C212

As soon as dusk fell, large groups of Yuan Jun soldiers walked out onto the streets, door to door searching for Youzhou's spies. For a moment, the inside of the city was in chaos as screams and curses rang out endlessly. Many people rushed out of their houses with weapons in their hands in an attempt to escape, but were all killed on the spot by Yuan Jun, who held the absolute advantage in numbers.

Yuan Shao stood on top of the city gate, watching the chaotic scene in the city, his eyes were a field of ice.

Ju Shou, who was standing beside Guo Tu, remained silent. He knew clearly that the people fighting against Yuan Jun were not all spies from the Youzhou, but most of them were people who were dissatisfied with Yuan Shao. Some of them either wanted to risk their lives and cause trouble for Yuan Shao, or were afraid that Yuan Shao would take the opportunity to catch them all. Looking at the figures that kept falling and listening to the screams and curses, Ju Shou could not bear to see them. He turned around and looked outside the city, and his brows furrowed even more.

On the empty ground a thousand steps away from the city wall stood several wooden frames that were more than twenty feet tall, and a dozen torches were lit nearby. On the empty ground a thousand steps away from the city wall stood a few twenty feet tall, and a dozen torches were lit nearby. Ju Shou recognized the few people, they were all Cao Cao Cao's trusted generals, Cao Chun, Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, Le Jin, and other than these few people, the heads of the General Gao Gan and the General Gao Tie who were guarding the Henei County were still there.

Two days ago, when Gongsun Xu went back to his master and Qinghe County City, he immediately hung the heads of Cao Chun and the others on the wooden rack. Including Ju Shou himself, almost everyone was extremely shocked. Right now, the grain depot Henei County in the rear was in Gongsun Zan's hands, and the reinforcements had suffered a crushing defeat. How long could the Yuan Shao Army that was trapped in the isolated city hold out for? Fortunately, Gongsun Zanfuzi did not take the chance to attack the city, and took the initiative to issue an ultimatum, stating that Yuan Shao had to surrender in the next three days, otherwise, he would not be able to guarantee the safety of Yuan Shao and his family.

At that time, Yuan Shao was flustered and exasperated. He had originally wanted to reject Gongsun Xu's so-called ultimatum and curse him a little more to vent the hatred in his heart, but he was stopped by Ju Shou and the others just in time. He said that even if he wanted to reject them, he should have waited for three days and let the soldiers, who were fighting tirelessly, rest for a while. Yuan Shao replied, he restrained his anger and promised that he would give a reply in three days, and then sent the arrogant Gongsun Xu away.

On the night of Gongsun Xu's ultimatum, under the instigation of the Youzhou's spies and a few people with ulterior motives, a disturbance once again broke out in the Qinghe County City. Fortunately, Ju Shou, who was leading his patrolling troops at that time, reacted quickly and put an end to the disturbance at the speed of lightning, thus preventing a greater disaster. After that, Ju Shou spoke to the furious Yuan Shao, in the name of capturing Youzhou's spies, he carried out a purge in the city, completely eliminating the spies and those with ulterior motives within the Youzhou.

Shen Pei followed Ju Shou's gaze and looked towards the camp outside the city, and said respectfully: "Master, at that time, Gongsun Xu said that he was leaving for three days because he was grateful for the soldiers, but in truth, he is harboring evil intentions, you must know, my lord!"

Yuan Shao turned his head to look at the wooden shelves outside the city, and said with a sneer: "This old man has already guessed what was going on, otherwise I would not have given the order for the entire Big Suo City! The Gongsun kid only wanted to use the heads of the generals under Meng De to intimidate others. Originally, the soldiers wanted to rely on their courage and bravery to fight against the enemy, but once the aura was released, it would be difficult to condense it again! It's a pity that our army has suffered too many casualties. Even though this old man knows that the Gongsun kid is sinister in their hearts, he had no choice but to agree! "

"The lord is truly considerate towards soldiers. He is truly wise!" Shen Pei praised, then changed his tone, "My lord had said it before, the army's morale is low now, if we do not quickly restore it, once the enemy attacks the city, the casualties will be even greater!"

Yuan Shao lowered his head slightly, contemplated for a good while, and then asked with a bitter tone: "Masters, what plan do you have to turn the disadvantageous situation around?"

Everyone looked at each other. Whether it was the morale of the troops or the comparison of strength, everyone was at a disadvantage. Cao Cao's reinforcements had suffered a crushing defeat. How could it be easy to reverse this disadvantageous situation?

Yuan Shao looked over at them one by one. Guo Tu, Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Gao Qian, Xin Pi and the others all lowered their heads, not daring to meet Yuan Shao's eyes.

When Yuan Shao looked at Ju Shou, the latter asked indifferently: "How is the relationship between Master and Xuzhou Liu Xuande?"

"Not bad," Yuan Shao replied casually, then reacted, "Did Gong Yu mean to send someone to seek help from Liu Xuande?"

