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

Chapter 75 Zhang Fei Threads the Needle, the Enemy Has Something to Hide

Jiujiang County, inside Dangtu City.

After receiving the order from General Ji Ling, Chen Lan led 5,000 soldiers and horses all the way towards Dangtu.

I thought that when Liu Bei marched south, there were still a few cities ahead, so he could advance slowly.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in Dangtu, he heard the spy coming to report that Long Kang was missing.

When Chen Lan heard this, she was horrified. She thought that if Longkang was captured and Yicheng was taken, the next one would be Dangtu. If she was slow, it would be too late.

He immediately ordered to speed up the march, intending to reach Dangtu first and then rescue Yicheng.

Unexpectedly, at night, I heard that Yicheng had fallen into the hands of the enemy.

Seeing the enemy capture two cities in two days, Chen Lan suddenly panicked.

If we continue fighting like this, I'm afraid we'll reach Shouchun city in seven or eight days?

At that moment, he did not even dare to sleep, and hurriedly led his troops to Dangtu, fearing that Dangtu would be captured by the enemy.

Fortunately, he arrived in time and had already settled in the city before Zhang Fei and Xu Sheng arrived.

Fearing the enemy's bravery, he quickly set up defenses overnight and waited for the enemy to arrive.

Unexpectedly, just at dawn, the spies reported:

"General, the enemy general Zhang Fei has led more than 3,000 soldiers and is heading towards Dangtu!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Lan hurriedly summoned the officers to discuss the matter and said:
"Now we have received Ji Ling's order to come and resist Liu Bei's troops!"

"Liu Bei has not arrived yet, but Zhang Fei has already taken two cities. The enemy is so brave and fierce. How should we respond?"

The officers and soldiers followed him on the journey all night and were all exhausted.

After hearing this, one person stepped forward and said:

"General, our army is exhausted and has been marching for more than two days. We are currently unable to fight!"

"We expected that the enemy would not attack the city immediately as they were coming from afar."

"We can rest for a day and fight again tomorrow."

When Chen Lan heard this, she thought that this made sense. They were human beings, and Zhang Fei was also a human being.

They have been marching all night long. Aren't you, Zhang Fei, tired after taking two cities?

He simply put his mind at ease and asked his soldiers to guard the city while he went to catch up on some sleep.

I didn't expect that before I had slept for long, I heard the soldiers outside the palace report;
"It's bad, General. The enemy has already reached the city and is challenging us outside the city."

When Chen Lan heard this, she stood up and started to curse:
"What a wicked man! Zhang Fei, the little brat, bullied me and made me afraid to leave the city?"

As he said this, he hurriedly got up from the bed, summoned all the generals again, and said in a deep voice:
"Zhang Fei came to ask for a fight, which is a big taboo in military strategy!"

"I want to go out of the city to fight. Who among you dares to follow me?"

As the art of war says: If one pursues advantage within a hundred miles, the general will be defeated; if one pursues advantage within fifty miles, half the army will have arrived.

Simply put, a surprise attack of a hundred miles away is likely to result in the loss of a general, and a surprise attack of fifty miles away will only allow half of the soldiers to arrive.

The reason is very simple. It is difficult to defeat a well-prepared army by using a tired army to meet the enemy.

And this is Zhang Fei’s situation now.

It would be fine if he just took the two cities first, but he also wanted to capture Dangtu in one fell swoop.

In Chen Lan's opinion, Zhang Fei's move was tantamount to a major military taboo!

But as soon as he finished speaking, the generals looked at each other and no one said a word.

They thought, Zhang Fei's army is tired, and so are ours.

Who knows who will win if we leave the city now!
But they couldn't justify saying frankly that they didn't dare to go.

Immediately, a general stepped forward and advised:
"General, we are here to delay the enemy's advance."

"If we fight now, if we win, we will have no achievements, and if we lose, we will be guilty. Why bother?"

As soon as he said this, Chen Lan's expression froze.

He thought that this was the truth. Zhang Fei was arrogant now, but there was no need for him to fight with him.

After all, his mission was to cover the transfer of supplies.

If we win, it will be just a small achievement, but if we lose, there will be big problems.

After thinking for a moment, he suppressed the urge to fight and said gloomily:

"Well, ignore him and just defend the city!"

After receiving the order, Chen Lan and the other generals went back to rest, leaving Zhang Fei to continue shouting and cursing outside the city.

At the same time, outside Dangtu City, Zhang Fei stood at the foot of the city, pointed at the city and shouted:

"You are a bunch of cowardly rats. Zhang Yide from Yan is here. Who dares to fight me?"

After all, he used to be a butcher, so he has his own way of scolding people.

You can try this method of verbal battle, and it usually works.

