Chapter 90 Expelling Tigers and Swallowing Wolves 2.0
The fighting in Xiapi City was fierce, but Liu Bei did not take advantage of this opportunity to attack Qiaorui's troops outside Xiapi City. Instead, he chose to attack Qiaorui and Lei Bo's camp ten miles away.
Liu Bei's idea was very good, and his timing was also very good. The only problem was that Liu Bei could not accurately judge Qiao Rui's return to the army.
At this time, Liu Bei had been praying in his heart that Cao Cao and Qiao Rui could stay entangled for a while longer.
In order to prevent Qiao Rui from discovering his whereabouts, Liu Beijun deliberately made a big bend to go around the side of Qiao Rui.
However, every important road was guarded or monitored by Qiao Rui soldiers, and the whereabouts of Liu Bei's nearly 20,000 people could not be concealed forever.
Less than a mile away from the Qiao Rui camp, the secret sentry began to gather densely. Although Liu Beijun's scouts cleared out some people, their whereabouts were still exposed to the sight of a secret sentry.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" Seeing that his comrade was being attacked secretly, the whistle hidden above the big tree immediately shouted loudly.
"call out!"
"Plop!"
The secret whistle in the tree only shouted twice before being shot to the ground by a wolf-fang arrow, but in the end it was too late.
Seeing that he and others were exposed, Liu Bei decisively drew out his sword and pointed it forward, shouting: "Attack, kill the enemy!"
"kill!!!"
Before Liu Bei could finish his words, Zhang Fei had already drawn his gun and rushed out!
Lei Bo in the camp, after receiving the warning of the enemy attack, immediately organized the 10,000 soldiers who stayed behind to set up defense.
But the time left for him was still too short. In front of the soldiers charging with all their strength, one mile passed in a blink of an eye.
"Hold on, hold on!" Lei Bo, holding a long knife, was supervising the battle beside the wooden wall of the camp. "Brothers, hold on, hold on! The general will be back soon to support you!"
In fact, Lei Bo didn't know when Qiao Rui would come back. He was just trying to stabilize the morale of the army.
However, Lei Bo probably never expected that his words would come true very quickly... He just didn't know whether he should be happy or disappointed in the end.
Less than half an hour after Liu Bei and Lei Bo fought, Qiao Rui suddenly led the army back to the camp!
An orderly soldier stumbled to Liu Bei's side, and he reported in a panic: "My lord, something bad has happened! Qiao Rui has led his army back, and we are going to be attacked from both sides!!"
Liu Bei was horrified and blurted out: "Why did Qiaorui come back so fast??!"
At this moment, many speculations flashed through Liu Bei's mind, and he even thought, "Could it be that Qiao Rui's entry into the city was fake and was a ploy specifically to lure me into taking the bait?"
But after thinking about it, Liu Bei immediately rejected his previous conjecture: "It's unlikely. There was indeed a fight in the city..."
Finally, an idea flashed in Liu Bei's mind and he asked: "Is it possible that Qiao Rui was defeated by Cao Cao and therefore returned to the army?"
Liu Bei was startled by his own thoughts. After all, there was an army of 50,000 in Qiaorui outside Xiapi City!
But the current situation does not allow Liu Bei to think too much. If he doesn't evacuate quickly now, and when the Qiao Rui army comes back and cuts off his retreat, Liu Bei will really be in trouble.
Although the camp is about to be breached, it is useless to break the camp yourself.
Making a decisive decision, Liu Bei shouted: "Call the gold, withdraw your troops, and retreat with me!"
"Ding ding ding!"
Under the attack of the two armies led by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Lei Bo, whose defense line was about to collapse, suddenly heard the sound of gold from the opposite side.
The situation was so dangerous that Lei Bo himself had to pick up a knife and go to the gaps in some damaged wooden walls to help defend. He accidentally faced Zhang Fei just now, and was almost skewered by the opponent's spear.
Lei Bo, who barely managed to save his life, forced himself to calm down his frightened mind.
Seeing that Liu Bei's army really started to retreat, he suddenly said: "Liu Bei has withdrawn his army, the general must be back! Brothers, follow me to pursue and kill the big-eared bandits!"
