Chapter 404

These words struck Lord Yuan Shao's heart like a heavy hammer, instantly sobering him up.

He furrowed his brows and said, "That's true! Even when facing the difficulties from us and the Spirit Emperor back then, Su Xuan seemed to handle and maneuver through them very well, suffering no damage at all, and instead gaining benefits and retreating unscathed!"

"Is this really a foolish move on his part this time?"

"But, Xu You is also right! I truly cannot see what benefits there are to be gained in Taking Jiaozhou?"

He didn't understand; he was completely baffled. He could only look at Xu You and Guo Tu, hoping to get a satisfactory answer from the two of them.

"This..."

However, Xu You and Guo Tu were also looking helpless at this moment.

Since it had come to this, please forgive them for also failing to see the benefits of Su Xuan doing this!

At this moment, Ju Shou stood up and spoke: "My lord! Actually, it is meaningless for us to dwell on what Su Xuan's purpose is in taking Taking Jiaozhou now!"

"Even if we knew, what could we do?"

"The most urgent task is for us to take down Gongsun Zan as quickly as possible, completely annex Youzhou, and then we can turn our spearheads toward Jia Wu in Bingzhou and Qingzhou."

"Only by taking these two provinces can my lord truly unify the four northern provinces and become the greatest feudal king in the world!"

"By then, even if Su Xuan has any schemes or plots, what can he do? He will still have to submit at your feet, my lord!"

Su Xuan's behavior has always been shrouded in mystery and is impossible to fathom; dwelling on these things now is just worrying for nothing!

Lord Yuan Shao's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "That's true! Then let's not dwell on this! Let's take down Gongsun Zan first!"

"Furthermore, although we didn't really weaken Jia Wu much this time in Bingzhou, it did cause him to lose some men, and at the same time, it weakened the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, and Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army. This can also be considered a good thing for us!"

Clearly, Lord Yuan Shao had already secretly regarded these three parties as future enemies.

He couldn't be happier to see their strength weakened!

"Indeed!"

Ju Shou and the others smiled knowingly and nodded in agreement.

Of course, what they didn't know was that the losses on Jia Wu's side were far less than they imagined.

With the advanced weaponry provided by Su Xuan and sufficient logistical and medical support, many wounded soldiers received timely treatment. Even those with serious injuries mostly survived under care, and because of their martial arts training and subsequent recuperation, they would basically be fully recovered and regain their combat effectiveness in a few months.

Needless to say, those with minor injuries recovered even faster.

Therefore, the casualties on Jia Wu's side were at least ten times fewer than what was being spread abroad.

Not to mention the Black Mountain Army; they were all under the same master as Jia Wu, and the fighting was just acting. The Black Mountain Army had no casualties at all.

But on the surface, they still pretended to have suffered significant losses just to deceive Lord Yuan Shao.

Xiangyang Zou Qian Prince’s Mansion,

Jia San hurried over to report to Su Xuan: “My Lord! Shi Xie and his son have also been captured alive. How should we deal with them? General Gan Ning and the others are having trouble making a decision.”

Su Xuan raised his eyebrows and said: “No special treatment is needed; just follow our rules and regulations!”

“If the sins committed are sufficient, execute them directly; if the sins are not deep, then send them to the mining area and let them mine to atone for their crimes!”

Yes, Shi Xie is the King of Nanyue, but what does that have to do with Su Xuan?

He doesn’t recognize this title at all, okay?

He is not familiar with Shi Xie either. Want to get special treatment here?

That’s impossible!

“Uh... understood! I understand! I will go and convey your meaning, my Lord!”

Jia San cupped his hands to receive the order and, at Su Xuan’s wave, stepped out quickly.

In Xiapi City, Xuzhou,

Liu Bei summoned Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Chen Deng to discuss the invasion of Cao Cao and Lu Bu.

“Chen Yuanlong, Second Brother, Third Brother, now that Lu Bu’s army has not yet retreated, Cao Cao has invaded! Moreover, Cao Cao has sent an envoy, wanting to form an alliance with us to deal with Lu Bu together;”

“Cao Cao even promised to let me continue to be the Lord of Xuzhou afterward. What do you think?”

Guan Yu frowned: “Big Brother! Cao Cao’s words cannot be trusted, right? You and he are both warlords! If we really help him defeat Lu Bu together, can he really give up Xuzhou?”

“Wouldn’t he have sent troops for nothing?”

“I think such a good thing is impossible!”

“If it really comes to that, Cao Cao will probably annex us together and occupy the whole of Xuzhou, right?”

“That’s right!”

Zhang Fei nodded affirmatively: “Second Brother is right, I think so too! Cao Cao clearly has bad intentions. Big Brother, don’t trust him!”

“Hmph hmph! Although I hate Lu Bu, I hate Cao Cao even more. I always feel this guy isn’t a good person.”

His dissatisfaction with Lu Bu was more because Lu Bu had killed his master several times.

Of course, there was also a kind of unwillingness and stifling feeling because his martial arts were not as good as Lu Bu’s.

“Is that so?”

Liu Bei smiled; his second and third brothers were clear-headed this time, which was a good improvement.

He didn’t rush to a conclusion but looked at Chen Deng, Sun Jian Yong, Sun Zou Qian, and others and asked: “Mr. Chen Yuanlong, what do you think?”

