Zhang Fei led 30,000 elite Xuzhou troops and hurried back to Xiapi.
Liu Bei's total force at this moment, in addition to the 30,000 elite troops led by Zhang Fei, includes 12,000 troops in Pengcheng and 15,000 troops in Xiapi, a total of nearly 50,000 troops.
Pengcheng was attacked by surprise. Almost all of the 12,000 soldiers and horses were wiped out, and less than half of them ran back.
But despite this, there are still 20,000 troops and horses in Xiapi City, plus Zhang Fei's 30,000 troops and horses, which is already equal to the Huainan troops outside the city.
Generally speaking, Xuzhou's strength is not weak. The reason why it was beaten back and forth was mainly because it did not have an outstanding general to command.
When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou, Tao Qian and Cao Bao were the main commanders of the battle.
Tao Qian was indeed outstanding in managing government affairs and balancing the family, otherwise he would not have been able to govern Xuzhou by himself.
As for Cao Bao, it was a compromise made by a local aristocratic family and Tao Qian in order to win over the aristocratic family.
Tao Qian did this, and of course the talents he selected were also like this.
As a general in charge of the army, Cao Bao was indeed somewhat unqualified. He could not charge with force and could not defeat the enemy with strategy. It was expected that he was defeated by Cao Cao in the end.
…
"Kill!"
"Ahhh!"
Liu Bei stood on the city wall, looking at the tide of Huainan Army soldiers and horses, but he was not too worried.
It is not that easy for Huainan soldiers and horses to break through the city. What's more, the 30,000 elite Xuzhou Army led by Zhang Fei should return soon. At that time, it will be the time to truly counterattack.
The only pity is!
Liu Bei turned his head and looked at Guan Yu, who was directing the battle on the city wall, and suddenly felt a surge of anger in his heart.
Little Lu Bu, you and I are at odds with each other.
Guan Yu's martial arts skills are so high, and he is much more cautious than Zhang Fei. He is Liu Bei's right-hand man.
It's a pity that it was ruined by Lu Bu's son.
Although Guan Yu roared hard and directed the soldiers on the wall to defend, Liu Bei was not satisfied. His potential to become a famous general was so easily destroyed!
well!
Just when Liu Bei was sighing in his heart, a soldier came running from a distance, "Envoy Liu, General Zhang has sent someone to deliver a message."
Although Huainan soldiers and horses are currently attacking Xiapi, Zhang Xun only has 50,000 soldiers and horses, which is not enough to siege the city.
Of course Zhang Xun knew this, so he simply attacked one city wall and gave up the defense of the other three walls.
If Liu Bei led his troops and ran away from the other three city gates, Zhang Xun would never lead his troops to chase him. After all, his mission was to capture Xiapi, not to eliminate Liu Bei.
Liu Bei hurriedly took the letter handed over by the soldier, opened it and checked it.
Mi Zhu and Jian Yong hurriedly came from the side, "Liu Shijun, how is the situation with General Zhang?"
Liu Bei couldn't help but smile when he heard the two questions.
"Everything goes well. Gongyou and Yide have returned with their troops and are waiting for orders nearby."
Upon hearing the news, Mi Zhu and Jian Yong were immediately overjoyed, "That's great. As long as General Yide's troops come back, the Huainan troops outside the city won't be a worry."
Mi Zhu turned around and looked at the Huainan soldiers and horses attacking the city, and suddenly sneered, "Mr. Liu, Zhang Xun outside the city doesn't know that our soldiers and horses have returned, so why not set up a strategy to defeat them in one fell swoop."
Hearing these words, Liu Bei nodded, "That's fine!"
Zhang Fei's troops returned, and Liu Bei was no longer worried about the Huainan troops outside the city.
The strength of the two sides is almost the same. As long as they set up a strategy, it is not difficult to defeat the Huainan soldiers and horses.
…
Sun Qian walked into the woods and saw Zhang Fei sitting under a tree from a distance, drinking from a wine jar.
"Haha, good wine!"
Sun Qian frowned, stepped forward quickly, and said with an extremely unhappy expression, "General Yide, at this time of crisis, it is the time when you should stay awake. Why are you drinking at this time?"
After hearing Sun Qian's words, Zhang Fei's eyebrows suddenly came together, "Mr. Gongyou, if you have anything to say, just tell me. I, Old Zhang, am here to listen."
Sun Qian looked at Zhang Fei's indifferent expression, suppressed his anger, and said slowly, "General Yide, Liu Shijun has sent someone to deliver a message."
