"Quick, quick, quick! Can't you go a little faster? "Liu Mang looked at the warships and roared in a low voice.
"My lord, this is already the limit!" Gan Ning was helpless as the navy's general. The Huai River was originally small and the current was very gentle. The wind was also not strong. Although all the warships had raised their sails and were moving at maximum speed, Liu Mang was still not satisfied.
"Sigh!" How could Liu Mang not know this? However, he was anxious. None of the scouts he sent to Shouchun had returned. It was clear that the information had been blocked. Only Liu Bei's army could do this. Why would Liu Mang want to block the information? His purpose was obvious. He wanted to use the information war to make an issue out of the disappearance of Lu Shishi. How could Liu Mang not be anxious?
Xu Shu was a loyal and upright person. Such a person was very reassuring to use. However, this loyalty was also Xu Shu's biggest weakness. Liu Ye had told him that once Pang Tong used Lu Shishi as a hostage, Shouchun would not be able to protect itself. Therefore, Liu Mang was anxious.
"My lord, no matter how much you worry, it's useless!" Liu Mang also walked to the bow and comforted Liu Mang. "You must believe in Yuanzhi. He will definitely hold on until we arrive!"
"No, no!" Liu Mang shook his head and smiled bitterly. "It is precisely because I believe in Yuanzhi that I am worried! It is not like you do not know Yuanzhi. He is upright and loyal. These are his strengths but they are also his weaknesses! I am afraid that Xu Shu will do something to fulfill his righteousness! " "Liu Mang is really afraid of Xu Shu. Xu Shu is too serious in his work. He is also too strict with himself. This kind of Xu Shu is what Liu Mang is most afraid of. In terms of strategy, Xu Shu was not inferior to Pang Tong. In fact, he was even more insightful than Pang Tong. However, in terms of morality, he was completely suppressed by Pang Tong. In Pang Tong's opinion, as long as one's goal was reached, the means were nothing.
In the original timeline, Pang Tong even wanted to suppress Zhuge Liang so that Liu Bei could legitimately attack Sichuan. He even used himself as bait. Even though he knew that there was an ambush ahead, he still chose to walk in that direction. In the end, he was shot to death by Zhang Ren on the Fallen Phoenix Slope in order to give Liu Bei a legitimate excuse to attack Sichuan. Liu Bei was helping Liu Zhang defend against Zhang Lu's attack in Hanzhong. Yet, not only did Pang Tong not thank him, he even killed his military advisor. This was not justifiable and the people of Sichuan would lose a lot of support. This also laid the foundation for Liu Bei to take down Sichuan, allowing Liu Bei to proudly claim the Three Kingdoms.
Therefore, Pang Tong was a person who would do anything to achieve his goals. Xu Shu would have a hard time dealing with him.
During the conversation between Liu Mang and Liu Ye, the warship finally reached the junction of Huai River and Ying River. The river here gradually became wider and the water became more turbulent. The speed of the warship also increased.
Liu Mang knew that Shouchun was not far ahead. He had once cooked Jingzhou's number one dish, Red Braised Turkey. However, this Red Braised Turkey had forced Liu Mang into a life and death situation.
"Milord is about to arrive!" "Gan Ning has been to this place where the Huai River intersects with the Wei River many times. His navy is here to train and rest.
"Hmm?" Liu Mang nodded. The warship sailed towards Shouchun Water Fort. The closer they got to the fort, Liu Mang's heart sank. This was because other than the closed gate, there were only a few people in sight. Even the flag of Liu Mang's Army was no longer there. What did this mean? This meant that something had happened in Shouchun.
"Milord, what should we do now?" Liu Ye also did not know what to do when he saw the Shouchun Water Fort. The situation in Shouchun was unclear. The safest way was to avoid Shouchun and prepare for the worst. They would bring all the warships from Lujiang County and withdraw all the troops from Lujiang County. They would then return to Lujiang County and prepare for a comeback.
