Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 328: Dark Clouds Overcome the City
Xiapi City, the county hall.

There is a feast going on.

A celebration feast.

Wine cups were placed on the tables in front of everyone, and their faces were filled with joy after victory, except for Liu Bei's two sworn brothers.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

It's not surprising that Guan Yu, who has always been reserved, has always been serious, but what happened to Zhang Fei?

This made some of the generals unavoidably suspicious. From time to time, they would sneak a glance at the right seat and see that the Yan man was just drinking in silence, becoming more and more suspicious.

Even more ingeniously, he also found that Liu Bei, the state shepherd, seemed to have a forced smile, and was even more surprised, and couldn't help feeling uneasy.

Of course Liu Bei couldn't be happy.

According to the original plan, after Yuan Shujun was lured into the territory of Xiapi, he and Guan Yu should cooperate with each other to defeat the main force of Yuan's army led by Qiao Rui, and then conquer Zhucheng, and chase the scattered remnants of the defeated generals to complete the battle. The strategic goal of the complete annihilation of Yuan Shu's army that invaded Xuzhou.

The first two have been considered to be more than half completed. In the first battle, Yuan Shu's [-] troops were defeated, and Guan Yu personally beheaded the coach Qiao Rui. It was reported that the two cities around Xiapi had been recovered, Quli in the west and Tongguo in the south.

Just when Liu Bei was in high spirits, he was about to take advantage of the victory to pursue and take the last step bravely, but he received a message that made the drumming in his heart stop abruptly.

My own base camp, Tancheng, has fallen!
Wangzheng!

It's this vertical stick again!

When the name resounded in his ears again, Liu Bei was furious, and the murderous intent in his eyes gushed out as if it had turned into substance, which frightened the messenger at that time so much that he didn't dare to take a breath.

Even after many years, the messenger still remembered the scene of that day. He never thought that a person's eyes could be so red that they rolled like two drops of blood.

And
He is still an easy-going and kind person like Liu Bei.

Liu Bei finally restrained himself, and did not completely lose his mind because of his anger.

After panting heavily for a long time, he managed to calm down. After accepting the fact that made him upset, he immediately ordered the messenger not to spread the news.

Liu Bei knew very well that the army had just won the victory, and this news must not be leaked at this time, so as to let too many people know, so as not to turmoil the hearts of the people and lower morale.

Similarly, it is naturally impossible to divide troops to pursue Yuan Jun.

Looking at the generals, Liu Bei forced a smile, clapped his hands and said: "Although there is a big victory, everything in the city is waiting to be done, and it is not appropriate to waste money. We can only enjoy ourselves with a glass of water and wine. Generals, please Haihan!"

"Preparation, I would like to respect all the generals, please drink up to the full!"

During his toast, all the generals stood up and toasted, and wished Liu Bei with a smile: "Wan'an, the state shepherd."

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were a little startled.

At this time in the hall, perhaps only the two of them know the true feelings of their elder brother at this time?
But such a gloomy and angry Liu Bei wants to force a smile in front of everyone, how embarrassing is it?
The two looked at each other, and after a moment of silence, they raised the wine glasses in their hands and drank them all in one gulp.I only feel that the taste of wine is sour and astringent.

After Zhang Qian traveled to the Western Regions, the products of the Western Regions were introduced to the Han Dynasty. Grapes were one of them. Xiapi was even more impressed by him. Not only did it have the Bowang Bridge (Zhang Qian’s title is Bowanghou), it became the earliest spread of Buddhism in the Celestial Dynasty. (Ruo Rong, who served as Prime Minister of Xiapi, is the earliest recorded Sanskrit.), has also become a place rich in grapes, which has lasted for thousands of years.

Even so, wine has become one of the representative specialties of Xiapi.

What can be presented at today's celebration feast is the best among Xiapi wines.

It's just that although it is good wine, they feel the same way for Liu Bei, so drinking it at this time is like drinking poison.

At this time, there was a rush of footsteps coming from outside the hall.

Immediately, a sentinel hurried in from the outside with an excited expression on his face, and immediately shouted loudly: "Good news from the east!"

"Yesterday, Lieutenant Wu defeated Yuan's bandits in Xiaxiang City, beheaded [-], captured more than [-] soldiers, and seized a large amount of grain, equipment, and armor. I don't know how many."

Hearing this, everyone in the hall showed joy and beamed with joy, and Liu Bei raised his eyebrows even more, slapped the table heavily, and shouted: "Okay!"

There was a loud noise on the table, and a wine glass jumped on the table, but Liu Bei ignored it completely, just paced back and forth on the main seat, laughing loudly, applauding again and again.

This time the smile really came from the heart.

Victory or defeat and the beheading of the capital are secondary, but the key is the food and equipment captured, which is exactly what he needs most at this time.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also nodded repeatedly.

They knew that there might be another war in the near future, and when it came to talking about it, the Yellow Turban bandits under Wang Zheng's command might not be as difficult as Yuan Shu's men.

What they and Liu Bei were most worried about before was not fighting, but the supply of food and equipment.

