To the northeast of Changzi City, more than ten miles away, mountains crisscrossing.

In a forest where there were originally few people, there were a large number of soldiers standing in front of them.

A middle-aged man was sitting on a stone, holding a roast lamb leg in his hand, and eating in big mouthfuls.

A subordinate next to him glanced at the man, looking at him repeatedly but stopped, finally bit his lip and stood up.

"General Zhang, we took Gao Lan's food and equipment, and agreed to send troops to help him capture Shangdang. Why did we stay here for a long time? If Gao Lan asks questions in the future, wouldn't it be troublesome?"

It turned out that this middle-aged man was Zhang Niujiao.

On that day, he and Gao Lan "escaped from prison" and returned to Taihang Mountains. They soon found the place where Zhang Yan's Heishan Army was stationed.

He secretly found a group of his old subordinates. Those people were overjoyed and very excited when they saw him appear.

These old subordinates have been suspicious and exclusion from Zhang Yan. Every time the Black Mountain Army gained something, they always distributed it to Zhang Yan’s confidants first, and left some things that no one wanted before they could be their turn. Every time they fought, their troops would be allowed to go first, so everyone was always dissatisfied with Zhang Yan.

Zhang Niujiao's sudden return soon received allegiance from these generals.

Once when Zhang Yan personally led his army down the mountain to plunder materials, these generals suddenly surrounded Zhang Niujiao and appeared in the mountain village.

Most of the remaining tens of thousands of soldiers in the village chose to surrender, and some of the remaining ones who were unwilling to surrender were also killed by Zhang Niujiao. He successfully occupied the parcel that Zhang Yan had worked hard for many years and took all the families and relatives of the Black Mountain soldiers who were left in the parcel as hostages.

After Zhang Yan learned the news, he was naturally extremely surprised and angry. However, due to the numerous hostages, including his own wife and children, he could only choose to swallow his anger and temporarily camp on other hills, not daring to compete with Zhang Niujiao.

A few days ago, Gao Lan sent someone to send a letter to the mountain, sending Zhang Niujiao's supplies that had promised him to go to the party and assist in the attack. Zhang Niujiao happily agreed at the time, and ordered 20,000 troops in front of the messenger, rewarded the three armies and sent troops down the mountain.

However, after arriving at this forest on the northeast side of Changzi City, he suddenly ordered the entire army to station here, not to advance or retreat, and to wait and see the situation, which made several subordinates a little puzzled.

Zhang Niujiao looked at the subordinate and wiped the oil from his mouth.

"You, after following Chu Feiyan, why did your knowledge become more and more short-lived?"

The subordinate still didn't understand: "Please give me advice."

Zhang Niujiao said: "You and I know the strength of the Bingzhou army. How many times did Zhang Yan go down the mountain to attack? I have not fled in panic? I just returned to the mountain, and there were only 40,000 to 50,000 people in my hands. This time I took 20,000 people down the mountain. If I were as stupid as Zhang Yan and rushed out rashly, once I was defeated, the entire army would be wiped out. Even if I win, I would definitely suffer heavy losses and great casualties. Have you ever thought about what the outcome would be?"

The subordinate had a little enlightened: "At that time, the great situation that you have worked hard to re-create will be ruined. If you suffer such losses in the first battle, you will definitely disappoint your brothers."

"Come on!" Zhang Niujiao patted his thigh and said, "I have to let everyone know that I will follow Zhang Yan to die after he was defeated and die. Only by following me, Zhang Niujiao can you save your life and turn over. In this way, Zhang Yan's men will naturally come to surrender to me."

"General wise!"

The subordinate took the opportunity to flatter him.

"But we took the benefit of others, but ignored it. If Jizhou comes to ask questions in the future, what should we do? Yuan Shao can't beat Liu He, but it's not difficult to repair us."

Zhang Niujiao glared at him: "Who said he would ignore it?"

When the subordinate heard this, he became even more puzzled: "What the general means..."

Zhang Niujiao smiled mysteriously: "Don't worry, as long as you follow me, you will not only not be questioned by Jizhou, but also Jizhou will send a big gift after I keep it. Thank us."

At this time, a soldier ran over.

"General, when Zhang He retreated, he was ambushed by Ye Xiang, and the entire army was wiped out. Zhang He fled back to Huguan alone. Unexpectedly, Huguan had been captured by Zhu Ye. Zhang He was captured as soon as he entered the pass. Ye Xiang led his army back. Guan Yu opened the city gate and attacked both sides, Gao Lan's 50,000 troops. Now there is no way to heaven and no way to the ground."

"good!"

Zhang Niujiao threw the lamb leg and stood up.

