Three Kingdoms: Madam, I am a decent person

Chapter 772 Xu Shu's terror: The Great General's eight thousand cavalry are attacking!
While Zhang Sui captured Xinye and took a short rest, Liu Bei and his subordinates' parents, wives, and children, under the protection of a group of soldiers, rushed to Xiangyang.

Before they even reached Xiangyang, they encountered Liu Bei's army.

Liu Bei's army is besieging Fancheng!

It turned out that, with the help of Huang Zhong and Wei Yan, Liu Bei entered Xiangyang and wiped out the sons of the five powerful clans of Jingzhou who had not had time to escape.

The five powerful clans who managed to escape fled to Fancheng to avoid the brunt of the attack, on the advice of the registrar Chen Zhen.

Now, it is the tenth day since Liu Bei led his army to besiege Fancheng.

Liu Bei was stationed in the south of the city.

While discussing the specific details of the siege with Xu Shu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, and others, a soldier came to report: "My lord, we have discovered that all of our families have fled from Xinye!"

The soldier's words startled everyone.

Liu Bei's eyes narrowed slightly.

He and the families of all his subordinates were in Xinye.

Sun Qian was in charge of guarding Xinye.

Sun Qian was a loyal subordinate who had followed him closely; it was impossible for him to betray him.

Now all these family members have escaped.

That means——

Has something unexpected happened in Xinye?
Liu Bei didn't even bother with the discussion and rushed out immediately.

Xu Shu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and others followed them out.

Not long after they walked, they saw a large group of family members walking towards them, surrounded by soldiers.

Everyone looked travel-worn and exhausted.

When the family members saw Liu Bei, they all came over.

A boy ran over first, saying, "Uncle! Father! Third Uncle!"

He is Guan Ping, the eldest son of Guan Yu.

Liu Bei quickly grabbed Guan Ping's arm and asked excitedly, "Ping'er, how did Xinye fall? How is Sun Qian?"

Guan Ping met Liu Bei's anxious gaze and said, "I don't know if Xinye has been lost, Uncle."

"It was Mr. Sun who discovered that Anle had an accident, and it seemed that the General's army was attacking."

"Mr. Sun then immediately sent someone to bring us over."

"We didn't dare to be negligent, so we came directly here."

Guan Ping's words made Liu Bei's face turn deathly pale.

Has the general's army attacked?

Although Sun Qian's military abilities were far inferior to Xu Shu's, he still possessed some strategic vision after following him in numerous campaigns over the years.

He said that Anle had encountered an accident, and it seemed that the general's army was coming to attack, so it was probably true.

However, this was still somewhat difficult for Liu Bei to accept.

Wasn't General Zhang Sui confronting Cao Cao at Guandu?

How could Cao Cao have been defeated so quickly?

Liu Bei snapped out of his daze and quickly looked at his strategist Xu Shu beside him.

Xu Shu was also somewhat stunned.

The speed was so fast that he could hardly believe it.

However, considering Hebei's military strength, while the possibility of it happening so quickly is small, it's not impossible.

In particular, he had often corresponded with Zhuge Liang of Lujiang County.

Even from Zhuge Liang's few words, he could sense the strength of Hebei.

Under the tense gaze of everyone, Xu Shu took several deep breaths to suppress his inner panic before saying to Liu Bei, "My lord, the most urgent task is for us to do the following."

"First, immediately assemble a large army and station it in the southern camp of Fancheng."

"On the one hand, to prevent the five powerful clans of Fancheng from returning to Xiangyang again."

"On the other hand, we must be prepared for the general's army to actually march south."

Liu Bei nodded hastily and said to Zhang Fei and Wei Yan, "Yide, you are the commander-in-chief, and Wenchang, you are the deputy commander. Take 5,000 elite troops and station them at the camp south of the city!"

"No one from the five powerful clans is allowed to return to Xiangyang."

"We must also guard against the possible attack by the General's army!"

Zhang Fei and Wei Yan clasped their fists together and ran away.

Xu Shu then said to Liu Bei, "Secondly, immediately dispatch scouts to the direction of Xinye!"

"If it's not the general's army attacking, then we should try to contact Sun Qian."

