Chapter 182 After five years of absence, a brave warrior finally appeared! To pacify the world, we must have an upright army! A declaration of war? Then let's fight!

To the west of Zheqi Ferry is Liu’s main camp.

Inside the central military tent, Liu Bei was looking through the latest intelligence sent by Lu Xun.

"I never thought that the son of Sun Jian would be so shameless as to worship Yuan Shu, the Han thief, as his father!"

Liu Bei frowned, and his words showed both contempt and regret.

In a secret report, Lu Xun claimed that not long after Yuan Shu's army arrived at Ruxukou, Sun Ce sent his brother Sun Yi to Yuan's camp as a hostage.

Sun Ce himself crossed the river into Yuan’s camp and took Yuan Shu as his adoptive father.

If he were a slave like Lu Bu, he would have disregarded his reputation and acknowledged Yuan Shu as his adoptive father.

Sun Ce is the son of Sun Jian, and he claims to be the reincarnation of the Overlord. However, he could do such a shameless thing, which was really beyond Lao Liu's expectation.

"Sun Ce and Lu Bu are actually just the same."

"Back then, he lived under Yuan Shu's wing. In order to please Yuan Shu, he often publicly declared that he regarded Yuan Shu as his father."

"Now that I am at the end of my rope, I bow my head to Yuan Shu, admit my mistakes, and worship him as my father. This is nothing more than my nature."

Xiao Fang disagreed and analyzed Sun Ce clearly.

Liu Bei seemed to realize something, so he threw the secret report away:
"I used to think that although Sun Ce was violent and bloodthirsty, he could be considered a contemporary hero."

"Now it seems that he is just like that, just another Lu Bu."

All the generals sneered at Sun Ce.

Zhuge Liang pointed to the map and reminded:

"But it is an indisputable fact that Sun Ce surrendered to Yuan Shu and Yuan and Sun joined forces."

"Right now, Yuan Shu is leading an army of 30,000 on the north bank, and Sun Ce of Zheqi is leading an army of 10,000 to defend the city, forming a situation of mutual support between the north and the south."

"Sun Ce is not a concern, but if we want to surround Nanjing, we must first defeat Yuan Shu's army, so that we can have no worries."

Liu Bei agreed with this and asked for a map to be brought, so as to discuss a strategy to defeat Yuan Shu.

At this moment, the personal guard entered the tent and announced that a troop of soldiers with a number of about 6,000 people were coming from the southwest of the main camp.

Flag number, Taishi.

"Taishi!"

"It must be Ziyi who has arrived!"

Liu Bei's eyes lit up and he immediately looked delighted.

Xiao Fang smiled, cupped his hands and congratulated:

"Congratulations, my lord, for getting another great general, an all-round warrior at that."

"This Taishi Ziyi is also a proud man. The lord should personally go out to greet him, so that he can feel the lord's sincerity in respecting the wise and humble."

Liu Bei laughed heartily, stood up happily, and immediately led his counselors and generals out of the camp to greet him.

Half an hour later.

More than 6,000 soldiers and horses arrived about a mile southwest of the main camp and set up camp.

At dusk, a rider left the camp and headed towards the main camp alone.

When they were more than ten steps away, Liu Bei recognized the familiar face and was immediately delighted.

"Ziyi, you are finally here!"

Liu Bei came forward with a smile and said with emotion:

"It's been almost five or six years since we last met in Beihai. I didn't expect to meet again in Jiangdong!"

Taishi Ci also recognized Liu Bei.

Seeing that Liu Bei personally went out of the camp and even mobilized so many troops and brought so many counselors and generals with him, it can be seen how much he valued him.

Taishi Ci was moved and flattered. He dismounted from his horse and half-knelt in front of Liu Bei.

"General Taishi Ci pays respect to the lord!"

Hearing the word "Lord", Liu Bei's heart was shocked and he couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

Thinking back to the time when they fought side by side in Beihai, he had already admired this brave warrior from Donglai very much. However, he was ashamed of his low status and position, so he did not dare to express his intention to recruit him until the time of separation.

Missing a chance meeting with such a brave warrior as Taishi Ci was probably one of the regrets in his life.

