Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

The battle between Luo Shi and Yin Kai within the city did not last long.

Seeing that the fire inside the city was growing larger, Luo Shi dared not fight any longer and began to flee out of the city.

There weren't many people who came into the city with him. He only brought a group of trusted men into the city to discuss cooperation with Yin Kai, while the main force remained at the mountain pass west of the city.

Luo Shi fought and fled, eventually escaping Wu'an City, but Yin Kai, who hated Luo Shi for "entering the city and setting fires," relentlessly pursued him.

After Luo Shi fled back to the army, he gradually figured it out—even if Yin Kai insisted on killing him, there was no need to burn down his own city, right?
But it was too late to figure it out at this point; Yin Kai would never trust Luo Shi again, and there was no way to have a conversation.

Yin Kai pursued Luo Shi all the way to the camp where the troops were stationed, but failed to kill Luo Shi. He could not continue the pursuit in the narrow mountain pass, so Yin Kai once again deployed heavy troops to block the pass.

However, once Yin Kai left the city, he was unable to return to Wu'an City.

The fire in Wu'an City is beyond saving.

Wu'an City is located in a valley beside a river, surrounded by high mountains. Thick, pungent smoke spread along the city walls and valley, and it was difficult to dissipate for a while.

The county town was not large. It was located close to a mountain cliff to the north and had only three gates: east, south, and west. Outside the south gate was a river, and roadblocks were set up outside the town. The roadblocks were set up by Yin Kai himself, including piles of stones, earthen mounds, wooden stakes, horse traps, ground nails, trenches, and so on.

People can barely get through if they are careful, but vehicles and horses cannot move, and it is even more impossible to transport heavy objects.

If there are a hundred or so people blocking the road, you won't be able to get through anytime soon.

This is a defensive zone that is set up when defending a city. It destroys roads, adds obstacles, prevents enemy siege equipment from getting close to the city walls, and also prevents the enemy from building things like Jinglan High Platform outside the city. Moreover, it takes a long time to remove these obstacles.

This is why carts became essential items for sieges, used for transporting soil to fill pits and trenches.

Because the roadblocks at the South Gate have damaged the roads, Wu'an City is now essentially only accessible in two directions. To get from the west to the east of the city, one must travel through the city walls.

Yin Kai was actually quite good at arranging city defenses, but right now Wu'an City was engulfed in flames and thick smoke, making it impossible to enter the city.

The defensive zone he set up outside the city actually kept him trapped in the west of the city.

Liu Bei is currently blocking the way outside the East Gate.

Many people tried to transport grain out of the city through the east gate, but they were all blocked by Liu Bei inside the city.

Those who were able to rescue the grain from the city were all members of Yin Kai's clan or retainers. They all knew that Luo Shi had a large army of four thousand men stationed in the west of the city, and that the Black Mountain was to the west.

The current situation appears to be as if the Black Mountain Army sent Luo Shi to attack Wu'an, and Yin Kaizheng is leading his troops to pursue Luo Shi westward.

Meanwhile, the fire was particularly large in the west of the city, and even the west gate was burning, while the area near the east gate was slightly better—Liu Bei wanted to escape to the east gate, so of course he didn't set fire to the east gate; the arsonist had to leave himself an escape route.

Under such circumstances, the people inside the city certainly dared not run westward, and could only leave the city through the east gate with their food and valuables.

At times like these, if you block the gates outside the city, you can make any demands you want.

After all, if the fire were contained for a longer period, it would spread completely within the city, and the thick smoke and suffocation alone could be fatal.

But Liu Bei didn't make any unreasonable demands.

“We have no intention of harming your Yin family. Luo Shi did not consult us before committing murder and arson. I will not fight you, but given the current situation, I fear you will consider me your enemy, and we must also protect ourselves. Therefore, you cannot take weapons and armor out of the city. You can take money, food, and valuables out of the city to escape. We will not rob you.”

Liu Bei stood guard at the city gate, demanding that everyone inside the city drop all their weapons and equipment before they could leave.

This is also a case of pinning the blame for arson on Luo Shi.

"Who are you heroes?"

A member of the Yin clan asked.

“We are all brothers from Zhangba in the Northern Taihang Mountains. Zhangba is right there.”

Zhao Yun pointed to the big guy at the city gate who looked like a gatekeeper.

Zhang Ba's physique is quite famous. Some of Yin's retainers also know that there is a Zhang Ba in Black Mountain, because Zhang Ba had recently saved Zhang Yan.

"Chief Zhangba, you really aren't in cahoots with Mayor Luo?"

Someone shouted at Zhangba, "Are you sure you won't harm us?"

"I am not on the same side as Luo City. If you want to leave the city, you'd better put down your weapons and come out now. Take advantage of the fact that the fire and smoke are not too big yet and grab the grain... The fire is about to spread to us!"

Zhangba did indeed have a grudge against Luo Shi; he wasn't lying.

Some members of the Yin clan inside the city could hardly believe it, and some even tried to force their way out, but Zhao Yun and Zhang Ba, two fierce men, led several hundred men to guard the city gate, and no one could break through.

