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

Although dissatisfied, Wang Yue had no choice but to obey Xun You's orders.

When Wang Yue dared to reach the foot of the mountain.

A faint smell of blood filled the air, which immediately put Wang Yue on alert.

"What's wrong, General?"

A lieutenant stepped forward, looking at Wang Yue with curiosity.

"Something felt off, which put everyone on high alert."

"Yes!"

Seeing that Wang Yue was so cautious, the deputy general did not dare to be careless and immediately ordered all the soldiers to be on alert.

Wang Yue led everyone slowly toward the cave entrance.

However, Wang Yue suddenly realized something when he was only halfway there.

Here, Wang Yue discovered that the smell of blood in the air was extremely strong.

Wang Yue was absolutely certain that he hadn't misheard.

As a renowned general and also an assassin, he was extremely sensitive to the smell of blood.

"The whole army is ready for war."

Wei Yan, who was hiding in the corner, heard Wang Yue's words and knew that it was impossible to launch a sneak attack.

It is indeed very difficult to launch a surprise attack on a famous general.

"Do it."

With Wei Yan's command.

Suddenly, a number of figures appeared on the mountaintop.

Logs and boulders kept falling.

Even with Wang Yue's warning, the soldiers were still caught off guard.

In an instant, Wang Yue's men were thrown into a state of panic.

Upon seeing this, Wei Yan immediately ordered the room to be emptied.

As the arrows rained down relentlessly, the soldiers, under the moonlight, had no idea where they were coming from, let alone where to defend themselves.

In a short time, the soldiers carrying shields also suffered considerable losses.

Seeing this, Wang Yue knew that if the fight continued, he would surely be defeated.

"retreat."

Left with no other option, Wang Yue directly issued a retreat order.

After seeing Wang Yue retreat, Wei Yan busied himself again, pushing all the logs and rocks back to the top of the mountain, waiting for the next ambush.

By the time Wei Yan and his men returned to the city, it was already dawn.

Xun You knew from the appearance of Wang Yue and his men that they had been ambushed.

"What happened? Were the supplies destroyed?"

Xun You's heart was in his throat at this moment.

If the supplies were destroyed at this point, even he wouldn't have any good ideas.

"I don't know, but we were ambushed by Wei Yan, and we had to retreat because it was dark."

"Wei Yan?"

Xun You couldn't understand how their grain storage location, which had always been very well hidden and hadn't been discovered even by Gu Rubing's vast intelligence network, could be found out so quickly, and how the enemy could have launched such a brilliant ambush.

"General Wang, you should go and rest now."

After speaking, Xun You looked into the distance at the location where the grain and fodder were stored.

As long as no thick smoke is billowing from that place, it at least proves that the grain supplies are still there.

As long as we have enough supplies, there's always a chance.

Meng Huo walked up to Xun You.

"Aren't you curious how Liu Bei knew where we hid our grain?"

"Of course I'm curious. Can you provide any information?"

Meng Huo nodded.

“When we ambushed Liu Bei, it was on his way away from Sun Jian. He had been to Sun Jian’s place once and then knew the location of our supplies. Sun Jian’s men would return after delivering the supplies, so I suspect that this matter is related to Sun Jian.”

"Sun Jian?"

Xun You looked at Meng Huo in surprise. He originally wanted to refute him, after all, Sun Jian was also their ally, and these provisions were provided by Sun Jian.

But Xun You quickly realized that Sun Jian was just a fence-sitter.

Gu Rubing went to Sun Jian's side, and neither side got angry, which means that both sides were very satisfied, and the two must have reached some kind of agreement.

After that, Gu Rubing knew the location of his supplies, and presumably this agreement was where his supplies were stored.

“Sun Jian…”

Xun You clenched his fist.

Now, because Sun Jian revealed the location of his grain storage to Gu Rubing, he may have to retreat again.

Wei Yan blocked the supply of provisions, refusing to give them any. They couldn't seize it in a short time, and the provisions they had wouldn't even last two days.

Soon Xun You wrote a letter and sent it to Cao Cao. At the same time, he sent Shi A with 20,000 men to attack Wei Yan from the front, and dispatched another team to enter the tunnel through other secret passages.

