At the end of June of the second year of Xingping, Yuan Yao, under Liu Xun's advice, led his troops to break through the siege, abandoned Shouchun, and headed north to Runan County.
But under the offensive of Sun Ce and Lu Bu, even if they abandon the city and leave, it is definitely not that easy.
Sun Ce and Lu Bu, plus Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Chen Wu, Han Dang, Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and Wei Xu each led an army. They followed and pursued Yuan Yao's troops from ten directions and attacked the rear of Yuan Yao's troops.
Nearly 60,000 soldiers under Yuan Yao's command fought desperately under the leadership of Liu Xun and Zhang Xun, but they were still defeated. The Huainan soldiers scattered and surrendered. In the end, the number of soldiers who followed Yuan Yao was less than 30,000.
, almost half of it was lost.
Gold foil, money, silk, grain, grass, baggage, war horses and weapons were lost in countless numbers.
It's a pity that the Yuan family was so majestic back then, but it has fallen to this low today.
Under such huge losses and sacrifices, Yuan Yao finally escaped from the clutches of Sun and Lu and ran out of Huainan.
Unfortunately, the price paid was too high and the losses were too great.
After this battle, Jiujiang, Lujiang and other places in Huainan were completely controlled by Lu Bu and Sun Ce.
The two men had a clear division of labor and divided the territory to govern. Lu Bu guarded Shouchun in the northern garrison, and Sun Ce guarded the south and occupied Lujiang River. The two of them were close friends with each other, recuperating and recuperating separately, and turned their attention to the Jiangxia Army and Changsha County to the west, and to the south.
Guiyang County and Nanhai County.
Yuan Yao, on the other hand, under the guidance of Liu Xun, rushed north in a hurry. He had many bumps and bumps along the way, but he couldn't bear to gamble, but he finally arrived at Runan County.
When they arrived at the border of Runan County, Liu Pi, Gong Du, and Zhou Cang led three Yellow Turban armies waiting for them.
After all, Yuan Yao was young, and he was physically and mentally exhausted after such a huge change. Now when he suddenly saw the three Yellow Turban generals and knew that there was hope for survival, he couldn't help but feel sad and burst into tears.
The three leaders of the Yellow Turban Army hurriedly comforted Yuan Yao. While they offered kind words, they secretly lamented Yuan Yao's fate.
Silly child, why are you crying! What's the big deal? What's there to cry about?... I'm afraid the days when you cry are still to come.
That night, the three Yellow Turban generals held a banquet in a large tent on the border of Runan to entertain Yuan Yao and others.
Young Yuan Yao encountered difficulties many times. He drank a few more drinks involuntarily at the banquet, and soon became drunk.
"Snapped!"
Taking advantage of the alcohol, Yuan Yao threw the wine master to the ground, gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Damn Lu Bu, Sun Ce! Back then they were just vassals of my father, submissive people, what are they?
It's just my Yuan family's dog! I still rely on my father's food to survive, and now I'm so forced to do it once I rebel! It's simply... worse than a dog! The thief caused my Yuan family to lose the foundation of our family business. I'm sorry for this.
Never break up with them! Never!"
Seeing Yuan Yao's expression of hatred, the kind-hearted Liu Pi tried to persuade him.
"My lord, don't worry. As the saying goes, victory or defeat is a common thing for military officers. As long as my lord is left useful, he will be able to prepare his army and horses in the future, and then he can bring his troops back to Huainan to avenge today's great hatred with blood."
Yuan Yao was drunk and nodded with a blushing face: "What General Liu said... is very reasonable! You have far-sightedness! I am a descendant of the Yuan family, how can I allow others to bully me? When I become the sole leader in the future, I will worship Liu."
A general is a general, and Yi is a pillar!"
Speaking of this, Yuan Yao took advantage of the drunkenness and pointed at Gong Du and Zhou Cang, saying: "It's the same for both of you! Both of you worship the general!"
When Liu Pi and Gong heard this, their faces were full of joy, and they stood up and thanked Yuan Yao, although they were just pretending.
Zhou Cang let out a soft snort from his nose. Although he was disdainful, he had to follow the pottery merchant's plan, so he stood up to express his gratitude to Yuan Yao.
Liu Xun saw that Yuan Yao was so drunk that he was a little forgetful and didn't know what his last name was. He hurriedly reminded him: "Lord, our current crisis has not passed yet, and we have to discuss how to go north in the future!"
