Chapter 262: Three Words and Three Strategies, It's a Regret That We Met Too Late On the other hand, it is said that Lu Bu suspected Chen Deng of collaborating with the enemy, so he stopped at Xutai and called Chen Deng over. Unexpectedly, after Chen Deng arrived, his extreme actions not only eliminated Lu Bu's doubts, but also gained Lu Bu's trust again. Seeing that Zhongli was heavily guarded, Chen Deng suggested that Lu Bu raid Dongcheng and take a detour. After listening to Chen Deng's plan, Lu Bu simply abandoned the water route and led his troops towards the east city. So when Qin Zhen was confronting Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, Lu Bu had already arrived at the city of Dongcheng. Dongcheng is the border between Guangling and Jiujiang counties. Compared with the smooth roads in other areas of Huainan, the terrain here is quite complicated. It is also because of this that Dongcheng is a remote area with a sparse population. Originally this place had always been a strategic stronghold under Yuan Shu, but since it was captured by Lu Bu last year, there has been no large army stationed here anymore. Seeing Lu Bu's army of more than 20,000 approaching, the county magistrate was afraid of his power and surrendered without a fight.

Lu Bu thus entered the city, thinking he had opened the road to Jiujiang, and had another banquet. As a result, before he could mobilize his troops, he received a letter from Gao Shun in the north. This letter was written by Gao Shun right after he met Qin Zhen. It detailed Qin Zhen's declaration of defeating the enemy in four days. When Lu Bu received the letter, he was shocked. Seeing that Qin Zhen had arrived in Zhongli, he called Chen Deng and Qin Song to discuss the matter. When the two heard that Lü Bu had summoned them, they went into the mansion. After seeing the letter, Qin Song said to Lü Bu: "This must be Qin Zhen's bluffing. If he can defeat the enemy in four days, then he can just start. Why bother talking so much?" "If I say this, I'm afraid the two generals will be afraid to pursue us, so he can send troops back to help!" But as soon as he finished speaking, Chen Deng smiled and said: "Qin Zhen is a man of many wisdom and strategies, and he is extraordinary. How can we judge him by common sense?" "I see this man telling me this, I'm afraid he can really defeat the two generals' troops!" "If we don't believe it and ask this person to break it, what should we do?" Qin Song frowned and said nothing after hearing this, while Lu Bu said in a deep voice: "My opinion is similar to Yuanlong's. Qin Zhen's actions cannot be judged by common sense!" "If this is true, what should our army do?" Seeing this, Chen Deng knew that Lu Bu was worried. If it were before, he would definitely advise Lu Bu to withdraw his troops as soon as possible. But now that he had made up his mind, he was determined to put Lü Bu in a dead end. When he saw Lü Bu asking him for advice, he stepped forward, bowed, and said: "How to judge this matter depends on whether the general really intends to be an enemy of Liu Shijun!" "In my opinion, Qin Zhen is a very good commander of the army. He may be able to defeat the two generals as soon as possible." "But since Qin Zhen said so, whether he was bluffing or really meant it, it can prove that there are heavy troops in Zhongli." "Right now, General Liu has to defend against Cao Cao in the north and mobilize tens of thousands of troops to attack Jiangdong in the south." "According to this calculation, no matter how many soldiers and horses there are in Jiujiang, they will not exceed 30,000!"

