Chapter 261: Whip the Journey Away
The Qingzhou cavalry arrived so quickly that Xu You was beyond his expectations.

As all of Yuan’s scouts were killed, Xu You, Gao Gan and others were even more blind and had no idea how many troops had arrived.

Like the fog of war, it suddenly enveloped the area of ​​dozens of miles around Du County.

The only way is to wait until Liu Xuande’s troops arrive at the city to find out the situation.

“Did the messengers get out successfully?”

Gao Gan’s heart suddenly shook, and he quickly asked the secretary beside him.

The sooner the news gets out, the faster reinforcements from nearby can arrive.

After receiving the affirmative response from the secretary, Gao Gan felt relieved.

Xu You also walked over at this time, lowered his head and whispered in his ear, “Yuan Cai, Liu Xuande is leading his army here, and he may intend to capture Yu County. The only solution now is to open the treasury and take money and silk to boost morale, otherwise our army will surely fall into internal strife.”

Gao Gan heard this and glared at him, saying, “If it weren’t for the military supervisor’s plan, our army wouldn’t have suffered so many disasters. If Jiang Yiqu’s army was defeated outside the city, it would all be the fault of the military supervisor.”

Xu You could not help but retreat in disappointment.

He also knew that he was in the wrong. He originally wanted to fool the soldiers, but ended up shooting himself in the foot.

He couldn’t help but ponder, “Given the friendship between Benchu ​​and I for many years, even if we are unfortunately defeated, he should be given a lighter punishment, so that he won’t end up like Fengji, right?”

While Xu You, Gao Gan and Jiang Qi were in a panic, Liu Bei had already learned from the scouts that the cavalry’s words of persuading Yuan’s army to surrender and divide the land had spread throughout the camp of Yuan’s army, instantly causing an uproar among the Jizhou soldiers, and the entire camp was whispering to each other.

Liu Bei could not help but raise his whip and said with a smile: “Yuan’s army is divided and not united. They are defeated because of unclear rewards and punishments. The soldiers will surely beat the drums but not advance. Now we should attack them immediately without hesitation!”

“Order Han Mu to go to the camp first and rush to the battlefield lightly, abandoning baggage, food, and equipment. The packhorses will only carry armor, bows and crossbows, swords and spears, and a small number of arrows. The rest will be left behind.”

“Military Commander Liu Ping will temporarily lead the Horizontal Spear Battalion and follow closely behind them with light equipment.”

“Military Commander Xu Ju will lead the cavalry of the Ruichong Battalion to guard both sides and go with the Second Battalion.”

“Order Rong Guang to lead the auxiliary soldiers to take over the baggage, weapons, and cooking utensils left behind by the Xiandeng Camp and Hengqiang Camp. Do not block the road and affect the progress of the following army.”

“Order Ranshu, who is marching in the front, to lead the Chaiying Battalion to bring sickles, axes, and pickaxes, and rush to the vicinity of Du County to immediately cut down trees and build the heavy weapons for the Hammer Battalion.”

“Yes!” Everyone bowed in response.

Then, many military officers who delivered the order rode away on horseback. Their backs were soon lost in the crowd that filled the fields, and it was impossible to see where they were going.

Seeing this, Liu Bei sighed, “The army is advancing endlessly, and the soldiers are overwhelming. It is difficult to see the front and the rear. Even if the commander beats drums and raises flags to command the army to move, it will take time for them to respond.”

“I have been leading troops to battle for many years and have mastered military affairs. At this moment, I am almost exhausted from commanding 70,000 troops. This is also thanks to the grassroots military officers from Pingyuan Military Hall who assist me in the army. If there are tens of thousands more troops, I am afraid I don’t know what to do.”

“Emperor Gaozu was able to lead 100,000 soldiers to rule the country, and the Marquis of Huaiyin also recruited more soldiers, the better. But they are not as well prepared as he is.”

Liu Bei shook his head and chuckled.

Sometimes, commanding too much and remembering everyone can make the soldiers act like one’s own arm and can make the soldiers fight desperately, but it is also too stressful. In this state of high-intensity brain operation, high fatigue, and high mental tension, even if the physical strength is sufficient, it is still a bit overwhelmed.

