Chapter 4 Section 19 Conspiracy

The hellish Tiger Prison Pass is now like a big furnace, the raging flames make the wall unapproachable, the Qingzhou soldiers pushed the building cart placed on the base of the baggage carriage, slowly approached the wall, and after a while, the soldiers on the building car replied that there were no living soldiers on the wall.

"Catapult, open and close the door with a boulder." Liu Bei gave the order.

A wooden door embedded in the earthen rampart can be strong enough to determine the trajectory, and several boulders blast through, and the door is crumbling when it closes.

At this time, the Qingzhou infantry had already selected a good location to climb the city, which was a section of the wall where the fire was slightly weaker, several building carts pushed close to the wall, the archers on the building cars were ready to suppress and shoot, countless ladders were erected on the wall, and the fighting soldiers began to climb the ladders with round shields.

"Xuande, our army is responsible for closing the door", Cao Cao waved his horsewhip and pointed to the dilapidated tiger prison to close the door.

Liu Bei nodded in agreement and asked with concern: "Do you need our army to come to a few rounds of stone-throwing."

Cao Cao shook his head and replied: "The soldiers are fast, close the door and fight like this, it's enough, come here, order the foot soldiers to cut and open the door, Xiahoudun, you are ready to lead the cavalry to assault." ”

"Okay, you Cao Cao, even the cavalry that has just been formed for three days has been used, do you want to use the speed of the cavalry to snatch the fruits of victory", Liu Bei muttered to himself: "Order, the whole army will speed up the city, and after entering the city, don't entangle the enemy when you encounter it, and quickly advance to the depth." The North Navy followed Cao's army, entered the gate from the gate, and advanced along the advance route of our army, cleaning the battlefield all the way."

Subsequently, the battle to capture the Tiger Pass turned into a race. Cao Jun and Qingzhou soldiers rushed forward, and there were burned Bingzhou soldiers everywhere along the road, and a few intact enemy soldiers also lost their sense of resistance.

Guan Hai was recuperating from his injuries, and the newly descended Zhang Liao Zhang Wenyuan temporarily took Guan Hai's place, protecting Liu Bei, seeing such heavy casualties among his compatriots in the past, he couldn't help but ask Liu Bei: "Lord, the Cao army is gathering the defeated soldiers everywhere, and the uninjured are incorporated into the Cao army, and the injured are all killed." Now that Cao's army has gradually outgrown us, why not gather some of the defeated soldiers, heal the wounded, and integrate the healthy into the ranks to compensate for the casualties of our army. ”

Liu Bei sat on a flagpole stone in the center of the street and sighed: "I am different from Cao Gong's military system, all the princes in the world, the soldiers are all untouchables, and they need to be branded on their faces to prevent them from escaping. And in Qingzhou, it is an honor to enlist in the army. At the time of the war, most of the goods obtained went to the soldiers, and I only needed the land I gained from the war. After being discharged from the army for a few years, they can obtain the status of meritorious citizens, and the attacking people have the right to participate in politics, and disabled veterans can also be exempted from taxes, or even not paying taxes, and are supported by the government.

So, in Qingzhou, not everyone has the right to join the army. If I treat a group of captives as soldiers, it will be unfair to the people of Qingzhou. Therefore, Cao Gong and I had an agreement before the war: all the prisoners captured belonged to Cao Gong, and whoever got the other spoils of war had it. You see, the Qingzhou soldiers did not capture the prisoners, on the contrary, they grabbed horses, picked up the clothes and armor of the prisoners, and captured the weapons of the prisoners.

Also, you see, those military groups that do not participate in the plunder, but patrol back and forth on the battlefield, are the military judges of the military justice corps, as long as the soldiers do not loot the houses, that is they are enjoying the rights of the victors, the military judges will not interfere, once the plundering of the people, the military judges will exercise their power, imprison or kill on the spot. ”

Zhang Liao frowned and did not speak.

Liu Bei smiled and said, "You must want to say, why can you and the soldiers in the camp join the army, right?" Let me tell you, the laws of Qingzhou are strict, and although I am in charge of Qingzhou, I must also be bound by the law, and I cannot do it arbitrarily. However, the people of Qingzhou gave me the right to give me a special pardon ten times a year, allowing me to go beyond the law and pardon ten people in particular. I saw on the battlefield that you fought valiantly, and my heart loved you, so I took you with a special pardon. And your people as a whole need a special pardon.

