C114

Zhang He and Tian Feng looked at the dozen or so enemies in a cursing formation outside the city with calm expressions, as if they were not the ones being scolded. If it was the dead Qu Yi, he would definitely bring him out of the city to fight without caring about anything else. But Zhang He and Tian Feng were both cautious and calm people, they would not be angered by this little trick. Right now there were three thousand enemy cavalry soldiers outside the city, and Zhang He only had five hundred under his command, they were simply unable to contend against him, and no one knew when Gongsun Zan's army would arrive either.

Tian Feng's brows suddenly furrowed, and said anxiously: "Young master, you should immediately send someone to inform Yuan Shijun, if not, once the army of Youzhou comes to surround the city!"

Zhang He was definitely not at the level of the 'Five Great Generals' in history, but he would definitely not be a reckless fool. Gongsun Xu did not hope that the cursing of his subordinates would anger Zhang He to fight, and the reason why he agreed to Gongsun Yi's suggestion, was mainly to test Zhang He. Now, it seemed that Zhang He did not disappoint in his fame, he did not rashly go out to battle, and the top of the city gate was completely silent. Even if no one scolded him back, no one did anything impulsive, so it could be seen that Zhang He's ability to rule the army was very strong.

Zhao Yun said in a deep voice, "Rumor has it that Zhang He is a cautious man, and is extremely skilled in defense and defense. If our army wants to take down the Gao Clan, it would probably take a lot of effort!"

"Gao Yi happens to be blocking our army's path south, if we don't attack it would be like choking on our teeth, and only if we fight more intensely here, will we be able to win," Gongsun Xu said as he laughed with a hint of meaning in his smile.

Zhao Yun also understood and smiled, but just as he was about to speak, he saw over a dozen riders dashing over from the east, he was slightly startled: "They were scouts that were just sent out, could it be that Yuan Shao has sent reinforcements?"

Gongsun Xu frowned, if Yuan Shao truly sent reinforcements, in order to prevent them from being attacked from inside out, he could only choose to retreat temporarily.

"Reporting to the lord, just now, there were dozens of people leaving the city heading south. military lord Gongsun Jia asked if they were chasing after them!"

"So it was to report!" Gongsun Xu and Zhao Yun looked at each other as their expressions relaxed.

"Catch him and wait!" Gongsun Xu changed his order after thinking for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Catch and kill a portion of them, capture a few and bring them back, then release a few of them to report to the sect."

The scout loudly promised, then turned his horse around and left.

Zhao Yun was extremely suspicious. He waited until the scouts had left before asking in a low voice, "Why is Master allowing Peter and the others to report to him?"

"I have two reasons." Gongsun Xu smiled and said: "Firstly, let's see if Yuan Shao will immediately send troops to save them. After all, Zhang He and Tian Feng are from the old clan, maybe Yuan Shao doesn't really trust them. Secondly, I suddenly have a good idea. He pointed to the surroundings of the Galleon and said softly, "The area around the high city is flat, which is extremely good for the cavalry to charge in. After the later armies surround the city, they might not have to attack the city immediately.

"Surrounding and reinforcement?" "My lord is right, we have a lot of cavalry, but Yuan Shao is mainly a soldier of the walking soldier. If he really sends troops over to assist, my cavalry will suddenly rush out and catch them off guard."

Gongsun Xu raised his head to look at the quiet city walls, and shook his head: "It seems that Zhang He is determined to not leave the city, let the people who curse come back, and wait for my father's army to come."

Zhao Yun gave an order to a person beside him. After a while, a dozen soldiers with their mouths parched from their scolding walked over, hugging their water bags and started drinking maniacally.

Tian Feng said softly, "Jun Yi, Gongsun Xu has given up on provoking others. It seems like he is waiting for the arrival of the army of Youzhou. If you want to defend the city, how many days do you think you can do so? "

Zhang He looked at the city walls, sighed, and shook his head: "We can't hold on for long! There are only sixty thousand people in the city, and less than half of them are young and strong. If Gongsun Zan were to lead fifty to sixty thousand troops and attack the city at all costs, I thought he would only be able to hold on for three days! "

"Only three days?" Tian Feng's face darkened, and sighed: "Now we just have to see if Yuan Shijun can send reinforcements as soon as possible!"

Zhang He said in a deep voice, "The letter I wrote to Yuan Shijun made it very clear that if the reinforcements do not arrive in three days, the city will definitely fall. I hope that Yuan Shijun will take the news that I sent seriously!"