At least the enemy general will not be able to bear the provocation and will go out of the city to fight.

But today, there was no reaction from the people in Dangtu City, as if they didn't care about what happened outside the city.

It was summer again. Zhang Fei cursed for a while and felt his mouth dry. He rode back and said to Xu Sheng:
"Wen Xiang, go and yell for a while, and let me drink some water first!"

Seeing Zhang Fei like this, Xu Sheng couldn't help but grin and said:

"General Zhang, I'm afraid there's no need to scold me anymore. I see that the enemy is like this, so I won't go into battle today!"

"While it's still early, the right thing to do is to set up camp!"

Zhang Fei took a big gulp of water from the bamboo tube and wondered:

"Why are there so many enemies in the city?"

"We only have over 3,000 soldiers and horses, and we are in a hurry. He has thousands of soldiers and horses, so why don't you dare to leave the city to fight?"

Xu Sheng listened and was also puzzled:
"I don't know, maybe the enemy sees through our intentions?"

That’s right, Zhang Fei’s coming to challenge was also a strategy considered by the two of them!
After the two men captured Yicheng, they saw Dangtu was right before their eyes and could not hold back, so they prepared to take another city.

Unexpectedly, before arriving in Dangtu, we received the news that Chen Lan led his troops to Dangtu.

Faced with this situation, Xu Sheng persuaded Zhang Fei to stop for a while and return to Yicheng to wait for Liu Bei's troops.

However, Zhang Fei smiled mysteriously at Xu Sheng and said:

"Now that we are the vanguard, even if it is difficult to capture the city, we should also find out the enemy's strengths and weaknesses."

"My military advisor always told me that the key to success in war is to do the opposite."

"According to common sense, we are in such a hurry that we should not challenge them. However, this is exactly what we did. When the enemy sees us challenging them, they will think that we have violated their rules."

"They have many soldiers, and ours are few. If we violate this taboo, the enemy will surely go to war."

"Why not set up an ambush and lure them out to fight? If we can capture the general, it will be a success. If not, we can win the battle first and capture a few prisoners, so that we can know the situation of the enemy in the city."

As soon as he finished speaking, it was Xu Sheng's turn to be surprised.

He thought that although your brother looks so rough, his mind is so delicate!
This was a little different from what he had heard about Zhang Fei. However, he and Zhang Fei had been very happy together for the past few days, so he thought this plan was feasible and agreed to it.

I didn't expect the enemy to react like this.

The only possibility is that the enemy has seen through their thoughts!
Thinking of this, Xu Sheng gave Zhang Fei some advice:

"If the enemy does not engage our army, we will not be able to capture this city."

"Why not report this matter to the Lord and let the military advisor come and discuss it!"

Xu Sheng had a very good impression of Qin Zhen, the military advisor. Not to mention his gratitude for his recognition, he also said that Qin Zhen was quite humble and caring towards others and usually took good care of him.

Since they can't handle it, they might as well leave it to Qin Zhen.

After hearing this, Zhang Fei felt that this made sense. If he encountered a tough problem, Qin Zhen would have to take on the challenge.

After the two men discussed it, they decided to set up camp along the river fifteen miles outside the city, and send someone to report what happened here to Liu Bei.

On the other side, after Liu Bei arrived at Longkang, he finally had a base for advancement.

The food and supplies were sent along the water route to Yicheng, and the journey was much faster.

As a result, when they arrived outside the city of Yicheng, they received the news that Zhang Fei had been blocked.

Liu Bei was also a veteran general. Seeing that the enemy did not dare to leave the city to fight, he frowned immediately.

They have a total of more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and the enemy has thousands of troops defending the city. This is not good news!

So after reading the letter, he handed the silk book to Qin Zhen and said:

"Military Advisor, the enemy is holding fast to Dangtu, and it may be difficult for our army to advance!"

But Qin Zhen took a look at the military report, then shook his head and smiled:
"No rush, you can go to Dangtu first to join Yide's troops!"

Seeing this, Liu Bei nodded and ordered Generals Qiao Rui and Chen Dao to urge their troops to march quickly to Dangtu.

By noon the next day, they arrived outside Dangtu City.

Zhang Fei and Xu Sheng came forward to greet him, and Liu Bei smiled and encouraged them.

Especially Xu Sheng, Liu Bei patted his shoulder and said:
"Wen Xiang is still young, he will definitely become a general of our army in the future!"

Xu Sheng just turned twenty this year and has never received any praise. Seeing Liu Bei like this, he felt warm in his heart.

He thought to himself that this lord didn't seem like a superior, but more like an elder, making him approachable.

Only Qin Zhen saw Liu Bei praising him for a while and took the opportunity to say:
"The enemy is now defending the city. We should go into the camp and discuss how to take the city first!"

