Within a few days, Zhang Liao led his troops to guerrillas in Yishi and Jie County, and even went to Puban, attacking a team that collected food and grass, killing dozens of people, and robbing a lot of food and grass.

Although the gains were not much, the impact was not small. The more than 300 cavalry led by Zhang Liao were all truly elite, and their equipment was significantly higher than that of the Zhongshan Army. Whether it was personal combat power or tactical cooperation, they were not comparable to the troops of the Hedong family. Wei Ji and others sent troops to encircle and annihilate them. Due to the insufficient number of cavalry, they were not opponents if there were few people, and they could not keep up with the speed if there were too many people. After several contacts, Zhang Liao chased them and fought more. Many families of Hedong who remained neutral saw it, so they naturally had ideas. The difficulty of collecting money and food increased sharply. Wei Ji personally encountered many soft nails.

Compared to the victory or defeat on the battlefield, Zhang Liao had a greater effect on promoting the new policy of Wu. He not only spoke, but also left a document for everyone who lent him money and food, promising that no matter what year Hedong was merged into the territory of Wu, the money he borrowed now could be reimbursed for taxes and would never be indebted. This unheard of new things quickly spread, and two announcements from Lu Su also appeared more and more in various counties and township pavilions, and were discussed by countless people. Especially those ordinary people with little strength, they were full of expectations for the legendary King Rendao of Wu, and they wished that the Wu army would win immediately and drive away Liu Bei. Liu Bei gave the aristocratic family benefits, but did not give them benefits, not only did not give them benefits, but instead increased their burden. They had no good feelings for this Uncle Liu.

Seeing that the situation was serious, Wei Ji had to send several urgent documents and asked Liu Bei to find a way to solve Zhang Liao as soon as possible. If Zhang Liao wandered around, the people in Hedong would be dispersed.

When Liu Bei received the news, he was angry and anxious. He was angry that Wang Ling did not know the general and was passive and lazy in the fight. If he was willing to pursue Zhang Liao on his own initiative, how could such a situation happen? What was urgent was that the ambush failed, and instead lost the initiative. Lu Su set up a formation behind the mountain. If he took the initiative to attack, he would have to pay a greater price. If the difference in combat power between the two sides was considered, there would be no chance of winning in this battle, and both sides were inevitably injured, and they might even be defeated by Lu Su.

Liu Bei repeatedly discussed with Sima Yi, Pei Qian and others, feeling that the situation was not optimistic and countermeasures must be taken.

Pei Qian also felt that the situation was critical and there was a possibility of falling behind Hedong. Without Hedong, Liu Bei could retreat to Bingzhou, but they would face a catastrophe. Even if they were willing to follow Liu Bei to Bingzhou, Liu Bei was willing to take them with them. After losing their land and houses, it would be difficult to live under someone else's roof. One or two people could hold on for a while, and it would definitely not be enough to take the family with them.

Pei Qian suggested that Liu Bei send Zhang Fei or Zhang He to lead elite cavalry to pursue Zhang Liao. Even if he cannot kill Zhang Liao immediately, he would not be able to make him so relaxed. Wang Ling is from Bingzhou, and the gains and losses of Hedong have little impact on him, so he naturally will not do his best. Zhang Fei and Zhang He are Liu Bei's generals. They understand the significance of the gains and losses of Hedong and will actively seek war.

Liu Bei hesitated. Zhang Fei and Zhang He would definitely do his best, but it is hard to say whether he could catch Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao was all elite, with one man and three horses, and the speed was very fast. Zhang Fei and Zhang He had fewer troops and could not surround and block them. If the number of troops was too high, it would affect the battle against the main force of Lu Su.

After repeated consideration, Sima Yi put forward his own views. Lu Su stayed in a row, but sent Zhang Liao to fight guerrilla warfare, which was likely to have discovered an ambush. Now Zhang Liao has sent the news to Anyi City, and Lu Su also knew that Lu Meng was not in danger for the time being, and would not be in a hurry to attack. It is meaningless to wait here, so it is better to retreat and preserve its strength.

Pei Qian was anxious as soon as he heard this. "Where to retreat?"

Sima Yi clicked on the map. "The central army retreated to Wenxi, and the vanguard stationed in the north of Anyi City. See how Lusu responds, and then make the next decision. If possible, a decisive battle will be fought in the north of Anyi City."

Pei Qian thought about it carefully and felt something was reasonable and agreed. After Anyi City was full of flat land in the south and mountainous land in the north, occupying mountains to fight and maintaining threats to Anyi, Lu Su had to be cautious and might take the initiative to attack. In this way, Liu Bei could occupy the advantage of the territory. Wenxi's situation was similar to Anyi, and the mountains in the north of the city were more and higher, which was more conducive to defense. In the event of war in Anyi, you could retreat to Wenxi and fight again. The two places were only more than fifty miles apart, so it was very convenient to connect.

For him, it is acceptable to give up Anyi for the time being, as long as he does not give up Wenxi.

Sima Yi then made another suggestion: He appointed Wang Ling as the former general and led the prefect of Hedong. The reason why Wang Ling was not active in fighting was because he had no interests in Hedong. He had made him the prefect of Hedong, and the gains and losses of Hedong were related to him.

Although Pei Qian was not willing to fight the passive Wang Ling became the prefect of Hedong, he had no choice but to do anything. Facts have proved that although the Hedong Army had a lot of troops, its combat effectiveness was not very good. The reason why Zhang Liao came and went was because Wang Ling refused to work hard. In order to defeat Lu Su, in addition to relying on Liu Bei's central army, he also had to rely on the Bingzhou army, especially the Bingzhou cavalry led by Wang Ling.

