Chapter 266: My achievements are unparalleled, what can you use to compete with me? Liu Bei: Zang Ba, I have been waiting for you for a long time!

Wipe out all the invading enemies and kill Zang Ba as a sacrifice!

Liu Bei was greatly encouraged by Xiao Fang's words, and he suddenly became excited and surprised.

"What ingenious plan does Jinglue have? I'd like to hear the details."

Liu Bei came closer and asked excitedly, unable to wait.

Xiao Fang pointed to Xuyi with his feather fan and said slowly:
"The reason why Yuan Tan dared to send Zang Ba to lead 10,000 men to attack Xuyi was simply because he thought that we only had Taishi Ziyi's 4,000-odd troops in Xuyi, and he had twice as many troops as us."

"My Lord, why don't you lead the army to set up an ambush at Xuyi and wait for Zang Ba and his Taishan soldiers to come and fall into the trap."

"Then we can catch him off guard and wipe him out completely."

After hearing this, Liu Bei showed concern and said:
"Yuan's army must have many spies in Shouchun. If our army mobilizes on a large scale to the east, will it alert Yuan Tan?"

Xiao Fang smiled, as if he had anticipated Lao Liu's concerns, and pointed his feather fan to the east of Xuyi on the map.

"My lord, don't forget that there is a Zhongdu River east of Xuyi, which connects the Huai River and the Yangtze River, and can go straight to Jiangdong in the south."

"Yuan Tan's spies will surely be densely distributed west of Xuyi, along the Shouchun line."

"My lord, you can withdraw the troops from Shouchun to Jiangdong in the name of withdrawing them. This will paralyze Yuan Tan and make him think that my lord was not on guard and did not expect him to attack."

"After our army retreated to Jiangdong, it unexpectedly moved north again via Zhongdu River and quietly entered the Huai River again east of Xuyi."

"In this way, can we conceal the truth from Yuan Tan, set up a trap without making any noise, and wait for Zang Ba to fall into the trap?"

Xiao Fang slowly revealed the secret.

Liu Bei's eyes lit up and he looked around the map, surprise gradually filling his eyes.

"Zhongdu Water, I actually forgot that there is a Zhongdu Waterway connecting the Huai River and the Yangtze River!"

"Jinglue, this is a trick you used to deceive everyone!"

"This plan is unpredictable, and it will definitely be hidden from Yuan Tan!"

Liu Bei slapped the map, his face full of surprise and smile, and he praised it highly.

Xiao Fang smiled faintly and pointed his feather fan towards the north:
"There is no time to lose. My lord, please mobilize the troops back to Jiangdong as soon as possible, so that Master Yuan can send Zang Ba to die without any hesitation."

Liu Bei laughed.

...

Xia Pi City is the provincial capital.

Yuan Tan had already received the double secret reports from Xin Ping and the Shouchun spies.

"Liu Bei has ordered Guan Yu to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to Xiangyang in the west. This should be to prevent the lord from defeating Cao Cao and taking advantage of the situation to attack Xiangyang in the south."

"Huang Zhong, Gan Ning and others led more than 30,000 troops south of the Fei River. They should be retreating to Jiangdong to alleviate the shortage of food and grass in Huainan."

"According to this calculation, Liu Bei's troops in Shouchun are only about 30,000 at most."

"The news sent back by the spies is the same as the news sent back by Xin Zuozhi. It seems that Liu Bei really has no intention of getting involved in Xuzhou, and he has not prepared for the eldest son to lead his troops to attack Xuzhou."

"My Lord, there is hope for the conquest of Huainan!"

After Xu You's analysis, he looked at Yuan Tan with excitement.

Yuan Tan sipped his wine, a sneer appeared on his face:
"It seems that Liu Bei never expected that I would lead my entire army to attack Huainan less than a month after I captured Xuzhou!"

"Xu Ziyuan, quickly pass the secret order to Zang Ba, order him to sail out from Haixi immediately and attack Xuyi by sea!"

Xu You gladly accepted the order.

Then he laughed again, stroked his thin beard and said:
"According to You's plan, Zang Ba will be able to take the enemy by surprise within eleven days at the latest, and his divine troops will descend from the sky to the east of Xuyi, catching the enemy off guard."

"We must also be prepared. Once Xuyi is captured, we will immediately head south along the Sishui River to join them."

"By then, it will be too late for Liu Bei to retake Xuyi. Our 70,000-man army will be able to advance westward along the Huai River and take Shouchun with superior forces before he has time to send more troops from Jiangdong."

"Quickly take Huainan, it will be as easy as pie!"

Xu You spoke eloquently and outlined a blueprint for Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan stared at the map, his eyes burning with a fire of determination to win, but his gaze shifted from Xuyi to Yecheng.

There, his good brother Yuan Shang was guarding the Yuan family's nest.

"Yuan Shang, I know that my father dotes on you and wants to make you his successor."

"So what? When I conquer Huainan, I will be feared by the whole world and my achievements will be unrivaled. What else can you use to compete with me?"

"Even if father dotes on you, with my prestige at that time, would he dare not make me his heir?"

"Hmph~~"

Yuan Tan raised a sneer at the corner of his mouth.

...

Twelve days later, east of Xuyi, above the Huai River.

Under the setting sun at dusk, dozens of ships, with full oars and sails, were speeding westward up the river.

At the bow, Zang Ba stood with his sword in his hand, staring ahead.

In the setting sun, the outline of a city came into view, and the soldiers on the boat immediately became excited.

"Brother, we have arrived at Xuyi City!"

Sun Guan behind him also shouted excitedly, pointing forward.

Zang Ba let out a long breath and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Since setting out from Haixi, we first took the sea route and then entered the Huai River. After sailing for a full ten days, we finally arrived.

