Lu Bu and the others determined that Liu Bei and Cao Cao might attack Xiapi by surprise.
Now they gave up the advantage of attacking Yuan Shu and had to retreat and fight back, first to save Pi and second to steal Xiao Pei.
The city of Xiapi was brought back by Lu Bu in a sneak attack. He believed that Liu Bei must have wanted to steal Xiapi back in a similar way, and Liu Bei must not be allowed to succeed.
They quickly retreated and led their troops northward. The pressure on Zhang Xun and others immediately diminished.
Zhang Xun heard the news that Lu Bu had withdrawn his troops, so he stopped running away and immediately led his troops to fight back at Suiling and Xuyi. They had a stalemate with the people left behind by Lu Bu and at the same time asked someone to pass the news back to Yuan Shu.
After analysis by Yan Xiang and others, they all agreed that something happened in Xiapi and Lu Bu had to retreat. Now he can launch a full-scale counterattack.
Just when Yuan Shu was about to launch a full-scale counterattack, he received another piece of bad news.
Zulang, the leader of Shanyue, was captured alive by Sun Ce. Those Shanyue people turned against each other and took refuge with Sun Ce. Sun Ce from the south was also attacking in the direction of Huainan. At the same time, Liu Biao also had the idea of sending troops.
Yuan Shu had to concentrate his forces to deal with Sun Ce and Liu Biao, and spared Lu Bu.
Fortunately, Cao Cao has not yet made an all-out effort to invade Huainan, so the pressure on Yuan Shu is not that great.
I can still bear it now.
At this time, Cao Cao continued to use the pull strategy and slowly consumed Yuan Shu.
Near Yicheng, the fighting was not too intense.
At the same time, various news were collected one after another at Cao Ying.
"Lu Bu has withdrawn his troops."
After Cao Cao got the latest news, he immediately gathered Chen Zhou and the three of them together, and said excitedly: "The plan to cross the river is going very smoothly, haha..."
So Xuzhou is basically in his pocket.
"According to Lu Bu's speed, Liu Bei should be able to get the news that Xiaopei has been defeated as soon as tomorrow."
Guo Jia analyzed: "Liu Bei will be in a very embarrassed state by then."
"Winning over Liu Bei to join forces to defeat Lu Bu, while also being able to compete with Yuan Shu."
Jia Xu admired: "Du Zhi's plan couldn't be more perfect, and everything that can be calculated is taken into account. At the same time, we can use the name of righteousness to help Liu Bei win. Take the opportunity to get Xiapi, and then slowly clear away the negative impact of the massacre of the city."
Chen Zhou said modestly: "It's just a coincidence. It happened to be successful."
"This is no coincidence!"
Seeing that Chen Zhou was still humble, Cao Cao thought that he was indeed a noble and upright man.
Don't take credit and don't ask for credit.
It’s so nice to cross over!
"Lord."
At this moment, Xu Chu came in and said, "Liu Bei would like to see you."
As soon as they mentioned Liu Bei, Liu Bei came.
"Please!"
Cao Cao said.
After a while, Liu Bei walked into the tent and saw Chen Zhou and the others were there. He bowed and said, "Cao Sikong, we have been in Yicheng for a while. When will we fully invade Huainan and attack the rebels?"
His plan was to follow Cao Cao and defeat Yuan Shu.
Cao Cao is the main force, assisted by Liu Bei. Once he gains an advantage, he will break away from Cao Cao and occupy Yuan Shu's territory.
Now Cao Cao fought a few battles with Li Feng and others without any pain, which delayed a lot and made Liu Bei a little anxious. However, Liu Bei did not dare to fight in on his own, knowing that he could not defeat Yuan Shu and had to rely on Cao Cao.
In addition, he received news that Lu Bu had defeated Yuan Shu's generals not long ago.
He was also worried that Lu Bu was too fierce and had too many advantages. When he entered Huainan, he would not even be able to take a sip of soup.
