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Spring is in full bloom, and the ice and snow melt. The land of Youzhou, which is covered with ice and snow, has awakened and revitalized again, with lush branches and leaves, and lush green.

The city of Youbeiping County, the abandoned city that was once abandoned has been renovated. Tens of thousands of Han troops have entered the city. With this city as the center, they quickly recovered the counties, expelled barbarians and resettled refugees.

Like Youbeiping County, Yuyang, Guangyang, Shanggu County and other counties successively entered the Han army to repair cities, accept refugees, repair houses, and actively restore people's livelihood.

In April, the entire Youzhou, except for Liaoxi County, the two counties in Liaodong have not yet been recovered, and other counties were successively occupied by the Youzhou army. As for the vassal states in Liaodong, the three counties of Lelang County and Xuantu County, they are currently out of reach and are temporarily under the rule of Gongsun Du in Liaodong. Despite this, the people in the border counties were still excited about this and sincerely praised: the Youzhou army, which has been sluggish, finally set off a strong moment, with speed, iron cavalry and strong battles, all of which are "superior" pure men!

In mid-April, Li Li led a large army to the north and arrived at the border pass that guarded the hinterland of Youzhou - Lulongsai (now Xifengkou, Hebei). The soldiers who followed him out of the city this time were the reorganized Youzhou Camp cavalry and Wurui Camp, plus the 20,000 front troops and 10,000 Jinqiu Guard cavalry, a total of 10,000 troops. Coincidentally, among these 100,000 troops were exactly 50,000 war cavalry and 50,000 infantry. In addition, there were more than 2,000 defenders at Lulongsai Pass, but these defenders were already scared by the barbarian cavalry. It can be ignored.

To this day, the Eastern Expedition Army under Li Li's command was only 200,000 troops. The headquarters had 130,000 troops and 70,000 infantry and cavalry in the Youzhou Army. The total was 200,000. As for Yan Rou's troops, only 10,000 troops were left after removing the old, weak, sick and disabled. There were only 10,000 troops under Gongsun Zan's tent, and more than 50,000 troops were left after screening. The remaining 30,000 troops were retrained and reorganized into Youzhou County Government troops, which were controlled by Youzhou Governor Guo Jia.

Since then, the army under Li Li's command increased by 100,000 again, with more than 600,000 troops, and its strength is far superior to other princes. It is truly unique and far ahead of the heroes in the world.

However, the news of the change of ownership of Youzhou has not been made public now. This is not because Li Li was accused of making a secret move to the princes in each town, but because he received a detailed report a month ago, the leaders of various tribes in Wuhuan and the leaders of the Xianbei in the eastern region, Suli, and attempted to jointly send troops to attack Youbeiping. He and Yuan Shao's army in Jizhou attacked Gongsun Zan in one fell swoop.

Up to now, the Wuhuan Shanyu Tadun sent 30,000 troops, and the three king tribes including Nanlou, Su Puyan, Wuyan each sent 20,000 troops, and a total of 90,000 soldiers who controlled the string gathered in Liucheng (now Jianchang, Liaoning). Following the Wuhuan army, the leader of the Xianbei in the eastern region, Suli sent 30,000 troops to form an alliance with the Wuhuan, and sent troops three days ago, heading straight to Youbeiping. It is expected to arrive in front of Lulongsai Pass in two days.

On the city tower east of Lu Longsai, Li Li and Gongsun Zan stood side by side. They looked at the railings. But they saw beautiful mountains and rivers, blue rivers, green leaves and red flowers. A spectacular and beautiful landscape picture jumped into their eyes. It made people feel refreshed and filled with pride.

"The beautiful mountains and rivers, the fortress of the pass, this is a natural battlefield that God has given me to the Han people!" Looking down at the moat under the pass, Li Li was full of passion and waved his rebuke, as if he was full of expectations for the upcoming war.

Gongsun Zan turned his head to look at Li Li's side face when he heard the sound, and felt deeply moved, as if he had seen himself more than ten years ago. At that time, like Li Li at this moment, he did not take the barbarians from the Frontier seriously at all, had no fear of war, put life and death aside, was positive and optimistic, brave and good at fighting.

However, more than ten years have passed, and the barbarian tribe still exists and is becoming stronger and stronger. However, Gongsun Zan has entered middle age, his blood has faded, his ambitions have disappeared, and his heart has declined before he grows old. If it weren't for the Lu Longsai coming with Li Li this time, I'm afraid he would never climb this tower again in his life, and he would not face more than 100,000 barbarian cavalry again.

Looking back, Gongsun Zan was ashamed, his heart was mixed with mixed feelings. At this moment, he didn't know whether he should be glad or sad. At this time, he was the lord of Youzhou at this time last year, but now he has become a pawn of others. Once upon hearing that the barbarians attacked the border, he was upset and worried, but now he is eager to lead the troops to fight the barbarians himself. This contradiction and complex thought lingered in Gongsun Zan's mind, which made him very distressed. It was so unbreakable and chaotic that it was sad, and it felt a different feeling in his heart.

The older one is, the more afraid of death, this is Gongsun Zan's deepest insight. When he was young, he almost never knew what "fear" was, and he moved forward bravely and did not fear life and death. After he killed Liu Yu and took the governor of Youzhou, he cherished his life very much and stopped going to the battlefield in person, and would not lead by example and charge into battle. He could not understand these insights before. It was not until he followed Li Li that he realized his timidity and cowardice in recent years.

