I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 484 Please, Your Majesty, establish a Crown Prince!

Dingtao.

After losing its cavalry in the Battle of Mangdang Mountain, Yuan's army retreated to this area, using the open field in the middle as a buffer zone between itself and the Han army to reorganize its troops.

After nearly a month of appeasement, Yuan Jun gradually recovered from the shadow of the Battle of Mangdang Mountain.

But seeing morale recover, Guo Tu, Yuan Shao's strategist, was anything but happy.

Strolling through the camp, he bumped into Pang Ji, who was equally worried.

Although both tried to act as if nothing had happened, their conversations were completely unrelated, and they couldn't find common ground. After a moment of awkwardness, they exchanged a glance and gave each other a bitter smile.

"Does Yuan Tu want to say something to me?"

"Don't you want to be a public servant?"

The two remained silent until Guo Tu finally made a "please" gesture, after which they both crawled into the tent, clearly not daring to mention certain things in public.

"How is your Majesty?"

"I'm feeling better now. I think I just fainted because of a sudden attack of blood and qi. The doctor said that as long as I don't get any more shocks, I should be able to get through this winter."

How to survive this winter?

Is this good news?
Pang Ji sighed: "Yuan Hao is quite prestigious in Hebei, and he has brought the situation under control. We don't need to worry."

"That's good."

"..."

Another long silence followed.

Neither of them dared to bring up the real question.

But whether I thought about it or not, I still had to say it eventually.

"Qingzhou..."

"We've already sent someone."

"I know, it's just..."

Guo Tu finally saw that the thin veil had been torn off, and he no longer concealed it.

"Based on my understanding of Liu Miao, his fighting style may seem chaotic, but that actually shows how aggressive he was in battle."

"In the Battle of Mangdang Mountain, Liu Miao won a great victory. Given his personality, he should have immediately sent troops to attack, but..."

The word "but" made Pang Ji sigh.

However, Liu Miao's imperial banner was never seen again on this battlefield.

Even when they sent assassins to investigate Pengcheng, they could only see the banners of a few Han generals, but not Liu Miao.

It's clear that Liu Miao couldn't have gone back to Jiangdong to sleep.

In particular, along with Liu Miao, the mighty Han cavalry, which had shaken the land of China in the Battle of Mangdang Mountain, also disappeared.

Although there is no evidence, even if we were to guess, we could guess where Liu Miao had gone.

……

Guo Tu suddenly felt a pang of regret.

"If at that time, Your Highness had not been allowed to go to Qingzhou, but instead joined forces with His Majesty to fight Liu Miao to the death in the Central Plains, wouldn't things be different now?"

Pang Ji shook his head and said, "Since things have come to this, let's not think about those things anymore."

"Moreover, Your Highness's trip to Qingzhou at least restrained Lü Bu. Otherwise, if Lü Bu had broken through the Pingyuan defense line and entered Bohai or even Wei Commandery, then everything would have been over!"

"..."

The strategy was correct.

The tactics were also correct.

So why has it come to this?
Is it the new cavalry and tactics of the Han army?
But if Yuan Tan hadn't secretly smuggled with Liu Miao, even if Liu Miao had managed to acquire those equipment and develop those tactics, where would he have found warhorses to use?

Even Guo Tu's mind was in complete turmoil at this moment!
He could only hope that Yuan Tan would not rush into war with Liu Miao and would not hastily annihilate the elite forces of Northern Zhao!
As long as they can preserve those heavy cavalry from Hebei, Yuan's army will still have the right to engage Liu Miao in open field battles.

Otherwise, Yuan Jun's only option is to attack Pengcheng, which has been transformed into a hedgehog-like city by the Han army!

or.

It means withdrawing the troops!

But would Yuan Shao really retreat?

Thinking of Yuan Shao's health condition, Guo Tu sighed again.

“Back when we were fighting against Gongsun Zan, I noticed that His Majesty seemed unwell.”

"According to the doctor, the illness seems to be extremely painful."

"If this battle is not successful, then Your Majesty..."

"Don't say such discouraging things!"

Pang Ji stopped Guo Tu.

"Gongze, haven't you always supported the eldest son?"

"This time, the fate of the nation is truly in his hands!"

"If he is truly a wise ruler, then this time, he certainly will not disappoint His Majesty!"

Guo Tu: "..."

A few more days passed.

A ragged Yuan army scout arrived in Dingtao.

When they saw the scout, the entire Yuan army trembled!
This appearance hardly suggests someone who has won a battle.
Guo Tu and others stopped him, preventing him from going directly to see Yuan Shao. Instead, they had a scout explain the battle situation in Qingzhou to them first.

"Everyone."

Before the scout could even speak, his voice already sounded somewhat like he was about to cry.

But Yuan Jun and his men remained patient, unwilling to give up their last glimmer of hope.

Speak slowly and carefully.

Surrounded by a group of important figures, the scout could only forcibly suppress his emotions.

"His Highness the King of Qin first attacked Qingzhou through the mountain pass, and together with Chen Deng, they almost took Qingzhou! They only managed to trap Lü Bu in Jiaodong."

Upon hearing this, the top brass of Yuan's army were overjoyed!
That's it! That's it! That's exactly it!

Now that Qingzhou has been completely captured, leaving Lü Bu without support, even if Liu Miao were to rush over, it would probably be impossible to easily reverse the situation, right?
"But as the siege dragged on, His Highness decided to first defeat Lü Bu and then lead his army to support His Majesty." Guo Tu hurriedly asked, "Where is Liu Miao? Could it be that Liu Miao didn't go to Qingzhou?"

