Hearing the news of Xu Huang's entire army retreating north, Sun Jiao and Elfang were really relieved, now Xiangyang was finally really safe, they admired Sun Shao, and let them be anxious about internal and external troubles, Sun Shao only used a meal of wine and a letter to solve it. What does it mean to win without a fight? It's called winning without a fight. Sun Jiao originally had some reservations about giving up the command to Sun Shao, but now he no longer hesitated.

Sun Shao smiled bitterly. Xu Huang is gone, and the crisis in Xiangyang has been lifted, but Guan Yu's crisis has worsened. Xu Huang is here, either to attack Wancheng - Wancheng is ruined, and now only Cui Qian and Zhou Xun are guarded with more than 5,000 people and 20,000 righteous troops, which sounds like a lot of people, but the combat effectiveness is actually limited, or to meet Xiahoudun and cut off Guan Yu's back road. It stands to reason that he should follow now, but he has no soldiers at hand, and not only will he not solve the problem if he keeps up, but he may also be intercepted by Xu Huang. He didn't believe that he could deal with Xu Huang's 10,000 army with only one or two thousand people, not to mention that the Jiangdong Army was inferior to Cao's army in infantry and cavalry field battles.

"General Elk, please write to Liu Yuanjun immediately, asking him to send some men to Jingzhou no matter what." Sun Shao said to Elfang, "Our troops are seriously insufficient, before Cao Ying and Xiahoudun arrived, Guan Gong can still make some achievements, once their army arrives, Guan Gong may fall into a heavy siege at any time, with the strength we have at hand can not break the siege at all, we need his assistance." ”

Although Elfang was not interested in Guan Yu, this matter was related to the gains and losses of Jingzhou, and he did not dare to slack off, so he immediately wrote an urgent report according to Sun Shao's intentions and sent someone to Chengdu day and night.

Three days later, Liu Feng rushed to Xiangyang with 5,000 men and horses, and then Lu Su also sent news that he had arrived in Shaxian with 8,000 troops on Sun Quan's orders, and he would arrive in three or four days. Sun Shao was overjoyed, he discussed it with Sun Jiao, and then replied to Lu Su, telling Lu Su about the recent battle situation, asking him not to come to Xiangyang, and immediately take Jiangxia and rush to Xiyang and Huangxian to do everything possible to disturb Xiahou and not let him join Xu Huang smoothly.

After arranging all this, Sun Shao and Liu Feng together followed Xu Huang with more than 7,000 people, he was a little afraid of Xu Huang, he didn't dare to get too close, he walked very carefully along the way, the scouts sent more than 50 miles, and sent 100 miles away, without giving Xu Huang any chance. It's just that in this way, the speed is very slow, and after a few temptations, Xu Huang found that he couldn't take advantage of him, so he simply let go and kept heading north.

Liu Feng saw that Xu Huang was gone, and he was a little angry. He had just won a battle in the area of the Sword Pavilion recently, and his heart was very high, and he was bent on going to Nanyang to make meritorious contributions, but now he was very annoyed to see Xu Huang in front but unable to catch up. He felt that although Sun Shao was only a few years younger than him, his ambition was much worse, he had no courage at all, and he was almost as timid as an old man.

"I'm going to catch up." Liu Feng said directly to Sun Shao: "I can't just watch General Guan being surrounded by Cao's army. ”

Sun Shao looked at Liu Feng and felt very funny. He knew that Liu Feng was worried that Guan Yu was fake, and it was true that he wanted to make meritorious service - because Guan Yu had always looked down on Liu Feng, he felt that Liu Bei's fake son would be a trouble for his son-in-law Liu Yan in the future, and he had expressed such a meaning in front of Liu Bei many times, and Liu Feng himself certainly knew it very well. When he said this, he just didn't want Sun Shao to reject him, and in fact, he didn't need Sun Shao's consent, because he was not controlled by Sun Shao at all.

"Are you sure you can deal with Xu Huang?" Sun Shao looked at Liu Feng who was eager to try with a smile. Liu Feng is twenty-seven or eighteen years old, tall, very sturdy, with bright eyes, and a posture that is not afraid of heaven and earth.