The tunnels were built in a network to prevent the grain and fodder storage area from being discovered.

Therefore, Xun You has already activated the backup plan.

When Wei Yan saw that Shi A had returned with 20,000 troops, he immediately began an ambush.

However, Shi A had already heard about Wei Yan's methods from Wang Yue and was prepared, so the rolling rocks and logs did not cause much damage to Shi A and his men.

Because it was daytime, the shield-bearers could see the rain of arrows all around them and could easily defend themselves.

at the same time.

A lieutenant, leading a hundred men, secretly entered the tunnel through another entrance.

The lieutenant knew that the battle outside was extremely fierce, so he dared not waste any time.

They immediately led everyone to frantically load food and fodder.

However, at that moment, a group of people suddenly rushed out from a corner.

The deputy general initially wanted to struggle, but upon seeing that these people were actually Zhang He, he stood frozen in place.

Zhang He had originally hidden here to ambush the grain transport team that came here, but he did not expect it to be so easy, and the other party did not even try to struggle.

"Where did you come from? Take us there."

Upon hearing this, the deputy general immediately nodded. He knew in his heart that resisting Zhang He would only lead to death, while surrendering might offer a way out.

Soon, Zhang He followed his deputy out of a cave.

Zhang He discovered that this was actually the rear of Linyu County, and the entrance to the cave was absolutely safe.

"General, I've already told you my location, can you please let me go now?"

"Release you? It's not impossible, but if you want us to release you, you'll have to pay a price. You know, here, only those who have rendered meritorious service can survive as prisoners."

"A person who has rendered meritorious service? Then isn't it a person who has rendered meritorious service for bringing you to this exit?"

"Nonsense, there are only a few exits from those tunnels. Even if you didn't lead us, wouldn't we be able to get there ourselves? If this counts as a merit, doesn't that mean any random dog could be a hero?"

"This……"

After a moment's hesitation, the deputy general looked towards Linyu County in the distance and made a decision.

"I helped you open the city gates, wouldn't that count as meritorious service?"

"Hmm, not bad, that's quite a contribution. Alright, come back with me now."

Shi A's military leadership was slightly inferior to Wang Yue's. Initially, with Wei Yan's support, they managed to hold out and even reduce casualties considerably. However, as time went on, Shi A's shield bearers gradually ran out of strength and could no longer withstand the boulders and logs, resulting in heavy losses. As the shield bearers' casualties increased, many more soldiers were killed by a hail of arrows.

Wei Yan had made thorough preparations for this ambush.

Of the 10,000 men Wei Yan brought this time, a full 5,000 were archers, precisely to take advantage of the terrain and utilize the archers' strengths.

Moreover, they prepared 200,000 arrows.

Faced with the relentless rain of arrows, Shia was ultimately forced to retreat.

Meanwhile, Zhang He, along with his deputy and over a hundred men, had already transported provisions and arrived at the city gate of Linyu County.

"Open the door quickly, we're back with supplies."

Because of the threat of Zhang He wielding a knife behind him, the lieutenant's voice trembled slightly.

The soldiers guarding the city were excited when they heard that it was food supplies, and they immediately tried to open the city gates.

"Wait a moment."

Just when Zhang He thought his plan had succeeded, Xun You's voice rang out from the city wall.

He heard the lieutenant's voice tremble slightly.

This is not the lieutenant's original voice.

The lieutenant was clearly afraid of something.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

The soldiers looked at Xun You with puzzled expressions.

Xun You didn't speak, but walked to the city wall and looked at the deputy general below.

How much grain did you bring this time?

"Sir, we only have a hundred men. We didn't bring back much grain, but it's enough for the brothers to have a meal. And I have good news: Liu Bei and his men did not burn the grain. As long as things go well at the front, we can recapture the grain."

Upon hearing this, Xun You glanced at his deputy general, and finally fixed his gaze on Zhang He behind the deputy general.

He always felt that the soldiers behind the deputy general were too close to him.

"Tell the soldier behind you to raise his head and let me see who he is."

Upon hearing Xun You's words, Zhang He's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly regained his composure.

Zhang He quickly raised his head.

What Xun You saw was a person with a dirty face, and this person was smiling at Xun You.

Xun You felt that this person looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

"Okay, come in."

After Xun You finished speaking, he waved his hand and opened the city gate.

Zhang He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

To prevent himself from being recognized, Zhang He deliberately smeared mud on his face to avoid being discovered.

Xun You watched as his deputy and the others slowly entered the city, and suddenly his expression changed.

"Everyone, take them down."

Although the surrounding soldiers did not understand what he meant, they still followed Xun You's instructions and slowly surrounded him.

Zhang He was a little confused. Where had he given himself away? He had gone to such lengths to hide his identity.

But now was not the time to think about where he had been exposed. After killing the lieutenant in front of him, he led his men and began to rush out of the city.

"Close the city gates."

Xun You was still wondering who this dirty-looking person was, but after seeing Zhang He's actions and strength, Xun You finally realized that this was Zhang He.

If they could capture Zhang He alive here, their advantage would be greatly amplified, and they could then exchange all the grain and fodder in the tunnel for it.

Therefore, Xun You immediately ordered the city gates to be closed.

Zhang He's men, seeing that the city gate was about to close, rushed towards it with all their might.

Soon, thanks to the reckless fighting of these guards, they finally managed to block the way in front of the city gate.

However, the enemy outnumbered them too much, and they couldn't hold out at the city gate for long.

"General, let's go quickly."

One of the guards was shouting frantically.

After dealing with the soldiers in front of him, Zhang He immediately rushed towards the city gate.

However, by the time Zhang He approached the city gate, only a dozen or so of the hundred personal guards he had brought with him remained.

"retreat."

Zhang He immediately ordered everyone to retreat.

However, just as all the survivors were about to evacuate, a cold voice rang out from the city wall.

"Fire arrows."

As soon as the sound faded, a deluge of arrows rained down.

Zhang He, relying on his own strength as a renowned general, was naturally not worried about this, but his personal guards were a different story.

Only three rounds of arrow rain.

More than ten guards were all killed by arrows.

Zhang He's face instantly darkened as he watched the last of his guards fall into a pool of blood.

Looking at Xun You in the room below the city wall, a boundless killing intent emanated from his body.

This murderous intent made Xun You involuntarily take a few steps back. He felt as if he had just been stared at by a wild beast.

Zhang He gritted his teeth, turned around, and left.

"Sir, why didn't you order Zhang He to be shot dead? Why did you insist on capturing him alive? If we had gone straight to the room, in this narrow place at the city gate, even if Zhang He was very skilled, he definitely wouldn't have been able to dodge the rain of arrows."

Wang Yue was very dissatisfied with Xun You's decision, believing that Xun You had given up a great opportunity to kill Zhang He.

"What do you know?"

Xun You glared at Wang Yue, snorted coldly, and slowly walked down the city wall.

When he reached the foot of the city wall, Xun You realized that his back was soaked with sweat.

Zhang He's gaze had just made him break out in a cold sweat.

After defeating Shi A, Wei Yan did not pursue him but instead began cleaning up the battlefield.

According to Gu Rubing, they would continue to block the enemy here until no one else came.

Therefore, these consumable resources are quite important.

Arrows, in particular, were extremely important supplies.

Just as Wei Yan was cleaning up the battlefield, he saw Zhang He walking back looking dejected.

"Junyi, what's wrong?"

This was the first time Wei Yan had seen Zhang He like this.

"It's alright, I'll guard this place with you."

"You're with me? Your mission failed? The lord said that if your mission failed, you should immediately return to the camp, to the main camp..."

"I said I would stay here."

Wei Yan was interrupted by Zhang He's angry roar before he could finish speaking.

Looking at Zhang He's expression, Wei Yan hesitated for a moment.

Wei Yan knew that Zhang He's command ability was no less than his own, and that Zhang He was perfectly capable of handling such defensive and ambush battles.

As for the main camp, all that's needed is a renowned general to guard it.

"Alright, you stay here. Don't forget the lord's plan; you must defend this place." (End of Chapter)