Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Upon hearing Zhao Yun's warning, the two immediately stopped in their tracks.

"General Zhao, we have come with sincerity. There is no need for you to be so nervous."

Zhao Yun ignored these words completely, his silver spear still pointed at them without the slightest relaxation.

Seeing Zhao Yun's appearance, the two ultimately decided not to advance any further.

Gu Rubing naturally understood that Zhao Yun was thinking of his own safety, so he did not try to stop him.

"You two, did you really say you could help me get rid of Liu Xie?"

"Of course, as long as King Lie lets us leave safely, I can guarantee that I will help you get rid of Liu Xie without causing you any trouble."

"Ha ha……"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing burst into laughter.

Both of them were somewhat bewildered by Gu Rubing's laughter.

"Prince Lie, what do you mean by this?"

“I don’t need you. I have some other ideas about taking action against Liu Xie. I want you to join me, and of course, your Gu clan as well.”

This Gu clan first followed Shi Xie, then Sun Jian, then Liu Zhang, and now they have even joined the royal family and are helping Shi Xie again. After going through all this, Gu Rubing can more or less figure out what this Gu clan is up to.

To resolve the entire problem of the Gu Clan, a direct confrontation would inevitably lead to a counterattack from two legendary generals. Therefore, keeping them by one's side and proceeding cautiously is the best approach.

Gu Rubing's plan was simple: to bring the Gu clan to his side and then slowly break them apart, ideally separating the two legendary generals.

When Miao Moqing heard that Gu Rubing wanted their Gu clan to join his camp, a glint of light flashed in her eyes.

For the Gu Clan, following Gu Rubing is definitely the best way out.

Gu Rubing controls ten states, which are the largest in terms of both strength and population. He can easily meet the needs of the Gu Clan.

However, Meng Huo had much more on his mind than Miao Moqing.

Miao Moqing was focused on immediate gains, but Meng Huo valued the future of the Gu clan even more. He knew that if he followed Gu Rubing at this time, the consequence would likely be the annihilation of the entire Gu clan.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but on this one matter, I cannot agree."

Gu Rubing did not expect that Meng Huo would reject his suggestion.

"That's a real shame. In that case, you can all stay here."

After saying that, Gu Rubing turned around and prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment, Prince Lie. Apart from this matter, we can agree to anything else."

"I only have one request of you, and that is it. I don't need you to do anything else. I'll give you two days to consider it. After two days, I will block the last road, and then you will have no chance to negotiate."

After saying that, Gu Rubing led Zhao Yun back to the camp at a leisurely pace.

"My lord, will they agree?"

"I am also not certain."

Gu Rubing had indeed underestimated Meng Huo. Gu Rubing originally thought that his request would be approved by Meng Huo and Miao Moqing, but he did not expect that Meng Huo would be able to see through his purpose.

Therefore, even Gu Rubing wasn't very confident this time.

Just as Meng Huo and his group returned to Juyang City, they saw Zhang Long appear before them.

"General Meng, our lord has sent us to fetch you."

Upon hearing this, Meng Huo immediately had an idea.

In the woods far from the east gate of Juyang City.

Five thousand soldiers were hiding in the woods.

To ensure their whereabouts remained undetected, the five thousand men hid far outside the city gates.

This prevented the spies that Lu Su had arranged to guard the city gate from discovering the five thousand men.

Gu Rubing knew that since Meng Huo understood his thoughts, he was destined not to agree to his demands, so the only way to go now was to seal off the city.

With only two days left, Gu Rubing was still frantically mobilizing all the troops he could muster, trying to completely seal off these two legendary generals within Juyang City.

Meng Huo and his men were completely unaware of their plans for what was to come in Juyang City.

late at night.

Several crossbowmen suddenly arrived at the camp.

Gu Rubing was still fast asleep when he learned that it was the Colonel of the Crossbowmen who had come. He immediately jumped out of bed.

He knew in his heart that the fact that the Colonel of the Crossbows specifically requested to see him meant that something big must have happened.

Soon, two crossbow captains came to Gu Rubing's side.