Guo Jia, who was riding on horseback, heard the voice and immediately understood what was meant. He smiled and bowed, saying, “Your Excellency is different from the time of Emperor Gaozu. At that time, corvée labor continued year after year, and the world had suffered from Qin for a long time. Therefore, the people of Qin were happy to welcome Pei Gong, and I am afraid that Emperor Gaozu would not become the King of Qin.”

“On the other hand, Xiang Yu killed Qin soldiers and killed Emperor Yi, which made him lose the support of the people. Emperor Gaozu had no worries when he marched out of Hanzhong. He could use his best soldiers and generals to fight with Xiang Yu for the east of the pass. He could persuade the princes Ying Bu and Peng Yue to attack Western Chu. He also had Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin, to attack Zhao and Qi.”

“When you started your army from Pingyuan, there were countless relatives of the Han Dynasty. The world only knew about the Yuan family of Runan, which had three dukes for four generations. The scholars either joined Yuan Shao of Jizhou or Yuan Shu of Huainan, or took refuge in Xuzhou, Jiangdong, Jingzhou and other places.”

“Lord Xuande controls the four battlefields of the Central Plains. He must use brave and skilled generals to guard the passes and strongholds and curb the enemies from Sili, Bingzhou, Jiangdong, Huainan, and Jingzhou.”

“Choose an ordinary general from the military office, and he will be able to wield a spear and ride a horse, seize flags and cut down the heads of the people, and none of the princes can compete with him. In the past, who was the one who led 70,000 troops and was unmatched in the world? It was Wu Qi. Your military skills are comparable to those of Sun and Wu, so how can you be inferior to Gaozu and Guangwu?”

Guo Jia bowed and said with a smile.

In short, the situation is different now, so you should not belittle yourself.

The Yuan family is different from Xiang Yu. Although their military strategy is not as good as Xiang Yu’s, they are far better than Western Chu in terms of popular support.

At that time, all the nobles in the world were plowed again by Emperor Qin Ying Zheng, and Xiao He obtained a large number of documents and pictures from the Prime Minister’s Mansion in Xianyang, and knew the household registration, farmland and taxation in the world like the back of his hand.

Mountains, rivers, roads, and city gates are all recorded.

Unlike you, my lord, who not only measured the land and suppressed the powerful families, but also reorganized the civil service, and also re-counted the household registration population and collected taxes. He also built water conservancy ponds and canals for irrigation in various states, and ordered counties to innovate iron forging methods, build iron farm tools, and promote water wheels to irrigate fields.

The reason why we started slowly was that we felt there were not enough officials and military officers, and that was because we spent a lot of time laying the foundation.

Otherwise, why would Yuan Shao be in such a hurry for a decisive battle? Because he could not waste time any more. Before Gongsun Zan was defeated, there appeared princes nearby who could destroy the Yuan family.

Hearing this, Liu Bei couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Feng Xiao is indeed the most eloquent and understanding. Having you with me will undoubtedly make me feel much more at ease. I am no longer worried recently.”

Guo Jia coughed, cupped his hands and said, “I am not a treacherous and flattering minister. What I say is from the bottom of my heart. I am only loyal to my lord and use my talents. I just have a little eloquence.”

“Jia is best at military strategy, so we can work together to make up for the shortcomings of the envoy.”

Liu Bei also nodded, smiled and praised: “Feng Xiao is indeed as decisive as Chen Ping, he can be my Qu Ni Hou.”

“Go, Lord Guo, come with me to capture and kill Yuan general Jiang Yiqu, and then defeat his elite troops, and capture Hebei as soon as possible.”

Liu Bei smiled and joked, raised his whip and pointed to the southwest.

Guo Jia was stunned for a moment, then he was suddenly delighted and couldn’t help but excitedly loosen the reins and bowed with both hands.

His face and neck were red, and he could not help but say, “Guo Fengxiao of Yingchuan thanks the lord for his kindness. I will be loyal and do my best to restore the Han Dynasty and repay the lord’s kindness with my death.”

Liu Bei raised his hand to support Guo Jia, then whipped him and said with a smile: “The weather is good today, whip and set off from now on, Fengxiao, work hard!”

(End of this chapter)