Chapter 155 Liu Bei surrenders to Yuan Shao

Liu Bei nodded when he heard this, and then hesitated:

"When we were on the plains, our army was not harmonious with Yuan Shao. Now we are going to like each other, I'm afraid Yuan Shao will be unable to be compatible."

Sun Gan’s wisdom is not very good. At 75 o’clock, after hearing Liu Bei’s words, he frowned and thought for a while, shook his head and said:

"Otherwise, will the lord not hear that the enemy is a friend? Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are in trouble, and our army will be the same. If you go to Yuan Shao, you will be accepted."

After hearing what Sun Gan said, Liu Bei's doubts were greatly alleviated. However, for the sake of security, Liu Bei decided to write a letter first and submit it to Yuan Shao in Yecheng, and then make a decision after seeing Yuan Shao's attitude of replying to the letter.

The letter was sent to Yuan Shao by Sun Gan personally to show his sincerity and also to ask Sun Gan to check Yuan Shao's appearance. Ten days later, Sun Gan returned from Yecheng and told Liu Bei that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were about to start a big battle. His subordinates were divided into main battles, and the two factions were defending each other, and they were arguing endlessly. When they learned that the lord wanted to go and surrender, Yuan Shao was very happy and did not hesitate at all. He immediately wrote a letter in front of his minister and replied to the lord.

When Liu Bei heard this, he was overjoyed and finally got a place to settle down. How could he be unhappy? He opened the letter and read it. In the letter, Yuan Shao expressed his appreciation for Liu Bei. He was so eager to seek talent that he needed talents like Liu Bei, so he naturally welcomed Liu Bei's intention to seek refuge.

After receiving this letter, Liu Bei decided to make up his mind after Sun Gan's description. Then he took Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Sun Gan and more than 200 soldiers to set out from Beihai and head straight for Yecheng.

The more than 200 soldiers were infantry, and their speed was naturally incomparable to riding horses. Twelve days later, Liu Bei and his subordinates rushed to Yecheng. At this time, Cao Cao's first army had already begun to attack a county town on the north bank of the Yellow River in Baima Port in Yecheng.

As Liu Bei and his group were on the way, they obtained food for food from various prefectures and counties under Yuan Shao, and also reported the whereabouts of Liu Bei and his group. Therefore, after Yuan Shao learned that Liu Bei was about to arrive in Yecheng, he personally led the generals out of the city to greet him. The scene was very grand.

Like Yuan Shao, the generals under Yuan Shao were very happy about Liu Bei's arrival, and they all believed that Liu Bei was surrendering sincerely, and he would always be Yuan Shao's subordinates and his colleagues from now on. Only Ju Su's expression was different from everyone else, and he looked at Liu Bei coldly with a cold expression.

However, Yuan Shao held Liu Bei's hand and cared for him, and walked back to Yecheng with Liu Bei, and everyone followed behind them.

After entering Yecheng, everyone had just sat down in the main hall of the palace. Yan Liang and Wen Chou, who were stationed in Pingyuan and Ande Port, came to the hall at the same time. It turned out that since Cao Cao sent troops to attack Baima Port, Yuan Shao sent Pegasus to transfer these two generals to Yecheng to control Cao's army.

The two of them met the lord and ministers of Yuan Shao. Not long after they sat down, a messenger sent from Baima Port came to the hall and said to Yuan Shao on one knee:

"Sir, Baima Port has been surrounded by Cao Cao's army, and the defenders suffered heavy casualties. General Xu Huang was sent down to see his lord and asked his lord to send reinforcements to rescue him. If there is a slight delay, the lord will be in danger."

After hearing this, Yuan Shao frowned and pondered for a while, then turned to look at the adviser sitting in front of him and said:

"I intend to give up Baima Port and let Xu Huang lead his troops back to Yecheng. What do you think?"

