Liu Bei came to see Sun Guan with Mi Fang on his back, naturally he didn't have any good intentions, he didn't forget what Chen Deng secretly confessed, that is, to find a way to consume the Mi family's strength.

Now there are 10,000 Taishan soldiers led by Sun Guan in Lanling City, as well as 5,000 Mi family private soldiers led by Mi Fang, if the two groups work together to resist the Cao army, although they may not be able to win, but they can win the hearts of the people in Xuzhou for Zang Ba and Mi Jia.

Liu Bei's three brothers suffered defeats in Yinping and Qixian in a row, and they did not achieve the goal of holding on for half a month at all, if Cao's army was blocked to the west of the second line of defense, wouldn't it seem that he Liu Bei was incompetent?

Sun Guan was bewitched by Liu Bei and asked Liu Bei how to deal with it, Liu Bei said with a worried face: "Now there is more than General Sun in Lanling City, if anyone suspects that the general is waiting for the arrival of Cao's army, and then as an internal response, Lanling City will be dedicated to Cao Cao, I am afraid that when the time comes, the general will be in danger!" Now, it is best for the general to quickly withdraw to Kaiyang with his troops and horses, so that he will not be infamous for defecting to Cao's army, and he will stay away from danger, and he will not have to clash with friendly forces. ”

"However, I was entrusted by General Zang to come to Lanling to defend, if I leave without a fight, won't it damage the prestige of the general?" Sun Guan said with some hesitation.

Liu Bei saw that Sun Guan had been shaken, and then said: "The general is loyal, which makes Liu very admired!" In this case, the general might as well set up a banquet and invite Mi Zifang to come over and talk about it, so as not to make the commanders of the two armies suspicious of each other and affect the overall situation of the joint resistance against Cao! ”

Sun Guan felt that Liu Bei's suggestion was reasonable, so he asked his subordinates to set up a banquet, and then sent someone to invite Mi Fang.

When Liu Bei came to see Sun Guan, another person happened to come to Mi Fang's camp, and this person was Jian Yong, Liu Bei's subordinate.

Mi Fang saw that the person who came was Liu Bei's subordinate, and she was very vigilant at that time. He kept Liu He's reminder in mind, and was wary of Liu Bei's people, and he didn't dare to be half credulous.

Jian Yong said to Mi Fang: "Has the general ever heard the rumors in the city? ”

Mi Fang shook her head, pretending not to know.

Jian Yong lowered his voice and whispered: "Now it is rumored in the city that Cao Mengde has sent someone to meet with Zang Ba secretly, but I am afraid that Sun Guan will not be reliable!" ”

Mi Fang showed a panicked look, and hurriedly asked Jian Yong: "Is there such a thing?" If Sun Guan wants to join Cao's army, wouldn't our army be in danger? ”

Jian Yong nodded and reminded Mi Fang: "Therefore, the general needs to plan ahead and not be kept in the dark." I don't know when the catastrophe comes! ”

"Does Mr. Xianhe have a plan to teach me?"

"There is a way to strike first to be strong, and then to suffer, now the plan, it is better to find a way to detain Sun Guan and Yin Li and seize their military power. Gather 10,000 Taishan soldiers under your command and wait until Cao's army attacks. Only then can we fight! ”

"How can I detain Sun Guan and Yin Li?"

"You can set the feast. Invite him to come and discuss the matter of resisting Cao......"

Mi Fang nodded again and again, and after Jian Yong left, she hurriedly called the second steward of the Mi family in and repeated what Jian Yong had said to herself.

