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

Chapter 504: King of the Mountains, Belatedly Awakened

Cao Cao stood on the city wall with his fists clenched. He wanted to say something, but found that it would be futile to say anything now, and it would be nothing more than a pale explanation.

However, Cao Cao did not care too much. He was just a young first-rate general. If he died, he died. There was nothing to regret. This young general was only assigned to him by Xiahou Dun. Before that, he seemed to be just a second-rate general under his command? Or was he the deputy general of some battalion? He could not remember clearly because it was insignificant to him.

Deng Ai seemed to not want to be humiliated, or perhaps he did not want to see Cao Cao's appearance. He lowered his head tightly and was unwilling to raise it.

"Cao Cao! Run for your life, or wait for me to take your head!"

Gu Rubing sat high on his horse, his eyes full of contempt.

"Siege!"

Following Gu Rubing's order, four thousand Bai Li soldiers instantly rushed towards Xudu City like a tide. More than a thousand defenders on the city wall immediately drew their bows and crossbows, trying to stop the enemy's forward momentum, but the soft arrows they shot were all blocked by the front row of soldiers holding swords and shields.

The defenders on the city wall once again drew their bows and crossbows, and arrows fell like raindrops, but the Bai Li soldiers were well-trained. Every few rows there was a row of sword and shield soldiers responsible for blocking the rain of arrows, and the other Bai Li soldiers also used their spears to block the arrows. This attack had no effect on them.

After only two waves of shooting, the Bai Li soldiers had rushed to the foot of the city, entered the blind spot of the archers, left the attack range of the archers on the city wall, and began to attack the city gate.

Cao Cao on the city wall had already quickly withdrawn the city wall when Gu Rubing gave the order. Under the protection of 200 elite soldiers, he escaped from Xudu City from the south gate and rushed towards Jingzhou in the south. While running, Cao Cao looked back to see if Gu Rubing had caught up with him. Fortunately, Gu Rubing did not appear in his sight from beginning to end.

As long as Xudu City was there, Gu Rubing did not bother to see the outcome of the siege. The fall of the city was inevitable, and the more than a thousand soldiers defending the city were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot under the attack of the Bai Li soldiers.

He turned and looked at Deng Ai, who had his head lowered.

"This young general is very brave, but he followed the wrong person."

As Gu Rubing spoke, he walked forward and began to untie the ropes on Deng Ai himself. Someone stepped forward and wanted to do it for him, but was interrupted by Gu Rubing.

Chen Dao and several deputy generals of the Bai Li soldiers immediately clenched their weapons. If Deng Ai made any unusual movements, they would rush forward and capture the unarmed Deng Ai.

Deng Ai finally raised his head and looked at Gu Rubing stubbornly. Young people are young people after all. His face was full of unwillingness and his eyes were red.

Gu Rubing asked without stopping his hands.

"You don't look very old, why did you join the army at such a young age?"

"My family fell into poverty and my father died. For the sake of my mother and grandmother, I have to earn a military salary to support my family."

Deng Ai spoke in a low voice and lowered his head again, as if he was in deep sorrow.

After all the ropes on Deng Ai were untied, Deng Ai still stood there with no intention of leaving.

"Just now, you were so close to me. Even if you couldn't kill me, you could at least hurt me. Why did you hold back?"

"You are Uncle Liu. I heard that he is kind and never hurts the people. He is deeply loved by the people. Although we are enemies, I respect Uncle Liu."

Deng Ai still didn't look up.

"Young man, are you willing to follow me?"

"When I encounter a situation like today someday, won't Uncle Liu abandon me like he did?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing laughed out loud and patted Deng Ai on the shoulder.

"If one day it really comes to this, I will only die in front of you, not run ahead of you!"

Hearing this, Deng Ai raised his head again. Unlike the last time, this time there was light in his gray eyes again. He stared at Gu Rubing for a long time, as if he was judging whether what Gu Rubing said was true. Finally, he knelt down on one knee.

"From now on, I, Deng Ai, will serve my lord and go through fire and water without hesitation!"

After hearing him claim to be Deng Ai, Gu Rubing breathed a sigh of relief. It was really Deng Ai. This time he made a fortune!

"Get up quickly."

Gu Rubing helped Deng Ai up, with an unconcealable smile on his face.

At the same time, Deng Ai's panel information also opened in front of him.

