Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 409 Anger

"What Liu Deran said may not be entirely true. Since the enemy wants to force our lord to go to Hejian, it is likely that a large army will appear in Hejian soon. The so-called discussion on enthroning him must be for the purpose of killing our lord."

After throwing Liu Deran back to the other side of the bridge, Guo Jia said to Liu Bei, "But since the enemy is trying to use Liu Deran to disrupt our morale, why not let them see some chaos?"

What scheme does Fengxiao have?

Liu Bei asked, "Are we trying to disrupt our formation and lure the enemy deep into our territory?"

"Since they say the emperor is not of the late emperor's blood, and that General Zhao's clansmen are in his army, then isn't it only natural that General Zhao 'rebeled'?"

Guo Jia suggested, "My lord could have an internal conflict with General Zhao."

Liu Bei turned to look at Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun was also looking at Liu Bei.

"Zilong, your people may indeed have fallen into enemy hands..."

"The ancestral tombs of the lord's family..."

They both spoke at the same time, but both were worried about the other's family.

"The Yun clan is known for its loyalty, righteousness, benevolence, and filial piety. If anyone violates the ancestral teachings and colludes with foreign invaders to plot rebellion, they will no longer be a member of the Zhao clan. My lord need not worry."

Zhao Yun said very seriously, "But my lord..."

"If the enemy were human, there might be room for discussion... But the enemy is using our ancestral graves to coerce us; this is not just rebellion, but utterly immoral and inhuman evil! How can we heroes live in this world alongside such inhuman villains? We must slaughter them until rivers of blood flow!"

Liu Bei nodded, seemingly much more relaxed: "The enemy is fully prepared. Even if we use strategy, we must risk our lives to break through their formation. Zilong, do you have any concerns?"

"Only the will to kill!"

Zhao Yun looked up, his eyes blazing.

"Good! Beat the drum to signal the battle: the enemy are all traitors to the Han; this is a war between the Han and the Hu!"

Liu Bei turned and ordered, "Gather troops at Qinghe and prepare to attack!!"

If the enemy hadn't resorted to coercion and had instead fought openly and honestly, Liu Bei might have opted for a more cautious approach, or he might have tried to sow discord, or he might have tried to get the Han people involved in killing the Hu.

Even when Liu Bei was suppressing the Buddhist sect in Xiapi, he didn't let his own troops do it.

Civil wars are about victory and defeat, not glory. Liu Bei generally wouldn't go so far as to exterminate his troops, because killing the enemy would cost the lives of his own men.

Killing Han people would increase the psychological pressure on the soldiers, especially the pressure of killing with cold weapons, which could never be relieved in their lifetime.

This wasn't out of cowardice, but rather because Liu Bei already held the reins of power in the Han Dynasty, and when he had a choice, there was no need to use the lives of his own brothers to crown himself.

The power of the emperor was originally in Liu Bei's hands. What Liu Bei needed to do was to "pacify the world", not to "conquer the world".

The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; and the worst is to besiege their cities.

In Liu Bei's position, he should have focused less on military campaigns and cities and more on strategic alliances—strategic maneuvering and diplomacy are extremely time-consuming and much more exhausting than military campaigns and city sieges.

Now, Liu Bei is actually relieved.

Now we are facing traitors who are immoral and inhuman, which is of course impossible to appease.

A person who lacks a sense of right and wrong, and a sense of shame, cannot be called a human being.

Since the enemy was not human, both Liu Bei and his brothers were relieved of the pressure.

Now, the enemy is using many methods to coerce us...

There were rumors about the emperor, hostages from various parties, pressure from filial piety, a trap of loyalty to the emperor, and a 'method' to make the Hu people retreat—if Liu Bei compromised, the Hu people would indeed retreat, sparing the people of You and Ji from the ravages of war, but this was a trap of benevolence and righteousness, and no matter what he did, it would be 'unbenevolent'.

Using loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness together, this kind of coercion was able to make the emperor back down for hundreds of years in the Han Dynasty.

Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, also suffered similar coercion many times.

Liu Bei now understands why Liu Hong insisted on launching the war against the Xianbei. It's truly difficult to understand Liu Hong's wasteful behavior if you're not in his shoes.

More than a decade ago, Liu Hong faced a similar group of people. Although the individuals were different, the methods were similar.

They could coerce Liu Bei with the ancestral tombs of Zhuojun, and threaten Zhao Yun's clansmen... Of course, they could also coerce Liu Hong with the Dunling tombs of Hejian, and threaten Xia Yu's clansmen; there was no difference.

Coercion often forces people to back down and disrupts their mindset. Most of the time, it will cause people to make mistakes or lose their composure, leading them to make unwise choices, just like Liu Hong.

