Tiger Guards

Chapter 606 Yuan Shu's Downfall

Shouchun is located south of the Huai River.

After Gao Shun withdrew his troops from Huaibei, the siege of Shouchun was lifted.

However, the soldiers and civilians in Shouchun missed this year's summer harvest, and the city's food supplies ran out.

Even Yuan Shu, during the siege, was able to use gold, silver, and other valuable luxury goods to buy high-priced smuggled grain from Lü Bu and Liu Xun.

However, the city had over 50,000 men and women, far more than the smuggled grain could possibly feed them.

With Gao Shun lifting the siege, Liu Xun, in order to prepare for the impending major battle, also stopped selling grain to Yuan Shu.

Although the other former subordinates of Yuan Shu belonged to different factions, they all instinctively waited for Yuan Shu to create a miracle, raise another army, and snowball their power.

Clearly, they were going to be disappointed this time; Yuan Shu truly lacked the strength and will to fight back.

For someone like Yuan Shu, he had never really gone hungry in his life.

After Gao Shun lifted the siege and the smuggling supply route was cut off, Yuan Shu finally experienced hunger, and his life at the end of the Han Dynasty could be considered complete.

Hunger can make people sober. When one is at his wit's end, where is Yuan Shu's ambition?

Finding a stable place where he could live a comfortable life and provide for his wives, children, and followers became Yuan Shu's greatest wish at that moment.

So, amidst the turmoil in the Central Plains, Yuan Shu led more than 30,000 men who were willing to leave with him from Shouchun, sailing down the Huai River, plundering and extorting grain along the way, attempting to go to Xuzhou and Qingzhou to Hebei to join Yuan Shao.

He knew Yuan Shao too well. As long as he was willing to humble himself, Yuan Shao would definitely cherish him and even keep him by his side, as if afraid that the world would not know that his younger brother who had made a mistake had admitted his mistake and that his magnanimous elder brother had forgiven him and kept him by his side as if he were a brother.

However, during the siege of Shouchun, the city lost its outer defenses. Its warships and transport ships were either burned by Yuan Shu, defected with Sun Ben, or were captured by Lü Bu and Gao Shun.

Therefore, Yuan Shu's migration team tried their best to collect boats along the way. Now that the Huai River has been severely damaged, where would the remaining population find the need and demand to build large boats?
Even if they wanted to build it, they lacked the technological reserves, manpower, and material resources.

When Yuan Shu's so-called large army wandered to Xuyi, the entire army did not have a single decent warship or large ship.

The army and civilians were a mixed group, all of them thin and weak, and their armor and flags were incomplete.

Many soldiers were even less equipped than the bandits, and along their arduous journey, men and women constantly starved to death on the south bank of the Huai River.

Although Yuan Shu had already sent an envoy to his good brother, how could Yuan Shao dare to provoke Yuan Shu at this moment?
He dared not take the Imperial Seal that Yuan Shu wanted to present. Now that Luodu and Xudu were at odds, if Yuan Shao dared to harbor Yuan Shu and secretly keep the Imperial Seal, he would most likely be attacked by both Luodu and Xudu!
Whoever obtains the Imperial Seal of the State has a stronger legitimacy!
In Xuyi, Yuan Shu, who was attempting to cross the Huai River and travel up the Si River, was once again intercepted by the Xuzhou army.

Guan Yu led the Xuzhou navy, consisting of more than 30 warships, in a line at the mouth of the Sishui River, with the bright red Han army battle flags fluttering.

However, if any ships dared to cross the river to the north, the Xuzhou navy would not kill them if they surrendered.

If those armed with bows and crossbows intend to seize the large ships on the north bank, the archers on these ships will calmly unleash a barrage of fire, killing all the remaining loyal and brave men under Yuan Shu, their blood staining the waters of the north bank red.

Last year, Yuan Shu's army nearly launched two water attacks on Xuzhou. Although they failed, they destroyed military and civilian farms in Pengcheng and Xiapi, causing great damage to production.

During this period, they even divided their forces to plunder and abduct men and women to serve in the army, causing great suffering to the people of Xuzhou.

The naval troops under Guan Yu's command were fishermen from Pengcheng and Xiapi. At this moment, no one was willing to surrender and they wished they could shoot all of Yuan's officers and soldiers.

Even in such a desperate situation, several thousand daredevils still stormed the warships on the north bank, attempting to seize the ships.

Guan Yu, with his back to the mouth of the Si River, formed a battle formation with his sails half-raised. Under the weak southeast wind of late autumn, Guan Yu's naval warships achieved balance with the southward flow of the Si River that flowed into the Huai River, and stood steadily on the water surface of the north bank.

