Chapter 154 Liu Bei: Yunchang, do you feel anything?
"Yuan Shao of Jizhou once again launched an attack on Youzhou."

The scout who came in reported to Tao Qian:

"Gongsun Zan had previously sent out the White Horse Volunteers to launch a surprise attack on the heart of Jizhou, but his actions were not kept secret and Yuan Shao learned of it in advance. He then took advantage of the situation and ambushed the White Horse Volunteers, causing a massive defeat."

"At present, Yuan Shao has entered Youzhou from Jizhou and is approaching Yijing, which is strictly guarded by Gongsun Zan."

"So fast?"

"Yes, Gongsun Zan ordered all the troops in Youzhou and Qingzhou to withdraw and defend."

Tao Qian exclaimed in surprise: "All the troops of Qingzhou must withdraw!"

This is extremely bad news for him.

This means that Qingzhou no longer has the troops to tie down Cao Cao.

We had agreed that we would all besiege Yanzhou together, but now I am the only one left who is stubborn and has to face Yanzhou alone.

"Contact Jingzhou immediately and ask Liu Jingsheng why we had agreed to send troops to Yanzhou, but Jingzhou has not made any move yet!"

Tao Qian was really anxious at this time.

Youzhou withdrew the troops from Qingzhou and chose to defend. If Jingzhou no longer joined the war.

Cao Cao can then focus all his efforts on attacking Xuzhou.

Before this, Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shu controlled the north and south respectively, and each of them controlled several states. Their strength was far greater than that of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.

However, the two were defeated by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao respectively, who outnumbered the larger forces, and the situation took a turn for the worse.

Tao Qian's allies fell one after another.

He was quite confident before, but now he couldn't help but panic, and he couldn't suppress the sense of crisis.

----

Cao Cao marched eastward with his army and approached Xuzhou.

On the march, he took the opportunity of fighting to breathe in and out to nourish the military strength in his body and increase his practice.

The military talisman in the Dantian shines brightly, and the differentiated qi flows through all the orifices.

There was a sound vibrating inside Cao Cao's body, full of vitality.

If one looks inward with full concentration, one will discover that his body is becoming increasingly transparent, crystal clear, bright and spotless due to the baptism of the power gained from practice.

Today, Cao Cao has already achieved very profound self-cultivation.

With the great reputation and luck of the Lord of Caoying, it probably corresponds to the late stage of the supernatural power realm.

"Some scrolls handed down from the Qin Dynasty record that the Emperor Qin summarized the experience of his predecessors and established a mythological realm after the supernatural realm... However, few people in ancient and modern times have been able to reach that level, so it is unknown."

Half an hour later, Cao Cao finished his training, took out a map from the military carriage, and looked at it in thought.

Cao Cao lifted the curtain of his carriage and said, "Zilong."

Zhao Yun was following outside the carriage and immediately approached the window.

Cao Cao pointed to the march map:

"We will turn south and march at full speed, first entering Yuzhou, and then advancing eastward in secret."

Zhao Zilong agreed, thought for a moment and said, "Does the governor want to make a feint to the east and attack the west to strike the enemy directly in the middle?"

“That’s right, if we follow the rules, the war will be protracted and the cost will be heavy.

It will also allow all parties to seek opportunities to attack our Yanzhou, using the best troops to defeat the enemy, using surprise troops to defeat the enemy, and there will still be spare energy to deal with changes in the situation. "

Cao Cao then deceived the world and secretly crossed Chencang to cover up his marching route.

Three days later, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry entered Yuzhou from Yanzhou, and then moved eastward and advanced with all their strength.

In the carriage accompanying the army, Cao Cao was using a message bead to write, "Any progress?"

The person who responded was Cheng Yu: "We have arrived in Jingzhou!"

Cheng Yu went to ask for an audience with Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou.

Xuzhou and Qingzhou besieged Yanzhou.

But Jingzhou has not taken any action yet.

Liu Biao was obviously waiting for a more suitable opportunity, or he was hesitating.

Cheng Yu was originally in Dongjun, not far from Nanyang where Liu Biao was, so after the war broke out, he immediately took action and went on a diplomatic mission to Jingzhou.

Liu Biao was wearing a reddish-brown Hanfu, a wide robe and a wide belt, looking extremely dignified. He met Cheng Yu, who was visiting on behalf of Yanzhou, in the main hall of the mansion.

After both sides greeted each other and took their seats, Cheng Yu got straight to the point: "The combined forces of Xuzhou and Qingzhou have invaded Yanzhou."

"Qingzhou was the first to take action, moving southward from the north, but was quickly defeated by our army, thwarting their plot."

