My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 102: For enemies who bully the weak and fear the strong, you have to hurt them first
The next morning, west of Huaiyin City.

Zhao Yun, who had requested a battle and was successful, put on his helmet and armor early in the morning, followed Tian Yu, and led 5,000 soldiers out of the city to Xuyi to set up camp and intimidate the enemy.

Liu Bei also got up early and went out of the city in person to see Zhao Yun and others off. Before leaving, he took Zhao Yun aside to give him a few words of instruction, expressing his trust and hinting that Zhao Yun should not worry about temporary gains and losses.

Zhao Yun's expression was calm, he just solemnly said that he would kill the rebels and report to the country, then he turned his horse and left. There were some things that the two of them were not suitable to talk about, just understand it in your heart.

It turned out that although Liu Bei valued Zhao Yun, it was not easy for him to give him a high position suddenly. After all, he had been gone for three years. When he came back this time, Liu Bei only gave him the position of military Sima, not even a captain.

According to the situation in the second year of Jian'an, or the unspoken rules, if one wanted to appoint a military Sima or a Sima of a separate department, the princes could make the decision on their own without even having to make a gesture of "expressing their opinion".

If you want to be promoted to the rank of captain or even colonel, you have to nominally submit a petition. Even if the court does not approve your petition, as long as you have submitted it, it means your intention has been conveyed.

Even a high-ranking official like Yuan Shao still followed this process at this time. He had literati like Chen Lin who specialized in writing memorials under him, and they usually did this job. Yuan Shao had many soldiers and generals under his command, and he would appoint officials every few days. Chen Lin had to go to Xudu every few days to write memorials, regardless of whether he would return to Xudu or not.

This time, Liu Bei did not want to disappoint the old man who had followed him for the past three years, so he did not make a big fuss about it. He just gave Zhao Yun a military commander, and then privately hinted that as long as he made meritorious service in this battle, he could immediately find an excuse to promote him to a captain.

After all, the situation of Zhao Yun's coming this time is different from the situation before the Battle of Guandu in history. In history, when Zhao Yun returned, Liu Bei had become a guest general, most of his troops had died, and Zhao Yun led his troops into the group, so he deserved to be rewarded no matter how high. Today's Liu Bei still has some family business foundation, and he has to take all aspects into consideration.

Of course Zhao Yun had to say, "Official position doesn't matter, I'm not here for wealth and fame," and the two of them dropped the topic.

Fortunately, Tian Yu was also a military commander for the time being, so he was at the same level as Zhao Yun. This time, he led the troops and divided the five thousand people into two parts. Zhao Yun led one thousand cavalry in the front, and Tian Yu led four thousand infantry to follow.

If Chen Dao was allowed to lead the troops, the situation would be even more awkward, because Chen Dao had made several contributions following Zhuge Jin before, and Liu Bei had privately promoted him to the rank of captain. Zhao Yun, who had just returned, was ranked below Chen Dao.

We must make achievements quickly and try to catch up first!

……

After Zhao Yun and Tian Yu led their troops out of the city, they advanced by land and water.

Zhao Yun's cavalry traveled by land, spreading a search net on both sides of the Huai River to scout out the enemy, while Tian Yu protected the baggage boats and sailed upstream along the Huai River.

During ancient military marches, the cost of transporting baggage and food by water was much lower than by land, so ships were used wherever possible.

The two men walked for dozens of miles and there was no enemy alert along the way. Yuan Shu's army should not be ready for invasion, so Zhao Yun suggested that he go first and set up a small camp east of Xuyi city a day in advance to wait for Tian Yu to arrive the next day.

The entire journey from Huaiyin to Xuyi was only a little over 130 li, and they did not have to camp close to the county town of Xuyi, so the infantry could travel 50 to 60 li a day and complete the journey in two days. The cavalry could reach the destination in one day.

Tian Yu listened to Zhao Yun's suggestion and couldn't help but worry: "How can you set up camp without baggage if your cavalry goes ahead? There is not even a tent. Besides, the lord just wants us to feint and tie down the enemy, why rush?"

Zhao Yun: "All we have are axes, saws, and shovels. We can cut wood for fences and dig soil for ramming piles. It's the middle of summer in June, so what if we sleep outdoors at night? Cavalry can move quickly. If the enemy dares to leave the city and attack our camp, I can still escape unscathed."

