Chapter 349 (1/2)
“Brother! Let us attack!” Zhang Fei shouted angrily as he looked at the Liu Mang’s Army on the walls.
“Third brother. Do not be reckless.” Liu Bei also wanted to attack but that was no longer an option. Reinforcements had arrived at Shouchun and Zhang Xiu had been ambushed. It would take time if they wanted to attack Shouchun. Once Zhang Xiu is defeated, they would be caught in a pincer attack and be defeated as well.
“Military Advisor, what do you think?” Liu Bei asked Pang Tong hopefully. Since Pang Tong had made the stratagem to conquer the Central Plains, Liu Bei had been very dependent on him. Now that something bad had happened, his first thought was to ask Pang Tong for advice. Unfortunately, Liu Bei would have to be disappointed this time as Pang Tong could only shake his head. It was no longer a situation that could be fixed with strategems. “Milord. Let us take our time before making a decision.”
Liu Bei sighed and then said, “Let’s go. Let us return to Yuzhou!” Liu Bei was not happy about this but he had no other choice. He was already forty years old. Even a thirty year old man would already be considered an old man. He no longer had much time left. He initially wanted to obtain the whole of Yangzhou. Together with Yuzhou, he would be able to compete for the world. However, Sun Ce had let Lu Bu run rampant for some reason, causing Zhang Xiu to get ambushed. Shouchun was also impossible to obtain. Now, he must also surrender the other half of Yangzhou that he did manage to capture. Fortunately, Liu Bei was used to being defeated and could take such setbacks better than others. His persistence is one of the reasons he managed to last so long.
“Milord!” Pang Tong observed Liu Bei and saw that Liu Bei was dejected. Pang Tong clenched his fist. As a strategist, solving his Lord’s problems were his job. Reaching this dead end made Pang Tong blame himself. Liu Bei’s quick recovery also made Pang Tong feel as though Liu Bei was the Lord of Ming in the wrong time. “Milord. I, Pang Tong, swears to give you the world!” Pang Tong declared with a firm gaze.
“Go! Go! We came here for so long and wasted so much effort for nothing! I might as well have stayed behind at Runan and accompany Second Brother drink wine!” Zhang Fei was extremely unhappy. He did not point his words at anybody in particular but also did not disguise his feelings towards Pang Tong.
“Third Brother. You speak too much!” Liu Bei admonished. Although he was disappointed in the lack of success, he knew that Pang Tong had did his best. They simply did not expect such a huge variable. Sun Ce was supposed to keep Lu Bu in check. Liu Mang was also supposed to still be at Guangzhou. These two changes destroyed their stratagem. “Have your men get ready to set out!”
“Milord. The Third General is right. We came here for such a long time, how could we take nothing?” Pang Tong sighed. He was a person who knew how to admit defeat. They have spent a lot to reach here. If they obtain nothing for this, Pang Tong would no longer have the face to remain in Liu Bei’s Army. “So right now, we cannot withdraw!”
“We cannot withdraw? s.h.i.+yuan. Do not be blinded by rage and lose everything!” Liu Bei advised. He was depressed for not being able to obtain Shouchun but he knew not to do anything foolish due to anger.
“Rest a.s.sured Milord. I have a plan!” Pang Tong laughed in order to calm Liu Bei’s heart.
“Then it is fine. s.h.i.+yuan. Let us return to Yuzhou and then reconsider things!” Liu Bei nodded. He was not afraid of failure as he had failed many times in the past. He was the most experienced person to console Pang Tong. Even if Zhang Xiu had been ambushed, he still had ten thousand Xiliang Cavalry. This would hold back the Lu Bu’s Army for some time. What Liu Bei needed to do now was to cut his losses.
Runaway Liu truly deserved this t.i.tle as his first thought was to run away. He was prepared to have Zhang Fei and Liao Hua guard the rear while relying on Zhang Xiu to buy time. He believed he could make a comeback as long as he still has the White Eared Soldiers.
“Milord. We can withdraw but we must take Zhang Xiu with us!” Pang Tong rejected Liu Bei’s intentions of retreating immediately.
