Through the news sent back by the Ethereal Ninjas in Xu Province, most of Liu Bei's forces were moving toward Tangyi City and Guangling Prefecture. It was likely that they would make a big move soon.
When the news was sent back, it was already midnight. Liu Bei was using Yang Rui's forces to seal off the gaps in Guangling Prefecture. If it was not for the Ethereal Ninjas changing their members day and night, by the time Yang Rui found out, Liu Bei would have already made a move.
After receiving the news, Yang Rui immediately ordered Gan Ning's navy through the Ethereal Ninjas to move out overnight to guard the main waterways and keep an eye on the movements of Liu Bei's forces.
Secondly, Yang Rui ordered Xu You's forces in Gaoyou County through the Ethereal Ninjas to guard against Liu Bei's forces threatening the northern region of Guangling.
Apart from that, Yang Rui used the Kongling Secret Ninja to order Guan Hai, Imagawa Yoshimoto, and the other generals in Gaoshan City and Dongyang City to move troops to strengthen the defenses of important areas to prevent Liu Bei's forces from heading west and northwest.
At the same time, Yang Rui also passed the relevant information to Sun Jian's forces in Jiangdong, so that they could prepare in advance and do the relevant defense and coordination matters within the framework of the alliance.
In comparison, Liu Bei's forces could move toward the Gangdong region. Although Sun Jian's forces had occupied a large portion of the defenses and were invincible in the Gangdong region, their opponents were not strong. Liu Bei's attempt to replace them was also possible.
Yang Rui's reaction was not slow. However, Liu Bei had been planning for a long time. By the time the forces in Guangling Prefecture gathered toward Tangyi City and Guangling Prefecture, Liu Bei's forces in the two cities had already reacted.
At this time, there was no need for Yang Rui to guess anymore. Looking at the flags, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei were leading their troops and heading toward Lai 'an City in Huainan Prefecture, which was the current territory of Yuan Shu.
Liu Bei's whereabouts were one of the several possibilities that Yang Rui and the others speculated. Moreover, Liu Bei's whereabouts were considered to be one of the more probable possibilities.
From the very beginning, Liu Bei had expressed his opposition to Yuan Shu and stood firmly on the side of the Han Dynasty. At this moment, attacking Yuan Shu's territory was akin to killing two birds with one stone.
After all, Guangling prefecture was already hard to contain under Yang Rui's blockade. By sacrificing himself to attack Yuan Shu's Huainan prefecture, not only could he leave Guangling prefecture without losing face, he could also achieve his goal of subjugating Yuan Shu.
Of course, Yuan Shu's weakness was the main reason why Liu Bei chose to break out from Huainan Prefecture. After Yang Rui captured Zhang Xun, Chen Ji, Lei Bao and a large number of Yuan Shu's troops, their overall strength was greatly affected.
Moreover, Yuan Shu's original defense was mainly in the west, north, and other directions. He even used Sun Jian as his rear. The defense of the southern part of Yangzhou that he occupied was already very weak.
Liu Bei should have already understood this and accurately chose the direction of Yuan Shu's Huainan Prefecture. In comparison, the difficulty of breaking through was naturally much lower.
After a short consideration, Yang Rui decided to inform Yuan Shu of Liu Bei's movements. However, when Liu Bei and Zhang Fei's troops were heading west, he did not immediately order his troops to attack.
If Liu Bei was only passing through Yuan Shu's territory, Yang Rui would not need to inform Yuan Shu. However, with Liu Bei's forces, there was a high possibility that he could occupy Yuan Shu's territory. This was not something that Yang Rui wanted to see.
In Yang Rui's view, Yuan Shu's power would not last for long. It was likely to create an opportunity for Liu Bei's power to rise again. At that time, once Liu Bei had a firm foothold, Yang Rui's territory would have one more powerful enemy.
However, if Liu Bei were to run to Yi Province or even further away, he would be a threat to the Liu Dan faction that Yang Rui nurtured. It would be like releasing a tiger back to the mountain and giving Liu Bei the greatest space to develop.
As such, Yang Rui informed Yuan Shu's side. After confirming Liu Bei and Zhang Fei's movements, he ordered Gan Ning, Guan Hai, Imagawa Yoshimoto and the others to stop Liu Bei for a while.
Liu Bei's Guangling Prefecture was still some distance away from Huainan Prefecture. Guan Hai and Imagawa Yoshimoto's troops were able to stop Liu Bei in the northern region of Yu Country, causing him to lose a lot of troops.
Additionally, Liu Bei's troops were not as fast as Gan Ning and were also stopped by Gan Ning near Liuhe Town. Liu Bei's troops had already suffered heavy losses.
Fortunately, Zhang Fei received the news and returned to help. Otherwise, Gan Ning, Guan Hai and Imagawa Yoshimoto's troops would be enough to force Liu Bei into a corner. In the end, Zhang Fei only received less than 10000 troops.
As for Liu Bei's remaining troops, they were naturally unable to meet up with Liu Bei or Zhang Fei. In the end, Zhang Fei rescued Liu Bei who had suffered heavy losses and was left with 40000 troops. He then headed toward Huainan Prefecture.
Based on the information that the Hollow Ninja sent back, Yang Rui decided to give up on the chase and return to deal with the troops that Liu Bei left in Guangling Prefecture.
In truth, even if he continued to chase Liu Bei, Yang Rui would not be able to destroy Liu Bei. First, Gan Ning's navy would not be able to enter Huainan Prefecture. Secondly, Yang Rui did not have anyone who could stop Zhang Fei.
Since he did not have any conditions, Yang Rui decided to withdraw his troops. He first took the five counties that Liu Bei left in Xu Province. As for the remaining forces of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, Yang Rui could only let them go. Their future development would depend on the strength and attitude of Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, and Sun Jian.
Ten days later, Yang Rui had cleared out all of Liu Bei's troops and successfully controlled all of Guangling Prefecture. At this point, Yang Rui was the Governor of Xuzhou. Only the counties controlled by Yuan Shu were still being returned.
During this period of time, Liu Bei managed to defeat Yuan Shu's troops in Huainan County of Yangzhou. Even though he did not threaten Shouchun's Imperial City, it still caused Yuan Shu to be very annoyed.
In the end, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei took their remaining 30000 men and passed through Huainan Prefecture and arrived at Lujiang Prefecture. They temporarily camped in Shuxian Prefecture.
Although it would be difficult for Liu Bei and Zhang Fei to take down Shuxian, there were no forces nearby that could threaten Liu Bei. As long as Yuan Shu did not send any more troops to their deaths, Liu Bei would have enough time to take down Shuxian.
Once Shuxian County was controlled, Liu Bei would have a foothold and a place to develop.
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