It's over!
This was the thought in the mind of the Gongsun Zan general at this moment.
The enemy is actually using the chariot formation as cover to counter-charge the cavalry!
The fate of cavalry being engaged by heavy infantry at close quarters is almost certain slaughter!
He felt a chill throughout his body. This scene, he had witnessed it three years ago at the Battle of Jieqiao, so similar!
At that time, his superior, Yan Gang, led the White Horse Volunteers in a charge, and was shot apart at close range by eight hundred archers and crossbowmen hidden under shields by the enemy.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the enemy general, Qu Yi, spurred his horse, wielded his saber, charged into their formation, and beheaded Yan Gang.
He saw a single horseman charge out of the enemy formation, spurring his horse and brandishing a spear, charging towards their cavalry. His posture was exactly the same as Qu Yi's back then!
The general roared, "Don't turn back! Only by charging through can you survive!"
He raised his horse spear and charged towards Qu Yi on foot, "White Horse Volunteers, fight to the death and never retreat!"
Qu Yi's warhorse flashed past him.
Yuan Xi watched as the general covered his chest and slowly fell, and sighed to Zhao Yun beside him, "Gongsun Zan has many capable and fierce generals under him, but he cannot make good use of them."
"Back then, Yan Gang and Gongsun Zan were close, and formed the White Horse Volunteers, but Gongsun Zan became suspicious of him, took away his military power, and then made him the vanguard in the Battle of Jieqiao, leading to his death."
"Brother Zhao is also like this. Because of Lord Liu, he was suspected by him and was sent to attack Beixin City with infantry. How is that different from sending him to his death?"
"Gongsun Zan is so suspicious of the people around him, how can he achieve great things?"
Zhao Yun listened, staring at the back of Qu Yi, who was moving back and forth on the battlefield, "I heard that your father, Yuan Benchu, also killed his general, Qu Yi, due to suspicion."
Yuan Xi understood that Zhao Yun, who had participated in the Battle of Jieqiao, must have recognized Qu Yi. After all, Qu Yi at that time could be said to have become famous in one battle, his reputation shaking You and Ji, and no one was unaware of him.
In fact, Yuan Shao sending someone to kill Qu Yi was far from being as simple as Qu Yi's achievements overshadowing his master. The inside story was extremely secretive, involving a cold case from the fourth year of Chuping, the Rebellion of Ye City.
After Yuan Shao repelled Gongsun Zan, he led his victorious army south. While resting his troops at Boluojin, he suddenly received an urgent report that the soldiers in Wei Commandery had rebelled, joined forces with the Black Mountain bandit leader Yu Du, and occupied Ye City. They had also killed the Administrator, Li Cheng. Tens of thousands of bandit troops from over a dozen factions had all gathered in Ye City.
Ye City was the administrative center of Wei Commandery and the core city of the entire Ji Province. The families of most of the civil and military officials in the Yuan army lived in Ye City, including, of course, Yuan Shao's family.
Even more inexplicable was that Ye City was occupied without any prior warning.
So upon hearing this news, everyone at the table turned pale with fear, some even bursting into tears on the spot. Yuan Shao remained calm and composed at this time, his expression almost unchanged, which finally stabilized the morale of the army.
"Records of Heroes" states: Among the guests present, those whose families were in Ye were all worried and turned pale with fear, some even rising and weeping. Shao's appearance remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.
Yuan Shao's performance at that time, as well as his action during the Battle of Jieqiao, when he led over a hundred men against two thousand Gongsun Zan cavalry and personally directed the defense under a hail of arrows, repelling the enemy, all showed the demeanor of a great general.
Yuan Xi had to admit that his cheap father, Yuan Shao, although often performed terribly when things were going smoothly, often became a god when facing adversity.
There are no perfect people in the world. Those who can achieve great things all have some extraordinary qualities.
Yuan Xi sometimes wondered what happened to Yuan Shao later that caused him to slowly change and become the person described by Cao Cao as "strong in appearance but weak in courage, good at planning but indecisive, cherishing his life when undertaking great matters, and forgetting his life when seeing small gains."
The Rebellion of Ye City eventually ended with Yuan Shao leading his army to kill the Black Mountain army leader Yu Du and the behind-the-scenes instigator, the Governor of Ji Province, Hu Shou.