"Since Qin Zhen wants to resist our army in Zhongli, he has probably already mobilized more than 10,000 soldiers to defend Zhongli." "It is just as if one side is growing while the other is declining. Zhongli has many troops, so Shouchun must be left empty!" "In my opinion, if the general really wants to be an enemy of Envoy Liu, he can order the two generals to go south to guard the East City, and then attack Shouchun directly." "As long as we act like this, as long as East City doesn't fall, the general can come and go as he pleases!" "On the contrary, if the general does not wish to be an enemy of Envoy Liu anymore, he can withdraw his troops and return. It is not too late!" After hearing what he said, Lu Bu thought about it carefully, and Qin Song frowned and said: "Why is your plan so radical? It is completely different from the plan you proposed before!" "You must know that if our army takes Yinling, we can advance to plan for Quyang, and retreat to force Qin Zhen out." "Why do you offer such a plan after seeing a letter?" He naturally suspected that Chen Deng had some plan, so his words were quite unkind, but Chen Deng, seeing this, smiled leisurely and said: "Sir, you have misunderstood me. This is a change of circumstances, not a radical measure." "Qin Zhen has not shown up before, and we don't know whether he is in Shouchun or somewhere else, so it is best to take Yinling first." "Now that Qin Zhen has appeared in Zhongli, we can infer that all his troops are here." "Shouchun is so empty. Instead of attacking along the way, it would be better for our army to take Shouchun directly!" "Of course, if you think this plan is inappropriate, we can attack Yinling again!" Faced with his words, Qin Song found it difficult to cope with. If Chen Deng continued to persuade Lu Bu to march into Shouchun, he would have to think about what Chen Deng was planning. But now Chen Deng has put the choice on him, and he doesn't know how to choose! Indeed, the current situation is just as Chen Deng said. Now that Qin Zhen appears in Zhongli, Shouchun must be empty. If they were to seize Yinling now and Qin Zhen defeated Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, their retreat would be cut off by Qin Zhen. On the contrary, if we attack Shouchun directly, we will have a chance to get Liu Bei's family. No matter how many victories Qin Zhen achieved, he had to return immediately. In a sense, this strategy is to hit the snake at its most vulnerable part. After thinking about it for a while, he fell into silence, but Lu Bu obviously would not allow him to think too long. After listening to Chen Deng's words, Lu Bu looked at Qin Song and said: "I don't know what Wenbiao means. How should our army advance if Qin Zhen is like this?" Qin Song heard this and thought for a while, then insisted on his own opinion: "In my opinion, our army's strategy cannot be easily changed!" "We should first take Yinling, and then consider how to advance." "But we must take your words into consideration. We should station a troop here to protect our army's retreat route."

Upon hearing his words, Lu Bu simply nodded, left his deputy general Li Feng with 3,000 soldiers to garrison here, and marched towards the north with his troops. It is also said that after Chen Jiao had discussed the matter with Qin Zhen in the past, he headed south. But he was just a scholar after all, and his speed was far slower than Lu Bu's military reports. Therefore, it was not until Lu Bu sent out his troops that they arrived at Dongcheng. But when he entered the city and asked, he found out that Lu Bu had already led his troops northward. In desperation, he followed Lu Bu's army northward, and encountered Lu Bu's army camped on the road at night. Before arriving at the military camp, talk about everything and then let them in the camp. As a result, as soon as he entered the camp, he was searched and interrogated. After hearing the reason, he realized that he was sent by Lu Bu. It turned out that although Chen Deng's words that day gained Lu Bu's trust, they made Qin Song wary. Therefore, he suggested to Lu Bu that in order to prevent Chen Deng from colluding with foreign enemies, all people coming and going should be checked. Lu Bu followed his advice and set up a checkpoint outside Chen Deng's camp, and anyone entering or leaving was strictly checked. When Chen Jiao heard the whole story, he was horrified. He thought that it was a good thing that Qin Zhen and Chen Deng were so thoughtful, otherwise he would be in trouble! But at the same time he was feeling relieved, he was also worried. With Lu Bu defending so strictly, how could Chen Deng convey the message? Thinking of this, he entered the tent with a worried heart and met Chen Deng. After confirming that there was no one around, he told Qin Zhen's words one by one. When Chen Deng heard this, he immediately stroked his beard and smiled: "Qin Zhen is indeed an extraordinary person. He came up with a plan to defeat the enemy in an instant. Now we can act now!" Seeing him smiling like this, Chen Jiao was filled with worry and sighed: "Your Excellency only said that you can do it, but I am worried about your safety." "Lü Bu is so wary of you right now. If this matter is leaked, we can still be safe, but how can you escape?" He was not as skilled or courageous as Chen Deng, and he felt that Chen Deng's plan was very risky! It is so difficult to contact Qin Zhen right now, let alone help Qin Zhen seize Xia Pi. Once the matter was exposed, even if Chen Deng had troops under his command, it would be difficult for him to escape. So now seeing Chen Deng like this, he was quite worried. However, as he said this, Chen Deng's smile remained unchanged as he said: "Ji Bi thought I was in danger, but he didn't know that Qin Zhen had told me how to escape!" "He used you to tell me three things this time. One is to plot against Lu Bu; the second is to take Xia Pi; the third is to help me escape!" "I know this man's three strategies, so I can act accordingly and I will be safe!" When Chen Jiao heard this, he was immediately shocked. He thought to himself that the three things Qin Zhen mentioned were all troop mobilizations, and there were actually three strategies hidden in them? If Chen Deng hadn't told him, how could he possibly understand the mystery? Thinking about the strategy, he hurriedly asked Chen Deng what Qin Zhen's three sentences meant, and then he saw Chen Deng with his hands behind his back and smiled: "It's not difficult to understand Qin Zhen's words, but you have to know how to use this letter!" "Now I am the insider, allowing him to plot against Lu Bu. Why did he first mention the mobilization of troops from Xiao County?" "From this perspective, this letter must have been finalized before Qin Zhen arrived!"

"According to the time, the news will arrive soon. When Lu Bu heard this, he was worried about Xuzhou's defense!" "I can then advise Lu Bu to mobilize Chen Gong to stop Xu Shu!" "Secondly, Zang Ba is about to march south, and his army is extremely powerful. If we want to resist him, we should send a large force north to Tan County." "If I save Lü Bu and transfer his troops north to defend against Zang Ba, he will certainly follow me." "If we act this way, Xia Pi will be empty. We only need to send Bao Jian (Xu Xuan) to the north to cooperate with my father from inside and outside to take it." "Then, Qin Zhen asked Lei Xu to go north. This man is our Guangling soldier." "If he seizes the East City, Lu Bu will be angry and turn back. I only need to ask to attack him from behind, and Lu Bu will certainly agree." "In this way, I can calmly lead my troops away from here and escape with my life!" "Qin Zhen taught you to talk to me like this because he wanted me to act this way. With these three strategies, how can I not escape?" After hearing his explanation, Chen Jiao's expression suddenly became interesting, and he asked again: "If that's the case, then why would Qin Zhen suspect that the envoy is unwilling to act?" He suddenly remembered that Qin Zhen had said at the end that if Chen Deng was willing to do so, then he could do it. He was obviously worried that Chen Deng was unwilling to do so. Since Qin Zhen has arranged everything, why should he worry that Chen Deng is unwilling to act? When Chen Deng heard this, he looked at Chen Jiao, shook his head and said with a smile: "This is just Qin Zhen's polite words, so this matter concerns the safety of our Chen family." "He said this to tell me that I don't want to force it!" "This person is very intelligent and knows how to deal with people. He knows me." "If I had met this person earlier, maybe we could have become close friends!" "Now it is a matter of state, so what if I die here?" Having said this, he suddenly felt that he and Qin Zhen had met too late, and then he said to Chen Jiao: "This time, I'll have to trouble Ji Bi to return to Guangling to communicate. Please make sure to inform father first!" "As long as I mobilize Chen Gong and his troops, I will tell my father to act according to your plan." "As long as this is accomplished, we can drive Lu Bu out once and for all!" Seeing that Chen Deng was going to send him to deliver another message, Chen Jiao smiled helplessly. But this time, he had no more complaints. He responded and walked out of the camp again. At the same time, another soldier informed Qin Song about Chen Jiao's arrival. When Qin Song heard the news, he couldn't help but think that Chen Jiao was a close minister of Chen Deng. With such frequent contacts, could he be communicating with Qin Zhen? Thinking of this, he brought the news to Lu Bu's tent and told him. After hearing this, Lü Bu ordered Chen Deng to come and ask him about it. Chen Deng smiled and said: "I was just about to come and tell the general that Ji Bi came here just now and said that something strange happened to Lei Xu in the south." "This man has his own army in the south. When he heard that I was sending troops, he might take action, so he asked me to lead the army back." "When I heard this, I said that we should take Wen Hou's matter as the most important thing and let him go back to be on guard."

Qin Song naturally could not find any fault with such remarks. Lu Bu also knew that Lei Xu had a lot of troops in the south, so he no longer had any doubts. As a result, Chen Deng survived the crisis again. After this incident, he knew that Qin Song was suspicious and stopped sending messages. Two days passed like this, and before Lu Bu arrived at Yinling, news came from the north that Zhang Liao and Gao Shun had been defeated by Qin Zhen. Upon hearing the letter, Lu Bu was naturally surprised, and Qin Song also secretly thought that Qin Zhen was a great military commander. Seeing that Qin Zhen was free, Qin Song suggested to Lu Bu that they should surround Yinling first and lure Qin Zhen to fight. Lu Bu followed the man's advice and accelerated his march all the way to the city of Yinling. (End of this chapter)