The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 86 Heaven will not end Yan Han, Liu Lang meets Zhang Liang again (Please subscribe!)

Langya.

In the palace hall, Li Yi was hosting a banquet to entertain Zang Ba and other Taishan generals.

This time when he went north, Lao Liu specially prepared a large amount of beef and wine to reward the Taishan soldiers.

Li Yi, as a military advisor, came out in person and drank with everyone.

Thanks to this, everyone in the Taishan Gang, from top to bottom, was grateful for the virtue of Liu and Li as king and subject, and were willing to serve them till death.

However, Liu Bei was used to Li Yi's strategy of not fighting, so he had to suppress his anger.

Li Yi toasted Zang Ba to calm the generals.

"Come on, Commander Zang, I'll toast you again."

Li Yi had attended quite a few banquets this year and was very familiar with the ancient etiquette of drinking.

Zang Ba still had a good impression of Li Yi. The reason why they were able to stay in Langya was thanks to Li Yi's recommendation.

"Thank you, Military Advisor."

Zang Ba thanked him and drank the wine in the cup.

"…Hey, didn't I say that before?"

"In the military, we call each other by our positions. In private, you and I don't need to be so polite."

Zang Ba exclaimed in amazement:
"Xuzhou is indeed a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. It is surprising that there is such a talented person like you."

"I have seen that there is no one in the world who is as good at planning and winning as you, sir."

After hearing this, Li Yi did not agree.

However, Liu Bei was secretly feeling quite proud and he raised his head to drink a big gulp of wine.

Perhaps because he was drunk, Liu Bei revealed his true feelings to Li Yi, shook his hand, and said solemnly:
"Zi Yu and I have a bond as close as fish and water, and as close as salt and plum."

"It is like Emperor Gaozu's encounter with Zhang Liang, or Emperor Guangwu's encounter with Deng Yu."

Liu Ye strode in at this time, unable to hide the excitement on his face:

"My Lord! Yuan Tan can be attacked!"

"Yuan Tan can be attacked!"

Upon hearing this, the most excited ones were Zang Ba and other Langya generals.

Everyone stood up excitedly, rubbing their hands.

Liu Bei was also greatly encouraged and looked at Li Yi excitedly.

Li Yi smiled faintly and looked at Liu Ye:

"Zi Yang has investigated it thoroughly. Is the news true?"

Liu Ye raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said confidently:

"Why investigate?"

"Just now, I was on the top of the city wall and saw the flags of Yuan's army changing. They must be slowly moving their camps and intending to withdraw their troops secretly."

"I think Generals Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng have successfully bypassed them, and that Young Master Yuan is panicking and trying to escape."

In fact, after Xu Sheng and Taishi Ci set off ahead of time, Li Yi instructed Liu Bei to send spies to closely monitor the movements of Yuan’s army.

As long as there were any signs that Yuan's army was breaking camp, it would prove that Xu Sheng and his men had successfully launched an encirclement attack.

Now the spies have not reported yet, and Liu Ye knows that they are going to withdraw just by looking at their camp.

He is indeed a talented and extraordinary person.

"...Now that Yuan Tan's food supply has been cut off, he must urgently withdraw his troops to provide support."

"Our army should attack immediately. Otherwise, once Yuan Tan returns, Generals Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng will be in danger."

"As long as we cooperate with the two generals, Yuan's army will not be able to take care of both ends and will inevitably be defeated."

Seeing Li Yi's confident and confident look, Liu Ye could not help but admire him:

"Ye has always used strategies and often came up with surprising ideas."

"Now the military advisor ordered General Taishi Ci and General Taishi Ci to attack from the sea. Even Ye felt that it was very daring when he heard about it."

"From Ye's point of view, the military advisor is a truly rare talent in the world, comparable to Liang and Ping!"

Liu Ye was always used to using risky tactics, but compared with Li Yi's strategy of attacking from the sea, he was still too conservative.

