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

"Gongjin, you may not know this, but after several days of fierce fighting, our soldiers are exhausted and in dire need of rest. Yunchang and Yide, in particular, fought a fierce battle with Tong Fei. Although they are not seriously injured, they still need time to recuperate."

Attacking rashly at this point would be unwise. Allowing the soldiers a breather and consolidating the defenses is the safer course of action.

His explanation was reasonable and flawless.

Moreover, this is not entirely an excuse.

Generals such as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were indeed greatly exhausted in the battle with Tong Fei and had some hidden injuries. It was indeed necessary for them to take this opportunity to rest and recuperate.

Gu Rubing knew that if he were to clash with Penglai in Liangzhou in the future, these top-notch combatants would be an indispensable core force.

Lu Xun took advantage of the opportunity to assist in handling military affairs to observe the internal workings of the Lie Army more closely.

He noticed that the proportion of dry rations, leather bags, and durable boots used for long marches and field reconnaissance in the supplies transported from the rear seemed to have increased.

The crossbowmen who used to roam the battlefield have become noticeably less active. Nearly half of them seem to have vanished into thin air, leaving only some barely perceptible traces pointing northwest.

The two found a quiet moment when no one was watching and held a private discussion in Zhou Yu's tent.

“Brother Gongjin, King Lie’s actions are definitely not just about rest and recuperation.”

Lu Xun lowered his voice, his expression solemn.

"The supply lines are shifting, a large number of elite crossbowmen have disappeared, heading straight for the northwest... in addition, there's his unusual focus on intelligence in Liangzhou..."

Zhou Yu nodded slightly, his knuckles tapping lightly on the table unconsciously, his eyes gleaming with wisdom.

“Boyan’s view coincides with my own.”

Gu Rubing must have some major secret, and this secret is almost certainly related to the recent unusual events in Liangzhou.

He was stabilizing the Yizhou front so that he could concentrate his efforts on dealing with a potentially larger threat from the west.

Zhou Yu pondered for a moment, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.

"We cannot wait here idly; we must let the King of Wu know the situation here."

He immediately went to the desk, spread out a silk cloth, and began to write furiously.

In the letter, he briefly reported on the stalemate at the Yizhou front, but focused on emphasizing the huge variables that might occur in Liangzhou, as well as Gu Rubing's extraordinary attention to this and the secret mobilization of troops and reconnaissance forces.

"...Gu Rubing is not the kind of person who worries unnecessarily. His actions may cause great turmoil in Liangzhou, and may even involve the fundamental schemes of Penglai. I implore Your Majesty to immediately dispatch more scouts to closely monitor the border movements between the Anluo Empire and Liangzhou. At the same time...as appropriate, send additional troops to the border to prepare for any unforeseen events. I earnestly hope that Your Majesty will act with caution and deliberation!"

After writing it down, he sealed it with sealing wax, summoned his most loyal confidant, and gave him instructions.

"This letter concerns the fate of the nation! You must present it to the King of Wu personally as quickly as possible! There must be no delay on the way!"

Just as Zhou Yu's messenger quietly left the Liejun camp with a secret letter and headed towards Jiangdong, Zhao Yun led a hundred elite crossbowmen who, after a difficult journey, had silently crossed the Wei River and officially entered Liangzhou territory.

As soon as they stepped onto this land, Zhao Yun and his elite troops felt a sense of oppression that was completely different from that of the Central Plains and even Yizhou.

According to the intelligence they had received beforehand, they first arrived at several counties in eastern Liangzhou, near Sili.

This area should have been a place where Qiang and Han people lived together and where caravans frequently traveled. Even if it was not as prosperous as the Central Plains, it should still have been a place with people and vitality.

However, what one sees is a desolate scene that is unsettling.

The pastures that should have been dotted with cattle and sheep were deserted. Occasionally, a few scattered herders could be seen, but they all looked frightened and avoided eye contact. When they saw the well-equipped cavalrymen, they quickly drove away their few remaining livestock like startled rabbits. When Zhao Yun and the others asked them questions, they stammered and dared not say more.

As they went deeper, even more unsettling scenes emerged.

Near an abandoned post station, they discovered the remains of a completely destroyed Central Plains caravan.

The goods were looted, the vehicles were smashed to pieces, and what's even more appalling is that none of the dozens of people in the caravan, from the guards to the crew, survived!

The bodies lay scattered in pools of blood, most killed by slashing with sharp blades or piercing with spears; the wounds were clean and swift, demonstrating the attacker's extremely high killing efficiency. There were few signs of struggle or resistance at the scene, clearly indicating a swift and decisive massacre.

