Not long after the three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang, left Taishan County, Xiao Ran and Zhang Liao also rushed to Taishan County and sent a message to Zang Ba. After Zang Ba received the message from Xiao Ran and Zhang Liao, he immediately met them.

In Zang Ba's living room, after Xiao Ran, Zhang Liao and Zang Ba sat in turn, Zang Ba smiled and said to Xiao Ran and Zhang Liao: "I didn't expect that Wang Bingzhou's sworn brother and his capable generals would come to visit me, Zang. It really made the humble house shine!"

After hearing Zang Ba's compliment, Xiao Ran laughed and replied, "Teacher Zang was joking." After hearing this, Zang Ba laughed without saying a word.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran said in his heart: 'Zang Ba is indeed meticulous. If it weren't for the elder brother's face-to-face advice before leaving, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to deal with this Zang Ba!" Thinking of this, Xiao Ran smiled and said to Zang Ba, "Teacher Zang, we are wise and don't say secret words. I, Xiao Ran, come here. If you have something to do, please help Leader Zang!"

When Zang Ba heard this, he pretended to be surprised and replied: "General Xiao was joking, what's the virtue of me, Zang Ba!"

Hearing Zang Ba say this, Zhang Liao continued, "Tong Zang, it's boring to say this!" After hearing Zhang Liao's words, Zang Ba finally stopped pretending to be stupid and said with a serious expression: "General Zhang, I already know the purpose of your coming, it is nothing more than asking me to cut off the food route of the Xuzhou Army. There is no room for negotiation on this matter, and I don't want to be the target of public criticism."

When Xiao Ran heard this, he thought to himself: "Zang Ba is indeed a talent, but fortunately our purpose is not to let him send troops." Thinking of this, Xiao Ran took over the conversation and replied: "Mr. Zang, you misunderstood us. The purpose of our trip is not to let you send troops, but to let you keep your troops still."

Zang Ba was surprised when he heard what Xiao Ran said, thinking: "Xiao Ran's purpose was not to ask me to send troops to help them, but to ask me to hold my troops. Could it be that Wang Jie can resist the siege of the heroes in the world by his own strength? If Wang Jie really did it, wouldn't the general trend of the world be biased towards Wang Jie? It seems that I can't adopt a strategy of not helping each other."

Thinking of this, Zang Ba smiled and replied, "General Xiao, I agree to your request." Seeing this, Xiao Ran smiled and replied, "Mr. Zang is really happy. Since that's the case, Wen Yuan and I will say goodbye to Lord Zang." After hearing this, Zang Ba stood up and came to Xiao Ran and Zhang Liao, and said to the two, "General Xiao, General Zhang, I still have important things to do, so I will send you away not far away."

After hearing this, Xiao Ran and Zhang Liao clasped their fists and bowed, and at the same time said goodbye to Zang Ba, then left Zang Ba's reception room, and soon left Taishan County and returned to Le'an Country. As soon as they settled down, Zhang Liao said to Xiao Ran: "General, Zang Ba has promised us to stop moving. Should we prepare and welcome the arrival of Xuzhou Army!"

After hearing this, Xiao Ran thought about what Ouyang Hao said to him, nodded and replied: "If the Xuzhou army wants to restrain the main force of the third brother, they must rush to Pingyuan County to launch an offensive. There are three roads to reach Pingyuan County, one is to go to Taishan County, the other is to go to Le'an Country, and the last one is to go to Jinan Country. Now that the Yellow Turban Guan Hai has defected to us, Taishan Zang Ba decided not to let Xuzhou Army go, so the Xuzhou army can only go to Jinan Country. We will rush to Jinan Country to set up defenses now."

After hearing this, Zhang Liao replied: "General, then I will go back to Jizhou and dispatch troops to Pingyuan County."

After saying that, Zhang Liao was about to leave. After hearing this, Xiao Ran was stunned for a moment, suddenly remembered Ouyang Hao's instructions, and hurriedly called Zhang Liao, rushed to Zhang Liao, and said to Zhang Liao: "Wenyuan, I remember something. My elder brother once told me that the Yellow Turban thieves are thieves after all, and they must be commanded by a general before they can defend against the enemy. After you go back and transfer the troops, you will immediately go to Le'an Kingdom to command Guan Hai's troops!"

