Chapter 236 Coincidence, Luyang City Falls, Yuan Shu Flees
Luyang City, Nanyang County.

Yuan Shu rarely drank alcohol but honey water instead, looking anxious.

Today is the third of December. It has been two days since Yan Xiang went on a diplomatic mission to Sun Jian, and no news has been received.

"Jin Mao, you little brat! Sun Jian, you little bastard!"

"What a traitor!"

Recalling his brief glory, Yuan Shu became very angry.

A bunch of villains!
In fact, the Four-Party Alliance was established to deal with Jin Mao, and Jin Mao did not pursue it; later, when Liu Biao came to seek an alliance, Jin Mao did not express his position openly.

Not to mention Sun Jian, who never stabbed Yuan Shu in the back from beginning to end.

Everything was just Yuan Shu's wishful thinking.

Thinking of the things that made him angry, Yuan Shu started throwing things.

Downstairs of the city gate.

Yang Hong brought with him a bamboo slip document, which contained some trivial matters in the city that had to be reported.

"My lord, please take a look."

Yuan Shu took the bamboo slips without even looking at them and threw them aside.

"Has Yan Xiang sent back any news?"

Yang Hong shook his head, took back the bamboo slips and said, "My Lord, these matters all require your decision, please~"

Before he could finish his words, the bamboo slips in his hand were knocked away.

Yuan Shu said impatiently: "Don't bother me with such trivial matters!"

“You decide for yourself!”

Yang Hong silently picked up the bamboo slips and put them back on the table in front of Yuan Shu, feeling helpless.

Yuan Shu said the same thing last time, but when something went wrong, it was all Yang Hong's fault.

Yuan Shu was annoyed and said angrily: "If you have nothing else to do, just go down!"

Yang Hong could only bite the bullet and report: "Jin Mao has built forty catapults outside the city. It will be completed soon. My lord, you should make preparations early."

Yuan Shu angrily picked up the bamboo slips on the table and wanted to throw them at Yang Hong, but then he thought it was not right and threw them on the ground.

"Jinmao! Jinmao!"

"It's Jinmao again!"

"Can't you talk about something else?"

Yang Hong felt helpless. Originally, this job was done by Yan Xiang, but now that Yan Xiang was not around, all the blame fell on him.

"My lord, there is a new Yihongyuan in the city."

"I heard that the girls there all have special skills."

Since Yuan Shu wanted to hear something else, Yang Hong talked about things that Yuan Shu liked.

"My Lord, can we go for a walk?"

Yuan Shu stood up suddenly, frowned and said: "There must be something fishy here!"

"Order someone to follow me to Yihong Courtyard and investigate him thoroughly!"

At this moment, Yang Hong had an illusion that Yuan Shu had changed his character and become a wise ruler.

An hour later, Yang Hong looked at Yuan Shu playing hide-and-seek with the girls and realized that nothing had changed.

"My Lord, the army is right before us, and you are not in a hurry at all."

Unfortunately, Yang Hong would not say these words out loud.

Outside Luyang City.

Jin Mao is troubled by Yuan Shu's cowardly style of play.

If Luyang City is smashed into ruins, it would be better not to fight.

Repairing and rebuilding would consume a lot of Jinmao's energy, not to mention the attack on Dong Zhuo.

The only thing we can do now is wait.

Either there is good news from Jinyang, or there is good news from the newly opened Yihongyuan.

Jinmao did not expect any major good news. He just hoped that Yihongyuan could make a rough map of the city's defense deployment, and he would be satisfied.

night.

There was no news about Jin Yang yet, but good news came from Yihong Courtyard.

"Yuan Shu stayed overnight at Yihong Courtyard?"

What a big heart!
Jinmao held a high-level meeting overnight.

"Gongda, what do you think?"

Xun You shook his head and said, "Attack on a city is not my forte."

This one sentence sums up the theme of tonight's meeting.

