Chapter 114: The night does not chase the enemy, and the day does not ambush
Zhang Fei and Li Jia led their troops to Xiquyang City. Liang Gang, who had retreated from Yinling, was currently in Xiquyang City.
Liu Xiang and Qin Yi are stationed in Xiquyang. Together with the 1,000 soldiers brought by Liang Gang, there are now 6,000 soldiers in the city.
But when they saw that there seemed to be more enemy soldiers than themselves outside the city, and Zhang Fei had just killed Li Feng, all the generals in the city were afraid.
"what to do?"
Liu Xiang asked the other two people.
He had gone into battle when he was in Xuyi, and knew how fierce Liu Bei's soldiers were, especially when Zhang Fei stabbed Ji Ling to death, he had seen it with his own eyes.
Qin Yi stayed in Shouchun at that time and did not go to Xuyi, but he had always heard about Zhang Fei and Guan Yu's fierceness.
At first, like Li Feng, he didn't quite believe it, thinking that those who followed Yuan Shu to Xuyi deliberately exaggerated the enemy general's claims because of their defeat.
Now that Li Feng was stabbed to death by Zhang Fei in just three rounds, he couldn't help but not believe it.
"Looking at the enemy outside the city, there must be tens of thousands of people, and General Yuan has told us not to go to war, so we must not go to war." Qin Yi replied.
Liu Xiang said: "Of course we can't go out to fight. What I'm worried about is that Liu Bei's army will be here in two or three days. If he waits for his army to arrive and surround the city on all sides, and General Yuan doesn't send reinforcements, then won't we be trapped to death?
It’s in this city!”
Qin Yi thought for a moment and asked: "General Liu, General Liang, what do you think?"
Liang Gang sneered: "Haha, you are the master of this city. I am just a defeated general, so I don't dare to have any ideas. However, according to my opinion, the only plan now is to retreat and stay in Shouchun with General Yuan."
"That's what I mean." Liu Xiang said hurriedly, "This city is already difficult to defend. We can only retreat to Shouchun and gather troops and horses to defend Shouchun together. Liu Bei only led 30,000 troops to attack Shouchun.
There are more than 30,000 soldiers, no matter what, Liu Bei can't attack it."
"In that case, let's retreat."
Qin Yi also agreed with Liu Xiang and Liang Gang's opinions.
The three of them reached an agreement and led their troops to abandon the city and retreat that night.
Zhang Fei got the information at night and wanted to lead his troops to pursue him, but Li Jia persuaded him to stop him.
"General Zhang, it is difficult to distinguish the road at night, and we don't know how many enemies there are. If we pursue him rashly, we may be ambushed by the enemy. It is better to wait until dawn before pursuing."
Although Li Jia used the trick of suspecting soldiers in Huailing before, there are many enemy soldiers in the city now. As long as they have 2,000 men to set up an ambush and suddenly attack at night, he will be defeated.
Zhang Fei chuckled: "Gongliang, you didn't have an ambush in Huailing. Now that the enemy soldiers have retreated, is there really an ambush?"
"Although there is no ambush, there are soldiers at the rear who are resisting the enemy. It is difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy at night, and there is a risk of accidental injury. If you hold a torch, you may become the target of the enemy's arrows. Therefore, there is a saying that you do not pursue the enemy at night and do not ambush during the day."
"We can defeat Yuan Shu and destroy Lu Bu, but Mr. Wen An only used ambushes. Why do you say there won't be ambushes?"
When Zhou Ping was mentioned, Zhang Fei licked his tongue, clearly thinking of Zhou Wen'an's wine.
Although the wine in Zhou Wen'an's gourd was the same as what he usually drank, the few times he drank the wine in Zhou Wen'an's gourd, he felt it tasted better than usual.
Li Jia smiled and replied: "This is different. Mr. Wen'an set up ambushes twice when the enemy did not know how to fight. They were unexpected by the enemy. If the ambush was set up during the day, unless the enemy was in pursuit,
Or you are fleeing in a hurry and do not explore the route in a panic. Otherwise, if the enemy is not in a hurry, they will send scouts to explore the route first, and the ambush will be known to the enemy, so what is the use of such an ambush."
