Chapter 512

“Who is this?” Outside Fancheng, a dozen sentries spotted a large number of people approaching on their horses. They readied their bows in preparation for the enemy attack.

“Wait! We are your allies from Yangzhou!” A white clothed soldier on his horse shouted as he tried to show that he wasn’t an enemy.

“The Yangzhou Army?”

“Yes! We are His Majesty the King of Shu’s subordinates, the White Horses! We are here to give a report!”

“The White Horses?” The soldier was cautious and double checked with his subordinates. He found that Liu Mang really had such troops. However, Liu Mang’s horses weren’t all white. This is because the original White Horses belonged to Gongsun Zan who occupied Youzhou, a place that breed horses. Gongsun Zan was able to be picky with his horses while Liu Mang had no such leeway. That being said, the mark of the White Horses can still be seen.

“General. We came here to report after listening to Scout Liu!” The soldier from the White Horses said again.

“Scout Liu? Could it be Liu Laogen?”

“Yes! It is that Scout Liu!” He nodded and took out a command plate.

“Hand it over!” The soldier on top ordered and the soldier below threw the plate up without hesitating.

After looking at the command plate, the man still hesitated as the scout could simply be killed and his corpse looted. However, the soldier from the White Horses also took out a letter from the scout. The scout’s handwriting became undeniable proof. Zhao Yun had specifically asked the scouts to write the letter.

“Yuzhou is attacking? Quickly! Light the fire!” The soldiers who read the letter shouted and then turned back to the White Horses. “Thank you for delivering the report.”

“No. This is something we should do. After all, we are allies.”

“Such good words.”

“General. We still have to report to other places and have rushed here. Right now, we are hungry and thirsty. Is it possible for you to provide us a meal?” The White Horses soldier asked.

“Of course! You must have suffered a lot!” The soldier nodded. “Come in and rest for a moment while I tell others to prepare food.”

The soldier went and opened the gates with a smile, prepared to receive the guests. However, his expression quickly changed.

“Kill them all! Make sure no one escapes!” The White Horses suddenly shouted and charged in.

“What?” The soldier did not even have the chance to react before he was killed and his corpse trampled. The other sentries were quickly overrun

“Report! We have killed all forty two sentries here. The beacon have also been extinguished!”

“Good. Let us go to the next one!” The White Horses quickly left. They also left a Liu symbol at the scene of the crime.

“General. Are there really sentries in this jungle?” One of the White Horses asked.

“Yes. I would not have noticed it myself if it was not because of the map.” The 1000-man commander replied as he looked at the jungle that had no roads.

“The first squad is to follow me in. The second and third squad are to keep watch here. Kill anyone that comes!” The 1000-man commander ordered. The first squad got off their horses and entered the forest. In there, they only found two sentries which they quickly disposed of. All of this was ordered by Zhao Yun. The written message Zhao Yun had secretly given them was to kill.

***

Liu Bei frowned as the Xiliang Cavalry led by Jian Yong returned faster than expected.

“Report. We have found twelve sentry posts a hundred li around Fancheng!” Jian Yong reported. They had searched thoroughly and only found twelve posts.

“Twelve!” Liu Bei frowned at the number of sentries around Fancheng. This would make their plan even more difficult to execute. Even if Liu Biao was an old dog, his teeth were still sharp.

“All twelve sentry posts have already been disposed of.” Jian Yong continued.

Liu Bei’s furrowed brows loosened a little. Once the sentries were removed, they would be able to sneakily attack Fancheng.

“But…”

“What’s wrong?”

Jian Yong smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Milord. None of these twelve outposts were destroyed by us.” When Jian Yong and his scouts arrived, all they saw were corpses.

“Someone is helping us?” Liu Bei suddenly felt doubt as he had no allies in Jingzhou.

“Milord. Could it be the Military Advisor?” Hu Che Er suggested.

“The Military Advisor?” Liu Bei thought to himself. Right now, they did not know where Pang Tong was. Although Pang Tong was with Zhang Fei, they had been gone for a long time.

“Milord, think about it. If it was the Military Advisor’s stratagem, he would definitely strive by your side. This should be his schemes!” Hu Che Er said again.

“Could it really be him?” Liu Bei was still doubtful.

“It is possible.” Jian Yong added. The reason Jian Yong said this is because he noticed the character Liu written on the ground with blood. Normally, he would not think much about it since Liu Biao was also surnamed Liu but with the current situation, he could only think of it referring to Liu Bei.

“The Military Advisor is truly talented to make a plan so detailed!” Liu Bei consoled himself. After all, there were twelve sentry posts. If even one was left out, Liu Bei’s sneak attack would turn into a joke. Besides that, this also seemed like Pang Tong’s style of strategy and there should be no one else kind hearted enough to help Liu Bei.

Naturally, Liu Bei and the others were wrong. There were actually seventeen sentry posts in total and they were all secretly removed by the White Horses.

“It is getting late! I want us to be stationed in Fancheng tonight!” Liu Bei then commanded in high spirits. “Go and loot Fancheng!”

The Xiliang Cavalry was immediately full of vigor. They were all extremely interested in looting.

Liu Bei did not dare to order his men to slaughter those inside the city. If he did that, the nobles would become unwilling to negotiate even if Liu Biao was willing to. Liu Bei’s reputation would also be in tatters. Take Cao Cao for example. He killed three thousand people in a small town and now he was known as an evil person. The same would happen to Liu Bei if he were to allow the people of Fancheng to be slaughtered.

Since Liu Bei could not appeal to their bloodthirst, he could only appeal to their love for looting. After all, there were also a lot of merchants in Fancheng which is how Pang Tong managed to buy so many provisions.

Once he captures Fancheng, money would not be a problem. Once he captures Fancheng, he would not be afraid of offending Liu Biao.