Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 281: It's not a crime of war

The fighting on the city wall was still going on. After Zhang Liao broke his sword, he replaced it with another one, and with a click, he cut off the fingers of Yuan Bing who was about to launch a sneak attack.

The other person opened his mouth, but before he could utter a scream, the blade had already chopped off his neck. His head fell off in an instant, and blood gushed out from the wound.

Because the corridor on the top of the city wall was too narrow, it was more suitable to use a long sword to chop horizontally and vertically. Zhang Liao held the blade and slashed again to kill the Yuan soldier who was climbing the ladder and about to reach the top.

"Dang Dang Dang..."

The two sides fought fiercely until dusk, during which Zhang Liao took several short breaks before returning to battle.

It was not until late in the evening that three rapid blasts of trumpets were heard from Yuan's camp. The soldiers attacking the city rushed to the rear like a tide, as if they had been pardoned, for fear that they would be hit by arrows if they walked too slowly.

Zhang Liao shook off the bloody hilt of his sword and ordered the soldiers to clean the city wall. He then looked up at the enemy camp and saw that they had also removed the large crossbows from the watchtower. He frowned and thought deeply.

Zhang He and Ju Shou came today with great momentum. Considering the arrow attack before, they had been fighting for such a long time. They must have wanted to make a concerted effort to completely capture Ge County. They had fought at night before, so how could they give up just because it was getting dark?

Even if the nobles' troops and auxiliary soldiers were frightened by the killing, there were still soldiers from the counties and states that had not been deployed. Zhang He, a common man, retreated so easily after being insulted like this. If he was not trying to be mysterious, then the enemy must have suddenly changed.

Zhang Liao thought to himself.

His eyes suddenly lit up. Could it be that the envoy defeated the main force of Yuan’s army in Pingyuan, and the news was passed to Ju Shou and Zhang He’s army, which made them decide to withdraw their troops?

Zhang Liao had such an idea because Lord Xuande rose from Qing and Yan, and was unstoppable. Even if Emperor Guangwu was still alive, he could still compete for Hebei.

Not to mention that Yuan Shao led an army of 100,000, even if he led 200,000, he would surely be defeated.

Thinking of this, Zhang Liao's eyes fell on the wall of Yuan army camp under the city. If this was true, Zhang He and Ju Su would definitely withdraw their troops tonight.

Otherwise, if Lord Xuande led his army north, these more than 10,000 Yuan soldiers would not be able to escape.

If the 30,000-strong army of Zhang He, Gao Lan and Dong Zhao were completely wiped out in Pingyuan County, both Hejian and Bohai would be lost, and the envoy might even be able to return to Youzhou Zhuo County sooner.

Zhang Liao's eyes sparkled and he was quite excited.

Gao Lan and Dong Zhao are not in Ge County, but Zhang He is still there. If we can launch a surprise attack and defeat Zhang He's troops, it will be easy to attack Bohai County in the future. Although Zhang Junyi is from Hejian, Jizhou, he had found out many days ago that the enemy is not good at cavalry warfare. The only thing he is afraid of is the powerful crossbows in Yuan's army. If we launch a surprise attack at night, the enemy crossbowmen will not be able to aim in a flash.

Moreover, in order to facilitate the siege, Zhang He had already filled in the trenches that Yuan Shao had dug earlier. He took advantage of the night when Yuan's soldiers retreated to push open the earth wall of the city gate. He then wrapped the horses' hooves with cloth and tied up their mouths tightly. He would be able to catch the enemy off guard with a thunderbolt and drive straight in to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

"If there is any unusual movement, we can take advantage of the situation tonight and attack Yuan's camp. It would be best if we can capture Ju Shou and Zhang He alive."

Zhang Liao thought about it.

……

On the other side, Ju Su met the messenger sent by Yuan Gong. Due to the urgent situation at that time, he did not even have time to write a formal document. He could only write a few words on cloth, stamp it with a seal and hand it to the clerk.

The moment the soldiers welcomed the messenger into the tent, Ju Su couldn't help but gasp, grabbed his sleeves with sweaty palms, and stood up suddenly.

