Just when Ding Yuan disposed of Cheng Lian and Hou Cheng, it didn't take long for the people below to report again.

It is said that another group of men and horses who fled from the battlefield returned to the county seat.

The men did not ride horses, but returned on foot.

and said that they ran back from Liu Zheng's military camp.

This news reached Ding Yuandi's ears and immediately attracted Ding Yuan's attention.

"Recruit those people in and let me ask!"

When Ding Yuan learned that those people had escaped from Liu Zheng's military camp, he was immediately interested and wanted to know why they were able to escape from Liu Zheng's hands.

Not long after, several of those who escaped back, to be precise, those who were released back by Liu Zheng, were brought to Ding Yuan.

"I've seen adults."

These people stood in front of Ding Yuan resignedly, and seemed to be a little afraid, after all, they lost the battle, and they were also guilty, and they were afraid that Ding Yuan would deal with them.

However, Ding Yuan did not blame them, but asked them how they came back.

"How did you get back?"

Ding asked these soldiers in situ and did not dare to hesitate, even if the whole process was depicted.

After some explanation, Ding Yuan finally understood, and at the same time knew the strength that Liu Zheng had in Baling County. The whole person looked bad.

Tens of thousands of troops, even if Ding Yuan wants to deal with Liu Zheng, he has to check whether he has the ability, not to mention that he only has 10,000 people left, even with Liu Biao's help and 30,000 troops, Ding Yuan may not be Liu Zheng's opponent with the same force.

This made Ding Yuan more and more jealous of Liu Zheng, and the more he didn't dare to attack easily, he could only stick to the city and wait for the arrival of Liu Biao's army and the return of Zhang Liao in Nanyang before making plans.

Ding Yuan didn't dare to attack rashly, but Liu Zheng was really planning how to attack Jiangxia.

Because once Liu Zheng took Jiangxia, then Liu Zheng would be able to get through the connection with Nanyang, and then Yuan Shu's crisis would be lifted.

At this time, Liu Zheng didn't know that Yuan Yao had returned to Runan, and planned to persuade his father to give up Runan and defect to Liu Zheng.

However, Yuan Rou, who stayed in Baling, was extremely surprised when he heard that Liu Zheng had won the battle and captured Lu Bu alive, because he saw the possibility that Liu Zheng would definitely attack in a big way next, and even capture Jiangxia.

Yuan Rou originally wanted to go to Liu Zheng to inquire about the news and ask if Liu Zheng would attack, but received a message. said that Liu Zheng left Baling overnight.

Yes.

Liu Zheng left Baling by boat overnight, and took with him Zhou Tai's 10,000 sailors, as well as the men and horses of the Ministry of Civil Affairs stationed in Yuzhang.

Because after Liu Zheng incorporated Lu Bu and Gao Shun and others, he was preparing to lead his own people to launch an attack on Jiangxia, but the news of Qingzhou was finally delivered to Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng took the news passed by Xu You and fell into deep thought.

Zhang Mancheng was killed, and the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army was divided and precarious.

Only Zhang Ning was still entrenched in the area of Beihai County, and he could be wiped out by the combined forces of Liu Bei and Cao Cao at any time.

Although Zhang Ning still has fifty or sixty thousand Yellow Turban remnants under his command, although the strength of these Yellow Turban remnants is not weak, it is not comparable to those Yellow Turban miscellaneous soldiers, but when they encounter Liu Guanzhang and Cao Cao, it is almost a certain defeat.

That is, it is just to see that Zhang Ning can hold out for a few days under the joint attack of Liu Bei and Cao Cao.

Of course, Liu Zheng will not let Zhang Ning bear everything alone.

In any case, Zhang Ning has a place in Liu Zheng's heart.

Even if you run away from personal feelings, just the geographical location of Qingzhou. The importance of Liu Zheng. There is definitely enough weight for Liu Zheng to send troops to support Zhang Ning.

The reason why he didn't send troops to help Zhang Ning before was because he didn't help Zhang Ning, but Zhang Mancheng, the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army, after all, in those Yellow Turban Army, it was not Zhang Ning who had the final say, but Zhang Mancheng who had the final say, Liu Zheng and Zhang Mancheng were not of the same mind, because Liu Zheng knew that Zhang Mancheng was not a person who could succeed at all.

But now that Zhang Mancheng is dead, the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army can be said to be a plate of scattered sand, and Zhang Ning has once again become an independent force, just like when Zhang Ning came to Jiaozhou to join Liu Zheng in the past, Liu Zheng will place her in Lingling County, and they maintain a high enough autonomy for self-development.

And now Liu Zheng is the same, he chose to help Zhang Ning. First, it is to prevent the Yellow Turban Army from being completely exterminated, and secondly, it is also to keep the turmoil in Qingzhou and not let it fall into the hands of the imperial court.

The imperial court has already begun to stabilize, and after they pacify Qingzhou and get the Yellow Turban Army, they will regain control of Qingzhou, then there will be only two enemies left for the imperial court to face.

In that case, the pressure on Liu Zheng and Yuan Shao will inevitably increase, and. Relatively speaking, the pressure on Liu Zheng will increase greatly.

Because after Liu Bei and Cao Cao's soldiers and horses pacified Qingzhou, they were bound to go south again to deal with Liu Zheng's Wu County, rather than meeting them sooner or later, it was better to take the initiative to attack and transfer the battle site to Qingzhou, so as to avoid losses to the people of Yangzhou.

So no matter what aspect it is, going to Qingzhou to help Zhang Ning is a must-do.

Because of the urgency of time, Liu Zheng even gave up attacking Jiangxia directly, and instead led the trap camp he had just recruited, as well as Zhou Tai's naval army, to use ships to quickly move towards Qingzhou.

He was worried that only 10,000 sailors would not be enough to resist the attack of Liu Guanzhang and Cao Cao, and he also brought all the Wenpin troops originally stationed in Yuzhang.

The reason why Liu Zheng is so relieved about the war in Jingzhou is also because he has just defeated Lu Bu and severely damaged Ding Yuan's strength, so that Ding Yuan should not take the initiative to attack in a short time, with Zhou Cang, Huang Zhong, and Gan Ning's soldiers and horses stationed in the Jingzhou area, even if Ding Yuan takes the initiative to attack, he is afraid that he will not get any benefits.

However, the war in Qingzhou was more anxious, Liu Bei and Cao Cao had at least 50,000 troops under them, and Zhang Ning was weak. If Liu Zheng wants to mix in one, he must carry 20,000 soldiers and horses to be able to have some effect, otherwise he will also be at a disadvantage if he fights them head-on.

At the same time, in order to put pressure on Liu Bei and Cao Cao, Liu Zheng immediately ordered Tai Shici, who was recuperating in Wu County, to mobilize troops and horses to prepare to attack Huainan from Wu County.

He wants to change from passive defense to active attack, once Liu Zheng can attack Yanzhou, Liu Bei and Cao Cao's people who are bound to be in Qingzhou will be afraid, either withdraw their troops to help, or find a way to solve the battle in Qingzhou as soon as possible in a short time.

But Qingzhou has Liu Zheng's people to help, and they will definitely not be defeated by Liu Bei and Cao Cao's people in a short time, so they will only withdraw their troops.