Chapter 26: Not Returning to Hebei

  "Xiahou Yuan......"Yuan Shang heard this and suddenly realized: "It was him all along."

  Zhang Jie saw this and strangely said: "Does Third Master also know this person?"

  "It's just a rumor." Yuan Shang stood up and bid farewell to the old farmers, then walked with Zhang Jie towards the official road: "I only heard that he is Cao Cao's beloved general, specifically what kind of skills he has, I'm not quite clear, I hope General Zhang can teach me a thing or two?"

  "I dare not instruct." Zhang Jie stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "I've only heard that Xiahou Yuan is a man who followed Cao Cao to start his military career at a young age and now holds the position of Governor of Yingchuan. He has extremely rich experience in battle, with a fiery temper and a strong personality... but these are not the key points..."

  Yuan Shang heard this and asked in surprise: "What's the key point?"

  "Key point is that this person is most skilled in the Thousand Mile Rush Battle Law, marching speed, few people in the world can compare, if he leads the army to follow my army and chase after, even if my army is all cavalry, it's likely to be extremely difficult to shake off..."

  "A thousand miles of rapid movement....... It turns out to be this way." Yuan Shang heard the words and bowed his head in contemplation. Zhang Jue's worries were not unreasonable, their current goal was to quickly withdraw troops back to Hebei, but Xiahou Yuan's expertise happened to be the method of long-distance rapid movement. This offset that, just like the five elements restrain each other, Xiahou Yuan's battle method can be said to be unbiased and impartial, which happens to counter their current intention to retreat.

  This is indeed a troublesome matter.

  "General Zhang Jue, in your opinion, what strategy should be used to counter Xiahou Yuan's expertise in surprise attacks and seal off his advantages?"

  Zhang Jue seemed to have already made up his mind, and upon hearing the words, his eyes suddenly lit up, revealing a glimmer of sharpness. In a cold voice, he said: "Station the troops and horses, deploy the formation on the plain, and engage in a head-on confrontation with Xiahou Yuan's charging forces, to determine the outcome once and for all!"

  Yuan Shang heard this and nodded: "So that's it, when the enemy comes, we'll defend; when the water comes, we'll hide behind the earth. That's a good method too. I dare ask General Zhang, if you were to engage in a frontal battle with Xiahou Yuan, how confident are you of winning?"

  Almost without hesitation, Zhang Jue proudly said: "Although Xiahou Yuan is a famous general of the Cao family, but if he wants to defeat him, the end will have 100% confidence."

  A hundred percent grasp, this sentence is not just a casual remark. It must have absolute confidence and self-confidence, as well as a comprehensive understanding of both sides. With Zhang Jing's character, daring to say this sentence, I believe it is not an idle boast.

  "General Zhang is indeed a heroic talent! Not an ordinary person!" Yuan Shang gave a thumbs up to Zhang, but suddenly his face solidified and he asked: "However, after defeating Xiahou Yuan, how many of our troops does General Zhang think are left?"

  One sentence suddenly made Zhang jaw drop.

  Yes, he had the confidence to defeat Xiahou Yuan's pursuing troops, but how many of his 5,000 iron cavalry would be left after defeating them? Now they were on Cao Cao's territory, and no matter how they calculated their numbers, they only had about 5,000 men. If one died, there was one less, while the Cao army could replenish its forces without limit, gradually swallowing them up bit by bit...

  And if they want to succeed in going north and returning to Hebei, soldiers and horses are extremely important. Without soldiers as the foundation, what can a few lone generals rely on to rush back?

  Thinking of this, Zhang Jaw fell silent involuntarily.

  "Is that right?" Yuan Shang smiled understandingly, shaking his head and saying: "So, even if we can defeat Xiahou Yuan's army head-on, it is completely unnecessary for us. We are now playing with fire in Cao Cao's backyard, and we must preserve our only 5,000-strong force. Even if we behead Xiahou Yuan, it would be of no use to us. Who knows, maybe this one wrong move will end up burying us together with him. It's not worth it!"

  "Gentlemen, in your opinion, what should we do now? Xiahou Yuan excels at swift attacks, and if we compete with him in speed, we will be at a disadvantage." Zhang Jie's face showed a hint of worry, clearly also being driven to distraction by the current situation.

  Yuan Shang heard this and smiled, saying: "Don't worry, I have a battle strategy that can break through Xiahou Yuan's swift attack technique."