Huang Zhong and Wen Pin were the most enthusiastic: "We will be the first to attack the city and capture the stronghold for our lord!"

Zhang Fei and Dian Wei followed closely behind.

The generals have a very strong desire.

Unexpectedly, Jin Mao shook his head and said, "Tonight's siege is different from the past."

But this kind of thing is hard to explain.

Could it be that in order to preserve Luyang County intact, tonight's attack is just a feint and will not count?
In the past, when soldiers were young and inexperienced, they could use this rhetoric.

If you still say this now when you have an absolute advantage, you really don't care about the lives of the soldiers.

Then don't blame your subordinates for doing something dirty.

Xun You seemed to see Jin Mao's dilemma.

He stood up and said, "My lord, there is no priority tonight, it's all about the main attack!"

"Whoever breaks the city first will be credited with first place!"

Jin Mao nodded and began to arrange personnel.

"Zhang Fei is in charge of the east wall, Ling Cao is in charge of the west wall, and they will each select their own generals to attack the city."

According to the principle of enclosing three and leaving one, because there is a river in the south of Luyang County, a passage was opened in the north.

When the generals went down to make arrangements, Jin Mao couldn't help but ask Xun You, "What is Gongda's intention in doing this?"

Xun You asked in return: "My Lord, do you want to keep Luyang County intact, or do you want to quickly resolve the threat from Yuan Shu and march to Luoyang?"

Jin Mao wondered: "What's the difference?"

Xun You replied: "If you want the entire Luyang County, then you can only wait for Sun Jian's response."

"What if we want to march into Luoyang?"

Xun You said: "Then we must act decisively and take over Luyang County in one fell swoop while Yuan Shu is having fun."

Jin Mao thought about it but said nothing.

Xun You explained and advised: "My lord, if you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences!"

Jin Mao finally made up his mind and said, "Send Huang Gai and Huang Zhong to see me!"

Cup of tea.

Huang Gai and Huang Zhong entered the tent and bowed, saying, "Huang Gai (Huang Zhong) greets the lord."

"Gong Fu, Han Sheng, no need to be so polite."

Jin Mao stood up and said, "The situation is urgent. Gongfu will immediately dispatch all ships to gather in the south of Luyang County!"

Jin Mao looked at Huang Zhong again and said, "Han Sheng brought two thousand strong crossbowmen and personal guards to assist Gong Fu."

Because of his excellent archery skills, Huang Zhong was transferred to Jin Mao's personal guard and appointed as the fake crossbow Sima, specifically in charge of training crossbowmen, which shows Jin Mao's trust in Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong didn't want to let Jin Mao down, so he studied day and night and made some progress.

But today, Jin Mao actually asked him to launch a night attack with crossbowmen, which was really difficult to do.

Nansha Water in Luyang County.

On the river, Huang Zhong was worried and didn't know what to do.

Huang Gai was calibrating the catapult on the ship. He didn't need to worry, as the wall of Luyang County was within reach. He just opened fire without thinking.

As the navy was delayed in its action, by the time Huang Gai was ready, the battle had already begun on the east and west city walls, with shouts and cries of killing deafening.

"Hurry up!"

Huang Gai shouted loudly: "Throw the fire bombs!"

Hu Hu Hu.

Ten huge flaming rocks were launched from the ship and headed straight for the southern city of Luyang County.

With the help of the faint firelight, Huang Zhong, who had excellent eyesight, could see the distance between the two sides. It was less than three hundred steps, just within the range of the powerful crossbow.

He followed suit and yelled, "Rockets ready!"

"A salvo!"

Rockets are different from ordinary crossbows. Even if the royal guards are able to load arrows into a powerful crossbow alone, they cannot load rockets alone. It takes two people working together.

A thousand rockets lit up half the sky. Huang Zhong had sharp eyes and immediately noticed that the defenses in the south of the city were weak.

No! To be exact, the south of the city was unprotected!

