"Tao Ying Xiao'er, you dare to swagger and deceive in my name, bad my reputation, I am inseparable from you!"

Lu Bu's temper was notoriously bad, and when he heard that Tao Ying had sent someone to pretend to be his messenger to deceive, it was like a spark flying to the powder keg, and it exploded at once, and he jumped up with Fang Tian's halberd and shouted, "The whole army listens to the order, immediately go south to Xiaopei, and go to Tao Ying Xiao'er to settle accounts!" ”

"No!" Behind him, the officers and soldiers of Lu Bu's army suddenly agreed, and got on their horses neatly and prepared to set off, but Zhang Liao was calmer, and hurriedly grabbed Lu Bu and persuaded: "Lord, please slow down, Xiaopei has fallen, our army has no place to stand in the south, and there is no food and grass to spare, if Xiaopei is not in a hurry, our army will be in danger." The lord also asked to take a break from his anger and wait for the arrival of the infantry brigade led by Mr. Gongtai before making another discussion. ”

"Don't discuss, Tao Ying'er has a bad reputation for me, and I don't share the sky with him!" Lu Bu pushed Zhang Liao away, jumped on the red rabbit horse and shouted: "The whole army will set off immediately, take Tao Ying Xiao'er to gain a firm foothold in Xiaopei, and kill him by surprise!" Wen Yuan, send someone to Chen Gong to give him an order, let him speed up as well, before this evening, the infantry brigade must arrive at Xiaopei for me! Xuande, your team also follow, show me the way! ”

After that, Lu Bu no longer ignored Zhang Liao's persuasion, and led three thousand iron cavalry to the south, Zhang Liao had no choice but to lead the troops to follow, and at the same time sent fast horses to the north to report to Chen Gong, where Liu Bei's three brothers were overjoyed - Liu Bei's three brothers would not consider whether Lu Bu had a foothold, and quickly led hundreds of defeated soldiers to follow Lu Bu's team and kill Xiao Pei again.

After walking for more than 20 miles in a hurry, Chen Gong chased after him on a horseback alone, and shouted from a distance: "Lord! Lord! Wen Hou! Stop! Stop! Lu Bu had to stop when he heard the shouting, and then turned around and saw Chen Gong throwing down the infantry and chasing after him alone, and suddenly he was angry again, Chen Gong just ran in front of him, and Lu Bu shouted angrily: "Gongtai, why are you chasing alone?" What about the infantry brigade? Don't forget, my daughter is still in the infantry! ”

"Rest assured, the lord has temporarily handed over the infantry to Hao Meng and the second general surnamed Cao, and there will be no problems." Chen Gong gasped and hurriedly explained, and quickly grabbed Lu Bu's reins, and said anxiously: "Lord, our army only has ten days of grain, Liu Xuande has lost Xiao Pei, our army has no grain and grass in Xuzhou, Tao Ying Xiao'er's annihilation is not under Cao thief, Xiao Pei is really difficult to fight, if the grain and grass are exhausted, then our army will be defeated, it is better to retreat quickly, and try to take revenge instead." ”

"Afraid of what? Isn't it enough to ask Gao Shun to send grain south from Changyi? Lu Bu shouted angrily: "Tao Ying'er has a bad reputation, if I don't take revenge, it will be difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart!" ”

"Lord, please think twice!" Chen Gong shouted bitterly, and hurriedly persuaded again: "Lord, Tao Ying Xiao'er is indeed hateful to swagger and deceive in your name, but our army has offended Yuan Shao before, and has formed a mortal enmity with Cao Thief, if we have a grudge against Tao Ying Xiao'er, a thief who is loyal on the outside and deceitful in his heart, then our army will be surrounded by enemies on all sides and helpless!" It is better to take advantage of Tao Yingxinding Xiaopei, Tao Qian is critically ill, and Xuzhou does not dare to make enemies at will, so he will make good arrangements with Tao Qian's father and son, turn enemies into friends, and relieve the pressure on the rear! ”

