Chapter 317

"Retreat!"

Although he felt helpless in his heart, Yuan Gonglu understood that if he didn't retreat, he would likely suffer a crushing defeat!

With anger surging in his heart, Yuan Gonglu became increasingly unhappy with Sun Wentai!

"My lord, upon returning, we can appease Sun Wentai and let him and Lin Yang consume each other!"

"Hmph, such trash, what need is there to appease!"

With a cold snort, Yuan Gonglu, who was in a fit of anger, wished he could personally wipe out Sun Wentai!

When he was fighting him before, he was so fierce!

Now that he met Lin Yang, he immediately softened!

Sun Wentai, just trash!

Yuan Gonglu cursed, and Yan Xiang, to the side, didn't dare to say a word!

Jizhou, Xindu.

"My lord, Gongsun Zan's army has been defeated at Fangcheng; our great army has already occupied Dai, Zhuo, and Shanggu commanderies!"

"Haha, good! That old dog Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, and the people of Youzhou have all surrendered to us; the hearts of the people are with us!"

Yuan Benchu laughed triumphantly; originally, because of Lin Yang's strategy, he had to return to support Jizhou!

And fought Gongsun Zan at the border!

Originally, both sides had victories and defeats!

But alas, because Gongsun Zan had beheaded Liu Yu and indulged his subordinates in seizing the people's grain, the people throughout Youzhou were complaining!

Countless people surrendered to Yuan Benchu's command and led the way for his army!

In this way, Yuan Benchu was like a god helping him!

Everywhere he went, he was invincible, killing Gongsun Zan until he threw away his armor!

Now he could only retreat to defend the seat of Youzhou!

"My lord, in this way, in just one year, we can occupy the entire territory of Youzhou!"

Tian Feng, Guo Tu, and others seated below were exceptionally happy about this battle situation!

Once they defeated Gongsun Zan of Youzhou!

Yuan Benchu would have three provinces and hundreds of thousands of troops!

Among the warlords of the world, who else could contend with him!

"Haha, it won't take a year. Pass the order down: select elites from the army and form two thousand more Iron Pagodas!"

Yuan Benchu, sitting above, was exceptionally triumphant at this moment!

Although Gongsun Zan had lost the hearts of the people!

But the reason he was able to defeat Gongsun Zan so quickly!

Was by relying on Lin Yang's Iron Pagodas!

He had exhausted the resources of two provinces, specially selected top-tier warhorses from Bingzhou, and formed one thousand Iron Pagodas with one man and three horses!

In the great battle, he caught them off guard and defeated Gongsun Zan's army in one fell swoop!

"My lord, absolutely not! The consumption of the Iron Pagodas is simply too great; we can no longer afford to raise them!"

Hearing that he wanted to add two thousand more Iron Pagodas, Tian Feng immediately stood up to stop him!

Are you kidding!

Two thousand Iron Pagodas, with men and horses eating, consumed grain and supplies comparable to fifty thousand troops!

Plus the iron and time consumed for the men and horses' armor!

With that effort, they could have equipped tens of thousands of troops!

"He, Lin Ziyuan, can afford to raise fifteen hundred; why can't I!"

Sitting on the land of two provinces, Yuan Benchu didn't believe that he, as he was now, couldn't afford to raise three thousand Iron Pagodas!

"Yuanhao, I have already decided this matter; no need to say more!"

Having experienced the lethality of the Iron Pagodas, Yuan Benchu was exceptionally fond of them at this moment!

Originally, he had wanted to make Great Halberd Warriors!

But after witnessing Lin Yang's Iron Pagodas, he changed his mind!

He replaced all the people who were going to make Great Halberd Warriors with Iron Pagodas!

It's just warhorses!

The Bingzhou land under his command produces them; if it really doesn't work, just go and snatch them from the foreign tribes!

It's not just Gongsun Zan who beat the foreign tribes until they called him father!

The elites under Yuan Benchu also beat the foreign tribes until they called him father!

"Alas!"

Tian Feng, seeing Yuan Benchu like this, didn't dare to speak!

But in his heart, there was a trace of deep worry!

Three thousand Iron Pagodas!

Can the lord really afford to raise them?

Three thousand Iron Pagodas, with men and horses armored, plus other consumption, resources, etc. —if raised frugally, they could have raised a hundred thousand troops!

Relying solely on Jizhou, Bingzhou, and Qingzhou, they couldn't afford it!

However!

Thinking of the Youzhou that was about to be in his hands, Tian Feng breathed a deep sigh of relief!

"Report, my lord, urgent report from Yangzhou!"

Just then, a hurried shout sounded from outside, and then the soldier hurriedly handed up the intelligence from Yangzhou!

Just by glancing at it, the joy on Yuan Benchu's face turned gloomy!

The joy of being about to occupy Youzhou just now vanished with the arrival of this letter!

"That trash Sun Wentai actually let Lin Ziyuan take Yangzhou!"

Although not as furious as Yuan Gonglu, Yuan Benchu was still full of anger!

Lin Ziyuan!

Just a mere county magistrate!

Now he actually occupies the land of two provinces!

And is ranked alongside him!

It is simply a great humiliation!

For a moment, listening to Yuan Benchu's words, Tian Feng, Guo Tu, and others all arched their eyebrows!

Yangzhou was occupied by Lin Yang?

Sun Jian actually lost?

It hasn't even been half a year!

This Sun Jian lost too quickly!

"My lord, we need to send troops immediately to take Youzhou into our pocket!"

Tian Feng, who had just sat down, spoke at this moment!

If Yangzhou was occupied by Lin Yang, then their trouble would be big!

Once Lin Yang occupied Yangzhou, after returning to Xuzhou, there would only be three directions of attack!

One was Yuzhou, occupied by Yuan Gonglu!

One was Yanzhou, occupied by Cao Mengde!

And another was Qingzhou, where Lin Yang now occupied two commanderies!

Compared to the first two, Qingzhou was undoubtedly the easiest place to capture!

Yuan Gonglu, that guy, as long as he wasn't stupid, was probably retreating now!

Then what awaited Lin Yang would be a Qingzhou with few troops stationed!

If Qingzhou were occupied by Lin Yang, then he would possess the land of three provinces, and could even strike straight into the heart of Jizhou from Qingzhou!

This was a naked threat to Yuan Benchu!

"Hmm, Yuanhao's words are reasonable. Notify Yan Liang and Wen Chou immediately; I want to personally lead the army to Youzhou!"

Beside the couch, how can others be allowed to snore!

If this Qingzhou land were occupied!