Chapter 276

"The Lord entrusted me with the heavy responsibility of attacking Hanzhong, but I have failed repeatedly; I have truly failed the high expectations!"

Pang De cupped his hands.

"General, Zhang Lu has built cities along the mountains for over ten miles; our army is finding it difficult to conquer. Why not withdraw the army?"

Ma Chao slapped the table in anger.

"Withdraw the army? The Lord is currently fighting a great battle in Yizhou and urgently needs our help; how can we withdraw the army!"

Pang De continued,

"General, Zhuge Zhang Liang has already mentioned in his letter that if we cannot conquer it, we can withdraw the army to lure Zhang Lu's army into pursuit, and then our army can turn around and charge, which will surely break Zhang Lu's army."

Ma Chao had a proud personality and only submitted to Liu Bei; he didn't think much of a weak military advisor like Zhuge Zhang Liang.

Now that there was no other way, he could only treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

"Good, let's follow Zhuge Zhang Liang's plan. Pang De, you lead troops to lie in ambush, let Zhang Lu's pursuing troops pass, and take the opportunity to attack their camp."

"Understood!"

That day,

Zhang Lu's army discovered that Ma Chao had withdrawn his army.

Yang Ang was overjoyed.

"General, Ma Chao has retreated in defeat; we only need to lead troops to follow him and attack, and Ma Chao will surely be defeated!"

Yang Ren, who was on the side, cupped his hands.

"General, I'm afraid Ma Chao has a trick!"

Zhang Wei was the general, but he had no ability, mainly because he was Zhang Lu's younger brother.

He had no decisiveness.

Yang Ang said again,

"General, Ma Chao is just a reckless man; I've never seen him use a scheme. Our army only needs to follow and attack, and we will surely win a great victory!"

Zhang Wei finally agreed to Yang Ang's request to send troops; no one could refuse the honor of defeating Ma Chao.

The result was as expected.

Ma Chao returned his army and easily defeated Yang Ang, almost killing him; fortunately, Yang Ren sent troops to save him.

Unfortunately, what the two didn't expect was that Pang De took the opportunity to raid Yangping Pass!

The two fled back to Nanzheng in a panic!

Ma Chao sighed.

"I didn't expect this village rustic's scheme to be so useful!"

Zhang Lu personally guarded the Bao-Xie Road.

But he didn't expect,

This time Zhuge Zhang Liang's army attacked extremely fiercely, especially Ju Yi's "First Ascent" camp, which fired crossbows in unison, making Zhang Lu's soldiers afraid to lift their heads.

Hearing the news that Yangping Pass had fallen, he didn't dare stay long, left people to cover the retreat, and led his army to flee back to Nanzheng City!

Zhuge Zhang Liang and Ma Chao met under the walls of Nanzheng City.

Zhuge Zhang Liang didn't rush to attack the city, but sent troops to occupy all the counties except Nanzheng City.

He used a long-term siege strategy on Nanzheng City, waiting for the opportunity to persuade Zhang Lu to surrender.

Chengdu Prefecture,

Liu Zhang looked at the battle report on the table, his face full of worry.

"I didn't expect Liu Bei to act so quickly, having already occupied Zhuti Commandery and splitting his army into two routes to surround Chengdu."

Zhang Ren cupped his hands.

"My Lord, do not worry. Liu Bei has definitely been careless this time, actually sending the reckless Zhang Fei to attack Jiangzhou City. Yan Yan is a veteran general in the army, and Jiangzhou City is easy to defend and hard to attack. Even if you give Zhang Fei a year, it's impossible to break the city. When he is exhausted, it will be the time to break the enemy."

"My Lord, you don't need to worry about Chengdu Prefecture either; the city walls are high and thick, and there is enough food to eat for four years. Liu Bei cannot stay in Yizhou for so long, and his focus is in Guandong; Ding Yuan Shao and Cao Cao won't let him stay for so long either."

After hearing Zhang Ren's analysis, Liu Zhang instantly felt much more relaxed and could finally sleep well.

"Report~!"

"My lord, Leng Bao was ambushed by Liu Bei on his way back, and almost his entire army has been captured!"

"What?!"

Liu Zhang's mood, which had just relaxed, instantly became extremely poor.

"(agfh) What about Leng Bao?"

"General Leng brought four thousand soldiers back to the foot of Guangdu City."

Zhang Song frowned.

"Didn't his entire army get captured? How did he bring troops back?"

Liu Zhang was also very confused. Later, he heard that Liu Bei had released Leng Bao and even equipped his soldiers with weapons and armor, looking incredulous.

Zhang Song cupped his hands.

"My Lord, I'm afraid there is a trick here! Whether Leng Bao surrendered for real or fake, only he knows. If he works from the inside and outside, I'm afraid Chengdu is in danger..."

Liu Zhang was also afraid. With Gong Chen opening the city gates to welcome Liu Bei before, and Leng Bao surrendering to Liu Bei, it wasn't impossible for them to work from the inside and outside.

"Let him come to the Provincial Governor's office alone to report, and let the soldiers stay outside the city for now."

"Understood!"

Leng Bao felt a bit cold when he arrived at the Provincial Governor's office; he had returned with such hardship, but his soldiers couldn't enter the city.

It was conceivable that Liu Zhang didn't trust him. Recalling Liu Bei's warm behavior before, Leng Bao felt truly uncomfortable in his heart.

Liu Zhang pretended to be gentle in his tone.

"Leng Bao, how did you escape?"

Leng Bao cupped his hands.

"My Lord, I pretended to defect to Liu Bei, saying I wanted to come back to recruit more soldiers to surrender."

Liu Zhang nodded.

"General Leng is indeed loyal and righteous!"

Leng Bao felt this sounded very harsh...

Zhang Song said from the side,

"General Leng, it makes sense for you to come back, but why did four thousand soldiers also return fully armed?"

Everyone looked at Leng Bao, full of doubt.

Leng Bao felt extremely uncomfortable; no one trusted him.

"My Lord, Lord Liu Xuande is benevolent; he was afraid we would encounter danger on the road, and afraid we would be punished, so he returned our weapons and armor..."

Liu Zhang also felt uncomfortable. Liu Bei is his enemy now, and this Leng Bao highly praises Liu Bei; I'm afraid he is...

He comforted him with a few words.

"Alright, you've worked hard too. Go back to see your family and rest for a while."

Leng Bao felt cold.

"This is putting me on the shelf. So be it; I don't want to be an enemy of Lord Liu Xuande anyway."

He cupped his hands and turned to leave.

Zhang Ren stepped out.

"My Lord, General Leng has always been loyal and righteous; he will not surrender to Liu Bei."

Liu Zhang waved his hand.

"I also believe in him, so I let him go back to rest first."

Zhang Ren... he didn't feel good either.

Zhang Song praised inwardly; Lord Liu Xuande released Leng Bao, instantly alienating everyone's hearts.

Jiangzhou City,

Yan Yan laughed heartily.

"Zhang Fei isn't the fierce general who supposedly fought Lü Bu to a draw? He can't do anything about my Jiangzhou City!"

He couldn't help but be proud; Liu Bei's path of destruction in occupying Nanzhong had also shocked him. **CHAPTER 497**