Xu Shu did not know that his original plan was to slow down the pace of Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei's army. He did not know that not only did he fail to stop Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu's army, but he also sped up their attack.
"Kill, kill, kill!" In Shouchun, Xu Shu repelled the first wave of attacks from Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu's army. However, he was not happy at all. This was because the east side of the city was burning fiercely. That place used to be the most prosperous area in Shouchun, which was Liu Mang's industrial zone. However, it was now burning to ashes. This fire was not only caused by Liu Bei's army, but it was also caused by Xu Shu's own soldiers. This was because Zhang Xiu's Xiliang Cavalry was too fast. Half a day ago, they were still at Baohe. Half a day later, they galloped to the industrial zone and caught Xu Shu off guard. Fortunately, Zhao Yun and Zhao Zilong's White Horse Followers were there to deal with them. Otherwise, the industrial zone would have fallen into the hands of Liu Bei. At that time, Xu Shu would really become a sinner of the Lvbu's Army. This was because there were many things in the industrial zone that had not been moved to Shouchun.
However, now was not the time to think about it. Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu's army would definitely not give up. The sky was not dark yet. There would definitely be a second and third attack. Xu Shu needed to lead his soldiers to defend the last piece of paradise in Yangzhou.
"Hmph, this is indeed the Lvbu's Army's plan. They want to drive a wedge between the Left General and my Xiliang men!" Zhang Xiu sneered as he looked at the former capital of the Chu and Han Dynasties, the place where Yuan Shu was once the emperor. Today, he suddenly attacked Shouchun and wanted to directly take down the city gate. However, he was stopped by another group of cavalry. Although there were not many of them, most of them were elites. Therefore, he did not succeed in breaking the gate. However, Zhang Xiu finally found something fishy from this group of cavalry. This completely resolved the knot between him and Liu Bei.
"No matter how the Lvbu's Army schemed, they still could not escape from General Yang Wu's eyes. Haha!" Liu Bei also praised Zhang Xiu. They had not seen each other for half a day. From being inseparable like fire and water, to being good friends. Many things had happened.
…
Yesterday night, in Zhang Xiu's camp.
Zhang Xiu had already made up his mind. He would definitely leave Yangzhou and return to Wancheng tomorrow morning. He would let Liu Mang's Army and Liu Bei's Army in Yangzhou fight each other. After he returned, he would directly attack Liu Bei's Runan to avenge the loss of the 2000 Xiliang Cavalry. If he was lucky, he could even ambush Liu Bei and completely send Liu Bei to hell. If this plan was implemented, then Liu Bei would really be unlucky. He might really be played to death by Zhang Xiu.
If Zhang Xiu could think of it, then naturally, Liu Bei, who was assisted by Little Fire Chicken and Phoenix Cub Pang Tong, could also think of it. Big-eared Liu had invested so much in Zhang Xiu. Now, Zhang Xiu wanted to quit. Not only did he want to fire Big-eared Liu, his boss, he even wanted to rob his boss' house. This behavior was really bad. If it were Lü Bu or Sun Ce, they would have directly gathered their troops to fight against Zhang Xiu. However, he was Liu Bei. He could tolerate things that ordinary people could not. Therefore, that night, Liu Bei came to Zhang Xiu's camp.
"What? Liu Bei came to visit? " Zhang Xiu was just about to sleep when a messenger came to report that there was someone outside the tent. It was Left General Liu's uncle, Liu Bei, Liu Xuande.
"Milord. Why do you still want to meet Liu Bei? If it is up to me, we should just leave tomorrow and let him fight on his own. We will go straight to his lair! Let him ambush me! Let him scheme against Milord! " Hu Che Er was not satisfied. Hu Che Er was not only Zhang Xiu's deputy general, but he was also Zhang Xiu's personal guard captain. Therefore, whenever there was news, Hu Che Er would know.
"En?" Zhang Xiu frowned. His eyes were flickering like the candlelight in the tent. No one knew what he was thinking. Suddenly, he asked the messenger. "How many people did Liu Bei send?"
"En, including Liu Bei, there are a total of three people! A scholar and a general. "The messenger did not dare to hide anything and replied honestly.
"Three people? Haha, this Liu Bei seems to be sending himself to death! Milord, don't be anxious. Let me, Hu Che Er, order the troops to capture Liu Bei and send him to Milord. This way, Milord can not only kill Liu Bei but also obtain his tens of thousands of troops. Why not? " Hu Che Er directly ordered the troops to kill Liu Bei. He wanted to swallow Liu Bei's troops.
"Kill Liu Bei? Seize his troops? " To be honest, Zhang Xiu was tempted. Liu Bei's White Eared Heavy Infantry was something that even the Xiliang Cavalry coveted. This was not the key point. The key point was Liu Bei's provisions. If he could obtain Liu Bei's provisions, Wancheng would not need to worry about provisions for several years or even decades. After all, Liu Bei possessed the wealth of a province. Most of it was confiscated by Liu Pi from the aristocratic families that did not manage to escape in time. The savings could be said to be very rich.
