Chapter 34 Liu Bei strikes

Because Tao Qian guarded the city tightly and refused to fight, even though Cao Cao's army was arrogant, they were still unable to break through the city of Donghai, let alone reach Tancheng.As time passed, morale gradually declined. In order to break this situation, Cao Cao announced the withdrawal of troops and retreated to Yanzhou at a slow speed, but in fact he was secretly observing the enemy's movements. Sure enough, as soon as Cao Cao withdrew from the border of the East China Sea, Tao Qian relaxed his guard, and the people left the city to return to the fields.Taking advantage of this opportunity, Cao Cao immediately returned to the army, raided Donghai Kingdom for the second time, and captured five cities in a row with lightning speed, and directed his troops at Tancheng, Tao Qian's headquarters.In desperation, Tao Qian had no choice but to seek help from Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou appointed by Gongsun Zan.Tian Kai came with troops, but he was afraid of Cao Jun's power and dared not even enter the border of the East China Sea. He set up camp far away to make a show of force, and could not rescue him at all.Under such circumstances, Tancheng is in danger, and the survival of Xuzhou is hanging by a thread.

But Cao Cao never dreamed that when he could see Tancheng from afar, Tao Qian's support army suddenly appeared on the side of Tao Qian. Cowardly blocking his eastward advance, such behavior is tantamount to seeking death. And the person who led the troops was an unimpressive little person—Pingyuan Prime Minister Liu Bei. "No shame! This is a war, not a duel between warriors!" Cao Cao tore up the letter of war sent by Liu Bei, "Where did this Liu Bei come from, so arrogant. Such a small person dares to give me a letter of challenge openly, really. I don't know my weight!"

He snorted angrily and looked around at the generals in the camp, "Prime Minister Ping Yuan... Where did such a Prime Minister Ping Yuan come from? Does anyone of you know the details of this Liu Bei?" All the generals in the tent looked at each other and shook their heads. In the end, Zhu Ling, who was the first teacher, said, "Let me tell you, General, I know a thing or two about you." The reason why Zhu Ling sits first in the west is not because he has a high status and many soldiers, but because he is not from Cao Ying.When Cao Cao captured Xuzhou, Yuan Shao sent Zhu Ling and two other generals to lead three battalions to assist. In fact, it also meant to share a share.

For the past six months, Cao Cao watched with cold eyes. Although Zhu Ling only had more than a thousand troops, his military skills were not inferior to Cao Ren and Yu Jin's, and his combat valor was no less than that of Le Jin and Xia Houyuan. He could be called a good general.But he is Yuan Shao's man after all. If it sounds good, it is the friendly army. If it sounds bad, it is Yuan Shao's eyes beside him. Cao Cao can't trust him very much, so he speaks more politely: "Wenbo knows this Liu Bei, then Please tell me and listen to everyone.” Zhu Ling's mouth is a bit full, and his big eyes are always staring, so no matter what he says, he looks very arrogant: "This Liu Bei and Liu Xuande are from Zhuozhou. Commander Tian Kai, I have fought against him in Hebei."

The situation in Qingzhou was the most chaotic among the northern states. Yuan Shao appointed Zang Min as the interim governor of Qingzhou, and Gongsun Zan also appointed his subordinate Tian Kai as the governor of Qingzhou. In fact, both of them occupied a part.In addition to them, Qingzhou Beihai County followed the Xijing court under the leadership of the prefect Kong Rong. Qingzhou Yellow Turban still controlled some counties, and Xuzhou local tyrant Zang Ba also invaded several coastal counties. It became a pot of porridge. "Damn it, I thought I was some kind of birdman, so it turned out to be a fake job." Le Jin yelled loudly, "Tian Kai, a coward who didn't dare to come by himself, actually sent one of his subordinates to die. Liu Bei really dared to come, Something that doesn't know how to live or die!"

"Wen Qian's words are wrong." Zhu Ling laughed, "I think this Liu Xuande is not only stronger than Tian Kai, but also more scheming than his master, Gongsun Zan!" "You still take him seriously, isn't that a bit too much?" Le Jin said with a smile, "Could it be that my brother was defeated by him?" Cao Ying's generals are always hostile to Zhu Ling , so there was a bit of sarcasm in Le Jin's words. "Liu Xuande is a general who is often defeated, how could I lose to him?" Zhu Ling pointed to his head, "I'm not saying how good this man is in battle, but that he has a good brain."

