Although Liu Bei did not get the news that Cao Cao's army was attacking from Pengcheng in Xiao County, he guessed from the rest of the place that Cao Cao might have sent troops.

Liu Bei sat on top of the main hall, looked at Jian Yong below, and asked urgently, "What!" Is this news true? Yuan Yao's sentinels really detected the military situation of Cao Cao's main army gathered near Xudu? ”

On the way back to Xiapi from the Huaishui camp, Jian Yong was thinking about it, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Yuan Yao should not lie to him, and this news should be true.

Jian Yong smiled bitterly a few times and replied: "Lord, although I don't want this news to be true, firstly, there is no need for Yuan Yao to deceive the lord, and secondly, Yuan Shao of Hebei Province is ready for the army to go south, and in the spring of next year, Yuan Shao's army will definitely go south to attack the Central Plains, and this winter is already Cao Cao's last chance to solve the flank threat!" ”

"The lord has 100,000 troops to occupy Xuzhou, which is a big trouble for Cao Cao, if the lord takes advantage of the time when he and Yuan Shao are fighting to raid Xudu, then Cao Cao will definitely be defeated! Cao Cao is old and spicy, he won't be able to see this, from this point of calculation, the military situation inquired by the general should be true, Cao Cao is very likely to invade Xuzhou in the near future! ”

Liu Bei has been fighting for many years, although he has been defeated repeatedly, but you must know that his opponents are all great gods like Cao Cao and Lu Bu, Liu Bei's ability to use troops has exceeded a lot compared to ordinary generals, and compared with his ability to use troops, Liu Bei's most sudden point is his sense of crisis, and his prediction of crises is far beyond others, otherwise he will not be defeated again and again and can escape every time!

Liu Bei also calmed down when he heard Jian Yong's words, and suddenly had a hint of bad intentions, and shouted loudly: "It's not a good thing!" Cao Cao must have already sent troops!! ”

Jian Yong was stunned when he heard this, and said, "Now that there is no news of Cao Cao's attack, how did the lord know about it?" ”

Liu Bei snorted coldly and said: "Cao Thief is treacherous, he won't be able to calculate that Yuan Yao will definitely not cross the Huaishui, my second brother Guan Yu went to meet Yuan Yao, this is already his best opportunity!" When Cao Cao learned of this, he would definitely attack on a large scale, and now that Yun Chang has sent troops for many days, Cao Cao must have sent troops! ”

"Most of the soldiers of our army were soldiers of the Cao army, so I gathered all the soldiers and horses under my command in the area of Xiapi, Xiaopei and Xiaxiang, and there were not many soldiers and horses stationed in Peiguo and Pengcheng counties. Cao Cao's ability to use troops to shock the Central Plains, if Cao Cao comes to attack in a big way, these two counties will definitely fall from the wind, I expect that within three days, Cao Jun will definitely appear under the city of Xiapi! ”

Jian Yong didn't expect this battle to arrive so quickly, and was shocked when he heard this, and said, "Then how does the lord plan to deal with it?" ”

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, got up and looked at Sun Gan, and said: "Gongyou, you immediately go out of the city to Hebei as quickly as possible, go to meet Yuan Shao, and tell him that Cao Cao personally led the army to attack Xuzhou, and now the Cao army on the front line of the Yellow River is empty, and this opportunity is a peerless opportunity given to him by God to defeat Cao Cao, so that he can immediately lead the army south to attack Yanzhou and attack Xudu, so that the Central Plains can be determined to be a great Han Kexing!! ”

Sun Qian knew that the military situation was like fire, so he hurriedly got up and bowed: "No, the minister has an order, go to Hebei here, and persuade Yuan Shao to raise troops to the south!! ”

"Well, you should get out of town!"

