When Yuan Xi saw the letter sent by Liu Bei, he sighed and said, "The Guangling incident has finally come to an end."
Guo Jia said: "We must not let our guard down. Be careful that Sun Ce abandons Tancheng and makes a surprise attack."
Yuan Xi said: "The possibility is not very high, right?"
Guo Jia nodded and said, "It's not a big deal, but be careful of him being desperate. After all, when he attacked Guangling that day, he was outrageous."
The two men sat on either side of the stone table in the yard and talked. Now that Guangling was no longer a threat, their conversation became more casual.
Mrs. Wu was squatting in a corner of the yard, wiping the door frame with a wet cloth. In fact, she was listening to the conversation between the two with her ears perked up.
She hardly spoke these days, just working silently, and usually wrote down everything she heard. The more she listened, the more surprised she was to find that Yuan Xi's team was not inferior to the generals and advisers under her son Sun Ce. In fact, in many aspects of planning, their pattern was far superior to Sun Ce. They were really her son's enemy.
Yuan Xi asked, "Should we invite Liu Bei to Guangling for a discussion, or should we go to Haixi?"
Guo Jia thought about it and said, "Actually, none of them are suitable."
"According to my opinion, I would simply suggest that Liu Bei send troops together, and then unite the troops at the border of Guangling and Xiapi to attack Tancheng together."
Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "Are we being too hasty?"
Guo Jia said: "If it's too late, we may not have a chance."
Yuan Xi asked, "Mr. Fengxiao, do you think Sun Ce can't stop it?"
Guo Jia shook his head and said, "If I were Cao, I would not continue to send troops to a place like Tancheng, because we already have enough troops."
"It has not been taken yet. On the one hand, Sun Ce's resistance was extremely tenacious, beyond Cao's expectations. On the other hand, Cao Cao may not have given his all."
"But even so, the number of troops Cao Cao deployed in this battle far exceeded my expectations. This must be due to his unusual obsession with Xuzhou."
Yuan Xi nodded in agreement. Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou three times in more than a year, using all means of massacre and looting. It can only be said that Xuzhou is a very attractive place.
Guo Jia added: "If it is really as I thought, Cao Cao should take action in the direction of Yanzhou and Yuzhou."
"Besides, the harvests in Yuzhou and Yangzhou are not good this year, so Yuan Shu may not be able to sustain the food supply."
Yuan Xi thought about it for a moment and said, "It's really possible!"
He understood that Yuan Shu's obsession with Xuzhou was no less than Cao Cao's, which was why he gave up on attacking Yangzhou first and sent Sun Ce and several generals to attack Xuzhou, where it was difficult to provide food and grass. This was obviously not sensible.
Now the two sides were caught in a war of attrition. For Yuan Shu, both food and soldiers were consumed more than Cao's army.
If Cao Cao kept Yuan Shu's most powerful generals here in the name of attacking Tancheng and divided his troops to launch a surprise attack on Yuzhou, Yuan Shu would have no choice but to shrink his defense and let Sun Ce and others return.
Because for Yuan Shu, he only occupied part of Jingzhou, Yuzhou and Yangzhou, among which Yuzhou was connected to the other two states and could not be lost, so he had to save it!
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi suddenly realized: "Cao's army has not withdrawn from the attack on Tancheng. It is very likely that they are waiting for Yuan Shu to order Sun Ce to withdraw!"
Guo Jia nodded: "If Sun Ce was forced to abandon the city at that time, Cao's army could easily take Tancheng."
"We can talk to Liu Bei's army now, but our bargaining chips are not big enough."
"If we can find this loophole in Tancheng, it will be difficult for Liu Bei not to make concessions to us."
"The key is Sun Ce in Tancheng. Although he was once an enemy, at this point in time, he may become a pawn to deal with Cao Cao."
Mrs. Wu listened from a distance and her palms were covered with cold sweat. This strategist named Guo Jia was as talented as Zhou Yu, whom she valued, but this time he had actually calculated against everyone!
Yuan Xi immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei replied a few days later. After receiving the letter, Yuan Xi asked Taishi Ci and Tian Yu to lead the troops out of the city to the border of Xia Pi and Guangling to meet up with Liu Bei's army, while he and Guo Jia stayed in Guangling City.
