Pursuing soldiers

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  Sui Ping City (Ancient City!) Government Office!

  Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei sat upright with a serious expression. They listened to the report from Sun Qian and Jian Yong on one side.

  "My lord, Cao Cao's general Xiahou Dun has led an army of 5,000 to a location thirty miles outside the city, where they have set up camp. There should be more troops following..." Sun Qian bowed his hands and reported to Lord Liu Bei.

  Liu Bei slightly furrowed his brow. Is Xiahou Dun pursuing relentlessly? Does Cao Cao intend to take advantage of my instability and eliminate me?

  "Big brother, don't panic. I, Old Zhang, only need a few hundred elite soldiers to defeat the bandit Xiahou Dun. Just watch me pierce that Xiahou Dun's hide with several holes. I'll take down one by one, or two by two." Zhang Fei heard that Xiahou Dun was leading his army to attack, and his heart was on fire. He suddenly jumped up and shouted.

  Yide, sit down. Before Liu Bei could speak, Guan Yu on the side coldly shouted.

  "Second brother, I..." Zhang Fei stammered.

  "Sit down." Guan Yu glared at Zhang Fei.

  Zhang Fei scolded and grumbled as he came down, his tone very dissatisfied, and sat down with a huff.

  "Big brother, let's retreat to Suiping and then to Runan, avoiding the brunt of it. What do you think?" Guan Yu looked at Zhang Fei who had quieted down, and then turned his gaze to Liu Bei and asked.

  "Second brother, this time we escaped from Yuan Shao's place and falsely claimed to unite with our relative Liu Jing to resist Cao. Yuan Shao also generously gave us some military equipment from the Yuan family. At this critical moment, Xiahou Dun led his army to attack, I'm afraid we have to retreat first." Liu Bei sighed helplessly.

  "Hmm, big brother, is Yuan Shao so generous?" Guan Yu asked in doubt.

  It's not just Guan Yu, even Sun Qian, Zhao Yun, Jian Yong, and even the rough Zhang Fei are all staring at Liu Bei with tiger eyes.

  Liu Xuan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, considering what to do next. The city of Pingcheng was impossible to defend, but judging from his father's attitude, it seemed that some equipment donated by Yuan Shao should be nearby. It seemed like he didn't want to leave so soon.

  Looking at his own generals and strategists, Liu Bei thought of those under Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.

  Liu Bei was extremely indignant, his two younger brothers and Guan Yu were all matchless warriors, but as for strategists... Alas, Sun Qian, Jian Yong, and Mi Zhu could handle ordinary administrative tasks, but when it came to planning military campaigns and battles, they found it difficult to come up with brilliant strategies. Liu Bei knew he urgently needed a top-notch strategist to share his worries, but was such talent easy to find? It's something that can't be sought after, only encountered by chance.

  "Cough... Don't deceive you all, the military equipment Yuan Shao mentioned is in the not-so-distant Runan City, so it's time to withdraw..." Liu Bei said with a helpless expression.

  Uh... As soon as these words came out, Guan Yu also fell silent. What Yuan Shao generously gave away was probably the power to support Yuan Shu. The Yuan family was divided into two, and now that Yuan Shu is dead, the power supporting Yuan Shu is struggling to survive, but it's still not to be underestimated.

  Liu Bei's army is in dire need of these military supplies. It can be said that if they obtain these supplies, Liu Bei's army's combat effectiveness will increase by 10% to 20%, and this is a conservative estimate. However, the problem is that Cao's army won't give you time to prepare.

  Among the silence, a young general in his early twenties in white armor walked in and bowed to Liu Bei: "My lord, it has been confirmed that those military supplies are indeed in Runan. I have already sent someone to secretly transport them back to Suiping!"

  "Oh, how many of those military supplies are there?" Liu Bei asked with surprise, and the crowd in the hall also stared at the young general, waiting for his answer.

  "Reporting to the master, the power of the Yuan family is indeed strong, and this batch of equipment is enough to equip over 15,000 people. There are also thousands of iron shields and armor." The white-robed young general ignored everyone's gaze, speaking calmly and humbly.

  Uh... Liu Bei's eyes flashed with excitement and frenzy, but soon sank. What's the use? His own troops only had a total of 15,000 people, mostly a motley crew gathered along the way. Adding Zhao Yun and Guan Yu, there were almost 20,000. Only Zhao Yun's recruited 3,000 cavalry and Guan Yu's several hundred soldiers could be relied upon to fight.

  The rest of the people, seeing Cao Cao get the Qingzhou soldiers, were frightened and fled in all directions. Thinking of this, Liu Bei looked at the white-robed young general with a glimmer of hope: "Uncle Zhi, I will train you with my troops, how long can you be ready for battle?"

  Everyone in the hall was stunned. Master, what's going on? Military affairs are not child's play! Handing over troops and horses to a young boy, isn't this a joke?

  Guan Yu's face was as stern as water, while Sun Qian, Jian Yong and Mi Zhu were all shocked. Zhao Yun looked at the young general with a smile on his face, calm and composed, without a hint of fear in his heart. Zhao Yun was very interested in him, and he found that this white-robed young general was similar to himself.

  Zhang Fei was about to explode as soon as he heard it. Liu Xuan, who was sitting next to him with piercing eyes, quickly had Guan Ping use his hand to press Zhang Fei down and kept signaling for him to calm down.

