Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 166 Two Thousand Rebels, All Wanting to Surround and Kill Liu Bei (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
Seeing that he had successfully lured the enemy, Lü Bu maintained control and retreated while fighting.

The military strategies taught by Lu Zhi have been validated today.

As the vanguard of the Lingyan Army, Lü Bu faced immense pressure in the first battle.

If we lose, it will not only be Lu Bu who loses face, but also the face of the entire Lingyan Army.

The thought of competing against the fierce generals of the Lingyan Army, especially against Guan Yu, made Lü Bu even more eager to win.

If you lose, you'll have to study under Guan Yu from now on.

Do I, Lu Bu, have no pride?

Lure Kong Zhou's army to the ambush point, and Lü Bu immediately turned his horse around.

Before Lü Bu could give any orders, another general stepped forward, brandishing his sword and shouting, "Lü Bu, don't run! I am General Liu Sandao! Fight me to the death! I'll take your life in three strikes!"

"Shut up!" Lu Bu frowned, then nocked an arrow and shot it right between Liu Sandao's eyebrows.

What kind of Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to challenge me to a life-or-death battle?

Kong Zhou's vanguard was stunned when they saw Liu Sandao suddenly shot dead.

what's the situation?
Aren't we the ones pursuing the routed troops?

Why did General Liu die?
Before they could react, the bugle sounded again, and the ambushers on both sides came out.

"kill!"

Lü Bu rode ahead, drawing his bow with both hands, aiming at the mounted soldiers in Kong Zhou's army.

Upon hearing the shocking news that the fierce general Liu Sandao had been killed by an arrow, and that Lü Bu was known for his deadly accuracy in killing mounted warriors, Kong Zhou was so terrified that he almost lost two of his three souls.

Even more unbelievable is how Lu Bu could be so ferocious!

Seeing the ambushers closing in from both sides, and realizing that he was too conspicuous on horseback, Kong Zhou abandoned his horse and fled.

The three thousand soldiers who were pursuing Lü Bu lost their leader and, seeing three armies attacking from the opposite direction, panicked and fled in all directions.

And in the back.

The pursuing troops of Zhang Miao and Ying Shao, unaware of the situation, were thrown into chaos by a counterattack from Kong Zhou's army.

"That idiot Kong Zhou!"

"Damn it!"

Zhang Miao and Ying Shao were both angry and helpless.

Before even seeing the enemy soldiers, their own troops had already disrupted their formation. How could they possibly fight under such circumstances?

Lu Bu, regardless of whether the troops behind him were Kong Zhou's or Zhang Miao's or Ying Shao's, were all rebels, so he could just charge and kill them!

In an instant, all three armies were routed. Lü Bu charged straight into Kong Zhou's camp, set it on fire, and then headed straight for Xiaopei City.

"I am Lü Bu, a captain of the Lingyan Army under the Imperial Uncle! Open the door at once!"

As early as when Cao Cao saw Lü Bu's banner heading straight for the gate of Xiaopei, he sent Cao Hong to open the city gate to meet him.

Therefore, as soon as Lü Bu finished speaking, Cao Hong opened the city gate.

Lü Bu rode back and beckoned the Lingyan Army to enter the city. He only rode in after the last Lingyan Army soldier had entered.

"Thank you, Commandant Lü, for saving me."

Upon seeing Lü Bu, Cao Cao immediately thought of the man who had dueled Zhao Yun beneath the walls of Luoyang.

Cao Cao was far away in Xiaopei. He had only heard that Dong Zhuo had lost power in Luoyang, but he did not know the specific circumstances of how he lost power.

Now that Cao Cao has seen Lü Bu join Liu Bei's forces, he is alarmed.

"My Imperial Uncle asked me to deliver a message to Cao Yanzhou." Lü Bu looked Cao Cao up and down for a moment, then said in a strange tone, "My Imperial Uncle has already returned to Guanzhong to fight Yuan Shu and returned to Luoyang to become the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, so why hasn't Cao Yanzhou arrived in Dongjun yet?"

Cao Cao's face turned bitter.

I want to go to Dongjun too!
But the traitorous general of Yanzhou won't let me go!

They either offer a huge bounty for me, or they come in droves to attack me.

If they come one by one, I can cripple that group of rebel generals from Yanzhou.

