Chapter 4 Section 16 Invitation to War

On the night of February 22, it was overcast, and the stars were dim behind the thick clouds covered by the moon. Liu Bei and Cao Cao's remnants entered the Xingyang camp, and on this day, it was still one day away from the day when Liu Bei and Sun Jian met to attack together.

Xu Shu, who arrived early, led Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Guan Hai, and Ruidong, the leader of the Aries tribe, to welcome Liu Bei and Cao Cao into the camp in the night. As soon as Liu Bei sat down, Xu Shu hurriedly reported: "On the southern line, the material escort team traveling with Han Dang sent an urgent report from the assassin Shi Kong Ling in Yuzhou: Yesterday, Sun Jian crossed Rushui and was attacked by Xu Rong, defeated, and the general Zu Mao was killed. ”

"Oh, this Xu Rong is really not simple" Liu Bei glanced at Cao Cao and swallowed the remaining half of the sentence back into his stomach. Xu Rong and Li Meng guarded Yuyuan Pass and Taigu City respectively, while Li Meng only knew how to plunder in Taigu City, but Xu Rong knew how to take the initiative. Perhaps, Sun Jian didn't expect Xu Rong to take the initiative to attack him when he arrived at Yuyuan Pass, so he was defeated.

Three Kingdoms and Three Heroes, among them, Sun Jian and Cao Cao were defeated in his hands. In terms of war examples, Xuan Xu Rong is definitely not an ordinary general who can be taken lightly.

Sun Jian, known as the Jiangdong Tiger, is invincible, he has only fought one defeat in his life, and he was defeated by Xu Rong, and he also folded a general. Cao Cao, at this time, had an extraordinary strategic vision, and he used his soldiers to be ghostly, but he still lost to Xu Rong. And after this Xu Rong defeated Cao Cao, who was already famous at that time, he was still very calm, and he saw the strength of the Kwantung warlord from the strength of Cao Cao's soldiers, and gave up the plan to attack the sour jujube, although it was actually misled by the combat power of Cao Cao's army, but his judgment was by no means comparable to that of ordinary mediocre generals.

Xu Shu asked cautiously: "Lord, Sun Jian is newly defeated, on the 24th, will our army launch an attack according to the agreement?" ”

"Attack, our army must attack the tiger prison according to the agreement."

Who is Sun Jian, the more frustrated he is, as long as he still has a soldier in his hand, he must not be underestimated. When the appointed day comes, even if he is the only one left who can only go into battle alone, he will also launch an offensive according to the agreement.

"At this moment, if you want to avoid Xu Rong's continued attack on Sun Wentai (Sun Jian), you must put pressure on Dong Thief on the eastern front of Luoyang, so that Xu Rong can't distinguish the direction of the main attack of the coalition army, so he doesn't dare to act rashly." Liu Bei added.

Xu Shu said: "However, Lu Bu, the commander of the Bingzhou Army and the flying general, has already arrived in the tiger prison yesterday. And our army, the Fifth Army Corps is moving slowly, and at this moment, it has not yet moved to the city of Xingyang. ”

Liu Bei resolutely ordered: "Before the Fifth Legion arrives, we will use 6 legions to attack, Ruidong, the warriors of the Aries tribe will be merged into the Sixth Legion (Auxiliary Engineer Corps), under your command, and from tomorrow, we will start making siege equipment and prepare for the siege." On the 24th, Yide commanded the Iron Armor Corps as the backbone, the 1st and 2nd Legions of Bingyuan (Guan Hai) as the reserve, Yun Chang, you led the 14th and 15th Legions to deploy on the left flank. Cao Gong, your army is spread out on the right flank, and the Sixth Army is your reserve. By the way, Yuan Zhi, return all the wounded soldiers of Cao Gong, and the captured Liangzhou soldiers and Bingzhou soldiers are also handed over to Cao Gong. ”

Cao Cao smiled with satisfaction: "Xuande Gong, you don't need to be so polite, just call me Meng De in the future." ”

Liu Bei replied heartily: "In this way, I respect what Brother Meng De said." ”

As he spoke, Liu Bei smiled all over his face and said, "Brother Meng De, can I ask you for one thing." Yuzhou Assassin Shi Kong Lingtun soldiers Yingchuan, our army and Sun Wentai's army contact, all through Kong Ling's territory. The day after tomorrow, you and I will join forces to attack, and in my estimation, Sun Wentai will also raise troops to attack at the same time.

