Liu Bei had really invested a lot this time. He had a total of fifty thousand soldiers and horses. Apart from the five thousand navy, he had forty-five thousand men left. Ten thousand men were guarding Runan. He was afraid that Cao Ren, who had been left behind by Cao Cao, would attack him from the rear. The remaining thirty-five thousand men could be said to be all used. Above the general level, there were Zhang Fei, Chen Wei and Liu Pi. Although Liu Pi was slightly inferior, he was still a second-rate general. Zhang Fei and Chen Dao's strength were first rate.
Among the strategists, Liu Pi brought all the strategists except for Sun Qian. Jian Yong was responsible for the transportation of provisions and Pang Tong was the military advisor of the entire army. With the two together, it was really a luxurious lineup.
"Liu Bei sent troops?" Xu Shu put down the information in his hand and frowned. Not only Zhang Xiu's banner appeared near Guangzhou, but also Liu Bei's soldiers and horses. Moreover, after losing a lot of intelligence personnel, they found out that Liu Bei brought no less than tens of thousands of soldiers.
This was bad. In the entire Shouchun, Xu Shu only had 50,000 soldiers and horses. However, it was impossible for these 50,000 soldiers to fight in the field. These soldiers were recruited by Liu Mang when the 1.2 million people arrived. They could defend the city and fight in the field. Moreover, Shouchun did not have a lot of armors. It would be good if half of the 50,000 soldiers and horses were equipped with armor.
Now that Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu had joined forces, it was really difficult to deal with them. Originally, Zhang Xiu could only rely on cavalry to wreak havoc for a while. As long as the gate was closed, would his cavalry be able to attack the city? Now it was different. With Liu Bei's infantry, it was enough to attack the city.
"Send a letter to Wen Hou of Lujiang for help!" Xu Shu said to a soldier on the side. Now, they could only ask for help. However, Xu Shu was not without a way. "Let Zhang Rui and Deng Yi take 20,000 soldiers and horses to guard Lujiang. Tell them that they only need to defend the city and are not allowed to fight! "
"20,000 each?" The general on the side did not understand. "Military advisor, what about you?" There were only 50,000 soldiers and horses in Shouchun. If each of them took 20,000 soldiers, there would only be 10,000 soldiers left. How could they defend Shouchun?
"Haha, I don't need to worry!" Xu Shu smiled. If Lujiang and Hefei were breached, then Shouchun would be completely exposed to the enemy's sword. There was no need to fight. They could besiege Xu Shu to death. After all, Shouchun did not have enough food. If Hefei and Lujiang were not breached, then Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu would not dare to enter the hinterland of Shouchun. This was because Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu's supply line would be completely exposed to the attack of the Lvbu's Army. There was no food near Shouchun that could be supplied to Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu. If they wanted food, they had to bring it themselves. A stable rear was the transit station for food supplies. If they could not take down Hefei and Lujiang, then the food supplies would not be safe.
It was believed that Wen Hou of Lujiang would not ignore Shouchun. Once Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu's food supplies ran into problems, they would have to retreat.
Xu Shu left 10,000 soldiers behind to prevent accidents. The cavalry was very fast. If Zhang Xiu really relied on the cavalry to attack the city, Xu Shu would not be without soldiers. 10,000 soldiers were not enough to defend Shouchun. However, there were still millions of people in the city. They were enough to defend the city.
…
Zhang Xiu's Xiliang Cavalry and Liu Mang's 40,000 soldiers met in Guangzhou. Liu Bei used Pingchun as his back base to transport food supplies.
"Left General, Lord Xuande, why are you here?" Although Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei's armies had contact, it was always through letters. They had never met face to face. However, this time, the two lords were personally leading their armies.
"General Zhang, the purpose of this trip is to help the general seek justice. Originally, the 16,000 gold was prepared to be gifted to the general as a token of admiration for the general's resistance against the traitor Cao. Who would have thought that the Slave of Three Surnames would snatch it away? The general sent a messenger to contact him, but the Slave of Three Surnames killed the messenger and even insulted the general. This matter arose because of the preparation, so it is reasonable for the general to seek justice!" Liu Bei spoke righteously as if he was a saint who wanted to help Zhang Xiu seek justice.
"Seek justice?!" Zhang Xiu was not a fool. He listened to Liu Bei's words and sneered in his heart. "If that is the case, then please go back! Although Xiu Xiu is weak, she can still seek justice for herself. There's no need to trouble the Left General! "
"This!" Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu were polite. Who knew that Zhang Xiu would not listen to them at all. Liu Bei's expression changed greatly. Zhang Xiu was not grateful at all.
