It is really difficult to pass through the Tianjing Pass. If it is not dangerous, the pass is still narrow and crowded. Climbing the mountain at dawn, Liu Bei was at the forefront. He reached the top of the pass at noon. Looking back, he saw that the soldiers were unable to climb, panting, and there was no place to rest. So he hung a linen cloth for the soldiers to grab and climb for a full day. Only then did the entire army pass.
I thought that the war in Bingzhou was urgent, and the imperial court would send heavy troops to guard dangerous passes such as Tianjing Pass. Liu Bei also prepared a set of rhetoric. As a result, nearly ten thousand people crossed the Taihang Mountains without seeing a single guard, so Liu Bei doubted whether the Huns had already invaded Shangdang. They simply set up camp under the pass and asked Guan Yu to take a few scouts to Gaodu County to find out the news.
After waiting for half a day and the whole army started cooking, Guan Yu hurriedly returned to the army and reported the latest military situation in Bingzhou: Shangdang County has naturally not been invaded by the Huns, but Xu Bu Shanyu led the army from the east out of Yanmen County. Hu Chuquan, the former Youxian King, led 70,000 Xiongnu garrison troops to surrender, which caused Xubu Shanyu to expand his army to 100,000 troops. He then went south to Taiyuan County and conquered several cities. Jinyang, the county seat, also fell five days ago.
Now the Xiongnu army has advanced to Yangyi and is facing off with Shangdang County soldiers in Jicheng. Zhu Qi, the prefect of Shangdang, is now recruiting local braves and preparing for the war. Fortunately, the terrain between Shangdang and Taiyuan is dangerous, and the Huns have not yet invaded Shangdang. Instead, he continued to attack the unoccupied cities in Taiyuan. In the past few days, countless celebrities and common people fled Taiyuan to seek refuge with their eldest son, so much so that Zhu Qi withdrew all the garrison troops in the south of the county to stabilize order in the city.
This news was really bad for Liu Bei. He joined the annexation from Shangdang. His original intention was to cross the three mountains and join forces with Chen Chong before the Xiongnu occupied Taiyuan. But now the situation in Taiyuan has collapsed, and a hundred thousand troops are on the way. If we want to stop him and then go around Tongguan to Xihe, we will waste nearly two decades of time, which is absolutely impossible.
Fortunately, there is good news: Chen Chong led 3,000 soldiers to surprise Zuo Ri Zhu Wang Zadu in Lin County, and defeated all 30,000 Xiongnu troops in the south of the county. Huliba, the king of Xiutu, attacked Quyu fiercely, but failed in ten months. After hearing about the defeat of Zhadu, he was shocked and doubtful. Before withdrawing his troops and returning north, Yufuluo, the former Xiongnu Zuoxian King, sent troops to Baibo County and took advantage of this opportunity to join forces with Guo Da to capture Meiji. City, cutting off King Xiutu's way back north.
Huliba was attacked from the north and south, so he could only withdraw his troops to the east in panic, and entered Taiyuan to join Xubu Shanyu. He was immediately seized by Xubu Shanyu and his military power was taken away. All the 140,000 troops were under the orders of Shanyu. People can't help but feel that the changes in the world are unpredictable: a month ago, Xu Bu was named Shanyu, but he was actually a puppet; but after a month, Xu Bu lived up to his name and whipped everyone together. It's really a thousand miles.
"According to this, there are no rebels in Xihe now, and Tingjian can rest for a while." Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief, and then analyzed the current situation in Xihe: "According to what the court firmly stated, Bingzhou County soldiers are stationed in Xihe There are approximately more than 20,000 soldiers, and the Baibo army can fight no less than 40,000 people. King Zuo Xian has captured Shan Yuting, and he can gather at least 10,000 people."
Zhang Fei couldn't help but gasped after hearing this, and then he exclaimed excitedly: "Since Ting Jian can gather 70,000 people, what do we have to fear? The Hu people are newly defeated, and there are changes in the army. The morale of the army must be unstable, and there are only 140,000 people." We are just a crowd, as long as we move forward together and fight bravely without retreating! Once the false king is captured, the union of the state can be decided in one battle!"
