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

Chapter 62: Attack and Defense Change, Chen Gong's Fear
Faced with the fact that Liu Bei's army had already captured Xiang County, although Lu Bu was angry, he could do nothing about it.

They had no choice but to station troops on the border of Pei State and send people to find out the strength of Liu Bei's army.

At the same time, the news of Lu Bu's arrival was also discovered by spies and passed on to Liu Bei.

When Liu Bei heard that Lu Bu had actually led his troops to the border of Pei State, he laughed so hard that he became numb.

If he was a little afraid of Lu Bu before, now he is really not afraid of Lu Bu.

Xiang County is not Xiaopei. As the seat of the Pei State, it has high city walls and thick walls.

In addition, there were more than 30,000 troops in the city with sufficient money and food. Although their combat effectiveness was not high, it was basically impossible for Lu Bu to attack the city.

So Liu Bei called Qin Zhen again, and the military report from the scout said with a smile:
"Military Advisor, now that Lu Bu has arrived again, how should our army respond?"

His response this time was not to resist like before, but to ask if there was any way to deal with Lu Bu!
But Qin Zhen had no such thoughts. He said to Liu Bei:
“As the saying goes, people die for money, and birds die for food!”

"It's not surprising that Lu Bu has come to this!"

"If you want to defeat him, that's fine, but now it's better for our army to defeat Lu Bu than to use Lu Bu!"

"Do you still remember the initial strategy of our army?"

Liu Bei listened, his eyes lit up and he said:

"Could it be that the military advisor is talking about the strategy of taking advantage of the situation?"

"That's exactly the strategy!"

Qin Zhen nodded and smiled:

"Now our army has taken Xiang County, but the counties in the south are still under the control of Yuan Shu."

"If we were to go south and slowly seize it, it would be quite time-consuming and laborious."

"Besides, the soldiers in the city still need to be trained, so it's not a good idea to go south!"

"I expected that Lu Bu came in a hurry and would not have brought much food and supplies. Pengcheng State has long been in decline. Except for Lu County, there is no food supply. Now the troops are stationed at the border of Pei State because they are in a dilemma."

"So we might as well send a messenger there, promising to give him food and fodder, and have him go south to help us capture the counties."

"He is taking the city in front, and our army will reap the benefits from behind!"

"It would also be good for him to stay in the front and protect our army from Yuan Shu's wrath!"

Liu Bei suddenly understood what was going on after hearing this, and said in surprise:
"So this is what the military advisor is thinking of!"

He suddenly realized that the current situation was so similar to the story Qin Zhen had mentioned!
Lu Bu is a monkey and they are raccoons!
Lu Bu was good at fighting and went south to capture cities and seize territories, but he was alone and could not defend the cities even if he took them. He also had to face pressure from Yuan Shu!

They just trained their troops behind the scenes, and took over every city that Lu Bu captured.

Lu Bu was like a monkey whose hair was lost by fire. He worked in vain, and all the chestnuts went into their mouths!

Thinking of this, he was shocked again:

"Could this be the strategy originally planned by the military advisor?"

He remembered clearly that Qin Zhen sent a letter at the beginning, and as soon as Lu Bu responded, Qin Zhen took the bait.

He didn't understand this meaning before.

But now it seems that when Lu Bu responded at that time, he had taken the bait!
Otherwise, how could we have come to this point step by step, to the point where we had to be used by him?

Could it be that every step up to now has been within Qin Zhen’s expectations?

If this is true, then this plan is too terrible!

But when he behaved like this, Qin Zhen shook his head and said:

"No, that's not all I planned!"

"My lord, you must know that human power has its limits. Even if you can make plans, can you calculate everything?"

"According to my plan, Lu Bu should not have been given food and fodder!"

"If he does not provide us with food and fodder, he will definitely move south, and our army can collect his food and fodder from behind."

"I expected Chen Gong to be so difficult to deal with!"

"So we decided to break Lu Bu's army and lure him here!"

He had two preparations before he came, one was that Lu Bu would provide food and grass, and the other was not to provide food and grass.

There are countermeasures for both types of preparation!

But originally in his opinion, it was more likely that Lu Bu would not provide food and fodder, and less likely that he would provide food and fodder.

That's why he forged the hook-sickle spear in advance, ready to trick Lu Bu.

But what they didn't expect was that the least likely thing happened. Lu Bu was actually persuaded by Chen Gong to give him food and grass.

This has led to the current coincidence situation!
It is far less terrifying than what Liu Bei is thinking now.

However, his words were just words of modesty in Liu Bei's eyes. Old Liu smiled and said:

"No matter what, everything is under the control of the military advisor!"

"With just a piece of silk book, he was able to use Lü Bu for his own benefit. Such a planning ability has never been heard of in ancient and modern times!"