Brother Meng De has a good relationship with Kong Ling, can you please repair a letter and tell Kong Ling that once he hears the news of our attack with Sun Wentai, he will be asked to march into Yangcheng, Mixian, and Xinzheng. In this way, on the one hand, it can shorten the time for our army to communicate with Sun's army, and on the other hand, it can echo our offensive.

I believe that as long as we attack fiercely, the main target of Dong Thief is still the three of us, and Kong Lingjun can be stationed in Yangcheng, Mixian, and Xinzheng with confidence. Of course, it is best for him to be stationed in Yangcheng and form a confrontation with the defenders of Yanshou City near Yanshi to cover the flank of our army."

Xingyang City is east of Tiger Prison and 30 kilometers away from Tiger Prison Pass; Yanshi is west of Tiger Prison, 40 kilometers away from Tiger Prison Pass; Yangcheng is south of Tiger Prison, 70 kilometers away from Tiger Prison; Yangcheng Mountain is on the east side of Yangcheng and west of Xingyang. If the defenders of the Yanshi Division are ready to attack the rear flank of our army, then there is only one way: bypass the fierce battle of the Tiger Prison, rush out of Yangcheng Mountain, and launch an attack from the rear of our army.

At a distance of 70 kilometers, it is enough for the cavalry to run at a constant speed for 2 hours, and after the cavalry runs to the location, it can launch a surprise attack when our army is in a fierce battle. Yangcheng Mountain has all the conditions to raid us, so we must not guard against it.

That night, Liu Bei's army had rested, and Cao Cao still had trouble sleeping, so he summoned Yu Ban to talk at night.

Liu Xuande mobilized six legions and placed them on the front line in Xingyang, it stands to reason that such a big move should be informed to the alliance leader, however, Liu Xuande passed by the sour dates, but he had no intention of entering the camp, and regarded the princes of the camp as nothing. What does this mean? Cao Cao asked.

Yu Ban replied respectfully: "Liu Bei is a person, with high ambitions, he has studied in Liaodong for many years, and has been contaminated with the habits of many Liao people, I heard that this person loves to fight to the death warriors, even if this warrior dies at his own hands, he often expresses admiration and regret. The princes of the big camp have hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, and they consume countless grains and grass every day, but they don't know how to march eastward, so it's no wonder that Liu Bei looks down on them.

I heard that now that all the counties have eaten up the grain and grass, Bao Xin has gone to Mount Tai again to collect grain and grass. Taishan County has not been established for a long time, and the officials are all from Qingzhou. Liu Bei, a person who will be said to be profitable, yesterday he talked with the lord about the acquisition of prisoners in Liangzhou and Bingzhou, and he had to add a sentence of 'soldiers summoned in this way can be called without spending money', looking at Liu Bei's attitude today, I estimate that Bao Xin will gain nothing in Mount Tai. The battalions had no food, and the armies would soon be disbanded.

The princes of the Fourteenth Road gathered sour dates, except for the lord, Liu Xuande, and Sun Wentai, the rest of the people went home without sending a single soldier, not only Liu Xuande looked down on them, but the world's talents regarded them as pigs and dogs.

In addition, Liu Xuande sent troops after the end of spring ploughing, and the princes of the Fourteenth Route rushed to form sour dates before the spring ploughing began. Liu Bei ruled Qingzhou, the officials all performed their duties, and the daily government affairs could be completed by the township and county senators, so Liu Bei could gain a foothold in Qingzhou, where wars were frequent. Liu Bei sent troops, and his rear base area would not be chaotic. And the princes of the 14th Road, the decrees under their rule are all from me. I am not in the territory, and I missed the agricultural time. I am afraid that after they return to their territories, they will also run out of food and grass, and all the strong men will become soldiers, which will lead to chaos in the territories.

In this way, the princes of the world will join forces to discuss Dong Zhuo, which can only achieve the heroic fame of the lord, Liu Xuande, and Sun Wentai. The rest of the princes are just lingering, so why bother? ”

Cao Cao excitedly shook Yu Ban's hand and asked, "Wen Ze, listening to your words is better than reading for ten years." How do you think I should act in the future? ”

Yu Ban replied: "My lord, in today's troubled times, with an army, with a territory, there is everything. After the return of the princes of the big battalion, the territory will inevitably be chaotic, and it is also expected that our army will seek to fight in one place, thinking that it is the foundation of its existence, and then plotting the world.

