"They actually let you back? And asked you to tell me that they abandoned the city and fled, and asked me to lead the troops to chase them?"
Ji Ling was stunned when he heard what Tanzu said.
I don't know whether the Xuzhou soldiers in the city really abandoned the city and ran away, or whether they deliberately set up an ambush and waited for me.
After much deliberation, I finally came to the conclusion that if the enemy soldiers really abandoned the city and ran away, it would be impossible for them to let their scouts come back, let alone ask them to lead their troops to pursue them. There must be some fraud involved.
And it's still dark, so if you pursue him rashly and get ambushed, that won't be a meritorious service, but a crime.
Ji Ling ordered: "The whole camp is on standby and we will go to the city after daybreak to have a look. If they really abandon the city and run away, we will chase them again."
By the Huaihe River.
Just now, many boats were capsized and many bamboo rafts were damaged. Now we can only ferry more than 200 people at a time.
By the time all the people by the river had finished crossing, it was already midnight, and it was already getting light.
Li Jia first sent 500 people to cross the river, and he led 500 people to continue to the rear.
He looked up at the sky and thought to himself: At dawn, the enemy soldiers will know that he has really abandoned the city and ran away, and they will definitely chase him. There are few boats and rafts now, so he must find a way to delay the enemy soldiers from chasing him.
, otherwise those who are responsible for the rear will not be able to cross the river.
After thinking for a long time, Li Jia made up his mind and divided the 500 people into two groups, each with 250 people.
A group of people were ordered to stay here, and the shields were dug into the ground and planted in a row, with left and right sides.
If enemy soldiers were chasing after them and saw these shields, they would be afraid that there was an ambush behind the shields and would not dare to approach them for a while.
Li Jia led two hundred and fifty people back to the city, and they all stood on the west wall as usual.
When the Huailing County Magistrate learned that Lu You had led his troops to retreat, he ran away long ago.
After daybreak, Ji Ling led five thousand soldiers and horses to the city. When he saw the enemy soldiers standing guard on the city, he couldn't help but secretly rejoiced: These Xuzhou soldiers did not abandon the city and escape. It turned out to be a trick to lure the enemy at night. Fortunately, he did not fall into the trap.
He also sent people to the city to call for battle.
Li Jia on the city shouted: "Call Ji Ling to answer."
Ji Ling clapped his horse forward, stopped outside the range of the crossbow at the bottom of the city, and shouted to the city: "Are all Xuzhou soldiers cowards? Why don't they dare to fight?"
Li Jia replied: "We, General Lu, have left. Now there are only three hundred of us left in the city. How can we get out of the city to fight with you?"
"Haha, I didn't expect you Xuzhou people to be so deceitful and lie, but if you want to lure me into the trap, you underestimate me. If you have the courage, lead your troops out of the city and fight to decide the outcome."
"Then I wonder if General Ji Ling is brave?" Li Jia asked loudly.
"Ji Ling has never been afraid." Ji Ling replied confidently.
Li Jia asked again: "Since you have no fear, I opened the city gate, do you dare to enter the city?"
Ji Ling fell silent.
But the words had just been spoken, and he could not show any weakness in his momentum, so he replied: "Why don't you dare!"
"Okay, then I will open the city gate to welcome you."
After Li Jia finished speaking, he waved his hand, and all the soldiers on the city squatted down and hid behind the female wall.
Ji Ling was startled and saw that all the soldiers on the city had crouched down and disappeared, leaving only Li Jia standing.
Li Jia's move was just to hold back Ji Ling's troops so that his soldiers could cross the river.
The crouching soldiers followed his instructions and quietly got off the city wall, ran out of the east gate and went to the river to cross the river.
Ji Ling waited for a long time, but finally saw the city gate open, and Li Jia was still standing on the city wall.
"Ji Ling, the city gate is open, do you dare to enter?"
"Hahaha... There is no need to rush into the city. I will definitely enter the city as soon as General Yuan's army arrives."
Ji Ling had already sent people to report to Yuan Shu, and now he was just waiting for Yuan Shu to lead his troops.
At this time, he had already determined in his heart that the noise by the river last night must be Liu Bei's troops crossing the river and entering the city. At this moment, he was trying to lure him into the city. Once the city gate was closed, he would not be able to escape.