However, Zhang Xiu's fiery heart immediately cooled down. "Let Liu Bei and the others come in!" “
"Milord? What are you doing? " Hu Che Er did not understand. "Milord, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If we kill Liu Bei, we can swallow his troops. We can even attack Shouchun and take Yangzhou and Yuzhou. With Wancheng, we will be one of the most powerful warlords in the world! " Hu Che Er was from the Qiang tribe. He was simple minded but he understood the importance of territory and troops in this chaotic world.
"Sigh!" Zhang Xiu sighed. He also wanted to kill Liu Bei and swallow his troops. However, he could not do so. It was not that Zhang Xiu did not want to but he could not. This was because the messenger said that Liu Bei came with three people. One was Liu Bei, one was a scholar, and one was a general. There were more people under Liu Bei who were loyal to Liu Bei. Chen Dao and Zhang Fei were not easy to deal with. Even if the general was one of them, there was still one more person. If he killed Liu Bei, the remaining general would not fight with him. At that time, not only would he not be able to swallow Liu Bei's army, he would also be sent to prison for killing Liu Bei.
"Milord!" Hu Che Er advised.
"Wait!" Zhang Xiu ordered the messenger to stop. Hu Che Er was happy. He thought that his Lord wanted to kill Liu Bei and swallow Liu Bei's troops. However, Zhang Xiu's next sentence made Hu Che Er give up.
"No need to invite them. I will personally welcome them!" Zhang Xiu said and began to wear his clothes. No matter what, he did not want to kill Liu Bei. Liu Bei was still the Left General. He was much more important than General Yang Wu.
In front of Zhang Xiu's camp, there were three people. One of them was the iconic person with thick eyebrows and big ears. Wasn't that Big Eared Liu Bei? The other one looked like he was one with the night sky. Wasn't that Black Pig Pi Tong? The last one looked heroic. He was Liao Hua, one of the five thousand men in Liu Pi's army. Liao Hua was holding a package in his hand.
"This Zhang Xiu is really worthy of occupying Wancheng for such a long time. Look at the layout of the camp." Liu Bei stood at the entrance and carefully looked at the layout of Zhang Xiu's barracks. The barracks were not placed together but instead formed a triangle. Two barracks surrounded the other barracks. The three barracks complemented each other. No matter which barracks was attacked, the other two would be able to react quickly. Liu Bei also noticed the arrangement of Zhang Xiu's sentries. Basically, there was a sentry every five steps and a hidden sentry every ten steps. This kind of vigilance was truly praiseworthy. Liu Bei originally thought that Zhang Xiu relied on his uncle Zhang Ji to dominate Wancheng for so long. However, it seems that Liu Bei was very capable. Otherwise, he would not have been able to scheme against Cao Cao and almost kill him.
"Lord, look over there!" Pang Tong's small eyes were very sharp. He saw a lot of cloth bags.
"Cloth bags?" Liu Bei frowned. The cloth bags were not used to store ordinary things. They could only be used to store provisions. The cloth bags on Pang Tong's arms were empty. Those were the used up provisions. Pang Tong's arms were empty.
"Fortunately, Lord is wise and prepared to enter the tiger's den. Otherwise, I'm afraid that Zhang Xiu's Army would have completely retreated by tomorrow morning!" The grain bags needed to be collected when they were used up. After all, the cloth bags were a kind of strategic material. However, now that they were casually thrown on the ground, it meant that Zhang Xiu's Army was preparing food. These were the things that they did not have time to clean up when they poured out the grain to make hot food.
"Sigh!" Like Zhang Xiu, Liu Bei also sighed. If Liu Bei had enough power in his hands, if he was born as a soldier like Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, and if he had the support of his six aunts and seven uncles, as well as so many brothers, would he, Liu Bei, have to be like this? If he was like Yuan Shu, who occupied Yuzhou and Yangzhou and had 300,000 soldiers, he might have achieved hegemony long ago. However, Liu Bei was not like that. Liu Bei was just a straw sandal seller. Therefore, he worked harder than any other feudal lord. However, in the end, he did not get as much as others. In order to get more, in order to complete the hegemony in Liu Bei's heart, he could only endure what ordinary people could not endure. He could only do things that might endanger his life.
Just as Liu Bei was still lamenting, the camp was brightly lit. A group of people rushed towards Liu Bei.
"Protect the Lord!" Liao Hua on the side hurriedly pulled out his war saber and protected Liu Bei behind him.
