As early as a few days ago, the news that Cao Cao was going to attack on a large scale has spread all over Langya, and many villagers have gone to the city to join relatives and friends, making the people in the city also panic, and now seeing the defenders of Langya suddenly pull out of the camp, even many baggage have been discarded, and they are even more convinced. For a time, the people in the city, whether rich or poor, also packed up their fines and fled south. Because, the rumors spread all over the city made it very clear that Cao Cao came to avenge his father this time, and Cao Jun left no chickens and dogs wherever he passed. The ants are still stealing their lives, let alone the people of this city.

At this time, Langya City, too shou Zang Ba did not know where to go, and most of the lieutenants Sun Guan and his subordinate officials were also strangled by Liu Bei's army, and even the guards at the city gate were gone, not to mention that someone came to maintain order, and the people rushed out of the city, so crowded that the city gate was almost blocked.

In fact, Liu Bei also knew that these people were important resources, not only to provide taxes and conscription, but also to solve a large number of soldiers. Although he really wanted to take these people away, he couldn't do so, because he had just taken over Zang Ba's army, and it was already difficult to convince the people, and the army's morale was naturally unstable. If you bring these people with you, if something happens on the road, the situation will become complicated. In addition, Liu Bei did not dare to take those people for two reasons, one was to affect the speed of the march, and the other was because he had always been low-key, except for Xiao Pei, he did not have any reputation in other places in Xuzhou, and the people were not necessarily willing to listen to him.

Hearing that the vanguard of Cao's army was cavalry, they would soon chase after them, and the people fled south with all their might. However, many of the fleeing teams were dragged with their families, especially those with elderly and children at home, and they could not walk much in half a day, so they gradually fell behind. However, more people along the way heard the rumors and joined in, so the entire fleeing procession grew stronger and stronger, and finally there were as many as 200,000 people.

The rumors were not wrong, the forwards of the Cao army were indeed cavalry, but they did not chase after them as soon as they imagined.

Although Cao Cao acted very cruelly, he was a person with a long-term vision after all, and of course it was impossible to give such an order to massacre the villagers, saying that he was going to kill the whole of Xuzhou, which was just a rumor spread by the phantom secret agent. Cao Cao's order was that anyone who refused to surrender and tried to resist would be killed.

However, the news spread by the phantom was unfortunately true, and the villages and towns that Cao Jun passed through were really a scene of chickens and dogs. Because, Cao Cao still sent out the Qingzhou Army this time, and even the 10,000 elite cavalry were selected from the Qingzhou Army.

Most of these Qingzhou troops were originally the remnants of the Yellow Turban who were driven out of Xuzhou, but now they have been killed and have become veritable "homecoming regiments". The Yellow Turban Army was originally honest peasants, but these peasants rebelled once and became robbers, and their temperament quietly changed.

Although, Cao Cao has an order not to kill those who surrender, but these Qingzhou troops don't care about these, they not only have to avenge the expulsion from Xuzhou that year, but also loot on a large scale.

At first, Xiahou and Xiahou Yuan turned a blind eye to the burning, killing and looting of their subordinates, but in this way, it also affected the marching speed of the cavalry, because the cavalry of the brigade was busy killing people and goods, and they were already in a mess and did not form a queue. Entering the empty city of Langya, Xiahou and Xiahou Yuan had to gather their teams and temporarily stationed them in the city, waiting for the arrival of Cao's army's brigade.

said that Zang Ba was inexplicably attacked by Guan Yu that day, and although he escaped with his life by using the "Bull Running Array", he was also seriously injured. After he was helped onto his horse by his own soldiers, he galloped all the way out for more than fifty miles, and finally he was exhausted, fell off his horse, and passed out. When he woke up, he found himself lying in a hut. Zang Ba struggled to get up, only to hear someone say, "Lord Taishou, you have finally woken up." ”

When Zang Ba followed the sound, he was a big man, and couldn't help asking, "Where am I?" Who is the strong man? ”

The big man helped Zang Ba up, and arched his hand and said: "In Xia Xu Sheng, it is an adult who rules a small people, and this is the home of the small people." As soon as he came back from the ground, he saw the adult planted on the side of the road, and the small people had seen the adult in Langya City, so he recognized it and rescued the adult. Xiaomin checked it just now, and the adult's abdomen was stabbed with a sharp object, but fortunately it didn't hurt his viscera, and he should be fine for a few days. I don't know who injured the adult like this. ”

Zang Ba smiled bitterly, the wound on his stomach was pierced by a sharp weapon, it was clearly broken by the horns, and he really didn't know how to talk to him. However, Zang Ba also knew that he was rescued by this person who called himself Xu Sheng, and looking at the furnishings in this house, he must also be a poor person. Zang Ba himself was also born poor, and Xu Sheng had the grace to save him, so he didn't dare to despise Xu Sheng too much, and hurriedly wanted to thank him, but was stopped by Xu Sheng.