Losing Tancheng, Xiapi's storage was consumed by more than half. It was a time of worry, but Xiaxiang brought a surprise.

Just as he was thinking like this, he saw that a general had already stepped out of the crowd, knelt down on one knee, and said, "Zhou Mu, the news of success is coming in frequently, which shows that the momentum of our army is like a rainbow!"

"Yuan Shu's traitor is ambitious and dared to invade our territory. The last general thought that he should take advantage of the momentum and pursue Yangzhou to avenge his great revenge!"

What are you talking nonsense about?

Liu Bei, who was almost blocked by such foolish words, didn't catch his breath.

Even if there were no changes in Tancheng, it would be impossible for him to go on an expedition after the great war, when his vitality was not restored, right?

"It's not urgent." Thanks to his energy-saving skills, he managed to reply softly, then looked around at the crowd, and said, "Since the prime minister is Yuan Jun's previous luggage and the place where the food was stored, if I get it now, I will definitely get it." Guard it heavily!"

"Besides Sima Guan Yu!"

Guan Yu was startled, walked out of his seat and came to the hall, bowed and said, "Zhou Mu, the last general will be here."

Liu Bei threw down a military order and said, "I order you to bring 3000 troops to go to the prime minister, and urge the soldiers and generals to prepare supplies, and escort some of the food and grass to Xiapi first. At the same time, guard the city so that nothing will be lost!"

Perhaps because of his excitement, the force of the throw was so great that the cast iron token even knocked a small hole in the ground.

Guan Yu received the military order, glanced at Liu Bei, and said solemnly: "Don't worry, Zhou Mu."

"If the feather is in one day, it will be in one day for the next phase!"

Liu Bei didn't say it clearly, but he has already realized that the prime minister is not only a place to store food, but also forms horns with Xiapi City in the east and west.

Seeing the rain from the sky relieved the urgent need, Liu Bei's mood finally improved. He picked up the wine cups on the table, took a sip, savored it carefully, and suddenly laughed: "Meng Tuo used one liter of wine in the past to bequeath the governor. It was ridiculous.”

"Drinking the wine from Xiapi today, although the governor Fang is dishonest, the wine is indeed very good."

What Liu Bei was talking about was a very famous event in the late Han Dynasty. The "Continued Han Shu" records: Fufeng Mengta left Zhang Rang with a liter of wine, and he was called the governor of Liangzhou.

Meng Ta's word is Tuo, so he is also called Meng Tuo. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the eunuchs were in charge, and the twelve most powerful men in the reign of Emperor Ling were called the ten permanent attendants. Zhang Rang was the first among them. There have been jokes such as "Zhang Changshi is my father" through the ages.

Of course, in the real history, Zhang Rang would definitely not let Meng Tuo be the governor of Liangzhou just because of a liter of wine. Wine is precious and respected.

The general who sat below him greeted him with humor, and said: "Zhang Rang is a national traitor, but he has some discernment. He is a person who knows the goods. He knows the benefits of our Xiapi wine, so he is not useless." After a pause, He said again: "This tells the fool that if he worries about a thousand things, he will gain something."

How can this idiom be used on this person?

Hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help laughing, but he also knew that most of the generals were vulgar and ignorant, it was normal for them to use wrong allusions and wording mistakes, but he never took offense at it, just shook his head slightly, laughed for a while, and looked up. He looked out of the hall.

It was dusk, the peaks and mountains were like anger, the wind was rolling and rustling.

After drinking for three rounds, everyone has drunk about half a jug of wine, and a few of them are already drunk because of poor drinking capacity.

At this time, the Han people still mainly use rice wine. Although wine is a famous product in Xiapi, they don’t drink much on a daily basis, and many people don’t know its stamina until now.

Liu Bei drank a lot, but he was also a little dizzy. Looking out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that except for the two brothers who were calm and relaxed, most of the people gradually stopped enjoying the banquet. Knowing that it was almost time, he waved the banquet away .

After watching everyone go away, Liu Bei took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei back to the back hall. Just as he sat down, he heard Zhang Fei shouting impatiently: "Brother, Yuan Jun has been defeated, we should turn back as soon as possible and take back Tancheng!"

Liu Bei glanced at his third younger brother, pondered for a long while, then shook his head: "Let's fight, it's not appropriate to act rashly at this time."

"Then when will we wait?" Although Zhang Fei knew what Liu Bei said was right, he was concerned about it: "Brother, since this city of Tan falls into the hands of thieves, my sister-in-law is also trapped in it!"

Liu Bei was silent for a long time, and sighed: "I heard that since Wang Zheng entered Xuzhou, he has strict military discipline. Even though his family's city is trapped, he may not be murdered. In the future, he will plan to rescue him slowly."

"Brother." Zhang Fei yelled, "How can you trust these yellow scarf bandits? What if?"

"Otherwise what else?" Liu Bei smiled, but the smile was slightly bitter, but it revealed that his heart was not as free and easy as the surface at the moment: "Brothers are like siblings, and wives are like clothes. Also, what can I say?"

At this time, Guan Yu who was on the side interjected, "Brother, how many troops did this Shuzi make to conquer the city so fast?"

