The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 84: Li Ziyu deceives the world and Taishi Ci crosses the river to attack (explosive update! Please subscribe!)
Liu Bei immediately issued an order:

"Quickly tell Guangling Governor Chen Deng to prepare for defense and hold on before I return to Xiapi."

"He can do whatever he wants in Guangling, and he doesn't need to report to me."

Subsequently,

He also ordered Jian Yong to go to Hebei immediately to meet Yuan Shao and tell him about Yuan Tan's shameless behavior of betraying his ally.

Finally, he ordered Guan Yu to stay in Xia Pi.

Considering that he did not like dealing with scholars, Li Yi suggested keeping Lu Su by his side to assist him.

Lu Su was originally a knight-errant and had real talent and knowledge, both of which were what Guan Yu liked about him.

The two people have compatible personalities and can complement each other's shortcomings and bring out the best in each other.

Liu Bei acted decisively and then began to consider sending troops.

Yuan Tan dispatched an army of 20,000, with a cavalry of about a thousand men in the middle.

Looking at the whole world, this is a powerful army.

Liu Bei estimated that in order to quickly repel Yuan Tan, he would need to mobilize at least 10,000 to 20,000 men.

The only drawback of raising a large army is that the troops are dispatched slowly.

Because it is necessary to mobilize troops from various camps and allocate food and supplies, it will take time.

For Lao Liu, what he needs most now is time.

Li Yi also realized this problem and suggested:

"My lord, do you still remember the battleships and warships that Zijing bought from Yangzhou?"

"Now that we have warships, we might as well take the water route."

Liu Bei nodded and said:
"Going by water is indeed faster, but there are not many warships, and I'm afraid they can't transport a large army."

"Two round trips will delay our schedule, and our food and fodder supplies will not be able to keep up."

Li Yi then said:

"In this case, we will only take a small number of troops north to Langya."

"Then we will requisition the troops from Langya to defend against the enemy."

Because when Li Yi conquered Zang Ba, he asked the Taishan Gang to send all his families to Xia Pi.

So Old Liu felt at ease and let Zang Ba remain in charge of Langya.

After all, this group of Taishan brothers have been working in Langya for some years and are quite familiar with the cultural and geographical environment there.

The soldiers under Zang Ba's command were all mountain infantry recruited from Mount Tai, and they were very capable in fighting.

Afterwards, Liu Bei recruited Zhao Yun as the vanguard and Tian Yu as the second in command.

He led 3,000 soldiers from Xia Pi County and sailed north.

Mi Zhu was appointed to act as the governor of the state, and Wang Xiu and Sun Qian assisted him.

Cao Bao led his Danyang soldiers and was responsible for transporting food, fodder and military equipment.

Before going on the expedition, Li Yi found Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng separately.

"What are your orders, military advisor?"

Taishi Ci was over seven feet and seven inches tall, with a beautiful beard and arms as strong as an ape. He was an expert archer and never missed his target.

Before this, Kong Rong brought his mother to Xuzhou, and Li Yi asked his mother to write a letter to summon Taishi Ci to surrender.

After receiving the letter from his mother, Taishi Ci returned halfway from Yangzhou and served as a captain under Liu Bei, responsible for training new soldiers.

Although Taishi Ci in history surrendered to Sun Ce, he was more like a half-vassal.

Because he took over Liu Yao's troops after his death, Sun Ce did not ask for confiscation.

Instead, he led the army independently and led the campaign against Liu Pan.

Therefore, Chen Shou put him together with Liu Yao and Shi Xie in the biographies of expulsion.

"In this campaign, our army will go north to attack Yuan Tan. Do you know?"

"Of course! Yuan Tan is treacherous, and Envoy Liu is raising a righteous army to defeat the unjust ruler. Success is inevitable!"

Taishi Ci was filled with righteous indignation. He hated treacherous people the most in his life.

"good!"

Li Yi stood with his hands behind his back, staring in silence.

