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

After Lu Su and the others learned that Gu Rubing was about to arrive.

They immediately opened the city gates.

Lu Su led all his soldiers to welcome Gu Rubing outside the city.

"Greetings, my lord."

Upon seeing Gu Rubing, everyone immediately knelt on the ground and shouted in unison.

"Okay, everyone get up."

Gu Rubing helped Lu Su up, and then led the group slowly into the city.

Such a commotion naturally alerted Cao Ren's spies.

The informants also relayed all the information back to Cao Ren.

Gu Rubing sat in the main seat, looking at Lu Su and the others beside him, and asked with a smile, "Zijing, how is the situation?"

Lu Su looked around at the people around him, and then surprisingly knelt down in front of Gu Rubing.

"My lord, I have been avoiding battle all this time. Please punish me."

Seeing Lu Su like this, Wei Yan and the others hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"My lord, the gentleman was only thinking of us. Please do not punish him."

Gu Rubing hadn't expected that he would be in this mess so soon after arriving.

"No, you should tell me first, what exactly happened?"

Gu Rubing looked completely bewildered, and even Guan Yu and Zhao Yun exchanged glances, utterly clueless as to what had happened.

Lu Su then looked at Gu Rubing and said slowly, "My lord, in the past few days, Cao Ren has frequently sent the Xiahou brothers to provoke us, but they lead very few troops, only about 20,000 men. I was worried that it was a trap, so I kept the truce sign up. No matter how much the Xiahou brothers cursed me, I did not go out to fight, which caused quite a bit of dissatisfaction in the army."

Twenty thousand people provoking us?
Gu Rubing frowned immediately upon hearing this.

He had indeed seen those who came to challenge him with a small number of troops before, and most of them were there for one-on-one duels. But when this happened, it was because the other party thought he was very strong, even stronger than everyone else. Otherwise, why would he come to challenge him?
But what gave the Xiahou brothers the audacity to challenge them? Zhang Liao, Wei Yan, and Zhang He, who were present, while not necessarily superior to them, were certainly no less capable.

After considering all the possible reasons, Gu Rubing concluded that there was only one possibility: this was a scheme by the enemy, and these 20,000 men were likely suicide squads.

"Cao Ren has quite the grand gesture."

Gu Rubing couldn't help but sigh.

Cao Cao gave him 150,000 troops, but Cao Ren actually wanted to use 20,000 troops as suicide soldiers just to force Gu Rubing and his men to lose control of the city gates.

"My lord, what do you mean by this?"

Wei Yan didn't understand what Gu Rubing meant and looked at Gu Rubing blankly.

"Alright, all of you, get up. Jing did the right thing; it was Cao Ren's plan."

Lu Su also felt that this was a scheme, but when it came to actually saying what Cao Ren's plan was, he couldn't say it; it was just that things were a bit unusual.

Therefore, the opinions of the people towards Lu Su grew stronger and stronger. If it weren't for Wei Yan and the others keeping him in check, some of the deputy generals would probably have rushed up to Lu Su and forced him to open the gates and fight.

"The provocation is a pretense; the real intention is to make you open the city gates. Once your gates are open, these 20,000 men will rush forward immediately, using their bodies to block the gates so you can no longer close them. At that time, Cao Ren will also quickly arrive with his army. Then, the advantage of Jiangzhou's city walls will be completely lost, and you will end up in hand-to-hand combat. Our losses will become uncontrollable."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock.

Regardless, Cao Ren's plan was truly ruthless.

"But does Cao Ren really think they can win in close combat?"

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he immediately began to mock.

However, just as they were speaking...

A soldier ran in.

"My lord, the Xiahou brothers are here again."

"here we go again?"

Gu Rubing sneered and led everyone directly onto the city wall.

Looking at the 20,000 troops standing behind Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, Gu Rubing became even more certain of his guess.

"My lord, since they are trying to prevent us from closing the city gates, then we should just keep the city gates closed."

Lu Su immediately offered Gu Rubing a plan.

The main problem was that the Xiahou brothers not only challenged him, but also insulted him outside the city. Moreover, the insults they used were extremely offensive. Lu Su was worried that Gu Rubing would not be able to bear the insults and would directly start a war.

"Zijing, haven't you realized that this is an open conspiracy?"

"Open conspiracy?"

"That's right, it's an open strategy. If you open the city gates, those 20,000 men will become suicide soldiers. But if you don't open the city gates, the enemy will come knocking on the gates every day. Over time, the soldiers' resentment towards us will grow. At that point, the enemy only needs to fan the flames a little, and the soldiers will be thrown into chaos, eventually leading to a mutiny."

