"Milord, are we really going to fight like this?" Outside Nanpi City, Le Jin wiped the blood on his face. This was the eighth time that Le Jin had led his personal guards to the city wall. Unfortunately, they were beaten down by Yuan Shao's troops. Yuan Shao's influence in Hebei was too terrifying. He was recuperating and benefiting the people. These were the people that Yuan Shao had bought over.
One of the reasons why the Yuan family's brothers were suppressed by Cao Cao was that they were not popular.
When Cao Cao attacked them, the people did not help at all. In addition, there was a big traitor like Xu You. It was already very good that the people of Hebei did not become spies in the city.
But now it was different. Yuan Shao had appeared. His influence in Hebei was not comparable to those unfilial sons. Just Nanpi City alone resonated with him. If it was just Yuan Shao's 10,000 troops, they would have been destroyed by Cao Cao. But with the help of tens of thousands of people in Nanpi City, Cao Cao's war had completely become a war of attrition.
In the past, Lujiang's governor, Lu Kang, relied on tens of thousands of people in Lujiang to resist the siege of Sun Ce's 50,000 troops for three years. This showed how powerful the people were.
Cao Cao brought a total of 130,000 troops. In just a few days, there were already more than 30,000 corpses lying under the city wall. If this went on, Cao Cao's strength would be greatly reduced. Le Jin thought about whether he could use tactics or something like that. Attacking the city wall would consume too much energy.
"No, we must fight!" Cao Cao, on the other hand, was very firm. His gaze was firm. Cao Cao didn't like to use brute force because it consumed a lot of manpower and resources. Even if he killed a thousand enemies, he would suffer eight hundred casualties. Nanpi City, the administrative center of Bohai County, would not be able to recover to its former state for at least a few decades after this battle. However, Cao Cao still wanted to fight.
Just like in Xu Province, the reason why Cao Cao massacred the city was because Tao Qian incited the people's hearts. If Cao Cao did not massacre the city, then the hearts of the people would be used by Tao Qian. This would cause endless trouble for Cao Cao's army. Cao Cao would not be able to guard against the people of Xu Province day and night.
Therefore, Cao Cao massacred the city. This massacre did not only damage his reputation, but it also had benefits. It made the people of Xu Province afraid of Cao Cao. It told them that if they oppose Cao Cao, Cao Mengde, then only death would await them. Cao Cao did not massacre all of them. He killed a batch of people and plucked some of them. The ones who were plucked were the people who did not oppose Cao Cao. Not only did he not slaughter them, he also distributed food and land to them. Then he released these people back to Xu Province. This way, the people would know that although Cao Cao was scary, as long as you listen to him, then he would not kill you. Instead, he would give you benefits. If you continue to oppose Cao Cao, then he would be the King of Hell.
And now, Cao Cao wanted to do this. He was not afraid of casualties, but he was afraid that the people of Hebei would be used by Yuan Shao. Therefore, Cao Cao wanted to make an example out of Nanpi City. Even if Nanpi City surrendered, the people inside would not be able to come out alive.
"Yes!" Le Jin knew that he could not persuade Cao Cao. He could only clench his teeth and said, "Guards, come with me!" Le Jin did not understand Cao Cao's strategic thinking. He only knew that his men were suffering heavy casualties. If he did not want them to suffer heavy casualties, then there was only one way, and that was to capture Nanpi City. Le Jin wanted to get on the city wall as soon as possible to reduce the casualties.
Le Jin continued to attack the city wall.
"Yuan Shao!" Cao Cao stared at Nanpi City. He still underestimated Yuan Shao's charisma. If he had known earlier, he would have sent assassins to assassinate Yuan Shao instead of letting him escape.
Cao Cao's men also told him that half of the credit for Yuan Shao being able to escape from his unfilial son was due to him. If Cao Cao did not send out an army and let Yuan Shao spy on Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao would not have been able to come in contact with him. If it was not for Cao Cao's army approaching, then Yuan Shao would not have been able to come out of that mansion.
These days, he had gotten used to fighting with the wind and the current. Cao Cao looked at Nanpi City. This city must be captured.
Cao Cao made up his mind. His eyes looked in another direction. That was the direction of Fan Yang. He hoped that Fan Yang would not disappoint him.
