Yuan Shu left behind Qiao Rui, Liu Xiang, Qin Yi, and Liang Gang, commanding 10,000 troops to guard Shouchun. Yuan Shu led his generals, wives, and concubines, and led more than 26,000 people to leave Shouchun and retreat to Lujiang.
The detective reported back and learned that Yuan Shu had led his troops to leave Shouchun. Taishi Ci smiled at Zhou Ping and said, "As expected, Yuan Shu escaped from Shouchun."
Lu Su was a little worried: "Yuan Shu led so many soldiers and horses to retreat. It would be difficult to ambush. If the ambush is large, it will be discovered. If the ambush is small, it will be difficult to defeat the enemy. Moreover, Hefei City also needs troops to garrison, and Yuan Shu cannot be allowed to do so."
Come and occupy it. If he is allowed to occupy Hefei and echo Shouchun, it will be even more difficult for Liu Shijun."
"Brother Zijing is very worried. Hefei must not be lost. The matter of staying in Hefei will be left to brother Zijing." Zhou Ping nodded.
When Taishi Ci heard this, he asked urgently: "How can we ambush? Sir, you... won't just let us five thousand people ambush Yuan Shu's more than twenty thousand people, right?"
Zhou Ping smiled: "Brother Ziyi is also afraid?"
"Of course I'm not afraid, but brothers like me can't die in vain! Although Yuan Shu retreated, with so many soldiers and horses, how can five thousand of me be able to defeat him?"
Zhou Ping untied the wine gourd from his waist, raised his head slightly and took a sip. Looking into the expectant eyes of Taishi Ci and Lu Su, he chuckled and said: "Brother Ziyi, we are not going to stop Yuan Shu this time, and we can't. We can't."
Strike in front, but you can strike behind."
"Sir, do you want to chase after him?" Lu Su seemed to understand Zhou Ping's thoughts.
Taishi Ci also understood at this moment, with a smile on his face: "Sir, what you want is to wait for Yuan Shu's army to pass by before we attack from behind? Haha... In this case, Yuan Shu's army will be in chaos, maybe
I thought it was General Liu’s army that was chasing him! It’s a pity that he couldn’t stop Yuan Shu!”
"Haha, if Yuan Shu wants to escape, of course we can't stop him. Even if we can, we won't stop him."
"What do you mean by this, sir?" Tai Shici was puzzled.
Lu Su also had a look of confusion on his face.
Zhou Ping laughed and said: "Hahaha... Wherever Yuan Shu is, it is easy to break. I will not only let him escape to Lujiang, but also drive him to Jiangdong. No matter how brave Sun Ce is, as long as he still listens to Yuan Shu's orders, I'm afraid
It will be difficult to use it."
Taishi Ci and Lu Su were stunned when they heard this: "The master is timid and the general is weak. Sir, you want Yuan Shu to help us defeat the enemy! Hahaha..."
According to Zhou Ping's opinion, he doesn't want to kill Yuan Shu now.
One is because of Yuan Shu’s identity.
Needless to say, the Yuan family is respected, and he has not done anything arrogant yet. Although his reputation is not very good, it is not yet to the point of being criticized by the people of the world.
He and Yuan Shao are brothers. No matter how they fight now, they are still brothers in the end. Liu Bei can defeat Yuan Shu however he wants, but he must not kill him, otherwise he may be criticized by the scholars of the world, and may also
Provoked the enemy Yuan Shao.
I kept Yuan Shu because I wanted Yuan Shu to help.
In Yangzhou, Yuan Shu is now the most respected, and Lujiang prefect Liu Xun and Sun Ce are just his subordinates.
Wherever Yuan Shu goes, they will take Yuan Shu as their leader. Even if he goes to Jiangdong, no matter how reluctant Sun Ce is, he will probably have to obey Yuan Shu's orders.
If Yuan Shu was in Jiangdong, it might not be that difficult to defeat Sun Ce.
But whether he can be driven to Jiangdong is still unknown. Sun Ce may lead troops to rescue Lujiang by then.
Lu Su led his troops to stay in Hefei, while Zhou Ping and Tai Shici led 5,000 people out of Hefei City and laid an ambush more than ten miles southwest of Hefei.