Actually, Zhao Yun killed most of the people, but his height of eighteen feet was too frightening.

The city gate of Wu'an was relatively small, and it was nighttime. Under the firelight, the tall man standing in front of the city gate really looked like a door god.

After twenty or thirty people died, and seeing that the fire was about to spread, the people in the city laid down their weapons.

The man, Zhangba, kept his word and stopped killing people and robbing them of gold, silver, and valuables. He only allowed the Yin clan to transport grain to the east of the city.

……

The next day, the smoke and dust in the city had not yet dissipated, and some houses were still burning.

Liu Bei, escorting the grain transporters out of the city, retreated to a village pavilion about ten miles east of the city.

This pavilion is called Yin Family Pavilion—this was the former ancestral home of the Yin Kai family. When Yin Kai was pursued by Ju Shou and his son, he abandoned this place and moved his entire clan to Wu'an City.

They've probably been moved back now, but it was forced back by Liu Bei.

Liu Bei did not set up camp or use the rooms in the pavilion; he simply rested in the open air.

After resting for a day, seeing that the fire in the city had subsided, he sent Yin Kai's clansmen to the west of the city to notify Yin Kai to come and negotiate.

At present, Liu Bei only has eight hundred men, while Yin Kai still has several thousand troops, and the troops stationed at the western pass of the city have not suffered any losses.

However, most of the grain was in Liu Bei's hands, as were Yin Kai's clansmen.

The troops stationed at the western pass of Luo City can also be seen as bargaining chips.

Because Yin Kai really didn't know who set the fire—not even the Yin family members who left the city through the east gate knew. To them, it was more likely that someone from Luo City had entered the city and set the fire, since Zhang Ba seemed to be a man of his word.

At this time, Yin Kai was also preparing to come to the east of the city, and his troops were all ready.

The Yin family members met Yin Kai outside the already burned-down West Gate.

"...The leader in the east is called Zhangba. He said that the agreement he made with his cousin before still stands, and that they can still form an alliance and work together."

Yin Kai's cousin went to the west of the city to relay Liu Bei's words: "Zhang Ba said that Luo Shi planned to kill people and seize the city, but he didn't tell him... He wanted to ask his cousin if he intended to get rid of Luo Shi."

When Liu Bei entered the city and spoke with Yin Kai, he naturally used the title "Zhangba".

In fact, Yin Kai has no other choice now.

Wu'an City has been burned down, and the Yin family's residence has been occupied by "Zhangba," with all their money and grain in Zhangba's hands.

The Yin family is a clan of soldiers; if Yin Kai doesn't rescue his clansmen and retainers, he can forget about becoming the leader.

To the west lies Luo City, and to the east, in Handan, Ju Shou and his son also plot to eliminate Yin Kai…

The only option was to join forces with Zhangba to try and open up Handan; otherwise, they wouldn't even have a base of operations. That afternoon, Yin Kai traversed the city walls littered with ashes and arrived at Yinting in the east of the city, where he met Liu Bei again.

This time, Liu Bei and Yin Kai talked for quite a while.

Liu Bei asked Yin Kai, "Do you plan to kill Luo Shi first, or take Handan first?"

Yin Kai said, "Handan is difficult to capture in a short time, so naturally we should kill Luo Shi first and take his troops for use..."

"Handan is not difficult to take... but Luo City is not so easy to kill."

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "I heard that Ju Hu tried to kill you before, and led his army to pursue you all the way to the city before retreating... Now that Wu'an has been burned, you have nowhere to stand. If Ju Hu sees you coming out of Fushui, he will definitely raise an army to intercept you. You only need to face him for a moment, and I will launch a surprise attack from the flank and take Ju Hu's life."

"Luo Shi has just been chased and escaped by you, so he must be extremely cautious right now. Killing Luo Shi quickly will be much more difficult than dealing with Ju Hu."

"Moreover, your tribe is currently lacking in weapons and armor, so you can only take Handan to replenish your supplies first, otherwise you won't even have arrows."

When Liu Bei blocked the gate, he made the Yin clan members discard their weapons and armor. Other weapons were not so bad; armor plates and blades could be found, but they would need to be repaired and refitted. However, the arrows were indeed gone.

Yin Kai hesitated upon hearing this: "How can I trust you? What if you are as untrustworthy as Mayor Luo..."

“Your entire clan is here, and all your food is here. If you don’t believe me… then you can retreat to the west of the city and attack Luo City yourself.”

Liu Bei pointed to the campsite behind him: "I haven't made things difficult for your people, but if you don't lure Ju Hu, then I'll have no choice but to use your people as the vanguard."

"...If we can take Handan, what should we do then?"

Yin Kai gritted his teeth and asked again.

“You go and besiege Luo City, and I’ll leave Handan to you… I’m just clearing the way to leave. We Northern Taihang people are not from here, and we don’t intend to stay and do business here.”

Liu Bei spread his hands: "You can't possibly be so cowardly as to not even have the guts to lure Ju Hu out with his troops, can you? Then how did you dare to attack Chu Feiyan in the first place?"

