Chapter 369
“But we just came from over there!” Ge Jun and Zhang Hu said to Jia Xu anxiously.
“No matter! Liu Bei may not be as good as Sun Ce and Cao Cao but he is still someone who can gain the hearts of people!” Jia Xu dispelled their doubts. Liu Bei always wanted to employ more people. Liu Bei would want them as long as they are talented. People like Jia Xu would definitely fit his requirements. Liu Bei’s three visits to Zhuge Liang was because Liu Bei was the one that went to Zhuge Liang. Now, it was Jia Xu that would be going to Liu Bei. Liu Bei would definitely accept Jia Xu with a smile even if Jia Xu bedded his wife and killed his son. This was why Liu Bei had loyal men following him even though he had been defeated multiple times.
Liu Mang became worried. He had thought of reasons for Sun Ce and Cao Cao but he never expected Jia Xu to bring up this shameless Liu Bei. Even though Liu Bei was a brazen and shameless hypocrite, he was still a Lord. As he was also respectful to the second grade advisor, Sun Qian, he would definitely respect Jia Xu.
If Jia Xu had truly gone to Liu Bei, Liu Mang would cry. The Fledging Phoenix had already made Liu Bei extremely powerful. If it was not because of Cao Cao providing provisions, Yangzhou would have fallen. Lujiang would then fall after that and the Central Plains would have a new owner. If Pang Tong had that kind of ability, what about Jia Xu? Liu Mang did not dare to gamble on this. This is because hundreds of thousands of his men would lose their lives if he lost the bet. Yet, the Black Flag Army and the Formation Breaker have not yet appeared.
“Let’s return to Nanyang!” Jia Xu said indifferently as he turned his horse around.
“Jia Xu! There is no need to leave yet!” Liu Mang suddenly shouted.
“Does Your Majesty plan to attack now?” Jia Xu coldly asked.
“No, no. “ Jia Xu was like a snake that would bring a person down with him. As a result, this was a matter that needed to be handled carefully. “It is already late. How about resting in Shouchun for a night?” Liu Mang smiled and asked with the intention to stall them.
Naturally, Jia Xu could see Liu Mang’s plan and sneered. “There is no need. We come from the border and we are already accustomed to sleeping outdoors. It is better for us to leave now to prevent ourselves from oversleeping!” Jia Xu had spoken plenty. On one hand, Liu Mang was a Lord he had taken fancy to. If he did not say that much, his journey here would have been a waste. The second reason was that he was afraid of provoking Liu Mang’s anger. The Xiliang Cavalry had spent days to reach Shouchun and had already reached their limits when they arrived. It would be difficult for himself to escape if Liu Mang attacked while the Xiliang Cavalry were exhausted. However, after their long talk, the Xiliang Cavalry has recovered most of their strength which also meant that it was already time to leave.
“I…” Liu Mang stepped forward and wanted to reach out to Jia Xu. However, two Xiliang Cavalry archers shot arrows at Liu Mang’s feet. It was an obvious warning that they would kill Liu Mang if Liu Mang continued to step forward. “Your Majesty. No need to see me off!” Jia Xu said again before he started to leave along with the other Xiliang Cavalry troops.
“Milord. Are we just going to let Jia Xu leave?” Liu Ye wanted to dispatch the Wolf Cavalry. However, Liu Mang shook his head with a wry smile. It would be great if they managed to kill Jia Xu. However, if they failed, the hostility would become permanent. Liu Mang believed that Jia Xu wanted to join up with Liu Bei for himself. However, allowing Jia Xu to leave like this was equally dangerous for the army.
Yangzhou has Xu Shu and Liu Ye to stop Liu Bei. Even Pang Tong has his own limits. With Xu Shu who is about the same level as Pang Tong along with Liu Ye, Liu Mang was not afraid of Liu Bei. However, if Jia Xu joined up with Liu Bei, the end result would be different unless Chen Gong also joins the fight at Yangzhou. Unfortunately, Chen Gong has to deal with Lujiang and handle Sun Ce. He had no spare time to deal with the pressure at Yangzhou.