  Liu Xuan gazed at this young general with an unchanging expression, as if nothing could move him. This made Liu Xuan a bit bewildered - who was this young general? Was there such a person during the Three Kingdoms period?

  Liu Bei didn't have time to care about his own emotions anymore, he stared at the young general with eager eyes, waiting for him to respond.

  Others didn't know how formidable this young general was, but Liu Bei did. When he received the news that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were fighting each other, he couldn't help but rush to the scene on horseback. On the way, he encountered over a hundred fierce bandits, but they were surrounded and annihilated by the twenty or so men led by this young general, what a clean and efficient job!

  This young general showed not a hint of fear or naivety, only cold sternness and composure on his face. Liu Bei couldn't help but feel delighted, and decided to take this young general under his wing. Upon further inquiry, he discovered that this young general was one of the more than twenty people from the Zhuang family who had been trained since childhood by their father's orders, and had come out of the manor to seek out the wise and virtuous Han Emperor Uncle Liu Bei to serve under him.

  This made Liu Bei extremely delighted, and he exclaimed that heaven was helping him. Previously, he had not been able to have a deep conversation with this young general, but he knew that the young general's name was Chen Dao, styled Shu-Zhi. The more than twenty men under his command were all servants of the Chen family estate, and they were as close as brothers to Chen Dao, having grown up together since childhood.

  Chen Dao was also taught by his father Chen Yan from a young age the methods of battle array training, and he had some experience in hunting and fighting.

  Chen Dao did not immediately respond to Liu Bei, bowing his head in contemplation for a moment. Liu Bei also did not interrupt him. Guan Yu half-closed his Danfeng eyes, sizing up this young general, with cold glints flashing in his eyes. Zhang Fei put on an expression of disdain. Zhao Yun, on the other hand, had a smiling and carefree look.

  After a moment, Chen Dao raised his head and said to Liu Bei: "My lord, I have heard that there are Yellow Turban bandits running amok in Yuzhou. If we can subdue them, I may..."

  "Hmph, Yellow Turbans, a motley crew. Even if they are subdued, it's just a bunch of shrimp soldiers and crab generals..." Guan Yu coldly shouted.

  Chen Dao did not argue with Guan Yu, but instead spoke softly to Liu Bei: "My lord, Gong Du, Liu Pi and Du Yuan have been entrenched here for many years. The three of them have more than 10,000 soldiers, and even if we only count the elite troops, there are at least nearly a thousand people. If these elite troops join us, I am confident that within one month, our army will have the strength to win a battle." Chen Dao spoke with great confidence and determination.

  Liu Bei looked at Chen Dao, narrowed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and said: "Chen Dao, take orders. Uncle can first lead the new soldiers in training within the city, and wait for us to defeat Cao's army before making plans."

  Chen Dao heard and stood up straight, loudly saying: "Your subordinate obeys orders."

  Yes, go ahead. Liu Bei smiled warmly.

  Watching Chen's receding back, Liu Bei put away his warm smile and said with a serious face: "Second brother, third brother, Zilong listen to the order."

  "My second brother is in..."

  "I am at..."

  "Will be in..."

  The three men put away their previous suspicions or disdain, smiled and clasped their fists in respect to Liu Bei, waiting for his orders.

  "You three lead the main force to prepare for battle against Cao's army, this war does not allow any loss. If defeated, it will be like this..." After finishing speaking, Liu Bei stood up and drew out his double-edged sword to chop off a corner of the table, with a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

  Everyone below heard this and involuntarily said: "We (your subjects) will exhaust all our strength."

  Only Liu Xuan was shocked in his heart, looking at Laozi's behavior on the surface and secretly saying: "It seems that this old man is also being forced to be helpless, and still doesn't want to give up the military equipment of the Yuan family?"

  Liu Xuans thoughts turned dark: "It's also, with such a batch of military equipment right in front of me, how can I not be tempted? Moreover, at this time the army urgently needs this batch of military equipment to strengthen its combat effectiveness."

  "Yuan Shao would be tearfully regretful if he knew the value of these military supplies. I'm afraid even Yuan Shao himself didn't expect Yuan Xu to produce such a batch of precious goods. Unfortunately, before they could be put to use, Yuan Xu died. Alas... it's all just a dowry for others." Liu Xuan thought this and couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

  Liu Bei looked at his civil and military officials, all of whom were solemn-faced, but when his severe gaze fell on Liu Xuan's body, he couldn't help but pause, and saw the smile at the corner of Liu Xuan's mouth. Liu Bei looked at him and secretly thought in his heart: "Could it be that this kid has discovered my purpose?"

  As he thought about this, Liu Bei couldn't help but take a few more glances at his son. His son was almost eight years old and had brought him countless joy. Since last year, Liu Xuan's self-made "small objects" and seemingly casual remarks had shown Liu Bei things he had never seen or heard before, and he had gained a lot from them. If there was one thing that Liu Bei was dissatisfied with about Liu Xuan, it was that he didn't have any clever ideas or strategies. Since he was old enough to understand things, every day he would play and fight with his two younger brothers and some ordinary soldiers under his command. If he were to pass away at the age of 100, could Liu Xuan take care of all these family assets?

  At this thought, Liu Bei had the idea of testing Liu Xuan a bit. Smiling at Liu Xuan, he said: "Xuan'er, you're smiling like that, is there something on your mind? Can you tell your father about it? Let's also let your uncles comment on it?"