"Zhang Xiu, how can you speak to my big brother like that!" Zhang Fei was dissatisfied. He angrily pointed his spear at Zhang Xiu.
"Who dares to hurt my lord!" Beside Zhang Xiu was a fierce general. He did not look any weaker than Zhang Fei. He had a pair of iron hammers in his hands. They were not hollow hammers but solid ones. The pair of hammers weighed no less than a hundred jin.
"Hu Che Er, move aside. Otherwise, don't blame my snake spear for not recognizing you!" Zhang Fei saw the person who came and shouted. This was Hu Che Er, Zhang Xiu's top general who drank and slept with him. It was easy to make friends with people who had the same hobby. Zhang Fei liked to drink and so did Hu Che Er. The two drunkards were reluctant to part when they met. Their relationship seemed to be good.
"Black face, the one who should move aside is you. If you disrespect my lord again, don't blame me for letting you eat my hammer!" Hu Che Er was not a Han. He was from the Qiang tribe. He followed Zhang Xiu since he was a child. It could be said that he was Zhang Xiu's sworn brother, just like Zhang Fei and Liu Bei. Hu Che Er had a good impression of Zhang Fei. The two became friends because of drinking. But in front of his lord, all friends were nothing.
Zhang Fei and Hu Che Er were still confronting each other. Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu were also looking at each other. The smell of gunpowder was very strong.
"Milord, General Zhang Xiu, please allow Pang Tong to say something!" Pang Tong interrupted.
"There is no harm in speaking, Shiyuan!"
"There is no harm in speaking, sir!"
"General Zhang Xiu, straightforward people do not resort to insinuations. We came here with the same idea as the general!" Pang Tong stepped forward and said.
"Oh? Is that so? Could it be that the Left General is also here to ask for the 16,000 gold? " Zhang Xiu's words were a bit sarcastic. It was no wonder Zhang Xiu. Before Zhang Xiu went to war, he asked Jia Xu about the plan. Now, ever since Zhang Xiu killed Cao Cao's son, Zhang Xiu would never say anything. This was his life-saving skill. Jia Xu told Zhang Xiu that the 16,000 gold was not robbed by Lü Bu but by Liu Bei.
Nominally, the 16,000 gold was originally given to Zhang Xiu by Liu Bei. If Liu Bei obtained the 16,000 gold, then it meant that Liu Bei did not take out the 16,000 gold at all. It was completely used as an excuse to provoke a war between Zhang Xiu and Lü Bu.
If it was before, Zhang Xiu might be angry. Not only would he not send troops to kill Lü Bu, but he would also question Liu Bei. However, that was the case! That was before. Now, not only did Zhang Xiu not seek revenge from Liu Bei, but he was also confused enough to seek revenge from Lü Bu. Why? First, it was because Lü Bu killed Zhang Xiu's messenger. At that time, Zhang Xiu thought that Lü Bu sent people to rob him. If Lü Bu explained to Zhang Xiu, he might feel better. However, Lü Bu directly killed Zhang Xiu's messenger, which was a slap in the face. Second, and this was also the most important reason. It was Sun Ce's plan to exterminate the family. A few months ago, Sun Ce not only sent letters to Liu Bei and Liu Biao, but also to Zhang Xiu. The Lvbu's Army simply could not handle 1.2 million people in Shouchun. They could either block the road to Shouchun and break their promise to the world, or they could only endure this suffering.
Feeding 1.2 million people was not a small problem. The simplest problem was that the Lu Bu's Army did not have enough provisions to feed 1.2 million people. Once the provisions were insufficient, not only would the commoners riot, the Lu Bu's Army would also not have the ability to send out more troops. Calculating carefully, there were only two months left. Taking advantage of a burning house was something that Zhang Xiu knew how to do. After all, the first boss of the Xiliang Cavalry, Dong Zhuo, was a big bandit.
With such a good excuse to send troops, Zhang Xiu would definitely not let it go.
Zhang Xiu's words meant that he had already seen through Liu Bei's thoughts. You want to use me, Zhang Xiu? Do you really think that I, Zhang Xiu, am a fool?
"General Zhang Xiu, although my Lord did not give you the 16,000 gold ingots, General Zhang Xiu, please don't forget that my Lord has already given you 17,000 gold ingots. With such a generous gift, will you lose out?" Pang Tong said calmly.
Yes, even if the 16,000 gold ingots were not included, Liu Bei had already given Zhang Xiu a lot of things. In total, it was more than 10,000 gold ingots. More than 10,000 gold ingots! Liu Mang sold ballistae for the same price. This was enough for Zhang Xiu to raise tens of thousands of troops.
Since Zhang Xiu understood, then he might as well get straight to the point.