After smiling like this, he said with some worry:
"But Lu Bu likes to rob the people. If we let him take the city, it will be hard to guarantee success!"

Lu Bu was well-known for his love of robbing the people.

At first he was in Chang'an, digging tombs, then he surrendered to Yuan Shu, plundered Nanyang, and went north again, where he was feared by Yuan Shao.

From then on, wherever he went, Hanoi, Yanzhou and Xuzhou, he would inevitably make a mess.

Lu Bu can take a city now, but if he plunders it after taking it, it will be troublesome for him to take over.

But as soon as he expressed his doubts, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled:
"Don't worry, my lord. I don't think Lu Bu dares to rob, and he won't rob!"

"If he goes south now, he can only stay within the borders of Pei State. Our army is right behind him. He not only has to consider the road ahead, but also our army!"

"Lü Bu is a villain who is good at judging others. How dare he rob the people when he knows our army is behind him?"

"After getting the food and grass, they will leave!"

"Besides, even if he really dares to rob, our army can send troops at any time. Even if he robs, can he still take it away?"

"Lü Bu can't see it, but can't Chen Gong see it? He will never do something that would benefit our army!"

"Now, they either have to wait until the food runs out or head south. There is absolutely no other choice!"

"Now the southern counties have few soldiers and horses, and not much food and supplies. With Lu Bu's bravery, the counties will definitely not be able to resist."

"As long as the speed is fast enough, we can break into Jiujiang and plunder, which will also be good for him. It will definitely work!"

After listening to Qin Zhen's analysis, Liu Bei nodded and smiled:

"Military Advisor, now that you have said this, I feel relieved!"

"Wait for me to write a letter in person and then go to Lu Bu's army!"

As he said this, he wrote a letter and had someone deliver it to Lu Bu's army.

The content of this letter was very simple. It first asked whether Lu Bu had come to help them take Xiang County. If so, Xiang County had been captured, and they were willing to supply food and grass and let Lu Bu go south to help them capture the counties.

If not, then please ask Lu Bu to leave on his own and not rob the people, otherwise their soldiers will not be vegetarians.

Such a letter was carried by a soldier towards Lu Bu's army.

At the same time, in Lu Bu’s military camp.

Lu Bu sat at the desk, his eyes raised and his face full of anger.

Everyone else remained silent. The atmosphere was as solemn as it could be.

Because they knew one thing.

Liu Bei took Xiang County without bloodshed. He was welcomed into the city almost as soon as he arrived at the city gate.

And the reason is very simple!
Liu Bei said that Qiao Rui had surrendered!
To capture the thief, one must first capture the leader. It was easy to control Mei Qian's army of more than ten thousand!

After just a few days of not seeing each other, Liu Bei is no longer the same person he was before!
Recalling that when Liu Bei came to reinforce, he only had more than 8,000 troops!
As a result of this battle, Liu Bei gained money and the city, and had more than 30,000 soldiers and horses.

But he has nothing!

Even if he got the money and food, it was originally his own! After finally taking over the troops of Han Xian and Yang Feng, Liu Bei killed half of them.

Even the Xianzhen Camp was crippled by Liu Bei!
It can be said that until now, Lu Bu has not figured out what went wrong!

How did Liu Bei rise step by step right under his nose?
Is this reasonable? This is unreasonable!

Therefore, not only Lu Bu, but also everyone in the tent had a solemn expression on their faces.

After a long silence, Wang Kai, who was accompanying the army this time, said with emotion:

"I never thought that Liu Bei would take Xiang County in this way. This is really unexpected!"

He originally wanted to ease the atmosphere, but as soon as he finished speaking, Lu Bu raised his head, looked at him with murderous eyes, and said in a cold voice:
"It's your good plan!"

"What a plan to kill three birds with one stone! What a result!"

"It was Liu Bei who achieved three goals at once, but our army gained nothing!"

Although he said this to Wang Kai, he was actually mocking Chen Gong's strategy.

In his opinion, if it weren't for Chen Gong, he would at least lose less money and food.

Now that we have lost money and food, and soldiers and horses, Chen Gong must take full responsibility!

At this moment, he remembered the good things about Chen Deng.

At the very least, people advised him not to go against Liu Bei from the beginning!
It’s a pity that now, he even drove Chen Deng away!
Listening to Lu Bu's ridicule, Wang Kai covered his face in shame, while Chen Gong stepped forward, lowered his head and said in a deep voice:
"This was a plot by the enemy. It was my fault for not investigating. Please punish me, Lord Wen!"

As soon as he said this, everyone was surprised, and Lu Bu was also slightly startled.

