They had no choice but to leave this brightly lit country, surrounded by the smell of wine and meat, and into the shadows under the torches, and whispered.

- This battle was won, so it's so hard.

- I had a plan, if Liu Bei is defeated, we will ...... Alas, alas, I don't dare to mention it.

- I look at this battle, I'm afraid it won't be able to tell the winner in a few months, so be careful!

- Why can't you tell the winner? Think about it, Yuan Gong is attacking, Liu Bei is defending, this is attacking the city, whose city is being attacked, and whose land is being omitted?

So the listener was stunned.

When Xu Shu walked into Liu Bei's back tent, the lord did not sit on the couch rubbing his feet in a dignified manner like last time, and there was a map on the desk, so he sat cross-legged beside the desk in a daze.

The lord who heard the footsteps suddenly came back to his senses, "Yuan Zhi, what do you think of today's situation?" ”

Liu Bei's face is always very upright in front of people, and it is even considered to be moody and invisible, and it is very hilly and hilly, but at this time, looking at him under the lamp, Xu Shu suddenly saw a lot of uneasiness and decadence.

"My lord?" He asked, "Where does the lord's suspicion begin?" ”

"Those powerful families who came to congratulate me today." Liu Bei raised his eyes, his eyes were dark and gloomy, and he was very calm.

They brought with them many words of praise, some of which could even be called transgression, and it was a sincere transgression.

Although many of them surrendered to Yuan Shao's side, as long as the whole family remained on Liu Bei's territory for a day, not only could they not openly welcome Wang Shi, but they also had to show their full loyalty to Liu Bei - especially after Liu Yan's incident.

This bureau was not done by Liu Bei himself.

Not only Cai Mao, Liu Xun and Zhang Xiu were involved, but also those colleagues who have worked with Liu Yan for more than ten years, and it seems that they must also know about this matter after the incident.

It's scary to think about, and a three-year-old child knows that the most important thing to keep a secret is that the fewer people who know it, the better. But from Liu Bei onwards, many people are insiders, but no one reminded Liu Yan, who is usually knowledgeable and good at dancing, but all chose to keep silent and watched Liu Yan go to a dead end.

Liu Bei has such control, how can those warriors not be frightened, how can they not come to please him? In addition to the horses, they also sent a lot of domestic animals and cloth as much as they could.

…… They even sent their own daughters!

Those slender, plump, demure, lively girls are only thirteen or fourteen years old, and the eldest is only seventeen or eighteen, each of them is from a noble family, and each of them has been carefully raised and raised, so they have a flower-like fresh appearance and a well-informed character, and also have a dreamy and beautiful yearning for the future.

Now they were dressed in their best clothes, with hairpin rings made of pearls and jade on their heads, and carried them in their wagons, with tears of fear, and were sent to this dilapidated town, where the smell of corpses was everywhere, and they had to be prepared to share with dozens of their peers a husband in his forties, who was from a humble background, who had been a horse for half his life, and who had a proper house.

Xu Shu was slightly dissatisfied with Liu Bei's statement, and he smiled.

"The lord's knees are empty, there is only one girl, and there is no male heir so far, so it is common for the Shishu here to want to enrich the lord's house and seek a future."

"If that's what they think, why don't they give me food and grass?"

Xu Shu was stunned.

Countless wagons ran over the solid ice of the Yellow River and headed south, flanked by men in newly made armor, one foot deep and the other shallow.

They carried the heavy armor and weapons on their backs, so that the cattle and soldiers did not have to work so hard, and they followed the wagons step by step to the south, and would point out the scenery on the south bank of the Yellow River.

They had come from the colder Youzhou, and the further south they went, the more comfortable they became, so an officer rode past and promised them in a loud voice:

"When Yuan Gong wins, we can all come here to share a piece of land!"

He was greeted with cheers, and even the driver in the cart would pat the heavy bags of grain in agreement.

No one knew how many soldiers and food the four prefectures of Hebei could muster together, but the procession grew longer and longer, like an endless river, walking on the wilderness, attracting those who hid in the woods or behind the slopes, and the ragged people poked their heads out and marveled at this magnificent scene.

This was made up by the Hebei family for Yuan Shao, and the family on the south bank of the Yellow River made up for Liu Bei, who was their daughter.

Are they unwilling to send food and grass, or are they unable to do so?

If these powerful families have begun to run thin, how much grain can the officials of each county and county collect from the people's homes?

Those girls can't retreat, whether they are concubines or righteous daughters with names, Liu Bei has to pretend to appease the scholars at both ends of the snake and rat. But it would be outrageous to let a coach who was about to blister in a hurry take care of them more, so he could only place them all together and send them back one by one after the battle.

