My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 704

“How is this possible?” Xu You was dumbfounded. He never thought that his elite Jizhou Army of thirty thousand would be pushed back.

Honestly, Xu You did not care about Yuan Shaoʼs two prodigal sons at all. Both Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were useless people who focused their energy on pleasing others. The only son Xu You could respect was Yuan Xi. Unfortunately, Yuan Shao did not like this second son so even if Yuan Xi wanted to fight, he was powerless.

This made Xu You very confident. He was so confident that he wrote the military order Guo Jia asked him to without frowning.

During the battle, Xu You tore a gap in the Yuan Armyʼs formation. He believed that by destroying the enemy formation, the Yuan Army would be finished. He was not worried about being surrounded.

But now it was different. The elites under his command were no match for the peasants of the Yuan Army. Xu You had taken most of the credit for the fall of Jizhou as he was the one who persuaded most of Jizhouʼs elites to surrender. The two Yuan brothers only took a quarter or even less of the remaining men. Even then, Xu You found his elites losing.

“Why is this happening?” Xu You could not believe the scene in front of him but the miserable cries and corpses do not lie. It was only after the blood from one of his slain guard splashed on his face when Xu You managed to collect himself.

“Your Excellency! Run away quickly! These people are not human! They are invincible!” One guard shouted miserably.

Their weapons were useless to the enemyʼs armor and their own armor was like paper to the enemy. When their weapons clash against the enemyʼs weapons, theirs breaks. This was simply bullying.

“No! I wonʼt leave!” Xu Youʼs eyes were red. He could lose to anyone but not to the Yuan brothers. These two were trash in Xu Youʼs eyes. He would have nowhere to show his face if he loses to them.

“Haha!” The Yuan brothers laughed as they watched the battle from on top of the city walls. They have always been surpressed by Cao Caoʼs army but on that day, they were the ones winning. How could they not feel relieved? On top of that, Xu You have always regarded himself as their elder. Xu You having to watch his army get swallowed up was like getting slapped in the face.

“This Xu You is useless!” Cao Cao was also angry. The thirty thousand Jizhou elites were swallowed up by the enemy. They were all elites because it was important to win the first battle. As for Xu You, Cao Cao had his own ideas. At the very least, Xu You should still be able to win with the elites he is commanding.

But now, the situation far exceeded Cao Caoʼs expectations.

“Milord. This is not Xu Youʼs fault.” Guo Jia shook his head as he was also someone who knew how to lead troops. Guo Jia saw how the troops performed earlier but even then, they were still being pushed back. This was simply because the enemy was too strong.

“The enemy is too strong? If this is the case, I would not have been able to capture Jizhou, Bingzhou and Qingzhou!” Cao Cao was no longer being reasonable in his anger.

Guo Jia simply glanced at Cao Cao. There were two reasons Cao Cao defeated the Yuan brothers at Hebei. The first was the Yuan brotherʼs internal conflict. Otherwise, Cao Cao would have struggled to take Hebei due to the foundation of the Yuan Family. Even without Yuan Shao, Cao Cao would still suffer. The other reason was because Xu You persuaded the troops to surrender, making it easier for Cao Cao to take over Hebei.

Now it would seem that the Yuan Army have changed their equipment. Guo Jia saw Xu Youʼs heavy infantry defeated without having any power to resist.

“The weapons and armor?” Cao Cao was stunned.

“Milord. How do you think the troops under the Yuan brothers compare to Xu Youʼs troops?” Guo Jia asked Cao Cao in return.

“They are not as good.” Cao Cao said to Guo Jia. Xu You had the elites of Jizhou while only half of the Yuan Army were veterans. The rest were newly recruited in Youzhou.

“What about morale?” Guo Jia asked again.

“Our armyʼs morale is high.” Cao Cao replied. As Cao Cao had been winning against the Yuan Army the entire time, their morale was naturally high. At the very least, they should have the psychological advantage as the victor.

“Their morale and military strength is not as good as ours, yet they could still win. This is the effect of those weapons and armor.” Guo Jia explained.

“What kind of weapons and armor have this ability?” Cao Cao was puzzled.

“Milord. Let us watch the battle.” Guo Jia replied. He himself did not know what kind of weapons and armor could have such an ability.

“Your Excellency! Hurry up and leave! If you donʼt you will no longer have the chance to leave!” Xu Youʼs guards swore to protect him but the more they do, the more enemy troops know of Xu Youʼs position. This is because Xu Youʼs general armor was very eye catching. The banner behind him was also clear for the enemy to see. The enemy wanted to kill Xu You first to make the army leaderless.

Besides this, Xu Youʼs head was of great value. Yuan Shang had already promised to reward the person who killed Xu You with twenty thousand gold. They would also be awarded with a title and be promoted by three ranks.

Who would not like such merits?

Xu You still wanted to struggle but he knew he had no choice. He could only keep silent and let himself be protected by his guards in hope of breaking out of the siege. ℞𝘢NɵᛒËꞨ

“Shao Qi. Drop the banner.” The captain of the guards shouted to the soldier carrying the banner.

“Put down the banner?” Shao Qi was shocked. The banner was the soul of the army. On the battlefield, soldiers will look for their banner as it would make them feel at ease. Once their banner is gone, it would mean that their general is finished. Maybe even the generalʼs head is gone. What is the point of fighting anymore?

It would mean that they were completely routed. But what was the difference between that and the current situation?

“Run!” The moment the banner was abandoned, all the remaining troops sighed with relief and no longer continued to fight and began to run. With the banner gone, running away was not desertion.