Plop-tat-tat-tat, falling to the ground.

Raindrops in the sky were like arrows, and the vast wilderness around Huaiyin Stone Pavilion was smashed into a crater.

The wind blew in gusts, as powerful as an arrow.

Wrapped in the fragrance of earth, we entered the silent barracks.

In the main tent, the lights flickered.

The two of them sat around the table, staring at the mottled map, as if looking for the secret to victory.

The heavy rain on a summer night can't cool people's hearts.

One has long arms and big ears, and the other has a red face and a long beard. They are celebrities from the Three Kingdoms era, Liu Bei and Guan Yu, who have obvious appearance characteristics.

At the beginning of the first year of Jian'an (AD 196), Cao Cao appointed Liu Bei as the general of Zhendong, granted him the title of Tinghou of Yicheng, and ordered him to conquer Yuan Shu in Huainan in the name of the emperor.

Yuan Shu and Cao Cao were defeated in several battles. This time the opponent sent the weaker Liu Bei. He couldn't bear the reputation of a prominent family in Runan and thought that Cao Cao was humiliating him.

After being furious, he appointed Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui as generals, and the second generals led 50,000 elite troops. They sent troops from Xuzhou to Tancheng to preemptively strike.

Before Liu Bei took office as the pastor of Xuzhou, the state had been massacred twice by Cao Cao, resulting in a sharp decline in the population of Xuzhou and the decline of people's livelihood.

In just one year, Liu Bei's hastily accumulated troops, money and food were far from being able to compete with the powerful Yuan Shu.

Faced with the imperial court's decree and Yuan Shu's military threat, Liu Bei was unwilling to sit still and wait for death, so he left his third brother Zhang Fei to guard Xiapi while he and Guan Yu went south to defend the enemy in the Xuyi and Huaiyin areas.

The stalemate lasted for more than a month, and they fought more than ten times, but unfortunately they won less and lost more.

The moods of Liu Bei and Guan Yu were as gloomy as the weather, and their confidence was like the earth outside the tent, riddled with holes by reality.

For a long time, Guan Yu knocked on the table with one hand, frowned and said: "Brother, Yuan Shu's troops are rich in fine food, and the rain has been constant recently. It will be useless to fight for a long time. We must make plans early."

Liu Bei sighed: "Well, Kong Wenju once said in the past that Yuan Shu is just a withered bone in the tomb. It was not until this time of fighting that I realized that the withered bones of the Yuan family are not light..."

"Kong Rong? Huh..." Guan Yu snorted coldly, and then added: "Why should I believe this man's boastful words? When I asked my eldest brother to save Tao Gongzu that day, he said that he said those nasty words to a certain person. It makes people laugh when they think about it.

.”

Liu Bei waved his hand gently, raised his eyes and replied: "Brother took the initiative to send troops southward, not because of the influence of Kong Wenju. In the past few years, Xuzhou has been experiencing constant natural and man-made disasters. It has been hard to rest and recuperate for more than a year. Seeing that the people in the state are about to harvest in the summer, if Yuan Shu is allowed to invade,

Going north, I don’t know how many times I will starve to death, so I have to try to hold on until the end of the summer harvest..."

"I'm just afraid that there won't be enough food and grass..."

Guan Yu was about to say that after several defeats and the heavy rains for days, the army's food reserves were running low, but he stopped abruptly in the middle of his words because out of the corner of his eye he saw a dark shadow at the tent door.

Liu Bei saw that Guan Yu had a different look on his face, so he turned his head away tacitly.

I saw a dark shadow under the curtain, and it turned out to be my third brother Zhang Fei.

At this time, Zhang Fei had no arrogance like before. He was drenched in water and exuded an aura of embarrassment.

"Third brother?" Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly stood up to greet him.

Seeing this scene, Liu Bei's heart was like fifteen buckets, and he was thinking, "Is something going on in Xiapi?"

"Brother..." Zhang Fei stood there like a wooden chicken, tears mixed with rain running down his face, like a child who had made a mistake waiting to be punished.

Although Liu Bei had a bad premonition in his heart, he was unwilling to expose it, but Guan Yu, who was following behind him, was very anxious.

"Third brother, if you don't stay in Xiapi, why are you here?"

"Xiapi...Xiapi is lost..."

Zhang Fei did not dare to look directly at Liu Bei, but looked at Guan Yu with twinkling eyes.

"What?" Guan Yu's eyes widened.

Although Liu Bei's heart was turbulent at this time, he still tried to keep calm on his face. He held Zhang Fei's cold hand and asked in a deep voice: "There are three thousand soldiers guarding Xiapi, and the city's high walls are strong. I don't know who my brother is." Seize the city?”

"It's those slaves with three surnames..." Zhang Fei gritted his teeth.

"Lu Bu? How many troops does he have? How could he..."

Liu Bei looked very surprised. He placed Lu Bu, who came from a desperate situation, in Xiaopei, and even left Zhang Fei to guard the city before the expedition. However, just a month after he and his second brother left, something happened in the rear.

"It was Cao Bao and Lu Bri who cooperated with each other and made me..."

Zhang Fei hesitated to explain the reason. Guan Yu understood his character very well and asked loudly with a cold look on his eyebrows: "The third brother has never been afraid of Lu Bu. He must be greedy and cause trouble. Where is my sister-in-law?"

"They are all trapped in the city..." After Zhang Fei finished speaking, he lowered his head, like a defeated rooster.