Yuan Yao laughed, pointed at Liu Pida and said: "General Liu and General Gong are here. We want to go to Hebei, so it will be difficult to avoid criticism."
"Going to Hebei?" Liu Pi understood in his heart, but pretended to have a sudden realization on his face and said, "My lord, do you want to go to Hebei to join Yuan Shao?"
"No!" Yuan Yao waved his hand at Liu Pi drunkenly and said, "It's not a defection... it's a temporary residence! I live there temporarily, do you understand?"
Liu Pi obviously didn't know much about it.
It’s not all about begging for food!
But for him right now, it doesn't matter how much Yuan Yao brags. His main purpose right now is to trick Yuan Yao into going to Xuzhou.
"My lord, it's not impossible for you to go to Hebei for a temporary stay, but I don't know which route my lord intends to take?"
Yuan Yao chuckled, pointed at Liu Xun, and said: "What Mr. Liu means is for me to go straight from Runan County to Yingchuan, and then run into Hebei... What does General Liu think?"
Liu Pi frowned, showing a troubled look.
"General Liu's advice is not bad, but if you cross the territory of Runan and Yingchuan, you must pass through Cao Cao's territory. It should be noted that Cao Cao has transferred his heavy troops to Xu County. If he interferes,
I'm afraid we don't have enough men and horses to cover the gap between Cao's teeth. We all have to answer... You must know that Cao Cao has many soldiers and generals, second only to Hebei Duke Yuan."
Yuan Yao frowned when he heard this.
Is Cao Cao so powerful?
After thinking carefully for a while, he said: "In General Liu's opinion, which way should we take to Hebei?"
Liu Pi hurriedly advised: "According to someone, my lord may as well take my county and Chaoqiu county in the west of Xuzhou, go north through these two counties, go directly to the Taishan military area, and merge into Qingzhou. This route should be safer."
.”
Yuan Yao burped after hearing this, nodded suddenly and said: "Oh! This road... is very good, very good."
Before he could finish his words, he saw that Liu Xun was in a hurry and stood up in a hurry and said: "My lord, this road cannot be taken! My county and Chaoqiu are located in Xuzhou. My lord is afraid of running into Cao Cao's troops. Is it possible that he will not be afraid of success?"
Is the pottery merchant blocking the way? You must know that there is a deep hatred between the Tao family and our Yuan family in Huainan!"
Liu Pi heard this and said with a smile: "The general's words are too petty. Last year, the pottery merchant and the general Hou competed for Yuzhang. Although there was a fight, the death of the latter general was not caused by the pottery merchant, but died of illness... Although Tao's strength was
He is not under Cao Cao, but he has the reputation of a gentleman after all, and there are many constraints on his actions."
Yuan Yao seemed to understand: "Go on."
Liu Pi continued: "Furthermore, Tao Shang has just taken over Xuzhou from Tao Qian, so he may not have enough power to put pressure on our army. Instead, Cao Cao from the Central Plains took Yanzhou first, then Yuzhou, and the previous one occupied six more states.
An, the west is still encroaching on the territory of Guanzhong, which is the momentum of striving for development. According to my opinion, instead of choosing Cao Cao's jurisdiction, it is safer to choose pottery merchants. Besides, my county and Chao
The territory of Qiu is just the western border of Xuzhou. If we go through Yingchuan, it will be in the hinterland of Cao Cao's territory!"
After that, Liu Pi bowed to Yuan Yaoshen again and said: "Comparing the two, which one is more dangerous, my lord should be able to understand."
Yuan Yao is not familiar with military affairs, but he can still understand the words "border hinterland" to some extent.
He nodded heavily and said: "Yes, General Liu's words are very good... You have lived in Runan for a long time. You must know Tao and Cao's strength and troop deployment better than us Huainan people."
Liu Xun scratched his head and scratched his head anxiously.
If he really followed Liu Pi's words, and Cao Cao couldn't wait for anyone in Yingchuan, wouldn't all his plans be in vain?
I am still waiting for Yuan Yao to give Cao Cao a meeting gift.
Just as Liu Xun wanted to persuade Yuan Yao a few more words, he suddenly felt someone beside him gently tugging on his sleeve.
Turning around to look, he saw Liu Ye who had been sitting next to him without saying a word.
Although he didn't understand what he meant, Liu Xun knew that when it came to intelligence and strategy, Liu Ye was far above him.
