Liu Bei came in a hurry, and he had no time to hesitate or think. He was worried that once he stopped thinking, everyone's courage would disappear.

Including himself.

He had no way out and had no choice but to move forward bravely.

This is also the reason why he chose Sima Yi and Zhang He but gave up Zhang Fei. Sima Yi was despised by Yang Xiu. Zhang He killed Han Yin. They were as unretreated as himself. Zhang Fei was always grateful to Sun Ce and had a deep friendship with Guan Yu who had surrendered. He did not doubt Zhang Fei's loyalty, but he had no idea whether he could rely on Zhang Fei when he was fighting to the death. He didn't even know whether he could succeed. Letting Zhang Fei stay south of Baibo Valley and command the last elite cavalry of Zhongshan Kingdom was also a gift for Zhang Fei. If he died in battle, Zhang Fei could gain Sun Ce's weight with these tens of thousands of elite cavalry, so that he would not become an ordinary servant like Guan Yu.

Brothers fight, both of them will not owe each other.

When passing by Pingyang, he did not stop. Pingyang's city gate was closed and the city was heavily guarded. Obviously, there was no intention of opening the city to surrender. He had no time to attack Pingyang, but he heard Jia Kui say that the person guarding Pingyang was Liang Qi. He was once the chief officer. He felt very uncomfortable when he just gave up his post and returned home last year. Jia Kui said it implicitly, but he could understand that Liang Qi was unwilling to serve him and would rather give up his post. How could such a person expect and surrender?

A soldier can be killed, but not humiliated. If he can seize Yong'an, he will definitely break through Pingyang and kill Liang Qi on his return journey.

After passing Pingyang, Liu Bei slowed down and stopped advancing when he was thirty miles away from Yong'an, and the entire army rested. He ordered Zhang He to send knights to inquire about the news along both ends of the valley. After crossing Baibo Valley and reappearing in the Fenshui Valley, his whereabouts could not be concealed, especially after passing Pingyang, Lu Meng would soon receive the news and would likely send heavy troops to intercept him. He could not fight against two groups at the same time, so he could only defeat the whole route first.

According to the distance, if Lu Meng sent troops to pursue him, he would be inadequate when he arrived here, which was a good opportunity to break through in one fell swoop. If Lu Meng's pursuers did not arrive in time or were resting in Pingyang, then he could use this time to attack Yong'an.

This is not the best choice, it is just the least bad choice. The soldiers crossed mountains and ridges, went up the plateau and went down the slope, and marched for nearly 300 miles. They were trapped and exhausted, so they had to stop and rest and recover their strength, otherwise they would not be able to fight.

Soon, Liu Bei received the news that Pang De was arriving in a river valley several miles outside Yong'an City, waiting for his arrival. Judging from the current situation, there were only more than a thousand cavalrymen and no infantry were seen.

After discussing with Sima Yi and Jia Kui, they believed that there were these cavalry outside the city and there were no infantry. First, the elite cavalry of the Wu army often defeated the more with fewer people. Pang De led the central guard cavalry of the Wu State, and they were the elite of the elite. They would not take the three or four thousand infantry and cavalry that they rushed to attack seriously. Second, the joint attack of the infantry and cavalry have always been a formation of infantry and a cavalry raided, and it was impossible to go the other way. Moreover, the nearby terrain restrictions are steep slopes on the east side and the Fen River on the west side, and there is no place for infantry to hide.

Almost everyone was relieved to learn that the opponent was probably just the thousand cavalry led by Pang De. As long as they could defeat Pang De, the remaining more than a thousand infantrymen who had just been adapted from Bai Bo's army were not worth worrying. Liu Bei also secretly thanked, but he was not as relaxed as others. He knew that defeating Pang De was not easy. Of course, these words could only be hidden in his heart and could not be expressed in his mouth.

