Chapter 249 The enemy soldiers escaped from the city
"Husband, we are waiting for your return!"
Zhou Ping stood at the door. Gan Qian, Da Qiao, and daughter Zhou Ning stood in front of him. Zhang Wu and twenty guards were waiting outside the door.
It was already dark at this time, and everyone held torches to illuminate the courtyard brightly.
"Well, husband, Sister Qian and I are waiting for you at home!" Da Qiao followed.
"And me, Dad, you must come back soon!"
Daughter Zhou Ning didn't know what her father was going to do. She only knew that it might take a long time for her father to come back after leaving this time, otherwise her mother would not have said that.
Zhou Ping smiled on his face: "Don't worry, I will be back soon. Aning, you have to listen to your mother!"
"Yeah." Zhou Ning nodded heavily.
Zhou Ping waved to them, and then told Ah Shui who was standing behind them: "Ah Shui, I will leave it to you to take care of the family. If you have anything to do, you can go to Zhuge Zhizhong first."
Zhou Ping turned around and went out. The moment he turned around, he saw tears on Gan Qian's face.
Different from the previous departures from home, this time she was venturing out of the city. No wonder Gan Qian was worried, but she didn't dare to show it too much, fearing that Zhou Ping would be worried about it and miss things.
"Walk."
When he got out of the door, Zhou Ping gave an order, and Zhang Wu and twenty guards followed him to the Prefectural Mufu Mansion.
These twenty guards are Zhou Ping's personal guards. They were personally selected by Zhou Ping and Zhang Wu. They are also instructed by Zhang Wu on weekdays. They are good at fighting with swords and spears or riding and shooting, and they are also good at conveying messages.
, Zhou Ping will also send them to do it.
When they arrived at the Prefectural Mufu Hall, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Mi Zhu Zhuge Jin and others were all there.
Zhou Ping noticed that there was a box on the table in front of Liu Bei.
What is contained in the box should be the jade seal passed down from the country.
After Zhou Pingping sat down politely, the hall fell into silence with no one speaking.
After a while, Liu Bei stood up, picked up the box on the case, walked to Zhou Ping, and said, "Sir, the safety of Xiapi and Xuzhou is up to you!"
Then he handed the box to Zhou Ping.
Zhou Ping immediately stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, my lord, Ping will live up to his command!"
"Then, open it and take a look."
Liu Bei stretched the box forward again.
Zhou Ping raised his hands, carefully took the box, opened it gently, and saw a jade seal with a missing corner inside.
"You must carry this with you and don't lose it!"
Liu Bei stared at the jade seal in the box with a very reluctant look.
Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Mi Zhu, Zhuge Jin and others stretched their necks to take a closer look at the contents of the box. In fact, Liu Bei had already taken it out to them before Zhou Ping came.
"promise."
Zhou Ping put down the box, bowed and saluted.
Liu Bei waved, and a soldier brought a square cloth, wrapped the box tightly first, leaving a long section on both sides, and handed it to Zhou Ping.
Zhou Ping straightened his body and asked the soldiers to help him tie the package tightly to his body. After tying it, he pulled hard to make sure it would not fall.
The box was not big, but it still made Zhou Ping feel very uncomfortable.
Not only because of the square box, but also because the things in the box are too important.
"Yide, you must protect your husband!"
Liu Bei turned to Zhang Fei and gave instructions.
Zhang Fei responded: "Brother, don't worry, Zhang Fei is here, sir is here!"
"I'm here, and the things are there!"
Zhou Ping said as he gently patted the package tied to his body.
"Youde and Zhongkang Ziwei escorted him together. I am not particularly worried about your husband leaving the city. What I am worried about is whether he can persuade General Yuan to withdraw his troops." Liu Bei slowly walked back to his seat and sat down.
"If Yuan Benzhu accepts this thing, he will definitely retreat. Do you think, my lord, that he will refuse this thing?" Zhou Ping asked with a smile.
Liu Bei nodded: "Even if Jizhou's soldiers and horses retreat, I'm afraid Cao Cao and Nanyang Zhangxiu's soldiers and horses may not be willing to retreat."
"If there are no soldiers and horses in Jizhou, what does Cao Cao have to fear? As soon as the soldiers and horses in Jizhou retreat, the lord can send people out of the city to spread rumors that the soldiers and horses in Jizhou will take the opportunity to seize Yanzhou. Whether Cao Cao believes it or not, he will retreat.
.At this time, the lord can send troops out of the city to pursue, but it must be the same as before. If the first pursuit fails, you can send troops to pursue again, and you will definitely win."
