A series of bad news flew towards Shouchun like snowflakes, and the ensuing battle reports made Yuan Shu, who had just ascended the throne for only a few days, furious.

Ji Ling, Chen Lan, Lei Bo, Li Feng, and Lei Xu were all killed, and the 70,000-strong army was annihilated by more than 7,000 people, and the rest all surrendered, while Zhang Yan's army won the battle at the cost of only one person killed.

When the news came, Yuan Shu was shocked, and the entire Shouchun was shocked.

An army of 70,000 slaughtered the past, but only killed only one enemy, how incompetent, how useless!

Once this news spreads, where will Yuan Shu's face go?

As the saying goes, disasters don't go alone, and this sentence is not false at all.

Hussar general Zhang Xun on the way to Runan, heard that He Yi, Liu Pi, He Man led the army to join Zhang Yan, so he stopped at Cai, but it happened that Xu Chu led them to attack and take Cai, Zhang Xun because of the small number of soldiers, incapable of the enemy, was captured by Xu Chu Cai, and he was also injured by Xu Chu. Later, Mei Cheng led the army to support, but was defeated by Xu Chu, Zhang Xun and Mei Cheng had to lead the remnants of the army back to Shouchun and make another plan.

But the news of Ji Ling's annihilation came, which surprised Zhang Xun, Mei Cheng and others, Ji Ling's ability to command the army and the general was far above Zhang Xun, and even Ji Ling was defeated, so it can be seen that the combat effectiveness of Zhang Yan's main army is not trivial, and it can't help but make Zhang Xun, Mei Cheng and others a little stunned.

In addition, Lü Dai attacked Hefei, Chen Deng successively conquered Liyang, Fuling, Quanjiao, Junyu and other counties, and Liu Xun openly broke away from Yuan Shu and led his army to Shouchun, all this bad news. Almost all of them reached Shouchun City in one day's time. All of a sudden, the soldiers and civilians in Shouchun City were extremely shocked.

In the palace of Shouchun. Yuan Shu sat high on the dragon chair in the main hall, dressed in an imperial robe and wearing a crown, with a sad face, he looked around at Yang Hong, Yuan Yin, Huang Yi, Zhang Xun, Mei Cheng, Han Yin and other civil and military ministers standing in the hall, and asked: "You all say something!" Why are you dumb? When you first persuaded me to become emperor, weren't you all quite positive? ”

Taiwei Yang Hong said: "Bixia, it's just weird." Zhang Yan's army was too powerful, but he didn't expect that General Ji Ling personally led an army of 70,000 to resist, but the whole army was wiped out. Now the situation is extremely unfavorable for us, but the minister has a plan, but for the time being, Bixia is safe. ”

"Oh? What kind of plan does Mrs. Yang have, tell me quickly! Yuan Shu suddenly came to his senses and asked.

Yang Hongdao: "Now, according to the latest information of the scouts, the three-way army of Zhang Yan, Xu Chu, and Liu Xun is marching towards Shouchun together, and there is a great tendency to encircle. And our army is in the city of Shouchun. There were only more than 30,000 soldiers and horses, compared to the enemy army. It's outnumbered. Although there is a lot of grain in the city, it can still hold out for a year and a half, but once the grain is exhausted, it will be the time when our army is defeated. When the time comes, it is inevitable that the morale of the army will be weakened, and the soldiers will be separated, and it is very likely that the enemy will break through the city. The minister thought that instead of sitting and waiting to be killed, it was better to use the only soldiers and horses he had now, lead the crowd to take the initiative, and break out from Shouchun......"

Zhang Xun, the hussar general, asked rhetorically: "Although Captain Yang's plan is good, after our army breaks through, where should we go?" Shouchun is the foundation of our army, if we can gather people to hold on, close the door without fighting, and the enemy army will be consumed like this, wait to avoid the enemy's edge, and then wait for the opportunity to move, and send troops to break the enemy army in a timely manner, it may not be a complete defeat! ”

Yuan Shu listened to the words of the two and thought for a long time, and then said: "If our army stays here, once it is surrounded by a large army, Shouchun City will be like a lonely city, and it will be difficult to have a chance to break through again, and it is undoubtedly sitting and waiting to die." Captain Yang, I think your idea is good. But just as the hussar general wondered, I also wondered, once we broke out of Shouchun, where should we go? ”

Yang Hong immediately said: "Bixia, this minister has actually already thought about it, and the minister thinks that after our army breaks through, he should go to Jizhou." ”

After Yuan Shu heard this, his face suddenly changed color, and he said gloomily: "Go to Jizhou? Jizhou is Yuan Shao's territory, I and Yuan Shao have been fighting for many years, water and fire are incompatible, is it possible that you let me go to Yuan Shao? ”

Yang Hong shook his head and said, "Bixia, instead of going to Yuan Shao, I took the jade seal and gave up the throne to Yuan Shao." ”

"What did you say!" After hearing this, Yuan Shu said extremely angrily, "I worked hard to become the emperor, and it was only a few days, so you let me give up the throne to Yuan Shao?" What is your heart? ”

Yang Hong hurriedly said: "Bixia is angry, and listen to the minister's words!" ”

"You say! If you can't tell me why, I'll kill you! Yuan Shu said angrily.

