Yuan Tanjun's original plan was actually like this. He deliberately built a city viewing platform to attract the Xuzhou Army's attention to the top of the city wall and the tower, and also asked the Huben guards to deliberately disarm in front of the Xuzhou Army and arrive empty-handed.

Deputy Director Tao fell to the ground in front of him

When you kneel down and put your hands on the ground, you can justifiably get the swords and axes hidden in the muddy water in advance. The plan is not bad, and the grasp of Deputy Director Tao's suspicious mentality is also very appropriate.//

High-speed update //.

The biggest gamble in this plan is to bet on Deputy Director Tao's hypocrite character. In order to win people's hearts, Deputy Director Tao will get off his horse and personally help Yuan Tan get up. Then Yuan Tan, who already has the weapon in his hand, can act according to the situation and take advantage of the opportunity.

He kidnapped Deputy Director Tao, who was average in his ability to capture alive, and used Deputy Director Tao to

The director took him as a hostage and forced the Xuzhou army to retreat. Before he had a chance, he stabbed to death Deputy Director Tao, who had long deserved death. Then he escaped back to the city under the protection of three hundred dead men! If he really couldn't escape, he had to fight with Tao.

The deputy director died together, and Mr. Yuan Tan, who hated Deputy Director Tao to the bone, also admitted it!

The plan is ingenious and the courage is absolutely extraordinary, but unfortunately, everyone knows that because of Yang Changshi's strong obsession with gold and silver treasures, Mr. Yuan Tan only has a few seconds to succeed.

At the critical moment, he jumped out to cause trouble and accidentally called out Mr. Yuan Tan.

Because of the trap of his son, Master Yuan Tan finally fell short and even lost his life. If Master Yuan Tan knew about it and knew that Yang Changshi did this because he coveted his family property, then Master Yuan Tan would definitely do it.

Regret that he did not use all his family property to bribe Yang Changshi...

No matter how much regret you felt under Jiuquan, it was useless. As Master Yuan Tan's head fell to the ground, the dead soldiers of Yuan Tan's army were blocked by the Xuzhou guards. The remnants of Yuan Tan's army never had the chance to turn defeat into victory. They rushed several times with all their might.

Seeing that they couldn't get to Deputy Director Tao's side, Gao Gan, Hao Zhao, Lu Kuang, etc.

General Yuan Tanjun had no choice but to retreat quickly into the city. However, Xuzhou Army said that they would not miss this opportunity this time. They rushed and chased them all the way across the moat, and directly pursued them into the city gate corridor. What did they say?

I have to vent my anger on Deputy Director Tao and take advantage of the situation to capture Yecheng.

Because he had considered the possibility of such a situation in advance, Yuan Tanjun also made contingency preparations for this - at the end of the city gate corridor, a thousand-pound iron gate was installed. As long as the iron gate was triggered, it would fall to the ground and block the city.

Xuzhou's army's way into the city. But the plan is far less rapid than the changes. Seeing that senior officials are

When the others were about to rush out of the tunnel, the iron gate in front unexpectedly fell to the ground early, blocking the way back to the city for Gao Gan and others! Gao Gan and others were stunned, shouting but it was no use, and were killed by Xuzhou soldiers

They were tightly blocked in the city gate corridor and became a real turtle in a jar.

Of course, it was not without reason that the iron gate was put down early. On the city wall, Xinbi, the commander of Yuan Jun Yecheng who was responsible for commanding the iron gate mechanism, personally pulled the mechanism and used the iron gate to cut off the return path of the senior officials and others. Xinpi calmly shouted to the left and right

The soldiers said: "Lord

The Duke is dead and we have sent them back to the city. All our soldiers and civilians in Yecheng can only bury them with them. For the sake of the people in the city and for the sake of our wives, children and families, we can only do this. Those who want to survive will be here soon.

Go and raise a white flag next to the arrow stack."

The group had no leader, no soldiers, and Xinpi, who had triggered the mechanism in advance, rushed to the arrow stack, raised the white flag and waved it desperately. As a result, he was completely trapped in the city waiting for the three hundred dead soldiers of the high-ranking officials.

