Chapter 493: Revealing Fangs

Yuan Tan held up the urgent letter on the table and said to Guo Tu and Xin Ping, "I believe you have read the urgent letter from Xuzhou."

After he said this, he stopped talking and waited for the two to speak.

Xin Ping hesitated for a moment, then said, "Save them immediately."

Yuan Tan looked at Guo Tu, who saw this and said hurriedly, "No."

"This is a rare opportunity for you to go south or even north. How can you miss it?"

Xin Ping sneered, "This is a good opportunity to keep our troops in place and wait for the Yuan family members to be killed?"

Guo Tu said disapprovingly: "It's not that serious."

"Xionghu is now saving Donghai, not Guangling. This is not Yuan's territory."

"If we send troops, wouldn't that just be making things easier for them?"

"Xionghu's words sound nice, and he keeps talking about rescuing the siege of Donghai, but what does this have to do with us?"

"He is the governor of Xuzhou!"

After hearing this, Xin Ping said anxiously, "Yuan Tu, Xiong Hu at least conquered Xuzhou for the Yuan family. Now Xuzhou has been attacked by Cao Cao. If Donghai is lost, it will also be a loss for the Yuan family!"

Guo Tu sneered and said, "Zhongzhi, don't forget that the fierce tiger wanted to take three parts of Xuzhou!"

"He plotted against the envoy and forced his forces to Langya where they could not move south. Who can't see that he has selfish motives?"

"If his heart is sincere, why don't you give Guangling to you as well?"

"We are not doing well now. If we want to expand, we have nowhere to go!"

"Now that the East China Sea is in turmoil, it is a great opportunity to take it into our pocket!"

"And Zhong Zhi thought Xiong Hu was kind? His attack without warning and the raid on Qingzhou pirates are still fresh in our memory. Have you forgotten?"

Xin Ping shook his head and said, "Yuan Tu is wrong."

"The Qingzhou pirate incident was caused by your failure to discipline the envoy. Not only did they rob Yuan's merchant ship, but they also didn't inform us afterwards. In my opinion, it's good for Guan Hai and his men to die. If they're still alive, it's a disgrace to your reputation."

Seeing that Yuan Tan looked unhappy, Guo Tu thought to himself that he didn't know whether Xin Ping was really stupid or just pretending to be stupid. How could the general not know about such a thing?

He smiled and said, "Zhongzhi, in this world, if you don't plot against others, others will plot against you."

"Let's not talk about Master Xianfu. If you are trapped in Qingzhou, you will be no match for a fierce tiger. How can you have the chance to inherit the Yuan family in the future?"

"You know, Xionghu already has two male heirs!"

Seeing Yuan Tan's praise, Xin Ping said anxiously, "If you want to attack Jiangdong, you can just ask Xionghu for permission to pass through. Now you are taking it without asking, which is unjust."

Guo Tu sneered and said, "Is there still a war of justice in the world today?"

"With this womanly kindness, do you want to harm the envoy?"

Xin Ping angrily said: "Those who act without any bottom line are the ones who harm the envoy!"

"you..."

Yuan Tan interrupted the two and said, "Stop arguing."

"The enemy originally pretended to be Taishan bandits to attack Donghai. If I send troops at this time, what will Xianyi think? It will make it seem like I have ulterior motives."

"First, write a letter to Xianyi, agreeing to send troops, but you have to obey his orders, so you dare not act rashly now."

"During this period, we will lead our troops southward and station them between Langya and the East China Sea. If Xianyi is interested, he will send people to us to ask for help again, and then we can move southward."

Xin Ping hesitated and said, "If Master Xianyi is defeated by the enemy, then it will be too late..."

Guo Tu said, "If they really cannot defeat us, they can retreat by sea without any worries about their lives."

After hearing this, Yuan Tan nodded and said, "Okay, let's do this."

"You two go back and have a good rest."

Xin Ping left with a sigh. The Yuan family hadn't even taken over the world yet, but their children had already started to hinder each other!

None of the people present felt that Yuan Xi could gain any advantage in Xuzhou this time. After all, according to the intelligence they had obtained, Yuan Xi was now at an absolute disadvantage in terms of generals and military strength.

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

Miserable cries echoed in the sky that was about to fall into darkness.

Liu Bei asked Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to stay behind to guard the city, while he led hundreds of thousands of Xia Pi people north to Tancheng. As a result, after walking nearly 200 miles and with only more than 100 miles left to reach Tancheng, he was suddenly attacked by a large number of enemy troops when it was about to get dark!

The scouts in front of the team were almost killed or wounded. The few who remained fled back desperately to report the enemy situation. Liu Bei knew that he had fallen into a trap. He jumped on his horse and shouted to Chen Dao and others: "Follow me, stop them, and let the people escape first!"

Sun Gan said anxiously: "Sir, this is absolutely not possible!"

"It's getting dark, and the enemy's strength is unknown. It would be dangerous to engage in battle now!"

Liu Bei shouted: "How can we escape now?"

"If something happens to you, how will we deal with it?"

Jian Yong urged: "Sir, we should make a decisive decision now and follow the example of Xia Pi, and cut off the arm of a brave man!"

"Otherwise, if these 10,000 soldiers are wiped out, we won't even have the capital to make a comeback!"

Liu Bei hesitated, his face changed several times, but he finally gritted his teeth and said: "I, Liu Xuande, treat people with kindness and justice. If I break my promise and abandon the people and flee alone, how can I face the people of the world, and how can the people of the world be willing to submit to me?"

"Although fighting at night is disadvantageous to me, isn't it the same for them?"

"If we fight to the death, there is still a glimmer of hope. If we flee without a fight, our entire army will surely be annihilated!"