"...I hope you keep your word, otherwise I will kill you!"

Yin Kai gritted his teeth: "Tell me how you will lure Ju Hu!"

……

……

Twenty li west of Handan lies the exit of the Fukou Pass.

Juhu's troops have already sealed off the mountain pass.

Yin Kai had always wanted to conquer Handan, and Ju Hu was very vigilant against it.

At present, Tao Sheng and Yin Kai are rebels who have raised the flag of rebellion. In the eyes of most people, Ju Shou and his son are righteous soldiers of the court who have raised an army to fight against the rebels.

Diao Chan sent letters to various armies, making Ju Hu a "righteous army," and no one mentioned Ju Hu's crime of killing officials anymore.

But Ju Shou remained deeply worried.

His current concern is that the entire Ju clan is trapped within the epidemic area, and there are already many patients within the clan.

From the very beginning, Ju Shou disagreed with Ju Hu's approach...

Zhuge Xuan's decision to seal off the city was originally irrelevant. As long as Ju Hu didn't fall ill, Ju Shou's ability to get his son out of the city wouldn't have been difficult.

But Ju Hu had already done it, and Ju Shou couldn't do anything about it; he couldn't just watch his own son die.

Shen Pei's plot against Zhang Yan failed, and Ju Shou also felt that it wasn't a big problem. Anyway, Tao Sheng and Yin Kai were confirmed to be traitors, so they could just deal with the rebellion.

However, if the rebellion leads to an uncontrollable epidemic, then that's a big problem.

During this period, Ju Shou sent letters to Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, Guo Yuan, and others, expressing his willingness to obey the court's orders and requesting that his own militia be incorporated into the garrison troops to carry out transportation tasks.

Because Ju Shou wanted to leave Handan—when the pass was sealed off, only the transport and supply troops could move together.

After Liu Bei issued the order to seal off the passes, Ju Shou had nowhere to go. Apart from Shen Pei's territory, no other county dared to accept people from Handan.

But the plague was more severe in Shenpei's area.

However, Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, and Guo Yuan all said that there was no need for transportation for the time being, and that the newly formed garrison troops had to be decided by Liu Bei, and they had no right to make the decision.

They were high-ranking officials, and Ju Shou believed they held military and political power.

However, Liu Bei's side was a bit special. Neither the provincial governors nor the military commanders had the authority to establish new armies. The garrison troops were still soldiers, and the existing garrison troops were all Liu Bei's personal guards.

Liu Bei did not intend to integrate military and political affairs in the prefectures and counties; the army should all originate from the imperial court so that the imperial court could be stable.

Seeing that he could not leave Handan through official channels, Ju Shou began to consider whether he should secretly lead his clan away from the area.

Just then, Yin Kai's troops appeared at the exit of Fukou Pass.

Moreover, someone came to warn us that Wu'an County had been burned down...

When Ju Hu saw his defeated general leading his army again, and heard that Wu'an County had been burned, he immediately realized that Yin Kai had no way out and was planning to take desperate measures.

Ju Hu immediately led his army out of the city to meet the attack.

Yin Kai did not back down either, and engaged in a fierce battle with Ju Hu on the slope outside Fukou Pass. The two sides fought extremely hard.

And Liu Bei did indeed launch a surprise attack as promised.

But the attack wasn't aimed at Juhu's head; it was aimed at Handan.

Liu Bei and Zhao Yun did indeed lead their troops to break through Ju Hu's forces, but after overcoming the obstacles, they never turned back and headed straight for Handan City.

Handan was a large city, and under normal circumstances, Liu Bei's small force would not have been able to breach its defenses.

However, with Ju Hu leading the army outside, the city of Handan is filled with the elderly and weak, and no one is willing to go out of the city to fight.

Once Liu Bei arrived at the city, he no longer concealed his identity and directly revealed himself, calling for the city's surrender.

Liu Bei called for the city from the west gate. At this time, Ju Shou was inside the city. When he saw Liu Bei himself outside the city, his first reaction was... he had to leave Handan immediately.

Ju Shou knew Liu Bei, and could even be said to understand him. He even had a feeling that Liu Bei had come specifically to deal with the Ju family.

Moreover, in his eyes, given Liu Bei's current status, his personal appearance here meant that Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, and their large army would arrive soon...

So Ju Shou opened the south gate and led the "tribal soldiers" inside the city out to "reinforce Ju Hu".

In reality, he allowed Liu Bei to enter the city while he himself fled when Yin Kai attacked.

In fact, Liu Bei did not send Guan Yu and Zhang Liao to lead troops to attack the city, and he has not yet been able to contact Zhang Liao.

Previously, Liu Bei sent Guan Yu to lead troops simply to move the blockade line northward. This was a routine operation for sealing off the pass and eliminating the epidemic, continuously compressing the blockade area, which meant constantly shrinking the "poison circle".

This is how it's done in every place where an epidemic is confirmed: first, seal off the area, then surround and clear it, shrinking it as you go—and after pushing it to the limit, completely destroy the final 'poison circle' that has shrunk to a small area.

For example, burn it all down with fire. (End of Chapter)