Chapter 246: 241. Lu Bu's Retreat To Beihai
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He on the spot declared that Man Chong was the last student that he would teach if he accepted, breaking his oath that Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan would be his last batch of students, Man Chong who heard this immediately bowed and cupped his hand in gratitude and admiration agreeing to become Lu Zhi's student.
Liu Ye and Chen Qun who sat at the opposite table saw and heard the spectacle that just happened right before them, Lu Zhi's move taking Man Chong as his last student elevated Man Chong's status in the scholar circle, and the chance of him serving Lie Fan increase.
They appreciate Lu Zhi's moves in doing so, even though he never thought of accepting Man Chong as his student for Lie Fan, which was purely for his personal interest, but they decide to note Lu Zhi's contribution in the future to notify Lie Fan.
Mao Jie Man Ching's friend was happy for his friend to be accepted by such a respected and inferential figure, he will not lie to say that he doesn't envy Man Ching but as his friend, he is happy for him.
He realized that in terms of talent and aptitude, he was far below Man Chong, his specialty was in domestic and agriculture policies, and Man Chong was also an expert in that area.
In the original timeline, Man Chong was most famous for his contribution at the battle of Fan Castle driving Guan Yu away alongside Cao Ren, where Guan Yu then headed south to his base in Jing Province finding out it had surrendered to Lu Meng.
Guan Yu's men who consisted of Jing Province natives, finding out that their families were taken hostage, deserted Guan Yu allowing Guan Yu and his adopted son Guan Ping alongside their party to be captured.
The ones who captured them were Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang, where Guan Yu and his party were then beheaded by Sun Quan at Linju, so Man Chong can be said to have a handle on Guan Yu's death due to he drove Guan Yu from taking Fan Castle.
He is also famous for keeping Wu in check from taking advantage of Shu's Northern Campaign to attack Wei under Cao Pi's rule, not allowing Wu to even take a single bit of Wei's land.
As Mao Jie he is only famous for being very skilled when it came to domestic policies and promoting the prioritization of agriculture, of course, this helped Wei in terms of supply but his talent in this area is being overshadowed by Xun Yu and many others.
Another interesting point for Mao Jie in the original timeline is that he is appointed as a naval viceroy alongside Yu Jin when they were stationed at Jing Province during the battle of Chibi after Cai Mao was executed due to Cao Cao falling into Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu's trick.
Back to the current situation, after receiving Mao Jie's congratulations Man Chong has a lengthy conversation with Lu Zhi, leaving Mao Jie to talk with Cai Yong and Zhuge Xuan who impart Mao Jie some of their insight into domestic policies.
Of course, the two of them also have some conversations with Lie Fan's other advisors such as Mi Zhu, Yi Ji, Chen Gui, Zhuge Jin, and many more, exchanging insight and having a pleasant conversation.
Man Chong and Mao Jie feel that their first stay at Xiapi is very good, so good that it makes them think that serving Lie Fan is not a bad choice of course they will decide when they meet Lie Fan.
When Man Chong and Mao Jie returned to their quarters after the banquet, Liu Ye and Chen Gui gathered all of Lie Fan's advisors that come to the banquet and coordinated with them about the things in Lie Fan's internal government that Man Chong and Mao Jie allowed to see.
The discussion only lasted for a while, everyone agreed that Man Chong and Mao Jie could be given tours only by the Internal Department, Agriculture Department, Law Department, and Writing Department.
The rest are full of confidential information, such as the Financial Department which contains books full of Lie Fan's monthly expenditure and revenue, as well as the amount of coins Lie Fan has in his treasury.
While all of this is happening, back at the battle between Cao Cao and Liu Bei against Lu Bu near Taishan, the momentum of the battle was on Lu Bu's side slowly changing to Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
Lu Bu and Chen Gong even though having the upper hand due to the encampment and traps, also the tactical brilliance Chen Gong managed to counter Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and Ju Shou's stratagems quantity and supplier began to show its presence.
Cao Cao and Liu Bei were supported by the abundance of supplies that Cao Cao received from his domain, especially since now that it have entered harvest season allowing Cao Cao to replenish his supplies.
Lu Bu on the other hand, even though he received the harvest of Qing Province, due to Lu Bu taking Qing Province from Liu Bei's hand through trickery, the commoners which made the bulk force of the farmers resented Lu Bu and didn't send their harvest tax.
Liu Bei's kindness and benevolence as well as as generosity and care for the common people the facade he used have touched the people of Wing Province.
So when they knew that Lu Bu had takeover over Qing Province from Liu Bei, even after giving Lu Bu and his force a safe place to rest and rejuvenate they divided to take revenge for Liu Bei in the only way they could.
