Chapter 73: If you do something, you will be useful
The people sent by Lu Bu to wait outside Xiapi City also hurried back to Lucheng to report the departure of Xiapi soldiers and horses.
"You mean, their soldiers marched in chaos? No, their soldiers have been recruited for a month or two, and they have been staying in Xiapi for training. They should know how to march according to orders. General, I'm afraid there is a deceit in this."
Chen Gong heard that some of the soldiers leaving the city were marching in confusion, just like those yellow scarf thieves, and he suddenly became suspicious.
Lu Bu never paid much attention to military discipline. He felt that there was nothing wrong with the chaos of the march. He smiled and said: "The public platform is too worried. It is common for newly recruited soldiers to have chaos in the march. Moreover, chaos in the march does not necessarily mean that they are not good at fighting. According to this
I think Liu Xuande now not only wants to guard against Yuan Jiujiu, but also wants to divide his troops to assist Liu Zhengli. He is in urgent need of troops. And since we are here to defend the city for him and resist the enemy, he thought that Xiapi was safe, so he sent Xiapi to the city.
How can there be deception if the guards are transferred?"
Lu Bu's words did not dispel Chen Gong's doubts: "I don't understand something. Liu Xuande defeated Yuan Jiujiu, but now Yuan Jiujiu has retreated and is stationed in Huailing. Why didn't Liu Xuande take advantage of the victory to pursue him and drive him back to Shouchun, but his troops were stationed in Xuyi?
It’s really puzzling.”
"Sun Bofu won consecutively in Danyang, and Liu Zhengli was about to be defeated. Perhaps Liu Xuande was eager to go south to help, so he did not continue to pursue General Yuan." Lu Bu said.
"No, no." Chen Gong shook his head repeatedly, "If Liu Xuande wants to help Liu Zhengli, he should first drive General Yuan away from Xuzhou before raising his troops to go south. Even if Liu Xuande is not good at using troops, I heard that Zhou Wen'an is a good planner.
, he has now returned to Xiapi, and then Xiapi soldiers and horses left, among which..."
"How?" Lu Bu asked.
"Perhaps this is a trick to lure the enemy. Zhou Wen'an may have known that we were in contact with General Yuan and were about to attack Xiapi. And because there were too many soldiers and horses left in Xiapi, he was afraid that we would have scruples and not dare to lead the troops, so
They deliberately sent the troops away to make us lower our guard. Even Cao Bao may have conspired with Zhou Wen'an and pretended to be the general's internal response. In fact, he waited for our troops to arrive before joining forces with Zhou Wen'an to counterattack.
.In this case, if we are not prepared for it, we may be in danger!"
Chen Gong had many things on his mind, because Liu Bei's current behavior was indeed puzzling.
Yuan Shu stationed his troops in Huailing. Instead of taking advantage of the victory to attack, he sent troops from Xiapi, saying that he wanted to go south to aid Liu Yao.
Moreover, at this time, Zhou Ping, who was trusted by Liu Bei and was good at predicting events and quite strategic, suddenly returned to Xiapi.
All these connections cannot help but make people suspicious.
Of course, only those who want to seize the opportunity to seize Xiapi will become suspicious. If they don't have this intention, they won't think so much.
However, Lu Bu did not believe that Zhou Wen'an could predict that he wanted to capture Xiapi, nor would he deliberately set up such a conspiracy to lure him to lead his troops, nor did he believe that Cao Bao would conspire with Zhou Ping.
Because in his opinion, Cao Bao can only get more benefits by cooperating with him.
Lu Bu said with a smile: "What Gongtai said is reasonable, but I don't believe that Cao Xiapi would conspire with Zhou Wen'an. Liu Xuande seized his troops and horses, and moved him to rule Xiapi, causing him to lose all his authority. He must be unwilling to do so.
How can he conspire with Liu Xuande to kill me again? As long as Cao Xiapi is really my internal correspondent, Xiapi soldiers and horses have left, and there are very few guards in the city, there is nothing to fear even if there is a conspiracy."
"Perhaps the soldiers leaving the city are civilians, but their soldiers are hiding in the city waiting for us?"