"Oh?" Cao Cao became a little interested, "How did you see it?" "It is said that this Liu Xuande was originally a child who weaved mats and sold shoes, and later left his hometown to follow Lu Zhi to study "Shangshu" with Gongsun Zan..." Le Jin put his hands in his mouth and interjected, "A seller of straw sandals, what kind of books do you read?" Zhu Ling shook his head: "Brother Wen Qian doesn't know the use of reading if he doesn't read, not to mention that Liu Bei didn't really want to learn "Shangshu" at all, he just wanted to be in the light of Lu Zhi. After this experience, he returned to his hometown During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, with the help of Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, the big merchants in Zhongshan, he pulled up a team and assisted the officers and soldiers in several battles against the thieves, and was later appointed by the court as the captain of Anxi County, Zhongshan County."

"Anxi county lieutenant?" Cao Cao's eyes lit up, "in the past, when I was the chancellor of Jinan, the first emperor was bewitched by the ten permanent servants to the military meritorious man of Shatai. On the tree, beat more than a hundred lashes, and then fled the official..." Zhu Ling patted his thigh: "That's right, that's Liu Bei." "Hahaha..." Cao Cao turned his anger into joy, "It seems that Liu Xuande has been acting recklessly for a day or two, and this suits my appetite." Zhu Ling went on to say: "Then Liu Bei wandered around after he fled from the government, and accidentally ran into the captain Wu Qiuyi who was sent by He Jin to Danyang to recruit troops." When He Jin sent troops from all over the country to Beijing in order to intimidate the eunuchs, Wu Qiuyi also went all the way, " Liu Bei felt that Wuqiu Yi was a rare commodity to live in, so he clinged to him endlessly. As a result, they encountered the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Xiapi on the way north, and fought a battle. Although this battle was won, it also delayed time. Dong Zhuo had already Went to Beijing. Thanks to Liu Bei for his help, Guan Qiuyi declared him an official, served as Xiami county magistrate, and then Gaotang county lieutenant."

Le Jin interjected again: "What kind of official is the county Wei and county magistrate now? I have a team of thousands of people with a wave of my hand. Isn't he better than him?" Zhu Ling glanced at him and said with a smile: "Brother Wen Qian doesn't understand again. The difference between an official and a bandit is just a word, but there is a world of difference. If you pull a team with no name and no title, you are a bandit. The court can suppress you." ; But people don’t care how small an official is, if you pull a team, you will be called Xiangyong, as long as you don’t rebel, no one can control it. Is the benefit of being an official still small?”

"That's right, if I were in his situation, I'd do the same thing." Cao Cao nodded, stroked his beard. "Afterwards, the world was in chaos. Relying on his old connections, he took refuge in Gongsun Zan's tent, and served as another Sima..." Le Jin interrupted Zhu Ling's words again: "This man is very shameless to cater to everyone." Cao Cao saw that something was wrong, Le Jin was deliberately trying to mess with Zhu Ling, he would interrupt every time someone said something.Looking at Xia Houyuan and Cao Hong winking at him, it turned out that this group of people played tricks and instigated Le Jin, a careless person, to come out and make trouble, and they joined forces to fight against Zhu Ling.