"Huh?" Pang Tong and Liu Bei both frowned. Was Zhang Xiu really brainless? Did he want to perish together with them? He did not know that whether he killed them or tied them up, it would lead to a fight between Liu Bei's army and Zhang Xiu's army. Just as Liu Bei's face was filled with uncertainty, a hearty voice came from the fire dragon. "Lord Xuande, I did not know that Lord Xuande would enter the camp in the middle of the night. Please forgive me for being late to welcome you!"
Hearing this voice, Liu Bei felt relieved. Naturally, he replied, "You're too kind. It is my fault for disturbing General Yangwu's rest in the middle of the night!" The two of them exchanged a few polite words. Only then did Zhang Xiu welcome Liu Bei into Zhang Xiu's camp.
"Liu Bei, why are you still here? Do you want to see if our lord has been killed by you?! " Compared to Zhang Xiu's politeness to Liu Bei, Hu Che Er was not as polite. He directly rebuked Liu Bei.
Liu Bei did not directly answer Hu Che Er. Instead, he glanced at Zhang Xiu. Seeing that Zhang Xiu did not stop him, he knew that Zhang Xiu was still angry about the ambush on his Xiliang Cavalry.
"Haha!" Hu Che Er was Zhang Xiu's lieutenant. Although his position was not small, he was not a big shot. Naturally, he did not need Liu Bei to personally respond to him. Pang Tong stepped forward and cupped his fist. "General Hu Che Er, my Lord and I came here in the middle of the night not only because we have important matters to discuss with General Yangwu, but also because we want to apologize to General Yangwu!"
"Apologize? Haha, what did Lord Xuande do? " Zhang Xiu laughed. It seemed like a rhetorical question but it was actually a statement. If Liu Xuande knew that he was wrong, how could he admit his mistake?
"General Yangwu, my Lord's teachings were not strict. He made Liu Pi, a general under his command, attack his allies for the sake of merit. Thus, my Lord was furious after knowing the truth and punished Liu Pi." Pang Tong spoke frankly to Zhang Xiu.
"Hmph, isn't it because you are echoing each other? You are not going to deal with me and the two thousand Xiliang soldiers. You are going to deal with my Lord!" Hu Che Er did not want to let it go.
"General Hu Che Er is thinking too much!" Pang Tong stepped forward and said to Zhang Xiu. He knew that Hu Che Er was only a lieutenant. Only by convincing Zhang Xiu would he be able to dispel Zhang Xiu's thoughts of withdrawing. "I will not hide it from General Yangwu. Before we met General Hu Che Er, we met a cavalry. It was a heavy cavalry! They are the ones who killed over two thousand of our lightly armored Yu Province Army! "
"Who would believe that?" Hu Che Er did not buy it. He had almost died in the ambush. It would be strange if he had a good impression of Liu Bei's Army. If it was not for Zhang Xiu stopping him, Hu Che Er would have killed them.
"General Zhang Xiu, did you get a scout yesterday?" Pang Tong asked Zhang Xiu directly.
"Yes!" Zhang Xiu would not hide such a small matter. There was no point in doing so.
"Did the scout not say anything after he was caught? Only when he couldn't take it anymore did he tell the general that there was a grain transport team going from Lujiang to Shouchun?" Pang Tong continued to ask. Zhang Xiu did not speak. However, his expression told Pang Tong that it was correct.
"General, don't you find it strange? Why did you not say it before but say it at the last moment? " “
"What's so strange about that? Don't tell me that everyone would be like you, who betrayed your master and sought glory from the start? That scout is a man. I, Hu Che Er, admire him! " "That scout called Feng He was personally interrogated by Hu Che Er. Hu Che Er even beat him to a pulp. He even used a soldering iron to cook his lower body. However, this man did not utter a single word. In the end, he could not take it anymore and revealed this information."
"Then that's right. My Lord and General Zhang Xiu were both tricked?" Pang Tong directly said that both armies were tricked to divert the conflict between them.
"Tricked? He must have fallen into your trap! You let my two thousand Xiliang men die for no reason! "
"General Hu Che Er, I would like to ask, when did your captured scout tell you that the grain transport team would arrive?"
"Around the end of the day!" Hu Che Er thought for a while and said.
"General Hu Che Er, the scout we caught told us that it would be at noon!"
"It's just a difference in time! What's the difference? It's just an hour difference! The transport team is still there. We were ambushed by your army! "
"Of course there's a difference. The difference is huge!" Pang Tong went to the crux of the matter. "Two hours is more than enough for cavalry to make a round trip. The heavy cavalry that we encountered before was not the Xiliang Cavalry. They pretended to be the Xiliang Cavalry and used the carriages as bait to ambush our Yuzhou Army. Could it be that they retreated when the Yuzhou Army arrived? At that time, General Hu Che Er arrived with his two thousand Xiliang Cavalry. What do you think they would think? They will think that you are in cahoots with the fake Xiliang Cavalry and are here to steal merits. In order to save their lives, they will naturally do something out of line to ambush you! " Pang Tong said. It was almost the same as Xu Shu's plan in Shouchun. He was indeed a Fledgling Phoenix. He could guess to this extent just by relying on clues.