"What's wrong with Xu Huang?" Liu Feng was disdainful and snorted with his nose: "When I followed my father in the Sword Pavilion, Xu Huang was in the Cao army array, I went to challenge, but he didn't dare to come out to fight." ”

Sun Shao almost burst out laughing. This Liu Feng is really brave, he thinks that a famous general is able to fight, and he is as famous for his courage as Zhang Liao and Cao Ren, but he doesn't want to think about it, Zhang Liao and Cao Ren are certainly brave, but they can get to today's position, but it is not only determined by personal bravery, although Xu Huang is not famous for bravery, but his military talent is not as good as Liu Feng's.

"He's twice as strong as you now." Sun Shao deliberately provoked him and said: "If you are defeated, how can you save Guan Gong?" I only have 2,000 people, and I still point to you to break their encirclement and echo Guan Gong. He spread out his hands and shook his head like a rattle: "Gongye (Liu Feng), I think it's better to be stable, just follow them and attract his attention, why take the risk." ”

Liu Feng scoffed, he was too lazy to talk to Sun Shao, turned around and went out of the account, it didn't take long, he took his five thousand people to chase after him. Sun Shao heard the report and sighed. Chen Hai rushed over angrily and complained: "General, Liu Feng is so ignorant, what if he falls into an ambush by Cao's army?" We are already short of troops, and if we lose a few thousand of them, I am afraid it will be even more dangerous. ”

Sun Shao asked rhetorically: "Then what do you say?" ”

Chen Hai's thick eyebrows were locked like Sichuan characters, and his big hands were clenched tightly: "Alas, although the Urging Battalion is elite, there are too few people, if there are a thousand more people, how can he be so free." ”

Sun Shao waved his hand and interrupted his jail: "Let the soldiers rest well." ”

Chen Hai was stunned for a moment, and then became excited again. Usually Sun Shao means that there will be another task soon. Although he felt that the troops were insufficient, and although the Destroying Front Battalion had horses to walk, there was still a lot of distance compared with the real cavalry, but as long as there was a battle, he was still confident.

Deng Ai watched Chen Haixing rush away, and then asked with some worry: "General, are we going to catch up?" ”

Sun Shao turned his head to look at him, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he asked rhetorically, "What do you say?" ”

Deng Ai licked his lips and smiled embarrassedly: "Judging from the confrontation for most of the month, Xu Huang is very cautious in using his troops, he probably won't give Liu Feng much chance to leave, General Chen's worry is very reasonable, in case Liu Feng is bitten by Xu Huang, do we save it or not?" Save, we may also fall into it, if we don't save, these 5,000 people are likely to be wiped out. ”

"If the whole army is annihilated, the whole army will be annihilated, what does it matter to me?" Sun Shao shrugged disappreciatively: "He is Liu Yuanjun's man, not my subordinate, if he dies, he will die." ”

Deng Ai was dumbfounded, he had thought of many possibilities, but he had never thought of this possibility at all, Sun Shao was actually indifferent to Liu Feng's life and death.

"That'...... What are we going to do? ”

"What to do? Cold! Sun Shao pointed to the war horses outside the tent, "We have war horses, Xu Huang can't catch up with us, we can't beat them, just escape." ”

Deng Ai was completely stunned, and Sun Shao not only didn't care about Liu Feng's life or death, but also didn't even care about Guan Yu's life or death.

"Shizai, guess what, where should Guan Gong be now?" Sun Shao asked with a smile.

"It should ...... In Xu County. Deng Ai pondered for a moment, then laughed, he understood what Sun Shao meant. Now Sun Shao's task is not to defeat Xu Huang at all, and it is impossible for him to defeat Xu Huang - it is not impossible to win more with less, but in the face of a cautious person like Xu Huang, such a chance is very small - similarly, Xu Huang's task is not to defeat Sun Shao, but to try to block Guan Yu's back road, if he can recapture Wancheng, it will be even better. However, he only has more than 10,000 people, and it is not easy to recapture Wancheng, and his greatest possibility is to occupy the road where Guan Yu may retreat - such as Xinye City - and wait for Cao Ying and Xiahoudun's army to encircle, he will not bother to chase and kill Sun Shao. What's more, although Sun Shao's Destroying Battalion is not a regular cavalry, it is more than enough to escape with horses.

In the final analysis, as long as Sun Shao disturbed Xu Huang, but Xu Huang couldn't be disturbed by Sun Shao, otherwise he would not be able to do his own task and let Guan Yu go. Under the guidance of this kind of thinking, he may not even spend energy to besiege Liu Feng, let alone use Liu Feng as bait to lure Sun Shao into being fooled, at best, to defeat Liu Feng.

