Chapter 64: Kill

"Old Liu, you are so fierce!" Zhao Shaojie exclaimed in admiration after learning that Liu Bei actually had the intention to attack Xiangyang.

Now the two of them were alone inside the cabin, with no one else around. Zhao Shaojie spoke without any hesitation.

Liu Bei burst into laughter, completely unmindful. Instead, he asked with keen interest, "Fierce must still be a compliment in future generations, right?" Saying this, he nodded gently, "I am truly overjoyed to have inflicted such a crushing defeat on Cao Cao this time!"

"Ever since I raised my forces, whenever I encountered Cao Cao, I would suffer defeat, hardly ever winning a single battle. Now, I am actually able to rout him!"

Zhao Shaojie felt that Liu Bei was truly getting carried away. Historically, Liu Bei had few troops and had to borrow soldiers from Zhou Yu.

Although his forces were still not very large now, they were in much better shape than in history. Furthermore, having made preparations early on, Cao Cao suffered even heavier losses. Knowing Cao Cao's retreat route, they pursued him all along the way, beating him so thoroughly that he could not even organize a defense.

Yet, even so, did they dare to attack Xiangyang?

Sensing Zhao Shaojie's doubt, Liu Bei smiled again and said, "Even if we do not breach Xiangyang, we can still put pressure on Jiangling to help Yide, Kongming, and the others capture Jiangling all the sooner!"

Zhao Shaojie nodded. "That sounds more like it."

Liu Bei looked at Zhao Shaojie with a beaming smile, suddenly stood up, took Zhao Shaojie's hand, and said softly, "Shaojie, I truly must thank you for coming. Otherwise, just like in history, I would have had to meet the enemy hastily, been forced to ally with Sun Quan, and Jingzhou would have been carved up by Sun Quan, leaving endless future troubles!"

With these words, Liu Bei held Zhao Shaojie's hand and bowed deeply.

Startled, Zhao Shaojie quickly pulled Liu Bei up and smiled self-consciously. "U-Uncle Liu, you don't need to be like this. I helped you precisely because I trusted that you wouldn't let me down. Besides, I just followed the refugees all the way to Xinye—you could say Heaven itself is helping you!"

With a sincere gaze and a gentle smile, Liu Bei said joyfully, "It must be Heaven's will! It must be Heaven's will!" Then, he added earnestly, "I will certainly never fail you!"

Zhao Shaojie laughed heartily and said, "Right, right, right. You and Zhuge Liang make a legendary monarch-vassal pair through the ages; perhaps the same can be said of you and me!"

Liu Bei smiled, had Zhao Shaojie sit down again, and suddenly turned serious. "Shaojie, how do you think we should capture Xiangyang?"

Zhao Shaojie's expression instantly darkened. "How should I know? There's no precedent for this. Historically, when Guan Yu launched his northern expedition, he never managed to capture Xiangyang..."

Liu Bei looked slightly disappointed.

...

Guan Yu, who historically never captured Xiangyang, had by now transformed into a guerrilla captain.

Compared to history, he now had more abundant troops, better logistics, and both water and land strongholds that were extremely well-concealed.

Guan Yu's men broke into smaller units and launched raids from all directions, intercepting any troops coming from the direction of Xiangyang without exception.

At that moment, Zhou Cang's subordinates reported that a detachment escorting grain and provisions had appeared.

Guan Yu did not hesitate in the least and immediately led his elite core troops to rush over.

The person in charge of escorting the grain this time was Li Tong, the Administrator of Runan. Looking at the open terrain around him, Li Tong's mood improved slightly, as he no longer feared being ambushed.

On the road here, there had been many commoners watching them, which had made him uneasy. Now, however, the visibility was wide open.

Besides, how could Cao Cao have been defeated by Liu Bei at Wulin?

Once the news spread, the entire Han realm was in an uproar.

Everyone had been expecting Cao Cao to crush Liu Bei, conquer Jiangdong, and thereafter unify the realm under a new dynasty.

Now, the opportunity for a dynastic change was gone, and Li Tong's wish to become a nouveau riche noble of the new regime had vanished as well.

Instead, he was now stuck bitterly hauling grain for Cao Ren in Jiangling.