I didn't expect to meet you again in Jiangdong today. The first thing Taishi Ci said when they met was "Greetings, my lord!"
His extravagant wish back then actually came true five years later. How could he not be filled with endless emotion and sighs?

"Ziyi, please get up quickly!"

Liu Bei quickly dismounted and helped Taishi Ci up, patting him on the shoulder and sighing:
"Since we parted at Beihai, Ziyi, you are still as heroic as ever."

When mentioning the farewell at Beihai, all the past events came to Taishi Ci's mind, and a look of shame flashed across his face.

He would never have dreamed that the chivalrous Liu Xuande of Pingyuan would become the overlord of the southeast in less than five years!
Zhang Ji, Liu Biao, Sun Ce...

How many famous princes were defeated by Liu Bei.

Today, Liu Bei is in a position to capture Jiangdong, control the entire Yangtze River, unify half of the south of the Yangtze River, and compete with Yuan and Cao.

Although he had fought side by side with such a heroic leader in the past, he ignored such a wise leader and traveled thousands of miles to join Liu Yao.

It's really blind...

Then Taishi Ci bowed again and said with shame:
"I am blind and I didn't recognize you as a wise leader. If not, how could I have been muddleheaded for so many years and done nothing?"

"I only regret that I was not able to join you sooner. I will go through fire and water for you without hesitation!"

Liu Bei hurriedly helped Taishi Ci up, but sighed:

"Ziyi, please don't blame yourself. Your original choice was just human nature."

"Back then, I was just a county magistrate. Not to mention you, no one would think of seeking refuge with a county magistrate."

"You chose Liu Yao at that time, which was the wisest choice. If it were Bei, he would probably make the same choice."

Changing the subject, Liu Bei turned his gaze to Xiao Fang again, with a look of gratitude on his face.

"Although I had a passion to support the Han Dynasty, I was just as confused as you are, and I didn't know where to go in the future."

"If I hadn't met a great man like Jinglue, I would have died in Xuzhou. Even if I had escaped by chance, I don't know where I would be wasting my time now."

"To be honest, I never thought that the situation would be like this today, and I never thought that I would meet Ziyi again in Jiangdong." Liu Bei was filled with emotion and attributed all his achievements today to Xiao Fang.

Taishi Ci followed Liu Bei's gaze and turned to the young scholar who was gently waving a feather fan.

"Could this be the military advisor Xiao who is said to be perfect in his plans and has many ingenious strategies, and who assisted the lord in sweeping across Jingyang and defeating all enemies, like the reincarnation of a sage of strategy?"

Taishi Ci looked at Xiao Fang with a look that showed both curiosity and deep respect.

"Ziyi is right. This is Xiao Fang, Xiao Jinglue."

Liu Bei nodded and said with a smile.

Taishi Ci immediately bowed and saluted towards Xiao Fang:
"When I was in Jiangdong, I had long admired the reputation of Military Advisor Xiao for his brilliant strategies. Today, I finally got to see his style!"

Xiao Fang raised his feather fan slightly and smiled faintly:

"Ziyi, you are too kind. Taishi Ci of Donglai is a man of unparalleled righteousness and bravery. I have long heard of your name, Taishi Ziyi."

"My lord, if you have a brave general like Ziyi, Jiangdong can be conquered!"

As he spoke, Xiao Fang stepped forward and helped Taishi Ci up.

Liu Bei laughed loudly, pulled Taishi Ci and said proudly:

"I have prepared a welcome drink. Ziyi, let's go back to the big tent!"

"Today we must drink heartily and to our heart's content!"

Taishi Ci was also a generous person. He laughed out loud and happily followed Liu Bei into the camp.

When the group entered the big tent, Liu Bei introduced all the counselors, generals and heroes in the camp to Taishi Ci.

Taishi Ci and the other generals took turns drinking and laughing heartily.

Just when he was drinking happily, his personal guards entered the tent.

"My lord, Yuan Shu sent a messenger from the north bank with a declaration of war for you!"

The sounds of talking and laughing in the big tent immediately fell silent.

Everyone looked at the letter of challenge in surprise.

Liu Bei put down his wine glass without even looking at it, and asked Chen Dao to read it out in public.

