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Lu Congtian did not hide anything, "The navy has a thousand men."

"A thousand men? Haha," Wenbu stopped his mockery, "As far as I know, Lü Meng and Lü Ziming have a force of thirty thousand men entering Yizhou, plus Lu Boyan's several thousand men joining them. How can your thousand men possibly stop them?"

Of course, Lu Congtian couldn't reveal the confidential information that Lu Xun was one of his own.

Deng Kai, standing to the side, said, "General, please don't take offense. What Patriarch Wen means is that even if you receive help from both our families, Zigui is sparsely populated and overrun by barbarians. Even if you do your utmost, you can only gain a little over a thousand soldiers at most. Adding them together, it's not even a fraction of what you could hope for. This is what is meant by 'a mantis trying to stop a chariot.'"

Lu Congtian knew that getting local powerful figures to take sides wouldn't be so easy.

They're all a bunch of guys who won't act until they see a clear benefit.

Unless the enemy threatens their vital interests, they will choose to remain bystanders and will not interfere arbitrarily.

Lu Congtian said, "Do the two patriarchs only wish to remain in their isolated corner and not lead their families to a wider world?"

miss you!

I dream about it!

Who wouldn't want to be a member of a prosperous family, with their own page in the family genealogy?

But as heads of the family, they have many other things to consider.

If a wrong choice is made, and one is not careful, the family will not only fail to prosper, but may even decline directly.

Not only can the family genealogy not be published separately, but it is also possible that the entire genealogy may not be preserved.

That's how it is with small families; they're afraid of both sides and don't have enough resources to hedge their bets.

Seeing that the two hesitated.

Lu Congtian continued his analysis, "In the current situation in Jingzhou, Cao Cao is the strongest, Sun Quan is second, and our lord is the weakest. I can understand why the two of you would not choose to help our lord."

"It's good that the general understands." Deng Kai cupped his hands in greeting.

"Have either of you heard of Jia Xu, Jia Wenhe?"

"Of course I've heard."

Lu Congtian smiled, "Then you two must also be aware of Jia Wenhe's suggestion that Zhang Xiu surrender to Cao Cao."

Upon hearing this, Deng Kai and Wen Bu exchanged glances.

They are capable of being heads of households, so they are certainly not fools or mediocre individuals.

Lu Congtian's mention of it made his meaning instantly clear to everyone.

During the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao was weak while Yuan Shao was strong. Jia Xu advised Zhang Xiu to join Cao Cao, whom he had a grudge against, instead of choosing Yuan Shao, who would have been a better option.

Now Cao Cao is powerful, and Sun Quan is not weak either, so Liu Bei is in a predicament.

Putting aside the fact that helping Cao Cao was unrealistic from a distance, King Cao Cao of Wei looked down on their small family.

If they had to choose, they could only choose between Sun Quan and Liu Bei.

The current situation is quite similar to the situation between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao during the Battle of Guandu.

Choosing Sun Quan would be icing on the cake; they wouldn't be taken seriously.

Choosing Liu Bei is like sending charcoal in snowy weather; I will be overjoyed to have him. Once Jingzhou is pacified, their family will surely prosper as a result.

Lu Congtian didn't believe that the two family heads wouldn't be tempted.

really

Deng Kai was the first to declare, "I am willing to dedicate the strength of my family to help the general repel Lü Meng!"

Wenbu was somewhat reluctant, saying, "I feel the same way."

How could Wen Bu just watch the Deng family grow stronger? What if they succeeded? Would the Wen family still have anything to do with Zigui?

Therefore, to some extent, the two companies are almost in a position of mutual support and cooperation.

Fundamentally, it's about not being able to stand seeing the other person doing well.

Lu Congtian was overjoyed, "With the help of the two family heads, we will surely succeed!"

Deng Kai clasped his hands in a fist salute, "General, there are many barbarians in Zigui. Perhaps we can persuade them to surrender and employ us."

"Excellent! Let's take the position of Patriarch Deng..."

Before Lu Congtian could finish speaking, Wen Bu volunteered, "General, I have some connections with the barbarian chieftain. Leave this to me!"

Lu Congtian glanced at Deng Kai, who looked somewhat helpless.

He nodded in agreement, "Then I'll have to trouble Patriarch Wen."

Several days later

Wenbu recruited 3,000 barbarian soldiers, plus 1,000 retainers from two families and hidden households, bringing the total number of soldiers in Zigui to 5,000.

