Three Kingdoms: I rely on system loopholes to survive

This time, Zhong Ping brought back less than 400 Bai Li soldiers. When he returned to the water stronghold, he was originally angry, but when he heard that he was retreating, Cai Zhong led the troops out, and his face was strange for a moment, neither angry nor smiling, which scared Liu Qi.

Around noon of the second day, Cai Zhongcai led the remaining troops back. Even Zhang Yun had no face to say anything after such a turn from victory to defeat. Zhong Ping took advantage of the situation and questioned Cai Mao why he did not come to help as agreed last night: "General, haven't you heard that 'loyalty is as heavy as a thousand pounds and cannot be betrayed lightly; trust is like quicksand, easy to lose and hard to regain'? Now I have been ordered to help, and the general has made an agreement in advance. I obeyed the military order, but the general easily broke it! How unrighteous is it to break one's loyalty like this! Does the general think that I, Jiaozhou, am easy to bully?"

Cai Mao knew that he was in the wrong and that Zhong Ping was no empty talker. He also regretted that he had not been able to pursue the victory and drive Lu Bu out of Nanjun. He could only take the initiative to explain: "It was foggy at night, and the deployment was delayed... This time the fault is mine, and it will never happen again."

As he spoke, he glared at Cai Zhong, who lowered his head in embarrassment.

"If the envoy needs soldiers, food, and other supplies, we have everything in our camp for the envoy to choose from."

Zhong Ping's heart was moved: "I have an old friend here. Please allow me to select two officials from Jingzhou to go back to Jiaozhou with me before I leave."

Cai Mao thought about it and did not agree directly, but said: "The envoy will have to stay for a few days, we will talk about it then."

The morale in the water stronghold was low, and it was no less so in Lu Bu's camp.

After Zhong Ping's night attack, although Lu Bu defeated Cai Zhong who came afterwards, he was suddenly defeated after a series of victories, and the morale of the army was shaken.

Lü Bu was afraid of Zhong Ping's plan, so he trained his troops and retreated overnight, retreating to Jiangjin City to defend it.

Along the way, Chen Gong saw that in the military camp, the flags were low, the bows and crossbows were silent, and the only sound he could hear was the soldiers whispering. Most of them were puzzled as to why Zhong Ping knew the defenses in the camp so clearly that night.

Lu Bu was also still brooding over Zhong Ping's words of "hospitality" before he left. In the past few days, when he looked at his generals, he always suspected that there were spies among them who had accepted benefits from the Cai brothers and leaked information privately. He even no longer trusted Chen Gong as before.

Chen Gong looked around and realized that only a victory could turn around the morale and make Lü Bu put down his doubts. So he secretly summoned all the generals to discuss the next strategy: "My lord is brave and has fought on the battlefield. Although you have retreated to this place, the terrain is favorable. We should set up an ambush in a strategic place and wait for the enemy to tire out, so as to achieve a quick victory."

All the generals praised his words, except Hao Meng, who bowed his head with a strange look in his eyes. Chen Gong then planned to attack the streamway in the western suburbs of Nanjun first, so as to find a good opportunity to defeat the enemy by making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. After the plan was finalized, he took the map to see Lu Bu.

Hao Meng has always known Lü Bu's character. After returning to the camp last night and discovering that the talisman on his waist has disappeared, Hao Meng knows that he has no choice but to surrender to Zhong Ping. How can he conceal the loss of such an item for a long time? Moreover, even if he can find an excuse to prevaricate, once Zhong Ping writes a letter to instigate him and attaches the talisman, given Lü Bu's suspicion, he will surely die.

This ravine is deep and secluded, with trees on both sides, connecting to the Tuoshui River. There are many camphor trees on the mountain, which are extremely lush. From it, you can go around the river and reach the water fort on the river bank.

It took Lü Bu five days to arrive, but he didn't know that Zhong Ping had already received a message from Hao Meng. At dawn, he ordered 300 elite soldiers to lie in ambush on both sides of the ravine and set up a dense crossbow formation. He also sent Cai Zhong with more than a hundred light cavalry to take a detour. At dusk, they would reach the rear road, set up heavy wooden barriers, and cut off the enemy's retreat.

Cai Mao was very cooperative this time. On the one hand, he ordered his elite troops to stay in Tuoshui, and on the other hand, he conducted military exercises and inspections on the water fort as usual, but he deliberately made the defenders appear to be relaxed.

