Xie Sheng indeed planned to attack the city from another direction.
When the county soldiers attacked the city, he had already seen that there were not many defenders on the city, and it was impossible to defend such a large Chaoyang City.
What Xie Sheng thought of, Feng Yi also thought of. He responded immediately and asked his own personnel to follow the county soldiers on the top of the city.
Feng Yi ran and shouted: "The archers fired arrows to force the county soldiers to stay away from the city wall!"
After hearing Feng Yi's words, Fu Jun and other archers bent their bows and nocked arrows, and fired arrows outside the city.
As the county soldiers were hit by arrows and fell to the ground one after another, people did not dare to get too close to the city wall.
As a result, the county soldiers made a large circle outside the city, while the Chung Ling army made a small circle at the top of the city. Comparing the two, the county soldiers naturally consumed more physical strength.
Seeing that his side could not find any loophole to exploit, Xie Sheng had no choice but to retreat after half an hour of stalemate with the Chung Ling Army.
After this battle, the county soldiers suffered more than a hundred casualties, while the Chung Ling Army suffered more than thirty casualties. It seemed that the losses of the Chung Ling Army were much smaller than those of the county soldiers, but the actual situation was already very dire.
Optimistically, Liu Xiu's original three hundred Chuling Army now only had a little over two hundred people left.
What's even more fatal is that the Chung Ling Army is isolated and helpless, and every one of its people is killed or wounded. As for the county soldiers, they have only returned to the vanguard led by Xie Sheng, and the main force of the county soldiers has not returned yet!
Taking advantage of the retreat of the county soldiers, Liu Xiu and others sat on the top of the city to rest. Yan Guang never stopped, constantly applying medicine to the injured brother and bandaging the wounds.
Deng Yu and Feng Yi both walked to Liu Xiu and sat on the ground. The former whispered: "My lord, it is not possible to continue fighting like this! There are less than 210 brothers on our side who can continue to fight, but the county
The main force of the soldiers has not arrived yet!"
Once the main force of more than 2,000 county soldiers withdraws to Chaoyang, our side will have no chance of fighting this battle. Liu Xiu looked at Deng Yu and asked, "Zhonghua, what do you think?"
"Two ways. First, we abandon the city and break out of the siege."
Liu Xiu slowly shook his head. Now that we have abandoned the city and broken out, there is almost no chance of success. The key is that the county soldiers outside the city have a cavalry of 200 horses. This is too great a threat to our own side.
He said: "When we attacked the city just now, you also saw that the county cavalry is no ordinary person. They are especially good at riding and shooting. Against them, we have no chance of winning!"
Encountering such a cavalry team outside the city, they can only be slaughtered by others.
When the two armies faced each other, the other side did not even need to launch cavalry to charge into the formation. They only needed to rely on high mobility to circle them and shoot arrows at the same time, which was enough to render them helpless.
Liu Xiu asked: "Zhonghua, what's another way?"
Deng Yu pondered for a moment and said: "Under the heavy reward, there must be brave men! Open the bank and granary in the city and give money and food to all the strong men who are willing to help our army defend the city. I think many strong men in the city will be willing to help us defend the city."
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Hearing this, Liu Xiu fell into deep thought and did not speak for a long time.
Deng Yu's proposal is a solution, but it also has problems. First of all, summon the strong men in the city to see how effective they can be in resisting the county soldiers' attack on the city. Will they cause chaos to their own side, or even destroy the city?
There was no way of knowing whether he would defect in battle, and the hidden dangers were too great. Secondly, Liu Xiu had no idea whether his side could hold Chaoyang City. Recruiting these strong men would probably end up harming them and their families.
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Feng Yi said worriedly: "As soon as we are recruited, we will immediately fight such a cruel battle. I'm afraid that before the battle begins, people will be scared to the point of weakening their legs."
In his opinion, it is difficult for the strong men recruited temporarily to form combat effectiveness on the battlefield.
"So, if we want to recruit, we must also recruit those desperadoes who have seen blood!" Jiu'er appeared out of nowhere, stood next to Liu Xiu, and said with a serious face.
Liu Xiuyang glanced at her and asked with a smile: "What does Jiu'er mean?"
Jiuer said: "My lord, there are many death row prisoners in the prison in the city. Why don't you recruit these death row prisoners? They have already committed capital crimes. Following us, although it is dangerous, at least they still have a chance to survive and stay in the prison." , they have no chance at all, only a dead end!"
Liu Xiu's heart moved, and he secretly thought that this was a good idea! He thought about it, looked at Deng Yu and Feng Yi, and asked: "Zhonghua, Gongsun, what do you two mean?"
Deng Yu and Feng Yi both laughed, nodded and said, "Miss Jiuer's idea is very good!"
Liu Xiu stood up and said, "That's it! I'll go to the prison for a walk!"
There are hundreds of prisoners in the prison in Chaoyang City, and most of them are death row inmates, and most of these death row inmates are suspected of rebellion.
During Wang Mang's reign, he issued amnesty orders from time to time, but one thing was that those who had committed the crime of rebellion were never included in the amnesty.
Therefore, inmates on death row for crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, etc. were often kept in prison for several months. Before their execution period, they were released by amnesties frequently issued by the Xinmang court. The remaining inmates on death row were basically All linked to rebellion.
All the guards in the prison had already fled, leaving only hundreds of prisoners locked in cells.
