Chapter 268: Lu Bu's Bravery, Xuzhou in Danger The beginning of a war is often just a moment. With the commander's order, the soldiers will charge forward. It’s not that Qin Zhen has never fought in a tough battle. Even though he was a strategist, he also commanded the war personally. He usually does not go to the battlefield in order to protect his own safety, but if necessary, he will personally join the army. This was the situation at the moment. After a day of siege, Lu Bu's soldiers were exhausted. His troops had been gathering strength for many days. In order to defeat Lu Bu in one fell swoop, Qin Zhen personally led his troops to attack Lu Bu's rear. I saw him standing on a chariot with a huge flag on it, which was the banner of the three armies! In ancient wars, in addition to the commander-in-chief's orders, the banner was also an important weather vane. Because when the war starts, the sounds of fighting between the two sides will be heard together, and no matter how loud an individual's voice is, it may be drowned out by the shouting. So in this era, wherever the banner pointed was the direction the soldiers would advance.

In order to break through Lu Bu's army in one fell swoop, Qin Zhen's banner moved forward, and his soldiers followed the banner and rushed forward. They were unstoppable as they crossed the border, breaking into Lu Bu's rear wing without any hindrance. If the army was led by an ordinary person, they would probably be defeated on the spot in this attack! But Lu Bu is different. He is known as the Flying General and is undoubtedly the bravest general in the Three Kingdoms! Seeing Qin Zhen leading his troops coming, Lu Bu did not order his troops to retreat, but led his troops from the front to turn around and attack towards the rear. It must be said that Qin Zhen chose the right opportunity for the battle, as Lu Bu's army had no desire to fight at this time. But in a sense, Qin Zhen's timing for sending troops was not perfect! Because after many days of siege, Lu Bu has fallen into a red-temperature state. His eyes were red, and he rushed towards the central army as if he had opened his hegemony. The whole journey was as easy as cutting melons and vegetables, and there was almost no enemy that could match him. This is also a feature of the cold weapon era. The bravery of a general will greatly boost the morale of his soldiers. As Lu Bu charged forward, the soldiers under his command advanced bravely one after another, heading straight for Qin Zhen's central army banner! If you look down from the air, you can see Qin Zhen's troops covering Lu Bu's rear like a dark cloud. But Lu Bu was like a sharp thorn, and he and his soldiers became a sharp sword, stabbing Qin Zhen's flank fiercely. The war situation has become quite complicated at this moment, and every decision is enough to determine victory or defeat. Seeing Lu Bu's banner advancing in the distance, the guards beside Qin Zhen shouted: "Military Advisor, something is wrong. It seems that Lu Bu is coming towards us to kill us!" Listening to his words, Qin Zhen narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, pointing to the northwest and said: "Send the order to Wen Xiang, charge in the northwest direction and cut off the enemy's retreat!" Years of fighting have taught him one thing: it’s useless to panic on the battlefield! Although Lu Bu was a little surprised that he did not choose to retreat immediately, he knew very well that momentary fear would not change the situation of the battle. Under the leadership of Lu Bu, his front army is constantly returning to charge. Once he is in the slightest confusion and his army is broken up by Lu Bu, the war may be turned around by Lu Bu.

