Chapter 179: Counterattack

After listening to Wu Zhao's words, Yuan Xi nodded slightly at first, then asked with a puzzled expression, "I heard that after Lu Bu led his army into Henei Commandery, he didn't leave. It seems he has already joined forces with the governor, Zhang Yang."

"He was originally wary of the Yuan family. Could it be that even if he borrows food from Zhang Yang, he would still be unwilling to negotiate with me?"

Wu Zhao lowered his head and thought for a while, "That's also possible."

"However, Henei Commandery is not wealthy either. Lu Bu's troops are mainly cavalry, and these horses consume a great deal of grain."

"At most, in a year or so, Henei will be completely depleted."

"When that time comes, it will be more advantageous for you, Gongzi, to negotiate."

Yuan Xi carefully calculated the time and smiled, "Indeed, that timing is just right."

"Then let's just wait and see what happens."

In his heart, he calculated that even after Gongsun Zan was destroyed, the situation around You Province would still be extremely complicated.

His feud with the Black Mountain Bandits could be considered settled, the kind that would only end with death.

As long as the world is not at peace, the Southern Xiongnu will immediately jump out to cause trouble. As soon as the world is slightly stable, they will immediately pretend to be honest and rely on the Han court.

With Yu Fuluo dead, the new Chanyu, Huchuquan, has an unclear stance. He cannot deal with such a force for the time being and can only take it slowly.

Therefore, Lu Bu, as a force introduced by Yuan Xi, is an important power to balance this region. Yuan Xi has already prepared to concede some conditions to Lu Bu, after all, the Black Mountain and Southern Xiongnu forces both have hundreds of thousands of people, which he cannot swallow at present.

Then there is You Province, where the remaining large and small forces, such as Yan Rou, Xianyu Fu, and the Wuhuan and Xianbei, are not to be ignored.

The original backbone of this force was Liu He, the son of Liu Yu, but during the last attack on Yijing, Liu He led the various tribes of You Province to attack from the north to the south, and Yuan Shao attacked from the south to the north, sandwiching Yijing, but ultimately failed.

Then Liu He disappeared. Later, Yuan Shao's army also searched for his remains, but did not find them. It is estimated that he died in battle.

Yuan Xi shook his head. Apart from the forces left by Liu He, You Province also has Gongsun Du. It's really a mess. I'm afraid it will take ten or eight years to completely control You Province.

However, the top priority is to capture Yijing, otherwise everything is just a pipe dream.

Moreover, he had to make a quick decision. The Black Mountain Army's three-pronged army was too careless on the northern route and was fortunately defeated by him, but the other two routes were not so easy to deal with!

Yuan Tan's route should not be a big problem. After all, Yuan Tan has also experienced many battles. What he is worried about is that Yuan Shang is defending Ye City. The Black Mountain Army alone cannot take it down, but will Cao Cao take advantage of the situation?

However, even if there is a change in Ye City, Yuan Xi cannot help. He can only find a way to help Yuan Shao quickly take down Yijing, and then immediately return to aid Ye City.

Outside Yijing City, Yuan Shao's soldiers are still using tunnels and siege ladders to constantly probe the weaknesses of the defenders in the city.

Now, more than ten days have passed, and none of Zhang Yan's three armies have appeared, proving that they should all have been blocked.

But as for what happened and how the battle is going, none of Yuan Shao's three sons, who are guarding the three routes, have sent back any news.

Inside the camp, the strategists all looked unhappy. They still underestimated the difficulty of attacking Yijing. The eight great strategists gathered together, but they still haven't come up with an effective strategy to break the city, and can only continue to fill it with people.

Moreover, just now, there was a commotion in the northwest direction, and enemy troops dressed as Black Mountain soldiers were suspected to be appearing. Yuan Shao's army had to sound the gong to withdraw and defend the camp.

Scouts reported that hundreds of cavalry appeared in the west, all wearing Black Mountain Army uniforms!

Judging from the direction they came from, they are biased towards the north. Did something go wrong with Yuan Xi's route, or was Yuan Tan defeated?

Seeing everyone's expressions, Xun Chen spoke out, "If this continues, the morale of the army will be unstable. Should we concentrate our forces to defeat all the invading Black Mountain Army first, and then deal with the enemies in the city?"

Ju Shou said, "What if the enemies in the city take the opportunity to attack us?"

Xun Chen said, "Then we can only divide our troops to defend, after all, it is difficult to take care of both sides in two-front warfare."

This made a lot of sense. Everyone nodded after listening.

At the same time, Gongsun Zan in the city also received news of the arrival of the Black Mountain Army.

One of his generals said happily, "General, the Black Mountain Army is finally here!"

"Although the vanguard only has a few hundred cavalry, the main force must be behind!"

"If we cooperate from the inside and outside, we can defeat Yuan Shao!"

Tian Kai said, "We still need to be cautious about this matter."

"What if it is the enemy's trick to lure us out and then wipe us out in one fell swoop?"

"Or what if these people are simply disguised as Yuan Shao's army, trying to lure us out? What should we do then?"

He also thought of Tian Yu, who never returned after leaving the city. He intuitively believed that this matter was not so simple, and that the other party was likely using a trick!

One of the generals said, "Then what should we do?"

"If it is really the Black Mountain reinforcements, if we stand by and watch, wouldn't we be defeated by Yuan Shao one by one?"

Everyone was at a loss after hearing this.

Gongsun Zan looked at the soldiers in front of him, all of whom were injured, and knew that if he missed this opportunity, he would probably be trapped in the city to death.