"We cannot leave! Everyone, get ready. We will enter Shouchun! " Liu Mang's expression was very bad. He had spent a lot of energy on Shouchun. It could be said that this was the first major event that he had done since coming to this chaotic world. If he could not even complete this matter, how could he compete with those ambitious and ruthless people? Moreover, Zhao Yun and Xu Shu were in the city. These two were Liu Mang's left and right arms. If he lost them, Liu Mang would regret it. If he was subdued by Liu Bei, then Liu Mang did not dare to imagine Liu Bei's development. Therefore, Liu Mang could not leave.
"Milord! If we enter Shouchun now, we will only be in the dark! " If Shouchun was not lost, then it would be fine. But once Shouchun was occupied by Liu Bei, then they would be in danger. The water fort in Shouchun was much higher than the water fort. In order to prevent the water fort from being breached by the enemy, there was an inner gate. If they entered Shouchun, then it would be a chaotic battle. Moreover, it was getting late. If they were ambushed, then it would be very funny. The most important thing was that the soldiers on the warships were a little seasick! Liu Mang's City Guard was especially unbearable. When they were on Gan Ning's warship, they rested on the shore for a day before arriving at Guangzhou. The Black Flag Army was not much better. With their two main forces like this, how much fighting power could they have left? Even if they wanted to enter, they would need a buffer!
"We have to enter even if we cannot. There is not much time left! It is too late! " Liu Mang clenched his teeth. Shouchun must not be lost. Even if Shouchun was lost, Liu Mang must bring Xu Shu and Zhao Yun out. "Brothers, can you still hold on?" Liu Mang asked the soldiers of the Black Flag Army and the City Guard.
"Yes, Milord!" Their voices were weak. Although there was a voice, there was no strength. It was simply impossible.
"Milord, let us, the navy, follow you!" Gan Ning walked to Liu Mang's side and said. There were more than 5,000 Gan Ning's navy on the warships.
"Navy?" Liu Mang was a little hesitant. The navy was Liu Mang's weapon. It was prepared to deal with Jiangdong's Sun Ce and Liu Mang in the future. Therefore, Liu Mang had always treated Gan Ning's navy as a treasure. No matter what kind of battle it was, he was not willing to take out the navy.
"Milord, our navy has been training for so long. We have not had a decent battle. Are we going to be women all the time?" Gan Ning's tone had a trace of anger. Since his navy came to Yangzhou, they had not had a good battle. Before they had the warships, they were conserving their strength. Basically, they were practicing martial arts. After they had the warships, they only had one battle. The thousands of Liu Bei's navy and Gan Ning's navy were not on the same level. It was really boring to fight. After that, Gan Ning wanted to help Xu Shu defend the city, but Xu Shu refused. Therefore, Gan Ning was really angry. He was indeed Liu Mang's trump card, but Gan Ning could not stay idle all the time.
"Huh?" Liu Mang frowned. He had treated Gan Ning's navy too much. It was no wonder that Gan Ning was not convinced. Now that Liu Mang had no one to use, it was time to let them see blood. An army that had not seen blood would not be a strong army no matter how much they trained.
"Okay, Gan Ning, bring 5,000 navy and follow me into the city! Ziyang, you stay on the warships with the city management and Hei Qi, just in case! "Liu Mang left behind 1,000 navy to control the warships.
"Understood!" Liu Mang nodded. He could not help much when Liu Mang and the others entered Shouchun. After all, he was a scholar and was not good at fighting. It was better to stay on the side and wait.
"Gan Ning, let the soldiers get ready!" Liu Mang said to Gan Ning.
"Brothers, we have work to do!" Gan Ning's face was full of joy. He still could not change his bandit nature. Once he was happy, it would be exposed. Fortunately, Liu Mang did not care about such things. If he was under Yuan Shao, Gan Ning might have been removed from his position.
There was not even a shadow of a person in the Shouchun water camp. Gan Ning's navy used ladders to climb up the water camp and opened the gate. The 5,000 navy rushed into the water camp and quickly disappeared into the distant Shouchun city.
"Generals Xu Sheng and Chengyu, bring your city management and Hei Qi troops to the water camp!" Liu Mang saw that Liu Mang had left and shouted to Xu Sheng and Chengyu. "Get ready to support the Lord at any time!"