Chen Gong thought of the chaotic march of the troops leaving Xiapi.
A look of displeasure appeared on Lu Bu's face: "What's going on at Gongtai today? Why do you always stop me from advancing to seize Xiapi?"
Chen Gong replied seriously: "General, I'm not trying to stop you from advancing. It's just that this matter is strange, so you must be careful!"
"Then according to Gongtai, how should we deal with this matter?"
"Delay the advance of troops for the time being, and first send people to Xiapi City to explore the truth." Chen Gong replied.
"Cao Xiapi made an agreement with me to march the army tomorrow night. If I don't go, wouldn't it be a breach of contract with him? Then he will no longer believe in me. Without him to respond in the city, won't it be difficult to capture Xiapi? Moreover, Liu Xuande is short of troops now.
He will definitely recruit soldiers more intensively. If he recruits soldiers and horses and the number of soldiers garrisoning in Xiapi increases, how can we capture it by then?"
Lu Bu's words stunned Chen Gong.
These are also facts, and Chen Gong knows that Lu Bu is a person who is eager for quick success and will definitely not let go of such a good opportunity.
Chen Gong looked at Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, who were standing silently beside them, and said helplessly: "If the general wants to send troops, he can first send people to Xiapi, confirm with Cao Xiapi that everything is safe, and then go to the city."
"That's what I will do."
Chen Gong left the tent, thinking that Lü Bu was brave and unintelligent, and too eager for quick success. Such a person was definitely not a wise master. At this time, he even regretted a little, feeling that he had made a mistake in welcoming Lü Bu to seize Yanzhou.
"General."
Watching Chen Gong leave, Gao Shun bowed his hand to Lu Bu.
"What's the matter?"
Lu Bu looked at Gao Shun and asked.
"My subordinates believe that what Chen Gongtai said is reasonable. I heard that Zhou Wen'an is quite capable of predicting events, and may have expected that we might capture Xiapi. If so, we have to be cautious about the departure of Xiapi soldiers and horses.
"
"Haha, no matter how good he is at predicting things, how could he expect that I would capture Xiapi? Wenyuan, if it were you, could you have expected it?" Lu Bu said and turned to Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao thought for a moment, raised his hands and replied: "We came here in defeat. When we first arrived in Pengcheng, we were treated favorably by Liu Xuande and trusted by him. No one would have expected that we would have the intention to capture Xiapi at this time."
.”
Lu Bu walked up to Gao Shun, patted him on the shoulder lightly, and said with a smile: "Boping, you, like Gongtai, are overly concerned! I heard that Zhou Wen'an was only twenty-one years old. For such a young man,
Even if you are wise, you cannot know everything about the world!"
Gao Shun raised his hand again and said: "General, Liu Xuande treats us so kindly, but we want to take Xuzhou from him, it seems..."
"Boping, you are too straightforward. In today's troubled times, the so-called kindness and kindness are all for profit." Lu Bu interrupted Gao Shun, thinking of Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun, Yuan Shao and others, and said with emotion, "
If you give something, it will be useful. Liu Xuande asked us to live here and provide food and grass. Do you think he is showing kindness to us? You are wrong. In fact, he wants to use our soldiers and horses to help him
We are just resisting Cao Cao. Why should we care about such false kindness? At worst, we can wait until we capture Xiapi, treat his family well, and repay his kindness."
Gao Shun knew that he could not convince Lu Bu, so he promised and said nothing.
Lü Bu then sent Xu Bin to Xiapi first to explore the real situation in Xiapi City. At the same time, he confirmed with Cao Bao whether he was sincerely loyal to Cao Bao and told him that Lü Bu would advance his troops on time so that he could be prepared to welcome him.
On the eighth day of the seventh month of the second year of Xingping, Lu Bu was going to march into Xiapi this afternoon, and he had to get to Xiapi before dawn the next day.
As the sun rose, Xu Bin left Lucheng in a carriage and galloped towards Xiapi.
As soon as he left Lucheng, the detectives assigned by Zhou Ping focused on him and followed him all the way. At the same time, someone rushed back to Xiapi to report to Zhou Ping.