Chapter 337 Two Bamboo Slips

Yang Feng stood straight outside the tent, just as high-spirited as she was when she left.

But they are only similar in shape.

Although Yang Feng was still leaning on the wooden stick, her slightly trembling hands clearly showed that she was now at the end of her strength.

The fiery red armor that had once been carefully maintained was now tattered, with most of the armor plates falling off and covered in blood and dust.

The wound on his thigh was wrapped with several layers of linen, which had already been soaked with blood. The reddish-brown color was tinged with dark yellow, which meant that the wound had festered.

The most miserable thing was Yang Feng's face. There was already a scar running diagonally across her face, and now there were several more wounds running in all directions, including bloodstains from one of her ears, which had already scabbed and dried, making it look particularly terrifying.

Yang Feng's eyes, which had been shining brightly, were now dim. She spoke slowly, "Feng has failed the General's trust."

Zhang Yan quickly said, "Commander Yang, what are you talking about? It's just that the enemy is cunning and can't be counted on."

Yang Feng said bitterly: "Please ask the General to allocate a troop of soldiers and horses so that Feng can avenge this battle!"

Zhang Yan sighed, "No hurry, let's wait until Commander Yang recovers from his injury."

Yang Feng was about to say something when his body swayed a few times, then he fell to the ground and fainted.

Zhang Yan saw this and shouted, "Come here! Take Commander Yang back for treatment!"

The soldiers came up and hurriedly lifted Yang Feng down. Zhang Yan turned around and walked back to the tent.

He took out another tube of bamboo slips, put them together with the previous ones, and began to ponder.

If the Black Mountain Army puts all their efforts into it, they might be able to repel Yuan Xi.

But what then?

The other party may take a whole year or so, or even a few months to repair, and then make a comeback!

Now the farming in Youzhou is thriving, and can support the mobilization of several thousand soldiers at any time. On the other hand, on our side, there are many soldiers, but not many who can fight, and the food supply is indeed not less.

The ferocious tiger had a sharp eye and knew the right time to send troops. If it happens again, the Black Mountain Army will not survive this winter!

Even if we take a step back and say that the Black Mountain Army opened up the northern pass and entered Youzhou to confront the ferocious tiger, what would that do?

You know, Jizhou is watching closely from behind!

For Zhang Yan, if the Youzhou Army was a vicious wolf, then the Jizhou Army was a real tiger. Yuan Shao had already destroyed Gongsun Zan, and sooner or later he would turn his full strength to deal with him.

He knew very well that if he continued like this, there would be no hope of winning, so he had to make a choice.

Talk about peace.

But who to talk to is the key. Zhang Yan almost raided Yuan Shao's hometown in Yecheng. Yuan Shao was an extremely vengeful and suspicious person. He had a precedent of ambushing and killing his generals. Zhang Yan did not want to end up like Qu Yi and Lu Bu.

But Jizhou is powerful, and if Zhang Yan joins a force hostile to Yuan Shao, he will be in trouble.

Then joining the forces under Yuan Shao became a good choice.

In this way, he could not only cease fire with the Yuan family, but also avoid being directly controlled by Yuan Shao and possible death.

The two bamboo slips expressing goodwill in front of you were sent by two parties respectively.

Cao Cao.

Yuan Xi.

Not to mention Cao Cao, when Yuan Xi's bamboo slips were delivered to Zhang Yan, Zhang Yan felt quite uncomfortable.

On the one hand, he dispersed his elite main force, and on the other hand, he pretended to negotiate peace. Does he think he has a good temper, or is he not clear-headed?

But speaking of it, Zhang Yan did have some regrets. When Yuan Xi was first appointed as the Governor of Youzhou, he sent a letter to him to make friends, but Zhang Yan relied on his power and ignored him.

Of course, one of the reasons was that leaders such as Yang Feng were extremely resistant to joining forces with the Yuan family, so Zhang Yan's rejection of Yuan Xi's goodwill was also the common wish of everyone.

But times have changed, Yuan Xi's power in Youzhou has expanded too rapidly, and sooner or later, the Black Mountain Army will be completely overwhelmed!

Zhang Yan was not sure whether Yuan Xi had received support from Yuan Shao, otherwise this would be unusual!

Where did he get so many sophisticated weapons and ordnance?

What Zhang Yan didn't know was that in order to deal with the Black Mountain Army, Yuan Xi drained all the profits of the maritime trade routes over the past year and almost lost all his capital, just to achieve success in one fell swoop.

In Yuan Xi's view, money is dead, but people are alive. If he could spend money to equip himself with more military equipment and reduce the casualties of his own soldiers, it would be better than keeping the money in the warehouse.

Zhang Yan saw the conditions of Yuan Xi's promise in the bamboo slips. After the ceasefire, the Black Mountain Army would open the Black Mountain Passage, and the two sides would jointly govern Black Mountain. Youzhou would help Black Mountain with farming and build water conservancy roads.

Zhang Yan's face was slightly gloomy. Governing Black Mountain together? This kid has too big an appetite!

In comparison, the other bamboo slip is much more sincere.

As long as Zhang Yan surrendered to Cao Cao, not only would he retain the Heishan territory, but he would also be able to get a large piece of land in Bingzhou. Cao Cao would also submit a memorial to the emperor to recommend a promotion for Zhang Yan.

Comparing the two sides, it is obvious that Cao Cao would be the one to choose.

