Zhang Wu hung four quivers behind his horse, and together with the five quivers he carried on his back, he quickly shot out the arrows in two quivers.
At least twenty enemy soldiers were shot to death by him, but at some point he was also scratched on the leg by an enemy soldier's halberd, and blood was flowing.
Several of the guards who followed him were stabbed off their horses by enemy soldiers.
He looked back and saw Zhou Ping still sitting upright on his horse, patting the horse as it came running towards him.
Zhou Ping was fine. Zhang Wu felt relieved, raised his bow and arrow and shot at the enemy soldiers in front. An enemy soldier in front immediately fell down.
Zhang Fei ran in front of Zhou Ping, brandishing a Zhangba snake spear, and kept shouting: "Whoever stands in my way will die!"
Indeed, as he said, he stabbed almost all the enemy soldiers in front of him to death.
Precisely because Zhang Fei was leading the way, Zhou Ping rode forward without any danger. There was also Xu Chu behind. It can be said that the safest person now is Zhou Ping without force.
Yan Liang learned that someone had entered the passage and wanted to leave the city. He originally thought that Liu Bei sent someone to ask for help or that he wanted to escape. Later, he heard that there were more than a hundred people. It didn't look like he sent someone to ask for help, nor did he.
It was Liu Bei who left the city.
If you are sending people to ask for help, you only need to send a few people, not so many people.
If Liu Bei went out of the city in person, it would not be possible for there to be only more than a hundred people. It could be several thousand people, or at least a thousand people.
After much deliberation, Yan Liang could not imagine what the situation would be, but no matter what the situation was, as long as Liu Bei was not out of the city, it didn't matter to him.
Therefore, he did not continue to send troops to pursue, but paid attention to the enemy soldiers in the city, fearing that they would suddenly attack in large numbers.
The guards in the passage were mainly distributed at both ends. There were not many guards in the middle. Zhang Wu ran at the front and was almost at the exit.
There were quite a few guards here, but when they saw the enemy holding up their bows and arrows, one fell down every time they shot an arrow. This made them dare not stand in front, and they all fled to the sides or retreated.
Those who moved to both sides were able to escape the arrows, but those who retreated were not so lucky. Zhang Wu jumped on his horse and continued to rush forward, while continuing to raise arrows to shoot at the enemy soldiers still blocking the front.
However, those who moved to both sides could avoid Zhang Wu's arrows, but it was difficult for them to avoid Zhang Fei and Xu Chu.
However, the soldiers in the two battalions did not receive Yan Liang's military orders and were all gathering outside the camp to prepare for a battle with the enemy. No one came to the passage to help.
Moreover, the enemy soldiers in the city broke into the camp and attacked for two consecutive nights, which had frightened these people. Now that they met the enemy soldiers and saw how brave the enemy soldiers were, they dared to move forward wherever they could and hid if they could.
Zhang Wu was the first to rush out of the passage. There was a small path connecting the passage, which seemed to lead to the main road. It was already light at this time.
He reined in his horse and turned around, and saw several enemy soldiers chasing after him. He raised his bow and arrow and shot one person down immediately. Seeing this, the other enemy soldiers immediately turned around and ran back.
However, as soon as they turned around, they were stabbed several times by Zhang Fei, killing all of them.
"Young Master, leave quickly."
Seeing Zhou Ping follow Zhang Fei out of the passage, Zhang Wu was overjoyed and shouted hurriedly.
Zhou Ping looked back and saw Xu Chu following him. He felt relieved, patted his horse and ran forward along the trail with Zhang Wu.
After running for an unknown amount of time, they ran onto a main road.
"Sir, there are no pursuers behind us."
Xu Chu chased after him from behind and said.
"Are you all okay? Ziwei, you are injured! Apply a bandage to stop the bleeding."
Zhou Ping looked carefully at Zhang Wu, Zhang Fei and Xu Chu.
Although there were a lot of blood stains on Zhang Fei and Xu Chu's bodies, it looked like they were splashed by others. Only the large area of blood soaked in Zhang Wu's legs was his own.
