In Anqing County, Liu Bei paced back and forth on the school grounds, and his anxious look permeated his eyebrows.

The problem of grain and grass was temporarily solved, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei smashed twelve cottages in a row during this time, bringing back more than 20,000 stones of grain and grass, as well as a lot of gold and money.

But to this day, Lu Bu still has no news, and there is no trace of troops in Jiujiang, and he knows that most of his last hope is that it is no fun.

And the bad things don't stop there, the soldiers and horses of the vanguard of the Cao army, Xiahoudun, are less than one hundred and twenty miles away, and they will be killed at noon the day after tomorrow.

The vanguard army is not much, according to the return of the scouts, it should be the size of 5,000 people, and it is terrible that there are 2,000 cavalry in Xiahoudun's 5,000 vanguard army, which shows that this must be the elite of Cao's army.

"Big brother, if the three family slaves don't come, Xiahou Pifu is only 5,000 people, and we have 10,000 troops, so why be afraid!" Zhang Fei snorted coldly, his eyes widened, and his fighting spirit was high.

Liu Bei's eyebrows were furrowed, and he didn't even answer when he was upset.

10,000 versus 5,000, it sounds like a doubling comparison, but there are 6,000 people on their side who are all from the old Cao army, and they will not mention whether they will fight against each other at the moment, and it seems that they have no intention of fighting at all.

Therefore, what Liu Bei can trust and rely on is the four thousand veterans he brought out from Peicheng.

The only good news is that there are more than 1,300 cavalry in his army, and these are the war horses captured when he defeated Liang Gang in the Battle of Kuxian.

But if you really want to rely on this point of people and horses to fight with Xiahoudun's elite, Liu Bei estimates that he will be crushed.

"Big brother, Cao Jun came from afar, if we take the initiative to go north to give them a head-on attack, we may not be able to catch them off guard." Guan Yu stroked his long beard, and he also agreed to face Cao Jun this time.

Liu Bei finally stopped pacing, stopped looking at the two younger brothers, and smiled bitterly, "What about after defeating Xiahoudun?" ”

Guan Zhang glanced at each other and was dumbfounded.

Yes, although the scouts did not find out where Cao Cao's army was, according to his usual habit of using troops, Xiahoudun acted as the vanguard, and he raised the army to suppress the formation.

God knows how many people Cao Cao brought this time.

"If the third brother and I lead the cavalry to block Xiahoudun, and the eldest brother leads the infantry to the south first, as long as the river is crossed, the Cao army can only retreat." After thinking about it, Guan Yu felt that only this method was the most reliable.

"Wow, I have to stab Xiahou Pifu this time!" Zhang Fei excitedly shook the Zhangba snake spear.

Liu Bei sighed and pulled his shoulders down, "If I leave, what should Anqing do?" ”

Guan Zhang and the others didn't know why, so Liu Bei continued: "If Cao Cao comes, I'm afraid that the Xuzhou tragedy will be repeated, and if he slaughters the city, tens of thousands of people in Anqing will suffer an unwarranted disaster." ”

Yes, the two brothers suddenly realized that they had forgotten that Cao Cao would slaughter the city.

I am in danger, and I can still think of the people, the eldest brother is really a true hero who stands up to the sky.

"I'm going to persuade the county magistrate to put up a notice, I'm willing to lead the foot soldiers to the south with the people, even if I die, I will do my best for them."

"Big brother, I'll go with you!" It was Liu Bei who was cooking wine with Cao Cao's Qingmei, if it was Guan Yu, he would not hesitate to say that there is only one hero in the world, my eldest brother.

"I'll go too!"

Before the three of them walked out of the school, Sun Qian hurriedly ran over, "Lord, it's coming!" Zhang Liao is here! ”

Is it finally here?

Liu Guanzhang and the three of them had expressions on their faces for the rest of their lives, "How many soldiers and horses did he bring?" ”

"Two thousand."

"Two thousand?"

The three of them are all tactical backwards, two thousand, are you here to rescue or to watch the play?

"Lead the way." Liu Bei's hope that had just been ignited was once again dashed, he didn't understand what Lu Bu was thinking, he sent two thousand people, wasn't it because of the blood edict and perfunctory to me?

When the group of four people hurried to the council hall, Zhang Liao was already waiting there.

"Uncle Liu, Yun Chang, General Zhang." Zhang Liao clasped his fists and saluted.