In the corridor, there was no way to go to heaven or to the earth. Most of them were hacked to death and stabbed to death by Xuzhou soldiers with red eyes.

Poor Mr. Guo Tu died tragically in the rebel army and was trampled to pieces by the two soldiers. Lu Kuang laid down his weapons and surrendered. Gao Gan was captured alive by the Xuzhou soldiers. Only Hao Zhao fought to the end and categorically refused the surrender of the Xuzhou army.

Required, died in battle together with the last dozen soldiers, and bid farewell to the stage of the late Han Dynasty early with great regret.

After the completion of the city gate corridor, Xinpi ordered the soldiers to open the iron gate and led the defenders to surrender to the Xuzhou army. The Xuzhou army entered the city to take over the defense and killed a small number of Yuan Tan's remnants who refused to surrender. The battle ended in the evening.

, so that Yecheng, the most important town in Jizhou, finally

Yu fell into the clutches of Deputy Director Tao, and finally ended the three-month battle of Yecheng. Deputy Director Tao discussed meritorious deeds and made Xinpi the Yilang, and followed the army. He also found out that Chen Lin had not participated in Yuan Tan's war.

According to the plan, his crimes were pardoned and he was still retained in his original position, and the others who surrendered to the civil and military forces were also retained.

"Finally, we have captured Yecheng." This was the first thing Deputy Director Tao said when he entered Yecheng. His tone was rather sighing, and he said: "I really didn't expect that we only defeated three people in Yecheng."

Yue, I really don’t know how much time it will take us to completely conquer the three northern states."

"Lord, please relax." Xun Chen next to him comforted: "The most difficult thing to defeat in Jizhou is Yecheng. If we capture Yecheng, our next war will be much easier. Jiyou and the three states are leaderless, and Yuan Shang

This power can neither convince the public nor the three

The hearts and minds of the state army and the people, even if our army cannot achieve the mission to determine the three states, there is no need to worry about encountering stubborn resistance like Yecheng again. Chen estimates that if it is fast, it will be within two years, if it is slow, it will not be three years. Our army will definitely

Able to pacify the three northern states."

"Mr. Youruo's words make sense. We don't have to put in so much effort in the next war." Jia Laodu nodded in agreement, and then suggested: "My lord, if you want to quickly conquer the north, then we will start from now on."

It's time to prepare for war against Yuan Shang. Xu believes that the lord should immediately issue an edict to Yuan Shang in the name of the imperial court, ordering him to come to Yecheng to discuss important matters in the north."

"Wonderful!" Liu Ye applauded and said with a smile: "If Yuan Shangruo comes, he will be summoned to the court as an official in the honor of the imperial court. If Yuan Shangruo does not come, he will not obey the imperial court and openly conspire against him. Our army is justified in sending troops to attack. This edict is justified.

After coming and going, our army is almost rested and ready to send troops out immediately."

Deputy Director Tao laughed loudly when he heard this and immediately ordered Chen Ying to draft an imperial edict. Jia Laodu also suggested: "My lord, after all, Yuan Shang has been close to our army for a long time. It would be too much to pretend to summon him to Ye. According to the imperial edict, it is too much."

See, it is best to ask the emperor to issue this edict, and also ask the emperor to make the lord the shepherd of Jizhou. This will stop Yuan Shang's thoughts and send troops to northern Hebei to gain the moral upper hand."

"Okay, anyway, Yecheng is not far from Xuchang, so let's do it this way and let the soldiers rest for a few more days." Deputy Director Tao agreed.

The next thing is very simple. While the Xuzhou Army was preparing to go north, it also issued a proclamation requiring the counties and counties in Jizhou to accept the imperial order - that is, to accept the order of Deputy Director Tao, and the other counties in Wei County where Yecheng is located heard about it.

Yuan Tan was dead, and no county magistrate or local general dared to seek death, so they rushed to send him a surrender report.