"Hahaha... what you said is true. If Cao Cao refuses to retreat, he is even more afraid that Yuan Benchu will seize his Yanzhou. If Yanzhou is captured, he will have no place to live!" Liu Bei laughed.
“Sir’s profound thoughts are impressive!”
Zhuge Jin bowed his hand to Zhou Ping to express his admiration.
Guan Yu and Mi Zhu also nodded, agreeing with what Zhou Ping said.
"Sir, are you sure you will leave the city again at Yinshi?" Liu Bei asked.
"Well, that's when the enemy soldiers relaxed."
"Okay, let's go to Dongcheng and wait."
Liu Bei led everyone out of the Prefectural Mufu Mansion and came to the gate tower of Dongcheng.
Xu Chu and Zhang Wu followed Zhou Ping, and the twenty guards and one hundred soldiers led by Xu Chu were waiting at the bottom of the city.
"Sir, do you think Yan Liang is asleep now?"
Liu Bei looked at the enemy camp outside the city as usual. It didn't look like he had experienced an attack on the camp for two consecutive nights.
Zhou Ping smiled and replied: "Maybe he is not asleep at this time, but at Yin Shi, I think he must be in a deep sleep."
It is now near the end of Haishi, and there is still more than an hour before Yinshi.
Liu Bei also told Zhang Fei and Xu Chu that they must protect Zhou Ping, especially when they arrived in Yecheng, they should be even more careful and follow him at all times.
Zhang Wu is Zhou Ping's bodyguard, so there is no need to explain anything special.
Everyone stood on the city gate tower, looking quietly outside the city, and listened carefully.
When midnight arrived, everyone held their breath and listened quietly to the movements of the enemy camp outside the city.
However, there seemed to be nothing unusual about the enemy camp outside the city. There were no special lights, and no sounds of soldiers and horses were heard.
Until midnight, no movement was found in the enemy camp.
At this time, in the enemy's northern camp, there were a thousand soldiers hiding in the dark with weapons, just waiting for the people in the city to attack the camp like they did the previous two nights.
Following the pattern of the previous two nights, they thought that the enemy soldiers in the city would attack around midnight. However, it was already halfway through midnight and there was no sign of enemy soldiers leaving the city.
The soldiers on the watchtower stretched their ears even more, and could not hear any footsteps, nor the sound of pulling out antlers like the previous two nights.
Yan Liang was also sitting in the tent at this time, yawning, and asked impatiently: "What time is it now?"
"General, Zi Shi has been hit."
"Is there any movement in Beiying?"
"No, maybe the enemy soldiers won't leave the city tonight."
"Humph, it only takes three. They came here twice. If they dare to come a third time, they will never come back. I'll lie down for a while and call me if anything happens."
Yan Liang yawned again and lay on the couch.
The captain next to him quickly agreed and sent people outside the tent to inquire about the news about Beiying.
The soldiers who were ambushing in the northern camp were impatient, but General Yan asked them to stay here without saying how long they would stay.
If there was no military order for them to withdraw their troops, they would definitely have to stay on guard until dawn.
"Captain, do we still have to wait?"
The person leading the ambush was a school captain, and a military prince next to him asked.
"Of course we have to wait. What if the enemy soldiers come back later?"
"It will be daylight if we wait any longer. The enemy soldiers probably won't come tonight!"
"It's better if you don't come. Don't make any noise and listen carefully."
The Marquis stopped talking, and after a while he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Time passed little by little, and it was almost Yin time.
Upstairs at the city gate.
Liu Bei held Zhou Ping's hands and was about to say goodbye. He had already said what needed to be said, and saying it now would just be a repetition.
"Sir, be careful along the way. The entire city of Guhe Xiapi, as well as your family, are waiting for your return!"
"Lord, take care of yourself, we will be back soon."
"Yide, Zhongkang, remember, you must protect your husband!" Liu Bei also told Zhang Fei and Xu Chu.
Zhang Fei was tired of hearing: "Brother, I know, don't worry!"
Liu Bei said no more and took Zhou Ping's hand down to the city gate tower.
Guan Yu and Gan Ning have led a thousand soldiers waiting inside the city gate, waiting for Zhou Ping and others to break out. If anything happens, they will immediately go out to rescue.
"Young Master, mount your horse!"
Zhang Wu brought the red rabbit horse over.
Zhang Wu told Zhou Ping two days ago that no matter what, he must ride the red rabbit horse this time.
Zhou Ping thought that this time was unusual and that he was better off riding a red rabbit horse, so he agreed to Zhang Wu's request and tried riding a red rabbit horse.
Liu Bei took Zhou Ping to the red rabbit horse.
Looking at the naked BMW, Liu Bei's eyes showed envy, but in the dim light and shadow, no one could notice it.
Zhou Ping pulled away his hand, took a step back, and bowed to Liu Bei: "My lord, take care! Zhou Ping is here!"
"Get on your horse!"
Liu Bei walked to the horse and signaled that he would personally help Zhou Ping get on the horse.
Zhou Ping hesitated for a moment: "Lord..."
"bring it on!"
Zhou Ping was helpless, knowing that Liu Bei wanted to show that he valued him, so he couldn't ignore him.
He had no choice but to walk to the horse, step on the stirrup and push hard. Liu Bei gave him a strong lift from behind and lifted him onto the horse.
Liu Bei glanced at Zhang Fei, Xu Chu, Zhang Wu and others again, and saw that they had armor on their bodies and weapons in their hands, and they were all ready.
"Open the city gate."
Liu Bei ordered.
The city gate slowly opened.
"Leave the city." Zhou Ping said.
Zhang Wu led 20 guards in front, Zhang Fei led 50 people to follow Zhou Ping, and Xu Chu led 50 people behind.
In order not to alert the enemy soldiers too early, they wrapped the horses' hooves with cloth so that the horses would make less noise when walking.
Zhang Wu left the city first with twenty guards, followed by Zhou Ping, Zhang Fei and others, and then Xu Chu and others.
This is the Yin hour, which is around three o'clock in the night. It is the quiet time of the night and the time when people sleep deeply.
Zhang Wu urged his horse to move slowly toward the entrance of the passage. It was not a good time to slap the horse and rush forward.
Liu Bei quickly returned to the city gate tower and looked at the movement outside the city.
Gan Ning led 500 people out of the city gate and stood guard outside the city gate, Guan Yu led 500 people and stood guard inside the city gate, and Xu Sheng led 1,000 people on standby.
Zhang Wu drove his horse forward and walked for two or three miles without encountering any enemy soldiers.
This made him feel very uneasy.
If the enemy soldiers appear, you will know how to respond. However, if the enemy soldiers do not appear, you will not understand what the enemy soldiers are doing and whether they have prepared an ambush and are waiting for you to pass by.
Zhou Ping didn't think too much. He knew that he would be discovered by enemy soldiers when he reached the entrance of the passage, but he didn't know how many enemy soldiers there would be inside.
You come up with the strategy yourself, and you have to take the risk yourself.
Zhang Fei looked around nervously, pricking up his ears and listening carefully, but he could only hear the sound of his own horses walking, and could not hear any other unusual noises.
Mainly because Liu Bei warned him so many times, which made him feel a little nervous.
Xu Chu, like Zhang Fei, also looked around nervously, hoping to spot enemy soldiers in the darkness.
The entrance to the passage is more than a hundred steps away from where Gan Ning camped two nights ago.
Zhang Wu rode in front and walked to the entrance of the passage when he suddenly heard someone shouting in front of him and asked: "Who is that person in front of you? Stop quickly."
"shoot."
Zhang Wu already had a bow in his hand, quickly drew an arrow, nocked the bow, and shot into the darkness.
Just hearing a scream of "ah", someone in front of me was obviously hit by an arrow.
Zhang Wu has practiced the sound shooting method very well.
Ten of the twenty guards held bows and arrows and shot into the darkness after Zhang Wu.
Only a few screams were heard again.
"There are enemy soldiers, the enemy soldiers are coming!"
Someone in front shouted loudly.
"rush."
At this time, Zhang Wu quickly drew an arrow and shot it with his bow. He clapped his horse and rushed forward, followed closely by twenty guards.
Zhou Ping also patted his horse and started running, following behind.
Zhang Fei led his soldiers, waved their snake spears and shouted: "Zhang Fei is here, whoever is not afraid of death, come and fight me!"
Xu Chu also led his soldiers and clapped their horses and rushed forward.
Zhang Wu jumped on his horse and rushed into the passage, shooting five arrows in a row. When he heard three screams, he knew he had shot three people.
At this time, many soldiers came running from a distance in front of the passage, holding torches and weapons in their hands.
Yan Liang usually sent many soldiers to guard the passage, just to prevent the people in the city from escaping from the city. He even arranged ten people to hide in the dark at the entrance of the passage to prevent the people in the city from escaping.