Cowardice is for death; cowardice is for resisting barbarian invasions. These are vividly reflected in Gongsun Zan. However, he was unwilling to admit it before and did not dare to face it. Now his status changes have made him realize that he is so unbearable.

After a long silence, Gongsun Zan tried his best to calm his mind and said respectfully: "Although Lu Longsai is a fortress in the pass, he has been disrepair for a long time and may not be able to withstand more than 100,000 cavalry from the barbarians. Therefore, the last general suggests that the lord set up two camps on both sides of the pass, and serve each other in a junction and support each other, so that they can be safe."

Li Li turned around and nodded slightly as if he was thinking, and laughed: "Bogui's strategy is very good, and it coincides with me. This time we led a 100,000 army to come, but it was just a pass that could not be stationed so many troops. We really need to divide our troops and be prepared for any danger. I wonder who Bogui thinks it is appropriate to send troops out of the pass?"

Gongsun Zan did not expect Li Li to be so readily, so he asked him for advice. Then he thought, "If the lord does not abandon him, the last general volunteers to lead 20,000 combat cavalry to camp in the south and guard the left wing of the pass. General Zilong led the unparalleled iron cavalry to camp in the north and guard the right wing of the fortress, and the lord will sit here and lead 60,000 infantry and cavalry to defend this pass. This is the stupid opinion of the last general, and I wonder what the lord wants?"

Li Li nodded slightly and agreed happily: "It's great. Bogui can lead Youzhou camp out of the gate to camp. Bogui is the main general and Xu Huang is the deputy general. In addition, I will give you another 5,000 infantry guarding the camp. As for the camp in the north, there are rivers in front of it, which is not suitable for gathering battle cavalry. You can send Yan Gang to lead 20,000 infantry troops to camp. Yan Gang is the main general and Shi A is the deputy general. You can just defend the river and not attack easily. Do you think this arrangement is proper?"

"The lord is wise, and the last general can lead the troops out of the pass." Gongsun Zan was overjoyed and bowed to respond quickly.

Li Li smiled and nodded, waved his hand to signal Gongsun Zan to leave. When Gongsun Zan, Xu Huang, Yan Gang and Shi A-four generals ordered to leave, Zhao Yun walked to Li Li lightly and whispered: "Youzhou has only been under the lord's command for several months. Is it inappropriate to hand over Youzhou camp to General Gongsun's command at this time?"

Li Li shook his head gently and smiled knowingly, "It's okay. Don't doubt people. You don't need to use them. Sooner or later, you will be given the opportunity to lead the troops to fight, otherwise he will inevitably be restless and have a random thought. Instead of doing this, it's better to give him a chance now to see if he can lead the army to fight. If this battle is won, the Youzhou Camp will be handed over to him; on the contrary, it means that he is not suitable to lead the troops again, and it's better to completely cut off his thoughts of leading the troops alone."

Speaking of this, Li Li's smile became stronger and stronger, meaningfully: "In my opinion, Gongsun Zan was born to be a general galloping on the battlefield. He had no ability to govern prefectures and counties, nor was he the master's resources. If he hadn't killed Liu Yu in vain, he might not be like this, and he was still the white horse general who was thrilling Liaodong before. This man could only enjoy the blessing, but he did not endure the hardship! Most of the generals fighting on the battlefield were like this, and Gongsun Zan was a living example."

Zhao Yun nodded as if he had some understanding, then retreated aside and said nothing more. Just then, the guard commander Li Zhi quickly walked upstairs and walked to Li Li and whispered softly.

"Hahaha!" Li Li laughed loudly when he heard Li Zhi's report, then waved his hand and called Zhao Yun, Yan Rou, Ma Dai and other generals to follow, then strode downstairs. He smiled while walking: "I'm finally here, I've been waiting for him for two years!"

In the main hall of the city guard's mansion, as Li Li led the generals into the lobby, a tall scholar holding a feather fan and wearing a lumber scarf who had been waiting in the hall for a long time stood up and quickly came forward to him.

"My foolish brother, please see your brother! After a few days of separation, will your brother be in peace recently?"

"Hahaha! OK, everything is fine for me!" Li Li smiled happily and leaned over to help him up, grabbed his arm, and said with a smile: "It's been two years, I finally hope for my brother!" After laughing, Li Li turned his head and ordered Li Zhi: "I will hold a big banquet, I want to welcome Brother Kong Ming!"

Indeed, this tall, handsome young scholar wearing a scarf on his head, holding a feather fan in a dress of a commoner, was Zhuge Liang who had just arrived in Youzhou. To be precise, he had no official position now, and it was not impossible to dress up as a commoner. However, he did not know that as early as when Li Li led his army to fight, he listed among the civil officials who went on the expedition last year. The so-called General's Mansion's sacrificial wine was reserved specifically for Kong Ming.

However, Li Li has learned that the uncle Zhuge Xuan of Kongming had passed away not long ago. According to the Han Dynasty, his adoptive father passed away and his son should practice filial piety for two years. So Li Li sent Zhuge Jin to Nanyang County as the prefect, serving as the prefect of the spirit and serving as the guardian to fully filial piety. Because of this, Li Li was particularly happy with Kongming's arrival, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was overjoyed.

—————To be continued———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Chapter completed!