Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 53: Breaking off relations, Lü Bu dispatches troops

Outside Xia Pi City, in Liu Bei’s camp.

Just when Chen Gong in the city had finished his plan, Liu Bei followed Qin Zhen's strategy and prepared three thousand soldiers and horses, all of whom were equipped with Yuan Shu's army supplies. He asked Qiao Rui and Chen Dao to take some dry food and quietly left the camp.

Not long after seeing the two off, Liu Bei and Qin Zhen returned to the camp and saw Fu Shiren approaching them with a look of joy on his face:

"My lord, good news, good news!"

"The three generals have gone to Xia Pi and brought back the food and supplies that Lü Bu promised them!"

When Liu Bei heard this, he said:

"What? Lu Bu handed over the food and supplies to my third brother?"

Seeing this, Fu Shiren thought Liu Bei was shocked by the surprise, and laughed:

"That's right. I didn't expect General Zhang to be so powerful that he could scare Lu Bu into handing over his baggage!"

But he had no idea that Liu Bei was not surprised but frightened.

Even without Qin Zhen's speculation, he knew very well what kind of person Lu Bu was, and he never thought that he could get the money and food back.

But now it’s really coming back!
Is this Lu Bu's personality change? Impossible!

The only explanation is what Qin Zhen inferred, there is a plan involved!

Thinking of this, he looked at Qin Zhen and said:

"Military Advisor, what should we do?"

But Qin Zhen smiled and said:

"I didn't expect that after being locked up for a few days, Chen Gong came up with a good plan!"

"But it doesn't matter. The food and supplies are coming, and our army will accept them."

"Let's go and see how much money and food Lü Bu gave us."

Seeing that Qin Zhen was not in a panic, Liu Bei nodded and walked with him towards the camp gate.

As soon as he arrived at the camp gate, Zhang Fei came forward and said with a smile:
"Brother, look, this fellow Lu Bu is really scary!"

"Isn't this sending money and food to our army?"

Behind him, carriages and horses were escorting captured soldiers into the camp.

In this era, a horse-drawn carriage could carry more than 30 stones of grain and fodder.

Sixty thousand dan of grain, enough for more than 1,800 horse-drawn carriages, as well as money and weapons, came in an endless supply.

It can be seen that when seeing this situation, Old Liu was not happy but worried.

The more generous Lu Bu was, the more panicked he became.

Regardless of what Lu Bu’s plan is, just having so much food and supplies would greatly slow down their advance and reduce the army’s combat effectiveness.

You know, the reason why civilians were mobilized in ancient wars was because the troops escorting food and fodder did not have much combat power at all!

Once you encounter an ambush or raid, the enemy will rush over before you even have time to form a formation!
This kind of army will scatter at the first attack.

Therefore, civilian laborers must be mobilized to free up combat personnel to deal with emergencies.

Now, the food and fodder provided by Lu Bu directly turned his combat troops into transport troops.

As long as Lu Bu sent a troop to follow along the way, he could wait for an opportunity and defeat their army at any time.

Not to mention that now they have to divide their troops to take Xiang County.

This move put them in a dilemma!
So he thought about it, but found no solution, and did not care about Zhang Fei, and just asked Qin Zhen:

"Military Advisor, what should we do?"

When he said this, Zhang Fei said depressedly:

"Brother, what are you talking about? Lü Bu has given us food and grass, and our army will take it!"

"Could it be a bad thing if we get the food and supplies?"

Liu Bei was anxious when he heard this, and it was hard to explain, but Qin Zhen nodded and smiled;

"Just as Yide said, this is not a bad thing. Our army just happens to be short of food and money. As long as we can bring it back, it will be a good thing!"

"I know what you are worried about. Why don't you come into the tent and discuss it in detail?"

Liu Bei thought, it would be great if he could take it back, but with so much money and food, he was afraid he couldn't take it back.

Seeing that Qin Zhen wanted to go into the tent for a detailed discussion, he nodded in agreement and motioned Zhang Fei to follow.

The three of them came into the tent together, and Zhang Fei asked:
"I see that my brother is worried, what is the reason?"

Before Liu Bei could explain, Qin Zhen said:
"The reason why you are worried is that this must be a plot by the enemy!"

He told Zhang Fei his inference and said:
"If it were Lu Bu's nature, even if he was willing to give money and food, he wouldn't give so much!"

"This person gave so much food and fodder, he must have the intention to kill."

"Now that our army has obtained food and supplies, the marching speed will be slow. If Lu Bu wants to recover the food and supplies, he only needs to send a soldier to follow behind!"

"On the contrary, our army wants to take Xiang County, but we can't afford to lose our food and fodder. We are in a dilemma!"

After hearing the explanation, Zhang Fei suddenly understood:

"I thought Lu Bu was so generous, but I didn't expect he had so many plans!"

After thinking it through, his expression turned fierce again:
"Since this man has evil intentions and we have obtained food and grass, why should our army take Xiang County? We should just give up Xiaopei and transfer my second brother and his men over to station in Xiapi!"

Seeing Zhang Fei saying such nonsense again, Liu Bei frowned and said:
"Don't say anything, Third Brother. This plan will never work!"

Qin Zhen couldn't help but think to himself when he heard this:
"General Zhang's plan is fine, but our army cannot move now!"

In fact, he was quite pleased that Zhang Fei could say this!
Because Zhang Fei's words were not simply impulsive, but were well thought out.

If it were Zhang Fei in the past, he would definitely scream and lead his troops to fight Lu Bu on the spot.

But it is different now. Zhang Fei can think of pulling the garrison in Xiaopei to come and attack together. As long as they fight well, even if they can't take Xia Pi, they can still seize a few cities in Xuzhou and gain a foothold.