So Chen Dao took the letter and read aloud the so-called declaration of war.

The generals gradually clenched their fists, began to grit their teeth, and anger appeared on their faces.

It was an extremely humiliating letter of war.

Yuan Shu declared in an arrogant tone that he would retreat ten miles and allow Liu Bei to lead his army to land on the north bank, and the two armies would fight a decisive battle on the west bank of the Ruxu River.

The words and tone used in the letter were extremely contemptuous, as if Liu Bei was nothing but a blade of grass that could be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

"Yuan Shu, that bastard, if he hadn't invaded Xuzhou, I wouldn't have let Lu Bu take advantage of the opportunity and steal Xuzhou!"

"Now my brother is the most powerful man in Jingzhou, and his strength is far greater than before. He actually dares to look down on me. How despicable he is!"

"Brother, let's fight him. We will settle all the old and new grudges with him!"

Zhang Fei stood up cursing and angrily challenged the enemy to a fight.

When Liu Bei listened to his cursing, the tragedy of losing Xuzhou that year came to his mind.

Coupled with Yuan Shu's crime of usurping the Han Dynasty, the superposition of national hatred and personal grudges was bound to arouse Liu Bei's anger.

"Jinglue, what do you think, should I accept this challenge from Yuan Ze?"

Although Liu Bei was filled with anger, he still remained calm and did not forget to ask Xiao Fang for his opinion.

After all, Yuan Shu brought 30,000 Huainan soldiers, and he also had Lu Bu, the world's number one general, as his vanguard. Even Cao Cao would be wary of such a lineup.

What's more, Sun Ce still has 10,000 troops at Zheqi Ferry in the east. Although they no longer pose a major threat, enough troops should still be left behind to monitor and exert pressure.

This means that if he crossed the river to fight, he could only bring about 30,000 troops at most, which is equivalent to the strength of Yuan Shu's troops.

And it's a fight to the death.

The situation cannot be said to be at a disadvantage, at least it is evenly matched. With Lao Liu's composure, he will naturally not fight out of anger and easily fall into Yuan Shu's provocation.

"Yuan Shu sent this declaration of war because he was arrogant and extravagant in Huainan, and levied heavy taxes. His treasury must be empty, and there is not much food and grass to support him in a long-term confrontation with our army."

"That's why he wanted to provoke the lord so that he could end the battle quickly."

"Cao Cao is currently encircling Ye County. My Lord, we must make a quick decision in Jiangdong to avoid any unexpected events in Nanyang."

"Besides, delaying it would also give Sun Ce a chance to recruit new soldiers and recover his strength."

"In this case, wouldn't Yuan Shu's declaration of war be exactly what the lord wants?"

Xiao Fang understood what he meant and suggested that Liu Bei take advantage of the situation and accept Yuan Shu's challenge.

Old Liu clenched the letter of challenge in his hand, and the fighting spirit in his eyes was burning.

Xiao Fang drank the wine in the glass and continued:

"Besides, although you have won battle after battle since you started your army, most of your victories were won by surprise."

"The art of using troops is to combine the strange and the regular, with regular troops as the main force and the strange troops as the auxiliary."

"My lord, if you want to unify the world and rebuild the Han Dynasty, it is far from enough to rely on special forces. You must also have the ability to defeat the enemy head-on with an upright army."

"The Huainan troops under Yuan Shu are neither a mob nor an elite force. They can be used to test our army's ability to fight a decisive battle head-on."

"Only through a head-on confrontation can we demonstrate the true prestige of our lord, inspire confidence in our soldiers, and truly live up to the title of an elite division!"

"So we thought that if Yuan Shu wanted to fight, we would cross the river and fight him!"

Xiao Fang's words echoed in the tent like thunder, making all the generals' blood boil.

The remaining concerns in Liu Bei's eyes were now all dispelled by Xiao Fang's words, as if he had suddenly realized something.

"The military advisor is right!"

"Only when we defeat the strong enemy head-on with an upright army can our army be called an elite army!"

Liu Bei stood up and shouted proudly:
"Pass on my order. I will personally lead 30,000 infantry and cavalry across the river to fight that Han thief Yuan Shu to the death!"

(End of this chapter)