Chapter 29: The Gathering Storm (Part 2)

  Han Xingping first year, summer.

  Cao Cao led his army to withdraw from Xuzhou, and before breaking through the city of Xuzhou, he hastily returned to his headquarters. The battle of Xuzhou had not yet truly begun, but it was already strangled in its cradle.

  But compared to Cao Cao's inexplicable anger, it seems that there is a bigger surprise waiting for him in Yanzhou.

  During the Three Kingdoms period, communication in various places was not so developed, and most of them relied on letters to convey information. The fastest means of transportation on the battlefield was undoubtedly fast horses.

  It is clear that Cao Cao still does not know the true situation in Yanzhou, unless he personally leads his army back. However, considering the distance and number of troops, it would take at least ten days to half a month for the 100,000-strong army to return from Xuzhou to Yanzhou. These ten days are exactly the countdown for Lü Bu to capture Yanzhou.

  Yangyi County

  "What? Chen Liu is lost? Weren't we supposed to attack Yangyi County?" At this moment, Wei Xu looked at a scout with an incredulous expression, sitting in the main seat in the hall, extremely furious.

  A tall and thin general standing beside him was even more fearful, seemingly not daring to look at Wei Xu's face.

  This man was none other than Liu Er, the spy who had been following Cao Xin's army camp a few days ago.

  However, at the same time, Wei Xu's gloomy face made the cavalry retreat, and he looked at Liu Er with a stern expression before shouting loudly towards the outside of the door: "Come in!"

  "Agreed!"

  Before Liu Er could react, Wei Xu coldly ordered: "Take this spy away and boil him!"

  As soon as he heard the word "boil", Liu Er was so frightened that he sat on the ground with a thud, his face filled with incredulous pleading: "General, this is impossible! Cao Xin clearly said he would attack Yangyi County, and I don't know how I ended up fleeing to Chenliu... General, spare my life! General?! General?!"

  Two robust men dragged Liu Er's head away like a dead dog, ignoring his hoarse shouts, and pulled him out with all their might.

  *

  At this time, the line of sight turned to the other side again.

  Ren Cheng, hundreds of miles away from Yangyi County, was captured by Cao Xin on the third day after he took over Chenliu.

  But at this moment, Lü Bu did not know all of this and was indulging in the beautiful dream of capturing Puyang, laughing heartily to himself.

  "Hurray! At this moment, we are in control of half of the territory of Yan Province. As long as we break through Puyang, Yan Province will be ours! Hahahaha..."

  Compared to Lv Bu's pride, Chen Gong, who was sitting on the side seat in the hall, had a calm face, holding a military book in his hand, and was savoring it with relish.

  "Hey, hey, I'm talking about the public platform! Now is the time for us to capture Yanzhou. What's the point of you bringing out this useless stuff every day? Can it help us fight and kill our enemies?"

  Seeing Lü Bu's disdainful words, Chen Gong frowned and looked at the former, shaking his head and sighing: "Fengxian, as they say, 'the superior general defeats by strategy, the inferior general...'".

  "That's enough! I'm fed up!" Lü Bu waved his hand, and a hint of impatience appeared on his face. "When I was young, I often fought against the Qianghu in the northwest, relying not on these military books, but on my unyielding bravery and fierce determination to fight to the death! These military books are only good for wiping my butt!"

  Upon hearing this, Chen Gong was visibly displeased and immediately became serious: "Fengxian, as the commander of an army, even if you alone are worth a hundred men, but if you know how to use people well, deploy troops effectively, and make wise decisions, then you can be considered worthy of commanding ten thousand men..."

  "Haha, so to say, isn't it that a group of scholars are charging into the battlefield, and they have to be thousands of times stronger than us rough men?" With a disdainful smile, Lü Bu's eyebrows suddenly rose, and he coldly said.

  Shaking his head, Chen Gong couldn't help but let out a sigh.

  But looking at the man in front of him, known as the human Lu Bu, Chen Gong was at a loss for what to do. The person before him was far inferior to Cao Cao...

  However, Chen Gong did not regret leaving Cao Cao.

  It's not that Cao Cao is bad, but Chen Gong is too straightforward. Sometimes his straightforwardness is even infuriating. In this era where the weak are preyed upon by the strong, a personality like Chen Gong's cannot survive for long, or rather, he should not have lived in this era at all.

  But for Chen Gong at this moment, compared to Cao Cao, Lü Bu may be brave but not wise, but at least Lü Bu is true, straightforward and sincere to people and things, perhaps this is the real reason why Chen Gong chose to assist Lü Bu.

