Seeing this, Lu Bu was furious and prepared to charge back and rescue the remaining soldiers, but was blocked by Gao Shun.
"General, don't look back. This is the enemy's plan to encroach."
"Are we just going to watch the soldiers being trapped in a tight siege?" Lu Bu asked anxiously.
It's not that he cherishes his soldiers very much, it's just that these soldiers have long been regarded as private property by him. If it's less, Lu Bu's voice will have to be lowered a bit in the future.
Gao Shun shook his head and said in a deep voice: "For the current plan, it is better to leave first, otherwise there is a risk of the entire army being annihilated."
He has always loved his soldiers as his sons, and of course he couldn't bear to have these soldiers trapped in the enemy's lines. But reason tells him that defeat comes at a price, and all he can do now is to stop the loss in time.
"This..." Lu Bu hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's go!"
It has to be said that Bingzhou's horse has really good foot power. Lu Bu and the remaining soldiers dispersed in a hurry, and it didn't take long to completely break out of Liu Bei's army's encirclement.
Seeing this, Zhang Liao immediately sent someone to ask Liu Bei for instructions whether to pursue him.
"No, don't chase the poor enemy, just concentrate on digesting the enemy forces in the encirclement." Zhang Heng waved his hand and said with a smile.
Call it digestion, but the rest of the battle is actually much simpler.
The Qian Bingzhou Army, which was deeply encircled, was now leaderless. Seeing that his master had abandoned him, his eyes were full of confusion and fear.
Zhang Liao rushed forward on his horse and shouted at these people: "You are already trapped in a tight siege. How long will it take if we don't surrender? Those who resist in this corner will die!"
The soldiers in the encirclement also roared.
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"
The soldiers of Bingzhou did not have a strong will to resist. After being intimidated by Zhang Liao, they all put down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender.
Zhang Liao was overjoyed and ordered the surrendered soldiers to be controlled, but he galloped on horseback to report the good news to Liu Bei.
At this time, Liu Bei was already discussing with Zhang Heng the ownership of these Bingzhou troops.
"The number of enemy troops surrendered this time is a thousand, which can just be merged into Wenyuan's command. They are all from Bingzhou, so they are easy to command."
When Liu Bei said this, he had a heartfelt smile on his face.
"Mr. Xuande is wise!" Zhang Heng immediately agreed, "It's just..."
"Just what?"
"Cao Mengde contributed a lot in this battle, and the soldiers under his command also suffered the most casualties. However, the soldiers who surrendered were all handed over to Commander Wen Yuan. I am worried..."
Hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but slap his head.
"I forgot about this. Then Ziyi, tell me how to distribute it."
Zhang Heng said with a smile: "These Bingzhou surrendered soldiers must be handed over to Wenyuan, so that the combat effectiveness can be maximized. As for Cao Mengde, please ask Xuande Gong to make some compensation. In the previous water attack, Cao Mengde also You have put in a lot of effort, but Duke Xuande hasn’t awarded you a reward yet, so why not reward him as well?”
"That's right, then how many pawns should be reduced?"
In the current war, no gold, silver, treasures, official titles or salaries are as real as the troops and horses in hand.
Cao Cao and Liu Bei are fighting together, so naturally they cannot be as casual as they are with their own family members.
"If I allocate 2,000 men to Cao Mengde according to my opinion, what would Mr. Xuande think?" Zhang Heng said with a smile.
Cao Cao had a total of two to three thousand men under his command, which doubled his strength, which was not a lot. But Liu Bei still felt that it was not enough, and even frowned because of it.
"Two thousand people...isn't it too few? If word spreads, people will laugh at us. We don't distinguish between rewards and punishments."
Hearing this, Zhang Heng couldn't help but roll his eyes.
This is still less, so how much do you, a little genius, want to share?
Liu Bei thought for a while, then suddenly put his hands on his hands and laughed and said: "Ziyi, we captured seven thousand surrendered soldiers last time, and now there are a thousand more. How about giving half of it to Cao Mengde?"
Four thousand people!
Zhang Heng almost fell off his horse when he heard this number.
Liu Da'er, your breath is worse than athlete's foot!
But Zhang Heng also understood Liu Bei's thinking.
Since it is a joint operation, each person should have half of the spoils, which sounds very fair.
Of course, Cao Cao is now regarded as a close friend and comrade by Liu Bei. The stronger he is, the happier Liu Bei will be, so he came up with such a division.
"No, absolutely not, at most three thousand people, no more." Zhang Heng tried to dissuade him with a wry smile, "If we give Cao Mengde half of the soldiers, wouldn't it mean that Cao Mengde has half of the credit for this battle. We will reward him based on his merits in the future. At that time, how should Duke Xuande award the reward, and how can our soldiers be convinced?"
"this……"
When Liu Bei heard this, he was speechless. He really didn't care about what his own people thought just now.
"In that case, let's use three thousand people. You can make arrangements for this matter, Yi Yi. But it can't be any less, otherwise outsiders will say that we are stingy, and it will be bad for Cao Mengde to alienate us."