As a result, Liu Xun swallowed his next words.
Seeing that Liu Xun no longer raised objections, Yuan Yao immediately made a decision.
"Okay! Then according to General Liu Pi's words, let's go to Hebei via the western border of Xuzhou!"
…
Liang Guo, Xiao County.
Yan Xing's 20,000 elite troops have been stationed here for a long time.
For no other reason than he was ordered to camp here and wait for Cao Cao's military orders. As soon as the military orders arrived, he would send troops to hijack the Huainan people on the western front of Xuzhou.
In fact, Yan Xing didn't understand that if it were him, if he were to go north to Hebei, he would definitely choose to go to the Three Rivers... But Cao Cao insisted on arranging himself in Xiao County, which is far away from Xuzhou on the west line.
I don’t know what is said here?
When Yan Xing left Xuchang, he heard an insider from the Sikong Mansion say that this use of troops was a strategy secretly planned for Cao Cao by Jia Xu, the head of the Eagle Snake Mansion who rarely appeared in public.
Yan Xing was not very familiar with this Jia Xu...or it should be said that all the generals in Cao's camp were not familiar with this humble chief.
Why did Sikong just listen to him?
Although he had doubts in his heart, Yan Xing still followed Cao Cao's military orders.
He is a soldier, and it is his bounden duty to obey military orders, not to mention that Cao Cao was kind to him.
When he was in Jincheng, Han Sui thought highly of him and even threatened to marry his daughter to him in the future, but he never followed through.
Moreover, Han Suijun was born in the bandit army and was very particular about seniority. Based on Yan Xing's age in Han Suijun before that, it would take at least ten years for him to get ahead in Han Suijun.
However, after Cao Cao accepted Yan Xing's surrender, he made use of his talents and made special promotions. He directly appointed Yan Xing as a captain, and after he was appointed Sikong, he promoted Yan Xing to a partial general.
As a demoted general, the speed of promotion is no different from riding a rocket.
Naturally, young Yan Xing will never forget this kindness and virtue.
No matter which way the Huainan army takes this time, Yan Xing has made up his mind to share Cao Cao's worries no matter what.
But the news from the Huainan Army has not yet arrived, but Cao Cao's letter has arrived from Xuchang.
Yan Xing couldn't believe the content in the letter.
He wondered if Cao Cao had written it wrong...
Although he didn't know why Cao Cao did this, Yan Xing decided to obey the general's order.
Moreover, if Cao Cao could leave such a private matter to himself, Yan Xing thought that Cao Cao had treated him as a confidant.
Yan Xing felt a little excited in his heart.
A few days later, Zhang Ji was ordered to lead his troops to Yan Xing's tent to listen to his orders.
Zhang Jinai was a famous general in Wuwei County, Liangzhou, and became famous very early. Although Yan Xing was also born in Jincheng, Liangzhou, his reputation was far behind Zhang Ji's.
Even so, generals must not disobey him. Zhang Ji's reputation in Liangzhou is five times greater than that of Yan Xing, and now he still has to listen to Yan Xing's orders.
"General Zhang!" Yan Xing smiled and raised his hands to Zhang Ji and said: "When I was walking in Jincheng, I heard about the general's majesty for a long time, and I only regretted not having the opportunity to see him. Today, I have to pay homage to the general. It is really the best thing in my life."
What a blessing!"
Hearing this, Zhang Ji quickly waved his hand and said, "I don't dare, I don't dare. General Yan is the chief general and Jin is the deputy general. If General Yan says this, doesn't it mean that he is destroying Ji? Ji is already old, how can he be compared to General Yan like this?"
The young hero!”
"General Zhang, don't be too humble!" Yan Xing grabbed Zhang Ji's hand and walked into the tent while saying: "This time when the Huainan Army was robbed, Sikong sent General to help. On the surface, he said he was serving as a deputy general, but in fact he was
Seeing that I am not experienced enough and mature enough, I have asked General Zhang to give me some advice. Both the general and the general are from Liangzhou, so there is no need to say anything modest!"
Zhang Ji laughed loudly when he heard this: "It's rare that General Yan is so young and behaves so cautiously. Cao Sikong really did not misjudge the person!"
Yan Xing's face was smiling brightly, but there was already frost in his heart.
Of course Cao Sikong did not misjudge the person... If he had misjudged him, how could I take the opportunity to kill you?