I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 316 Yuan Shao's Personal Expedition
Xu Sheng was left to garrison Xiaopei, while Sima Yi rushed to Shangcai to join Sun Ce and Cao Hong.

Sima Yi dared not stop along the way, fearing he would hear news of the fall of Nanyang, and arrived in just a few days.

Where is Yuan Jun?

"We have entered Nanyang."

Sima Yi's heart sank to rock bottom.

"However, Chief Secretary Gu has dispatched General Wen Ping to Wancheng, and has used the Baihe River as a boundary to block Yuan's army!"

Sun Ce's heavy breathing prompted Sima Yi to give him a helpless look: "Next time, just say the last sentence directly."

Sima Yi then asked, "Have you contacted any friendly forces in the surrounding area?"

"Li Tong, the Commandant of Yang'an, has already led two thousand soldiers here and is stationed near Xiping."

"Prefect Man Chong of Runan was originally going to come, but the Yellow Turbans rebelled again in Runan, so he had to stay and resist. However, he did send three hundred suits of heavy armor and some grain and supplies to defend against Yuan's army!"

Li Tong's two thousand soldiers.

Man Chong sent three hundred sets of heavy armor.

In addition, Sun Ce brought a total of two thousand cavalrymen with him.

In total, there are no more than four thousand people.

At most, even if Cao Hong had gathered the Nanyang soldiers in recent days, there were only about five thousand of them.

"How many soldiers does Yuan's army have? And who is leading them?"

"Yuan's army totals 20,000, of which about 4,000 are cavalry. They are led by Yuan Tan and Han Meng!"

Twenty thousand against five thousand, and the enemy's cavalry alone was equal to the total number of his own soldiers. Sima Yi couldn't help but scratch his head when he heard this.

But when he heard that the leader of the army was Yuan Tan, his eyes lit up!
"Is it Yuan Tan, Yuan Shao's eldest son?"

"Exactly."

"Yuan Tan, Yuan Tan..."

Sima Yi suddenly had an idea and whispered something to Sun Ce.

Sun Ce was somewhat surprised upon hearing this: "Isn't this a bit underhanded? Moreover, such a move might damage the reputation of our lord."

"In war between two armies, it's all about victory or defeat; where does this talk of underhanded tactics come from?"

"Besides, how could I possibly damage my lord's reputation?"

After Sima Yi and Sun Ce finalized their plan, they spread the word.

"If Yuan Tan does not withdraw his troops, we will kill all the members of the Yuan clan in Jiangdong."

"Especially Yuan Shu's son, Yuan Yao, has already been brought to Shangcai! If Yuan Tan remains obstinate, don't blame them for being ruthless!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Tan, who was recuperating in Yecheng, gritted his teeth and exclaimed, "How can Liu Miao's troops be filled with such shameless people!"

"Execute members of the Yuan clan? Liu Miao's wife is also a legitimate daughter of the Yuan clan! Would they dare to kill her?"

Yuan Tan initially didn't want to pay any attention to it.

But after hearing that Yuan Yao had been taken to Shangcai, a little turmoil stirred in his heart, obviously thinking of the time he spent with him when he visited relatives in Jinling.

"Liu Miao's subordinates are all shameless!"

Retreat? It's obviously impossible to retreat.

Yuan Tan looked at the map with a conflicted expression.

Wen Ping of Wan County and Sun Ce of Shangcai surrounded him.

However, the combined forces of both sides were less than those under Yuan Tan's command, so Yuan Tan was not worried at all about being attacked from both sides.

But as he watched, Yuan Tan's expression suddenly changed.

He went to Han Meng and asked, "General, what do you think of Wen Ping?"

Although Han Meng's reputation was not as great as Yan Liang's or Wen Chou's, he was still a valiant general from Hebei!
But when Han Meng heard Wen Ping's reputation, he still frowned: "This man is meticulous and knows when to advance and retreat when mobilizing his soldiers. He is no ordinary general."

"When does the general expect to be able to break through Wenping's defenses?"

Han Meng was even more uncertain about this issue.

"I don't know."

"Wancheng is connected to Xiangyang by the Baishui River. Unless we can occupy Xinye to the south and cut off Jingzhou's continuous supply, it will be extremely difficult to break through Wenping!"

Han Meng had tried Wen Ping's tortoise shell many times and knew it all too well.

Now, the only options are to cut off Wen Ping's supplies, turning Wancheng into an isolated city and trapping him in the middle; or Wen Ping himself has to make a mistake. Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult to defeat this iron-willed bastard head-on!

"General Han, I wish to lead troops to Shangcai!"

Shangcai?

Han Meng gave Yuan Tan a strange look.

He had also heard the news that the Yuan clan of Jiangdong was to be exterminated.

But what does that have to do with Yuan Shao's clansmen?
Even people like Han Meng would love for Liu Miao to kill all the Yuan clan members in Jiangdong, so that they wouldn't have to endure the absurd claims that "the direct descendants of the Yuan clan of Runan are in Jiangdong, not in Hebei."

"General, you may not know this, but when I was in Jiangdong, I was on good terms with Yuan Yao."

"Their shallow plan is nothing more than using Yuan Yao to lure me to attack Shangcai, so they can use the siege of Nanyang as a pretext!" Yuan Tan sneered, "It's true that Yuan Yao and I are on good terms, but I know exactly what's more important! How could I forget the greater good because of personal feelings at this time!"

"But since the other side has put on such a show of force, why not give it a try?"

Yuan Tan told Han Meng about his plan—

"I will issue a proclamation to denounce Liu Miao in a grand manner, and at the same time lead a large army to Shangcai! General, you only need to lead a small elite force south to seize Xinye, and Wen Ping will surely panic! Then I will suddenly turn back and annihilate Wen Ping's army between Wancheng and Xinye! In this way, Nanyang will be within our grasp! We will also be able to completely block Liu Miao in the Wuguan Pass!"

