Xiaoqi

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The sky was already bright, and the fiery red sun dispelled the morning mist at a speed visible to the naked eye, covering the whole city. The remaining coolness in the air was quickly replaced by the scorching sun, followed by a strong and suffocating smell of blood.

Outside the east gate of Kaifeng.Arrows pierced the air, rolling stones flew, fireballs as big as wax gourds roared into the sky, and heavy city-charging vehicles were crashing into the city gates. Tens of thousands of soldiers of the Wei State rushed over screaming.A ladder is built on the parapets on both sides of the city gate. Thousands of warriors climbed up the ladder vigorously and vigorously, scrambling to climb up, trying to be the first to climb to the top of the city.

There is an unwritten rule in the siege battle, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is an unspoken rule.Anyone who is the first to climb to the top of the city will be rewarded regardless of whether he survives the battle or not; the survivors will be promoted to three ranks, and the family members of those who died will be properly taken care of, with extremely generous pensions.This is the unspoken rule common to the three major vassal states, and it is the same in every war, especially in the siege of the city, and the rewards become more and more generous.This is the reason why there must be brave men under heavy rewards.

Kaifeng City is located on the south bank of the Yellow River, with abundant water sources. Although the city is not big, it has a complete moat, which can be called the natural barrier bestowed by God on Kaifeng City.However, the siege battle took less than a quarter of an hour from the beginning to the present, but the moat outside the city had been filled, allowing the Wei army to rush through the moat and directly attack the city gate.

When Zhao Yun led his army to the east gate tower, the siege battle was already in full swing, and he stood on the tower and looked around.But seeing flags and flags all over the not-so-wide field, Cao Jun's soldiers were all covered in darkness. According to visual observation, Cao Jun dispatched at least [-] troops this time.On the east bank of the moat, hundreds of thunder chariots lined up, sending rolling stones and fireballs into the sky, roaring like giant beasts, smashing the city wall with a loud bang, hundreds of defenders dodged It's not as good as being hit by rolling stones or fireballs, screaming and falling off the top of the city, or being smashed so that the head is cracked and the brains are scattered.

However, the huge lethality of the Thunderbolt Chariot was limited to the first round of long-range strikes, because the defenders did not know how powerful Cao Jun's Thunderbolt Chariot was, and whether they could hit the tower from the east bank of the moat.It was this uncertainty and fluke mentality that caused the city defenders to pay the price in blood. They were caught off guard by Cao Jun and suffered heavy casualties.After the first round of heavy casualties, the defenders stopped making the same mistakes. Shield soldiers appeared on the top of the city, raised their shields to resist the rolling stones from the air attack, and even directly used their shields to meet the earthen pot fireball.

In this way, the threat of Cao Jun's thunderbolt car to the defenders can be minimized, and it can no longer exert its powerful lethality.While actively defending, the defenders' counterattack is undoubtedly more efficient than the attacking Cao Jun. Every stone pushed down from the top of the city can hit at least one enemy soldier, and every rolling log can knock down a siege. sergeant.In addition, the defenders were condescending and fired random arrows. The range of bows and arrows was much farther than that of Cao Jun, and their lethality was also higher than Cao Jun.Therefore, although there are only [-] defenders on the east gate tower at the moment, and the [-] cavalry brought by Zhao Yun have not participated in the battle, they forcibly withstood the fierce siege of [-] Cao troops.

So far, the city gate has not fallen, and with the reinforcements brought by Zhao Yun participating in the defense of the city, the endangered east city gate can be regarded as being held, and the crisis has been completely resolved.

Looking down at the army of Wei State below the city, Zhao Yun's eyes quickly fixed on the flag of the commander in chief of the Chinese army two miles away. It was the flag of General Cao Ren of Wei State.Immediately, Zhao Yun's face changed, and his expression became serious...

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Chapter 240 Drive the tiger and devour the wolf ([-])

Standing on the top of the city tower overlooking the army of Wei State below the city, Zhao Yun's eyes quickly fixed on the commander-in-chief flag of the Chinese Army two miles away. It was the commander-in-chief flag of General Cao Ren of Wei State.

In an instant, Zhao Yun's face changed suddenly, his brows were furrowed together, and his expression became dignified.