"You..." Guan Yu wanted to punch Zhang Fei, but because Liu Bei was between the two of them, he raised his leg and stamped hard, then flicked his long beard, turned around and raised his head and refused to speak.

Seeing that Guan Yu was so angry, Zhang Fei felt that he was ashamed of Liu Bei's instructions, so he reached out to draw his sword and killed himself to apologize, but Liu Bei held his wrist tightly.

"Brother...let me go..." Zhang Fei burst into tears and was about to kneel down as soon as his legs loosened.

Liu Bei held Zhang Fei's hands steady, and said sternly: "The ancients said, 'Brothers are like brothers and feet, and wives are like clothes. When clothes are torn, they can be sewn; when limbs are broken, can they be repaired?'"

"I..." Zhang Fei was speechless.

"Don't stand in the rain for a long time, it is easy to catch the wind and cold. The third brother quickly went into the tent to talk and took the city without any reason. When my brother returns to the army tomorrow, I will ask him what happened. We are all from the border areas, and the family members in the city may not be in trouble... "

Liu Bei helped Zhang Fei inside and wiped Zhang Fei's face with his sleeves without any sign of reproach.

Zhang Fei looked at Guan Yu who was slowly turning around, and he turned around and clasped his fists at Liu Bei loudly: "If my sister-in-law is in any way, I will die in battle in Xiapi to atone for my sin..."

"Brother just said it, why did the third brother forget it again?" Liu Bei held Zhang Fei's hand and shook it, looked at Guan Yu next to him, nodded and said: "Second brother, hurry up and arrange it, we will break camp and return to Xiapi tomorrow morning. .”

"Only..." Guan Yu followed the order and clasped his fists, then strode out of the dull main tent under the raindrops.

Liu Bei brought more than 10,000 soldiers and horses from Xuzhou. Although he lost several thousand during the stalemate with Yuan Shu's army, there are still more than 8,000 soldiers left. Guan Yu was worried that the sudden loss of Xiapi would affect the morale of the Xuzhou soldiers in the camp.

Sure enough, on his way back to the army, when Liu Bei arrived at the border of Naoyou, the soldiers under his tent suddenly fled. Although the three brothers tried their best to restrain them, they only managed to gather about 2,000 people.

"Brother, just now I wanted to kill the deserters to establish my authority? Why did you stop me? How can such a person capture Pi?" Zhang Fei threw down his riding whip, his dark face full of confusion.

Liu Bei looked at the retreating troops, shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Their family members are all in Xiapi. It is better to be defeated at this time than to mutiny in the city..."

"Brother, it was too chaotic just now. The few rations we had left are now..." Guan Yu changed the topic and reminded Liu Bei: "Without soldiers and food, it may be unfavorable to go to Xiapi again..."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement, then took out the map from his pocket, pointed to a place with a serious expression, and said: "Now the soldiers are out of food and supplies, the north has been captured by Lu Bu, and Yuan Shu is pursuing troops in the south. Only Guangling in the east You can go to Haixi..."

"Our current rations may not last until..." Guan Yu frowned.

After hearing this, Zhang Fei whispered: "If we are really short of food, can we learn from other princes and borrow some from the people nearby..."

"We have lost our city and soldiers. If we don't even defend our only benevolence, we will really be unable to stand up. We order the entire army not to disturb the people. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed." Liu Bei's face was stern, and he said the last word "cut". , said very firmly.

"Uh...I just said casually, whoever dares to disobey the general's order, I will go and twist off his head first." Zhang Fei quickly added.

"Well, let's set off." Liu Bei nodded slightly, then raised his whip and pointed toward the east. The two thousand remnants of the army gathered together and set off on the road in confusion.

Liu Bei took the lead and returned to Xiapi. Generals Liu Xun and Qiao Rui followed closely behind them and divided their forces to pursue them.

Liu Bei went eastward along the Lingshui River. Near Huaipu in the southwest of Haixi, he unexpectedly encountered soldiers and horses under Qiao Rui's command.

One side has few soldiers and low morale, while the other side has plenty of good food.

The battle was hasty and Liu Bei was defeated again.

After the war, Liu Bei's troops were less than a thousand, and the food in the army was exhausted. In order to carry out the military order not to disturb the people, the hungry soldiers had to eat their seriously injured and newly killed comrades.

Seeing this situation, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh with sadness: "If anyone can help with some food, I, Liu Bei, will repay you thousands of times in the future..."

"Brother, there is new military information..." Guan Yu hesitated.

"What?" Although Liu Bei was sad at this time, he still did not give up hope.

Guan Yu, with a bitter look on his face, replied: "The scouts just came to report that enemy troops were found two miles northeast."

"Northeast? How could Qiaorui guess my intention?" Liu Bei was suddenly stunned.

"Second brother, how many people are there?" Zhang Fei asked with a frown.

Guan Yuxu raised his eyes and replied: "Although there are only two hundred people, their armor is bright and the military formation is solemn. They are probably the elite of Qiao Rui..."

"If you are so passionate, why can't you treat me less?" Liu Bei's long-standing tenacity suddenly relaxed at this moment.

Zhang Fei didn't take it seriously: "It's only two hundred. We still have seven or eight hundred soldiers. Why is my brother like this?"

"How can seven hundred and eighty tired and hungry soldiers defeat Yuan Shu's two hundred elite soldiers? Even if they win, it will be a miserable victory. These few hundred men are the last of my brother's fortune..." Guan Yu shook his head gently.
Chapter completed!