While Dong Zhuo's army rushed to rescue Gongsun Zan, the news from Gongsun Zan asking for help was also sent to Luoyang and delivered to Liu Bei.
However, before this news was sent to Liu Bei, Liu Bei had already received information from his own spies and from Dongyuan's spies directly belonging to Zhang Rang.
As his hometown, Youzhou certainly has the intelligence system left by Liu Bei, and Jizhou naturally has the intelligence system he ran back then. Even Zhang Rang had previously sent people to Hebei to spy on intelligence and strengthen his intelligence power at Liu Bei's request.
Therefore, Liu Bei may not know what color crotch cloth Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan wear, and Liu Bei doesn't know whether they wear it, but if Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan make any big moves, he will definitely know.
For example, Liu Bei knew that Yuan Shao was heavily armed and on the defensive in three directions, except that he did not arrange heavy defense in the north.
Therefore, at the military meeting, Xun You and Cheng Yu successively judged that Yuan Shao had the intention to attack Gongsun Zan in the north, and further suspected that Yuan Shao might have some contact with the Xianbei, Wuhuan and even the Huns in the north.
However, Liu Bei did not know the time when they might take action at the time, and believed that as long as Gongsun Zan did not move, even if the Wuhuan and Xianbei people dared to go south, the situation would not change significantly.
After all, Liu Bei was not very optimistic about "General White Horse"'s political temperament, but he had no doubts about his military ability. However, Liu Bei and his think tanks together did not expect that Gongsun Zan would actually disobey his orders. Take the initiative to attack Yuan Shao.
Liu Bei was very angry at that time.
Gongsun Zan disobeyed his orders and launched an offensive, which not only destroyed his overall layout, but also left Youzhou's defense in a state of emptiness. If the Xianbei and Wuhuan people had any ideas, the situation would be very bad.
The situation did not go beyond Liu Bei's expectations. When Yuan Shao intended to launch an attack to the north, he did not forget to contact the Xianbei and Wuhuan people.
Although he didn't know what method Yuan Shao used to unite the Xianbei and Wuhuan people, Liu Bei knew that Gongsun Zan would definitely be defeated under the attack from both sides.
Once he is defeated, Zhuo County will bear the brunt and will inevitably become Yuan Shao's main target. Fanyang County and Zhuo County, two counties that are of great significance to Liu Bei, will be attacked by Yuan Shao and will hardly survive.
If one goes wrong, these two counties and even the entire Zhuo County will become Yuan Shao's vent, and he will vent his hatred into them. Hundreds of thousands of people in the entire Zhuo County may be brutally massacred.
Gongsun Zan!
Liu Bei grimly held a military meeting and announced an order to immediately send troops to attack Yuan Shao.
"Originally, I wanted to wait a while longer for the supplies to be more fully prepared and the military training to be more mature, but the plan could not keep up with the changes. If we don't send troops, Youzhou will be gone."
What happened in Youzhou was widely publicized by Liu Bei, and his subordinates were very surprised.
Zhang Fei and other officers who were born in Zhuo County hated this very much. They felt that Gongsun Zan was causing trouble. If his hometown was massacred, he would be really embarrassed to face the elders in his hometown.
"So, act fast, we can't wait any longer."
Liu Bei decisively ordered a crusade against Yuan Shao and the Jizhou rebels, and decided to use all his strength to launch a fierce attack on Youzhou.
The last time he dealt with Yuan Shu, Liu Bei only deployed two main forces and did not go all out. This time it was different.
The three main armies of the Tiger Cavalry Army, the Xiao Cavalry Army and the Tiger Cavalry Army were all dispatched.
The Xuanjia Army and the Shence Army, which had a relatively high degree of training completion, were also added to the expedition sequence.
In this expedition, Tiger Cavalry Zhonglang will defeat the rebel general Zhang Fei, Huben Zhonglang will Yangwei General Xu Huang, Xiaoqi Zhonglang General Pang De, Xuanjia Zhonglang General Cheng Pu and Shence Zhonglang General Liu Sheng are the main generals.
The rest of the new generals who performed well were also brought along by Liu Bei.
This time the incident happened suddenly, and there was no need to divide the troops. The army directly penetrated Jizhou to rescue Youzhou. The main target of the military operation was Youzhou, and the rebels in Jizhou were left to the armies of other states.
At the same time that Luoyang's army was dispatched, Liu Bei sent an order to Qiao Mao, the governor of Yanzhou, and Liu Yu, the pastor of Qingzhou, ordering the armies of the two states to attack. He also ordered Dong Zhuo to arrange for the army in Huguan to attack simultaneously. Jizhou's military tasks were mainly assigned to these three armies.