[Name: Deng Ai]

[Identity: Commoner]

[General level: First-class general (12/100) (Famous general points: 1/100)]

[Characteristics: Intelligent and Brave (Deng Ai is both intelligent and brave, good at analyzing the battle situation and winning by surprise), Forbearing (Deng Ai is introverted and does not easily reveal his true thoughts, often able to surprise others), King of the Mountains (Deng Ai is good at mountain warfare, and his marching speed and combat capabilities in the mountains are greatly improved), Speed ​​is the essence of war (Deng Ai commands operations with emphasis on speed and efficiency, and can quickly mobilize the army to form a local advantage)]

[Intelligent and Brave: Deng Ai's wisdom and bravery complement each other, which can effectively improve the tactics and morale of his troops. Effect: Deng Ai's troops gain +500% attack power and +100% morale.]

[Hidden and unrevealed: Deng Ai's forbearance makes it difficult for the enemy to figure out his true intentions, thus gaining an advantage at a critical moment. Effect: Deng Ai's army's ambush ability +250%, enemy detection difficulty +100%. ]

[King of the Mountains: Deng Ai thrives in mountain warfare, and his mountain marching and combat capabilities are significantly improved. Effect: Deng Ai's army's mountain marching speed +200%, mountain combat capability +150%.]

[Speed ​​is of the essence in warfare: Deng Ai commands battles with a focus on speed and efficiency, and can quickly mobilize troops to create local advantages. Effect: Deng Ai's troops gain +200% movement speed.]

[Skills: Confucian Studies lv3 (15/100): Deng Ai was born into a noble family. He was well versed in the art of war since childhood and was good at using various tactics. Effect: Tactical application effect +30%, Basic Swordsmanship lv4 (18/100): Deng Ai is good at using swords and has superb swordsmanship. When using a broadsword, his attack power is +200%.

Basic Footwork lv4 (85/100): Deng Ai has steady footwork and is good at maintaining balance in complex terrain. Effect: Movement speed in complex terrain +50%. 】

[Chain of Stratagems lv3 (50/100): Deng Ai is good at using chain of strategies, through a series of carefully designed strategies, to make the enemy army fall into chaos. Effect: When the chain of strategies is activated, the enemy army's chaos degree +100%, the duration +50%. ]

[Commander Skill: Swiftness]

[Super Speed ​​Effect: When Deng Ai's army is marching or raiding quickly, the speed of the whole army increases by 200%, and during the raid, the enemy's detection difficulty increases by 150%.]

[Equipment: Black Iron Knife (special weapon, no grade)]

[Introduction to the Black Iron Knife: Deng Ai, at the age of twelve, once read the Chen Taiqiu Stele and dug out a knife from under the stele. It was as black as lacquer and more than three feet long. There was always a sad aura on the knife, and people at that time thought it was a divine object.]

[Black Iron Knife Effect: It exudes a dark and mysterious aura, and is an ominous object. Attack power +400%.]

[Mount: None]

[Although Deng Ai was young, his wisdom and bravery far surpassed those of ordinary people. His experience as a noble family when he was young gave him excellent training. Even though his family fell into decline, he could still achieve great achievements as a commoner.]

After seeing Deng Ai's panel, Gu Rubing just wanted to shout, "Awesome! Isn't this the king of mountains?" From now on, all mountain battles can be handled directly by Deng Ai.

This is also consistent with Deng Ai in history. Deng Ai in history was the greatest contributor to the defeat of Shu. The reason why he was able to achieve unprecedented achievements was because of his outstanding mountain combat ability and surprise attack ability. Now, looking at the attribute panel, almost all of them match up, which just makes up for Gu Rubing's current shortcomings.

When attacking Yizhou in the later stage, the lack of mountain combat capabilities will indeed be a hindrance.

Gu Rubing was very satisfied with Deng Ai's panel attributes, and he also discovered that the gap between first-class generals was also very large. For example, some generals who were famous in history, even when they were first-class generals, the characteristics they provided and their own combat power were far greater than those generals of the same level with less reputation.

Wei Yan, Pang De, and Deng Ai were all like this.

As time goes by, Gu Rubing understands more and more about this world. In many cases, having a higher numerical value than the enemy does not necessarily mean that you are stronger than the enemy. Instead, it depends on a combination of many factors.

These things were slowly researched out after Zhuge Liang left the political and military affairs to Zhuge Liang and he himself became a hands-off boss. Not only that, Gu Rubing even figured out some tricks on how to trigger special troops more effectively. Coupled with the buff bonus of Wei Yan's ability to raise soldiers, the special troops triggering rate of the generals under Gu Rubing's command is now close to 90%.