Hearing Chen Gong's words, the faces of the three brothers Liu Guan and Zhang next to him immediately became gloomy, but fortunately, Lu Wenhou was also a very righteous person, so he shook off Chen Gong and roared angrily: "No! Tao Yingxiao'er swaggered and deceived in my name, bad my righteous name, this revenge is not avenged, and it is difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart! I have made up my mind, Gongtai has to be persuaded again, go back to command the infantry quickly, and then order Gao Shun to send food immediately to help me attack Xuzhou! ”

After that, Lu Bu ignored Chen Gong's repeated persuasions, and rushed out as soon as he slapped the red rabbit horse, the red rabbit horse was fast, Chen Gong couldn't catch up, and knew that Lu Bu's surname was anxious and stubborn, and it was difficult to persuade, so he could only restrain the war horse and sighed secretly, "Oh no, this time it's really stealing chickens and rice, I just hope that Tao Ying Xiao'er can also understand that now a full-scale war with our army is harmful to him, and it will only cheapen Cao Ying's thief in vain, calm and restrained, and give me time to persuade the lord." ”

No matter how fast Lu Bu's red rabbit horse is, it is impossible to kill Xiaopei City alone and tens of thousands of Xuzhou troops alone, and after getting rid of Chen Palace, he must also get the rear of the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry, and because of this, the light cavalry of the Junzi Army ambushed near the border of Xiaopei County was able to take the lead in returning to Xiaopei, and sent Lu Bu's army to the south with Liu Bei's defeated army to send it to Xiaopei City, and sent it to Tao Ying, who had just entered the city.

"Lu Bu came so fast." Marveling at the maneuvering speed of Lu Bu's cavalry, Tao Ying quickly ordered: "Quick, let our soldiers speed up the camp and enter the city, within an hour, all the troops must enter the city, except for grain and grass, weapons and camp tents, everything else can be thrown away!" ”

Zang Ba and Sun Guan and the other generals agreed, and hurriedly sent someone down to pass the order, Tao Ying quickly asked Zang Ba again: "Brother Xuan, how much food, ordnance and troops are there in Liuxian?" ”

"Not much." Zang Ba replied: "In order to help Gongzi attack the city, the last general brought all the ordnance, grain and grass that he could bring, but now there are only 500 infantry, 2,000 food and a small amount of ordnance. ”

"Very good, there is no danger to defend in the county seat, since our army already has the fortified city of Xiaopei, there is no need to divide troops to garrison in the county." Tao Ying nodded, and then turned to Xu Sheng next to him and ordered: "Wen Xiang, immediately give me to lead your headquarters team of 1,500 infantry to the south to stay in the county, and assist the army there to transfer grain and grass and military supplies back to Xuzhou, don't come back after you return to Xuzhou, just stay in Xuzhou and let me assist General Cao Bao to defend the city." ”

"No." Xu Sheng clenched his fists and agreed, and asked tentatively: "Childe, can you change someone to carry out this military order, the last general wants to stay and help Gongzi face Lu Bu." ”

"No way!" Tao Ying waved his hand categorically, and shouted angrily: "Facing Lu Bu? I went crazy to start a full-scale war with Lu Bu, and at this time I fought with Lu Bu, and the old thief Cao Ying could laugh at his mouth crookedly. Go quickly, time is precious, don't delay! Xu Sheng, who wanted to make some more achievements, had no choice but to hug his fists again and sing a promise, and hurriedly took his orders.

After making these arrangements, Tao Ying led the Xuzhou generals to hurriedly climb the city wall of Xiaopei, personally supervising and urging the army to enter the city, but fortunately, the pampered Xuzhou soldiers were afraid of the heavy wind and snow in the winter field, and after taking Xiaopei last night, they had already begun to transfer to Xiaopei City, so there was not much army and grain and grass left outside Xiaopei City, which would order the whole army to enter the city quickly, and the speed of the transfer of the camp was also greatly accelerated, which would estimate that it would not take half an hour to transfer all the troops into the city. Tao Ying's heart finally put back in his stomach when he mentioned his throat - although the Junzi Army was not afraid of fighting a field battle with Lu Wenhou, the other teams in Xuzhou were probably not afraid of any of them.