Liu Bei waved his sleeves and simply handed over this troublesome matter to Zhang Heng.
The conversation just now made him almost grow a brain.
"Don't worry, Mr. Xuande, I will handle this matter properly." Zhang Heng said with a smile and cupped his hands.
At this time, Liu Bei suddenly saw Zhang Liao who was driving here, so he also rode forward and said with a smile: "Come on, let's go meet the hero."
"only."
Zhang Heng also smiled and followed Liu Bei's footsteps.
Almost at the same time as Zhang Liao arrived, Cao Cao also arrived.
"Lord, the enemy army has been defeated, about half of them have escaped, and the rest have been captured by our army!"
Zhang Liao dismounted, clasped his fists, and reported loudly.
"Wen Yuan is brave!"
Liu Bei also dismounted and praised Zhang Liao. Then he turned to Cao Cao and smiled: "Brother Meng De, thank you for your hard work in today's battle. I see that all the generals under Brother Meng De are fighting bravely and they are all talented generals!"
"Brother Xuande is so complimentary!"
Cao Cao quickly waved his hand modestly.
After talking about the scene, Liu Bei asked Zhang Liao: "Wenyuan, what were the casualties of our army in today's battle?"
"Back to my lord, I don't know yet. I will do the statistics later."
Liu Bei warned: "Everything must be done clearly, the injured will be treated carefully, and the fallen soldiers will be buried alive."
Liu Bei has always valued casualties more than the results of the battle.
"Don't worry, my lord, I will take care of this matter personally."
Liu Bei then nodded, "I always feel at ease when Wenyuan does things."
"Wenyuan, the enemy army that just attacked was under Lu Fengxian's command in Bingzhou?" Zhang Heng suddenly said.
"Does the chief secretary know Fengxian?" Zhang Liao asked in surprise.
When talking about enemy generals, Cao Cao and his generals also became interested.
After all, Lu Bu's performance just now was brutal, causing Cao Cao's generals to suffer a lot.
"I don't know him, I just heard about it a little bit." Zhang Heng said with a smile, "I have always thought that Lu Fengxian was brave enough to be worthy of all men. When I met him today, his reputation was indeed well-deserved. By the way... this Lu Fengxian seems to be from Bingzhou, but he is related to Wen Far from home."
Hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Zhang Liao again.
Zhang Liao hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "What the chief secretary said is true. Not only are they fellow villagers, in fact, the general and Fengxian have known each other since childhood and have fought side by side..."
With that said, Zhang Liao told the story of his relationship with Lu Bu, and everyone was greatly surprised.
Of course, the most surprising thing was Lu Bu's killing of Ding Yuan.
Cao Cao sneered and said: "Last year when I was in Luoyang, I heard that Lu Bu killed his old master and defected to Dong. I didn't expect this man to be so brave. He really can't be judged by his appearance."
"It doesn't matter that these traitors have the courage of overlords. After all, they are shameless villains!" Xia Houyuan directly began to attack personally.
In response, Zhang Liao just shook his head silently, looking a little sad.
Zhang Heng came over, reached out and patted Zhang Liao's shoulder, and said sincerely: "A man is born in this world, and loyalty is the foundation of his life. Lu Bu is capricious, cruel and unplanned, and will eventually destroy himself. He can't blame others."
"Master, I understand, it's just..."
After all, they have been friends for many years, and Zhang Liao is a kind-hearted person, so it is reasonable to feel compassion for Lu Bu.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore." Zhang Heng waved his sleeves and changed the topic, "Now these thousand soldiers are all Bingzhou troops, so they are all handed over to Wen Yuan to lead them. How about that?"
Hearing this, Zhang Liao looked happy, but Cao Cao next to him looked tense.
What do you mean?
I am the main force in this battle, okay, and I have the most casualties. Even if you, Zhang Ziyi, reduce your pawns to half points, I don’t have any objection, but if you just take it all for yourself, it would be too ugly!
Cao Hong was even more angry and was about to stand up and argue with Zhang Heng, but was stopped by Cao Cao with a wave of his hand.
"Thank you for your appreciation, my lord!"
Zhang Liao got the benefit and quickly clasped his fist towards Liu Bei.
"You don't have to be polite, you deserve it. From now on, just use your troops." Liu Bei waved his sleeves and said with a smile.
Zhang Heng turned around, smiled at Cao Cao and said, "In today's battle, we defeated the enemy army. Duke Cao deserves the most credit!"
"Zi Yi is too polite. It all depends on the soldiers' lives." Cao Cao said calmly.
"The previous time we captured Niu Fu alive and collected 7,000 surrendered soldiers, Cao Gong also contributed a lot. This time, let's discuss the merits and reward him." Zhang Heng said with a smile, "Xuan De Gong's intention is to mobilize the 7,000 surrendered soldiers." Three thousand people are under the control of Duke Cao, what does Duke Cao think?"
Hearing this, not only Cao Cao was frightened by Liu Bei's generosity, but the generals behind him were also shocked and speechless.
Liu Xuande is too generous!
