Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 232 Yuan Benchu’s counterattack!

November, Yecheng.

"Mingsir, something terrible has happened!"

Holding up his skirt, Xu You hurried along the corridor and waved to Yuan Shao who was watching the fish by the pond.

Yuan Shao turned to look at Xu You and said with a smile: "What has Ziyuan done to make him so anxious? Is there a fire at home?"

Although he was reconciled by Zhang Yu this year, Yuan Shao was very happy because he defeated Gongsun Zan in Pingyuan and captured the two counties of Qingzhou, so he was in the mood to joke recently.

Xu You stamped his feet and said, "There is no fire in You's house, but Ming Gong is on fire!"

"Why do you say that?" Yuan Shao asked seriously.

Xu You asked, "Do you know Zhang Yu?"

"How could I not know!"

Yuan Shao was depressed and said, "Zhang Yu took advantage of the chaos in Guanzhong to seize Hedong. Now he occupies Hedong and Henei counties, and has troops from Bingzhou. He is so proud of himself!"

Before, Yuan Shao might have looked down on Zhang Yu's background, but now Zhang Yu had successively reconciled his conflict with Gongsun Zan and occupied Hedong County, forcing Yuan Shao to be wary of him.

"Zhang Yu controls Hedong, so he is proud for a while. But if he succeeds in conquering Guanzhong, I am afraid you will not be able to rest all night!" Xu You sneered.

"There are more than 100,000 rebels in Guanzhong. How can Zhang Yu suppress them now?" Yuan Shao disagreed and said.

Zhang Yu now occupies a vast territory, but in terms of the situation, his foundation is still shallow. Zhang Yu relocated people on a large scale in the past two years, went to Henei last year, and now occupies Hedong. It will take time to integrate resources. Therefore, in Yuan Shao's view, it will take at least some time for Zhang Yu to digest the two rivers.

Next year we will raise an army to attack Guanzhong. The Guanzhong rebels have tens of thousands of soldiers and horses that are no pushovers. Zhang Yu has only been in power for more than two years, so how can he have the capital to fight!
Seeing Yuan Shao's disbelief, Xu You sneered and said, "My lord, I'm afraid you don't know that Zhang Yu sent an envoy to Guandong, first to Liu Yu in Youzhou, then to Liu Bei in Pingyuan, and now he is heading south via Yanzhou to Jingzhou to meet Yuan Shu."

"Zhang Yu wants to form an alliance to fight against the rebels?" Yuan Shao asked in shock.

Yuan Shao's expression suddenly became heavy, and his brows furrowed. He did not expect Zhang Yu to imitate his method of raising troops to fight against the enemy. If Zhang Yu succeeded in this alliance to fight against the enemy, Sanfu would probably become Zhang Yu's territory.

Yuan Shao gathered his thoughts and asked, "Three prefectures are the only ones bordering Zhang Yu. If we hold a meeting to fight the enemy, wouldn't that just let Zhang Yu gain an advantage? I don't think any of the heroes in Guandong will send out troops."

Yuan Shao was not wrong. It was difficult for Zhang Yu to raise troops to fight against the rebels, but that did not mean that no one would respond. After all, the turmoil had only lasted for two years, and there were still loyal ministers. Even if he was worried that Zhang Yu would become the second Dong Zhuo, he would at least have to try to find out.

"Ming Gong has miscalculated!"

Xu You shook his head and said, "As far as I know, Liu Yu is ready to send troops to support the alliance, and Zhang Yu even went so far as to honor Yuan Shu as the general in order to ask him to send troops."

"Zhang Yu is very clever!"

There was a hint of coldness in Yuan Shao's tone. If he could really form an alliance with Zhang Yu, it would not be impossible to resolve the rebellion in Guanzhong.

Seeing that Yuan Shao was aware of the danger, Xu You continued, "Mingsir, Zhang Yu is leading an army to the west to attack Guanzhong. Next year, it will be the top priority for our army. We should plan carefully."

Yuan Shao nodded and told his attendants, "Send Ju, Tian, Feng, and Shen to discuss the military strategy for next year."

"promise!"

After the attendants had left, Xu You stepped forward and said, "Mingsir, Zhang Yu will send troops westward next year. Should we attack Zhang Yan and cut off the main road from Jingxing to Youzhou?"