Immediately, a guard jumped off his horse and bandaged Zhang Wu to stop the bleeding.
Zhou Ping had his men counted and found that six of the twenty guards he brought were dead and seven others were injured.
Of the one hundred soldiers led by Xu Chu, thirty-four died and twelve were wounded.
After counting, one-third of the one hundred and twenty soldiers brought out were dead, and counting the wounded together, half were casualties.
This result was not bad, at least I was fine, Zhang Fei and Xu Chu were fine too, only Zhang Wu was slightly injured.
Zhou Ping touched the package tied around him and smiled when he touched the box.
It is said that the jade seal of the country can only be discussed after I arrive in Yecheng.
After Zhou Ping and others bandaged the injured person to stop the bleeding, they continued to pat the horse and drive on the road.
According to his plan, he ran thirty miles east, then turned north to Liangcheng, and then walked west from Liangcheng, passing through Wuyuan, Fuyang, Liuxian and Guangqi, crossing the boundary of Pei State and entering Yanzhou.
Shanyang County.
Originally, it was easier to go west from Shanyang, pass through Jiyin and enter Dongjun, pass through Puyang and then go to Jizhou.
However, Cao Cao's base camp is now in Juancheng, Jiyin County. If he passes through Jiyin, he will easily be blocked by Cao Cao's troops.
Therefore, he wanted to go directly north from Shanyang County, pass through Dongping Kingdom and Jibei Kingdom, pass through Liaocheng and Boping in Dongjun, and enter Ganling in Jizhou.
After crossing the Yellow River and arriving at Jizhou, he no longer had to worry about Cao Cao's obstruction, because the territory north of the Yellow River was Yuan Shao's territory, and Chunyu Qiong was now the prefect of Dongjun.
Liu Bei had been standing on the city gate tower watching nervously, listening carefully to the shouts of killing outside the city.
As the shouts gradually subsided, he became increasingly nervous. He didn't know if Zhou Ping and the others had rushed out of the passage, or if they had all been captured.
Then he saw the soldiers and horses gathered outside the enemy camp in the distance returning to the camp.
After daybreak, Gan Ning and Guan Yu, who were outside the city gate, led their troops into the city and closed the city gate.
"Lord, it seems that sir has escaped." Zhuge Jin said excitedly.
Liu Bei nodded slightly. Judging from the reactions of Yan Liang and the enemy soldiers, this was indeed the case.
If Yan Liang captured Zhou Ping or killed him, he should have escorted him or brought his head to the city to make a fuss.
"Youde and Zhongkang Ziwei protect each other and no one can stop them. Of course they can get out safely."
Liu Bei may not have that much understanding of the martial arts of Xu Chu and Zhang Wu, but he is very confident in Zhang Fei.
"My lord has been up all night, go back and rest quickly!" Zhuge Jin advised.
It's okay not to mention it, but Liu Bei really felt sleepy when he mentioned it.
He yawned, covered his mouth and said: "No, look again and see what Yan Liang does. Zhuge Zhizhong, Zizhong, you go back and rest first!"
If Liu Bei doesn't leave, how can they leave?
"We are not sleepy, but the master is in serious health." Zhuge Jin said hurriedly.
"Sir, he may be riding a horse and running around while standing alone. In comparison, I feel very relaxed."
Soon after, the scouts who were sent to investigate the city reported that they saw enemy soldiers carrying out many corpses from the passage, but most of them were corpses of enemy soldiers. There were also some of our own people, but very few. We did not see Zhou Ping, Zhang Fei, Xu Chu, etc.
Signs of people being captured and beheaded.
At this point, Liu Bei was truly sure that Zhou Ping had killed him.
"Wen Xiang, you should keep an eye on the enemy soldiers. If there is anything unusual, report it immediately."
Liu Bei ordered Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng cupped his hands and responded: "Don't worry, my lord, the enemy soldiers can't even think of ascending the city from here. With Sheng here, they can't even get close to the city wall!"
It was almost noon, and Liu Bei was really sleepy, so he took everyone away and went home to rest.
