Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 478: One Dragon, Two Tigers, and Two Wolves for Faith

"It's not yet time."

Zhang Meng's voice was hoarse. They were in a hurry and had no time to bring water. The dry rations they had on them were the same as those carried by Lao Li, which were provided by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Neither of them was willing to eat them. They knew very well that these dry rations would be their only support in the next few days.

The young man nodded, without the slightest doubt about Zhang Meng's words.

Just like this, two hours passed and it was already night. As if to allow them to travel better, even God was helping them. The dark and windy weather was perfect for their night journey.

"Now! Boy, we must go separately, so that we have a greater chance of escaping."

"Yeah, brother Meng, I understand."

The young man knew what he was facing, but he was not afraid at all. Instead, he looked eager to try. Zhang Meng patted his shoulder with satisfaction.

"Okay, let's go."

The two men walked out of the place where they had been hiding for several hours and began to run wildly along the canyon. The canyon was actually not very long, only a little over a mile, so it would naturally take a lot of time for a large group to pass through. However, with only two of them on horseback, it only took a few dozen breaths for the two men to walk out of the canyon.

Everything was fine until the two parted ways, but not long after they separated, Zhang Meng ran into big trouble.

At the end of the road, there was a man standing with a spear in his hand. He had a blank expression on his face, but his eyes were filled with anger that he could no longer suppress.

Zhang Meng slowed down and walked towards the man at the end.

"General."

Zhang Meng clasped his fists towards the man, while Cao Zhang at the end clenched his Fang Tian Hua Ji.

"why?"

“For my own beliefs.”

Zhang Meng smiled brightly. He knew that since he met Cao Zhang, he would no longer have the chance to go on. From then on, he could only rely on the help that the young man or Lao Li had paid for with his life.

"That bullshit again!"

Cao Zhang said angrily. This is what they said when he was dealing with the spies in the baggage camp. He didn't quite understand what kind of yin and yang could make them disregard their lives and withstand such torture.

"Zhang Meng, as long as you tell me the whereabouts of the other person and sincerely join my army, I can save your life and even your current position. You will still be the first deputy general of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. In the near future, you will still be the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry..."

"General, you know me. I am a soft-hearted person and I cannot stand others saying nice things to me. So, General, please don't waste your breath."

Zhang Meng interrupted Cao Zhang and then slowly raised his spear. This spear was taken for him by Cao Zhang himself on the Xiongnu grassland. Now, Zhang Meng pointed it at Cao Zhang.

Cao Zhang's eyes returned to dimness and he no longer tried to persuade Zhang Meng. He just stood there quietly, like a mountain. Facing this mountain, Zhang Meng started to charge without any hesitation.

As the two men passed each other, a few drops of blood appeared on Cao Zhang's halberd, and a torn body appeared on the ground.

Looking at Zhang Meng's body, Cao Zhang, a military general who was used to seeing life and death and had killed countless people with his own hands, was actually sad for the first time, because before Zhang Meng died, he said two words of apology.

At the same time, a mutiny broke out in the Yizhou military camp. Two captains and their men began to charge out of the camp in an almost rebellious manner. Their captains were all relatives of the soldiers who had just been killed. They were dissatisfied with the arrogance of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and wanted to seek justice for their own people. So, under the instigation of some people, they began to resist.

Just when the two lieutenants' soldiers were clashing with the guards, a dozen riders sneaked out of the Yizhou military camp and began to gallop north and east.

After being discovered by the royal guards, a vigorous encirclement and suppression campaign was launched in Yizhou. The Yizhou army dispatched 20,000 elite cavalrymen to conduct a carpet search of the entire Yizhou. At the same time, there were also the tomb-raiding lieutenant and the faciao lieutenant general under Cao Zhang, who were experts in tracking and searching for people.

Five days later, a total of thirteen people, including Zhang Meng and the young man brought by Lao Li, were all arrested.

After torture failed, all thirteen were beheaded in public.

In Linzi, Qingzhou, Liewang Mansion, Gu Rubing had just received Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhang He and Zhang Liao who had returned to Qingzhou from the heartland of Xianbei. The Xianbei royal court was too far away from the Han Dynasty, and the place where they entered the pass was also the northernmost part of Youzhou, so it took so much time.

After the four people arrived, Gu Rubing held a celebration banquet for them that was no less grand than the last one, and the good news they brought really amazed Gu Rubing.

