Lü Bu was totally unaware that Fan Zeng, the old man with white hair and beard, had thought of him as a demon or monster, and he only focused on leading the 5,000 soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp on the journey.
After all, there were more people, and no matter how fast he marched, he would certainly not be faster than Zhong Gong who rode alone on a fast horse to deliver the message.
He went directly south from the capital of Yan State, Ji, passing through Changshan State on the way. Because Zhang Er and Chen Yu were fighting endlessly, they concentrated their forces in one place, so his journey was smooth.
Lu Bu, who was obsessed with the foolish king who made many stupid moves and had a poor brain, was tempted by the chaotic situation of the two sides fighting each other, but he finally suppressed the urge to get involved. He reluctantly led his neat troops and continued to head towards Sanqi.
Since entering Qi, Lu Bu has been on high alert and has been observing everything carefully.
It would be fine if you didn't observe it, but once you observe it, you will be amused: Tian Rong is so stupid, he is even more stupid than Xiang Yu!
Although Lu Bu always believed that the foolish King of Western Chu, although lacking some brains and cleverness, could finally tell the difference between good and bad - Xiang Yu was as cruel and ruthless to the enemy soldiers and civilians as he was to the fellow countrymen of Chu.
Because of this, both the 8,000 Jiangdong soldiers who followed Xiang Yu in his conquests and risked their lives, as well as the other people who stayed in Jiangdong, were loyal to him wholeheartedly.
But Tian Rong is extremely stupid!
He clearly wanted to be the King of Qi, but he insisted on establishing the incongruous Tian Shi as his master. He did not learn the lesson from Xiang Yu, who excluded the cowherd boy Xiong Xin everywhere and ended up in disgrace. In the end, he had to depose the man and proclaim himself the King of Qi. It was really a waste of time.
He never showed favor to the people of Qi, but kept demanding military rations and conscripting soldiers from them. Any delay would result in their lives being in danger, causing the people of Qi to complain. Isn't this killing the goose that lays the golden eggs and cutting off one's own retreat
He had neither strong power nor prestige that could command the support of everyone, but when he got angry, he provoked the Chu State, which had the strongest military force, and became the stupid one who stood out.
In Lu Bu's opinion, instead of going through so much trouble and ending up with a lot of trouble without getting any benefit, Tian Rong would be better off knowing the current situation earlier.
If we had sent bribes to Xiang Yu, who was in charge of the enfeoffment, earlier, we would have fulfilled our long-cherished wish!
What a stupid thing.
Lu Bu snorted and thought with contempt.
Especially after seeing the miserable conditions in Qi along the way, he laughed in his heart at the fools who were seeking their own death. At the same time, he also did what he did to the Yan people along the way when he went to the Yan area. Every time he passed through a county, he left hundreds of soldiers to garrison in the devastated county.
Not only did they have to clear out the bandits who took the opportunity to cause chaos and harm the people, they also had to open the local granaries and provide aid to the people in order to win their hearts.
Fortunately, he had listened to Chen Gong's nagging a lot in the past, and thought that someone would have to take over later, and the food being used was not his own... Lu Bu was not unfamiliar when giving orders, and although he was generous, he did not feel heartbroken.
Because of all the things that happened on the road, it was inevitable that some time was wasted.
When Lu Bu finally led the last 2,000 remaining soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp to the city of Chengyang, he looked up and saw the huge flag of the Chu army hanging and fluttering in the wind. The soldiers patrolling on it were all dressed in Chu army uniforms. It seemed that the war was over.
Because Lu Bu's appearance and temperament were different from ordinary people, and he had become quite famous in the Chu camp in recent months, when he first appeared at the foot of the city, the city gate guards who had received orders from his father-in-law recognized him at a glance.
Without even waiting for Lu Bu to take out the general's seal from his arms, he opened the city gate and let them all in.
Lu Bu didn't have to take out the torn seal that had disappeared somewhere, so he felt relieved and led his soldiers into the city in a swagger.
The streets in the city were filthy and bloodstained. Apart from the patrolling Chu soldiers, there was no sign of civilians. Lü Bu was quite confused and asked, "Where are all the people?"
When asked, the Chu soldier was surprised at first, but soon recovered and explained as usual: "General, they should all be hiding in the house."
Tian Rong abandoned the city and fled, the soldiers either died or surrendered, the enemy occupied the city, the people were terrified to survive, how could they dare to leave their homes
Lu Bu said "Oh" nonchalantly, and then asked: "Where did the king lead the army to chase?"
The Chu soldiers replied: "They should have reached the plain area."
