Chapter 340

Then what would Yuan Shu use to block the subsequent portion of Cao Cao's forces?

Thinking of this, Yuan Shu's gaze swept across the subordinates below, finally settling on Liu Xun.

"Liu Xun, I entrust thirty thousand troops to you; do you have the confidence to block Xia Houyuan's fifty thousand troops?"

Yuan Shu asked Liu Xun.

Liu Xun was slightly stunned, immediately preparing to open his mouth to refuse.

But before his words of refusal could be spoken,

Yuan Shu's sharp, torch-like gaze shot toward him.

It was as if he would drag him out and behead him the moment he said a word of refusal!

Helpless, Liu Xun had no choice but to cup his hands and promise:

"This subordinate will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

Yuan Shu nodded with a smile, feeling very satisfied with Liu Xun's reply.

Little did he know,

within Liu Xun's heart, it was already filled with resentment toward him.

If it were under normal circumstances,

possessing the sturdiness of a city, blocking fifty thousand troops with thirty thousand would naturally be no problem.

But the crux of the problem was that

the remaining forces in Runan City were almost entirely new recruits who hadn't even become familiar with their weapons.

The gap in combat power between new recruits and veteran soldiers was like that between fireflies and the light of the bright moon.

How was Liu Xun supposed to resist Xia Houyuan?

Perhaps Yuan Shu also knew this was asking too much.

Therefore,

after Liu Xun left,

Yuan Shu summoned several of his most trusted, loyal death-sworn followers and gave them a secret mission.

After everything was arranged properly, Yuan Shu finally picked up his honey water to continue tasting it.

……

Xia Houyuan was skilled at raiding over a thousand miles.

Among the generals in Cao's camp, although Xia Houyuan's ability to command troops might not be the strongest, his marching speed was truly at its peak.

A few days later,

fifty thousand Cao troops under his leadership could be described as unstoppable.

They soon killed their way to a place less than fifty miles from Runan City.

Just as Xia Houyuan was preparing to order his soldiers to rest a little and reorganize their equipment before going to attack Runan, he suddenly received a letter sent by an envoy from the city.

"What!?"

"This Liu Xun actually intends to surrender to our army?"

Xia Houyuan could not help but exclaim in surprise.

And beside him, Le Jin and Chen Qun also hurriedly gathered toward this side.

In this battle, Le Jin held the identity of Xia Houyuan's deputy general.

Xia Houyuan was skilled at raiding over a thousand miles, and Le Jin was skilled at being the first to climb the city walls; the pairing of the two could be described as quite tacit.

And Chen Qun's identity was both a staff officer accompanying the army and a guide accompanying the army.

Besides this, Chen Qun's desire to seek revenge on Yuan Shu was very strong.

Cao Cao using him as a staff officer for Xia Houyuan could be described as most appropriate.

At this moment, hearing what Xia Houyuan said,

Chen Qun walked to his side, took the letter, and after carefully reading it, analyzed:

"Although Liu Xun's previous actions were extremely hateful, his intention to surrender to our army should also be true."

"Under Yuan Shu's command, although he can be considered to hold a high position, he was often ridiculed by other Yuan generals because of his birth as a mountain bandit and outlaw."

"Moreover, according to what I know,"

"in this Runan City, the remaining troops, even if added up, do not exceed forty thousand."

"Ji Ling and Qiao Rui, who were by Yuan Shu's side, have all been sent out by Yuan Shu to resist Gu Yi, Sun Ce, Liu Bei, and others."

"Under such circumstances, Yuan Shu letting Liu Xun serve as the garrison general is also reasonable."

This analysis by Chen Qun was no different from giving Xia Houyuan and Le Jin a reassurance pill.

If Liu Xun could truly surrender directly, that would naturally be the best thing.

After all,

in the campaign of the second coalition of warlords against Dong Zhuo, the troops under Cao Cao's command also suffered heavy losses.

Don't look at the fact that this time Cao Cao directly gave Xia Houyuan fifty thousand people to act as the vanguard.

But looking at the entire Yanzhou,

the total troops Cao Cao could mobilize now were at most around one hundred thousand.

And this was only after the vigorous blood-replenishment of the Yingchuan aristocratic group headed by Xun Yu that they barely managed to scrape together so many people.

To put it bluntly,

the reason Cao Cao let Xia Houyuan take fifty thousand soldiers as the vanguard

was to create a false impression for Yuan Shu,

making him mistakenly believe there were many more soldiers to follow.

Therefore,

Xia Houyuan actually did not dare to lose too many troops.

Cao Cao's ultimate enemy was definitely not Yuan Shu, but Gu Yi.

If he were to use up all the soldiers of Yanzhou for the sake of a mere Yuan Shu, then what would he use to deal with Gu Yi later?

One must know that after seizing Yizhou,

Cao Cao's and Gu Yi's territories would be completely adjacent!

In other words,

if the Guandong warlords still wanted to form a coalition to resist Gu Yi in the future, then Cao Cao's territory would be the outpost for the two armies' engagement.

Liu Xun's surrender was no different from saving Xia Houyuan a great deal of effort.

In a great mood, Xia Houyuan ordered his soldiers to rest a little, and soon led the army to rush toward the foot of Runan City.

The facts were exactly as Liu Xun said in the letter.

When Xia Houyuan led the army to the outside of Runan City,

Liu Xun truly opened the city gates and chose to surrender voluntarily.

In an instant,

Xia Houyuan led the Cao army to file in one after another.

Besides Liu Xun,

the remaining few generals under Yuan Shu's command who were originally reorganized from mountain bandits and outlaws also chose to surrender to the Cao army together under Liu Xun's persuasion.

When Liu Xun led Xia Houyuan to break into the Zhong Dynasty's imperial palace, Yuan Shu was holding a bowl of honey water.

And on the table beside him, there was also a glowing Imperial Jade Seal!

"Pretender Emperor, your date of death has arrived; why not bind yourself and surrender?"

Xia Houyuan scolded.

To this, Yuan Shu only calmly finished drinking the honey water in his hand.

Subsequently,

he threw the Imperial Jade Seal onto the ground with a "bang."

"Thud!"

The Imperial Jade Seal shattered into pieces.

Yuan Shu's face was instantly filled with astonishment.

He had wanted to put on a show before he died,

but Yuan Shu had not expected...

that this jade seal of his... was fake! ===== CHAPTER 341 =====