After hearing this, Zhang Liao nodded solemnly and replied: "No!" After that, Zhang Liao rode alone away from Xiao Ran and returned to Jizhou to dispatch troops.

After seeing Zhang Liao staying away, Xiao Ran immediately summoned his subordinates to Le'anguo first and met Guan Hai.

When Guan Hai saw Xiao Ran, he immediately came to Xiao Ran with a smile and said to Xiao Ran: "General Xiao, you are finally back!" After hearing this, Xiao Ran also smiled and replied: "Captain Guan, I am back."

After Guan Hai and Xiao Ran greeted him for a while, Xiao Ran said to Guan Hai: "Header Guan, the purpose of my visit this time is to tell you that the brothers you lead will be under the jurisdiction of General Zhang. We will soon start a big battle with the Xuzhou army. I hope that the leader Guan will fight bravely to fight the enemy at that time!"

Guan Hai was startled when he heard this and quickly said to Xiao Ran: "General Xiao, we sincerely surrender to Wang Bingzhou. Do you want to use my brothers as cannon fodder for you?"

After hearing this, Xiao Ran knew that Guan Hai had misunderstood and immediately explained: "Captain Guan, you misunderstood. Your troops only need to guard Le'anguo. If the Xuzhou army divides troops, you will follow General Zhang to harass the Xuzhou army in Le'anguo. This is enough, and you do not need to go to the front battlefield to kill the enemy." Guan Hai breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Xiao Ran's explanation.

After seeing this, Xiao Ran continued, "Captain Guan, I have already explained what I should tell you. I still have military affairs to deal with, so I will leave first." After hearing this, Guan Hai nodded and replied, "Give me a greeting to General Xiao."

After Xiao Ran left Le'an Kingdom, he immediately led his army to Ande County, Pingyuan County. As a result, he happened to meet Zhang Liao who led his army to deploy defense. Then, Xiao Ran found Zhang Liao and said to him: "Wenyuan, I have already told Guan Hai on the Le'an Kingdom. You just need to go and receive it!"

After hearing this, Zhang Liao nodded and said to Xiao Ran: "General, let's part here. When we meet again, it will be the day when our army will win a great victory." Xiao Ran's face gradually appeared when he heard Zhang Liao say this.

Suddenly, Xiao Ran remembered something and said to Zhang Liao: "Wenyuan, the Yellow Turban Thief has newly cast, and they cannot guarantee their absolute loyalty. If our army fails slightly, the Yellow Turban Thief is likely to betray us. I plan to hand over a cavalry of 3,000 people to you, and make sure to make a plan." Zhang Liao said in panic when he heard Xiao Ran say this: "General, are you planning to hand over your guard to me?"

After hearing this, Xiao Ran nodded. When Zhang Liao saw it, he shook his head and said, "General, this matter must not be done. This is the lord sent to protect you. How can I take it away?" Seeing Zhang Liao's rejection, Xiao Ran explained with great thoughts: "Wenyuan! With my martial arts, the Xuzhou army can't do anything to me, so you can accept it! Otherwise, you will despise my martial arts."

Zhang Liao was very upset when he heard Xiao Ran say this. Seeing this, Xiao Ran said, "Okay, Wenyuan, don't worry, quickly take the cavalry team away." After hearing this, Zhang Liao was reluctant, but after seeing Xiao Ran's extremely serious eyes, he had to agree and replied, "Okay! General."

Seeing that Zhang Liao finally agreed, Xiao Ran said to the cavalry team led by him: "All the soldiers obey the orders, and the entire army followed General Zhang." After hearing Xiao Ran's orders, the soldiers of the cavalry team came silently behind Zhang Liao. Seeing this, Zhang Liao respectfully bowed to Xiao Ran and said, "General, take care of yourself." After that, Zhang Liao called the soldiers of the cavalry team to leave Ande County.

Just after Xiao Ran and Zhang Liao arranged the Qingzhou strategy, the three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang, merged into the army of Xuzhou commander Cao Bao in Dongwu County, rushed to Pingyuan County, preparing to attack Jizhou from the side to support Cao Cao's frontal battlefield and restrain Wang Jie's troops.

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!