"Xuande, I know you are impatient, but I am impatient too!"
Cao Cao had already thought about his words and explained: "Yuan Shu has half of the resources of the Yuan family. After understanding the strength of Yuan Shu's current troops, he rashly led troops into Huainan, which would be detrimental to the battle, but..."
He recalled the content of the discussion just now and the speed of Lu Bu's march north, and continued: "We have agreed to send troops to fully invade Huainan the day after tomorrow, but we haven't had time to inform you yet."
"I'm impatient."
Liu Bei has not yet received news that Lu Bu has withdrawn his troops.
His news channels are far less smooth than Cao Cao's, and since he didn't deliberately inquire about Lu Bu's movements, he doesn't know anything now. He said with confidence: "When the time comes, I am willing to lead my second and third brothers to be Cao Sikong's vanguard and kill Kill that traitor Yuan Shu."
"good!"
Cao Cao shouted: "I didn't expect that after Hulao Pass, we can still see the three Xuande brothers."
When mentioning Hulao Pass, Liu Bei was very proud. That was the highlight moment for the three brothers. He said: "Since Cao Sikong is preparing for a full-scale attack, I have to go back and prepare."
Liu Bei left quickly.
I still left with hope, never thinking that there would be a game waiting for me.
——
Gao Shun returned to Xiapi from Suiling, which was relatively close.
It's much closer than Lu Bu's sneak attack on Xiaopei.
Therefore, when Gao Shun returned to Xiapi, Lu Bu was still riding on his horse to Xiaopei.
Seeing that Xiapi Castle Tower was safe and sound, Gao Shun was temporarily relieved.
"General Zang, how is the situation?"
Gao Shun asked.
"The troops that suddenly appeared are currently standing still, as if they are waiting for something."
Zang Ba said: "The army that can bypass Pengcheng and appear here must be Cao Cao's soldiers, but there are also Liu Bei's military flags in the army."
Except for Cao Cao and Liu Bei joining forces, no one else near Xuzhou could bring out so many soldiers and approach Xiapi.
"We intercepted a secret message. Liu Bei and Cao Cao were preparing to attack our Xiapi. Fortunately, the secret message was intercepted in time, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous."
Gao Shun said.
"real?"
Zang Ba asked in surprise, he didn't know about the secret letter yet.
Gao Shun nodded slightly, and then said: "I want to go out and meet Cao Jun outside for a while."
Next, he led his trapped camp and a thousand Xiapi guards to kill the troops outside the city according to the position indicated by Zang Ba.
Xu Huang and Li Dian were not far from Xiapi.
As soon as Gao Shun came back, they got the news from the scouts and concluded that Gao Shun, who had returned, would definitely come to test them.
as expected.
As soon as the whole army was integrated, the scouts came to report again, and Gao Shun led his troops to approach them.
"Ready to fight."
Li Dian shouted.
The two of them quickly gathered their troops.
As soon as everything was prepared, Gao Shun led an army of less than 2,000 people and dared to kill 5,000 of them.
The trapped camp was numbered as a thousand people, but in fact there were only more than 800 people.
But they were well equipped and had armor.
Gao Shun dared to use less than 2,000 men to defeat Li Dian and his 5,000 men. The advantage was over the trapped camp.
The distance between the two sides is getting closer.
War is about to break out.
The terrifying fighting power of the trapped camp exploded like this.
Xu Huang and Li Dian fought back for a while, and found that if they continued to fight, even if they could win, the damage would definitely not be light.
"retreat!"
Xu Huang followed Chen Zhou's instructions. At this point, he could no longer fight and had to preserve his strength.
"retreat!"
When Li Dian heard Xu Huang's cry, he knew he couldn't fight.
They arranged archers to shoot at Gao Shun, and then prepared to break up the rear. They quickly led their troops to retreat to the north of Pengcheng.
Five thousand people fought for a while and lost nearly 500 people.
This shows how cruel the trapped camp is.