Among the three brothers, Zhang Liao is the only one who falls in love with Guan Yu, in addition to being fellow villagers in Shanxi, the two also cherish each other's heroism, so he is called Guan Yu by the table.

"General Wenyuan, did Marquis Wen agree to help, why did he only send two thousand people?" Liu Bei was so anxious that he didn't even ask for tea, and asked straight to the point.

"Back to Uncle Liu Huang, Wen Hou has indeed agreed to the rescue, but he only arrived in Jiujiang the day before yesterday, and the army has not yet had time to organize and prepare for war, so I can only lead 2,000 people to escort the military supplies first."

The three brothers looked at each other, and finally Guan Yu spoke directly, "Wen Yuan, when I personally handed over the letter from my eldest brother to you, didn't you promise me to immediately rearm for war, why did you use this as an excuse today?" ”

Zhang Liao's face was embarrassed, sighed, shook his head and said: "It's not a secret, the soldiers and horses in Jiujiang are all Yuan Shu's old troops, and their combat strength is weak, and the elite of our army can't return in time in Guangling."

Wen Hou did let the Bingzhou cavalry arrive, but hundreds of miles of rapid march, people are not tired and horses are tired, and they still need to rest. ”

This sounds even more unreliable.

Since you can come from Guangling, it proves that you have the intention to get involved, no matter how weak the combat strength of the 20,000 Huainan Army is, you Zhang Wenyuan has been trained for more than half a year, so it will not be worse than a moth thief, right?

I think it's just to take advantage of the time when Cao Jun is fighting with him, depending on the situation, to get a piece of the pie.

Scold. It's his Lu Fengxian's style.

Liu Bei was disdainful.

"The thieves have all been killed at the door, and they don't bring soldiers and horses but send military supplies, it's very useful!" Zhang Fei directly opened his throat and roared.

"General Zhang doesn't need to be in a hurry."

Zhang Liao explained with a smile: "These military supplies are not ordinary things, and they may help you break through the Cao. ”

Zhang Fei sneered coldly and didn't want to listen, Guan Yu also shook his head helplessly, only Liu Bei was still a little patient, and asked, "What does General Wenyuan mean?" ”

Zhang Liao smiled and handed out the bamboo slip, "My letter from Yun Wenxian's nephew to you, Uncle Huang, take a look." ”

After taking the letter suspiciously, Liu Bei hesitated for a while before opening it.

Then, Liu Bei's expression became quite interesting, first stunned, then frowned, and finally burst into tears.

Zhang Liao was not surprised by this, because when Lu Bu took out this letter in Yangyuan (the county seat at the junction of Anfeng and Jiujiang), the expressions of everyone in the hall were also like Liu Bei.

"Wonderful, wonderful, I'm afraid this is the only way to defeat Xiahoudun!"

Liu Bei cautiously put away the bamboo slips, and said contemplatively: "What you said about Yunwen's virtuous nephew, but Wen Houjia's son-in-law Lin Yunwen?" ”

"That's the kid." Zhang Liao showed a bit of arrogance on his face, and even his title changed from a virtuous nephew to a brat.

"Wenhou has this person to assist, no wonder he can crisscross the land of the two states, he is really talented." Liu Bei didn't hide the envy on his face at all, he didn't have it for me.

"Uncle Huang, Wen Hou has something else to say for me to bring."

Probably really thirsty, Zhang Liao didn't care about Liu Bei's speech, walked to the side of the table and took a big sip of the teapot, which made Liu Bei's face blush.

"Wen Hou said, please Uncle Huang act according to what the letter says, when the vanguard of the Cao army is retreated, our people will definitely have arrived at the front line to set up a village, and will not let Uncle Huang stand alone in Cao Cao."

"Good, good."

Liu Bei said three good words in a row, nodded and said: "Please tell Wen Hou that I will act according to this strategy, and thank you in person after the grace of rescue Rong retreats." ”

"Definitely!"

Zhang Liao nodded, and added: "By the way, all the military quartermasters are stationed at the gate of Xicheng, please Uncle Huang hurry to Anfeng County to deploy earlier, I will go back to Yangyuan first." ”

"Hard work General Wenyuan, I'll send you out of the city." Liu Bei made a gesture of please and led Zhang Liao out.

