The Three Kingdoms – Conquer the World - C336

When dusk was approaching, Gongsun Zan gave the order to stop the attack. He looked at the Xuzhou Army’s camp dejectedly, and did not speak for a long time. During the past half day of fierce charge, countless Youzhou Army soldiers had fallen outside of the enemy’s camp, and most of them had died under the endless rain of arrows.

When the last wave of Youzhou Army Soldiers returned, Gongsun Zan sighed and turned, preparing to leave the small hill where he was standing on. At this moment, a familiar voice came from within the stronghold, one that deeply disgusted him.

“Liu Bei is here! , please come forward to say a few words! ”

Gongsun Zan turned his head to look, his right hand quickly grabbing onto the sword hilt, only to see Liu Bei, who was escorted by layers of guards into the camp, looking in this direction. He stomped his feet fiercely. Liu Bei was indeed very cunning, he actually brought so many guards with him, even if he had to use his strong bow, he would not be able to harm.

At this time, Liu Bei continued to shout out, “I wish to speak to Bo Guixiong with sincerity, does that mean Bo Guixiong doesn’t want to know about your son’s situation?”

He was already prepared to give up on his assault on the camp, and was even more worried about Gongsun Xu’s safety. If he could take this opportunity to try to stabilize Liu Bei, then he would be able to buy more time for his son, and at the same time, buy time for him to transfer his own troops to come help. He quickly descended the hill and mounted a handsome black horse. He also led a group of guards and galloped forward.

Seeing that Gongsun Zan was willing to come out and answer, Liu Bei heaved a sigh of relief. It was not only Gongsun Zan who felt that time was of the essence, he was actually even more anxious than Gongsun Zan. At most, the day after tomorrow, Gongsun Xu, who had already escaped back to the Qinghe County, would definitely lead the army here. At that time, Liu Bei would completely lose his chance, which was why he was prepared to lure Gongsun Zan into the ambush he set himself within a day.

Gongsun Zan arrived at a place near the encampment’s entrance and stopped, asking coldly: “Liu Bei, what do you have to say?”

“Bo Guixiong, you and I are from the same sect. The brotherly relationship between us was extremely deep, and it was only because of many misunderstandings that we became enemies. I have always wanted to find an opportunity to chat with Bo Guixiong, but unfortunately, I have never had the chance! This time, this son of mine suddenly went south to the Xuzhou, and upon hearing the news, I was originally prepared to treat him with respect. But who would have known that he would actually interfere with Lv Bu’s matters, forcing me to have no choice but to take action against him.

“Cut the crap!” Gongsun Zan cut Liu Bei off and bellowed: “What exactly do you want?”

“If Bo Guixiong agrees to lead his troops back to the Youzhou, and publicly swears that he will never lead his troops south again in this life, I guarantee that I will use my two hands to pay back this nephew of mine to brother!”

“Bah!” Gongsun Zan shouted angrily: “You despicable and shameless villain, you actually used this junior’s life to threaten me, you truly aren’t a human being! Liu Bei, if you dare hurt my people, I swear to the heavens, I will make sure Xuzhou does not leave even chickens and dogs alive! ”

When Gongsun Zan said this, the entire Xuzhou Army was in an uproar, many people were cursing loudly, some of them even requested for a battle with Liu Bei, wanting to rush out and fight Gongsun Zan to the death. In recent years, war had broken out everywhere, and countless people had died everywhere. However, things like massacres in cities were still very rare, and people who did these kinds of things would usually be scolded by tens of thousands of people. Now Gongsun Zan actually wanted the entire Xuzhou to not leave even chickens and dogs alive, how could the soldiers of the Xuzhou Army tolerate this!

“Gongsun Zan has gone unconscious, to actually say such threatening words in public, this is helping me boost my morale! “Haha” Liu Bei looked around, feeling extremely pleased with himself.

Gongsun Zan spoke of wanting to exterminate the Xuzhou in his moment of desperation, and then he immediately regretted it. Even if he wanted to, he shouldn’t have said it out loud in front of the crowd, otherwise, wouldn’t that cause the Xuzhou Army’s soldiers to resist with their lives? He already had no way to break through the enemy’s camp, so it would be even more difficult! But under the various angry curses of the soldiers of the Xuzhou Army, the trace of regret in his heart quickly disappeared. He once again swore to himself, if his own son has any mishap, even if he were to give up the victory in the war with the Jizhou, he would bring hundreds of thousands of army of Youzhou s to flatten the entire south!

After a long while, the Xuzhou Army soldiers finally had enough cursing, and only then did they stop insulting in groups of two or three.

