Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

The statement made by Tuoba Jiefen that "Tuoba's 10,000-strong army has already reached Canhebei" was naturally a deceptive tactic. He was using the darkness of night to intimidate the 800 garrison soldiers who were already trembling with fear.

Seeing that the eight hundred defenders had thrown away their bows, arrows, and swords, he felt smug and shouted again:

"Surrender and you'll be spared! I, Tuoba Jiefen, mean what I say. Now, all of you, stand on the other side and stay away from these weapons."

The eight hundred men responsible for guarding the daily ritual tent stood obsequiously, far away from the bows, arrows, and swords they had scattered on the ground, in an open space.

"Everyone sit on the floor!"

At Tuoba Jiefen's command, all eight hundred men sat down on the grass.

In this way, any unusual movements among them would be clearly seen by the guards from their elevated position.

Tuoba Jiefen ordered two centurions to lead two hundred guards to keep a close watch on the eight hundred prisoners.

Not far to the north and south of the royal tent, there were rows of domed tents.

Unlike the Han people's dwellings which faced south, the Xianbei people's yurts all faced east.

Tuoba Jiefen questioned the scouts and learned that there were about three thousand yurts around the Rilu Yazhang.

He immediately ordered four centurions to each lead one hundred soldiers to guard the four corners of the entire village, ensuring that not a single Xianbei could escape.

He then ordered two centurions, each leading one hundred soldiers from the yurt, to patrol the villages and thousands of yurts, and to inform the Xianbei people: This has nothing to do with you. Return to your yurts. Anyone who dares to go out without permission will be killed without mercy.

Orders must be obeyed without question.

The entire village quickly returned to peace.

……

Beside the fence surrounding the Japanese court tent.

Even as Lü Bu was caught up in the heat of battle, his eyes were still filled with intense killing intent.

Just now, he brandished his twelve-foot-long halberd and, amidst the chaos of battle, single-handedly killed twenty or thirty guards from the Japanese military camp.

"That was a satisfying kill today!"

Lü Bu spoke loudly, then asked Gao Shun, "How about it? How many did you kill?"

Gao Shun said silently:

"There are at least ten."

Hou Cheng, Wei Yue, and others also said:

"The five of us together killed or wounded more than a dozen people."

Lü Bu then asked Liu Bei:

"Xuande, what about you?"

Liu Bei pondered for a moment and said:

"I can't remember, but there must have been at least five people who were stabbed by my twelve-foot spear."

"However, I saw that Yun Chang, Zuo Zi, Zhang Ba, and Yang Feng were extremely brave and killed many people. Dong Ye Ban and Xin Yuan Jian were guarding me the whole time, so they probably didn't kill many people."

Wu Lu Da Wang also said:

"I didn't kill many either. I stayed behind Zijing the whole time, protecting his back and sides."

Qian Zhao, still somewhat excited, said:

"I took down seven or eight with my spear. Of course, the Five Deer King also deserves credit for that."

— It was also Liu Bei's idea to arrange for the Five Deer King to guard Qian Zhao.

Liu Bei believed that Qian Zhao was too young and lacked battlefield experience, and needed the bold and careful King Wulu to protect him at all times to prevent him from getting hurt.

Apart from those few people, none of Xu Wushan's twenty-eight elite cavalrymen and the one hundred members of the Bingzhou Wandering Knights were injured or killed.

They strictly followed the tactics taught to them by Liu Bei, forming groups of three riders, and then three groups forming a formation. The three formations were divided into front, middle, and rear, supporting and protecting each other, making a small combat unit of exactly twenty-seven people.

Three riders form a group, with the stronger rider as the main rider and the other two assisting and supporting each other.

The three groups form a formation, with the most valiant group as the main force and the other two groups providing support and coordination. If any group encounters strong resistance, the adjacent group will come to its aid.

The three formations are: forwards attacking, center supporting, and the back team defending.

If you practice diligently in advance, you will naturally coordinate perfectly when you go into battle.

Therefore, during the raid on the camp, the defenses were thorough, and no one was injured, let alone killed.

This tactical arrangement was a new set of tactics formed by Liu Bei after absorbing the cavalry tactics of the Xianbei people, the infantry tactics of Qi Jiguang's Mandarin Duck Formation, and the three-three system tactics of later generations.

This new set of tactics can be used in both mounted and infantry combat.