Seeing that the military advisor and the marching Sima had the same opinion, Liu Bei did not hesitate anymore, and immediately ordered the withdrawal of the troops and notified Wei Ji to evacuate the Yanchi. Liu Bei was very cautious and asked Zhang Fei and Zhang He to command 5,000 cavalry to cut off the troops and cover the retreat of the infantry's main force. If there was a chance, he could also raid Lu Su.

Lu Su did not pursue him. He kept a distance from Liu Bei, sent many scouts, and did not give Zhang Fei or Zhang He a chance to attack. He followed him slowly to Anyi.

Liu Bei had no choice but to withdraw the troops surrounding Anyi and retreat to the mountains north of Anyi City, maintaining a threat to Anyi City, and waiting for an opportunity.

Lu Su met Lu Meng, and neither praised Lu Meng nor blamed him. Instead, he praised Zhang Liao for his outstanding mission and was able to take on a great task. Lu Meng was a little unhappy, but judging from Sun Ce's arrangement, there was no possibility of expanding the scale of the war for the time being, and this matter might involve factional struggles. The situation was complicated, so he had to calm down and swallow his cowardly.

Lu Xiaohuan and Wang Yi reunited after a long separation. They were extremely excited and pulled Wang Yi to the side and muttered, talking and laughing. She was also very curious about Wang Yi's son. She was hugging the little baby. She was even more nervous than going into battle. She asked Wang Yi many strange questions. In nine months, she would be a mother, but she knew nothing about how to take care of the child. She wished Wang Yi could tell her all the answers.

When Wang Yi learned that Lu Xiaohuan was pregnant, he was also amused and crying. After being pregnant, he still had a marching battle, and Lu Xiaohuan was more relaxed than before. It seemed that the late emperor had made a wise decision. If Lu Xiaohuan returned to Chang'an, he would never be today.

After the hustle and bustle, Lu Meng proposed a combat plan. These days in Anyi City, he was not idle. With the help of Zhao Ang, he sorted out the terrain of Hedong and made some deductions on the subsequent wars. This situation in front of him was one of them.

Liu Bei had a lot of troops, but his combat power was relatively weak. It was a natural choice to choose favorable terrain to defend instead of attack. From Anyi to the north, there were at least two mountains. If you attacked strongly, there would be a lot of casualties. It would be better to find another way. Specifically, there were two ways: one was to transfer the navy to join the battle, go up the Fen River, take Linfen first, and cut off Liu Bei's retreat to Bingzhou. The other was to recruit the Liangzhou army from Guanzhong to participate in the battle, and contact the Baibo army to make up for the disadvantage of insufficient troops on his own side.

When the rear path may be cut off, Liu Bei had no choice but to give up Anyi, Wenxi, and continue to retreat, aiming to defend Linfen. In this way, most of Hedong has enough initiative to fight or defend.

After hearing this, Lu Su did not comment and asked Xin Pi and other generals about their opinions, including Zhao Ang.

Xinpi stroked his beard and didn't say anything. He did not agree with Lu Meng's opinion, but he knew that Lu Meng felt uncomfortable. If he refuted his opinion in public, it would likely intensify the conflict. He planned to talk to Lu Meng in private, hoping that he would not act irritably and delay his bright future.

Zhang Liao, Gao Shun and others didn't speak. As surrendered generals, they did not want to participate in the conflict between Lu Su and Lu Meng. Zhao Ang was similar, staring at the map, pretending to be meditating, and not expressing any opinions.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Lu Su and Lu Meng both regretted it. At this time, Lu Xiaohuan, who was standing beside him, pulled Wang Yi out and said with a smile: "Governor Lu, generals, can you let my military advisor say a few words?"

Gao Shun and Zhang Liao looked at each other and smiled at the same time. Lu Xiaohuan's proposal was good, which could not only break the deadlock, but also not have to stand out by himself. Wang Yi is a woman. Even if he was wrong, Lu Su and Lu Meng would not have to argue with a woman.

Sure enough, Lu Su smiled and said, "Mrs. Wang, no, what are the opinions of Military Advisor Wang? You might as well speak out and listen carefully."

Lu Meng also smiled and said, "The governor doesn't know that although Military Commander Wang is a woman, he doesn't let him be. I heard from Zhao's mansion that the reason why he was able to defend Anyi was because of his strange plan to be a disciple of Military Commander Wang."

Wang Yi quickly said a few humility. In fact, she didn't want to talk too much, but Lu Xiaohuan thought that she showed her skills, so she couldn't refuse, so she had to obey her orders rather than respect. Besides, Wu State couldn't help but become a woman, and she was not willing to take care of her husband and children, and she would never leave the house for the rest of her life. If she had the opportunity to show her ability on such an occasion, she might have a chance in the future.

"As the generals said, our army lacks military strength, but this is not impossible. It is because the King of Wu loves the people and does not want to increase the burden on the people. It is easy to recruit soldiers, but difficult to raise soldiers. Although most of the Guan Sergeant families are from Liangzhou and are hard-working, their training is insufficient, especially compared with the Wu army, the gap is too far. I have not felt this way before. I have a deep understanding of the soldiers under General Lu's command these days."

Lu Meng grinned and said a few rare humility. "Mrs. I, the elite of Wu, are like this, and it is not worth mentioning."

Wang Yi smiled and then said: "Besides, many generals and schools in the Guanzhong army are royal families, and they are in charge of the war, which is really unreliable. The reason why Yang Jun, the appeaser, was reluctant to order them to cross the river to attack may be because of such concerns."
Chapter completed!