Yuan Shu did not expect that the news that the military rations had been robbed would spread before the war, after he had blocked it for several days.
The army's rations had been looted and burned, no food had been shipped, and the army's food reserves had been exhausted, with only enough food for three days. Such rumors spread in Yuan Shu's army camp, and the soldiers in each camp were talking about it.
"Who leaked the news?"
Yuan Shu stared at the two confidant generals in front of him, Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui.
Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui looked at each other, speechless for a moment.
After a long time, Qiao Rui replied: "General, there are many people who know about this matter, so it cannot be kept secret for too long. Besides, there may be spies in our army."
"Is there a spy?"
Yuan Shu looked away from the two of them, believing that the two in front of him would never betray him.
"Yes, otherwise this matter would not have spread among the army at once. This must be Liu Bei's cunning plan."
"Well, it's possible. Since Liu Bei was able to make arrangements in advance to lure me here, he must have already arranged spies in our army just for today's use."
"General, do you want to find these spies?"
"No, the war is coming. If spies are inspected at this time, the army will be in chaos. Immediately send orders to all battalions to appease the soldiers, saying that our army's food can still be eaten for a month, and Shouchun has restarted the transportation of food and grass, and there are people stationed in Huailing.
The troops and horses will be escorting the troops and they will arrive soon. I will personally patrol each camp tomorrow to stabilize the morale of the troops. This time I will definitely defeat Liu Bei in one fell swoop."
"promise."
Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui accepted the promise and left, ordering each battalion to appease the soldiers.
That night, soldiers from several battalions met and fled. Although the governor led his troops to chase and kill fifty or sixty people before they were stabilized, more than a thousand people still escaped.
More than a thousand people are not many compared to tens of thousands of troops, but the impact is very large.
For a while, people were panicked, and various rumors spread among the army.
There are even rumors that in Liu Bei's army, there are hundreds of people wearing green robes and long beards, who are as brave as Guan Yu and can kill generals with one sword.
In short, various rumors kept Yuan Shujun's sergeants awake at night.
Yuan Shu also had a sleepless night. Cao Cao's bravery frightened him, but Liu Bei's cunningness made him uneasy.
After finally surviving until dawn, Yuan Shu, wearing armor, listless and with slightly swollen eyes, led Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui and other generals to inspect each camp.
"There are spies in our army. They deliberately spread rumors and want to disrupt our military morale. However, this also shows that the enemy knows that they cannot defeat us and are afraid of us and afraid that we will destroy them in one fell swoop."
"I can tell you that our army still has plenty of food, enough for a month, and the additional food and grass has been shipped from Shouchun and will be shipped here in more than ten days. But we don't need to wait for the replenishment of food and grass.
Liu Bei has stored a lot of grain and grass for us in Xuyi City. If we attack Xuyi, the grain and grass in Xuyi City will be ours."
"I heard that some people said that there are hundreds of Guan Yu in Liu Bei's army. Hahaha, how can you believe this? Although Guan Yu is brave, there is only one of us. We are defeated by one person, but if we attack with ten or a hundred people, we will definitely defeat him.
Kill him."
"Tomorrow we will have a battle with Liu Bei. The victory or defeat depends on this battle. Don't be afraid. There are only 20,000 troops in Xuyi City, and we have more than 40,000 people. Can't we defeat Liu Bei with so many people? In short, you fight hard to kill the enemy.
, I will reward my merits, and anyone who retreats will be killed!"
Yuan Shu would say these words every time he visited a camp, which finally calmed the general's mind a little.
As a prince and a son of a noble family who had been studying since childhood, Yuan Shu was not that stupid, but he was just not outstanding compared to others.
Zhou Ping did not know that Yuan Shu had stabilized the morale of the army. Of course, no matter how stabilized Yuan Shu was, the morale of the army had been affected.
At the beginning of the plan, Zhou Ping had already sent people to Shouchun to find a way to sneak into Yuan Shu's army, just to be available when needed.
Regarding Yuan Shu and Lu Bu, the two most urgent enemies of Xuzhou, Zhou Ping was very careful. If these two people were not dealt with, it would be difficult for Xuzhou to be stable.
There was no large-scale flight of soldiers in Yuan Shu's army, nor was there any roaring camp, and it didn't seem to be particularly chaotic, which made Zhou Ping slightly disappointed.
But this matter only adds fuel to the fire. The fire will eventually burn, and Yuan Shu will be defeated.
Tomorrow is the day of the battle with Yuan Shu, and there is a serious atmosphere in Xuyi City.
People who usually talk and laugh often don't smile today, they all have serious faces.
