Although what Kuai Yue said is correct, how should he reply to Chen Wen?
"Just tell him that we will send troops from Jiangxia to support Yangzhou, and he won't be able to say anything."
Regarding answering this question, Kuai Yue had already thought of a countermeasure.
"Okay, then let's invite Chen Yue to come over and give us a reply."
"promise."
After a while, Chen Yue was brought to Liu Miao again.
"My lord, have you ever thought about this carefully?"
Chen Yue saluted Liu Biao again.
"Well, I discussed it and found that Jingzhou currently lacks troops and horses, so I decided to postpone the offensive to encircle Huang Zu and send 50,000 troops from Jiangxia to support Yangzhou."
Liu Biao glanced at Chen Yue and directly stated his countermeasures.
"In this case, I will take my lord and His Majesty the Emperor to thank Mr. Zhou Mu. I will return to Shouchun immediately to convey this news."
Chen Yue was overjoyed when he heard Liu Biao's arrangement. If he could really send troops from Jiangxia to support Yangzhou, there would be hope for him to defend Yangzhou.
"Well, tell Chen Zhoumu the news quickly."
"Farewell."
Chen Yue left directly and ran towards Shouchun.
After Chen Yue left, Liu Biao's messenger also rushed out of Xiangyang towards Jiangxia.
Ma Chao's cavalry was the fastest, and even after bypassing Shouchun, they had already arrived outside Cai City.
"Whose troops are under the city?"
When the soldiers and horses on the top of the city saw the cavalry below the city, they immediately became alert.
After looking at the city wall, Ma Chao spurred his horse forward and pointed his gun directly at the city gate.
"I am Ma Chao, the general under the command of Jizhou Mu. Shouchun has been captured, and Chen Wen and other thieves have been defeated. You must open the city and surrender as quickly as possible. Otherwise, when the city is breached, all the soldiers defending the city will be killed."
Ma Chao's words were like a tornado spinning directly on the city wall. All the soldiers were stunned when they heard these words. Shouchun was defeated and Zhou Mu was killed. This is impossible.
For a moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on the county captain.
"You said Shouchun City was destroyed and Zhou Mu was killed. What evidence is there?"
The county captain glanced at Ma Chao below the city, his eyes full of doubts.
"Haha, you dare to ask me for evidence no matter what your identity is, and I am advising you to surrender out of compassion. If you don't understand, then just wait for me to attack the city. Prepare the whole army, dismount and prepare to attack the city."
Hearing that the county lieutenant actually asked for evidence from him, Ma Chao laughed directly. He just didn't want to attack the city. A small county lieutenant dared to speak arrogant words. At worst, he would just attack the city.
"what to do?
grown ups."
A soldier tightened his grip on the spear in his hand and watched the cavalry under the city dismounting one after another, his eyes filled with horror.
"what to do?
How do I know what to do?
I'll go find the county magistrate right away."
The county captain glanced at the bottom of the city, then jumped off the city wall and ran towards the city.
But when the county captain arrived at the county government office, he was dumbfounded. The place he saw was in a mess, with people picking up things everywhere.
What the hell is going on? Could it be that the county government office has been robbed?
"Where is the county magistrate?"
Grab a random person and question them.
"When the county magistrate heard that Yuan Shu's troops had arrived, he immediately packed up Xinruan and ran away with his cronies."
The man caught by the county captain responded to him with a look of horror on his face.
"Get out of here."
The county lieutenant kicked the man away. He felt that his anger had reached the top of his head. Before the enemy could attack the city, you, the county magistrate, ran away. Yangzhou was really going to die.
The county captain returned directly from the county government office to the city wall.
"County captain, what did the county magistrate say?"
Seeing the county captain return to the city wall with a dark face, the village chief asked him directly.
"Magistrate Dog has packed up Xinruan and ran away. What's the point of a big fight? Kaicheng surrenders."
Even though the county magistrate had fled, he still persisted. The county captain directly ordered Kaicheng to surrender.
"The county captain is wise."
"The county captain is the best."
"No need to die."