"That's right!" Ju Shou nodded his head: "Ever since Liu Xuande obtained the Xuzhou's army, he has been recruiting and fighting. Rumor has it that he has thirty to forty thousand elite soldiers, and now Lv Bu has been attaching himself to him for the time being, his strength cannot be underestimated, he is probably even stronger than before Cao Mengde's defeat. If we can persuade him to come and support Qing He, the possibility of defeating Gongsun Zan will increase greatly! "

"Back then when I was looking for Dong Zhuo, this old man and Liu Bei had some ties, it's just that we haven't been in contact in recent years." Yuan Shao said until here, hesitated, and then sighed: "That Liu Xuande seemed to be extremely loyal in reality, and was extremely treacherous. He was someone who didn't take advantage of anything early on, if he didn't have any huge benefits, how could he be willing to easily agree to lead an army to save them? And this old man has no time to take care of himself, I really don't know what I should do to move Liu Xuande! "

Ju Shou chuckled: "Master, that was a different time! Liu Xuande definitely knows the principle of biting off more than one's teeth can chew! "

Yuan Shao's eyes lit up, and then he shook his head: "Gong Yu, you have never interacted with that Liu Xuande before, so you do not know his character! Even if he knows the logic of dying to protect himself and has no choice but to come to our rescue, he will definitely make conditions that this old man will find hard to accept! "

Shen Pei quickly advised: "My lord, this subordinate agrees with what Gong Yuxiong has said! Now that the situation was critical, he couldn't care less! Defeating Gongsun Zan is the most important, and you can take care of everything else later. Even if Liu Xuande wanted to help him with his plans, the Lord would agree to let him take care of it first. Once Gongsun Zan's army recedes, will Liu Xuande be able to snatch the Jizhou from the Lord's hands? "

Ju Shou agreed: "Brother Zheng Nan is right. If Liu Xuande were to put forward excessive conditions, it would only be a temporary measure if you agree. Even if you fall out in the future, what need is there to be afraid of?"

"What do you think?" Yuan Shao nodded and asked the others.

Guo Tu, Gao Qian and the rest were all feeling anxious, they did not have any other thoughts, upon hearing Yuan Shao's question, they all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Since everyone agrees with this decision, let's do it!" After Yuan Shao made this decision, he became extremely agitated in his heart. He was born of the fourth generation, the third generation, and now he actually wanted to ask for help from the young man who he had looked down upon in the past, and even allowed the other party to offer such conditions. He fiercely punched the city wall and sighed, then asked: "Who is willing to go to Xuzhou to convince Liu Xuande to come help us?"

"Your subordinate is willing to go!" Xin Ping took a step forward and replied while cupping his hands.

"Zhong Zhi." Yuan Shao thought for a moment, then nodded: "When we were fighting against Dong Zhuo, Zhong Zhi had sent him some food and fodder, and he could be considered to be familiar with him. Furthermore, Zhong Zhi's eloquence was outstanding, not inferior to Su Qin Zhang Yi.

Xin Ping humbly said: "Thank you, my lord, for your praises, this subordinate does not dare to accept. Please rest assured my lord, if I cannot persuade Liu Xuande, this subordinate will go to the Xuzhou and wait for him every day!"

"Haha, then we'll just quietly wait for Zhong Zhi's beautiful voice!" Even though his mood was extremely bad, Yuan Shao still laughed out loud. Xin Ping was a humble gentleman who rarely spoke such roguish words.

Ju Shou and the others also laughed, relaxing their mood a little.

Guo Tu suddenly said: "Master, the city is currently surrounded by enemies, to leave the city would be difficult!"

The laughter of the crowd instantly disappeared, and there was a look of embarrassment and anger on their faces, especially Yuan Shao, who clenched his fists tightly, staring intently at the army camp outside the city, wishing that he could flap his wings and fly over to kill Gongsun Zanfuzi. The Youzhou Army's forces were about the same as theirs, but the other party was well-equipped and had high morale, actually daring to encircle the Qinghe County City. Yuan Shao was afraid of Gongsun Zan's powerful cavalry, and did not dare to give the order to attack them outside the city, which resulted in him being surrounded in the city even with such a strong army.

At this time, Ju Shou took two steps forward, cupped his hands, and said: "Master, this subordinate has a plan!"

Yuan Shao quickly held Ju Shou up, and said solemnly: "Please speak, Gong Yu!"

"This subordinate proposes to dispatch a few elite soldiers to ambush the enemy camp tonight. Brother Zhong Zhi can take this opportunity to break out of the encirclement and head to Xuzhou!"

"Well said!" Shen Pei clapped his hands and laughed, "Cao Mengde returned with a great defeat. Gongsun Zanfuzi is definitely extremely pleased with himself now, and does not even put us in his eyes. He definitely did not expect that we would suddenly leave the city to launch a sneak attack, and this trip will definitely strike a heavy blow to Gongsun Zanfuzi's arrogance!"

"I second that!" Guo Tu and the rest agreed once again.

He had only been hoping for Cao Cao Cao to come and help, and did not have any capable generals to fight Gongsun Zan. That was why he had to grit his teeth and defend the city tightly, and since Cao Cao Cao was no longer able to come, it was time to make some changes! Only, after Yuan Shao looked around, he felt extremely dejected. The only martial general that he could barely count was actually only his nephew! At this moment, he regretted that he did not want to let Ju Yi die for nothing. That fellow was good at leading troops into battle. If this person did not die, why would he hesitate?

After a long while, Yuan Shao retracted all of his useless thoughts, and asked: "Who is willing to lead the troops out of the city to ambush the enemy camp?"