Tiger Guards

Chapter 220 Going in the opposite direction
At the critical moment, there was no Lu Bu attacking Xia Pi, and no Danyang soldiers rebelling.

Therefore, when Liu Bei first commanded an army of more than 20,000 people, his defense was impenetrable, making it difficult for Yuan Shu to break through.

Yuan Shu did not dare to launch a full-scale attack. Liu Bei had already begun supplying food to Lu Bu and had also dispatched a 5,000-man Danyang army to reinforce Lu Bu.

When Lu Bu was able to eat his fill, not only Yuan Shu but even Cao Cao became more vigilant and did not dare to take the initiative to attack.

The imperial edict was extremely powerful. Lu Bu had already conquered Liang State, most of Pei State, and Lu State from half of Shanyang County to the south, and the size of his army was continuing to expand.

Amidst drought and locust plagues, and the temptation of being a soldier and having a full meal, Lu Bu's army had expanded to more than 30,000 by late June.

All Cao Cao could do was to divide his troops and garrison there, waiting to see what Lu Bu would do next.

Yuan Shu and Liu Bei were fighting in Huaiyin. In terms of distance, no matter who Lu Bu bit, he could immediately destroy the opponent's base camp.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for Cao Cao to provoke Lu Bu at this critical time. As long as Lu Bu intervenes in the dispute between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu, the three parties will fight each other, break trust with each other, and oppose each other. No one can jump out of this vortex.

Even Yuan Shu and Liu Bei, who were confronting each other on the front line at this moment, did not dare to withdraw their troops easily. Whoever withdrew first and showed weakness would be the first to be destroyed.

When Lü Bu was eyeing all directions, he sent Qin Yiluo as an envoy to Yuan Shu to ask for the 200,000 dan of millet that had been promised to him earlier.

If you don’t give it to me, come and get it yourself!

Qin Yiluo bravely stated Lu Bu's attitude, which made Yuan Shu so angry that he wanted to kill Qin Yilu with a sword.

But now that Qin Yilu has been killed, Lu Bu will most likely head straight for Shouchun.

Based on Yuan Shu's understanding of Lu Bu, Lu Bu wished he could kill Qin Yilu immediately.

In Yuan Shu's eyes, and in the thinking of Lu Bu's side, taking Huainan and then recovering Yuzhou from Cao Cao did not conflict with the court's plan.

After sending Qin Yilu away, Yuan Shu asked his attendants, "Lü Bu is so fickle and unruly. What should we do?"

Liu Xun bowed and said, "My lord, Lü Bu is now acting like a fisherman, waiting for the enemy to become stronger and then he will choose someone to devour. I think we can summon Sun Bofu's troops to the north."

Yang Hong, Chief Clerk of the Left General's Office, also spoke up: "Sun Bofu's troops have been campaigning in Jiangdong for years. Their soldiers are fierce and skilled in naval warfare. Let him lead a detachment and march from the sea, so he can launch a surprise attack from behind Liu Bei's army."

Yuan Shu nodded slowly and looked at the chief clerk Yan Xiang: "How is it?"

Yan Xiang hesitated: "I'm afraid Sun Bofu won't withdraw his troops."

Yuan Shu narrowed his eyes upon hearing this and looked at Yan Xiang. Yan Xiang's expression was serious: "Sun Bofu is well-loved by the Huai and Si armies. His bravery and prestige are comparable to those of Sun Wentai in his youth. Moreover, he is young and full of vigor. If he is provoked by a villain, he may not obey orders."

Everyone in the hall was silent, and no one stood up to refute.

Seeing that everyone doubted Sun Ce's loyalty, Yuan Shu smiled and said, "He will come. Lü Bu is short-sighted. If he wants food, give it to him. After defeating Liu Bei, we will settle the score with Lü Bu."

"Here."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They didn't want to speak ill of Sun Ce all the time. If they did, it would annoy Yuan Shu and give Sun Ce an excuse to rebel.

But the only advantage now is that we have been in a stalemate with Liu Bei and there has been no real war. The armies are intact and their strength is still there.

If a real war breaks out, it will be difficult to escape, and if Sun Ce rebels, that will be troublesome.

Yuan Shu had many talented people under his command, but he was arrogant and stubborn, and did not accept the opinions of others.

