Chapter 345: The Secret Chess Game

Now that an accident has occurred in the process of welcoming the emperor, it is very likely that Cao Cao will get there first. What Yuan Xi blames himself most about this matter is that he was too confident and ultimately underestimated Cao Cao.

Over the past year, the other side seemed to be restricted in their actions and suffered setbacks everywhere. Xuzhou failed to take Xia Pi, and Chenliu failed to capture Zhang Miao. Yuan Xi once thought that Cao Cao had not found the direction yet, and he could not help but relax his vigilance.

However, the other party now rushed to Hedong County to welcome the emperor with lightning speed, instead of Luoyang as in later generations, which gave Yuan Xi a severe shock.

Yuan Xi then realized that Cao Cao, like himself, had always set his sights on the emperor and had long planned to welcome him!

No wonder, although the emperor was welcomed a year later in later generations, how could Cao Cao not plan ahead?

But Yuan Xi didn't figure out what prompted Cao Cao to decide to take action in advance. Maybe it was because the war was unfavorable, or maybe it was pressure from many parties. But no matter what, Cao Cao had already taken action first!

Not only did he reach an agreement with Yuan Shang in private, he also launched his own ambush in Huaicheng, making Lu Bu run around in a hurry and delaying the pace of both sides joining forces to rush to Anyi!

In this way, if Huaicheng was in chaos, although Zhao Yun and Ju Su could act independently, they would lose the support of Lu Bu and would be easily counterattacked by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao is a man who plans before he acts, so Yuan Xi would not be surprised at anything he does now.

The problem facing Yuan Xi now is that Cao Cao will definitely continue to cause trouble in Huaicheng. In this case, how to break through the obstacles, quell the unrest, and reach Anyi as soon as possible has become a problem faced by the coalition forces of Lu Bu and Yuan Xi.

Thinking of the fact that when Cao Cao attacked Xia Pi in later generations, Lu Bu's city gate was breached due to the rebellion of his subordinates, which was exactly the same as the loss of Ye City by the Yuan family, Yuan Xi pinched his wrist unconsciously. Why did it seem like there were Cao Cao's spies everywhere in the world? The other party's intelligence capabilities were too terrifying!

How many people did Cao Cao bribe?

Seeing that Yuan Xi seemed frustrated, Guo Jia said, "Sir, don't blame yourself. You have done a good job."

"Cao Cao deceived everyone. It can only be said that after Xi Zhicai's death, he still had advisers under his command to plan and control the overall situation. In this regard, I am not as good as them."

Yuan Xi said quickly, "This has nothing to do with you, sir. Cao Cao has many advisers under him, but I have to rely on you for everything. It is my fault that you have worked so hard."

"Let's not talk about the past. Now is the time to make up for the loss. What should we do?"

After hearing this, Guo Jia said, "Of course, we're competing with Cao Cao in speed."

"The Montenegrin Army can no longer muster enough elite troops for a counterattack. Even if they do, it will never be more than what they could mobilize in the previous battle."

"Besides, he now has to deal with Third Master Yuan."

"If he has the guts to fight us at this time and bet his entire fortune, it might be difficult for us with several thousand people to stop him, but retreating to Beixin City will be no problem."

"But it is unlikely that Zhang Yan would take such a risk."

"Otherwise, if his offensive is blocked, he will be attacked from both sides by us and Yuan Shang, and he won't be able to escape even if he wants to."

"If I were Zhang Yan, I would retreat westwards and give up the Black Mountain Pass. If the battle goes badly, I would flee westwards out of Black Mountain and into Bingzhou."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "So, sir, you mean that we don't need to worry about Yuan Shang anymore?"

After hearing this, Guo Jia said, "We still have to talk about it."

"Although we have temporarily given up on seizing the Black Mountain Passage, we cannot let Third Master Yuan think that we gave it up voluntarily."

