Lu You led five thousand soldiers and horses to rush all the way, and arrived at Huailing five days later.
Guan Yu sent people to transport 10,000 shi of grain from Xuyi on the same day. Although it was not much, it was enough to feed 5,000 people for a month. With the grain stored in the city, even if the city was besieged by Yuan Shu's army, it would not hold out for two or three months.
question.
Lu You had previously fought with Tao Qian against the Yellow Turbans and had made great contributions as a general. When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou, he was defeated by Cao Ren and was afraid of Cao's army.
But there seems to be nothing to fear about Yuan Shu, because Yuan Shu was also defeated by Cao Cao.
After Liu Bei took over Xuzhou, he divided most of Xuzhou's troops and horses to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, leaving Lu You to command only a few thousand men.
This time, Liu Bei asked him to guard Huai Ling, which was a sign of his importance. Lu You thought that he must perform well and guard Huai Ling, so that he would be more important in the future.
Huailing is not a transportation or strategic location, and it is far away from state and county areas. It can be regarded as a small and remote city. The city walls are thin and low, and the trenches outside the city are narrow and shallow.
After Lu You entered the city, he couldn't help but feel a little worried when he saw such walls and trenches. Could such a city withstand Yuan Shu's attack of 50,000 soldiers and horses?
He couldn't understand why Liu Bei sent troops to defend such an unimportant remote city. Even if it was left to Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu would probably look down upon it.
Of course, Lu You didn't know about Liu Bei and Zhou Ping's plan to lure the enemy deep and then cut off their retreat, nor did he know that Tian Yu and Xu Chu were leading troops to hide in the mountains. If he knew all this, he would understand the importance of Huai Ling.
Liu Bei and Zhou Ping did not tell him their plans. This kind of confidential matter was related to victory or defeat, and not everyone could know it. Lu You only had to defend Huai Ling.
"General, do you want to repair the city wall and clear and widen the trenches outside the city? Otherwise, Yuan Shu will attack with 50,000 troops, and it will be difficult for us, 5,000 people, to resist!"
Lu You led his subordinates to inspect the city defense, and a military prince asked.
"What's the use of repairing and cleaning up now? Yuan Shu's troops are about to arrive. Go quickly and send scouts to find out when Yuan Shu's troops will arrive." Lu You ordered.
"promise."
The military lord immediately sent out scouts to investigate.
In the evening, Lu You was drinking and eating meat in the camp.
In Xiapi, Liu Bei was in charge, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were watching, so he couldn't do whatever he wanted.
Now that he has arrived in Huailing, he can make his own decisions. Everyone in the city must obey his orders, and he seems to feel a little restless in his heart.
The scouts sent out to investigate came back and reported: "General, Yuan Shu's forward troops will arrive at Huailing in three days, but..."
"But what? Say."
"But Yuan Shu has too many soldiers and horses. Judging from their strength, there should be fifty or sixty thousand people."
"I know, let's explore again."
"promise."
Lu You had known for a long time that Yuan Shu would personally lead 50,000 troops to attack this time, so this was not unexpected.
But he still couldn't help but worry in his heart. There were only 5,000 people defending the city now. If Yuan Shu's 50,000 troops came to attack, Huailing City was so weak that it was really a question whether it could be defended.
I don’t know when Liu Bei’s reinforcements will arrive.
Worried, Yuan Shu's troops had not arrived yet, so he was happy and leisurely. In addition to patrolling the city as usual, he had a lot of meat and wine in the camp.
Two days later, shortly after dawn, Lu You was awakened from his sleep by a hurried shout: "General, general, wake up quickly, the enemy soldiers have arrived at the city!"
"What?!" Lu You suddenly opened his eyes and sat up, looking at the military commander in front of him, a little unbelievable, "Wouldn't the enemy's forward arrive only tomorrow? Why did it arrive today?"
The military prince replied: "According to the enemy's schedule, they should not arrive until tomorrow. Perhaps they knew that we came to occupy Huailing first, so they accelerated their march to capture the city. I heard that the enemy's vanguard general is Ji Ling.
, this person is quite brave and good at leading troops."