"General, look here!"

An experienced crossbowman crouched down and dug a blood-stained arrowhead out of the soil next to a corpse.

Zhao Yun took the arrowhead; it was cold and heavy to the touch. Its design was completely different from the standard Han army arrowheads he knew, as well as the bone arrows or simple iron arrows commonly used by the Qiang people.

This arrowhead is a three-sided, pendant-like weapon with fine blood grooves. Its forging is extremely exquisite, and it gleams with a cold, metallic luster, clearly indicating that it is not something an ordinary force could possess.

“They’re not bandits… Bandits are after money, they wouldn’t be so ruthless, leaving no one alive, and they certainly wouldn’t use such fine arrows.”

Zhao Yun's voice was low and deep, filled with suppressed anger.

He looked around at the land shrouded in death, his face as somber as the sky before a storm.

Soon, they discovered more than one similar small-scale battle site in the surrounding area. These were not battlefields where two armies clashed, but rather resembled lightning raids and massacres launched by elite cavalry against unsuspecting tribal camps or caravans.

The traces left at the scene all pointed to the same characteristic—fast, accurate, and ruthless!

The attackers came and went like the wind, and were extremely ruthless. Their purpose seemed to be more than just looting; it appeared to be... clearing out the area? Or perhaps, creating panic and suppressing information?

Zhao Yun, accompanied by several personal guards, ascended a high ground overlooking part of the border region. The wild grass howled in the wind, and in the distance, the horizon stretched out in a vast expanse of desolation.

His gaze, sharp as an eagle's, swept across this seemingly peaceful land, which in fact harbored deadly dangers.

The vanished herders, the slaughtered caravans, and the strange arrow in his hand... all the clues point to that mysterious, ghost-like cavalry.

"It seems that my lord's concerns... were justified."

Zhao Yun gripped the arrowhead tightly; the cold metallic touch made him even more alert.

"The water in Liangzhou is much deeper and muddier than we imagined."

Upon entering Liangzhou territory, Zhao Yun immediately demonstrated the qualities and caution of a renowned general.

He strictly ordered his hundred elite crossbowmen to change into coarse cloth clothing, indistinguishable from that of local herders or merchants, and to conceal their weapons by wrapping them in hemp cloth. They completely changed their marching methods, seeking out secluded valleys, abandoned villages, or dense poplar forests to lie in wait and rest during the day, only moving stealthily like ghosts after nightfall.

They completely avoided official roads and any main roads that might be inhabited, choosing instead to travel along treacherous paths rarely trodden even by locals, along dry riverbeds, and in the shaded areas of mountains.

Every step was taken with utmost care, trying not to leave any trace.

Based on the clues left at the massacre site and the experienced tracking and directional judgment of the crossbowmen, they trudged with difficulty toward a vast area located at the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains in southern Liangzhou, where the mysterious cavalry had last appeared.

Liangzhou is a vast region, with Gobi Desert, barren land and continuous barren mountains as far as the eye can see, and wind and sand are the eternal theme here.

The strong wind whipped up yellow sand, stinging people's cheeks and quickly covering all traces of movement.

In this environment, finding an army that is clearly hiding itself and acting mysteriously is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

Every day, Zhao Yun and his men struggled against the harsh natural environment and the seemingly unattainable goal, and the pressure in their hearts grew day by day.

While Zhao Yun was struggling to find his way through the sandstorms of Liangzhou, Cao Cao on the front lines in Yizhou was not at ease despite Gu Rubing's shift from offense to defense.

Anxiety was gradually intensifying within the military. While the pressure on the front lines had decreased, logistical problems were becoming increasingly severe.

Although Zhao Yun was transferred to Liangzhou, Zhang Liao, who took over his responsibility for harassing enemy lines, was also a tough nut to crack!
Zhang Liao employed flexible and mobile tactics. His cavalry units appeared and disappeared unpredictably, constantly attacking Cao Cao's supply convoys and patrols, destroying bridges and roads, and keeping Cao Cao's logistics supply lines in a state of constant anxiety.

The offensive at the front was stalled by the solid defenses built by Gu Rubing. This stalemate was consuming the already meager supplies of Cao Cao's army and their increasingly low morale every day.

The strategist Xun Yu once solemnly advised Cao Cao.

"King Wei, this stalemate is not good for our army. We may concentrate all our forces and attack one point at any cost to break through; or we may send a surprise force to bypass the front of Xindu and harass its rear, forcing it to divide its forces."