It turned out that since the first battle outside the city that day, when the Qi army suffered heavy losses, Tian Rong finally realized the huge difference in strength between the two armies and became more and more afraid.
The Chu army was strong and their morale was high, while the Qi army was weak and their morale was low. The people of Qi were even more resentful. Even though Tian Rong had the advantage of geographical location, he was no match for the brave and incomparable Xiang Yu.
Within a day, Chengyang was captured. When Xiang Yu led the troops and rushed into the city, he was furious to find that Tian Rong, seeing that the situation was not good, had fled to the Central Plains with hundreds of his trusted remnants.
Xiang Yu then ordered Zhongli Mei to stay and guard Chengyang and put the captives in prison. He did not have time to give orders to others and led his troops to chase and kill Tian Rong.
Tian Rong fled all the way, but he had not yet noticed the situation that was quietly collapsing.
As soon as he escaped to a city and took a breath, he could not wait to order his men to gather the scattered remaining soldiers, and then forcibly requisition food, fodder, and young and strong men in the city in order to deal with Xiang Yu who was about to catch up with him.
However, he completely ignored the fact that he was no longer a powerful person with tens of thousands of soldiers at his disposal. His domineering attitude made the people of the Central Plains, who were already full of complaints and had been forced to swallow their anger, finally unable to bear it anymore. They simply made up their minds and took the lead in rebelling against him!
It would be difficult for them to survive in Tian Rong's hands anyway. Once the powerful Chu army arrives, they will still die. It would be better to strike first and kill the so-called King of Qi who only knows how to oppress his own people!
Tian Rong never imagined that the people, who used to work hard and accept his demands, would suddenly turn against him and take his life earlier than the terrifying King of Chu who was still on the road.
—How could these few hundred remaining soldiers be a match for more than ten thousand civilians
Less than five days after Tian Rong fled to the Central Plains, he was attacked by the people. He and his remaining troops died in his sleep.
Just at this time, Xiang Yu led his troops to attack.
He slaughtered or captured the scattered Qi soldiers along the way, and finally arrived here several days later.
He didn't think that Tian Rong could cause any trouble at this time, so the march was not hurried.
When his troops arrived at the city, he could clearly see Tian Rong's head, which had been carried to the top of the city wall on a bamboo pole by the people of the Central Plains as a signal to the pursuers of Chu.
Fan Zeng, who was accompanying the army, was jolted all the way by the hastily marching chariot. His face turned pale and he wanted to vomit but couldn't.
When he was summoned by Xiang Yu and came to the front army weakly, he looked up and saw Tian Rong's head, his face immediately improved a little, and he said happily: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Tian Rong lost the support of the people and died at the hands of the father of the country. It is really ridiculous."
Xiang Yu stared at the head silently without answering, his expression extremely indifferent.
Fan Zeng did not hear any response, so he subconsciously looked at his cold profile, but he easily caught the strong murderous intent in his double pupils, and was shocked.
Could it be…
This ominous premonition was deepened when Xiang Yu ordered to build camp, cook and repair on the spot instead of turning back.
Finally, it was fully fulfilled in the main tent where Xiang Yu held a temporary military meeting.
Xiang Yu stroked the cold gun handle indifferently, his deep eyes as cold as ice.
He summoned Long Ju and Fan Zeng into the tent, but he did not say a word for a long time.
When Fan Zeng was about to speak, feeling increasingly heavy-hearted, Xiang Yu suddenly opened his eyelids and uttered six chilling words: "Tomorrow we will massacre the city and bury the prisoners."
Including the citizens of the city and the captives captured along the way, there were nearly 30,000 people!
Fan Zeng was shocked and said without hesitation: "Tian Rong is dead, his army is also defeated, and his brother Tian Heng alone cannot accomplish anything. The people are just following orders and are innocent. Why does the king have to act so tyrannically?"
Xiang Yu smiled coldly and said cruelly: "The shameless Qi people followed Tian Rong in rebellion first, how can they say they are innocent? Now that they see that the army is defeated, they are afraid of death and even ruthlessly abandon their master. What's the point of keeping such ruthless and profit-seeking people without any integrity? They rebelled against Chu yesterday, they rebelled against Tian Rong today, and they can rebel against Chu again tomorrow!"
Since he is so fickle and unsteady, how can I have the nerve to ask him to give me a way out
In the eyes of the world, if he could easily bypass the soldiers and civilians of Tian Rong who were the first to rebel against Chu, how could such a laborious expedition have any severe deterrent effect
If the punishment is not severe, there will be imitators - only severe suppression can serve as a warning to others!
Moreover, the situation in Chen Yu of Changshan State is still uncertain, and the situation in Liangdi is also unclear.
