System Blessing: The Young Master of the Dong Family and Diao Chan's Fate

"What a generous gesture."

"How can a thief like me be made a marquis and a general?"

Zhang Yan narrowed her eyes slightly, unable to hide the heat in her heart.

The title of General Pingbei may be nominal, but the title of Marquis Boluoting is a real marquisate with fiefdoms.

This is something good that can be passed down to future generations.

Nowadays, some people would refuse an official position, but few could refuse a title.

The ancients valued inheritance and the merit of conferring titles on wives and children. That was the temptation of opening a separate page in the family tree.

"The imperial edict is already in your hands. Whether it is true or not depends entirely on whether you can catch it."

"I have something else to do, goodbye."

Shi A glanced at Zhang Yan, unable to hide his envy.

July

The war between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao had lasted for more than two months.

When two armies fight, it seems that what is being tested is the quality of the soldiers, but in fact it is the logistical supplies of both sides.

Take Yuan Shao's 40,000 troops on the front line as an example. Their daily consumption was more than a thousand dan of grain, not including the rest of the food and fodder consumed by horses and livestock.

During war, soldiers' consumption is huge, so the daily food needs are almost double than usual.

In more than two months, the total amount of food and fodder consumed by Yuan's army has exceeded 70,000 shi.

And Gongsun Zan was even worse off.

Although he was slightly inferior to Yuan Shao in terms of military strength, he could not resist the gold-devouring behemoth of cavalry.

Although the Baima Yicong was destroyed, Gongsun Zan was good at using cavalry to fight, so he naturally raised another cavalry.

Therefore, in terms of food consumption, he had long surpassed Yuan Shao.

If both sides were wealthy, they could continue to fight, but the key problem was that Gongsun Zan's logistics could not compete with Yuan Shao's.

I dare not fight, and I cannot outlast the enemy.

It’s not that Gongsun Zan was completely unable to defeat Yuan Shao, but that he didn’t dare to fight to the death.

If he loses, all his efforts over the years will be wasted.

"Damn it, you thief Dong, you don't keep your promise!"

"Why don't you move a little? At least shoot an arrow at Yecheng. Then I can see some hope."

Gongsun Zan cursed loudly in the camp and jumped up and down in anger.

Ever since Dong's army entered Jizhou, they have been slow to take any further action.

It’s been more than ten days. It’s been more than ten days.

You should at least put some pressure on Yuan Shao and make him transfer some troops back to Yecheng.

"My lord, how about we fight the thief Yuan?"

"Outsiders are unreliable."

"Yes, my lord. Yuan Shao's troops are just a bunch of rabble-rousers, while ours are all battle-hardened elites. Why should we be afraid of him?"

More than ten generals including Shan Jing requested to fight.

"presumptuous!"

"If I fight a decisive battle with Yuan Shao, one of me will be injured."

"Winning is fine, but if we lose, wouldn't that help others?"

Gongsun Zan slammed the table and shouted to stop them.

In fact, looking at the entire late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, most of the warlords who were able to laugh to the end had a all-in spirit.

In the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao with a single move.

In the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei went all in and saved the gateway to Yizhou.

Although both of them had the experience of failing in all-in poker, and were even ridiculed for the two fires of Red Cliff and Yiling, you and I are heroes of the world.

But what is worth affirming is that both Boss Cao and Boss Liu have never been cowardly at critical moments.

When life and death are at stake, sometimes all-in becomes a way to defeat the opponent.

On the other hand, the princes who died quickly, such as Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, more or less lacked the courage to go all in.

Of course, perhaps it was also because Lao Cao and Lao Liu at the time were both barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes.

Gongsun Zan is obviously a little cowardly now.

After suffering consecutive defeats in the battles of Jieqiao and Longcou and suffering heavy casualties, Gongsun Zan somewhat lost some of his courage.

On the other hand, Yuan Shao was still Yuan Shen at this moment, and the two victories boosted the morale of Yuan's army.

Just as Gongsun Zan was hesitating, a scout ran over.

"Report!!"

"My lord, our spies report that a million Black Mountain bandits have stormed into Jizhou and have overrun several counties in just a few days."

