Chapter 57: The Overbearing Yuan Family's Letter

  What is the greatest advantage of cavalry? It's impact! Obviously, Gongsun Zan was set up again. Yuan Shao didn't send his cavalry to fight him head-on, but instead ordered a barrage of arrows under Ji Yi's command, and in an instant, Gongsun Zan's army fell into chaos!

  After several rounds of arrow shooting, the White Horse Army suffered heavy losses. Ji Ling ordered his infantry to discard their bows and arrows, holding short knives and shields to engage in close combat with Gongsun Zan's army. For a time, the White Horse Army lost its momentum and fell into a predicament. Ji Ling's vanguard troops were well-coordinated, one cutting down horses' legs, another killing men, and so on. How could Gongsun Zan not be defeated?

  This is a targeted tactic, the vanguard army has already won over the White Horse Righteous Army in terms of natural advantage. Ji Yizhong sacrificed the army's impact force and exchanged it for a flexible and varied way of fighting. The river water in the drum river was all dyed red, and Gongsun Zan fled in defeat!

  The White Horse Troop, having suffered this defeat, never regained its former prestige and sharpness, and subsequently withdrew from the historical stage. It is also regrettable that this military force, which once shook foreign tribes, ended up in such a state.

  Seeing Gong Sun Zan fleeing in disarray, his troops collapsing, Yuan Shao couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Gong Sun Zan is just a useless guy! Haha... uh!", before he could finish laughing, Yuan Shao realized that something seemed off.

  But then he saw a young general in white, charging left and right, his spear striking down Guo Yi, whose fate was unknown. Then he charged towards him! At this time, Yuan Shao had only one advisor, Tian Feng, and several hundred soldiers, who were no match for the enemy's chopping melons and cutting vegetables style.

  Zhoa Yun had also read military books, this move was called "Capturing the thief and capturing the king", it could also be said that "Surrounding Wei to rescue Zhao". The silver spear danced in the air, with a cold light flashing everywhere, as if a phoenix was dancing. It was beautiful but deadly, and several people were knocked down one after another. The guards beside Yuan Shao were shocked and scattered.

  Adhering to the idea that as long as there are green mountains, one will not worry about having no firewood to burn, Tian Feng saw abandoned houses in the distance and hastily said: "Your Excellency, hide in the empty walls!"

  Yuan Shao was unwilling, whether it was to save face or a moment of true fervor. Yuan Shao pulled off his helmet and slammed it to the ground, drew out his sharp sword and shouted loudly: "A great man would rather die in battle, how can he enter the city walls and hope to survive?"

  At this time, all the soldiers fought with one heart, Zhao Yun rushed forward but could not get in. Seeing Yuan Shao was in danger, Wen Chou led his troops to kill him, and Yan Liang also brought his troops to arrive. The two armies killed each other simultaneously. Zhao Yun was no god, facing Yan Liang, Wen Chou and several thousand armors, he had no choice but to protect Gongsun Zan and break through the heavy siege, returning to the other side of the Jie Bridge.

  Yuan Shao took advantage of the high morale and led his troops to pursue, and the number of Gong Sun Zan's soldiers who fell into the water and died was countless.

  Yuan Shao rushed to the front, not even five miles away, when he heard a loud shout from behind the mountain. A group of cavalry emerged, led by three great generals: Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. They had been exploring the plain and learned that Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao were at odds, so they came to assist in the battle. The three horses and their riders charged forward with their weapons, heading straight for Yuan Shao.

  Yuan Shao knew that the three brothers of Liu Bei were formidable and was also unclear how many troops they had brought with them, so he withdrew his army. Gongsun Zan sighed: "If not for Xuande coming to rescue me from afar, I would have been in a precarious situation." Then he introduced Zhao Yun to him. Liu Bei knew that Zhao Yun and Wen Chou had fought over 50 rounds without a victor and were deeply respectful of each other, so he had a mind to keep him.

  Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan each had their own concerns and refused to budge. The two armies faced off for over a month, when someone came to Chang'an to report to Dong Zhuo. Li Ru said to Zhuo: "Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan are also heroes of the present day. Now they are killing each other at Ping River, it would be best to use the emperor's edict to send someone to mediate between them. The two will surely be grateful for your kindness and follow the Grand Tutor." Zhuo said: "Good idea." The next day he sent Taifu Ma Yilou and Taipu Zhao Qi, bearing the edict, to go there.

  Two men came to Hebei, Shao went out to welcome them a hundred miles away and paid homage to the imperial edict. The next day, the two arrived at Zan's camp to proclaim the imperial edict, and Zan sent an envoy to write to Shao, negotiating peace with each other. The two returned to the capital to report back. Zan retreated his troops on the same day and also recommended Liu Xuande as the Magistrate of Pingyuan.

