I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 295 Want to visit relatives again? (First update)
Yuan Tan ordered his soldiers to begin building large-scale siege weapons.

Linjin is a major city in Guanzhong, and it is also the confluence of the Yellow River, the Luo River, and the Wei River. Therefore, people had long ago built a moat outside the city to draw water from the three rivers to defend against enemy troops.

In order to deal with the moat, Yuan Tan took the lead in building the moat-crossing bridge.

There are two large wheels at the front of the bridge and two small wheels at the back. When the wheels sink, the bridge is level and the bridge can be crossed.

Several bridge-crossing vehicles moved forward together, quickly creating several more bridges across the moat that were now passable.

Guo Yuan, a famous general from Bingzhou, personally led the Bingzhou troops to charge ahead, using siege ladders to attack the city walls of Linjin!
Inside the city.

Zhou Yu remained calm and unhurried.

In fact, Zhu Huan and Zhang Liao had already led more than 10,000 reinforcements to Guanzhong, but Yuan Tan was unaware of this.

Burning down the ferry crossing, seemingly to force Yuan Tan to move his troops north, actually cut off Yuan Tan's possibility of sending scouts to Guanzhong.

Yuan Tan was so eager to win this battle that his eyes were always fixed on Zhou Yu, forgetting that there were other forces that could be mobilized. Therefore, the current Linjin was not what Yuan Tan had imagined, but rather a fortified city guarded by Zhou Yu, who was like a frightened bird, leading 5,000 soldiers who had just suffered a defeat. Instead, it was a strong city guarded by nearly 20,000 people, with abundant supplies and high morale!

However, Zhou Yu did not directly deploy his troops on the city wall. Instead, he casually had his soldiers take turns going up the wall to defend, thus giving Yuan Tan a false impression.

"It's almost over! It's almost over! Zhou Yu is about to die! Linjin City is about to fall!"

On the first day, the city was on the verge of falling.

The next day, the city was on the verge of falling.

On the third day, the city was still on the verge of falling!

Yuan Tan could see that his soldiers were always just a little bit short! But that little bit was like an insurmountable mountain, constantly fading his dream of conquering Linjin and seizing Guanzhong.

Yuan Tan, equally determined, ordered: "Send out the order! Reward the troops! We must take Linjin City tomorrow!"

That afternoon, the amount of smoke rising from the cooking fires in Yuan Jun's camp was much greater than usual.

Zhou Yu, who had been observing the movements of Yuan Shao's camp, finally nodded: "In that case, we can send a message to our lord!"

It was only at this moment that Zhong Yao saw through Zhou Yu's entire plan, and he couldn't help but sigh, "The military affairs between the Commander-in-Chief and Yuan Tan are nothing more than an old man playing with a child!"

What they knew was the operation.

If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a game of make-believe!

Yuan Tan's actions were basically within Zhou Yu's expectations.

From the sudden attack at Longmen Ferry to the pursuit by the Xiongnu soldiers, and then to the fierce assault under the walls of Linjin, everything was within Zhou Yu's calculations.

It was only because Yuan Tan, the commander of the opposing army, was Yuan Shao's eldest son that Zhong Yao truly believed the opposing Yuan generals might be spies on Liu Miao's side...

The gap between Zhou Yu and Yuan Tan was simply too great.

In fact, a large gap in military command is not necessarily a bad thing.

If Yuan Tan had been certain from the beginning that he was no match for Zhou Yu, and had taken a steady and methodical approach, conquering cities and fortresses step by step from Hancheng, carefully scouting the surrounding area, and using this clumsy method to counter Zhou Yu, then Zhou Yu would actually have had no suitable countermeasures.

The worst thing is that someone, despite the vast difference in skill level, still lacks self-awareness and insists on showing off in front of Zhou Yu, hoping to win by trickery.

With this mindset, the outcome of this battle was already predetermined from the very beginning!
The next day, Yuan Tan indeed mobilized all his troops to besiege the city.

Zhou Yu finally stopped pretending and chose to lay his cards on the table!

Zhu Huan personally led his soldiers to stand on the city wall, encouraging them to fight the enemy!
Countless arrows and molten iron rained down from the city walls, a level of defense far beyond what had been implemented in the previous days!
Yuan Tan also keenly sensed the changes in the defending troops. Although he had a bad feeling, he still stubbornly insisted, "It's just a last gasp! As long as we can suppress the enemy, Linjin City will be within our grasp!"

In war, courage is paramount. One must strike with full force at the first drumbeat, for the second will be weaker, and the third will be exhausted!

The successive victories clearly made Yuan Tan forget some of the most basic common sense. He actually forgot that he should avoid the enemy's sharp edge and wait for the morale of the defending army to drop before attacking the city. Instead, he chose to meet the challenge head-on and intend to defeat Zhou Yu in a direct confrontation!
In siege warfare, the defending side already enjoys a tremendous advantage!
Linjin was a large city with high walls and thick ramparts. The defenders could easily kill large numbers of Yuan's troops beneath the walls, even piling up their corpses so that Yuan's siege ladders couldn't get close. They had to send men through a hail of arrows to clear the bodies and make room for the ladders. However, this exposed another group of soldiers to the defenders' arrows, increasing casualties.

Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou, was heartbroken to see this!
These Bingzhou troops were all painstakingly built up by him, bit by bit!

But today, right here in Yuan Tan's hands, right outside Linjin City, so many men have been so easily lost to Yuan Tan! How can Gao Gan tolerate this?

"Young Master! Withdraw the troops! Linjin City cannot be taken in a short time!"

The high-ranking official even gave Yuan Tan a feasible plan to seize Guanzhong.