"went!"

After recounting that perfect beginning, the scout's voice gradually faded.

"Upon hearing that Liu Miao had led his army to the capital, Chen Deng devised a plan to leak the news to Lü Bu, intending to ambush and annihilate Lü Bu in order to demoralize Liu Miao's army."

Pang Ji smiled slightly at this moment: "As expected of Chen Yuanlong! Good! Good!"

"And then, presumably, a great victory? And the slaying of Lü Bu?"

"..."

The scout glanced at Pang Ji cautiously, and that one glance immediately made Pang Ji feel uneasy.

"They were about to succeed, but unexpectedly they fell into Zhuge Liang's trap. Chen Deng also happened to fall ill and vomited several buckets of insects from his mouth, and retreated in a panic."

Yuan Jun's high-ranking officials' expressions changed drastically!

"However, on his deathbed, Chen Deng told Your Highness that Liu Miao's advance was fierce, and that it was imperative to defend the mountain and not engage in a direct confrontation with Liu Miao. Once Liu Miao's supplies were exhausted, he would naturally retreat."

Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed!
Yes!

Yes!

As long as Yuan Tan doesn't engage in a decisive battle with Liu Miao, that would be the greatest victory!

Even Guo Tu praised him, saying, "Chen Yuanlong! Truly a hero of our time!"

Seeing the crowd's excitement, the scout was even more speechless...

It was only when Zhang He noticed the scout's unusual expression that he hurriedly pressed for an answer: "And then?"

"Has Your Highness heeded Chen Deng's advice and decided not to fight Liu Miao?"

The scout nodded hastily, which must have made the Yuan army's high command extremely happy!

Steady!

The Zhao dynasty is secure!

Seeing that everyone was happy again, the scout took a deep breath—

"Your Highness heeded Chen Deng's advice and retreated to Pingdu. Unexpectedly, Wang Xiu betrayed the country and seemed to have embezzled a large amount of military rations, leaving Your Highness without supplies. Your Highness had no choice but to send troops to fight Liu Miao, but the Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun suddenly broke his promise and fled the battlefield, resulting in Your Highness being defeated by Liu Miao!"

"Later, His Highness managed to escape and cross the Jiao River, but after being ambushed by Zang Ba, he encountered a mutiny, and his fate is unknown!"

The scout finished speaking in one breath with his eyes closed, waiting for everyone's reaction.

But after a long time, all that remained was silence.

I opened my eyes in a daze, only to see everyone staring blankly at me...

Even Zhang He, known for his ingenuity, looked bewildered.

How could the war have turned out like this?
Didn't I have the advantage? How did I end up losing so decisively?

gradually,

Finally, there were sounds around.

But it was only a soft, choked sob.

Everyone knows that if Yuan Tan is defeated, then Yuan's army will be truly finished!

Guo Tu seemed to remember something and quickly pressed the scout for answers—

"Where is His Highness? Where is His Highness?"

"I don't know. After the mutiny, I was separated from His Highness, and now His Highness's fate is unknown..."

Not only did they lose their troops, but they also lost the eldest son of the Yuan family.
Guo Tu also felt dizzy and almost fainted.

But he knew that he still had to grit his teeth and persevere!
Because of myself, I still have one major hurdle to overcome!
"How should we inform His Majesty of this matter?"

Yes, how should we tell Yuan Shao?

The news of Yuan Tan's defeat was so deafening that even healthy people like them felt like they were deaf and blind. If Yuan Shao found out, what would happen?
the first time.

These founding heroes of the Northern Zhao Dynasty felt that the foundation of the Great Zhao was so fragile!
……

"I'll go."

Surprisingly, it was Xu You who stepped forward at this moment.

“I have known His Majesty since childhood and know his temperament best. If I speak slowly and gently, I can always get him to listen.”

Seeing Xu You volunteer, the others also cast hopeful glances at him.

"Master Xu, I'm entrusting everything to you!"

"Lord Xu, I hope you will explain this matter to His Majesty slowly."

"Lord Xu..."

As Xu You listened to these sounds, he licked his dry lips.

When he heard that Yuan Tan was short of grain, he knew he was in trouble!

He had also heard people mention Wang Xiu's virtuous character.

Anyone could be greedy for grain, but Wang Xiu was the only one who couldn't be!

The waters behind this are probably very deep!
The fact that they were able to do this clearly shows that some people in Yecheng were prepared to fight to the death!
It's time for me to fight for my future one more time!
As for Yuan Shao's health... what does that have to do with me?
Xu You entered Yuan Shao's tent.

Although Yuan Shao's face was pale, he still had some color in it.

Upon seeing Xu You, Yuan Shao was both surprised and delighted: "Ziyuan, what brings you to my court?"

Xu You took a deep breath and suddenly knelt down before Yuan Shao!

Before Yuan Shao could react, Xu You slammed his head heavily onto the ground—

"Your Majesty, I, Xu You, humbly request that Your Majesty immediately appoint your third son, Shang, as the Crown Prince of Great Zhao, in order to appease the hearts of the people!"

Yuan Shao stared at Xu You in bewilderment, wondering what had gotten into him.

He knew that Xu You was involved in smuggling in Guanzhong, so Xu You should be a staunch supporter of Yuan Tan.

But why is there a sudden demand to appoint Yuan Shang as the crown prince?
Is it possible...

Yuan Shao suddenly realized something and stared at Xu You in disbelief!

Although Xu You hasn't said anything yet.

But the phrase "establish Yuan Shang as crown prince" is tantamount to telling Yuan Shao everything!
(End of this chapter)