My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 101 Two battlefields
Upon hearing Cao Bao's name, Zhang Fei snorted coldly: "That useless piece of trash almost ruined the Commander's important mission today. I thought the Taishan bandits were utterly ordinary, collapsing after just a few attacks. But this old man Cao Bao, who usually boasts that the Danyang soldiers are elite and invincible, turns out to be nothing more than a bunch of city foxes and rats when it comes to war. Today I saw with my own eyes that this fellow let the Taishan bandits break through his formation right in front of him. Could it be that Cao Bao is two-faced, secretly colluding with the enemy, and unwilling to put in his full effort?"

Zhang Fei became more and more serious as he spoke, and in the end, he even began to genuinely doubt Cao Bao's loyalty.

Chen Deng was left speechless by Zhang Fei's words. Cao Bao, a dignified general of Xuzhou, even if he were to collude with an enemy from within, would he really go so far as to conspire with Zang Ba, a bandit from Mount Tai?

Besides, Zang Ba couldn't offer Cao Bao any benefits.

If you, my lord, want to eliminate Cao Bao, Xu Dan, and others, then it's understandable that they would resort to desperate measures and seek outside help.

But now Cao Bao is not only highly regarded by you, but he is also almost your nephew's father-in-law. Under such circumstances, how could he possibly collude with Zang Ba if he hadn't gone mad?

"General Yide, you mustn't speak nonsense. Cao Wenwei is also an important general of Xuzhou. Today, he led the Danyang army in a bloody battle against the Taishan bandits. If it weren't for him holding back the main force of the Taishan bandits, it probably wouldn't have been easy for you to break through the enemy lines with your iron cavalry."

Chen Deng first offered Zhang Fei a word of advice, then announced to the outside world, "I will personally go to welcome General Cao."

Seeing Chen Deng stand up, Zhang Fei quickly put down his teacup and stood up as well: "What the Commander says must be right. I am foolish and would be very grateful for the Commander's guidance!"

Chen Deng waved his hand dismissively: "General Yide, why do you say that? I am not blaming you, but asking for your understanding. Not everyone is as brave and skilled in battle as you. Although General Cao made some mistakes, he fought bravely for the greater good. All the generals are working for your cause, and even if they are not up to par, we should not be too harsh on them."

"You flatter me, Governor. You flatter me, Governor."

Overjoyed at Chen Deng's praise, Zhang Fei was at a loss for what to do with his large, fan-like hands.

All of Cao Bao's slight displeasure vanished without a trace.

Chen Deng left the command tent, accompanied by Zhang Fei, to greet Cao Bao.

Cao Bao saw Chen Deng from afar, quickly stepped forward, and gave a deep bow: "I was caught off guard in battle and almost lost my army and disgraced the country. I am deeply grateful for the help from the Governor and General Yide."

Cao Bao was actually very frustrated. He had been fighting with Chen Deng for so long, but he was never a match for him. He could only hold on for a while because of Tao Gong's favoritism.

Now that Tao Gong is gone, and Liu Shijun is Chen Deng's confidant, I have no choice but to cling tightly to the young master's coattails.

However, the young master was very polite to Chen Yuanlong. If he had a conflict with Chen Deng, the young master would definitely be displeased.

Moreover, he is currently in the army, and today he did indeed make a mistake in the face of battle, almost ruining the whole situation. If Chen Deng were to kill him directly, even if the young master wanted to come to his rescue, he would be too far away to do so.

After thinking it through, Cao Bao decided to apologize with a bundle of thorns on his back. Even if he couldn't ease the tension with Chen Deng, he at least wanted to prevent the other party from using this as an excuse to cut off his head.

"I am fully aware of my crime today. I humbly request the Commander to give me a chance to redeem myself through meritorious service. I will lead the charge and wipe away this shame."

Cao Bao lowered his head deeply. He was a man who cared about his reputation, but the Danyang soldiers had really made a fool of themselves today.

If it were only the Danyang soldiers who were besieging the city today, Zang Ba could probably be celebrating his great victory right now in Kaiyang City.

"Why do you say that, General?"

Instead of the stern reprimand Cao Bao had expected, Chen Deng came out of his tent to greet him and personally helped him up.

"As the saying goes, even horses can stumble, and people can make mistakes. Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Today, the Danyang troops did suffer a minor setback, but the main force did not suffer any setback. Zang Xuangao personally went to the front line, but was still blocked by our army. I only saw General Cao drive to the front line, resist Xuangao, boost morale, and forcefully stop the Taishan bandits' fearless offensive."

