"General, those Yellow Turban rebels have taken advantage of the night to withdraw from the three cities of Yilu, Xinyang, and Songguo, and have already fled into the mountains and forests behind the city!"
Lu Bu, on the other hand, was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks.
He had never fought such a frustrating battle.
They wanted to engage in open battle, but the enemy gave them no chance at all, instead choosing to defend the city, making it difficult for them to take it down.
The siege equipment was just finished being built, and these bandits have already run away completely!
"These people don't seem like the opponents we've encountered in Xiliang..."
"Shoucheng is right. These bandits are useless to our cavalry. Brother Yang Qiu, do you have any thoughts?"
None of them were soldiers who accompanied them.
Everything, big or small, was decided by the four of them together.
"General Yang, the four of us are ordered to suppress the bandits. If you have any opinions, please feel free to speak them."
Now, these three people have also formed "marriage alliances" with Zhao Hao through various means, and to a certain extent, they can be considered as his own people. Even if Lü Bu doesn't give them face, he still has to give Zhao Hao face.
Not to mention that his own mind was already in a mess, and perhaps by pooling everyone's wisdom, he could come up with a good way to defeat the enemy.
Yang Qiu remained expressionless as always, and slowly said:
"First, request reinforcements and launch a full-scale encirclement and annihilation."
Second, we will enter the forest under cover of darkness and launch a surprise attack on the enemy. However, this method is extremely risky, as our army is not skilled in forest warfare and is prone to chaos.
Third, we await the arrival of the Duke of Qin.
The three chuckled after hearing Yang Qiu's words.
It seems that Yang Qiu has run out of good ideas.
At this moment, Hao Meng, who had reported the enemy's withdrawal, returned.
"General, there is an army of tens of thousands of men approaching us from the rear!"
Lu Bu was taken aback. "What flag are you flying? Has anyone been sent to report the situation?"
Hao Meng took a deep breath and nodded quickly in response.
"They said that Prince Liu Chong of Chen and Prefect Cao Mengde of Jiyin Commandery came to our aid on the orders of General Zhao!"
The four were overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly left the camp to welcome this timely reinforcement!
...
"Young master, ahead lies Xiacheng Fuju, where it is rumored that Liu Pi's troops are stationed.
To the southeast of the city, there is a green peak called Woniu Mountain.
On Mount Woniu, there were three thousand bandits, whose two leaders were named Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao.
Nominally, the two belonged to Liu Pi's command and were ordered to garrison Niujiaoshan, forming a defensive triangle.
In reality, both of them were mountain bandits and might not necessarily listen to Liu Pi.
"My lord, what should we do?"
Zhao Hao smiled. Although he had already set the wheels of history in motion, the direction this chariot was heading was still pretty much the same.
These two are still here, just as expected.
"No rush, we'll proceed first and then retreat back to the Qiao County camp."
Last time, He Man and He Yi made a fortune, while Liu Pi and his ilk are still starving!
Just wait, the opportunity will come soon!
Meanwhile, as Zhao Hao had predicted, the tribal leaders in the city, led by Liu Pi, were scratching their heads in frustration over the lack of food and clothing, just like Lü Bu.
"Commander, those two killers from Woniu Mountain have arrived as well."
Liu Pi nodded. "Very good, everyone's here. We can finally start talking."
After a muscular, burly man and another seemingly strong man bowed and sat down, Liu Pi stood up and spoke.
"You are all heroes with yellow turbans on your heads. We have gathered here today not to be commanded by He Man and He Yi."
It's not that I want to listen to them manipulate the 'saintess' they're hiding in their hands, whose authenticity I don't know.
Brothers, we're suffering! We're starving and freezing. Winter is almost here, and Zhao Hao's army hasn't attacked from our side yet.
Since that's the case, I plan to head north to provide our brothers with some food and clothing.
What do you all think?
The group looked at each other, none of them particularly clever, so how could they come up with a solution?
"We will all obey our commander's orders!"
Liu Pi nodded in satisfaction, "The He brothers benefited greatly from their raid on Yu and Yan provinces last time."
If we want to gain something, we must take it from the places they failed to plunder.
They have not yet ventured into any of the counties of Pei State. Let us set off immediately, before the heavy snowfall, and we are sure to achieve something!"
Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao frowned upon hearing this.
"Brother Zhou, this..."
"No need to say anything, I know I can't do this kind of thing."
But if Liu Pi knew we weren't on his side, he would definitely devour us first.
Although we only have a little over three thousand people, they're eyeing all the stuff in our inventory!
Although Liu Pi couldn't hear their whispered conversation, he guessed that they didn't want to listen to him and do the work.
"Do the two junior commanders of Woniu Mountain have any objections?"
Zhou Cang was startled and quickly explained.
"No, we two are willing to serve the commander and go to Pei State together!"
Heading north, the nearest prefecture is Pei State.
Therefore, there's nothing wrong with what Zhou Cang said.
I wonder if Liu Pi, if he succeeds in Pei, will continue his advance northward...
"Hmm, very good. So... I'll give you two days to prepare. Two days later, the main force will attack, leaving only about ten thousand men to guard headquarters. You can make your own arrangements, but you must gather fifty thousand men for me. Do you understand?!"
"Here you go!"
...
Before long, 50,000 Yellow Turban rebels marched north in unison.
Needless to say, Liu Pi appointed the Woniu Mountain people, whom he looked down upon, and the other Yellow Turban tribesmen, whom he didn't think much of, as the vanguard.
For the first few days, they had a smooth journey and no one could stop them.
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