"My Lord, Mr. Wen'an is back! Mr. Wen An is back!" Liu Bei was sitting in the tent when a soldier broke in to report.
Liu Bei wanted to scold him, but when he heard that Zhou Ping was coming back, he was immediately overjoyed and got up and went out of his tent to greet him.
Guan Yu and Chen arrived at Gan Ning's heels.
"Greetings, my lord!"
Zhou Ping stepped forward and saluted.
Liu Bei hurriedly took a few steps, held Zhou Ping's hand, looked at it carefully several times, and said with emotion: "Thank you for your hard work, sir! Come on, check in and rest."
When he saw Guo Jia behind Zhou Ping, Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, but then he understood what was probably going on.
"Big brother, second brother, I'm back!"
Zhang Fei shouted happily, but Liu Bei didn't bother to pay attention to him. Guan Yu smiled at him, stepped forward to chat, and listened to his talk about what happened along the way.
Entering the tent, Zhou Ping and Zhang Fei sat down. Liu Bei glanced at Guo Jia who was standing in front of him and said, "Come here, take Guo Fengxiao down to take care of him. Don't be rude."
The soldiers promised to enter the tent and take Guo Jia down.
Liu Bei just wants to have a stable relationship with Zhou Ping now, and no one else can come into his eyes, let alone Guo Jia, who assisted Cao Cao in defeat.
"Lord, what's the current situation?"
Zhou Ping didn't quite understand the current situation.
Liu Bei told the general situation in Xuzhou after Zhou Ping left.
When he heard that Gao Shun died in battle, Zhou Ping couldn't help but feel sad: "Gao Boping is commendable for his loyalty and bravery. What a pity!"
I was even more happy when I heard that Gan Ning killed Cao Hong, especially when Guan Yu killed Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun.
"Second brother, did you kill both Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun with your own hands?"
Zhang Fei shouted in envy.
"Of course." Guan Yu replied calmly, stroking his long beard, raising his head slightly.
"Hahaha...Cao Cao's attack on Xuzhou this time was self-defeating. Now that all his generals have been lost, he will also die!" Zhou Ping laughed.
Liu Bei laughed: "Thanks to you sir this time. If it weren't for your plan, we might still be under siege in Xiapi City right now!"
Zhou Ping said modestly: "The main reason for today's victory is the lord's wisdom and the courage of the generals. Ping just ran errands and went to Yecheng to say a few words on behalf of the lord."
Liu Bei also heard Zhou Ping and Zhang Fei talk about their experiences in Yecheng. When he heard that he was intercepted in Yanzhou and assassinated in Yecheng, he seemed very worried. Later, he heard about the encounter with Guo Jia on the road and asked: "Mr.
,How do you want Guo Fengxiao to deal with it?"
"My lord can make the decision, but Guang Luxun Guo Gong and Guo Fengxiao both belong to the Yingchuan Guo family. If Cao Cao dies, my lord can order him to return home. If Cao Cao is not dead, he can stay with him."
Zhou Ping's meaning is obvious. If Cao Cao dies, Guo Jia will have no value and he can be released. If Cao Cao is not dead, he must be imprisoned and cannot be released to be with Cao Cao again. After all, this man is quite resourceful.
.
Liu Bei nodded: "Well, okay."
Three days later, Liu Bei's Xuzhou soldiers, Jizhou soldiers, and Nanyang soldiers were still surrounding the city. They did not attack the city. They only sent troops to the city every day to shout and persuade them to surrender, urging the soldiers to open the door and leave the city to surrender. Not only could they avoid death, but they could also go home.
Attacking the city was useless. They knew that Cao Cao was trapped in the city and could not defend it for many days.
There weren't many people left in Pengcheng, so how could they have food? Basically all the food Cao Cao brought with him when he fled was thrown away, and they would soon be short of food.
Without food, they had no other choice but to leave the city and seek surrender.
Moreover, it is impossible for Cao Cao to have reinforcements now. Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, the two most powerful forces at present, are outside the city. Where can anyone come to rescue him?
Therefore, as long as the city is surrounded and Cao Cao is not allowed to escape, the city will be in chaos within half a month.
However, Zhou Ping still advised Liu Bei to always pay attention to the movements of Jizhou soldiers and horses to prevent himself from being suddenly attacked like Cao Cao.
Cao Cao patrolled the city with Dian Wei every day and found that the city wall was really well built. If Tian Yu held the city firmly, he would lose many men if he tried to break it.
When he patrolled to the north, looking at the Jizhou barracks outside the city, Cao Cao sighed: "I wonder where Fengxiao has gone? Now I can only hope that he will arrive in Yecheng and explain it clearly to General Yuan, so that Gufang will have a way to survive."
!”
Lu Qian followed beside him and said: "Ming Gong, we are very short of food in the city. It will take a long time for Guo Fengxiao to go to Yecheng and back. I'm afraid we can't wait. Why don't we send someone out of the city to explain to General Ju first? We can still stay in the city
The people exchanged some grain with them."
