Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 82 Heaven Did Not Grant a Long Life
"Fire arrows! Fire arrows! Fire arrows!!!"

Yuan Shu stood atop his chariot, brandishing his sword and issuing orders!
"A volley of arrows!!!"

Faced with an overwhelming rain of arrows, how could a mortal's flesh and blood possibly withstand the force of metal and stone?
Arrows rained down like locusts, so how could the soldiers dare to advance?

If the defending army were all cowardly and hiding, allowing the enemy to climb the city walls, how could such a large city not fall?
Hiding inside the city tower, gazing at the ten well towers outside the city that were constantly raining down arrows, Yue Jin's brows were clouded with worry.

Unlike the Lü Gong chariot, the siege tower does not need to be placed on top of the city wall. It only needs to maintain a safe distance to fire arrows, so rolling logs, stones, and oil cannot harm it at all.

Even if they wanted to burn it with fire arrows, not to mention that the archers on the city wall would be absolutely suppressed by the well towers that were positioned high above them.

Even if soldiers braved a hail of arrows and risked their lives to shoot them, they would be stopped by the water-soaked leather covering them.

Furthermore, because the well tower was located at a safe distance, Yuan Jun could calmly order his soldiers to continuously soak the outer leather in water, thus eliminating any chance for Le Jin to delay until it dried.

Witnessing this scene, Le Jin gritted his teeth, summoned five thousand of his most elite soldiers, and ordered the city gates to be opened.

Under the pressure of this barrage of arrows, the city is almost impossible to defend. The only option now is to lead the troops out of the city and risk their lives to destroy the siege towers!

As the city gates opened, a massive force of five thousand men, divided into groups of five hundred and led by Le Jin, charged straight at Yuan's army's fortified position like ten scissor blades.

Unfortunately, the commanders of Yuan Jun's army were none other than the peerless generals "Lei Bu" and "Chen Lan"!
With the two of them constantly relaying Zhou Yu's latest troop deployments to Yuan Shu, how could he not be prepared for Le Jin's attack from outside the city?

A voice rang out across the battlefield: "I am Sun Ce, the grandson of Yuan Gongyi! Do not flee!"
It was as if they had been prepared at the ten well-curtained positions, each sending out three thousand soldiers to surround them.

The generals were all assigned to different tasks, and the one who was transferred to take the great credit for Yue Jin was none other than Yuan's grandson!

When Yue Jin saw Sun Ce charging towards him, he was so terrified that his soul almost left his body!

Having already witnessed Sun Ce's extraordinary prowess in the previous battle at Yangdi, and knowing that even Xiahou Dun would find it difficult to defeat him, how could he dare to fight?

He ordered his soldiers to continue destroying the well ramparts to hold off Sun Ce, while he himself turned his horse and led his army to flee.

Sun Ce was furious when he saw this. He knew that this was a great achievement that Gongjin had specially arranged for him, and he could not let him get away with it.

Hurry up and ride after them!

"You cowardly thief, don't you dare run away!"

Le Jin wouldn't listen. Seeing him chasing after him, he fled even more hastily!
The two, one fleeing and the other chasing, arrived at the city gate in an instant. Just as Le Jin escaped into the city, he saw that Sun Ce was pursuing him very closely and was about to lead his troops into the city as well. In a panic, he hurriedly ordered the soldiers guarding the city to close the city gate.

By closing the city gates, he had kept Sun Ce outside the city, but the five thousand elite troops who had followed him to destroy the siege towers would never be able to return.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Shu immediately shouted, urging them to surrender, "The city gates are closed, you are already in dire straits, why should our soldiers go to their deaths?"

It must be said that these people were, after all, the elite of Cao Cao's army, and among them were those who dared to fight and die, disregarding everything and still desperately destroying the well siege tower.

But once the city gates were closed, their retreat was cut off, and they were besieged by enemy forces several times their size. With morale low, many surrendered.

By either accepting their surrender or killing them, Yuan's army soon defeated this elite force of Cao Cao's army.

However, Le Jin's risky venturing out of the city to fight was not entirely fruitless.

Seven of the ten siege towers were destroyed in the chaos of the attack, leaving only three. The intensity of the arrows and the pressure on the city walls were greatly reduced. Le Jin ordered his soldiers to raise their shields and defend the city. After many twists and turns, they managed to hold out for another day.

