long ago, why are you asking me?

He said, "I am the same as the others..."

At this moment, Yuan Xi saw a hint of disappointment on Ju Shou's face and suddenly realized that Ju Shou did not agree with the retreat!

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration and blurted out, "The most safe way is of course to retreat and set up camp, so as to be invincible."

"But if it were me, I might not do that."

As soon as he said this, not only Yuan Tan and Ju Shou, but all the generals looked over.

Ju Shou stroked his beard: "The Second Young Master seems to have a different view, can you tell us about it?"

Yuan Xi said modestly: "I'm just saying it casually, please don't blame me if I say something wrong, sir."

"Now we are surrounded on three sides. If we retreat, not only will the morale of the army be unstable, but also we will let the enemy take the initiative, and it will be difficult to regain the upper hand later."

"In this way, the two sides may eventually become a stalemate. We are an expeditionary force, and our food and grass will definitely run out first, and we will eventually be forced to withdraw our troops."

Hearing this, everyone nodded.

"But we have an opportunity right now," Yuan Xi said, "The three sides of the enemy obviously have a plan in advance, but there is a big problem."

"They have not yet joined forces!"

"The plan to break the situation now is to launch a full-scale attack, and defeat them one by one before the three sides have surrounded us!"

"But this opportunity is fleeting. If we are not careful, we will be dragged down by them and fall into a quagmire, and instead be besieged. It can be said that this is a very risky strategy."

Yuan Tan and the generals were shocked when they heard this. It wasn't that they didn't have similar ideas, but the idea was nipped in the bud as soon as it appeared, because it was too dangerous!

There is a possibility of a great victory, and even more likely a complete annihilation of the army!

A trace of imperceptible excitement appeared on Ju Shou's face, "According to the Second Young Master's idea, which side should we attack first?"

This time, Yuan Xi's idea was even more unexpected.

"Tian Kai's army."

Yuan Tan couldn't help but say after hearing this, "To defeat them one by one, you always find the weakest one to start with, how can you find the one with the most people to fight?"

Yuan Xi thought for a while and said, "This is just my feeling, it may not be accurate."

Ju Shou said, "There is no feeling on the battlefield, please tell me clearly, young master."

Yuan Xi thought to himself, why does Ju Shou seem to be targeting me?

You are a strategist, you don't say a word, you just test me?

He thought for a while and said, "In my opinion, Tian Kai is the weakest side."

Ju Shou said, "Evidence."

Yuan Xi had to say, "The following is just my guess."

"Tian Kai gave up so many cities and only came now, which shows that his tens of thousands of troops are very weak, otherwise he would have defended the strongest city before we arrived."

"It is very likely that his army was also pieced together in a hurry, and there are not many elites among them."

"Moreover, it is very troublesome to mobilize and march tens of thousands of troops. They have come from afar and their physical strength must have been consumed."

"If we launch a full-scale attack and catch them off guard, we will have a chance to defeat them all."

Yuan Xi gradually understood as he attacked the city these days that it is extremely difficult to mobilize a unit of tens of thousands of people, whether it is marching or fighting, and many problems will arise in the middle.

Even Yuan Tan, who has been fighting for several years, finds it quite difficult to command under Ju Shou's help, let alone himself.

Yuan Xi thought to himself that his current command limit is about two thousand people.

Therefore, what Yuan Xi wants to create in the future is an elite army. The advantage is that it is easy to command and mobilize, and the individual combat power is high.

Sometimes, fighting is not about piling up people to death.

Ju Shou asked again: "What about Kong Rong's army and Liu Bei's army?"

Yuan Xi said: "I don't know much about Kong Rong's army, but if Liu Xuande leads the Xu province army, there are two fierce generals under his command, and they should be difficult to deal with. I think it's best to save them for last."

Yan Liang spoke for the first time, saying, "That Liu Bei once confronted the eldest son in Pingyuan, and I didn't see anything special about him."

Zhang He then said, "I encountered them a few days ago, and they are much stronger than they were over a year ago."

"Especially Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, in a one-on-one fight, I might not be able to beat either of them!"

Everyone knew Zhang He's martial prowess, so they were all surprised to hear him say this. Yan Liang exclaimed, "You can't beat them? I don't believe it."

"If I have the chance, I would like to meet them!"

The crowd couldn't help but discuss, as no one was confident against any of the three enemy forces.

Ju Shou then said, "My thoughts are the same as the second son's."

Everyone was stunned.

Ju Shou calmly said, "Although the reasons are slightly different, I also think that Tian Kai is the easiest to deal with."

"First, an army of ten thousand is bound to be chaotic."

"Second, once they set up camp and focus on holding us back, it will be difficult for our army to find an opportunity to break through."

"Third, they are coming from the north, and if our army attacks them from the north, we can simultaneously increase the distance from the reinforcements coming from the east and south, thereby gaining more time."

