The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 509 Desperate Situation
While Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were racking their brains for a countermeasure, Huang Zhong was playing chess with Sima Yi in the Cavalry Camp.

There was a sound of rain outside the tent and the candlelight flickered inside the tent.

Huang Zhong dropped a piece and said in a deep voice: "Zhongda, Liu Bei is already in a desperate situation, why don't you just attack Cangwu and destroy it in one fell swoop?"

Sima Yi smiled slightly and waved his feather fan gently: "Old General, although a strong attack can win quickly, the casualties will be heavy. Although Liu Bei is trapped, he still has more than 10,000 elite troops, and Zhuge Liang is even more wise and far-sighted. If we attack the city rashly, we may fall into his trap."

Huang Zhong frowned: "What about Zhongda's opinion?"

Sima Yi tapped the chessboard with his fingertips, his eyes deep: "Liu Bei's biggest weakness now is not soldiers, but food. There are already cracks within the Jiaozhou Shi clan. We only need to add fuel to the fire and their power will collapse."

As he was speaking, a personal soldier entered the tent and reported: "Sir, a secret letter from Shi Yi has arrived!"

Sima Yi took the letter, glanced at it, and smiled even more: "Sure enough, Shi Yi has agreed to surrender Yulin County and is willing to help our army cut off Liu Bei's retreat."

Huang Zhong was overjoyed: "This way, Liu Bei's food supply will be cut off, and the army will be in chaos!"

Sima Yi nodded. "Not only that, we can also use this opportunity to alienate Shi Xie and Liu Bei. Pass the order down, and the whole army will retreat ten miles tomorrow to create the illusion that we are running out of food and grass."

Huang Zhong was puzzled: "Withdraw? Isn't this giving Liu Bei a chance to catch his breath?"

Sima Yi's eyes flashed with a gleam of light: "He is playing hard to get. Liu Bei is suspicious and Zhuge is cautious. When he sees me withdrawing my troops, he will doubt that Shi Xie has changed his mind. If he attacks Shi Xie at that time, Jiaozhou will naturally be in chaos."

Huang Zhong nodded repeatedly and said, "In this way, we can deal with Liu Bei as soon as possible and return to the capital. There are still foreign tribes in the north waiting for us to pacify!"

Sima Yi shook his head and chuckled, "Old General, I'm afraid we won't be able to return in a short time."

Huang Zhong was stunned and couldn't help but say, "Zhongda, the soldiers are exhausted after the expedition. They should return to the capital to rest. Why can't they return?"

Sima Yi pointed at the soldiers outside and said, "Old General, your fiefdom is 500 li, and I's is 470 li. And those soldiers outside, who doesn't want to make achievements and establish their own territory? I'm afraid that if His Majesty orders us to return, these soldiers will not agree."

In the reward ceremony, Huang Zhong was awarded the first-class duke and Sima Yi was awarded the second-class duke. Emperor Zhaowu did indeed divide the land and grant borders, but the "land" had not yet been conquered, so how could the soldiers give up?
Huang Zhong suddenly realized, clapped his hands, and said with a smile: "If Zhongda hadn't said it, I would have almost forgotten that the army's morale can be used! The army's morale can be used!"

Sima Yi sighed secretly. How could the army's morale be boosted here? It was obvious that the emperor was using benefits to bind all the soldiers together. This kind of land division and border control might have to be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty!
With such a huge reward, how could Liu Bei, Cao Cao and others not lose? It's ridiculous that these people are still trying to resist, which is really stupid.

Sure enough, as soon as the cavalry retreated, rumors in Cangwu City became even more rampant.

Some soldiers whispered, "I heard that the Shi family has secretly surrendered and wants to sell us to the Cavalry Army!"

"No wonder the food and fodder hasn't arrived yet. It turns out that they were detained by the Shi family!"

Liu Bei was shocked and doubtful when he heard the news. He summoned Zhuge Liang and said in a deep voice, "Kong Ming, Shi Xie has been acting strangely recently. Could it be that he has ulterior motives?"

Zhuge Liang frowned and thought: "My Lord, this is strange. The Cavalry Army suddenly withdrew, which might be a trick. If Shi Xie really wanted to rebel, why didn't he just open the city?"

