I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 319 I Want to Win

Seeing Liu Miao's incessant chatter, Yuan Shao began to speculate about Liu Miao's intentions.

"It seems Liu Miao intends to remain holed up in Wancheng forever."

What's he planning?

Yuan Shao narrowed his eyes slightly, his rich and noble phoenix eyes piercing through the distance between him and Liu Miao, as if he were staring at Liu Miao face to face.

"You want to keep me here, thinking I'll give way because of Xuchang?"

Yuan Shao recalled the scene from the last time in Langya, when Liu Miao used his power as a weapon to force him into a corner.

"Or did he realize my intention to win quickly and think that if the war dragged on, I would eventually be unable to withstand it and retreat back to Hebei?"

In any case, Liu Miao is absolutely incapable of fighting him now.

Otherwise, Liu Miao wouldn't have retreated to Wancheng.

"Retreat in order to advance?"

Yuan Shao's scorn intensified.

"Although I pursue a quick victory, I also know that it is precisely because I want to achieve a quick victory that I should proceed slowly."

"Do you think I'd hesitate to withdraw my troops after this standoff with you for a while, considering the consequences for my rear? Then I'll settle things here and pacify the world once and for all!"

Yuan Shao moved his limbs and felt no pain whatsoever.

Yuan Shao was confident that he could afford to wait out Liu Miao in his current state!
Inside Wancheng.

The generals were having a good time cursing, but by evening, they all crowded around Liu Miao, their faces not showing much of a smile.

"As you saw today, my lord, Yuan Shao is serious this time!"

"If those armies launch a strong attack on Wancheng, even if General Wenping is stationed here, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold out for long."

One of the generals said hopefully, "Could it be that our lord thinks Yuan Shao will retreat without a fight, just like he did at Langya last time?"

"how is this possible?"

Liu Miao glanced at the other person: "I already said, Yuan Shao is serious this time."

"He was willing to give up the prize of Xuchang, which was already within his grasp, to personally lead his army to conquer Nanyang, with the intention of eliminating us here."

"So, let's abandon those ridiculous fantasies. We're definitely going to have to fight Yuan Shao this time."

Upon hearing this, the morale of the surrounding generals plummeted.

The reason is that the momentum of Yuan's army outside the city today is simply too frightening.

This was not only because Yuan Jun was of excellent quality, but also because of the momentum he had built by first defeating Gongsun Zan and then Cao Cao.

Yuan Jun these days is practically a death sentence for anyone who comes near!
Liu Miao couldn't possibly be unaware of this.

But Liu Miao still wanted to give it a try!
"Fortunately, Nanyang is practically our home ground."

Liu Miao licked his lower lip: "I still want to win this battle!"

win?
How to win?

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

Now, facing Yuan Shao, all that remains is the Baishui River and a single city.

The Nanyang Basin has flat terrain, which is ideal for cavalry charges.

Even if Liu Miao had heavy cavalry, Yuan Shao's army, which had not suffered too much loss of strength during the attack on the Central Plains, definitely had more heavy cavalry than Liu Miao's side.

In such a battle, Liu Miao was at a disadvantage in almost every aspect. How could Liu Miao possibly win?

Some generals even suggested that Liu Miao should organize his soldiers to break out of the siege now, return to Xiangyang, and take advantage of Xiangyang's well-developed defense system to fight Yuan Shao!
"If Nanyang is lost, then everything will be over."

Liu Miao glanced eastward—

"Who told you that we were the main force in this battle?"

------

Xiao Pei.

Just as Sima Yi had predicted.

After capturing Dongjun, Zhang He and Gao Lan immediately led their troops south and besieged Xiaopei.

This was five days after Sima Yi left.

"Ten days left!"

"Hold Xiaopei for ten days!"

Xu Sheng set a goal for himself and then began to take action.

There are still two thousand people in Xiaopei today.

Xu Sheng opened the city gates of Xiaopei and ordered them to lie in ambush at various points around the gates.

When Yuan Jun's vanguard saw that the gates of Xiaopei were wide open and there was no one in sight, he was overjoyed and wanted to seize the credit for being the first to scale the city!
However, when Yuan's army stormed into Xiaopei City, they were ambushed and left in a hurry, leaving behind a mess.

After defeating Yuan's army, Xu Sheng ordered his men to remove their armor and put it on themselves, then sneak towards the vanguard camp under the cover of night.

Yuan's scouts knew that Yuan's vanguard had suffered a crushing defeat that day, so they did not conduct a thorough investigation and allowed Xu Sheng and his men to enter the camp.

Xu Sheng took the opportunity to burn the grain and supplies, and then quietly left amidst the chaos, causing a great commotion for Yuan's vanguard.

Yuan Jun's vanguard dared not act on its own and could only wait for Zhang He and Gao Lan to follow.

Thus, three days had passed.

When Zhang He and Gao Lan heard about Xu Sheng's deeds, they were not angry. Instead, they praised him, saying, "This young general guarding the city is quite remarkable! He is bold and meticulous! If we can persuade him to surrender, he will surely become Lord Yuan's right-hand man!"

Zhang He then sent an envoy to discuss surrender with Xu Sheng.

Xu Sheng's attitude was ambiguous; he neither agreed nor disagreed, only hinting that he wanted a thousand pieces of gold. "Still a greedy man!"

Zhang He and Gao Lan were also very confident in persuading Xu Sheng to surrender.

The worst kind of person to persuade someone to surrender is the one who says nothing and then beheads the messenger.