Walking into the prison, it was dark and dark, with a damp and putrid smell in the air. Even the temperature seemed to be several degrees lower than outside. Walking in it, one would feel chills all over and the hairs on his body would stand on end.
Jiu'er held a torch and walked in front. It was also her first time entering the prison. Everything she saw was new, and she looked around as she walked.
The cage fences on both sides were all dark, and it was difficult to see clearly what was going on inside. Jiuer walked to a wooden fence and moved the torch forward, trying to see clearly what was going on inside.
Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the bottom of the fence and grabbed her ankle tightly. Jiuer screamed in fright, pulled out her ankle desperately, and then stepped back with a pale face.
Liu Xiu stepped forward quickly and shined a torch. He saw a man lying on the ground in the cage. His hair was disheveled and his face was covered with dirt. He couldn't see his appearance clearly, but his legs were ulcerated and covered with black and yellow pus. The water soaked through the trouser legs, emitting a pungent stench.
Seeing clearly the inhuman prisoner, Liu Xiu also frowned and took a step back. Jiu'er's cry just now seemed to wake up the sleepy prisoners in the cage, and one by one, pale hands came out of the wood. Jutting out from the fence, the sound of pleading could be heard endlessly.
The scene in the entire corridor was like the underworld. Liu Xiu turned around and asked Zhu You who was accompanying him to light all the torches on the wall. As the torches on the wall lit up, there was finally some light in the prison. .
Liu Xiu glanced around, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "Everyone, be quiet!"
The echo of his voice lingered in the prison for a long time. The continuous sounds of begging gradually disappeared. As Liu Xiu walked inside, he said loudly: "I am the partial general of the Zhu Tiandu Department, Liu Xiu!"
The prison was so quiet that there was not even a reply. Liu Xiu continued: "You may not know what Zhutiandubu is. We have another name, Han Army!"
This sentence caused an instant explosion in the prison. Now it is the Xinmang court, and those who dare to call themselves Han troops are rebels. How could the rebels suddenly appear in the prison in Chaoyang? Could it be that Chaoyang City was occupied by the rebels? ?
"General, help us! General, please help us..." For a time, people were calling for help.
Liu Xiu said nothing. Zhu You pulled his neck and shouted: "Be quiet! Listen to the general!"
When the cry for help disappeared, Liu Xiu continued: "The current situation is that we and other Zhutiandu troops, a total of more than 200 brothers, have captured Chaoyang City, and outside the city, there are more than 2,000 Chaoyang County soldiers, watching eagerly. , trying to attack by force. Those who are brave, not afraid of death, and willing to fight to the death with the county soldiers can stand up now and go to the top of the city with us to resist the county soldiers. If you are timid and afraid of death, you should still stay. It is safer in the prison, even if the county soldiers invade the city, you will not be implicated!"
"General, I'm not afraid of death!"
"General, take me out! I am willing to fight to the death with the county soldiers!"
Liu Xiu did not hide anything and made the current situation clear. Naturally, those who responded most positively were those on death row.
If they stay in the prison, they will die in the end, and they will have to suffer a lot of punishment. Instead of doing this, it is better to follow the Zhu Tiandu Department to resist the county soldiers and fight desperately. If the battle is won, they will not have to died!
Liu Xiu knew very well what people were thinking. He said loudly: "As I said just now, we only have 200 people, and there are more than 2,000 county soldiers outside the city. There is a huge difference between the enemy and us. This battle is also Even if you narrowly escape death, I ask again, who is willing to risk your life with me?"
"General, I do!"
"I would also like to..."
Liu Xiu had already said this, and there were still people who were willing to join them to fight the county soldiers, which showed that their willpower was very firm. Liu Xiu nodded, no longer wasting time, and asked the men he had brought He waved his hand and shouted: "Break open the cell door, all of them!"
Following his order, more than a dozen Chongling soldiers stepped forward and smashed the locks on the cell door one after another.
As the cell door opened, the prisoners on death row rushed out immediately, while those who received lighter punishments huddled in the cells, trembling and afraid to step out of the cells.
They have not committed a capital crime in the first place. They can be released after being held in a cell for a few months or a few years. There is no need to get involved with the rebels. If they follow the rebels to fight against the county soldiers, not only will their lives be in danger, but their families will also be in danger. They must also be implicated.
Liu Xiu would never force these people. For people who were not strong-willed to fight, even if he forced them to go to the battlefield, it would only cause chaos to his own side and damage his own morale.
There were more than 200 people who expressed their willingness to fight with Liu Xiu. Without exception, they were all death row prisoners. What made Liu Xiu feel that something was wrong was that at least 150 or 60 of the more than 200 death row prisoners were in a group. of.
Although they didn't show it very obviously, Liu Xiu was still keenly aware of it.
After walking out of the prison, most of the prisoners on death row could not open their eyes. They raised their hands to block the sun above their heads, and tears flowed down uncontrollably. Liu Xiu understood that this was the reason for not seeing the sun for a long time.
It took a long time for people's eyes to gradually adapt.
At this time, a big man came out of the crowd. He came to Liu Xiu and said angrily: "I will never forget General Liu's life-saving grace!" As he spoke, he respectfully paid Liu Xiu a deep favor.
A gift.
Following his salute, more than a hundred death row prisoners behind him also bowed their hands to Liu Xiu and saluted, saying in unison: "Thank you General Liu for saving your life!"