Chapter 101: Jia Xu Battles Xun Yu

  Yang Xiu retorted: "But Shandong..."

  "Shandong is just a minor illness." Liu Bian waved his hand in disagreement: "The northwest is the real threat. Emperor Guangwu established the capital in Luoyang, raising a tiger as a source of trouble. Now that we have such a good opportunity, I want to take advantage of it and solve the two major problems of the northwest and southeast once and for all."

  Yang Xiu took a cold breath. Liu Bian's lightly spoken words, however, raised an enormous picture that no one could have imagined, even with his intelligence, he couldn't accept it all at once. But such shocking words came out of Liu Bian's mouth, said so naturally, so calm and peaceful.

  Yang Xiu soon calmed down and thought for a moment: "Your Majesty has deep plans and far-reaching thoughts, which are beyond my reach. However, without the taxes from Shandong, how can Your Majesty launch a distant expedition to Mohe?"

  Liu Bian turned his head sideways, looking at Yang Xiu with a hint of a smile: "Are you testing me?"

  Yang Xiu was startled and hastily bowed his head: "How dare I."

  "Yang Xiu, I believe you have a way to solve this problem, that's why I'm telling you about the plan ahead of time." Liu Bian stretched out his hand and gently pressed it on Yang Xiu's shoulder: "Don't disappoint me, okay?"

  Yang Xiu felt as if a mountain was weighing on his shoulders, making him unbearable. The back of his head was sweating profusely, and he didn't dare say another word. He bowed his waist, took two steps back, and only then did he release the invisible pressure, slowly exhaling a breath. He glanced at Liu Bian, who had already turned around and was walking forward with big strides, and all the generals they met along the way couldn't help but bow to him in salute.

  Yang Xiu's eyes slowly narrowed. Suddenly, he felt that the Liu Bian in front of him was somewhat strange, strangely frightening. Was he still the same Shu Hou who was known for being frivolous and rude, with no kingly demeanor? Looking at the depth and mystery between his words, looking at the confidence and composure in his every move, who dared to say that he was frivolous, who dared to say that he had no kingly demeanor?

  In the 400-year history of the great Han Dynasty, which emperor at this age had such a temperament and dared to make such a decision? Even Emperor Wu of Han, who established his illustrious military achievements, may not have been able to surpass him. When Emperor Wu ascended to the throne at the age of 16, he was still controlled by Empress Dowager Dou and did not dare to be presumptuous until after her death, when he finally showed his true abilities.

  At that time, he was already twenty-two years old.

  Liu Bian is still a few days short of eighteen years old, yet he has led tens of thousands of troops to fight in all directions to save the Great Han dynasty. Although the Shandong army has risen and the Great Han is on the verge of collapse, he not only does not despair but instead wants to take advantage of this opportunity to solve the chronic illness that has plagued the Great Han for over a hundred years. You can say that he is young and arrogant, but you cannot help but admire his courage.

  To follow such a king and fight, even if we lose in the end, it's still worth living in this world.

  Yang Xiu suddenly felt a surge of heroic spirit, his scalp tingling, and hot blood rushing up to his face.

  Liu Bian nodded to the soldiers they met along the way, while secretly laughing to himself. He knew that Yang Xiu must be dizzy now. Suddenly, he dropped a bombshell, which was to make Yang Xiu dizzy. Young people always have some ideals, let alone the naturally proud Yang Xiu. It would be impossible for him to admit his incompetence and give up voluntarily. No matter how difficult the difficulties were, he would use all his strength and rack his brains to solve them, and often come up with unexpected good solutions.

  Youth is the greatest capital.

  ……

  Zhang Liao led a hundred elite cavalrymen and charged out of Wushan. The sound of horseshoes echoed in the valley for a long time.

  After parting ways with Liu Bian, Jia Xu had him come over and ordered him to lead the Imperial Guards cavalry to rush to Anyi immediately. He was also instructed to kill as many of the White Wave bandits' scouts as possible near Anyi and spread the news of the arrival of reinforcements into the city.

  Zhang Liao did not understand, because Liu Bei had not made such arrangements, and he was the deputy general of this cavalry, Jia Xu had no power to command him. This actually deprived him of his command, turning him into a lower-ranking officer commanding only a hundred men.

  However, after listening to Jia Xu's explanation, Zhang Liao followed Jia Xu's arrangement, because he felt that Jia Xu had his reasons for doing so, starting from the overall situation of the war, rather than out of a desire to seize power.

  Jia Xu said, "The White Wave army was able to defeat the bandits and cause them to retreat all the way to Anyi. This shows that there are clever strategists among them. If such people exist, then Your Majesty's plan to divide our troops and attack may be discovered by the enemy. If they set up a heavy ambush at Dongpou Ford to lie in wait for Your Majesty, then Your Majesty will be in grave danger."

  To break this situation, we must make them dare not leave Anyi. To make them dare not leave Anyi, there is only one way: to create a big show, making them think that Your Majesty has no divided troops and the main force is just on this road.

  Zhang Liao rushed ahead to create momentum in Anyi, even if it was just an illusion, to buy time for Your Majesty.

  Zhang Liao asked: Since the other side has wise and strategists, if I pretend to be strong, won't they see through it?

  Jia Xun said: It is possible, but he may not be able to make an accurate judgment in time. Otherwise, when he heard that the reinforcements were coming, he should have suggested that Bao Pu's army retreat back to Bao Pu Valley instead of staying in Anyi - with the strength of Bao Pu's army, they could only defeat Niu Fu, and once the Emperor led the reinforcements to arrive, they would surely be defeated. Now Bao Pu's army is still in Anyi, which means that he either has not yet become clever to that extent or cannot make decisions on his own.

  No matter what the reason is, as long as you appear near Anyi, you can interfere with their actions. Moreover, after you arrive in Anyi, if the White Wave Army has already left, you must figure out where they went, and when necessary, join forces with Niu Fu to launch a surprise attack. In short, you cannot let them successfully ambush His Majesty.

  Zhang Liao understood, without saying another word, led the gathered hundred elite cavalrymen to rush towards Anyi day and night. Having worked with Jia Xu for so long, he knew that Jia Xu was not a showy person, and since he had decided to change Liu Bian's decree, it meant that the problem was really serious, and Liu Bian might be in danger.

  He can't let this happen.

  Just after passing Yucheng, more than 20 miles away from Anyi City, Zhang Liao knew that Jia Xu had unfortunately spoken the truth. Because he had rushed all the way here, but hadn't encountered a single White Wave scout, which was against basic military common sense. Scouts are sent out thirty miles ahead, and as you get closer to the main camp, there should be more scouts; this is something any commander should know. Since there were strategists in the White Wave army, it's impossible that they wouldn't have thought of this point. The only possibility for there being no scouts was that Jia Xu had unfortunately spoken the truth: the White Wave army had left Anyi.

  Half an hour later, Zhang Liao rushed into Anyi City.

  Niu Fu listened to Zhang Liao's words, shaking his head like a rattle drum. He glared with his eyes and asked in return: "What if the White Wave bandits are just pretending to retreat, luring me out of the city to pursue them? If I leave the city, wouldn't that be falling right into their trap? No way, no way!"

  Zhang Liao had long been prepared and took out a bamboo slip given to him by Jia Xu. Niu Fu took it over, but after just one glance, his face changed.

  .