Of course, when used in infantry combat, various different weapons will be used in conjunction to achieve the best effect.

Before arriving at Canhepo, Liu Bei instructed them to conduct rigorous drills at the foot of Gaoque Mountain.

This time, we can take advantage of actual combat to test the new tactics created by Liu Bei.

Unexpectedly, it was a great success.

Xu Wushan's twenty-eight elite cavalrymen and the hundred-strong Bingzhou wandering knights all praised the tactics Liu Bei had taught them, saying they were very effective in actual combat.

After a discussion, everyone realized that they had learned a lot and grown a lot from this night raid.

At this time, Tuoba Jiefen sent his personal guards to summon Liu Bei.

So Liu Bei told everyone to rest where they were, while he, Guan Yu, Qian Zhao, Lü Bu, and Gao Shun went to Ri Lu's tent.

Inside the tent, the lights were on.

However, the person sitting in the main seat had changed to Tuoba Jiefen.

"Xuande, please sit down!"

Tuoba Jiefen greeted him warmly.

Liu Bei and the other three then sat on the lower left side of the folding chair.

Tuoba Jiefen said with a rather smug expression:

"Tonight's night raid was a great success. We easily breached Rilu's headquarters. Now, his village is also under our tight control. But there are still three villages under Rilu's jurisdiction that are not under our control. We must take control of these three villages before dawn."

"It's actually very simple."

Liu Bei pondered, "Each of these three villages has a leader—Mohefu, and each Mohefu commands a dozen or so minor commanders. Before dawn tomorrow, all we need to do is send Rilu's men to these three villages, falsely conveying Rilu's orders, to have the Mohefu of each village lead all their minor commanders to Rilu's headquarters in Canhebei for a meeting. Once they arrive, we can control them all, using both kindness and force to subdue them."

Tuoba asked Fen:

"Send Rilu's men to the three villages to deliver the order. What if they're conspiring with these Mohofo to launch a rebellion?"

"Won't."

Liu Bei said in a deep voice, "Rilü's men all have families in Canhebei. We have already taken control of the entire village. They dare not make any rash moves. In addition, we can also send two cavalrymen from our own camp to follow them. If they make any unusual moves, they can be killed on the spot."

Tuoba Jiefen nodded.

He then muttered to himself:

"My four uncles, leading two thousand cavalry, should be able to reach Canhebei before dawn. Even if these three villages plot a rebellion, I am not afraid of them."

Therefore, Tuoba Jiefen quickly sent his personal guards to select three honest and reliable men from among the eight hundred prisoners to enter the camp.

The three men were trembling with fear, their eyes darting around, none of them daring to look up at Tuoba Jiefen, who was sitting in the main seat.

Tuoba Jiefen first spoke kindly to them, then rewarded them with some silk, and finally said:

"We are all Xianbei people living on this grassland. Your lord, Rilu, was in the camp of our Tuoba tribe and attempted to assassinate my father, Tuoba Lin. We had no choice but to kill Rilu."

"This has nothing to do with you. The reason we brought troops to attack your camp this time is because we were afraid that you would seek revenge for Rilu. That's why we struck first."

"After dawn, I want you to go to the three villages under the rule of Ri Lu and falsely convey Ri Lu's orders to have the Mohefu and the minor commanders of the three villages come to Canhebei for a meeting."

"I hope you will all think carefully about your families and not take this opportunity to cause trouble."

The three men nodded obediently, all expressing their obedience and promising not to take advantage of the situation to cause trouble.

Therefore, Tuoba Jiefen found six brave cavalrymen from the Yazhang Army, who followed the three men in pairs and set off immediately to deliver the order to the three villages.

By the time everything was finished, it was already dawn.

The scout reports:

"The four Mohefu, Tuoba Hegu, Tuoba Baba, Tuoba Punai, and Tuoba Yilou, leading two thousand cavalrymen, are less than twenty li away from Canhebei. They will arrive in the blink of an eye."

Tuoba Jiefen was overjoyed:

"My four uncles have finally arrived. I have ordered their five hundred cavalrymen to each occupy a position at Canhebei and defend it closely. Then, I have the four of them lead their personal guards to my tent."

"Yes."

The scout immediately ran out of the tent.

……

Those below the rank of adults are free to raise livestock and manage their own property, and are not subject to corvée labor.

—From the "Biography of the Wuhuan and Xianbei" in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty