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

Looking at the dilapidated inn rooms, the group of county magistrates realized that perhaps only Zhao Yun, a legendary general, could have accomplished something like this.

But is it really worth it to have a legendary general kill a county magistrate?
Just as the county magistrates were wondering what was going on, a deafening sound of destruction suddenly came from outside the city.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

Then I saw a silver dragon circling in the sky.

The silver dragon was also making a roaring sound.

"It's General Zilong. He seems to be fighting someone? If someone can fight General Zilong, then the opponent must also be a legendary general?"

"But among those legendary generals, who exactly was General Zilong fighting against?"

While the county magistrates hesitated, Gu Rubing personally led some guards to seal off the entire inn.

Driven by curiosity, the county magistrates followed Gu Rubing to the room where Chen Yun died.

Looking at Chen Yun's corpse, Gu Rubing frowned but remained silent.

Not long after, Zhao Yun returned, still covered in dust.

"My lord, Xu Chu just arrived, but he managed to escape."

"Xu Chu? It seems Cao Cao sent someone. To assassinate a county magistrate, he actually sent a legendary general. How shameless!"

Gu Rubing snorted coldly.

Only then did everyone realize that they had known all along that Chen Long was the first to surrender to Gu Rubing, and Cao Cao obviously knew this as well.

From this, it can be seen that Cao Cao wanted to teach them a lesson, which is why he killed Chen Long.

Facing Wugong County, which is defended by Zhao Yun, it would be impossible for the enemy to succeed without sending a legendary general.

After such an incident, the county magistrates were even more hesitant to join Cao Cao's camp.

"Don't worry, everyone. I will make Cao Cao give me an explanation for this matter sooner or later. Zhao Yun will be here tonight to protect your safety. Tomorrow morning, you should all go back as soon as possible. This is not a safe place."

Everyone present knew that Zhao Yun was Gu Rubing's personal bodyguard, and Zhao Yun was also a legendary general.

The fact that they were being protected by their lord's guards, especially legendary generals, made the county magistrates feel flattered.

Each and every one of them was filled with gratitude towards Gu Rubing.

Early the next morning.

After seeing all the county magistrates off, Gu Rubing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Zilong, you've really worked hard."

"My lord, you're too kind. What should we do next? Go find Cao Cao?"

"No rush, let's go back to Youzhou first. We've been out for so long, we don't even know how Youzhou is doing."

"Yes!"

Soon, Gu Rubing and his group quickly left Wugong County. As for the local county magistrate, the county assistant magistrate was appointed to manage the affairs of the county.
On the way, Gu Rubing also received the battle report from Youzhou.

Since Gu Rubing left, Lu Su has blocked the news that Gu Rubing was still alive and has also blocked Youzhou's communication channels with the outside world.

At the same time, Lu Su also hung mourning flags in the army to create the impression that Gu Rubing was dead.

Xun You, believing Gu Rubing to be truly dead, immediately ordered Wang Yue and his men to launch a surprise attack. However, this fell right into Lu Su's trap, and Wang Yue suffered a major defeat.

Lu Su also took the opportunity to capture many cities in Youzhou.

It has now been pushed to Youzhou, Linyu County of Liaoxi Commandery.

However, Xun You's reinforcements also arrived at the same time.

Shi Xie and his troops in Linyu County now number nearly 150,000.

Lu Su and his men, on the other hand, numbered only around 90,000.

Gu Rubing looked at the map.

It was discovered that Shi Xie now only had four counties left, meaning that he could say he controlled most of Youzhou.

Upon receiving this information, Gu Rubing immediately quickened his pace.

When Gu Rubing dared to go to the front-line camp.

Zhang He and Wei Yan were already waiting outside the tent.

"My lord, the master is waiting for you in the tent."

"Ok?"

Gu Rubing was wondering why Lu Su hadn't come out, but after hearing their conversation, he was immediately startled.

Could something have happened to Lu Su?
Gu Rubing rushed to the camp immediately.

"My lord, it is Zijing's fault. Please punish him."

Upon seeing Gu Rubing return, Lu Su immediately knelt before him, a sword resting in his hands.

"Zijing, what are you doing? What have you done wrong?"

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong with a puzzled expression.