However, Zhang Fei obviously did not consider the political impact:
"Now our army and Lu Bu are openly united. Whoever fights openly will lose his integrity!"

"This is also because Lu Bu wants to provide me with military rations and grass."

"If he wants to attack our army, he must first provide us with food and fodder so that our army can leave this place."

"In this case, he only needs to attack our army under the banner of others, and then it has nothing to do with him in terms of justice!" "On the contrary, if our army takes the initiative, it will be a betrayal!"

"So even if our army knows that Lu Bu has this intention, we cannot take action!"

"But if our army leaves with the food and fodder, it will also give the enemy an opportunity to attack."

"This is not only an enemy plot, but also an open conspiracy. It cannot be easily broken!"

Listening to Qin Zhen's words, Zhang Fei began to think for a moment.

After thinking about it for a while, even Zhang Fei looked worried.

How to break this situation now?
The food and fodder are right in front of you. It would be a pity if you don't take them, but you can't take them away if you take them.

The money and food that had been elusive in the past suddenly became a hot potato!
He has followed Liu Bei for so long, but he has never seen such a complicated situation!
Thinking of the instigator of all this, he asked Qin Zhen:
"Military Advisor, you must have a solution. Why don't you tell me? I, Old Zhang, really can't think of one!"

Liu Bei thought for a while, but couldn't think of a way to break the deadlock, so he looked at Qin Zhen.

Facing the gazes of the two, Qin Zhen smiled and said:

"If you want to break a conspiracy, you should break it with an open conspiracy!"

"What our army is worried about is that we don't know how the enemy is going to act. We have to let the enemy act before we can respond!"

"So according to my opinion, our army will move out tonight!"

"Place spies outside Xia Pi City to see what the enemy's movements are!"

Liu Bei heard this and nodded:

"This is a serious matter!"

It was just as Qin Zhen said, the enemy did not take any action, and now they had no idea what Lu Bu was doing.

Get moving, and see clearly before discussing.

Zhang Fei listened, frowned and said:

"Our army will break camp tonight. Doesn't that mean we have to march at night?"

"What if Lu Bu has evil intentions and takes advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack?"

"He doesn't dare to do so, and there is no need to do so!"

Qin Zhen shook his head and said;
"The reason why Lu Bu's army planned this way is that they were afraid of being accused of attacking friendly forces."

"Otherwise, you can just send out troops without paying any money or food."

"Now he has made up his mind. Seeing our army is leaving, he is so happy that he will not chase after us!"

"Our army will leave tonight and head straight to Pengcheng. If Lu Bu wants to take action, he will most likely be in Pengcheng!"

"I see!"

Zhang Fei couldn't help but grin when he heard this:

"Luckily we have the military advisor here, otherwise how would we know the enemy's plan?"

He now admires Qin Zhen more and more.

If Qin Zhen wasn't there, they really wouldn't know how to hide from all these plots.

When Liu Bei heard this, he hurriedly asked:

"Since our army is leaving tonight, should we go to the city to say goodbye?"

"No need to say goodbye! Right now, our army and Lu Bu's army are only a matter of time before they can even confront each other. There is no need to worry about etiquette!"

Qin Zhen explained to Liu Bei:

"Our troops left quietly to show the enemy that we are weak!"

"When Lu Bu sees this, he knows that our army is timid and panic-stricken, so he will think that our plan has worked!"

"They act according to the plan, so our army can make arrangements!"

Liu Bei thought this made sense and nodded in agreement.

That night, Liu Bei's army cooked at the second watch, left the camp at the fourth watch, and moved away overnight.

It was not until dawn that the spies of Lu Bu's army discovered it and went straight into the city to report.

As soon as Lu Bu got up, he heard the news that Liu Bei's army had left, and hurriedly called everyone to discuss the matter.

Early in the morning, Chen Gong also changed into new clothes, wearing a tall hat and brown clothes, looking solemn and stern.

Upon hearing Lü Bu's words that Liu Bei's army had left, Chen Gong stroked his beard and smiled.

"The enemy is showing its weakness. Liu Bei's army must be hiding something, otherwise they wouldn't be so hasty!"

Lü Bu had already heard Chen Gong's inference and had a preconceived notion in his mind that Liu Bei came here just for food and fodder, so he said coldly:

"I thought Liu Bei was kind and righteous, but I didn't expect this big-eared thief to be so treacherous!"

"Thanks to Gongtai's planning, otherwise I would have been deceived by this person this time!"

"Now that Liu Bei has left, should our army dispatch troops immediately?"

Chen Gong did not reply after hearing this, but looked at Yang Feng and the others and said:

"After discussion yesterday, our army decided to send General Wei Xu to join the expedition. I wonder which of the two generals is willing to go?"

Yang Feng and the other looked at each other, and finally Han Xian stepped forward and said:
"I am willing to defeat the thieves!"

"This is a great thing to say!"

Chen Gong heard this and turned back to Lü Bu and said:
"Marquis Wen, our army can take action tonight and chase them out of the city!"

Lu Bu stroked his beard and frowned:
"The enemy went last night, why don't our army pursue them now?"

Chen Gong shook his head and smiled:
"No, the enemy must have known our plan and is in a panic, so they want to leave quickly and let our army pursue them in broad daylight!"

"But our army must not lose its composure. They have a lot of baggage and will not be able to move fast."

"We should let him go for a day, he can't go far, we shouldn't expose our whereabouts, so as not to give him a chance to criticize us!"

Seeing that Chen Gong's words made sense, Lu Bu nodded in agreement.

So they waited until night time again, and Wei Xu quietly led the Xianzhen Camp out of the city. He and Han Xian took ten days' worth of food and fodder, replaced the prepared flags, and headed west.

(End of this chapter)