Cao Cao felt a vague sense of fear, fearing that there would inevitably be factional disputes in his camp in the future, so he hurriedly scolded: "Shut up and listen to others!" Zhu Ling continued: "Liu Bei fought a few battles for Gongsun Zan, and he lost more than he won. Later they defeated the Yellow Turban bandits by the Yellow River, crossed the Yellow River and arrived in Qingzhou, where Liu Bei returned to Tian Kai's tent. As the pseudo-Qingzhou governor, he became the pseudo-Pingyuan Commander, and later he was promoted to Pingyuan Prime Minister." Zhu Ling took a special look at Le Jin when he said that, he was not used to anyone interrupting him, "Actually, this is Gongsun Zan putting gold on his face. They only occupied a few counties of Pingyuan Kingdom, so they dare to call Pingyuan Prime Minister." .” "Gongsun Zan is an idiot, he appointed too many unworthy officials for the sake of a mere name. Can you not attract people's resentment for doing so?" Cao Cao sneered, "Liu Xuande and his idiots are mediocre and have little knowledge. How can they make a difference under Gongsun Zan? ?” There are some things Cao Cao can’t say clearly in front of his subordinates.Liu Bei is a man who gained fame by studying, used his fame to seek military service, used his military service to gain fame, used his fame to cling to others, and relied on clinging to others to become a member of the plains.It is not easy for a small straw sandal seller to make it to where he is today.Looking at all the generals in your camp, which one is not taller than him?But who is a better official than him?It's enough for Cao Cao to understand these words in his heart, but he can't say them out to make his gang of warriors listen carefully. Le Jin was still short-tempered. Even though he was not allowed to talk too much, he still couldn't help cursing: "The general is right! What is Liu Bei? !" Seeing this dwarf jumping up and down, Cao Cao couldn't help feeling amused, ignored him, lowered his head and put together the bamboo slips that had just been torn off: "However... since Liu Bei dares to use ten thousand miscellaneous soldiers to block the way, I will give him a face, Write him a letter back. He brings 10,000 troops, and I use 10,000 troops, which is not considered bullying him. Tomorrow's match, which one of you dares to capture Liu Bei?" "I'll go!" Le Jin and Xia Houyuan stood up at the same time, afraid that Zhu Ling would snatch them away. "Okay. You two go together. Whoever can capture Liu Bei alive will be rewarded." Cao Cao replied with a pen, writing while saying, "I really want to meet this man." Zhu Ling smiled slightly, thinking: "Capture Liu Bei? Don't even think about it. As long as there is a war, this Liu Xuande can run faster than a rabbit!" In the early morning of the next day, the enemy and our armies faced each other. Cao Cao only sent Xia Houyuan and Le Jin to lead 10,000 elite soldiers to fight, and he led a large group of Qingzhou soldiers to watch the battle on a hill not far away.Looking at the situation on the opposite side, the generals of Cao Ying were immediately discouraged.These 10,000 people were miserable. There were Danyang soldiers sent by Tao Qian, and Youzhou cavalry from Gongsun Zan. Some of them looked like Karasuma, and many of them couldn't even hold their spears steadily. Hungry people. Not to mention charging and fighting such a motley army, it would be nice if they could be ordered and prohibited.Relying on the mob to resist the rampant Cao Jun is simply a joke with his life! The more Le Jin saw the coward, the more he couldn't hold back his anger. He didn't even say hello, and led his five thousand soldiers and horses to kill him;Seeing this, the enemy also rushed to charge, but as soon as the two armies clashed, Liu Bei's formation fell into chaos.The Danyang soldiers were from Yangzhou, and they were recruited by Tao Qian based on his old connections in his hometown. He had no intention of risking his life for Xuzhou's survival, and more people retreated than rushed forward.Those Youzhou iron cavalry and Karasuma were brave and good at fighting, but the number of them was too small.As for the team gathered by the local people, they are commendable for their courage, lack of combat power, lack of drills and lack of discipline. If they rush up one by one, they will die. After a while, almost all the Danyang soldiers left the battlefield, and the rest continued to fight against Cao Jun, but they were barely parrying.Le Jin always took the lead in battle, the halberd in his palm danced like a windmill, and when he swept it out, a large area fell down, and he led his own soldiers towards the banner of the Chinese army to kill Liu Bei, intending to capture Liu Bei alive; Xia Houyuan did not show weakness, and supervised the brigade Soldiers fought hand-to-hand with the enemy, and the battlefield was lively with shouts and kills. But Cao Cao felt a little uncomfortable. Although those skinny Xuzhou people were like mantises, they would rather die on the battlefield than retreat. They reluctantly went up with their guns and shouted the slogan of defending Xuzhou until their death. They were scared and angry, they were really going to fight someone Cao with their lives. Cao Cao's mood became contradictory: Do we really need to kill so many people for revenge?Even if the whole Xuzhou is wiped out, the father and younger brother cannot be resurrected.If someone massacres the people of Yanzhou to avenge