Even a man as conceited as him had to admire Li Yi's skills and courage.

From hiring people, to choosing ships, to the tacit cooperation between the two sides.

The slightest mistake will lead to irreparable consequences.

Li Yi checked every detail carefully to ensure nothing was missed.

It makes people admire it so much!
While Liu Ye was full of admiration, he was thinking to himself:
"I am a relative of the Han emperor, but I am not a ruler."

"Now Liu Xuande is also a member of the royal family. He has great talent and is very popular among the people."

"Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were both able to defeat ten thousand men and died for them."

"Since Zifang met Emperor Gaozu, and Ziyu met Liu Lang, their plans are unpredictable."

“Just as a dragon receives clouds and rain, it is not something that can be confined to a pond.”

"Could it be that the Heaven really will not destroy Yan Han?"

If it is said that Liu Ye's progress in being conquered by Liu Bei was 99% before, the remaining 1% was stuck and he couldn't go any further.

And Li Yi is the key person to break this shackles!

Liu Ye believed that by working with such a genius in the world, great achievements could be made and the Han Dynasty could be revived!

"...Ahem."

Li Yi coughed a few times and said:
"My lord, the time has come."

"You can order all the soldiers to go out of the city and fight to the death. Kill as much as you can!"

Upon hearing this, Zang Ba and other Taishan generals were all excited, and they all saluted and said in unison:
"I am willing to serve my lord till death!"

Liu Bei stood up and said happily:
"All generals, listen to my order. The whole army will attack immediately and kill all of Yuan's troops!"

"Order!"

The morale of the generals was high, and they could finally vent the anger they had been holding in for so long these days.

Li Yi added:

"Now our army and General Ziyi and his men will attack from the north and south. Yuan's army cannot take care of both ends, so they are definitely no match for our army."

"In today's battle, whoever can capture Yuan Tan alive will be the first to achieve great success!"

Li Yi deliberately raised the tone of the word "capture alive".

Liu Bei nodded and followed suit:
"Did you all hear what the military advisor said?"

"Whoever can capture Yuan Tan alive will be the first to achieve the victory in the defense of Xuzhou!"

I have to sigh that the military advisor's reaction is always half a beat faster than mine.

Liu Bei was just about to say that Yuan Tan should not be killed in this battle, but Li Yi said that he should be captured alive.

As expected, the heroes saw the same thing.

In Liu Bei's view, since Yuan Tan had secretly deployed his troops south and Yuan Shao had not yet learned about it, Yuan Tan was in the wrong in this matter.

But if Liu Bei killed Yuan Tan, Yuan Shao, who already felt guilty, would definitely become completely hostile to him.

After all, even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. No matter how much Yuan Shao loved his youngest son, he couldn't tolerate someone else killing his own son. When the order to attack was passed down, all the Taishan soldiers in Langya were filled with blood and murderous intent.

The city gate opened wide and the drawbridge slowly descended.

The Taishan soldiers, who were fully motivated, joined forces with the Xuzhou soldiers, totaling more than 10,000 people.

Like a flood bursting through a dam, it swept towards Yuan’s army camp!

From this point on, offense and defense change!
The number of Yuan’s troops was twice that of Xuzhou’s troops, so they had a numerical advantage.

There is no chance of winning when the few are fighting against the many.

However, because Yuan's army's retreat was cut off at this time, they had to turn around and go back to provide assistance.

So he exposed his back to the Xuzhou army.

As mentioned before, it is very troublesome for the army to turn around.

Military orders can easily be misdirected, causing confusion.

Just as Yuan's army was retreating in a hurry, they suddenly heard loud drums and shouts from the rear.

A group of people came rushing towards them.

Yuan's army was terrified and responded hastily.

For a time,

The situation collapsed and Yuan's army was defeated by the Xuzhou army, which was well-rested and had high morale.

Zhao Yun and Tian Yu led the cavalry to continue the pursuit.