"General Yide made a great contribution by raiding the enemy's rear and attacking from the flank. General Cao, you also deserve credit for this. If you hadn't tied down a large number of elite troops of the Taishan bandits on the front, he might not have had the opportunity to make a great contribution."

As Chen Deng spoke, he looked at Zhang Fei and asked, "General Yide, what do you think of what Deng has said?"

Zhang Fei, who had been smiling and acting as a background figure, was suddenly jolted awake by Chen Deng's mention of him and quickly chimed in, "What the Commander-in-Chief says is exactly what I was thinking!"

As he spoke, Zhang Fei even clasped his hands in a fist salute to Cao Bao, saying, "General Cao, you've had a hard day."

Cao Bao felt as if he were in a dream. When did Chen Yuanlong become so easy to talk to?
It should be noted that he was known throughout the state for his strong character and outspokenness.

He actually went out of his way to help me?
The next moment, Chen Deng's actions were even more unexpected for Cao Bao.

Chen Deng actually grasped Cao Bao's hand directly: "General Cao, there will be a great battle in the future. At that time, you can be the vanguard and make meritorious contributions. What is a small setback today?"

Cao Bao sensed Chen Deng's sincerity and guessed that the other party wanted to take this opportunity to make peace with him.
That's really great.

Cao Bao was thrilled and quickly knelt down on one knee again: "I am deeply grateful for the Governor's personal comfort. Please rest assured, Governor, that in the next battle, I will surely slay Zang Ba and present his head to your command!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei, who had been idle, immediately became anxious.

A pair of large, round eyes widened, and he wanted to curse Cao Bao for trying to steal the credit, but he suddenly remembered Chen Deng's advice earlier, and swallowed the curse back. Then he uttered four words.

"Me too!"

No further fighting occurred between the two sides the following day.

The Xuzhou army is building fortifications and camps with all its might, seemingly determined to surround Kaiyang and kill it.

The Taishan Army had no intention of going out of the city to fight in the field. Instead, they were gathering able-bodied men in the city, selecting them for enlistment, and wanted to expand their forces before fighting a decisive battle with the Xuzhou Army outside the city.

But people's joys are not shared.

As evening fell the following day, the Xuzhou army outside the city erupted in deafening cheers, and Zang Ba inside the city knew something was wrong.

After leaving the county government office, Zang Ba mounted his horse and headed straight for the city gate.

When Zang Ba, standing on the city wall, saw Zhao Yun and Xu Dan's more than 5,000 troops arriving at the Yi River one after another, preparing to cross it, he knew that things were in serious trouble.

The Xuzhou army actually had reinforcements?!

Zang Ba was completely numb, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Because no matter how he calculated it, he felt it was wrong. Liu Bei had only been in Xuzhou for less than half a year, right?

Where did he get so many soldiers and supplies?
Zang Ba suddenly remembered that Liu Bei was still cultivating land. He had even sent spies to Xiangben, Lanling, and Chengxian to see Liu Bei recruiting refugees and cultivating the land. Only then did he feel completely at ease.

But the troops in front of him didn't lie; tens of thousands of Xuzhou soldiers had truly blocked his city gate.

That night, Zang Ba frantically urged the city to organize its strong and able-bodied men into units, preparing for a few days of hasty training before heading out of the city for another field battle.

He knew that sitting idly by would lead to certain death; Kaiyang had no reinforcements left, and the city was running out of food.

If we cannot defeat the Xuzhou army, we will only face certain death.

But before he could finish all this, at noon on the fourth day, when Guan Yu, Lu Su, and Zhang Kuang's troops arrived at the Yi River, the cheers of the Xuzhou army were like a lament for the Taishan bandits.

Zang Ba had fallen completely silent, no longer harboring any intention of breaking through the encirclement.

The enemy has over 20,000 regular troops, while our side, including able-bodied men, has less than 7,000. This battle is truly unwinnable.

If the battle outside the city goes poorly, and the able-bodied men collapse and the main force is overrun, then the city will fall directly.

That afternoon, Chen Deng arrayed his troops on the plain north of Kaiyang City, displaying his might and creating an imposing aura.

While all three were based on the Danyang army, the Guan, Zhang, and Zhao troops surpassed Cao Bao and Xu Dan's troops in both morale and discipline.

Chen Deng naturally placed it at the very front.

Zang Ba stood on the city wall, carefully observing the enemy's army formation. After a long silence, he sighed and left the city.

The following morning, a messenger arrived outside the city and requested to enter the city to meet Zang Ba.

Meanwhile, Liu Feng was also preparing to set off.

Before setting off, Xu Sheng's soldiers were mobilized.

During the more than one month of intensive training, the biggest improvement for these Danyang soldiers was in their discipline.

