C138

"The enemy army has reached a distance of thirty kilometers. Quickly close the city gates!" In the afternoon, a scout team quickly rushed into the north gate of Qinghe County, shouted to the guards at the gates, and slipped away towards prefectural governor's mansion.

"Quick!" Pull up the suspension bridge and close the city gate! " The guard of the city gate was a bearded military officer. He didn't wait for the scouts to turn into the street, he waved his arms and gave the order in a flurry.

"I heard that the The Steel Cavalry of Youzhou is unstoppable, but we are at the advantage of the city walls, so we should be able to protect the city, right?"

"Who knows how brave and fierce General Qu Yi and General Yan Liangwenchou are.

"I heard the enemy has three to four hundred thousand men."

"So many!" Impossible, right? "

"How is that impossible? You must know that Youzhou Army and Army of Heishan have joined hands! "

"Then what's the point of a fight!?" They can drown us with a single spit! "

"Shut up! You're thinking of losing your head, aren't you? " The bearded general frowned deeper as he listened. Suddenly, he stomped his feet and shouted.

Everyone was silent and did not say a word, but the fear in their eyes was still there.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a clamor could be heard from within the city. A group of over a thousand people gathered around Yuan Shao and his son, as well as some strategists and officers.

The soldiers on top of the city wall slightly heaved a sigh of relief, and all of them bowed in salute.

Yuan Shao did not say a word as he walked up the city wall with a dark face. He brought Ju Shou and the others to inspect the city walls, only to find that all sorts of defensive equipment were in order, making them look slightly better.

Yuan Shao gazed towards the north for a while, then asked: "Everyone tell me, which direction will the enemy attack from this time?"

Ju Shou saw that no one was talking, so he bowed and said: "This subordinate thinks, the east side of the city will become the enemy's main attack area!"

"Why?" Yuan Shao asked indifferently.

"The other three walls are completely surrounded by a moat. Only the east side of the city is surrounded by a moat, and the terrain is rather open and flat, making it very suitable for attacking the city."

The Qing He City's terrain was east, west, west and low, with almost the same distance between north and south. Only the moat that was formed from the water of the Xiao Qinghe was unable to provide protection to the east of the city. Ju Shou's words were logical, if it was Yuan Shao who attacked the city, he would do the same.

Yuan Shao nodded, he raised his head and looked around, then asked: Who is willing to go to the east side of the city to defend?

"Subordinate (This lowly general)!" "Willing!?" Shen Pei and Chunyu Qiong stood up at the same time.

"Alright!" Yuan Shao nodded with gratitude: "The two of you are loyal people. With you two going to the east side of the city to defend, this old man can finally be at ease! General Chunyu, you are the leader of the army, but you have to listen to Zheng Nan's suggestion, you must not do anything rash! "

Chunyu Qiong cupped his fist and said loudly: "This general obeys! Rest assured my lord, as long as I still have one breath left, the enemy will not be able to step foot onto the city wall! "

Yuan Shao walked forward, and patted Chunyu Qiong's shoulder: "After this battle, this old man will definitely not mistreat the general!" Saying that, he unsheathed the sword hanging around his waist and handed it over, "This old man will assign fifteen thousand elite soldiers to the general. The general wields this sword, but there are those who do not listen to orders, escape in time, and disturb the people's morale with this sword, do not report to this old man!"

Chunyu Qiong was overjoyed, he quickly took the sword and thanked her loudly.

Yuan Shao cupped his hands towards Shen Pei, and said respectfully: "Zheng Nan, please give your all to help General Chunyu, ensure that the city walls are safe! This old man is begging you! "

"This subordinate would not dare!" Shen Pei quickly returned the greeting, "I will not disappoint you, my lord!"

Yuan Shao waved his hand, and took out an arrow from his sleeve, and handed it over: The two of you can send your troops to the east of the city to set up the defenses.

"Here!" Chunyu Qiong took the order and bowed, then mounted his horse and left with Shen Pei.

"Gong Yu!" Yuan Shao looked at Ju Shou again.

Ju Shou bowed and said: "Master, please instruct me, this general will not refuse even if I die!"

"This old man will give you ten thousand elite soldiers. You must ensure the peace of the city!" But, all traitors and spies of the Old Bastard Gongsun s are to be killed without question! "

"As the Lord commands! Your subordinate will use his head to guarantee that no disturbance will occur in the city! "

"Yuan Diagram, Gong Ze!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Feng Ji and Guo Tu hurriedly bowed and agreed.

"The two of you will lead ten thousand men, Yuan Tu will protect the west side of the city, and Gong Ze will defend the south side.

"Here!" Feng Ji and Guo Tu solemnly agreed, but they were bitter in their hearts. They were strategists, not warriors, but it was a pity that Yuan Shao did not have any generals under his command, and could only force them to do so.

"Xian Fu!" Yuan Shao's gaze swept across his three sons, and finally stopped on the eager Yuan Shang.

"Your son is here!" Yuan Shang stood out happily.

"I'll leave the north side of the city to you, I'll give you 15,000 elite soldiers, Mr. Zhong Zhi will help you defend the city walls!" Remember, do not underestimate your enemy recklessly, and listen to Zhong Zhi's suggestions in everything you do, and even more so, do not take risks! "

Xin Ping was overjoyed upon hearing this, the defense at the north side of the city could be said to be impregnable, Yuan Shao's actions were obviously meant to allow Yuan Shang to easily earn military merits, so that he could be conferred the title of son in the future. He would be able to follow by Yuan Shang's side to support him, and in the future, when Yuan Shang ascends to the throne, would he be treated badly?

