Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 71 The Hidden Secret
It was a sunny day on the seventh day of August.

Liu Bei's military flag had already been erected on the north side of the opposite bank, fifty miles away from Liaocheng.

The scouts were scattered in an area of ​​ten to twenty miles around and engaged in a bloody battle with Cao Cao's scouts.

Liu Bei listened to the scout's report: Dongjun Prefect Cao Cao stationed a part of his army in Liaocheng, while he himself led the main army to camp forty miles east of Liaocheng, close to Jibei State.

After listening to the report, Liu Bei laughed and said, "Cao Mengde guessed that I had few soldiers, so he deliberately stationed troops in two places to lure me across the river. Whether I attack the city or the camp, I will be attacked from both sides, so I have to leave a heavy force to guard against it."

"Besides, Bao Xin, who is close to Jibei, can also send troops to rescue us. If we are not careful, our army will be surrounded by enemies on three sides."

Liu Bei smiled at Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun.

Guo Jia also frowned slightly. It was indeed difficult to take action in such a situation.

Dividing the troops will reduce the combat effectiveness, and if only the auxiliary soldiers are divided, it will also affect the combat efficiency of the combat soldiers.

This was a conspiracy purely based on numerical superiority.

According to the information obtained, the governor of Yanzhou, Liu Dai, has entrusted the military power to Cao Cao. At this moment, the opponent is able to mobilize the military equipment and food supplies of an entire state.

He can no longer be treated as an ordinary county governor.

Guo Jia thought for a while and said, "Sir, the people in Cao Cao's East County are in turmoil right now. He has no choice but to block us outside of East County."

"First, the envoy is also a relative of the Han Dynasty. Wherever he goes, he enforces military discipline and cares for the people. Everyone in the world knows this."

"Secondly, Qingzhou and Yanzhou had no grudges against each other. It was Liu Dai and Cao Cao who attacked Pingyuan first, which attracted a large army to the area. Many nobles and aristocrats kept silent about this and sent people to inform the army first. That's it."

"If there is no outsider interference, the outcome of this battle will only depend on you, Liu Dai and Cao Mengde. If we can defeat their armies, we can take Dongjun. If we also implement benevolent policies, we will surely be able to attract the talents of the nobles and aristocrats in the counties of Yanzhou to serve you."

Liu Bei chuckled, knowing that Liu Dai of Yanzhou had made a bad move by believing Yuan Shao's words. Otherwise, he would have no good excuse to take Yanzhou.

This place is not like Qingzhou during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Without the active acceptance of local nobles and gentry, it is difficult to gain a foothold.

The only way is to lead the army to wipe out the local nobles, but now there is a better choice, which is undoubtedly easier.

Liu Bei raised his hand to let the scouts rest for a while, and then said: "No matter how Meng De responds, our army will cross the river on the floating bridge first, and I will ride forward to observe the enemy before we make any decisions."

Guo Jia stopped shaking his noodles and turned around in astonishment: "Ah!?"

He ordered Ran to bring the craftsmen from the Chaiying camp and a thousand auxiliary soldiers to build a simple floating bridge using the felled wood.

After the army safely crossed the river, Liu Bei asked Taishi Ci to bring bows and arrows and horse lances, and asked the captains in the camp to each take responsibility. He rejected Zhang Fei's suggestion to go with them.

He ordered Zhao Yun to lead the cavalry to provide support at any time, and gathered sixty cavalry guards with Taishi Ci to ride out of the camp and carefully observe Cao Cao's camp.

Since you are observing the enemy's movements, you cannot wear armor that is too conspicuous, otherwise you will become a target of enemy scouts and siege.

Liu Bei, dressed in ordinary knight attire, mixed in with the center of the cavalry. He reined in his horse and stopped on a steep slope. The glaring sunlight made him frown before he could look at Cao's camp.

Just talking about the camping, it can be seen that it is extremely safe, with trenches and a large number of chevaux-de-frise headed by iron spears arranged in an orderly manner.