Upon hearing this, Lu Su's expression immediately changed.

If this were to turn into a mutiny, then this army of 150,000, along with the entire Ba Commandery, would likely be lost, and the enemy might even find an opportunity to directly storm into Jingzhou, or even Sili.

Thinking of this, Lu Su broke out in a cold sweat.

Because some signs have already emerged, some of the deputy generals are already dissatisfied with him.

"My lord, what should we do?"

"Wouldn't it be enough to just keep these people outside the city gates?"

After saying that, Gu Rubing waved to Zhang Liao, who was standing to the side.

And he whispered something in Zhang Liao's ear.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao immediately realized what was happening and knelt on the ground.

"Liao obeys!"

"Go."

After speaking, Gu Rubing looked at Wei Yan standing to the side.

"Wen Chang, you should go too, but remember, come back after Zhang Liao leaves the battlefield."

"Yes!"

The Xiahou brothers were shouting outside the city gate, and they were starting to get tired.

Because their insults were so vulgar, some of the soldiers guarding the city couldn't stand it anymore and secretly threw a few stones at the Xiahou brothers, but the two of them easily blocked them.

Just when they thought that Gu Rubing still wouldn't send troops out, the city gates slowly opened.

As the city gates opened wider and wider, the Xiahou brothers became excited and raised their hands at the same time.

Those 20,000 soldiers were now ready.

As soon as the two of them lower their hands, they can immediately rush to the city gate and block it.

Just as the city gate opened wide enough for three people to enter side by side, and the Xiahou brothers were about to make their move, the gate suddenly stopped. This left the Xiahou brothers somewhat bewildered.

This is only wide enough for three people to stand side by side, not enough for a large army to break through. What on earth is Liu Bei doing?
The Xiahou brothers exchanged a glance, completely baffled.

Soon, they understood.

At this moment, Zhang Liao led the Azure Dragon Swordsmen and the Ironclad Cavalry out to fight their way out.

The Azure Dragon Swordsmen and the Ironclad Cavalry combined numbered no more than 2,500, and they quickly emerged from the city gate, which was only three people wide.

Moreover, the combat power of these two types of soldiers is frighteningly high. Even if the Xiahou brothers ordered their soldiers to charge, they might not be able to reach the city gate.

Soon, Zhang Liao and Wei Yan, along with everyone else, appeared before the Xiahou brothers.

"You two, you keep coming to provoke us every day! Do you think we don't know what you're up to? You want a fight? Come on, let's start!"

As Wei Yan's voice rang out, the sound of drums began to sound from the city wall.

"Hmph, everyone, kill them! The target is the enemy's city gate."

After the Xiahou brothers finished speaking, they rushed towards Zhang Liao and Wei Yan.

With 20,000 Wei troops and only 2,500 Zhang Liao's men, the conditions for a desperate battle were fully met.

Fueled by their desperate fight, these 2,500 men directly halted the charge of 20,000.

Wei Yan forced Xiahou Yuan back with his sword, then observed the battle situation and burst into triumphant laughter.

"Haha, with your petty tricks, my lord already guessed it. See the city gate? Now the city gate is only left with a crack, just enough for one person to pass through. What can you do? Even if these 20,000 men were to die for their cause, they wouldn't be able to open this city gate."

Xiahou Yuan sneered at Wei Yan's mockery.

"Really? You think we only have one plan?"

After Xiahou Yuan finished speaking, he immediately shot out a signal arrow.

Then Cao Ren led his entire army and charged straight over.

These people's target was not the city gate, but Zhang Liao and his Green Dragon Saber soldiers and Ironclad Cavalry.

"Haha, our reinforcements have arrived! Wei Yan, let's see if your lord really wants to save you. As soon as the city gates open, we can immediately force them shut. This is a dead end, haha!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Yan hurriedly looked at Zhang Liao.

"Wen Chang, it's time for us to go. According to the plan, you should enter the city immediately."

Zhang Liao considered the situation and concluded that with the combined fighting strength of both sides, dealing with these tens of thousands of people using his troops and their willingness to fight to the death would not be a problem. However, it would interfere with Gu Rubing's subsequent plans, which would be a loss rather than a gain.

Therefore, Zhang Liao decided to retreat.

Because of Gu Rubing's previous orders and Zhang Liao's words, Wei Yan did not hesitate and turned to rush into Jiangzhou City, at which point the city gates were closed.

This action stunned Cao Ren, who was directing from afar.