"Where is the Imperial Uncle now?" Cao Cao didn't want to answer Lü Bu's question, so he asked in return.

Without hesitation, Lü Bu replied, "My uncle is escorting grain supplies and will be five days late."

"How many troops did the Imperial Uncle bring?" Cao Cao asked again.

Lu Bu said with a smug look on his face: "In addition to the Tiger Warriors, the Feathered Forest Guards, and the troops under Minister Lu at Hulao Pass, the Imperial Uncle has also brought ten battalions of the Lingyan Army from Luoyang. A total of 20,000 infantry and cavalry."

"This time, we not only need to rescue you, but also to go to Xiapi to rescue Governor Gai. Can you still hold Xiaopei? If you can, I will go to Xiapi tomorrow."

Cao Cao shook his head slightly: "To be honest, if the rebels hadn't surrounded the city without attacking, Xiaopei would have fallen long ago. If Commandant Lü leaves tomorrow, Xiaopei will fall to the rebels."

Seeing Lü Bu frown, Cao Cao said, "Colonel Lü, there is no need to worry. The city of Xiapi is far more fortified than Xiaopei. With the governor's ability, it can hold out for three months without any problem."

"I see." Lü Bu said regretfully, "Never mind. My royal uncle said we must not compete for credit."

Lu Bu's main task as the vanguard was to boost the morale of the defending side and let the defending soldiers know that Liu Bei had brought a large army to support them.

If Cao Cao could hold Xiaopei, Lü Bu would want to march all the way to Xiapi and seize both credits.

Upon hearing Lü Bu's words, Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, and the others couldn't help but twitch their lips.

The Imperial Uncle said we shouldn't compete for credit, yet you want to rush to Xiapi first?

Afraid of losing Xiao Pei, he changed his mind and said not to compete for credit.

Can't you be honest?!
Because Lü Bu had disrupted the three camps of Kong Zhou, Zhang Miao, and Ying Shao, and Kong Zhou's camp had been burned in many places, Yuan Yi was furious.

"A simple ambush, with no more than two thousand bandits, caused your three battalions of over ten thousand men to flee in disarray. How did you manage to lead your troops?"

He was yelled at by Yuan Yi.

Zhang Miao and Ying Shao were immediately displeased.

"It was Prefect Kong's troops who disrupted our formation; otherwise, how could we have been defeated by Lü Bu? What does his inability to lead troops have to do with me?"

"Prefect Kong boasted to me every day about the extraordinary bravery of his general Liu Sandao, but he was killed by Lü Bu with a single arrow, and his soldiers trampled each other in the process."

First, he was yelled at by Yuan Yi, and then he was opposed by Zhang Miao and Ying Shao one after another. Kong Zhou was also furious: "The plan was already set up beforehand. You two were supposed to flank from both sides. Is that what you call a flanking maneuver?"

"If you had taken a roundabout route, even if I had fallen into an ambush, how would Lü Bu have dared to pursue me? I didn't blame you two for my camp being burned, yet you two are blaming me?" Zhang Miao roared angrily, "How dare you say that? Who told you to pursue Lü Bu ahead of time? Couldn't you have delayed and waited for us to encircle him?"

Kong Zhou retorted defiantly, "If Lü Bu is about to escape, shouldn't I be chasing him? It's clearly because you're too slow!"

Seeing the three arguing and shifting blame, Yuan Yi became even more furious: "Stop arguing! I am the Governor of Yanzhou! Listen to me!"

Zhang Miao's temper flared even more! "Yuan, Governor of Yanzhou. If you weren't surnamed Yuan, do you think you could be the Governor of Yanzhou? I didn't even try to take it from you, so why are you yelling at me?"

Ying Shao was also furious: "Yuan Yanzhou, I said from the beginning that we should take Xiaopei directly. But you had to listen to Guo Tu and insist on besieging without attacking, directly surrounding and killing Liu Bei's reinforcements."

"We haven't captured Xiaopei yet, and the reinforcements haven't been able to surround and kill us. You say you're the governor of Yanzhou, and you expect us all to listen to you, but look at yourself, can you even command troops?"

Kong Zhou added fuel to the fire, saying, "If you can't be the governor of Yanzhou, I, Kong Zhou, can take over the job."

"Shut up! You, who were ambushed by Lü Bu, what right do you have to act as the governor of Yanzhou!" Zhang Miao turned around and cursed again.

