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

Chapter 58: Xiang County Raiders, Confused Mei Gan
Not to mention how much Liu Bei missed Xiang County, in fact, when they defeated Lu Bu's troops, Qin Zhen's strategy to capture Xiang County was also progressing steadily.

After receiving the false news from Qin Zhen, Mei Qian personally led his troops out of the city, leaving Mei Cheng alone with more than 5,000 soldiers to guard Xiang County.

Without Mei Qian's restraint, Mei Cheng has been living a pretty good life these days.

Apart from patrolling the city walls all day, he was indulging in wine and sex.

This brings us to the cultural issue of a power. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

Among the many princes of the Three Kingdoms, each had its own corporate culture.

For example, under Yuan Shao's command, the country had vast territory, abundant resources, many soldiers and plenty of money, but Yuan Shao was indecisive, so although his ministers were capable, they were constantly fighting openly and secretly.

For example, the area under Cao's command was surrounded by wars, but Cao worked hard to govern the country, so everyone under his command put practical work first.

Liu Bei put benevolence and righteousness first, which also influenced his generals and soldiers, who would not rob the people. Even Mi Zhu, Jian Yong and others mainly practiced benevolent governance.

The only person who was quite capable was Yuan Shu in the early period in Nanyang. However, as his territory grew larger and larger, he began to levy heavy taxes.

The subordinates followed suit, and most of the officers and soldiers under his command became greedy and forgetful of their principles when they saw profit.

Except for a few senior generals, most of the generals in charge of garrisoning various places were those who exploited the common people.

Mei Cheng is such a person, he is born restless!

Previously, he had wanted to take the opportunity of rescuing Zhang Xun to lead the troops alone, seize the credit, and escape from Mei Qian's command.

As a result, Mei Qian refused and his ambition failed, so he simply stayed in the city, feeling unhappy and using alcohol and sex to relieve his depression.

One day, he was watching a dancer's performance in the palace when he suddenly saw a soldier coming to report:

"General, there is a group of people outside the city, claiming to be General Qiao Rui, and they want to enter the city to see you!"

Mei Cheng heard this, put down the wine cup in his hand, frowned and said:

"Qiao Rui? How did this person come here?!"

Although he had been drinking during the day, he was not drunk yet. He knew something was wrong when he heard it!
Because he knew that this time Yuan Shu ordered Zhang Xun and others to go north to attack Lu Bu, and Qiao Rui was among them.

Logically speaking, even if the army was defeated, Qiao Rui should have stayed with Zhang Xun.

But now Qiao Rui appeared outside the city!

What is this scenario?
There are only two possibilities. One is that after Zhang Xun's troops were defeated in Xia Pi, Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun separated.

Secondly, Zhang Xun had already been defeated in Qulu, and only Qiao Rui escaped!

But neither of these two possibilities is logical.

If it is the first possibility, Qiao Rui should not have come to Xiang County!
He has troops and should go south to join Ji Ling and others, instead of going the long way to Xiang County.

If it is the second possibility, then it is even more inappropriate!

You must know that Mei Qian has already sent out troops. If Zhang Xun is defeated again, Qiao Rui, as a defeated soldier, should meet Mei Qian first, instead of arriving outside Xiang County silently!

There must be something wrong with this!

Thinking of this, Mei Cheng stood up, waved his hand to dismiss the dancer, and looked at the soldier and said:
"Where is Qiao Rui now? How many soldiers and horses does he have?"

The soldier hurriedly replied:
"The general is waiting outside the city. There are less than 3,000 soldiers and horses, and no food or supplies. I'm afraid they are fleeing!"

When he heard that Qiao Rui had only three thousand people, Mei Cheng frowned again.

Three thousand people can be said to be neither too many nor too few, and this number meets the standard for a retreat.

"Take me there to have a look!"

After thinking for a while, he decided to go and see for himself.

After all, although Qiao Rui is not as good as Zhang Xun, he is not easy to offend.

Under the guidance of the soldiers, Mei Cheng rode his horse to the gate of Xiang County and climbed up the tower. Sure enough, he saw a large number of soldiers sitting outside the city, and one general shouted outside:

"Where is Mei Qian? Will you let our army enter the city? Please give me some information."