Wei Yan entered the city, and the city gates were closed? Did they just abandon Zhang Liao and the rest of the elite troops?

Cao Ren hesitated for a moment before immediately ordering a large number of troops to surround Zhang Liao.

After all, in Cao Ren's view, Gu Rubing would never abandon Zhang Liao, the Qinglong School of Swordsmen, and the Ironclad Cavalry, no matter what.

Especially the Ironclad Cavalry, they are all covered in heavy armor, each one a moving gold mine.

Even if Gu Rubing were incredibly wealthy, he would never throw away these mountains of gold before they could be put to good use.

But Cao Ren soon realized he was wrong.

Zhang Liao actually retreated, but it would be more accurate to say he broke through the encirclement rather than retreated.

The city gates remained closed, and Zhang Liao did not leave Jiangzhou City in the same direction, but in another direction, which was also the weakest point in their encirclement.

How could Cao Ren's troops possibly contain Zhang Liao's elite forces?

The two sides exchanged blows briefly, and Zhang Liao shattered the defensive line.

Looking in the direction Zhang Liao left, Cao Ren was momentarily confused, and then ordered his men to bring him the map.

After carefully examining the map, Cao Ren finally made his judgment.

Jiangzhou City has four city gates, and they besieged the north gate. Zhang Liao must be trying to break out and detour to the south gate to enter the city.

After making up his mind, Cao Ren immediately dispatched the Xiahou brothers with 20,000 cavalry to head directly to the South Gate. This way, they could arrive at the South Gate earlier than Zhang Liao, who took a detour.

However, after the Xiahou brothers arrived at the south gate, they waited outside the gate for a whole day but did not see any trace of Zhang Liao.

When they finally sent people to search, they found not even a hoofprint, so Cao Ren had clearly guessed wrong.

By the time Cao Ren received the letter from the Xiahou brothers, three days had passed, and there was still no trace of Zhang Liao. Left with no other choice, Cao Ren had to order the Xiahou brothers to retreat.

Cao Ren did not know Zhang Liao's whereabouts, but he felt that Zhang Liao's ultimate goal was to advance. Judging from the timeline, Zhang Liao might have already entered Jiangzhou City through another passage.

However, Cao Ren had no idea that Zhang Liao had indeed taken a detour, but Zhang Liao's purpose was not to enter Jiangzhou City, but to go around to the back of Linjiang City.

Cao Ren's focus was entirely on Jiangzhou City, completely neglecting the direction of Linjiang City, which allowed Zhang Liao to enter the rear of Linjiang City undetected.

Zhang Liao, standing atop a mountain, saw figures moving about on the distant Linjiang City wall, with Xu Huang observing the surroundings. He knew he had no chance of taking Linjiang City and could only proceed with Gu Rubing's second plan.

"General, what are we doing here? Aren't we supposed to be heading back to the city?"

The deputy general standing to the side looked at Zhang Liao with a blank expression.

Gu Rubing informed Zhang Liao of the operation at the last minute, and Zhang Liao had no chance to tell his subordinates the purpose of the operation.

“We’re not going back. We’re going to do something big. If we succeed, Linjiang City will be ours.”

Seeing Zhang Liao's expression, his subordinates were all completely bewildered.

Gu Rubing stood on the city wall, watching the sunset slowly descend.

"Wen Yuan should have arrived at the designated place by now, right? I hope everything goes smoothly."

Gu Rubing didn't know why, but he couldn't help feeling worried about Zhang Liao's operation. He felt that something was wrong, but after countless deliberations, and even after summoning Lu Su and the two of them going over it several more times, they still couldn't find the problem.

A grove of trees thirty miles away from Linjiang City.

Zhang Liao has been here for six days.

Zhou Cang, the leader of the Azure Dragon Swordsmen, finally couldn't take it anymore.

Along the way, Zhou Cang didn't ask anything, but he stayed in the woods for six days. Everyone was starting to suspect Zhang Liao's motives.

"General Zhang Liao, please tell us, what exactly is our objective this time?"

In the army, few dared to speak to Zhang Liao like that, especially to call him by his name.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao frowned.

However, when Zhang Liao looked at the speaker and saw that it was Zhou Cang, the anger on his face instantly dissipated.

Guan Yu had once told Zhang Liao about Zhou Cang, praising his character and martial arts skills. Especially after a particular operation, Gu Rubing repeatedly commended Zhou Cang, which moved Zhang Liao with respect for Zhou Cang's powerful backing. Zhang Liao could only suppress his anger towards Zhou Cang. (End of Chapter)