They make the harvest that Lu Bu will receive a small amount, by making the plants that they have planted fail to be harvested while ensuring that they will have some in secret.
If this only happens in one area it will not have any impact on Lu Bu, unfortunately for him almost all of the farmers across Qing Province do this, having a big impact on the amount of harvest he receives.
This causes Lu Bu having ration the amount of supplies that his men will receive, causing rumours to spread among his men that their supplies are running low, reducing their morale and impacting their spirit to continue the battle.
Chen Gong: "My Lord due to a failed harvest this season, the amount of supplies we received can't cover the amount we needed to have a long battle against Cao Cao and Liu Bei."
Lu Bu: "How long will our supplies last Gongtai?"
Chen Gong: "Not long My Lord, maybe around 3 weeks, with the rationing system we use right now 1 month and a half is the maximum."
Lu Bu: "Dammit! Every single time in my most important battle, the one holding me back is either supplies or manpower! Why does my luck can't be the same as Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Lie Fan?!"
Chen Gong: "My Lord it's all according to the heaven's decision, maybe all of that is just the challenges you have to face before reaching your full potential, right now we need to decide what our next move should be."
Lu Bu: "Then Gongtai what do you propose? Our position right now can't be said to be a favorable nor dire one, a mild situation which can change at any moment, especially with now our men having low morale."
Chen Gong: "I propose that we retreat to Beihai My Lord, taking supplies from towns and villages that we passed by, and also send General Gao Shun to lead a moderate amount of units toward Lean County to gather supplies there and bring them toward Beihai through the sea."
Lu Bu put his head in silence, he felt that the plan Chen Gong just proposed was the only way he could keep fighting both Cao Cao and Liu Bei with his army still intact and relying on Beihai walls could give him more advantage in the next battle.
After some time passes, Lu Bu finely agrees to Chen Gong's plan, telling him that after the current fighting has stopped, they will head back to Beihai while Gao Shun will lead his units to gather supplies at Lean.
Cao Cao and Liu Bei's side never expected Lu Bu will retreat, because even though they finally managed to gin some ground it didn't give them any advantage, rather stabilized it to fairground.
No matter how smart Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and Ju Shou individually or combined, they also can't calculate how the farmers of Qing Province sabotaged Lu Bu's supply line, which they hid under a failed harvest.
Zhang Liao and Gao Shun lead the defense battle with all of their might and skills being utilized to the maximum, since Zhang Liao's plans to create more traps failed he swore to repay Lu Bu and Chen Gong's misplaced trust in him by killing more of Cao Cao and Liu Bei's soldiers.
Lu Bu's top generals other than Zhang Liao and Gao Shun such as Cheng Lian, Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hao Meng also fight on the frontline facing off against Cao Cao and Liu Bei's generals in a duel every day.
Of course, except for Zhang Liao and Lu Bu who have a high winning rate, Lu Bu's generals have a hard time fighting against most of Cao Cao and Liu Bei's generals especially the likes of Guan Yu, Xu Chu, Xiahou Dun, and Zhang Fei.
Fortunately for them, they don't lose their lives after being defeated and saved by their soldiers each time, who sacrifice themselves to save them which increases their spirit even further to avenge their fallen soldiers.
After a long battle ensued in the morning, in the afternoon Cao Cao and Liu Bei called their army to halt their attack under Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and Ju Shou's suggestion after they gained more foothold.
This is to allow their men to have more time to rest, increasing their spirit and morale for the next battle that will ensue, but unbeknownst to them this move was taken full advantage by Lu Bu and Chen Gong.
After Cao Cao and Liu Bei'd army attack, Lu Bu and Chen Gong held an emergency meeting with all of his generals, telling them of their next course of action and Chen Gong also proposed for an empty fort starting to be utilized here.
Gao Shu who received his order, departed first alongside his Formation Breaker Unit heading toward Lean through the East to avoid Cao Cao and Liu Bei's sentry to spot their movement.
Chen Gong on the other hand led some of the soldiers to create mannequins through cloths, wooden sticks, and old equipment to be put on the walls of their encampment, watch towers, and many more to trick Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
It was in the evening when they finished, after lighting up all of the fire camps and torches, the mannequins were put up and after everything care done and ready, Lu Bu led his army to retreat toward Beihai whole also taking supplies from towns and villages that he and his army passed by.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu
Age: 27 (194 AD)
Level: 15
Next Level: 938.000
Renown: 645
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 571.700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 906 (+20)
VIT: 598 (+20)
AGI: 583 (+10)
INT: 587
CHR: 93
WIS: 509
WILL: 397
ATR Points: 0
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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