"Let the brothers gather together and prepare to go down the mountain! Guan Yu and the others stalk the cicadas, so let's be the oriole once, haha!"

Yuanyang County was the county town with the worst floods after the dam breaking.

Early this morning, another section of the river outside the city was washed down, and Liu He personally led thousands of people to fight on the front line.

The heavy rain in the sky encourages the already turbulent and surging river water.

"Quick, send the sandbags here!"

Liu He didn't even wear a straw raincoat, and his whole body was already wet, but he seemed to be unaware of it. He carried two sandbags on his shoulders and ran towards the river bank.

He was a great general and worked so hard that others were inspired and were full of energy.

After struggling for a whole day, it was not until late at night that the gap was temporarily blocked, and Liu He and others were able to go back to rest.

Qian Li hurriedly came over with ginger soup and hot porridge. He looked at Liu He who was lying in the wooden bucket to take a bath and fell asleep against the edge of the bucket until his head accidentally slipped into the water. He couldn't help but shake his head.

"Why do you have to do it yourself? If something happens to you, wouldn't it be..."

Liu He interrupted him: "I have my second brother and others to deal with the war in Shangdang. I don't need to come forward. I am born with divine power, so I should do something, otherwise how can I be worthy of the elders and villagers in Bingzhou? They have always trusted me so much, which is the foundation of ours. It is precisely because of this that I am thinking of them. It is because of me who harmed them, so I should work hard."

Qian Li knew that nothing he said could not change Liu He's thoughts, so he could only sigh and bring the ginger soup and hot porridge to Liu He.

Liu He picked up a towel and wiped his face. He did not come out of the wooden barrel. Instead, he directly reached out to grab the ginger soup, raised his head and drank it all. Then he took the hot porridge and drank it all in a few sips like a glutton.

"The lord has been tired for a day and has not eaten the rice. Why don't you eat some meat to restore your energy?"

Qian Li originally prepared chicken, duck and fish for Liu He, but Liu He stopped him.

"The people are suffering from disasters. I wonder how many people still have no food to fill their stomachs. How can I beg for enjoyment alone?"

"But……"

"Okay, stop talking about this. Is there any news coming from Shangdang?"

Qian Li nodded and said, "The news came at noon today. It was just that the lord was busy on the river bank at that time, so he did not dare to disturb him."

"Oh? That must be a good news."

Liu He knew that if Guan Yu lost the battle, Qian Li would definitely report to him immediately regardless of everything. Moreover, he made so many careful arrangements, and there was no possibility of defeating the battle no matter what.

Qian Li smiled and said, "The Lord is like a god. Jizhou was defeated and returned. Zhang He was captured alive by General Dehui. Jizhou was 70,000 soldiers and horses, nearly 20,000 were killed and more than 20,000 were captured. Unfortunately, Zhang Niujiao suddenly led his army to rescue the enemy in the middle of the journey, breaking a gap in General Guan and his encirclement, allowing Gao Lan to escape, otherwise all the 70,000 troops would have to stay in Shangdang."

Liu He did not show any regrets about this news.

"I escaped. Gao Lan and Zhang Niujiao were originally let go on purpose. It would be useful to keep them. It may not be a good thing to let the second brother and the others capture Gao Lan so quickly. Zhang Niujiao has been locked in Yinguan City for many years. It seems that he has gained abilities and knows that he will gain the greatest benefit at the smallest price. He will make a lot more progress than I expected. He will hold his troops first, and when he is about to win a great victory in the end, he took advantage of the second brother and the others relaxed their guard and suddenly came out. There was no big loss, but he also rescued Gao Lan and got a great contribution. Hehe, I am afraid that in a while, another batch of food, grass and weapons will be sent to the Taihang Mountains in Jizhou."

"No matter how much they make trouble, they will never escape from the palm of their lord's hand in the end."

"Okay, there's no need to flatter you and me. Okay, you can go back and rest."

"Here." Qian Li put away the dishes and chopsticks, bowed and retreated.

Liu He narrowed his eyes, put his hands on the bathtub, and pondered for a while.

"It seems that the foreshadowing that has been prepared for many years in order to deal with Yuan Shao is also time to take action. Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao, I see how you can escape the disaster I have carefully prepared for you."

He had just lay down and was about to go to bed when he suddenly heard a noise outside, so he hurriedly opened the door and ran out.

"What happened?" Liu He stopped someone and asked.

"The villain has seen the general, and another gap has been broken in Meiji County."

When Liu He heard this, he pulled over his clothes and ran out while wearing them.

"Prepare your horse and go to Meiji County immediately."
Chapter completed!