Chapter 269: Fighting wits with Liu Bei, bringing humiliation upon oneself! Want a head-on battle? I couldn't ask for more, just in time to take Xuzhou!

Liu Bei set an ambush in Xuyi?
Ten thousand Taishan troops were completely wiped out?
All the generals of Mount Tai were destroyed?

Was Zang Ba killed by Liu Bei?

A series of thunderous blasts rang in Yuan Tan's ears, making his head buzz and go blank.

That shocked and confused expression was as if he had heard the most incredible thing in the world.

"This military intelligence must be wrong. Something must have gone wrong!"

"Most of Liu Bei's troops have been transferred back to Jiangdong, and the rest are in Shouchun. How could they set an ambush in Xuyi?"

"The intelligence must be wrong!"

Xu You, who was equally stunned, suddenly reacted and shouted excitedly at the messenger.

The messenger had no way to explain and could only present the silk book in his hand.

Just as Xu You was about to take it and have a look, Yuan Tan jumped off his horse, snatched it away first, and looked at it eagerly.

It is clearly written in black and white:

Liu Bei personally went to Xuyi and used nearly 30,000 ambush troops by land and sea to completely annihilate the Taishan army that came to his door.

Sun Guan, Yin Li, Wu Dun and other Taishan generals all died.

Zang Ba was captured alive by Zhang Liao and beheaded as a sacrifice for Liu Bei!
Liu's army on the Shouchun front quickly advanced to Xuyi and joined forces with 30,000 ambush troops.

Liu Bei had gathered 70,000 infantry and cavalry by land and sea, and had marched northward along the Si River, heading straight for Xiaxiang.

Every word was like thunder, shocking Yuan Tan so much that he turned pale and stared dumbfounded.

"This doesn't make sense. The intelligence must be wrong. How could Liu Bei quietly transfer so many troops to Xuyi?"

Xu You was still muttering to himself, trying his best to deny the fact.

Yuan Tan's face had turned gloomy and he threw the silk book at Xu You.

"See for yourself!"

Yuan Tan glared at Xu You, with a look of clear resentment in it.

This so-called brilliant plan not only failed to capture Xuyi, but also caused him to lose 10,000 soldiers and horses, and killed several generals including Zang Ba!
The sneak attack failed, and Yuan Tan suffered losses, including the loss of soldiers and generals, and the damage to his reputation. How could he not feel resentful towards Xu You?

Xu You's forehead was covered with sweat. He hurriedly took the silk book and unfolded it hurriedly to read it.

Then, his mouth opened wide, his eyes widened, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and he fell into shock and confusion.

"Xu Ziyuan, is this your perfect plan?"

"How do you explain this result now?"

Yuan Tan's face turned pale and he asked in a deep voice.

"This doesn't make sense. Xin Zuozhi is still in Shouchun and has not reported back the news that Liu Bei is moving troops to Xuyi."

"My spies in Shouchun also have the information that Liu Bei has secretly increased his troops and set up an ambush in Xuyi."

"That big-eared thief, what tricks did he use to hide from our eyes and ears and secretly transfer so many troops to Xuyi?"

"This is unreasonable, unreasonable..."

Xu You's hands were shaking as he held the silk book, and he was mumbling to himself in a trembling voice, with a look of confusion on his face.

Yuan Tan couldn't help but frown, and a look of deep confusion welled up in his eyes.

It is true that he blamed Xu You for his miscalculated strategy, but he also couldn't understand how Liu Bei had concealed the secrets from Xin Ping and the spies and incredibly transferred tens of thousands of troops to Xuyi.

"My Lord, what is going on?"

Chen Gong and Chen Deng, who were standing by, asked in unison, puzzled.

Yuan Tan curled his lips and waved his hand towards Xu You:

"Xu Ziyuan, please explain it to them."

At this point, there was naturally no need to hide the secret from the two Chens any longer, so Yuan Tan asked Xu You to reveal the whole plan.