However, Yan Liang only guarded against leaving the city, not attacking the camp, so he did not set up a hidden sentry outside the camp.
Zhang Wu fired arrows repeatedly, and five or six people in front fell down almost at the same time, which made them pause and not dare to run too fast.
However, they stopped, but Zhang Wu and others did not stop. They slapped their horses and continued to rush forward. While charging, they also raised arrows to shoot at the enemy soldiers.
The enemy soldiers in front saw Zhang Wu raising an arrow and shooting casually, and someone fell down next to him. They were so frightened that they quickly hid on both sides.
The twenty guards following Zhang Wu all held spears in their hands at this time, and stabbed at the enemy soldiers hiding on both sides who were stabbing with their spears.
Zhang Fei even walked forward and shouted: "Zhang Fei is here, whoever is not afraid of death, come and fight with me!"
It's a pity that his reputation will make Yuan Shu's people afraid, and even Cao Cao's people will be afraid. However, although Yan Liang's soldiers have heard of Zhang Fei's reputation, they are not so afraid.
What they are more afraid of now is Zhang Wu's arrow, which can kill their own people dozens of steps away. Many people hid on both sides and breathed a deep sigh of relief after seeing Zhang Wu rushing past them.
, thinking that he had passed the dangerous period, he raised his spear and stabbed the person behind him.
However, when they saw the big black man, they felt fear again.
This black guy who wields a snake spear will make one of his own people fall down with just a poke of the spear, sometimes two or three people will fall down at the same time.
Those who were lucky enough to avoid Zhang Fei thought that the people behind him would be easier to deal with.
But when they saw the man with a huge body and a waist as big as an ox, they realized that they were wrong again.
If this strong man slashes casually with the big knife in his hand, his own people will be chopped to the point where their bones are broken, and several of them will even lose half of their bodies.
"Hurry, the enemy soldiers have escaped from the city! The enemy soldiers have escaped from the city!"
Those who did not dare to step forward to resist could only yell.
The people hiding in the ambush in the North Camp heard the shouts and wondered: Aren't they coming to attack the camp? Why did they escape from the city?
"Captain, what should we do? The enemy soldiers may not enter the camp." said the ambush military commander.
"Wait a little longer, it may be a strategy to attack the east and attack the west. Keep an eye out. If any enemy soldiers enter the camp, you must not move rashly and listen to my orders." The captain ordered.
"promise."
They thought the enemy soldiers would attack the camp again and hid in the dark.
Yan Liang was sleeping peacefully at this time, when he suddenly heard what seemed to be a noise, and then heard someone say in his ear: "General, general, someone in the city is breaking out of the city."
"What? Break out? Leave the city? Who left the city?"
Yan Liang suddenly woke up and asked several questions.
"I don't know who they are. They entered the passage and were running out of the city."
"Where is the North Camp? Has someone broken into the camp?"
"I haven't heard of it. Could it be that they won't attack the camp tonight?"
At this time, a soldier hurriedly ran to report: "General, there are shouts of killing at the gate of the city. It seems that many enemy soldiers have come out of the city to attack the camp."
It turned out that Gan Ning saw Zhou Ping and others breaking into the passage and being discovered by the enemy soldiers, so he asked five hundred soldiers to shout kill in unison to attract the attention of the enemy soldiers and make them think that he was going to attack the camp.
Yan Liang was shocked and immediately stood up and ordered: "Quickly, gather troops and horses, get out of camp and resist the enemy."
The soldiers and horses gathered quickly. After a while, Yan Liang led the soldiers and horses out of the camp, but only heard shouts of killing from the direction of the city, but the sounds did not seem to get closer, as if they were standing still.
In the darkness ahead, Yan Liang was not sure whether there would be enemy soldiers, so he did not dare to lead his troops forward rashly, nor did he dare to lead his troops to chase those who entered the passage, fearing that those who shouted to kill would really come from behind.
.
He led his troops in formation outside the camp, waiting for the enemy to attack.
The people in ambush in the northern camp also heard the shouts of killing from the direction of the city, and thought that the enemy soldiers would attack in large numbers. They hid in the dark and did not dare to move, hoping to wait for the enemy soldiers to break into the camp and defeat them by surprise.
Liu Bei stood on the city gate tower, looking at the bright lights in the enemy camp in the distance, and the military formations outside the central camp.
The situation inside the passage cannot be seen and can only be judged by torches. Zhou Ping and others have penetrated deep into the passage and are rushing forward.