Hu Shou, the Governor of Ji Province, was a pawn sent by Li Jue, Guo Si, and other Liangzhou strongmen who were holding Emperor Xian hostage. His instigation of the occupation of Ye City was done quietly beforehand, making it highly likely that there were internal spies and collaborators.
The Liangzhou martial artists under Yuan Shao naturally became suspects.
Qu Yi was from Liangzhou, and Yuan Shao suspected that he was also involved in this matter, which led to the incident where ambushers with sabers and axes killed Qu Yi.
But Yuan Xi felt that the matter was far from that simple.
"Records of the Three Kingdoms: Chronicle of Emperor Wu" states: The Black Mountain bandits Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, and others, numbering over a hundred thousand, plundered Wei Commandery and Dong Commandery. Taizu led his troops into Dong Commandery and defeated Bai Rao at Puyang. Yuan Shao then appointed Taizu as the Administrator of Dong Commandery, governing Dongwuyang.
This happened in the second year of Chuping (192 AD). From then on, Cao Cao gained the capital to establish himself. From the third year of Chuping, when Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shu in Yanzhou, he gradually broke away from Yuan Shao's control.
Therefore, the events in Ye City in the fourth year of Chuping were quite strange, containing many mysteries, including the later rebellion of Lü Bu and Zhang Miao, which were all intricately linked.
Zhang Miao was once a close friend of Cao Cao, but Yuan Shao later had a falling out with Miao and repeatedly urged Cao Cao to kill Miao.
At that time, Dong Zhao's younger brother, Dong Fang, was in Zhang Miao's army. Therefore, Dong Zhao, who was originally highly valued by Yuan Shao, was suspected and forced to flee. He was secretly intercepted by Yuan Xi and stayed behind.
Yuan Xi felt that all the events were intertwined like a tangled mess. He vaguely found the thread among them, but lacked crucial evidence. He could only unravel it little by little, and finding the clue was not something that could be done overnight.
The details of these matters were too complex to explain on the battlefield. Yuan Xi immediately said to Zhao Yun, "Do not employ someone you suspect, and do not suspect someone you employ."
"If Brother Zhao can come and assist me, I will entrust my life to Brother Zhao."
"If in the future Brother Zhao thinks I am not worthy of being a lord, you can leave at any time, and I will never stop you."
"If I break this promise, may I be struck by lightning and my family be cut off."
Zhao Yun listened and thought to himself, whether these words were true or false, he had never seen someone who could curse their own family without changing their expression every time.
He immediately dismounted and said, "If the General does not abandon me, Zilong is willing to offer his meager strength."
Yuan Xi was overjoyed. He quickly dismounted and tightly grasped Zhao Yun's hand.
Zhao Yun felt the strength coming from the other party's hand and thought to himself, are you being a bit too enthusiastic?
Yuan Xi was excited. Although Zhao Yun could be considered to have temporarily pledged allegiance to him, if loyalty was measured on a scale of one hundred, Zhao Yun at this time would at most only be sixty.
But this could be considered an extremely remarkable thing he had done since coming to this world!
Zhao Yun felt the warmth on Yuan Xi's hand and quietly withdrew his hands, saying, "Please allow the General to go to the battlefield to assist in the battle."
Yuan Xi was startled, "The White Horse Volunteers were once Brother Yun's comrades. Can you bring yourself to do it?"
Zhao Yun said coldly, "They surrounded and killed me and my subordinates in front of Yijing City. There is no longer any camaraderie to speak of. Now we each serve our own master, and Yun will never be indecisive."
Yuan Xi was happy and quickly nodded in agreement. He saw Zhao Yun mount his horse with his spear and charge into the formation of the White Horse Volunteers.
Seeing this, Yuan Xi also felt a surge of heroism. He picked up a horse spear and followed suit, charging forward on his horse.
In less than half an hour, hundreds of White Horse Volunteers were either killed or fled, leaving only a few who fought to the death, surrounded by the crowd.
Yuan Xi stopped the others, reined in his horse, and came in front of the few people, saying, "I can let you go."
He pointed to the body of the nameless general who had been killed by Qu Yi earlier, "Take him back and give him a proper burial."
"Give Gongsun Zan a message: He has no capacity to tolerate others, causing his loyal subordinates to die. He will surely be defeated."
The few people looked at each other, and finally bowed to Yuan Xi. They took the body of the nameless general and left.