Three Kingdoms: I choose Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, why are you crying, Diao Chan?

Chapter 189 Three-foot-long worm! (Thanks to the monthly ticket support from book friend 2023…1874~)

“General Zhang, this soldier attempted to bypass Siwu City and head to Xiapi City.

"He was captured by our patrol team. We found a letter on him. Please take a look at it, General!"

Zhang Fei immediately took the letter from the soldier, unfolded it and began to read.

Don’t be fooled by his burly appearance and the fact that he used to be a pork seller. In fact, he is not only literate, but also has excellent calligraphy skills!

After reading the contents of the letter, Zhang Fei sneered:
"Military Advisor Zhuge asked me to lead an army of 10,000 to stop Lu Bu here.

"I want to see if Lu Bu can get past me!"

Xu Shu took the letter and read it, a puzzled look on his face:

"Strange... With Lu Bu's 60,000 troops, he could have attacked directly, so why did he need Gan Ning to support him?

"I think the other party deliberately wrote this letter to confuse us. In fact, they are going to attack Guangling and try to take Guangling County back!"

Zhang Fei glanced at Xu Shu and raised a question:
“There are nearly 20,000 defenders in Guangling County.

“Even if Lu Bu returns to Guangling, it will not be easy to capture the city guarded by Taishi Ziyi before the food and grass are exhausted!

"I think it's more likely that the enemy will join forces with the two armies in Xia Pi and attack Xia Pi City together!"

Xu Shu glanced at Zhang Fei and thought, what do you know?
“The problem lies in this letter!

"Lü Bu could have come quietly to join the two armies in Xia Pi, but he deliberately sent this letter, and we got it.

"I think the enemy wants to use this to confuse us so that they can attack Guangling with all their strength!
“Although Guangling City has nearly 20,000 defenders, many of them are wounded.

“And after the previous battle, the damaged parts of the city wall must not have been repaired yet.

"Plus, Lu Bu is proficient in attacking cities and capturing strongholds, otherwise he wouldn't have taken Tan County in less than half a day...

“In my opinion, Lu Bu will most likely attack Guangling.

“Of course, what General Zhang said makes sense, so this is obviously a false strategy set up by the enemy!

"It is impossible for our army to make an accurate judgment..."

After listening to Xu Shu's analysis, Zhang Fei, who was not good at strategy, could not refute anything and could only ask:

"Then what should we do? If Lu Bu really takes back Guangling, wouldn't Cao Bao and Tao Qian's soldiers have died in vain?"

Although in history Cao Bao was killed by Zhang Fei who lost Xuzhou after getting drunk.

But now the relationship between them is not that bad.

Xu Shu pondered for a moment and said:
"For now, we can only send 5,000 soldiers to support Guangling, and the remaining 5,000 soldiers will stay to block the possible arrival of Lu Bu's army."

Although he knew very well that doing so would put him in a passive position, which was exactly what Lu Bu wanted.

But now he is facing the joint attack of Cao Cao and Lu Bu.

The military strength of Tao Qian and Liu Bei's army was indeed stretched to the limit, and they were unable to cover all places.

All they could do now was to slow down the actions of Lu Bu's main force as much as possible, so as to buy time for Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei on the Chen side.

As long as the plan over there works, then in this battle they can not only repel the enemy's 170,000 troops, but they can even take over more territory!

After listening to Xu Shu's suggestion, Zhang Fei felt that this was the only way, and immediately asked Xu Shu to lead 5,000 troops to Guangling for support.

Before leaving, Xu Shu left Zhang Fei with a plan:
“If Lü Bu’s army were to rush to Xia Pi, they would definitely pass by Xijiao Manor.

“That was the manor that the Mi family used to do their fruit business, but it’s empty now.

"If Lü Bu's army passed by there, they would definitely rest there.

“General Zhang can immediately hide the thousands of poisonous snakes trained by Military Advisor Zhuge in the manor.

“Once it gets dark, these poisonous snakes will crawl out and attack the living.