In this case, just after the New Year, I used two special pardons, and if I couldn't use them again, the people of Qingzhou would scold me and say that I would use the special pardon power on outsiders. So, there is nothing I can do about these soldiers. ”

Zhang Liao bowed: "I only learned today that the lord is so thick to me, and Liao is willing to swear to the death for the lord." ”

According to the preliminary battle report, according to the captive's claim, Lu Bu was seriously injured and went to Luoyang that night to treat his wounds, leaving the strong general Cao Xing to guard the Tiger Prison. Therefore, the soldiers on the pass were no longer under their command, and the Cao army Xiahoudun had already broken through the pass, attacked Chenggao City, and pursued the remnants of the army.

Hmm, Cao Xing, isn't he the one who is only below Zhang Liao among the eight strong generals under Lu Bu? One of Xiahoudun's eyes was blinded by him, and without Cao Xing, wouldn't Xiahoudun get rid of the fate of the one-eyed dragon in the future? And without Zhang Liao, Cao Xing, and Hao Yin, the three heads of the eight strong generals, only Zang Ba, Cheng Lian, Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng are left under Lu Bu. Zang Ba was isolated by Liu Bei to the East China Sea again, and in the future, Lu Bu, who lacked a major general, was just a worm and couldn't afford to make big waves.

Liu Bei listened to Xu Shu's report absentmindedly, narrowed his eyes, and said: "The tiger prison has been lowered, and Chenggao City is like a bird with a frightened bow, but it can be taken down with a drum, so there is no need to worry." Yuan Zhi (Xu Shu), now that the entire Luoyang City has opened its doors to us, what should our army do next. ”

Xu Shu raised his finger, drew a map in the air, and said: "The tiger prison has been lowered, Dong Thief has a small number of garrisons in Yanshi, and the other armies are all contained by Sun Wentai (Sun Jian). However, what I am worried about is Xu Rong, if our army rashly raids Luoyang, Xu Rong sends troops from Yuyuan Pass to cut off the rear of our army, this raid team will be in danger. ”

Xu Rong, Xu Rong who cannot be underestimated, his iron cavalry swept southeast of Luoyang, and Cao Cao and Sun Jian were defeated in his hands. Now our army has no cavalry, and once he attacks from the rear, it can no longer withstand the victory of the tiger prison.

Liu Bei sighed: "Dong Zhuo has Xu Rong, and any strategy of light army raid is not applicable. Our army now seems to be using only one road, steadily and steadily, advancing step by step. ”

Xu Shu echoed: "Fang Jin's plan, I suggest that he immediately contact Sun Wentai and ask him to bypass Yuyuan Pass and Taigu, march to Yichuan, and stand across Yique from Luoyang. Contact Yuzhou Assassin Kong Ling and ask him to march into Yangcheng and coerce Yuyuan Pass. And our army seized the time to rest and recuperate, escorted the wounded soldiers back to Qingzhou, and added new soldiers to help the tiger prison, and the important thing was to mobilize cavalry to prepare for the attack on Luoyang. ”

Liu Bei touched his chin and promised: "Well, it's time for our army to conquer the tiger prison, it's time to take a break, without the participation of cavalry, our army can't defeat Xu Rong alone." ordered the Northern Navy to escort the wounded back to Qingzhou and inform Lu Shi (Lu Zhi) of the news of the victory; requisitioned the Guards Corps to aid the Tiger Prison; ordered Izumo Zhao Yun's troops to go out of Changli and begin to encroach on the Liaodong plan; Ordered Tai Shi Ci to go to Izumo to help in the battle; ordered Zhang He to transfer the defense of Jieshi City to Boljin, and then led the Izumo Iron Armor Army into the plain for defense; He ordered Fu Zhu to suspend the plan to repatriate the prisoners from Liaodong, and organize the prisoners into five criminal corps to reclaim the land in the four counties of Qingzhou and Taishan County."