Cao Cao smiled happily. Usually, Guo Jia, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren and others were by his side to offer advice. He seldom heard of Lu Qian and others offering advice. Unexpectedly, he had some good ideas.
"It's okay to be alone."
Cao Cao found an eloquent person and told him what to say. The most important thing was to understand the specific reasons for this incident. Only by knowing the reasons can we have countermeasures.
Let him go out of the city from the north to test Jushou's attitude. At the same time, he must exchange nearly a thousand people in the city for some food so that he can last until Guo Jia persuades Yuan Shao.
If the people are exchanged for food, Liu Bei will definitely agree, and so will Jushou.
Not long after, the people sent out came back.
He told Cao Cao: "General Ju said that he acted according to the orders of General Yuan. He could only retreat if the general ordered him to retreat. By the way, according to General Ju, Guo Fengxiao is now in Liu Bei's camp..."
Cao Cao asked anxiously: "What? Guo Fengxiao is in Liu Bei's camp? How is this possible? What is going on?"
"General Ju said that Guo Fengxiao was brought back by Zhou Ping three days ago and is now being imprisoned by Liu Bei. As for exchanging people for food..."
"Stop talking, stop talking." Cao Cao waved his hand and asked him to go down.
"Ming Gong..." Lu Qian called softly.
"Fengxiao was met by Zhou Ping who came back from Yecheng, and he was captured. Hahaha... God wants to kill me, God wants to kill me!"
Cao Cao looked up to the sky and shouted.
If Guo Jia cannot go to Yecheng, there will be no one to explain to Yuan Shao for Cao Cao, and Yuan Shao will not be able to ask Jushou to withdraw his troops.
Now Cao Cao's only hope is gone. It is meaningless for him to be trapped in Pengcheng.
"Ming Gong, Wei Hu, fight your way out of the city!"
Dian Wei, who had always been a man of few words, suddenly said.
"Yes, Ming Gong, we can fight out of the city. Although the city is surrounded on all sides, Zhang Xiu in the south and Yan Liang's troops in the west can't stop us. Didn't Zhou Ping break out from Yan Liang's camp when he was in Xiapi? He can
We can also break through."
Lu Qian followed and said.
"Forget it, forget it, just go and take a nap. Just take a nap and you'll be fine."
After Cao Cao finished speaking, he took Dian Wei and his guards back to sleep, leaving Lu Qian behind to lead the troops to defend the city.
At night, more than a hundred soldiers gathered in a courtyard somewhere in the city.
This is their temporary residence.
"Have you all heard? There is a shortage of food in the city now. Duke Cao is planning to kill the people in the city and use human flesh as food for us to eat. I ask you, do you dare to eat it?"
A military prince named Qi Xiong said to everyone that he was the person with the highest position among these people and was quite prestigious.
"Ah?! Is it true? I've never heard of it! I'm not afraid of killing people, but if you let me eat it, I...I...can't eat it."
"That's right, how can you eat this!"
"But there is no food in the city. If you don't eat, won't you starve to death?"
"Won't you die if you eat it? How long can we defend without reinforcements? If we continue to defend, we will die." Qi Xiong stared at the person who just spoke.
"Then...Qi Junhou, what should we do?" The man thought Qi Xiong was right and asked.
Qi Xiong lowered his voice slightly and said to everyone: "Did you all hear the shouts outside the city when you were guarding the city gate during the day?"
Everyone nodded quickly.
"Let me ask you, do you want to leave alive, or stay in the city and wait to die?" Qi Xiong asked again.
"It goes without saying that who doesn't want to leave alive!" someone replied.
"Qi Junhou, please tell me clearly, do you want to take us out of the city and surrender?"
Everyone was staring at him, with this question in their eyes.
Qi Xiong inspected the crowd, nodded, and said, "Yes, Liu Bei said that as long as we leave the city and surrender, we can live. Liu Bei has always had a reputation for benevolence and righteousness, and he must keep his word. I believe them. Now Pengcheng is surrounded by people from all sides.
We are surrounded, and we will definitely not be able to escape if we want to. There is no food in the city, and no reinforcements will come to rescue us. If we continue to stay in the city, we will only die in the end. It is better for us to escape from the city and return home alive.
, do you think so?"
This is an act of betrayal.
No one said anything for a while. They looked at each other. After a while, someone said: "Qi Junhou, I will leave the city with you. Look at the people in Pengcheng. If they don't care for Liu Bei, how can they be willing to leave? Let's
... If we follow General Cao..., won't we kill too many people in Xuzhou? I don't seek any military merits to be a general, I just want to go home!"
"Marquis Qi Jun, I will follow you out of the city."
"I'll go out of the city with you too."
"I'm going out of town too."
"..."
Someone started, and everyone followed suit. There were more than 150 people, and no one objected.
Qi Xiong was overjoyed: "Okay, since brothers agree, let's make a plan. What I mean is to send someone out of the city tonight to report the news to Liu Bei's camp, and let them bring troops to the outside of the city tomorrow. Tomorrow we will guard the city gate.
