Liu Bei led his troops to reach the Huaihe River in twenty miles. After crossing the Huaihe River, they reached Xuyi.
It has been twelve years since he fought the Yellow Turbans in the first year of Zhongping to the second year of Xingping. Liu Bei has fought countless battles. Although he lost more than he won, he still has rich experience.
But it was the first time for him to command tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in a state like this.
Now he not only has the courage of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but also has the wisdom of Zhou Ping, Tian Yu, and has the support of Chen Deng, Mi Zhu and other wealthy families in Xuzhou. He can be regarded as prosperous for a while.
The mood was extremely joyful.
"Sir, once Yuan Shu is defeated, we can send our troops south to assist Liu Zhengli."
Liu Bei rode a horse. He never rode in a carriage when he went out. He said that he wanted to be seen by the people, and he wanted to be close to the people and not be separated from them.
Next to him is Zhou Ping, behind him are Zhang Fei and Zhuge Jin, and behind them are Chen Dao and Zhang Wu. The army is marching forward.
Liu Bei was very confident in defeating Yuan Shu. Both Liu Yao and him were from the Liu family. Now they were being attacked by Sun Ce and were defeated one after another, so he wanted to help Liu Yao.
Although Zhou Ping proposed the strategy of "Li Xu seizes Yangzhou to conquer the world", if Yangzhou is controlled by Liu Yao, there is no need for him to seize it. At that time, he can join forces with Liu Yao, Liu Biao and other Liu family prefects to wipe out the world and revive the Han Dynasty of the Liu family.
.
However, Zhou Ping knew that Liu Yao was eager for profit. As soon as Wu Jing and Sun Ben welcomed him to Qu'a, he immediately turned against him and drove Wu Jing and Sun Ben away, thereby provoking Yuan Shu's troops.
At the same time, he was a person who valued reputation over practicality. He used Taishi Ci lightly for the sake of Xu Ziyang's opinion of him.
It can even be said that he is the Adou who cannot be helped, no, he is not even as good as Adou.
Even if he could help him, Liu Bei couldn't help him now.
After defeating Yuan Shu, there was still Lu Bu to guard against. After guarding against Lu Bu, Liu Yao would have been defeated and fled to Yuzhang.
"When Yuan Shu is defeated and the lord's army becomes more powerful, he can send an envoy to Chang'an to meet the emperor. The emperor is now under the control of Li Jue, Guo Si and others, so he must rely on the lord for help from abroad. In this way, he can rectify the post of Xuzhou Mu and grant him the title of Mu.
I assume the position of general, my lord. If my lord's name is right and proper, once the bandits are wiped out, I can welcome the country back to Luoyang and restore peace to the world."
Zhou Ping remembered that at this time Han Emperor Liu Xie should have been kidnapped out of Chang'an by Li Jue and began his journey east to Luoyang.
The reason why Liu Bei has to wait until Yuan Shu is defeated before sending an envoy to Chang'an to meet the emperor is because Liu Bei is still unknown.
At least in the eyes of the ministers around the emperor, Li Jue, Guo Si and others, Liu Bei was still a nobody.
But if Yuan Shu is defeated, it will be completely different.
Who is Yuan Shu? They all know.
Liu Bei can easily defeat such a powerful person, but he is not famous and awe-inspiring.
Liu Bei's current position as Xuzhou Mu is private, and General Anton's is private. Although they can be used in such troubled times, they are always unfair in name.
If you are officially appointed by the emperor's court, you will feel more confident when you mention your identity to others.
"Yes, the world is in turmoil and the emperor is covered in dust. As a descendant of the Liu family, I feel deeply ashamed!" Liu Bei sighed.
"General, general, there is an urgent report from Huailing!"
At this time, everyone heard the shouting and looked back, only to see two horses running quickly from behind.
Liu Bei reined in his horse and stopped, and Zhou Ping and everyone also stopped at the same time.
The two horses were approaching. One of them was sent by Lu You. He saluted Liu Bei and reported: "General, Yuan Shu personally led an army of 50,000 to attack the city. General Lu You withdrew from Huailing City and crossed the Huaihe River to defend the city."
On the east bank, Huailing City has been occupied by Yuan Shu."
"What?" Liu Bei's face suddenly changed in shock.
Zhou Ping seemed to be shocked and asked anxiously: "Is Yuan Shu's attack on the city so violent?"
He thought that Yuan Shu fought hard to attack the city and Lu You retreated because he could not defend the city. However, in his opinion, Yuan Shu should not fight hard to attack the city.
Such a dispensable city, no matter how stupid Yuan Shu was, he would never spend a large number of troops to attack the city.
The visitor hesitated for a moment and replied: "Yuan Shu did not attack the city. He led 50,000 troops to the city. General Lu You thought that Yuan Shu would definitely attack the city, and there were only 5,000 people in the city, so it might be difficult to hold it. Huailing City was also
It is a useless city, a place of death, so I led my troops to retreat at night and garrisoned on the east bank of the Huaihe River. General Lu You, please rest assured that he will never let the enemy soldiers cross the river!"
Zhou Ping asked again: "Yuan Shu hasn't attacked the city yet, so Lu You retreated by himself?"
"Yes." The person replied.