Just because he saw the middle-aged clerk lifting the curtain, revealing his disheveled appearance, unkempt hair and dirty face, Ju Su had a bad idea in an instant, and asked with difficulty: "What is the matter that Lord Yuan sent you here for?"

Zhang He, who was standing next to him, also had his heart beating wildly, but he tried hard not to guess.

"Lord Ju, Lord Yuan... Lord Yuan was defeated!"

The middle-aged clerk spoke with tears in his eyes and trembling lips.

He was heartbroken. All the investments made by the clan over the years were lost. Not only were the 4,000 troops lost, but when Liu Xuande swept across Hebei in the future, any powerful family who dared to assist the Yuan family with all their might would not be spared. Liu Bei had already made this clear in his manifesto.

How can this be good? !

If we had known that Lord Yuan was so vulnerable, we should have moved our entire clan to Qingzhou. Why did we follow the footsteps of those blind nobles who took refuge with Wang Lang? If any of the clan members are to escape this disaster, they must follow the ancestral teachings: if they see someone from the Liu family marrying a woman from the Yin family, they must surrender with their entire clan without any hesitation.

Witnessing his own troops being slaughtered with their bodies scattered all over the ground, and thinking about the future suffering of the entire clan, it was simply heartbreaking.

How could he be so stupid and confused as to follow Yuan Shao, a man of three generations of nobility, to rebel against the Han Dynasty? He was really blinded by the interests.

The middle-aged clerk was regretting his decision to the point of tears. Regret and guilt were intertwined in his heart, and tears of sadness burst out.

Ju Su was also slightly stunned, and couldn't help but sigh with tears in his eyes: "I didn't expect that Lord Yuan would get the help of so many loyal and righteous people. It can be said that people's hearts can be known by events."

He stepped forward and gently stroked his back, comforting him: "Victory and defeat are common in the military. Winning and losing are normal. You just need to reorganize the troops and raise morale. You will surely be able to turn defeat into success. There is no need for you to be too sad."

Ju Su paused at this point and asked again, "How many men and horses did Lord Yuan lose in this battle? Is the camp still as solid as a rock?"

The letter only told him to leave as soon as possible and to reply to reorganize the troops, without mentioning anything else.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged clerk wiped his tears, looked up at Ju Su in surprise, as if his thoughts were interrupted, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Ju Su paced back and forth in the military tent, and then said, "Lord Yuan's army has been defeated, so we must not retreat hastily. Let Chunyu Qiong lead the cavalry to protect the left and right flanks of the army, and then order Wuhuan Tadun to harass Liu Xuande's food supply, and slowly retreat to Yimu. Even if Ge County is difficult to capture in a short time, General Zhang and I will definitely find a way to break through this city, and then lead the army south to join forces."

"Lord Ju, Lord Yuan's defeat was not just a minor one, it was a massive defeat where the entire army was annihilated and the ground collapsed!"

The middle-aged clerk completely smashed the jar and said dejectedly.

The entire military tent fell silent in an instant. Ju Shou stood there in a daze like a piece of wood, and Zhang He's body was also shaking slightly.

The Hebei army of 100,000 soldiers had only advanced for a short time when they were defeated by Liu Xuande and their entire army was wiped out.

Lord Yuan had often said that Cao Mengde was incompetent, which led to Liu Bei's conquest of Yanzhou. Why was he still so careless this time? What were Tian Yuanhao, Guo Gongze, and Xun Youruo doing? Why didn't anyone offer advice and suggestions to help Lord Yuan make up for the shortcomings?

Ju Su suppressed his shock and asked the question in his heart, but the middle-aged official immediately became hesitant and said vaguely: "This was Liu Bei's plan. He led 7,000 troops to meet the enemy. Seeing that the enemy was weak, Lord Yuan did not stop and led 100,000 troops to fight with them in Gaoxiang, 40 miles away from Yu County. Unexpectedly, Chunyu Qiong's troops were defeated in Liu Xuande's rear formation, and the Wuhuan cavalry met the enemy and were defeated again. The Qingzhou cavalry rushed directly to the central army's banner. The central army was defeated in the battle, and Lord Yuan had to retreat with hatred."

"Duke Ju, this is not the fault of the war."

(End of this chapter)