Seeing that the argument had started again, Yuan Xu, the prefect of Jiyin, Qiao Mao, the prefect of Dongjun, and Zheng Sui, the chancellor of Rencheng, quickly got up and each tried to persuade one of them.

After persuading the three, Qiao Mao suggested, "Since the reinforcements from Xiaopei have entered the city, we might as well retreat for the time being and wait for an opportunity. Otherwise, if Liu Bei's army comes, we will be attacked from the rear by Liu Bei if we attack Xiaopei, and we will be attacked from the rear by Lü Bu if we attack Liu Bei."

Yuan Yi sneered: "We have seven armies to attack Xiaopei. The city has not yet fallen and the reinforcements have not been defeated. How can we easily retreat? Moreover, Prime Minister Bao and Prime Minister Li are on their way. Even if Liu Bei comes in person, he can still fight us with our nine armies!"

Qiao Mao frowned: "Our morale has been dampened, how can we possibly contend with Liu Bei?"

Yuan Yi dismissed it: "It's just a matter of morale. We have over 50,000 men in total. Once Bao Xin and Li Xiang's troops arrive, we'll have over 70,000. Why would we be afraid of Liu Bei?"

"Even the valiant Lü Bu only dared to burn down Prefect Kong's camp and hide in the city. With so many soldiers, what is there to fear?"

"That's because you've never fought Liu Bei!" Qiao Mao said, somewhat annoyed. "Back in Luoyang, Liu Bei defeated over ten thousand men from Hanoi with only eight hundred cavalry. It wasn't that he had more soldiers to bully others, it was that he was stronger!"

"So what if Yuan Shu had a lot of troops? He sent 50,000 men to attack Guanzhong, but they were killed by Liu Bei and had to cut off their beards and abandon their robes. They didn't even dare to stay in Nanyang and could only run to Runan to avoid Liu Bei's sharp edge."

Yuan Yi laughed loudly: "How could Prefect Qiao not be familiar with military strategy? Back when you were in Luoyang, you had neither camps nor terrain advantages, so it was normal that you had no power to fight back against Liu Bei's armored cavalry."

“But things are different now. We have been camping in Xiaopei for ten days and have prepared many antler obstacles. We also have powerful bows and crossbows in the camp. If Liu Bei dares to come, I will let his cavalry die one by one, or two by two.”

Seeing that Yuan Yi refused to withdraw his troops, Qiao Mao said, "If you don't withdraw, I don't care. I'm going to move the camp to the back mountain and set up camp there, taking advantage of the terrain."

Yuan Yi frowned: "Prefect Qiao, are you going to back down in the face of battle? How can you be so afraid of Liu Bei?"

“If it weren’t for the strategic advantage of the mountains and terrain, I would be afraid of Liu Bei. If you are not afraid, you may stay here. Farewell!” Qiao Mao did not want to say more to Yuan Yi and left with his fists clasped.

Yuan Yi's face instantly darkened: "Are you all also going to set up camp on the back mountain?"

The group exchanged glances and then lowered their heads in thought.

Kong Zhou pondered for a while and said, "My camp was burned down, and it was the first to be hit. It may not be too late to repair the camp now. I have decided to set up camp on the back mountain."

Zhang Miao and Ying Shao exchanged a glance, and remembering the scolding they had received from Yuan Yi earlier, they were also dissatisfied and both snorted, "Let's also set up camp on the back mountain."

Seeing that four men had left, Zheng Sui clasped his hands in a fist and said, “Yuan Yanzhou, I have few soldiers. Let’s go to the back mountain and find a place to camp.”

Five people left at once, and Yuan Yi was so angry that his face turned white.

"A bunch of cowards! Fifty thousand well-rested and prepared troops are afraid of Liu Bei, who has come from afar and is exhausted?"

Yuan Xu sighed, “The generals of Yanzhou are already outwardly united but inwardly divided. Now that we have suffered a defeat in the first battle, Kong Zhou is at odds with Zhang Miao and Ying Shao, and Qiao Mao was terrified by Liu Bei in the battle of Luoyang. For now, we should choose a strategic location in the back mountains to establish a camp.”

"Now that Liu Bei has arrived, Yuan Shu of Runan and Tao Qian of Xuzhou will surely also lead their troops to Xiaopei. Our three armies combined will number at least 200,000. This also fits the situation of surrounding three sides while leaving one open."