"Jingzhou will receive the news soon. We have heavy troops stationed in Chenliu and Qiaoxian."

"If the governor joins the war, our two states will suffer heavy losses, and the bystanders will gain great advantages."

"You said Yanzhou is in Chenliu, and Qiao County has a large number of troops deployed?"

Liu Biao laughed out loud:

"Where did Yanzhou get so many soldiers and horses to defend on all sides? If you are not honest, you can only talk about soldiers."

What I mean is, if you dare to lie to me, I will send troops to attack Yanzhou.

Cheng Yu said calmly: "I am willing to be a hostage in the governor's mansion until the governor receives accurate information to prove that what I said is true. If what I said is not true, please kill me to vent your anger."

Seeing that Cheng Yu looked determined and was willing to stay as a hostage even at the cost of his life, Liu Biao hesitated for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Two days later, the news came.

Zhang Liao led his troops from south to north, and his troops had entered Chenliu and deployed troops along the line, with a total of 30,000 troops.

These 30,000 troops were all the elite troops of Cao's camp, including the earliest Bingzhou troops and the troops that pursued Yuan Shu for thousands of miles.

After Liu Biao confirmed the news, he met Cheng Yu again:

"It's really surprising that you guys were able to go north and defend so quickly.

But if you withdraw troops to defend Jingzhou, aren't you afraid that Yuan Shu will lead his troops back from the south and retake Yuzhou?"

Cheng Yu: "Yuan Shu was chased by my governor for thousands of miles. It has been less than two months since his defeat. How can he have the courage to go north again?"

"I deployed troops in the south of Yanzhou to show it to the people in Yuzhou, not to guard against Yuan Shu.

Otherwise, how could they have sent troops back to garrison so quickly? "

"My governor said that Yanzhou and Jingzhou should rely on each other to deal with the surrounding areas. If Jingzhou also attacks Yanzhou, how can we guarantee that Yuan Shu, who has a feud with you, will not send troops from Yangzhou to the west to attack Jingzhou?"

Liu Biao had the deepest hatred for Yuan Shu and had launched military campaigns against him many times.

If he attacked Yanzhou, Yuan Shu in Yangzhou would have two choices.

One is to send troops to attack Yuzhou and snatch it back from Cao Cao.

The other is to go west and attack Jingzhou. From a strategic point of view, it is more reasonable for Yanzhou and Jingzhou to rely on each other to deal with Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

When it was determined that Yanzhou had deployed its troops on the western front and both sides would suffer losses if they participated in the war, Liu Biao also felt that what Cheng Yu said made sense, so he decided not to participate in the siege of Yanzhou and personally sent Cheng Yu away.

This is a strategy of making friends with distant parties and attacking nearby ones. It relies on the power of words to lobby all parties and achieve a more favorable situation for oneself.

After Cheng Yu left, he used the communication bead to report the situation to Cao Cao.

At this time, Cao Cao led his troops to the southeast of the border between Xuzhou and Yanzhou!

Night falls.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry of Cao's army, with their horses clamped and their mouths sealed, secretly entered Xuzhou via Yuzhou. They passed through the city but did not enter, hiding during the day and moving out at night, doing their best to conceal their march.

Liu Bei had previously been ordered by Gongsun Zan to help defend Xuzhou.

Later, he received a promise from Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, and strongly invited Liu Bei to join forces to resist Yanzhou.

Liu Bei readily agreed and took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with him to lead troops to garrison the area north of Xuzhou.

At this time, the three Liu Bei brothers, with the Yanzhou army led by Huang Zhong as the main general and Taishi Ci and Le Jin as the vanguard, had fought several battles on the border of Xuzhou.

One morning in late May, flags were waving on the battlefield.

On the fertile plain where the two states meet, the two sides once again started fighting and the drums of war began to beat.

Liu Bei's three brothers were all there, commanding the elite troops of Xuzhou.

On the opposite side were Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci and other Yanzhou generals.

On the battlefield, the killing was fierce.

Among the thousands of soldiers, a man rode his horse to charge into the battle formation. He had a rough and dark face and his snake spear flew around, knocking down several enemy generals in succession. He was the third thief with ring eyes.

After fighting for a while, he rode back to Liu Bei and Guan Yu, feeling very happy.

Zhang Fei came back and drank some water, watched the battle for a while, and said, "Let me go and defeat Cao's army." He jumped on his horse and fought again.

His 18-foot-long snake spear transformed into a sharp weapon, like a black dragon. The aura of a military strategist coiled around his body, looking down upon anyone who stood in his way.

