"My lord, are you too reckless to join forces with Liu Bei to deal with Yuan Shu? Are you too rash?" Lu Su cautiously said to Tao Ying: "Just based on a covenant signed by Liu Bei, I believe that Liu Bei will

Joining forces with our army, missing the opportunity to severely damage Liu Bei's army, and deliberately allowing Liu Bei to escape back to Shouchun, is this not your usual style, my lord?"

"Yes, second brother, I was not there at that time. If I had been there at that time, I would have firmly opposed your decision." Tao Ji, who didn't know until he returned to Quyang City that the battle between Tao and Liu was just an act, was also full of complaints and said: "Big brother.

Who is the Ear Thief? The most untrustworthy, unjust, shameless, despicable and shameless person in the world! He promised to suddenly take action when we attacked Shouchun and join forces with us to attack Yuan Shu, a common man from both inside and outside. He said it nicely. If the Big Ear Thief were to

What should I do if I don’t keep my word and refuse to take action?”

"Third General, can't you?" Chen Ying, who was the only one present at the time, said doubtfully: "The Big Ear Thief has an autographed covenant in our hands. If he goes back on his promise, we can hand over the Big Ear Thief's autographed covenant to Yuan Shu and let Yuan Shu

Should the old man go to settle accounts with him?"

"It's useless." Lu Su shook his head and said: "Not to mention that Liu Bei can deny it, but he insists that it is a forged document we forged to alienate the alliance between Liu and Yuan. If old man Yuan Shu is smart enough, even if he knows that this covenant is true

, in order to continue to use Liu Bei's traitor, and for the sake of internal stability, we will also help Liu Bei insist that this covenant is forged by us. And even if Yuan Shu is not so smart, the smart people in his team will remind him to do so."

"Really?" Chen Ying, who had just been promoted to Army Chief Bo, had not been completely led astray by Deputy Director Tao for a short time. He said somewhat unbelievably: "Can there be such a shameless person in this world?

I wrote the covenant in black letters on white silk, but not only did I not abide by it in the end, but I even said it was a forgery?"

"Yes." Tao Ying finally spoke and said with a sneer: "Only in terms of thickness of face, compared with Mr. Xuande, I feel inferior! Mr. Xuande can definitely do such a thing."

"Then my lord, do you still agree?" Chen Ying asked in surprise, and Tao Ji also stared. Only Lu Su was Tao Ying's confidant. He asked tentatively: "My lord fell into the trap deliberately, is there another reason?"

"Of course there is a reason." Tao Ying replied calmly: "The reason is that I suddenly discovered that I still underestimated Mr. Xuande. When I was not sure of killing him, I could only fall into the trap on purpose.

Waiting for the next better opportunity to wipe out all the big-eared thieves."

Having said this, Tao Ying stood up and walked to the map sand table, beckoned Lu Su and others to the side, pointed at the map sand table and said: "Look, this is where the big-eared bandits camped at that time. The terrain is open on all sides. Our army

There are only more than 30,000 people. Even if they are mobilized, they cannot completely surround the big-eared thieves. At the same time, to the west of Liu Bei's camp, there is Shapi Lake and a low-lying area full of trees, reeds and swamps (now Wabu Lake)

, the terrain is very complex, not suitable for tracking and encirclement. It is not conducive to our cavalry operations. So when the scout reported the location of Liu Bei's camp to me, I already understood the reason why the big-eared bandit marched eighty miles in one day.

He is grabbing this position and preparing to escape, so that I can defeat him, but I cannot annihilate him."

"Don't think about victory. Think about escape first. This is only the first point of Xuande Gong's brilliance." Tao Ying continued: "What I admire even more is Xuande Gong's stand-up attitude. Yuan Shu asked him to go south to stop us. The main force of our army clearly wanted him to be cannon fodder, and he couldn't refuse because he was under someone else's protection. He also knew that the mob under his command was definitely no match for the main force of our army, so he could only make some preparations while deliberately asking Yuan Shu for a large amount of unnecessary supplies. We used food and grass to lure Yuan Shu into refusing to bury the hatchet, and at the same time sent Sun Qian to ask us for peace and to join forces to deal with Yuan Shu. In this way, Duke Xuande can act according to the situation."