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao simply shook his head wearily.

storm?

Gu Rubing's defenses were like a hedgehog; a forceful attack would only tear a hole, and it would come at the cost of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He couldn't afford to lose any more now.

Divide troops?

Gu Rubing's military tactics are cunning and deceitful; who knows if this isn't another trap?
He rejected these seemingly radical but actually extremely risky proposals and could only continue to endure this agonizing, slow-burning torture.

On this day, a traveling merchant from Liangzhou, after going through many hardships and avoiding the looting of many bandits and soldiers along the way, managed to reach Cao Cao's army camp by sheer luck.

After being thoroughly questioned, he brought with him some vague rumors about southern Liangzhou.

"...I only heard it from the Qiang herdsmen who managed to escape by chance," the traveling merchant stammered, still shaken.

“In the southern part of Liangzhou, near the Qilian Mountains, a cavalry force has recently appeared. The number of its members is unclear, but its discipline is extremely strict and its combat power is frighteningly strong!”

They clashed with several unruly Qiang tribes in the area, and their methods... sigh, they were truly ruthless! Any tribe that opposed them and was targeted by them was basically wiped out, with no one left alive—men, women, children, or the elderly!

Now, the people there tremble at the sound of horses' hooves and dare not go out casually..."

When Cao Cao first heard this, he didn't pay much attention to it, and even thought to himself.

"As expected of Penglai's work, they are still so ruthless in their actions, leaving no room for future trouble."

He had already experienced firsthand the Penglai's style of treating human life as worthless.

However, when he heard the specific descriptions such as "not a single chicken or dog was left" and "not a single survivor was left," Cao Cao couldn't help but frown, and a chill ran through him.

Cooperating with such a ruthless character who has no bottom line and is willing to wipe out entire families at any time, even if he can get help in the short term, in the long run, wouldn't that be like asking a tiger for its skin? The potential dangers in the future made him even more worried.

But soon, a flash of inspiration struck him, as if a bolt of lightning had pierced through the fog!

He suddenly connected this matter with Gu Rubing's sudden shift from an offensive to a defensive stance!

"Gu Rubing's sudden shift to defense must mean he's noticed something amiss in Liangzhou and sent people to investigate... And if his investigation is focused on this ruthless and elusive cavalry force..."

Cao Cao's fingers tapped unconsciously on the table, his eyes gleaming with contemplation.

"Doesn't that mean his investigation was completely led by the nose by this cavalry, or rather, by Penglai?"

The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed!
"This is clearly a clue deliberately left by Penglai!"

They deliberately displayed this ruthlessness and mystery to attract Gu Rubing's attention and mislead his investigative efforts! Gu Rubing was in the open, while Penglai remained in the shadows. Even if Zhao Yun was incredibly capable, how much of Penglai's true nature could he possibly uncover in Liangzhou?

Having figured this out, Cao Cao didn't feel relieved; instead, he became even more worried. After all, he was to fulfill the contract and help Penglai take Liangzhou.

If even Gu Rubing can't figure out Penglai's true situation and plans in Liangzhou, wouldn't Cao Cao be even more passive and dangerous if he rashly intervenes in the future?

"No, I cannot completely ignore the situation in Liangzhou!"

Cao Cao made up his mind.

He immediately summoned his trusted aide and whispered instructions.

"Immediately select alert and reliable individuals to disguise themselves as merchants or refugees and infiltrate Liangzhou!"

Your task is not to participate in any fighting, but simply to observe secretly and try to figure out what Gu Rubing's people are mainly investigating.

Have their investigations gone astray? And... besides that openly known cavalry force, are there any other, more covert forces or movements within Liangzhou?

He needed to gather more intelligence about Liangzhou, not only because it concerned the risk of him fulfilling the contract in the future, but also because it concerned whether he could gain a more advantageous position in this multi-party game.

In fact, both Cao Cao and Sun Jian, who was far away in Jiangdong, harbored resistance, or even opposition, to the idea of ​​"helping Penglai take Liangzhou".

The more powerful Penglai is, and the more mysterious and ruthless its methods, the more uneasy they feel.

They would prefer to see Gu Rubing, this formidable opponent, discover Penglai's scheme in time, and then clash head-on with Penglai on the vast land of Liangzhou, where they would wear each other down!
"When the crane and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits."

Cao Cao gazed at the direction of Liangzhou on the map, a cold smile playing on his lips. (End of Chapter)