"Husband, can you defend Xiapi?"

Five days after Guan Yu and others went to war, Zhou Ping got up and Gan Qian helped him wash up.

"Why do you ask?"

Zhou Ping felt strange that Gan Qian would not usually ask such questions.

"People in the city are saying that Cao Cao and Yuan Shao have hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Xuzhou. We have been defeated again and we will definitely not be able to defend Xiapi. They are also saying that if Cao Cao enters the city, everyone in the city will be killed.

Everyone was very scared."

"Don't worry, it's no problem to defend Xiapi. Cao Cao can't enter the city."

Zhou Ping comforted him.

After leaving the room, Zhang Wu stood guard outside the room with a bow and arrow on his back.

The servant Ah Shui hurried over and said, "Young Master."

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Ping asked, he asked Ah Shui to go out every day to inquire about the rumors in the city, and wanted to know what the people in the city were thinking.

Ah Shui shook his head: "Young Master, the people in the city are very scared and feel that General Liu cannot defend Xiapi!"

"Did anyone say they wanted to leave the city and surrender?"

"That's not true. The people of Xiapi all know that Cao Cao is cruel and easy to kill. He will die if he goes out of the city to ask for surrender. They all said they would rather die in battle and starve than go out of the city and be beheaded by Cao Cao."

"That's good, continue to inquire, and tell me that General Liu has a good strategy to defeat the enemy, so don't panic."

"promise."

Zhou Ping took Zhang Wu and a dozen guards out of the house and went to the Prefectural Mufu.

Along the way, we encountered a lot of patrolling soldiers and few people going out.

"Young Master, does my lord really have a plan to retreat from the enemy?"

Zhang Wu couldn't help but ask.

"Not yet." Zhou Ping responded calmly.

"Then... how about you let me shoot Cao Cao?" Zhang Wu asked again.

Zhou Ping turned to look at Zhang Wu and said with a smile: "Your idea is very good, but it's just impossible to do it."

"Why? I have a red rabbit horse. I can go straight to Cao Cao. When I get close, I will raise an arrow and shoot him. I am confident that I can kill Cao Cao."

Zhang Wu has obviously been thinking about this idea for a long time.

"It's good that you have red rabbits and horses, but you can't get close to Cao Cao. Even if you can get close, Cao Cao is protected by Dian Wei, and he is wearing armor. If you can shoot him so easily, won't I let you go?"

"

"Then how can we make Cao Cao retreat?"

Zhou Ping said: "Don't worry, I have an idea in my mind. As long as the lord agrees, we may be able to relieve the siege of Pi."

"Really! What do you think?" Zhang Wu asked anxiously.

"Haha, if my lord agrees, you will know it."

Zhou Ping stopped talking and went outside Liu Bei's house.

I happened to see Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang getting off the carriage in Zhizhong.

"Tzuyu, Kongming."

Zhou Ping handed the horse to the guards and walked towards them.

"gentlemen!"

Zhuge Liang first bowed to Zhou Ping.

"Have you heard about General Zhou?"

Zhuge Jin asked directly.

"What did you hear?"

Zhou Ping was a little confused.

Zhuge Jin came over with Kong Ming and said: "The people in the city and the officers and soldiers in the army all say that the city cannot be defended, and they are terrified!"

"What do Zhuge Zhizhong think?"

"Alas!" Zhuge Jin shook his head, "If my lord had used Sir's strategy and asked Yun Chang and others to lead only a thousand men to fight, and then return immediately after the victory, there would be no situation like this. Now that the soldiers are defeated and the soldiers are timid, if they want to

I'm afraid it will be even harder to defeat the enemy!"

"Brother, why are you so discouraged? Although we didn't win the battle, our troops and horses are still there. There is enough food and grass in the city to defend the city. Cao Cao repeatedly slaughtered the people of Xuzhou, but the people in the city have no intention of surrendering to survive. They are all willing to defend the city and die together.

There is no intention to surrender in the city. Even if there are 200,000 troops besieging the city, they can't break it. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao have joined forces of more than 100,000 troops, and the transportation of food and grass is inconvenient. As long as we hold Xiapi in February and March, they will retreat on their own.

." Zhuge Liang took a step forward and said.

