Yan Xiang thought for a moment, and then replied: "Lord, the city wall of Xiapi City is very strong, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and that Zhang Yan is very good at defending the city, and a small Zhuyi City is not leaking, let alone Xiapi City?" The most urgent task at the moment is not to think about how to capture Xiapi, but how to solve the problem of grain and grass. ”

"After capturing Xiapi, the problem of grain and grass will be solved naturally, what else is there to think about?" Yuan Shudao.

Yan Xiang said: "Lord, if there is no siege equipment, how can we attack the city?" What's more, when our army came out, they didn't carry any grain, grass and baggage, if the soldiers knew that the Xuzhou soldiers in Xiapi had taken over, then they would inevitably fall into a panic. The subordinates thought that our army should block this news, and then hide it from everyone, and the lord continued to go south with the army, pretending to chase Zhang Yan, but in fact, it was to conquer the cities along the way, and use the obtained grain, grass, and baggage to supply the army. ”

"What else?" Yuan Shu asked.

Yan Xiang continued: "After our army has a foothold, the lord can send troops and horses to attack the counties of Xiapi, and then loot money, food, and materials for his own use. As a pastor in Xuzhou, how can Zhang Yan sit idly by? Troops will inevitably be sent to the rescue. The strength of our army is far greater than that of Zhang Yan, as long as more than half of the soldiers and horses in Xiapi City are transferred, the lord can attack Xiapi again, so as to occupy Xiapi. ”

"You told me before that you must do benevolent and righteous things in order to touch the hearts of the people of Xuzhou and make them completely submit to me. Now that I'm going to great lengths to carry out the looting, which advice do you want me to listen to? Yuan Shu said angrily.

Yan Xiang said: "This time and that time. At that time, our army had already taken possession of Xiapi, so it was natural to set an example, so that the counties under its rule could hear the wind and surrender. At this time, our army is on the verge of collapse, and if it still acts according to the rules, it will be too rigid. ”

"Good! Then I'll listen to you again this time, I will order the news to be blocked, and tomorrow I will continue to lead the army to the south, and first take a city as a foothold! ”

The next day, Yuan Shu followed Yan Xiang's suggestion and continued to the south with the army, and tightly blocked the news, informing the soldiers that they were continuing to pursue Xuzhou Mu Zhang Yan to the south, but in fact, they were looking for food with the army.

Xiapi to the south, down the river along Surabaya, is the lower phase. Yuan Shu looted some ships along the way, and took some of Yuan's soldiers down the river by boat to Xiaxiang.

Seeing the arrival of Yuan Shu's army, Xia Xiang led the army and led the only 200 officers and soldiers to resist and cover the withdrawal of the people.

However, the resistance of the county order of the lower prime minister was tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg, and the whole army was soon annihilated.

Yuan Shu cut off the heads of the Xiaxiang County Commander and hung them on the gate of the Xiaxiang County, and then the soldiers burned and looted in the Xiaxiang County, and successfully occupied the Xiaxiang County.

The other part of the Yuan soldiers was led by Zhang Xun, and all the villages and towns they encountered along the way were looted, and when they encountered resistance, they killed all the men in the villages and towns, but they arrested the women and used them as tools for sexual pleasure, burning, killing and looting, doing all kinds of evil, and the people around them fled one after another.

The news reached Zhang Yan's ears, Zhang Yan couldn't bear it anymore, leaving Niu Jin and Wang Bo to defend the city, Zhang Yan personally led 3,000 cavalry, took Tai Shici and Xu Sheng, went to the prime minister, and waited for the opportunity to move.

Yuan Shu tasted the sweetness in the looting, and got a lot of money, food, and materials, so he divided his troops to attack Tuxuan, Xiaqiu, Quyang, Xuxian, Siwu and other places.

When Yan Xiang heard this, he hurriedly came to persuade Yuan Shu, and said loudly: "I heard that the lord is going to divide his troops and plunder other places, but is there such a thing?" ”

"Absolutely."

"Please also ask the lord to take back his order, don't divide the army, and don't loot so many places, otherwise, if the anger of the people is aroused, the consequences will be unimaginable! Please think twice! ”

Yuan Shu frowned and said to Yan Xiang: "It was you who asked me to rob, and now you ask me not to loot so much, what do you want me to do?" ”

"My lord, at this time, at that time, our army had no food, and looting was a last resort, not to mention, the soldiers burned, killed and looted, which completely exceeded my expectations. If we use the same method to plunder other places, I am afraid that it will arouse the anger of the people, and then our army will really be in a dilemma. ”

"Public indignation? Those flat-headed people, it's too late to hide from my army, what anger is there? Even if they are really angry, I have an army of 30,000, and I will definitely not be afraid, I can loot wherever I go, which is much better than capturing Xiapi. When I finish robbing Xiapi, I will rob Guangling, Donghai, and even the whole of Xuzhou, if I rob the whole of Xuzhou, then the accumulated wealth is enough for me to eat in Huainan for a lifetime. ”

Yan Xiang heard Yuan Shu say such a terrible voice, so he persuaded him again. It's a pity that Yuan Shu was carried away by the property, and he didn't listen, and asked Yan Xiang to be locked up and never see him again.

Subsequently, Yuan Shu insisted on going his own way, and each sent 2,000 people to attack Tuku, Xiaqiu, Quyang, Xuxian, Siwu and other places.

Zhang Yan led the cavalry to gallop all the way south from Xiapi, and the villages he encountered were all empty, and there were some corpses lying in the village, all of which were the people of Xuzhou who died tragically under the hands of Yuan Bing.

Last year, Cao Cao came to attack Xuzhou, and the people of Xuzhou were sharply reduced by hundreds of thousands, and most of these people died in the hands of Cao's army, and some places are still barren.