Yuan Tan was unable to withstand the attack and his army was dispersed.

In the melee, Yuan Tan was separated from the army and was protected by hundreds of personal guards.

Looking towards Le'an, he left in a hurry.

I don't know how long I walked until I arrived at the foot of a barren mountain. It was around two o'clock in the morning and the moon was as bright as day.

Yuan Tan had just gathered the remaining soldiers, which numbered only 800 men.

They didn't know where the rest of the army had gone, so they had to send another hundred people out to look for them.

Then he ordered people to cook and rest on the spot.

After all the running around, Yuan Tan was already exhausted and out of breath.

"……it is good."

"What a great Liu Bei, what a great Li Yi."

"These two, the emperor and his minister, are truly amazing!"

"Yuan has been defeated today!"

At this moment, Yuan Tan finally let go of his pride. The heroic spirit he had when he swept across Qingzhou that day was wiped out in the defeat in this invasion of Xuzhou.

All Yuan Tan wanted now was to go home, lie on the bed, and sleep for two days.

He looked back at the guards around him; all of them were wounded and exhausted.

Yuan Tan didn't know why, but he suddenly felt sad and sighed:

"The sword is broken, and the battle robe is torn."

"That day, I led the Qingzhou soldiers and marched to Xuzhou with great vigor, just to seek fame and fortune for the soldiers."

"However, we suffered a great defeat today, and most of the soldiers did not return to Qingzhou alive."

"How can I go back?"

"For me, the biggest regret is that I am still alive!"

Guo Tu was serving beside him. Upon hearing this, he hurried over to comfort him:

"Don't be upset, Commander. Victory and defeat are common in the military."

"We may be defeated today, but we can regroup and fight again tomorrow!"

After Guo Tu's kind words of persuasion, Yuan Tan's emotions stabilized a lot.

He was just expressing his emotion just now, how could he really draw his sword and commit suicide?

At most, it's just to vent the grief and anger in my heart.

"… Never mind. Today we are at a disadvantage. The Xuzhou army may be able to catch up with us again."

"In my opinion, it is better not to cook yet and rush back to Qingzhou as soon as possible."

The military order was temporarily changed.

The soldiers had no choice but to endure the fatigue and continue on their journey with their broken bodies.

Many remnants of the defeated army gathered along the way.

Another day passed, and Yuan Tan finally saw a road.

"Governor, it looks like Guang County is ahead. We are in Qingzhou now!"

Guo Tu wiped the sweat from his face and pointed forward.

"The troops are exhausted now, so why not collect food locally in Guang County?"

The meaning of collecting grain locally, of course, is to "borrow" some grain from the local people.

This was actually a common phenomenon among the princes in the late Han Dynasty.

Unless they encounter an army with good discipline and high quality, most warlord troops are supplied in this way.

Otherwise, how can we say that it is always the common people who suffer in war?

Yuan Tan breathed a sigh of relief, then looked back and saw that there were no pursuers from Xuzhou.

The panic-stricken face improved slightly, and he gasped:

"…Huh, good! Let's collect grain from Guang County."

"The soldiers have been marching for two days on an empty stomach and are already exhausted. If they don't rest, they will mutiny."

Yuan Tan hurriedly commanded his soldiers to enter Guang County and collect food and supplies from the common people.

The sun is setting in the west.

Yuan Tan rode a big horse into the county town.

"That's not right. Why are there so few people in Guang County?"

Although affected by the war, many people fled.

But a county town shouldn’t be so deserted, right?
Cao Cao never came to Qingzhou to benefit the people.

What's going on here?
"not good!"

Guo Tu reacted, "Maybe someone got here before us!"

There is only one possibility: you won’t be able to see the people.

When the people saw the army, they all hid in their homes and dared not come out.

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of black mountain infantry rushed out from the alley.

A general stood on his horse with a halberd in his hand, looking at Yuan Tan with a sneer.

……

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(End of this chapter)