"If it's the Great General attacking, light the beacon fires immediately." Liu Bei hurriedly instructed Jian Yong to prepare for the scout operation.

Xu Shu concluded with a somber expression: "Third, reorganize the army."

"Be prepared to retreat at any time."

"Of course, the reason is to prepare for a forced attack on Fancheng, so as not to arouse suspicion among the soldiers."

"Fourth, immediately send someone to contact General Wen Ping, who is resisting Zhou Yu's army's attack at Maicheng, and ask him to find a way to contact Zhou Yu!"

"Zhou Yu wanted to annex Jingzhou because Jingzhou was already in chaos."

"But now, under the Lord's consolidation, Jingzhou is united as one."

"If Zhou Yu were to attack Jingzhou as well, the difficulty would increase significantly."

"Furthermore, if the general's army attacks and we continue to fight him, in the end, only the general will benefit."

"Tell General Wenping that the army attacking Xinye is the Great General's army!"

Xu Shu's lips trembled slightly as he said to Liu Bei and the others, "Although it's still uncertain, it's also hard for people to accept."

"However, I think the biggest reason for the unexpected changes in Xinye is probably the attack by the general's army."

"Even Cao Cao's army couldn't have done it."

"I correspond with Zhuge Kongming, and Zhuge Kongming is not a liar."

"I could tell from his few words that Hebei was far more powerful than Cao Cao."

"Cao Cao is currently engaged in a battle with the Grand General at Xingyang and Guandu, and it is impossible for him to spare any attention to march south and attack Xinye."

"It's very likely that Cao Cao has been defeated, and the Great General's army is coming!"

"Zhou Yu was not the kind of pedantic person."

"Have General Wenping explain the pros and cons in detail."

"If the General attacks, not only will Jingzhou be in imminent danger, but Jiangdong will be in the same predicament."

He must understand the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold".

Liu Bei nodded emphatically.

Xu Shu ignored Liu Bei and the others and rushed towards the watchtower.

On one hand, Liu Bei sent people to Maicheng to urgently find Wen Ping, and on the other hand, he made urgent arrangements for his family.

If anything happens to these family members, the generals under their command will lose their will to fight.

In particular, Xu Shu's elderly mother was among them.

Xu Shu was the only strategist he trusted.

Before Xu Shu even reached the watchtower, a soldier came to report, screaming, "We've captured the envoy from Xinye! The General sent an envoy who attempted to infiltrate Fancheng!"

The soldier's words caused Xu Shu to stumble and fall to the ground.

Soldiers were about to come up from all sides.

Xu Shu, however, had no say in these matters.

Xu Shu got up from the ground and ran towards Liu Bei.

Liu Bei had just taken a bamboo tube from a panting soldier when Xu Shu dodged it.

Xu Shu's hands trembled slightly as he held the bamboo tube.

He wanted to open the bamboo tube lid.

However, his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't unscrew it after several attempts.

Seeing this, Liu Bei unscrewed the lid of the bamboo tube, pulled out a strip of cloth from inside, shook it to be on the safe side, and then handed it to Xu Shu.

Xu Shu glanced gratefully at Liu Bei and quickly unfolded the cloth strip.

Upon seeing the words "The General is leading 8,000 cavalrymen to set off south immediately," "Make sure to supply provisions," "Xianchen Camp," "Flying Bear Army," "White Feather Army," and "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry" written inside, Xu Shu looked at Liu Bei in alarm and said, "My lord, have the three generals cover the rear, and we will lead the army south immediately!"

"The General has really arrived!"

"Eight thousand cavalrymen are coming!"

"Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were also among them."

"Cao Cao has been defeated!"

"Cao Cao's defeat was so swift!"

Xu Shu's words instantly ignited the passion of Liu Bei and the soldiers around him.

Eight thousand cavalrymen are attacking?

Moreover, Cao Cao was defeated!
Liu Bei was momentarily dazed.

However, he quickly regained his composure and shouted sternly, "Organize the evacuation of the people near Xiangyang! Retreat to Maicheng immediately! Have General Wenping prepare for their arrival!"

(End of this chapter)