Not only was Zhang Fei successfully promoted to a legendary general, but the legendary general points of Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao also reached more than 80 points, and Zhang He also reached 30 points. This was also within Gu Rubing's expectations. The battlefield changes rapidly, and it is definitely impossible to kill anyone you want. According to previous intelligence, the Xianbei had five famous generals, but in fact there were eight famous generals. In addition, there were even more first-class generals.

However, there were only four of Zhang Fei's men, with more than 2,000 cavalrymen. In this situation, protecting themselves was the most important thing. It was impossible for them to put their own subordinates in danger just for the sake of promotion.

Today, almost all of Gu Rubing's civil and military officials gathered together, even Liu Qi from Jingzhou and Pang De from Liangzhou came.

Today, the Liewang Mansion was packed with people. Not to mention the generals and civil officials under Gu Rubing, the commanders and deputy commanders of the various armies filled the entire meeting hall. Therefore, they had to start the process of ranking according to seniority. Those who joined Gu Rubing later could only go to the courtyard.

Gu Rubing couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the scene in front of him. From the beginning, there were only him, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and they have come all the way to where they are now. The dangers involved are not something that can be told to outsiders. Only he himself knows how difficult it is.

"Everyone! Take your seats!"

Gu Rubing shouted loudly, and the originally noisy conference hall immediately became quiet. On the military side, Guan Yu was in the lead, followed by Zhang Fei; on the civil side, Zhuge Liang was in the lead, followed by Xi Zhicai. The military generals clasped their fists, and the civil officials bowed, and all joined Gu Rubing.

"Thank you, my lord." After sitting down at the seats reserved in advance, the originally bustling conference hall seemed a lot more spacious. At least the space in front of the main door was empty. If Cao Cao and Sun Jian saw this scene at this moment, they would realize that there was such a big gap between their top combat powers.

On the side of military generals, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who are at the forefront, are all legendary generals. Guan Yu has even reached the second level of legendary generals. Then there are Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Taishi Ci, Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao, all of whom are famous generals. In addition to them, there are Xu Rong, Wei Yan, Pang De, and Huang Zu. These top-notch generals are only one step away from becoming famous generals and may be promoted to famous generals at any time.

There are also several deputy generals of special troops, such as the four deputy generals of the Bai Li soldiers. Each of them is at the peak of the second-rate generals and will be promoted to the level of first-rate generals. Although there is no corresponding characteristic bonus provided to the troops, they can enjoy the characteristic bonus from the lord, military advisors and generals, which makes them the strongest combat force under the first-rate generals.

In addition, there are also many first-rate generals who have followed Gu Rubing for a long time and have climbed up step by step from the beginning as soldiers. There are also quite a few of them, about a dozen in total. Among them, the majority are the hundreds of veteran soldiers who have followed Gu Rubing from the beginning. It can be said that anyone who followed Gu Rubing at that time and has not died is at least a second-rate general now. They are the real pillars of the army.

There are also countless third-rate generals, who are the cornerstone of this invincible king's army. However, the number of third-rate generals is too large. Not to mention filling the yard, even if half of Prince Lie's Palace is vacated, it is likely that they cannot accommodate them.

On the other hand, although the number of civil officials is not as large as that of military generals, each of them has his own highlights. Xi Zhicai's ingenious strategy and Fa Zheng's overt strategy are the guarantee for Gu Rubing to get to where he is today. Liu Ye's checking for deficiencies and filling in the gaps and Lu Su's strategic planning are all top-notch among the counselors.

Most importantly, Zhuge Liang's ability to coordinate the overall situation allowed him to maximize the strengths of his many counselors and maximize the benefits.

Seeing his subordinates growing stronger, Gu Rubing was happy from the bottom of his heart. Now, with his strength, he would not be afraid even if he faced Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Liu Zhang and Shi Xie at the same time. However, Gu Rubing knew in his heart that he had his own trump cards, and the other four would definitely have some as well.

Gu Rubing would not take the initiative to attack until he was 100% sure that he could take down all of them in one fell swoop. However, this did not mean that Gu Rubing would allow Cao Cao and his men to act without fighting back.

Gu Rubing did not forget that if Zhuge Liang had not revealed the secret to him that day and told him that Huang Zhong and Ma Chao were in danger, Guan Yu would not have had time to provide support, and Huang Zhong and Ma Chao might have really been left in the Wuhuan grassland.

The instigator of all this was Cao Cao. Although Gu Rubing never made trouble, it does not mean that the matter is over.

"Everyone, we have gathered here today for one thing only: to march west to defeat Cao!"

