Chapter 356: Liu Bei Knows Military Affairs
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the night in the vast Central Plains is exceptionally bright and clear.

On the city wall of Xiangcheng, Cao Ren climbed up the ladder and sat on the roof.

A few young soldiers brought the boxes of wine and food to the rooftop, and above their heads was the moon that was about to become full.

Without candlelight, Cao Ren could see the dishes clearly. He tore off a chicken leg and handed most of the chicken to the three soldiers: "Eat it."

The guards did not dare to say much. They grabbed the stewed and slightly smoked chicken, tore it into three portions and started eating.

Fat chicken was a rare food for Cao Ren. He tore off the tough chicken skin and bit off the firm leg meat.

He chewed with big mouthfuls, swallowed, and then took a sip of wine to suppress it, then turned sideways to look back at the city.

There were few campfires in the city, but there was a campfire every thirty steps on the top of the city, and from time to time, trained armored soldiers with torches patrolled back and forth.

When he looked up to the southeast outside the city, he saw that there was a campfire burning in Liu Bei's camp and there were also patrolling soldiers.

Cao Ren finally looked westward to see the camp on a nearby hill. The camp was built according to the terrain of the mountain.

Although it was not very steep, ordinary siege equipment was powerless against the fences and earthen walls of the camp.

Looking at the beacon tower at the highest point of the hill, the best news is that there is no unusual movement.

Cao Ren took another sip of wine and glanced with lowered brows at the defenders staying overnight in the city.

Most of the defenders were stained with the blood of the Yangdi people, and the vast majority of them reaped a great harvest from the massacre in Yangdi City.

None of this matters. What matters is that military officers at all levels have no way out.

Judging from Liu Bei's past performance, as long as Xiangcheng was breached and the massacre of Yangdi was investigated, given Liu Bei's character, he would definitely execute all the military officers, both big and small, who were involved.

Therefore, there is no need to repeatedly exaggerate and intimidate, as military officers at all levels in the city will actively appease the soldiers.

If the city is captured, Cao Ren may not necessarily die, but the military officials and leaders will certainly not be able to escape.

There is no need to worry that these people will not work hard.

Outside the city, Liu Bei also couldn't sleep.

The crisp sound of horse hooves was very pleasant to hear in the frosty moonlit night, and Liu Bei subconsciously walked towards the big tent.

After a round of inspection outside the gate, Song Wu jumped off his horse and rubbed the inside of his thighs as he walked, panting from exhaustion.

It was a little inconvenient for him to walk, so several white-flag soldiers came forward to help and carried Song Wu to the big tent.

Wei Yan, the commander of the hundred men on duty at the big tent, was about to report to Liu Bei when he saw Liu Bei leading a few people over. He hurried over and said, "My lord, it's Song Wu. He's back from the East China Sea... He's not in good condition."

"Prepare the meal."

Liu Bei whispered instructions and quickly entered the tent with a few white-flag soldiers.

Song Wu could not stand steadily, and he lay sideways on the ground. When he saw Liu Bei coming in, he pushed the paint bucket he was carrying forward and lowered his voice with a trembling voice: "My lord, General Chang was defeated and his entire army was wiped out."

Liu Bei swayed, crouched down, reached out and picked up the paint bucket, handed it to the person next to him to open the paint seal, and asked: "Why did you lose the battle?"

"Six days ago, General Chang learned that Xiahou Yuan was about to withdraw his troops, so he intended to pursue and delay Xiahou Yuan, hoping to seize an opportunity to defeat the enemy."

Song Wu stiffened his neck and looked up at Liu Bei, gritting his teeth and saying, "We tried to dissuade him, but another spy came and reported that Xiahou Yuan was going to set up an ambush. General Chang trusted the spy's words very much, so he left the city to chase him. We could only lead the army to follow him. Five days ago, after breaking two ambushes in succession, General Chang bravely pursued him and wanted to attack Pengcheng directly."

Song Wu lowered his head and said, "I never thought that the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry led by Cao Chun ambushed in the reeds on the north bank of the Si River northeast of Pengcheng. General Chang only had a hundred cavalrymen around him, and they were no match for the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. General Chang was killed in battle, the battle flag fell, and the whole army was in chaos. We fought to the death to break through."

"What about the counties in Donghai? What about Tancheng?"

"The officials and people of Donghai were determined not to surrender. The old, weak, women and children of Tancheng climbed up the city walls to defend. Seeing that the city defenses were solid, I came to report this at night."

Song Wu pointed to the paint bucket that his personal guards had brought back and said, "This is the confession of the officers and soldiers who participated in the battle."

Liu Bei nodded: "Rest well and recover."

Song Wu agreed, and Liu Bei ordered the Baimao soldiers to lift Song Wu up and carry him to the small camp outside.

When Liu Bei returned, Xu Shu also came to the big tent. The lacquered wooden barrel was placed on the table, and the two read the various confessions accumulated inside, which were all the post-war statements of the military officers who participated in the war.

From all aspects of the story, a battle against Chang Xi was restored.

After reading this, the two of them felt more confident.

