Although Yuan Shao was annoyed by Tian Feng's face-to-face rebuttal, he still accepted some of Tian Feng's opinions.
Liu Bei delayed and refused to surrender, which inevitably aroused suspicion. Recalling that Yuan Shu claimed to command Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce in battle, Yuan Shao was even more worried that Liu Bei was deceitful and had a deal with Yuan Shu.
After all, Liu Bei is famous for his flexibility. If Yuan Shu or the imperial court are willing to spend money, it is not impossible for Liu Bei to change his family.
Yuan Shao decided that his decision to personally conquer Huainan would not change. At the same time, he sent Chunyu Qiong with 10,000 infantry and cavalry to Tan County to join Chen Deng and force Liu Bei to make a decision.
If Liu Bei declares himself a vassal, he will coerce Liu Bei into attacking Huainan.
If Liu Bei refuses to surrender, he will be destroyed directly, and Chunyu Qiong will lead the Xuzhou pastoralists, and then lead the Xuzhou soldiers to attack Huainan.
He sent an army of 30,000 soldiers to guard Suiyang in preparation for Cao Cao.
As soon as this order was announced, the Ruying people headed by Chunyu Qiong rejoiced, but the Jizhou people sneered.
As expected, when he arrived in the Central Plains, Yuan Shao supported the Ruying people unscrupulously.
Tian Feng looked up to the sky and sighed. "To strive for hegemony in the world, one should make friends from far away and attack close by. Now that the tiger is on the side, we don't cut the grass and root out the roots. We first calm down the troubles in our elbows and armpits, but then we launch an army out of anger and expedition to Huainan. How can we not be defeated?"
Yuan Shao was very angry after hearing this, and he couldn't even listen to Tian Feng's suggestion.
In early October, Yuan Shaotong's 50,000-strong army marched down the Huai River and rushed to Huainan.
Cao Cao, who was waiting carefully, heard the news and was so shocked that he couldn't believe his ears. After confirming that the news was correct, he stroked his forehead and laughed.
"The fierce ghosts on this road not only rob people of property, but also rob people of danger. Very good!"
Guo Jia, who came to report the news, also breathed a sigh of relief. "In this way, our army will have several more months to prepare, and the cavalry will also have time to become familiar with the stirrups, which will greatly increase their combat effectiveness."
Cao Cao smiled broadly and nodded repeatedly. "It's a pity that there are still a few vests. If we can have a hundred armored cavalry, we will have a better chance of winning when we charge into the formation."
Guo Jia agreed.
The biggest role of the armored cavalry is to charge into the formation. One armored cavalry can serve as two to three light cavalry. A hundred armored cavalry gathered to charge into the formation are enough to tear apart most of the infantry formations. Especially when Yuan Shao has Hebei strong crossbowmen.
Under the circumstances, armored cavalry is far more lethal than ordinary cavalry.
Cao Cao once requested a hundred pairs of vests from the court, but the court only gave him thirty.
Compared to Yuan Shu, this is already better.
Yuan Shu sent his daughter to the palace, but the court only gave him the false title of Yangzhou Shepherd and did not give him any substantial help.
This can be understood to mean that the imperial court has limited strength and cannot produce more war horses and ordnance. It can also be understood that the imperial court feels that Yuan Shu is not useful and there is no point in giving them to Yuan Shu. In the end, they all become Yuan Shao's trophies.
"Lord, send some war horses to Liu Bei." Guo Jia suggested.
"Give it to him?" Cao Cao was puzzled.
Although the emperor sent two thousand war horses, his horses were not rich and could only be equipped with about a thousand cavalry. In comparison, Yuan Shao had at least three thousand cavalry, and possibly more.
Guo Jia laughed and said: "Liu Bei comes from Youzhou and is capable of riding. However, he has lived in the Central Plains for a long time and has been cut off from Youzhou. He is afraid that the horses are severely damaged and the cavalry's combat effectiveness will be greatly damaged, which will not be conducive to fighting Yuan Shao and he will be forced to surrender.
The possibility is very high. If the lord can send him some war horses to make up for his shortcomings, Liu Bei may hesitate. With him restraining Yuan Shao in Xuzhou, the lord will have one more chance."
Cao Cao thought it was reasonable, so he immediately ordered two hundred war horses to be selected, plus two hundred more horses that had just been eliminated, and ordered them to be given to Liu Bei.
Considering that Yanzhou and Yuzhou had been occupied by Yuan Shao, it was extremely difficult to transport these war horses. Cao Cao first sent a letter to Liu Bei, asking him to send someone to assist him to prevent these hard-won war horses from falling into the hands of Yuan Shao.