After repeated discussions, Liu Bei formulated a tactic: Jia Kui led two thousand infantrymen to array in the river valley, Sima Yi led the crossbowmen to ambush on the hillside on the right, and he and Zhang He led the personal guards to fight Pang De. If the battle is unfavorable and the victory is not successful, they will pretend to be defeated and withdraw, luring Pang De to pursue. At that time, the infantrymen in the Bu Valley will block the attack. The crossbowmen on the hillside will shoot from the side, and then severely attack Pang De, and the rest of the cavalry will turn around and attack to fight to completely wipe out Pang De's troops. If there are reinforcements sent by Lu Meng behind him, Jia Kui can also resist for a while.

There is nothing wrong with this plan, everyone agreed, but Jia Kui made an additional suggestion: send some people to inquire near Feilian Temple. If they cannot defeat Pang De smoothly, or even if they win, they will not have enough killing and will have difficulties in attacking Yong'an in the future, they will send people to go around the path near Feilian Temple to behind Yong'an and attack Yong'an. There is a siege city there, and troops can also be stationed.

Sima Yi also agreed with Jia Kui's opinion. Liu Bei thought about it and agreed. He knew that Jia Kui's real intention was not only to attack Yong'an, but also to leave a way out to escape to Bingzhou. He did not want to use this way, but he could not cut off other people's paths, so as not to cause the army's motives to shake.

He just asked Jia Kui to act secretly and not let too many people know about it.

Jia Kui received the order.

Liu Bei and Zhang He led their personal guards to move forward. Sima Yi led the crossbowman up the slope and ambushed, and Jia Kui led his troops to line up in the valley. He was not idle and ordered the soldiers to dig pits and use the original valleys in the valley to deepen and widen.

These soldiers marched for several days and were exhausted. Now they were about to dig pits again, and they were full of resentment. Jia Kui refused to give in. He summoned several lieutenants and commanders and told them that the loess was loose and easy to dig, and their physical energy was limited, but their effect was very great. Whether it was the Pang De in front or the pursuers who might appear later, they were all cavalry. Without baggage chariots, it was difficult to block the impact of the cavalry with only the existing weapons. Only by digging more pits can you win.

The three thousand infantrymen were mainly Liu Bei's remnants of the central army. They had just been attacked by the Bingzhou cavalry during the Battle of Dongting. They knew that what Jia Kui said was reasonable and did not dare to neglect them. They immediately returned to the battalions, threatened and tempted them, and ordered the soldiers to dig holes as soon as possible. In the face of life and death, these soldiers also fought their best and dug two ditches from north to south of the position. Although they would not let the war horses fall in and climb up, they could at least slow down the war horses and could not drive straight in.

Sima Yi was not idle on the hillside, so he ordered the crossbowman to dig a hole on the hillside, so that the size of the hole could hide himself. Without the protection of the knife and shield, the crossbowman could only protect himself. Digging a hole can not only hide, but also prevent the cavalry from attacking.

Without special tools, these Zhongshan Army soldiers could only use combat knives and spears to dig pits, or simply hold out floating soil with their hands. Needless to say, their hard work was done. But to survive, they still worked very hard, with loess flying on their positions, and several ditches gradually took shape.

Under the surveillance of two personal guards, Liu Fu watched Jia Kui run around and directed the soldiers to dig holes, busy with dust and sneered.

"It's useless."

Jia Kui ignored it and urged his subordinates to dig a hole. He was annoyed by Liu Fu's words, and he shouted: "If you don't shut up, I will tell them your identity now and kill you Mingzhi."

Liu Fu looked at Jia Kui, closed his mouth, and never said a word again. He had known Jia Kui for so many years and knew that Jia Kui was not a false threat. Jia Kui could really do such a thing. He regretted it. Why did his father believe that the minister was talking nonsense, saying that the Jia family in Xiangling had a wealthy appearance and married his sister to Jia Kui, a poor boy? This is completely unreasonable.
Chapter completed!