Falling Out 2
“What? The camp is surrounded? Who is the one that dares to surround my army’s camp?” All the fighters in Liu Bei’s Army stood up in anger. They believed that it may be Lu Bu as he was the only enemy in the whole of Yangzhou. They wondered if Lu Bu’s Army have become desperate. However, they felt that this was good as attacking Shou Chun would have wasted a lot of time. This would be much faster.
“What are you guys doing? Why did you all only report after the main camp is attacked?” Chen Dao asked. Normally, they should have reported the moment the enemy entered their field of vision. Instead, they were now surrounded. This was a dereliction of duty.
Pang Tong and Liu Bei looked at the garrison general responsible for this subordinate. Their gaze were full of murderous intentions. If the explanation they received was not good enough, he would be executed. The garrison general became frightened and shouted, “Milord. General Chen Dao. This is a mistake! We did not neglect our duties. However, the banner belongs to the Xiliang Cavalry! They are allies!”
The garrison general was helpless. This was because Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu were still in a honeymoon period. The relationship between Liu Bei’s Army and the Xiliang Cavalry were very good. This meant that there was no need to report the appearance of the Xiliang Cavalry. Fortunately, the garrison general had quickly closed the gates to the camp and got onto a horse. Otherwise, he would not have survived.
“The Xiliang Cavalry?” Everyone looked at Zhang Xiu. He was the Xiliang Cavalry’s boss.
“Liu Bei’s Army listen up! Let the villain of the Liu Bei’s Army come out and return Milord! Otherwise, I, Hu Che Er would charge in with my twenty thousand Xiliang Cavalry!” A roar could be heard coming from outside.
“Hu Che Er?” Zhang Xiu’s expression showed joy. Liu Pi and Liao Hua said that only a few hundred out of the two thousand Xiliang Cavalry had escaped. This really gave Zhang Xiu a cold sweat. If Hu Che Er was dead, he would have gathered his troops and fight against Liu Bei. Hu Che Er was someone very important to Zhang Xiu. He was like Zhang Fei and Guan Yu to Liu Bei. When Guan Yu was killed by Lu Meng, Liu Bei decided to fight against Sun Quan even though he knows that he shouldn’t. In the end, he suffered a fire attack from Lu Xun.
“Let’s go!” Zhang Xiu took his bodyguards and wanted to walk out. However, he was stopped by Chen Dao and Zhang Fei.
Zhang Xiu hmphed coldly. “Left General. Is this a banquet that murders its guest?” He looked at Liu Bei. If this was true, he would die here. He would not be able to fight against Zhang Fei and Chen Dao. However, the Liu Bei’s Army would also be in trouble. The Xiliang Cavalry outside had already surrounded the place and was ready to charge in. It would become a question of whether Liu Bei wanted conquer Shouchun. If Liu Bei attacked, his own safety would be in peril. Instead of defeating Lu Bu, he would be lucky to even escape early.
“Uncle. Yi De. Let Zhang Xiu leave.” It was not that Liu Bei did not want to detain Zhang Xiu. However, the cost was too high. As a result, Liu Bei could only send Zhang Xiu away with a wave of his hand.
“Hmph!” Zhang Xiu now detested Liu Bei. Two thousand of his heavy cavalry had almost been routed. How could he be happy? Heavy cavalries were very costly to obtain and would take at least half a year to train. He only lost about a thousand to fight against Lu Bu’s Wolf Cavalry but now, he lost even more to friendly forces. Naturally, Zhang Xiu would be angry.
“What? Brother, in my opinion, we should just kill him and take his military leadership!” Zhang Fei interrupted.
“Third brother! Shut up!” Liu Bei was really annoyed. Zhang Xiu had been offended without reason.
“General! General!” The Xiliang Cavalry was boiling when Zhang Xiu appeared at the entrance of the camp. Hu Che Er walked out. He was wounded and his armor was broken.
“Hu Che Er!” Zhang Xiu also walked forward to greet him. He felt relieved to see Hu Che Er.
“General. Are you okay? Did they give you a hard time? If so, this one would immediately go and slaughter them!” Hu Che Er’s wounds made him look even more malevolent.