In other words, if Liu Bei refused to pick him up, he could not blame anyone else.
At the same time, Cao Cao ordered Guo Jia to arrange for people to spread the news. As soon as Liu Bei's reply arrived, it would be revealed to Yuan Shao, provoking a conflict between Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, making it difficult for Yuan Shao to take care of both.
Upon receiving the news of Yuan Shao's personal expedition to Huainan, Liu Bei was as surprised and delighted as Cao Cao, more so than others.
Soon, he received news that Chunyu Qiong had arrived with his troops. Knowing that the visitor was evil, he quickly invited Chen Deng to meet him to test Chen Deng's intentions.
Chen Deng's face was not very good, and he endured his displeasure and said, "Has your mind changed?"
Liu Bei let out a long sigh. "Yuanlong, I'm in a dilemma too. If Leader Yuan just wants to dominate Shandong, that's it. If he takes it further in the future, how can I explain it to my ancestors?"
Chen Deng's face changed slightly and he stroked his beard without saying a word.
He also has Liu Bei's worries, and they are no less worried than Liu Bei.
Liu Bei's clan can only bluff people, but the Chen family of Xiapi is a real and famous official of the Han Dynasty, a wealthy family with two thousand shi in the world.
If the Han Dynasty is about to perish, the Yuan family will definitely rise, and it doesn't matter if the Chen family in Xiapi turns to the Yuan family. Changes of dynasties are inevitable. But if the Han Dynasty still has a chance to revive, the Yuan family is just a wishful thinking person like Wang Mang, then Chen
Your choice today may be completely wrong.
The family that followed Wang Mang back then were shameless to the world, and some of them still haven't breathed their last.
In fact, as far as the current situation is concerned, the Emperor is far better than Ru Ziying, but Yuan Shao may not be as good as Wang Mang.
At least Wang Mang only revealed his incompetence after he proclaimed himself emperor. Something was wrong with Yuan Shao now. With Liu Bei alone and Cao Cao behind him, he actually led an army to attack Yuan Shu.
Even if the brothers turned against each other, they wouldn't be so anxious.
Chen Deng pondered for a long time and sighed.
"When I professed my vassalage to Yuan Shao, it was the envoy's order, and I have already followed it. Now that Yuan Shao's envoy has arrived, the envoy has changed again and wants to profess his vassalage to the imperial court. As a Han minister, I have no objection and should be my envoy.
The drum and call of loyalty.”
Liu Bei's eyes flashed slightly and his smile was a little forced.
Chen Deng went on to say: "Just be a man of faith and not be capricious. I used to be your envoy and formed an alliance with Yuan Shao. Now I can no longer be your envoy and fight against Yuan Shao. If you want to form an alliance, I can go see you."
Chen Lin. If you want to fight, please do it on your own and don't let me break my trust."
Liu Bei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He did not expect Chen Deng to fight Chunyu Qiong for him at all, as long as Chen Deng did not object. Even if Chen Deng had a wait-and-see attitude, it would be better than falling out now.
As long as Chen Deng doesn't fall out, he can still make use of Xuzhou's manpower and material resources, and he won't immediately become a lost dog.
"Can Yuanlong guard Guangling to prevent Yuan Shu from invading the country?"
Chen Deng bowed and saluted. "How dare you disobey your orders."
Liu Bei and Jian Yong exchanged a look of relief.
Sending Chen Deng to Guangling in exchange for Zhang Fei is the only way they can think of now.
Chen Deng, his son, and Yuan Shu have already turned against each other, and it is unlikely that they will collude with each other. On the contrary, if Zhang Fei is replaced and he fights Chun Yuqiong with all his strength, it will affect whether they should give up Xuzhou immediately, retreat to Mount Tai, and become bandits.
He didn't want to go that far if there was even a chance.
Just after sending Chen Deng away, Liu Bei received another imperial edict and a letter from Cao Cao.
Liu Bei fell into his trap and immediately ordered someone to send a message to Chen Lin. I had no intention of becoming an enemy of Alliance Leader Yuan. I just wanted to get a promise from Alliance Leader Yuan that he could dominate but not replace Han. If he could accept this condition, I would surrender immediately. If he refused
If you accept it, then I can only decline it politely.
Before that, if Chunyu Qiong steps into the territory of Xuzhou, it will be deemed that leader Yuan has rejected my request and will start a war immediately. I will fight to the bitter end at all costs.