After hearing this, the second housekeeper hurriedly stopped Mi Fang and said, "Don't believe Jian Yong's words!" Rumors are spreading in the city, and they must be spread by those who have a heart. The purpose is to mess up our position, so Sun Guan and Yin Li have followed Zang Ba for many years, how can they be controlled so easily? If they act rashly, not only will they not be able to seize their military power. On the contrary, it will cause infighting and conflict between the two armies! ”

Mi Fang asked a little irritably, "What should we do now?" Liu Bei guarded the Yinping defense line, abandoned the city and fled in less than ten days, and now we and Sun Guan are inseparable, and when the Cao army attacked, how to deal with it? ”

Although the second housekeeper is good at managing the internal affairs of the Mi family, he is also a layman on how to march and fight, and after pondering for a long time, he reluctantly said: "It's really not good, let's take the family soldiers in the clan and withdraw to Tancheng!" Anyway, there is a third line of defense garrisoned by Cao Bao in the back, so we can't hand over these private soldiers of the Mi family to Lanling City. ”

Mi Fang thought about it, but she couldn't think of a better countermeasure, and when she was anxious, the person sent by Sun Guan to invite Mi Fang to the banquet arrived.

Mi Fang thought of the idea that Jian Yong gave herself just now, and she chuckled in her heart, and hurriedly asked the second housekeeper to excuse the visitor, saying that she was infected with the wind and cold, and she was unwell and could not go to the banquet. After the people sent by Sun Guan left, Mi Fang said to the second housekeeper: "It is not suitable to stay here for a long time, immediately rectify our people and horses, and leave Lanling overnight!" ”

However, it was said that the people sent by Sun Guan returned to the camp and reported to Sun Guan that Mi Fang was infected with the wind cold and could not come to the banquet. Sun Guan then sent someone to keep an eye on Mi Fang's movements, and strictly prevent Mi Fang from making any small moves behind him.

Liu Bei had already left Sun Guan's tent at this time, and was hiding in his residence to exchange news with Jian Yong in a whisper.

Liu Bei asked Jian Yong: "Mi Fang, did you listen to what you said?" ”

Jian Yong replied, "I have already listened to it, and I am thinking about how to deal with Sun Guan and Yin Li." ”

"Okay, let's ask them to be suspicious of each other, it's best to do it directly in the city, so that we can take advantage of it!"

That night, Sun Guan suddenly received a report that Mi Fang had taken his men and horses to leave without saying goodbye and withdrew from the east gate of Lanling City. Sun Guan was furious and sent troops to the east gate to intercept Mi Fang, and the two armies confronted each other at the place where they left the city.

Sun Guan asked Mi Fang: "At the beginning, the two soldiers and horses of Lu were appointed to fight against the Cao army, but now that the Cao army has not arrived, why did you leave in a hurry?" ”

Mi Fang replied: "There are villains in the city spreading rumors everywhere, the two armies have a disagreement, if the Mi family's private soldiers stay in Lanling, I am afraid that if they don't wait for the Cao army to attack, they will be solved by the general's soldiers and horses first!" ”

Sun Guan was speechless for a long time by Mi Fang's words, turned around and returned to the camp in a rage, and then called Yin Li, the two of them summed up, and immediately led the army to leave from the north gate, and actually abandoned Lanling and returned to Kaiyang......

Liu Bei, who was waiting to see a good show in the city, was numb now, and hurriedly left Lanling overnight with a few subordinates and hundreds of parts, and went straight to the direction of Tancheng.

There were originally 15,000 troops stationed in Lanling City, but they were cleaned overnight, and the people in the city immediately panicked, and hurriedly left their homes and businesses to flee to other places, so a city in Haoduan became an uninhabited dead city!

Cao Cao of Qi County soon received a report from Xi Zuo and learned that Sun Guan and Mi Fang parted ways, so Da Lu smiled and said to Xi Zhicai: "The military advisor is a good plan, just sent someone to see Zang Ba once, spread some rumors, and caused the second line of defense in Xuzhou to collapse!" ”

Xi Zhicai said humbly: "It's just a small measure, if it weren't for the mutual suspicion and calculation of soldiers and horses from all walks of life in Xuzhou, such a shallow plan of discord might not be successful." ”

Cao Cao then said to the generals in front of the tent: "Tomorrow, the army will be drawn and stationed in Lanling City!" ”

When Cao's army successfully captured Lanling, Tai Shici and his entourage had already passed through Qingzhou and arrived at Dongwu County, the northernmost county seat of Xuzhou. As a native of Qingzhou, Tai Shici worked as a small official in the state when he was young, so he is very familiar with the terrain near Qingzhou, and he chose the familiar road of Chen Yi escorting Zheng Xuan north last time, so his actions were not only secretive, but also did not encounter any obstacles.