However, both of them shook their heads.

"My lord, you are still alive, but I have taken it upon myself to spread the news that you are dead. Please punish me!"

"Ha ha……"

Gu Rubing burst out laughing upon hearing this.

"Zijing, this news you released was worthwhile. It broke our deadlock. Isn't that great? As long as we can win, I don't care whether I live or die."

Gu Rubing hadn't expected that Lu Su was still holding a grudge about this matter.

Seeing that Gu Rubing didn't blame him, Lu Su finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Rubing walked up to the map.

"Zijing, tell me about the current situation."

"Yes, my lord!"

Lu Su walked to Gu Rubing's side, looked at the map and introduced it to Gu Rubing: "My lord, ahead of us is Linyu County. Linyu County used to be the seat of Liaoxi Commandery, so the city walls are high. If we want to attack it by force, it will be difficult. In addition, because Shi Xie has sent another wave of reinforcements, the enemy's troops have increased to 150,000, while our troops only have 90,000. Some of them are new recruits, and their combat effectiveness is worrying. Therefore, my suggestion is that we cannot attack by force, but can only take it by strategy."

"How do you outsmart me?"

"Food shortage..."

This was the only solution Lu Su could come up with after much deliberation.

Only by cutting off their food supply can this army of 150,000 be defeated.

Gu Rubing looked at the map with a puzzled expression and asked, "Zijing, can't we take a detour? Just like we did with Shi A and the others, we can trap them in that Linyu County."

Upon hearing this, Lu Su shook his head.

Lu Su had considered this point as well. After all, with an army of 150,000 men right in front of them, anyone would want to avoid them.

However, after studying the topographic map, Lu Su ultimately gave up.

"My lord, Liaoxi County is different from other counties. Apart from the pipeline, the other roads are extremely narrow and cannot accommodate a large army. Moreover, no matter how we detour, we cannot get out of Linyu County's defense zone. If we rashly go around, we will easily be ambushed by the people in Linyu County, and then we will suffer more losses than gains."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing nodded.

"If we're facing a food shortage, perhaps I can offer some assistance."

After saying this, Gu Rubing told Lu Su the news he had obtained from Sun Jian.

"underground?"

When Lu Su first heard the news, he obviously didn't believe it.

Storing grain underground would be extremely difficult, especially considering the massive scale of the siege. Furthermore, the dampness underground would make the grain easily susceptible to moisture. However, the more difficult it seemed, the more likely it was to be true for Gu Rubing.

Because in their search for Shi Xie's provisions, they practically searched the entire Youzhou region, but to no avail.

If there were enough provisions for an army of over 100,000, there would be a lot of them; how could anyone possibly not find them?

The only possibility is that Shi Xie hid the grain, and the most likely possibility is that it's underground.

Seeing that Lu Su still didn't believe him, Gu Rubing directly handed over the map he had obtained from Sun Jian.

"We've already occupied the area marked on the map. Why don't you send someone to take a look?"

Lu Su nodded with some skepticism, then immediately ordered his men to search the area marked on the map.

Soon the search team reported back that they hadn't found the so-called tunnel, but they had indeed found a blocked-off spot.

Gu Rubing then led everyone to that place immediately.

Soon, Gu Rubing discovered that this was at the foot of an earthen hill.

In a place that looks like a cave, there is a thick mound of earth.

They didn't know what was inside, but at least they could tell that the soil was slightly different in color from the other soil, and it was obviously new soil.

"Let's dig and see."

"Yes!"

Soon, the soldiers began digging.

However, a day passed, and the hole remained unopened.

Zhao Yun squatted down, looked at the cave entrance, and shook his head.

"My lord, there's no need to dig anymore. They used water when they filled the tunnel, and now the surrounding soil has already blended with this new soil. Unless we dig out the entire tunnel, it's impossible to use this place as a breakthrough point."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing was immediately disappointed.

Lu Su had no choice but to believe that what Gu Rubing said was true; Shi Xie had indeed hidden the grain underground. Otherwise, why would Shi Xie be so careful in protecting the entrance to the cave?
"I never imagined that Shi Xie would be so foolish as to put the grain on the ground. Wouldn't that make the grain damp? How can such grain still be used?"