Before coming to take the map again, Xu Shu fiddled with the chess pieces around Donghai and Pengcheng, erasing the thirteen chess pieces representing Chang Xi, and gathering more than thirty chess pieces representing Xiahou Yuan that were scattered around in his hand.

Looking at the map, Xu Shu said, "Cao Cao's central army is unwilling to move easily. Will Xiahou Yuan and Cao Chun's troops come to rescue Cao Ren, or rush to Chenliu to besiege Xu Gongming?"

Does Xiahou Yuan's army dare to split its troops?
Normally speaking, troops must not be divided, as this would result in the loss of control of the army.

But what if the ones sent out are elite veterans?
As a military strategist, Xu Shu's daily job was to study the battle records and personalities of Cao's core generals.

Liu Bei also looked at the map and asked, "According to the military advisor, should we remind Yun Chang?"

"It's time to remind them that we need to cooperate with Yide and Zilong's armies."

As Xu Shu spoke, he placed more than twenty black pieces near Chenliu and placed ten pieces symbolizing elite troops in Guan Yu's camp.

Xu Shu said confidently, "Xu Gongming is guarding Chenliu City, and it is not easy to besiege and break through. As long as Xu Gongming is not defeated, the situation in Yanzhou will only get worse for Cao's army. If we attack Chenliu by force, Xu Gongming is no ordinary man, and he will surely cause countless casualties to Cao's army. The situation in Chenliu is unsolvable for Cao's army."

"Yes, since we cannot resolve the issues in Chenliu and Yanzhou, we will divide our forces to restrict Xu Gongming and delay the changes in Yanzhou."

Liu Bei raised his hand and pointed to the camp guarded by Guan Yu 20 miles to the east: "This is my tooth. Break my tooth and Cao's army will be out of danger."

As he spoke, he looked westward and saw that the eight chess pieces symbolizing the Guanzhong and Nanxiang coalition forces had been deployed near Duyang. In another six or seven days, the reinforcements under the banner of Guanzhong troops would appear here.

Five days ago, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Chun completely wiped out Chang Xi. With the advantage of the Wei River, they could advance quickly towards Chenliu.

Marching by boat, the newly victorious troops are not easy to be defeated... Perhaps as Xu Shu expected, during the process of marching by boat, the real elite troops of Cao's army have been separated and are moving here!
With the reinforcement of about 10,000 Xinsheng troops, what would Cao Cao do?
Even if Cao Cao had ten times the courage, he would not dare to mobilize all the more than 40,000 troops stationed near Xu Du.

Then he would definitely do the same as Xiahou Yuan and only mobilize elite veteran troops to fight.

In this way, those troops with unclear attitudes can stay in the camp and watch the situation change with justification, without helping either side and offending anyone.

In other words, Cao's elite troops were about to launch a sneak attack.

How could Cao Ren just stand by and watch when Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan each led their elite troops to attack?

Cao Ren's army has recently been stained with blood and has no way to retreat. If Cao Ren goes out, the entire army will surely come out in full force.

Therefore, we cannot count on the allied forces of Guanzhong and Nanxiang, nor can we count on Wen Pin's 5,000 men, or even on the 5,000 soldiers gathered by Lu Zhao.

The only people we can trust at this moment are the 18,000 people in our headquarters.

Liu Bei changed his mind and raised his hand to point between Guan Yu's camp and Yingyin City: "I want Yide and Zilong to set an ambush. What do you think?"

"If the enemy comes from the east, it must be Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan who are united. We will ambush them and break their formation. When they are exhausted, they will surely be attacked by another army."

Xu Shu objected, saying that this was a clash of elite troops, and it was impossible to defeat the enemy's elite vanguard with an ambush and drive away the entire enemy army.

He pointed at Xiangcheng and said, "General Yide and General Zilong can set up an ambush for this man. Cao Ren's troops are of mixed quality. If we defeat his elite troops, the rest will be scattered and difficult to deal with. After defeating Cao Ren, we can rely on the camp and calmly fight Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan. When the reinforcements arrive, the morale of Cao's troops will be low, and that's the time for change."

Liu Bei understood what he heard, and felt that inflicting heavy damage on Cao Ren would effectively deter the Cao troops watching the battle, allowing him to concentrate on resisting the combined forces of Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan.

During this period, an allied force of 8,000 people from Guanzhong and Nanxiang arrived, joined by 5,000 people from Wen Pin and 5,000 people from Lu Zhao, and a total of 20,000 people arrived near the battlefield.

As long as the battle drags on, the various units of Cao's army watching the battle will inevitably change.

If we delay until a chain reaction occurs, there is a chance that Cao’s army will collapse completely!

Liu Bei thought about it and based on his understanding of Cao Cao, he said: "I can't just rely on Yide and Zilong's two armies. I want to set up a false camp and wait for them."

He looked at Xu Shu and said, "Cao Cao likes to take risks when deploying his troops. There may be a raid on the camp in the next two days. We must be on guard."

As for Guan Yu, there is no need to worry. Even if Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan had ten times the courage, they would not dare to rob Guan Yu's camp.

(End of this chapter)