  Zhang Jiong's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he hastily cupped his hands to ask: "May I inquire as to what tactics the young master has to defeat the enemy?"

  "Xiahou Yuan is chasing our tails, we'll just fight a guerrilla war with him. When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we pursue; when the enemy pursues, we bite... anyway, it's all about two words: chaotic running!"

  "What's going on?" Zhang Jing was taken aback by the words, what kind of remark is this? Isn't Third Master joking again?

  Yuan Shang stroked his chin and nodded resolutely: "General Zhang, rest assured that I have a basis for this plan. Although Xiahou Yuan is skilled at long-distance raids, he must first have a clear target. We retreated from Xuchang for some time, but he can still rush straight to the east to pursue us, which means that there are wise men in Cao's army who have guessed our retreat route. Now going to Xuzhou is likely impossible, and it must be an ambush with heavy troops to cut off our return route to Qingzhou."

  Zhang Jie's face changed instantly upon hearing this, his eyebrows deeply furrowed: "In that case... what can be done?"

  Yuan Shang looked up at the sky and slowly said: "Since the road to retreat has been blocked, for now, there is only... no going back to Hebei!"

  "Not going back to Hebei? Not going back to Hebei, where are we going?" Zhang Jue was shocked and lost color upon hearing this, having never expected Yuan Shang to say such a thing.

  "Head south, either to Yingchuan or Yuzhou, both are feasible... Just now I chatted with those old farmers from Yuzhou and found out that Cao Cao's elite troops are mostly deployed in the north, facing my Hebei from afar. The southern regions like Yuzhou are actually relatively weak, with many bandits lurking around. Currently, it's not possible to withdraw, so why not head south and take a look at the scenery while thinking of a plan... Let's just consider this as a spring outing for two sections."

  "Spring outing?"

  Zhang Jie heard this and couldn't help but laugh and cry, is there actually someone who would go to the territory of their arch-nemesis for a spring outing? This is really the first time I've ever heard of such a thing...

  "Which direction are the three gentlemen planning to go?" Zhang Jing thought for a moment, but ultimately couldn't think of any other way, and could only reluctantly ask.

  Yuan Shang heard this and looked up at the sky, his eyes rolling as he said: "To be honest, I'd actually like to go to Ru'nan."

  "Ru Nan?" Zhang Jiao muttered to himself for a moment, then asked in doubt: "Ru Nan, Ru Nan... Third Master, will we have a way out if we go to Ru Nan?"

  "I just heard that old farmer say, because Cao Cao has been holding out against our army, he can't take care of everything, so some cities in Ru Nan have already fallen into Liu Bei's hands. Nowadays, everyone knows that Liu Bei is carrying the imperial edict and is sworn enemies with Cao Cao, and he also has many elite soldiers and powerful generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to support him. Now Cao Cao's main force is against my father, who knows if Liu Bei has other plans in the south? Maybe it just takes this spark, if I have the chance to meet Liu Bei, maybe I can persuade him to start a war against Xuchang, when the time comes and Yanzhou changes, we can take advantage of the situation to find a way back north to Hebei."

  Zhang Jue let out a long sigh, shook his head and said: "This... Alas, Third Master, in the past when Liu Bei was a guest under our lord's command, our lord had almost killed Liu Bei several times because of the matter of Yan Liang and Wen Chou. Later, Liu Bei borrowed an excuse to go to Jingzhou to persuade Liu Biao to join forces with us, but he never returned. Our lord deeply resents him... On the surface, we have a friendly alliance with Liu Bei, but in reality, this grudge runs deep. If we go to Runan now and Liu Bei turns against us instead?"

  Yuan Shang's eyebrows furrowed, he lowered his head and pondered for a moment before shaking his head: "Don't worry, it won't happen! Liu Bei is after all the uncle of the emperor, this kind of despicable thing that would make people vomit, he can't do it. Moreover, Liu Bei and Cao Cao are already sworn enemies, if he were to lay hands on us again, then the two most powerful warlords in the world would both be offended by him. This kind of thing is something only a pig would do, I think Liu Bei has managed to get this far, he must be smarter than a pig."

  Zhang Jiong heard this and immediately wiped his sweat, this metaphor...made him speechless.

  Yuan Shang, however, was not in the least concerned. With a wave of his large hand, he rushed towards Zhang Jue and said: "General Zhang, issue an order to the three armies that we will no longer head for Xuzhou but instead turn southwards and advance on Runan!"