When Yuan Shu was racing in Luoyang, these guys were full of enthusiasm. They were all young yellow-haired guys who were willing to be Yuan Shu's vanguards and were proud to serve as his followers.

No matter how much these little brothers grew up, they were still little brothers in Yuan Shu's eyes, and their vision and means were definitely not as good as his, the leading big brother.

In recent years, he has fought against Cao Cao and suffered repeated defeats.

Yuan Shu often reflected that it was definitely not that he was inferior to Cao Cao, but that these little brothers were holding him back.

But after all, they are brothers who have known each other for a long time, so it is not good to be too harsh on them.

As for Sun Ce, Yuan Shu really admired him and saw his younger self in Sun Ce.

People around him often reminded him to be wary of Sun Ce, but Yuan Shu did not take it seriously. If Sun Ce did not even have this ambition, how could he be said to be "similar to himself"?

As long as his core army is stable and the areas of Xu, Huai, Wu and Yue still recognize him, Sun Ce will not be able to rebel.

In this way, Zhao Ji remotely controlled the three forces between Xu Yang through the court, and under his indirect influence, he slapped Sun Ce, who was about to take off, off the branch and broke his wings.

The heat was about to subside, and Chen Gong was anxious.

The food supply in Xuzhou is not unlimited. The army must quickly obtain the next wave of supplies under the limited food supply in order to maintain its operation and growth.

There were so many victims that Shu Shao, the Pei Xiang appointed by Yuan Shu, opened the government granary without authorization at the end of May in order to provide relief to more than 100,000 victims.

In this situation, even if the court granted them an imperial edict to take over as the prime minister of Pei, who would dare to stop providing relief?
In order to provide relief to the victims, Shu Shao even risked his life. As soon as he finished providing relief to the victims, he was captured by Yuan Shu's men.

Even though Yuan Shu was reluctant to give up the grain, he had already released it, so it would be unjustifiable to kill Shu Shao.

So Yuan Shu personally untied Shu Shao and sent him back.

Under these circumstances, Shu Shao had already gained the support of the disaster victims. The Pei State's official granaries could not be used for other purposes, so they could only invest in disaster relief. The only thing they could do was recruit young and strong men from the disaster victims to further strengthen their military strength.

With our current military strength, we should immediately go south to seize Huainan!
But Lu Bu was enjoying the current situation of holding the initiative. He was unwilling to fight Yuan Shu and only wanted to get the 200,000 dan of rice promised by Yuan Shu.

From Lu Bu's point of view, the court had already arranged the way.

He simply followed the instructions on this path and immediately turned from passive to active in this huge natural disaster.

At this moment, Liu Bei and Yuan Shu were competing to please him and giving him food and weapons. Liu Bei was even kind enough to give him an extra 2,000 Danyang soldiers.

So there is really no need to get involved in the dispute between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu. What they got involved in was just for food. Now the food problem has been solved, and it is delivered to their door. Why bother to break the balance between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu?

Early that morning, just as the sky was about to brighten.

Lu Bu walked out of the back door of Qin Yilu's residence and was about to walk towards the back door of his own residence when he heard the sound of horse hooves.

Turning around, he saw Chen Gong standing alone at the entrance of the alley.

Lü Bu called out, "Gongtai, why are you here?"

"Why is Lord Lu doing this?"

Chen Gong asked knowingly, and Lü Bu stretched his arms and replied with a smile, "Is Gongtai the place where I practice boxing and kicking in the morning?"

"Unlike Lord Lu, my mount longs to gallop across the battlefield, so I've galloped here to wear down its spirit."

Chen Gong rode closer, dismounted, and bowed to Lü Bu: "There is no third person here. I am a man of upright character, and Lord Lü is also straightforward and generous."

Lu Bu composed himself and pointed to the back door of his house. "Gongtai, please come in and talk slowly."

"Lord Lu, the military situation is urgent. If we delay any further, what will happen if Liu Bei and Yuan Shu decide the outcome?"

Chen Gong pointed eastward. "The court only ordered Liu Bei to select and train 3,000 elite soldiers from Danyang, but he sent 5,000 instead. Is it because he can't afford to support them, or is it because he finds it difficult to control them? His main army is stationed in Xuyi, locked in a stalemate with Yuan Shu. What will happen if Yuan Shu sends one of his forces to launch a surprise attack on Xiapi?"