Upon hearing the county captain's order, the city walls burst into cheers. Facing nearly 10,000 enemies, it was impossible to stop him, so everyone supported him very much.
"Crunch."
The heavy city gate slowly opened, and then the county captain led the garrison leader directly out of the city.
Seeing the city gate open, Ma Chao, who was not far away, twisted his mouth.
"Mount your horse and enter the city."
Upon hearing Ma Chao's order, the cavalry mounted their horses one after another and followed Ma Chao into the city. Xia Cai City fell into the hands of Yuan Shu without any effort. Xia Cai was occupied and Chen Wen's escape route to Yuzhou was blocked.
After capturing Cai, Ma Chao stationed a thousand soldiers and horses here and galloped toward Ping'a. Although Yan Liang was cooperating with him, his speed was the advantage. He must capture all three cities before Chen Wen went north.
Take it.
Yan Liang led the army along the way, and the troops were divided into two groups on the road. Zhang He led an army of 20,000 to Ping'a, while he himself attacked Dangtu.
Yan Liang's army arrived outside Dangtu City, but before he could make any announcement, the Dangtu County Magistrate ordered Kaicheng to surrender, and Yan Liang captured it without any effort.
Ma Chao led his army to arrive outside Ping'a first. Looking at the towering city wall, Ma Chao shouted again.
"It's a matter of eating the emperor's salary and being loyal to the emperor. If I, Liu Qi, are here for a day, you can't even think of winning this Ping."
Faced with Ma Chao's persuasion to surrender, the county magistrate Liu Qi directly shouted to Ma Chao from the city wall.
Looking at the city wall opposite, although many of the soldiers were frightened, with the county magistrate on the wall, their morale was still strong enough to fight.
"Build a ladder and prepare to attack the city."
Since the enemy does not want to surrender, the only option is to attack the city.
With Ma Chao's order, the cavalry dismounted one after another and began to build siege equipment on the spot.
"General, do you really want to attack the city?"
The army built siege equipment, but the military commander frowned a little.
"how?
You don’t agree?”
After hearing what the captain said, Ma Chao glared at him directly.
"I don't disagree. It's just that our cavalry is overqualified to attack the city. I'm afraid that even if we take Ping'a, the lord will not be happy if we lose troops and generals. Instead of wasting the strength of the cavalry, it is better to build equipment on the spot. I believe General Yan Liang
The troops will arrive soon, and if we cooperate with them to attack the city, the casualties will be much smaller."
The captain was also depressed when he saw Ma Chao staring at him, but he was depressed because he still had to say what he needed to say. Otherwise, he would lose his army and lose the general. Ma Chao might be fine if he only gets the love of his lord, but he, as a captain, might be the end of it.
"Well, what you said makes sense. Indeed, even if the cavalry attacks the city and takes down Ping'a, Lord Ping'a will say that I don't know about military matters, so he will temporarily retreat and set up camp, build siege equipment, and wait for reinforcements to arrive."
If Ma Chao had been based on his previous character, he would have immediately dismounted and attacked the city, but this time he did grow a lot in the Battle of Yangzhou, and his previously irritable character had also been improved, so this time he chose to listen to the words of the military commander and attack the city.
The opportunity to attack the city was given to Yan Liang who was about to arrive.
"promise."
Ma Chao directly led his troops to retreat five miles and set up camp. At the same time, his cavalry scattered and began to build engineering equipment, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements.
"County magistrate, they are withdrawing, they are withdrawing."
Seeing Ma Chao's retreat, the soldiers on the city wall cheered. Originally, they were thinking about what to do if the enemy attacked the city, but now it was better and they retreated directly.
"I have said that we have great righteousness and Yuan Shu is just a rebellious official and traitor. As long as we have righteousness in our hearts, we can be invincible."
The county magistrate also nodded. He now feels that Yuan Shu is nothing more than this. The so-called Jizhou soldiers and horses are the best in the world is just a joke. Otherwise, how could the soldiers and horses of Jizhou surpass nearly ten thousand people not even dare to attack a small Ping'a like himself?