Liu Bei sneered: "Perhaps he wants to wait until both the Cavalry and I are defeated, so that he can reap the benefits!"

At this moment, the guard reported urgently: "My lord! Shi Yi is leading his troops to attack us!"

"Brother, why are you still standing there? Let me fight our way out." Zhang Fei shouted loudly.

Liu Bei slammed the table and stood up: "Sure enough, they are rebelling!" Zhuge Liang hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "My lord, wait a minute! This must be Sima Yi's plan to sow discord!"

Zhuge Liang was still very cautious. He knew that at this time, they could only rely on the Shi family. Once they fell out with the other party, Liu Bei would be unable to move forward in Jiaozhou.

"Military Advisor, the Qin bandits want to split the land and establish new territories. The Shi clan must have known about this. They want to exchange our heads for titles!" Zhang Fei shouted.

The Emperor of Tang divided the territory and granted land to his meritorious officials so that they could share the wealth and prosperity from then on. Such news had long been spread throughout the world. As long as the Shi family was not a fool, they would know what choice they should make.

Liu Bei's face was uncertain when he heard this, and his hand holding the sword trembled slightly. The shouting and killing outside the tent was getting closer, and the torches illuminated half of the night sky red.

Zhuge Liang said urgently, "My lord, if we go to war with Shi Xie at this moment, it will be exactly what Sima Yi wants! We should quickly send an envoy to clarify the misunderstanding with Shi Xie!"

"Report!" Another personal soldier stumbled into the tent, "General Shi Yi is shouting outside the camp, saying that he is here to help the lord break out!"

Zhang Fei's eyes widened: "Pah! He must be pretending to surrender! I'll take his head!"

"Wait a minute, Yide!" Liu Bei suddenly pressed Zhang Fei's shoulder, his eyes flashing, "Kong Ming is right, this must be Sima Yi's evil plan." He suddenly pulled off the jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Zhuge Liang, "Take this and go to Shi Xie quickly, and tell him."

Before he finished speaking, a deafening shout of killing suddenly came from the east of the camp. Mi Fang rushed in with blood all over his face: "My lord! The cavalry is charging in from the east gate! Huang Zhong's vanguard has broken through three lines of defense!"

Zhuge Liang's feather fan snapped and broke: "What a good Sima Yi! He pretended to withdraw troops to make us relax our vigilance, but secretly..."

"Uncle!" Guan Ping rushed in with a knife in hand, his clothes stained with blood, "Huang Zhong's flag was found at the west gate. I'm afraid Cangwu City can't be defended!"

Liu Bei sighed to the sky, and suddenly drew out his double-edged sword to cut off the corner of the case: "Order the whole army to break out from the south gate immediately! Guan Ping will lead the front troops to open the way, Yide will cover the rear, and I will protect my family and break out!"

In the pouring rain, the south gate of Cangwu City burst open. Guan Ping's sword cut out a half-moon of cold light, and the cavalrymen fell off their horses wherever he passed. Zhang Fei danced his 10-foot-tall snake spear into a black whirlwind, and he blocked the pursuers alone.

Sima Yi stood on the tower and sneered: "Sure enough, you chose the most difficult Nanling Ancient Road. You are really courting death."

Huang Zhong stroked his beard and laughed: "Zhongda, I leave this to you. I will go after Liu Bei. At the very least, I will keep Zhang Fei here."

"General, please be careful." Sima Yi nodded.

Three days later, the exhausted remnants of Liu Bei's army were blocked outside Jiaozhi City by Shi Kuang. Arrows rained down from the top of the city wall, and Shi Kuang laughed: "Uncle Liu, my father is going to borrow your head as a gift to the Tang Dynasty!"

Zhang Fei was furious and wanted to attack the city, but was held back by Zhuge Liang. He looked to the north and said, "My lord, look to the north!"

Without looking back, everyone knew that Huang Zhong was leading the army to attack. If they did not withdraw, they would be attacked from both sides and would surely die.

"Military Advisor, you take my brother and evacuate southwards. I will stop the pursuers."

Zhang Fei looked at the cavalry in the distance with a stern face and murderous intent in his eyes.

Facing Huang Zhong, who was as powerful as himself, Zhang Fei was not very confident and could only do his best.

(End of this chapter)