The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Zhang Fei was also known for his ingenious strategies in battle, but that was only when he was in charge and had no one to rely on. If he had a better strategist by his side, he would naturally be too lazy to use his brain.

Shen Yi has now made all the necessary arrangements. As long as we follow his plan, we can completely surround and annihilate Wen Ping and Tian Yu. So why should I show off?

Shen Yi smiled and said, "You must be tired after running around for two days. Get a good night's sleep tonight and leave tomorrow."

Zhang Fei frowned and said, "It would be best if we could get some sleep, but speed is of the essence in war. If we don't set off now, what if Tian Yu and Wen Ping run away while we're sleeping?"

Shen Yi shook his head and said, "No, firstly, although Tian Yu and Wen Pin have 20,000 troops, they only have a few thousand cavalry. The two sides together cannot run fast. Unless the cavalry abandons the infantry and escapes alone, Tian Yu will be guilty of abandoning his allies."

"Secondly, Tian Yuwenpin has not completely given up on Jiangxia. He is still thinking about waiting for reinforcements to come and take back Xiling. How could he possibly run away so easily? According to Shence Marquis, their current sunk costs are too high and cannot be easily abandoned. After all, in their view, as long as the border troops of Nanyang invade Jiangxia, they can withdraw at any time. So why worry about anything?"

Zhang Fei pondered, "That makes sense. I'll believe you this once. Time for bed."

While he rested, Shen Yi could not. He had to prepare provisions and feed for the cavalry, and also arrange for the cooks to get up in the middle of the night to prepare meals in advance, since he couldn't let Zhang Fei and his son set off on an empty stomach.

Shen Yi got up at dawn and ordered the cooks to prepare food. At dawn, he woke Zhang Fei up for a meal. After the meal, he immediately used boats to transport 5,000 cavalry to the other side of the river. Then Zhang Bao led 2,000 cavalry to secretly set off. Zhang Fei stayed in the camp and sent someone to deliver a letter to Tian Yu, saying that he wanted to meet and talk with Tian Yu.

Zhang Fei was not naive enough to think that a single meeting would be enough to persuade Tian Yu to surrender. The reason he went to such lengths was simply to tell Tian Yu that he had come to his aid, but he hadn't gone anywhere else; he was standing right in front of him.

To put it bluntly, he wanted to cover for his son Zhang Bao, so that Tian Yu's attention would be focused on him and thus ignore the already disappeared Zhang Bao.

The letter was quickly delivered to Tian Yu, who dared not delay and rushed into the city to discuss it with Wen Ping.

The two men stood on the city wall, gazing southward, their expressions grim.

After a long while, Tian Yu finally spoke up: "Zhang Fei has actually come to provide support in person. It seems that Liu Bei is determined to take Jiangxia."

Wen Ping chimed in, "And he's too fast. His arrival puts us in an even more passive position. We just don't know where Yang Tai is. If we can successfully retake Sui County, we'll be safe."

During this period, bad news kept coming. Not only did the bandits in Tongbai Mountain and Dabie Mountain rebel one after another, but even the surrendered Wei Wu army rebelled, causing Tongbai Mountain and Dabie Mountain to fall one after another. The only way left for them and the Nanyang reinforcements was Suixian. Given this, how could Wenping not take precautions?

So yesterday he ordered Yang Tai to lead 3,000 men to recapture Sui County and await reinforcements. It wasn't that he didn't want to send more, but that he simply didn't have enough troops.

However, three thousand men are enough. Currently, Sui County only has a few hundred rebels led by a few pseudo-Han spies. Yang Tai can easily defeat the rebels and take back the county. Moreover, there are Wei reinforcements coming to Yang Tai's side. What is there to be afraid of?

Tian Yu said, "Yang Tai can retake Sui County without any problem, but only if Zhang Fei doesn't come to his aid. You have to understand that Zhang Fei is leading cavalry. If he does come to his aid, he will definitely be faster than Yang Tai. Yang Tai might be caught up before he even reaches Sui County."

Wen Ping nodded and said, "So you have to go to Zhang Fei's appointment to stall him for a while."

Tian Yu nodded in agreement, having the same idea as Zhang Fei. It has to be said that smart people tend to think alike.

Tian Yu set off on time, leading more than ten personal guards to the area between Zhu County and the Han army's riverside camp. Half an hour later, Zhang Fei also arrived.