The only solution is to keep advancing, cut off the connection between Lu Bu and the front army, and divide Lu Bu's troops into three sections! After success, Lu Bu's morale will plummet and eventually collapse! With this idea in mind, Qin Zhen did not waver in the face of the attack from the flank, but continued to command his troops forward. But during this process, Lu Bu was constantly approaching, seventy steps, sixty steps, fifty steps! Hundreds of cavalry gathered around him and charged forward recklessly, tearing a gap in Qin Zhen's flank. Seeing this, the guards became nervous and shouted: "Military Advisor, Lu Bu is less than fifty steps away from the center of the army!" After hearing this, Qin Zhen couldn't help but look towards the north, his hands sweating. If we ignore Lu Bu's character issues, he is definitely a rare and powerful general. When facing enemies like Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, he could crush them with the force of his troops, but his strategies were not very effective against Lu Bu. Just like now, he calculated the time to send troops very well, but was still rushed by Lu Bu. But although he was afraid in his heart, he remained calm on the surface and said in a deep voice: "Keep moving forward with the banner, and split the enemy's formation as quickly as possible!" A distance of fifty steps is actually within Lu Bu's shooting range! Lu Bu's archery skills are at a heaven-defying level as recorded in history books. If he doesn't pay attention, he might really die here! So after shouting, he stared at Lu Bu's direction. Fortunately, at this time, the troops from his rear army finally began to arrive in an endless stream, and a thousand generals went to meet Lu Bu and kill him. "Don't be so arrogant, little Lu Bu. Do you dare to fight me?" The two men passed each other by each other, and Lu Bu shouted loudly and killed one of them. When Xiahou Lan saw this, he rushed forward with his gun. But Lu Bu raised his halberd and knocked the man's spear down, and knocked him off his horse with the halberd. Seeing this, the soldiers of Liu Bei's army were horrified and dared not step forward to stop it. Lü Bu was even more excited after winning two consecutive victories. When he saw Qin Zhen approaching, he laughed loudly and said: "Qin Zhen, you will die under my spear today!" Qin Zhen watched Lu Bu approaching and couldn't help but look at the horse beside him. He wondered if he would be beaten by Lu Bu today and had to cut off his beard and abandon his robe? While he was thinking, he suddenly saw a general riding a yellow horse and holding a big sword, rushing towards Lu Bu. Seeing this person, he was immediately delighted and said hurriedly: "General Zhang, be careful, this guy is unbeatable!" That’s right, this person is Zhang Liao who has already joined Liu Bei’s army. As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Bu also noticed Zhang Liao rushing towards him. It was fine if he didn't see it clearly before, but now that he saw it clearly, he immediately flew into a rage and said: "Zhang Liao, how dare you betray me and join the enemy?" When Zhang Liao heard this, he felt ashamed for a moment. He didn't want to go to war in the first place. But seeing that no one could stop Lu Bu, he had no choice but to come out to stop him.

"I feel ashamed of the kindness that Lord Wen showed me in the past!" As he spoke, he raised his sword and swung it towards Lu Bu. Unexpectedly, Lu Bu grabbed the sword as soon as it fell and shouted: "If you feel guilty towards me, why don't you make way for me?" At this time, Lu Bu was completely bloodthirsty, his eyes were wide open, and he looked extremely terrifying. But when Zhang Liao saw him like this, he shouted: "Marquis Wen was unjust this time, why are you so stubborn?" As he said this, he exerted force suddenly, drew out his long sword and attacked Lu Bu again. Seeing that he did not retreat, Lu Bu became even more angry and quickly attacked with his halberd. The two men fought together, and it was difficult to tell the winner for a while, but Lu Bu's army was already exhausted at this time. Previously, the only way Lu Bu could pose a threat to Qin Zhen was due to his personal bravery. As Lu Bu's offensive ceased, his troops began to gradually disintegrate. Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from the north. Xu Sheng had already cut off Lü Bu's army. Then Song Xian hurriedly led his troops and said: "The enemy has cut off our retreat, Wen Hou, retreat immediately!" Hearing this, Lu Bu noticed that the number of soldiers and horses following him was decreasing. Although he is extremely brave, he will be killed sooner or later if he is surrounded by thousands of enemy troops. Therefore, when he saw that he was about to be surrounded, he pushed away Zhang Liao's long sword with his halberd and said: "Since you dare to betray me, if I see you tomorrow, I will kill you!" After he finished speaking, he rode out on his horse and headed out of the formation. The troops came and went freely as if they were entering and leaving an empty space. Qin Zhen was fighting on him, and looking at this situation, he couldn't help but sigh that he was indeed Lu Bu among men and Red Hare among horses! In terms of bravery alone, no one can stop Lu Bu unless Guan, Zhang and Zhao are here. After expressing his feelings for a while, he once again commanded his troops to surround and annihilate the enemy. As Lu Bu retreated, his troops finally began to disband and surrender, and a great battle ended. In this battle, Lu Bu led 9,000 soldiers and horses to besiege Shouchun, but was ambushed by Qin Zhen and lost nearly 5,000 troops. Qin Zhen led his troops to break into Lu Bu's army and, at the cost of more than 1,500 men, drove Lu Bu back into the camp. After such a victory, Qin Zhen had no time to count the spoils before he heard someone report: "Military Advisor, we have found General Xiahou, and he has sustained several injuries!" "Zhang Quchang has been assassinated by Lu Bu, there is no hope for his survival!" Hearing this, before Qin Zhen could speak, Zhang Liao on the side said with some embarrassment: "It's not that I don't want to step forward to rescue, it's just that the army is in chaos and I can't save him in time!" Seeing him like this, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled: "General, there is no need to do this. I have seen how brave Lu Bu is." "Fortunately, the general rescued me today, otherwise I would be in great danger today." "I have already noted this achievement for the general, so don't worry about it!" He also knew that Zhang Liao was feeling unhappy, so he tried to comfort him with a few words and said no more.

