He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Ji Ling sat in the main seat, looking dazed. He had been worn down by Huaiyin City and had lost all his temper.

Yuan Shu's army spent several days building siege equipment, but before they could even get close to the city walls, Liu Bei suddenly rushed out and burned most of it. Then, when they were swarming up the city walls, they kept a close watch on the edge of the walls, so that when they attacked the city, they had to prepare a special force to keep an eye on Liu Bei's Youzhou cavalry.

Chen Deng, who was in the city, was not someone to be trifled with. No matter how much trouble Ji Ling caused, Chen Deng could always find a solution in a very short time.

After two days of fierce attacks, the morale of Ji Ling's troops had dropped to a very low level. With no other choice, Ji Ling had to abandon the attack again and instead besiege Huaiyin.

The number of soldiers also dropped significantly, falling to just over 20,000.

If there's anything good to say, it's that Wu Jing's troops have finally joined forces with Ji Ling, bringing Yuan Shu's army outside Huaiyin City to over 30,000 men. Ji Ling no longer needs to worry about troop strength.

However, there was some bad news: the arrival of Wu Jing's troops greatly increased the rate at which supplies were being consumed, and the journey from Guangling along the canal to Huaiyin was still too far.

Furthermore, several guerrilla units of Liu Bei's army suddenly appeared on the canal. They usually hid in the reeds and would launch a surprise attack as soon as Yuan Shu's main grain transport force passed by.

Moreover, these guerrillas were very cunning, specifically targeting outdated ships. After a while, Wu Jing became increasingly annoyed by them.

Moreover, in pursuit of speed, Wu Jing did not capture Sheyang and Gaoyou counties at all. Originally, Wu Jing did not take the few hundred garrison troops there seriously, but now there are suddenly several thousand more garrison troops, which have directly cut off the supply route to the canal.

Now there's no need to worry about guerrilla tactics anymore; we've lost all our options.

However, this news is also good news in a sense, as it means that Liu Bei's forces have been dispersed, and Ji Ling estimates that the number of garrison troops in Huaiyin City is now around seven thousand.

For the attacking forces, this is already an acceptable number.

As for the issue of provisions, Ji Ling figured that since the food was all the same, it didn't matter where they resupplyed, so she simply took over the supply of provisions for Wu Jing's troops.

The more readily Ji Ling agreed back then, the more she regrets it now.

Ji Ling actually knew about the fall of Xuyi long ago, but he reacted quickly and immediately took control of the people who had escaped from Xuyi and imprisoned them in solitary confinement, so the news did not spread at first.

If we can take Huaiyin in one fell swoop, then Liu Bei will be the clown.

However, Ji Ling still didn't expect that the other side had cheated. Lu Wan's wooden tablet went downstream, making his secret plan completely useless.

The soldier who fetched water brought it back to the literate ones, who then told their acquaintances. In this way, the news spread throughout the military camp in less than a day.

Ji Ling reacted immediately, taking control of public opinion, strengthening management of the soldiers, and starting to ration food supplies.

Unfortunately, Ji Ling was unaware of communication studies; some information spreads faster the more you try to control it. In particular, people dislike official announcements and tend to trust information they gather through their own investigations.

Therefore, with Lu Wan leading the attack and Ji Ling assisting, the morale of Yuan Shu's entire army was in turmoil.

It's no wonder that Yuan Shu's soldiers were so nervous. Since ancient times, there has been no greater merit than rescuing the emperor, and no more ruthless scheme than cutting off their food supply.

The most effective way to kill an army is to cut off its supply lines. In this way, no matter how elite the army is, it will eventually be destroyed.

Under these circumstances, Ji Ling received an order from Yuan Shu:

I urge your troops to cease their attack, turn east, and join forces with Wu Jing's forces, holding their ground and awaiting reinforcements. Under no circumstances should you hastily withdraw, lest you become a laughingstock. Our army has already dispatched a messenger to Liu Bei to negotiate peace. Hold your ground firmly, and there will be a way.

Ji Ling smiled with relief.

The people of Xuzhou are cutting off my retreat, and you, Yuan Shu, are also cutting off my retreat, aren't you?

Without a doubt, the more than 30,000 people outside Huaiyin City are now doomed.

After attacking Liu Bei for several months, now that Liu Bei is about to retaliate, they ordered more than 30,000 men to stay within the encirclement and not move, and went to negotiate with Liu Bei. Is this a plan that any human could come up with?

Ji Ling was quite disheartened. After much deliberation, he decided to disobey Yuan Shu's orders.

Not counting Wu Jing's men, the more than 20,000 men under his command were recruited by him bit by bit, and he was extremely unwilling to let them be wasted in Xuzhou.

Moreover, he knew his lord Yuan Shu too well. If Ji Ling lost all his troops here, Yuan Shu would definitely chop off his head.

Yuan Shu wouldn't care whether his command was flawed or not; if they didn't win, it was because his plan wasn't executed properly.

Only by holding men and horses in one's hands can one guarantee safety.

Ji Ling summoned the military commander and instructed the person in charge of logistics and supplies to stop limiting the amount of food and to bring out all the supplies so that the soldiers could eat their fill.

We must immediately retreat westward by land. We can no longer attack Huaiyin and Xuyi. There are too many variables in attacking cities. If something goes wrong, our 30,000-strong army will collapse. Our current morale is no longer sufficient to sustain a siege.

Fortunately, Wu Jing brought some boats; otherwise, Ji Ling wouldn't have been able to even cross the Si River when retreating westward.

But would Liu Bei really let them leave so easily?

It's possible that Liu Bei might not pursue, but it's highly unlikely that he wouldn't pursue at all.

Ji Ling dared not make any guarantees, so he ordered his men to first feign being attacked to lure Liu Bei into a fight, and then take the opportunity to ambush Liu Bei.

--------

"Ji Ling treated us all like clay idols. Such an obvious flaw is clearly a trap."

Liu Bei returned to his usual relaxed demeanor, even having the mood to tease Ji Ling.

"Yeah, at the very least, the cavalry should be kept out of sight," Chen Deng chimed in.

Liu Bei asked, "Should we continue the pursuit?"

"Of course!" Ever since Chen Deng learned that Lu Wan had succeeded, he had told Liu Bei and Ji Ling with absolute certainty that they would lose this battle.

Because Liu Bei didn't need to take any action; he only needed to follow from a distance, and Yuan Shu's army would eventually collapse on its own.

It's all due to psychological pressure.

Retreat is a complex art; it's not simply a matter of everyone turning around and running away. A retreat is a tactical maneuver undertaken to preserve manpower, requiring elite troops to hold the rear, cavalry as reserves, deployed in echelons, and providing alternating cover.

Furthermore, meticulous planning and high morale are also required, which are things that Yuan Shu's army currently lacks.

At this time, Yuan Shu's army was weaker than ever before, so of course they wanted to take advantage of their misfortune.

Liu Bei had not forgotten the grudge of being forced to retreat into the city.

Ignoring Yuan Shu's envoys who kept requesting an audience, Liu Bei issued orders to prepare to leave the city and meet the enemy in battle.

Liu Bei immediately used all the horses and oxen he could find, managing to assemble three thousand cavalry and infantry. They could move on horseback for mobility and fight on foot. It didn't matter if they couldn't ride; they could just ride with those who could.

All the equipment was loaded onto the carts and pulled by oxen; the point was to chase Ji Ling relentlessly.