Although everyone is confident that we will win this battle, it is still a war. Only when you go to the battlefield and come back alive can you be considered a true victory.
However, the day before the battle, a guest from afar came to Xuyi City.
He is Xu Si sent by Lu Bu. Lu Bu sent him in advance to ask Liu Bei to accept him.
Xu Si was originally Cao Cao's lieutenant. He betrayed Cao Cao along with Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and others. Now he also fled to Xuzhou with Lu Bu and Chen Gong.
Liu Bei asked someone to open the door and let him into the city and into the tent.
"General Liu, Cao Cao was a cruel man. He killed people indiscriminately in Xuzhou and also killed people wantonly in Yanzhou. He was hated by the people of Xuzhou and Yanzhou and the whole world. Zhang Chenliu, Chen Gongtai and the officials of Yanzhou welcomed General Lu Fengxian.
Came to capture Yanzhou. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao was very cunning and set up an ambush. General Lu was defeated many times and found it difficult to fight again."
"Now there are only more than 6,000 soldiers left, and I don't know where to go. I heard that General Liu is benevolent and virtuous, and that Xuzhou is an enemy of Cao Cao, so I defected to Xuzhou, hoping to join the general in rejecting Cao Cao to protect the people of Xuzhou."
When Xu Bang saw Liu Bei, he bowed and explained his intention and spoke sincerely, which greatly moved Liu Bei.
Needless to say, Cao Cao was evil. Although Lu Bu betrayed the emperor twice, to Liu Bei, those whom Lu Bu betrayed were all worthy of death.
Dong Zhuo caused harm to the country and the people, and was attacked by everyone in the world. Lu Bu assassinated him to eliminate harm to the world.
It was Nading Yuan who was ordered by General He Jin to release thousands of soldiers into Hanoi as thieves. He was called "Black Mountain Bo" and burned Mengjin to death. He deserved his death.
Therefore, Liu Bei was not that disgusted with Lu Bu.
"Everyone is outraged by Cao Cao's evil. Since General Lu has come to surrender, there is no reason why he should not refuse. Xu Jun can report back to General Lu and ask him to temporarily stay in Lu County, Pengcheng. After I defeat Yuan Shu, he can go to fight with General Lu.
See you." Liu Bei said.
Lu County belongs to Pengcheng State, on the banks of the Sishui River, between Xiapi County and Pengcheng County, nearly a hundred miles away from Xiapi County.
It was Zhou Ping's suggestion to let Lu Bu station troops in Lu County.
Lu County is nearly a hundred miles away from Xiapi. As soon as Lu Bu's troops are dispatched, they will immediately return to Xiapi to report, and then send people to notify Tian Yu and Sun Guan, who are hiding in hiding, to lead troops to help. Wait for Lu Bu's troops to arrive
When they arrived at Xiapi, Tian Yu and Sun Guan arrived with their troops and horses, and the time was just right.
Xu Si was overjoyed when he heard this: "General Liu is indeed benevolent and righteous. I will report back to General Lu immediately. However, there is something unclear to Si."
"What's unclear?" Liu Bei asked in confusion.
"The general and Yuan Gongdao are refusing to fight here. The victory or defeat has not yet been decided. Why have the troops retreated first?"
On the way to Xuyi, Xu Bang saw Sun Guan's retreating troops.
Liu Bei didn't know how to answer for a moment and looked at Zhou Ping.
Zhou Ping guessed that what Xu Si saw must be Sun Guan's troops. Tian Yu took a detour to the west from Zhongli and had not yet reached Zhongli, so Xu Si could not see them.
"What Jun Xu saw should be Sun Zhongtai's soldiers." Zhou Ping replied with a smile, "The envoy heard that the yellow scarf bandits in Qingzhou were violent and had the intention to go south to Langya. Langya soldiers and horses have followed the army here. There are not many soldiers left, so I am afraid it will be difficult.
To resist the Yellow Turban thieves, Sun Zhongtai was ordered to lead three thousand soldiers back to protect Langya."
Liu Bei immediately responded: "That's exactly it."
Xu Si suddenly realized: "So that's it. The Qingzhou Yellow Turban is really hateful and we must guard against it!"
Although Xu Bang saw the soldiers and horses that Sun Guan took away, Zhou Ping was not worried.
Because Xu Bang never imagined that Lu Bu might attack Xiapi, nor did he expect that before Lu Bu arrived in Xuzhou, Liu Bei had already begun to deploy defenses.
Zhou Ping's explanation made him no longer doubtful. He said goodbye to Liu Bei and left in a hurry. He went back to report to Lu Bu and asked Lu Bu to lead his troops to garrison Lu City.