This is a God-given opportunity!
Huang Zhong quickly found Huang Gai to explain the situation.

"Commander-in-chief, there are no enemy troops stationed in Luyang South City. I request to enter the city and fight!"

Let the navy attack the city?

Huang Gai had never thought about this problem, not because there were not enough people.

The navy was expanded, with Huang Gai's troops alone expanding to 8,000 men.

There are enough infantry to attack the city.

However, Huang Gai did not receive clear instructions to attack the city.

After that early period, Huang Gai had always been cautious and never made any mistakes.

He would rather do nothing than do something wrong.

Huang Zhong was extremely anxious when he saw this. He said, "General, please give the order quickly. The fighting opportunity is fleeting!"

"Alas." Huang Gai sighed, "Sir Huang, you don't know that our lord doesn't like his subordinates to act on their own."

"Without clear orders, do not act in vain."

"Oh!" Huang Zhong was very upset.

Suddenly, Huang Zhong remembered something and said excitedly: "Commander-in-chief, the lord has given the order!"

"My lord said, there are no assists, it's all main attacks!"

"That means we can also be the main attacker along this route!"

Huang Gai thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the case. He patted Huang Zhong on the shoulder excitedly and said, "Sima Huang is still strong even at his old age!"

"If we can capture Luyang County this time, you will be credited with a great achievement!"

Huang Gai then issued an order: "Gather all the catapults and break open the city gate!"

Three minutes later.

The south gate collapsed with a loud bang. Huang Gai and Huang Zhong shouted excitedly and rushed into the city with their subordinates.

the other side.

Yihongyuan, Luyang County.

Yuan Shu was woken up and was about to get angry, but he saw Yang Hong looking anxious and panicked.

"My Lord! Disaster has occurred!"

"Yangzhou Mu launched a night attack, the east and west gates are in danger!"

Yuan Shu sobered up instantly, cold sweat soaking his whole body, and pushed away the girls around him.

"Hurry! Help me up!"

Yuan Shu was hurriedly getting dressed, his mind already in a mess.

Yang Hong comforted him, "My lord, don't panic. Generals Ji Ling and Liu Xun have already brought people to support the East and West Cities. As long as we hold on until dawn, there will be no problem."

Yuan Shu was so confused that he could no longer remain calm. He said hysterically, "You don't understand!"

"Jin Mao is a despicable villain!"

"If he wasn't sure of victory, he wouldn't have come to attack the city."

Then, convinced by himself, Yuan Shu ordered again: "Quickly prepare the horse for me!"

"Take me away quickly before Luyang County is destroyed!"

Yang Hong wanted to continue to comfort him, but Yuan Shu kicked him in the stomach in anger and said viciously: "Do you want to kill me?"

Fortunately, Yuan Shu had indulged himself too much and had no strength left. Yang Hong held his stomach, stood up with difficulty, and said, "Yes."

Yang Hong's heart was filled with sadness.

Why was he so blind as to accept such a lord?
It was clear that he and Yan Xiang had both advised Yuan Shu to give up Luyang County, temporarily avoid the Jinmao attack, and hide in Runan County to wait for the opportunity.

But Yuan Shu refused to listen and arrogantly believed that with 60,000 troops against 40,000, he had the advantage.

As a result, now when they hear that the enemy is attacking the city, they panic like this.

He is obviously as timid as a mouse, but he wants to put on a brave face. He is really suffering from his own stubbornness!
Now Yang Hong can only hope that Yuan Shu is wrong and Jin Mao cannot break the city, then there will be a glimmer of hope.

However, what are you afraid of?

The South Gate, which was originally thought to be the least likely to be breached, was actually the first to be breached.

Yang Hong, who had just left Yihong Courtyard, forced himself to calm down, grabbed the messenger tightly and asked, "How many enemy troops are there?"

"Which route?"

"Where are we now?"