Yang Hong immediately said: "Bixia and Yuan Shao, are half-brothers, this is an indisputable fact, before, although Bixia and Yuan Shao were not in harmony with each other, but they were also different ideas, now Bixia is in trouble, if you go to the throne, give the throne to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao will be happy to accept." After all, Yuan Shao is Bixia's brother, after being called the emperor, Bixia is also a king and a marquis, first, our army can escape the current catastrophe, and secondly, we can also reconcile with Yuan Shao, work together to deal with Zhang Yan, and be ashamed of Bixia! ”

After listening to Yang Hong's words, Yuan Shu pondered for a long time, but never made any statement, and then asked, "What do you think Taiwei Yang thinks?" ”

Wei Wei Han Yin immediately echoed: "Qi Yu Bixia, the minister thinks that what Lord Taiwei said is very reasonable, and the minister deeply agrees. ”

Yuan Shu looked at Yuan Yin and Huang Yi again and asked, "What is your opinion?" ”

Yuan Yin and Huang Yi are both greedy for life and afraid of death, so they are naturally unwilling to stay alone in Gucheng and sit still, for them, it doesn't matter how big or small their official position is, the most important thing is to save their lives!

So, Yuan Yin and Huang Yi clasped their fists in unison and said, "The ministers think that Yang Taiwei is reasonable!" ”

Zhang Xun hurriedly stood up and immediately objected: "Bixia, don't believe their slander, it's a long way to Jizhou, not to mention passing through Zhang Yan's Shili range, the soldiers of our army are all Huainan people, and their families are in Huainan, if you go to Jizhou, you will not only have to encounter Zhang Yan's layers of resistance on the way, but also guard against the discouragement of the army, I am afraid that before we get to Jizhou, our army will have been defeated!" It is better to gather the crowd and defend, stick to the city, avoid its edge, and then reward the generals with gold and silver, the soldiers will inevitably go up and down, the same hatred of the enemy, as long as the enemy is found to be a little slack, you can go out of the city to attack, keep harassing the enemy, less than half a year, will be able to repel the enemy! ”

"Alright, don't say it! I have made up my mind, so I will do what Captain Yang wants, and start acting now, lest Zhang Yan's army surround me and our army will not be able to break through! Yuan Shu said.

After Zhang Xun heard this, he sighed heavily, and his expression immediately dimmed, he glanced at Yang Hong, Han Yin, Yuan Yin, Huang Yi and others, his heart was full of endless anger, but there was no way to vent.

"Zhang Xun, I have ordered you to be the general, order all the soldiers and horses before noon, and wait for my dispatch at any time!" Yuan Shu commanded.

Zhang Xun had no choice but to give up his hand and say: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

Yuan Shu then asked Yuan Yin and Huang Yi to inform the clan, asking them to prepare as soon as possible, take away the valuable things, and be ready to break through with the army at any time.

After noon, Zhang Xun had already counted the only 35,000 soldiers and horses, and he distributed 5,000 men to Mei Cheng, so that Mei became the vanguard, first marched in the direction of Shaobi, and then went north, crossed the Huai River, entered the territory of Runan, and went all the way north from Runan, through Chenliu and Dongjun, and then crossed the Yellow River to Jizhou.

Runan is a relatively weak area in the Shili range of Zhang Yanshili, and Chen Liu's soldiers and horses are not many, and when he arrives in Dongjun, he can only rush to cross the Yellow River.

The route is set, and it is extremely safe to take this route, at least there will not be too much loss.

Although Zhang Xun's force is not as high as Ji Ling, his ability to command troops is far above Ji Ling, and this person is well versed in the art of war, and Ji Ling has become Yuan Shu's right-hand man, often fighting together, most of Ji Ling is the main, Zhang Xun is the deputy, and the two also complement each other, and the reason why Yuan Shu was able to occupy Huainan is that Zhang Xun's contribution is not small.

At this time, Ji Ling was dead, and Yuan Shu could only make a desperate bet and hand over all the troops to Zhang Xun to command, in a vain attempt to rely on Zhang Xun and successfully break through.

Mei Cheng received the order, took 5,000 soldiers and horses, and quickly left Shouchun and went directly to Shaobi.

Zhang Xun took an army of 30,000 to guard the Yuan Shu clan, left Shouchun together, followed Mei Cheng, and went to Shaobei.

In order not to cause unnecessary trouble, Zhang Xun asked Yuan Shu and his clan to dress up in disguise, and only said to the outside world that he was going to meet Liu Xun.

The army left, and there was no garrison in Shouchun City, but for the sake of insurance, Zhang Xun specially left Shouchun Order, telling him to close the city gate tightly and not allow anyone to enter or leave.

Shouchun County ordered that Zhang Xun only did what Zhang Xun said when it was true that he went to face Liu Xun, but he didn't know that Shouchun City at this time had become an empty city.

At this moment, Zhang Yanzheng led the army to come quickly in Chaoshouchun, he took Xu Huang, Zhang Liao, and three thousand cavalry, and set off first, but let Gao Shun, Chen Ying, Li Dian and others lead the army behind.

When there were still thirty miles away from Shouchun City, the scout suddenly came to report, saying that Zhang Xun was heading southeast with an army of 30,000, and he didn't know what he wanted.

When Zhang Yan heard the news, he frowned and said to himself: "Yuan Jun didn't stick to the city, but ran around with a large army, what is his intention?" ”

Xu Huang said casually: "Lord, Liu Xun led the army from the Lujiang River and is in the southeast direction of Shouchun, could it be that Zhang Xun led the army to attack Liu Xun?" ”

Zhang Yan said: "Even if he wants to attack Liu Xun, Zhang Xun will not be stupid enough to take away all the soldiers and horses, so that Shouchun is like an empty city, in this way, wouldn't it be cheaper for our army?" ”

"What did Zhang Xun do this?" Xu Huang asked suspiciously.

Zhang Yan thought about it, suddenly frowned, and shouted: "Not good! Yuan Shu wants to escape! (To be continued......)