This time Yuan Shu came to do this kind of thing again, Zhang Yan said that he would not let history repeat itself, he must find a way to stop Yuan Shu's behavior.

Zhang Yan took the land route, went south along Surabaya, and soon entered the boundary of Xiaxiang County, and saw the evil deeds committed by Yuan Bing along the way, which made Zhang Yan and many soldiers angry, and they all hated to pick Yuan Shu's skin, eat Yuan Shu's flesh, and drink Yuan Shu's blood.

In the evening, Zhang Yan and a group of cavalry were encountering a Yuan soldier, which numbered about 2,000 people, and immediately attacked the Yuan soldier with Zhang Yan's order.

This time, there was no sneak attack, no ambush, it was completely head-on, Zhang Yanqin led a thousand cavalry in the middle, Tai Shici and Xu Sheng each led a thousand cavalry to detour back to the left and right flanks of Yuan Bing, and attacked Yuan Bing at the same time.

The Xuzhou soldiers attacked on three sides, and each cavalry was full of great hatred, they were all like tigers and wolves, and their bravery was abnormal.

The battle lasted only about three quarters of an hour before ending with the victory of the Xuzhou soldiers, who suffered heavy losses from three sides, killing more than 1,300 people, and the remaining 600 or so surrendered in fear.

Zhang Yan first inquired about the movements of the captured Yuan army, and learned that Yuan Shu's soldiers were divided into five routes to attack Tuwu, Xiahou, Quyang, Weixian, Siwu and other places, and the soldiers and horses they encountered were the ones who went to attack Siwu County.

Siwu County is in the northeast of Xiaxiang, southeast of Xiapi, next to Donghai County, and if they want to go to Siwu County, this road is the way to go. Even if these Yuan soldiers were unlucky, they happened to bump into the angry Zhang Yan and others.

Zhang Yan asked all the captives to be pulled into the woods, and all these captives were killed, leaving no one behind, and the province left a burden.

After that, Zhang Yan analyzed the situation at that time and decided to save the counties first, break them one by one, and then go all out to deal with Yuan Shu.

After making up his mind, Zhang Yanbing divided into three ways, sending Tai Shici to rescue Xu, Xu Sheng to save Quyang, and himself to save Xiaqiu.

As for Wei County, because it is in Guangling County, it is far away from here, and his troops are not enough, so he can only put it aside for the time being.

However, Zhang Yan believed that Chen Deng, the Taishou of Guangling, had already known the news that Yuan Shu led the army into Xiapi, and would definitely take precautions as soon as possible, and if there were idle soldiers, he would definitely bring support from Xiapi.

Therefore, Zhang Yancai made the decision not to care about the county.

Subsequently, Zhang Yan, Tai Shici, and Xu Sheng, each led a thousand cavalry, and went to Xiaqiu, Tuyu, and Quyang counties to rescue respectively, and met in Xiaxiang County after the rescue was successful.

The army was separated, Zhang Yandu led the army to Xiaqiu non-stop, Yuan soldiers were mostly infantry, and the march along the way must be slower than the cavalry, so Zhang Yan was chasing all the way.

In the evening, Zhang Yan finally caught up with Yuan Bing and saw the footprints left by Yuan Bing.

Zhang Yan let the soldiers rest for a while, and after simply using some dry food, he stepped on horseback and pursued Yuan Bing in the starry night, as long as Yuan Bing was intercepted, Xia Qiu could be spared the suffering of the sword soldiers.

After chasing for more than ten miles, Zhang Yan suddenly saw a camp not far ahead, the fire in the camp was soaring, and the banner was clear, it was Yuan Jun.

Zhang Yan was overjoyed and quietly approached the camp of the Yuan army, but did not attack immediately, but asked his subordinates to wait outside, waiting for the dead of night and when the Yuan soldiers were resting, then suddenly attacked.

"Brothers, I know you're all tired, but tonight is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not to be missed. Please all cheer up your spirits, rush over with me, kill all those inferior Yuan soldiers, and avenge the people who died under their swords! Zhang Yan rode on a dark cloud snowhorse, gathered all a thousand cavalry together, and shouted loudly.

"Revenge! Avenge! Avenge! All the soldiers shouted together.

"Rush!" Zhang Yan saw that the crowd was excited, so he immediately shouted loudly.

With Zhang Yan's order, he took the lead and launched an attack on Yuan's camp.

Yuan Bing walked for a day, he was tired enough, he was sleepy and tired, and when he was sleeping, he was suddenly attacked and was caught off guard. What's more, the night is difficult to distinguish, and I don't know how many people came, these Yuan soldiers were terrified when they saw Zhang Yan personally killing, and when they saw that they couldn't resist, they immediately lost their courage and surrendered one after another.

Not long after the battle began, it was declared over, Zhang Yan and the others only killed more than 300 people, but captured more than 1,600 people, when these Yuan soldiers learned that only 1,000 people came to attack them, their bowels were blue with regret.

Zhang Yan asked all the captives to be tied together with ropes, and then all gathered together, and ordered people to dig a deep pit, directly pushed all these captives into the deep pit, and buried them alive on the spot.

The captives struggled, but the pit was so deep that their hands were tied together, and they could not move at all. They blindly begged for mercy, but Zhang Yan and the others turned a deaf ear, and then the begging for mercy turned into an insult to vent their inner anger.

Zhang Yan asked people to find fierce fire oil, poured all of them into the pit, set fire to them, and buried them alive, and also specially found people to practice archery, so that the soldiers could shoot arrows at these Yuan soldiers.

It took a lot of effort for Zhang Yan to kill all these captives, and after burying them all, they were exhausted and fell down in Yuan Jun's camp to rest, and slept until dawn.