Liu Bei and Guan Yu watched the battle from behind and praised in unison:
"Yide has recently had the opportunity to lead troops, and his military training has made great progress. He already has the aura of being invincible!"

Guan Yu stroked his beard and said, "My third brother is a brave general of the time. Apart from Huang Zhong on the opposite side and Lu Bu in Chang'an, there is no one else in the world."

Liu Bei sighed, "Yun Chang forgot that there is another person who is extremely brave and few can match him."

"Who?"

"You and I both met Zhao Yun of Changshan when we were under Gongsun Zan's command. I had a very pleasant conversation with him in Youzhou, but we never had any contact after that."

"Recent news says that Zhao Yun has joined Cao Mengde's army and is in Yanzhou."

Liu Bei frowned and said, "Yunchang, do you feel that Cao Mengde is always one step ahead of us?

Since I met him, I have an indescribable feeling towards him."

Guan Yu narrowed his narrow eyes.

Not only did he feel the same way.

It's still very obvious.

When he was fighting against Dong Zhuo and before beheading Hua Xiong, he had already discussed with Liu Bei that he would take advantage of the opportunity to make a name for himself and then help Liu Bei recruit troops.

But just before he could make his move, Cao Mengde arranged for Huang Zhong to intervene and took away the chance to kill Hua Xiong.

Like Liu Bei, Guan Yu had an indescribable feeling towards Cao Cao.

It seems that when he saw Cao Cao, he was often suppressed, intentionally or unintentionally, and had no power to fight back.

Since then, the three brothers were defeated by Cao's army in Pingyuan County and have been wandering ever since.

"It doesn't matter. During this period of time, we have gained the upper hand in the battle with Cao's army and have been advancing northward for several days.

I will also take action, and join hands with my third brother to defeat Cao's army, and then we will continue to march north!"

Liu Bei hummed:
"My second brother, you can lead the troops and attack from the flank... The governor of Xuzhou has been sending a large army to reinforce the northern front for several days. My brother is in charge of the deployment. It is obvious that he has made up his mind to win this battle with all his strength."

Guan Yu nodded slightly.

After learning that the troops in Qingzhou had withdrawn, Tao Qian successively dispatched troops to gather on the northern front.

In the past half month, we have sent in reinforcements three times and are doing our best.

"If we cannot win this battle, Xuzhou will have to face Yanzhou independently, which is dangerous. Taozhou Muxian also saw this point, so he repeatedly increased his troops to resist the enemy."

"Brother, I'm going."

Guan Yu was about to ride out when he saw the messenger approaching quickly and reporting:

"Cao Mengde and Zhao Zilong led the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to take advantage of the fact that Xuzhou has been heavily defending the northern front for several days, and attacked the heart of Xuzhou from the southern front of Yuzhou to the east.

In one day, his troops passed through several cities without entering, and rushed for hundreds of miles. Our Xuzhou governor was almost captured alive by Cao Cao.

The governor ordered our troops to return to defend immediately!"

Liu Bei and Guan Yu were stunned.

While Cao's army was facing them on the northern front, their most elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry entered Yuzhou, raided the central area of ​​Xuzhou, and almost captured Tao Qian!

From this perspective, the reason why Huang Zhong was able to gain a slight upper hand in the recent battles with Cao's army was probably because he cooperated with Cao Cao's strategy of luring the enemy, drawing their attention firmly to the northern front, inducing them to increase their troops, expand the results of the battle, and create better conditions for a surprise attack from the rear.

Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian was in danger and had to be rescued.

But what should we do about the current battle situation?
If they retreat, the northern line of Xuzhou will be lost. If they do not retreat... it is impossible not to retreat, because the Xuzhou soldiers are not the direct descendants of the three Liu Bei brothers.

Liu Bei sighed dejectedly. The feeling of being suppressed by Cao Cao came back again.

The three brothers may have to continue wandering.

At the end of May, the Xuzhou troops retreated from the northern front.

The Yanzhou army took advantage of the opportunity and occupied seven cities in Xuzhou, gaining an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield.

Xuzhou also switched to full-line defense.

However, what really attracted the world's attention was Jizhou and Youzhou, Yuan Shao versus Gongsun Zan.

This battle is likely to lay the foundation for the situation in several northern states.

……

Deep in the mountains, there is a hidden Taoist temple.

Ever since Zhang Bao was killed, one of the several tablets enshrined in this Taoist temple exploded.

At this moment, someone was staring at the cracked tablet.

His stature is tall, his aura is in harmony with heaven and earth, and his depth is unfathomable.

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(End of this chapter)