Bidding farewell to Zhang Liao, Liu Bei looked at the military quartermaster full of five large carriages and issued a military order to Anfeng.

Watching Liu Bei's army rush out, Anqing County Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

Good guy, it's finally gone.

"Big brother, do you really believe this yellow-mouthed child's nonsense?" On the way, Zhang Fei complained a little dissatisfied.

The fact that he felt that he was going to obey the orders of a child he had never even met in person was ridiculous.

"There's nothing we can do right now."

Liu Bei's eyes were firm, and he seemed to have confidence in Lin Mo, and turned to look at Zhang Fei, "Third brother, it was this Huangkou child who helped Lu Bu stabilize Xuzhou and capture the three counties of Jiujiang, Lujiang and Guangling, do you still think he is talking nonsense?" ”

"If it's useful, what if I apologize to him in person, if it's bad for my eldest brother's big thing, hmph, don't blame my Zhangba snake spear for bullying him young!"

Liu Bei and Guan Yu looked at each other and smiled, but he is Lu Bu's son-in-law, which you can stab if you say it.

Thirty miles outside Anfeng City, a team of thousands of people was advancing south.

Their marching method is quite strange, 3,000 foot soldiers are lined up in three phalanxes, and 2,000 cavalry wander behind the phalanx, sometimes slightly scattered, sometimes cohesive, quite tangible and scattered.

"Zihe, through the mountain valley in front of you is a flat river, and then you can go straight to Anfeng." Xiahou raised his whip and pointed at the valley in front of him and said.

"Big brother, the scout said that Liu Bei suddenly transferred back to Anfeng from Anqing a few days ago, which is quite strange." Cao Chun said suspiciously.

"He just arrived in Anqing, and the county order only treated him as the emperor's uncle, but after learning that our soldiers were incompatible, it is understandable." Xiahoudun's analysis can be regarded as an analysis of human nature, and Cao Chunshen thinks so.

Not long after the journey, when it was about to leave the valley, a sudden rain of arrows shot from the hill on one side, and immediately shot over hundreds of people.

There is an ambush!

"Shield soldier cover, back left!" Xiahoudun roared, and the infantry in the phalanx began to move, a row of sergeants holding shields in front, and the army behind began to retreat to the stream on the left, and soon withdrew from the effective killing range of the arrows.

Cao Chun looked around curiously, strange, although there are hills here, but it is not a first-line terrain, it can't form an effective ambush at all, how could Liu Bei choose to set up an ambush here.

Before he was surprised, flags were erected on the hill, and the word 'Lu' was particularly conspicuous, and there were bursts of fighting one after another.

It's Lu Bu!

After Xiahoudun and Cao Chun glanced at each other, they raised their swords one after another and shouted: "Brothers, meet the enemy!" ”

At the sound of the order, the whole army changed rapidly, the infantry formed a large phalanx, and the cavalry retreated between the two wings, waiting for them to rush down from the mountain.

The killing sound was a sky-shattering shout, but no one rushed out, Xiahou Xuan's gloomy eyes turned, suspicious of the soldier's plan?

He waved his hand and shouted, "Cai Yang, lead people to rush up the hill!" ”

"Whoa!"

Cai Yang, who was fat, led three hundred people to rush towards the hill with a big knife.

After climbing for a short while, there was a rumbling sound on the mountain, and Cai Yang was also a veteran of the battlefield, so he immediately understood what was happening, and shouted: "There are rolling stones, find cover!" ”

The three hundred men were not in a panic, and they moved very quickly, either hiding behind trees, or hiding in ravines, or using rocks as cover.

A burst of rolling stones and sassal wood washed down, and only more than twenty Cao Jun who failed to find cover were put down.

Cai Yang continued to climb up, this time their speed was much slower, and they were worried that the rolling stones and sassalwood might fall at any time.

When he finally led people up the hill, he found that it was empty, only the flags planted.

Darn!

Cai Yang scolded and ran down, and Xiahoudun was also confused after hearing this, what kind of trouble is this?

Tempting?

Xiahoudun, who didn't care too much, could only order to move on.

Finally, the army left the valley, and it was a flat river, although it was delayed for some time, and it did not have much impact on the whole.

Not long after walking, the undulating meadow suddenly saw cavalry rushing in the distance, and it seemed that there were not many people, only six or seven hundred horsemen.