"And why is the movement covered up so carefully that we didn't know anything about it beforehand?"

"The fall of Tancheng was not caused by foreign enemies." Liu Bei shook his head, "It was caused by internal strife."

"Civil strife?" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked at each other the same way, and asked at the same time, "Who betrayed brother!"

Liu Bei sighed, and after telling the sentry cavalry one by one the news, Zhang Fei's face was suddenly full of viciousness, and he flew into a rage:
"It's all right for Zang Ba and Xu Dan, Chen Deng and his son, the eldest brother has always treated him well, but he is so ungrateful!"

"It should be killed!"

"It's not just Chen Deng!" Guan Yu also squinted his eyes, and said calmly: "Big brother handed over the complete collection of soldiers and horses to Mi Zhu at that time. If there is no problem with this person, Tancheng would never be lost so easily!"

"Big brother, the Mi family, and Mi Zhu must have betrayed too!"

"No nonsense!"

Before Guan Yu finished speaking, Liu Bei cut off his words directly, and even glanced at Guan Yu, signaling him not to continue.

In fact, he also had this idea in his heart, but he still had luck in his heart.

As long as Mi Zhu's name never really appeared among the people sent by the sentry to take refuge in the king's government, even if they saw Mi Fang, or even the Mi family...
Liu Bei didn't want to, and couldn't believe that Mi Zhu had already had a different heart.

"Zizhong will never be spared!"

he said firmly.

"Big brother."

Guan Yu wanted to say more, but at this moment, suddenly a personal guard rushed in, and he didn't communicate in advance.

"rude!"

Guan Yu immediately grinned, and was about to yell, but Liu Bei waved his hands: "This is an old man who is following us. If it wasn't an emergency, it wouldn't be like this."

Then, looking at the panting soldier, Wen Yan asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Report to Zhou Mu." The guard said eagerly: "In the northeast, the sky is full of smoke and dust, and there seems to be a large group of people approaching Xiapi!"

"what?"

Liu Bei was taken aback, and Zhang Fei even shouted: "How is it possible? The northeast of us is a good city. The Yuan army who entrenched there three days ago was wiped out long ago, and the general was stabbed to death by my spear. I also sent scouts to swarm around hundreds of thousands of people. I have checked here, and there is absolutely no ambush army, how can there be any large groups of people?"

"It's possible!" Guan Yu snorted coldly, "Third Brother, don't forget that Tancheng is also to the northeast of Xiapi!"

Almost at the same time, the three brothers had the same thought in their minds.

It's the stick!

After the victory, the generals attended the celebration banquet, while the ordinary soldiers, except those on patrol, returned to the barracks early and fell into a deep sleep.

At the moment when most people thought that Liu Bei's army was going to rest for a period of time, the untimely horn sounded suddenly in the tents of the three armies.

That is an urgent assembly order!
Hearing the sound of the horn, the soldiers must immediately put on their armor and rush out of the camp, and the middle and senior officers must immediately enter the commander's mansion where the commander is, and discuss matters in the military tent.

Afterwards, there were more messengers running horses on the top of the city, shouting loudly all the way:
"All the soldiers of the army, listen, the state shepherd has an order, the horses are ready, and the generals go to the city."

"Attention all ministries, draw your knives and guns out of their sheaths, be on guard, and make no mistakes."

There was a sudden commotion in the camp, and no one knew what happened. Not long after, a news spread quickly throughout the three armies.

To the northeast of Xiapi City, there seems to be a large group of strange soldiers approaching!

Because the gathering was too sudden, many people were still in disarray and sleepy at this time, and they didn't fully wake up until after the news, and everyone changed color immediately.

Strange soldiers?

In this dark night, the army that suddenly rushed towards Xiapi City, what good intentions could there be?
It can only be the enemy!

Even though they had just won a big victory, under the siege of Yuan Jun for many days, Xiapi's city defenses were actually dilapidated, and more than half of the army rations and equipment were consumed. As a result, they had to go through war again before they had rested for a few days, which made many soldiers I feel uneasy.

When he got to the top of the city, most of the generals had already arrived. Liu Bei tried his best to look forward, but he couldn't make out the number of people in the darkness. He could only see the flames like dragons, and there was a faint rumbling sound that hit his ears.

That's a lot of people, he thought to himself.

Soon after, the messenger boarded the top of the city and said, "Report to Zhou Mu, the last general has notified all the ministries, and all the troops are ready to take precautions."

"Thank you." Liu Bei nodded and said, "Let's go down and rest first."

The orderly hadn't gone down yet, and then a scout ran up again, out of breath, and said:

"Baozhou Mu, that team set up a stronghold ten miles away from the city, but the forward of about a thousand people continued to approach Xiapi!"

Hearing this, Liu Bei nodded and looked around at everyone.

It seemed that it was not long after the victory, and the faces of the generals were solemn, but they were not too disturbed.

He looked up again at the sky.

The stars and the moon are blurred, and a few clouds float in the dark blue sky.

It's just that I don't know if it's because of the rapidly approaching flames in the distance that the sky seems to have a tinge of blood red.

(End of this chapter)