Liu Bei and Cao Cao's allied forces conquered the tiger prison, and the world was shocked. When the news reached Luoyang, Dong Zhuo blurted out and scolded: "******, a few shafters are persecuting me like this."

Li Ru suggested: "My lord, there are no less than hundreds of thousands of people in the Kanto region (east of the Kushan Mountain), if you follow Liu Cao and there are many people, how can you resist the enemy?" It is better to use a delaying tactic to reconcile people. In addition, Xu Rongjun was transferred to Yanshi to prevent the Kwantung men and horses from advancing eastward, and sent Hu Zhendu, the Taishou of Dongjun, to ride 5,000 horses to meet Sun Jian's army. The lord is in Luoyang, and he also accelerates the relocation action, how about it? ”

Dong Zhuo thought that this plan was very good, so he sent Dahonglu Han Rong to Liu Cao's army to discuss reconciliation matters, sent Shaofu Yin Xun to Yuan Shu's army, hoping that Yuan Shu would recall his subordinate Sun Jian, and sent Jin Wu Hu Wuban, who would be a master craftsman (ordnance director) Wu Xun, and Yue Cavalry Captain Wang Gui to Yuan Shao's army to comfort and persuade the troops to strike.

"******" When the news of Liu Cao's coalition army conquering the Tiger Prison reached Sour Zao, Yuan Shao scolded angrily: "Liu Bei, the person who sells shoes and weaves mats, dare to despise me so much? If you don't enter the camp after the sour dates, please be safe, and the soldiers will enter the tiger prison, and they won't even say hello to me, and I'll be angry. ”

The strategist Feng Ji suggested: "Liu Bei, a small trouble, a don't drive a small official, don't worry about it." Qingzhou is rich, however, Qingzhou Thorn Shi Jiaohe can't use the land of Qingzhou to fund us, he now has no soldiers in his hands, and he is a useless person. The lord has the name of the alliance leader, can appoint and dismiss officials on behalf of the imperial court, if Jiao He dies of illness, the lord can appoint a new Qingzhou assassin history, seize the land of Qingzhou to fund our army.

At the same time, the lord can raise troops into the tiger prison, take the power of the alliance leader, seize the merit of Cao Liu, drive Liu Bei as the vanguard, and fight Dong Zhuo. If the lord blocks the tiger prison and sends people to take over Qingzhou, if Qingzhou supplements Liu Bei, the lord can rob it and put it into his own pocket. If Liu Bei defeats Dong Zhuo, the continuous consumption of troops cannot be replenished, and there is no need to worry. If he is defeated, the lord can punish him for the crime of defeat. Also, if Liu Bei hears about the Qingzhou incident and wants to return to Qingzhou, the lord can cure him for the crime of escaping. ”

Yuan Shao was overjoyed and said: "With such a calculation, no matter what Liu Bei does, he will inevitably die, and it is really foolproof." ”

"******", the news that Liu Cao's coalition army had conquered the Tiger Prison reached Yangren City, and Sun Jian scolded with a smile: "I actually asked Xuande Gong to take the lead, the whole army, march to Yichuan, don't fall behind Xuande Gong." ”

Dongjun Taishou (Dong Zhuo's fake name of the imperial court, the newly appointed Taishou) Hu Zhen heard Sun Jian's army, and supervised the infantry to ride 5,000 to attack Sun Jian, Sun Jian's new defeat was not long ago, and he was extra careful with his troops. In order to lure the enemy deeper, he set up an ambush in Yichuan, broke the Hu Zhen army, and supervised Huaxiong. Hu Zhen was only spared and fled into Luoyang alone.

"******", Liu Bei was actually scolding. There are more than 20 thousand soldiers in the sour jujube, countless grains and grass are spent every day, and the princes have risen in resentment because of the uneven distribution of grain and grass. Forged the secret letter of the three dukes, the first to advocate Dong Dong's old lady Shouqiao Mao, because of the irregularity of the poems written by Liu Dai, the assassin of Yanzhou, Liu Dai angrily killed Qiao Mao, annexed Qiao Mao's generals, and appointed Wang Qiu as the new Dongjun Taishou (Dongjun is subordinate to Yanzhou), and the alliance leader Yuan Shao actually acquiesced to the fait accompli.

