Liu Bei was quite hesitant about whether to go to war.
Cao Cao has more than 30,000 troops, but he does not even have 15,000. The opponent has 20,000 more than himself. This battle is not easy to fight.
If he was dealing with Yuan Shu, Liu Bei might not be afraid, but the opponent was Cao Cao, the man who defeated millions of Yellow Turbans, defeated Yuan Shu once, and went unimpeded in Xuzhou twice.
Even if the troops were equal, Liu Bei was not confident of victory, let alone the huge difference in military strength now.
"Brother, don't hesitate, let's fight!"
Zhang Fei is not afraid of anything. Except Guan Yu, no one is vulnerable to him.
"My lord, the army is very eager to fight. If we don't fight, we may damage morale. It's better to select a thousand elites to fight as Gao Xiaowei said. We don't seek a big victory. We will retreat after a small victory. This can dampen the enemy's spirit." It can also calm the fighting spirit of the army."
Zhuge Liang once felt that Gao Shun's proposal was inappropriate, but now it seems that this is the best choice at the moment.
"It's too risky."
Liu Bei was worried that he only sent a thousand soldiers to fight, and the enemy army had more than 30,000 people. It was very likely that the 1,000 soldiers would be wiped out. Moreover, if they lost, their morale would be greatly damaged, and it would be even more difficult to deal with later.
"Lord, the current situation calls for a battle. If the whole army goes out to fight, the victory or defeat is unpredictable. And if we only go out with a thousand people, the enemy will underestimate us when we see that we have few people. We can attack quickly and make some gains. Make a hasty retreat so that the enemy cannot form a siege, and send two thousand soldiers to support you outside the camp. This way you will be able to retreat in one piece."
This was the strategy proposed by Gao Shun, and he urged it again at this time.
Liu Bei hesitated.
He knew in his heart that no matter what, he must leave the camp to fight Cao Cao.
But it is obvious that he cannot fight the opponent yet, and it is not yet time for the decisive battle.
Since a decisive battle is not possible, we can only send some troops and horses to fight the opponent.
After thinking for a long time and everyone urging him again, Liu Bei decided in his heart that he would use Gao Shun's strategy and select a thousand men to go into battle.
"Since we are going to fight, we must show our majesty. Who among the generals is willing to fight?"
"Brother, I am willing to fight!"
"Gao Shun is willing to fight!"
"Cao Xing is willing to fight!"
"Chen Dao is willing to fight!"
"Xu Chu is willing to fight!"
"..."
In addition to them, many generals expressed their willingness to fight.
Seeing such a scene, Liu Bei felt relieved that he would not be afraid of death and his army would win.
"Zhang Yide listens to the order and orders you to be a general and lead the troops into battle."
"No." Zhang Fei responded with great joy.
"Gao Boping, Cao Xing, you will go into battle together."
"No." Gao Shun and Cao Xing responded in unison.
"Xu Zhongkang, you lead the Hu Shiying to fight with Zhang Yide."
Liu Bei also sent the Hu Shi camp, which showed that he really wanted to show off his power in a battle.
"promise."
Xu Chu didn't hear his name just now and thought Liu Bei would not let him go to the battle. He was worried. Now he heard the order and was immediately overjoyed.
"But one thing you must keep in mind is that if you hear the sound of Jin Jin retreating, you must retreat immediately and don't be reluctant to fight." Liu Bei said seriously.
"promise."
Zhang Fei and others responded in unison.
"Lord, where am I?"
Chen Dao looked at everyone stupidly, thinking that Liu Bei had forgotten about him.
"Chen Shuzhi, you lead two thousand people out of the camp to take care of them and protect them from returning safely."
It turned out that Liu Bei also had plans for him.
Although it was a pity that he could not go into battle to kill the enemy, Chen Dao understood that the response was equally important, so he immediately handed over his hands and replied: "No."
Liu Bei personally selected a thousand men from the army. These thousand men were all willing to fight, and they were all strong men.
Only those who volunteer to fight will not be afraid of the enemy when they go to the battlefield, and it also shows that they are ready to die.
Liu Bei knew that this battle was very dangerous and they might not be able to come back.
And he sent almost all the elite around him.
Zhang Fei is definitely going to fight. This is a life-and-death battle. Liu Bei cannot fight in person. His sworn brother Guan Yu is not here, so Zhang Fei has to fight on behalf of Liu Bei.
