Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 273: Encirclement of Yuan Shao
The second year of Xingping, summer.

When the allied forces of Zhang Yu, Liu He and others swept through the five counties of Youyan, drastic changes were taking place in the Central Plains.

Cao Cao, in the name of revenge for his father, once again led his army to attack Tao Qian. He captured five cities, defeated Cao Bao, took Xiangben, and plundered Donghai County. His momentum was unstoppable. Tao Qian retreated to Xiapi with his troops and repeatedly sent envoys to Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, and Kong Rong for help.

Although Kong Rong was on good terms with Tao Qian, he was also in a difficult situation. Yuan Tan, under Yuan Shao's order, led tens of thousands of troops to besiege Beihai, which lasted from spring to summer. Kong Rong was already in danger.

Compared with Kong Rong's inability to do anything, Lu Bu had been coveting Yanzhou for a long time, but was unable to exert his power due to the small number of soldiers and generals under his command. Therefore, when he received the letter asking for help, he sent people to inform Zhang Yu and Yuan Shu respectively in the name of rescuing Tao Qian, requesting the allocation of troops.

Zhang Yu was far away in Youzhou to fight against Gongsun Zan, so he could not make a decision immediately. Therefore, Zhong Yao thought about the pros and cons and made a bold decision, so he transferred 500 horses and 1,000 stones of Hedong salt to support Lü Bu.

Although Yuan Shu was concentrating on managing the states above and below the Yangtze River, he did not forget to make trouble for Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Therefore, he transferred 3,000 infantry and cavalry to Lu Bu for assistance.

Not only that, because of the discord between Zhang Miao and Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu wrote a letter to Zhang Miao in Chenliu, using Wang Kuang as an example to condemn Yuan Shao and Cao Cao for being immoral and urging Zhang Miao to submit to him.

Zhang Miao and Wang Kuang were both scholars from Yanzhou and Ludi, and they both served under He Jin, and they had a deep friendship. Zhang Miao had many complaints against Yuan Shao because Wang Kuang was betrayed by Yuan Shao, and even accepted Han Fu. Later, Cao Cao killed Wang Kuang for Yuan Shao, and Zhang Miao became dissatisfied with Cao Cao.

After the relationship between Yuan Shao and Zhang Miao deteriorated, Yuan Shao even ordered Cao Cao to kill Zhang Miao. Cao Cao wanted to rule Yanzhou, so although he did not kill Zhang Miao, he made him feel fearful. So in order to find a way out, Zhang Miao gradually became close to Yuan Shu.

While Zhang Miao was interacting with Yuan Shu, Chen Gong, Xu Si, Wang Kai and other Yanzhou nobles and powerful people were dissatisfied with Cao Cao's actions in Yanzhou.

Since Cao Cao took control of Yanzhou, he was not content to be just a puppet, but wanted to control all the counties in Yanzhou. He successively encroached on Dongping State where Liu Dai stationed troops, and Jibei State where Bao Xin was stationed. The governor of Taishan abandoned the county and defected to Yuan Shao for fear of being punished by Cao Cao.

In addition to replacing county officials, which caused a large number of original Yanzhou gentry to lose their power, Cao Cao's killing of Bian Rang made the Yanzhou gentry and people increasingly resentful of Cao Cao.

Taking all of the above into consideration, Chen Gong, Xu Si, Wang Kai and other officials from the prominent families of Yanzhou decided to replace Cao Cao and welcome Lu Bu, the legitimate governor of Yanzhou who was appointed by the emperor, to take control of Yanzhou in order to satisfy their own interests.

Therefore, Chen Gong and Xu Si contacted Zhang Miao through Zhang Chao. After receiving Yuan Shu's letter, Zhang Miao was already eager to join forces with Lu Bu. When Zhang Miao learned of Chen Gong's attitude, he was overjoyed and immediately agreed with him.

In their cooperation, Zhang Miao wanted to use Lü Bu as a vanguard to resist Cao Cao, while Chen Gong wanted to share Yanzhou affairs with Lü Bu to protect his own interests. Therefore, although their starting points were different, their purpose of rebelling against Cao Cao was the same.

After the two local forces in Yanzhou cooperated, they sent people to contact Lü Bu who was stationed in Yingchuan. When Lü Bu saw that Zhang Miao and Chen Gong welcomed him as the governor of Yanzhou, he immediately led his troops north from Yingchuan.

After the three forces joined together, Chen Gong and Lu Bu went north to take Dongjun. In order to allow Lu Bu to successfully capture Yanzhou, Zhang Miao sent Liu Yi to inform Xun Yu. Lu Bu accepted his invitation and sent troops to help Cao Cao capture Tao Qian, and asked Xun Yu to prepare food and grass.

