Tiger Guards

Chapter 615 People's Hearts Have Changed
East of Chenliu City, Liu Bei's main camp.

Liu Bei routinely patrolled his camp and would go outside to carefully observe the morale of the soldiers guarding the city walls on the east side of Chenliu.

When they approached within a hundred paces, skilled archers on the city wall drew their bows and fired arrows. Although the arrows were sparse, their bows were powerful and their aim was quite accurate.

Liu Bei parried with his sword, while his riders on either side shielded him with their shields. Some even pulled on the reins of Liu Bei's horse, managing to pull him out of the range of the crossbow bolts.

After retreating forty or fifty paces, Liu Bei sheathed his sword, still feeling unsatisfied. He glared at his cavalrymen before saying, "Zhang Yang is a benevolent man. I originally intended to discuss the fate of the world with him face to face. As for mere arrows, I am armed with fine armor. What is there to fear?"

Xiahou Bo, the personal guard, turned around on his horse to face Liu Bei, cupping his hands in greeting: "My lord, there are many crossbows stockpiled in Chenliu City. If you insist on advancing, and the city's defenders take it upon themselves to fire a volley of crossbows, what can we do?"

Now Liu Bei had nothing to say. He grabbed the reins, turned his horse around, and looked at the east gate of Chenliu again, but did not see any obvious high-ranking officers.

After a moment's recollection, Liu Bei said to his men, "The garrison's arrows today are not as plentiful as they were a few days ago."

Xiahou Bo was worried that Liu Bei would become negligent and was about to warn him when Jian Yong tugged at the corner of his cloak. Xiahou Bo turned his head and met Jian Yong's eyes. Seeing Jian Yong shake his head slightly, Xiahou Bo gave up, but still looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

The others were also relieved by Liu Bei's judgment, and the morale of the defending troops visibly declined, which was indeed a cause for celebration.

After Liu Bei's cavalry swept up the arrows from the surrounding ground, they found that there were indeed fewer than a few days ago, and they admired Liu Bei's judgment even more.

After passing through obstacles made of deer antlers and fences, Liu Bei returned to his central camp.

The central army camp was built around the ruins of an existing manor, and inside there were well-maintained and abundant wells to provide drinking water for the more than 3,000 infantry and cavalry of the central army.

There are also some fruit trees that have survived tenaciously, but unfortunately, their fruits have long been picked clean by the officials and people of Chenliu.

Liu Bei's central command tent was also rebuilt on the basis of the remaining walls of the original main building, and many of the officers' and soldiers' barracks were also treated in the same way.

On the ruins, wooden beams were erected, reed curtains were laid, and then a layer of soil from the ruins was covered with some other bundles of grass for drainage.

Inside the main tent, Liu Bei had just removed his armor to prepare for his meal when Zhang Fei, carrying his helmet, strode in.

Xiahou Bo, who was on duty outside the door, was about to greet them, but Zhang Fei stuffed his mouth with a persimmon he took out of his helmet.

Xiahou Bo sucked on a persimmon with one hand and grabbed two more persimmons that Zhang Fei had forced on him with the other. He then turned around and followed Zhang Fei into the main tent.

Liu Bei glared at Zhang Fei, who then approached Liu Bei's table and handed him the helmet, saying, "Brother, try this. I took it off myself."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei reached out and picked up a cold persimmon, then used a towel from the table to wipe the white frost off its surface before asking, "Is there any unusual activity west of Honggou, or in the Xingyang area?"

"Just like the previous days, only small groups of scouts approached to conduct reconnaissance, but they were all driven away by Tian Guorang."

As Zhang Fei spoke, he sat down on the portable stool that Xiahou Bo had moved with his foot, but his expression showed no joy: "The enemy scouts are cunning and treacherous. They retreat at the slightest sign of trouble. So far, they have only been patrolling fifty miles west of Honggou, and few have even approached Honggou."

Tian Yu's Youzhou knights did not gain any advantage when they clashed with Gao Shun's scouts.

Zhang Fei did not recount the specific losses suffered by Tian Yu that day, but Liu Bei knew that Tian Yu's losses outweighed their gains, and that they had not even obtained any useful military intelligence.

Liu Bei handed the wiped persimmon to Zhang Fei, then took another one to wipe himself, saying, "I am not afraid of Gao Shun. Although he is a general under Lü Bu, he has never been able to command independently. Now Zhang Zhishu is besieged in Chenliu, and Gao Shun's reconnaissance is ineffective, with no sign of support. Therefore, my concern now is that Gan Ning should go downstream and head straight for Chenliu."