"Hey, what you said seems to make sense. By the way, when you used the empty city strategy, were you afraid?" Zhang Fei asked again with a smile.
"Of course I'm afraid, but if I'm afraid in my heart, I can't show it on my face."
"It's a good thing you didn't meet me leading the troops. If it were me, I would be the first one to rush into the city regardless of whether there are ambushes in your city."
"If you meet General Zhang, I won't open the city gate to let you in, hahaha..." Li Jia laughed.
After daybreak, the magistrate of Xiquyang County led the county officials to open the city gate and went out to ask for surrender.
Zhang Fei and Li Jia led troops into the city and ordered their subordinates not to rob the people. They also sent people to report to Liu Bei.
Liu Xiang, Qin Yi and others led the troops back to Shouchun.
Yuan Shu had heard that Li Feng had been killed by Zhang Fei before, and was shocked. However, he thought that there was still Xiquyang blocking the city, and there were five or six thousand soldiers garrisoned in the city, so it was impossible for Liu Bei to break through it so quickly.
Now when I heard that Liu Xiang and others led their troops to abandon the city and retreat, they couldn't help but become furious and ordered: "Push the three of them out and kill them."
Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun quickly advised: "General, no, it is taboo to kill a general before the enemy!"
"Hmph, they are greedy for life and afraid of death. What's the point of keeping them if they don't kill them?" Yuan Shu cursed.
"Now that the enemy is approaching the city, it is time for the general to employ his men. Why not let them go out of the city to kill the enemy and atone for their merits."
Yuan Shu also knew that now was not the time to kill them, so he took advantage of Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun's persuasion to spare Liu Xiang and others from the death penalty and let them serve their crimes.
Now that Shouchun's defense line was gone, Hefei's defenders also fled back, saying that Hefei had been captured by a group of bandits.
"What do you think we should do now? Liu Bei's attack is so fierce. It seems that he will not stop until Shouchun is defeated. Which of you can retreat from the enemy?" Yuan Shu asked the generals again.
Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun, the two trusted generals, were speechless for a moment, and they had no strategy to retreat from the enemy.
"General, Hefei has been lost. Liu Xuande has sent troops to the city again. Although Shouchun can be defended, it may not be able to hold it for long without reinforcements. It is better to retreat to Lujiang first. If Liu Xuande pursues him, he can ask Sun Bofu to lead troops to help. Sun Bofu
Fu now has a large number of soldiers and horses, and there are many brave generals under his tent, so he will be able to defeat the enemy."
Lord Bo Yanxiang offers advice.
"You want me to abandon Shouchun and retreat to Lujiang?"
"Exactly."
Zhang Xun also felt that this was the only way at the moment: "General, Liu Bei's soldiers and horses have been victorious one after another. We have been defeated many times. The officers and men in the army are all afraid of the enemy. If we go out of the city to fight, it will be difficult to win. It is better to retreat to Lujiang. When the time comes,
If Sun Bofu leads the troops to help, Liu Bei will surely be driven back."
"General, I think so too," Qiao Rui said immediately.
Yuan Shu walked around and thought for a long time before he stopped and said: "Okay, let's avoid his sharp edge first, and then take revenge when our army is strong. Humph, Liu Bei, a man who weaves mats and sells shoes, actually
How dare you bully me to this point!"
"General, if you want to retreat, you must also leave troops to garrison Shouchun to resist the enemy. Don't let the enemy soldiers pursue you." Lord Bo Yanxiang said again.
Yuan Shu nodded: "Well, General Qiao, you lead 10,000 troops and horses to stay, as well as the three guilty generals who returned from Xiquyang. You guard Shouchun and hold off the enemy here."
Qiao Rui was shocked: "General, I..."
Yuan Shu walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be afraid, General Qiao. You don't want to go to war. There is plenty of food and grass in the city. As long as we hold on for a few months, Liu Bei will retreat without food. Then you will have done a great job. I will not
I've treated you badly."
Qiao Rui was helpless and did not dare to resist the order, so she had to bow her hands and say: "No."