"Fourth, Tian Kai has concentrated most of Qingzhou's forces here. If we can defeat them in one fell swoop, Qingzhou will lose its ability to resist. Otherwise, if they gradually defend the cities, our army will suffer even greater losses."

"Tian Kai probably believes that with the support of Kong Rong and Liu Bei's armies, he can confidently come out with all his forces. Otherwise, we would never encounter his main force in the open field."

"Therefore, I believe that this is a golden opportunity. Victory or defeat hangs in the balance. Our army should march at full speed and catch them off guard!"

"Even if we suffer greater losses, if we can annihilate Tian Kai, this battle for Qingzhou will be eighty or ninety percent successful!"

"I hope that the eldest son will immediately order the entire army to march north. I will bear full responsibility for the success or failure of this battle!"

Yuan Tan listened, pondered for a while, and then suddenly raised his head.

He was now accustomed to winning with superior numbers, and this risky move made him hesitate. But opportunities are hard to find. Would he just not fight if he encountered enemies with more troops than him in the future?

He decisively said, "The entire army heads north, march at full speed!"

On top of the city wall, the young man and the old squad leader peered outside through the arrow slits in the wall.

The old squad leader clicked his tongue and said, "It's really strange, the enemy isn't attacking anymore."

"Something must have happened."

The young man breathed a sigh of relief, "Does that mean lunch is secured?"

The old squad leader said in exasperation, "What else do you think about besides eating!"

The young man muttered, "I can't starve to death, can I?"

The old squad leader sighed, "That's true, if my grandson was here, he would probably be about the same age as you."

"Right, they'll probably attack the city again later, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of drums rang out below, scaring the old squad leader into pressing Wu Dalang's head down. The two of them lay on the ground together.

As a result, they waited for a long time, but there was no sound of stone bullets or arrows. Instead, surprised voices kept ringing out from all over the city wall.

The old squad leader and Wu Dalang poked their heads out, and couldn't help but widen their eyes at the scene below the city.

The enemy troops below the city had actually abandoned their siege equipment, bypassed Yu Ling City, and were rushing north!

The more than a thousand defenders in the city had survived a disaster, and naturally dared not leave the city to pursue them. They looked at the departing enemies and couldn't help but shout with joy.

As for whether the enemy was going to attack the northern cities, or whether they would return, that was no longer their concern.

What made them happy was that they could finally live a few more days.

Ye City.

In the Zhen residence, Zhen Rong and Zhen Mi were sitting in the main seats.

Sitting in the guest seat opposite them was Yuan Xing.

Wu Zhao knelt behind Yuan Xing. She looked at Zhen Mi's smiling face and felt a faint envy in her heart.

Zhen Mi's current appearance reminded Wu Zhao of herself five or six years ago, before she was married.

She was once in her prime, carefree. However, she encountered so many things during the most joyful time, and her state of mind was completely different.

So, seeing Zhen Mi's appearance, which had not been polluted by the world, probably everyone would feel pity and want to protect her, right?

Zhen Rong and Yuan Xing were talking about the trivial matters of the aristocratic families in Ye City, and slowly shifted the topic to some recent rumors.

Zhen Rong whispered, "I heard from my third brother that the most popular rumor in Ye City recently is about the second son of Yuan."

She unconsciously mentioned Yuan Xi, and then realized it, shyly saying, "My husband sent me a letter saying that he is safe and sound, and is fighting in Qingzhou with the second son."

"Last time I really..."

Yuan Xing waved her hand, "It's all in the past, why bring it up again?"

Zhen Mi stared with her big eyes, secretly glanced at Zhen Rong, and thought to herself, 'Every time my sister mentions the young master, her voice is unnatural. Did nothing really happen that night?'

Zhen Rong panicked even more when Zhen Mi looked at her, and said, "Why are you looking at me? Do you want to hear about the second son of Yuan?"

Zhen Mi's face turned even redder, and she said, "Fourth sister is teasing me again. I didn't say anything."

Yuan Xing smiled and said, "Alright, stop bullying your sister. She will be a daughter-in-law of our Yuan family in the future."

Zhen Mi's face turned even redder, "The two elder sisters are saying things that are not in accordance with etiquette. You are still aristocratic women."

Yuan Xing smiled and said, "What aristocratic family? We've done no shortage of petty theft. Even in Ye City, there are not many who are not hypocritical."

"Haven't you heard of it? 'Nominate as filial and incorrupt, father lives separately; nominate as outstanding talent, doesn't know how to read?'"

Everyone nodded in agreement. There were too many hypocrites among the aristocratic families who acted one way in public and another way in private.

Zhen Mi pursed her small mouth and said, "Leaving aside the others, let's talk about the third son, hmph!"

Yuan Xing sighed, "Recently, the third brother has been somewhat out of sorts whenever he hears the second brother's name."

Upon hearing this, the women became curious and said, "What's going on?"