But when dawn broke on the third day, five brand-new well towers and three Lu Gong carts were brought out of Yuan's camp.

When Yue Jin saw this, he was terrified and felt his scalp tingle.

At that moment, he fell into a long silence.

Finally, before Yuan's army could launch an offensive, he abandoned the defense of the city and hastily ordered his soldiers to gather supplies and assemble the army.

They were so frightened that they were preparing to abandon the city and flee.

There's no way to fight this war!

When others attack a city, they treasure these large siege weapons that have been painstakingly and painstakingly made.

But what about Yuan Gonglu?

They're using heavy siege equipment to wear down the defenders' manpower, forcing them to sacrifice their lives to fill their pile of wooden, lifeless things. After these past two days, he can't tell whether it's Yuan's army attacking the city or him, Yue Jin, doing the attack.

He was a perfectly good defender of the city, but his forces were already at a disadvantage. He had to risk his life every day to destroy the enemy's equipment. How could he possibly defend the city?
If this happened a few more times, not only would his troops be depleted, but he himself couldn't guarantee that he would be lucky enough to escape with his life from the valiant and skilled Yuan family's grandson every time.

After assembling and preparing the soldiers and arranging the relevant matters concerning the abandonment of the city, he hurriedly pushed open Xi Zhicai's door.

"Military Advisor! Military Advisor Xun!"

The words abruptly stopped, as Xun You, as if expecting this, was already tidying up the documents in the room.

Xi Zhicai rested his chin on one hand, holding a pen in the other, leaning on the table, quiet as if he were resting with his eyes closed.

Le Jin stood frozen at the doorway, momentarily stunned, as if he dared not take another step inside.

"Wenqian has come at the right time. Carry Zhicai on your back and let's go back to Yanzhou."

".only."

With difficulty moving his feet and a troubled expression, Yue Jin struggled into the room. Just as he was about to carry Xi Zhicai on his back, his hands were already covered in ice-cold liquid.

"Teasing the strategist!"

He was overcome with emotion and almost burst into tears.

First General Yuan Rang defected to the enemy, and now Military Advisor Xi has also left. At this point, they are even more determined to abandon the city and flee. How did the Battle of Yingchuan turn out like this?

He was still in good spirits when I left last night, so he didn't want to come over this morning.

Xun You also sighed, picked up the scroll written by Xi Zhicai, and said, "Perhaps I had some ideas at night and got up with difficulty to finish writing this book, but unfortunately my spirit couldn't hold on any longer."

Le Jin looked up and saw that the scroll was written by Xi Zhicai when they had just lost Yangdi and retreated to Xu County. At that time, Xi Zhicai was still in good spirits and had come to the room to ask for advice. Le Jin saw Xi Zhicai writing this scroll.

Seeing Xun You staring at the book for a long time, he sighed helplessly.

"Heaven did not grant you a long life. This strategy could have helped my lord restore his prestige and avert disaster. It is a pity that you lack the will, talent, and energy. I will strive to improve it."

Xun You carefully put away the silk and saw that Yue Jin had already carried Xi Zhicai on his back, so he nodded slightly.

"Let's go, we won't go back to Yanzhou yet, we'll head north to Luoyang to welcome our lord and the emperor!"
As for Xu County, one day Yuan Gonglu will have to pay for it.

"only."

Standing atop the city wall of Xu County, watching the retreating figures of Cao Cao's army as they broke through the encirclement, Yuan Shu's wide robes fluttered in the wind.

"Zhongkang, can you capture the enemy general for me?"

"It's my wish, but I dare not invite you."

Yuan Shu then ordered Xu Chu to lead cavalry to pursue them, and then looked at Yang Hong and asked him about it.

Where is Ziyi?

"He must have been ordered to lead his troops north and will arrive soon."

Yuan Shu nodded and smiled, saying, "After I leave, I will entrust all matters here to you, sir and Ziyi."

"Rest assured, my lord."

"I also need you to write a memorial to the Emperor, as I have a great gift to give you."

"I don't know."

"I have submitted a memorial to the emperor appointing Xiahou Dun as General Who Guards the North, to guard Yingchuan in preparation for Cao Cao's campaign."

Yang Hong immediately understood and smiled at him.

"Rest assured, my lord, I will make good use of General Yuan Rang."

(End of this chapter)