It was also at this time that Lu Su, who was also relieved, asked Tao Ying tentatively: "Childe, look at the appearance, do you want to use the fortified city to defend and drag Lu Bu to retreat?" ”

"Of course." Tao replied: "Let's not mention that most of the Xuzhou army in the field is not Lu Bu's opponent, or it can deal with Lu Bu, and the only one who can fight and take advantage of it will only be Cao Ying's old thief, so the best way is to defend it, avoid unnecessary consumption of troops, and drag it until Lu Bu runs out of food, and the enemy will retreat." ”

"Childe is high-minded, and I admire it." Lu Su nodded, agreeing with Tao Ying's conservative tactics, and then Lu Su said very suspiciously: "But there is also a little unclear below, Nian Bin and Gao Chong's two generals have already played it clearly, saying that Liu Bei's remnants have joined Lu Bu, why does Lu Bu insist on going south to fight Xiaopei?" Yanzhou is short of grain, Lu Bu's military rations are already stretched, and now Liu Bei's grain land Xiaopei City has fallen into the hands of our army, Lu Bu has done all kinds of harm and no benefit to Xiaopei, why does he insist on attacking Xiaopei? Even if Lu Bu had no plan, Chen Gong shouldn't have made such a big mistake? Could it be that Chen Gong didn't go out with the army this time? ”

"Whether Chen Gong went out with the army, I don't know." Tao Ying shook his head, and said with a wry smile: "But why Lu Bu insists on beating Xiaopei, I know very well. ”

"Why?" Lu Su asked curiously.

"Because of me." Tao Ying pointed to his nose and said with a wry smile: "I know Lu Bu's temper very well, capricious and irritable, although Chen Gong is his think tank and a very good strategist, but Chen Gong's words Lu Bu may not listen to all of them, so after hearing that I sent someone to pretend to be his messenger yesterday to deceive, with his temper, even if Chen Gong broke his throat, he will insist on beating Xiao Pei and settling accounts with me." ”

"If that's the case, then Lu Bu won't be difficult to break." Lu Su said confidently: "Raising troops because of anger has been a taboo for soldiers since ancient times, Lu Bu is negative and southward, and there are constant hidden dangers in the rear. ”

"But I don't want Lu Bu to be defeated." Tao Ying shook his head, sighed and said: "The most dangerous enemy of our army is always Cao Ying, our army is in a full-scale war with Lu Bu at this time, Cao Lao Thief can smile crookedly, even if we defeat Lu Bu, the only one who can take advantage of it can only be Cao Ying's old thief." ”

"In that case, why didn't Gongzi send an envoy to ask Lu Bu for peace?" Lu Su suggested: "Our army has no grudge against Lu Bu, and Lu Bu's attack on Liuxian was also Liu Bei's deliberate lure of wolves into the house, and now Gongzi, you sent someone to pretend to be Lu Bu's envoy to coax Liu Bei, and it has already been reported and reported, as long as our army explains the relationship to Lu Bu, Lu Bu will not consider it carefully." If Childe thinks it is feasible, he will make a wish to be a messenger. ”

"No, Zijing, you definitely can't go." Tao Ying waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "Zijing, you don't know Lu Bu's temper, now that he is a child who is already dizzy, he will not consider the gains and losses at all, and there is Liu Bei next to him to fan the yin wind and ignite the ghost fire, Zijing, no matter how good your eloquence is, you will not be convinced that Lu Wenhou, who has a bit of a second head, will only die in vain." ”