Chen Gong has always been stubborn and would rather die than give in most of the time, but now he actually admits his mistake on his own initiative?

This is the kind of person that Lu Bu is. If you go against him, he won't have a good attitude towards you. But if you soften your attitude, he will find it difficult to blame you.

Seeing Chen Gong lower his head, Lu Bu's expression eased a little, and he frowned and said:

"Although you have done something wrong, you are also fair-minded, so I will not punish you!"

"I just want to ask you, now that our army is running out of food and grass, what should we do?"

When Chen Gong heard this, he sighed:

"This time it's because of me. I thought the enemy army was carrying food and supplies, so even if they took Xiang County, they might not be able to do it quickly!"

"I didn't expect the enemy to have such a brilliant plan and to have made preparations in advance, which has led to our current situation!"

"If Marquis Wen is asking about food and grass, there is only one way. Send an envoy to Liu Bei and ask him to allocate some food and grass so that our army can return to Xia Pi!"

As soon as he said this, Lu Bu became furious and said:

"What are you talking about? You want me to go and ask that big-eared thief for help?"

"This is absolutely not allowed!"

"He has repeatedly harmed me. I wish I could raise an army to destroy him. Even if I have no food now, I will not bow my head and ask him for food!"

When he shouted, Wei Xu, Yang Feng and others all glared at Chen Gong.

But Chen Gong said in hatred when faced with everyone like this:

"I know what Lord Wen is thinking, and I am unwilling to bow my head."

"But now that our army has reached this place, our food and grass are running out. If we don't ask for food, what can we do?"

"Even if I let the general plunder, Liu Bei now has a large number of troops in Xiang County, as well as money and food. If our army plunders the surrounding areas, this man will definitely send troops. Our army has come from afar, how can we resist?"

"If we don't plunder this place, where else can our army get food? All the way east, the counties and prefectures have already been slaughtered by Cao Cao. Where can we find food and grass to supply our army?"

"It's not that I want to persuade the general to bow his head, but the situation is like this, and we have no choice but to do it!"

"If Marquis Wen wants to blame someone, then blame me. Remember to put the important things first."

"If Lord Wen is angry, please chop off my head, but Lord Wen must not ruin the overall situation because of a momentary anger!"

Once again, Chen Gong died to prove his integrity.

But this time, Lu Bu was not angry.

Because he could feel that Chen Gong was really thinking about him!
Even if he was about to die, he was forced to hold back and ask Liu Bei for food, which shows how sincere Chen Gong was.

Thinking of this, Lu Bu frowned and said:

"Don't be like this, you keep asking for death. Do you think I, Lu Fengxian, am a bloodthirsty person?"

"Don't pretend to be a loyal minister and a righteous man to advise me!"

"I didn't want to send an envoy just now because we were enemies with Liu Bei. Now I'm asking for food and grass. How will Liu Bei agree?"

Seeing that Lu Bu had given in, Chen Gong hurriedly said:

"Liu Bei will certainly agree, because although our army is hostile to them, on the surface our army is still friendly with them!"

"If our army takes the initiative to speak, Liu Bei will definitely respond!"

"At most, it's just to meet some of his requests. It's not difficult!"

Lü Bu listened and thought that this was the only way, so he said in a deep voice:

"Who can be the envoy?"

Chen Gong said hurriedly:

"Prince Fakaya!"

When Wang Kai heard this, he hurried forward and said:

"I am willing to go!"

"Well, then I'll let you go!"

Lu Bu instructed Wang Kai:

"Be sure to ask for more money and food. If he asks for anything, respond accordingly!"

"promise!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Kai hurriedly took the order and left.

As Wang Kai left, Lu Bu lost interest and said:

"Just step back!"

Having said that, he asked everyone to leave.

Everyone naturally left.

But before everyone left the tent, Wang Kai walked back into the tent with a complicated expression:

"Wen Hou, Wen Hou, wait a minute!"

Lu Bu was about to get up and leave, but when he saw this, he said impatiently:
"What's the matter?"

Wang Kai said hurriedly:

"Liu Bei sent an envoy!"

"Liu Bei sent an envoy?"

Lu Bu was stunned for a moment, and everyone stopped in their tracks.

Only Chen Gong stepped forward and said:

"What did Liu Bei send the envoy to say?"

As soon as he said this, Wang Kai said with a bitter look on his face:

"Liu Bei said he was willing to supply our army with food and fodder, and let our army go south to help him capture the counties!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the tent looked extremely strange.

Chen Gong's face turned pale and his expression was complicated!
He knew that if the enemy took the initiative to bring up this matter, it would mean that their arrival here might also be part of the enemy's plan!

Was he being led by the enemy throughout the entire process?
If this is true, then this enemy is too terrifying!

(End of this chapter)