“Although it won’t deal a fatal blow to Lu Bu’s army, it can still reduce their combat effectiveness to a considerable extent and cause them chaos!

"Then you can lead another 5,000 soldiers to launch a surprise attack during the chaos, which will surely inflict a severe blow to the enemy!

"Then you will retreat directly towards Guangling. It would be great if the enemy pursues you, but you will not be in danger if they don't.

"I will meet you near Guangling then."

After hearing Xu Shu's vicious plan, Zhang Fei showed an excited smile:
"Yuan Zhi and Zhuge Military Advisor are really vicious!" Xu Shu smiled disapprovingly:

"How can we be merciful in the face of a powerful enemy? Moreover, it was the enemy who first raised an unknown army to invade our territory, and we were only trying to protect ourselves."

Zhang Fei laughed and immediately made arrangements according to Xu Shu's strategy.

Xu Shu also led 5,000 soldiers and horses and rushed to Guangling quickly.

…………

When Lu Bu learned that the messenger was captured by the enemy in Siwu County, he was not surprised.

Because he had deliberately asked the soldier to do so.

Although there is a high probability that the soldier's life will be in danger.

But he has promised to give him a generous pension and treat his family well.

And the soldier was willing to take the risk for his family and his own future.

After all, it is difficult and slow for ordinary soldiers to accumulate military merits. Given such an opportunity, he would naturally be willing to take the risk.

If you are lucky enough, maybe you can return to Lu Bu’s army alive in the future and get more rewards!
But the enemy's response was indeed good.

Second-rate strategists can see the first level, first-rate strategists can see the second level, and Zhuge Liang can see the third level or even higher!

The enemy was able to respond in this way, probably because they had a first-rate strategist in command in Siwu County.

But it is not clear which one it was, Pang Tong or Xu Shu.

It is already very good for a first-class strategist to respond like this.

If Zhuge Liang were here, perhaps there would be a better way to deal with it!
But now there is none, which only proves one thing.

Zhuge Liang is not in Xuzhou at this moment!

As long as he didn't face Zhuge Liang directly, Lu Bu felt that he had a great chance of winning.

According to the scout's report, the enemy sent an army to Guangling.

After Lu Bu and other people came to meet up with Xu Sheng from Qu County, bringing Mi Fang, his sister Mi Zhen and all the food and grass.

He led an army of nearly 60,000 and Cao Bao's daughter Cao Yuan and marched towards Siwu County in a mighty manner.

Due to the shortage of food and grass, he had to keep attacking county towns along the way to replenish food and grass.

When the army reached dusk, Lu Bu suddenly saw a huge fruit and vegetable farm in front of him, covering an area of ​​thousands of acres!

It was the end of summer now, and although the manor was covered with weeds, there were also many fragrant fruits and vegetables.

There are so many varieties, such as lychees, peaches, plums, etc.

Although they grow sparsely and many weeds compete for nutrients, there are still quite a few of them.

Such a huge but abandoned manor must have been the property of a wealthy businessman in Xuzhou, who left here to avoid the chaos.

The richest family in Xuzhou is undoubtedly the Mi family.

It was the end of summer and the soldiers were thirsty from walking all the way.

Lu Bu immediately ordered people to enter the manor and check it out.

After making sure that there were no traces of the enemy and no traps, he let his soldiers enter the manor in an orderly manner to rest.

He also ordered commanders above the rank of centurion to pick fruits and distribute them to their subordinates.

Although the manor is large enough, Lu Bu's 60,000 soldiers mean 60,000 mouths to feed.

In the end, each soldier got at most a lychee or half a peach, and some soldiers got nothing at all.

However, it is very nice for the soldiers to have such a shady place to rest.

That night, Lu Bu arranged enough people to patrol around the manor.

I thought I could have a good sleep, but I never expected that the whole manor would become increasingly quiet.

Three-foot-long worms silently emerged from the underground holes and swam quickly towards the nearest soldiers...

(End of this chapter)