"Even so, it's not feasible." Liu Bei shook his head and objected. "Although the Puppet Hu rebelled, they were not united in court. Therefore, although there are 70,000 soldiers in Xihe, it is difficult to march out in full force. In my estimation, it should be 40,000." On the left and right, we have more than enough to hold on, but not enough to fight decisively, so we still need to wait and act according to the opportunity."
So after lunch, the whole army set off again and arrived at the eldest son's city without any hindrance. On the march, many fleeing civilians were greatly moved when they saw the Dongping Army's strict military discipline and appearance, and that they did not loot the civilians. They thought they were reinforcements sent by the imperial court, and they greeted them with pots of food and pulp in the streets. Zhu Qi, the governor of Shangdang, couldn't believe it and hurriedly went out of the city ten miles to meet Liu Bei.
The two met and chatted for a while. Liu Bei introduced himself as the reinforcements transferred from Dongping by the imperial court, and then asked: "How many soldiers and horses are left in the county now?" Zhu Qi replied: "Excluding the county soldiers stationed in Jicheng, We can recruit ten thousand warriors from the countryside, but we don’t know how to fight." Liu Bei asked again, "How much food and grass is left in the county now?" Zhu Qi replied, "It can last for ten thousand people for half a year."
After speaking, Zhu Qi didn't even see the transfer order, and Liu Bei took over Shangdang's warriors and provisions, which took less than half a day. Even though Zhu Qi was suspicious, firstly, Liu Bei had all the troops and armor, and no one could pretend to take over. Secondly, Liu Bei's army was strictly disciplined, and he did not do anything to disturb the people, so he was definitely not a bandit. Thirdly, although Liu Bei was a humble man, But behind him, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not angry and assertive, and Zhu Qi did not dare to question him. As a result, he handed over the military power of the county in such a muddle.
After taking the food and fodder for the troops and horses, Liu Bei immediately ordered the entire army to station in Nie County. The Xiongnu army then besieged the city in Qi County to the west of Taiyue Mountain. However, since the situation was so deteriorated, it was useless to worry. Now that someone had food, Liu Bei first selected a few hills in Taiyue Mountain and ordered the local warriors to build checkpoints here. While welcoming hundreds of famous people from Taiyuan County to escape, he also inquired about the Xiongnu's movements in Taiyuan County.
After it was done, Liu Bei could only wait for the news, but he didn't want to just sit idle. In these good times, how could he not recognize the heroes of the Shangdang? So he left Nie County alone on horseback and went to Jicheng where the county soldiers were stationed. He wanted to make friends just like he did in Luoyang and even Zhuo County.
Jicheng is a pure military fortress with no residents. Behind the city is a cliff that plunges into the sky. In front of the city is a rugged mountain road winding past the city. When Liu Bei approached with his horse, he saw several county soldiers on the city tower. He was shooting sparrows in the sky. He was very skilled at shooting, and he hit seven or eight out of ten shots.
He came forward to announce his name, and the Jicheng defenders were already familiar with it. Seeing that he had come from afar, and that the Huns had no intention of attacking Shangdang for the time being, they happily opened the city gate and let Liu Bei into the city.
The man who greeted Liu Bei was a nine-foot-tall man covered in armor. Liu Bei was already considered tall and slender in the army. Even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were only as tall as each other. Unexpectedly, this man was actually one foot taller than him. The two of them stretched out their hands. Holding each other, Liu Bei felt the clear muscles in his hands and couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect to see such a man chewing iron here."
The man smiled casually and said with the same compliment: "Lv heard about the reputation of the school captain several times in Bingzhou. When I saw him today, his reputation is well-deserved. It can be seen that all the heroes in the world are from our country."