However, Yu is proficient in military affairs, but he doesn't know anything about government affairs, and in the future, the lord can pay close attention to such talents in case of future needs. ”

Cao Cao looked up at the night sky, and at this moment, he re-established his goal. Yes, after the defeat, his soldiers were scattered, and in the big camp, Cao Cao had enough cold eyes. Those people, in terms of talent, ability, and courage, are as good as him, but they are those who are in the position of corpses.

"He can take his place", Xiang Yu saw Qin Shi Huang's convoy, and the emotion came to Cao Cao's heart: "He can take his place", this voice became louder and louder, until it roared in Cao Cao's mind.

Suddenly, a new world unfolded in front of Cao Cao.

In the morning light, the misty smoke rose faintly in Liu Bei's military camp. Cao Cao woke up, walked out of the big tent, and made his rounds around.

Liu Bei's military camp, the work and rest time are completely different from others. Generally speaking, because it is dark and it is necessary to light candles, and lighting candles is a luxury that requires a lot of money, so the ancient people generally insisted on the work and rest system of sunrise and sunset. Even the emperor was reluctant to light a large number of candles, so he also adopted the work and rest time of the sunrise and the middle of the day. At the same time, due to the underdevelopment of timing equipment, the ancients did not pay much attention to work efficiency, resting when they were tired, drinking water when they were thirsty, and leaving the work at hand to go around when they were annoyed.

Cao Cao is still using the habitual rest time, and it is dawn and it is time to eat. But in Liu Bei's barracks, it seems that the cooking soldiers have only started a fire, and after cooking tens of thousands of people's meals, what time do they have to wait?

Cao Cao, who was so hungry and flustered, looked up, and it seemed that in addition to the cooking soldiers, there were only a few diligent people who got up early and were busy in the camp.

Cao Cao walked up to a busy soldier and looked down at his work, only to see a large basin beside him, containing half a basin of water and some river sand, and his hands were vigorously wiping his breastplate. The iron plate cuirass had been polished shiny, and at this moment, the soldier was unaware that Cao Cao was watching, and his face was full of enjoyment to wipe every detail of the cuirass.

After looking at it for a while, Cao Cao felt bored, looked up and looked around, only to see that not far away, Yu Ban was facing away from him, standing in front of a group of busy people, looking down.

Walking to Yu Ban's side, Yu Ban, who heard the movement, nodded and motioned for Cao Cao to watch the work of this group of soldiers.

The group of soldiers sat in a row, and someone kept bringing several large boxes and placing them in front of them. Looking closely, it turned out that the things placed in front of these soldiers were different. The first soldier kept taking out some wooden poles from the box and arranged them neatly in a large iron plate, and after the iron plate was filled with wooden poles, some soldiers passed the iron plate to the rear.

The second soldier picked up the wooden pole, took out what appeared to be a double-ended screw connector from the wooden box, screwed the double-ended screw on one end of the wooden pole, and then placed the wooden pole in the plate.

The iron disc is passed to a third person, who is also at the other end of the wooden pole and screws a double-ended screw. The fourth, on the other end of the double-ended screw of the wooden pole, screwed the head of the arrow - an arrow, a real arrow. Cao Cao suddenly realized that they were assembling arrows.

Walking up to the fifth person, sure enough, the soldier took out the tail feathers of the arrow from the box, screwed it on the empty double-ended screw, and an arrow was assembled.

However, the work is not over.

The sixth soldier put the mounted arrows on an iron plate, which was shorter than the arrows, and there were countless circlips made of cooked copper, and the shafts of each arrow were placed on the circlip, and the arrows and feathers were exposed outside the iron plate.

After each iron plate has 24 arrows, the iron plate is inserted by the seventh soldier into an iron box with two hoops, and the six iron plates are filled with one iron box, and then the soldier clamps the iron box, and the finished arrows are immediately registered and distributed to the various regiments.

Yu Ban hinted in a low voice: "Lord, do you look at how their tail feathers are stored?" ”

Tail feathers? The tail feathers of arrows are easily damaged during storage and transportation. was reminded by Yu Ban, Cao Cao took a closer look - Liu Bei's arrow was actually a three-edged tail feather, although the three-edged tail feather was stable and the arrow shot was extremely accurate, however, during transportation, it was easier to rub off and damage than the two-edged tail feathers. No wonder it needs to be so troublesome to assemble and store.

Approaching the soldier who installed the tail feathers, Cao Cao looked down at the box: it turned out that there were layers of trays placed in the box, and the trays were cast with intaglio stamps, and each gravure had a tail feather on it, which was erected and densely placed on the tray.