Gu Rubing shrugged at Lu Su's words. He thought Shi Xie's method was quite good. At least if it weren't for Sun Jian's traitor, he would never have imagined that the grain was actually in the tunnel.

"My lord, since there is an entrance to the tunnel here, there must also be an entrance to the tunnel in Linyu County. After all, the 150,000 troops in the city need to eat. We need to find that entrance to the tunnel."

Gu Rubing nodded.

Having learned from this experience, Gu Rubing ordered all the crossbow captains within Youzhou to begin a full-scale surveillance of all suspicious Shi Xie's troops.

These people were most likely there to collect provisions.

Sure enough, hard work pays off, and three days later...

Gu Rubing received some news.

That was a group of people pushing a cart, who secretly left the city in the dead of night and entered a mountain. Not long after, they returned with some black bags. As for what was inside the bags, the officer dared not go forward to check.

After receiving this information, Gu Rubing, along with Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, headed to the place mentioned by the Colonel Younu.

This is a very ordinary mountain, and there is nothing special about it.

"Look carefully, the entrance should be nearby."

Zhang Fei thought that following Gu Rubing out would lead to a fight, but he didn't expect that they would be looking for a cave entrance.

This caused Zhang Fei, who was not particularly observant to the point of being completely disillusioned, to give up the idea of ​​searching for the missing person.

I randomly picked a spot with lots of dry grass and sat down.

However, as soon as he sat down, a hole appeared.

If it weren't for the serpent spear he was still holding, Zhang Fei would have fallen.

"Big brother, I found it."

Zhang Fei shouted excitedly.

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing immediately brought Zhao Yun over.

Upon hearing the details of what happened, Gu Rubing immediately joked, "Third brother, you've really sat through the mountain with your butt, haha..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei blushed.

Gu Rubing looked at the cave entrance with curiosity.

He discovered that there were steps made of sand around the entrance to the cave.

Moreover, there are many footprints on it, as well as traces of carriages passing by. Although they have been concealed, some clues can still be seen upon closer inspection.

"Let's go inside and take a look."

Zhao Yun was the first to go down, Gu Rubing was the second, and Zhang Fei was the third.

After the three of them followed the cave entrance and reached the underground, Gu Rubing's eyes widened in surprise, and he exclaimed, "Wow!"

The underground area appears to be at least thirty meters deep, and there are load-bearing stone pillars. The underground space is very large, and we also saw a lot of grain and fodder here.

Moreover, judging from the environment of the tunnel, it seems to be quite interconnected, as there are several cave entrances around.

"interesting."

Gu Rubing smiled.

"My lord, what should we do now? Should we burn all this grain?"

"No rush, these provisions have other uses."

Gu Rubing originally intended to burn it down, but he felt that doing so would be too easy on Wang Yue.

The group quickly restored the exit and then rushed back to the camp.

Lu Su was immediately excited upon learning that the enemy's supplies had been found.

"My lord, it's excellent that the grain supplies weren't burned. If they had been burned, it would only have forced them to retreat, without causing them any real damage. We can use these grain supplies to do many things."

Based on the terrain described by Gu Rubing and the others, Lu Su deduced that the mountain was a good place for defense.

As long as they deploy enough troops here, they can hold off the enemy's entire army.

Lu Su quickly made arrangements.

Two days later, late at night.

A grain transport team quietly left the city and headed towards that earthen hill.

However, just as they reached the halfway point, Wei Yan suddenly rushed out with several hundred men.

They immediately surrounded these people.

"Kill, leave no one behind."

Soon, shouts of battle echoed throughout the entire mountain.

It was just a grain transport team, with no more than a thousand people in total, and the grain transport teams were usually composed of people with extremely low combat effectiveness.

Xun You was still inside the city, waiting for the supply convoy to return.

However, two hours passed, and usually the supply convoy would have returned by now, but this time there wasn't a single person to be seen.

Xun You's keen intuition told him that something was probably wrong.

He immediately ordered Wang Yue to lead ten thousand men to that mountain.

Throughout the journey, Wang Yue was quite dissatisfied with Xun You's command.

To be entrusted with transporting provisions, a task for a renowned general like himself, was an insult indeed. (End of Chapter)