Those that have not been triggered can be triggered multiple times later through the method researched by Gu Rubing. In other words, as long as there is enough time, Gu Rubing can make all the generals under his command who are qualified to trigger special arms unlock their own special arms.

As for the combat effectiveness of special forces, there is naturally no need to say more.

"Go home first and take a rest."

Gu Rubing took out two silver ingots from his arms and handed them to Deng Ai, but Deng Ai blocked the silver that Gu Rubing handed over.

"My lord, the war is going on now. It won't be too late for me to go home after the war is over."

Gu Rubing was about to refuse, but Deng Ai put forward a condition that Gu Rubing could not refuse.

"When Cao Cao was arranging his troops, I was in the big tent and had some understanding of his arrangements. If I were there, I would have played a significant role."

After hearing this, Gu Rubing was greatly encouraged. Recently, Cao Cao and Sun Jian had done a very good job in blocking the news. No useful news had been received in Qingzhou for a long time. Their current actions were the countermeasures that were discussed by Zhuge Liang, Xi Zhicai, Fa Zheng and others together.

With the combined strength of several people, they were able to avoid being at a disadvantage in the early stages of the battle. However, what Gu Rubing didn't know was that Jiangxia County, which he had thought was fine, was now in danger. Of course, this is all a story for later.

But now that Deng Ai has joined Gu Rubing's army, everything is different. He only needs to relay the information he knows to Zhuge Liang and others, and they will give some corresponding countermeasures based on the current situation.

At this moment, Cao Cao, who had already escaped a long distance, finally slowed down. After he opened the panel, he found that Deng Ai's panel had disappeared. Seeing this scene, Cao Cao couldn't help but frowned.

If Deng Ai died, the attribute panel should have turned gray. For example, after Cao Hong died in battle, his panel turned gray, and he should not have disappeared.

Suddenly, Cao Cao was startled. If Deng Ai was not dead, but the panel disappeared, did it mean that Deng Ai had now defected to Gu Rubing?
But Gu Rubing shouldn't be this kind of person. How could he recruit people who wanted to kill him just a second ago? This was unlike Gu Rubing's character who was always vindictive towards them. Cao Cao was puzzled.

Although he didn't know what reasons Gu Rubing had to convince Deng Ai to surrender, nor did he know why Gu Rubing wanted to recruit Deng Ai, after all, Deng Ai was just a first-rate general, but his strong intuition told Cao Cao that Deng Ai was definitely not dead and he should have surrendered to Liu Bei.

If Deng Ai really surrenders to Gu Rubing, then many of their deployments will be known to Gu Rubing, and it will be too late to say anything then. Thinking of this, Cao Cao, who had just slowed down for a while, quickened his pace again. The two hundred elite soldiers behind him were all confused. What was going on? How long had they just rested?
Cao Cao's warhorse was given to him by Han Sui at that time. It was one of the most precious horses in the Beiliang ranch. Its physical strength could naturally withstand long journeys, but their warhorses could not.

They had just arrived in Xudu from Jingzhou and participated in a war to massacre the Imperial Guards. Now they had to return to Jingzhou without stopping. Even if their war horses were first-class horses, they could not hold on because they did not have such high endurance.

In the teahouse outside the palace, Gu Rubing sat back in his original position, his face as gloomy as water, as if he had lost something.

Seeing Gu Rubing like this, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but ask with some concern.

"My Lord, you look a little unhappy, but what's on your mind?"

The gate of Xu City had just been broken, and Gu Rubing shouldn't have had such an expression. Zhuge Liang immediately guessed that Gu Rubing might have something on his mind.

Gu Rubing just shook his head blankly, because at this moment his mind was staring at the column of generals in his panel, where, in addition to two reds and a bunch of yellows, there was also a gray. Different from the gray of Pang De and others, this gray was also yellow before.

Gu Rubing's heart suddenly sank to the bottom. Although he didn't know what the gray color of the panel meant, he could guess roughly what it meant.

"Boss, do you have any wine?"

The boss was shocked by Gu Rubing's sudden voice. He was stunned for a second, then hurried over with the wine. Gu Rubing took the wine handed to him by the boss and asked for two more glasses.

He filled his own glass, then filled the empty glass opposite him, then drank it all in one gulp.

(End of this chapter)