"It is better to show your willingness to give in to him and gain some benefits from it than to gain nothing at all."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi hesitated and asked, "Negotiate with Yuan Shang?"

"I don't really trust him."

Guo Jia sneered after hearing this and said, "Young Master, you may have misjudged one thing."

"Third Master Yuan is a man with a bad mind, but he is not fierce and decisive enough. People like him are more likely to be easy to talk to because they care too much about face."

"As long as you give in to him, he is unlikely to kill you all."

"Excuse me for being blunt, but in my heart, the eldest son is much more terrifying than the third son."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi's face darkened.

Yuan Tan's actions were indeed beyond his expectations.

The other party's private actions were intended to completely break the relationship between him and Yuan Shang, but the key was that these methods were too cruel.

However, when I think about Yuan Tan's actions in later generations, it's not that it doesn't make sense.

After Yuan Shao was defeated by Cao Cao, he died of grief and anger. Yuan Shang inherited the Yuan family, gave Yuan Tan very little military force, and sent Pang Ji to monitor him.

In a rage, Yuan Tan killed Pang Ji. When Cao Cao attacked Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan took the opportunity to attack Ye City and fought with Yuan Shang.

Doing such a thing at this time would obviously make the world laugh at him. Officials from Jizhou and even Liu Biao wrote to Yuan Tan to persuade him not to fight against his brothers, but Yuan Tan insisted on his own opinion and finally surrendered to Cao Cao.

When Yuan Xi read this history, he couldn't help but sigh. It is true that Yuan Shang was the initiator of the feud between the brothers, but Yuan Tan also had to bear a large part of the responsibility for causing the situation to deteriorate to an irreversible point.

First, he ambushed his own brothers when foreign enemies attacked, and then he defected to his father's enemies. From this point of view, Yuan Tan's actions were even worse than Lu Bu's.

Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi had joined forces to fight against Yuan Shang and each get what they wanted. Now that Yuan Xi was adopted, Yuan Tan turned around and plotted against him. This made Yuan Xi realize the fact that in the face of interests, previous friendships were worthless.

Although the two have not yet had a falling out, Yuan Xi would be a fool if he didn't guard against it.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi became somewhat bored. The three Yuan brothers were all very proud and none of them was willing to be inferior to others.

But even so, there should still be some bottom line in their actions. Now that everyone has a common external enemy, and this enemy has already launched an attack in advance, the Yuan brothers should temporarily put aside their hatred and unite to face the external enemy.

There is one thing that Yuan Xi is worried about.

He said, "Since Yuan Shang was able to cover up for Cao Cao, the two must have reached a deal."

"What if Yuan Shang really wants to help Cao Cao deal with me?"

After hearing this, Guo Jia nodded and said, "What you said does make sense."

"The Third Young Master really can't see the overall situation, and he doesn't know what benefits Cao Cao promised him."

"So you have to show weakness to win sympathy."

"A real man can bend and stretch. Of course, if you are unwilling, we can think of another way."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Why wouldn't I be unwilling? If it means fewer soldiers will die, I'd rather kneel down than bow my head in submission."

"I will send a letter to Yuan Shang now and arrange to meet him tomorrow."

At the border between Henan Yin and Hanoi, a cavalry unit was galloping on the mountain road, followed by exhausted infantry.

The cavalry was led by Cao Hong and Cao Chun, while the infantry was led by Le Jin and Yu Jin.

Yu Jin saw that the tails of the horses in the front cavalry were no longer visible, and he said, "Wen Qian, if we run like this, the horses in front will be exhausted to death, and it will be the people on our side who will die of exhaustion."

After hearing this, Le Jin sighed and said, "Wen Ze, the Lord has issued a death order. If you fail to meet the deadline, you should be beheaded."

Yu Jin said in annoyance, "Of course I know that, but if we arrive on time, the soldiers will be exhausted. How can we fight?"