Liu Bei waved his hand to let Sun Qian retreat first, then looked at Jian Yong, and said: "Although the city defense of Xiapi City is strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, as the saying goes, a lonely city is difficult to defend, and if you want to defend Xiapi City, you must have Xiaopei as an aid!" Now my third brother Zhang Feizheng is leading an army of 20,000 to garrison Xiaopei, Yide is brave and good at fighting, and has the ability to use troops, if he defends the city with all his might, I am not worried that he will not be able to defend Xiaopei. However, Cao Cao's soldiers are very treacherous, and Yide is impatient and easy to get angry, so I am a little worried that he will go out of the city to meet the tricks of Cao thieves! ”

When Liu Bei said this, he bowed to Jian Yong and said, "Xianhe, please go out of the city immediately to Xiaopei to convey my military order, so that Yide will defend the city to the death, and never go out of the city to face the battle!" Only in this way can Pi be safe, and the safety of Xiaopei and even Xuzhou will be entrusted to Mr.! ”

When Jian Yong heard this, he hurriedly bowed: "Don't worry, my lord, even if the minister is forced to die, he will never let the three generals go out of the city to face the battle!" ”

"With Xian and this words, I am relieved!"

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, and then instructed: "After the arrival of the Cao army, the army will definitely besiege the city and trap Xia Picheng to death, after Yun Chang returns to the army, I will definitely go to Xiaopei to contact Yide when I can't be contacted, if Yun Chang really goes to Xiaopei, Mr. can make his garrison wait for the opportunity!" ”

Jian Yong replied: "The minister receives the order, if General Guan really returns to the army Xiaopei, the minister will definitely convey the order of the lord and ask him to garrison the mountain and wait for the opportunity!" ”

Liu Bei thought for a while, didn't think of anything to add, and said: "As long as Xiao Pei is safe, and my second brother garrison is in the mountains to think that he is a corner, then Xia Pi can be guaranteed!" Now that the military situation is urgent, Xianhe should also hurry up! ”

Jian Yong bowed down and bowed: "The minister has received the order, and I will go to Xiaopei, and ask the lord to take care of it!! ”

……

"General, the front is Xiapi City!"

Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan marched all the way, and finally came to the outside of Xiapi City, Cao Ren stationed on a high slope, looking at the Xiongcheng in the distance, only to see that Xiapi City is more than seven zhang high, and the entire city wall is made of bluestone, which looks extremely solid; There is also a wide moat outside the city of Xiapi, the river water of the moat is the living water in the Yishui that is quoted, the water flow is urgent, the river is wide up to dozens of zhang, the whole city can really be said to be the city high and the pool is deep and the city defense is strong, it is worthy of being the famous important city fortress in the Central Plains!!

Cao Ren looked at the Xiongcheng in front of him, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, and said: "Miaocai, the front is Xiapi City, Xiapi City is strong, the reason why my army was able to break through the city last time was thanks to the lord digging up the Yishui flooded city, plus Lu Bu's generals surrendered to the city, but now it is Liu Bei who is garrisoning the city, Liu Bei is very popular in Xuzhou, and it is winter now, Yishui is flowing gently, and it is impossible to dig the river to irrigate the city, I don't know if you have a strategy to break the city?" ”

Xiahou Yuan was also a little embarrassed, and said: "This method of breaking the city wants to come to the lord and the gentlemen should have an idea, you and I just need to set up a camp and wait for the lord's army to come!" ”

Cao Ren hesitated for a moment and said: "It's okay, since this is the case, then you will lead the infantry army to camp, and I will lead the iron cavalry to monitor Xiapicheng, and it will be just the right time to meet Liu Bei for a while!" ”。

If the army wants to set up camp, it does need iron cavalry to be on guard in the distance, in case Liu Bei comes out of the city to attack, Xiahou Yuan saw this, and responded: "In this way, it will be annoying Zixiao, Liu Bei has been fighting for many years and is also a general, you must not rashly attack the city!" ”

Cao Ren smiled slightly, and said: "Don't worry, Miaocai, I will lead the iron cavalry to go, how can I rashly attack the city, it's just a challenge in front of the city to frustrate its sharpness!" ”