"Did our men and horses suffer any losses?" Zhou Ping asked again.
"Seven to eight hundred people drowned while crossing the river."
The visitor briefly explained the situation, and Zhou Ping waved to him to go down and rest.
"If you flee before fighting, Lu You deserves to die." Liu Bei said angrily.
Zhou Ping consoled him: "My lord, the loss of Huai Ling has little impact. Although we cannot block Yuan Shu and give him a way out, it will make it easier for us to defeat him."
Liu Bei was puzzled: "Why do you say that, sir?"
"Yuan Shu's army approached the city but did not attack, but Lu You abandoned the city and retreated. Yuan Shu must have thought that Xuzhou's soldiers and generals were afraid of him, so he became arrogant. The arrogant soldiers will lose. The more he despises us, the easier it will be for us.
Victory." Zhou Ping explained.
Liu Bei nodded and said: "What you said makes sense, but the country lets them..."
He was worried that Yuan Shu's soldiers and horses were stationed in Huailing, and if Tian Yu and Xu Chu went down the mountain to rob Yuan Shu's food route, they would be attacked by Yuan's army stationed in Huailing City.
Zhou Ping was not worried about this at all, and said with a smile: "My Lord, you are worried about the enemy soldiers in Huailing City, right? Lord, don't worry, the soldiers and horses in Huailing City cannot leave the city."
"Why?"
Liu Bei asked, but he didn't understand what Zhou Ping meant.
"Our soldiers and horses are stationed on the east bank of the Huaihe River, ready to cross the river and attack the city at any time. In this way, the enemies of Huailing will not dare to leave the city, and Guo Rang Zhongkang and the others can have no worries."
Liu Bei nodded, agreeing with Zhou Ping's words, and then sighed: "General Lu You is an old general in Xuzhou. I really didn't expect that he would abandon the city and flee."
"My lord, Lu You disobeyed the military order and abandoned the city. Failure to kill him is not enough to establish his authority. My lord, you can go to Xuyi first. For this matter, I and Yi De will lead three thousand soldiers to go with us. We will first suppress his camp and contain the troops in Huai Ling."
Enemy. When Zang Xuangao's troops arrive, I will go to Xuyi with Yide and leave the Taishan troops to contain Huailing."
Now this result is not too surprising to Zhou Ping. He had already had deep intentions in persuading Liu Bei to send Lu You to guard Huailing.
Huai Ling is actually not very important. It is said to block Yuan Shu's retreat. However, Yuan Shu has 50,000 soldiers and horses. It would be good to defeat him. It is impossible to completely eliminate him. Blocking his retreat will only make him defeated.
It's just worse.
As for containing Yuan Shu's troops, as long as Zang Ba's troops reach the riverside of Huailing City, Yuan Shu will definitely divide his troops to defend them.
Moreover, Yuan Shu's soldiers and horses stationed in Huailing City would be held tightly by Zang Ba and would not dare to leave the city, let alone send troops to attack Tian Yu and Xu Chu.
The reason why Lu You was sent to guard Huai Ling was that Lu You was the general of Xuzhou, and he could not be left in Xiapi, let alone capture all his troops.
For Liu Bei, Lu You, like Cao Bao, was not a trusted general and could not be trusted enough.
Let him guard Huai Ling. It's best to guard Huai Ling. If he abandons the city and escapes, there will be a chance to kill him. This will not only allow Liu Bei to establish power in Xu, but also remove untrustworthy generals, and all Xuzhou soldiers and horses will be handed over to trusted generals.
command, thus making Xuzhou more stable.
If Zhou Ping wants Liu Bei to be stable in Xuzhou, he must first capture all the troops and horses.
In short, Huailing City is a test for Lu You. If it can be defended, he has merit and ability, so he can continue to be used. If it cannot be defended, because he has merit but lacks ability, he will be killed or abandoned.
But Zhou Ping did not mention this meaning to Liu Bei, and this kind of thing cannot be explained clearly.
Liu Bei thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement: "Yes, you can decide how to act."
After that, he told Zhang Fei: "Yide, you are going with your husband. No matter what, you must protect him. You have an impatient personality and are prone to act recklessly. You must follow your husband's orders on this trip. Did you know that?"
Zhang Fei seemed quite reluctant, but he could only reply: "No."
Liu Bei gave 3,000 Danyang troops, led by Zhang Fei, and followed Zhou Ping towards Huai Ling. Liu Bei led the army to continue moving forward, preparing to cross the Huai River and enter Xuyi.
Zhou Ping led Zhang Fei, Zhang Wu and three thousand soldiers and horses to Lu You's camp on the other side of Huailing City.
Lu You early received a spy report, saying that Commander Liu had ordered Sima Zhouping and Captain Zhang Fei to lead 3,000 troops here.
At this time, Li Jia advised Lu You to leave quickly, otherwise he might not be able to leave.
Although Li Jia knew that Lu You was a mediocre general, he had been with him for several years and was promoted by him. He couldn't bear to see him killed like this.
But Lu You refused to leave. He believed that Liu Bei would not kill him, and besides, it was Zhou Ping who came, not Liu Bei.
Zhou Ping is just a Sima and cannot kill himself.
Li Jia shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to follow Lu You to meet Zhou Ping and Zhang Fei.