Yuan Shao pursed his lips and said nothing. The current situation was beyond his expectations. Because Zhang Yu had repeatedly intervened in Hebei, he could already sense that his previous strategy of occupying Hebei in the north might have to change.

"Attacking Zhang Yan would mean falling out with Zhang Yu. Now we have made enemies with Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yu, which may not be a wise move." Yuan Shao said worriedly.

"This~"

Xu You couldn't help but look embarrassed. In fact, Zhang Yu knew that Yuan Shao was his enemy, and Yuan Shao also knew that Zhang Yu was his enemy, but neither of them wanted to go to war with each other. Yuan Shao wanted to destroy Gongsun Zan first, and Zhang Yu was worried that he would be stuck in a war with Yuan Shao and let others benefit.

"Then how about taking advantage of Zhang Yu's westward advance next year to destroy Gongsun Zan, take over Jizhou, and swallow up Qingzhou?" Xu You asked.

Yuan Shao stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said, "Perhaps it is feasible, but we should discuss it with you gentlemen."

"promise!"

Seeing that Yuan Shao did not directly adopt his strategy, Xu You gradually became unhappy, but due to the difference in status, Xu You could not say much.

It was unknown how long it had passed, but when Ju Su, Tian Feng, Shen Pei and Feng Ji arrived at the council hall one after another, Yuan Shao and Xu You were already waiting there.

Tian Feng was the first to bow and asked, "May I ask, sir, why do you urgently summon me now?"

"For Zhang Yu!"

Xu You accepted the suggestion and said, "Zhang Yu sent envoys to Liu Yu and Yuan Shu to issue a manifesto to fight against the rebels, in order to wipe out the rebels in Guanzhong and welcome the emperor to Luoyang. If we allow Zhang Yu to conquer the Three Auxiliary Prefectures, his reputation will spread throughout the world. When he occupies Bingzhou and Sili counties, our army will suffer. So now I would like to ask you, shall we attack Gongsun Zan next year?" When Xu You said this, everyone was surprised, and then fell silent. It seemed that now except Gongsun Zan, there seemed to be no one else who could be attacked.

"Attacking Gongsun Zan may be just what Zhang Yu wants!"

Tian Feng pondered for a while, then cupped his hands and said, "Zhang Yu is afraid that you will unify Jizhou, so he repeatedly prevents you from attacking Gongsun Zan, hoping that Gongsun Zan will contain you. Now Zhang Yu is marching west to Guanzhong and is unable to look east to Hebei. How could he not know that you are attacking Gongsun Zan? So how can you do as Zhang Yu wants?"

"If we don't take Gongsun Zan now, who can we take?" Yuan Shao asked.

"How is Yanzhou?" Shen Pei asked.

"Yuan Shu almost took control of Yuzhou. Now that he has accepted Jin Shang, I am afraid he will intend to attack Yanzhou next year. So if you take Yanzhou, won't you be surrounded by Yuan Shu in the south, Gongsun in the east, and Zhang Yu in the west, and you will be courting your own destruction?"

Ju Su shook his head and said, "Cao Cao is an old friend of yours, and you have done him many favors. Now, letting Cao Cao take charge of Yanzhou will only benefit you and not cause you any harm."

Xu You frowned and thought, and said, "Now that we can't take Zhang Yu, we can't go south to Yanzhou. Apart from Gongsun Zan, there is no other place to go!"

Tian Feng and Ju Shou looked at each other, and both felt that Yuan Shao was in a strategic dilemma. It seemed that he had no other enemies to defeat except Gongsun Zan.

Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Yuan Shao spoke frankly and asked, "When I first entered Jizhou, you (Ju Shou's courtesy name) told me to take Gongsun in the east, defeat Zhang Yu in the west, sweep across Hebei, and dominate the Central Plains in the south. Now that the situation has changed, I wonder if this strategy can be implemented?"

"It is your wise lord's general strategy to occupy Hebei in the north. There is no need to change it now!"

Tian Feng said: "Zhang Yu is now a great threat to you. He has Liu Yu as his ally in the north and Yuan Shu as his friend in the south. He is now fully developed. Judging from the current situation, it is difficult to control Zhang Yu, but it is easy to defeat Gongsun Zan!"

"How about defeating Gongsun next year, occupying Jizhou, swallowing up Qingzhou, and using the land of the two states to attack Zhang Yu?" Yuan Shao asked.