Sun Shao saw Deng Ai suddenly realized, and secretly praised himself, this kid really has the qualifications of a famous general, and the speculation that he can come up with by combining two lives is easy to understand in his opinion.

"General, Sun Liu has divided his troops." Yin Wei hurriedly walked into Xu Huang's big tent, and said with a happy face: "Liu Feng doesn't know whether he is alive or dead, only 5,000 people actually dare to come to pick up the general's tiger whiskers, it is really a credit to the door." ”

Xu Huang glanced at Yin Agency: "What advice do you have?" ”

"Of course I hit him back." Without thinking, Yin Zhi said: "Surround Liu Feng and lure Sun Shao here, you can wipe them all out, and save them from being restless after them." ”

Xu Huang nodded, and ordered someone to invite Zhao Yan and Sima Yi and others, Zhao Yan was also a little moved, Sima Yi pondered for a moment, but shook his head again and again: "No." ”

"Why?" Yin was in a hurry. Along the way, in addition to conquering Fancheng, they have not made meritorious contributions, this time it is easy to have a fighter, do they have to let it go in vain? "Liu Feng only has 5,000 men, not even half of our troops, can't we still defeat him?"

Sima Yi smiled: "With General Xu's talent, coupled with the bravery of the generals, it is not difficult to defeat Liu Feng. ”

Yin Wei smiled, and said a few words of modesty without any sincerity, waiting for Sima Yi's next words. Sima Yi smiled: "However, if we want to completely annihilate Liu Feng, we will inevitably have losses, and more than 10,000 people are already alone, so at this time, it is a little unwise to act rashly because of a little profit?" ”

Yin's face sank, and just about to refute, Sima Yi said again: "Liu Feng is just a fake son of Liu Bei, just a partial general, but Guan Yu is the same brother as Liu Bei, he is Liu Bei's right-hand man, and he is the general of Jingzhou, the governor of Jingzhou, this time he broke through Nanyang, and maybe even broke through Xudu, forcing the king to withdraw his troops from Hanzhong." The general said, is it the credit for capturing Guan Yu, or the credit for killing Liu Feng? ”

Yin was stunned for a moment, and then understood. He looked at the others, Xu Shang and the others all nodded and agreed with Sima Yi's meaning, compared to Guan Yu, Liu Feng was just a small fish, and it was not worth wasting time for him. He was a little embarrassed: "That'...... Just let Liu Feng follow behind? ”

Sima Yi shook his head: "It's not necessary, I didn't say that the general's idea is undesirable, I just don't approve of using Liu Feng as bait to lure Sun Shao." Defeating Liu Feng and teaching him a lesson shouldn't be difficult for the generals, right? ”

Yin Wei rolled his eyes for a long time before he understood what Sima Yi meant, and nodded in agreement. Xu Huang saw that everyone was in agreement, so he didn't say anything more, and arranged people at the moment. He made a forward stance, then laid an ambush near the rising sun. Liu Feng, who was rushing in excitement, didn't think too much about it after receiving the news, and suddenly plunged into the ambush circle, and when Cao Jun rushed out from all directions, he was dumbfounded.

After a bloody battle, Liu Feng fled with more than 2,000 people, and Xu Huang did not chase him, turned around and rushed to Xinye with people.

The hundreds of defenders of Shinno did not have the courage to resist at all, and without saying a word, the city surrendered. After Xu Huang entered the city, he sent people to strengthen the city defense and prepare to defend it, and on the other hand, he sent people to inquire about Wancheng and Xiahoudun, informing Xiahoudun that he had occupied Xinye and was ready for battle, and asked Xiahoudun to support him in time.

When he saw Sun Shao again, Liu Feng was embarrassed, Sun Shao didn't say anything, but comforted him twice, Xu Huang is a famous general under Cao Ying, and his troops are more than twice as many as you, and it is normal for you to lose. However, you only have 2,000 people left now, and your morale is low, do you send a message to Liu Bei and ask him to send someone to support him again? Liu Feng didn't dare to be lame this time, so he honestly followed Sun Shao's advice, sent someone to send an urgent letter to Liu Bei, and then followed Sun Shao in peace.