To express submission, not only the whole Wei County was informed, but also many counties in Zhao Guo County and Julu County offered surrender. Only Julu Prefect Guan Tong refused to surrender, but this prefect with only a few thousand rural soldiers in his hands was destined to be unable to surrender.

If there was any disturbance, Deputy Director Tao didn't even need to take action personally, he just asked Zang Ba to send troops to attack Guan Tong and settle the matter.

There was no problem at all with the Xuchang court. Under the coercion of Tao Ji, Cao Hong, Shiyi and others, even if Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was unwilling, he could only issue an edict, ordering Yuan Shang to go to Yecheng to discuss northern affairs, and promised

Deputy Director Tao also serves as Jizhou Mu. The only trouble comes from Deputy Director Tao’s wife Yuan Fang.

After learning that Yuan Tan was dead, Yuan Fang, who knew her husband well, wrote a letter to Deputy Director Tao, begging Deputy Director Tao to be merciful and leave Yuan Shang a way out as much as possible. Deputy Director Tao wrote back to Yuan Fang, saying

As long as Yuan Shang doesn't have any ideas of colluding with other people, he will definitely leave Yuan Shang alive.

Almost a month later, the Zhanghe River embankment was initially repaired with the joint efforts of Xuzhou army officers and people. Considering that he was somewhat immoral in destroying the embankment and flooding the city, Deputy Director Tao ordered Yecheng to be tax-free for two years, and ordered warehouses to be opened for relief.

The people were cheering for relief and were extremely grateful to Deputy Director Tao. At the same time, Deputy Director Tao forced Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to issue the edict and also sent it to Yuan Shang in honor of the imperial court.

Young Master Yuan Shang, Shen Pei, Feng Ji and others were certainly not fools. After seeing the edict from Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, Young Master Yuan Shang, Shen Pei and others immediately understood that Deputy Director Tao was preparing to attack the Zijun Army, so Young Master Yuan Shang not only refused to go south on the spot

Yecheng,

He immediately proclaimed himself the prefectural shepherd and cavalry general of Jiyou and the three prefectures, and spread the word to various places to ask the officials, soldiers and civilians of the three prefectures to obey his orders. At the same time, he immediately withdrew his troops from Zhongshan and gathered troops in the rivers and Bohai Sea, preparing to fall out with his brother-in-law, who was once like a brother-in-law.

Start a war.

In fact, before receiving the news that Mr. Yuan Shang refused to obey the imperial edict, Deputy Director Tao, whose heart was darker than coal, had already sent troops northward to open up the waterway between Zhangshui and Qinghe. When he learned that Brother Sanjiu had really refused to obey the imperial edict.

Later, Deputy Director Tao did not hesitate, and immediately used Yuan Shang's rebellion to personally mobilize 100,000 troops to march north along the Zhang River, leaving veteran general Fu Yang to lead more than 10,000 troops to guard Yecheng.

When Deputy Director Tao sent out troops, the central and southern parts of Jizhou had actually been included in the control territory of the Xuzhou Army. Zang Bajun easily captured Zhili Tao City in Julu County. Guan Tong, a loyal minister of the Yuan family, committed suicide when the city was destroyed.

With the death of Julu, the counties in the northern part of Zhao State no longer had the barrier of Litao, and they all obediently submitted petitions to surrender. The two counties of Zhongshan and Changshan also refused to obey the command of Master Yuan Shang, and began to flirt with Zang Ba.

, bargaining and preparing to surrender. Prince Yuan Shang's forces were compressed to the northeast of Jizhou, only controlling Hejian, Bohai County and several small counties in Anping County. The military strength was nearly 50,000 in name, but the core strength was only 10,000.

On the left and right, the rest are mostly forcibly recruited recruits. Not only do they have low combat effectiveness, but they also don’t have much battlefield experience. Their overall strength seems to be strong, but in fact they are paper tigers and are not vulnerable to a single blow.

Of course, Mr. Yuan Shang is not hopeless and can only sit back and wait for death. Hejian and Bohai counties are directly bordering Youzhou, and they are not too far from Jixian, the base camp of Youzhou army. Therefore, he learned that Deputy Director Tao personally proposed the main army.