"How many troops does he have?" Lu You hurriedly got down and put on his shoes.
The military prince brought him armor and helped him put it on, and replied: "There should only be five thousand people."
Hearing that there were only 5,000 enemy soldiers arriving at the city, Lu You immediately relaxed and said with a smile: "Haha, what's there to be afraid of with 5,000 men? We also have 5,000 men, are we still afraid that we won't be able to defend the city? Let's go and see.
look."
After putting on his armor and weapons, Lu You led all the soldiers and guards to the city gate tower.
Outside the city, several military formations were lined up, with banners and drums in full order, showing a mighty appearance.
A general in front of the formation, holding a long sword, was looking up at the city.
Lu You stood on the city gate tower, holding his sword in his hand and looking at him.
"Is this person Ji Ling?" Lu You asked, pointing to the enemy general.
"Yes, he sent someone to challenge him and wanted us to go out of the city to fight him." The military leader replied.
Lu You smiled: "Humph, if you want us to go to war, tell him to go back to his dreams. We are here to defend this city, not to fight him. Here is the order, no one is allowed to talk about fighting."
"promise."
After Ji Ling was rejected, he knew that Lu You had no intention of going to war, so he had to send troops to shout and scold him outside the city, saying whatever was unpleasant to him, in order to provoke the opponent to fight.
"The guard in the city is Lu You, a rat? I have three thousand men here, but you don't dare to fight. When General Yuan comes with a hundred thousand troops, the city will be razed. Liu Bei sent you here to kill you.
coming."
"It doesn't matter if you die. What should you do with your wife and children at home? Who will fulfill your filial piety to your parents? You are so unfilial and you are no longer a human son. Why don't you just jump from the city? We can take care of your parents, wife and children.
"
"It is rare for a general to be as timid as you in ancient and modern times. It seems that Liu Bei really has no one to use. Even a small soldier can become a general. When General Yuan's army arrives, he will kill you all without any effort.
If you have some knowledge of current affairs, you should open the city gates and go out of the city to surrender at this moment, otherwise, you will die without a burial place."
"..."
"Shoot, shoot them to death!"
Lu You stood on the city gate tower and screamed angrily when he was scolded, and ordered a volley of bows and crossbows to fire.
Hundreds of crossbowmen raised their arrows and fired at the enemy soldiers shouting and yelling outside the city. However, the enemy soldiers stood outside the range of the crossbows and the arrows could not reach them.
After the soldiers fired three rounds of arrows, Lu Youcai ordered to stop, but the enemy soldiers outside the city were still shouting and cursing loudly.
"General, there are only a few thousand enemy soldiers. I don't think they dare to attack the city. General, you can go back to the camp to rest. They will leave when they are tired of scolding." A military prince persuaded.
Lu You nodded: "Well, you should pay attention to the enemy's movements. Although they dare not attack the city, they must be prepared and not slack off. I will go back to camp for a while and report as soon as possible if there is any military information."
"promise."
Anyway, if you don't hear them, you don't need to be so angry if you can't hear their curses.
Lu You glanced at Ji Ling outside the city again. The anger on his face had dissipated a lot, and he turned back to the camp.
Ji Ling saw that the method of provoking the generals was useless, so he had no choice but to order his troops to retreat and camp five miles away from the city to wait for Yuan Shu's troops.
Although Lu You came to watch on the city gate tower every day, he was looking forward to the arrival of Yuan Shu's troops and horses, but also fearing the arrival of Yuan Shu's troops and horses.
Although they were enemy soldiers, they would always make people miss them when they were not seen, but they would feel at ease when they were seen. But when he thought of Yuan Shu's 50,000 troops, Lu You began to be afraid again.
Ji Ling still brought his troops to the city every day to yell and curse, but the enemy soldiers started to curse under the city, so Lu You returned to the camp. He didn't want to hear those unpleasant words.
Three days later, Yuan Shu led more than 40,000 soldiers and horses to the gates of Huailing City.
Lu You stood on the city gate tower, looking at the mass of heads outside the city. His heart beat faster, and the hand holding the handle of the knife trembled slightly.