Tian Yu was still worried, thinking that Zhao Yun did not understand Liu Bei's instructions, and hurriedly explained to him:
"Zilong, at the banquet yesterday, did you hear clearly the strategy that Mr. Zhuge devised for the lord in case of war with Yuan Shu? Mr. Zhuge had predicted that Yuan Shu would become emperor, and once he became emperor and needed a new victory to establish his authority, he would most likely choose the lord.

It's just because the other enemies around Yuan Shu seem to be stronger than the lord on the surface, and Yuan Shu is a bully who is afraid of the strong and the weak - and yesterday's report has verified your speculation, which shows that you have a plan for everything, and most of your subsequent deductions will probably come true.

Therefore, our purpose this time is not to really defeat Yuan Shu completely, or even to make Yuan Shu angry and humiliated, but to just win a small victory without embarrassing Yuan Shu too much, so that Yuan Shu knows that our army cannot be bullied, and thus guide him to become the enemy of Cao Cao.

Our army on the Huai River route only needs to hold back Yuan Shu and prevent him from destroying Guangling. The route that really achieved results should be the Lujiang County route. Liu Xun of Lujiang will definitely advance along the Yangtze River, and Yuan Shu has always believed that the Zhuge family will not be an enemy of him, so Liu Xun will not be wary of encountering a naval interception on the Yangtze River.

Once Liu Xun is hurt in the south, we only need to make Ji Ling realize in Huaiyin and Xuyi that his friendly forces are gone and he is isolated, and he will naturally retreat. This situation is exactly the same as last year, when we also annihilated Liu Xun and forced Ji Ling to retreat, instead of fighting to the death with Ji Ling's main force.

Moreover, most of Yuan Shu's Huai River troops were from the north, and were only good at land warfare but not at naval warfare. Once the Lujiang Army, the only naval force in Yuan Shu's army that was good at naval warfare, was severely damaged, it would be difficult for the Huai River Army to attack Guangling alone. After all, Guangling had a network of waterways and needed the assistance of the navy.

By then, our army will abolish Yuan Shu's naval forces and only retain Yuan Shu's land forces, forcing Yuan Shu to have no choice but to fight Cao Cao - attacking Cao Cao will not require naval forces at all."

Of course, it was impossible for Tian Yu to fully figure out this truth with his intelligence, so he just mainly retelled it and added a little of his own secondary understanding.

Zhao Yun actually understood this truth yesterday, but he didn't know the whole situation, so he always felt that it could be improved. Facing Tian Yu's dissuasion, he couldn't help but remind him:

"Since it is what Mr. Zhuge said, how can I not obey. But if you insist that after our army establishes its prestige over Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu will turn around and fight Cao Cao, I still don't believe it - Cao Cao is much stronger than our army on the surface. Yuan Shu can't even defeat our army, so does he have the courage to defeat Cao Cao?"

When Tian Yu heard that Zhao Yun was worried about this, he immediately smiled and said that Zilong had just returned and he didn't know what other plans the lord had made:
"Zilong doesn't know that the key to the Lord and you being so sure is Chen Yuanlong, who was mentioned yesterday and was lurking at Lu Bu's place. When Chen Yuanlong persuaded Lu Bu and Yuan Shu to form an alliance, he was only targeting Cao Cao, not the Lord.

In this way, when Yuan Shu finds that he cannot defeat our army by himself, he will naturally change his mind. Because if he fights our army to the death, he can only do it alone, while if he fights Cao Cao, he will have the possibility to join forces with Lu Bu. This benefit is enough to change Yuan Shu's attitude. "

Zhao Yun had just arrived and did not know the true strength of Chen Deng's plan. He was shocked when he heard this: "Chen Yuanlong is so capable? Even if Lu Bu had a secret alliance with Yuan Shu last year, it is impossible for him to continue to implement it this year? Yuan Shu has already proclaimed himself emperor and become a traitor. Will Lu Bu still collude with him?"

Tian Yu: "It depends on Chen Yuanlong's ability. Maybe Lu Bu will fight Cao Cao alone, and each will fight his own."