Zhou Ping was very satisfied after hearing this: "What Kong Ming said is as I thought. Although Cao Cao has many soldiers and horses surrounding the city, we also have a lot of defenders. They can't break the city by force. Unless the city is in chaos, otherwise they can't enter."

We can't reach the city. Cao Cao has repeatedly massacred the people of Xuzhou, but no one wants to surrender. Therefore, we can have no worries in Xiapi, as long as we hold on."

"Hahaha, Kong Ming thinks more than me!"

Zhuge Jin smiled and entered the house with Zhou Ping.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Mi Zhu were already there, and Liu Bei was sitting at the top with a worried look on his face.

"Greetings, my lord!"

After Zhou Ping, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang saluted, they sat on the side seats.

Zhang Wu stood outside the door, separated from Xu Chu.

"Sir, you must have heard that the soldiers and people in the city say that the city cannot be defended?"

Liu Bei asked Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping nodded and said, "Ping has heard about it."

"If I had listened to Sir's words that day, maybe the army would not have been defeated..."

Zhou Ping quickly interrupted Liu Bei: "My lord, the matter has come to an end. It is useless to talk about the past. Now we should think about how to withdraw from the enemy and relieve the siege."

Liu Bei sighed: "Cao Cao's 100,000 troops besieged the city. I heard that Zhang Xiu and his 20,000 troops were about to arrive. 30,000 troops from Qingzhou were surrounding Ju County. Sun Quan from Lujiang was also leading his troops to attack Wan County.

I heard that we have been victorious for a while, but it seems that the Jiangxia soldiers cannot hold Lujiang anymore. We have also been defeated for a while, and it is not easy to retreat the enemy and relieve the siege!"

"By the way," Liu Bei continued, "Chen Yuanlong sent a letter and sneaked into the city last night, saying... let us abandon Xiapi and retreat to Guangling. He also said that if Cao Cao and Yuan Shao get to Xiapi, they will definitely meet

They fight each other and have no time to go south. Even if they lead their troops to go south, we will be safe if we defend by the river. Moreover, if Guangling cannot be defended, we can retreat to the east of the river."

"Abandon the city and retreat?!" Zhou Ping said in shock.

Others were also surprised.

"Brother, how can we abandon the city and retreat!" Guan Yu was reluctant at first.

"Yes, brother, although we didn't win the battle, we can still defend Xiapi. If Cao Cao can't attack, why should we abandon the city?" Zhang Fei followed up.

"My Lord, I agree with what Yuan Long said. Cao Cao's 100,000 troops are besieging the city, and Zhang Xiu's troops are coming again. We have been defeated for a while, and now the soldiers and people in the city are afraid. If we continue to defend, we are afraid that the city will collapse!" Mi Zhu said

.

"Tzuyu, what do you mean?"

Liu Bei asked Zhuge Jin.

Zhuge Jin first glanced at Zhou Ping and replied: "Xiapi is now difficult to defend. If we can retreat to Guangling, we will indeed have a way out. If not, we can retreat to Jiangdong. However, now that the city is surrounded on all sides, we

It’s not easy to retreat!”

"Before Zhang Xiu's troops arrive, let's lead all the troops to charge and break out. I think it won't be too difficult," Mi Zhu said.

Liu Bei waved his hands and said: "We are out, what will happen to the people in the city? Will Cao Cao let them go?"

"This... my lord, I don't care about all these things now. I just wait until one day to kill Cao Cao to avenge them!" Mi Zhu replied.

"No!" Liu Bei said resolutely, "The people of Xuzhou are willing to serve me as their shepherd, and the people of Xiapi have entrusted their lives to me. How can I live up to their trust? Let alone abandon them and leave. This is absolutely unacceptable.

!”

"If we bring the people with us, we may not be able to break out!"

"If we can't take the people with us, then we won't leave!"

Liu Bei seemed to have imagined the scene of people being slaughtered, his eyes were angry and his tone was firm.

"If we don't leave, how will we defend the city?" Mi Zhu asked again.

"Brother, why don't we take all our troops and horses and go out of the city to fight to the death with Cao Cao? I don't believe we can't kill Cao Cao!"

Zhang Fei shouted loudly that he believed that the defeat a few days ago was because he had too few troops.

"No, we are not ready to fight to the death." Liu Bei shook his head.
To be continued...