Sun Shao learned that Xu Huang occupied Xinye, so he naturally knew Xu Huang's intentions, so he crossed Bishui in the east of Xinye City and settled down in a small town called Huyang, and at the same time sent people to inform Cui Qian and Zhou Xun of Wancheng, telling them to guard the city carefully and not to be exploited by Xu Huang. Two days later, Cui Qian sent back the news, he told Sun Shao that he and Zhou Xun had made preparations, and Guan Yu had brought back a lot of grain to settle the people, and now Wancheng had soldiers and food, and it would not be a problem to defend it for a year and a half. In the book, he was full of praise for Zhou Xun, saying that although he was young, he was very organized, and Wancheng could be repaired in a short period of time, and Zhou Xun should be the first to take the lead.

After reading the book, Sun Shao smiled, Cui Qian is a person who has done great things, and he can recognize Zhou Xun so much, which shows that Zhou Xun is really confident. Now it seems that it is worth throwing Zhou Xun to the Destroying Camp for a few months, otherwise it is impossible for him to integrate into this circle, no matter how great his ability is, it will be difficult to get the approval of a person like Cui Qian.

After Xu Huang established a foothold in Xinye, he sent Sima Yi to supervise the Yin Department to guard Xinye, and rushed to the area of Jianyang and Nieyang, after Guan Yu took Nanyang, he did not leave many people here, as soon as Xu Huang arrived, the officials of these counties fled, and surrendered, and Xu Huang's soldiers recovered three or four counties without bloodshed. This was originally the place where Nanyang Diannong was, although most of the grain had been swept away by Cui Qian and Zhou Xun, but there were still some left, which was enough for Xu Huang to replenish his military rations. With food, Xu Huang's heart was more stable, he set up a large camp outside Wancheng, and did not attack the city, but just waited quietly. Cui Qian, Zhou Xun seemed to have a good heart with Xu Huang, they did not go out of the city to attack, they quietly guarded in Wancheng, and arranged for those rebels who came to strengthen the city defense every day.

…… Guan Yu looked at the city wall of Xu County with a lot of emotion, when Jian'an was four years old, he once followed Liu Bei to stay in Xu County for a period of time, that time was really like a year, Liu Bei in order not to arouse Cao Ying's suspicion, every day in the backyard to grow vegetables, and then it was easy to escape from Xu County, take Xuzhou, but before he had time to sleep peacefully, Cao Ying personally led the army to kill him. Liu Bei happened to take dozens of people out of the city to inspect at that time, and as soon as he heard that Cao Ying was coming, he ran away, and even forgot to send him a message, but he was blocked by Cao Ying in Xiapi, and became Cao Ying's prisoner together with Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Elk. In the fifth year of Jian'an, in the battle of White Horse, he killed Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang, and then got the news that Liu Bei was in Yuan Shao's army, and he knew that he had caused a big disaster for Liu Bei, so he ignored Cao Ying's retention and escorted the two ladies to stay.

As soon as he thought of this, Guan Yu had some gratitude to Cao Ying, if it wasn't for Cao Ying's order to let him go, no matter how brave he was, it would be impossible for him to get out of Cao Ying's jurisdiction safely. It's just that such gratitude can only be hidden in the bottom of the heart, and cannot be expressed on the face.

In just a few months in Xu County, Guan Yu and Cao Ying's Xu Huang and Zhang Liao have formed a deep friendship, but after five years of Jian'an, they have never met again. Now Zhang Liao is famous all over the world, guarding Hefei, although Xu Huang is not as good as Zhang Liao, he is also a famous general. When was it, Guan Yu felt a little shameless to see the old man again, but today is different, he Guan Yu relied on less than 30,000 men and horses, captured the ban, broke Fancheng, and took Nanyang County within two months, and now he has killed Xu County, defeating Cao Ying's remaining guards.

He recaptured the Son of Heaven from Cao Ying's hands.

Guan Yu was very excited. He knew that before Liu Bei fled from Xu County in the fourth year of Jian'an, he had accepted a cloth and belt edict, and was edicted to fight for thieves with Dong Cheng and others, and twenty years have passed, and only Liu Bei is the only person who accepted the edict of clothes and belts, and he is now welcoming back the Son of Heaven, which can be regarded as completing his mission for Liu Bei and completing the mission that he has been haunting in his heart for twenty years.

The lord will be very happy to get this news.