In Xiangben City, Cao Bao was already a little numb. He first saw Guan Yu and Zhang Fei hurrying past the city with more than 2,000 soldiers and horses, heading straight to the east. Then he saw Mi Fang with 5,000 soldiers and horses also passing outside the city, although Mi Fang sent someone to say hello to him and explain the reason for the withdrawal, but Cao Bao still felt a little unbelievable. After the last, Cao Bao saw Liu Bei......

Cao Bao thought to himself: A group of waste, running and running, fleeing, now expect me to command 10,000 soldiers and horses to resist Cao's army? Think about it beautifully! After you all fled back to Tancheng, Lao Tzu also led the army to retreat, anyway, you can't throw this more than 100 catties under Xiangben City!

In Kaiyang City, when Zang Ba saw Sun Guan and Yin Li returning with 10,000 soldiers and horses, he was very surprised, and he asked the two: "Ben will order you two to stick to Lanling, and it has only been a few days since you sent troops, why did you return with the team in a dignified manner?" ”

Sun Guan said Mi Fang's withdrawal with a bitter face, and then said with some resentment: "Why does our brother want to guard the East China Sea for his Mi family?" Since Mi Fang left without a fight, the last general did not know the general's intentions, so he could only return to Kaiyang with his soldiers and horses and make plans again! ”

Zang Ba is a resourceful person, he listened to Sun Guan's explanation, and knew that Lu Dao was calculated by Cao Cao this time, so he said angrily: "This time, you two really can't be blamed, as long as our soldiers and horses are still there, it will be a big deal to have a real showdown with Cao Jun in Kaiyang!" ”

A few days later, Cao's army had successfully entered Lanling City, and Mi Fang also withdrew to Tancheng with 5,000 soldiers and horses.

Mi Zhu asked Mi Fang with a puzzled face: "I saw Guan Yu and Zhang Fei enter the city with 2,000 remnants of soldiers the day before yesterday, why did you come back with 5,000 soldiers and horses today?" ”

Mi Fang was very annoyed and said, "Because I didn't fight Cao Jun at all!" Chen Yuanlong's idea sounds good, but it's actually just talk on paper! If I don't take the opportunity to withdraw the soldiers and horses of the Mi family, I'm afraid that the eldest brother won't even be able to see the body of his younger brother! ”

Mi Zhu stomped his feet and said, "You let me say what you are good about!" Was scared back to Tancheng by a few rumors? What kind of face do I have to meet Zhao Yu and Chen Deng tomorrow? ”

Mi Fang said with a little humility: "Isn't this to preserve the strength of the Mi family......

"You shut up for me, and immediately go back to Qu County with the second steward!" Mi Zhu finally became angry, and he couldn't wait to kick his brother's feet to relieve his anger.

Two days later, Mi Zhu heard that Cao Bao led the army to withdraw from Xiangben, he had completely seen the faces of these people, and said to a young man named Xu Sheng next to him in frustration: "Xuzhou is no longer saved, Wen Xiang should hurry up and take his family to the south to flee for his life, I have asked people to prepare enough for you to prepare the necessary coils on the road, if there is a fate in the future, maybe there will be a day to see again." ”

Xu Sheng shook his head and said, "Why are you so discouraged? Although Xuzhou lost three lines of defense in a row, it seems to be precarious, but Xuzhou's troop losses are not large, Cao Jun won again and again, and now it is arrogant to the extreme, if the adults can organize the soldiers and horses of Tancheng, they will be able to give the Cao army a head-on blow, and Tancheng may not be lost! ”

Xu Sheng, a native of Langxiju County, is a famous general of Wu in history. When he was young, he lived in Jiangdong due to the war, and was used in the "Zhaoxian Hall" set up by Sun Quan, and since then he has embarked on the road of a generation of famous generals. (To be continued......)