After Jushou learned about Zhou Ping's breakout from the city, he just shook his head silently without saying a word.
There is nothing to say now, and it is not easy for him to rebuke Yan Liang. If he wants to rebuke, it is Yuan Shao who should rebuke him.
Moreover, he expected that when Zhou Ping left the city, he must be asking for help, and the only person who could relieve the siege of Pi was General Yuan. Therefore, he expected that Zhou Ping was going to Yecheng to plead with General Yuan, hoping that he would
He and Cao Cao led their troops back.
As for whether General Yuan will agree to withdraw his troops, he cannot judge now.
Judging from the current situation, if the troops retreat, Liu Bei and Cao Cao are both present, and the two will restrain each other, Jizhou will maintain its overwhelming advantage and command the world.
If he does not retreat and finally breaks through Xiapi and destroys Liu Bei, Cao Cao will take the opportunity to grow stronger and seriously threaten the security of Yecheng and General Yuan in the future.
After much thought, Jushou felt that it might not be a bad thing if Zhou Ping could persuade General Yuan to withdraw his troops by going to Yecheng.
After thinking this way, he ignored Zhou Ping's breakout from the city, as if nothing had happened. When Wen Chou mentioned it to him, he just responded with "Yeah" and didn't comment much.
However, he also ordered the soldiers and horses in the camp to strengthen patrols to prevent the enemies in the city from breaking out of the city from the south.
Ju Shou could not take this matter to heart, but Cao Cao could not.
After hearing that Zhou Ping broke out of the city and left, he was furious, even more angry than when he heard that Xia Houyuan was beheaded.
"Yan Liang is mediocre, mediocre! Twenty thousand soldiers and horses allowed more than a hundred people to escape. How incompetent! General Yuan...is using his personnel inappropriately!"
Cao Cao was so angry that he cursed and threw the wine glass in his hand.
Guo Jia's face was gloomy. He stood up and picked up the wine glass on the ground. He walked to Cao Cao and placed it gently on the case. He said: "Ming Gong, Zhou Ping has the ability to recognize people. He knew Yan Liang would not be able to stop him, so he chose to go from the east.
If he breaks out from the front, he can only escape from the east, and besides, Zhang Fei is protecting him, so it is more difficult to stop him."
"Now," Guo Jia slowly walked back to his seat and sat down, and continued: "It is certain that Zhou Ping is going to Yecheng to ask General Yuan for permission to retreat. General Yuan is easy to be persuaded, and he will destroy Liu Bei before he can.
He said that there is no clear benefit, and his counselors may work with Zhou Ping to persuade him. If this is the case, I am afraid that the Jizhou soldiers and horses will retreat, which will be very disadvantageous for us!"
Cao Cao had thought of this a long time ago, so he was so angry.
"Now I just hope that Zhongde can stop Zhou Wen'an in Yanzhou and prevent him from going to Yecheng."
"Ming Gong, Zhou Wen'an broke through the encirclement and left. The Langya road could not be used. He could only go to Yecheng through Yanzhou. However, he must have expected that we would stop him in Jiyin, and it was very likely that he would take a detour to enter from Dongping or Chenliu.
Dongjun, and then enter Jizhou. You should quickly order Yanzhou soldiers and horses to block all roads to Yecheng and investigate suspicious people. There are nearly a hundred people in Zhouping, so it is not difficult to find them."
Cao Cao also had this intention, and immediately sent people to rush back to Yanzhou, and asked Cheng Yu and Shi Huan to quickly send out soldiers and horses to set up checkpoints on various roads that might lead to Jizhou, so that Zhou Ping could not pass.
On the one hand, the soldiers were ordered to raise mountains and dig tunnels to attack Xiapi City.
However, Cao Cao knew that this method of siege was of no use.
If there are fewer garrison troops in the city, it may be possible to force the enemies in the city to surrender out of fear, or to cause them to collapse.
But now Liu Bei is personally guarding the city, and there are so many soldiers, horses and fierce generals. It is really difficult to break through Xiapi.
Only after the siege lasted for a long time, the lack of food in the city and fear made them want to abandon the city and seek surrender.