"Kong Xiu, clean up and follow me into the palace to meet the Son of Heaven."

Yin Guan didn't move, the corners of his mouth trembled, and he glanced at Guan Yu. Guan Yu glanced at him puzzled, although he was a little unhappy, he still waved his hand and asked the person next to him to retreat. Yin Guan lowered his voice and persuaded softly: "General, this matter ...... Let's ask Liu Yizhou first. He paused, and then said: "As a general, it is not appropriate to take the initiative to ask for a meeting without an edict." ”

Guan Yu is now a general of Dangkou, but he was sealed by Liu Bei himself, and he was not recognized by the court, and the general recognized by the court was Zhang He under Cao Ying. Besides, even if Guan Yu's position as a general is no problem, he can't take the initiative to enter the palace to see the driver. Yin Guan said this to give him enough face, but in fact, Yin Guan was worried about a bigger question: Is Liu Bei willing to welcome back the Son of Heaven? This question is very tricky, because on the surface, Liu Bei has always called for respecting the Son of Heaven, of course, he wants to welcome back the Son of Heaven, but in these years, one set on the surface and one set behind it is too normal, Cao Ying also said that he has no intention of usurping, but who believes it?

In case Liu Bei also has this idea, then Guan Yu will welcome the Son of Heaven back now, but I am afraid that it will not be merit, but sin. Liu Bei Ming couldn't say anything on his face, but their forty-year friendship between monarchs and ministers ended here.

Therefore, Yin Guan advised Guan Yu to be cautious and not to do his own thing before getting Liu Bei's approval, so as not to ride a tiger when the time comes. They are now so smoothly hit Xu County, although Sun Shao took Xiangcheng by surprise, but the whole thing still looks very weird - Xiahou is late, Cao Ying is still on the way, these are understandable, but Cao Pi, who stayed in Yecheng, has not moved yet, which is not easy to understand.

If there is a reasonable explanation, it can only be one, the Cao family would rather risk becoming a rebel in order to get rid of the Son of Heaven. They have the strength, and the moral plus and minus points can no longer reverse the whole situation, and they are happy to throw the burden of the Son of Heaven to Liu Bei. From this point of view, it seems to be easy to understand that Sun Shao rushed back to Fancheng from Xiangcheng so briskly, and let go of the great achievements that were close at hand.

Yin Guan thought a lot, but he also knew Guan Yu's temper, and he was afraid that if he said it too bluntly, Guan Yu would be uncomfortable, so he turned around and reminded Guan Yu not to do bad things with good intentions.

It's a pity that he still underestimated Guan Yu.

As soon as he heard Yin Guan's words, Guan Yu's lying silkworm eyebrows rose, and he was furious: "Since the Yellow Turban, the lord has been fighting for more than 30 years, hundreds of battles, and countless times in a dead situation, is he for himself?" He is a royal nobleman, the blood of Emperor Gaozu is flowing, all these years has been in the heart of the Han family, all the time for the Son of Heaven to annihilate the ministers of the hijacking cry, such as today is in front of him, if he hears the news, he will come to see the driver at night. Although I am just a general, I am a righteous monarch and minister with the Lord, Brother Enruo, can I not know his feelings? What is the difference between me going to see the Son of Heaven and him seeing the Son of Heaven? ”

Guan Yu couldn't help but reprimand angrily, and Yin Guan was speechless, these truths sounded like that, but Yin Guan knew that these were Guan Yu's own thoughts, not necessarily Liu Bei's thoughts. Guan Yu's characteristic is that he is too self-righteous, he always feels that among Liu Bei's subordinates, only he knows Liu Bei best, and Liu Bei trusts him the most, and the others are not as deep as the feelings between them, even Zhang Fei is slightly inferior, so he is loyal to Liu Bei, not so much that he is Liu Bei's courtier, but that he is Liu Bei's brother and a clan relative who is not surnamed Liu. The problem is that this is just his own opinion, does Liu Bei see it that way, and who knows? Such a big thing, don't say that you are not a brother, even if you are a brother, you can't overstep your responsibilities and make decisions for Liu Bei.

Yin Guan was so annoyed that he racked his brains to persuade Guan Yu, but Guan Yu didn't bother to listen to it at all, and only gave him a chance to atone for his sins: please see him when he enters the city.

Yin Guan looked up to the sky and sighed.

(To be continued)