Han Meng's eyes lit up!
He had little personal relationship with Yuan Tan before, but having heard that Yuan Tan had defeated Qingxu and Hedong twice, he assumed that Yuan Tan had no talent.

Now that I see that Yuan Tan is meticulous and not bound by personal feelings, I think much more of him!
However, Han Meng still asked, "What if Liu Miao's army uses Yuan Yao to hinder the eldest son?"

Yuan Tan took a deep breath: "Compared to our great cause, my brothers are nothing!"

Han Meng was pleasantly surprised to see that Yuan Tan actually bore some resemblance to Yuan Shao. He nodded with satisfaction, feeling that Yuan Shao had a worthy successor.

At this time, they were in Jinling.

Still in the West Market.

While listening to his group of cronies, Yuan Yao pointed downstairs and boasted to them: "Back then, my elder brother, Yuan Tan, who was Yuan Shao's eldest son who was adopted by my uncle, and I saw the Jiaozhi Hundred Entertainments there."

"Back then, acrobatics in Jiaozhi (Vietnam) weren't as common as they are now. When I first saw that elephant... wow!"

While reminiscing about the excitement he felt upon first seeing the elephant, Yuan Yao picked up a piece of elephant trunk from the table and put it in his mouth, saying as he chewed, "This thing (chews) is so much tastier than that (chews) pig snout!"

The onlookers burst into laughter, and someone mentioned Yuan Tan: "I heard that Yuan Shao has now captured Guandu. What do you think you will do if you and your brother become enemies one day?"

Yuan Yao quickly waved his hand: "My brother and I have an extremely good relationship! It's even closer than that of blood brothers! How could we possibly turn against each other?"

"If he really leads his troops to attack, I can make him withdraw with just a letter!"

"Hahaha! In that case, we all admire Brother Yuan!"

------

After issuing the proclamation, Yuan Shao immediately "angrily dispatched troops" and headed towards Shangcai.

Sima Yi sent scouts to investigate, and upon hearing that Yuan Tan's camp had few cavalry, he immediately nodded in agreement.

"Yuan Tan really fell for it!"

“When I was in Jinling, I often heard my lord mention Yuan Tan, saying that he was somewhat clever, but not very clever.”

"Moreover, this person has a major flaw: once the plan goes smoothly, he becomes complacent and loses his vigilance; conversely, if things do not develop according to his predictions, he becomes indecisive and does not know how to deal with it."

Sima Yi also donned a suit of armor and rode a black warhorse, eager to try his luck.

"Regardless of Yuan Tan's purpose in attacking Shangcai, the fact that Han Meng is not Yuan Tan's vanguard at the moment means that Yuan Tan must not have any intention of launching a strong attack on Shangcai."

"Moreover, according to Yuan Tan's plan, if he leads a large army to attack, we will surely be afraid of him and dare not leave the city to fight. In this way, we can simply take the initiative to attack and catch Yuan Tan off guard!"

As for what comes next, this battle will be much easier!

When things were going well, Yuan Tan was still a decent person, even barely qualifying as a "general." But once things went wrong, he became a pushover, completely at the mercy of others, utterly lacking in resilience!
Sima Yi ordered Sun Ce to lead troops to Suiping, forming a pincer movement with Li Tong in Xiping.

When Yuan Tan arrived with his army, Sima Yi noticed their disorganized formation and immediately solidified his opinion.

Yuan Tan truly had no intention of launching a full-scale attack on Shangcai!

"A skilled strategist first makes himself invincible, and then waits for the enemy to become vulnerable."

Sima Yi learned of Yuan Tan's military formation and shook his head in a mixture of joy and disappointment.

"To underestimate the enemy because our lord is away and our forces are weak is hardly the mark of a wise general!"

Since Yuan Tan has offered such a generous gift, Sima Yi naturally has to accept it.

With several loud bangs, Li Tong and Sun Ce each led their troops to charge into the enemy camp.

Both were men of strong character who always led from the front.

Although he had only a thousand men around him, he displayed the imposing presence of a massive army, which terrified Yuan Tan.

"These people actually dare to attack me?"

In Yuan Tan's plan, shouldn't he have suddenly appeared with his army, causing the garrison at Shangcai to remain inside, fearing his military might? Then, after leisurely making a couple of rounds, he would immediately return to Nanyang to fight Han Meng in a decisive battle against Wen Ping?
Such a perfect plan, yet it had a flaw in the very first step?
Yuan Tan wanted to ask the opposing general, "My army has 20,000 men! Your army has only 4,000. How dare you attack me?"
But the army did come!
With Li Tong and Sun Ce's fierce attack, they actually managed to break through Yuan's army!
Yuan Tan dared not linger and fled north after his defeat to save his life.

While Yuan Tan's departure saved his own life, Han Meng, who had agreed to fight Wen Ping alongside him, was in dire straits!
Han Meng was trapped in Xinye. He waited and waited, but Yuan Tan did not come. He couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: "I was blind and failed to recognize a good person!"

Immediately afterwards, Han Meng fought with Wen Ping and was killed in the midst of the chaos of battle.

……

"You unfilial son!"

This was Yuan Shao's reflection after hearing that Yuan Tan in the south had suffered another defeat.

This sigh made everyone realize that Yuan Tan was probably completely out of luck for the position of heir apparent...

"Fortunately, although we were defeated and lost Han Meng, our soldiers did not suffer too many losses."

Yuan Shao glanced up at the desolate city of Xuchang not far away, hesitated for a moment, and then made his decision—

"I will personally lead the army to Nanyang!"

"I refuse to believe that Liu Miao is truly so difficult to control!"

(End of this chapter)