Only then did Zhao Yun completely dispel his doubts and said that he would not act recklessly. In this battle, he would definitely leave a way out for Yuan Shu's army so as not to defeat Yuan Shu to the point of humiliation and anger.

Seeing that the other party had learned his lesson, Tian Yu stopped trying to stop him and let Zhao Yun go first.

……

Zhao Yun led the way with light cavalry and arrived at the camp more than 20 miles east of Xuyi City in one day.

Without a tent, he simply cut down bamboo and wood to build a fence, and dug a little soil to bury the fence foundation, which was almost as simple as a sheep fence. After doing all this, he let the soldiers eat dry food, find firewood and grass to boil water, and rest well for a night.

His whereabouts were soon discovered by scouts of the Xuyi garrison.

Ji Ling himself has not yet brought the main force to the front line. Because he is an important general, he was in Shouchun in the rear on the first day of June to attend His Majesty's founding ceremony and enthronement ceremony.

The straight-line distance from Shouchun to Xuyi is 400 miles, and the Huai River is winding, so it is at least 500 miles. Even if you sail downstream, it is normal to take seven or eight days to get there.

This day was the fifth day of June. Ji Ling set out on the third day, so it would take another five days to reach the front line.

Currently, there are only two deputy generals of Ji Ling on the front line, namely Xuyi garrison commander Le Jiu, and Huailing garrison commander Liang Gang. These two are also old acquaintances. They followed Ji Ling to fight Huaiyin last year and were later defeated, but both escaped with their lives.

When Le heard that Liu Bei's army was invading from the east of the city, he immediately took precautions and reported the matter to Hui Qu, the governor of Xia Pi who was in the city.

Xuyi County originally belonged to Xuzhou and was a county of Xiapi Prefecture. When Yuan Shu invaded, he occupied two counties of Xiapi Prefecture along the Huai River. So Yuan Shu hurriedly set up the post of Xiapi prefect and appointed Hui Qu, a former official of his and a native of Langya, as the prefect.

In fact, all other counties in Xia Pi County were in Lu Bu's hands, and Yuan Shu's prefect of Xia Pi only controlled two counties.

Hui Qu was a civil servant who had often been defeated in battles and chased around, so he was not very warlike. After hearing about the enemy's situation, he was still a little worried:
"Captain Le, I wonder how many troops the enemy has? Should we defend the city and wait for the main forces of General Ji and General Li to arrive?"

The General Li he mentioned was Li Feng, a general under Yuan Shu. Last year, only Ji Ling's troops besieged the Huaihe River, but it failed. This year, Yuan Shu also stepped up his efforts and transferred Li Feng's troops to reinforce Ji Ling, so that they could work together to break through.

The same situation also occurred in Lujiang County. Yuan Shu also knew that Liu Xun, who had been severely injured last year, would not be able to attack all the way to Guangling along the Yangtze River, so he transferred the general Qiao Rui to Liu Xun to strengthen Liu Xun's military strength.

This year, Yuan Shu's army's offensive against Liu Bei has intensified to a main force of 70,000, double the number of last year.

Ji Ling and Li Feng in the north had a total force of 40,000, plus the thousands of troops stationed in Huailing and Xuyi, the total number was over 45,000. Liu Xun's troops in the south gathered 15,000 men, and Qiao Rui's troops reinforced them with more than 10,000 men, and they went down the Yangtze River.

Finally, after Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he immediately sent an envoy to give Lu Bu a new "reward", appointing Lu Bu as "Mu of Xuzhou" and "General of Cavalry", which were fake positions and worthless anyway. He also gave Lu Bu a large sum of gold, silver and jewelry, and allowed Lu Bu to attack Huaiyin from Xia Pi.

If Lu Bu really sent out his troops, then all together there would be nearly 100,000 troops besieging Liu Bei! How could he not be destroyed?
As for the gentleman's agreement that Lu Bu reached with him last year to "only target Cao Cao and not Liu Bei", Yuan Shu did not take it seriously at all.

He felt that a profit-seeking and disloyal person like Lu Bu would definitely change his mind after seeing the official position and gold, silver and jewelry he promised him.

Since he himself has proclaimed himself emperor, how could Lu Bu, who respected him, not obey the "imperial edict"?
……

Hui Qu, the prefect of Xia Pi at the front line, knew all this, so when faced with Liu Bei's army's sudden and proactive entry and attack as defense, he tended to be cautious and prudent, unwilling to fight now, and only wanted to wait for Ji Ling and Li Feng to arrive.