As the opposing cavalry approached, the banner was nowhere to be seen, but the leader of the troops, Xiahou Dun, was very familiar with it, Guan Yunchang, who had a long beard on his face.

"Array!"

The army moved again, with the front row of shields standing, the spears like the forest of death, the rear row of crossbowmen with their bows wound, and the tigers and leopards riding to guard the wings.

With such a formation, don't say that he has only six or seven hundred people, even if six or seven thousand horsemen rush up, they will be sent to death.

But after Guan Yu rushed to the place of an arrow, he suddenly stopped, raised the Qinglong Yanyue Knife and pointed at Xiahou Dun, "Pifu, dare to fight with me in front of the battle!" ”

Xiahou snorted coldly and looked at Cao Chun on the side, who thoughtfully led a team of cavalry and rushed directly towards Guan Yu.

Guan Yu withdrew in time, but the tigers and leopards rode all the good horses, as fast as the wind, and soon picked off the slightly slower Liu Jun's cavalry one by one.

Seventy or eighty cavalry were killed in four or five miles.

Worried that the other party had an ambush, Cao Chun did not continue to pursue, and when he turned his horse and returned to half of the army, he encountered Zhang Fei with six or seven hundred cavalry tentatively approaching.

Cao Chunyi was not afraid, and pursued again.

Xiahoudun, who was waiting in place, didn't see Cao Chun come back for a long time, his heart sank, and he looked at Li Dian on the side, "Man Cheng, you take the rest of the tigers and leopards to ride up and see what happened." ”

"Whoa!"

Li Dian led the rest of the cavalry to chase in the direction of Cao Chun's pursuit, while Xiahoudun continued to wait for him.

I don't know how long it took, but I finally saw Cao Chun and Li Dian back, and their establishment was intact, apparently not ambushed.

"Why did you go for so long?" Xia Houdun was a little impatient.

"Big brother, don't blame, when chasing Guan Yu, I met Zhang Fei and led hundreds of horsemen to kill, and I was worried about the enemy on my back and abdomen, so I divided into military formations, which took some time."

"They didn't fight you head-on?"

"No, it's just haunting me from afar!" Cao Chun held his breath and couldn't vent.

Xiahou pondered for a moment, looked at the sun that had already set to the west, and his eyes widened for a moment, "Damn, the entanglement with these two thieves in the ambush earlier delayed us for more than two hours, and eighty percent of the big-eared thieves wanted to run, so that they could be contained!"

Don't worry about this, march towards Anfeng County! ”

"Whoa!"

Along the way, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led the cavalry to feign charging several times, but Xiahoudun didn't care at all, just let the tiger and leopard ride on the flank to ensure that there would be no chaos.

When I came to Anfeng City, it was already past the time of Shen, and although the sky was still bright, it was almost dusk.

Facing the huge empty city, Xiahoudun knew that he had a plan, and he wanted to continue the pursuit, but looking at the soldiers behind him, he entered the combat state several times, and the rapid march all the way was the elite, and he couldn't hide his fatigue at this moment.

"Enter the city, bury the pot to cook, take a short rest, and chase all night!" Xiahoudun was determined to hunt down and kill Liu Bei.

Anyway, they are just a group of foot soldiers, and it's a big deal to take the tiger and leopard to ride first in tonight's pursuit, and let Li Dian lead the foot soldiers to follow.

In the distance, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who watched Cao Jun enter the city one after another, glanced at each other.

"Hey, that kid is quite accurate, he's really going into town." Zhang Fei grinned, it seemed that there was no need to stab Lin Mo.

"I don't seem to have seen this cavalry of the Cao Army, and the combat power is so strong that it wants to overwhelm Lu Bu's Bingzhou cavalry."

Guan Yu sighed rather distressedly, "I have only entangled them for a short time, and I have lost hundreds of horses. ”

Zhang Fei only then remembered, and nodded and said: "I just responded, and I was also killed by more than 50 horsemen, so I couldn't help but rush back single-handedly, and I was almost surrounded by them." ”

"This cavalry is not simple." Guan Yu squinted his Dan Feng eyes, still staring at the tiger and leopard rider guarding the flank.

"Whatever, he tricked them into the city, and these more than 100 horsemen are worth it!"

Zhang Fei didn't want to think about it, and said with a grin: "Let's go, second brother, the eldest brother is still waiting." ”

(End of chapter)