"Terrible", Cao Cao secretly felt horror in his heart, "Liu Bei was so careful that he even thought of how to transport and preserve the arrows." ”

Yu Ban whispered: "I asked the soldiers just now, and it is said that the war will start tomorrow, so there will be no practice today, and the soldiers will move freely. ”

Cao Cao was shocked, the ancients often said that the way to fight lies in a good time. That is, to let the soldiers know that one is one gallop. On the eve of the war, Liu Bei let the soldiers relax their spirits, and the terrible thing is that the soldiers actually sorted out their armor and equipment as leisure.

"Are the Qingzhou soldiers so belligerent?" Cao Cao muttered to himself in a low voice, and Yu Ban nodded solemnly in affirmation.

A few soothing bugles sounded, and the busy soldiers began to pack up their work, and many soldiers began to get up and walk towards the place where the smoke rose.

Cao Cao watched the soldiers pack up their things suspiciously, and was about to ask a question, when a Liu Bei's attendant walked up to Cao Cao and saluted respectfully: "General Cao, it's time for dinner, my lord invites you, as well as your military officer, to the officer's dining car." ”

Cao Cao nodded, and said to the ban: "Go, call the two Xiahou generals and the two Cao generals, and go to dinner together." ”

Approaching Liu Bei's military tent, I saw a group of officers lined up in a long line, gathered around a carriage, in front of which there were two steaming cast-iron stoves, one with a large cauldron on the stove and a large steamer on the other.

The side panels of the carriage had been removed, revealing the structure of the carriage: the walls were full of closets, and there were two large iron troughs on the floor, the shape of which matched the bottom of the cast-iron furnace, on which it appears that during the march.

In the queue, Liu Bei beckoned to Cao Cao: "Brother Mengde, come here!" ”

Cao Cao raised his eyes and saw that Liu Bei, with a bright smile and an iron tray, was standing in the queue and beckoning to Cao Cao.

Pulling Cao Cao over and handing him the iron tray casually, Liu Bei walked out of the queue and beckoned Yu Ban, Xiahoudun and others: "Come, come here, take a tray by yourself, go, line up." ”

At the end of the line, a thunderous voice sounded: "Line up, big brother, line up behind me." ”

When the Xiahou Yuan brothers walked to the end of the team, they were suddenly stunned when they saw this big voice: big eyes like cowbells, black charcoal-like complexion, beard like steel needles emerging from the chin, wide mouth and lion nose, and protruding muscles on his body, a typical violent muscular man.

Xiahoudun suddenly walked in front of this black charcoal group, stared at his eyes, and said word by word: "My name is Xiahoudun, Peixian Xiahou family, this is my brother, Xiahouyuan." Excuse me, who is Your Excellency? ”

The muscular man obviously replied with insufficient confidence: "Well, Yanren Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide are also." ”

Liu Bei stepped forward and introduced: "General Xiahou, this is my third brother Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide, who is good at sleeping, so he got up late, stood behind the line, and now he sees General Xiahou behind him, so he is a little carried away." General Xiahou don't blame him? ”

Xiahoudun said unhappily: "How can I be such a cautious person, I have something else to do with him." ”

Liu Bei grabbed Xiahoudun's arm and said, "Okay, okay, after eating, let's have a good chat." ”

Seeing that all the generals in Qingzhou stopped and watched the conflict between Xiahoudun and Zhang Fei, Cao Cao was a little displeased: "Yuan Rang, what is the trouble, eat." ”

Xiahou Yuan pulled his brother and entered the queue.

On the iron tray, a bowl is pressed, in the shape of two plates, the bowl contains millet porridge, and on the plate is a fried chicken thigh, half a smoked fish, and a little pickle. The Qingzhou officials wore a few steamed buns with chopsticks, sitting around a few long tables and eating breakfast. And Liu Bei also took special care of his nominal brother, and frequently added meals for Zhang Fei.

During the meal, Xiahou Yuan took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, approached Xiahou Yuan's ear, and bit his ear in a low voice: "Brother, there must be a problem, I think, Liu Bei is likely to know about it, go back, let's go to him again." ”

Xiahoudun calmed down and responded in a low voice: "There are many people at the moment, that matter is revealed, and our face is not good-looking, turn around, we will go to him again." ”

At the dinner table, Liu Bei kept talking and laughing with Cao Cao. During the banquet, a guard quietly approached Liu Bei's ear and whispered something. Then, Liu Bei frowned and said unhappily: "I'm eating, just find someone to play and let him go." ”

Xu Shu stood up and said, "I'm done eating, I'll deal with anything." ”

Liu Bei tilted his head, thought about it, and replied, "It's okay." ”

After a while, Xu Shu turned back, said a few words in a low voice, and handed over a letter.