Lu Su was a little skeptical, but Lu Su also knew that Tao Ying could know people, and since he made such a comment on Lu Bu, he must have his reason, so Lu Su finally decided to save his life after thinking about it again and again, and did not insist on being a messenger to contact Lu Bu. At this time, Tao Ying suddenly said again, "However, if there is still a person in the world who has hope of persuading Lu Bu to withdraw from the army, this person is none other than me." ”

"Childe, don't come nonsense." Lu Su was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Childe, should you imagine that you went to Lu Bu's camp alone to negotiate with him like last year's Xuzhou City?" ”

"Of course not, I went to Cao Ying last year because no one in Cao Ying knew me." Tao Ying denied it, and said with a smile: "Even if I want to negotiate with Lu Bu, I will definitely take the Junzi Army with me, even if the negotiation fails, I can compete with Lu Bu's Bingzhou Iron Cavalry." ”

"Since Childe has this intention, then please make up your mind as soon as possible." Lu Su warned: "Xiao Pei is surrounded by water on three sides, which is not conducive to the battle of the Junzi army, if the prince wants to get out of the city, he must hurry, otherwise, once the Lu Bu army arrives in Xiaopei and blocks the only way out to the west of Xiao Pei, it will be difficult for the Junzi army to get out of the city." ”

Tao Ying nodded, and after carefully thinking about it for a long time, Tao Ying finally decided to lead the Junzi Army out of the city, because the battlefield of the Junzi Army is in an open area, and it is useless to stay in Xiaopei City, and at the same time, Xiaopei's terrain surrounded by water on three sides also determines that it is inconvenient to contact the outside world. Instead of being passive, it is better to let the Junzi army go out of the city in advance to fight, which can not only play to its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, but also contain Lu Bu from the back and flanks, reduce Xiaopei's frontal pressure, and at the same time, it can also respond at any time to prevent Lu Bu from dividing his troops to fight other cities.

As for the supply of grain and grass and feather arrows for the Junzi Army, Tao Ying should not worry about this, even if Lu Bu blocked the road for the Junzi Army to return to Xiaopei, Xiaopei is only more than 140 miles away from Pengcheng, which is less than a day's journey for the Junzi Army equipped with stirrups and Gaoqiao saddles.

After weighing the pros and cons, Tao Ying immediately made arrangements and decided to let Zang Ba, Sun Guan and Lu Su stay in Xiaopei City, with Zang Ba as the leader Sun Guan and Lu Su as the assistants, and stubbornly defend Xiaopei to consume Lu Bu's grain and grass and attract Lu Bu's main force, Tao Ying himself personally led Chen Dao, Xu Chu's two generals and more than 900 gentlemen's army out of the city, bringing more arrows and crossbows and dry food, to fight against Lu Bu's guerrillas. Zang Ba, Lu Su and the others knew that the Junzi Army was good at running and fleeing, so they did not object, but just told Tao Ying to be careful, and then sent Tao Ying and the others out of Xiaopei City.

When the Junzi army went out of the city, the time was close to Shen, and the scout also flew to report that Lu Bu's army was less than fifteen miles away, Tao Ying made a little calculation, Suo surnamed Suo led the Junzi army to the north in battle formation, and took the initiative to meet Lu Bu, at the same time, Tao Ying made a little adjustment to the Junzi army, so that the Junzi army, which was equivalent to his own soldiers, was heavily equipped with Li Ming's team, and repeatedly told Li Ming's soldiers, "Don't forget, when you fight against Lu Bu in a while, your crossbow must be full of arrows, always aim at Lu Bu, once he charges, Immediately give me a crossbow at him. Remember, you are specifically dealing with Lu Bu, don't wait for the order, he will release arrows for me as soon as he charges! ”

"Childe, why is that?" Li Ming and the other soldiers asked suspiciously.

