Seeing Cao Bao's silence, Xu Si seemed to see Cao Bao's worries and asked, "Is Mingfu worried that General Lu Fengxian will not be able to capture Xuzhou?"
Cao Bao nodded, this was exactly what he was worried about.
Judging from the current situation, Zhou Ping is preparing to send 5,000 soldiers from Xiapi to Xuyi, and with Lu Bu's internal support, it is not difficult at all to capture Xiapi.
It's just that Yuan Shu has been defeated by Liu Bei. Liu Bei's morale is now strong, he has many soldiers and horses in his hands, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are brave. Even if Lu Bu captures Xia Pi and Liu Bei leads his troops back to attack, I'm afraid he won't be able to defend it.
"Hahaha..." Xu Bang laughed first, and then said, "The Ming government does not need to worry. Liu Xuande and his family members of the generals and soldiers are all staying in Xiapi. If Xiapi is lost, his army will be defeated. Besides, the Ming government will be defeated by then.
With a shout, the Danyang soldiers obeyed the order of the Ming government and retreated to Xiapi. What else could Liu Xuande do? At the same time, General Yuan Gongluo would lead troops from Huailing to counterattack Liu Xuande, and he would be able to kill him in one fell swoop.
"
Xu Si continued: "Even if Chen Yuanlong, the prefect of Guangling, and Zang Xuangao, the Prime Minister of Langya, change the owner of Xuzhou, General Lu will treat them well. They each guard the county, and they will also surrender to General Lu. The Ming government really does not need to worry too much!
"
Cao Bao was delighted when he heard this.
That's right, Xiapi is in your own hands, and Liu Bei loses power, don't those Danyang soldiers still have to obey your orders?
Without the Danyang soldiers, Liu Bei's Xuzhou soldiers would be defeated, and Yuan Shu would lead the troops to counterattack. Even if Liu Bei survived, it would be difficult to recover. And if he takes back the Danyang military power and has an independent county, wouldn't it be better than now?
Hundreds of times!
Cao Bao quickly said: "Liu Xuande wants to send troops south to assist Liu Zhengli. Now that General Yuan Gongluo has stationed troops in Huailing, it is difficult to divide his troops. Therefore, he wants to dispatch 5,000 troops from Xiapi to Xuyi and will leave in three days. In this way, in Xiapi City,
Only my 1,000 Danyang soldiers and their 3,000 soldiers are left. This is a good opportunity to seize Xiapi, which must not be missed. You can quickly turn around and tell General Lu, and you can take the lead as soon as the Xiapi soldiers leave.
When the soldiers come at night, I will lead the troops to wait at the west gate and open the door to welcome the general."
Cao Bao finally made up his mind to rebel against Liu Bei. If he helped Lu Bu win Xuzhou and let him be the shepherd of Xuzhou, he would be a man of great merit and would be better off.
Xu Si was overjoyed by this news and quickly asked: "Is this really true? Liu Xuande wants to transfer the soldiers and horses left in Xiapi to Xuyi?"
"That's right. They are already recruiting civilians to transport grain and grass." Cao Bao replied with a smile.
"Hahaha... So General Lu can capture Xuzhou without any effort!"
"Go back quickly and let General Lu lead the troops in five days."
"Okay, I'll go back immediately. When the general sends out troops, he will first send someone to inform the Ming government to say goodbye!"
Xu Si did not dare to stay too long in Cao Bao's Mansion, so he left immediately after the conversation and rushed out of the city back to Lucheng.
Zhou Ping just asked people to observe secretly and had no intention of capturing Xu Si.
Since Lu Bu is colluding with Cao Bao, they must let them do their best, otherwise if they capture Xu Si now, Lu Bu and Cao Bao will be alert and stop their plan to capture Xia Pi.
Zhou Ping also sent people to inform Sun Guan, Zhang Fei, Tian Yu and others, asking them to pay attention to hiding and be ready to send troops to fight at any time.
They were also asked to send their own men to Lu City. As soon as they saw Lu Bu leading his troops and horses to leave Lu City and heading east, they could raise their troops and march toward Xia Pi. Once Lu Bu's troops arrived at the city, they could immediately attack from three sides.
In Xiapi City, the conscripted civilians have entered the city, and the food and grass are almost ready. The troops can be dispatched in three days.
Zhou Ping didn't know if his trick would work. After all, Cao Bao was in Xiapi City, and he was afraid that he would know about his exchange of civilian husbands for soldiers.