Liu Ye and Liu Mang could only laugh bitterly for giving Liu Bei a heavy cavalry and another skilled tactician. How did they end up becoming Liu Bei’s mouthpiece? If Liu Bei had found out, he would have awarded Liu Mang with the award of being his best mouthpiece.
“Milord. You may be afraid of failing to kill Jia Xu and then receiving his retaliations but would things go smoothly after you let him go? He already said he is going to Liu Bei! The battle in the North is about to end. Liu Bei would definitely want to compete with us for the Central Plains. In a few days, Jia Xu is going to become our enemy. What other misgivings could you have?” Liu Ye finally understood Liu Mang’s intentions and advised Liu Mang.
“That’s right!” Liu Mang finally understood that it does not matter whether or not he provoked this viper. This viper would eventually bite someone. By joining up with Liu Bei’s Army, he would definitely become their enemy. By then, grudges would mean nothing. However, a long time had passed by the time Liu Mang understood this. The Xiliang Cavalry were already several kilometres away. It would be difficult to chase them now. Just as Liu Mang felt regret, he heard shouts coming from afar.
“What is going on?” Liu Mang immediately went on alert. He had become used to such a state ever since coming to this era. “All units take precautions!” No matter what, taking precautions is never a wrong move. All of the Wolf Cavalry took out their swords. The horses also started to do warm ups.
“Kill! Kill!” A group of cavalry rushed out of the woods outside Shouchun City. These were the Xiliang Cavalry that had just left. Why have they started to panic now?
“Your Majesty! We surrender!” Just as Liu Mang felt confused, groups of the Xiliang Cavalry soldiers got off their horses, threw away their weapons and knelt on the ground.
“Huh?” Liu Mang and Liu Ye’s eyes grew wide. They could not comprehend what was going on.
Another group of cavalry then came out. A carriage could be seen in this new group. In front of the carriage were few cavaliers led by Jia Xu.
“Despicable! Shameless!” Jia Xu cursed as he looked at Liu Mang with resentment.
“Despicable?” Liu Mang froze. Jia Xu came out from the woods while being chased. Liu Mang did not even know what was going on but he was already called despicable. He was definitely wrongly accused.
Zhang Liao saw the approaching army shouting to kill and pulled Liu Mang back. “Little Lord. That should be Gao Shun’s Formation Breaker!” Zhang Liao had been correct. The Formation Breaker and Xu Sheng’s Black Flag Army had left the city from different gates. However, it was dark and they could not use torches. It was already good enough that they did not get lost. Gao Shun did not face any problems but Xu Sheng had strayed about a thousand miles away from his objective and encountered Gao Shun’s men. If they had not taken out their banners first, the two armies would have started killing each other.
As Xu Sheng had already strayed from his path, it was already too late to turn back. Gao Shun does not speak much but he knew battle strategies. The two of them gave up setting ambushes. As the total number of soldiers they had were over ten thousand and the place they wanted to defend were hundreds of miles away, they took the initiative to attack and rushed towards Shouchun’s South gate. They gambled on the fact that the Xiliang Cavalry had not left yet. They found the Xiliang Cavalry along the way. As the Xiliang Cavalry were heavy cavalries, their movements could be heard from miles away. The Xiliang Cavalry were suddenly attacked from the dark. They did not even know how many enemies there were. The fact was they could not escape. Charging towards the Black Flag Army and the Formation Breaker was no different from committing suicide. The only thing they could do was turn back.
Jia Xu gazed at Liu Mang unwaveringly. He believed that he had underestimated Liu Mang. He never expected to be ambushed by so many soldiers. He believed that Liu Mang was simply stalling for time and that he had been played.
“Wolf Cavalry! Ballista! Get ready!” Liu Ye shouted at the Wolf Cavalry and the soldiers on the walls when he saw Jia Xu’s expression of hatred. He was afraid Jia Xu would act desperately and struggle to his death. After all, Liu Mang had already separated himself from the main force. His bodyguards had also rushed to the front to protect Liu Mang, fearing that Jia Xu would rush to the front and seize Liu Mang.
Just as the Wolf Cavalry were feeling nervous, Jia Xu got down his horse and quickly knelt on the floor. “Jia Xu of Nanyang, along with the Young Lord, Zhang Lei, and the generals, Ge Jun and Zhang Hu, begs to surrender!”