…
"Kill, kill, kill!" Fan Yang City was in complete chaos. Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan were completely dumbfounded because the situation was out of control. The entire Fan Yang City was in a mess. It was not only Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan's troops who had joined forces to attack Yuan Xi's troops. Now, the troops of the two had begun to kill each other.
"Yuan Tan, control your men well!" Yuan Shang's heart was about to bleed. The casualties on the other side were his elite subordinates. Yuan Shang's heart was aching. Even those who were equipped with the new Yangzhou weapons and armors had entered the battlefield. Yuan Shang's heart was not aching for the people, but for the weapons and armors. Losing one of them was a loss of money.
"How can I control my men well? As for you, Yuan Shang, take a look. Take a look for yourself. Why did your men kill my soldiers? Is it you? Is it you who taught them? " Yuan Tan also looked at Yuan Shang angrily. It was said that Yuan Tan's troops were slightly weaker than Yuan Shang's. After all, Yuan Shang had received his cheap father's resources, so he had more troops under his command, and his elites were also stronger.
In the midst of the chaos, Yuan Shang's troops had the upper hand.
However, it was only temporary because although Yuan Tan's strength was weaker than Yuan Shang's, it was not much worse. Soon, they were tied in this war of attrition.
"Damn it, Yuan Tan, since you can't control your men, then don't blame me!" Yuan Shang looked at Yuan Tan with red eyes. There was no brotherly love between them. They had spent their lives scheming against each other since they were young. Both of them wished that the other would choke to death while drinking water, fall to death while walking, and choke to death while eating. When Yuan Tan's men attacked his troops, Yuan Shang immediately became angry.
"Come on, I'm not afraid of you!" Yuan Tan's expression was naturally not good. After all, he was the elder brother, but Yuan Shang did not give him any face.
"Brothers, kill!" Yuan Shang unsheathed his sword and charged towards Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan's subordinates didn't show any mercy either. Each and every one of them acted as if they had a deep grudge against each other and charged towards Yuan Tan.
"Chaos! Chaos! Everything is in chaos!" Guo Tu, Xin Guan, and the others were also panicking. They had just been allies with the Yuan family army, but now they had become enemies. The three of them were all strategists and scholars, so they were powerless. The army was in chaos, so they naturally could not care about the three of them. However, this was not a problem for the three foxes. One of them found a garbage dump and hid behind it, while the other found a dung bucket, lifted the lid, and hid in it.
Xin Guan was not as shameless as the two of them, so he could not make up his mind to hide in the dung bucket. Therefore, he found a dead person, took out a knife, and cut the dead person into eight pieces. He borrowed some flesh from the dead person and smeared it all over his body before lying on the ground and pretending to be dead.
Although he did not have to suffer the smell of the garbage dump and the dung bucket, he could not stand being trampled on. Xin Guan's face turned green, but he still insisted on pretending to be dead.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The shocking sounds of slaughter in Fanyang City naturally could not be hidden from Cao Cao's army outside the city.
On the other hand, Cao Cao's army was still waiting because this was simply too abnormal.
"Big Brother Miaocai, Big Brother Miaocai, good news! Good news!" In Cao Jun's camp, the curtain of the main general's camp was lifted by a one-eyed man. He hurriedly walked in and said, "Good news! Good news!"
"Hmm?" Xiahou Miaocai and Xiahou Yuan frowned. This flustered man was Xiahou Chun, his second brother. Although the two of them were not directly related by blood, they were still as close as brothers.
"How can you be so careless? Didn't that Lü Bu and Lü Fengxian teach you a lesson?" Xiahou Yuan reprimanded Xiahou Chun sternly. Xiahou Yuan was referring to the time when Lü Bu ambushed Yan Province and Cao Xing shot out Xiahou Chun's eye with an arrow. That time, because Xiahou Chun was careless, someone seized the opportunity and shot him in the eye. If Xiahou Chun had not caught the arrow in time, he might have lost his life.
He originally thought that Xiahou Chun would learn from his mistakes, but he did not expect him to be the same as before. This was the main camp of the Central Army's main general. Ignoring the fact that he had to report his arrival, Xiahou Chun was the general of the front line. Now that the entire army was under martial law, why did he run to the main camp of the Central Army instead of waiting for orders?