He had been waiting here for a year, and there had been no turning point. He had been wrong from the start.

But as long as Yijing is not captured, there is still a glimmer of hope. Rather than sit and wait for death, he can only make a final gamble!

He said, "I want to send a letter to the other party."

"But if it is the enemy, the person sent out will surely die."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the guards all stood up and said in unison, "General, I'll go!"

Gongsun Zan nodded slightly after listening. He walked to the table, took out a few pieces of silk, and wrote some strange symbols on them.

He handed the silk cloths to several guards, ordered them to keep them close to their bodies, and said, "You break through now on horseback. I will send people out of the city to divert the enemy. As long as one person delivers the letter, that's enough."

The guards took their orders and went downstairs, leaving Tian Kai and the other generals looking at each other, wondering what would happen if they were intercepted by Yuan Shao's army?

Wouldn't the contents of the letter be leaked?

Gongsun Zan said, "This contains the secret code that I agreed with Zhang Yan before. In the Black Mountain Army, only a few of his confidant generals understand it."

"If it is the Black Mountain reinforcements, there will definitely be someone who understands the secret language and can understand these codes."

"Even if they are caught by Yuan Shao's army, Yuan Shao's army will not understand it and will not reveal the secret."

"On the contrary, if the Black Mountain Army sees the contents of the letter, they will definitely take action!"

The generals suddenly understood, so that's how it is!

Gongsun Zan waved his hand sharply and said, "Everyone, go back and sharpen your swords and prepare your horses. When my order comes, the moment night falls will be the time for our counterattack!"

The generals were excited and shouted, "Yes!"

Seeing the excitement of the crowd, Guan Jing knew that he was powerless to stop it at this time, and sighed inwardly.

However, he had previously advised Gongsun Zan to defend, which led to an increasingly unfavorable situation. In fact, he also suspected that his suggestion was wrong.

What if they could really turn defeat into victory?

Outside Yijing City, Yuan Shao's army saw the gate of Yijing open, and dozens of cavalrymen rushed out of the gate and desperately fled to the west.

The Yuan army ambushing outside the city surrounded them. After a round of encirclement and interception, most of Gongsun Zan's cavalry were killed, and only a small half of them escaped.

Gongsun Zan's generals saw this scene on the city wall, and they were all heavy-hearted. They didn't know if there were messengers among the escapees.

Night came, and the outside of the city was quiet all night, and nothing happened.

Everyone waited anxiously and uneasily all night, and they were all a little tired. They had to rest a little during the day and wait for the night to fall again.

Gongsun Zan sat on the watchtower. He no longer drank alcohol, but instead conserved his energy.

When night fell again, Gongsun Zan ate all of his dinner for the first time, and then put on all the armor on his body, and carefully wiped the ring-pommel saber that had accompanied him for many years.

He closed his eyes and sat upright in front of the window, closing the door to rest. The maids around him did not dare to disturb him when they saw him.

At this time, Gongsun Zan entered an extremely calm state. His ears were extremely sensitive, and he could clearly hear even the footsteps of the people around him, the crying of the baby in Hou's arms in the distance, and the calls of birds flying in the air.

The moon rose in the middle of the sky, it was the second watch.

Suddenly, a fire rose more than ten miles west of Yijing City, illuminating the sky.

Gongsun Zan heard the exclamations of the soldiers on the city wall, and suddenly opened his eyes and strode down the watchtower.

In front of him were a group of White Horse General lieutenants.

When Gongsun Zan saw them, he shouted, "Everyone, follow me on horseback, break through to the fire, and meet the Black Mountain Army!"

Everyone's faces showed excitement, and they responded with a bang.

Their familiar White Horse General is back!

The gate of Yijing City was opened wide, and thousands of cavalrymen poured out of the gate. What they had to do was to rendezvous with the Black Mountain Army at the location of the fire, and then jointly attack Yuan Shao's camp!

Gongsun Zan took the lead, seeing Yuan Shao's camp raising torches one after another, he sneered in his heart.

I'll let you panic for a while. When the time comes, I will first join forces with the Black Mountain Army, detour to the rear camp of Yuan Shao's army, and attack the camp mainly composed of civilians, causing them to trample on each other and blow up the camp, thereby affecting Yuan Shao's main camp!

He led thousands of cavalry, and seeing the fire soaring into the sky in the mountain pass to the north, this was the agreed meeting point with the Black Mountain Army, and he was about to ride into it.

At this moment, Tian Kai, who was beside him, suddenly said, "Since it is a meeting, why is there not a single soldier outside the mountain pass?"

"Logically, there should be sentries, right?"

Gongsun Zan woke up suddenly after hearing this, and broke out in a cold sweat.

He forcibly reined in his horse and shouted, "Stop!"

"Turn around!"

But it was too late. A drum sounded on both sides of the mountain, and suddenly arrows rained down, and Gongsun Zan's cavalry were shot one after another!

An army rushed out of the mountain pass. Gongsun Zan saw that the leader was Zhao Yun, and knew that he had fallen into the other party's trap. He quickly turned his horse and ran away.

Soldiers kept rushing out on both sides of the road, holding spears and stabbing the fleeing cavalry under their horses. Gongsun Zan was extremely heartbroken when he saw this, this was his last cavalry force!

But now, he couldn't care about it, and had to desperately flee towards Yijing City.

He hated in his heart, why, why did he fall into the ambush!

You must know that the secret code in his letter could never be cracked by Yuan Shao's army, unless something went wrong with the generals under Zhang Yan!

But is this possible?