In the winter of the fifth year of Jian'an, the Cao army invaded Henan had a fire in the backyard and could only choose to retreat hastily at the critical moment of confrontation with the Guanxi soldiers. However, the Guanxi soldiers chased each other and chased each other, and defeated the elite forces of the Cao army who cut off the rear. The main force of the two armies encountered the Liu family in Henan again, and finally started a war.

At the beginning of the battle, the soldiers and horses in Guanxi were unstoppable. They defeated Cao's army in a row. They were about to defeat Cao's army on their own. Unexpectedly, the foolish tactics set up by Cao Cao before the war worked in time, not only helped one side stabilize his position, but also caused the situation to recur.

However, under the command of Yan Xing, the soldiers and horses in Guanxi finally withstood the counterattack of Cao's army, so the trend of Cao's army's complete defeat was irreversible. Nearly 40,000 Cao's army suffered heavy losses. The central army, Han Hao, Xu Chu, Xiahou Yuan on the left wing, Deng Zhan and Zhu Ling on the right wing, Ren Jun on the rear wing, and many other Cao generals and other famous generals were killed one after another. In addition to the previously captured Wen Ji, Bian Bing, Shi Huan, Le Jin and other famous generals, the Cao army across the Central Plains was a loss of troops and severely damaged.

As the news of Cao's defeat in the Huo clan spread quickly, many places in Hebei and Central Plains were shaking, and in panic, various rumors also appeared overwhelmingly. Some people said that Yan Xingli was preparing for his troops and was preparing to go north to rescue Bingzhou and fight a decisive battle with the Hebei army led by Yuan Shao; some people said that the troops in Guanxi had joined forces with Jingxiang and were preparing to march into Xudu while they were victorious and regained the Han emperor.

But in fact, Yan Xing's main force remains in Henan, and there is no intention to go north or go east to use troops in the short term.

In the battle of the Liu family, Guanxi soldiers and horses won a great victory, killing nearly 10,000 heads and capturing more than 10,000 Cao's soldiers. If we included the previous war of attrition and pursuit, it would be equivalent to the Yan army's more than 30,000 Cao's troops in Henan, including Cao Cao's elite infantry cavalry, which was a complete victory.

However, Yan Xing's side was not a simulator after all, nor was it a simulated character measured by a series of data. The soldiers under his command were all living flesh and blood. During the war, they would be desperate for Yan Xing's military order and continue to do so. After the war, they needed rewards and comfort, rest and recovery. Even if they were happy when they heard the war, the military man who was licking blood on the knife would inevitably develop various complex emotions such as war weariness and homesickness after a big battle.

The soldiers traveled from east to west and traveled thousands of miles; confronted strong enemies, fighting every day; the Liu clan fought fiercely and won the bloody battle. The real situation in the army was that it had reached the end of its strength. Even Yan Xing, the commander of the three armies, dared not be complacent, and immediately took this tired army to rashly north to rescue the besieged Shangdang and Taiyuan counties, and launched a decisive battle with Yuan Shao's Hebei army.

Therefore, Yan Xing could only temporarily station troops in Henan and solve the follow-up problems of Cao's captives.

Although the supply of food and grass was tight, most of the Cao army's prisoners had their families in Yan and Henan Provinces, Yan Xing, as the commander, did not ultimately take the general's suggestion to kill the prisoners. He screened some of the Cao army prisoners to supplement his army and prepared to hand over the remaining Cao army prisoners to Pei Qian, who was in charge of the restoration of production in Henan.

The supply of prisoners' rations can be reduced by half, and it will take a lot of manpower to resume production in Henan. In the future, Yan Xing used troops to fight in the Central Plains. This group of Cao's prisoners from many places in Yan and Henan can also play a lot of roles.

After dealing with the matter of captives of Cao's army, Yan Xing sent two troops led by Ganling and Yang Feng, and rushed to Hedong and Henoi, respectively, threatening Yecheng and rescued Jinyang. He then cooperated with the secret of lurking in Hebei where rumors spread around him were spreading, trying to force Yuan Shao's army, who was fighting alone, to withdraw his siege and retreat.

···

Under the city of Jinyang, Yuan’s army camp.

In Yuan Shao's tent, the monarch and ministers were solemn and fell into silence.

Yes, Cao Cao's army lost all the advantages of waiting for work and was defeated in a fierce battle. To a certain extent, Yuan's army also had an unshirkable responsibility.

They did not want to see Cao Cao win easily before, and annexed most of Yan Xing's troops and territory, so they concentrated their forces to besiege Taiyuan and Shangdang. They ignored the documents of Cao Cao's repeated urging to promote the attack on Hedong and Henei counties, and cut off the rear route of Guanxi under Yan Xing's command, and only asked the general Gao Lan to lead a side army south to open up the Gushi Valley.

As a result, in just one month, the battle situation in the north suddenly changed. Cao Cao, who invaded Henan, caught fire and had to retreat hastily and risk a decisive battle with the pursuing Guanxi soldiers on the way, which eventually led to the embarrassing situation of Cao's army's defeat and the isolation of Yuan's army.

Now, Yuan Jun is also facing a difficult problem of advancing, retreating, leaving and staying.