"Xuan Degong asked for peace. If I reject his peace request, it proves that I am determined to kill him. He will naturally flee for his life through the prepared escape route. No matter how many troops can be saved, it is important to save his own life first. But in case I am greedy for his cannon fodder team and want to reduce some battlefield pressure, I agree to Duke Xuande's request. Then Duke Xuande will not only save the team, but also become more invincible. As long as he is willing or needs, I can help Our army easily captured Shouchun and defeated the main force of Yuan Shu's northern line. We can also take a gamble and help Yuan Shu resist our army with all his strength. We can also protect Yuan Shu from retreating to Anfeng at the critical moment and flee to the hinterland of the Lujiang River to fish in troubled waters. If that doesn't work. , it was very easy for him to escape to Runan in Shouchun. As long as he saved his life, he would have a chance to make a comeback."

As soon as Tao Ying finished speaking, Tao Ji and Chen Ying had already scolded Uncle Liu Huang for not being a thing. They were so cunning that they had reached the pinnacle of success. They had completely forgotten that when the Xuzhou army sent troops to Yanzhou, Deputy Tao The director's clumsy style was actually far superior to that of Liu Huangshu. Tao Ying was not angry, and just added with a smile: "So even if Duke Xuande knows that there is little hope, he also knows that there are countless people in our army who are sworn in with him. I still sent Sun Qian to take a gamble. The bet was that I was eager to defeat Yuan Shu and defeated Yuan Shu at the minimum cost, and maybe I might agree to his request."

"The villain Liu Bei's purpose is so despicable. Since my lord has seen through it, why do you still want to give Liu Bei a chance to put him in a more favorable position?" Lu Su asked doubtfully: "If my lord had rejected Liu Bei's pretense of peace and ordered the main attack , even if you can’t kill Liu Bei’s three brothers, you can still defeat his main force and cut off most of his wings?”

"Two reasons." Tao Ying raised two fingers and said with a smile: "The first is that the team of big-eared thieves really has hope of being used by me to inflict heavy damage on Yuan Shu from within. The second is that I discovered through deduction that if I let The big-eared thief escaped back to Shouchun with his team, and he is very sure that he will get a better opportunity to fight the big-eared thief on a battlefield that is conducive to our army's complete annihilation of the enemy."

"A decisive battle with the big-eared thieves on a battlefield that is conducive to our army wiping out all the enemies?" Lu Su was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and blurted out: "The east bank of Feishui! Liu Bei's team still has vitality, and Yuan Shu is using Yuan Shu to harm others and benefit himself. His character will definitely push Liu Bei to the west bank of Feishui. We will build three lines of defense to intercept and prevent our army from attacking Shouchun. When Liu Bei sets up camp with his back to the water, he will not be able to escape even if he wants to."

"wrong!"

Before Tao Ji and Chen Ying showed joy, Tao Ying shook his head decisively and said categorically: "It's not the east bank of Feishui! The big-eared thief is slipperier than a fox, how can he die? Even if Yuan Shu forces him to cross the river. He He will also do everything possible to shirk and refuse. The big-eared thief is not that stupid. The hatred between me and him is so deep. If he goes to camp on the east bank of Feishui, how could I not consider this opportunity to completely annihilate him? So I count on the big-eared thief. Crossing the river and facing us in a decisive battle is unthinkable!"

"So, where is the ideal battlefield that the Lord mentioned?" Lu Su asked curiously.

Tao Ying smiled slightly and replied: "Of course..."

……………………

Consistent with Deputy Director Tao's analysis, after Xuzhou's main force returned to Quyang to rest for a day, Liu Beijun did not cross the Feishui River to build a peripheral defense line. Instead, he joined forces with Yuan Shujun to build river defenses on the west bank of the Feishui River.

The posture of a decisive battle. At the same time, a Xuzhou Xizuo lurking in Yuan Shu's army also risked his life to send an important message, that is, yesterday morning, Liu Bei's army camp was on alert. Liang Gang outside Shouchun City

, the teams of Lei Bo and Liu Wei also urgently gathered to be on alert, but in the end they lifted the alert together for unknown reasons. In addition, Xuzhou Xizuo, who reported the news, also heard that Xiao Yuan Sangong sent a batch of wine, meat, food and grass to reward Liu Beijun - this point

It was easy to find out. The soldiers of Yuan Shu's army who were fighting for food saw that Little Yuan Sangong rewarded his friendly troops but did not reward his own troops. Naturally, Yuan Shu's army was filled with complaints and complaints.