Guo Tu glanced at Xin Ping in jealousy, and felt extremely aggrieved in his heart.

Ju Shou frowned, Xin Ping previously did not have any experience leading soldiers, although Yuan Shang's martial arts were not bad, but he had not truly gone up to kill the enemy, what if the enemy attacked from the north? Just that, Yuan Shao had already made up his mind. If he tried to persuade her, it would be counterproductive, so Ju Shou could only remain silent.

Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi lowered their heads. They were angry and resentful at the same time, but they did not dare to express it out loud.

"Your son will listen to your teachings!" Yuan Shang bowed towards Yuan Shao, then cupped his hands towards Xin Ping: "Mr. Zhong Zhi, please."

"Young master is being too courteous!" Xin Ping suppressed his excitement and cupped his hands towards Yuan Shang, bowing and saying: "Lord, please be at ease, with Young Noble and this subordinate protecting the north side of the city, we will absolutely not let a single soldier of the enemy reach the city walls!"

Yuan Shao nodded in satisfaction, and suddenly asked: "Where is Gao Lan?"

Ju Shou replied, "Reporting to my lord, General Gao Lan went out of the city this morning to 'persuade' the citizens to enter the city. He has not returned yet."

Yuan Shao looked at the tightly shut city gate and frowned: "The great army of Old Bastard Gongsun is about to arrive, wouldn't it be terrible if Gao Lan didn't return in time? Yuan Cai, send someone to quickly inform Gao Lan, and have him put down everything and return to the city! "

Yuan Shao did not trust Gao Lan, but when Gao Lan left the city in the morning, he took five thousand soldiers with him.

Gao Qian did not immediately agree, he cupped his hands and said: "Master, the enemy will be here anytime, if General Gao Lan is unable to come back in time, what should we do?".

Yuan Shao looked around and asked, "What do you guys think?"

Ju Shou took the lead and said, "Master, if General Gao Lan is unable to make it back in time, there's no harm in sending him to the Henei County to increase the defenses of the Henei County."

"Then let's do it!" Yuan Shao nodded to Gao Qian and shouted: "Open the gates!"

Gao Qian called over a trusted aide and gave him some orders. That person brought more than ten people with him and rushed out of the half-open city gate. The gate then closed once again.

"Everyone, do as you wish." Yuan Shao waved his hand to dismiss the crowd, and brought Ju Shou to the side, and asked softly: "Gong Yu, what movements is happening in the city?"

After Ju Shou had investigated, he had more or less confirmed that the fire in Xu You's house was the work of a spy from the Youzhou.

"Reporting to my lord, there has been no activity in the city these two days. The Youzhou spy seems to have disappeared without a trace! However, this subordinate will always keep watch, and will definitely not let them disturb the city. "

Yuan Shao laughed coldly: "I heard that someone has some complaints about this old man, does Gong Yu know about this matter?"

Ju Shou was slightly startled, he nodded and said, "Your subordinate has also heard some rumors."

"That's not a rumor!" Yuan Shao waved his hand, and said angrily: "A bunch of damned things! Since the army still exists in this old man's hands, they want to rely on the Old Bastard Gongsun! There were countless Youzhou spies in the city, if those fellows were in the same boat, then it was possible that the city would fall into chaos! Gong Yu, I will leave this matter to you. In this time of crisis, you cannot be lenient! "

There were many powerhouses in this dynasty, and all of them were powerful and influential. These people only cared about their own family's interests. They were just a bunch of fence-sitters with no sense of loyalty. There were a few local tyrants who expressed their loyalty to Gongsun Zan when he called. When Gongsun Zan's forces left the Jizhou, they hurriedly sought refuge with Yuan Shao.

He knew that his footing in the Jizhou was not stable and he could not and did not dare to do anything to them. If he were to go against them, it would be very difficult to control the situation in the Jizhou. After splitting up some of the benefits, Yuan Shao received some help from the fence-sitters and was able to stabilize the situation of the Jizhou. However, Qu Yi and Yan Liangwenchou had lost their lives recently, these local tyrants started to get restless again, afraid that Gongsun Zan's counterattack would backfire. Hence, they quietly went to express their allegiance to Gongsun Zan, and at the same time, disobeyed Yuan Shao, and started to do things behind his back.

Normally, Yuan Shao would bite the bullet and endure it, but because of army of Youzhou's pressure, there would not be any accidents at all, so Yuan Shao was prepared to eliminate all these unstable factors.

Ju Shou nodded in agreement, but in his heart he was secretly sighing. He was very clear about who these local tyrants were, and he also extremely disdained their actions. It was just that Ju Shou's family was also extremely powerful, and had some mutual interests with the few tyrants in the Qinghe County. If he were to take action against these people, it would definitely affect the family's interests. But just as Yuan Shao had said, the current situation was critical, and Ju Shou could not care about the family's benefits, if Yuan Shao died, then he and his family would die with him.

Just as Ju Shou was making his decision, someone at the side shouted: "Look! The enemy is here! "

Everyone looked up and saw a large group of people seven to eight miles away. The group was covered with fluttering flags, swords, spears, and so on.