Only then did Liu Bei know that he was Lu Bu, the current guard of Jicheng and the Dianjun of Shangdang. Lü Bu, named Fengxian, was originally from Jiuyuan, Wuyuan County. He lived on the grassland since childhood, living with the Xianbei and Huns. He practiced shooting in the morning and hunting in the evening. He not only practiced archery and horsemanship, but also developed supernatural powers. , can dance a hundred catty iron halberd.
Later, due to the Xianbei invasion from the south, the imperial court abandoned the five counties of Yunzhong, Wuyuan, Shuofang, Dingxiang and Yanmen. Lü Bu moved his family to Shangdang County to settle down. Lü Bu's family was still well-off in Wuyuan, so he allowed Lü Bu to join the Guo family in Taiyuan. He was a member of the family and was proficient in Confucian classics. After he was crowned, he was recruited into the palace by the current prefect. After several years of great military exploits, he became the leading general in Shangdang County.
Liu Bei and Lu Bu first talked about Confucian classics, and Lu Bu was naturally not as good as Liu Bei. Then they compared martial arts, and Liu Bei was not as good as Lu Bu in terms of equestrian strength. Liu Bei was quite self-aware and smiled at Lu Bu: "Brother Lu is born to be a general. Apart from my two sworn brothers, no one can compete with Brother Lu on the battlefield. But there is one martial art that Brother Lu is definitely not as good as me!"
Naturally, Lu Bu didn't believe it, so Liu Beice got on his horse and suggested that the two of them should compete with each other immediately.
But when it comes to swordsmanship, Liu Bei is indeed close to Lu Bu. However, Liu Bei has been in the army for several years and has considerable experience in attacking and killing on horseback. When Lu Bu raised his sword and mounted his horse, Liu Bei took the lead and stabbed Lu Bu's right rib with the sword in his left hand. Lu Bu could see clearly and thought that he could just hold the hilt of Liu Bei's sword before he could counterattack. Unexpectedly, Liu Bei was able to kill him with one stab, but Lu Bu actually pounced. Empty.
After going back and forth for several times, Liu Bei's sword hit him. As if on the battlefield, Lu Bu was already dead. But Lu Bu became more competitive, and finally realized that Liu Bei's arms were longer than his knees, and his sword was more than a foot longer than his own. Every inch longer and every inch stronger, it was really difficult to parry in a normal fight.
So he tightened the reins of the horse and did not fight with Liu Bei on the horse. He only urged the horse to speed up and went in circles with Liu Bei in the school yard. , are all top choices. Liu Bei's mount is just ordinary. It will gradually lose speed after a few laps.
Seeing that the time had come, Lu Bu kicked the horse in the belly, and with a neighing sound from the crotch, it hit Liu Bei. Liu Bei couldn't react in time, he only felt a white light flash in front of his eyes, and his head suddenly felt a little cooler. When he came to his senses and looked back, Lu Bu was shooing his horse to slow down, proudly showing off to him the hook on his sword.
Liu Bei was convinced and admitted defeat to Lu Bu: "Brother Lu is as brave as a flying general. I really can't match him."
Lü Bu laughed when he heard this, summoned a few of his followers and asked them to lead the horses away, and said boldly: "Brother Liu, can you relax? As long as Lü is in Jicheng for one day, Hu Lu will definitely not be able to join the Shangdang!"
Then Liu Bei was invited to have a meal with him. At the banquet, Liu Bei discovered that Lu Bu also had a huge appetite. He could eat an ox a day. He ate meat and drank wine, and he had a heroic spirit as if he was devouring the world. Liu Bei couldn't help but laugh and said: "Brother Lu Bu is so generous and so generous. He is also the first person I have ever seen."
Lu Bu's face lit up when he heard this, and he said humbly: "I, Lu Bu, am not the only hero of my superior party. My subordinates Gao Shun, Cheng Lian, and Hou Cheng are also brave and capable of carrying the cauldron. If the emperor can reuse me as soon as possible, Wait, why worry about the chaos and thieves in the world being immortal!"
So he summoned Gao Shun, Cheng Lian and other Lu Bu generals. They hit it off immediately, drinking and dancing with swords until late at night.
