The snow is falling, and the sky and the earth are chaotic.

Dozens of blazing bonfires were lit in Wuyang City, hundreds of miles southwest of Shouzhang, burning quietly. This beautiful and rich small city on the border between Jingzhou and Yuzhou has collapsed for several years due to repeated wars, and it is still not the slightest bit angry.

Liu Bei, who was heavy and haggard, visited dozens of wounded and sick soldiers, followed the broken wall on the edge of the bonfire, returned to the door of the only remaining low house, and entered the warm hut with the second brother Guan Yu and the third brother Zhang Fei, who also came back from inspection, shook off the snowflakes that began to condense on their bodies, sat down one after another, and took the hot water sent by the guards and drank it slowly.

"Big brother, the grain and grass are exhausted, and the salt is gone, I originally thought that I could get some replenishment in this Wuyang City, but I didn't expect that there was not even a single ghost in the whole city, and I couldn't resist it anymore."

Zhang Fei, who had lost half a circle of slag in his beard, reported in a low voice.

Guan Yu held the steaming bowl, his warm and cold hands, and looked worriedly at Liu Bei, whose lips were cracked and his face was sallow: "Big brother, why don't we divert to the southwest tomorrow?" ”

"Nope! Jingzhou can't go in a short time. ”

Liu Bei put the half-drunk bowl on the ground, and looked at Guan Yu with blazing eyes: "How many soldiers are left who can still move?" ”

A burst of smoke happened to float in, and Guan Yu, who was sideways to avoid it, didn't see Liu Bei's eyes, picked up a broken piece of wood and picked up the bonfire in front of him, and sighed helplessly: "After two thousand miles, there are only more than 500 people left who can move, and they are all hungry, alas! ”

Zhang Fei saw Liu Bei's expression clearly, his heart moved, and he asked with concern, "What does the eldest brother command?" ”

Liu Bei gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "I want to lead the five hundred brothers who can still move back to Ma'anshan, thirty miles to the north, tomorrow." It is necessary to take down the stockade on the mountainside in one go. Otherwise, we'll all starve to death. ”

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked at each other. It was known that it was a manor of a wealthy local gentry, and that it was guarded by thousands of well-equipped family members, and the remaining 1,200 people in the headquarters were almost attacked as rogues when they passed by this morning.

The most important thing is that the manor on the halfway waist of Ma'anshan is the only place where Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have seen living people within a radius of 100 miles, and the manor covers a wide area and is very large, if they can attack it, they will definitely be able to get enough food supplies. If you do a good job, you can get a place to rest and recuperate, at least until the spring thaws.

Now the only concern is morality.

Seeing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei nodding silently, Liu Bei finally secretly let out a sigh of relief, and after sitting down close to the bonfire, he talked about the important news he heard along the way yesterday:

"I really didn't expect Lu Fengxian to be such a heroic hero that he would die under Peng Cheng...... I'm afraid that all the 40,000 Bingzhou and Xiliang elites under his command have also been wiped out...... Qingzhou Liu Zijian, terrible! ”

Guan Yu sighed with emotion: "I really didn't expect that General Zijian would take Jizhou and Xuzhou in just a few months, from now on." I'm afraid that no one can stop him from competing for world domination. ”

"Yes! The general trend of the world has changed rapidly, and I don't know where the strong general Zijian will attack next? Zhang Fei said with a yearning expression.

Liu Bei waved his hand lightly: "He won't make a big move in a short time...... Jizhou and Xuzhou, which have just been taken, have not yet stabilized. And a month later, the spring plowing season came, and based on Liu Zijian's past behavior, he would not expropriate the newly occupied Jizhou and Xuzhou, but would make every effort to support the people of the two states to quickly restore their livelihood. ”

"Therefore, Brother Yu believes that at least in the next half a year, the Qingzhou Army will not go out again, we must seize this half a year to remove all the remnants of the Yellow Turban and the bandits from all walks of life who occupy the mountains in the surrounding counties, and steadily occupy this strategic place connecting Jingzhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou within a radius of 300 miles, and then we can expand step by step and develop step by step."

"Half a year, enough time! At least nearly 10,000 bandits can be co-opted, and the land of three counties is owned, and the only regret is that the population is too small. Guan Yu said with confidence.

Liu Bei laughed: "The population will be in the mountains that we can't see within a radius of three hundred miles." ”

Guan Yu, who came to his senses, smiled knowingly, but found that the third brother Zhang Fei was still staring at the flames motionless, as if he was in deep thought.

"Third brother, what do you want?" Guan Yu asked.

Zhang Fei slowly raised his head: "Big brother, second brother, will General Zijian attack Yuzhou or Yangzhou next?" ”

Liu Bei was stunned, Guan Yu laughed and said, "No matter where he fights, we all have to settle down first." ”

Zhang Fei asked again: "Will General Zijian surprise everyone's expectations, directly gather troops in Luoyang, and then wave the army to Chang'an?" ”

Liu Bei was shocked, Guan Yu was also stunned, and after thinking about it carefully, he immediately found that this was the most likely big thing to happen, if this was the case, it was likely to bring him a huge opportunity because of this.

######

In Pengcheng, Xuzhou, the backyard of the heavily guarded government began to be noisy early in the morning.

After finishing breakfast, the soldiers of the guard battalion walked to the horse rings on both sides, and a standard carriage parked in front of the east wing was covered with fat and strong pack horses, and dozens of officers and soldiers were carrying heavy wooden boxes to the carriage.

In the room in the middle of the west wing, Gao Shun, who barely drank a bowl of hot rice porridge under Zhang Liao's comfort, straightened his whole body with a strange but very practical cotton jacket, and silently looked at the busy green courtyard under the fluttering snowflakes.

In contrast, Zhang Liao, who stubbornly resisted to the end and was unwilling to surrender on the day of the battle, and was finally picked off by Changshan Zhao Zilong, had a much better mentality.

Perhaps it was because he acquiesced in his current situation, or perhaps he was moved by Chen Gong's two persuasions, although the twenty-six-year-old Zhang Liao was still as reluctant to join Liu Cun as Gao Shun, who refused to cooperate, but he was not as sad and resistant as the twenty-five-year-old Gao Shun.

"What do you think?"

Zhang Liao, who swallowed the last slice of bacon, asked while wiping his hands.

Gao Shun withdrew his gaze from the courtyard, and his skewed face was full of sadness: "Of the 40,000 brothers in the whole army, there are only two of us left, I never thought that it would end like this, and I don't know what happened to the main mother and the corpse of the lord, I don't know if they will be buried, alas......"

Zhang Liao came to Gao Shun's side, pulled over a low stool and sat down, looked at the Qingzhou officers and soldiers who were busy with high morale outside the door, and comforted in a low voice:

"Didn't Mr. Gongtai say it yesterday? The three of them were together with his family, and they were well protected and had no shortage of food and clothing...... Not harassed by anyone. ”

Gao Shun had already known about these situations from Chen Gong who came to visit and lobby yesterday, but he was still a little uneasy after all.

Although he had already heard of the benevolence and generosity of the cavalry general Liu Zijian, and knew that General Liu Zijian, who had strict military discipline and loved the people like a son, would not embarrass Lu Bu's family, Gao Shun, who was entrusted by Lu Bu with the important task of guarding the government in the city and protecting everyone's family members before the war, was still not at ease after all, and he still felt guilty.

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Please! (To be continued......)