Go north

After that, the first thing Mr. Yuan Shang did was to write to Youzhou and ask Jiang Qihe to send troops for rescue. At the same time, Yuan Shang listened to the advice of the judge and withdrew all the troops and supplies from Hejian and returned to Nanpi, preparing to return to the place where his father made his fortune.

A showdown with my brother-in-law.

For the Xuzhou Army, the most troublesome thing about conquering Yuan Shang is not the enemy's resistance, but the long distance. It is almost a thousand miles from Yecheng to Nanpi. Even if the Xuzhou Army marches fifty miles a day without stopping, it will still take twenty

The march takes about three days. Marching is time-consuming and will increase the fatigue of the army. It can only be more time-consuming to walk for a few days and rest for a day. Fortunately, there are Zhangshui and Qinghe along the way to transport food. The logistics of the Xuzhou Army is at least

Guaranteed.

No matter how long the road is, it has an end. In mid-May, Xuzhou's main force finally arrived thirty miles south of Nanpi. Deputy Director Tao did not rush to order an attack. He just asked the army to set up camp first and let people inquire about the situation in Nanpi.

After discovering that his third brother-in-law had divided the army into two, he ordered the judge to

He led 10,000 troops to garrison in the city, and led 40,000 troops to garrison in the western suburbs of Nanpi. He used the city and Qinghe River to protect the left and right wings of the main force, and protected the periphery of Nanpi City. He learned the lessons of Yuan Tan's army and stationed them on the high ground on the bank.

The camp was built very solidly, and only three trenches were dug around the camp.

"Built three trenches around the camp?" Deputy Director Tao smiled and said: "It seems that they want to count on reinforcements from Youzhou. They will first stand on the defensive, and then wait for Jiang Qi or to recruit troops to save lives."

"My lord, don't underestimate the enemy." Seeing Deputy Director Tao's relaxed expression, Mr. Jia quickly reminded him, "Our army has come thousands of miles away. We are tired and our camp is undecided. We need to guard against Yuan Shang taking the opportunity to rob the camp overnight."

Deputy Director Tao nodded and said: "Immediately send an order to the entire army to double the number of sentries tonight. The soldiers are not allowed to disarm, and their weapons are not allowed to leave their bodies. Strictly prevent the enemy from hijacking the camp overnight."

"My lord, Chen believes that there is no need to be passively alert. Two ambush troops should be deployed outside the camp to attack Yuan Shang's army that robbed the camp." Xun Chen said: "Chen and Yuan Shang have been together for many years and know their surnames well.

They are fierce, straightforward and stubborn, and they like to take risks. Yuan Shang trusts Shen Pei the most, and they are also pretentious and conceited. With their character and habits, they will surely deceive our army to be tired after coming from afar, and they will take the risk to rob the camp tonight!"

Deputy Director Tao also had several dealings with Yuan Shang, and had several in-depth talks. He had already discovered the arrogance of his third brother-in-law in his words. He felt that Xun Chen's analysis was reasonable, so he immediately summoned Zhao Yun, Lu Kuang and Ma Yan.

The second general ordered Ma Yan and Lu Kuang to lead three thousand troops each.

He left the camp at night and lurked around the main camp. When he discovered that Yuan Shang had robbed the camp, he immediately sent out troops to attack. Then he arranged for Zhao Yun to lead an army to guard the front camp to fight against Yuan Shang's army that robbed the camp. He also told the three generals to work tirelessly and stay on duty all night.

.The three generals sang the promise together and took the order to make arrangements.

Regarding Deputy Director Tao's arrangement, Liu Ye was a little worried and reminded: "My lord, Lu Kuang and Ma Yan are both surrendered generals. Let them lead the troops in an ambush. What should we do if they suddenly switch sides?"

"It's okay." Deputy Director Tao replied: "The Yuan family is in doom. Lu Kuang and Ma Yan are both smart people and know how to choose. Give them a chance to make meritorious deeds and use them in the future. Even if there are changes, with Zhao Yun's stability

Personality is enough to prevent all accidents."
To be continued...