Chapter 658: Yuan Shao: Ju Shou, you go back yourself; I

As more and more commoners left Wei Jun,

pursuit forces gradually appeared from the direction of Ye City.

But the leader of these men was neither Yuan Shao nor Yan Liang, nor was it Ju Shou or Shen Pei.

Instead, they were several obscure minor generals from the Yuan camp.

How obscure were they?

So obscure that the little author didn't even want to rack his brain to give them names.

Behind them followed approximately twenty to thirty thousand troops.

However, their fighting spirit appeared very low, as if they hadn't woken up yet.

Upon seeing the pursuing troops behind them, the commoners could not help but quicken their pace in a panic.

A portion of the commoners cast their gazes toward Gao Shun and the others,

placing their hopes in Gao Shun and his men to help them repel the pursuers from the direction of Ye City.

Seeing this, Xu Huang and Pang De both looked toward Gao Shun.

The main general of their army was precisely the most steady-tempered Gao Shun.

Beyond his temperament,

in terms of seniority under Gu Yi's command, Gao Shun was also the most seasoned among the three generals.

Ever since the military reform of the three major factions under Dong Zhuo began, Gao Shun had been serving by Gu Yi's side.

The Camp-Crushing Battalion under his command had also repeatedly performed miraculous feats.

At this moment, Gao Shun displayed his own decisiveness.

Facing these few minor generals of the Yuan camp, Gao Shun struck with a heavy blow.

Seeing this, generals Xu Huang and Pang De took the lead.

The army following those few Yuan camp minor generals had originally thought that chasing down commoners would be an extremely easy task.

Yet they had never imagined that Gao Shun and the others would actually appear here.

After exchanging blows for less than a quarter of an hour, the few Yuan camp minor generals lost the desire to continue fighting.

They hurriedly ordered a retreat.

It must be said:

although these few Yuan camp minor generals were not very capable, their grasp of the timing for escape was quite good.

If they had continued to fight, their final fate would likely have been total annihilation by Gao Shun's army.

But by fleeing in time, they avoided that situation.

Gao Shun, Xu Huang, and Pang De feigned pursuit for a while before quickly withdrawing.

Compared to hunting down that group of Yuan camp soldiers, this large mass of commoners fleeing Jizhou was clearly of greater value.

"Come to think of it, are there really only this many pursuers?"

Generals Xu Huang and Pang De felt very puzzled.

This large group of commoners fleeing Jizhou was vast in number.

Yet the Yuan camp had only dispatched such a small force to pursue them, which seemed quite abnormal.

"Perhaps it is because they can only spare this many men at present."

Gao Shun was rather indifferent.

Based on his understanding of Gu Yi, everything was within Gu Yi's control.

The reason the Yuan camp only dispatched these few minor generals to lead the troops was likely because other matters had left them with only these few minor generals and twenty to thirty thousand old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers to use.

……

The facts were not much different from Gao Shun's analysis.

Ju Shou and the others had originally intended to empty their nests and do their utmost to block the commoners fleeing Jizhou.

For this, he had even requested the guest troops led by Cao Ren, Su Puyan, and Wang Xiu to act together.

But… plans never changed as fast as reality.

Just as Ju Shou and the others were reorganizing their military equipment, ready to leave the city to pursue the commoners at any time,

several commanderies in Jizhou bordering Bingzhou—Changshan, Zhongshan, and Zhao—were simultaneously attacked by Gu Yi's army!

What was even more absurd was

that the battle reports of these attacks arrived in Ye City at the exact same time.

In an instant, Ju Shou and the others were plunged into a dilemma.

If they still sent their main force to pursue the commoners,

then, relying only on the garrison troops in Changshan, Zhongshan, and Zhao, they certainly could not block the attack of Gu Yi's grand army.

But if they ignored the group of commoners fleeing Jizhou, that would undoubtedly be equivalent to slow suicide.

It was the same old saying:

the power of the upper strata originates from the structure of the lower strata.

If the aristocratic families have no one left to enslave, the families will become empty shells.

Helpless, Ju Shou had no choice but to temporarily seal the city gates of Ye City and other places.

He dispatched a few minor generals to lead troops to pursue the commoners fleeing Jizhou.

The remaining main force was sent to Changshan, Guangping, and Zhao, which were currently under attack.

Facing Gu Yi, Ju Shou felt a sense of being unable to cope.

There was no help for it.

Gu Yi's comprehensive strength now completely crushed Yuan Shao in every aspect.

The initiative had long since been seized by Gu Yi.

Let alone adopting this strategy of splitting forces that left Ju Shou unable to cope,

even if he used no strategy at all and led his army to invade Jizhou directly, it would still be very difficult for Ju Shou and the others to hold him off.

However, if that were to happen,

the commoners of Jizhou would certainly suffer countless casualties.

By then, Jizhou, once the most prosperous province in the world, would very likely follow in the footsteps of Yuzhou.

What Gu Yi wanted was not a crippled Jizhou, but a Jizhou that maintained stable performance in productivity and other areas.

However, his goal in this battle was not to split his forces to defeat Ju Shou and the others one by one.

When Ju Shou and the others, after enduring all sorts of hardships, finally led their troops to arrive at Changshan, Guangping, and Zhao,

they suddenly learned that those Gu Yi troops who had previously attacked these three commanderies had already left!

In an instant,

a strong sense of alarm rose in Ju Shou's heart!

"My lord, the goal of Gu Linzhi and the others is very likely Ye City!"

Ju Shou said to Yuan Shao.

But at this moment, Yuan Shao's heart was filled less with fear and more with a cold sneer.

Under the deliberate cultivation of the Jizhou aristocratic families, Ju Shou had long been built up as the wisest man in the four provinces of Hebei.

Within the Yuan camp, following the betrayal of the Henan faction and the nominal existence of the veteran faction, supreme power had long since been seized by the Hebei faction, led by Jushou.

But what about now?

Yuan Shao had handed over all power to Ju Shou.

Yet Ju Shou still hadn't managed to outmaneuver Gu Yi.

Based on Yuan Shao's understanding of Gu Yi, the so-called strategy of splitting forces was merely a smokescreen.

Gu Yi's true goal was to take Ye City in Wei Jun!

And in Ye City, only the thirty thousand troops led by Shen Pei remained to garrison it.

Relying on such a small force, Yuan Shao seemed to have already foreseen the day Ye City would fall.

"My lord, issue the order quickly to return and defend Ye City!" ===== CHAPTER 659 =====