Although Qingxu is close to the sea, naval battles are not his forte. Strictly speaking, he and his Taishan soldiers are still considered landlubbers.

During these ten days of bumpy ride on the water, I vomited at least eight out of ten times. It was really a lot of suffering.

Fortunately, all the hard work was not in vain, and we finally arrived in Xuyi smoothly.

"Pass the order, all troops are ready to attack the city!" "After we capture the city, I will allow your father to plunder it for two days, and all the wealth and women will be yours!"

Zang Ba waved his hand and issued an order magnanimously.

When the Taishan soldiers heard that they could plunder Xuyi, the hardship of days of sailing was immediately swept away. They were all as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and each of them was as ferocious as a beast.

The ships accelerated and rushed towards Xuyi.

Zang Ba also became excited, gripping the hilt of the knife tightly, with a look of eagerness to fight.

"Brother, I still have some questions that I have been holding back for a long time. I don't know whether I should speak them out or not."

Sun Guan behind him suppressed his excitement and suddenly asked.

Zang Ba did not even turn his head and waved his hand:

"You and I are brothers and we share everything. Just say whatever you want to say."

Sun Guanhuan glanced around, then came closer and said in a low voice:
"Brother, for so many years, we have been leading troops in Xubei and living our own carefree life."

"No matter who becomes the ruler of Xuzhou, we will just guard our own piece of land and never work for anyone else."

"Why did you change your mind this time? Not only did you take our Taishan soldiers away from Xubei's base, but you also took such a big risk to launch a surprise attack on Xuyi for the Yuan family?"

"Brother, I can't figure it out."

Sun Guan finally let out all the confusion that had been pent up in his heart.

Zang Ba glanced at him and sighed meaningfully:

"Brother, don't you understand? The situation has changed. It is completely different from what it was back then."

"Back then, the princes were divided and the heroes were fighting for supremacy. Naturally, we brothers could command our own forces and gain the upper hand."

"But now the situation has changed. All the princes have been defeated. Lord Yuan has defeated Cao Cao, conquered the Central Plains, and it has become a foregone conclusion that he will completely control the two rivers."

"Even unifying the world is no longer a question of course."

"Under this situation, do you think Lord Yuan will allow us to maintain our own military power and establish our own regime in Xubei?"

Sun Guan shuddered and suddenly realized.

Zang Ba changed his tone and continued:
"Then the whole world will belong to Lord Yuan. If you and I want to raise our own troops, he can destroy our small army with just a flick of his finger."

"So, if we want to continue to rely on our own military strength as before, we will only end up seeking our own death."

"As brothers and I are born as bandits, if we want to have a place under Lord Yuan, we can only try our best to make great achievements and prove our worth to Lord Yuan."

"Now, you should understand why I would rather take such a big risk, work for the Yuan family, and bring you to attack Xuyi, right?"

Zang Ba told all his difficulties.

Sun Guan understood everything and couldn't help but sigh bitterly:
"I understand, my foolish brother. It is impossible for us to maintain our own army. Big brother wants to find a good way out for us so that we can have a share of the food in the big pot of the Yuan family."

Seeing that his brother finally understood his painstaking efforts, Zang Ba breathed a sigh of relief and looked much more pleased.

Sun Guan paused, but then said:
"I fully understand your painstaking efforts, brother."

"It's just that when Liu Xuande was in charge of Xuzhou, he was polite to us. We didn't help Lu Bu when he attacked Xiapi, but now we are helping the Yuan family to deal with him."

"Brother, isn't it a bit unfair for us to do this?"

Zang Ba pursed his lips and said disapprovingly:
"It was because of his incompetence that he lost Xuzhou. What does it have to do with us brothers?"

"Besides, in this chaotic world, survival is the most important thing, everything else is irrelevant."

"Don't say that he was just being polite to us back then. Even if he did us brothers a favor, we still have to go to war with him in order to survive."

"If possible, I would like to chop off his head so that I can ask Lord Yuan for a great achievement!"

Sun Guan was silent.

While the two brothers were talking, the boat was approaching Xuyi.

Looking into the distance, I saw that the east gate of Xuyi was hastily closed, and the few soldiers were climbing up the city walls in a panic. The sound of gongs and warnings could be heard throughout the city walls.

What we saw was that the defenders in the city had obviously not expected that an army of Yuan Shikai would attack from the lower reaches of the Huai River, and they were in a panic.

"This Xu You is truly a man of great foresight. Lord Yuan's subordinates are indeed filled with talented people..."

Zang Ba praised loudly, then drew his sword and shouted:

"All ships, listen up! Pull over the shore immediately and head straight for the east gate!"

The order was passed down and the flag was waved.

Ships rushed ashore, and thousands of Taishan soldiers rushed onto the ships.

Zang Ba got off the boat and mounted his horse, commanding 10,000 Taishan soldiers to attack the east gate of Xuyi.

One hundred steps, seventy steps, fifty steps...

Just as they were about to rush to the city, the sound of war drums suddenly rang out.

There were originally not many soldiers on the city wall, but suddenly countless soldiers of Liu's army appeared on the city wall like gods descending from the sky.

Countless battle flags with the word "Liu" on them and countless sharp arrows were aimed at the Taishan soldiers who were rushing over.

The expressions of the Taishan soldiers changed drastically and they all stopped.

Zang Ba's determined expression changed drastically in an instant. He reined in his horse and looked in astonishment at the sudden change in the situation on the city wall.

Right above the city gate.

A middle-aged general in golden robes appeared on the city wall, his cold and stern eyes directed towards the city.

"Zang Ba, I have been waiting for you for a long time!"

A roar like a loud bell came down from the top of the city wall.

"Liu...Liu Bei?"

Zang Ba called out the name with trembling hands, his face changed drastically, as if he had seen a ghost.

(End of this chapter)