After hearing this news and getting confirmation from the scouts, it was confirmed that Yuan Shu's army, which was stationed along the river, had indeed been on alert for a time without the approaching Xuzhou army. Deputy Director Tao, who vaguely guessed part of the reason, was of course overjoyed, and soon

Three orders were issued! First, the main force set off eastward, concentrated twenty Xiangyang artillery pieces, and attacked with all their strength the isolated city of Yinling guarded by General Qiao Rui of Yuan Shu's army! Second, the orthodox attack on Yinling City was to encircle three and miss one.

The strategy of the city is to only attack the east, west, and north gates, leaving the south gate for the defenders to escape. At the same time, the traffic messengers communicating with Yinling and Shouchun are not allowed to be intercepted, and Qiao Rui and Xiao Yuan San Gong are allowed to contact each other at will. Third, Tao Ji is ordered to lead the gentleman.

The army and a thousand auxiliary troops marched eastward, bringing with them kerosene, firewood, rockets, flying muskets and other fire starters to burn down all the pontoon bridges on the Feishui River. They were also responsible for monitoring and containing the main force of the Shouchun garrison of Little Yuan Sangong.

Among Tao Ying's three orders, the first order, Lu Su and the Xuzhou generals all understood that unless the nail in the bridge was pulled out, the Xuzhou army could not concentrate its forces to attack Shouchun with peace of mind, but the second order and the third order

Everyone did not understand the order, and Qing Taoji, who was stunned, even asked face to face: "Second brother, what do you mean by not cutting off the contact between Qiao Rui and Yuan Shu? Once Yuan Shu knows that Yin Ling is in danger, he will probably send troops to reinforce him? Also,

The eight-lane pontoon bridge built by Yuan Shu on the Feishui River can also be used by us to cross the river. Wouldn't it be a pity to burn it?"

"Don't ask too many questions, just execute the order. You will know the reason when the time comes." Tao Ying, who pays great attention to talent training, was uncharacteristic this time and did not explain the reasons and purposes in detail to his cousin Leng Touqing. The Xuzhou generals also knew that their lord had always

There must be some ulterior evil purpose in doing this, so Tao Ji and the other generals stopped asking any more questions, clasped their fists together and made a promise to carry out the orders honestly and left.

In the evening of that day, the main force of Xuzhou and more than 30,000 cannon fodder troops successfully arrived at the foot of Yinling City and set up camp outside the west gate of Yinling. Qiao Rui, the guard of Yinling, was frightened by the Xuzhou army in the field battle.

They did not dare to go out of the city to fight, but desperately repaired the city wall to consolidate the city defense, mobilized the people, soldiers and civilians in the city to go to the city to guard, determined to hold on to Yinling, hold back the main force of Xuzhou, and buy precious time for the second wave of reinforcements to gather and reinforce. At the same time, the bridge

Rui Shaobu sent a messenger to Shouchun at Xingye to report the emergency, and asked Xiao Yuan Sangong to be prepared and send troops to contain the situation at the critical moment to reduce some of the pressure on Yinling.

Before that, Tao Ji also led the Junzi Army and a thousand auxiliary soldiers to Feishui Ferry. Seeing that Tao Ji's soldiers were few, Yuan Shu's army on the other side initially decided to cross the river to fight, but when they heard the Junzi Army reciting the poem "Zi Yue" in unison,

Yun Hou, Liang Gang, Lei Bo and Liu Wei and other Yuan Shujun generals gave up the idea - fighting in an open area with the Junzi Army, which was recognized as invincible in the plains. No matter how stupid Yuan Shujun generals are, they would not do such a stupid thing! As for us,

Uncle Liu Huang quickly called Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to sleep on the same bed beside him, fearing that the two ill-tempered brothers would lose their temper and die in vain in front of the Gentleman Army.

No enemy dared to cross the river to turn into briquettes, so it was very easy for the Xuzhou army's auxiliary soldiers to burn the bridge. What's even better is that Yuan Shu's army was afraid of Xuzhou's main force crossing the river, so he had already spread firewood on the eight pontoon bridges, ready to prepare at any time.