But if the enemy is not human, then coercion can only serve one purpose.

Infuriated.

Perhaps this is also what the enemy wants.

They knew Liu Bei was cunning, and they wanted to make him lose his mind due to anger.

but……

Freed from the ambition to bring peace to the world, Liu Bei became less cautious, much like Yuan Shao without the shackles of fame. A whitewashed image weakens one by three points, a wicked image strengthens one tenfold.

There's no need to whitewash him; when he kills inhuman evil, he should be condemned as evil.

Some people lose their reason when they get angry.

But some people, when enraged, become single-minded and invincible.

……

The bugle call for an emergency troop mobilization sounded twice.

Liu Bei's troops had all assembled, but instead of gathering near the boundary bridge, they converged in Qinghe County.

The river channel has been abandoned.

Zhao Yun and Tian Yu also abandoned Jieqiao, and the entire group retreated to outside Qinghe County.

Shouts of battle could be heard from all the units.

Unusual flames could be seen in Yingzhai, Qinghe County, as if Liu Bei's camp had been set on fire.

Indeed—Liu Bei always sets fire to his own camp, and this time was no exception.

Liu Bei was giving his final pep talk in front of the camp.

"Brothers, the enemy is colluding with the barbarians to plunder You and Ji provinces. They are using my ancestral graves to coerce me into withdrawing my troops... If I do not comply, they will allow the barbarians to carry out massacres and desecrate my ancestral tombs!!"

"This is an act of immorality and inhuman rebellion!!"

"The bandits kidnapped General Zhao's family members, using filial piety and righteousness as leverage, and resorting to all sorts of despicable means. Why?!"

"Because they fear me, Liu Bei, because they fear Zhao Zilong! They fear us! That's why they only dare to resort to these underhanded methods!"

"They colluded with the barbarians, slaughtered my compatriots, disrupted my country, and plundered my Han territory... They allowed the barbarian invaders to kill the old and weak in the wilderness, and allowed them to dissect pregnant infants and eat them!"

"All these acts of immorality have angered Heaven and Earth, causing them to send down severe cold to destroy the traitors and barbarian invaders!"

"We, the men of the Han Dynasty, shall obey the will of Heaven and Earth, punish the traitors, and annihilate the barbarians!!"

"The enemy are all traitors, and all Han Chinese should be killed! In this battle, we will not take prisoners, we will not consider merits or losses, and we will keep the spoils for ourselves!"

"Now I have burned down my main camp... There is no turning back in this battle, only death!"

"Defeat means death, victory means life! To die is to be a hero, to live is to be a marquis!"

"kill!!"

"kill!!!"

Before Liu Bei stood a forest of swords and spears, and flames rose.

The sounds of battle echoed across the fields.

……

Across the river, the Guangzong camp.

Yan Liang heard the deafening shouts of battle from the other side, but the bridge was unguarded. Seeing the firelight on the other side, he seized the opportunity to send troops across the bridge to investigate.

Scouts report: "The boundary bridge is unguarded, Liu Bei's camp has been burned down, his army is in chaos, and Zhao Yun's troops are fighting Liu Bei outside Qinghe County!"

"A golden opportunity! Give the order: beat the drums and advance!"

Upon hearing the news, Yan Liang immediately ordered his men to cross the river, as such an opportunity was rare.

"and many more……"

Tian Feng stopped Yan Liang: "The elders of the Zhao clan all disagree with our wishes, which shows that the Zhao clan is extremely strict in disciplining its members... Zhao Yun would actually kill his lord? This matter is likely a trap..."

"This is exactly the result we wanted, so why is Governor Tian afraid?"

Yan Liang frowned and said, "If Prefect Tian is afraid of death, then he shall stay here... I will go and take Liu Bei's head to offer as a sacrifice to the Grand Master!"

Tian Feng hesitated for a moment, then took a step back and said no more.

He couldn't control Yan Liang. Qu Yi and Tian Feng were colleagues, but Yan Liang and Wen Chou were not.

Yan Liang turned and left the camp: "Beat the drums! All troops, charge!"

Qu Yi glanced at Tian Feng inside the camp and asked in a low voice, "Should we not send troops?"

"Commander Qu, please have the crossbowmen guard the boundary bridge and prevent them from crossing the river... Liu Bei already possessed the abilities of a renowned general when he was in Yong and Liang, so his own troops will not be fighting amongst themselves..."

Tian Feng shook his head: "Although we are helping Governor Feng, his schemes are despicable and unethical, not in accordance with the principles of the Han Dynasty. We should be more cautious."

(End of this chapter)