Chapter 781: Fighting Into Bohai Sea

It was not that Yuan Shao did not want to control the entire territory of Jizhou, but with the three cities of Handan, Chiqiu and Weixian defended by Huang Zhong and his three men, after his 200,000 troops had attacked with all their strength for more than ten days, with tens of thousands of casualties, the three cities were still as solid as a rock and did not move. However, if he did not capture these three cities and directly attacked Yecheng, the three cavalry under Huang Zhong and his three men would pose a threat to the grain route of Yuan Shao's army.

Just when Yuan Shao was once again in a dilemma, news came from Bohai and Puyang. The news from Bohai made Yuan Shao furious. There were 20,000 cavalrymen in Bohai. They came and went like the wind. Although they had not captured any county town, they had captured dozens of forts in Bohai. All the materials in the forts that could be moved were moved away, and all those that could not be moved were burned down.

Yuan Shao had few cavalrymen, and all of them were taken away by Yuan Shao this time. Shen Pei, the governor of Bohai, could only watch these cavalrymen wreaking havoc outside the city and could do nothing. The only thing he could do now was to ask Yuan Shao for help.

The 20,000 cavalrymen who appeared in Jizhou were Huang Xu's 5,000 cavalrymen and Gongsun Yue's 10,000 cavalrymen. After they joined forces, the two of them went directly into Bohai from Guangyang. Huang Xu knew that Bohai, as the place where Yuan Shao started his career, must be the most important. Now most of Jizhou's cavalrymen have been transferred to the west to fight against the Sizhou army, and Bohai must be empty, so it is just right to make a big fuss there.

As early as the beginning of the two armies' assembly, Huang Xu told Gongsun Yue that all the gains from this expedition would be left to Gongsun Yue to use. As long as he, Gongsun Yue, likes it, the Sizhou army will not touch it.

Gongsun Yue was so happy to get Huang Xu's promise that he was very happy. Jizhou is rich and has almost caught up with Weijun in the past few years. Although they cannot capture the city of Bohai this time, there are countless fortresses of aristocratic families outside the city. He would never believe that there is no money inside.

Sure enough, after the two led the army into Bohai, more than a hundred miles away from Zhangwu, the northernmost county of Bohai, Gongsun Yue's scouts found a large fortress with a wall of nearly two feet high and a circumference of several miles. There were three big characters "Xiejiabao" written on it.

The two were overjoyed. At a command, 20,000 cavalrymen shouted and rushed to the fortress more than ten miles away.

The army stopped one mile away from the fortress. The two led dozens of personal guards to slowly approach the fortress. At this time, the fortress was in chaos. Tens of thousands of cavalry suddenly appeared outside the fortress. Everyone knew that the other party was not friendly.

The Xie family was originally a big family in Zhangwu. When Yuan Shao first came to Bohai a few years ago, the whole family surrendered to Yuan Shao, so the power in Zhangwu was even more prosperous. In order to consolidate his rule, Yuan Shao also tried to win over local noble families. Over the years, several children of the Xie family have entered Yuan Shao's General of Chariots and Cavalry to serve.

With the children of the family serving in the General's Mansion, the Xie family must know the situation and movements of the Jizhou army. There were not many cavalry in Jizhou to begin with, and most of them had already followed Yuan's cavalry to attack Sizhou this time. Now the tens of thousands of cavalry outside the fort are definitely enemies, not friends.

The Xie Family Fort in Zhangwu is the largest fort outside the city of the Xie family, and it is also the largest manor of the Xie family. Hundreds of tenants of the Xie family and nearly a thousand slaves live here, with a total of about 5,000 people.

The tens of thousands of acres of fertile land around the fort are all the property of the Xie family, and the head is a steward of the Xie family named Xie Cheng.

Xie Cheng also served in the army, but at that time the Xie family was not as powerful as it is now, so after being injured in the army, Xie Cheng retired from the position of the head of the garrison. Because he was familiar with military affairs, the family handed over this largest but most remote fort to him.

Most of the family members have moved into Zhangwu City, and important members have settled down in Nanpi City.

Because he was born in a noble family and had served in the army, Xie Cheng was very capable. After taking over the management of the fort, he managed it in an orderly manner in a few years, which won the praise of the family elders. The clan trusted him more and let him manage the fort.

Over the years, Xie Cheng lived a very comfortable life in the fort. It can be said that he was the local emperor of the fort. He had the final say. Every year, he only needed to send enough money and food to the family according to the clan regulations, and no one would care about him anymore.

Since the army was dispatched, Xie Cheng, based on his many years of military experience, sent out several guards who were good at riding in the fort. The purpose was to find out the situation of Gongsun Zan in Youzhou in the north. He knew that Gongsun Zan had a very good relationship with Huangfu Chaobo, so out of caution, he sent the guards to patrol in the north.

Who knew that he really guessed it right? Yesterday afternoon, only two of the several guards sent out returned, and the news they brought was that a cavalry of 20,000 appeared in the north, and they would be able to arrive at the fort tomorrow at the latest.

This news scared Xie Cheng pale. As far as he knew, there were only 20,000 elite cavalry under the command of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and the rest were just dozens of hundreds of personal guards under the generals. And this time, Gongsun Zan sent 20,000 cavalry to fight, so how many infantrymen were behind them?

It was difficult to say, did Gongsun Zan invade Jizhou in an all-round way? No, I didn't receive a message from my family saying that Gongsun Zan invaded in a big way. Thinking of this, Xie Cheng quickly calmed down. Without a large army of infantrymen, no matter how many cavalrymen came, they would not attack the city. Although his fort was called a fort, it was actually almost a small county town. I believe that the other party should not attack me here, but corresponding preparations are still necessary.

After calming down, Xie Cheng ordered all the tenants and servants outside the fort to retreat back to the fort, and ordered the fort guards to prepare for the battle. At the same time, he sent several people with two horses to quickly warn the county. He also ordered the young and strong men in the fort to be organized into groups to assist the guards in defending the fort.

After a day and a night of preparation, the cavalry of Youzhou finally arrived at the fort.

Seeing the cavalry rushing in like a tide outside the fort, the guards and civilians on the fort wall were so scared that their faces turned pale and their legs trembled. Some people even dropped their weapons on the fort wall.

"Bang."

The sudden sound from the quiet fortress wall startled everyone. Xie Cheng turned around and saw a servant slumped on the fortress wall with a pale face. The ring-handled sword in his hand fell beside him, and he muttered to himself: "I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

Xie Cheng was furious. He quickly stepped forward, picked up the servant, and shouted: "You coward, stand up quickly."