The next morning, Han Zhan hurriedly led the army to Guantao. Since the departure time was advanced, the food and grass needed by the army and the crossbow arrows needed by the powerful crossbow soldiers had not been prepared yet, so Han Zhan left Xiahou Lan to be responsible for the logistics. Once the materials were prepared, he would immediately send them to Guantao City.

Guo Jia asked Han Zhan curiously: "Master, why did you leave in two days, why did you leave in such a hurry?"

Han Zhan naturally would not tell Guo Jia that he changed his mind and let the army come out in order to avoid the pear blossoms. Instead, he seemed anxious and said, "Fengxiao, my marquis thought about it carefully later. Yuan's bandits had 100,000 troops, and the college lieutenant had only 5,000 troops. If he wanted to stop them, he would not be able to do so. Even if Huang Hansheng's three thousand cavalry were added, we were still at a disadvantage in terms of military strength."

Guo Jia, who is good at observing words and expressions, immediately saw that Han Zhan was not telling the truth, because even if all the people here were included, his strength was far inferior to Yuan Shao. However, he did not expose Han Zhan immediately, but asked back: "Lord, what should we do if we can't stop Yuan Shao in Guantao? You must know that he can not only mobilize the troops of Wei County, but also mobilize the troops of Bohai County, Yangping County, and Pingyuan County. Even if we eliminated their 100,000 troops, he could soon summon 100,000 or more troops to attack us. As for us, there are only more than 30,000 troops in total, and now half of them will go with you to reinforce Guantao. One loss is one less, and there is no supplement at all. The prospect is worrying!"

Guo Jia's words immediately scared Han Zhan into a cold sweat. He thought that he joined forces with Gongsun Zan to drive Yuan Shao away from Jieqiao, and most of Jizhou fell into his control. Now he realized that he had thought the problem too simply. After all, Yuan Shao had the aura of four generations and three dukes. Even if he was defeated, he was a centipede who died without being stiff, and he had the ability to make a comeback at any time.

Seeing Han Zhan’s solemn expression, Guo Jia hurriedly said: “Although our army has few soldiers, it is not impossible to escape unstoppable.”

Han Zhan knew that Guo Jia was resourceful. Since he said that, he must have thought of a wonderful response, so he bowed to him and said respectfully: "I am willing to hear the details!"

"Send someone to negotiate with Yuan Shao and return the captured Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi and Chunyu Qiong." Guo Jia looked at Han Zhan and said, "I believe that in this way, Yuan Shao will definitely agree to govern with us, so we can use this period of time to recuperate and strengthen our strength."

Han Zhan thought to himself: The suggestion made by Guo Jia can relatively ease the relationship between himself and Yuan Shao, but his plan to occupy Yecheng will fail. Once he cannot obtain Yecheng, it will inevitably affect his plan to control the surrounding areas of the northern border and use the emperor to command the world. Therefore, after pondering for a long time, he shook his head and said, "Fengxiao, don't see that Yuan Shao can mobilize the troops of the four counties. However, since Gongsun Zan occupied the Jieqiao, Yuan Shao and Bohai County could not communicate with each other at all, and this army can be ignored. As for the troops in Pingyuan County and Yangping County, they did not really accept him. If this marquis sent someone to lobby, it might be our help."

He paused for a moment and suddenly put forward a bold assumption: "Fengxiao, my father escaped from Jizhou alone and went to Chenliu without going anywhere. Tell me, does he have the idea of ​​relying on the troops of these two counties to expel Yuan Shao?"

Guo Jia looked surprised. He was stunned by Han Zhan's whimsical thoughts. After thinking for a while, he nodded slowly and said, "What the lord said is very true. When Han Fujun went to Chenliu alone, it was indeed for the sake of the soldiers of these two counties."

"Fengxiao," Han Zhan said seriously: "If you want to accomplish great things, you need to take big risks. I plan to send someone to contact the prefects of these two counties, hoping that they can send troops to help. I wonder what Fengxiao thinks?"

Guo Jia looked at Han Zhan intently, feeling that he suddenly became full of confidence and was affected. He gritted his teeth and decided to give it his promise: "Since the lord has this plan, Jia wants to write two letters of books and send someone to send them to the two prefects, begging them to help."