When the time comes, suddenly open the city gate to welcome Xuzhou soldiers and horses into the city, so that we may still have a reward to take home!"
Everyone was led by Qi Xiong at this time, and he would do whatever he said.
Qi Xiong selected one person and asked him and several others to carry the rope to an unguarded place and secretly roped out of the city.
On the same day, Liu Bei asked Gan Ning to lead 3,000 people to the city and persuade him to surrender as usual.
After Gan Ning, Zhang Fei led 5,000 people to prepare. As soon as the city gate opened, Gan Ning led his troops to rush over and control the gate, and he immediately led his troops to rush into the city.
Liu Bei then led the rest of his troops to assemble in the camp and wait for Zhang Fei to advance, then he would lead his troops out of the camp and attack the city.
Qi Xiong led his troops to guard the city gate.
In addition to his more than 150 people, there were more than 150 others. Cao Cao asked more than 300 people to guard one city gate, and each city gate was guarded by two soldiers of different attributes. What he was afraid of was
Someone will open the door to accept the enemy, allowing two soldiers of different attributes to guard together, which can restrict each other.
The weather is gloomy today, the sun cannot be seen, and everyone is feeling heavy.
Qi Xiong listened to the voices urging surrender outside the city, which were also mixed with some curses and threats.
He made eye contact with several village chiefs, and was about to give the order to take action when suddenly a soldier hurried over, ran up to Qi Xiong and said in his ear: "Hold on, take action, Duke Cao is here."
Qi Xiong saw another military prince looking at him with doubtful eyes. He knew that the soldier whispering secret words would arouse suspicion. After hearing this, he pushed the soldier and said with a smile: "You are telling me that you have diarrhea." What's more, I didn't pull it out until I finished it."
Several village chiefs nearby who were nervous at first understood and laughed awkwardly.
The soldier also smiled naively and pretended to run away holding his stomach, but in fact he was going to observe where Cao Cao was going.
Cao Cao personally came to patrol the city, and he brought many guards behind him, especially Dian Wei. Everyone knew that he was an invincible guy. With them around, he did not dare to take action.
"Gong Cao is here to inspect the city. You all should keep an eye on the city gate."
Qi Xiong gave an order to let everyone know why they couldn't take action now.
Cao Cao took Dian Wei and Lu Qian to inspect the city wall. He started his inspection from the north and happened to reach the east at this time.
He stood on the city wall, looking at the enemy soldiers outside the city who were trying to persuade them to surrender. He listened to their words and frowned slightly.
"They persuade them to surrender like this every day. There is a shortage of food in the city and there are no reinforcements. They are afraid that they will weaken the morale of the army!"
Lu Qian looked helpless: "The enemy soldiers are shouting and yelling outside the city every day to persuade them to surrender. The morale in the city is indeed low, but there is no way to shut them up. Should we let the soldiers yell back?"
Cao Cao smiled softly: "Haha, what's the point of scolding? How to scold? Are they saying they don't dare to attack the city? If they are angered and really come to attack the city, how can we defend it? Liu Bei wanted to die alone, but he had to die alone. , he was able to feel at ease and did not attack the city because he knew that we did not have much food in the city and could not hold it for many days, and he did not want to lose his soldiers in vain. "
"Then how to deal with it?" Lu Qian really had no choice.
Cao Cao saw the troops led by Zhang Fei behind Gan Ning, but he didn't think much about it. After all, Liu Bei was also on guard against him suddenly leading his troops out of the city to charge, so he had to prepare troops and horses to deal with them.
"You can tell the soldiers that Guo Fengxiao has gone to Yecheng and is persuading General Yuan. In a few days, the Jizhou troops and Nanyang troops will retreat, and then we can return to Yanzhou. Let the soldiers not I'm flustered, and when I return to Yanzhou, I will definitely reward them heavily."
"promise."
Lu Qian was slightly happy. This would indeed have some effect on boosting morale, but he didn't know how long the effect would last. Now he could only live one day at a time.
Cao Cao looked outside the city for a while and continued walking towards Nancheng.
When he arrived at Nancheng, looking at the enemy camp outside the city, Cao Cao was silent for a long time.
To the south are the troops and horses of Zhang Xiu, the governor of Nanyang.
Zhang Xiu brought 20,000 soldiers and horses over this time. When he surrounded Xia Pi, he was on the outside and set up camp behind Jushou's Jizhou camp.
Although one side of the city can now be besieged independently, the south side is very unimportant. It can be seen that Liu Bei and Jushu do not pay enough attention to it.
Therefore, it seems that Zhang Xiu did not work hard enough. The camp he established was not strict, and the management of the barracks seemed to be very poor. The soldiers moved around and seemed quite chaotic.
"You can break out here."
Cao Cao suddenly pointed outside the city and said.
Dian Wei was overjoyed when he heard that Cao Cao finally agreed to his proposal and was willing to break out of the city.