Compared to before, the soldiers of Danyang have changed a lot, if not completely transformed.

This is the culmination of more than a month of hard work by Liu Feng, Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, and others.

Liu Feng was quite satisfied with Xu Sheng and Pan Zhang's performance in this regard. These two did not wait until Liu Feng had the results before following suit, but rather learned from Liu Feng to do so from the very beginning.

This shows that Xu Sheng and Pan Zhang were truly convinced by Liu Feng, to the point that they would blindly follow whatever Liu Feng did.

This kind of blind obedience is a very high level of loyalty in this era.

Before this expedition, Liu Feng didn't give a long speech, but only emphasized a few points. The first point was military discipline: those who harass civilians will be executed, those who rape women will be executed, those who rob will be executed, and those who disobey orders will be executed.

Secondly, all spoils must be handed over; private possession is strictly prohibited, and anyone found doing so will be executed.

After each battle, a portion of the spoils could be taken from the captured troops to reward all soldiers. Those who had made meritorious contributions would receive more, and those who died or were wounded in battle would receive additional compensation.

This was a huge departure from Liu Feng's original plan.

Liu Feng originally planned to hand over half of all the spoils to the state government, divide the other half into five parts: one part to reward those who made meritorious contributions, one part to be distributed among the officers, one part to provide relief to those who died or were wounded in battle, one part to be stored in the camp for emergencies, and the last part to be divided equally among the entire camp.

As soon as he told Xu Sheng and Pan Zhang what he meant, he immediately frightened the two of them.

It turns out that the soldiers in the prefectures and counties of the Eastern Han Dynasty were treated very poorly. They did not receive any wages at all, and were only given some rations each month, which were worth about 100 to 120 coins.

Now, the prefectures and counties not only provide soldiers with a monthly salary of 200 coins, but also provide them with extra weapons, armor, and other military equipment, and take care of their food, clothing, and lodging. Now Liu Feng is even planning to give them rewards, which is an unprecedented incentive.

If you really said that half of the spoils would be given to them, the soldiers probably wouldn't believe it and would become suspicious.

Moreover, even if it were given after the war, it would bring Liu Bei a lot of trouble.

If you give it to these soldiers, will the other soldiers receive it too?

If you give so much, what will Liu Bei do if the other soldiers also ask for the same?
Liu Feng then realized his mistake and corrected it to its current state.

Thirdly, military merit. All military merit is based on obedience to orders. Anyone who dares to disrupt the formation in order to take heads will be executed. All heads will be distributed equally and collected by the unarmored auxiliary soldiers in the rear.

Liu Feng has emphasized these three points many times over the past month and explained the reasons for these regulations to everyone.

Therefore, people have become accustomed to these things.

Liu Feng originally intended to mention granting land to those who performed military merits, but ultimately he didn't bring it up.

After all, it's not mature enough yet, and there are many problems. We need to think about it more.

Xu Sheng... should actually be considered Liu Feng's troops. After setting off, their morale was much higher than that of Cao Bao and Xu Dan's troops, and even surpassed that of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Tian Qi.

If Liu Bei were to see this, he would probably be secretly delighted.

Before setting off, Liu Bei personally came to see him off, and specifically instructed Liu Feng not to forget that the commander-in-chief for this journey was not him, but Xiahou Bo, and even the deputy commander was not him, but Chen Dao.

Liu Feng was merely a military advisor; he could offer suggestions, but he was absolutely not allowed to interfere in military affairs as a prince.

Liu Bei had considerable confidence in Xiahou Bo and Chen Dao.

Xiahou Bo was an old man who had followed him from Zhuo County, fought in dozens of battles, big and small, and was loyal to the death. He was also a talented general and one of Liu Bei's most capable confidants, second only to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Although he was not as capable as Zhao Yun, he was even more so in matters of the heart.

Although Fu Shiren and the others were also old comrades, they were indeed a whole level below Xiahou Bo.

As for Chen Dao, he was a newcomer who came to join Liu Bei when Liu Bei was in Yuzhou, bringing with him a few wandering knights.

This man was highly skilled in martial arts, possessed great strength and bravery, and was a man of few words. He had only been there a short time when he gained Liu Bei's deep trust in his conduct and dealings with others.

Moreover, this man is skilled in both literature and martial arts, and has already been listed by Liu Bei as a key confidant to be cultivated.

Of course, Chen Dao's combination of literary and martial skills cannot compare to that of the Second Master, and even Zilong is far inferior, at most he is only literate.

Even so, in Liu Bei's army where everyone had graduated from prenatal education, they could already be considered top students.