The two men dismounted and abandoned their bows at the same time, leaving their warhorses and throwing away their arrows to go forward alone. Zhang Fei did this because he was afraid of scaring Tian Yu away, while Tian Yu did this because he was afraid that Zhang Fei would act recklessly and hurt him, since he could not beat the old man in a one-on-one fight.

The two stopped at the same time, ten meters apart. Tian Yu cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Tian Yu, the Great Wei General Who Annihilates the Barbarians, greets the Third General. The Third General is still vigorous and full of vigor even in his old age."

Zhang Fei laughed heartily and said, "Brother Guorang (Tian Yu's courtesy name), it's been many years since we last met. How have you been?"

Tian Yu had served under Liu Bei and was an old acquaintance of Zhang Fei. Therefore, the two did not discuss serious matters but chatted idly about everyday matters. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that they were stalling for time.

Meanwhile, Zhang Bao led his troops at breakneck speed under the guidance of the guides sent by Shen Yi. The Han army's warhorses were equipped with double stirrups and horseshoes, so there was no need to worry about the horses' hooves being damaged, and therefore they were extremely fast.

After running for most of the day, they caught up with Yang Tai's army, which was carrying the Wei army banner, around 7 PM.

Although the two sides started from different points, they ended up in the same place. Since they ended up in the same place, they were bound to meet. After seeing Yang Tai, Zhang Bao hesitated for only a moment before decisively shouting, "This Wei army is definitely going to Sui County, and they don't look like they have many men. In that case, let's take care of them first, so they won't come looking for trouble with us later."

With that, he spurred his horse and charged towards Yang Tai. Yang Tai, who was marching at high speed, never dreamed that he would encounter Han cavalry here and was immediately shocked.

The two sides are currently too close and the surrounding area is very flat, making escape impossible. There is no time to dig trenches or traps for horses. Yang Tai can only order his army to form a circle around the grain carts to block the cavalry charge, while simultaneously firing arrows.

But Zhang Bao was at the forefront. He wielded his spear like a wheel, easily deflecting arrows. He was riding a fine steed carefully selected from the Shandan military horse farm. He rushed to the front of the formation, leaped over the grain cart that was less than a meter high, and charged into the formation.

Sending a fierce general like Zhang Bao into the enemy ranks is no different than throwing a tiger into a flock of sheep. Zhang Bao single-handedly tore open a gap, and the rest of the army quickly followed him and charged into the enemy ranks.

What followed was simple. The Wei army lost the initiative and lacked the advantage of infantry. They could only hold out for half an hour before they began to flee. Zhang Bao, however, was unwilling to let them go and pursued them with all his might. He completely decimated them before returning to the battlefield to count the spoils of war.

Yang Tai had brought plenty of supplies, including grain, fodder, and arrows. Zhang Bao immediately ordered that the Wei army's grain be used to cook a meal, so that both the men and horses could have a good meal. Then, the Wei army's grain was burned, and they continued on their way.

They were cavalrymen, and they were in a hurry to go to Sui County to provide support. They didn't have enough manpower or time to carry the grain and fodder, so they had to burn it.

Zhang Bao traveled through the night and arrived safely at the city of Sui County the following afternoon.

At present, the county town of Suixian has been occupied by the special forces team member Wei Qiao who was lying in wait. When he saw Zhang Bao arrive, Wei Qiao hurriedly went out of the city to greet him and shouted from afar: "Young General, it is really great that you have come to support us this time."

They had both attended training courses and were naturally quite familiar with each other, so Zhang Bao skipped the pleasantries and punched him directly, asking, "So, has the Wei army in Nanyang made any moves?"

Wei Qiao shook his head and said, "How could it be so fast? It would take several days for Nanyang to receive Wen Ping's message, mobilize troops, and rush over. So we still have time to build a defense line."

Zhang Bao said excitedly, "That's great! I have another piece of good news for you. General Shen Yi has ordered Sun Lang to lead 10,000 troops to support us. They should arrive in three to five days at most."

Wei Qiao said excitedly, "That's great! With Sun Lang's 10,000 men, we will definitely be able to defend Sui County like a fortress, and not even a fly from the Wei army coming from Nanyang will be able to get through."

After saying that, his expression changed and he hurriedly exclaimed, "Oh no! I've distributed all the grain and fodder from the gentry of Sui County to the common people. What will Sun Lang's tens of thousands of troops eat when they come?"

Zhang Bao was equally astonished and said, "I burned Yang Tai's grain supplies too. If only I had known..."

"Never mind, send a message to Shen Yi immediately and tell him to come up with a solution."