"It would be better to wait for Ma Teng and Han Sui to arrive from Xiliang and join forces. Then, we can use their cavalry to block the connection between Linjin and Wuguan Pass, trapping Zhou Yu here. Only in this way can we subdue the enemy without fighting!"

But Yuan Tan was already intoxicated and paid no heed to the advice of the high-ranking officials.

"Attack the city! I refuse to believe that a mere Linjin and a mere Zhou Yu can hold me off for long!"

For Yuan Tan, what he saw before him was neither Linjin City nor Guanzhong!
For Yuan Tan, what lay before him was clearly the position of heir apparent he had always dreamed of! The future throne of supreme power!

It would be worth it for many lives to die for that position!

Gao Gan was so anxious he kept stamping his feet, but ultimately, because Yuan Tan was Yuan Shao's son, and there was a distinction between ruler and subject, he could not urge him.

From the cool morning to the sweltering midday, and then to the setting sun in the evening, this intense siege battle lasted for an entire day!
Beneath the walls of Linjin, the corpses of Yuan's army were piled up to a height of ten feet!

It was at this moment that Yuan Tan finally realized what was happening.

"Zhou Yu deliberately lured me into attacking the city!"

The intensity of the siege in the past few days was not high, so Yuan Tan did not notice that Zhou Yu had changed his garrison.

But today's intense siege allowed Yuan Tan to easily glean information about Zhou Yu's troop strength!
Whenever he saw a place about to be breached, he would quickly stabilize the situation and prevent Yuan's army from scaling the city walls.

This level of troop rotation has clearly far exceeded the limit of five thousand soldiers!

"Damn it! How many troops does Zhou Yu actually have? Did Liu Miao send any reinforcements afterward?"

Unfortunately, because the ferry crossing was burned, Yuan Tan kept his attention focused on Hancheng and was completely unaware of the intelligence from the south.

Seeing that he could not capture Linjin again today, and that the morale of his soldiers was extremely low and they were clearly unable to fight any longer in a short time, Yuan Tan was unhappy, but he had no choice but to sound the retreat and choose another day to fight.

But just as the sound of the retreat signal was heard, the scouts in the east also rushed back like madmen.

This was certainly not because the other side was hungry and rushed back to the camp to eat.

"The eldest son! The eldest son!"

The scout rode straight into the gate, disregarding all formalities, and dismounted before Yuan Tan, shouting urgently, "East! There are enemy traces to the east!"

Yuan Tan's heart skipped a beat: "Who is it? Taishi Ci? Or Xiahou Dun?"

"neither!"

The scout's throat was incredibly dry, and he swallowed several times before finally uttering the name—

"It's Liu Miao!"

"impossible!!!"

Yuan Tan was so angry he laughed.

"Liu Miao should still be in Jinling, lingering over Zhen Mi and Cai Yan. How could he possibly be in Guanzhong? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Both the Langya Alliance and Cai Yan's return to Han were major events in the past!
Liu Miao was known for his lustful nature, and Yuan Tan had personally witnessed the prosperity of Jinling. How could Liu Miao possibly be willing to leave Jinling and appear in Guanzhong at this time?

"Stop talking nonsense! If Liu Miao is leading a large army, he will definitely pass through the Central Plains! There are so many spies and scouts in the Central Plains, why hasn't a single one reported Liu Miao's whereabouts?"

This is also the biggest basis for Yuan Tan's judgment!
If Liu Miao were to pass through the Central Plains, Yuan Shao would inevitably receive the news.

But Yuan Shao hasn't made a move at all, which clearly means that Liu Miao couldn't possibly come from the Central Plains!

Unless... Liu Miao can fly! Otherwise, the army coming from the east at this moment could absolutely not be Liu Miao!
"Spreading rumors and disrupting morale! It must be some other general under Cao Cao with the surname Liu leading troops to reinforce us, how could it be Liu Miao? Guards! Take him away and give him twenty strokes of the military rod!"

The poor scout was still shouting as he was dragged away: "It really is Liu Miao! Young Master! It really is Liu Miao! Please lead your troops there immediately! Young Master!!!"

Yuan Tan then ordered his men to gag the scouts, which finally calmed things down considerably.

At the same time, Yuan Tan confidently told everyone, "It must be someone else using Liu Miao's name to scare us away! Such a petty trick is utterly laughable!"

"Generals, follow me eastward to meet the enemy! Let us expose this tedious scheme!"

Yuan Tan left Gao Gan to guard the main camp, while he himself led 5,000 infantry and cavalry eastward!

As the two armies drew closer, Yuan Tan had a bad feeling.

Their neat and solemn military bearing clearly indicates that they are the best in the military!

In addition to the large banner with a black background, cloud patterns, and red flames bearing the character "Liu," Yuan Tan also saw the banners of Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, Huang Zhong, Xu Huang, and others.

These were all Liu Miao's close advisors.

If the other party is indeed impersonating Liu Miao, then isn't it a bit too realistic to also impersonate the flags of these subordinates?

The two sides are getting closer.

Yuan Tan's spirits gradually plummeted.

Finally, even though he hadn't seen the face yet, that familiar voice sent chills down Yuan Tan's spine and made his hair stand on end!

"My good-for-nothing brother-in-law! What's wrong? Don't tell me you miss your brothers and sisters again? Do you want to come back to Jiangdong with me to visit relatives again?"

Liu Miao!

It's definitely Liu Miao!
Liu Miao has really come to Guanzhong!
A strong sense of panic surged into his heart, and even his abdomen reacted, making Yuan Tan so nervous that he almost started to vomit!
"withdraw!"

"What are you all standing there for? Retreat!!!"

(End of this chapter)