Burning the pontoon bridge prevented the Xuzhou army from preparing to cross the river, so the soldiers of the Xuzhou army did not even have to lay down firewood. Under the cover of the Junzi Army's crossbows, they boarded the pontoon bridge, poured kerosene and threw torches, and the eight-way pontoon bridge soon became

It became a bridge of eight fires. It gradually collapsed and sank in the fierce fire. Tao Ji also easily completed the first task assigned by his cousin.

The Xuzhou army actually burned all the pontoon bridges that could easily cross the river for an attack. Of course, Yuan Shu's army was baffled. He couldn't figure out what kind of medicine the Xuzhou army was selling in the gourd? If he hadn't received the emergency news from Qiao Rui about Yin Ling,

Little Yuan Sangong even doubted for a time - could it be that Gongsun Zan really sent troops to Langya? Tao Ying was afraid of the Huainan army's pursuit, so he burned the pontoon bridge, right? Only Uncle Liu Huang knew Tao Ying well and knew that Tao Ying almost never made mistakes, giving birth to a kind of

bad feeling.

Another night passed and when the sky was bright, the Xuzhou army began to attack Yinling. They followed the orthodox siege tactics step by step. They first filled the moat of the east, west and north gates of Yinling with firewood, grass and soil. Qiao Rui urgently led the defenders to fire arrows to suppress it.

, the Xiangyang artillery that surpassed the times for thousands of years in the Xuzhou army began to show its power. Twenty Xiangyang artillery fired only one salvo and smashed the west gate tower of Yinling, the scheduled main battlefield, to pieces. The defenders on the city wall suffered heavy casualties. Qiao Rui himself

They were almost killed by huge rocks. The Xuzhou soldiers took the opportunity to rush forward and formed a temporary fortification on the edge of the moat with their long shields. The archers hid behind the shields and fired arrows to suppress them. The cannon fodder recruits took the opportunity to pour dirt, debris and other objects into the moat.

, patience opens the way forward.

There are no large rivers near Yinling. No matter how deep and wide the moat is, it will have little effect without flowing water. Therefore, the Xuzhou army filled the river very quickly. At the same time, the Xuzhou army's Xiangyang artillery also showed its prowess, destroying the west gate of Yinling.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties, with blood and flesh flying everywhere. They also smashed the Yinling city wall built of bricks and rammed earth until the bricks cracked and the earth collapsed. There were craters everywhere. The defenders were all frightened and their morale was depleted. Qiao Rui once organized a death squad to raid the city.

The Pili chariot formation was also driven back by Xu Sheng's team protecting the Xiangyang cannon. Two hundred suicide squads were lost in vain, but they didn't even touch the side of the Pili chariot.

In the evening, the Xuzhou army had filled in a long section of the moat at the west gate of Yinling, but Tao Ying was still not satisfied. He divided the cannon fodder auxiliary troops into several teams and took turns to rest and fill the river overnight. He only withdrew the Xiangyang artillery team and replaced the marquis.

Cheng led the army to monitor the defenders in the city to prevent Qiao Rui from sneaking out of the city. Seeing that the Xuzhou army was well deployed, Qiao Rui did not dare to venture out of the city, so he had to send a messenger out of the city from the south gate overnight and rushed to Shouchun to ask for help, saying it was a catapult from the Xuzhou army.

It's too powerful. Even if I stick to it blindly, I'm afraid it won't be able to last long. I hope Xiao Yuan Sangong will come up with an idea as soon as possible and provide appropriate indirect support to the Yinling battlefield.

Because Tao Ying deliberately ordered the Xuzhou army not to intercept Qiaoyinling's messenger communicating with Shouchun, Qiaorui's emergency messenger successfully detoured around the Xuzhou camp and brought the news into Shouchun City at dusk.

After Qiao Rui's military intelligence report, although Xiao Yuan Sangong immediately cursed Qiao Rui for being incompetent and useless, he did not dare to take it lightly. He could only quickly summon his civil and military officers to discuss with everyone the plan to reinforce Yin Ling.

"My lord, we can only encircle Wei and save Zhao." The first person to speak was Jin Shang, the governor of Yanzhou, who said helplessly: "Yinling City cannot be given up. Once Yinling is gone, the Xuzhou rebel army will have nothing to contain, and they will definitely attack Shou with all their strength.