After a while, he slowly opened his mouth and said:
"Now my lord is marching north with 3,000 men to join the Taishan army and attack Yuan Tan in the north."

"This battle must be won quickly and without delay, otherwise Southern Xu may be swallowed up by Yuan Shu."

"So, I want to send out a surprise force to attack Yuan Tan from behind and cut off his food supply."

"Generals, are you willing to take on this important task?"

Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng looked at each other, then bowed and said:
"Let the military advisor direct you."

"Through fire and water, no matter what!"

What a trust this is!
The military advisor actually gave such an important task to these two newcomers.

Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng both believed that Li Yi must have intended to promote them.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to entrust them with such a difficult task.

If we succeed in bypassing Yuan Tan's retreat and cutting off his food supply, that would definitely be the first achievement of this battle!
It is not an exaggeration to say that this kindness is a favor of recognition.

"I have long heard of Taishi Ci of Donglai, a man of unparalleled courage and righteousness."

"Wen Xiang is also loyal, hardworking, courageous, and capable."

"I feel relieved to leave this mission to you two."

Xu Sheng was a local tyrant in Langya and was familiar with the terrain there.

Taishi Ci was from Qingzhou and had served as an envoy to the Qingzhou area, so he was quite familiar with the area.

The most important thing is that Taishi Ci is fully capable of leading an army on his own, and he also has the buff of "mission accomplished", so Li Yi can rest assured in handing the task over to him.

In those days, a conflict broke out between the governor of Donglai and the governor of Qingzhou, and both of them complained to the court.

According to the rules at the time, the court would give priority to whoever's memorial arrived first, and it would be difficult to overturn the verdict for those who arrived later.

The messenger from the provincial government set out first, and the prefect of Donglai was anxious, so he had to find Taishi Ci and ask him to catch up.

Taishi Ci traveled day and night, under the stars and the moon, but in the end he still failed to catch up.

When he arrived at the gate of Luoyang Bus Station, Taishi Ci ran into a county official who was about to enter.

Taishi Ci came up with a plan, and he swaggered forward to check the memorial from the state official.

When the state officials saw that Taishi Ci was handsome and dignified, they mistook him for an official from the capital.

He then took out the memorial and handed it to Taishi Ci respectfully.

Unexpectedly, Taishi Ci took out a pen knife from his bosom and destroyed it with a few strokes. The state official was about to exclaim, but Taishi Ci dragged him to the back of the carriage and told him his true identity.

Finally, we both committed a crime, so let’s just run away together.

The state official was confused when he heard this and asked, "You destroyed my memorial, what crime have I committed?"

Taishi Ci said, how can I destroy it if you don’t give me a memorial?
Others must think you are my accomplice.

The state official was fooled by Taishi Ci and had no choice but to flee with Taishi Ci.

As a result, as soon as Taishi Ci left Luoyang, he stepped on the brakes, turned the steering wheel, and turned back.

Then he went to the Public Transport Bureau to submit the memorial from the county government and completed his mission.

By the time the provincial government learned about this and sent someone to investigate, the court had already made a judgment and would no longer accept the case.

In this way, Taishi Ci single-handedly helped the county government to suppress the state government and became famous for a time.

This incident also became a hot topic on the Han search list that year.

Through this incident, we can also see that Taishi Ci is not only brave, but also resourceful and a little bit sinister.

"Don't worry, Military Advisor. We will definitely fulfill our mission!"

Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng assured Li Yi in unison.

"Good, I will give you forty ships, and you can take the sea route, land in Qingzhou, and attack Yuan Tan's grain route."

"We will confront Yuan's army on the front line."

"When your attack succeeds, Yuan's army will be defeated."

The two generals were all excited and bowed in unison:
"Order!"

……

Three days later.

Liu Bei led the troops of his county, sailed northward via the Shu River, and successfully joined Zang Ba's Taishan troops in Langya.

