"Is Liu Bei unwilling to let them go?" A tall middle-aged man asked a young man beside him as they marched towards Fan City.
"Yes, my lord. That's what the young lord's subordinates said!" The young man said respectfully to the middle-aged man.
"So you're saying that we can send troops?" The middle-aged man asked.
"My lord, you're only sending troops to force Liu Bei to exhaust Liu Bei's strength. It's not …" The young man was interrupted by the middle-aged man before he could finish his sentence.
"Got it!" The middle-aged man was a little impatient. "Yuan Long, you're almost the same as Liu Mang and Hanyang. You're so noisy and annoying. I've been fighting wars for half my life. Do I need that kid to remind me? I haven't even had the chance to settle the score with that kid yet. Hmph. "
Chen Deng could only shake his head with a bitter smile. This was his lord's family matter. As a family general, it was not his place to say anything.
"That kid knows how to attack people's minds!" Lü Bu's lips curled up. It was unknown whether he was smiling or thinking about something. His gaze deepened as he looked at the advancing troops. His son-in-law had sent a messenger to Fan City not only to annoy Liu Bei, but also to redeem the Zhang family's descendants, Governor Song Zhong, and the soldiers of Fan City. On the surface, it was Liu Mang's goodwill, but in reality, it was Liu Mang's psychological attack.
The Zhang family's descendants were useless in Liu Bei's hands. However, Liu Mang had sent a messenger. This showed that Liu Mang was sincere and kind to the Zhang family. Whether it succeeded or not, the Zhang family would be grateful to Liu Mang and gain the favor of the nobles in Jingzhou.
As for Governor Song Zhong, he was a great scholar. Although he had a reputation for being useless, Liu Mang's price was not small. Song Zhong was worth five thousand gold each. This price was comparable to the Second Young Master of Jiangdong who had been captured by Yangzhou. However, Liu Mang did not feel any heartache because this was equivalent to buying bones with a thousand gold. Liu Mang's actions were for the scholars of Jingzhou to see. No matter what, Song Zhong was still a great scholar. Redeeming him with five thousand gold was equivalent to buying bones with a thousand gold. This way, the scholars of Jingzhou and the students of Lumen Academy would flock to Yangzhou.
Redeeming the soldiers of Jingzhou was not because Liu Mang had the money, but because Liu Mang did not want Liu Bei to use the soldiers of Fan City.
If Liu Bei agreed, Liu Mang could naturally take out the gold. However, could Liu Bei use it? If Liu Bei did not agree, then Liu Mang would have done him a favor. The Zhang family and the group of scholars of Jingzhou would think well of Liu Mang.
At the same time, Liu Bei would not be able to use the soldiers of Fan City.
"Milord, Milord! Not good! " Liu Bei had just angrily dismissed the messenger sent by Liu Mang. His anger had not yet subsided when Liao Hua ran in with an ugly expression.
"What is it now?" Liu Bei had been annoyed by everything in the past few days. He was almost used to being annoyed by this.
"Milord, I don't know where the news came from. It said that Jingzhou sent a messenger to redeem the soldiers of Fan City, but Milord did not agree. There is also news that once the city is breached, the soldiers of Fan City will not be held accountable for their mistakes!" Liao Hua quickly finished speaking.
"What!" Liu Bei stood up. The messenger and the messenger were discussing how the news had reached Fan City so quickly.
Jian Yong thought for a moment and suddenly said to Liu Bei, "Milord, we've been tricked!" "Milord, this is a psychological attack."
Fan City originally had thirty thousand soldiers. Before the city was breached, other than Zhao Yun killing a wave of enemies, there were not many casualties. When Zhang Gui was captured and sent away, there were at least twenty thousand soldiers in Fan City. When Liu Bei ordered the Xiliang Cavalry to enter the city, they were only allowed to plunder and not kill. The Qiang Tribe barbarians were also obedient.
As a result, the civilians in the city were not harmed. The defenders of Fan City also did not have much resentment towards Liu Bei and did not cause any trouble. Next, Liu Bei prepared to send some generals to take over the defenders of Fan City. He wanted to use the original soldiers of Jingzhou to defend the city. This was because the soldiers of Fan City were also afraid.
After all, they had lost the city and the responsibility of losing their land was not small. They were afraid that they would be punished when they returned to Jingzhou. Therefore, Liu Bei's takeover was carried out in an orderly manner. If it was successful, Liu Bei's army would increase to fifty thousand soldiers.
There would be thirty-five thousand soldiers defending the city and fifteen thousand Xiliang Cavalry on standby. This way, Fan City's walls would be strong and there would be so much food that it would not be a problem to defend the city for a year or so.
However, accepting the soldiers of Fan City was a problem.
The soldiers' morale was in chaos. Originally, they were afraid that they would be implicated when Jingzhou recaptured Fan City. Therefore, they did not resist Liu Bei's takeover. It did not matter who they worked for. In any case, they were soldiers for a living.
But now, it was different. Liu Biao actually said that he would let bygones be bygones and even sent an envoy to ransom them. The soldiers of Fan City were really fired up. Although Liu Biao did not have the heart to forge ahead and might not be a good lord to those generals, he was a great lord to these soldiers. Which soldier liked to fight? Wars cost lives. Jingzhou only had wars in Jiang Xia. Other times, it was peaceful. Moreover, Liu Biao's provisions were much better than other places. The soldiers' meals were also much better. Many of the soldiers of Fan City had already settled down in Fan City. They did not understand the future if they followed Liu Bei. They were just ordinary soldiers and did not see that Liu Bei was a traitor like those strategists.
Therefore, the soldiers of Fan City who were originally willing to surrender were not willing to do so.
"We can't use the soldiers of Fan City anymore!" Liu Bei said hatefully. He really did not dare to use such a group of troops that would mess up the morale of the soldiers. If the city gates were suddenly opened during the defense, it would be a big joke. Liu Mang and Liu Hanyang had long planned this.
"Men, lock up all the captives and lock them in the main camp in the city. Remove their armor. If necessary, kill them!" Liu Bei did not have the slightest bit of sympathy. He would not be soft-hearted. If a warlord was soft-hearted, he would have already become a skeleton in the grave.
"Yes!" Liao Hua nodded and left. Now, not only did Liu Bei not need these twenty thousand captives, he even had to send a group of soldiers to watch over them. It was simply a double loss.
"Xianhe, where is the allied army of Jingzhou and Yangzhou?" Liu Bei asked Jian Yong.
"They have already crossed the Yangtze River and are fifty li away from Fan City!" Jian Yong replied.
"They're here!" Liu Bei's gaze deepened. They could reach fifty li in a day and a half.
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