But the fact that the grain and grass may not be sustainable made Liu Bei make up his mind.

"With my ability, I may not be defeated quickly, or I can stalemate, but if I want to win as soon as possible and repel Yuan Shao, I'm afraid it won't work."

Xu Shu blinked, suspecting that the lord had nothing to say.

Sure enough, the lord tentatively threw out an extremely terrible idea.

"I want Ciyu to come back and worship the generals on the altar, like the Marquis of Huaiyin, how about it?"

Chapter 534

War is a wonderful trap, and the magic lies in the fact that the warring parties who feel that they have great control over the territory and the people on it for a long time.

Because no matter how humble such a person looks, there will be a little arrogance in his heart, after all, he looks around, and everyone around him surrenders.

He often hears praise and boasting, which over time turns into flattery, and then a wave of confidence rises in his heart that he is as powerful as those praise.

Therefore, the ancients invented many allusions to ridicule and remind, such as Yelang's arrogance, such as not measuring his own strength, and for example, a certain article that later generations of students have learned, "Zou Ji satirizes the king of Qi", the truth is placed here, but after these allusions appear, there are still many people who continue to fall into this pit, which is amazing at the stupidity of those smart people who "mourn but do not learn".

But the question is, if you are a high-ranking person who lives in the midst of the rising and prosperous flowers of the world day after day, how do you know if what you see and hear is true?

A long time ago, when Liu Bei thought of Yuan Shao, he felt that it was really a headache for the great princes, Hebei was densely populated, with strong soldiers and horses, and he didn't know how many troops and populations he had annexed just by breaking through Youzhou...... That's Gongsun Zhan's territory! Gongsun Zhan is the master brother that Liu Bei followed when he was young!

But as time went on, after he won Yuyang and drove Cao Cao away to occupy half of Yanzhou, this idea gradually changed.

Yuan Shao is indeed very strong, but just looking at the map, he Liu Bei is not weak! He can also say that he has the land of four states! He is also the strong lord who stood to the end in the melee of the Central Plains princes! Why doesn't he deserve to compete with Yuan Shao on the same stage!

When Zhang Xiu and others were defeated by Ma Kaibing, he still had some calculations and luck in his heart.

After all, the three main generals could not fight the enemy together, Zhang Xiuxi's Liang soldiers were tired after a long battle, and Liu Xun and Cai Mao did not know the soldiers, so it was nothing to lose a game.

…… Moreover, this rare class of troops was also something Liu Bei had never seen before, and he couldn't imagine how powerful it was.

…… Now that he himself was trampled in the face by the heavy cavalry, he was finally sober.

"Lord, the other army is coming from afar, and our army can rest and work," Xu Shu thought for a while, and persuaded euphemistically, "What if the lord repairs Zhecheng and becomes an angle with Suiyang, with the lord in front and the second general behind, trapping Yuan Shao?" ”

Yes, Yuan Shao's labor division moved the crowd, and his grain was transported from afar, half of it was eaten on the road, and half of it was transported to the left. And Liu Bei is almost fighting on the mainland, and the loss rate of grain is greatly reduced, which is an extremely important advantage for cold weapon warfare.

Liu Bei lowered his head, flipped through the box next to the desk, and handed over a letter.

…… It was sent by Guan Yu, and the scouts wanted to bypass the battlefield, so it was a day late, but it didn't matter, there was no urgent information about 100,000 in it, only that Yuan Shao's rear sent about 100,000 stones of grain and grass and 20,000 people, of which 10,000 people were man, and the other 10,000 looked like recruits.

Xu Shu took the letter and read it, and the more he looked at it, the deeper his brows wrinkled.

They estimated that Yuan Shao's headquarters was about 100,000 soldiers and horses, which was already a rather staggering number, but Liu Bei and Guan Yu also had a combined force of 50,000 troops.

For example, relying on Liu Yan - Liu Bei sighed with additional emotion, "It's not in vain that I have treated him for so many years, and he has done me a great favor" - the Jizhou army has killed and injured nearly 10,000 people, which is a pretty beautiful counterattack.

…… Now Guan Yu's letter has come, saying that the number of Yuan Shaojun is still increasing, which makes people a little worried.

"Didn't Chen Yuanlong say that another 5,000 soldiers were recruited in Guangling, and they will also be sent to the lord's command?" Xu Shu comforted, "In this way, the lord has another 50,000 soldiers." ”

"That's right," Liu Bei said, "but I'm always afraid that the grain and grass will not be able to sustain." ”

I don't know how long Yuan Shao's grain and grass can last, some gossip says that the people of Jizhou have also begun to eat bran vegetables, and the family has tightened their belts, and they may not be able to last too long.