This time, Liu Bei sent out his two most capable advisors, both skilled in literature and martial arts, along with five hundred personal guards, including fifty cavalrymen, all for his son. This shows how much he valued and cherished Liu Feng.

Not to mention that Liu Bei had privately instructed Xiahou Bo and Chen Dao countless times that the most important task this time was not to defeat Chang Xi, but to protect Liu Feng.

If things don't go well, just bring Liu Feng back immediately.

Although Xiahou Bo and Chen Dao did not know that there was a profession called nanny in later generations, they were very clear about their role in this mission.

Three days later, Liu Feng and his party set off from Xiangben, cut off the main road through Zengxian to block the troops' route.

Chang Xi of Zeng County only received the news on the sixth day that Liu Bei had already started the war, launched a surprise attack on Kaiyang, and was already at the city gates.

Chang Xi had a good relationship with Liu Bei in history, but that was after Liu Bei moved the capital of the province to Xiapi and ceded half of Donghai to Chang Xi. Their friendship started from there and remained quite good. Later, when Liu Bei returned to Xuzhou several times to rebel against Cao Cao, he received support from Chang Xi.

Whether he genuinely supported Liu Bei or disliked Cao Cao, Chang Xi ultimately rebelled three times.

If Yu Jin hadn't found an excuse to execute him directly, there probably would have been a fourth or fifth time.

Compared to the others, Chang Xi's relationship with Zang Ba was more like that of an ally than a superior-subordinate one. However, their bond was deep; they were sworn brothers who had fought side by side in war.

Upon hearing that Zang Ba was besieged, Chang Xi immediately began mobilizing his troops, and hastily set out with his army at dawn the next day.

Aside from Zang Ba, Chang Xi had the largest number of retainers, totaling two thousand.

He brought all his troops with him this time, leaving Zeng County to be guarded by able-bodied men, which can be considered as doing his best for Zang Ba.

Chang Xi marched at a fast pace, covering more than forty li on the first day and continuing at high speed on the second day. Just as noon was approaching and 11 pm was approaching, he ran into Liu Feng's troops who were lying in wait.

Liu Feng's troops had already eaten lunch and were resting until now. As soon as they saw Chang Xi's troops, they began to line up and put on their armor.

Liu Bei plundered the treasury and procured over 600 sets of leather armor from wealthy families for Liu Feng. Combined with the remaining 100 sets in the original camp, they gathered 800 sets of leather armor, which actually pushed Liu Feng's troops to an 80% armor coverage rate.

The armor rate of Changxi's troops was very low, only slightly over 40%. Except for a few core garrisons where the armor rate was as high as 80%, most of the soldiers were unarmored.

Upon suddenly encountering the enemy, Chang Xi was also flustered, but he soon realized that the enemy did not take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, but instead formed ranks to meet the enemy.

Chang Xi breathed a sigh of relief and then hurriedly ordered his men to form a battle formation and don their armor.

Chang Xi's troops stopped in their tracks and then changed formation at the command of their junior officers.

Unarmored soldiers helped unload the armor from the mules and horses, helped the frontline soldiers put it on, and then took their weapons and went to their positions.

The process of Changxi's soldiers arming themselves took about half an hour, but Liu Bei's side never took the opportunity to attack and remained in place.

Chang Xi, who had been on tenterhooks, was overjoyed once the entire army was fully armed.

"Is the enemy general a fool? He just stands there watching us put on our armor?"

Because of the rapid march, Chang Xi's vanguard scouts were placed very close together.

When they finally saw Liu Bei's army, the main forces of both sides were less than two miles apart.

If Liu Bei's army takes the initiative to meet them, there is a chance to catch Chang Xi off guard.

While it may not guarantee victory, it should give them a good initial advantage.

For some reason, Liu Bei's army did not move, but waited in the distance for Chang Xi's army to finish putting on their armor.

Chang Xi was also very experienced. After the entire army was fully armored, he was not in a hurry. He let the troops sit down and rest for a while to recover their strength from the long march and eat some dry rations when they had time.

Liu Bei's army still did not react, and Chang Xi almost began to suspect that his own scouts were giving false information.

After eating and drinking his fill and resting, Changxi pondered for a moment and decided to take the initiative to move forward.

He suspected that Liu Bei's army's purpose was to delay him and prevent him from going to Kaiyang.

Chang Xi guessed half right. Theoretically speaking, the order given to Liu Feng's troops was indeed to keep an eye on Chang Xi and prevent him from entering the Kaiyang battlefield, which would be considered a victory.

But Liu Feng was not satisfied with this; he wanted to do more.

However, he understood Liu Bei's good intentions, so he wanted to do better within the limits Liu Bei allowed.

For example, defeating Changxi head-on.

(End of this chapter)