Suddenly, a subordinate reported, "General, there are enemy troops moving ahead!"

Li Tong was startled and hurriedly looked forward. Just as he was looking, another soldier reported, "General, there are troops appearing to the east!"

Before Li Tong could react, yet another came to report, "General, there are troops appearing to the west!"

Li Tong's head spun, and sure enough, he saw dust flying in all directions. Several columns of soldiers, like winding dragons, came sweeping across the open terrain, practically surrounding them completely!

"Defend in place!" Li Tong shouted.

The civilian laborers escorting the grain naturally fell into chaos, and Li Tong's own troops also scrambled to prepare in a rush.

Soon, Li Tong spotted the leader—it was none other than Guan Yu.

"Guan Yu, you are a prominent general; why are you stooping to act like a highway robber in a place like this?" Li Tong cursed bitterly.

Guan Yu glanced at Li Tong and sneered, "You are a general; why have you taken up the errand of a grain escort?"

Just as Li Tong was about to retort, Guan Yu's gaze hardened, and he shouted sternly, "Kill!"

Instantly, Guan Yu's men charged forward.

At the same time, Guan Yu himself galloped straight toward Li Tong.

Li Tong's face turned livid as he wielded his spear to meet the attack. But after exchanging blows, he immediately realized that in terms of sheer valor, even after all these years, he was still no match for Guan Yu. After a few bouts, Li Tong abruptly retreated, cursing loudly, "Guan, you thief! If we were fighting a pitched battle with our armies, you certainly wouldn't be my match!"

Guan Yu did not pursue Li Tong. Instead, he led his soldiers straight to charge at the grain wagons. The civilian laborers, not daring to offer any resistance, fell to their knees and surrendered one after another.

The soldiers Li Tong had brought were likewise scattered and broken, and within moments, they fled in all directions.

With a single charge, Guan Yu secured the grain provisions within his own formation.

"Guan Ping, immediately escort the grain to the boats!" Guan Yu commanded, looking at a young man beside him.

Guan Ping responded immediately, "Yes!"

Watching helplessly as Guan Yu's men escorted the grain away, Li Tong was so angry that he cursed aloud, "Shameless bandit behavior!"

Guan Yu cast a glance at Li Tong, took a deep breath, and shouted in a booming voice, "Charge again!"

Li Tong let out a cry, looked at the small handful of troops gathered around him, and roared in anger, "Retreat!"

After pursuing them for a short while, Guan Yu reined in his horse, looked around, and said in a deep voice, "All of you, go into hiding! If there is any news, notify me immediately!"

Li Tong led his remaining men westward for a while. Seeing that no one was pursuing them from behind, he finally stopped. With a dark expression, he cursed hatefully, "I should have gathered troops in Xiangyang, crushed Guan Yu's bandit nest first, and only then escorted the grain!"

His subordinates echoed his sentiments.

As the group headed back toward Xiangyang and had walked for only a short while, another scout suddenly rushed over to report, "General, a large army is approaching from the west."

Upon hearing this, Li Tong instantly blew a fuse and raged, "Just how many places has that thief Guan scattered his troops to?"

Even as he was cursing, a rider galloped up and shouted loudly, "Is that General Li Tong?"

"I am under the command of General Xu Chu. The Prime Minister has arrived in person."

Only then did Li Tong stop his cursing and call out loudly, "I am Li Tong. Please inform the Prime Minister that I will come to pay my respects immediately."

Before long, Li Tong arrived within Cao Cao's camp.

At this moment, Cao Cao still wore a somewhat weathered expression. Li Tong glanced at him briefly and hurriedly dropped to his knees. "I pay my respects to the Prime Minister."

Looking at Li Tong, Cao Cao felt a trace of shame, but maintained a majestic and stern tone as he demanded, "How did you end up running all the way here?"

Li Tong recounted the battle he had just fought against Guan Yu, adding in a low voice, "There are extremely many unruly commoners in this region. As our army advanced, many of them spied on us and reported our movements to Guan Yu."

The unspoken implication was that it was not for lack of trying on his part; it was simply impossible to guard against everywhere.

Cao Cao's expression sank. Transporting grain to Jiangling was proving immensely difficult. He growled angrily, "Could it be that Jiangling truly cannot be held?!"