The scout bowed and reported loudly.

"really?"

"Hahaha, seriously?"

"Zhang Yan is the one who can be trusted!"

"The livestock and food aren't given away for free!"

Gongsun Zan was overjoyed and couldn't help laughing.

"Congratulations, my lord! Yuan Shao will undoubtedly be thrown into disarray. To ensure the survival of Yecheng, he will withdraw his troops within a few days."

"My lord, just lead your army in pursuit. Even if Yuan Shao doesn't die, he will be severely injured."

"This Jizhou will surely fall into the hands of the lord."

Guan Jing, who was quite resourceful, immediately offered his congratulations.

"Ha ha!"

"All officers, listen up! Inform the entire army to be ready to engage Yuan Shao at any moment."

"Also, increase the number of scouts and closely monitor any unusual movements by Yuan's army."

"If Yuan Shao dares to retreat, I will destroy him."

Gongsun Zan slapped his thigh and laughed out loud.

"The last general takes command!"

All the generals bowed their hands and clasped their fists.

...

Yuan's army camp

Unlike Gongsun Zan's camp, all the generals of Yuan's army looked worried when they heard the news.

"What?"

"You look frightened, but do you think I will definitely lose today?"

Yuan Shao held the hilt of his sword and glanced at everyone with sharp eyes.

"My lord, the Black Mountain bandits are currently causing chaos in Jizhou. Our rear is unstable, making it difficult to continue to confront Gongsun Zan."

"That's right, we should quickly return to Yecheng to help and ensure that Weijun is not lost."

Pang Ji and Guo Tu immediately agreed and proposed to withdraw troops to provide support.

"My lord, you must not return for help!"

"If our army retreats, Gongsun Zan will pursue us. Our soldiers will be in chaos, so how can we defeat Gongsun Zan?"

"My lord, we must not withdraw our troops!"

Tian Feng cupped his hands and persuaded anxiously.

"Yuan Hao is right!"

"Withdrawing at this time will undoubtedly lead to defeat!"

"From now on, anyone who dares to talk about withdrawing our troops will be killed without mercy!"

Yuan Shao's eyes were like swords, he drew his sword and shouted loudly.

At this time, Yuan Shao was not yet the useless core player in the later period who appeared to be powerful but was actually weak and indecisive.

Yuan Shao is now at the peak of his powers, and it has only been three years since my sword was at its best.

If Yuan Shao was a mediocre ruler at that time, how could he have attracted so many civil and military officials to follow him?

"My lord is wise!"

Tian Feng looked overjoyed and felt relieved.

"Yuan Hao, do you have any plan?"

Yuan Shao looked at Tian Feng and asked hopefully.

"This... I'm sorry for my incompetence. This is an urgent matter, and I don't have a good plan."

Tian Feng shook his head with a look of shame on his face.

"Xu Ziyuan, what about you?"

Yuan Shao glanced at Xu You and asked.

"This... I think it's possible to retreat, but not really retreat."

"To retreat in order to advance is the way to victory."

Xu You's eyes turned, and after some thought, he slowly spoke.

"Don't show off. The situation is urgent. If you have a plan, just tell us now."

Yuan Shao blamed him angrily.

Xu You was one of Yuan Shao's few good friends.

Therefore, he knew Xu You quite well.

The other person is quite scheming, but he likes to show off too much and is a bit petty.

"My lord, you can lead your troops to retreat and set up ambushes along the way."

"When Gongsun Zan leads his army in pursuit, we will lead the troops back."

"Gongsun Zan is just a common man, brave but not wise. He will definitely fall into the trap this time."

"Then my lord, you can defeat Gongsun Zan's forces in one fell swoop, and then lead your army back to Yecheng to quell the civil unrest."

"Once the civil unrest subsides and my lord has rested for three to five years, Youzhou can be pacified."

Xu You stroked the mustache on his chin and spoke.

"Great, hahaha, great."

"I didn't expect Gongsun Zan to end up losing more than he gained. He thought he could defeat me with the help of that thief Zhang Yan, but he ended up being held hostage by him instead."

Yuan Shao's eyes lit up and he burst into laughter.