"No matter how valiant Liu Bei is, how could he possibly defeat him?"

Yuan Yi let out a long breath, suppressing his anger, and said, "So be it. I originally wanted to lead the generals of Yanzhou to achieve great merit alone, but I didn't expect them to be as cowardly as mice."

"Quickly send someone to inform Tao Qian and Yuan Shu that as long as Liu Bei dares to come to Xiaopei, our three armies will surely surround and kill Liu Bei in Xiaopei!"

"If he doesn't dare to come, humph! We'll seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack, first taking Chen's grain, then annihilating Yingchuan's forces, and taking control of the three provinces of Yan, Yu, and Xu, so that Liu Bei won't even dare to leave Hulao Pass!"

Although Tao Qian's forces surrounded Xiapi, Xiapi was not far from Xiaopei. After receiving a message from Yuan Xu, Tao Qian immediately summoned Cavalry Commandant Zang Ba, former Governor of Yangzhou Zhou Gan, Chancellor of Langya Yin De, Chancellor of Donghai Liu Kui, Chancellor of Pengcheng Ji Lian, Chancellor of Beihai Kong Rong, and Chancellor of Pei Yuan Zhong to advance on Xiaopei.

Only Zhang Chao, the governor of Yangzhou, was left in Xiapi to keep Gai Xun in check.

Tao Qian's eight armies each numbered between five or six thousand and ten or twenty thousand, totaling over eighty thousand men.

Adding to the more than 70,000 troops of the nine generals of Yanzhou, the two sides together numbered more than 150,000.

From the south, Yuan Shu had over 100,000 troops and civilians, including 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers, bringing the total to over 200,000, who gathered in Xiaopei from three directions.

If we include laborers, the number would double again.

In terms of sheer numbers and power, it far surpasses the Suanzao Alliance.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao's scouts discovered that the Yanzhou troops were camping in the mountains to the northwest, while large numbers of troops were gathering in Xiaopei from the southeast and southwest.

"To the southeast are Tao Qian and his men besieging Xiapi. It seems their target isn't Gai Xun, but the Imperial Uncle!"

"The one from the southwest should be Yuan Shu from Runan. Is he here to seek revenge against the Imperial Uncle?"

"The three armies have converged on us! Commander Lü, we must leave Xiaopei as soon as possible!"

After Cao Cao compiled and analyzed the intelligence, he was immediately alarmed and broke out in a cold sweat.

Compared to Cao Cao's eagerness, Lü Bu was completely unconcerned: "You've come at the perfect time, saving us the trouble of going to Xiapi again. Cao, you're already the governor of a province, how come your temperament is still inferior to mine?"

Cao Cao's face darkened.

Is this a matter of mindset?
Cao Ren revealed Cao Cao's thoughts: "The three armies number no less than 200,000 men. If we don't choose a suitable location to set up camp in the east as soon as possible, wouldn't it be suicide to defend Xiaopei to the death?"

Lu Bu spread his hands and said, "I haven't studied military strategy for very long, so I don't understand anything about terrain. Anyway, my uncle told me that Xiaopei must be defended. If I fail to defend it, I will be guilty and have no merit; if I do defend it, I will have the greatest merit."

Seeing Lü Bu's fearless demeanor, Cao Cao stopped Cao Ren, who wanted to ask more questions.

After thinking for a while, Cao Cao realized the key point: "I understand. Although these three armies have a large number of soldiers, they are not under each other's command and are like a heap of loose sand. Although the Imperial Uncle has fewer soldiers, he can defeat them one by one."

"The journey from Luoyang to Xiaopei is long and arduous. If we cannot defeat the enemy in one battle, my uncle will be in a dangerous situation where he can neither advance nor retreat. Xiaopei is the bait my uncle is using to lure the three armies together!"

"It's really wonderful!"

Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed.

Lu Bu scratched his head, staring at Cao Cao with a puzzled look: "What kind of bait? Is it that complicated?"

And in Feng County, west of Xiaopei.

Liu Bei's army also arrived after more than ten days of trekking.

Scouts had already discovered that three armies were converging in the direction of Xiaopei, and Liu Bei couldn't help but chuckle.
"I never expected they were all coming for me?"

(End of this chapter)