This is the only way from Shouchun to Lujiang.
The reason why Yuan Shu wanted to ambush south of Hefei was because Yuan Shu knew that there were more than 10,000 people from Lu Su and Tai Shici garrisoned in Hefei. He would be more careful on the way back and would send out scouts to investigate, so that it would be difficult to ambush.
After passing Hefei, Yuan Shu would surely think that he was safe and relax his vigilance.
Zhou Ping and Tai Shici led their troops to hide by the roadside seven or eight miles away, so that they would not be easily discovered by Yuan Shu's scouts exploring the road.
As Zhou Ping expected, Yuan Shu knew that he was in Hefei City. He was afraid that he would encounter an ambush along the way, so he sent a large number of scouts to investigate.
After all, the last time he sent troops to Xuzhou, it was because Zhou Ping's ambush cut off the food route, which led to the instability of the army's morale, and was ultimately defeated. Lu Bu was defeated and died in Xiapi because of Zhou Ping's three-sided ambush.
This person is now in the city of Hefei, and there are more than 10,000 people in Hefei. It is impossible to prevent him.
Although Yuan Shu sent out scouts, he only asked the scouts to extend five miles to both sides of the road for exploration.
Until he reached the south of Hefei, he did not encounter an ambush, and there was no news of troops from Hefei being dispatched. Instead, he was waiting for the city to be guarded, so he felt relieved.
There is no need to pass through Hefei from Shouchun to Lujiang. There is a road going directly south four or five miles west of Hefei.
"Haha, Zhou Ping may have thought that I was coming to attack Hefei, but it turned out that I was overly concerned. Now it's not me who is guarding him, but he who should be guarding me, hahaha..."
Yuan Shu laughed and said to the generals.
"General, why don't we really attack Hefei?" Zhang Xun offered his advice.
"No, there are more than 10,000 bandits garrisoned in the city of Hefei. Although those bandits are a mob, we will definitely win if we go out to fight, but if they hold on to the city, it will not be easy to break through. General Qiao is guarding Shouchun, I'm afraid he won't
It won't be long! If Liu Bei leads his troops to pursue us, it will be too late for us to retreat."
"Strange, Sun Bofu sent troops to pursue Danyang, Zhou Ping set up an ambush, and Chen Wu died in the battle. This Zhou Ping likes to set up ambushes so much. Now that he knows we retreat from here, why not set up an ambush on the road?"
Zhang Xun always felt that Zhou Ping should have set up an ambush, but now that there was no ambush, he felt uneasy.
"Hahaha..." Yuan Shu laughed and said, "This time Zhou Ping is self-aware. He knows that we have many soldiers and horses, and he also knows that it is difficult for his thieves to go into battle. Even if he ambushes me, I don't need to be afraid of him. Quick, send the order.
Troops, move quickly, let's get to Wan County as soon as possible."
"General, if we move quickly, the investigation..."
"This place is already south of Hefei. If there was an ambush, it would have been there a long time ago. Zhou Ping would not have set up an ambush here. Besides, even if there is an ambush, we are not afraid. If Zhou Ping dares to come, I can kill him to kill him."
Hate!"
At this time, Lord Bo Yanxiang advised: "General, Zhou Ping's ambush is always unexpected. Although this place is south of Hefei, we must be on guard."
Yuan Shu thought the same thing. Zhou Ping's ambush on Hushan Mountain was completely unexpected. Now it is not impossible for him to set up an ambush south of Hefei.
He asked the scouts to continue exploring five miles away on both sides of the road.
After marching forward for more than ten miles without incident, Shouchun's cavalry came to report that Liu Bei's army had arrived at the foot of Shouchun City. General Qiaorui occupied the city and defended it. Shouchun was not lost.
"General Qiao is indeed loyal. With him holding Liu Bei back, and Zhou Ping not ambushing his troops, I will be able to safely retreat to Wan County, hahaha..."
Yuan Shu burst out laughing again. Although he was retreating this time, he always felt like he was victorious and laughed proudly every time.
However, before he could stop laughing, another hurried horse came to report: "General, the rear army has been attacked, and the bandits from Hefei are chasing us."