“They didn’t.” If he did not hear Liu Pi and Liao Hua’s words, he would have even reprimanded Hu Che Er as both he and Liu Bei were allies. However, Zhang Xiu only felt touched. This was because HU Che Er had only just returned from the battlefield. He did not know what caused the Xiliang Cavalry to be ambushed but he was a military commander and could feel a person’s intention to kill. Although Liu Bei hid it well, Zhang Xiu still managed to feel it.
“Alright. All units, return to camp.” Zhang Xiu gave a wave and dismissed the Xiliang Cavalry. He did not want to have a fallout with Liu Bei. He also did not want to make a fuss with Liu Bei. Both he and Liu Bei dispatched troops to Yangzhou. Liu Bei would attack while he just loot from behind. It could be said that Liu Bei does all the work while he gets all the benefit. On top of that, Liu Bei would provide provisions. Such a good friend was hard to find. However, things have changed. Zhang XIu did not want to go and fight against Liu Bei. The ones that would benefit the most from this would be Lu Bu and Liu Mang. On top of that, Zhang Xiu has also seen the White Armored Soldiers in combat. They were as powerful as his own Xiliang Cavalry. If they were to fight, both he and Liu Bei would not have a good outcome.
The Xiliang Cavalry then dismissed and returned to their camp.
After returnting to camp, Zhang Xiu’s first action was to have Hu Che Er explain to him everything that had happened.
Hu Che Er did not dare to hide anything and told everything. Hu Che Er explained that they went to intercept the provisions but found the provisions carriages everywhere and the provisions on the ground. He then ordered his troops to dismount and pick up the provisions. Finally, he told Zhang Xiu of what Liao Hua shouted at the end.
“The provisions were scattered?” Zhang Xiu furrowed his brow. This was obviously a trap for cavalries. The provisions on the ground would make the ground smooth. It would be easy to slip and fall fatally. On top of that, the scattered carriages actually threatened cavalries. This would be because it would make it harder for the cavalry to form up.
“But Che Er! I heard in Liu Bei’s camp that a general of a thousand men from our army, Zhao Long, had tried to steal the merits by attacking Liu Bei’s troops. It made them lose over two thousand men!” Zhang Xiu voiced his doubts.
“This is absolutely impossible!” Hu Che Er replied. “Milord. Besides the fact that there are no one named Zhao Long in charge of a thousand men in our army, we also only brought two thousand men. I did not even send out scouts. I was only ready to take Lu Bu’s Army’s provisions when I was ambushed by Liu Bei’s thieves. Two thousand of our men died to friendly forces!” Hu Che Er’s eyes were burning. The two thousand men he took with him were his trusted subordinates. It was impossible for one of them to leave and steal merits. However, Zhang Xiu requested for Hu Che Er to recall and see if the smell of blood was there. Corpses could be moved but the blood and its stench would not disappear within a short moment.
“Milord. Liu Bei’s thief that attacked us also shouted that we were not Zhang Xiu1!” Zhang Xiu initially had doubts but now he felt a fire in his heart. ‘Fine then. This Big Eared Liu really wants my belongings. Is he trying to ambush me?’ Zhang Xiu was angry. He initially intended to negotiate properly with Liu Bei but it seems that there was no more need for that.
“Che Er. Let us all rest for tonight. We will get up at around midnight, eat at fifth watch period and return to the city at dawn.” Zhang Xiu did not want to fight against Liu Bei. He was not able to support the cost of fighting against Liu Bei as he already took a lot of benefits from him. Since he could not offend Liu Bei, he decided to just avoid him. Zhang Xiu would leave Yangzhou. After that, Lu Bu’s Army would only be attacked by two sides instead of three. Without the Xiliang Cavalry, Liu Mang would be able to fight a decisive battle against Liu Bei. As Liu Bei captured a lot of cities and schemed against Liu Mang repeatedly, Liu Mang would not let Liu Bei leave without a present.
As Liu Bei and Liu Mang fought, Zhang Xiu would return and capture Runan. At that time, Liu Bei would end up crying. Zhang Xiu laughed as he thought to himself. Zhang Xiu was not being heartless. Liu Bei was the one that first showed injustice.
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The situation that would arise when everyone’s speechcraft is level 1.
