Xiahou Dun defeated Zhao Yun in two games and was on the way to pursue him. When he saw the sky was dark and the sound of wind coming from the dense forests on both sides, he was also worried that there was an ambush in the forest.
But at this time, the arrow was ready. If he ordered to withdraw from the valley, the cavalry in the front team would easily trample the infantry in the rear, so Xiahou Dun could only bite the bullet and rush forward.
Suddenly there was a volley of rockets from the mountains to the west, and shouts suddenly broke out in the valley. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's ambush troops rushed out together, and Xiahou Dun's troops immediately panicked.
"General, if there is indeed an ambush, retreat quickly." Yu Jin hurriedly reminded.
"Wen Ze, you immediately restrain the troops and horses and order the army to withdraw from the valley quickly." At this time, Xiahou Dun could only rely on Yu Jin, who was good at running the army.
"Wei." Yu Jin responded and left.
At this time, Zhao Yun led his army from the south to attack again, forming a three-sided pincer attack with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Cao's army suddenly fell into panic. The cavalry horses were frightened by the fire and ran around, crushing and trampling countless infantry following behind.
Liu Bei saw the fire in the dense forest and said happily: "The military master's clever plan, maybe we can capture the blind Xiahou alive this time."
Xu Shu nodded and said: "Now the victory or defeat has been decided, whether we can capture the coach alive depends on God's will."
Li Dian saw the flames of Bowangpo rising into the sky at the northern camp. He guessed that Xiahou Dun had been ambushed by Liu Bei, so he led the soldiers and horses in the camp to rush south to respond.
Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin were calm at first, but as the fire became more fierce in the dark night and Liu Bei's army was chasing them, the two behind them were already in chaos. They could only run for their own lives, without any remaining strength to restrain their soldiers.
Two hours later, Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin led the remnants of their troops to flee to the mouth of the valley, and not a single one of the more than 20,000 people they brought with them was left.
Just as he was about to escape, a group of men and horses came from the north with torches, and the embarrassed soldiers at the rear suddenly froze in place.
Xiahou Dun mistakenly thought it was Liu Bei's ambush, and said to Jin with a mournful face: "We are going to die here..."
After a while, Yu Jin discovered that it was Li Dian's reinforcements and said happily: "General, it is Mancheng who has come to take over."
Xiahou Dun took a closer look and saw that he was indeed raising the Li flag, but because he didn't listen to his words before the battle, he couldn't be happy at the moment.
After the war, Liu Bei counted his troops and found that Bowangpo wiped out more than 20,000 enemies in one battle, and only suffered less than 10% damage on his own side.
After a great victory, Guan, Zhang, Zhao and other generals were overjoyed. Liu Bei finally understood the importance of military advisors and trusted Xu Shu even more.
"Military advisor, what should we do now?" Liu Bei asked.
"Xiahou Dun will be defeated and must leave. We can advance slowly, and then ask Wenpin and Liu Biao for help. Maybe we can really attack Xudu." Xu Shu said.
Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard this, and ordered Jian Yong and Liu Yan to go to Xiangyang and Xi'e respectively to ask for help, and then continued to march north.
Wenpin was shocked when he learned that Liu Bei had defeated Xiahou Dun. He said that he must obey Liu Biao's order before sending troops.
Jian Yong came to Xiangyang quickly. Liu Biao was shocked when he heard the news of Liu Bei's victory. "Xianhe has been working hard for a long time, so he can go to the post house to rest first. I will discuss it with the generals immediately."
"Ming Gong, please make a decision quickly, this is a good opportunity given by God." Jian Yong said with cupped hands.
"Let's go to Xianhe, and we will make a decision when we are young." Liu Biao said.
Jian Yong knew that the situation was urgent and had no intention of going to the post house. Instead, he stayed outside the governor's mansion and waited for news.
Liu Biao immediately convened the ministers for discussion. At this time, Wenpin had also sent back the news about Bowang.
Everyone in the hall was silent because Liu Bei's performance in this battle had exceeded everyone's expectations.
Liu Biao threw a stone and asked for directions: "Xiahou Dun was defeated by Xuande. If I raise troops to help, Xu's capital will be in danger. If Cao Mengde doesn't come back to help, we may be able to save the emperor."