"Hopefully, we are." Tian Feng's face became even more unsightly, and he sighed: "Forget it, let's not mention this!"

Zhang He also sighed, and suddenly said: "Yuan Hao, Gongsun Zan's army is here!"

"You here?" Tian Feng was stunned, but after a while he heard the sound from the north, all he could see were flags flocking over, the bright weapons and armor releasing a blinding light, and even though army of Youzhou was about five to six li away, he could feel the cold killing intent coming from them.

"So much," Tian Feng gasped, and said in shock: "Jun Yi, it seems there are more than fifty to sixty thousand people!"

"There are indeed more than fifty to sixty thousand people! It should be at least a hundred thousand men! " Zhang He's face became gloomy, and shouted to the soldiers on the city walls to prepare, in case the army of Youzhou took the chance to attack the city.

Seeing the arrival of the large army, Gongsun Xu and Zhao Yun walked over to welcome them. Guo Jia, who was beside Gongsun Zan, waved his hand far away the moment he saw the two of them.

When they got closer, Gongsun Zan asked: "Zi Min, how is the situation in the Galleon?"

Gongsun Xu bowed and replied: "Reporting to father, the city guard is Zhang He. The moment we arrived, he shut the city gate, so we do not know how strong the forces are inside. But just when Zhang He sent people out of the city to deliver the message to Yuan Shao, I had already sent people to chase them.

Gongsun Zan stroked his beard and looked at the city wall, and nodded: "This old man was originally prepared to attack the city as soon as we arrived, but since you have made the arrangements, we will first surround the city. Pass down the order, surround the city from all sides! "

This time, Gongsun Zan had brought over fifty thousand people, of which twenty thousand were White Horse Camp, and thirty thousand were auxiliary force, making a total of over eighty thousand people. Other than that, Zhang Yan had also allowed Du Chang and Gui Gu to lead 50,000 of his elites to assist in the battle. As such, Gongsun Zan had over 130,000 troops under his command.

Du Chang and Gui Gu respectively surrounded the northern and western part of the city. Gongsun Zan, on the other hand, surrounded the eastern part of the city, and the southern part of the city was handed over to Gongsun Xu's White Horse Camp.

At this time, White Horse Camp had already formed her own army, adding the soldiers who were still training at Tianjin, Gongsun Xu already had seventy to eighty thousand soldiers, and the number of people was almost the same as Gongsun Zan's Youzhou Army. However, because Gongsun Zan had personally led the troops out this time, he only picked twenty thousand elites from the White Horse Camp, in order to avoid affecting Gongsun Zan's commanding authority. After all, the soldiers of White Horse Camp only listened to his orders.

After the four walls of the city were surrounded, the auxiliary force began to cut down the trees and set up camp. Gongsun Zan brought Gongsun Xu, Guo Jia and the rest to take a look around the city, and realised that the walls of the north and south of the city were dilapidated.

Gongsun Zan said confidently, "Wait until the scouts dispatched by my people find out the exact information of the city, then we will attack the city from the north and south side of the city. If no accidents happens, we will be able to attack the city within a day."

"Father, I have an idea," Gongsun Xu took this opportunity to speak of the matter of surrounding and supporting him.

Guo Jia was the first to agree, he laughed: "Although Gao Yi is blocking the path of my great army, if we can use this city as bait and use it to kill a large number of Yuan Shao's troops, then we will not be in a hurry to attack the city. Yuan Shao's army would at most number one hundred and forty thousand, and if we can eat tens of thousands of people in one go, it would be beneficial for the war that follows!"

Guan Jing also agreed: "General Zimin's words are very reasonable, this subordinate agrees with his view."

He and Gongsun Xu's relationship was a little cold, and he wanted to find a chance to fix it. Moreover, Gongsun Xu's idea was very good, so he had no reason to oppose it.

Gongsun Zan said: "Since everyone has agreed to that, then let's discuss where should we ambush the army?"

Gongsun Xu had long understood this, he pointed to a mountain seven or eight kilometers away to the south and said loudly: "Yuan Shao's reinforcements will definitely come from the south, so the forest on the mountain will definitely be good."

Gongsun Zan asked: "Have you sent anyone to take a look?"

Gongsun Xu nodded his head: "I have already looked around. There are a lot of trees on the mountain and there are a few small valleys within the mountain, making it very easy for me to hide my tracks!"

Gongsun Zan thought for a while, then said: "This old man wants to take a look personally."

Everyone had no objections to Gongsun Zan's words, so they left Zhao Yun and his subordinate, and followed him towards the mountain peak.