C273

After passing by a small river that was not more than 10 meters wide, Liu Bei pulled the reins of his horse to stop, and ordered it to rest and drink water on the spot.

When they heard the order, they all ran to the riverside. They did not care about taking out the tools to hold the water and immediately dived into the water to drink. In a few moments the river was full of people, and the river had washed away the dust and blood from their bodies, so that the river below them was dirty.

Arriving at the river bank, Liu Bei looked at the red-yellow river and frowned: "Third brother, let's go up and drink some water!"

Zhang Fei nodded, his gaze swept past the dirty river in disgust, and followed Liu Bei up the river.

When they arrived at the riverside about a dozen steps away from the group of people, a few of the guards took out a few dried up water bags, and brought them over to Liu Bei after fetching some water.

Liu Bei first handed over a water bag to Zhang Fei, then took one for himself and slowly drank. Ever since he gained power, he started to strictly follow his words and deeds, making himself worthy of the title 'descendant of the royal family'.

Zhang Fei raised the water bag over his head and poured it down, swallowing everything down. The cool river water quickly washed over him and stimulated his wounds. His body could not help but tremble a few times.

Liu Bei did not notice anything abnormal about Zhang Fei. While he was drinking his water nonchalantly, he was also carefully thinking back to everything that had happened from last night to now. He had never been able to understand one question. Lv Bu obviously knew what his intentions were, so how did he know that he would use water attacks? He originally thought that it was because of the spy, or to be more exact, he suspected Chen Deng, but on the way here, he calmed down and thought that the possibility of it was close to zero. Chen Deng did not have any reason to betray him, or go to Lv Bu's side — Chen Deng was from an influential family, so he had never treated Lv Bu with contempt.

Liu Bei stopped drinking and shook his head hard, putting aside his doubts for the moment and started to sum up the gains and losses in his heart. Although's plan had failed, but because of Yuan Shu, the losses to the Bingzhou Army were not small. With a rough calculation, he had lost about 40% of the troops. If nothing unexpected happened, Lv Bu and Bingzhou Army would no longer be a concern, and would eventually become homeless dogs once again. When he thought about it, he sighed regretfully. That child Gongsun Xu, who came to the Xuzhou at this critical moment, not only did he destroy his plan to send Lv Bu to the north, but he also brought the defeated Lv Bu back to the Qinghe County. Gongsun Zanfuzi's strength would increase again, and it would be even harder for him, Cao Cao Cao and Yuan Shu to come to the rescue of the Qinghe County!

Seeing Liu Bei pondering for a long time, Zhang Fei thought that the other party was unhappy because of Lv Bu. He casually threw the water bag to one of the guards and gruffly advised: "Brother, although Lv Bu is not dead, his injuries are definitely severe. I think it will take at least ten to fifteen days to half a month before he fully recovers! If we were to join hands with Yuan Shu to chase after him, it is very likely that we would have killed him before Lv Bu managed to return to the Xiao Pei! "

Liu Bei was startled, then said while shaking his head with a bitter smile: "Third brother's idea is not bad, but unfortunately, it's difficult to realize!"

"Why do you say that, brother?" Zhang Fei said in a stunned voice: "Lv Bu only has a few thousand men left, including Yuan Shu, there are a total of forty to fifty thousand of us, as long as we catch up to Lv Bu, it would be impossible for him to escape once more! Oh, I understand now. Brother is worried that Yuan Shu will go back on his word! "

Liu Bei laughed with surprise: "Third brother, being able to think of this, I am very pleased! However, this was only one of the reasons! Third brother, our army is exhausted, and the sky is about to turn dark. Not to mention if we can catch up with Lv Bu, even if we do, how can we accurately launch an attack? Once an attack is launched, Lv Bu will definitely retaliate with all his might. The darkness will easily cause chaos and it is very likely that they will kill each other! What's more … "He shook his head disdainfully and sneered," Moreover, Huainan Army's Third Brother has just witnessed it. Even though there are a lot of people around, it's not enough to beat someone! I had originally wanted to increase the strength of Yuan Du when I tried to rescue Yuan Benchu, but now it seems that I have overestimated him! "

"Brother." Zhang Fei suddenly laughed, "Brother, could it be that you have forgotten that the battle prowess of the Huainan Army was not bad when Yuan Road attacked the Xuzhou last year? If not for the fact that the Xuzhou suffered defeat and returned home last year, he would not have been so unbridled in recruiting soldiers and horses, even to the point where the current Huainan Army is just a bunch of trash! "

Liu Bei was indeed right. Last year, Yuan Shu came to the Xuzhou to rob them while they were on fire, but he didn't expect to bump into them so many things. When Yuan Shu returned to Yangzhou, he used a method of forced recruitment. All the youths ranging from twelve to thirteen, old men ranging from forty to fifty, were recruited by him, and although this action made the Huainan Army, who was like a snowball, suddenly double in strength, his fighting strength decreased greatly, to the point where over twenty thousand Huainan Army were scared away by Lv Bu alone!