Chen Gong followed Lu Bu and could vaguely see the water stronghold. He hurriedly ordered Gao Shun: "You lead a thousand elite cavalrymen to attack directly while you are victorious. Don't wait for my order."

Gao Shun did as he was told and just as he rushed into the ravine, he saw arrows raining down from the mountains on both sides. Then there was a flash of fire, which ignited the kerosene spread on the grass. In an instant, tongues of flame shot up into the sky, thick smoke covered the sun, and there were fire arrays on all sides, and waves of air were surging.

Before Lü Bu could react, another log and stone came crashing down, startling the horses, causing cries of pain, and trampling everywhere. The troops were already in disarray. When Zhong Ping saw the chaos, he ordered Cai Zhong to cut off the retreat route from behind, leaving only a small path. He also ordered Cai Zhong, who had moored his boat on the Tuo River, to
And take the waterway to rob food and fodder.

"Retreat!"

Lu Bu tightened the reins and shouted loudly. The soldiers who were originally in a panic gathered around him. Lu Bu seemed to have eyes behind his head. The long spear in his hand moved like the wind, smashing the arrows and stones that were coming in one after another. He squeezed his horse's belly and rushed out of the ravine first.

Chen Gong saw that although Lü Bu was brave, he was still in danger of being caught in a dilemma in the stream, so he hurriedly called Hao Meng to help him and ordered him to lead 500 infantrymen to help. Hao Meng just acted panic in the back and delayed to go, which made Chen Gong suspicious. At this time, there was no other way, so he had to send more messengers to urge him.

Lu Bu saw from afar that the end of the ravine was lined with wooden barriers, and there was another person named Cai Zhong leading the troops in front. He knew that Chen Gong's plan had been leaked long ago, and he was even more convinced that there was something fishy going on among his subordinates. He gritted his teeth and swore that if he could escape, he would go back and cut the man into pieces to relieve his hatred.

"Left and right, follow me and charge!" His command was simple and brief, able to quickly mobilize the mostly calm soldiers behind him.

Cai Zhong originally thought that Lu Bu would be in a mess after being ambushed, but he seemed to be no different from usual, even more brave, and no one could stop him with his long spear. Cai Zhong was originally very proud of himself, and ordered his lieutenant general to lead 3,000 elite soldiers to besiege Lu Bu, but now, after just a brief encounter, the lieutenant general's head fell to the ground.

Lu Bu killed with great pleasure. Although some of his soldiers were injured afterwards, their morale was high at this moment and they just focused on fighting. Cai Zhong was dumbfounded by their bravery. Recalling the defeat last night, he felt a little regretful and felt that he should not have been the one to cut off the road.

"My dear boy from the Cai family, your beautiful head is about to fall into the hands of Lu Bu!"

When Lu Bu saw Cai Zhong in the center of the army, he turned his wrist, picked up the head of the lieutenant general on the horse, tied it with one hand, and rushed forward with a loud laugh.

This was the first time that Cai Zhong faced Lu Bu head-on. He was immediately frightened by Lu Bu's invincible momentum and his face turned pale, and he almost fell off his horse.

"Where is the deputy commander? Come and protect me!"

Cai Zhong did not care about meeting him. He lay on his horse, looked back in panic and fled towards the Tuo River. In his panic, he finally remembered that Zhong Ping had asked him to leave a small path.

Originally, he thought that Zhong Ping's action was a woman's kindness, but now it seems that he knew that he would end up like this, so he deliberately left a way out for Lu Bu to save his own life? He turned out to be a sincere gentleman?

Lü Bu had just killed a deputy general with a single blow of his halberd and was about to disperse the Jingzhou soldiers to chase Cai Zhong, when he saw a gap in the left path in the forest and no wooden barriers blocking it. He wanted to lead his troops away from there, but was afraid of falling into another trap, so he rushed back to Chen Gong to ask for advice.

Chen Gong was surprised when he heard Lu Bu's words. The military situation in Jingzhou was very good now. He couldn't understand why they had to surround the enemy on three sides and leave one side open. But there was no other way to go at this time. Instead of being trapped in the ravine and enduring the pain of flint, he might as well take a risk.

Furthermore, he remembered that Lu Bu had said that he intended to spare Bo Heng's life last night. Could it be that this man was a kind person and released Xiao Dao today as a reward?

(End of this chapter)