With five thousand men at his command, Lu Congtian's confidence soared.

Many hidden sentries were set up along the river, and ambushes were set up in the most dangerous gorges.

Everything is ready. All that's left is for Liu Bei to defeat Lü Meng, drive him into an encirclement, and then cooperate with Lu Xun to completely annihilate him!

Before we knew it, winter had arrived.

"Report! The enemy is less than thirty li from Zigui!"

"Proceed according to the established plan!"

The instructions were relayed.

Deng Kai led his family soldiers to ambush, while Wen Bu and the barbarians intercepted them from the river.

The river wind whistled, and small flags conveyed instructions, which were obeyed by all the officers and squad leaders.

Unfortunately, the time for integration with the barbarian and Wen-Deng families' troops was too short, making it impossible to command them effectively.

However, the encirclement they set up was still quite well-organized.

When Lü Meng learned that the road ahead was blocked, he ordered the main force to halt and sent Lu Xun to lead a small team to scout ahead.

Now Lü Meng has been defeated and retreated, and his army of 30,000 is now less than 20,000.

Yet there was no panic; orders were obeyed without question, and morale was high, demonstrating his talent as a commander.

More importantly, Lü Meng was no mediocre talent; he always remained wary of Lu Xun.

Although Lu Xun's troops followed his orders along the way, he could no longer trust them as he had before.

Why didn't Lu Xun retreat directly to Jiangdong after his crushing defeat at Xiangyang? Or occupy Jiangling?

Instead, they went to Shu (Sichuan) to join him?

With suspicion in mind, Lü Meng gradually reduced the military power in Lu Xun's hands.

In addition, Liu Bei, who was pursuing them, had few warships and could not catch up in a short time. Lü Meng then ordered the ships to disperse and set up camp on the shore to prevent the enemy from setting fires and launching surprise attacks.

Now all we have to do is wait. If Lu Xun returns, although it won't completely dispel all doubts, it will certainly increase our trust.

If Lu Xun does not return, or sends his subordinates back to deliver a message, then it can be concluded that Lu Xun has already been turned to the enemy.

That's how defeated generals are; it would be abnormal if they weren't suspected.

Half a day later.

Lu Xun returned from his reconnaissance mission, reporting, "General, there are figures scattered in the woods along the shore, banners fluttering on the mountains, and obstacles blocking the river. The enemy force must number no less than ten thousand!"

"Ten thousand people?!"

Lu Meng stared intently, wondering who could muster an army of ten thousand men in such a short time to stop him.

"Is the enemy general Wen Ping?"

"I don't know."

Lu Meng fell into deep thought. Who was so capable? Could it be Guan Yu himself coming to stop him?

With ten thousand men on the defensive and the enemy having the advantage of terrain, Lü Meng was deeply troubled.

Lu Xun took his leave.

Lu Xun already knew that Lü Meng remained wary of him, and he would have little chance of getting another opportunity.

The fact that he wasn't given any troops and was instead forced to risk his life to scout out the enemy speaks volumes.

Lu Xun lied that the enemy had 10,000 troops, just to buy time so that Lü Meng would not dare to launch a strong attack and would remain in Zigui, thus delaying the attack until Liu Bei's pursuing troops arrived and attacked from both sides!

"We're leaving!"

Lu Xun knew perfectly well that once Lü Meng learned that the garrison wasn't as large as he had claimed, he would completely suspect that Lu Xun had betrayed him.

Then you won't be able to leave.

Lu Xun could have slipped away under the guise of investigating, but he knew he had to return and engage in a silent battle with Lü Meng.

Delaying for one or two days is enough!

Then, taking advantage of his position inspecting the camp, Lu Xun fled over the mountains overnight and headed towards Zigui.

Lu Xun also wanted to respond to Liu Bei immediately when he met with Lü Meng and take action from within.

However, the army suffered a crushing defeat at Xiangyang, and 5,000 troops were evacuated. As they marched towards Shu, only about a thousand men remained.

With tens of thousands of men under his command, plus the military supplies he had accumulated from conquering cities, how could Lu Xun's thousand or so men possibly succeed?

Thus, Lu Xun had no choice but to return to Lü Meng's side as a defeated general, where he was subjected to various tests by Lü Meng.

How long we can delay is now up to fate.