However, Le Jiu's mentality was far more arrogant than that of the governor. He rarely took the initiative to ask for a fight, saying, "My Lord, this opportunity cannot be missed! According to the scouts' report, the enemy's vanguard only has a thousand men, less than 30% of our Xuyi defenders! Moreover, they have no baggage or tents, and only have a hastily cut down trees to set up camp.

"On his banner, there is only the word Zhao, and there is no title. It is obvious that he is just an unknown general. I am willing to lead the elite troops out of the city to challenge the enemy before the main force arrives, and first defeat their front! When the enemy's rear army arrives, it will not be too late to defend the city! If we don't fight, and defend from the beginning, I am afraid it will damage morale!"

Le Jiu's words are in line with common sense. In the Han Dynasty system, when a captain or a lieutenant led a troop, it was not enough to just write the surname on the flag, but also the military number.

For example, when Liu Bei led an expedition personally, his banner should have been "General Liu of the Southern Expedition". Just writing "Liu" would have been too embarrassing. Guan Yu's name should have been "Captain Guan of the Battle of Defeat".

This time the enemy only has a character "Zhao" in his name, and has no military title, so his highest official position is just a military commander, not even a captain.

Considering that the enemy had only a thousand men, a force indeed at the level of a military commander, it was no wonder that Le was so contemptuous.

He, Le Jue, was only a captain! General Ji had been a general of the imperial guards long ago. After His Majesty became emperor, General Ji was promoted to the high position of general of the front, soaring to the sky. Le Jue estimated that when General Ji came in a few days, he would definitely bring new rewards to him and Liang Gang.

Your Majesty has been crowned emperor, so surely all of them can at least get the rank of general!
Hui Qu felt that there was nothing wrong with what Le said, so he agreed, but he still gave two instructions: "General Le, be careful and don't fight too long. If the main force of the enemy arrives, retreat immediately and only kill their vanguard."

Le readily agreed, and mobilized half of the soldiers in the city to attack.

……

Zhao Yun rested in the camp for a night. At dawn the next day, he let the soldiers drink some cold water left over from the previous night's boil and continue to eat some dry food. Zhao Yun himself ate a few pieces of jerky and prepared to go out of the camp for patrol.

He had no baggage to carry, so he couldn't cook and had to eat only the food he was carrying. There were not enough pots to boil water, so they had to keep it burning. When one pot was used up, the soldiers had to line up to fetch water and fill their own bamboo tubes. The living conditions were quite difficult.

However, this kind of day will only last one day. Tonight, Tian Yu's main infantry force will arrive with the baggage ship, and then we will be able to eat hot meals.

Just after he went out of the camp for patrol, he saw a cloud of dust rising in the west. After a quick look, Zhao Yun confirmed that it was the defenders in Xuyi City who took the initiative to attack, which made him very excited.

"I originally thought that we could only search and kill a few enemy scouts outside the city, and that we would be useless in a siege. I didn't expect that they would dare to fight outside the city? I couldn't ask for more! Leading a small number of elite troops to show weakness first was indeed the right move!"

Zhao Yun was secretly delighted and immediately asked the patrol team to follow him.

One of his subordinates, Qu Junhou, advised him, "Sima Zhao, why don't you go back to the camp and take the remaining two Qu troops with you before engaging the enemy."

But Zhao Yun didn't care at all: "It doesn't matter, let's fight first. If we really can't win, we can retreat back to the camp and let the other two groups provide support."

Soon, Le Jiu's troops and Zhao Yun met head-on. Both sides slowed down and formed their battle array 300 steps apart. Le Jiu took advantage of Zhao Yun's small number of troops and shouted:
"Who are you? How dare you risk your life for Liu Bei and invade our Dazhong border! General Le is right here! I will not kill nameless people with my gun!"

While shouting and cursing, Le Jue suddenly stopped making any sound, and only his cavalrymen were still cursing. Le Jue narrowed his eyes and stared closely at Zhao Yun's horse.