After hearing this, everyone realized that this was a matter of life and death. Since Liu Bei had made up his mind, there was no point in objecting at the moment, so they had to obey the order.

Liu Bei rode his horse to the front of the panicked people and shouted, "Fellow villagers, listen to me!"

"Now that we have encountered the enemy, we can no longer go to Tancheng in the north!"

"Everyone, head east from north to Guangling for refuge!"

"Xuzhou Governor Yuan and I are close friends, so he will surely protect you!"

"Before that, I will block the enemy for you. Please run away quickly!"

After hearing this, the people knelt down and said, "We are willing to live and die with you, my Lord!"

Chen Dao shouted, "How can you stop the sword with your bare hands? The battle is about to start here, hurry up!"

After hearing this, the people reluctantly stood up and wanted to flee towards Guangling.

Liu Bei rode his horse to the front of the carriage and said to the carriage: "Ladies, there are many swamps and rivers on the road to Guangling. It is difficult to travel in a hurry. We can only leave it to fate."

The curtains were drawn aside, revealing the faces of Mrs. Liu Bei and Mrs. Gan. Liu Bei's daughter hid behind Mrs. Liu Bei and poked half of her face out, with an uneasy look on her face.

Compared to Madam Gan who looked a little panicked, Madam Liu Bei said decisively: "Okay, staying here will only hinder my husband, let's go first!"

After that, she said to the driver, "Go now!"

Liu Bei looked at the people leaving and told Chen Dao: "Send people to Xia Pi to ask for help, and tell them not to defend the city and come quickly to join us."

Chen Dao immediately sent his men to set off, and said, "It's hundreds of miles to go back and forth. Even if the two generals arrive, it will take several days."

Liu Bei also knew it was too late, and sighed: "I have no other choice."

The shouts of killing were heard everywhere. Chen Dao suggested: "How about blending the soldiers in with the fleeing civilians?"

"If there are hundreds of thousands of civilians mixed in with 10,000 soldiers, outsiders won't be able to tell at all. When the enemy arrives, we can suddenly launch a surprise attack. Isn't that a good idea?"

"Otherwise, if we set up the formation at night, it will only be broken by the enemy's targeted attack, and I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out until dawn."

Liu Bei hesitated, this was tantamount to using the people as a shield!

But he also had to admit that facing an unknown enemy, he had no chance of winning.

Because according to the estimates of the spies who returned, the enemy's soldiers were far more numerous than their own!

He hesitated for a moment, then counted: "You take 3,000 soldiers and hide among the people. I will take 7,000 soldiers and follow behind."

"If the enemy comes, we can attack from both sides."

Chen Dao also felt that this method was more reliable than the one he had proposed, so he immediately led his troops to make the arrangements.

Liu Bei turned to his subordinates and said, "The military officers will stay, and the civil officials will go first!"

After hearing this, everyone dared not to be negligent. The military generals formed a battle formation and the civil officials fled in panic among the people, only regretting that their parents had not given them two more legs.

Cao Ren stood on horseback in front of the battle formation and said to Xun You, "Sir, you have a brilliant plan and caught them red-handed. I admire you so much that I bow down to you."

Xun You waved his feather fan and smiled, "This is not difficult. Most of the time, we have to march along the main roads and rivers. Although there are many rivers in Xuzhou, there are relatively few places to cross the rivers."

"Many of the roads and locations from Xia Pi to Tan Cheng are inappropriate. After eliminating them, the remaining ones are naturally their marching routes."

Soon, spies kept coming to report. Cao Ren heard this and said to Xun You with a smile, "Liu Bei is actually seeking his own death by protecting the people and retreating!"

"This way, none of them can escape!"

"Now we will attack Liu Bei's army from behind and wipe them out!"

Xun You heard this and said, "No."

"It is a trapped beast that still fights, which only adds to our losses."

"General, you must understand who our biggest target is. Before that, there is no need to cause more damage."

Cao Ren blinked, "What do you mean, sir?"

Xun You's eyes flashed fiercely, "Take advantage of the night and attack the people directly!"

"Take advantage of their panic and disarray to drive them to attack Liu Bei's army, which will surely lead to their defeat!"

"When the hundreds of thousands of people are scattered in Guangling, if the fierce tiger comes to help, we can fish in troubled waters!"

Cao Ren was delighted when he heard this, "Sir, you are wise!"

He then waved his hand and said to Li Dian, Xiahou En and dozens of other Cao Ying generals behind him: "Everyone, make progress and make achievements today!"

Everyone obeyed the order.

I saw Cao's army, led by various generals, split up and encircled the fleeing civilians.

Xuzhou is mostly plains, and the people had no place to hide. Soon they encountered a group of fleeing people.

Cao's army rushed in like wolves into a flock of sheep, fiercely, holding a long knife in one hand and a torch in the other, killing anyone they saw and burning any vehicle they saw. Suddenly, the night was filled with cries of pain and screams.

More than a hundred miles to the north, several Cao troops were besieging Tancheng.

The leaders were Cao Cao and Cheng Yu!

Cao Cao actually sent three armies and invested most of his troops into the battlefield of Xuzhou!

However, Cheng Yu, who was familiar with him, was not surprised at all. After all, when Cao Cao was still weak, he dared to plan a sneak attack on Yecheng. Now that his power has grown several times, he is naturally determined to capture Xuzhou!

Cao Cao looked at Tancheng in the distance, and a trace of worry appeared on his face, which was rare. "Hasn't there been any trace of the fierce tiger yet?"

"Which route do you think he is most likely to appear in, Zhongde?"

"Or, are those urgent letters for help just a cover? Has he actually given up on the East China Sea?"