After hearing this, Le Jin felt the same way, but Cao Cao had already said that he was dead. The matter of the emperor's carriage was related to the safety of the Cao family, so he had to arrive before others at all costs.

Before setting off, Xun Yu had explained the situation to everyone. Since Yuan Shu had already sent troops to the vicinity of Luoyang, Cao Cao's army could not just wait in Luoyang but had to wait for the emperor's carriage to return to Luoyang, as that would inevitably lead to a conflict with Yuan Shu.

Therefore, Cao's plan to send troops this time was half a year earlier than before, and even Chenliu was not taken into consideration. The only way was to rush to Anyi and snatch the sky from the Baibo Army. At the same time, they had to guard against the covetous Li Jue and Guo Si who were planning to launch an attack.

The four generals who set out as the vanguard were Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Le Jin and Yu Jin.

In fact, there was another team at the beginning, which was Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan and Xun You who served as the support of the central army.

But after separating from Yuan Shang's army, the vanguard went to Hedong, while the central army lay in ambush in Henei and secretly headed towards Huaicheng.

The four generals of the front army were puzzled, but they knew that Cao Cao must have other arrangements, because no one knew which route the rear army led by Cao Cao himself would take.

There were many plots involved, and the Cao family almost came out in full force for this!

At this time, the central army heading to Henei, led by Cao Ren, hid in the mountains about a hundred miles away from Huaicheng.

Xiahou Yuan sent out scouts, and after waiting for a whole day, the scouts reported that the area was safe.

The two men discussed with Xun You, and Cao Ren said worriedly: "According to the spies' report, a few days ago, a Youzhou army was stationed a few dozen miles away from here."

"The leaders are Zhao Yun and Ju Shou."

Xun You heard this and immediately said, "This is not normal."

"Aren't the Youzhou troops fighting the Black Mountain troops? What are they doing here?"

Xiahou Yuan said, "Perhaps the fierce tiger in Youzhou wants to join forces with Lu Bu, so he sent people here?"

Xun You shook his head. "No, Zhao Yun is a fierce general, and Ju Shou is a man of both civil and military talents. These two should have very high positions in Youzhou. How could they be sent as envoys?"

He suddenly thought of something and said in a lost voice, "Could it be that they also want to go and welcome the emperor?"

Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan were both shocked, and then they heard Xun You ask, "How many people are there? Where are they now?"

Xiahou Yuan said: "The spies reported that there are about a thousand people, and they should be stationed near Huaicheng."

"That's why Zixiao and I came here to ask you for advice. Their army may affect our plan to capture Huaicheng."

"What if something unexpected happens in Huaicheng..."

Xun You smiled and said, "General, don't worry too much. What I am most worried about is that they will rush to welcome the emperor first and encounter our front army, which will restrain each other. This is the most troublesome thing."

"Now that they are in Huaicheng, it will be easier to deal with."

"In this case, we can simply instigate a rebellion in Huaicheng and capture him and Lu Bu in one fell swoop!"

Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan looked at each other, thinking that Xun You was too confident, because the opponent was Lu Bu!

Even Ju Su is not so easy to deal with, where does Xun You get his confidence from?

Xun You guessed their thoughts and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I have already sent letters to the key people. I will gather my strength in the next few days and wait for the change in Huaicheng."

"If everything goes well, Huaicheng will be in chaos. Then we can seize Huaicheng and clear the way for the front army to welcome the emperor's carriage back home!"

At the same time, Yuan Shang, who led tens of thousands of troops, had already led his troops from Zhaojun in Jizhou into the Black Mountain, and his camp stretched for dozens of miles on the mountain.

He was feeling proud in his heart that Yuan Xi still couldn't defeat the Black Mountain Army. Now that he has been ripped off, he must be feeling very uncomfortable, right?

He held Yuan Xi's letter in his hand, and thought that if Yuan Xi came to him in a humble manner and begged him, he might be able to give him a share of the pie.