"You are not in a hurry, but I am. Since you dare not enter the city, I will leave."
After Li Jia finished speaking, he turned around and left.
Ji Ling watched Li Jia leave. There was no one in the city now, and the city seemed to be silent. This made him think that this was a plan to lure the enemy into the city, otherwise they would not dare to open the city gate.
After a long time, Yuan Shu led his army to the city. After listening to Ji Ling's report, he also believed that there must be a fraud.
He sent people to call for war under the city, but no matter how they shouted, there was no response from the city.
After a long time, some county officials came out of the city to ask for surrender, and told Yuan Shu that the guards and county magistrates in the city had abandoned the city overnight and ran away.
When Yuan Shu heard this, he smiled instead of getting angry: "Hahaha... Liu Bei's general is so cowardly. It's easy for me to win."
He immediately ordered Ji Ling to lead his troops to pursue him.
Ji Ling led his troops to the east of the city and saw a row of shields erected in front of them from a distance. Through the gaps in the shields, one could see bows and arrows hidden behind them.
On the far side of the river, two to three hundred Xuzhou soldiers were boarding boats and rafts, preparing to cross the river.
Ji Ling sent out cavalry and infantry to outflank the enemy from both sides, hoping to kill all the enemy soldiers hiding behind the shields.
However, when his cavalry went around behind the shield, they saw that there was no one behind the shield, except for a few bows and arrows. At this time, the Xuzhou soldiers had already crossed into the river.
"The thief is treacherous and insulting me, I will kill him!"
Ji Ling looked at Li Jia and others crossing the river and said harshly.
Yuan Shu captured the city of Huai Ling without any effort. He was satisfied and believed that it was due to his power that all the enemy generals were invincible. From this point of view, Liu Bei will die and Xuzhou will win!
He ordered Li Feng to lead five thousand soldiers to garrison Huailing City to prevent the enemy from crossing the river again to attack.
Still with Ji Ling as the vanguard, the army set off towards Xuyi.
When Li Jia was crossing the river, he saw countless corpses floating in the river and couldn't help but feel guilty.
If they had not led their own troops to the river, these brothers would not have mistakenly thought that the enemy soldiers were attacking, and they would not have rushed into the river and drowned.
Alas, when people flee in panic, there is often a roar of wind and cranes, and the trees and grass are all in danger!
After crossing the river, Lu You greeted us and asked, "How did you escape? Didn't the enemy soldiers come after you?"
Li Jia reported what he had done to Lu You and said sadly: "The deaths of brothers are all due to me!"
Lu You comforted: "This is not your fault, don't blame yourself."
After counting the men and horses, including those who drowned and those who escaped, there were more than 800 people missing.
"General, what should we do now?" Li Jia asked Lu You.
"Huailing can be lost, but the enemy must not be allowed to cross the river. We will set up camp by the river and destroy all the boats so that the enemy soldiers cannot cross the river. As for the envoy, I will send someone to explain." Lu You replied.
.
Li Jia hurriedly said: "The boats and equipment cannot be destroyed. Keep the boats and equipment. Even if we can't cross the river, we can keep the enemy soldiers on guard and contain the enemies of Huailing City. If it is destroyed, the enemy soldiers will not be able to cross the river, and we will not be able to cross the river either."
."
Lu You nodded: "Okay, then it won't be destroyed."
"General," Li Jia called out, hesitated for a moment, and then continued under Lu You's suspicion, "I think the general should surrender elsewhere! This time he abandoned the city and retreated in defiance of military orders, and died again."
There are so many soldiers, I'm afraid I won't be able to spare you."
Lu You sneered and said, "Haha, where can I go?"
"Yuan Shao from Jizhou or Liu Biao from Jingzhou are both fine."
"It's easy for me to leave, but where is my family?"
"If you are benevolent and righteous, your family will not be harmed. If you are in charge of Xuzhou and have not yet established your authority, I will definitely kill you this time to establish your authority."
"I am an old general in Xuzhou, and Commander Liu has always been tolerant, so he should not kill me. Besides, Huailing is a useless and trapped city. I abandoned the city and retreated, so you should understand."
Li Jia wanted to persuade again: "General..."
Lu You waved his hand and said: "Don't say any more, set up camp quickly. I will send someone to report to the envoy and ask him to send more troops to guard this place together."