Zhang Fei took the persimmon and was about to take a bite when he suddenly remembered something. He turned around and fetched a roll of cowhide map, which he spread out on the side of the table. His eyes searched the map and finally settled on Hanoi.

He raised his hand and pointed at Qingshuikou: "The Hebei troops have not yet taken action. When they occupy Qingshuikou, they can contain the Gansu and Ning prefectures on the north bank of the river. Otherwise, if the river is unobstructed, Gansu and Ning, although located in Mengjin, can form an alliance with Gao Shun in Xingyang through Aocang."

Liu Bei nodded, took a bite of the persimmon, and immediately felt a bit of coldness in his teeth, but he still endured it and held it in his mouth to savor the persimmon's sweet taste. He claimed to be worried about Gan Ning's navy, but in reality, he was uneasy because Yuan Shao of Hebei had failed to send troops.

As for the battle for Chenliu... Liu Bei never intended to launch a full-scale attack on Chenliu.

Zhang Yang was different from other governors, prefects, or county magistrates. As the rulers of prefectures and counties, they relied on their status and rarely went to the front line of city defense.

Zhang Yang, unlike other officials of high birth and privilege, was not subject to the usual shady practices. Therefore, he could keep track of the morale of the city's defenders and the movements of the attacking forces outside the city.

Therefore, Chenliu City can only be attacked head-on, and there is no possibility of taking shortcuts.

As for a direct assault, of the more than 20,000 men currently under Liu Bei's command, only Zhang Fei's troops dared to launch a desperate attack and fight the defenders to the death on the city walls. The other troops drawn from the surrounding areas of Xuchang... these people can only fuel the atmosphere; don't expect them to be willing to sacrifice themselves and dedicate their lives to the great cause of the court.

As Liu Bei ate persimmons and looked at the map with Zhang Fei, Jian Yong also entered the main tent.

Seeing the remaining persimmons in Zhang Fei's helmet, he didn't mind, grabbed one, wiped it casually, and put it in his mouth.

He also squatted down in front of the table to look at the map: "My lord, should we urge Yuan Shao to send troops?"

"Yes, if Yuan Shao doesn't send troops, then Sun Bofu won't send troops either. Sun Bofu has no defensible terrain, and if he sends troops first, he's worried that Yuan Shao will seize Qingzhou."

Liu Bei raised his hand and landed on Qingzhou, his fingertips pushing upwards along the Yellow River towards Xingyang: "Sun Bofu's elite naval forces have arrived; how can we allow Gan Xingba to act so recklessly?"

Liu Bei's gaze shifted downwards, landing on Zang Ba of Langya in Xuzhou, and Chen Deng of Guangling.

Zang Ba would never send troops; forcing him to do so would be tantamount to forcing him into rebellion.

To prevent a rebellion by Zang Ba and the people of Langya, it was not enough for Guan Yu to guard Xiapi alone; Chen Deng also needed to be left in Guangling.

Even if Chen Deng was unwilling, he had to maintain the overall stability of Xuzhou.

Otherwise, if Zang Ba rebels, the people of Xuzhou who support the Zhao family will no longer tolerate him, which will directly affect Qingzhou and Yangzhou.

Moreover, the brothers Liu Xun, the governor of Lujiang, and Liu Xie, the governor of Jiujiang, were by no means honest men.

Guangling was undefended, so these two brothers dared to send men to plunder it.

The previous coalition against Dong Zhuo set a very bad precedent. For example, even though the campaign against Zhao Ziyang has not yet officially begun, everyone seems to have already seen the coalition collapse and the situation of fighting each other again.

Given this understanding, who would dare to risk their life to punish the traitor Zhao Ji?
As for the rumors that are now being spread, such as the treacherous minister Zhao Ji forcing the empress to spend the night in the imperial palace, they are unlikely to arouse the indignation of the people of Guandong.

The situation now is fundamentally different from the period when warlords were fighting against Dong Zhuo. Back then, the people of Guandong and Hebei were still able to make a living. After they had enough to eat, they cared more about the long-term development of the empire and the honor and shame of being subjects.

After so many years of conflict, all sides are weary of war yet have no choice but to fight.

As for whether Zhao Ji slept with the Empress or the Emperor, it actually had little to do with the lives of the vast majority of officials and common people who had suffered greatly from the war.

In other words, the mass base is different now.

What we crave now is peace and an early end to the turmoil of war.

Whoever becomes emperor, do they really think the common people at the grassroots level will care?
(End of this chapter)