"What exactly does the Left General want?" Zhang Xiu was not an unreasonable person. Whether Liu Bei was using him or not, he had already solved Zhang Xiu's big problem by giving him provisions. Therefore, Zhang Xiu wanted to return the favor.
"What does General Zhang want?" Pang Tong did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked another question.
"I want all of Lujiang's money and provisions!" Zhang Xiu said.
"All of Lujiang's money and provisions?" Pang Tong was stunned and asked.
"Why is it too much? You should know that my 20,000 Xiliang Cavalry is going to block that tiger and his 5,000 wolf cubs for you! " Zhang Xiu was a little dissatisfied. The Lvbu's Army only had two rich places. One was Shouchun and the other was Lujiang. Zhang Xiu had already given up Shouchun. What else did he want?
"No, no, General Zhang Xiu, you misunderstood my Lord's meaning! My Lord means that not only will Lujiang's money and provisions belong to you, but the money and provisions near Shouchun will also belong to you, General Zhang Xiu! "Pang Tong looked very generous on the surface, but he was very happy in his heart. This Zhang Xiu was really short-sighted. So what if he had money and food? The most important thing now was land. Only by occupying a piece of land could he have greater development. Even if Zhang Xiu gave all the money and food from Lujiang Prefecture and Shouchun to Zhang Xiu, Zhang Xiu only had one prefecture. No, it should be said that Zhang Xiu only had one city. There were not many civilians and almost all of them were soldiers. It had completely become a military base. If he only had soldiers and horses but no land, he would run out of money and food sooner or later.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. It was better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Only with territory and population could there be a steady flow of provisions and taxes.
Pang Tong was so generous because the Lvbu's Army might have money, but what about provisions? Haha, then they would have to use all their savings. If they had enough provisions, who would dare to fight against Lü Bu?
"Are you serious?!" Zhang Xiu asked happily. He could not blame Zhang Xiu for being short-sighted. First of all, Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei had different thoughts. Zhang Xiu and Cai Mao of Jingzhou did not want to dominate a region. They wanted to wait for the right price to sell. They were waiting for a wise master to join them. Or rather, they wanted to see who had the bigger chips and who they would follow. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were the targets of their bet.
The more money and food they had, the more soldiers and horses they had, the more weight they would have in front of their new masters.
"You can write a letter to form an alliance!" Pang Tong said with certainty.
"Then what do you need me to do?" Zhang Xiu also calmed down. Such a big benefit would not come without a price.
"There is no need for you to do anything! A few months have passed and Jiangdong's Little Conqueror's plan is gradually taking effect. Lü Bu does not have enough provisions. I am afraid that sending troops will be a problem. However, we cannot let our guard down. If Lü Bu's reinforcements come to Lujiang, General Zhang, please stop them. We will take care of the siege! " Zhang Xiu's 20,000 Xiliang Cavalry had good mobility. They could defeat Lü Bu's Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry and even threaten Lujiang. With them, they could attract the attention of the Lvbu's Army. What Liu Bei needed to do was to destroy the cities of Yangzhou one by one.
"Good. If the enemy is infantry, Xiu will swallow them. If the enemy is cavalry, Xiu will resist them!" 20,000 Xiliang Cavalry was not a joke. The reason why Lao Cao liked Zhang Xiu was because of Zhang Xiu's 20,000 Xiliang Cavalry. According to the original plan, even if Lao Cao's son was killed by Zhang Xiu and his favorite general Dian Wei was killed, Lao Cao still accepted Zhang Xiu because of the Xiliang Cavalry.
If Zhang Xiu always controlled the Xiliang Cavalry, Lao Cao might be afraid. However, after Zhang Xiu joined Cao Jun, the Xiliang Cavalry was scattered. There were only a few thousand people left in Zhang Xiu's hands. A huge force was forcefully dismantled by himself. If Lao Cao did not kill Zhang Xiu, who else could he kill?
Zhang Xiu was confident. If the Lvbu's Army did not come, they would come with the whole army. The Xiliang Cavalry had fought against the Formation Breaker and Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry before. The Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry was one level higher than the Xiliang Cavalry, but the difference was at most two times. His Xiliang Cavalry had 20,000 people.
"Haha, if that's the case, I will give General Zhang Xiu a big gift today!" Pang Tong gave Liu Bei a look. Liu Bei nodded.
"A big gift?" Zhang Xiu did not understand.
"I wonder if General Zhang Xiu is interested in the grain of Gushi Anfeng in Guangzhou?"
"Gushi Anfeng in Guangzhou? Today? Liu Bei wants to conquer three cities in one day? "
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