Although Jinyang City is not far from the collapse of the city wall and the fall of the city, I heard that Yan Xing had gathered a large army in Hedong and was preparing to take advantage of the victory to go north to rescue Jinyang City. Chaoge and other places also heard the urgent military letter of the Guanxi cavalry attacking the territory.

Leaving means exhausting the army and exhausting the people, and in vain; if you don’t leave, you will be in danger of repeating the mistakes of Cao Cao’s army.

Tian Feng, who hurried to meet Yuan Shao, expressed his opinion, that is, to withdraw his troops and return to Hebei, and join forces with the defeated Cao Cao to fight against the unstoppable Guanxi troops.

However, this conservative opinion cannot satisfy Yuan Shao. Guo Tu and others even refuted the always conservative Tian Feng's strategy, believing that it was because of the situation where the Guanxi soldiers defeated Cao's army and the Yuan army was isolated that the Hebei army led by Yuan Shao must resolutely refuse to retreat and regain the land, otherwise how can we resist the Guanxi soldiers who are condescending and threaten Yecheng in the future?

After countless hesitations, Yuan Shao finally insisted on using his troops to regain Bingzhou's military strategy. After all, once he withdrew from the enemy and was unable to achieve hard work, his Hebei overlord would be greatly damaged and his face would be lost.

For this reason, Yuan Shao also urged Wen Chou and Gao Lan again to ask them to capture Huguan and Qushigu as soon as possible, and to keep all the Guanxi soldiers and horses who were trying to rescue north from the Biandi. He also ordered Shen Pei and others who stayed in Yecheng to guard Yecheng and appease the hearts of the people in Hebei, and not to have negligent care of letting the Guanxi soldiers and horses succeed in raiding.

···

Yecheng, the General's Mansion.

Shen Pei, who was granted the important task of staying behind and temporarily took over the power, sat upright and listened carefully to his nephew Shen Rong's report.

When the news of Cao's defeat came, the people of Yecheng were panic and various rumors spread, the left-behind Shen Pei not only comforted the people, but also sent a large number of people to capture Sanhe in the city and in the dark of Guanxi. It was planned to implement a series of iron-fisted methods to calm the hearts of the entire Hebei.

Recently, Shen Pei's subordinates have really caught Liu Zhi, an important school clerk lurking in Yecheng in Sanhe.

Liu Zhi used the identity of a merchant from Hu Han to and from many places in Yecheng to secretly carry out tasks. Because he was generous and good at getting along, he made friends with a group of Hebei officials, including counselor Xu You and others.

Yes, although the secret arrest of Liu Zhi only followed the clues and involved Xu You's second son Xu Fan and others, Shen Pei was ready to make it a case where Xu You secretly colluded with the enemy.

The Yuan family is not false, and his military and political capabilities are not weak, and he also spares no effort in attacking political enemies.

Xu You often opposed him in Yuan Shao's shogunate, and even embarrassed him in public many times. Shen Pei had long wanted to exclude and suppress him, but Xu You was outstanding in wisdom and was an old friend of General Yuan Shao. Shen Pei had no chance, so he was always tolerant.

Since we have seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, how could Shen Pei let it go?

But Shen Rong, who had arrested the person, was still scared afterwards. He asked with grievance:

"Father Zhong, Xu You is the old friend of the general after all, and he is working in front of the army. We arrested all his family without the order of the general. Would it be too hasty?"

Shen Pei had a keen eye. Of course, he saw that his nephew was already regretful. He snorted coldly and replied after a while:

"Liu Zhi traveled to many places in Yecheng and made great plans. How could a mere Xu Fan help him? There must be someone instructing him behind him! This time, the Yuan and Cao families joined forces to attack Sanhe, but were accidentally defeated by Yan Thief. I suspect that it was caused by the private leak of the Xu family's father and son. Since I was deeply entrusted by the general and guarding Yecheng, I naturally have to prepare for the future and be prepared for any trouble. Besides, I have sent a quick horse to Taiyuan to report to the general. You are just doing your order and are afraid of something!"

"I..."

Shen Rong was speechless. When he met Zhong's father's severe reproaching gaze, he became even more afraid and could only salute in panic and say goodbye and leave.

Seeing Shen Rong leaving like a fleeing in order to avoid him, Shen Pei shook his head. Although the Shen family was in the Yedi clan, the younger generation lacked heroes. This disappointed him and was also quite worried about the family's prospects.

He got up and left the table, and came to the hall to walk and ponder.

Now that Cao's army was defeated by Guanxi soldiers in Henan, Xu Du faced the threat of Jingxiang soldiers. Cao Cao, who fled back to Yuzhou, could only gather the remaining defeated soldiers and seek self-protection. With the situation where he was too busy to take care of himself, he could not care about the safety of the Allies on the north bank of the Great River.

Jiang Yiqiu, a general who retreated to Chaoge, reported several times a day to Yecheng, asking for support, claiming that the troops in Guanxi were invading the territory, and they were afraid that Yan Xing's army would invade a large number in the short term.

This has suddenly intensified the pressure on Shen Pei, who is responsible for leaving behind.

The situation was difficult, and he sighed worriedly. He thought that he would first settle the internal affairs of the foreign war, and he would first eliminate the internal problems of Xu You and his son. In this way, the general would have fewer treacherous ministers around him. He would win one after another in the battle against the battle, and the military troops of Guanxi, who were full of morale, could have more chances of victory.
Chapter completed!