Since Xu Sheng made the request, that makes things easier!

Zhang He and Gao Lan ordered their men to search the surrounding treasuries and found a thousand taels of gold, which they sent to Xu Sheng. Unexpectedly, Xu Sheng then made a condition: he wanted ten beautiful women.

Zhang He and Gao Lan began to wonder: "Is that general on the other side just making fun of us?"

"Probably not. I've been observing the smoke rising from the city's chimneys every mealtime these past few days. There are at most two or three thousand soldiers, less than five thousand. How could these soldiers possibly stop our army?"

Zhang He and Gao Lan then went to find ten beautiful women as requested by Xu Sheng and sent them to him.

Unexpectedly, Xu Sheng, despite his young age, had quite high expectations!

Ten were sent over, and five were returned for all sorts of ridiculous reasons.

They made up all sorts of reasons to annoy Zhang He and Gao Lan: this person wasn't tall enough, that person wasn't pretty enough, and that person's butt wasn't big enough or their legs weren't long enough.

And two days have already passed.

Seeing Xu Sheng return these women, Zhang He and Gao Lan finally realized—

"This kid really was playing us!"

Zhang He and Gao Lan were both furious and finally, without waiting any longer, launched an attack on Xiaopei.

Xu Sheng led his soldiers in a desperate attempt to block Yuan Shao's army, shouting as he did so, "I am willing to surrender! I am willing to surrender! As long as you two generals hand over Yuan Shao's head, I will surrender to you!"

Zhang He and Gao Lan's eyes twitched: "How can this kid be so reckless? And his accent sounds so familiar!"

"Checked! This person's surname is Xu, given name Sheng, courtesy name Wenxiang."

Gao Lan finally said with some helplessness, "He's from Langya! He's from the same hometown as Liu Miao!"

"No wonder!"

Anyway, anything associated with Liu Miao usually becomes a bit strange!

Zhang He and Gao Lan were already famous generals from Hebei, and they had just defeated Yu Jin, the top non-Cao Cao general under Cao Cao, in Dongjun. Their morale was high, and they ordered their soldiers to keep attacking Xiaopei.

But under Xu Sheng's defense, the entire Xiaopei was completely impregnable!

Back then, Liu Bei was stationed in Xiaopei, with great generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei under his command, but he couldn't stop Cao Cao for even a moment!
But now, under Xu Sheng's care, Xiao Pei has managed to hold on for two whole days!
"Only one day left!"

Xu Sheng didn't even have time to wash the blood off his face, making him look particularly gruesome.

"Zhuge Kongming is also from my hometown, and I heard Zhongda say that Zhuge Kongming seems to have extraordinary talent. A person who can be praised by Zhongda like this must not be an unreliable person."

Although Xu Sheng had been defending for two days, he was already at his limit.

The precious sword in his hand, forged from solid iron, was already showing signs of wear, causing Xu Sheng to frown.

"If we win this battle, I will surely ask my lord to bestow upon me a fine sword!"

Xu Sheng cautiously peeked out from the city wall and saw that Yuan's army camp seemed to stretch endlessly, which made him feel a little uneasy.

"I've heard that even the Emperor is besieged by Yuan Shao in Xuchang, and our lord seems to be still in Hedong... Is it really possible to win this battle?"

It's no wonder Xu Sheng had such thoughts.

Yuan Jun's army is now growing wildly like weeds, making it impossible to see any hope of victory.

At this moment, what is the difference between this and Emperor Guangwu's reign in Hebei, when he suddenly swept south and unified the six kingdoms?
History is sometimes more than just a mirror; it is also a heavy mountain!
Just as Xu Sheng's resolve was wavering, a glimmer of light in the corner of his eye made him look incredulously into the distance.

"What is that? Yuan Shao's reinforcements?"

But soon, Xu Sheng realized something was wrong!

That army came from the southwest!

Moreover, it seemed boundless! Everyone was holding a torch, just like—

A single spark can start a prairie fire!
A moon-white flag shone brightly in the firelight.

Zhuge Liang!
Then, other flags appeared one after another.

[Jiang], [Pang], [Wu], [Lu], [Lü]...

Reinforcements!

It wasn't Yuan Shao's reinforcements, but their own reinforcements!
Upon seeing this, Xu Sheng burst into laughter and immediately ordered the soldiers in the city to light torches, creating a dazzling display that echoed the torches of the reinforcements below!
Zhuge Liang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Xiaopei was still in Xu Sheng's hands.

“Zhongda was right about Xu Sheng. He really held on until we arrived.”

Pang Tong looked at Zhuge Liang suspiciously: "Aren't you two enemies? Why are you praising him?"

"The current battle is for the Han Dynasty, and has nothing to do with ideology."

Behind the two men stood Lu Kang, dressed in military uniform with gray hair.

"I'm over seventy years old, and I really never thought that one day I would have to go out and fight with the army."

Old Master Lu rubbed his aching back: "Is Zhongshan going all in on this battle?"

Lu Yi and Lü Meng carefully helped Lu Kang up: "Grandfather made a mistake."

"In this battle, it is not that our lord is going all in against Yuan Shao, but that Yuan Shao is going all in against our lord."

"If our lord does not accept the challenge, then this empire will truly fall into Yuan Shao's hands."

Jia Xu, who had been protecting everyone in front of him, nodded at this moment: "Yuan Shao wants to take advantage of this battle to conquer the world in one fell swoop."

"If we cannot win, then the entire nation will fall into the hands of the Yuan family!"

(End of this chapter)