The messenger had already panicked and said incoherently: "There are too many enemy troops! Military advisor, quickly lead the lord to escape!"

After saying this, the messenger forcibly broke free from Yang Hong's hands and fled to the north of the city along with the many deserters.

Yang Hong's hands and feet were cold. He knew that the situation was hopeless, so he could only call Yuan Shu's personal soldiers to order the east and west sides of the city to retreat.

If you don't leave now, you may never be able to leave.

The eastern city wall of Luyang County.

Ji Ling once again repelled the siege of Zhang Fei's troops. Just as he was about to take a breath, a messenger came running over, shouting, "The lord has an order. Retreat!"

"The lord has ordered a retreat!"

Ji Ling felt puzzled. They were still fighting, so why were they retreating?

When the messenger came to him, Ji Ling grabbed him and shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Don't think that I won't kill you just because you are my lord's personal soldier!"

The messenger had a sad face and hurriedly explained: "General, the south of the city has been breached, and the lord has already left from the north of the city. General, hurry up and leave too!"

Ji Ling was stunned and his hands loosened unconsciously. After the personal soldiers delivered the order, they did not dare to stay for long and ran down the city wall.

Everyone around looked at Ji Ling, who finally reacted.

Ji Ling looked around and saw that the soldiers' morale was low. He realized that it was meaningless to hold on any longer.

He gave the order: "Everyone retreat in an orderly manner. Anyone who rushes ahead will be killed immediately!"

It has to be said that Ji Ling is worthy of being the number one general under Yuan Shu and he is very good at training troops.

After this order was given, the soldiers from East City began to retreat in an orderly manner. Only a small number of them caused a riot and were killed by Ji Ling and his supervisory team.

West City was not so lucky.

Liu Xun is inferior to Ji Ling in every aspect.

From the moment the order to retreat was given, the defenders of West City were all thrown into disarray.

Trampling, surrender, and cannibalism.

The ugly side of things is exposed.

Liu Xun couldn't care less. The 20,000 men under his command were no match for the 20,000 men under Ji Ling.

They are Yuan Shu's direct descendants, and all of them are carefully selected good soldiers.

Liu Xun's side was a motley crowd, with the worst quality soldiers, the worst food and supplies, and even the last to receive their military pay.

As the saying goes, a good cook cannot cook without rice, which is probably just like Liu Xun.

With only a few months of training, and the lax military discipline among Yuan Shu's army, it would be strange if they could have any combat effectiveness.

...

When Zhang Fei and Ling Cao climbed the city wall almost at the same time, each of them thought that he was the first one to break into the city.

On the east city wall.

Zhang Fei didn't even need a loudspeaker to amplify his voice, his roar could be heard clearly on and off the city wall.

"Everyone has it!"

"Don't disturb the people!"

"Don't kill the prisoners!"

It was rare for Zhang Fei to remember the military rules, and his next words revealed his true nature: "Follow me to kill the enemy!"

Not far away, Ji Ling had not yet retreated.

Zhang Fei was looking down from a high place and saw a large group of people and horses gathering together. His eyes suddenly lit up, he glanced around, and rode on an ownerless warhorse nearby.

He held the reins in one hand and raised his Zhangba Snake Spear in the other, shouting, "Don't let the enemy escape!"

"Come and get a team to follow me!"

Dong Xian had worked with Zhang Fei for several months and had developed a close friendship with him. He then followed Zhang Fei up the city wall.

At this moment, hearing Zhang Fei's roar, they immediately assembled hundreds of main forces from the second battalion and followed closely behind him.

Zhang Fei learned a lot from Zhou Yu, for example, waiting until the soldiers were lined up before riding his horse to charge towards Ji Ling.

If it had happened under normal circumstances, Zhang Fei would have rushed into the enemy camp alone and killed them all without caring about so many things.

All I can say is that Zhang Fei has grown up under Jinmao’s strict control!

(End of this chapter)