When Xun Yu heard Liu Yi's message, he instantly understood that Zhang Miao had bad intentions. He asked someone to pass the message to Cao Cao and ordered his subordinates to be on alert.

Although Xun Yu saw through Zhang Miao's improper behavior, it was difficult to change the situation. Cao Cao had offended too many people in Yanzhou, and many of the garrison commanders and senior officials were in contact with Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, so many people responded to Lu Bu.

For a time, most of Jiyin, Chenliu, and Dongjun abandoned Cao Cao and supported Lu Bu!

Compared with Cao Cao who was conquering Xuzhou, Yuan Shao of Jizhou was the first to learn about the dramatic changes in Yanzhou because he was close to Dongjun.

Xindu, the governor's office.

Yuan Shao read the military report submitted by his son Yuan Tan and said with a smile: "Xiansi finally lived up to my expectations. He besieged Kong Rong for several months and finally conquered Beihai. It's a pity that he failed to capture Kong Rong and let him escape."

"Kong Rong is too ambitious and has no long-term vision. Now he has fled to Beihai and has nowhere to stay. He can only run west to Luoyang!" Ju Su judged.

Yuan Shao put down the report, stood up and paced, saying: "Beihai was conquered by Xiansi, and the six counties and kingdoms of Qingzhou all surrendered. Now there is no danger in the southeast, so I am only worried about Zhang Yuer!"

"Zhang Yu entered Yan via Beigu and swept through all the counties in Youzhou. Now Gongsun Zan is weak and has stationed his troops in the south of Yan. The two forces may be evenly matched!"

After a pause, Yuan Shao looked at everyone in the hall and asked, "Just now, the cavalry came to report that Zhang Miao welcomed Lu Bu into Yanzhou, so Yanzhou is now attacked by Lu Bu, and Cao Cao is far away in Xuzhou. Let me ask you, now that the situation in the south and the north has suddenly changed, what should we do?"

Feng Ji stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said, "Although Zhang Miao and Lu Bu rebelled against Cao Cao, Cao Cao still has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. If Cao Cao returns to attack Zhang and Lu in the west, the outcome will be hard to predict!"

Feng Ji emphasized his tone and said, "Mingsir, Zhang Yu is still determined to destroy Jizhou. He has taken Youzhou in the north and attacked Yanzhou in the south. Moreover, Shangdang is a stronghold over Jizhou. If we let Zhang Yu succeed, Jizhou will be surrounded on three sides, and the situation will be very unfavorable to our army."

It has been said before that the war between Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao had already begun, but a large-scale campaign had not yet broken out.

In order to strategically encircle Yuan Shao, Zhang Yu not only sent troops to Youzhou from a long distance to support the Youzhou forces close to him, but also made efforts in Henan early on, such as contacting Yuan Shu to prevent Yuan Shao from expanding into Henan and restricting Cao Cao's development in Yanzhou.

After all, regardless of whether Cao Cao has ambitions to dominate or not, his greatest role to Yuan Shao at present is to guard the safety of his flanks. If enemies appear in the Central Plains, Yuan Shao's flanks will be threatened.

In order to cut off Yuan Shao's wings, Zhang Yu appointed Lu Bu as the governor of Yanzhou in Guanzhong and sent him to Guandong. Therefore, Lu Bu's appointment as the governor of Yanzhou was not only to prevent Cao Cao's development. In the long run, it was also to surround Yuan Shao from the south and form a three-sided encirclement with Bingzhou and Youzhou.

Judging from the current situation, Zhang Yu supports Liu He in Youzhou. If Lu Bu can gain a foothold in Yanzhou, they will form a "C" encirclement of Yuan Shao, with Bingzhou as the center and Yanzhou and Youzhou as wings. Therefore, if the encirclement can be formed, Yuan Shao will fall into a strategic disadvantage before the war.

When Zhang Yu sent troops from Bingzhou, Yuan Shao not only had to fight against Zhang Yu in the west, but also had to fight against the troops of Yan and You in the south and north. This was Zhang Yu's new round of layout against Yuan Shao.

Starting with Lu Bu's attack on Yanzhou, the north and the south launched forces almost simultaneously. As Yuan Shao's top strategist, how could he not see that a big net was covering them?

"Lü Bu is from Zhang Yu's hometown. If he occupies Yanzhou now, the situation will be disadvantageous to us!" Tian Feng suggested: "So you need to wait and see the situation in Yanzhou and order Cao Cao to return to Yanzhou as soon as possible to attack Lü Bu. If Cao Cao's troops are exhausted, you need to send them food and supplies. Don't let Lü Bu succeed."