Xu Sheng and Chengyu looked at each other and cupped their fists in unison. "Yes!"
Liu Ye looked in the direction that Liu Mang had left. He had already prepared for the worst. If Shouchun was broken and Liu Mang was trapped in Shouchun, he would bring the city management and Hei Qi troops to attack Shouchun. At worst, they would all die here. No matter how heavy the losses, they would have to rescue Liu Mang!
… …
Outside Shouchun, Liu Bei's army's banners were erected. Zhang Xiu had already left with his Xiliang Cavalry to chase after the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. It was already nine in the morning but there was still no movement in Shouchun. This made Liu Bei a little anxious.
"Military Advisor, look at this!" Liu Bei pointed at Shouchun and asked Pang Tong. In fact, Liu Bei's Qi cultivation had reached perfection. He was very calm. Otherwise, he would not have been defeated time and time again. However, today, Liu Bei was really anxious. This was the fifth time that he had asked Pang Tong. This was enough to show the importance of capturing Shouchun.
"My Lord, don't be anxious. It's not time yet!" Pang Tong said to Liu Bei with a smile. He was trying to appease Liu Bei's heart. Pang Tong had a good grasp of the time. At most, there was an incense stick's worth of time left before the day was over. Xu Shu and Xu Yuanzhi were upright people. Naturally, they would not give more or less information. Even if they wanted to fight to the death, they would give the news.
An incense stick's worth of time was very short but it was very long for Liu Bei. This was because the waiting time was very unbearable. Fortunately, it was only an incense stick's worth of time.
"Huh?" Pang Tong's brows wrinkled. The time was up, but why was there still no movement in the city? Just when Pang Tong was about to lose his cool, the drawbridge of Shouchun City's moat was lowered.
"It's coming!" Pang Tong and Liu Bei looked at each other. Both of them could see the joy in each other's eyes.
Sure enough, after the drawbridge of Shouchun's moat was lowered, the next thing was the city gate. The gate was opened and a white-armored general rode out of Shouchun with a spear in his hand. Hundreds of heavily armored soldiers followed behind him as he rode out of Shouchun.
Seeing this person, Liu Bei and Pang Tong also rode their horses towards him. The army behind them also advanced towards Shouchun. "Zilong, I trust you have been well since we last met!" Liu Bei was the first to speak as he cupped his fist towards the general.
That's right, the general who came out of the city gate was Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong. Behind him were 20,000 soldiers of the White Horses. Now, there were only 100 left. Zhao Yun did not respond to Liu Bei's greeting. Instead, he coldly snorted to express his disdain towards Liu Bei: "Despicable villain!"
"Hey, Zilong, how can you treat my brother like this? Do you really think that I, Old Zhang, can't poke a dozen holes in your body? "Zhao Yun's attitude angered Zhang Fei. He wanted to fight with Zhao Yun.
"Do you think I'm afraid of you?" Zhao Yun angrily glared at Zhang Fei.
"Yide, don't be rude!" Liu Bei was in a good mood and did not want to bicker with Zhao Yun. He also did not want to complicate matters and called back Zhang Fei. It had to be said that Liu Bei was really a traitor. Even at this point, even though Zhao Yun had clearly seen his face, Liu Bei still acted as if he had been wronged. "Zilong, I have no choice. If you want to be ruthless, then be ruthless. For the foundation of the Great Han Dynasty, for the people of this world, I am willing to bear the title of a despicable villain!"
Zhao Yun did not want to see Liu Bei's performance. He waved his spear and asked: "Left General, where is my mistress?" Zhao Yun asked. Naturally, someone pointed to the carriage.
"Good, Left General, Shouchun is here! Return the mistress to me and I will leave! " Zhao Yun saw the carriage and said.
"Men, bring the carriage to General Zilong!" Liu Bei waved his hand and ordered the soldiers behind him to bring the carriage over. From the gaps in the frame of the carriage, one could roughly see that there was a woman in the carriage. "General Zhao Yun, please move aside!" Let my army enter the city! " “
Zhao Yun nodded and ordered the cavalry behind him to move the carriage to the side. When Liu Bei was about to lead the army into the city, the cavalry beside Zhao Yun suddenly shouted.
