The next day, a group of generals had been gathered in the meeting hall of Xiapi City. Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Lu Lingqi, Lu Bu, and a few other important generals of Lu Bu's army were all present. Mu Lin was naturally among them.
In fact, Mu Lin had sensed that something was wrong when he returned to Xiapi City. He had sealed off the entire place and prohibited people from entering and leaving. Anyone with a discerning eye would know that something was wrong in Xiapi City.
"Mu Lin, do you know why Xiapi City forbids everyone from entering and leaving?”
Lu Bu asked Mu Lin solemnly.
" It should be related to Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and the others," Mu Lin said.
In the battle of Xiaopei City, Cao Cao and Liu Bei had suffered a huge loss at his hands. Their 100,000-strong army had almost been wiped out, and this was under the condition that they had not captured Lu Bu.
Even though the Cao and Liu armies were strong, they found it hard to bear such losses.
A hundred thousand soldiers was not a small number. If they could wipe out Lu Bu's army after losing so many soldiers, Liu Bei and Cao Cao would be able to accept it.
However, the problem was that Lu Bu had actually managed to escape despite suffering such heavy casualties. Not even one of the important generals in Lu Bu's army had died. How could Cao Cao and Liu Bei accept such an outcome?
Among the three forces, Cao Cao hated Mu Lin and Lu Bujun the most.
Cao Cao had suffered the most losses among the three factions.
The 60,000 soldiers led by Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun were all wiped out outside Xiapi City. Their commanding generals, Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun, were killed and one fled. Cao Cao's losses were immeasurable in this battle alone, not to mention the subsequent battle at Xiaopei City, where Cao Cao's losses were even greater.
Therefore, the person who hated Mu Lin and Lu Bujun the most was Cao Cao.
The hatred between Lu Bu's army and Cao Cao's army had reached an irreconcilable level. Liu Bei's army might turn hostility into friendship with Lu Bu's army.
However, Cao Cao's army was definitely impossible!
Tao Qian's army in Xiaopei City had already submitted to Cao Cao, and the distance between Xiaopei City and Xiapi City was not far. Cao Cao could use Xiaopei City as a pivot point to continuously send troops and resources to Xiaopei City, and then launch an attack on Xiaopei City.
"You're right, it has something to do with Cao Cao and Liu Bei."
Lu Bu looked at Mu Lin with approval, but he didn't continue. Instead, he gestured for Chen Gong to explain to Mu Lin.
" Now, our army has received intelligence that after the last battle at Xiaopei, Liu Bei and Cao Cao did not let the matter rest. Instead, they used Xiaopei City as their temporary headquarters and constantly sent troops and supplies to Xiaopei. From the looks of it, the allied forces of Liu Bei and Cao Cao in Xiaopei City will soon launch another attack on Xiapi City. Perhaps, the two armies are already on their way here."
Chen Gong stood up and explained to everyone.
" It seems that Liu Bei and Cao Cao are determined to destroy us. Despite suffering such heavy losses, not only did they not restrain themselves, they even regrouped their forces and prepared to launch an attack on Xiapi City." Mu Lin nodded. From the beginning, he knew that Liu Bei and Cao Cao would not give up just like that. They would definitely attack Lu Bu's army again.
However, Mu Lin did not expect the Liu and Cao armies to move so quickly. It had only been less than a week since the battle of Xiaopei City.
Less than a week after their defeat, they had gathered their forces again to launch an attack on Xiapi City. From this, one could vaguely see the determination of Cao Cao's and Liu Bei's armies.
They had made up their minds to remove Lu Bu's army from Xu Prefecture no matter the price!
Chen Gong continued,"The foundation of Lu Bu's army is far inferior to that of Cao Cao's army. Cao Cao claims to have 500,000 soldiers. Although the losses from before were not small to Cao Cao's army, it did not affect the foundation of Cao Cao's army. Although Liu Bei's army is not as strong as Cao Cao's army, Liu Bei's headquarters are located in Jiangling. He also has 200,000 elite soldiers, which is far above our Lu Bu's army."
" Neither of the two armies is a match for our current Lu Bu's army. In the next attack, the Liu and Cao armies will send at least 80,000 troops to Xiapi City. After the battle at Xiaopei City, our Lu Bu's army has also suffered heavy losses. With the current 20,000 troops of Xiapi City, it's almost impossible for us to defend Xiapi City."
Lu Bu's army had been able to defeat Liu and Cao's two armies due to luck.
Cao Cao's army was strong. He had lost nearly 100,000 soldiers, but he still had 400,000 soldiers at his disposal. Lu Bu's army, on the other hand, had less than 50,000 soldiers in total. After the battle at Xiaopei City, they had lost more than 30,000 soldiers. Now, there were less than 20,000 soldiers in the entire Xiapi City. How could they resist the menacing joint army of Liu Bei and Cao Cao?
In the last battle, Lu Bu's army still had Mu Lin's 10,000 " black armored heavy cavalry ". Those 10,000 black armored heavy cavalry were almost completely wiped out in the Battle of Xiaopei. How could the 20,000 ordinary soldiers in Xiapi City stop the 80,000 troops of the Liu and Cao armies?
The severity of the matter caused Zhang Liao and the others to fall silent.
Based on the current situation, Xiapi City could not be defended. The only way was to retreat. However, the only city that Lu Bu's army had occupied was Xiapi City. If they lost it, Lu Bu's army would become a wandering army. It would be very difficult for them to make a comeback! It was extremely difficult!
If they lost the city, how many people would join Lu Bu's army in this chaotic world?
"Everyone, I wonder if you have any way to help Xiapi City get through this crisis?”
Chen Gong fell silent.
As Lu Bu's military advisor, he did not have any good ideas to deal with the upcoming crisis.
The quiet conference hall fell silent again…
" If you ask me, it's impossible for us to defend Xiapi City with our current 20,000-strong army. We can only ask for reinforcements."
Mu Lin's words were clear and concise.
"It's not that we haven't thought about this, but who's willing to help us? Our Lu Bu army is isolated and without allies. Not only do we have no allies, but we also have many enemies around us. Under such circumstances, who would be willing to help us?”Chen Gong asked with a frown.
"There's no such thing as willingness, only whether or not we can. As long as there's a benefit to be gained, the other party will definitely help us. However, in order to take down Xu Prefecture, didn't the two of them join forces? "As far as I know, Liu Bei's army and Cao Cao's army had a lot of conflict and hatred," Mu Lin said with a smile.
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