  Liu Bei and Zhao Yun parted, holding hands and shedding tears, unable to bear the separation. Zhao Yun sighed: "I once mistakenly regarded Gongsun Zan as a hero; now I see what he has done, it is also the same as Yuan Shao!" Xuande said: "You temporarily humble yourself to serve him, we will meet again someday." They reluctantly bid each other farewell.

  The great war in the north has come to an end, and Gongsun Zan suffered a great loss. His so-called allies, Yuan Shu and Tao Qian of Xuzhou, did not send troops, while the Black Mountain bandits did send troops to assist him, but they were a motley crew of several thousand men who were not worth fighting.

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  It seems that Yuan Shu has set up another trap for Gongsun Zan, which is only one of the two major events, and the other major event is also related to him, that is, the death of Sun Jian.

  When the vassals attacked Dong, Yuan Shu had Sun Jian and Sun Wentai ambushed, because at that time Sun Jian was still nominally under his command. He feared that Sun Jian would take advantage of the situation to rise up and become uncontrollable, so he came up with this move. After returning to Nanyang, Sun Jian rushed straight to Jiangdong Qu'a, but unexpectedly was intercepted by Liu Biao. Why did Liu Biao come? Because of Yuan Shao's letter, which said that Sun Jian had hidden the imperial seal and had ambitions for the throne!

  This land still belongs to the Liu family, and the Liu family's house has not fallen yet. Liu Biao did not allow Sun Jian to hide the jade seal, so both sides launched a fierce battle. Sun Wentai's reputation as the "Tiger of Jiangdong" was not in vain, but unfortunately, the enemy had many soldiers from Jingzhou. After one round of fighting, Sun Jian's troops were getting fewer and fewer, and angrily, Sun Jian could only shout: "Liu Jingsheng! Do you dare to duel with me?"

  Liu Biao, who is he? A royal relative of the Han dynasty, one of the Eight Geniuses of Jingzhou, and a man of letters. He wouldn't be foolish enough to engage in a private feud with Sun Jian. He shot back: "Sun Wentai! Have you gone mad?! I'm a man of letters! Do you take me for an idiot?!"

  This dragged on for dozens of days, and Sun Jian, seeing that he couldn't last long, made another decision to surrender to Yuan Shu again. With Yuan Shu's support, he was at a standoff with Liu Biao, although there were frictions but no big fight broke out;

  Another letter!!!! It's Yuan Shu's letter!!!!!

  The power of the Yuan family's letters is truly enormous! First, Yuan Shao used a letter to pressure Gongsun Zan into forcing Han Fu out, thereby obtaining Ji Province. A single letter caused Liu Biao and Sun Jian to fight each other to the death; later, Yuan Shu used a letter to cause Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao to engage in a fierce battle for several months, resulting in Sun Jian's untimely death! It can be seen that the Yuan family's letters are truly comparable to nuclear weapons as strategic weapons!

  Interestingly, the people harmed by the letters of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were actually Gongsun Zan and Sun Jian.

  Yuan Shu wrote to Sun Jian: Alas! Wentai! That old scoundrel Liu Biao is bullying us! I have no ability at all! So be it! I'll provide the grain and soldiers, you go and give them a good lesson!

  Sun Jian, who was furious and eager for battle, heard this and thought it was great. He regrouped his troops and started fighting Liu Biao again. Liu Biao sent Huang Zu to confront Sun Jian between Fan City and Deng County, but Huang Zu was no match for Sun Jian.

  Sun Jian defeated Huang Zu with one blow, thinking that he would take advantage of the victory to advance, Sun Jian led his troops to pursue and cross the Han River, surrounding Xiangyang. Liu Biao was frightened this time - closed the door and refused to fight! Alas! With a small number of soldiers, it's hard to get past the "瓢把子" (a derogatory term) Sun Jian from Jiangdong! So he sent Huang Zu to leave the city at night to gather soldiers. Huang Zu led his troops back and had another big battle with Sun Jian.

  Things have come to this, and finally something has happened. Huang Zu pretended to be defeated and fled, escaping into the mountains of Jingshan. Sun Jian pursued him. The generals under Huang Zu's command shot hidden arrows from within the bamboo forest, hitting Sun Jian and killing him! Sun Ce, who had been leading the vanguard, captured Huang Zu and originally wanted to kill him, but later spared his life in order to exchange for Sun Jian's corpse.

  Sun Jian's death also made Jingzhou and the Sun family have a great feud. The young and old of the Sun family were weak, and at this time, as the eldest son, 17-year-old Sun Ce made a decision. First, he used Huang Zu to exchange for Sun Jian's body and buried it, then he went to rely on Yuan Shu who was in his heyday, hiding for a period of time, with a view to the future.