"Wen Yuan is brave! It is not in vain that Ziyi strongly recommended him to send troops to Xingyang."
In the Juan County government office, Liu Bei slapped the military newspaper he had just received on the table, smiling excitedly.
Next to him, Zhang Heng smiled and shook his head.
"The victory over Xingyang this time was partly due to Wen Yuan's bravery and skill in fighting, and both were due to Xuande's skillful use. What contribution can I make?"
"Hey, Ziyi, don't be humble, everyone sees your achievements!"
After Liu Bei finished speaking, he paced back and forth a little restlessly and began to mutter to himself.
"Xingyang, that's Xingyang, and now it's actually fallen into our hands..."
Liu Bei was immersed in joy when he thought that the thick and solid city walls of Xingyang and Xu Rongjun's supplies and food in the city were now his.
Not long after, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also walked in.
It was late at night, and Guan Yu was dressed neatly. On the other hand, Zhang Fei's hair was a mess, and there were specks of eye droppings in the corners of his eyes, as if he hadn't woken up.
As early as last night when Xingyang was captured, Zhang Liao immediately sent someone to deliver the news to Juan County.
So when Xu Rong received news of the fall of Xingyang, Liu Bei received Zhang Liao's military report almost at the same time, and quickly sent someone to summon Zhang Heng and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to discuss the next move.
"Brother, why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"
Although Zhang Feiren was half asleep, his voice was not quiet at all. He shouted as soon as he entered the door.
"Second brother and third brother, come and see the battle report from Wenyuan..."
Liu Bei hurriedly handed over the battle report, but did not wait for the two of them to read it before directly telling the results.
"Wenyuan arrived at Xingyang City last night, successfully tricked the city gate into opening, and killed the defenders in the city. Now, Xingyang is ours!"
Hearing this, not only Zhang Fei was startled, but even Guan Yu, who had always been steady, couldn't help but change his expression.
"Brother, is this news reliable?"
"The Wenyuan battle report is here, how can it be fake!" Faced with Guan Yu's doubts, Liu Bei laughed in response.
Zhang Fei muttered from the side, "Zhang Liao's defeated general... actually has some abilities."
It seemed that he was still a little bit worried about the previous choice of Liu Bei and Zhang Liao to raid Xingyang, but when he said these words, he was completely relieved.
Liu Bei continued to smile and said: "Although I don't know how much food and grass there is in Xingyang City, it is definitely enough for us to eat for a while. Coupled with the strong and thick city wall, it is enough for us to defend the city and resist Dong's next wave of offensive. ."
"Yes, as long as we defend the city, even if Dong's thieves have millions of soldiers, we can still deal with them." Guan Yu stroked his beard and nodded in agreement.
"Ziyi, when will we rush to Xingyang to meet Wenyuan?" Liu Bei asked when he saw that Zhang Heng had not spoken.
"This is not urgent, but it is another matter that deserves our attention."
"What's the matter?"
Zhang Heng pointed in the direction outside the city, "What do you think Duke Xuande should do with Xu Rong's five thousand troops?"
Hearing this, Liu Bei slapped his head and remembered that there were five thousand enemy troops outside the city.
The news of Xingyang's success was really shocking, and even Liu Bei was stunned.
"What do you mean, Ziyi?" Liu Bei asked tentatively.
"Xu Rong is a talent." Zhang Heng said with a smile.
Faced with such a meaningless sentence, both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were a little confused, but Liu Bei understood it and had a smile on his face.
"What, Ziyi is going to conquer this person?"
"With such a talented general, is it possible that Duke Xuande won't be tempted?" Zhang Heng asked with a smile.
"Of course it would be a pity to kill him, but...what if this person would rather die than surrender?"
"This matter will have its own considerations at that time. The most important thing right now is how to keep these five thousand people." Zhang Heng took the military newspaper in Zhang Fei's hand, "Wen Yuan wrote clearly in the letter that he deliberately let go We have taken away several enemy soldiers in order to let Xu Rong know the news of the fall of Xingyang, which will cause the morale of the army to be in chaos. At that time, we can cooperate internally and externally to surround Xu Rong and annihilate him."
"That's right." Liu Bei also nodded and said, "Wen Yuan is worthy of being a general. He already thought of this place when he first captured Xingyang. It's really rare."
"The question now is how and when we should encircle them."
"This...Does Ziyi have a clever plan?"
A gleam of wisdom flashed in Zhang Heng's eyes, he pointed at the military report in his hand and said with a smile: "We have received the military report from Wenyuan, and Xu Rong outside the city must also know the news. So we have to act quickly, otherwise he will Time to run."
"This is not easy!" Zhang Fei immediately shouted, "Brother, give me three thousand troops. I will immediately go out of the city and rob the camp. Even if I can't win, I can still bite that guy and never let him escape."
Zhang Fei was so angry after being beaten passively for the past two days. When he saw that he could take action, he immediately shouted to fight.
Zhang Heng immediately gave Zhang Fei a thumbs up, "That's good, I guess Xu Rong thinks the same way. If Yide leaves, even if the entire army is not wiped out, there will probably be heavy casualties."
"this……"
Zhang Fei almost choked to death at Zhang Heng's words, but he stopped proposing a fight.
"What do you think we should do, Ziyi?" Liu Bei asked.