"Because of his red rabbit horse." Tao Ying replied confidently: "The speed of the Red Rabbit Horse is too fast, once it charges, it is likely to be too late for you to listen to my orders and release the arrows, or Lu Bu has already rushed to me and cut off my head, so I can't hesitate, he will release the arrows to me as soon as he charges, don't be afraid of wasting the arrows." ”

Li Ming and the other soldiers suddenly realized, and hurriedly nodded together, and Xu Chu next to him said dissatisfiedly: "Childe, there is a general next to you, even if Lu Bu rushes in front of you, he will not want to hurt you a single hair." Tao Ying laughed and said yes, but for the sake of his precious life, Tao Ying still did not take back the order just now - Deputy Director Tao's life is very valuable.

Led the Junzi Army north and walked seven or eight miles, the flag flew in the snowflakes in front, about three thousand or so cavalry swept in, the soldiers of the Junzi Army lined up in an orderly manner to release arrows, shooting the position, the cavalry of the Lu Bu Army on the opposite side also quickly lined up the charging formation, Lu Bu went out of the battle surrounded by the three brothers Zhang Liao and Liu Guan Zhang, and pointed at Tao Ying under the banner of the Junzi Army with Fang Tian's halberd and scolded, "Tao Ying Xiao'er, get out of here and answer!" ”

Lu Wenhou took the initiative to ask for an answer before the battle, and Deputy Director Tao, who was planning to negotiate with Lu Bu, of course couldn't ask for it, but this was also the first time Tao Ying met with Lu Bu, and found that Lu Bu was about thirty or forty years old, with a handsome face, a majestic and extraordinary body, and a majestic bearing, so Tao Ying didn't dare to slack off, and led the two thugs Xu Chu and Chen Zhi to dare to go out of the battle, and bowed to Lu Bu in front of the battle, and politely shouted: "Is it Lu Wenhou who came?" In the next Tao Ying, long admired Wen Hou for the country to eliminate the thief's righteous name, admired to the end, now said to see Wen Hou's respect, in this life no regrets. ”

Not to mention, Tao Ying's beautiful words really made Lu Bu quite comfortable to listen to, coupled with Tao Ying's barely handsome face, amiable bearing, and polite manners, Lu Bu's anger in his heart was a little smaller, and he gave up the plan to rush over and stab Tao Ying to death with a halberd, but pointed at Tao Ying with a halberd and scolded: "Tao Ying'er, why did you take my name, swagger and deceive, and ruin my reputation?" ”

"Wen Hou, you misunderstood, misunderstood." Tao Ying hurriedly shook his head and said very kindly: "Wen Hou, I am not pretending to be your name to deceive, but using your tiger power to deter the group." Wen Hou you have also seen it, I am just a weak scholar who is powerless, and a notoriously loyal and honest nerd, if you don't use Wen Hou's prestige fox and fake tiger power, what can you use to intimidate the enemy? ”

"Tao Yingxiaoer, if you are also loyal and honest, then there is no one in this world who is deceitful and vicious!" Liu Bei, who had been deceived countless times, couldn't bear to scold, and turned to Lu Bu and said: "Wen Hou, it's this thief, who swaggers and deceives in your name, and slanders Wen Hou that you are a trustworthy person who destroys the alliance!" Wen Hou, if you don't kill him today, your prestige will be ruined! ”

"Wait!" Tao Ying hurriedly shouted, and then bowed his hand to Lu Bu and said: "Wen Hou, yes, it is indeed offensive to your prestige in Xia, but it is also a last resort in Xia, as an aparation, I have prepared a little thin gift to offer Wen Hou in Xia, and I also ask Wen Hou to smile." ”

After that, Tao Ying hurriedly waved his hand to the rear, and the two gentlemen dismounted and went out of the battle, holding two large packages and putting them in the array, and then opened the package, revealing two large bags of gold and silver jewelry, and then quickly returned to the formation, Tao Ying pointed to the two bags of jewelry and gold and silver and shouted: "Wen Hou, this is a small gift to you in the next compensation, and please Wen Hou is not too meager, you must accept it, and please also ask Lord Wen Hou to forgive the impostor below." ”