Lei Bo's words instantly lifted the sluggish morale of his soldiers to its peak.
Who doesn't like the opportunity to beat up a drowned dog and gain military exploits for nothing?
"Kill! Kill the big-eared thief!"
"Kill the big-eared thief!"
For a moment, the situation was reversed. Liu Bei was eager to break away from the battle, while Lei Bo's army held back its breath and refused to let go.
But after chasing for several miles, Liu Bei's army set up an ambush and defeated Lei Bo's pursuers. Lei Bo finally did not dare to pursue anymore.
The west is the territory that has been occupied by Yuan Shu's army, and the south and east must have been surrounded by Qiao Rui's army. Liu Bei had no choice but to lead his soldiers to retreat to the north.
Fortunately, Qiao Rui did not pursue after joining Lei Bo's defeated army, and Liu Bei's army was able to escape.
On the way, Zhang Fei roared angrily: "You bastard! Just a little bit close to defeating the defenders!"
"Brother, didn't Qiao Rui's army enter the city to fight with Cao's army? Why did they come back so quickly?" Guan Yu was very puzzled, so he asked the wisest brother among the three brothers for advice.
"I'm afraid it's because Cao Cao defeated Qiao Rui, and Qiao Rui's return army happened to run into us." Liu Bei said what he thought was the most likely guess.
Liu Bei's words silenced Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. They defeated Qiao Rui's army so quickly. "Cao Cao's strength is really terrible!" Guan Yu sighed.
Zhang Fei also sighed: "It's really scary to defeat Qiao Rui's 50,000-strong army so quickly..."
"No, not all of Qiao Rui's army entered the city. The number that entered the city was probably similar to that of Cao's army. It was probably because the battle in the city was unfavorable and they were finally driven out." Liu Bei made his own guess, which was not far from the real situation.
Too many.
After a round trip to the north, Liu Beijun finally returned to Xiapi City late at night.
In name, everyone is a colleague, and Cao Cao is not stingy enough to let Liu Bei drink from the northwest wind outside the city.
The city gates were opened and Liu Bei's army was allowed to enter the city.
After Liu Bei settled his troops and horses, he, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei entered the Prefecture Mufu to pay homage to Cao Cao.
Accompanied by Cheng Yu and Jia Xu, Cao Cao met Liu Bei's three brothers. After seeing Liu Bei, he greeted Liu Bei warmly and said, "Xuande, how are you doing here?"
Are you okay? Liu Bei gave a wry smile and said, "It's okay... Thank you very much, Lieutenant, for coming to help me this time."
"It's easy to say." Cao Cao glanced at Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, and then said with a smile: "Xuande, Cao Bao has surrendered to Yuan Shu, and he is now among Qiao Rui's army. What do you think we should do next?"
In response to Cao Cao's question, Liu Bei stood up without hesitation and said with his hands in his hands: "Please also ask the Taiwei to send troops to attack the puppet emperor Yuan Shu!"
Cao Cao nodded and returned: "The emperor issued an edict to attack Yuan Shu and Cao Bao. Now that Cao Bao has been defeated, Yuan Shu will naturally be next."
After receiving Cao Cao's affirmation of sending troops, Liu Bei said with some excitement: "Great, if the Taiwei sends troops, Yuan Shu will be defeated!"
"But Yuan Shu still has nearly 100,000 troops in Xuzhou, and our army only has 50,000 troops. The subsequent battles will still require Xuande's full assistance."
"Bei must fully cooperate with the Taiwei to attack the false emperor Yuan Shu!" Liu Bei replied with righteousness and righteousness, cupping his fists.
After Liu Bei left, Cheng Yu suddenly said: "Liu Bei seems to be hardworking and uncomplaining, so it's not easy to deal with him."
Jia Xu opened his eyes, chuckled and said: "Xuzhou has fallen into the hands of the lord, and it is impossible to return it to Liu Bei. In that case, why doesn't the lord tell the emperor that Liu Bei will be the general to conquer the south and lead the Yuzhou herders?"
After listening to Jia Xu's suggestion, Cao Cao looked at Cheng Yu and replied with a smile: "What a plan!"