"My lord, we have received intelligence that Meng Huo and Shi A are mobilizing a large army and gathering at the north gate, seemingly preparing to break out."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing immediately looked at the map.

Now the entire Shanggu County and part of Guangyang County are under his control.

If we break out through the north gate, the surrounding area is all our own territory. What's the point of leaving from there? Are we just going to keep trying to break out?
However, this method of retreat not only incurs significant losses but also carries a high probability of failure.

Just as Gu Rubing was considering, Wei Yan, having received the news, rushed over.

"My lord, they are now preparing to escape through the north gate. We must quickly organize our troops to strengthen the siege of the north gate, otherwise they could easily break through."

Gu Rubing was initially hesitant, as he hadn't quite grasped Meng Huo's intentions.

Now that Wei Yan was advocating for sending troops, Gu Rubing no longer hesitated and immediately mobilized all the reserve troops to the North Gate.

Meng Huo and his men were already standing at the entrance of the North Gate.

Among these soldiers, there were naturally Gu Rubing's spies.

They were waiting for Meng Huo to order a breakout, so they could betray him at the crucial moment.

However, just as they had everything prepared, and even Gu Rubing was ready to deal with Meng Huo's breakout.

Meng Huo suddenly shouted to everyone: "All troops, rear guard become front guard, target the west gate, break out!"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

Everyone was prepared to enter from the North Gate, so why has it been changed to the West Gate now?

However, the military order had already been issued, and the soldiers naturally could not hesitate.

Soon, everyone launched an attack on Ximen.

This meant that even their informants didn't have time to relay information.

They could only follow Meng Huo's troops and charge towards the west gate.

When Gu Rubing learned that Ximen was under fierce attack by Meng Huo and his men, Gu Rubing finally realized what was happening.

Xun You is in Juyang City.

How could someone like Xun You do something meaningless?
Gu Rubing immediately ordered the mobilization of soldiers from three different cities to quickly reinforce the west gate.

However, just as the soldiers at all four city gates gathered together, preparing to resist Meng Huo and his forces.

A force of five thousand men suddenly attacked them from behind.

This caught the soldiers completely off guard.

In the ensuing chaos, a large gap was torn in the army's formation.

Meanwhile, Gu Rubing and Wei Yan were on their way to the west gate and were completely unable to command their troops. By the time Gu Rubing and his men arrived, Meng Huo and his forces had already broken out.

Upon hearing the news, Gu Rubing had no choice but to immediately order a pursuit.

Gu Rubing was also somewhat bewildered by the sudden appearance of five thousand people. How did these five thousand people manage to sneak out of Juyang City so quietly?

However, the pursuit lasted two days and two nights.

Apart from encountering some straggling soldiers on the road, Gu Rubing saw no trace of Meng Huo and his men.

In the end, Gu Rubing had no choice but to give up.

Lu Su immediately went to Gu Rubing to apologize.

"My lord, this was my misjudgment. Please punish me."

Seeing Lu Su kneeling on the ground with a guilty expression, Gu Rubing smiled and stepped forward.

He made the decision without listening to Lu Su's objections, which was all due to his carelessness; otherwise, this situation wouldn't have arisen.

"Alright, Zijing, get up. This has nothing to do with you. Since they've already run away, all we need to do is chase after them and fight them. There will always be a time for a decisive battle."

Lu Su nodded upon hearing this.

Seeing that Gu Rubing didn't blame him, he slowly got up.

Meng Huo and his men ran ahead, and Gu Rubing knew that he couldn't catch up with their speed, so he simply followed behind at a leisurely pace.

A few days later.

Gu Rubing discovered that they had entered the territory of Yuyang County.

Outside Pinggu County.

Gu Rubing led his army to the outskirts of the city, where he unexpectedly spotted Zhang He.

"Junyi, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Guangyang County?"

Upon hearing Gu Rubing's words, Zhang He immediately stepped forward.

He then told Gu Rubing about what was happening at the institute.

It turned out that when Zhang He was confronting Wang Yue, he suddenly discovered that Wang Yue's men had disappeared overnight.

Based on the traces left on the ground, Zhang He discovered that Wang Yue and his men had retreated, and that they were heading in the direction of Yuyang County.