Gu Rubing's words made the entire conference hall quiet down, and everyone waited quietly for Gu Rubing's next words.

"When Han Sheng and Meng Qi were conquering Wuhuan, Cao Cao sent people to ambush them and chased them for thousands of miles on the Wuhuan grassland, causing Han Sheng and Meng Qi to be seriously injured. This revenge must be avenged, otherwise Cao Cao will really think that we are as easy to bully as the Western Regions and the Northern Xiongnu."

"Not only Cao Cao, but also Sun Jian, has repeatedly harassed the border of Xuzhou, cooperated with Cao Cao, launched attacks on us many times, and repeatedly been our enemy. He also has a rebellious heart and should be driven out!"

"Everyone, anyone who has ideas can speak freely."

As Gu Rubing waved his hand, discussions broke out in the originally silent conference room.

Soon, Xi Zhicai stood up.

"I have a plan that can drive the tiger to devour the wolf, so that the four people can chase each other away, and use the power of others to accomplish our task."

"Oh? Wenyuan, what's the good plan?"

Gu Rubing asked with a smile, Xi Zhicai walked out of his seat, faced Gu Rubing and bowed.

"The current situation in the world seems to be one dragon and many tigers, but in fact it is one dragon, two tigers and two wolves. The lord is the dragon, who is of the bloodline of the Han royal family and was granted the title of King Lie. This is the one dragon. Cao Cao and Sun Jian are tigers, who dominate one side and act as accomplices to the tigers, causing the people to suffer. Cao Cao even used his power to suppress the dragon and coerce His Majesty to command the princes. This is the two tigers. Liu Zhang and Shi Xie are wolves, who have ambitions but no strength, and are oppressed by Cao Cao and Sun Jian respectively. They must have been dissatisfied long ago. Therefore, the lord can send people to lobby Liu Zhang and Shi Xie, and allow them to be comprehensive, surround Cao Cao with Yizhou, Jingzhou, Yanzhou and Liangzhou, and surround Sun Jian with Jiaozhou, Jingzhou, Yanzhou and Xuzhou, and plan it slowly!"

Xi Zhicai spoke out all his thoughts in one breath. He had just arrived in Qingzhou last night. After learning about the current situation, he immediately guessed the purpose of Gu Rubing summoning them. He started planning from last night and finally came up with this plan.

This was definitely a strategy that could go down in history, using other people's wisdom to polish jade, but there was not much joy on Gu Rubing's face.

"Wenyuan, you just arrived in Qingzhou last night and you must be exhausted from the journey, so there is something I haven't told you yet."

As Gu Rubing spoke, he took out a military letter from his sleeve that was urgently delivered to the Prince Lie's Mansion in Qingzhou last night. Xi Zhicai took it with suspicion, and after opening it, his brows immediately frowned.

"If Cao Cao and Sun Jian had already taken action against Liu Zhang and Shi Xie respectively, then this plan would not work. However, I don't quite understand why they suddenly chose to annex the two of them at the same time?"

"Because of my second brother."

"General Guan?"

"That's right. No one in the world can match your bravery. I'm afraid no one in the world can match you. Cao Cao and Sun Jian did this in order to quickly expand their power."

Gu Rubing sighed slightly. He had just learned the news last night. As soon as he knew it, he told Zhuge Liang about it. The two of them discussed it until midnight before going to bed. Only today did he have time to tell everyone about it.

Xi Zhicai handed the letter to Fa Zheng behind him, and Fa Zheng also took it with a serious expression. Just like that, the military letter went around and returned to Gu Rubing's hands.

"A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Now that you have a strong army, Cao Cao and Sun Jian will both consider you as their imaginary enemy. Since Cao Cao has annexed Liu Zhang and Sun Jian has captured Shi Xie, the next step will definitely be to target you."

Fa Zheng stood up and bowed to Gu Rubing. Gu Rubing nodded slightly, motioning Fa Zheng to continue.

"As Wenyuan just said, we have to use the geographical advantage to besiege Cao Cao and Sun Jian separately. So first of all, we have to prevent the two from communicating with each other. If they want to communicate with each other, there are only three best ways to go. The first is to go through Yangzhou and several counties in Jingzhou to reach Yuzhou."

Before Fa Zheng finished his words, someone took out a feng shui map and spread it on the ground. Fa Zheng drew a route on the map with his hands, which was exactly the route he had just mentioned.

"Although this place is close, the border area between Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and Yanzhou is the most heavily guarded area right now. They will definitely not take this route."

(End of this chapter)