The small boats on the south bank lacked sails and relied on manpower to row and paddle. When they finally reached the north bank, they were further hampered by the undercurrents of the Si River. Therefore, the closer they got to the warships on the north bank, the greater the resistance they encountered. The officers and soldiers of Yuan's army who participated in the battle on board had to row and paddle with all their might.

For the archers on the warships, the Yuan army's small boats slowed down as they approached, and the officers and soldiers on board had no time to defend themselves, so they had to row and paddle wildly... Such a perfect target was truly hard to find anywhere else in the world.

The Yuan army's attack was so fierce and tragic that even Guan Yu had to draw his bow and join the battle.

He aimed at the small boat where the commander was believed to be, and fired an arrow. Ji Ling, unable to shield himself with his shield, was struck squarely in the chest and fell to the side of the boat with a scream. Before the guards on the boat could come to his rescue, Guan Yu's personal guards fired in unison. These guards, who had abandoned their armor and were charging in a desperate attack, were also hit by arrows and fell to the side of the boat.

Ji Ling barely managed to grab onto a nearby plank of the boat to board, but Guan Yu caught sight of him and fired another arrow. About fifty paces away, Ji Ling was struck in the back by another arrow. His arms gave way, and he quickly floated on the surface of the water. Along with the other Yuan army officers and soldiers who had been shot, he drifted downstream with the waves, destined to be swallowed by the sea not far away.

On the south bank, Yuan Shu stared blankly as the northward assault fleet was annihilated.

This was his last chance to turn things around, and now it's all gone.

"Your Majesty, let's retreat."

Yang Hong stepped forward and whispered his advice. Yang Hong himself was now thin and pale. Due to hunger or other reasons, the eyes of this Yang from Hongnong were slightly green, and his beard was no longer thick. He looked exactly like a goat spirit.

"In this vast world, where can I find a place to belong?"

Yuan Shu smiled nonchalantly and looked back at the remaining concubines and beauties. Most of them were starving and had become skin and bones. Their skin was rough due to dirt and tattered clothes. Their hair was messy and they had no ornaments. They were all listless and had bulging eyes. They had no charm or beauty to speak of.

Upon seeing them, Yuan Shu's smile vanished. These were the beauties of Xuyang whom he had painstakingly collected, all of them plump and fair-skinned beauties.

At that moment, he wanted to take out the bronze mirror, only to realize that his valuables had already been exchanged for grain.

Even some of the army's heavy armor was taken and exchanged for food.

Yan Xiang walked over, leaning on his rough wooden cane, and said to Yuan Shu, “Your Majesty, the people of Xuzhou wish they could devour us alive. Guan Yu is of humble origin; how could he possibly have any goodwill towards us? If we do not leave now, Guan Yu will pursue us, and we will only face death, while Your Majesty will inevitably suffer humiliation.”

Death is not terrible, but one must not be humiliated before death, nor be defeated or humiliated by a poor but skilled warrior like Guan Yu.

Yuan Shu thought of these things, but his mind was dulled by hunger, and the people around him were also hungry, so they did not notice Yuan Shu's dullness.

After thinking for a moment, Yuan Shu said, "Things have come to this point. Let's withdraw from here and go our separate ways to seek our own futures."

When he spoke, many officials who had followed him felt a sense of relief, and a surge of energy arose from the void.

With Yuan Shu's verbal dismissal, these officials who had followed him here naturally lived up to their reputation as loyal ministers.

If they join another organization in the future, they can continue their seniority and even advance further.

Everyone hopes to gain the service of a loyal and virtuous person. Since they have followed Yuan Shu to this point, they will naturally have a good starting point when they go to do their next job.

As for following Yuan Shu in rebellion... what kind of stain is that?
In a world like this, this is clearly a huge advantage!
Yuan Shu noticed that his troops had regained some vitality, and he turned around to gaze deeply towards the northeast, where his soldiers and officers floated one after another on the water.

With their deaths, Yuan Shu lost the means to survive and stir up trouble in the chaotic world.

Upon realizing this, Yuan Shu felt as if his spine had been removed, and his posture became hunched over.

The most important thing now is to leave this place, find a place where I can depart with dignity, and await the end of my life.

As for the officials, they can go their separate ways.

As long as the wives and concubines can eat a few mouthfuls of food and regain some of their beauty, they won't starve to death in this world.

As for his children, Yuan Shu was very confident in his family's influence, and his children would naturally find suitable places to stay.

He had figured it out, but he was still unwilling to give up.

Guan Yu on the north bank showed no intention of leading his fleet in pursuit, but simply watched as Yuan Shu's bloated and sluggish army of refugees gradually withdrew.

During the evacuation, desperate Yuan Dynasty officers and soldiers continued to strip naked on the riverbank and plunge into the icy Huai River, only to be swept away one after another.

(End of this chapter)