Cao Cao couldn't help but be curious, and looked up at the letter in Liu Bei's hand, only to see Liu Bei looking at it, and a smile came to his lips.

"Okay, I'm sleepy, come to the pillow. Lu Bu, Lu Bu, are you really stupid, or are you too brave. Liu Bei smiled proudly and handed the letter to Cao Cao.

"The Battle of Lü Bu", Cao Cao was taken aback and carefully re-read the letter.

Liu Bei looked at Qingzhou Guanzuo with a smile, and said loudly: "Our army's Fifth Army is not in place, if we want to forcibly attack the city, we will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, I am worried, Lu Bu actually asked us to fight a head-on battle, okay?" ”

Qingzhou Guanzuo responded suddenly, Liu Bei shook his head and sighed: "However, don't you see that if Lu Bu does not have the confidence to win, how can he pull the army out of the fortified city and fight our army head-on?" ”

Guan Yu took the case: "In a head-on decisive battle, who have my Qingzhou officials and soldiers been afraid of?" If he wants to fight, he will fight. ”

Liu Bei turned around and asked Cao Cao, "Brother Meng De, what do you mean?" ”

Cao Cao said resolutely: "No matter how confident Lu Bu is, as long as he leaves the fortified city, he will definitely suffer greater casualties than in the city." Lu Bu has such an ambition to invite the war, why shouldn't our army? ”

"Okay" Liu Bei made up his mind.

"Officers", all the officers suddenly stood up: "Sit down" Liu Bei ordered: "Mobilize the whole army, go back and tell your soldiers that tomorrow's battle will be the most difficult battle in your life." I believe that the final victory will be ours. ”

"If you don't win, you will die" The officers clenched their fists with their right hands, struck the breastplate, and responded sharply to Liu Bei.

"Brother Meng De, it's up to you to answer Lu Bu." Liu Bei raised his hand and humbly gave way.

Cao Cao unceremoniously took the pen and ink, and wrote two big characters on the back of the battle book: "Tomorrow".

Do you really want three heroes to fight Lu Bu? Liu Bei muttered to himself in his heart. Lu Bu is the first general of the Three Kingdoms, and it is recorded in real history that he shot the side branch of the halberd with an arrow outside the hundred departments, and once forced Yuan Shu's 100,000 troops back. In ancient times, this level of precision was achieved with the use of ancient bows and arrows, and even later generations were no more than Olympic champions with modern bows and arrows.

And history also records that Lu Bu loves to fight alone with others, and in solitary fighting, he has a bad habit: he likes to cut off other people's hands. As a rider, when two horses meet, he can cut off someone's hand like lightning, which requires great skill and sharp reflexes.

Tomorrow, Lu Bu invites a battle head-on, the heroic he is nothing in the world, and it is his hobby to go into battle and fight the fierce generals heads-up, and Liu Bei's camp now brings together three of the five tigers of Qingzhou (Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Tai Shici, Guan Hai, and Lejin) (Gao Shun, Zhao Yun, Zhang He, and Bull Boerjin, known as the Izumo Four Fierce), it is hard to imagine that he will not ask for a heads-up battle.

Previously, Liu Bei held a spear stabbing competition every year in order to exercise the stabbing skills of the riders. However, the thought of facing the first general of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei felt uneasy in his heart.

If the other party was not Lu Bu, Liu Bei commanded to laugh at the stupidity of the other party, and then arranged for a hundred crossbowmen to shoot this fool who wanted to fight alone when the two armies clashed. However, Liu Bei's subordinates also have such an uncontrollable "stupid" Zhang Fei, thinking that he is going to fight with the world's number one general, Zhang Fei's heart is burning like a fire, like a thousand horses galloping, like a wave rolling, his body immediately twists around, the chair can't sit still, he just wants to fight with a spear.

It is estimated that when he arrives at the battle, Lu Bu hooks his little finger, and Zhang Fei will roar and kill him, and he will not give Liu Bei a chance to stop him at all.

In this era, perhaps except for Zhang Fei, no matter who faces Lu Bu, it is impossible for him to have such a strong fighting hope.