As the days passed and the weather grew colder, news finally came that Cao Cao quickly sent troops to capture a county in Yuzhou. Yuan Shu's army could not resist and sent a message asking Sun Ce and others to return to Yangzhou.
Yuan Xi looked at the map and thought that Cao Cao would not let Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao go.
After Cao Cao took over the northern part of Yuzhou, he completed the siege of Chenliu County. Now Chenliu County is the only county left in Yanzhou that is not in Cao Cao's hands. It is obvious that Cao Cao is preparing to take action against it next.
After a few more days, good news finally came.
Liu Bei recaptured Tancheng!
However, this was not a good thing for Mrs. Wu, who had been eavesdropping. When she heard the news, her eyes turned dark. Could something have happened to Sun Ce?
However, she later learned from the conversation between Yuan Xi and Guo Jia that Sun Ce had fled back to Yangzhou, and she felt relieved.
However, she felt even more depressed, because now she could no longer rely on Sun Ce. From now on, she could only rely on herself and find a way to escape.
She turned her head to look at her daughter who was having fun with Zhen Mi, and thought that where to escape, how to escape, and what time to choose all required careful planning.
Before that, she had to find out the habits of everyone around Yuan Xi and create an opportunity to escape. She believed that she could definitely take her daughter back!
Guo Jia laughed and said, "We have tricked Cao Cao and Sun Ce this time. Without Master Yuan Tan's surprise troops, I'm afraid no one would have thought that we would be the ones who benefit in the end."
Yuan Xi sent Taishi Ci and Liu Bei to join forces. Cao Cao's army and Sun Ce's army already knew about it, but no one took it seriously at first.
There was no other reason. There were too few soldiers. There were no more than 3,000 soldiers on both sides combined.
Cao Cao's army had over 10,000 soldiers, and Sun Ce's army had over 5,000 soldiers in Xia Pi City. How could the Yuan-Liu coalition force possibly gain the upper hand?
However, the result was unexpected.
When Sun Ce received the order to withdraw his troops, he was actually very reluctant, but now his food and grass were running out, and even if he wanted to fight, he could not persist.
Therefore, Sun Ce had no choice but to break out. Cao Ang had already known about Sun Ce's movements, and immediately ordered his troops to surround three sides and leave one side open, leaving the south gate open for Sun Ce to escape. He then sent Cao Ren to enter from the north gate and take the opportunity to occupy Tancheng.
There was nothing wrong with this idea, but at this time Taishi Ci and Liu Bei's army led their troops into the battlefield, wanting to occupy the north gate.
How could Cao Ang not have anticipated this? He immediately ordered the entire army to attack, and nearly ten thousand people surrounded Liu Bei's army and Taishi Ci. At that time, the north gate had not yet been breached, and it seemed that the coalition forces of Liu Bei and Taishi Ci were about to be wiped out. At this time, variables appeared on the battlefield.
Yuan Tan's tens of thousands of Qingzhou troops rushed into the battlefield!
Cao's army was thrown into chaos by this unexpected event. Although they immediately reorganized their troops and fought back, facing the well-rested Yuan Tan army, Cao's army, which had been fighting for days, soon showed signs of exhaustion.
Cao Ang saw that the situation was hopeless and the city gate was within reach, but he could not break in. He had to temporarily withdraw his troops and retreat back to the camp.
Here, the coalition forces of Liu Bei, Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan took the opportunity to enter the city and occupied Tancheng.
After the two sides had been in a stalemate for several days, Cao Ang saw that the other side was still sending more troops. He knew that he had no chance and had to retreat in anger.
After reading the battle report, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Brother really sent troops to help Liu Bei. He spent almost all his family's wealth. It seems that the conditions Liu Bei offered him must be very high."
Guo Jia was also very happy. He and Yuan Xi had been discussing this plan for a long time, and the outcome was exactly as they had planned. He felt a great sense of accomplishment.
The key lies in Liu Bei's idea.
After this battle, Liu Bei will definitely pay a huge price, but for Liu Bei, it is the best choice at the moment.
Facts have proven that Liu Bei alone cannot defend Xuzhou. Even if he paid a heavy price to stop it this time, what about next time?