  *Sigh*... Chen Gong also ignored Lü Bu's disdain, gently putting down the military book in his hand, and sighed: "This time we have possession of Chenliu and other counties, our rear defense is solid. We should gather our forces to attack Puyang... Before Cao Cao returns, we must capture Yan Province..."

  Upon hearing this, Lü Bu nodded in agreement and burst into a cold, arrogant laughter: "Haha, I've said it before, the generals of Yan Province are not even worth a single blow. This insignificant Yan Province is like a treasure trove for me, Lü Bu, haha!"

  At the same time, Chen Gong let out a bitter laugh and this time did not speak again.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  Suddenly a loud shout came, but it was at this moment that it suddenly came from outside. In these days, such an urgent report is not a good omen.

  The two were shocked at the same time, and Chen Gong frowned even more, couldn't help but wonder: "Could it be... that General Hou Cheng has already taken down Chenliu?"

  He nodded and although Lü Bu was certain, he still had some doubts in his heart. He immediately shouted loudly towards the outside of the door: "Come in!"

  The words had just fallen.

  A disheveled sentry suddenly rushed in from outside the gate, his clothes in disarray and his face covered with dust.

  Seeing the other's appearance, Lü Bu was even more shocked and lost his color, looking at the mud on the former's face, but vaguely visible were traces of tears.

  At the same time, the horn rider let out a sobbing cry, extremely sorrowful and choked with sobs: "Master... Master Chen... Chen Liu... Chen Liu..."

  Chen Liu said two words and it took half a day for the soldier to realize he hadn't spoken them out.

  Lü Bu and his men hastily asked: "Quickly! What happened in Chenliu?"

  "Chen Liu! Chen Liu...... It's really lost!"

  "With a buzz", the moment this sentence was spoken, not only Chen Gong, but also Lü Bu was stunned, and for a while did not understand what the other party was saying.

  "What's going on with Chenliu? Hasn't Chenliu been lost long ago? How about Houcheng? Haven't they taken over Chenliu yet?" Lu Bu became furious as he couldn't understand what the other person was saying.

  What's the use, that trumpet continued to cry out in pain:

  "My lord... We were originally following General Hou Cheng to attack Chenliu, but unexpectedly encountered an ambush along the way. Our 5,000 cavalrymen were all killed by the enemy... It was only later that we found out... that Chenliu had not actually fallen. Earlier, it was the enemy commander who spread rumors that Chenliu had been lost, with the intention of luring General Hou Cheng to come... This time, the enemy used General Hou Cheng as bait and blasted open the gates of Chenliu City, killing Governor Zhang Mai... We, a hundred riders, vowed to escape back... Please, my lord, avenge us..."

  A burst of noise in his mind was like oil splashing open in a pot.

  Upon hearing Lü Bu's words, both he and Chen Gong were stunned, their eyes wide with shock, and for a moment they couldn't accept what they had just heard.

  After a while, Chen Gong was the first to react, but his words were still somewhat awkward.

  "Do you know... how many enemy troops there are?"

  "Return to the army... The enemy has only two thousand people..."

  "What?!" A loud shout, Lü Bu reacted at the same time, his face still looking unpleasant, and said; "Only two thousand cavalry!? Actually killed my entire army of five thousand iron riders in Pingzhou?! Ridiculous! Ridiculous! What use are you to me?! Guards! Take this person out and behead him!"

  One angry shout, and immediately the guards on both sides lifted the scout rider out.

  "Spare my life, General..."

  "Wait!"

  Hastily stopping them, Chen Gong immediately ordered the soldiers to release the scout. He then stood up and asked: "You answer me, how did these 5,000 people die?"

  The one who had narrowly escaped death was even more grateful and took a glance at Chen Gong, then clearly explained how he had been attacked with the wooden spear and later with the knife mountain trap.

  Lü Bu and Chen Gong heard this, although their faces were still calm at first, but when the scout said the last part, they couldn't help but change color.

  "Who is this person who leads his troops so fiercely... This kind of tactics is truly unheard of... Unthinkable." Chen Gong said up to here.

  Lü Bu on the side asked first.

  "Is that General Xiahou Dun?"

  At this time, the whistle rider shook his head simultaneously.

  He also said: "It's not Xiahou Dun, I can see clearly that the leading general is between 17 and 18 years old. According to our investigation, he is indeed Cao Xing, the Sima of Cao Cao's camp!"

  *

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