Chapter 22: Besieged City Blocks Envoys

  There is a Chinese proverb that goes: A small gutter can capsize a large ship.

  And now this sentence is perfectly embodied in Xun Yu.

  In terms of intelligence, experience and vision, Xun Yu was far superior to Yuan Shang, this young whippersnapper who didn't know his place. Yet, by a stroke of bad luck, today he let this young whippersnapper get the better of him.

  One, Yuan Shang's light cavalry launched a surprise attack on Xuchang, making it difficult for Xun Yu to defend. Two, he thought he understood Yuan Shao very well and made a low-level mistake of being overly confident. Three, the situation was urgent and he didn't think carefully. Four, Yuan Shao himself didn't take Xun Yu seriously, so how could he have expected that Yuan Shao's son would have such audacity?

  The final result was that Yuan Shang actually used a small trick of false pretenses to defeat Xun Yu, the famous master of the time.

  This is probably what they call timing.

  So, Xun Yu is now depressed.

  After finishing the letter that would not allow Cao Cao to retreat, Xun Yu immediately prepared several scouts and ordered them to be stationed at each of the four gates. He himself ascended the city tower to observe, ordering them to find an opportunity to rush out of the enemy formation and deliver the letter.

  The problem is that as soon as he got on the city gate and took a look, Xun Yu's heart suddenly cooled down by half.

  Thousands of iron cavalry surrounded the city tower, not attacking or retreating, but only staying in place, scouts coming and going, closely inspecting every suspicious place on the walls of Xudu City...

  The enemy is going to seal off all intelligence entering and leaving the city.

  After watching for a long time, the attendant officer next to him hesitated and said: "Xun Lingjun, Yuan's army is guarding the four gates, and scouts are coming and going horizontally. It seems that this letter is not so easy to send out."

  "We must send it even if we can't!"

  Looking at the iron cavalry below, although they were fine, they didn't have any siege equipment. Xun Yu's heart was already clear that Yuan's army had no intention of attacking the city, but only wanted to use his own mouth to summon Cao Cao to return with his troops!

  This detestable young master of the Yuan family......

  "Order the four gates to be opened simultaneously and have the iron cavalry from within the city escort the envoy out of the city." After a long deliberation, Xun Yu made a resolute decision in his heart.

  "Promise!"

  The city of Xi'an is under attack.

  "Report to Third Young Master, the city gate of Xudu is open! And it's all four gates that are open!"

  Yuan Shang, who had been watching from afar, heard the report and raised a faint, almost imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth. You think you can muddy the waters? Ha ha... it's not that easy!

  "Order Zhang Jue to command all the officers and men under his banner, to intercept every single person and horse leaving the city. Not a single one can be allowed to escape. Especially those heavily guarded messengers from the enemy side, we must kill them on the spot at all costs, whether by sword or arrow, as long as they are killed thoroughly!"

  "Promise!"

  Before long, the soldiers and horses of the four gates of Xudu had swarmed out, although there were not many people, but they all had no intention of killing each other, each one was holding the will to break through.

  Chen Bing had long been prepared outside the four gates of Xudu with Yuan's soldiers, and as soon as he saw Cao's army preparing to break out, he swarmed up and blocked their way.

  "Kill!"

  With the sound of killing, Gao Lan led the charge on horseback, leading the iron cavalry behind him to rush up frantically.

  Cao Jun's elite troops were all stationed at Guandu, and the soldiers guarding Xudu were all weak. How could they withstand the 5,000 iron cavalry, which was the most elite of Yuan's army?

  The Cao army and the Yuan cavalry, who had just met at the four gates of the city, were defeated and fled in disarray, a stark contrast to their strength in the Battle of Guandu. Now it was the turn of the Yuan generals, each one taking on ten, beating the Cao army who were trying to break out, scattering them in all directions, with soldiers falling off their horses one after another.

  The commander of the Cao army in the south was named Wang Suo, who was a colonel of the garrison cavalry in Xudu. Seeing that his own troops could not withstand even one encounter with Yuan's army, he became flustered and shouted loudly: "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

  The words had hardly fallen when a fierce general from Hebei suddenly appeared, his sword raised high, and with one swift stroke of the blade, he struck straight at Wang Suo's head.

  "Get down for me!" Along with a thunderous roar, Wang Xiao only felt a red flash before his eyes, and before he could even let out a hum, he was cut down from his horse. His body thudded to the ground twice, then stopped moving altogether.

  "Pah!"; Gao Lan cut off Wang Suo with one knife, then fiercely spat out a mouthful of saliva, showing disdain on his face, and said: "Can't even withstand one knife! Truly useless!"

  Seeing the commander beheaded by a single slash, the remaining Cao troops had no will to fight, and even the momentum from their previous charge was gone. They turned their horses around and fled desperately towards the city.

  However, the Yuan army had already given a military order that anyone who came out of the city would be killed without exception, and these people had already signed their names on Yan Wang's life and death book since they left the city, so how could they escape?

  A massacre with little suspense unfolded rapidly under many cities and quickly fell.

  The four gates of Cao's army were slaughtered by Zhang and Gao, leaving none behind.

  On the city gate, Xun Yu's face was ashen, his fists clenched involuntarily.

  It seems that the letter telling the lord not to send reinforcements may not be delivered after all!

  Unfortunately, Xu had no elite soldiers or capable generals at his disposal at this moment. If not for that, how could the likes of Zhang Gong and others be so rampant here?

  "Mobilize our troops and launch another attack!" Xun Yu said slowly with his eyes half-closed to the attendant officer beside him.

  "Still... still charging?" The attendant officer was somewhat entangled, Yuan's army was so powerful, while the defending Cao army was all weak, this consumption and that growth, plus the city had no good general, the entire Xudu couldn't even find a general who was Zhang Yan or Gao Lan's match, what's the point of charging again, wouldn't it be sending themselves to death in vain?

  However, Xun Yu had already made up his mind, and the attendant officer could only reluctantly follow orders.

  Without mentioning Xu Shu's anxiety in the city, let's just talk about Zhang Yan. After Gao Lan killed off the Cao army that rushed up, he immediately returned to report back to Yuan Shang.

  "Both generals are skilled in combat, worthy of being the pillars and beams of my Hebei province. You have quickly defeated Cao's army?" Yuan Shang looked at the two generals with a smile on his face, filled with joy.

  "Hey, Third Master is overpraising me, it's just a small matter, not worth mentioning!" Gao Lan smiled complacently and said: "Cao Jun's elite troops are all at Guandu, the ones here are all weak and feeble. If we can't even handle them, how can we two bear the responsibility of being supreme generals?"

  Compared to Gao Lan's excitement, Zhang Jue was calm: "Third Master, although this battle has annihilated the Cao army, we must not be careless. I reckon that there will still be soldiers in the city who want to break out of the siege, and we need to be cautious."

  Yuan Shang nodded in agreement, although Zhang Jie and Gao Lan were on an equal footing, but from the perspective of being vigilant and thinking about danger, Zhang Jie was still slightly superior to Gao Lan.

  Gao looked at him with a straightforward expression and asked, "Young master, how long will we need to stay in this city?"

  Yuan Shang smiled slightly, extending two fingers: "Two days! As long as we hold out for two days, Cao's army will start to withdraw, and by then any letter sent over will be too late!"

  Gao Lü heard the words and burst out laughing, fiercely thrusting the war knife in his hand into the ground, saying magnanimously: "Alright, two days it is then! Third Master, rest assured. For the next two days, Zhang Jing and I will take turns keeping watch at the four gates, surrounding them to death. Even if the commander of the city guards wants to break through the sky, he won't be able to let a single bird out!"