Yuan Tan sent people to the south to gather information early on.

After learning that Guo Gong and Yuan Shu had indeed sent troops, he decisively ordered the army to march south.

He wanted to take advantage of the chaos to attack and seize the northern counties of Xuzhou.

Yuan's army had just defeated Tian Kai in Qingzhou and their morale was high.

As soon as they entered Langya, they were unstoppable and captured many counties in succession.

When Liu Bei arrived, most of the northern county town of Langya had fallen.

All the generals in Xuzhou were indignant and requested to fight in the hope of retaking the northern county of Langya.

Liu Ye offered a suggestion:
"Today, Yuan's army has won a great victory in Qingzhou, and morale is high."

"We might as well hold on to Langya first, wait until their morale is exhausted, and then we can strike back."

Li Yi also said:
"I have sent Generals Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng to attack Yuan's army from behind and raid their food supply routes."

"As long as the two of them succeed, Yuan's army will be in chaos."

"Only then can our army advance."

Liu Bei followed his advice and ordered the guards of the pass in all counties of Langya not to go out into the battle, but to retreat into the city and defend it without fighting.

At this time, Lao Liu's character of not showing his emotions played a positive role.

When the northern county town of Langya fell, Liu Bei remained calm, which helped to calm people's hearts.

But in private, Liu Bei still found Li Yi alone and said to him earnestly:

"Military advisor, be prepared for those who secretly spy on the military. This is a major matter for the country and we must be careful."

"Langya has just been recovered, and the people are uneasy. If we delay the advance, I am afraid that the local people will really surrender to Yuan Tan."

"Kuang Ziyi and Wen Xiang are going by sea."

"The sea route is not as stable as the water route. The wind and waves are very strong and it is easy to lose the route."

"If anything goes wrong, it may delay military operations."

Although Liu Bei had never been out to sea, he knew that going out to sea was easily affected by the weather.

Any slight accident may cause delay.

And in war, the most important thing is to be on time and there is no room for error.

"Don't worry, my lord."

Li Yi patiently comforted Liu Bei. He knew that Liu Bei was under great pressure to stick to the strategy of not fighting these days.

The people outside are suspicious, and the generals inside are resentful.

Although he was the one who proposed the strategy of perseverance, the pressure had to be borne by Lao Liu, the lord who made the final decision.

This is also the biggest difference between a counselor and a lord.

"Taishi Ziyi is from Donglai. When he was young, he often traveled between Liaodong and Jiangdong. I don't know how many times he went to sea."

"He is very familiar with the route from Xuzhou to Qingzhou, so he will definitely not get lost."

"Kuang Ziyi is a man who will accomplish his mission. Now that he has been entrusted with such an important task, how could he fail to live up to it?"

Liu Bei nodded and chose to trust Li Yi, believing that Taishi Ci would not let them down.

Another ten days passed.

A fleet of forty warships was sailing north along the coastline with the wind.

The big flag on the ship fluttered in the sea breeze, and the two words "Tai Shi" seemed to be breaking through the flag.

Taishi Ci stood at the bow of the boat, side by side with Xu Sheng, looking sideways towards the land.

"I am familiar with this road. Le'an Country is just ahead."

"As long as we take this road, we can directly attack Yuan Jun's rear."

Taishi Ci pointed forward with a determined look on his face.

"Thanks to Ziyi, otherwise we would have to walk for many more days."

Xu Sheng let out a sigh. Under Taishi Ci's guidance, the fleet did not lose its way at all.

We went north smoothly and successfully reached Le'an State.

"arrive!"

Taishi Ci followed the direction of the sunset, checked the coastline again and again, and his eyes gradually brightened.

"We're here at Le'an, we can land now!"

……

　There will be another update tonight, brothers, don't miss it! In addition, I would like to thank "Lingxiquenanchangchang" and "Yingbai Ladobelia" for their generous rewards. Thank you!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)