"General, the mistress in the carriage is not the mistress!" Although this cavalryman wasn't familiar with Miss Lu, he knew that his mistress was a beauty that could cause the downfall of a country. However, the one inside the carriage wasn't Miss Lu. She was just a rural woman. Her skin was dry and yellow. This was the appearance of someone who had been doing farm work for a long time.
"What! It's fake! "Zhao Yun opened the carriage and saw that it was indeed a rural woman. Zhao Yun immediately became angry: "Liu Bei, you despicable villain! Where is my mistress!"
Was it exposed? Liu Bei also shook his head. There was no other way. Yangzhou originally did not have many people. It was not easy to find such a woman. However, how could a rural woman disguise herself as a young lady? She was quickly exposed.
"Haha, Zilong, Zilong, my big brother didn't catch your old man's mistress!" Zhang Fei laughed proudly.
"Then why did you lie to me about Shouchun?" Zhao Yun was furious.
"All is fair in war, General Zilong. There is no such thing as despicable deceit on the battlefield!" This was Pang Tong's words. "Many thanks for this Shouchun!"
"Close the gate!" Zhao Yun shouted angrily. If all of this was fake, then the consequences would be unimaginable. He did not get his mistress, Shouchun would be breached, and the military advisor would lose his life! Zhao Yun was really anxious.
"Quickly capture Shouchun!" Pang Tong heard Zhao Yun's roar and immediately ordered people to attack Shouchun.
"Boom, boom, boom!" Fortunately, the soldiers in the city were fast. When they heard Zhao Yun's roar, they immediately began to close the gate.
"Hey, those who block me will die!" Zhang Fei rode his horse towards the gates of Shouchun. Seeing that it was going to be too late, he threw the long spear in his hand. Fortunately, the soldiers guarding the gates were faster, so the long spear was stuck on the city walls and did not enter the gates.
Shouchun's gate was finally closed. Zhao Yun could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"General Zhao Yun, do you think that Shouchun's gate can stop my army?" Liu Bei's eyes were filled with killing intent. His tone towards Zhao Yun became impolite. Zhang Fei could not be bothered to close the gate of Shouchun's garrison. He was so angry that he roared again and again. However, the drawbridge of Shouchun would never be closed.
"Shouchun's gate, without the general, there are still hundreds of elites under your command! Let's see how long this Shouchun can stop me! " Liu Bei was telling the truth. Shouchun had not been taken by the Liu Bei Army because of Zhao Yun and his elite subordinates. Now that both of them had appeared and Xu Shu was nowhere to be seen on the walls, how could the Liu Bei Army be lazy to take down the Liu Bei Army with only a group of militia without a leader?
"Damn it!" Zhao Yun gripped his spear so hard that it almost left a mark. He wanted to kill the Central Army and kill Liu Bei. However, he knew that he could not do it because Zhang Fei was there.
"General Zhao Yun, watch how my army takes Shouchun!" Liu Bei was furious. He waved his hand and ordered his army to attack the city.
"Report, report, report!" A scout rushed into Liu Bei's army in a panic.
"Huh?" Liu Bei frowned and was about to scold him. However, when he looked closely, he realized that the scout was not from Liu Bei's army. Looking at the red armor, it was Zhang Xiu's Xiliang Cavalry. Liu Bei suddenly felt uneasy.
"Report, reporting to the Left General. My lord was ambushed in Luan. He suffered heavy losses and is trapped in Luan. I hope that the Left General can rescue him in time!" The Xiliang Cavalry was covered in blood. It was his own blood and the enemy's blood. It showed that he had gone through a lot to escape.
"What?" Liu Bei was stunned. Zhang Xiu was ambushed? Where did the ambush come from? The only troops in Yangzhou that Liu Bei was afraid of were Liu Mang's urban management and the Black Flag Army. However, these two armies were in Guangzhou. Did he fly over?
"My lord, I am afraid that there is a problem in Jiangdong!" Pang Tong heard the scout's words and said to Liu Bei with a wry smile.
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