Cai Mao, who was close to Cao Cao, did not dare to speak at this time. He was unwilling to send troops before because he advocated Cao Cao's strength. Now that Liu Bei defeated Xiahou Dun, he had no excuse.
At this time, Kuai Yue said: "If Liu Xuande breaks through Xudu and the emperor rewards him for his merits, my lord will not be as good as him. If my lord uses the people of Jingzhou to help him achieve great achievements, wouldn't he be marrying someone else?"
Moreover, Liu Bei is planting grain in Xinye, recruiting troops and buying horses. I heard that he recently paid homage to a military advisor. How can Liu Bei be inferior to others by doing this? Please think twice, my lord. "
Liu Biao had always been wary of Liu Bei, but when Kuai Yue said this, he hesitated.
Seeing that Liu Biao was suspicious, Kuai Yue added jealousy and said: "Liu Bei is a ferocious tiger in the world. If you don't care about raising a tiger, you may hurt yourself..."
"Brother-in-law, you can send an order to Wen Zhongye to pretend to help, and then kill him by surprise. Liu Bei will be relieved of his troubles." Cai Mao took advantage of the situation and said.
"No, Liu Xuande can defeat Xiahou Dun. I expect there must be experts in his army. If Wen Zhongye fails to kill the tiger, he may hurt himself. My lord can send someone to appease him to weaken his heart, and then use tricks to plan it." Kuai Yue Luxu said.
"Why delay the sun and the moon? If you can't trust Wenpin, I can personally lead the army north to attack him together, and I will be able to capture and kill Liu Bei in one fell swoop." Cai Mao snorted coldly.
After hearing this, Liu Biao shook his head and said: "The words of Yidu are very good. Xuande's benevolence and righteousness are spread all over the world. If Degui is really reckless and kills him, I will be blamed for harming the virtuous. It is better to do it slowly..."
At this time, the guards came to report that Yan Jianyong was still waiting outside the door of the mansion.
Liu Biao told Kuai Yue: "Jian Xianhe is still waiting for news. You go out to deal with Yidu and don't make him suspicious."
"Wei." Kuai Yue stood up and responded.
Liu Bei stationed troops in Ye County for several days. Liu Yan came back first to report Wenpin's attitude. Later, Jian Yong returned and brought Liu Biao's excuse.
Liu Bei was so angry that he beat his chest and said: "How can such an opportunity be available in the future? How could Liu Jingsheng give up because of Cai Mao's illness? Is there no other general in Xiangyang?"
Xu Shu shook his head and said: "I think it's not that Cai Mao is sick, but that Liu Biao deliberately doesn't want to send troops. It seems that he is very afraid of his lord..."
"Then attack Xudu to save the emperor..."
"How can it be possible for my lord to capture Xudu with just over 10,000 troops? I think we should go back to Xinye..." Xu Shu advised.
Liu Bei frowned and said, "We can't be controlled by others all the time. Let Lan Ziyu expand production when we go back. If we have food, we won't be afraid of not being able to recruit soldiers."
Xu Shu nodded and affirmed: "That's right."
Four hundred garrison troops under the command of Gao Shun were stationed in Xinye. During this period, public security in Xinye was good. Several spies who had sneaked into the city were also arrested. After being tortured, they found out that they were Cai Mao's people.
After Liu Bei returned to Xinye, Gao Shun handed over the city defense and Lantian returned to Dengjiazhuang.
Faced with Cai Mao's full malice, Liu Bei put those craftsmen back. He planned to convince others with virtue, which would also ease the relationship with Liu Biao.
In May, Yuan Shao vomited blood and died in Yecheng in grief and anger. His youngest son Yuan Shang inherited the throne. His eldest son Yuan Tan occupied Qingzhou, his second son Yuan Xi occupied Youzhou, and his nephew Gao Gan occupied Bingzhou. The whole of Hebei could no longer unite.
Liu Bei stood in Xinye and sighed to the north, thinking that Yuan Benchu was still defeated by Cao Cao after all. His sons would be defeated in Hebei sooner or later, and it would be even harder to defeat Cao Cao.
Lantian expanded production according to Liu Bei's wishes. Under his strong call, his followers were like a cloud, and the number of people in the field quickly expanded from less than a thousand to three thousand, which was faster than Liu Bei's recruitment in Xinye.