Xu You felt ashamed, but had to obey the order. He swallowed his saliva and told Xuyi about his so-called plan to conceal the truth and launch a surprise attack.

The two Chens suddenly understood. They realized that Xu You's weird behavior that day and his request to Yuan Tan to drive them away actually meant that he was offering Yuan Tan a plan to launch a surprise attack on Xuyi.

"It turns out that Yuan Tan ordered Zang Ba to transfer the Taishan Army to the south and escort grain and grass to Haixi. He was secretly repairing the plank road in the open, in order to float southward and attack Xuyi by surprise."

"This plan is indeed a brilliant one. I actually didn't see it. Xu You is really good at winning by surprise."

"How could such a brilliant plan be discovered by Lord Xuande?"

"Could it be that..."

Chen Deng's thoughts raced, his heart trembled, and a name suddenly flashed in his mind:
Xiao Fang!

The one who could see through Xu You's plan must be the legendary strategist!
"Xu Ziyuan's plan must have been discovered by Xiao Fang."

"Gong has already reminded you, young master, that Xiao Fang is very smart. We must not compete with him in wits when we fight Liu Bei. We can only win by taking every step carefully!"

"This is not just an exaggeration. It is a lesson learned from the bloody experiences of Yuan Shu and Lu Bu, and a lesson Gong has personally experienced!"

Chen Gong sighed with a bitter face, his words full of helplessness.

Yuan Tan's heart trembled and he shuddered.

At this moment, he finally began to realize how strong Liu Bei was and how wise Xiao Fang was. He realized that he had indeed underestimated the enemy.

"It seems that I have indeed underestimated Liu Bei and that country bumpkin."

"It's just Gongtai, why didn't you remind me earlier, why didn't you dissuade me?"

Yuan Tan naturally would not take the blame, and instead blamed Chen Gong.

Chen Gong was speechless and secretly felt wronged in his heart.

Who said I didn't remind you? I advised you repeatedly with all my heart not to compete with Xiao Fang in wits.

It was because you, the master and his ministers, were too conceited and did not trust me, so you came up with such a scheme without telling me, and ended up losing more than you gained.

Can you blame me for not reminding you?

"Ziyuan, I've said it before, Xiao Fang is full of tricks, neither you nor I can match him, we must not compete with him in wits." "You shouldn't have underestimated the enemy. You offered this plan to the eldest master, but you lost the lives of 10,000 soldiers and Zang Ba's life."

Chen Gong did not dare to refute Yuan Tan, so he had to direct his criticism at Xu You.

Yuan Tan frowned and turned his gloomy gaze to Xu You again.

Xu Youze's forehead was covered with sweat, and he mumbled:
"Even if Xiao Fang saw through my plan, Liu Bei's troops were clearly in Shouchun. How did he deploy a large number of troops to Xuyi without anyone noticing?"

Everyone fell silent.

Yuan Tan's face was once again filled with confusion, and Chen Gong also had a frown on his face, obviously also puzzled.

"I understand!"

Chen Deng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke:

"Liu Xuande had previously withdrawn his troops to Jiangdong. Now it seems that these tens of thousands of troops must have pretended to withdraw to Jiangdong, but actually returned to the Huai River via the Zhongdu River."

"Our spies were all concentrated in Shouchun, but we didn't expect that Liu Xuande's ambush in Xuyi came from Jiangdong!"

"This is also a plan to build a plank road in the open and sneak through Chencang in secret. It must be the work of Xiao Jinglue!"

Chen Deng's wisdom was ultimately better than Chen Gong's, and he figured out the secret first.

Yuan Tan and his ministers took a deep breath and finally understood.

"So that big-eared thief has been plotting to seize Xuzhou from the beginning, and he actually retreated to advance, using this method to secretly mobilize troops?"

"I was actually played around by his master and his servant. How hateful, how hateful~~"

Yuan Tan gritted his teeth, his face twisted with shock and anger.