Seeing that the princes began to kill each other, Bao Xin angrily led the army back to his Taishan County. Before leaving, he revised a letter to warn his friend Liu Cao and his two beware of cannibalism among the coalition forces. Liu Bei scolded angrily when he saw this letter.

"If you don't get rid of the evil, you can push yourself first, how can you get things done?" Cao Cao said with emotion.

Liu Bei asked urgently: "How many people are left in our army who can fight?" ”

Xu Shu replied: "In the successive battles, except for the Northern Navy and the Fifth and Sixth Army Corps, the remaining five corps of our army have more than 7,000 people who can fight. ”

Before the Tiger Prison Pass, a total of five legions participated in the battle, and the last remaining people were only enough to form two legions, Liu Bei wanted to cry without tears: "Turn the remaining soldiers into two legions, and the establishment of the remaining legions will be temporarily canceled, and the opportunity will be restored in the future." The entire Northern Navy was ordered to immediately escort the remaining wounded soldiers and the Fifth Army back to Qingzhou. Except for the five catapults, and all the stone bullets and fire bombs left, the rest of the things were dismantled and taken away by the Fifth Legion. Half of the Sixth Army was also to be withdrawn, and Ruidong was ordered to command the Beihai Soldiers and be fully responsible for the withdrawal of troops, while Kong Taishou temporarily stayed in the Tiger Prison and commanded the remnants of the Sixth Army. ”

Cao Cao asked in surprise: "Xuande, the current situation of our army is very good, you actually want to withdraw your army?" ”

Liu Bei replied: "Withdrawing the army, I haven't thought of it yet, but I have to beware of being calculated, the Fifth Army Corps moves slowly, in case it is surrounded by people, it is difficult to retreat, and the wounded soldiers and the Sixth Army have no combat effectiveness." I only need to leave here 10,000 soldiers who are the best at fighting, and that's enough. The order was given, and the Guards Regiment quickly stepped up and quickly went to the aid of the Tiger Prison. Ordered Le Wenqian (Le Jin) to leave Pingyin and respond to the retreat to return to Qingzhou. ”

After Bao Xin left, the news of the sour jujube camp was not clear. At this moment, Liu Bei did not know the news of Jiao He's "death". After Jiao He's death, Yuan Shao appointed the new Qingzhou Thorn Shi as his eldest son, Yuan Tan. After Yuan Tan received the appointment, he immediately raised troops into Pingyuan County and peeked into Qingzhou.

After the battle with the Jizhou Yellow Turban, Yuan Tan has grown up, and at this moment, the three of the five tigers of Qingzhou are in Liu Bei's army, Le Jin's troops are out of Pingyin, Tai Shici rushed to Izumo, Zhang He has not yet entered Qingzhou, and half of the main force of Qingzhou is in the tiger prison and half in Donglai, which is just the weakest time.

On March 5th, the summer was scorching, Liu Bei ushered in the Guards Corps in the Tiger Prison Pass, and at the same time, the special envoy sent by Dong Zhuo - Han Rong of Dahonglu and Han Dang sent by Sun Jian also arrived at the Tiger Prison.

"Lord, on the way to our army, we met Yuan Shao's army, Yuan Shao has already pulled out the camp and left the sour date, and the army stretches for more than ten miles and is rushing here." Captain Li, the commander of the Guards Legion, reported in a low voice.

"What?" Liu Bei was taken aback: "Brother Meng De, do you know the news that the alliance leader came to the Tiger Prison with the camp?" ”

When Cao Cao heard the news, he was also surprised and said: "A few days ago, I reported the news of our army's capture of the Tiger Prison to the alliance leader, but I have not heard that the alliance leader has the news that the whole army has moved to the tiger prison. ”

Yuan Shao led the army to feast and drink in sour jujube for several days, and he did not hear that he had plans to fight. Sun Liu Cao captured the Tiger Prison and Yichuan, although Luoyang only had the last barrier of the Dongyan Division and the South Yique left, and it was also a good time for the coalition forces to join forces to encircle Luoyang, however, Liu Bei smelled a trace of conspiracy from Yuan Shao's action of quietly entering the Tiger Prison without informing the front-line soldiers.

"Conspiracy, conspiracy where?" Liu Bei guessed hard.