As soon as Yuan Shao finished speaking, everyone immediately whispered, both in favor and against. Guo Tu was ordered to lead the Nanpi soldiers to Yecheng, so he was also present. At this time, he quickly stood up and said:

"Lord, our army's military force is several times that of Cao's army, and the generals are more than twice as many as Cao's army. As long as our army gathers all its strength, it is easy to defeat Cao's army, the lord must not listen to the pedantic remarks of Confucian scholars, and miss the opportunity to fight."

Guo Tu's words were said to Ju Shu.

The reason why Yuan Shao wanted to give up the white horse and defend Yecheng was Ju Su's plan. Because in Ju Su's view, the biggest disadvantage of Yuan Shao's insufficient military and food was the fundamental reason why Cao's army suddenly sent troops. Once Yuan Shao sent a large army, Cao's army would retreat or turn to defense, intending to consume the small amount of food stored in our army. When the food stored in our army was exhausted, our army would no longer have the power to turn the world.

The situation of defending the city is different. You can draw out more than half of the troops to other cities. Although the Cao army has more troops and food than our army, it is not very surplus. During this period, our army will cross the river through the Beihai, Pingyuan and other counties to attack the Cao army's food route, disrupting its rear, and delaying for a period of time, Cao's army will retreat. In this way, after collecting the food in July, our army can suppress the entire territory and destroy the Cao army in one fell swoop.

Although this proposition seems a bit passive and passive - fighting to defend the city will inevitably cause the city to be destroyed and the arable land around the city will be destroyed in large quantities - it is very practical. At least it can make the First Legion of the Cao army do nothing and then retreat.

Once the First Legion retreats, it no longer attracts Yuan Shao's main force, and Wu Fan's Second Legion will be alone. It can be said that once Ju Shu's defensive strategy is implemented from beginning to end by Yuan Shao, it will inevitably cause a fundamental reversal of the situation between the two armies. As soon as July comes, the situation in Cao's army is not optimistic.

However, this is just the idea of ​​Ju Su and a very small number of supporters. More like Guo Tu, Xu You and others are in charge of the war: I think that since the Yuan army started a war, I have never suffered such a frustration. I have always swept the enemy and were invincible. This would damage our army's prestige and momentum, making the princes in the world laughed at me: they were beaten by Cao's army and were honestly shrunk in the shell like a turtle.

Besides, Cao's army is far inferior to our army, both in terms of military power and military generals. If they want to play procrastination, will our army accompany them to procrastinate? Our army can be the leader in fighting, chase the Cao army and drive the Cao army out of Hebei. What's wrong with it?

Yuan Shao was also hesitant between fighting and defending. After hearing Guo Tu's statement, he immediately shook his previous defensive ideas. Ju Su saw Yuan Shao's psychological activities and quickly stood up and said:

"Lord, those who are the king should make a decision and strengthen the morale of the army; they must not change their orders every day and hesitate. Please stick to the established plan."

After Ju Su finished speaking, Xu You and other pro-war factions stood up to make suggestions. Yuan Shao became more and more confused when he heard this. Finally, he frowned and sighed, waved his hand and told everyone not to speak too much, and to calm down.

After accidentally glanced at Liu Bei, Yuan Shao saw Liu Bei sitting below and immediately said to Liu Bei:

"Xuande, from your perspective, should our army fight or defend?"

Liu Bei sat like an old monk entering a meditation before, without moving at all. Hearing Yuan Shao calling him, he quickly stood up and said humbly:

"How can we judge the defeated general?"

Yuan Shao waved his hand and said:

"Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. There is no need to worry about Xuande. What do you think, but it doesn't matter."

Liu Bei paused his head and showed his respect, and then he said solemnly:

"If the Ming Duke did not punish Cao Cao, he might lose all justice in the world."

This was righteous and Yuan Shao nodded repeatedly. Guo Tu, Xu You and other pro-war factions were even more happy, so they all helped each other in unison. Only Ju Su turned his head and stared at Liu Bei for a long time, and said:

"Liu Xuande, you are so jealous of our army to take revenge on Cao's army. If you win this battle, your wish will be fulfilled. If you lose, you will escape. But you have pity for hundreds of thousands of soldiers of our Yuan army, who died for no reason for your words."