Tian Feng said solemnly: "Yanzhou is in turmoil and Youzhou is in a stalemate. So in my opinion, it would be better for you to take advantage of Zhang Yu's expedition to Youzhou and lead the troops to Shangdang. Then you can withdraw Zhang Yu's troops from Youzhou, relieve Gongsun Zan's current threat, and make it difficult for Zhang Yu to support Lu Bu."

"Yes~"

Yuan Shao paced a little, looking embarrassed, and said: "Let's stick to the old plan and ask Gongsun Zan to hand over Bohai, and we will send troops to help him. Now that we don't have Bohai, but we send troops to help, won't that let Gongsun Zan gain the advantage!"

Seeing that Yuan Shao was still thinking about the small profit of Bohai, Tian Feng was speechless and said, "Unless Gongsun is in dire straits, he will not easily give up Bohai to you. Since you have no intention of joining forces with Zhang Yu to take Gongsun Zan, why don't you plot against Zhang Yu as soon as possible?"

Yuan Shao hesitated for a while and said, "Gongsun Zan still has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under his command. It is hard to predict the outcome of the battle with Zhang Yu. We might as well wait and see for a while."

"To be frank, Gongsun Zan is definitely not Zhang Yu's enemy. How can you be bound by Bohai's small interests?" Tian Feng said excitedly, "How can you sit still and not fight when there is a great struggle?"

"Why do you say that, Mr. Tian?"

Feng Ji came forward to defend Yuan Shao, saying: "Your Excellency has allied with Han Sui in the west, looked to Cao Cao in the south, and watched tigers fighting in the north. Your plans are far-reaching. How could you not be interested in competing for supremacy in the world?"

Yuan Shao looked dissatisfied and said, "Sending troops to attack Zhang Yu is inevitable. The outcome of the battle between the two tigers is still unknown, so we should not act rashly."

Tian Feng was a straightforward person. He complained, "Your Excellency is concerned about the Second Young Master and does not want to fight Gongsun Zan. However, you are plotting to seize Bohai and want Gongsun Zan to cede land to you. Doesn't that mean you have already figured out that Gongsun Zan is no match for Zhang Yu, so you think you will have to attack Bingzhou sooner or later?"

Tian Feng was very upset by Yuan Shao's strategic wavering. On the one hand, he was concerned about Yuan Xi and did not want to fall out with Gongsun Zan; on the other hand, he coveted Bohai and hoped that Zhang Yu would send troops to defeat Gongsun Zan so that Bohai would be given to him.

Seeing that Yuan Shao's conflicting thoughts affected his decision today, Tian Feng couldn't help but speak out!

As Tian Feng bluntly pointed out what Yuan Shao was thinking, Yuan Shao's face darkened. It was obvious that Yuan Shao was dissatisfied with what Tian Feng said.

Seeing this, Xu You eased the atmosphere and said, "Since you want to expand your territory, why don't you order your soldiers to station in Bohai and Hejian counties on the pretext of helping in the war? And send an envoy to Gongsun Zan to persuade him to cede Bohai to you and agree on the dispatch of troops."

"This strategy works!"

Ju Su said: "If Gongsun Zan understands the situation, you can send Qu Yi to the north to join forces with Gongsun Zan to take Youzhou. And you can divide the troops into two groups, one to take Shangdang and the other to conquer Henei."

"Shangdang has the dangerous Huguan Pass, and Zhang Yu has repaired many passes, so it may be difficult to capture it suddenly. Henei has no dangerous places and is defended. The court has set up Chaoge County, which can be taken now. And Jingxing is guarded by Zhang Yan, so it is not suitable to attack it. We can send out a feint to contain it!"

Ju Su pondered for a moment and said, "Zhang Yu is planning to take Yanzhou in the north and Yanzhou in the south, all because of the emperor's name. Your Excellency has been assisting the emperor for generations. Today, the emperor lives in seclusion in Luoyang, and Zhang Yu is far away in Youzhou. So why don't you go west to welcome the emperor, go to Xindu, hold the emperor hostage and command the princes, and raise troops to attack Zhang Yu!"

Yuan Shao frowned and shook his head, saying: "Yuan Shu is protecting the emperor, how could he see me welcoming the emperor to Xindu? Moreover, welcoming the emperor to my side and asking for orders at every turn, if you obey him, your power will be weakened, if you disobey him, you will refuse orders, which is not the best strategy!"

"Let's take care of the affairs of the north and south first, and then we can discuss the great cause of supporting the country!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)