In spring, saving Yinling is equivalent to saving Shouchun. Properly sending troops to harass the Xuzhou rebel army can reduce a lot of pressure on General Qiaorui."

The method mentioned by Jin Shang is also the only way for Yuan Shu's army at present, so Yuan Yin, Yuan Huan, Shu Shao and others all nodded in agreement. However, little Yuan Sangong asked another key question, "If we can send troops, who should we send?"

Jin Shang, Shu Shao and other counselors all kept their mouths shut. If they sent troops to reinforce Yinling, they would have to pay their dues. Since they couldn't defeat Xuzhou's army in the field, if they did so, they would probably never come back. They would send their own troops to die in vain.

Jin Shang, Shu Shao and others really couldn't make the suggestion. After a long time, Shu Shao, who had originally urged Duke Xuande to rescue Huainan, said timidly: "My lord, why don't you discuss it with Liu Bei and let him come back?"

A hard trip?"

"Gu Ye has this plan." This is what little Yuan Sangong was waiting for, and he pointed his finger at Shu Shao and said: "At the beginning, it was my husband who urged Liu Bei to ask for reinforcements. Now it will be decided whether Liu Bei, who is a big problem, can be solved.

Sir, please contact Liu Bei. As long as Liu Bei is willing to cross the river to rescue, we can negotiate any terms."

After being named by Little Yuan Sangong, Shu Shao, who was self-reliant, had to bite the bullet and agreed. He could not help but regret that he had insisted on inviting Liu Bei to cross the Huaihe River. He finally learned what his good friend Yan Xiang often said - it is easier to invite gods than to send them away! But

At this point, Shu Shao had no choice but to rush to Liu Bei's camp with a frown on his face and ask Liu Bei to send troops to contain the Xuzhou army and relieve Qiao Rui's pressure.

Shu Shao was so naive that he wanted to ask Uncle Liu to cross the river to die, but the result was natural. Just after hearing Shu Shao finish explaining his purpose, our Uncle Liu immediately shook his head like a rattle and sighed: "Shu Changshi, you are not trying to shirk, our army

There have been many battles recently, and not only have more than half of the team been killed or injured, most of the soldiers are also exhausted, and most of them are injured. After just four days of rest, not to mention the injuries on the body have been healed, but even the physical strength has not been fully restored. Such an army crosses the river for a decisive battle.

, which is tantamount to dying in vain.”

Shu Shaoshu, the instigator who led the wolf into the house, almost cried, and said quickly: "Xuan De Gong, as long as you lead the army across the river and restrain the traitor Tao Ying for a while. Money, food, cloth, gold, silver and beauties, please speak freely, my lord.

Do your best to be satisfied.”

"Am I stupid? No matter how much money, food and beauty Yuan Shu gave me, I still have to take them back if I have to die to enjoy them." Liu Huangshu muttered in his heart, but his face was full of sadness. He hesitated and said: "I have received a lot of favors from Yuan Jiujiu, and I have been rewarded a lot.

I don’t dare to ask for it anymore. Since Mr. Yuan has given the order, I don’t dare to disobey it. It’s just that my soldiers are really unbearable to fight anymore…”

Speaking of this, Liu Huangshu, who was an absolute genius in strategizing, had an idea and hurriedly said: "Shu Changshi, what do you think of this? Please Changshi report back to Yuan Gong. Bei can personally lead the army across the river to rescue Yinling, but Bei's soldiers are tired.

It was too much, and there were so many wounded that they were unable to fight across the river, so they had no choice but to ask Yuan Jiujiu to do what Tao Qian and Tao Gongzu did back then - send 10,000 elite troops to Commander Bei, who led the rescue across the river."

Shu Shao almost wanted to strangle Uncle Liu Huang to death, but said to himself that Yan Xiang was right. Tao Ying, the little thief, is just a robber, but you, the traitor, are a thief. Once you sneak into a key position, you will immediately fish in troubled waters! Why don't you send the Huainan army across the river for rescue?

Teach, our lord will not directly send you to lead 10,000 elite troops across the river. If you deliberately lose all our 10,000 troops, our Huainan army should not act based on your face?
To be continued...