Zhang Fei waited until Liu Bei finished laughing, and then asked in a deep voice: "Brother, are we going back to the Xuzhou City next?"

"Let's go back!" Liu Bei nodded and his expression suddenly became serious. He said in a low voice, "Yuetao has suffered so much, so he will definitely lead his great army to the Xuzhou City to reason with me. However, I still need him to lead my army there and am unable to meet with him in the army. I wonder what's going on with Yun Chang, if he can successfully capture Gongsun Xu alive, when I treat him, I feel more confident! "

"You, and the two of you!" When Zhang Fei heard these words, he immediately pointed at a few of his personal guards and ordered, "You two hurry to Xiao Pei in the middle of the night and check on the situation there. Then, quickly return to Xuzhou City to report!"

"Here!" The few people that Zhang Fei had pointed out cupped their fists in response, and turned to run back to their horses.

"Rest well, continue on your way back to the Xuzhou!" Liu Bei started walking downstream, and after walking a few steps, he asked without turning his head back, "Third brother, do you think Yun Chang can take away Xiao Pei, or Gongsun Xu?"

"Absolutely!" Zhang Fei smiled confidently: "The men that second brother is bringing are several times stronger than the Bingzhou Army s and he has a spy. As long as we rush into the city, the Gongsun kid will definitely throw in the towel! Even if the Gongsun kid tries to resist, how can a mere brat like you be a match for second brother? "

Liu Bei nodded: "That is indeed the case! Yun Chang should have attacked the Xiao Pei without any suspense! It's just that I don't know why, but my heart is always a little irritable. I'm worried that something might have happened to Yun Chang! "

Zhang Fei grinned and laughed: "It's because Brother is too tired, that's why you think so much. After I go back home, I want to get a good night's sleep.

"Maybe," Liu Bei smiled noncommittally, and quickened his pace to walk forward.

Moments later, the shouts of some low-level officers resounded throughout the riverbank.

"My lord has ordered us to continue on our way!"

"Everyone get up! Get up! "Let's continue on our way!"

"Bastard, how dare you throw water at me! Hurry up and get on there, and get ready to set off! "

"Those who still dare to stay in the river after two hundred breaths of time have twenty military staff!"

"Gather!" "Count the number of people!"

Under their berating, the drenched Xuzhou Army soldiers quickly left the river and gathered at the riverbank.

Just as Liu Bei jumped onto his warhorse, the scouts that he had sent out before rushed over on their horses and shouted loudly, "Reporting to the Lord! The Huainan Army has caught up, they are just five kilometers behind! "

Liu Bei was shocked, if he returned to the Xuzhou City, he was not afraid of Yuan Shu's over forty thousand people, but right now, the Xuzhou Army was extremely exhausted and did not have the strength to fight at all. Furthermore, the number of people there was much fewer than the Huainan Army, and there was still a long distance to go. Previously, he was still happy because Yuan Shu had betrayed his trust and abandoned his relationship as an ally with Gongsun Zan. But now, he was hoping that Yuan Shu would feel some shame and not suddenly attack him.

Zhang Fei did not wait for Liu Bei to speak and anxiously shouted: "Brother, I will bring a few people to stop Yuan Shu, brother, bring the others and quickly return to Xuzhou City!"

Liu Bei hesitated for a moment. He approved of Zhang Fei's suggestion, but he did not want Zhang Fei to stay and cut off the rear. However, currently, other than and himself, no one else was able to take on the heavy responsibility of being the last. Although Chen Deng was resourceful, he was not fond of battle formations.

Zhang Fei saw that Liu Bei was hesitating, and quickly advised: "Brother, there is not much time left, we cannot be indecisive! Furthermore, that Yuan Shu might not have malicious intentions, so this little brother is actually not in much danger! Taking a step back, even if Yuan Shu were to suddenly make a move, without the two great generals Ji Ling and Chen Lan stopping me, I will definitely retreat without a problem! "

These words moved Liu Bei. Zhang Fei had the courage to back out even if there were tens of thousands of enemies, even if his injuries were serious, against Huainan Army who did not have any generals, he could still retreat without a problem.

On the shoulder of his pat, Zhang Fei said solemnly: "Third brother, you bring three thousand people with you as waiting for Yuan Shu. If you discover anything amiss, you cannot fall out with the other party on the spot.

Zhang Fei was slapped to the wound, he grinded his teeth and nodded: "Brother, don't worry, little brother will not act rashly!"