Mei Cheng had also seen Qiao Rui before, so he squinted his eyes and smiled:

"Excuse me, is General Qiao outside the city?"

"Mei Cheng is here. General, please tell me what you want to say!"

Qiao Rui looked up and shouted:
"I also know your name. I heard that you are Mei Qian's cousin. Let me ask you, where is Mei Qian now? Why don't you open the city gate?"

He was originally a general under Yuan Shu, while Mei Cheng was only a captain, so there was naturally some contempt in his words.

Mei Cheng was used to acting like a grandson, so he smiled and said:
"It's not that I don't want to open the city gate, it's just that my brother is not in the city!"

"There are not many soldiers in our city. Even if the general is in front, we should interrogate him thoroughly!"

But when Qiao Rui heard this, he became furious and said:

"Megan is not in the city?"

"His Majesty ordered you to guard this place and guard against the troops of various families. Now that there is no order from the general, how can you easily leave the city?"

Qiao Rui was a bold and careful man. Although he came to the city to deceive people, he did not show any fear at all.

This attitude made Mei Cheng lose confidence and he asked hurriedly:
"General, what are you talking about? Didn't the two generals fail in battle and retreat to the frontier, and then sent envoys to ask for help, asking you to send troops to help?"

"How come the general doesn't know about this?"

A premonition of disaster suddenly arose in his heart.

What Qiao Rui said is different from the information they are receiving now, which proves that one of them is false!

Qiao Rui is right here, so the fake one can only be from Zhang Xun's side!
And things turned out just as he expected. As soon as he finished speaking, Qiao Rui said with horror:

"Our army was defeated in Xiapi a long time ago. That fellow Lu Bu persuaded Yang Feng and Han Xian to rebel. With the help of both inside and outside forces, our army was almost completely annihilated. How could we even talk about retreating?"

"This must be a plot by the enemy. Send a messenger quickly to persuade Mei Qian to return."

"Otherwise, your troops will fall into the trap again."

Mei Cheng felt a chill in his heart when he heard this, and said to Qiao Rui:

"But my brother has been gone for more than four days. If he has been tricked, he might have met with misfortune."

Qiao Rui immediately became anxious and pointed at Mei Cheng and cursed:

"Whether it is true or not, we should send someone to investigate first. There is no reason to do nothing."

"If you don't go, give me a few days of food and I will go and catch Mei Qian." His scolding woke Mei Cheng up immediately. Considering that Mei Qian might be defeated, he turned around and said:
"Someone, quickly inform my brother of the news here!"

When the soldiers heard this, they hurriedly took the order and left.

After a while, the city gate opened a little to allow the messenger to pass through.

When Qiao Rui saw this, he did not move.

Mei Cheng, who was on the city wall, saw that his soldiers were lazy and thought that if it was a trick, why didn't Qiao Rui move when he opened the door?

The reason why he looks like this now is because he has nothing to hide!
At that moment, his last doubts were dispelled, and he shouted directly:

"Open the city gate and let General Qiao in!"

As he spoke, he ran all the way down to the city gate, but saw Qiao Rui lying motionless.

Seeing this, Mei Cheng couldn't help but ask again:

"General, why don't you lead your troops into the city?"

It was not until he asked this question that Qiao Rui snorted coldly and said:

"Humph! I thought that after arriving here today, I wouldn't even be able to enter the city!"

As he said this, he turned around and shouted:
"Get up and follow me into the city!"

Under his command, the soldiers stood up one after another and marched towards the city.

Mei Cheng watched from the side, but felt that he was being too suspicious.

These soldiers don't look like they are here to capture the city. They are clearly a group of defeated troops with no fighting spirit!

However, seeing Qiao Rui being so arrogant, he felt indignant in his heart. How could a defeated general be so arrogant!
Thinking this in his heart, he no longer had any doubts.

People are always like this. Even if others are not kind to you, if you are used to it, you will feel it is reasonable.

Once the other person suddenly becomes enthusiastic, you should start to think that there is something wrong with him or her.

It can be said that there is absolutely no doubt about Qiao Rui's performance!
With this in mind, Mei Cheng resumed his previous respectful attitude, hurriedly caught up with the team, and asked:
"Speaking of which, I haven't asked yet. Where did the general come from?"

