Chapter 328 An unexpected event

Yuan Xi swallowed and felt his mouth dry. He hadn't had any water for most of the day.

The Montenegrin army was so difficult to deal with that he didn't dare to relax for a moment.

The last fire attack on the mountain caused the Montenegrin Army to suffer a great loss. After the battlefield was counted, the Montenegrin Army left behind nearly two thousand corpses, including hundreds of armored soldiers.

This made Yuan Xi realize that the Black Mountain Army was not a mob. On the contrary, it was a huge separatist force that had defected to the Han court during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han and was able to recommend officials such as filial and honest officials. Its power was equal to that of a provincial governor.

After all these years of operation, no matter how bad it is, it has accumulated a lot of capital.

Even though they lost so many people in the previous battle, it was almost a non-event for them as their vanguard troops had tens of thousands of people.

Seeing that the other party did not panic when retreating, Yuan Xi had a bad premonition. Sure enough, after cleaning up the battlefield and advancing for dozens of miles, he found that the other party followed suit and set up camp on the hillside of the mountain road, completely blocking the passage into the hinterland of Black Mountain.

Yuan Xi had no choice but to retreat to the opposite hilltop and began to use the same old tricks again, chopping down trees and building a stronghold.

During this period, the Black Mountain Army led troops to attack several times, trying to destroy the camp established by Yuan Xi, but they were all repelled by Tian Yu and his troops.

Two days passed like this, and when Yuan Xi finally connected the camps into one, the two sides began to confront each other.

Now, if there are no other unexpected events, it will be difficult for both sides to do anything to each other, and the competition will be purely logistics.

In this way, as long as the food supply route behind Yuan Xi was not cut off, his several thousand soldiers would undoubtedly gain something by delaying the tens of thousands of troops on the opposite side.

What's more, the Montenegrin Army's logistics are not good today. If the war drags on for ten days or half a month, they will inevitably be short of food and their morale will be low.

But the key question is, are things really as Yuan Xi wishes?

You have to know that the tens of thousands of people on the opposite side are just the vanguard of the Black Mountain Army. In the previous battle of Yijing, the Black Mountain Army dispatched nearly 100,000 people!

Although these 100,000 people suffered a lot of losses after several major battles, at least 60,000 to 70,000 people returned.

To put it another way, there are only so many soldiers left in the Montenegrin Army, but now there are 10,000 of them, what about the other 50,000 or 60,000 people?

Tian Yu stood on a tree branch, watching the movements in the camp opposite through a telescope, thinking about the possible difficulties he might face.

He had to face this problem head-on, because if the enemy came around from another direction and surrounded Yuan Xi's troops, everyone would probably die here!

The gap in military strength is so huge, this is not the way to risk a big victory with a small one!

What's more, Tian Yu was not completely confident about Yan Rou, who was in charge of protecting the grain route.

Tian Yu was even certain that if Yan Rou's two thousand soldiers encountered an army of tens of thousands, they would definitely not die in vain, but would turn around and run away.

This is not to say that Yan Rou is unreliable, but if the gap between the two sides is too big, the outcome of the battle will be decided as soon as it begins.

Tian Yu jumped down from the tree and went to look for Yuan Xi. He was not afraid of death, but he felt that he had spent too much time here.

The soldiers under him should also have thought of the current predicament, and Tian Yu must get to the bottom of it before he can find a way to appease the troops.

Otherwise, if he himself doesn't believe what he says, how can he convince the soldiers?

He passed by Hua Tuo's tent and saw several fresh corpses lined up inside. Hua Tuo and several of his disciples were busy with knives and saws.

When Tian Yu walked into the tent, he saw Yuan Xi looking down at a piece of silk with a frown on his face.

Seeing Tian Yu coming in, Yuan Xi handed over the silk and said, "It turns out that Jizhou is not very reliable."

"One of my previous ideas was to take advantage of Yuan Shang's desire for merit and have him send troops from Weijun to attack the central passage of the Black Mountain Army."

"The Montenegrin Army will definitely split up its main force for defense, and we can then attack the northern passage fiercely, making it difficult for them to take care of both ends."

"Now it seems that this idea has failed."

Tian Yu was surprised when he heard this. When Ju Shou and Guo Jia proposed this idea, he thought it was quite feasible because it was reasonable for Yuan Shang to get a piece of the pie.

It was even said that Yuan Shang would definitely come, because Heishan meant a lot to Yuan Shang, much more than to Yuan Xi!

Judging from Yuan Xi's tone, Jizhou should not have sent troops. Did something unexpected happen, or did they see through our intentions?

If the enemy guessed our intention and waited until both sides were exhausted before reaping the benefits, the Youzhou army might not even be able to eat the leftovers in the end!

He took the silk and found that it was a secret letter from Jizhou. After reading the contents, Tian Yu was speechless.

It was really just an accident.

When Jizhou was preparing to send troops to Heishan, Dongwuyang, which was located at the junction of Weijun and Dongjun, rebelled.

Dongwuyang is the place where the Yuan family received the hostages of the Cao family last time. Although this place is located in Yanzhou and is also the seat of Dongjun, it is quite special.

Because the Dongjun prefect Zang Hong who was stationed there was directly appointed by Yuan Shao. Dongjun was nominally the territory of Yanzhou, but it was a buffer zone between Yuan and Cao Cao.

As the leader of the Suanzao League, Zang Hong was pushed out to take the blame, but his identity meant that he had some connections with the princes from all sides.

Especially since his sponsor was Zhang Miao and Zang Hong was a very loyal man, when Zhang Miao was surrounded by Cao Cao in Chenliu, Zang Hong ran to Yecheng for help.