"Hey, Big Brother Miaocai, wait for me to finish. Wait for me to finish before you punish me! I will accept whatever punishment you give me! " Xiahou Chun immediately panicked when he saw his Big Brother Miaocai touch the military token on the table. Xiahou Chun could be said to be a fearless person, but he was really afraid of two brothers. One of them was Cao Cao, Cao Mengde. This dark fatty had been tormenting Xiahou Chun since he was young. The other one was Xiahou Yuan.
"Spit it out if you have something to say!" Xiahou Yuan said to his brother with an unpleasant expression.
"Big Brother Miaocai, good news, good news. In Fanyang, the Yuan family brothers are having an internal conflict!" Xiahou Chun said to Xiahou Yuan.
"The Yuan family brothers are having an internal conflict?" Xiahou Yuan's eyes widened when he heard the news, but he quickly reacted. "Impossible!" Xiahou Yuan did not believe this news at all.
"It's true, Big Brother Miaocai!" Xiahou Chun said anxiously. This was a good opportunity. If they seized this good news, they would definitely be able to seize the opportunity to attack the city. Once Fanyang, an important city in Youzhou, was captured, the Yuan family brothers in Youzhou would no longer be a threat to them.
"The Yuan family brothers are now working together to deal with the Lord. How could there be an internal conflict?" Xiahou Yuan shook his head. The reason why he did not believe it was because it was a matter of life and death for the Yuan family brothers. Wasn't it stupid to see an internal conflict? Xiahou Yuan really did not expect the Yuan family brothers to be so stupid.
"It's true. You have to believe me, Big Brother Miaocai!" Xiahou Chun was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks. He did not know how to convince his big brother. Xiahou Chun had gone to great lengths to obtain this information.
"Reporting, reporting to General Xiahou. The army at the front reported that they found a spy!" Just as Xiahou Yuan was about to dismiss Xiahou Chun, a personal guard ran in and reported to the Xiahou brothers.
"Spy?" Xiahou Chun was in a bad mood. He came here enthusiastically to tell his big brother that there was an internal conflict in Fanyang City so that his big brother could immediately send troops to attack Fanyang City. However, he did not expect that his hot face would be ignored. Therefore, it was strange that Xiahou Chun's expression was good. "It's just a spy. Just drag him out and kill him!" Xiahou Chun waved his hand and said to the personal guard over there.
"No, no, General Xiahou. It's that spy. The spy wants to see General Xiahou!" The personal guard almost confused the people over there because he was anxious.
"The spy wants to see me?" Xiahou Yuan asked with a frown.
"Yes, the spy has been clamoring to see General Xiahou since he arrived at the front line!" The personal guard reported to Xiahou Yuan. The spy had taken the initiative to surrender.
"Bring him to see me!" Xiahou Yuan said to his subordinates.
"Big Brother Miaocai, what's there to ask about such a spy? That Fanyang City is the key. You said that Meng De went to kill that Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu. If we take down Fanyang City before Meng De returns, it will be a great merit. Only you want to give away this merit," Xiahou Chun said to Xiahou Yuan with dissatisfaction.
"Hmph, you don't know the immensity of heaven and earth!" Xiahou Yuan snorted coldly at Xiahou Chun. Even the lord's 300,000 troops could not take down Fanyang City. Xiahou Chun, you want to take down Fanyang City with just a few hundred thousand troops?
"Meng De can't take it down, but it doesn't mean that we can't!" Xiahou Chun muttered.
"You're still talking?!" Xiahou Yuan asked with wide eyes.
Only then did Xiahou Chun shut his mouth.
"Reporting, General Xiahou, the spy is here!" Just as Xiahou Chun was feeling wronged, Xiahou Yuan's personal guard brought the so-called spy to him.
"This is the spy?" Xiahou Chun shifted his attention to the spy in front of him. How can a playboy be a spy? "You're the spy?"
"You're the spy! I'm not a spy. I have a secret report to tell Prime Minister Cao Cao! "The young man said to Xiahou Chun.
"You have a secret report to tell Prime Minister Cao? Who are you? " Xiahou Yuan asked as he stood up.
"You don't need to know who I am. You just need to send me to Prime Minister Cao. We will naturally give him a satisfactory answer!" The young man said calmly.
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