He was also quite knowledgeable. When he first saw Zhao Yun's horse, which was white with a hint of pink, he couldn't help but want to laugh at him: A grown man couldn't even pick a good horse and would ride a pink horse!
But he soon noticed that the pink color was particularly obvious in the warhorse's shoulder sockets and chest, and became lighter towards the lower body, with the horse's hindquarters being pure silver-white. It was obvious that the slight pink color was secreted by the warhorse when it was hot.

"Could it be a Ferghana horse? An unknown general is worthy of such a good horse. I've made a fortune today. I can kill him and take the horse!"

Le Ju originally had no intention of leading the charge, nor did he plan to fight against the generals. He just wanted to wield his spear after talking to them, and then have his men rush forward to kill him.

Now that he coveted the horse, he decided to lead the charge, fearing that the enemy would die at the hands of the miscellaneous soldiers, or that the good horse would be accidentally injured or robbed by the miscellaneous soldiers.

On the other side, Zhao Yun reined in his horse and replied coldly: "I am Zhao Zilong from Changshan! Where is Ji Ling? I will not kill an unknown person!"

Unfortunately, he hadn't established his reputation yet. Le was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Hahaha, Zhao Zilong? Never heard of him! Are you worthy enough to fight General Ji? Follow me to kill him!"

After saying this, he swung his spear and Le, relying on his large numbers, rushed forward to attack.

Zhao Yun was provoked by the opponent and was furious. He planned to stab Le to death with a spear. But when the two horses were about to meet, Zhao Yun suddenly had an idea:
"This thief despises me, so it's okay to kill him with one spear. But the thief doesn't know my martial arts yet. If I kill this unknown guy to establish my authority, what if Ji Ling becomes alert and dares not fight me again? Wouldn't that be a loss for the greater good?

Well, this little thief is not worthy of me showing my true strength, and I won by luck."

With this thought in mind, Zhao Yun slightly slowed down the momentum of his counterattack with the spear, thinking about how to make his performance more realistic.

Le did not suspect anything. When the two spears collided, Zhao Yun's spear was indeed weak and powerless. Le became even more frantic: "Quickly abandon your horse, and I will leave you with a whole body!"

Zhao Yun cooperated well and blocked two shots, then turned his horse and rode away. He also asked the other patrolling cavalrymen under his command to escape first, while he himself covered the rear.

Le defeated Zhao Yun and pursued him all the way, increasingly intent on seizing his horse.

Unexpectedly, they had chased for less than two miles and were getting closer to Zhao Yun's camp. Le Jue was only twenty steps behind Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun placed his spear on the saddle, drew his carved bow from the saddle sheath, and turned over very smoothly to shoot an arrow from his back. In just twenty steps, Le had no way to avoid it, and was shot directly in the shoulder. He was seriously injured and in pain, so he dropped his spear and tried to retreat.

Zhao Yun then shouted loudly, signaling all the cavalrymen in the camp to follow him. He also turned his horse's head first, and the horse used its strength to catch up with Le Jiu in a moment, and stabbed him to death with a single shot.

Le Juben was already injured and had dropped his weapon, so of course he couldn't defend himself. He also didn't expect that Zhao Yun's horse could suddenly accelerate so fast after bursting out.

"Despicable coward! How dare you shoot an arrow in the dark!" Le was stabbed through by a spear. He was not yet dead, but he could not help but curse in anger. He did not expect that he would die so unjustly.

"How despicable! How can they be so mean!" The cavalrymen around Le Jiu were also filled with righteous indignation, and were very resentful of the enemy general who had poor martial arts and relied entirely on hidden arrows to attack his enemies.

Zhao Yun sneered, and his men kept fighting, killing several riders in a row, while shouting: "I'm not a fighting general! Who said you can't shoot arrows? If you don't agree, let Ji Ling fight!"

Zhao Yun's cavalry quickly attacked and defeated Le Jiu's army, which had lost its leader. Hundreds were killed or wounded, more than 200 were captured, countless people fled, and over 100 horses were seized.

　I recommend a new book "Ming Dynasty in the Box".

　　Without saying much else, the cheats in this book are indeed quite innovative. I guess no one has ever thought of or dared to do this before.

　　Directly overlooking the Ming Dynasty from a God's perspective is equivalent to a variant of double-door penetration, and the protagonist is regarded as a god by the people of the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)