However, for various reasons, Jizhou refused to send troops, and Zang Hong was stood up for more than a month. Finally, he returned to Dongwuyang angrily.

However, no one expected that Zang Hong would rebel as soon as he returned!

Of course, on the surface, it was Cao Cao who attacked Zhang Miao, and Cao Cao was Yuan Shao's thug. In Zang Hong's opinion, perhaps Cao Cao attacked Zhang Miao at the behest of Yuan Shao.

It was morally justifiable for Zang Hong to rebel against Yuan Shao in order to support his master.

But once he rebelled, Yuan Shao could no longer sit still, because Dongwuyang was too close to Yecheng.

The Yellow River almost served as the boundary between Jizhou and Yanzhou. Jizhou was in the north and Yanzhou was in the south. It was difficult for either of them to enter the other's territory. Therefore, even though Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had their own thoughts, they seemed to be at peace on the surface.

It just so happened that Dongwuyang was not only located in the north of the Yellow River, but also controlled an important ferry, so Yuan Shao immediately decided to send troops to attack Dongwuyang.

As a result, all the troops that Jizhou had originally mobilized to attack Heishan went to Dongwuyang. The Jizhou army would not come to the Heishan army for the time being!

When Tian Yu saw this, he just wanted to curse. If you, Zang Hong, really wanted to save Zhang Miao, you could have gathered an army and fought all the way to Chenliu. Now that you are openly rebelling, can you save Zhang Miao?

He thought to himself that this guy really had some problems with his brain, otherwise he wouldn't have become the scapegoat leader. Did he really think that if he became the leader, the princes would not dare to attack him?

Tian Yu gave a wry smile and handed the silk back, "Zang Hong's behavior is so unexpected."

Yuan Xi nodded helplessly and said, "If a strategy relies too much on external factors, accidents are likely to happen. In the end, we still have to rely on ourselves."

"This matter is still my fault. I was too optimistic."

He thought to himself that he was really careless. Ju Shou and Guo Jia didn't know what happened in later generations, but he knew that Zang Hong rebelled in later generations, and the other party had defended for a long time.

But at that time, Yuan Xi was optimistic, thinking that the situation in the world had changed and might not follow the path of later generations. However, the incident still happened.

Tian Yu said: "There is no news from the other two routes. What I am most worried about is that the Black Mountain Army will bypass us from both sides of Taihang Mountain and cut off our retreat."

The other two routes were for Yan Rou to wait for an opportunity to enter from the central passage and cut off the food supply route.

Ju Shou and Zhao Yun went south from Jizhou, went around the southern entrance of Yecheng where the Black Mountain Army had attacked, and directly attacked the enemy's base camp.

The three routes support each other. If one route can make a breakthrough, it will turn around to cut off the enemy's retreat and support the other two routes.

Now Yuan Xi's route has been blocked by the Black Mountain Army's vanguard, and it is very difficult for him to break in.

In order to prevent being surrounded by the enemy, the best way is to retreat to the vicinity of Beixincheng.

But in this way, the pressure on Yuan Xi's route will certainly be reduced, but the other two routes will be isolated and helpless, the pressure will increase greatly, and there will be a risk of being surrounded by the enemy.

Yuan Xi thought for a while and said, "We can't retreat."

"If we retreat and the enemy's vanguard turns back, it will be like selling Yan Rou's troops to the enemy."

Tian Yu said, "That being said, Yan Rou's army is mostly cavalry, so if he can't defeat them, he can just run away."

"My Lord, as the ruler of a state, if you are surrounded, I am afraid that the morale of the Youzhou army will be affected, just like what happened to Emperor Gaozu when he climbed Baideng Mountain."

Yuan Xi smiled bitterly, he also understood this truth, but among the three routes, the real role he and Tian Yu played was to provide restraint.

The key lies in the journey of Ju Shou and Zhao Yun.

The real purpose of that troop dispatch was not the Black Mountain South Pass, but another purpose!

But to achieve this goal, we still need to join forces with Lu Bu!

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Why was there still no news from Hanoi?

He said, "We can't give up this passage, otherwise the enemy will march straight in and enter the heart of Youzhou."

Tian Yu said, "But the threat from the opposing general is too great. I will lead my men to block the main road. Young Master, go east over the Taihang Mountains to prevent the enemy from surrounding you."

Yuan Xi thought about it and said, "I'll think about it again."

Tian Yu was anxious and said, "Sir, that red-armored female general is very skilled in martial arts. If she breaks in again, I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you!"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Okay, I will lead people over the mountain tomorrow. If we encounter any danger, we can always send a message by rocket."

At Lu Bu's residence in Hanoi County, Yan Shi looked incredulous, "The person is gone?"

"How is that possible?"

"Are you sure you've searched the whole house?"

Several maids said cautiously: "We have indeed looked everywhere, but there is no trace of Madam Du."

Yan's first thought was, could it be that Lu Bu was so bold as to simply take Madam Du out of the house and hide her in a golden house?

She turned to Lu Bu and said, "My husband, have you hidden Madam Du?"

Lu Bu glared and asked, "Why would I hide her?"

Yan snorted and turned to Lu Lingqi, "You didn't see it either?"

Lu Lingqi answered honestly: "My daughter fell asleep, and when she woke up, Mrs. Du was gone."

Yan was confused and doubtful. "So, could it be that she ran away by herself?"

"The mansion was heavily guarded, yet a living person escaped. Is there a traitor?"

Lu Lingqi tried to hold back her laughter, but she was laughing so hard in her heart. The person Qu Yi found was indeed reliable!