But Zhang Yan was also vaguely alert.

There is no benefit without reason. If you want to get more rewards, you naturally have to pay more.

What the Black Mountain Army had to do after joining Cao Cao was to join forces with each other, break into Henei, and open up the passage to Sili Hedong!

Zhang Yan thought about it, wouldn't this mean we would be enemies with Lu Bu and the Baibo Army?

Inside the Youzhou military camp, Guo Jia said, "I don't understand."

"If you want to negotiate peace with the Montenegrin Army, you can definitely promise more generous terms. If you do what you are thinking now, they will most likely not agree."

"If someone else offers a higher price..."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I didn't expect him to agree."

"If he really agrees, it will give me a headache."

"How could I possibly leave such an important place as the Black Mountain Pass to someone else?"

Guo Jia pondered and said, "In that case, we can only hold out against Zhang Yan."

"He doesn't dare to leave the hinterland of Montenegro, otherwise we will take advantage of him."

"So he is likely to agree to Cao Cao's conditions, but at the same time he will use the excuse that he was attacked by the prince and could not spare the time to send troops to Henei."

"In this case, the key lies in how Gong Yu and Zilong, Lu Bu and Cao Cao deal with the Baibo bandits."

"Lü Bu's role is crucial."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "That's right."

Guo Jia said, "When you said it would be better if you didn't go to see the emperor, were you serious?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I have never deceived you, sir."

"In this case, my going would only make things worse."

Guo Jia sighed, "But in this way, the young master will not be able to take charge of the overall situation, and will hand over all the initiative to Gong Yu and Zilong?"

Yuan Xi nodded: "I believe they can accomplish their goals, just like I believe in you, sir."

After hearing this, Guo Jia said angrily: "Don't flatter me. If this continues, we will be in a stalemate with the Black Mountain Army for several months."

"When I think about the days without wine and women, I feel like I'm living a miserable life."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "That's good too. Isn't it good to practice the Five Animals Exercises to strengthen your body?"

Guo Jia expressed his contempt for Yuan Xi and went back to his tent to sleep.

Outside the camp, the soldiers were carefully tending to the ring-handled swords in their hands.

The knife is their life, so they dare not be negligent at all.

First, wipe the blood stains off the blade. If the blood stains remain on the knife, the blade will rust, so it should be cleaned frequently.

Then the blade is sharpened on a whetstone to make the blade notches from the previous battle sharper. The blade of the ring-handled sword is relatively thick, so it can withstand multiple sharpenings.

Of course, this is the case when the weapon is still intact. If the blade is bent or deformed, it must be sent to the military blacksmith for repair.

Due to limited conditions, the marching camp could not build blast furnaces, and broken or fractured weapons had to be sent back to the rear to be re-smelted and forged.

But even so, the Youzhou army, which was equipped with a considerable number of blacksmiths, craftsmen, and doctors, was already among the best in the world, at least in terms of logistics.

Of course, this approach requires a lot of financial support. Except for a few wealthy states such as Jizhou and Jingzhou, few can do this. Even Yuan Xi has the support of lucrative trade routes behind him.

Several soldiers were sharpening their swords, talking and joking with each other. They were all Yuan Xi's personal guards and belonged to the same team.

There was a burly man with one arm in a sling. He grinned and used his other hand to awkwardly sharpen a knife. He looked down on the other men and said, "You call me brothers, but you don't even help me when I'm injured!"

The others laughed. A dark-skinned man laughed and scolded, "Silly cow, you can't blame others for this. Everyone stood by the pit to attract the enemy, but you were the only one who pulled your arm. Who can you blame?"

"It's a good opportunity to take this opportunity to practice my arm strength."

The big man called Sha Niu was angry, "You have small arms and legs, so of course you don't need much strength to support your body!"

"I weigh over 200 pounds, and I use a lot of strength. How can you compare?"

"Let's arm wrestle if you can!"

Seeing that no one responded, he said smugly, "Why, you don't dare?"

The dark-skinned man laughed and said, "Silly cow, being strong is a good thing, but when you go into battle, you have to focus on killing the enemy."

"Look at our leader. He killed three of them in the last battle. That's more than you guys combined!"

As he spoke, everyone turned their eyes to the man who had been silent and sharpening his knife. Silly Cow said angrily, "Who can compare with the boss? We can't learn that kind of ruthlessness."

These people are a group of fifteen people. The leader is a young man in his twenties, but he is the best martial artist among them.

He was the one among the five who was equipped with a crossbow and a sword, and was the one who coordinated in the middle. At this moment, he raised his head and said calmly, "We all killed the people together. Without you blocking me, I wouldn't have found a gap."

"We agreed to share the military merits equally, and we will be promoted together when the time comes."

Everyone flattered him after hearing this, but Silly Cow said in frustration, "Won't we all be separated by then?"

The dark-skinned man laughed and scolded, "You silly cow, do you still want to follow your boss around for the rest of your life?"

"Who doesn't want to get promoted to a higher position and bring honor to the family? You are such a loser!"

Silly Cow muttered, "Following the leader, I feel very safe."

"Before we set out from Beixin City, the boss wasn't that powerful. Why did he suddenly become so powerful in the past few battles?"

The dark-skinned man smiled and said, "People are different. You have to accept it."

After hearing this, the chief unconsciously reached into his arms, and inside was a round egg.