Chapter 512 (2/2)
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Liu Bei frowned as the Xiliang Cavalry led by Jian Yong returned faster than expected.
“Report. We have found twelve sentry posts a hundred li around Fancheng!” Jian Yong reported. They had searched thoroughly and only found twelve posts.
“Twelve!” Liu Bei frowned at the number of sentries around Fancheng. This would make their plan even more difficult to execute. Even if Liu Biao was an old dog, his teeth were still sharp.
“All twelve sentry posts have already been disposed of.” Jian Yong continued.
Liu Bei’s furrowed brows loosened a little. Once the sentries were removed, they would be able to sneakily attack Fancheng.
“But…”
“What’s wrong?”
Jian Yong smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Milord. None of these twelve outposts were destroyed by us.” When Jian Yong and his scouts arrived, all they saw were corpses.
“Someone is helping us?” Liu Bei suddenly felt doubt as he had no allies in Jingzhou.
“Milord. Could it be the Military Advisor?” Hu Che Er suggested.
“The Military Advisor?” Liu Bei thought to himself. Right now, they did not know where Pang Tong was. Although Pang Tong was with Zhang Fei, they had been gone for a long time.
“Milord, think about it. If it was the Military Advisor’s stratagem, he would definitely strive by your side. This should be his schemes!” Hu Che Er said again.
“Could it really be him?” Liu Bei was still doubtful.
“It is possible.” Jian Yong added. The reason Jian Yong said this is because he noticed the character Liu written on the ground with blood. Normally, he would not think much about it since Liu Biao was also surnamed Liu but with the current situation, he could only think of it referring to Liu Bei.
“The Military Advisor is truly talented to make a plan so detailed!” Liu Bei consoled himself. After all, there were twelve sentry posts. If even one was left out, Liu Bei’s sneak attack would turn into a joke. Besides that, this also seemed like Pang Tong’s style of strategy and there should be no one else kind hearted enough to help Liu Bei.
Naturally, Liu Bei and the others were wrong. There were actually seventeen sentry posts in total and they were all secretly removed by the White Horses.
“It is getting late! I want us to be stationed in Fancheng tonight!” Liu Bei then commanded in high spirits. “Go and loot Fancheng!”
The Xiliang Cavalry was immediately full of vigor. They were all extremely interested in looting.
Liu Bei did not dare to order his men to slaughter those inside the city. If he did that, the nobles would become unwilling to negotiate even if Liu Biao was willing to. Liu Bei’s reputation would also be in tatters. Take Cao Cao for example. He killed three thousand people in a small town and now he was known as an evil person. The same would happen to Liu Bei if he were to allow the people of Fancheng to be slaughtered.
Since Liu Bei could not appeal to their bloodthirst, he could only appeal to their love for looting. After all, there were also a lot of merchants in Fancheng which is how Pang Tong managed to buy so many provisions.
Once he captures Fancheng, money would not be a problem. Once he captures Fancheng, he would not be afraid of offending Liu Biao.