Zhang Fei's eyes lit up, he put down the wine jar in his hand, and said eagerly, "Brother has faith, can we attack now? Haha, that's great. I, Lao Zhang, have been feeling uncomfortable for a long time."
Sun Qian couldn't help but frowned when he saw Zhang Fei couldn't hold his anger, and sighed secretly in his heart.
It's really hateful. It would be great if it was not General Guan who had his arm broken, but Zhang Fei!
Zhang Fei was reckless and ignorant, and regarded wine as his life. No one except Liu Bei could persuade him.
On the other hand, Guan Yu is much better. He is still arrogant, but he knows the general situation and knows how to advance and retreat. He is also cautious and has always had a plan. If he were to lead the troops this time, he would be much better than Zhang Fei.
What an act of God!
Zhang Fei saw that Sun Qian did not answer his words, and he felt a little hesitant in his heart, "Mr. Gongyou, tell me quickly, what is going on, are you going to launch an attack?"
Sun Qian shook his head, "General Yide, the letter sent back by Ambassador Liu clearly stated that we should look for food for the Huainan soldiers and horses outside, and then wait until night to launch a sneak attack and burn the food.
When the food of the Huainan soldiers and horses is burned, the morale of the army will definitely be in chaos. Then Liu Shijun will lead his troops to rush out of the city. We will attack from two directions and defeat the Huainan soldiers and horses in one fell swoop. "
"food?"
Zhang Fei frowned when he heard Sun Qian's plan, and then waved his hand, "Mr. Gongyou, I'll let you do the searching for food. After you find their food, come back and tell me, Lao Zhang, I, Lao Zhang, will lead the troops to attack and set fire to them."
When Sun Qian heard these words, he sighed secretly in his heart!
As the commander-in-chief of the army, Zhang Fei should arrange all these things, but now he is pushing it to himself, which is really inappropriate!
When Sun Qian saw Zhang Fei picking up the wine jar again, he knew that there was no point in talking anymore, and left with a sigh in his heart.
…
Huainan Barracks.
In the large tent of the Chinese army, Zhang Xun sat high on the throne, looked around at the people in front of him, and said slowly.
"We have been attacking for three days now, but still have not achieved any results. Do you have any suggestions for attacking the city?"
When everyone heard this, they shook their heads.
Chen Lan stepped forward and said, "Xiapi is too strong, and there are a lot of materials to defend the city. It is really not easy for us to break the city in a short time."
Hearing this, Zhang Xun frowned even more tightly, "Everyone, think about it carefully. Is there any way to break the city as soon as possible?"
Chen Lan sighed and said, "General Zhang, why don't you send someone for help? Please send more troops and horses, and then surround the city. If Liu Bei dares not to surrender, then besiege him to death in Xiapi City."
Everyone nodded after hearing these words, "General Chen is right. Since there is no way to break through the city, we must find a way to trap him inside. Sooner or later, he will not be able to hold on any longer."
Zhang Xun couldn't help but frowned when he heard what everyone said, and then nodded, "In that case, I will send someone to deliver the message back immediately."
"The Rebirth of Financial Giants"
At this moment, rapid footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, and soon a soldier appeared at the door.
"General Zhang, someone shot a letter from outside with a bow and arrow."
"letter?"
Zhang Xun was stunned, then waved his hand, "Send it up."
The guard on the side hurried forward and delivered the letter handed by the soldier to the table.
Zhang Xun took the letter off the arrow and opened it carefully to check.
At first, Zhang Xun was still full of doubts, but after reading it, the doubts in his eyes became even stronger.
Zhang Xun raised his head and looked at everyone, shook the letter in his hand in front of everyone, and said slowly, "Everyone, do you know what is written in this letter?"
Everyone looked at the confused expression on Zhang Xun's face and shook their heads, "General Zhang, what is the content of the letter?"
Zhang Xun said slowly, "The content of this letter tells us that 30,000 soldiers and horses led by Zhang Fei are hidden nearby."
"What?"
When the generals of the Huainan Army heard the news, their faces changed.
Everyone is a veteran leading troops, so they naturally know what Zhang Xun's words mean.
A soldier and horse are hidden nearby. The key is that no one knows it yet. Once a sudden attack is made, the consequences will be disastrous!
What's more, there are still 30,000 soldiers and horses.
Chen Lan asked in surprise, "General Zhang, is this true?"
Zhang Xun shook his head, "I don't know. I'm just telling you the contents of the letter."
At this point, Zhang Xun paused and asked slowly, "Everyone, do you think the content in this letter is true or false?"
As soon as these words came out, the big tent suddenly became quiet, and everyone frowned and thought.