"Now that you mention it, I remember that there was indeed a bloody smell on the carriages. There were also traces of horse hooves. But how do you explain that it wasn't Zhang Xiu?! It seems like it was this person who shouted it! " Hu Che Er saw Liao Hua standing beside Liu Bei. This was the person who said that it was not Zhang Xiu!
"General Hu Che Er, General Liao Hua will have to explain it to you personally! Liao Hua! " Pang Tong shouted at Liao Hua.
"General Hu Che Er, please forgive me. I did not know that General Hu Che Er was the one who attacked us. I was actually anxious at that time. My words were that the cavalry was not Zhang Xiu's Army. We killed the wrong people. However, it was already too late!" Liao Hua said as he knelt down and cupped his fist towards Zhang Xiu and Liao Hua. "Kill or cut, General Hu Che Er can punish me!" It turned out that this Liao Hua was carrying a basket on his back. The basket was filled with thorns. This was a play of carrying thorns and asking for punishment.
"I will kill you!" Do you think you can just say that you killed the wrong people? Hu Che Er was so angry that he wanted to pull out his weapon and cut Liao Hua.
"Hu Che Er, stand down!" Zhang Xiu suddenly shouted.
"Milord, what are you doing?" Hu Che Er did not understand. This person who killed two thousand of his brothers was right in front of him. How can he not kill him for revenge?
"Stand down!" Zhang Xiu repeated again. Hu Che Er reluctantly stood aside. "People are not saints. How can they not make mistakes? It is good that General Liao Hua knows his mistakes and can change!" Kill Liao Hua? Zhang Xiu also wanted to kill Liao Hua. However, would this matter be over if he killed Liao Hua? If he killed Liao Hua, he would lose a big bargaining chip. Since Liu Bei's Army killed the wrong people, they would have to compensate. As for how they would compensate, it would depend on Liu Bei's sincerity. How much was Liao Hua's head worth?
Pang Tong laughed in his heart. Zhang Xiu's expression and reaction were all under Pang Tong's control. This was a chaotic world. People's lives were measured by money. To deal with a greedy person like Zhang Xiu, he naturally had to feed him well. "Two thousand Xiliang men died. My Lord was also very sad. Not only did he return two thousand war horses and two thousand sets of heavy armor, he also chose two thousand strong men from my Qingzhou elite to be given to General Yang Wu!" These two thousand war horses made Liu Bei's heart bleed. They were in the Central Plains. Horses were very difficult to obtain. A good horse could be sold for a hundred gold in the black market. Even Jiangdong could only produce one Yuzhou Iron Cavalry.
"Haha, I will accept the two thousand war horses and two thousand sets of heavy armor. As for the people, I will not take them away!" Zhang Xiu did not hesitate to accept the war horses and armor. As long as he had these, he could go back to Wan Cheng and ask people to go to Xiliang to recruit a few thousand more men. Even if Liu Bei was willing to give them to him, he would not dare to accept them. He did not want to give them to someone else as a dowry. After he finished speaking, he looked at Pang Tong. He would not be satisfied with this. This was what he deserved.
"In addition, my Lord is willing to pay five thousand gold as compensation for the brothers who died in the battle. Three thousand gold for General Hu Che Er and two thousand gold for the soldiers who died in the battle!" The five thousand gold was directly given out. Liu Bei's entire treasury was almost given to Zhang Xiu. In total, there were tens of thousands of gold.
There was also ten thousand dan of grain. It was used to distribute the grain that was sent to Shouchun from Lujiang. "Those grain carts only had one or two thousand dan. How could there be ten thousand dan? This was also what Liu Bei did to appease Zhang Xiu.
"Hmph, do you think you can bribe my Lord with money?" Hu Che Er still did not stop and continued to retort. Zhang Xiu was a little angry with Hu Che Er.
However, Pang Tong still had a smile on his face. Although the smile looked good now, it made Zhang Xiu a little scared. "General Hu Che Er, please do not be angry. We have already taken down the main culprit. General Hu Che Er can deal with him!"
"The main culprit? This Liao Hua? "Hu Che Er said disdainfully.
"No!" Pang Tong shook his head. "Liao Hua, bring the main culprit out and hand him over to General Zhang Xiu!"
"Yes!" Liao Hua nodded and took out a package from his basket. The package was round. Liao Hua took it out and removed the cloth to reveal the thing inside.
When the thing came out, Zhang Xiu sucked in a breath of cold air. It was a big head. Blood was still flowing from the head. The face was ferocious. The expression was one of unwillingness and regret. This was the head of Liu Bei who asked Liu Bei to make a decision!
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