“Pretty boys all study until they become dumb. I didn’t expect this to also apply to dark skinned1 people like you!” Zhang Fei mocked immediately. There was only one such person around Zhang Fei. Because of him, battles were different. Everything needed consideration which made Zhang Fei feel uncomfortable. If it had been him, he would just attack right away. However, Pang Tong was afraid of losses and lack of provisions. He even wanted to fight the war without using soldiers. Now, they fought until they were flat broke. “What benefits did that pretty boy Zhang give you?”
Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei and a monetary relations.h.i.+p. Even if they were allies, they simply followed Liu Bei for the benefits. Even Liu Pi had been executed just to appease them. The white faced Zhang naturally refers to Zhang Xiu. According to Zhang Fei’s logic, everyone with lighter skin than him are all pretty boys while the others like Pang Tong were dark skinned.
Liu Bei was the first to react in disbelief when Pang Tong said to have been bribed by Zhang Xiu. This is because although Pang Tong was a new addition, he had been forming strategies and also almost lost his life for Liu Bei. It was not possible for Pang Tong to betray Lu Bu. Besides that, if Pang Tong could have obtained more by embezzling the provisions as opposed to giving it to Zhang Xiu. In other words, Pang Tong had his reasons for saying that.
“Third Brother. If you say anymore, I am banning you from drinking until the first month of the next year!” Liu Bei furrowed his brows. Zhang Fei felt unhappy as Liu Bei had also said bad things about Pang Tong. Liu Bei could do this because he wanted to encourage Pang Tong but when Zhang Fei did it, it was simply provocation. Zhang Fei was his brother and his subordinate. On the other hand, Pang Tong was his strategist and his right hand man. He wanted the both of them to cooperate and obtain territory for him instead of harm each other.
“Fine. I won’t say anything!” Zhang Fei was like a child. Drinking wine was his greatest pleasure. If he was not allowed to drink, he might as well be dead. That was why Zhang Fei immediately kept quiet.
“Milord. Zhang Xiu is the only thing left that we could obtain from this entire campaign. Besides that, we would also need to save him anyway!” Pang Tong ignored Zhang Fei because he knew that Zhang Fei was a foolish boor. If someone made him unhappy, he would take revenge on that person. Pang Tong did not dare to fight with him and simply gave his explanation.
“He must be saved?” Liu Bei frowned. It would not be easy to save Zhang Xiu. They did not even know the number of enemies attacking Zhang Xiu. Considering the fact that Zhang Xiu had a cavalry of ten thousand, the enemy would most probably have a higher number of soldiers than his own. Besides that, Liu Bei had fought against the Lu Bu’s Army before. He knew that there were many powerful generals such as Lu Bu, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun. If he were to try and save Zhang Xiu, it would already be considered good results if he manages to survive. This was why Liu Bei’s first thought was to run. What kind of benefits could a defeated Xiliang Cavalry provide him?
“Milord. Do we have enough provisions?” Pang Tong asked calmly. He wanted to make plans for Yangzhou which is why he considered everything. He was known as the Fledging Phoenix for a reason. Liu Bei respected him no less than his own elders. Pang Tong obtained this with his own talent.
“Provisions?” Before Liu Bei could continue any further, Pang Tong interrupted him and said, “We have enough provisions for us to reach Anfeng and Gus.h.i.+!” Liu Mang who had no provisions could only gather everything at Shouchun. As a result, Liu Bei was never able to replenish provisions along the way. Although he could reach Gus.h.i.+ and Anfeng with his remaining provisions, he would not be able to reach Yuzhou. With the supply route cut off, it would be difficult to transport provisions over. Even if Guan Yu were to transport the provisions, it would already be too late.
A strong person would starve to death in about five days while a weak one would starve to death in about three days. Meanwhile, getting to Yuzhou from Anfeng would take seven days. This would be even longer if they were intercepted by Liu Mang along the way. Returning to Yangzhou would be impossible. Saving Zhang Xiu may be disastrous to the army but this would allow them to reduce the number of mouths to feed and also bring harm to Liu Mang and Lu Bu’s Army.
“We can just take provisions from Zhang Xiu’s camp!” Zhang Fei spoke out again. Liu Bei did not admonish him this time as Zhang Fei was right. Zhang Xiu had been using Liu Bei’s provisions and had enough provisions in their own camp to last for ten days. These provisions would be enough for them to reach Yuzhou.