After a long time, Chen Lan said slowly, "General Zhang, the content in this letter is very likely to be true."
Zhang Xun turned his head and looked at Chen Lan, "General Chen, why do you think the content of this letter is true?"
Chen Lan thought for a moment and said, "General Zhang, his troops have been hiding near us. If we don't know, he can rush out and attack us at any time.
And our army does not know their existence. Once it is attacked by a sneak attack, its morale will definitely be in chaos. Maybe our army will be defeated after the sneak attack. "
At this point, Chen Lan's tone paused, and then, without waiting for anyone to answer his words, he continued.
"General Zhang, but if this matter tells us, and our army discovers it, once they are on guard, it will be impossible for them to sneak attack us.
Doing so would not only be of no benefit to them, but would also cause us to discover their traces, thereby losing the opportunity for a sneak attack.
For such an important thing, I think that as long as it is said out, there will be absolutely no lies. Otherwise, it will not be of any benefit to them, so why do it? "
When everyone present heard this, they were convinced and nodded in agreement.
"General Chen is right. This matter does not seem to be false."
Lei Book suddenly said, "If it is true, why do you tell us such an important thing?"
Chen Lan nodded, "General Lei, there is only one possibility, and that is that the person who told us is definitely not Liu Bei's people."
Hearing this, Zhang Xun's eyes narrowed, and Lei Book suddenly exclaimed, "General Chen, do you mean to say that the person who delivered the news to us was not Liu Bei's person?"
Chen Lan nodded, "Of course it can't be Liu Bei's, otherwise, wouldn't he be ruining his own life?"
At this point, Chen Lan's tone paused, and then, without waiting for anyone to answer his words, he continued.
"Everyone, if my prediction is correct, I am afraid that Liu Bei in Xiapi City is counting on these troops to defeat our army. How could he tell us the news?
So I can conclude that the person who reported the news is definitely not Liu Bei's person, but someone else. "
Zhang Xun already had an idea in his mind, but he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he looked at Chen Lan and smiled slightly, "General Chen, in your opinion, who should be the person who reports the news to us?"
Chen Lan cupped her hands and said, "If my prediction is correct, the person who sent this letter must be someone sent by Lu Bu, the Marquis of Wen who is stationed in Xiaopei."
"Lu Bu?"
Lei Book was surprised, "General Chen, why would Lu Bu help us?"
Chen Lan suddenly sneered, "General Lei, don't you understand?
Xuzhou Liu Bei wants to deal with Lu Bu. Lu Bu must have a grudge and happens to know about this, so he wants to use our hands to avenge himself. "
Hearing this, Zhang Xun nodded, "General Chen is right. This matter may indeed have been done by Lu Bu. The reason why he did this was because he was angry at Liu Bei for what he did to him, so he told the news." us."
Chen Lan nodded, "No matter what the reason is, now that we know about it, we must not let Liu Bei succeed again."
Lei Book snorted coldly, "General Zhang, since we already know that Zhang Fei's troops are hiding nearby, why don't we lead our troops to encircle and suppress them and defeat them in one fell swoop."
Hearing this, Zhang Xun nodded and said slowly, "Okay, since they want to sneak attack our army, then we will do the opposite and attack them first."
"Ha ha!"
Lei Book looked up to the sky and laughed, "When they see our soldiers and horses suddenly appear, I'm afraid their jaws will drop."
Chen Lan suddenly shook his head, "General Zhang, this is inappropriate."
Zhang Xun turned to look at Chen Lan, frowned and asked, "General Chen, why is it inappropriate?"
Chen Lan said slowly, "General Zhang, the letter said that Zhang Fei brought 30,000 troops and horses. I think if you want to defeat him, you must use at least 30,000 troops, or even all the troops and horses."
At this point, Chen Lan's tone paused, and then, without waiting for anyone to answer his words, he continued.
"However, such a large-scale operation cannot be hidden from Zhang Fei's spies. Once they know that they are not our opponents and move ahead of time, our army's plan will probably fail."
Hearing this, Zhang Xun frowned and said, "General Chen, in your opinion, what is the safest way to act?"
Chen Lan suddenly sneered, "General Zhang, our main idea is to eliminate Zhang Fei's troops. As for where to eliminate them, it doesn't seem to matter, right?"
Lei Book had a straightforward temper and was already impatient with the waiting. He hurriedly said, "General Chen, if you have any ideas, please tell me as soon as possible to avoid making people anxious."
Chen Lan smiled slightly, "General Lei, it's very simple. Instead of us struggling to find them, wouldn't it be better to stay here and set up an ambush, waiting for them to fall into a trap!"