Before this, Liu Bei had only served as the Prime Minister of Pingyuan and as the Governor of Yuzhou for a period of time, governing a small part of Pei State.

Directly taking over Xuzhou would not be an easy task for Tao Qian's old subordinates, not to mention the local people of Xuzhou.

Lü Bu asked with a smile, "Gongtai, are you saying that Liu Bei will be defeated quickly?"

"Yes, this man comes from a humble background, similar to Lord Lu. To win the hearts of the people, he is unwilling to kill. If he kills Cao Bao, Xu Dan and other Danyang generals, although he will lose popularity, his command will be stable in the short term, and I will not have such worries."

Chen Gong added, "If this man is quickly defeated, and Yuan Shu takes Xu Yang and controls the southeastern corner of the country, how will he view Lord Lü? Caught between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu, with the imperial court about to return to Luodu, how can these two men remain at peace unless Lord Lü is eliminated?"

"Gongtai, you're worrying too much. Cao Cao and Yuan Shu have a deep hatred for each other, so why would they join forces to attack me?"

Lü Bu disagreed and said, "Zhao Yuansi in the north has not yet raised his army. If I were to launch an offensive first, it would be disastrous. At worst, we must wait for Zhang Zhishu to return to Hanoi. If he can send troops from Hanoi to support us, he can also provide support and prevent us from being on the defensive."

Chen Gong simply bowed deeply. "Please ask Lord Lu to dispatch a detachment of troops to Longkang, pretending to attack Shouchun. If so, 200,000 dan of military rations can be delivered to Pei within ten days. Otherwise, how could Yuan Shu hand over the war so easily?"

"Since Gongtai wants to deploy troops at Longkang, he can order Xu Si to send troops... If we lack a general to lead the troops, Gao Shun can lead the troops, hold the flag, and serve as our vanguard."

Xu Si was the prime minister of Pei State appointed by the court and had replaced Shu Shao.

Facing Xu Si who was holding the imperial edict, Shu Shao took over the task very readily.

Lu Bu frowned and made concessions. He had already begun to think about separating from Chen Gong and working on his own. Chen Gong was meddling too much.

What's more, under the imperial court's assignment, Liang, Lu, Pei and Chen in the eastern part of Yuzhou were all in the hands of Chen Gong and his gang.

According to the habits of these scholars, even after they have established themselves, they may not obey Lu Bu.

What was allocated to Lu Bu were Yingchuan and Runan in the west, the essence of Yuzhou. Lu Bu did not have that many reliable people to lead the counties, so he happened to be able to hold on to these two key counties.

After taking these two counties, Heluo is to the northwest, and Nanyang and Jiangxia are to the southwest. If Lu Bu retreats, he can get support from Liu Biao and deal with Cao Cao; if he advances, he can enter the court to assist in the administration.

He was well aware of the power of the imperial court. If he entered the imperial court and took power, Zhao Ji would be able to mobilize all parties in the world to besiege Yuan and Cao... then he could do the same!

If the imperial court can cooperate with Zhao Ji and successfully create a wave of momentum for the siege, the imperial court's prestige will continue to grow.

Zhao Ji worked hard to plan, and the court also benefited from it.

Considering Zhao Ji's background and merits, the imperial court could tolerate him; considering his own merits and reputation, he would not refuse.

Not only did they suffer such a huge loss at the hands of Wang Yun, but they also suffered numerous casualties during the eastward migration.

So the court can cooperate with Zhao Ji and also with himself!
Lu Bu firmly believed this and thought that he would benefit more by cutting ties with Chen Gong.

When he enters the court to govern and assist in government, won't Chen Gong have to obey his orders and control?
Their positions and pursuits were different. Lu Bu wanted to control the overall situation and did not want to be caught up in the vortex of the conflict between Liu Bei and Yuan Shu.

As for Chen Gong, he attacked Huainan not to kill Yuan Shu, but purely to get the grain stored there.

If they get these grains, the young and strong victims between Huaihe and Sihe will become their source of soldiers... and then they can fight another full-scale war with Cao Cao!
All of Chen Gong's actions from beginning to end were aimed at revenge against Cao Cao, not at Lu Bu's development.

(End of this chapter)