…… But Liu Bei can't pin his hopes on this.

He didn't even dare to hope that he could directly kill Yuan Shao here, or destroy Yuan Shao's army first, and then chase all the way to Jizhou.

As long as Ciyu can hurry back to Yuan Shao, let the people recuperate, and cultivate the land for two years.

"It's not a difficult goal, is it?"

Xu Shu pondered for a while, "If General Ciyu has the authority to dispatch troops and horses, it may work." ”

Liu Bei's face showed joy, "That's fine!" ”

But the strategist on the other side coughed anyway.

"But the lord must know that the accumulation of destruction and the decentralization of power must be done cautiously," Xu Shu said reluctantly, "It can't really be like the Huaiyin Marquis." ”

…… Liu Bei coughed a little unnaturally.

"There is one more thing," Xu Shu said, "General Ciyu is going south, is there any obstruction?" ”

"I heard that Yuan Shao had sent Yan Rou to guard Puyang and pacify the north," Liu Bei said, "but I don't know what his decision was." ”

Xu Shu hesitated for a while, "Does the lord know where Cao Cao went?" ”

Liyang City has also had a very good year.

Xun Yu listens to all kinds of news every day and updates the map; Guo Jia insisted on eating yams, and at the same time wrote letters to the Jizhou scholars; Xiahoudun arranged a small camp outside the city gate, gathered the defeated soldiers, left the strong and still fighting spirit of the part, and arranged for the rest to be sent to Puyang.

There are also people who are meticulously retraining this group of defeated dogs into the warriors that Cao Gong needs most.

This work is not very easy to do, especially Xiahoudun is also responsible for coordinating the logistics of food and grass, the training officer simply lived in this small camp, eating and sleeping with the soldiers, within a few days, this person was unanimously recognized by them because of the style of killing soldiers from martial arts to military arts, military discipline to conduct.

This man is too stern and old-fashioned to be approachable, but he does lead by example, so he approves of it. Some people even have the audacity to come forward and talk to other veterans in the battalion, this captain seems to be a very talented person, how did he get mixed up in this field?

Look at him wearing shabby leather armor, look at his gray hair that is older than his face, and look at the wrinkles on his face that are carved out of bitterness and hatred, like a petty officer who has no ambition in his life, but he still has a momentum that is not angry and self-imposing, which makes people very curious!

When the veterans of Qianxian County, who were in charge of the Jizhou soldiers, heard this, they seemed to think deeply for a while, and then sighed.

"Captain Yu was originally the most relied on person by the lord's side......"

And then what?

…… Then he refused to say more, and let those Jizhou soldiers think for themselves.

In the house where the charcoal fire burned well, Cao Cao was meditating alone.

The cyan wall coats on all sides of the room had faded, and the black lacquer pots and plain clay cups on the desk were not sets, and the winter sun shone through the window openings, spilling on the already badly worn floor, and the whole room was faintly pale.

He sat here to make a fire, and there were clerks next door busily calculating the grain and grass, and a low and noisy sound came through the walls, and a woman in the backyard was busy sewing and mending, and a child ran under the branches, and suddenly he was sprinkled with residual snow, and screamed, and there were pedestrians walking by outside the mansion, talking about something important or insignificant.

The city was filled with his soldiers, horses, and food, and there was a growing army outside the city.

When Cao Cao first entered the city, his expression was very calm and natural, but his face was a little pale unrestrained, and now when others see him, they will sincerely praise him for his good complexion and a little fat.

The same is true of the veterans who have brought from the county, they have lived a quiet and prosperous year, so everyone's faces also show a ruddy complexion.

The only fly in the ointment is that this situation does not last long.

- Lu Lian is about to set off.

The journey was an overnight affair, it was supposed to be stealthy and fast, and in an overnight moment, the soldiers and horses could walk out of dozens of miles, or even nearly a hundred miles, even if there were malicious eyes around, as long as the news spread a little slowly, they could no longer catch up.

But Lu Lian has the kindness of a woman, unless she is in a hurry, she can't march fast, and she can't keep it secret.

The sergeant of White Horse didn't even need to go outside her mansion to inquire about the money, just walk down the street and listen to the gossip of the vendors.

The army will be pulled, the soldiers are busy packing their burdens, the Qingzhou people are packing up their baggage, and the Jizhou people are hurriedly disposing of the firewood, hoop buckets, and rented tents. Some of the homeless people who were planning to stay in White Horse City began to inquire about the price of renting farm tools, while others who were ready to leave began to dig shacks.