Stretching out his hand not to hit the smiling person, Tao Ying apologized and apologized, and took the initiative to give such a heavy gift, Lu Bu's anger was half gone, and Liu Bei next to him saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly raised his whip and scolded: "Tao Ying, you are a despicable villain, do you think Lu Wenhou is a greedy person?" Let me ask you, when I was in Xuzhou to persuade you to form an alliance with Lu Wenhou to fight against Cao, why did you refuse, and insulted Lu Wenhou for being capricious and having the surname of a jackal? even said that making an alliance with Lu Wenhou is seeking skin with the tiger, is Lu Wenhou such a person? ”

Lu Bu's face was angry again, and he pointed at Tao Ying with a painting halberd and shouted: "Tao Ying'er, can there be such a thing?" ”

"Yes!" Tao Ying agreed very happily, and then shouted quickly: "But Wen Hou, I didn't know that you were a hero at the time, and I was misled, someone took the lead in scolding Wen Hou you, and I scolded him according to his words, and then my father and brother blamed me fiercely, and then I knew that I had made a big mistake, not only misunderstood Wen Hou you, but also made a villain act of slander behind your back, which is a gentleman's style!" For this reason, he slapped himself a lot in the face. ”

"Hahahaha!" Liu Bei laughed loudly, pointed at Tao Ying and shouted angrily: "Destroy the deceitful child, let me ask you, who misled you at that time, and who took the lead in insulting Wen Hou?" ”

"It's none other than your third brother Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide!" Tao Ying quickly pointed at Zhang Fei and shouted: "General Zhang San, let me ask you, is the third surnamed domestic slave the first one you scolded?!" ”

Lu Bu's face suddenly stretched longer than a donkey, and he suddenly remembered that it was Zhang Fei who was the first to scold himself with the sentence of three family slaves in front of the world's heroes under the Tiger Prison. Over there, Zhang Fei was full of anger, and rushed towards Tao Ying with a spear, roaring like thunder in his mouth, "Tao Ying'er, take your life!" ”

Zhang Fei's words were not finished, the light cavalry of the Gentleman's Army ambushed behind the heavy cavalry had already slapped the horses together, and Zhang Fei was about to shoot arrows in a random manner, Zhang Fei, who had already suffered a big loss, was shocked, and hurriedly reined in the war horse, and even pulled the war horse down with too much force, and even the people and horses fell down in embarrassment, and the light cavalry of the Gentleman's Army saw that Zhang Fei did not rush into the range of fire and did not release the arrows, but just neatly retracted the bow and reined in the horse. Tao Ying took the opportunity to shout: "Wen Hou, did you see it? The ring-eyed thief is angry! Wen Hou, I only have admiration for you, there is no malice, Wen Hou, you must investigate clearly. ”

"Tao Ying annihilated the thief, you shut up for me!" Liu Bei was furious, turned to Lu Bu next to him, and said loudly: "Wenhou, you are a hero in the world, and you are a man of your word, do you want to listen to Tao Ying's words of annihilation and thief, and forget the Tao Cutting Covenant between you and me?" Please don't forget, who helped you in your crusade against Xuzhou? Who is stingy with money and food, and sends you Wenhou away as a beggar? ”

Lu Bu's eagle eyes turned wildly, hesitating, Liu Bei observed his words, and knew that Lu Bu's anger towards Tao Ying was no longer enough to sway his mind, so he whispered to lure him and said: "Wen Hou, Tao Qian is seriously ill, Xuzhou is actually Tao Ying in charge, now Tao Ying does not have many troops, Wen Hou is easy to break, if he can be killed or captured alive, the rich land of the five counties of Xuzhou, Wen Hou can be at his fingertips." ”

Lu Bu, who had recovered his reason from his anger, was moved by greed, his eyes were finally firm, and he grabbed a red rabbit BMW, stood up and shouted, "Tao Ying annihilates the thief, take your life!" ”

(To be continued)