As soon as the two discussed sending people to contact the prefects of Pingyuan and Yangping, Zhao Yun rode his horse over and walked with Han Zhan, asking, "Second brother, we only have more than 10,000 people. Can we defeat Yuan Shao's 100,000 people?"

"Brother, have you forgotten what you said in the conference hall yesterday? Although Yuan's army is numerous, it is not as brave as our army. When the two armies are fighting each other, our soldiers will definitely be able to win ten." After Han Zhan said this, he suddenly changed the topic and asked Zhao Yun: "Brother, if we want to recruit new recruits, what kind of troops do you think are the best?"

"Is this a matter of course a cavalry?" Zhao Yun said without hesitation: "The horses in the north are easy to replenish, and training cavalry is extremely convenient. And on the battlefield, one thousand cavalry is enough to defeat five thousand infantrymen."

"It is not easy to form a cavalry. We only need five thousand cavalry." Han Zhan said thoughtfully: "I think we should first expand the strength of crossbows and spearmen."

Both Zhao Yun and Guo Jia agree very much with expanding the strength of the crossbow soldiers. Everyone knows that when Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan fought at Jieqiao, Que Yi relied on a thousand powerful crossbow soldiers to defeat Gongsun Zan's tens of thousands of cavalry. If he had tens of thousands of powerful crossbow soldiers, it would be no problem to defeat 100,000 Yuan troops.

However, when Han Zhan wanted to expand his spearmen, Zhao Yun couldn't help but frown and said, "Second brother, the combat effectiveness of the spearmen is far less than that of the sword and shield hands, and is the most consumed military on the battlefield."

"Lord, General Zilong is right." Guo Jia said in confusion as soon as Zhao Yun finished speaking: "Even if we train 10,000 or 20,000 spearmen, it may disappear after a fierce battle. Even if we cannot replenish a large number of cavalry for the time being, in my opinion, adding more swords and shields is a good choice."

"I have read a military book, which is written like this," Han Zhan suddenly appeared in his mind, and he said casually: "Detect a large formation and fight against a great enemy. Compare the skills in the field, capture small thieves, and hundreds of people with different dignity line up in front. The brave are not allowed to be first, and the timids are not allowed to be back. The guns are poked, the guns are poked, the swords are slashed, and the kills are returned to him. They just go in one go. It is difficult to turn hands. How can you allow the left and right to jump?... You can use ten martial arts on weekdays, and if you use five points for a while, you can succeed; if you use eight points, you will be invincible in the world."

Guo Jia thought he was familiar with military books, but when he heard what Han Zhan read, he was still stunned. He thought hard for a long time, but he didn't remember which military book it was. He bowed to Han Zhan on his horse's back: "Lord, Jia is ashamed, I don't know which military book the lord is talking about?"

Of course, Han Zhan would not tell him that this was a military book written by a man more than a thousand years later, so he could only say vaguely: "When I was a child, I flipped through a bundle of bamboo slips in my father's study. What I just said was what I saw on it. As for who wrote it, I was young at that time and I no longer remember it."

Han Zhan's words aroused Guo Jia's great interest. He quickly requested Han Zhan: "Lord, after we return to Jizhou, I wonder if we can let Jia go to the study to read this book?"

"No problem, no problem." Han Zhan readily agreed to Guo Jia's request and also gave him a vaccination: "However, Yuan Shao had occupied Jizhou, so it is unknown whether this bamboo slip is still in the study of the provincial governor's office."

Seeing that Han Zhan agreed to his request, Guo Jia said excitedly: "As long as the lord is willing to let Jia go to the study to search, even if he can't find it, Jia will not be able to get this book. But Jia will still be grateful."

…………

The army walked on the road for a day and arrived at the north gate of Guantao at noon the next day. Gao Lan and Huang Zhong, who received the news, rushed to the north gate to greet Han Zhan.

Seeing Han Zhan riding on the horse, Huang Zhong quickly pulled up and said, "I will join the lord!"

Before the two of them could bow down, Han Zhan had already dismounted and stepped forward to support the two of them. He stared at Gao Lan and said, "Captain, you have worked hard to resist Yuan Shao's 100,000 troops with five thousand soldiers."

When Gao Lan heard Han Zhan’s praise for him, he quickly gave in: “The lord has been too much. The last general is Guantao. Defending the city and retreating the enemy is the last general’s duty. There is no hard work to say.”