So in the letter that Yuan Xi wrote to Liu Bei that day, he expressed an idea.
Liu Bei, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Tan jointly ruled Xuzhou.
If an enemy attacks, the three parties will unite to fight the enemy. In this way, no matter whether it is Cao Cao or Yuan Shu, it will be difficult for one side to pose a threat to Xuzhou.
Liu Bei was a smart man. The loss of Tancheng made him realize that it would be difficult for him to gain the support of the local gentry in Xuzhou within a few years. In this case, he simply brought in the Yuan brothers to suppress and conquer the local gentry together.
As for Yuan Tan, he needed to obtain part of Xuzhou to complete the encirclement of the Taishan bandits at the junction of Qing and Xu.
He had been fighting the Taishan bandits for two years. When they were unable to defeat them, the Taishan bandits retreated back to the mountains and went south to plunder Xuzhou, leaving Yuan Tan helpless.
If he could get a part of Langya County in Xuzhou, Yuan Tan would be able to block the Taishan bandits from both the north and south sides and slowly wear them down.
For Liu Bei, the Taishan bandits, a force that no one is willing to join, are also a big trouble. Why not get rid of them through Yuan Tan?
Finally, for Yuan Xi, what he wanted was to occupy the coastal shipping routes at the mouth of the Yangtze River to ensure his trade routes and the route for Youzhou's outward expansion.
Youzhou was heavily restricted around there. Yuan Xi's plan was to jump out of this circle by sea and wait for an opportunity to expand the territory. Guangling County would be his bridgehead.
Normally speaking, such an isolated enclave, far away from Youzhou, is difficult to defend, but if it has the support of Yuan Xi's fleet, it will be much easier.
So the three parties hit it off and when Cao Cao and Sun Ce were fighting to the death, they took advantage from behind.
Yuan Xi finally said: "I still have a question."
"I used the same trick again and transported Yuan Tan's Qingzhou Army merchant ships from Qingzhou to Xuzhou, thus bypassing Mount Tai."
"But this strategy has already been used once. Logically, Cao Cao should have thought of it long ago. Why do I see that Cao's army is not prepared for it?"
Guo Jia thought about it and smiled, "At least Cao Cao should have thought of it, but he probably didn't expect Yuan Tan to be so determined."
"Although strategies must take all aspects into consideration, we will not throw the baby out with the bathwater because of a tiny possibility. Cao's army must have responded to Yuan Tan's dispatch of troops, but it should have underestimated the combat effectiveness of the three-party coalition."
"This time, Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang is leading the troops. He should be cultivating his battle formation ability. It's not that Cao Cao doesn't value it, but at the same time, Cao Cao should have gone to Yuzhou to supervise the war, which is what he values the most."
"What Cao Ang missed was the combat effectiveness of the three-party coalition. Although Master Yuan Tan fought bravely this time, intelligence said that Chen Deng also led his troops into battle and played a significant role in repelling Cao's army."
"It may be because of this miscalculation that Cao's army missed the opportunity to capture Tancheng."
When Guo Jia said this, he turned to Yuan Xi and said, "Sir, do you know what you are best at?"
Yuan Xi asked in confusion: "What is it?"
"Your ability to judge people," Guo Jia sighed, "You are so good at judging people."
"Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Tian Yu, I won't mention myself, they are all talented people of their time."
When Yuan Xi saw Guo Jia's serious look, he thought to himself that Guo Jia has a clear understanding of himself and is quite thick-skinned.
Guo Jia added: "Sir, you said last time that Chen Deng was a talented person. I thought he was only good at farming, but I didn't expect he could also fight in battles. Sir, with your ability to judge people, you will surely be able to gain a place in the world in the future!"
Yuan Xi felt embarrassed by Guo Jia's flattery and said with a chuckle, "Thank you for your kind words, sir."
He knew that he was just an ordinary person, and even with the support of knowledge from later generations, it was not easy for him to get to where he is today, which made him extremely happy.
The battle of Xuzhou lasted for so long before it was finally settled. You have to know that Zhao Yun and Liu He from Youzhou had fought from Yuyang County to Ji County in Guangyang County!
Now it's finally time to pick the fruits!