"What about Youzhou?"

Ju Su seemed to have an idea and said, "Bingzhou has great mountains and Zhang Yu is defending it, which is enough to repel us. How can we attack him now? The geographical advantage of Hebei belongs to him, not you, sir!"

Seeing Ju Su's words, Yuan Shao could not help but lower his posture and asked, "Do you have any good advice for me?"

"I have a plan now, but whether it will succeed or not depends on Gongsun Zan!"

"But it doesn't matter!"

Ju Su gathered his thoughts and said, "What Yuan Hao just said makes sense. Zhang Yu wants you to wrestle with Gongsun Zan. How can you do what he wants? So you need to use the strategy to break Zhang Yu's wings."

"Liu Yu and Zhang Yu of Youzhou are the places where Hebei is under control. If you can capture Youzhou, Zhang Yu will be greatly shocked and will withdraw from Guanzhong to support Youzhou. This is a plan to besiege Wei to save Zhao!"

"Attack Youzhou?"

Yuan Shao frowned and said, "Liu Yu is very famous in Youzhou. Although there are no heavy soldiers guarding the prefecture, there are many people among the people and the Hu people who are willing to fight to the death. Moreover, Gongsun Zan is in Bohai. If we attack Youzhou, Gongsun Zan will definitely rescue it. Taking Youzhou by surprise is probably a bad idea and it is impossible to do it!"

"hehe!"

Tian Feng understood Ju Su's intention, and smiled, saying, "Ju Jun's intention is not to let you personally attack Youzhou. If Feng is right, Ju Jun wants Gongsun Zan to attack Youzhou."

Xu You shook his head, showing an expression of disbelief, and said: "Gongsun Zan and my lord have a life-and-death hatred, how could he attack Youzhou for my lord? Moreover, Liu Yu is the governor of Youzhou, and Gongsun Zan killing Liu Yu would be a crime of insubordination. How could he do such an absurd thing!"

"The world is bustling with people, all for profit; the world is bustling with people, all for profit!"

"In the past, the three states besieged Zhao for more than a year. Zhao persuaded Wei and Han with the strategy of "the lips and teeth are cold", so Zhi Bo died and the Zhi clan was divided. In the past, Qin and Zhao attacked each other, but there was also an agreement between Qin and Zhao. Whatever Qin wanted to do, Zhao would help it; whatever Zhao wanted to do, Qin would help it."

Ju Su stroked his beard and thought, and said: "As far as I know, Liu Yu is unwilling to provide food and grain to Gongsun Zan, so now Gongsun Zan has collected food and grass from the county. It can be seen that Gongsun Zan is exhausted. If our army attacks Gongsun next year, he will be unable to compete with our army."

"Gongsun Zan is trapped in Bohai now. If we can send our good men to make peace with Gongsun Zan and divide the prefectures and counties in Hebei, then great things can be accomplished!"

"How to divide it?" Yuan Shao asked.

"Gongsun Zan took six counties and states in Youzhou, and you took six counties and states in Qingzhou." Ju Su said: "When Zhang Yu attacked Youzhou, you sent troops to rescue Youzhou, and vice versa for Gongsun Zan."

Yuan Shao narrowed his eyes and said, "When necessary, we can take advantage of Gongsun Zan's fatigue to send troops to seize Bohai and Hejian counties; or we can send troops to Henei and Shangdang to threaten Zhang Yu not to go east."

"Of course!"

Ju Su nodded and said, "Zhang Yu allied with Gongsun Zan to check and balance Ming Gong, why can't Ming Gong allied with Gongsun Zan to check and balance Zhang Yu?"

After listening to the conversation for a while, Feng Ji couldn't help but sigh: "Although the plan is good, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince Gongsun Zan. Zhang Yu helped him out of trouble, but our army has a grudge against him!"

Tian Feng said: "Gongsun Zan hates formal attire and likes common people. He favors Liu Weitai, Li Yizi, and Le Hedang. You can send a debater to explain the pros and cons to Gongsun Zan, and use money to bribe Liu, Li, and Le, and lure them with the land of Youzhou. How can Gongsun Zan not be tempted?"

"Yuan Hao and Gongsun Zan's strategy is feasible. We will send an envoy to Gongsun Zan to establish friendly relations between our two families. He will take Youzhou and I will take Qingzhou!" Yuan Shao said in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)