Han Zhan had no airs, and his left and right hands held Gao Lan and Huang Zhong and walked towards the military camp in the city. On the way, he asked Gao Lan with a side face: "Captain, I wonder how many soldiers and generals there are in the city?"

"Report to the lord." Gao Lan, who was excited when he heard Han Zhan ask himself, quickly replied: "The Yuan army attacked the city for three consecutive days. The only generals of the soldiers under him were not injured except for the 500 guarding the north. The soldiers of the other three gates suffered heavy losses, totaling only 1,700 or 800 people."

When Han Zhan heard that Gao Lan's five thousand soldiers and horses were now only less than two thousand left, he could imagine how fierce the battle was. He turned his head and asked Huang Zhong: "Han Sheng, what about the losses of your troops?"

"Return to the lord," Huang Zhong replied hurriedly: "Our army suffered only more than 400 casualties, of which more than 100 were killed."

Don’t see that only more than 100 cavalrymen died in battle, but among the remaining more than 300 wounded, there will definitely be wounded people who died due to poor medical conditions. Han Zhan now has less than 4,000 cavalrymen, and now he has lost 10% of them, which still makes him feel a burst of pain.

After listening to the report of the two, Han Zhan stared at him: "Yuan Shao's dog thief actually hurts me so many soldiers and horses. I am incompatible with him."

"Lord, I still have something to report." Gao Lan and Han Zhan finished speaking, and continued: "Today, Yuan's army did not continue to attack the city. I am worried that they have a conspiracy."

"There is a conspiracy, what conspiracy?" Huang Zhong, who was standing by, said disapprovingly: "It must be Huang's cavalry yesterday that scared them out of their courage, so they hurried in the camp and did not dare to fight."

"Person Huang," Gao Lan, who had more combat experience than Huang Zhong, said with a serious expression: "Although your cavalry caused severe damage to the Yuan army yesterday, the number of people was too small, and the killing caused them was limited. I guess by the end, most of the fleeing Yuan army returned to the camp."

Regarding the different opinions of Gao Lan and Huang Zhong, Han Zhan did not express his opinion immediately, but turned his head to ask Guo Jia: "Fengxiao, what do you think about this?"

"Master, I think we'll go to the top of the city to take a look." Guo Jia suggested to Han Zhan: "Maybe we can see some clues."

"Okay, let's go to the city wall to take a look." Han Zhan also asked Gao Lan specifically: "College Captain, I wonder which city gate was Yuan's heavy army attacked?"

"South Gate." Gao Lan replied briefly.

"Let's go to the South Gate now." After that, Han Zhan asked Gao Lan to be the guide and took Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong and others to the South Gate.

Still far away, Han Zhan smelled the strong smell of blood and the smell of corpses. He frowned and went up the city gate tower along the stairs. Although he had been mentally prepared, when he really looked down, he was still stunned by the scene: under the city wall, there were dense corpses, including Yuan Jun and Gao Lan's subordinates, and many broken siege equipment. Although the city wall was cleaned, large groups of solidified blood could be seen everywhere. From this we can see how tragic the siege was.

"Lord, I still have something to report." Gao Lan and Han Zhan finished speaking, and continued: "Today, Yuan's army did not continue to attack the city. I am worried that they have a conspiracy."

"There is a conspiracy, what conspiracy?" Huang Zhong, who was standing by, said disapprovingly: "It must be Huang's cavalry yesterday that scared them out of their courage, so they hurried in the camp and did not dare to fight."

"Person Huang," Gao Lan, who had more combat experience than Huang Zhong, said with a serious expression: "Although your cavalry caused severe damage to the Yuan army yesterday, the number of people was too small, and the killing caused them was limited. I guess by the end, most of the fleeing Yuan army returned to the camp."

Regarding the different opinions of Gao Lan and Huang Zhong, Han Zhan did not express his opinion immediately, but turned his head to ask Guo Jia: "Fengxiao, what do you think about this?"

"Master, I think we'll go to the top of the city to take a look." Guo Jia suggested to Han Zhan: "Maybe we can see some clues."

"Okay, let's go to the city wall to take a look." Han Zhan also asked Gao Lan specifically: "College Captain, I wonder which city gate was Yuan's heavy army attacked?"

"South Gate." Gao Lan replied briefly.

"Let's go to the South Gate now." After that, Han Zhan asked Gao Lan to be the guide and took Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong and others to the South Gate.
Chapter completed!