In addition, he learned that Dong Zhuo had personally led the army to assist Zhuojun, which made him feel relieved a little.
Based on Dong Zhuo's current situation, Liu Bei believes that Dong Zhuo will definitely do his best in this wave of troops. Dong Zhuo's combat effectiveness is still acceptable, if nothing else.
Because he remembered Dong Zhuo's incident, Liu Bei made an impromptu decision and sent an order to the rear general Lu Bu, ordering Lu Bu to lead 5,000 Bingzhou troops to join the army that conquered Jizhou and go out with the army.
On November 23, the sixth year of Zhongping, Liu Bei hurriedly completed his army reorganization and presented his troops to the court to attack Yuan Shao.
It was still the same as before, leaving Jia Xu, Xun You, Cao Cao, Gai Xun, Yan Wen and others in the court to stabilize the situation and demonstrate their presence and power. They also asked Lu Zhi to temporarily rule the ancient literary school to prevent them from causing trouble.
At this time, the Luoyang court was shocked because news of the chaos in Youzhou came together with the news of Gongsun Zan's defeat.
A group of opposition officials headed by the Jinwen School finally found an opportunity to launch a political and public opinion offensive against Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, who supported Gongsun Zan's rise to power. They tried to get Liu Bei to plead guilty and punish him at this time.
But their plans met with little response.
Under the system of four ministers, their voices were suppressed, and there was no possibility of any political breakthrough.
In terms of public opinion, Ruan Yu also went all out to attack the public opinion offensive launched by the Modern Literature School and not give them the chance to cause trouble.
At the highest decision-making meeting, Liu Bei conducted an internal review of the matter and admitted his mistake to Empress Dowager Dong, saying that he had misunderstood people and caused Youzhou to suffer, and he was willing to accept punishment.
Empress Dowager Dong had no idea about this.
"Now is not the time to discuss this, Xuande, do you have a solution to the current situation?"
"have."
"How sure are you?"
"Ten percent."
Liu Bei's eyes were filled with coldness, and his heart was filled with murderous intent.
"I will make treacherous thieves and stupid people pay the price."
"So, very good."
Empress Dowager Dong only wanted to live a peaceful and comfortable life. She longed for and was unwilling to lose her peaceful and comfortable life, so she was satisfied if Liu Bei could give her this promise.
Soon, Liu Bei, who was preparing to finish, led his troops to go on an expedition, while the young emperor Liu Xie led all the civil and military officials out of the city to see them off, holding Liu Bei's hand and praying for Liu Bei, hoping that Liu Bei would triumph as soon as possible.
This battle is both unexpected and expected. If this battle is won, the Luoyang court will be stable. If this battle is not won, the problem will be big.
No one had time to blame Liu Bei for his lack of knowledge. They could only pin their hopes on Liu Bei, who was good at fighting.
"The general must return victoriously."
Liu Xie didn't know whether he wanted to say this or whether Empress Dowager Dong taught him to say this, but Liu Bei no longer cared.
After saluting, he got on his horse and rode away.
This is his second expedition as a general, and it is also an expedition in a more dangerous situation.
However, there are far more people who support the success of his expedition than those who are skeptical.
There is no other reason. Liu Bei is an expert in civil wars, and he is equally expert in foreign wars. The glorious history of 300,000 Xianbei becoming the strongest labor force in Liangzhou is vivid in his mind. There are many people who believe that he can reach new heights.
Of course, many people hope that Liu Bei's undefeated myth will end.
For example, the guys from today’s literary school.
Looking at Liu Bei's retreating figure, Huan Dian, who was standing behind Dong Chong, spoke at the right time.
"After returning from this expedition, it's okay that Liu Xuande was defeated. If he wins, he will definitely become the well-deserved number one in the world. By then, what confidence do you have to compete with him?"
Dong Zhong was stunned for a moment, then glanced back at Huan Dian with an unhappy expression.
"I never wanted to argue with him, so please stop talking."
"I don't want to say it, but I'm very worried that if you don't fight with him, he will fight for power with you after he returns from victory. By then, let alone outside Luoyang City, he will definitely reach out to Luoyang City."
Huan Dian whispered: "People's desire for power is endless. If he controls the outside of Luoyang, he will definitely want the inside of Luoyang. If he doesn't take a long-term view, he will definitely lose his life because of the trap under his feet. I I’m reminding you this, because I don’t want to see you fall into the trap!”
After hearing this, Dong Chong lowered his head and didn't speak for a long time.
(End of chapter)