Xu You was stunned and bewildered, as if he couldn't believe that he, who claimed to be best at winning by surprise, was defeated so thoroughly by Xiao Fang.

"Send the order!"

Yuan Tan suddenly jumped onto his horse and shouted:

"The entire army will march south along the Si River to fight the big-eared thief to the death!"

Everyone was shocked.

Chen Gong's face changed drastically, and he said anxiously:

"My Lord, our army just suffered a disastrous defeat, losing more than 10,000 soldiers. What are you going to do?"

Yuan Tan disagreed and snorted coldly:
"Those 10,000 soldiers are all surrendered soldiers from Mount Tai. They are just a mob. So what if they are killed or injured?"

"Didn't you say that we shouldn't compete with that big-eared thief in wits? Then I will lead an army of 70,000 to fight Liu Bei head-on to decide the outcome!"

Chen Gong took a deep breath and broke out in a cold sweat.

He advised Yuan Tan not to compete with Liu Bei in wits, and said that he should advance step by step carefully, but he did not say that he should have a head-on battle with Liu Bei.

This eldest son of Yuan was obviously enraged by the disastrous defeat in Xuyi. Relying on the strength of Yuan's army, he wanted to defeat Liu Bei in a head-on confrontation as soon as possible and restore his reputation.

Using military force in anger is a big taboo in military strategy!
When Chen Gong was about to persuade him, Xu You took the lead and agreed:

"My Lord, you are wise. The loss of the Taishan Army will not affect the overall situation at all. Our army still has the advantage."

"We have 5,000 Youyan cavalrymen, which are our sharp sword to defeat the enemy. If Liu Bei dares to fight our army head-on, we can defeat him with the Youyan cavalrymen and end our victory in one battle!"

Yuan Tan looked towards the south, a hint of pride on his face.

"Liu Bei, isn't your military advisor full of tricks? Then I won't compete with you in wits."

"I want to see how he can resist my Youyan cavalry even if he has great wisdom!"

Yuan Tan snorted coldly, whipped his horse and rode away.

Seeing that Yuan Tan had made up his mind, Chen Gong did not chase after him to dissuade him. Instead, a long-lost confidence flashed across his brows.

After all, they were 5,000 cavalrymen, almost invincible.

Even though he was deeply afraid of Xiao Fang's wisdom, he could not think of any clever strategy that could defeat these 5,000 cavalrymen.

"These five thousand cavalrymen are the reason why Master Yuan dared to use his troops out of anger."

"Perhaps this time, even someone as clever as Xiao Fang will finally be at his wits' end..."

Chen Gong muttered to himself, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

But at this moment, Chen Deng frowned, with an imperceptible worry passing across his face.

"Five thousand cavalrymen are no small feat."

"I must quickly send someone south to remind Lord Xuande to remain calm and not engage in a head-on confrontation with Yuan Tan..."

...

Five days later, they arrived twenty miles south of Xiaxiang City.

Inside Liu Jun’s camp.

Liu Bei already had the secret letter from Chen Deng, the "undercover agent".

"The Yuan family is indeed very wealthy. Yuan Tan is only a small army, but Yuan Shao can give him 5,000 cavalry!"

"Jinglue, Yuanlong reminded me to stay calm and not engage in a head-on battle with Yuan Tan. I should temporarily stay in the camp and avoid the enemy's attack."

"What do you think?"

There was a hint of fear between Old Liu's brows as he showed Chen Deng's secret letter to Xiao Fang.

After reading it, Xiao Fang's face showed no fear, but a bit of joy instead.

"It's just five thousand cavalrymen, what's the big deal?"

"Yuan Tan wants to fight us head-on. This is exactly what we want. We can defeat his main force in one fell swoop and quickly take Xuzhou!"

After hearing these eight words, Lao Liu and everyone in the tent were all shocked.

What's the point of five thousand cavalry?
The tone is a bit too crazy...

(End of this chapter)