Chen Deng immediately said: “Your Majesty the King of Qi, I believe what the two Generals said is reasonable! Cao Cao’s talk of an alliance cannot be trusted!”

“This is just a typical alienation tactic, wanting to alienate you from Lu Bu, Your Majesty!”

“In fact, I suspect that the conflict between the Third General and Lu Bu might also have Cao Cao’s hand in it secretly!”

“After all, the process of this conflict was too abrupt!”

“Cao Cao has always coveted Xuzhou. If we really help him defeat Lu Bu, his next target will inevitably be us!”

“By then, it will be impossible for us to defeat Cao Cao, who has hundreds of thousands of troops, on our own!”

“Therefore, I think we should send an envoy to reconcile with Lu Bu and then resist Cao Cao together!”

“Drive Cao Cao back first, and then consider the relationship with Lu Bu later.”

Sun Zou Qian cupped his hands: “I second that!”

“Me too!”

Sun Jian Yong also hurriedly spoke up.

“Good!”

Liu Bei nodded with satisfaction and said to Sun Zou Qian: “Sir Gongyou, are you willing to run to Lu Bu’s camp on my behalf to discuss peace and alliance to resist Cao Cao?”

“I dare not disobey!”

Sun Zou Qian immediately received the order and, without delay, soon set off, left Xiapi City, and arrived at Lu Bu’s camp outside the city.

He found that Lu Bu was already packing up and preparing to retreat.

“As expected, Lu Bu is not stupid either; he knows he needs to guard against Cao Cao first!”

“It seems that things should go relatively smoothly this time!”

With this thought, Sun Zou Qian soon met Lu Bu and Chen Gong and stated his purpose directly.

“My Lord believes that the conflict between you, General, and my Third General should be due to Cao Cao’s secret provocation;”

“At this time, Cao Cao has invaded with a large army, and his goal is clearly to take Xuzhou. He is our common enemy!”

“My Lord is willing to make peace and form an alliance with you, General, to resist Cao Cao together. I wonder what you think, General?”

Sun Zou Qian cupped his hands to Lu Bu and spoke.

“Oh?”

Lu Bu raised his eyebrows unexpectedly: “Before, Mr. Chen Gongtai said that Liu Liu Xuande is deep in righteousness and has a sense of the big picture. I was still skeptical, but now hearing your words, I really believe it!”

“Okay! I agree to the peace and alliance!”

“I imagine you’ve seen it too; I’m already packing up and preparing to retreat to Pengcheng to reinforce!”

“However, Cao Cao’s invasion this time is in two routes: one to take Pengcheng and one to take Taishan Commandery!”

“Therefore, I need to split my troops to support Taishan Commandery!”

“In this way, the military strength in Pengcheng is a bit insufficient. I wonder if your Lord is willing to send some troops to support me in Pengcheng to resist Cao Cao together?”

He had been developing in Xuzhou for too short a time, and the troops he currently had were only 50,000.

Among them, more than half were new recruits.

He had no confidence at all in resisting Cao Cao with these troops.

“This...”

Sun Zou Qian clearly didn’t expect Lu Bu to ask for help, so he was stunned and said: “I cannot make the decision for my Lord on this matter, but I am willing to return and report to my Lord as soon as possible!”

“In my opinion, this matter is a good thing for both of us, and my Lord should agree!”

“If you have nothing else, General, I will return to the city immediately to report to my Lord. What do you think, General?”

He really couldn’t make the decision on this matter!

They hadn’t thought of this before........

Maybe they all subconsciously thought that someone as tough as Lu Bu wouldn’t easily ask for help, right?

“Okay!”

Lu Bu nodded: “Then go and return quickly, Mr. Sun!”

“I will set off for Pengcheng immediately. Mr. Chen Gongtai will follow the main force and depart later. When the time comes, you can discuss it with Mr. Chen Gongtai!”

He couldn’t wait a moment longer!

If he didn’t go back, Pengcheng would probably fall!

“Alright! There is no time to lose; I’m off!”

Sun Zou Qian cupped his hands and left.

After Sun Zou Qian was far away, Lu Bu looked at Chen Gong: “Chen Gongtai! Things are just as you expected! Liu Bei is really willing to make peace and form an alliance to deal with Cao Cao together. I have to say, this guy really has a good temper!”

“If it were me, I really might not be willing!”

“You!”

Chen Gong looked at Lu Bu with amusement: “When it comes to the big picture, can one make a decision based on one’s own likes and dislikes?”

“Liu Bei making such a choice is the performance a mature warlord should have!”

“Haha!”

Lu Bu laughed aloud: “Mr. is pointing out that I am not mature! However, you are right; my personality is just like this! It’s hard to change!”

“Mr.! Do you think we can really repel Cao Cao this time and continue to hold Xuzhou?”

Hearing Lu Bu’s question, Chen Gong also frowned: “I’m really not sure about this!”

“The latest intelligence shows that Cao Cao’s army on the Taishan Commandery route has already broken through the border and killed their way into Taishan Commandery!”

“Pengcheng is also in danger! Even if you set off now, General, you might not be able to rescue Pengcheng in time!”

“Therefore, I cannot be sure!”

“So, General, you go to rescue Pengcheng, just do your best;”

“If you find it impossible, please retreat in time and come to Xiapi to meet up;”

“By then, we will resist Cao Cao’s attack together with Liu Bei!”