Gao Shun and Cao Xing are new generals, and letting them go into battle also gives them an opportunity to make meritorious deeds.
Not to mention Xu Chu's Hu Shi camp, these people are the best of the best, and sending them up can achieve better results.
Zhang Fei was holding a snake spear that was eight feet long, wearing armor, and was riding on a horse. Behind him were Gao Shun and Cao Xing, as well as Xu Chu and the soldiers of the Hushi camp, as well as the thousand elite soldiers.
There were 300 people in Xu Chu's Hushi camp. Now with the addition of 1,000 selected soldiers, there are 1,300 people in total.
"Leave camp."
Zhang Fei roared and the camp gate opened. He clapped his horse forward and took the lead to leave the camp, followed closely by Gao Shun, Xu Chu and others.
When we got out of the camp, we saw that the enemy army on the opposite side had already set up a formation. The 30,000 enemy soldiers were divided into several formations.
Chen Dao led two thousand soldiers outside the camp, most of them were crossbowmen. They only waited for Zhang Fei and others to retreat to block the enemy soldiers.
Liu Bei also asked Cao Cheng to lead his troops to prepare in the camp to prevent enemy soldiers from taking the opportunity to rush into the camp.
Cao Cao immediately marched under his command and was overjoyed when he saw the gate of the opponent's camp open and the soldiers and horses leaving the camp.
He is not afraid that the other party will fight now, but he is afraid that the other party will not fight.
If Liu Bei refuses to fight, it will be difficult for him. He will have no choice but to continue to attack other counties and massacre the people of Xuzhou to damage Liu Bei's reputation.
Because it was Liu Bei's cowardice that caused the people of Xuzhou to be massacred, so the people of Xuzhou would no longer support Liu Bei.
Tao Qian was like this at the beginning. He hid in Tancheng and did not dare to go to war. Cao Cao slaughtered the city wantonly, so he did not let his son take over Xuzhou because he knew that the people of Xuzhou no longer supported him, let alone supported him.
son.
But when Cao Cao saw the opponent's troops leaving the camp, it seemed that there were only more than a thousand people.
What exactly is going on?
Liu Bei only sent more than a thousand people to fight with me?
Cao Cao was puzzled and looked at Guo Jia next to him, hoping that Guo Fengxiao could guess what Liu Bei meant.
Guo Jia was also puzzled at first, but now he has guessed Liu Bei's intention.
"Liu Bei did not dare to fight, but had to fight, so he only sent some troops and horses to show the people of Xuzhou that he was not afraid of Duke Ming. These people were just people sent by Liu Bei to die."
Cao Cao shook his head and disagreed with Guo Jiazhi: "Do you know who is leading the army?"
Guo Jia looked carefully and saw that the leader of the army was a big black man who looked very powerful.
"Who is this person? Does Ming Ming know this person?" Guo Jia has never met Zhang Fei.
"This person is Zhang Fei, the sworn brother of Liu Xuande. Does Feng Xiao think Liu Xuande sent them out to die?"
Cao Cao also saw Gao Shun. When he fought with Lu Bu in Yanzhou, Cao Cao recognized Gao Shun and knew that this man was not an ordinary person.
Therefore, he was even more certain that Liu Bei sent these people out not to send them to die, but to use this battle to weaken his own spirit and enhance his power.
"Is he Zhang Fei who killed Ji Ling and Li Feng and stabbed Lu Bu?"
Guo Jia has heard of Zhang Fei's name, and now he is leading the troops into the battle. It seems that Liu Bei has high hopes for this battle.
Although Cao Cao expected that Liu Bei wanted to use this battle to show off his power, he did not pay attention to the opponent's more than 1,000 people. After all, he had 30,000 troops, how could he be afraid of the opponent's more than 1,000 people.
The leader of the front line was Le Jin, who led five thousand soldiers and horses in formation.
Although Yue Jin has a short appearance and is similar to Cao Cao, he is a courageous man. He is not only brave but also not afraid of death. He is a rare fierce general under Cao Cao.
No bold person will take his opponent seriously, and the same goes for Le Jin. He looked at Zhang Fei opposite and saw that there were only more than a thousand people on the opposite side. He didn't take them seriously at all, thinking to himself
After a while, they will kill all the more than a thousand people on the other side.