If he knew, he would definitely send someone to tell Lu Bu and ask Lu Bu to stop sending troops or take precautions, so that his plan would be difficult to succeed.
For this reason, Zhou Ping sent people to secretly guard Cao Bao's mansion and the city gate, as well as the key roads outside the city. If Cao Bao really sent people to Lu City, they could be captured immediately to prevent them from communicating with each other.
Cao Bao was not idle at this time. He called for Xu Dan, the commander-in-chief, and told him his decision.
"Is this really the case?" Xu Dan asked, with a look of shock on his face.
Xu Dan's lieutenant general was appointed by Liu Bei, and he was supposed to lead the troops to follow Liu Bei on the expedition, but Cao Bao asked him to stay on horseback, and Cao Cheng was replaced to lead the troops.
However, Xu Dan did not feel dissatisfied with Cao Bao because of this, and Cao Bao also trusted him.
"I have to do this. If Liu Xuande had not come to Xuzhou, I might be the lord of Xuzhou, or at least the lord of Xiapi. What now? I am not even the lord of Xiapi, and Liu Xuande took away the soldiers and horses in my hands. Only
I'm afraid I won't be able to stay here in Xiapi any longer."
"In that case, I am willing to listen to the general's orders." Xu Dan cupped his hands and said.
"If this matter comes to pass, and I have made a contribution to General Lu, he will not treat me badly, and I will not treat you badly. Just know this matter. Don't tell the people below now, so as not to leak the news. When General Lu arrives with his troops,
It’s never too late.”
"promise."
"Go and guard the west gate. This is the key point."
Lu Bu came from Lu City in the west, and the first thing he arrived at was the West City Gate, which was guarded by Danyang troops. This allowed Lu Bu's troops to quickly enter the city and catch the Xuzhou troops in the city by surprise.
After sending Xu Dan away, Cao Bao waited quietly in the mansion for the soldiers and horses from Xiapi to leave.
He did not expect that Zhou Ping would exchange civilians for soldiers, so he did not send anyone to monitor the soldiers of Xu Sheng and Mi Fang's second battalion. He only sent people to guard the south gate and report as soon as the soldiers and horses left the city.
Two days later at night, Zhou Ping and Mi Zhu Sun Kang came to Xu Sheng's camp with two thousand civilians.
Xu Sheng was asked to lead two thousand soldiers quietly to the state capital to hide and wait, but he did not tell them clearly what he wanted them to do. People were talking too much, and they were afraid that they would leak the news if they knew it.
Xu Sheng didn't ask any more questions. With Zhou Ping and Mi Zhu together, he believed that they would not let him harm Shijun Liu. Moreover, he could probably guess that Zhou Sima did this to guard against Cao Bao.
Zhou Ping asked the two thousand civilians to put on military uniforms and get weapons. He also said that he would not let them actually go into battle, but only let them increase their numbers to scare Yuan Shu away, so that they should not be afraid.
There is no point in being afraid, they can only obey orders.
The next day, Sima Mifang of another department, led by Sima Mifang, took the 3,000 soldiers he had commanded before and the 2,000 soldiers disguised as civilians, a total of 5,000 people, followed by civilians transporting grain, and left the city from the south of Xiapi.
Zhou Ping and Mi Zhu Jian Yong were sent out of the city together.
"Zifang, please lead the troops and leave Xiapi as soon as possible." Zhou Ping ordered Mi Fang.
Mi Fang knew Zhou Ping's plan and could not hide this from him.
Although he betrayed Liu Bei in history, it was a last resort, and Mi Zhen was no longer around at that time.
It's different now. Liu Bei has never treated the Mi family badly, and his sister Mi Zhen is here, so it's impossible for him to betray Liu Bei.
Mi Fang cupped her hands to Zhou Ping and said, "Don't worry, Zhou Sima, Fang knows how to act."
He said goodbye to his brother Mi Zhu and headed south with his troops.
At this time, Cao Bao sent a waiting man back to the house to report.
"Mi Zifang really left with five thousand soldiers and horses?"
Cao Bao still couldn't believe that things would go so smoothly, everything was as he wished.
"There are indeed five thousand troops, but...some of them look like newly recruited soldiers. They don't even know how to march, and they move very randomly."
"Hahaha... They are just new recruits. Even if they don't leave, they have nothing to fear." Cao Bao laughed.
The soldiers commanded by Xu Sheng and Mi Fang were newly recruited soldiers, so the chaos of the march did not surprise Cao Bao.