“Bo Guixiong, this son of mine is currently besieged by an army of tens of thousands on the road. I have also sent an army to guard the rear mountains, so it is impossible for them to escape from the back mountains! Once Yuan Du lost his patience and was about to launch an attack at any moment, his nephew only had a little more than a thousand veterans left. No matter what, he would not be able to withstand the attack of Yuan Du’s army and would lose his life in an instant! Bo Guixiong, could it be that this son’s life could not compare to Yuan Benchu’s? Ai, this son of mine is a perfect scholar, his future achievements will definitely surpass Bo Guixiong’s. Could it be that brother will have the heart to abandon such an outstanding successor? ”

Gongsun Zan’s face was filled with anger as he glared at Liu Bei. If looks could kill, Liu Bei would have been riddled with holes. As he did not know that Gongsun Xu had fled back to the Qing River, nor did he know the specific situation of the people in the Eagle’s Castle, he believed most of Liu Bei’s words. Yuan Shu truly had tens of thousands of elite soldiers, if he were to harden his heart and attack the back mountains of the Eagle’s Castle, the weak strength of the citizens would definitely not be able to withstand it! If he agreed to Liu Bei’s request just like that, he would be extremely unwilling. The war on the Qinghe County’s side had already shifted to his own side, and Yuan Shao could lose at any time, at that time, the entire Jizhou would be in his hands. Furthermore, he simply could not believe Liu Bei’s guarantee. He was worried that the moment he agreed, Liu Bei would make even more harsh demands!

Gongsun Zan shook his head as he thought of this, and sighed to himself in his heart: “Sigh, if it were this early in the future, this old man would have definitely let Feng Xiao accompany me. With him here, I would have definitely thought of the most suitable strategy!”

“This matter is extremely important, I know that Bo Guixiong has a hard time making a decision right now! How about this, Bo Guixiong can go back and think about it carefully. In two hours, I will listen to Bo Guixiong’s answer! ” After Liu Bei finished speaking, he turned around and left, not giving Gongsun Zan a chance to speak at all. A pleased smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, from Gongsun Zan’s actions just now, he was sure that he did not know that Gongsun Xu had already escaped, and that his own plan was extremely certain of success!

Gongsun Zan stared at Liu Bei’s figure that was gradually disappearing into the distance, his face was gloomy to the point of being able to scrape water over his head, until Liu Bei completely disappeared from his sight, only then did he turn his horse and walk to the back. Just as he walked a few dozen steps, he heard a clamor behind him, he quickly turned his head, only to see a large group of Xuzhou Army soldiers carrying a large amount of wood, walking towards the fence, as though they were trying to reinforce it again. He clenched his teeth and clenched his fists. Seems like Liu Bei was determined to block his path, if he could not break through the other party’s camp, how could he save his citizens?

At this moment, a guard came over with a horse, “Master Hou, the number of casualties has been sorted out!”

“How much?” Seeing the guard’s expression, Gongsun Zan secretly sighed, he understood that the number of casualties was definitely shocking, but he still asked for the exact number.

“More than two thousand eight hundred brothers have died, and more than eight hundred have been wounded. Half of them have very heavy wounds from arrows. If we can’t get help as soon as possible, I’m afraid …”

“So many!” Even though he had already prepared in his heart, Gongsun Zan was still extremely shocked. It must be known that the troops he brought with him was the most elite among the Youzhou Army, and they actually had so many casualties.

The guard dismounted and knelt on one knee as he said softly, “Master Hou, breaking through the enemy’s camp will be very difficult. Why don’t we think of another way and not to leave our lives here in vain? “We’re not afraid of death, but we’re afraid of giving up our lives for nothing. Besides, even if we all die, we’ll be of no use in saving the young duke!”

The surrounding guards all jumped down from their horses to kneel on the ground, begging Gongsun Zan not to give the order to attack the enemy camp again.

At first, Gongsun Zan was furious, he wanted to pull out his sword and kill them, but his anger quickly disappeared. He did not care about the lives of his subordinates, but the guards were right, even if they were all dead, it would be useless to save his people. He waved his hand and said, “Get up. This old man will seriously consider this matter. For the time being, I will not order another attack on the enemy’s camp!”

“Thank you, Master Hou!” Everyone thanked him and stood up, their expressions much better.

Gongsun Zan turned his head and looked at the Xuzhou Army Soldiers who were strengthening the fences, and asked: “Do you have any good methods?”

The guards looked at each other in dismay. It was alright for them to fight and kill each other, but using their brains to do such a thing was too much for them.

Gongsun Zan also knew that he could not get anything of value out of them. The reason he asked these guards was purely because he himself was at a loss of what to do.

“A bunch of useless things!” Gongsun Zan cursed in anger and spurred her horse forward.

The guards looked at each other in dismay for a moment, then quickly followed him.

Just then, in Liu Bei’s tent, a Academy Officer was asking Liu Bei respectfully: “Master, the enemy has suffered heavy casualties and is unable to breach our camp, why do we need to reinforce them again?”

Liu Bei chuckled, and shook his head: “Strengthening the camp is only a pretense, my intention is for Gongsun Zan to firmly believe that Gongsun Xu is still in Eagle’s Castle, and that I will firmly secure his path forward!”

Academy Officer frowned as he asked this question. However, he still remained at a loss.

If it was Zhang Fei or Guan Yu, Liu Bei would definitely explain his intentions in detail. As for these ordinary Academy Officer, he only saw them as thugs and not generals, and would not bother to explain his intentions to them.

“All of you can leave now. Have a good rest. I will have some orders sent later on!”

A few Xuzhou Army s looked at each other, cupped their fists and bowed before retreating.

“Bring Zhao An and that guard called Seventh Brother over here!” After everyone left, Liu Bei shouted towards the outside of the big tent.