"We must fight, but we have to pick the right time to bite him. We don't want a big victory, so Xu Rong can't get away. As time goes by, his army has no food, and his defeat is reasonable. Other than that, Besides, there is one more thing you should do.”
"What's the matter?"
"Cut off his way back!"
In the current situation, Xu Rong's retreat is a foregone conclusion. The only thing worth discussing is when he will withdraw and where he will withdraw.
Liu Bei quickly turned around and took out the march map and placed it on the table. The four of them gathered around the map and began to discuss it.
"Where does Ziyi think Xu Rong will return?"
Zhang Heng stared at the map for a long time. Finally, his eyes lit up and he reached out and clicked on a place on the map.
"Xu Rong must retreat here!"
The three of them took a look and saw that it was Longcheng not far to the southwest.
"Why?"
This time it was Guan Yu who asked the question.
"Yun Chang, please look at this picture. If Xingyang is occupied by us, Xu Rong will definitely not be able to go back. As a result, the east road will be blocked. Juan County is backed by a river. Even if Xu Rong wants to retreat to Aocang, there is no available way. As a result, it is not feasible to travel northward. Then he has only one direction left, southward!"
After listening to Zhang Heng's explanation, Guan Yu's eyes lit up and he immediately understood Zhang Heng's thinking.
"Go south, pass Longcheng and rush to Jingxian County, and finally trek through mountains and rivers back to Xuanyuan Pass. Although this road is rugged, it is better than safety."
"Yes, Yun Chang understands it thoroughly." Zhang Heng nodded.
Liu Bei smiled and said: "In that case, why don't we ambush in Longcheng in advance and wait for work."
"Longcheng is too far and there are too many variables in between. It is better to intercept the water in the sewer." Zhang Heng suggested, "In order to prevent Xu Rong from escaping too fast, we have to send an elite soldier to hold him back so that we can have Time to complete the arrangement.”
"Okay!" Liu Bei waved his sleeves and said excitedly, "In that case, let's divide the troops into two groups."
By this time, Zhang Fei also understood and couldn't help but curl his lips.
"You guys have been talking for a long time, why don't you still want to fight? Brother, if I ask to be the vanguard, I will definitely entangle Xu Rong!"
As soon as Zhang Fei finished speaking, another loud noise suddenly came from the distance, echoing in the silent night sky for a long time.
In an instant, soldiers came to report that the thunderbolt chariots outside the city had started moving again.
Hearing this, a trace of doubt flashed in Liu Bei's eyes.
It doesn't look like they are about to withdraw. Did the remaining soldiers Zhang Liao let go not send a message to Xu Rong?
Zhang Heng naturally saw what Liu Bei was thinking, but shook his head and said with a smile: "No, Mr. Xuande thought wrong. The more guilty he is, the more he has to bluff. Xu Rong's move confirmed that he wanted to escape. As soon as tonight , Xu Rong will definitely withdraw his troops tomorrow morning!"
"Then when shall we take action?" Liu Bei asked.
"Now!" Zhang Heng said decisively.
"Now?"
"Yes, that's right now." A glint flashed in Zhang Heng's eyes, "Xu Rong's suspicion was to make us think that he would not escape immediately. With the thunderbolt cars constantly throwing stones, he thought he could sit back and relax tonight, but we just didn't If we do the opposite, we will launch a surprise attack tonight!"
"But Ziyi, you just said that Xu Rong must have arranged an ambush..."
Zhang Fei immediately found Hua Dian and refuted Zhang Heng.
"It's not important anymore. We don't want to defeat Xu Rong, we just want to hold him back. The most important thing is the ambush by the sewer water."
Seeing that Zhang Heng had given a complete plan, Liu Bei no longer hesitated and immediately began to arrange his troops.
"Yun Chang, you lead 4,000 elite troops and rush to Gutter Water in a moment to find a suitable place to ambush and snipe Xu Rong."
"Yes!" Guan Yu said, cupping his fists.
"Yide, you lead two thousand people as the vanguard. Later, you will lead your army out of the city to rob the camp. Remember not to be too lazy to fight!"
"As you command!"
As soon as he heard that there was a war, Zhang Fei was full of excitement and quickly agreed.
"You are still injured. When we rob the camp later, you must not rush to the front. Remember?" Liu Bei quickly warned again.
"I know, brother!"
Liu Bei felt relieved and looked at Zhang Yi again.
"Ziyi, how about you follow me and lead the remaining troops as Yide's back-up?"
Zhang Heng cupped his hands and said, "Yes!"
"Now, everyone goes to gather the soldiers. They will gather at the city gate in an hour!"
"As you command!"
The three of them cupped their hands together.
The discussion was settled, and just as everyone was going to prepare, Zhang Heng suddenly thought of another thing and said quickly: "Mr. Xuande, there is one more thing. Just now Wen Yuan said in the letter that he wanted to lead his army out of Xingyang. I think it is impossible to attack Xu Rong together with us. After all, behind Xingyang is Chenggao, where the Dong thief's heavy troops are stationed. If something goes wrong, Xingyang that we just acquired may be lost."
Of course Liu Bei also understood the importance of Xingyang, and immediately said: "Of course Xingyang is important. Wenyuan's capture of this city is already the first achievement of this battle, so there is no need to rush to join the battle. Ziyi, please write a letter yourself." , please Wen Yuan don’t worry about the war here, just stay in Xingyang with peace of mind.”
"Understood."
Zhang Heng nodded.