As soon as he said this, Qiao Rui's face darkened and he gritted his teeth and said:
"Where else can you come from? You are a defeated army!"

Mei Cheng knew that he had offended Qiao Rui and did not dare to ask any more questions. He could only follow silently until all the troops entered the city, and then he arranged a banquet to entertain everyone.

At this time, a troop was resting on the east side of Xiang County and south of Wu County.

This group of soldiers belonged to Mei Qian's army.

Contrary to what Mei Cheng had guessed, Mei Qian not only did not walk very far, but in four whole days, he didn't even walk halfway.

Because Mei Qian is a very cunning person!
Although he agreed to send reinforcements on the surface, he actually had his own plans in mind.

In his opinion, rescuing Zhang Xun was far more than just doing a favor!
Because although Zhang Xun's status was higher than his, he could provide him with little help. Even if he said good things to Yuan Shu, it would not be of much help to him.

Therefore, if he wants to continue to be promoted and get rewards, he must obtain them through war!
It would be best to win a great and satisfying victory.

But before that, he was in charge of Xiang County and had no such opportunity at all.

He didn't dare to offend Cao Cao and Liu Chong in the west, nor did he dare to touch Lu Bu in the east. Only Liu Bei had few soldiers, but he was not easy to mess with.

Faced with this situation, he can only muddle along.

But this time, Zhang Xun's request for help gave him an opportunity to fight.

At present, Zhang Xun was defeated and was surrounded by Lu Bu and Liu Bei. It seemed that he was in imminent danger, but in fact, Ji Ling and others were still around to provide support.

Simply put, this battle still has to be fought!
Of course, he would not be so foolish as to go directly for reinforcements, but would first find out the military situation ahead.

As a result, this investigation completely confused him.

Because when he explored, he found out that there was no Zhang Xun!
There was no war around Quli City at all.

This means that the letter asking for help was fake news!

When he wanted to call the messenger to ask, he found that the messenger had already left quietly.

This news made Mei Qian feel nervous.

But the problem lies here. Zhang Xun’s letter for help is fake, so what is the enemy’s intention?

Thinking of this, Mei Qian simply stopped advancing, but he did not return to Xiang County either. Instead, he sent spies to find out the enemy's whereabouts!
After a few days, he realized that things were far more horrible than he had imagined!
Zhang Xun was defeated and almost his entire army was wiped out. His whereabouts as well as Qiao Rui and others were unknown.

On the contrary, Liu Bei and Lu Bu's power increased greatly and they seized a large amount of food and fodder.

At this point, the answer is obvious.

Zhang Xun sent this letter to transfer him out of the city, as the enemy's intention was to attack Xiang County!
So Mei Qian had no time to be surprised and led his troops back towards Xiang County.

But at this time, he found something wrong, because if the enemy wanted to take Xiang County, they must at least send troops!

But his spies explored the front and found no signs of the enemy's arrival.

This made Mei Qian very confused!
The current situation is like the enemy has transferred him out of the city, but has not taken any follow-up action against him!
This is obviously not normal! Could it be that the enemy is lying in ambush ahead?
So Mei Qian sent out a few pairs of spies to investigate this morning.

In short, he felt uneasy because he couldn't find any trace of the enemy!

After sending out the spies, Mei Qian began to think constantly about the enemy's possible plans, and he kept thinking about it until night.

While I was thinking, I suddenly saw a man on horseback galloping towards me.

Seeing someone coming, Mei Qian hurried forward and asked:

"Have you found any traces of the enemy?"

But when the man heard this, he was stunned and said:

"General, I came from Xiang County to deliver a message, not a sentinel."

When Mei Qian heard that the person was from Xiang County, he felt nervous and said:

"What's the matter with Xiang County?"

The man hurriedly saluted and said:
"General Qiao Rui arrived at Xiang County this morning and said that he had fallen into the enemy's trap."

"General Mei Cheng heard about it, so he sent me to persuade the general to return!"

When Mei Qian heard this, he raised his eyebrows.

First it was Zhang Xun, then Qiao Rui, what is the situation now?
Why does he feel more and more confused?
(End of this chapter)