After Zhou Ping left, Liu Bei personally patrolled the city in armor every day and circled the city twice a day. This was not only to encourage morale and enhance confidence in defending the city, but also to ensure that there were no problems with the city's defense.
Now he is only looking forward to the good news coming back from Yecheng and seeing with his own eyes the Jizhou soldiers and horses surrounding the city retreat.
A few days later, Zhou Ping took Zhang Fei, Xu Chu and more than 80 people across the border of Pei State in Yuzhou, entered Yanzhou, and arrived at Gaoping County in Shanyang County.
Gaoping is Liu Biao's hometown, but it's a pity that Liu Biao is not here, otherwise Zhou Ping would like to talk to him.
Now that we have entered Yanzhou, we must be more cautious in everything we do.
Zhou Ping led everyone from Gaoping and walked north, directly to Xiaqiu.
Fortunately, we didn't encounter Yanzhou soldiers and horses along the way, so the journey went relatively smoothly.
Going further north from Xiaqiu, you enter the boundary of Dongping Kingdom, reach Ningyang, and then go northwest, and you will soon reach Dongpinglu County.
That is, when we were still more than ten miles away from Dongpinglu, the soldier who was in charge of exploring the road galloped back and reported: "General, there are soldiers and horses ahead to check."
Zhou Ping did not expect that he would change his route from Dongping, but Cao Cao would try to stop him.
This also shows that Cao Cao was afraid of going to Yecheng by himself, and it seemed that his choice was right.
"How many people are there? What are they questioning?"
"There were about a hundred people, and they seemed to be checking where the passers-by came from and where they were going."
"There are only a hundred people, sir, let's rush over." Zhang Fei said immediately.
"Not yet, are there any Yanzhou people among us?" Zhou Ping asked everyone.
Xu Chu replied: "Yes, Yang Wei is from Jiyin."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and shouted, calling Yang Wei over.
Yang Wei was someone who had followed Xu Chu before, and Zhou Ping also knew him, but he didn't know where he was from.
"Are you from Jiyin?"
"Yes, from Jiyin family."
Zhou Ping took a closer look and found that Yang Wei was unhurt, so he said, "You can easily get through the inspection level alone. Go over and see if there are any troops ahead? We'll wait for news about you in the woods."
"promise."
Only then did Yang Wei know that Zhou Ping wanted him to go to the front to inquire about the situation, fearing that there would be a large number of troops waiting in front.
Otherwise, if you rush over rashly and encounter a large number of soldiers and horses, it will be difficult to handle.
Yang Wei tidied himself up, clapped his horse and ran forward, while Zhou Ping led everyone into the woods to rest and wait.
After waiting for nearly two hours, Zhou Ping squinted his eyes and seemed to have slept for a while. The sun was about to set at this time.
Under the setting sun, the light and shadow are intertwined, and the breeze is blowing.
Zhou Ping felt very comfortable and couldn't help but think of his brother, sister-in-law, his two nephews at home, as well as his wife, concubines and daughter who stayed in Xiapi.
How wonderful it would be if the world had been peaceful at this time!
How happy it would be to be able to take my wife and children home, live with my brother and sister-in-law, and live together as a family!
You don't need any empire or power. As long as you have enough food and clothing, no wars, no bandits, you will be satisfied.
While Zhou Ping was daydreaming, he suddenly heard a shout from a distance outside the forest: "Stop, don't run, stop quickly!"
The shouting shattered Zhou Ping's dream. He stood up immediately. Zhang Fei, Zhang Wu and others also stood up at the same time, looking warily at the outside of the forest.
At this time, the soldiers waiting outside the forest rushed in and said: "General, Yang Wei is back, and there are dozens of enemy soldiers chasing him."
"Hmph, I'll go and take care of them all."
Zhang Fei didn't wait for Zhou Ping to say anything, then he picked up the Zhangba snake spear, got on his horse, patted the horse and ran towards the outside of the forest.
Xu Chu also quickly mounted his horse, looked at Zhou Ping, saw him nodding, and rushed out with his soldiers.