Liu Bei sighed in his heart: "Meng De has learned a lot from Xu Rong. The barricades that prevent cavalry from galloping are all over the military camp..."

Knowing that he had a cavalry under his command, he made chevaux de frise to defend against the cavalry and did his homework of investigation.

Unfortunately, this time, Liu Bei did not intend to use the cavalry as the main force to win the battle. He had used the horses too frequently before, causing many of them to become tired. He brought the cavalry here just to be cautious and keep a backup plan just in case.

"Hmm, something's wrong!" Spying on the enemy's camp and seeing the barricades everywhere, Liu Bei always felt something was wrong.

With such a large number, it doesn't seem like they are used to guard against cavalry in the plains, but rather they seem to be specially used to block the camp for defense.

Then he suddenly realized that Yanzhou's Dongjun was connected to Jizhou's Weijun, and Yecheng was located in Weijun.

Judging from the time, Lu Bu, who had escaped from Guanzhong, should be serving as a guest general in Jizhou. Could it be that Lu Fengxian would obey Yuan Shao's orders and suddenly lead cavalry to attack him from behind?

After all, it's hard to say. Yuan Shao will not sit idly by and watch him take over Dongjun next to Yecheng.

This expedition might really be risky, as we might have to face the combined forces of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Lu Bu if we are not careful.

Liu Bei secretly thought: "Meng De, you deliberately moved the camp forty miles to the east so that I could focus on Jibei Xiang Bao Xin and ignore Yuan Shao right behind me. What a sinister move."

If others only focused on the counties of Yanzhou, they would easily neglect what was behind them. Moreover, they would not have thought that Lu Bu was in Jizhou and would have acted extremely quickly.

Cao Cao also deliberately posed a posture to lure the enemy so that they would only focus on encircling Bao Xin from the front and back.

The killer move that determines the outcome of the battle has been hidden by Cao Mengde. His intentions are truly sinister!

He made it clear that he was ready for a decisive battle and bought time for himself.

Liu Bei was thinking about the only way to defeat the enemy, which was to attack with swiftness and break through Cao Cao's camp within three days, turning the passive position into the active position before the enemy arrived.

Cao Cao's response was naturally to use a large number of chevaux de frise to block and defend.

Liu Bei had a plan in mind, so he rode back to the camp.

All the generals gathered around and asked whether they should attack the city first or the camp of the Yanzhou army.

Liu Bei called Ran and ordered the craftsmen and assistants to immediately cut down trees and build heavy weapons for attacking the camp, including improved battering rams that could withstand rain of arrows.

Guan Yu asked doubtfully, "Brother, are you planning to attack the Yanzhou military camp first?"

"The situation has changed. When I observed the enemy camp, I found that they had dug trenches and built a large number of long-pole chevaux de frise. These inconvenient equipment to carry are not easy to stop cavalry."

"What's more, placing him in the camp means he is on guard against our army attacking his camp and is waiting for reinforcements to arrive," Liu Bei explained.

Zhang Fei said, "The east is close to Jibei. Cao Mengde relies on Jibei Xiang Bao Xin. Brother, you can order me to lead the troops to defeat the enemy."

"That's not the case." Guo Jia suddenly shook his head and said, "If reinforcements come to rescue Yanzhou, then Cao Cao will not rely entirely on Bao Xin, but on Yuan Shao of Jizhou."

"Isn't Yuan Shao at war with Gongsun Bogui? Where did the soldiers get transferred to Dongjun?" Zhang Fei asked in return.

Liu Bei pondered and said, "Yide, although Yuan Shao cannot mobilize any extra soldiers, Lu Bu who came from Guanzhong still has a lot of cavalry."

"I received a secret letter. Lu Bu should be in Jizhou right now. Maybe he is not far from us now."

In fact, there was no secret letter. It was just the foresight of the time traveler, otherwise he would most likely have ignored Wenhou Lu Fengxian who ran away from Chang'an.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Liu Bei remembered that in addition to the melee between Yuan, Liu, and Cao, there was another person who had also influenced the war situation.

(End of this chapter)