After sending a message to Gu Rubing, he began to lead his men to pursue Wang Yue.

When the news arrived, Gu Rubing was leading his men in pursuit of Meng Huo and his group, which is why the news didn't arrive in time.

After learning all this, Gu Rubing finally understood.

The two teams had already gathered together, and Gu Rubing then took stock of all the troops under his command.

Gu Rubing discovered that he only had about 40,000 troops, two famous generals, a legendary military general, and a strategist named Lu Su.

Based on their current strength, Shi Xie is almost equal to them and to himself.

Under such circumstances, a direct assault would be out of the question to take over the entire Pinggu County; a strategic approach would be the only option.

After learning that Shi Xie had gathered all his troops in the city, Lu Su realized that a direct attack would not work, so he immediately turned his attention to the map.

Gu Rubing also came to Lu Su's side at this time.

"Zijing, do you have any good ideas?"

Lu Su shook his head helplessly.

Now, in Pinggu City, there are not only Meng Huo and Wang Yue, but also Xun You.

Xun You's wisdom and strategy were no less than his.

Just as the two were talking, a crossbow captain arrived.

"Lord!"

Gu Rubing looked at the crossbow captain kneeling in front of him, waved his hand, and told him to stand up.

"What happened?"

Upon hearing this, the captain of the crossbowmen immediately delivered a intelligence report to Gu Rubing.

"My lord, after Shi Xie received reinforcements last time, we figured out their reinforcement route and increased our spies. Sure enough, we discovered that 20,000 troops are heading towards Shi Xie's side along the same route as the previous reinforcements."

"Twenty thousand men? More reinforcements are coming?"

Gu Rubing frowned slightly.

With all the feudal lords now reinforcing Shi Xie, Gu Rubing is essentially fighting four wars, and has reduced the original four battlefields to a single one, greatly reducing the logistical pressure.

But what annoyed Gu Rubing was...

The previous 50,000 reinforcements were nothing to him because he didn't know much about the situation outside the region. But the situation is different now. He just suffered a loss, and now they are using the same method, even choosing the same route, to transport reinforcements and supplies.

Isn't that just treating yourself like a fool?
Thinking of this, Gu Rubing looked at Lu Su beside him.

"Zijing, what do you think?"

"My lord, now that they've come to us, we can't just do nothing, can we? I was just thinking about how to lure Shi Xie's men out, and here comes the hook?"

Upon hearing this, the two burst out laughing.

The two of them had the same idea about how to use these 20,000 people.

On the desert.

Twenty thousand soldiers are struggling to march through the yellow sand.

Among these 20,000 men, some were Cao Cao's troops from Yizhou, and others were Liu Zhang's troops from Jiaozhou.

As for the provisions behind them, they were provided by Sun Jian.

Just as these 20,000 men were marching, a general at the head of the army immediately waved his hand, stopping the main force.

"General Wang, what's wrong?"

A lieutenant walked up to the general and looked at him with some curiosity.

This general was originally a deputy general.

Cao Cao knew that Youzhou was now a bottomless pit, so he naturally didn't want to send any great generals. Instead, he casually promoted a deputy general to the rank of general and sent reinforcements to support Youzhou.

This lieutenant general became a general without achieving any merit, which caused some of the lieutenants who followed him to feel resentful.

"I always feel like there are people around us, telling everyone to be careful."

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant hurriedly looked around.

The investigation revealed that there was nothing unusual in the surroundings; everything was the same as before.

"General, are you mistaken? There's nothing wrong around here. We haven't seen a single person. If there really was an ambush, there would be some trace, wouldn't there?"

"No, something's definitely wrong. My gut feeling can't be wrong. We need to alert everyone."

However, while the deputy general outwardly obeyed the general's words, he did not actually pass on the order.

In his view, this general had no real talent or ability; he became a general simply because he was lucky enough to be noticed by Cao Cao.

This contemptuous attitude led the lieutenant to completely scoff at the general's words.

The main force marched for quite some time without finding any problems, which made the lieutenant even more dismissive of the general's words. (End of Chapter)