Liu Bei was still the expression of an old monk entering into meditation. He listened calmly to Ju Su and finished his words. Instead, he respectfully attacked Yuan Shao and said:

"Reported to Gong Ming, he was questioned by the military advisors under Gong Ming, and was frightened and heartbroken. Although he was reluctant to leave, he could no longer stay here. I would like to leave Ming."

After saying that, he turned around and wanted to leave. How could Yuan Shao let Liu Bei go? He quickly called Liu Bei, then turned to Ju Shu and said:

"Please, the arguments in front of the army are different, and it is normal. Why is Gong Yu so narrow-minded that he wrongly accused Xuande and the lonely master of fighting has made a decision. You are not allowed to say more."

Speaking of this, it already has a strong rebuke. Ju Su was not Yuan Shao's old subordinate. After hearing Yuan Shao said this, he felt a sudden chill. He sighed, bowed to Yuan Shao silently, and turned around and left.

The next moment, Yuan Shao ordered: General Yan Liang as the vanguard, Gongsun Zan, Zhou Ang, and Guan Yuanjin as the deputy generals, and led 50,000 troops to Baima Port to fight Cao's army. This time, he must be the main battle and must not delay the Cao army.

Yan Liang took the order and left.

Then Yuan Shao sent another dispatch to break the original defensive arrangements and sent 250,000 troops gathered in Yecheng to the front line one after another. He also ordered the troops to go to the four cities of Pingyuan, Beihai, Ji and Beiping, and ordered the prefects of the four cities to lead heavy troops to Yecheng to gather. At the same time, he ordered Xu You and others to raise grain everywhere. Although he knew that he would not raise a lot, he was still a little more.

...

But Gongsun Zan had a personal relationship with Liu Bei, and surrendered to Yuan Shao since his power was destroyed. When Yan Liang led the deputy general out of the city to order the troops, Liu Bei took the opportunity to call Gongsun Zan at the city gate. The two of them said a few words, and then Liu Bei made the main point and said to Gongsun Zan:

"The previous period was attacked by Cao's army in Xia Pi. All the troops were wiped out, and all the generals fled. After that, while he was recuperating in Beihai, he sent people everywhere to find out whereabouts of the general, but someone reported it. I heard that Yun Chang seemed to have surrendered to Cao Cao. Although I cannot be sure, I must not believe it at all. Now Brother Bo Gui is about to fight with Cao's army. If I meet Yun Chang, I ask Bo Gui to tell Yan Liang not to hurt him. I have something to say to him. Remember."

Gongsun Zan promised to say goodbye to Liu Bei.

Attachment: There are many versions about Yan Liang's death. One of them is that after Yan Liang saw Guan Yu, he was not interested in fighting with Guan Yu. Instead, he was about to ask questions. Guan Yu took advantage of the Red Rabbit Horse's speed and rushed to the front and was killed unexpectedly.

But Yan Liang led the deputy generals such as Gongsun Zan to order 50,000 troops and horses, and rushed to Baima Port directly.

Baima Port is an important ferry on the north bank of the Yellow River, only four days away from Yecheng, and its strategic position is very important. This time, Cao Cao personally served as the general, leading five deputy generals of Dian Wei, Cao Hong, Song Xian, Hou Cheng, and Wei Xu to surround Baima Port to determine when Lu Bu's generals surrendered Cao Cao. Although Xu Huang, the main general of Baima Port, was brave, he was powerless in the face of being surrounded by Tuantu. If he continues like this, Baima Port will soon be destroyed in less than half a day.

Cao Cao was commanding the troops in the well railing to shoot arrows into Baima Port to suppress the enemy. From a distance, he saw a cloud of smoke and dust surging from the north horizon, which was a sign of the army's advance. He was shocked and suspicious, and a pegasus came, and then dismounted and reported to Cao Cao:
Chapter completed!