me, what will I do... Killing people can certainly establish prestige, but it also kills my reputation of benevolence and righteousness... But Que Xuan and Zhang Kai were all eliminated by Tao Qian , I can only find Tao Qian to avenge this revenge!The matter has come to this point, we must continue to kill, as long as we break through Tancheng and slaughter Tao Qian's family, I will stop... If Tao Qian does not kill Xuzhou, I will always have worries... Kill... Keep killing... If you don't destroy, there will be no new life ... At this time, there was chaos behind the mountain, and a dozen Youzhou cavalry quietly went around behind, trying to rush up the mountain to assassinate Cao Cao.However, Cao Jun's soldiers are layered upon layers of armor. With their little people, no matter how brave and skilled they are, they can only hit a stone with an egg.Although today's battle is not dangerous, it is a miracle that Cao Cao has never experienced in his life. He has flattened the Yellow Turban, defeated Dong Zhuo, defeated Yuan Shu, and slaughtered Xuzhou, but he has never fought against this kind of army that is asking for trouble. After the battle, he felt a little ridiculous, stood up from the stool, and looked back at the small group of "surprise soldiers". I saw that these dozen or so people were all brave, facing the army without any fear, mobilizing their horses and rushing in, they were invincible wherever they went.The leader of this team seems to be a trilogy chief, and his appearance is particularly eye-catching.This person is nine feet tall, with a helmet on top, a parrot green war robe, a parrot green skirt around his waist, leg armor, tiger head boots, and a snow-white war horse on his crotch.Looking at it from the outside, this man has a big red face with a wide forehead, red phoenix eyes, crouching silkworm eyebrows, and fat lips. He doesn't look like a man from Hebei, but looks like a big man in Kansai.Don't look at him in his early twenties, but he is not very old, but he has five long beards that are more than one foot long.He held a big knife in his hand, about ten feet long, the blade was shaped like a crescent moon, and the tip of the blade shone with a cold light.This man showed his supernatural power, he danced with his sword one after another, blood was shining one after another, Tianling Gai was chopped all over the sky, and the soldiers with broken arms and legs were screaming at their necks. And the dozen or so warriors brought by this person, all risking their lives and forgetting to die, rushed upwards like mowing wheat, and in a blink of an eye they rushed to the middle of the mountain without hurting a single person! Cao Cao had never seen such a brave general before, and his eyes were straightened, as if he forgot that he killed one of his own people.In fact, Cao Cao would not be in danger if he was sitting, but he stood up from the stool, with a big flag standing beside him, and the red tasseled pocket on his head was particularly eye-catching, which brought disaster for himself. "Come here! General, dodge!" Lou Yi yelled almost from the back of his head, and rushed to protect Cao Cao, who was standing still, behind him. Only a dozen people came up to kill, and the soldiers on the top of the mountain were all panicked.Those who drew their knives drew their knives, those who drew their swords drew their swords, and those who raised their guns raised their guns. Cao Hong, Yu Jin, Zhu Ling and other generals raised their swords and guns before they could mount their horses in time, and hurriedly stopped in front of Cao Cao. A sharp neighing sound resounded through the sky, and the red-faced man Dan phoenix eyes were rounded, and he appeared in front of Cao Cao with a knife in his hand.Seeing him fiercely slashing over with a knife, all the generals and soldiers went crazy, what kind of swords, guns, swords and halberds swarmed up-clang!Several types of weapons smashed into one place, sparking sparks, the sound was deafening, but fortunately, the knife was finally resisted by everyone. "Fire the arrows! Let the arrows go! Fuck the arrows!" Cao Hongxu hurriedly issued an order, waving his knife. In order to protect the commander-in-chief, the soldiers and generals who are against me are ignored at this moment, and the tiger and leopard guards put up bows and shoot arrows together.Cao Cao only heard a whizzing sound above his head, and arrows like locusts shot past.In the blink of an eye, four of the advancing enemies fell from their horses, and the soldiers standing in the front were also shot down. Even Cao Hong was hit by two arrows in the back. The gleaming broadsword in the big man's palm was like a full moon, and the arrows shot out, but they didn't even hurt the oily skin.All the soldiers and generals put their lives on the line, raised their weapons and rushed forward, really relying on a human wall to protect Cao Cao.The swishing sound above his head kept going, Cao Cao was dumbfounded. Three shots and two shots, the enemy was almost injured, the big man couldn't stand it anymore, he swept out his sword, staggered the soldiers who rushed over, and fled down the mountain with their horses.The guards didn't care about chasing him, so they hurriedly surrounded Cao Cao to comfort him.The tiger and leopard guards continued to shoot arrows. The big man swung his sword so that it was airtight. gallop away. "Damn it!" Cao Hong snorted angrily, pulled out the arrow nailed to the armor, and