As soon as he spoke, Liu Bei nodded in agreement and led everyone into the tent.

After entering the tent, Qin Zhen smiled and said to Zhang Fei:

"I heard that Yide cleverly captured two cities, so why was he stopped at Dangtu City?"

When Zhang Fei saw this guy teasing, he was dissatisfied and said:
"Military advisor, why do you ask when you already know the answer? I also want to take this city, but the defenders inside the city refuse to fight. They are really cunning!"

Qin Zhen heard this, waved his feather fan and smiled:
"I don't think so. Tell me how you planned it that day!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Fei simply told him how he had made the plan that day.

Listening to Zhang Fei's plan, Liu Bei's eyes were filled with satisfaction, while Qin Zhen nodded repeatedly:

"Yide's plan is quite like that of a general!"

"Ordinary generals are no match for Yide!"

Qiao Rui was listening nearby, stroking his beard and nodding:

"General, this strategy is in line with the military philosophy and is indeed a good one."

Seeing everyone praising him so much, Zhang Fei felt a little embarrassed and scratched his head.

"Even if it's a good plan, what can we do if the enemy doesn't fall for it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen shook his head:
"No, I don't think the enemy has fallen into the trap, because there are other reasons!"

"General Zhang, can you find out who is guarding the city?"

Zhang Fei thought for a while and replied:
"I don't know that person. He said he was Chen Lan, but his name also seemed to be Chen Jian!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qiao Rui said to Liu Bei and Qin Zhen:

"My lord, military advisor, I know this Chen Lan. His original name is Chen Jian, but he later changed his name to Chen Lan. He is from Lujiang!"

But Liu Bei frowned and said:
"I've heard of Chen Lan before, but I've never heard of her being so resourceful!"

He raised his head and looked at Qin Zhen and said:

"Military Advisor, is there something fishy going on here?"

In his opinion, Zhang Fei's performance this time was really good. Even if he was in the city, he might have been caught. It didn't make sense for Chen Lan to have no reaction.

When Qin Zhen heard this, he said to Liu Bei without hesitation:
"Of course it is different. Dangtu is not an important town. It is inferior to Xiacai and Xiquyang around Shouchun."

"Now that we have arrived from three directions, Ji Ling's troops are already at a disadvantage. Instead of withdrawing troops to garrison in Xiacai and other places, he took the initiative to garrison Dangtu. There must be something hidden in this behavior!"

Listening to Qin Zhen's analysis, all the generals looked thoughtful. Liu Bei hurriedly asked:

"Then can the military advisor see why the enemy is doing this?"

“That’s not hard to guess!”

Qin Zhen listened and took a step forward to analyze:

"Our army is still far from Shouchun, and the enemy has come here to defend it. They must not want us to go any further."

"They didn't move their troops when they had the opportunity to fight. This shows that the enemy doesn't intend to defend the city to the death!"

"So I infer that the enemy is here to delay time, and the hidden thing must be in Shouchun!"

"We can quickly send someone to find out what the enemy is hiding. Our army can use this as a guarantee to find a way to defeat the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei did not hesitate and simply stopped seeking battle. Instead, he ordered his spies to go directly to Shouchun to find out the enemy's situation.

After several days of investigation, we finally found out the details of Shouchun.

Seeing that Yuan Shu was secretly moving the capital, Liu Bei was shocked:
"Does Yuan Gonglu want to emulate Dong Zhuo's actions?"

He was just about to take Shouchun. If Yuan Shu followed Dong Zhuo's example and emptied Shouchun, then he would be happy for nothing!

Zhang Fei heard this and stood up to fight:
"Brother, Yuan Shu has moved his capital, so it's a good time to march. You can give me three thousand soldiers and I will go and intercept his officials!"

But before he finished speaking, Qin Zhen stood up and said:
"Wait a minute, Yide. The enemy's relocation of the capital may not be a bad thing."

Zhang Fei was stunned when he heard this, while Liu Bei frowned and said:
"What are you talking about, military advisor? We want to take Shouchun. What if Yuan Shu turns it into an empty city?"

Qin Zhen shook his head and explained to Liu Bei:
"Otherwise, Yuan Shu's military strength is not as strong as Dong Zhuo's, so he can't take the people with him. At most, he can take away some property and the families of his civil and military officials!"

"We still have to take care of them if they stay in Shouchun, but if they move out now, it will be of great benefit to us."

"We can send our spies to follow them and find out where their property has been moved. We can then make plans after we capture Dangtu!"

After hearing this, Liu Bei nodded and asked:
"But now that Chen Lan won't fight, how can our army capture Dangtu?"

Then Qin Zhen stepped forward and said with a smile:

"This is easy. I have a plan. We will be able to capture the city within three days!"

(End of this chapter)