Xu Sheng helped Zang Ba sit down, and said, "My lord, it's getting late today, and tomorrow morning, Xiaomin will send the adults back to the city." ”

Zang Ba hurriedly said: "Never! I can't go back to Langya City. ”

Xu Sheng was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked: "I heard a few days ago that Cao Cao is going to invade Xuzhou again, could it be that Langya City has been conquered by him?" ”

Zang Ba shook his head and said, "It's not Cao Cao, it's the Liu Bei who Tao Envoy Jun took in, he pretended to be a labor army, and suddenly made a mistake and wanted to take my life." ”

Xu Sheng groaned: "Xiaomin once heard that when Liu Bei and Liu Xuande were in Xiaopei, they had no offense with Minqiu, and they should be a righteous gentleman, how could they do such a thing?" ”

Although Xu Sheng had heard of some of Liu Bei's deeds a long time ago, Zang Ba had also done a good job in Langya in recent years, and he was not bad to the local people, so he couldn't make up his mind for a while, who was right and who was wrong between Zang Ba and Liu Bei.

Zang Ba sighed: "It is difficult to know the heart of the person, who can say the things in the world?" Wait for a few days when I will be here for a few days, and then go back to see Tao Yuanjun and ask him face to face. ”

However, early the next morning, Xu Sheng hurriedly ran in and said: "Lord Zang, the rumors outside are getting stronger and stronger, saying that Cao Cao's army has marched south, I'm afraid I can't stay here, I'll take the adults to Xuzhou together." ”

Zang Ba thought for a while and said, "My injuries haven't healed yet, wouldn't I be caught in the net if I ran into Liu Bei?" Peng Cheng Zhenrong and Zang Mou have some friendships, so it is better to go to Pengcheng for a while before making plans. ”

Although Xu Sheng works as a farmer in the countryside for a living, he likes to practice literature and martial arts in his spare time, and often inquires about some current affairs.

However, it is impossible to save people to the end and send Zang Ba back to Langya City, and Zang Ba is obviously not sure whether Liu Bei's sudden move is out of Tao Qian's idea, and he will definitely not dare to return to Xuzhou for the time being, and it seems that he can only send him to Pengcheng.

Xu Sheng's family didn't have anything valuable, and there was one broken car, which was usually used to pull grain and transport grass, so he brought the old cow from the farm, put it on the car, helped Zang Ba to the car, burned the broken thatched house, and went to Pengcheng.

After a night's rest, Zang Ba's spirit was obviously much better, and his face was also a little bloody, he saw Xu Sheng actually burn his thatched hut, and couldn't help but be surprised: "Xu Zhuangshi, what are you doing here?" ”

Xu Sheng picked up a bag of dry food and put it in the cart, sat behind the wheel, and raised the whip with a "snap", and the old cow "mooed" and walked forward slowly. Xu Sheng turned around and said, "Don't hide it, if it weren't for saving you yesterday, Xu would have left yesterday afternoon." ”

Yesterday, the two chatted for a long time, and Zang Ba already knew that although Xu Sheng's family was poor, he also had a few acres of thin fields, and his life was okay, but he suddenly wanted to leave his hometown, which was even more strange, and asked: "Could it be that you are also worried about Cao Cao's attack?" ”

To tell the truth, Zang Ba still has a good impression of Cao Cao, and thinks that this person is a hero, when the rumors that Cao Cao is going to raise troops to attack reach his ears, he also once considered that if Cao Cao really came, he would fight if he could fight, and there would be no shame if he couldn't fight, so he didn't take the news of Cao Cao's attack to heart.

Xu Sheng said with a smile while driving the ox cart: "I am indeed a little worried, but there are other reasons. Zang-sama must have heard of Mr. Mi, right? ”

"You mean Mi Zhu?" Zang Ba muttered, "It's not just that I heard that we still have some friendship with each other." It's just that I don't know why he suddenly abandoned the lord and left, and he also killed the lord and the Jingzhou army, I really can't figure it out. What did he do, you ask? ”

Xu Sheng said: "A few days ago, I heard that Mr. Mi set up a refugee camp in Wu County, specifically to gather the people fleeing from all over the country, not only to take care of food and housing, but also to distribute cotton clothes and quilts for the winter, and to distribute fields in the future, I don't know if it's true or not, so Xu wanted to go over and take a look." ”

Zang Ba was taken aback and blurted out, "Wu Jun? Isn't that to cross the river? ”

Xu Sheng said without thinking: "What are you afraid of crossing the river, I will send you to Pengcheng first, and then turn to Guangling and find a boat." ”

Zang Ba stopped talking, lowered his head and didn't know what he was thinking. Along the way, I met people fleeing from time to time, and many of them went to Guangling together. Because going to Guangling and going to Pengcheng is not the same road, after turning the fork, the people on the road have not decreased, it turns out that these people have also heard that Cao Jun is coming, and they are fleeing from their homes in a hurry, and it is said that Langya has been killed by Cao Jun A lot of people have been killed, so Zang Ba sighed secretly when he heard it, fortunately his own family members are not in Xuzhou, but there is no need to worry very much.

After three days, I passed through several county towns along the way, but the city gates were closed, and I refused to let a single fleeing citizen into the city, it is said that I was worried that Cao Jun's spies would be mixed in. Xu Sheng had to drive the ox cart around the cities and go straight to Pengcheng. Who knows, Pengcheng is also closed with four gates, and the soldiers on the head of the city are all swords out of their sheaths and arrows on the wind, as if they are facing a great enemy.