cursed, "Are you all fucking dead? Just let him escape like this!" Seeing that the man had fled far away, Cao Cao couldn't care less about pursuing the fault, he finally recovered from his suffocated breath, slumped on the stool and wiped his cold sweat: "I'm in danger of losing my life..." The faces of all the generals around him are completely dull, but with so many generals, a dozen people are killed in front of them, where should they put their faces?Yu Jin calmed down, turned around and looked at the battlefield, and couldn't help being surprised: "Look, everyone!" It turned out that Liu Bei's soldiers and horses fled to death, and there were almost no one left.But there was a small group of Youzhou cavalry resisting, and vaguely saw a young general in black robes gesturing wildly with a weapon, slashing, stabbing, sweeping and smashing, all in a disorganized manner, which dazzled people for a long time I don't know what he is using!And it was precisely because he led these dozens of people to fight, his own soldiers were a hundred times larger and he couldn't take them down. He watched them fight and retreat, and finally dispersed like birds and beasts, but he couldn't catch any of them.The young general in black robe left his position and stopped his weapon, only then did he see that it was a spear.He galloped on his horse and hurried around Tancheng, and he fled without a trace after a while. "The one in the black robe is Liu Xuande?" Cao Cao eagerly asked Zhu Ling. Zhu Ling shook his head and said meaningfully: "Absolutely not... I'm afraid that Liu Bei would have disappeared with the Danyang soldiers long ago." Cao Cao's heart was shaken: that red-faced man, and this black-robed young general are really enemies!The bravery of Le Wenqian and Xiahou Miaocai is three points inferior to them, why didn't I get a subordinate like this?Such a strange person would be under the tent of Liu Bei who weaves mats and sells shoes. It's really hateful, annoying, pity, and enviable... If they are skilled in soldiers and horses before resisting, wouldn't they be formidable enemies?Thinking of this, he hurriedly got up and sent an order: "Send troops to take down Liu Bei's camp immediately, and they must not be called to gather again!" The military order was passed down quickly, and even the soldiers on the battlefield led the people on the hills to watch and marched eastward. Cao's army was overwhelmed and directly destroyed Liu Bei's camp. But there was no need to fight at all. Liu Bei had already led his people away without a trace, none of the remnants of the defeated soldiers came back, and all the food, grass and luggage were left behind, waiting for Cao Jun to take over.Cao Cao was so angry and funny, he had never fought such a foolish battle before!In fact, it's not bad. With Liu Bei's big camp, Cao Cao saved a lot of things such as setting up a stronghold to transport grain.At this moment, he had already reached the edge of Tan County, and Tao Qian had no other barriers except a thick city wall. Cao Cao looked up at the city of Tan not far ahead. The two-foot-high city wall was densely packed with soldiers and civilians, with bows and arrows lined up and logs piled up. They were ready to defend the city to the death.The hatred of killing his father, the hatred of killing his brother, and the worries of going west to Henan will be completely resolved at this moment.This big city is bound to be difficult to attack, even if it takes a while, it must be taken down, and Tao Qian's faction must be completely eradicated. When he was about to order the siege of the city, he heard a burst of laughter behind him - Bian Bing came from Yanzhou, talking and laughing with Le Jin and others.Cao Cao was a little surprised: "What are you doing here?" Bian Bing laughed and said, "Mr. Xun sent me to offer condolences." "What is there to comfort you with?" Cao Cao turned his head to look at the city wall again, "I'm afraid this battle will be difficult to fight, and there may be heavy casualties." Bian Bing smiled and shouted: "Everyone go to their own places and do their own things. I have a few private words to tell my brother-in-law." After hearing what he said, everyone stopped making jokes and went their separate ways.Bian Bing whispered in Cao Cao's ear: "I'm afraid that the morale of the army will be broken and I can't say it in public. This battle can't be fought." "What's wrong?" Cao Cao was taken aback. "Yanzhou rebelled, and I was almost intercepted and killed by the rebels when I led the troops to deliver the letter." Cao Cao sighed: "Alas... half a year of fighting is in vain, and the revenge of killing my father can't be avenged... Which county is rebellious?" Bian Bing picked his nose, and said calmly, "Zhang Miao and Chen Gong took the lead in creating chaos and luring Lv Bu here. Now the whole Yanzhou has been turned upside down...we only have three counties left." Cao Cao felt as if he had been hit by a sledgehammer on his chest, and his internal organs were all shattered, but he turned around stiffly: "Lou Yi!" "No." Lou Yi approached and cupped his fists to salute. "The walls of Tanxian County are high and strong, and the enemy is defending it hard, so the order was sent to withdraw the troops and return to the division—to order everyone to sing triumphant songs and go happily!" Cao Cao felt relieved after saying this, and Xuzhou was not occupied. Yanzhou also suddenly disappeared. Everything has to start all over again...