When I followed Tao Qian to attack the Yellow Turbans, although there were many Yellow Turbans, they were just ordinary people, old, young, and women. They had no decent weapons in their hands, not even crossbows and arrows, let alone expensive armored war horses.
equipment.
Those Yellow Turbans were all a ragtag group, put together in a temporary group, without unified orders, and they collapsed as soon as the troops and horses rushed. They were completely vulnerable.
Later, when he fought with Cao Ren, he led only a few thousand troops.
But now, although the 50,000 horses outside the city don't look so neat, they are all trained men who obey orders, are uniformly uniformed, and have all the weapons in their hands. Many soldiers wear leather armor, and some even wear
armor.
It's not something that those Yellow Turban refugees can compare to. There's simply a world of difference between the two.
Lu You had never faced such a powerful enemy alone. At this moment, his heart was trembling, and his face changed again and again, looking quite pale.
"General... General, what should we do? Can we... defend it?" the military prince next to him asked tremblingly.
"Defend...we must defend even if we can't. Didn't Liu Shijun send someone to say that Zang Ba's 7,000 troops have arrived from Langya and will arrive in a few days?"
When Lu You mentioned the reinforcements, he felt a little calmer.
"Langya is far away from here. I don't know how many days it will take for reinforcements to arrive. Besides, the reinforcements are only 7,000 men and horses, and there are 50,000 enemy troops outside the city. It seems useless! If Yuan Shu's troops surround the city on all sides, the reinforcements may not be able to cross the river, and there will be no food and grass in the city.
Not much, I'm just afraid..."
"So what? Liu Shijun ordered me to hold on to this city, and I...I will never betray the general!" Lu You said solemnly.
The military marquis added: "General, Liu Shijun is benevolent and kind to the people of Xuzhou. We will not betray him and join Yuan Shu. However, our brothers have followed the general for several years. Although we have not made any achievements, we have also worked hard. We don't want to
He died here! Yuan Shu raised his troops to attack this time, aiming to capture Xuzhou. Huailing is a useless city and is the first to bear the brunt. I really don’t know why Liu Shijun asked us to guard this city."
Another military prince echoed: "Yes, Liu Shijun went to Xuyi, but asked us to defend Huailing. When Yuan Shu's army comes to attack, they must attack Huailing first. Isn't this asking us to die!"
A military marquis named Li Jia disagreed with them and said: "I heard that this was Zhou Wen'an's arrangement. You all know that Zhou Wen'an is the one who always carries a wine gourd with him. This person is quite capable of predicting events and has a good reputation."
Since his arrangement is so resourceful, it must be useful. In my opinion, although Yuan Shu has 50,000 soldiers and horses coming to the city, he may not besiege Huailing. Yuan Shu sends troops to capture Xuzhou. Liu Shijun is in Xuyi, so he will definitely
He will lead his troops to attack Xuyi. Even if Yuan Shu besieges Huailing, we have five thousand people to defend the city, and reinforcements are about to arrive, Liu Shijun will not sit back and watch our city be destroyed. General, please don't abandon the city!"
"Why didn't Zhou Wen'an come to defend Huailing? Instead, he asked us to defend it. There are 50,000 enemy soldiers surrounding the city. Can the reinforcements cross the Huaihe River?"
"Yes, Guan Yu is stationed in Xuyi. Why doesn't the envoy let Guan Yu lead the troops to guard Huai Ling?"
"Your Majesty has his own motives for arranging this." Li Jia defended.
Lu You listened to the quarrel among his subordinates and shouted angrily: "Stop arguing, let me think about it."
All the military commanders immediately fell silent.
At this time, tens of thousands of enemy soldiers outside the city suddenly shouted in unison: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Lu You and the other military commanders were frightened and took a few steps back. The guards on the city wall were also frightened to the point where they either retreated or immediately crouched down and hid behind the female wall.
"General, if Yuan Shu is angry, he will definitely attack the city. If fifty thousand people attack together, we will not be able to defend it!"