Although Fengxian had a brilliant plan and sent Han Xin to suppress Peng Yue's army, Han Xin might not be very useful, and it was possible that reinforcements would be needed.
He needed to win the battle quickly so that he could free up his hands to personally conquer the two places where the fighting was still going on.
Seeing that Xiang Yu had made up his mind and turned a deaf ear to his advice, Fan Zeng felt anxious and helpless, with a hint of regret.
Looking back at history and the present, those who kill indiscriminately have never had a good ending!
It would be great if Fengxian was here... Yes, Fengxian!
Fan Zeng suddenly recalled what Zhong Gong had said a few days ago, that Lü Bu had set out again on the day he captured the capital of Yan and sent troops to help the king conquer Qi.
Fengxian was a man of swift and resolute character, and the troops in the Xianzhen Camp were all elite cavalry. Calculating the time, even if they were delayed for a few days on the way due to the battle in Changshan, they should be here soon.
When Fan Zeng thought about this, a bold idea suddenly came to his mind and his heart started beating like a drum.
This matter...maybe there is still room for recovery.
No matter how nervous he was, it could not compare to the time when he went to find Xiang Zhuang alone before the banquet and successfully persuaded him to assassinate Liu Bang under the noses of King Xiang and Xiang Bo. It was much more intense.
After Xiang Yu announced the decision, Long Ju knelt down on the spot without any meaning to obey his orders, while Fan Zeng, who was worried, slowly walked back to his tent after paying his respects.
Without waiting to sit down, he sent his personal soldiers to return to Chengyang to find Lu Bu. On the other hand, he was secretly planning how to delay the massacre in the city.
However, he didn't know that the personal soldier rode on a fast horse and galloped towards Chengyang for an hour before he ran into General Lu whom he was looking for.
It was late at night, and Lu Bu, who always had a bad feeling in his heart, did not allow his soldiers to build camps and rest. Instead, he forced them to continue on their journey and try to reach the plain as soon as possible.
When he saw this hurried rider on the road, he instinctively suspected that it was the King of Qi, Tian Rong, who was running away.
He had fully learned the lesson from his carelessness in Luoyang and accidentally released the traitor Cao Cao, who was disguised as a soldier. With the attitude of rather killing someone by mistake than letting him go, he ordered his men to stop him.
As a result, after asking a few questions, Lu Bu's face turned green with anger when he learned that the foolish king was going to make another fatal move.
"Damn it!!"
Lu Bu's eyes widened, and before he could finish, he roared angrily: "Prodigal sons only know how to do bad things!"
This sentence is so heartbreaking and sad that every word is heart-wrenching.
Lu Bu was almost in despair.
Thinking of him, the great Marquis Wen, he was so powerful in the past. Except for the hardship when looking for a place to settle down, once he settled down in a place, it was time for him to enjoy himself.
Gao Shun, Chen Gong, Zhang Liao and others are busy with everything. Even if you act on your own and get into trouble, they will clean up the mess for you.
How could his life be so miserable: he had to charge into battle, and use his poor brain all day long, serving the horse at his side, pouring his heart out, and worrying so much that he almost wished he could split himself in half and use him as two people!
No matter how hard and tiring it was, he was most afraid that this foolish king would ruin his plan to pacify the world and kill Liu Bang.
However, he did not expect that despite all his precautions, he still could not guard against a thief within his own family, and he was almost harmed by this stupid and foolish king!
—Kill, kill, kill, fucking kill!
Thinking of his hard work in pacifying the people and winning their hearts along the way, Lu Bu was so furious that he saw black and his hand holding the Fang Tian Huaji was shaking.
How could this thief God bully an honest man like this? !
—It’s obvious that I’m the one who wants to kill the most!
But in order to achieve great things, she had to hold it in and not say anything, and was bullied by a hopeless fool and became extremely angry!
The more Lu Bu thought about it, the angrier he became.
—I didn’t even clean up my own mess back then, and in the end I had to run around and clean up the mess for the foolish King of Western Chu! ! !
Seeing that Xiang Yu was about to ruin his plan of unifying the world and killing Liu Bang, he was so anxious that his mouth was almost blistered. How could he care about the other soldiers who were shocked and looked dazed
While everyone was still having ominous associations and were trembling with fear because of his offensive words just now, he was still full of rage, with the intention of cutting Xiang Yu into pieces and cooking him into soup, and he mounted the jade lion with a dark face, which was unaware of the situation.
"Follow me all!"
After casually saying this, he kicked his horse's belly with murderous intent, abandoned his army, and galloped towards the Central Plains alone like a wild horse.