Seeing that Xiahou Lan was seriously injured, he led his troops towards the city. On the other side, Lu Bu was defeated again and returned to the camp. As soon as he returned to the tent, he threw his halberd to the ground and shouted angrily: "How dare Zhang Liao, the little boy, betray me? I will kill all his family members to vent my anger!" Seeing him so angry, Chen Deng, who was in charge of guarding the camp, stepped forward and asked in surprise: "Why did Lord Wen say that? Could it be that General Zhang Liao has defected to the enemy?" When he asked this question, before Lü Bu could say anything, Song Xian said indignantly: "If it weren't for this person's obstruction today, Qin Zhen would have been stabbed into the midst of thousands of troops by Marquis Wen!" Having said this, he told Chen Deng about the war that had just happened. Upon hearing this, Chen Deng was terrified. He didn't expect Qin Zhen to be so bold as to lead his troops to attack Lu Bu's army in broad daylight! Fortunately, Zhang Liao came to protect the emperor temporarily, otherwise Qin Zhen would have been killed here. But when he heard that Qin Zhen had defeated Lu Bu's troops again, he was secretly delighted. Seeing that Qin Song was nowhere to be seen, he hurriedly asked: "Since Wenhou was defeated by Qin Zhen, I wonder where Qin Wen showed his power?" Originally, Lu Bu was still immersed in the anger of Zhang Liao's surrender to the enemy. When he heard this, he looked around and immediately thought that something bad had happened! When he heard that Qin Zhen was leading his troops here, he only wanted to defeat Qin Zhen's troops and did not pay attention to Qin Song. Now that I think about it, it seems that he pushed Qin Song before leaving. Could it be that Qin Song has fallen into the hands of the enemy? Thinking of this, Lu Bu slapped his thigh, stood up with a cry and said: "Not good, Wen Biao might still be outside Shouchun City, someone come with me to rescue him!" As he said this, he was about to head out of the camp, but he heard a breathless voice: "General, don't worry. Song is fine and has returned to the army!" As he was speaking, Qin Song, with disheveled hair and untidy clothes, had already walked into the tent. Seeing Qin Song return, Chen Deng was a little disappointed, but Lu Bu was overjoyed. He stepped forward and grabbed Qin Song's hand and said: "Today, Bu saw that the siege was not going well, so he gave you a push unexpectedly." "I have learned that you have been trapped in the enemy camp and I am trying to lead troops to rescue you." "Fortunately, the gentleman returned safely. Thank you very much!" Seeing Lu Bu like this, Qin Song couldn't help but feel warm in his heart, thinking that you, Lu Fengxian, finally know how to behave like a human being! Thinking of this, he quickly said that he was fine, and then asked Qin Zhen why he came suddenly. His question naturally reminded Lu Bu of Zhang Liao's surrender to the enemy, and he hurriedly said: "Sir, you may not know that Zhang Wenyuan has already defected to the enemy!" "I thought Qin Zhen had lost many soldiers and generals, but now it seems that this man has been waiting for a long time!" When Zhang Liao was mentioned, he immediately thought of him and shouted: "Come here, pass on my military order, order Wei Xu to arrest Zhang Liao's wife, children and brothers!" "I will personally kill this man's entire family in front of him!" But when he said this, Qin Song stepped forward with a look of horror and said: "Wait a minute, Lord Wen, you just said that Zhang Liao has defected to the enemy army?" When Lu Bu saw this, he was stunned for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "That's right. If it weren't for this man's betrayal, our army would never have been defeated today!" Before he finished speaking, Qin Song's face suddenly turned pale: "Not good, we have fallen into Qin Zhen's trap of luring the enemy deep into our territory."

"Marquis Wen, please return to your army immediately, otherwise I'm afraid Xuzhou will be in danger!" (End of this chapter)