"Yes, general, Huailing is a useless city, and there are fifty thousand enemy soldiers surrounding the city and attacking it. Even if we abandon the city, Liu Shijun will not blame us."
"General, don't hesitate any longer. If we wait for the enemy troops to form a siege, we will have no way out even if we want to retreat."
"General, I don't think Yuan Shu will attack the city. Look, they have retreated."
Li Jia pointed outside the city, where the enemy soldiers were slowly retreating.
"They may have gone to make siege equipment and prepare to attack the city."
"..."
Lu Yu was confused and hesitant at this time.
After another quarrel among his subordinates, he was heartbroken and said: "You are right, Huailing is a useless city. Yuan Shu is going to Xuyi. It is meaningless for us to hold on to this city. You follow
I have been waiting for many years, and I cannot let you die in Huailing with me. The enemy soldiers have not yet laid siege to the city. Let’s leave tonight in the dark, cross the Huaihe River, and camp on the other side of the river to defend ourselves and prevent the enemy soldiers from crossing the river.”
All the military princes were happy. Only Li Jia shook his head and sighed, but he knew that persuasion was useless now.
…………
Yuan Shu led his troops to Huailing City. He did not expect that Liu Bei would send troops to defend a small city that he did not want to capture in advance.
He couldn't understand what Liu Bei's intention was.
It stands to reason that Liu Bei should not divide his troops to defend such an unimportant remote city, and there are only 5,000 troops guarding the city, which poses no threat to himself.
Could it be that Liu Bei just wanted to prevent this small city from being occupied by himself?
Yuan Shu couldn't figure it out, and his generals couldn't figure it out either.
But since Liu Bei sent five thousand soldiers and horses to garrison Huailing, he couldn't ignore it.
At the foot of Huailing City, Ji Ling said that he had challenged Xuzhou, but Xuzhou guard Lu You did not dare to fight by closing the city, and it was useless to provoke the generals. It seemed that the opponent wanted to occupy the city and defend it to death.
General Qiao Rui said: "General, this city wall is short and the ditch is shallow. If we attack it, it will be easy to break."
Yuan Shu smiled slightly after hearing this: "If too many troops and horses are lost in attacking the city, then this city is unnecessary. Liu Bei sent troops to garrison this city just to divide my forces. Attacking it is useless. Since there are only five soldiers in the city,
Thousands of soldiers were left to defend the city. I also left five thousand soldiers to camp ten miles away from the city to guard them and prevent them from attacking our rear. My goal is Xuyi. If Xuyi is conquered, I can capture Xiapi in the north and Guangling in the south.
These two cities will lead to Xuzhou."
Zhang Xun agreed: "Yes, Liu Bei has stationed 5,000 troops to guard the city. If we attack by force, even if we break the city, we will suffer a lot of damage. If we don't attack, Liu Bei must have thought that the general will leave 10,000 to 20,000 troops to surround the city, thus dividing the city."
We have the strength to relieve the danger of Xuyi. Unfortunately, he did not expect that the general would only leave five thousand soldiers to guard the city, and it would be difficult for him to solve the danger of Xuyi."
Yuan Shu nodded and said: "Well, Liu Bei has big ears and thinks he is smarter. How can a man who weaves mats and sells shoes can compare with me! Cao Cao is fierce. It is shameful for me to lose to him. How can I lose to Liu Bei again?
I will capture and kill him in Xuyi to boost the power of my Yuan family's army!"
Ji Ling offered his advice: "General, the defenders in the city are too cowardly to dare to go out to fight. Why not make tens of thousands of soldiers shout for kill in unison to break their courage? Haha, maybe they will abandon the city and run away because of this!"
"Hahaha...yes." Yuan Shu laughed.
As a result, tens of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison to kill and then retreated.
Yuan Shu ordered General Li Feng to lead five thousand troops and camp ten miles away from the city to guard the enemies of Huailing and prevent them from leaving the city and attacking from behind. The army camped outside the city, preparing to continue marching to Xuyi tomorrow.
After nightfall that day, in Huailing City, Lu You summoned all his subordinates to gather in a tent, preparing to leave the city overnight and cross the river.