Wei General Cao Ren followed Cao Cao to fight for more than ten years. He has experienced hundreds of battles and has long been a well-known general of the Cao army.

Now that Cao Ren led the army to attack the city in person, without even thinking about it, Zhao Yun could guess that the [-] Cao army in front of him was definitely not the entire force under Cao Ren's tent, and he must have left behind.

"The general is right, Cao Jun really came prepared this time!" Xia Houlan, who followed Zhao Yun to the tower, couldn't help sighing when she looked up and saw the dark army of Wei under the city.

Zhao Yun nodded slightly after hearing the sound, but said nothing.Although he had already guessed that Cao Wei's army must come here with bad intentions and great schemes, he did not expect that Cao Cao would actually send Cao Ren to lead an army of 10,000+ to attack and attack the city.This can no longer be regarded as a sneak attack, but a real large-scale attack, sending troops to crusade against the Western Jin Dynasty with great fanfare.

Just as Zhao Yun was thinking secretly, Xia Houlan behind him said softly: "For a small city in Kaifeng, Cao Jun dispatched [-] troops. The purpose of coming here is definitely not to capture Kaifeng County, but there must be bigger ones." It is necessary to know that our Western Jin Dynasty has millions of soldiers, and Kaifeng City is an important border town to resist the Yanzhou army. There are only more than [-] soldiers stationed and only [-] defenders stationed at the four gates. More than [-] cavalry can only be used in field battles, but they are not good at defending the city.

by contrast.At this moment, the Cao army attacking the city has more than [-] infantry troops, and [-] cavalry are still stationed in the wilderness on the east bank.Cao Jun really thinks highly of us for attacking a county with more than [-] cavalry.Not only that, judging from the formation of Cao Jun's troops, it is not difficult to see that the more than [-] infantry are just their front and middle troops, and there must be tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the rear to provide food and supplies for the army.

In this way, Cao Jun dispatched at least 10,000+ troops this time, and it would be a bit of a fuss to attack a county with so many troops.How can you kill a chicken with a butcher's knife? 10,000+ Cao Jun can completely attack the entire Sili.Start a decisive battle with our army. "Xiahoulan didn't read much, and didn't know the art of war. He relied on his own superb martial arts for many years in battle; therefore, his words were very vulgar, and he blurted out, "How can you kill a chicken with a butcher's knife", belittling himself, but The words are not rough, but they describe the current situation appropriately.

His words coincided with Zhao Yun's thoughts.As Xia Houlan said, there are more than [-] soldiers and horses in Kaifeng City, except for the [-] county soldiers who are responsible for defending the city.The main responsibility of Zhao Yun's [-] unparalleled cavalry is to guard against Cao Jun's raid on Henan County.Because of this, Zhao Yun expected in advance that Cao Jun might sneak attack Henan County, so he made preparations in advance, and ordered the Wushuang Iron Cavalry Battalion to prepare dry food for half a month three days ago.Prepare for long-distance raids at any time; also ordered the defenders to prepare enough defense weapons, piled up rocks and logs, and all archers were distributed with fifty arrows.And transfer all the remaining food and grass in the city to Luoyang.

Although the preparations before the war were very good, almost every aspect was thought of.But Zhao Yun never expected that the Yanzhou army, which was hundreds of miles away from Kaifeng City, would come out in full force. The 10,000+ army was crushed like a mountain roar and a tsunami.Just now, Zhao Yun had the confidence to stick to Kaifeng City for more than half a month, but now that he saw Cao Jun's overwhelming and powerful formation with his own eyes, his confidence began to waver.He wasn't sure if he could hold out for half a month, and even wondered if he could keep Cao Jun under the city for ten days, or five days, or three days.

This is not fear, much less timidity.He, Zhao Yun, was born without knowing what fear is. He was never afraid of any opponent or enemy. No matter how powerful the enemy was, he dared to fight it to the death and never flinched.But right now he is not alone, there are thousands of city guards by his side, [-] cavalry and more than [-] people behind him, he can not be afraid of life and death, but he can't bring all the soldiers and people of the city into the fire pit and burn them all .

The most important thing is that Li Li has already made a clear order that if nothing can be done, he will immediately abandon the city and retreat to Luoyang.This is the strategic policy that Li Li has always advocated. Fight if you can, and don't fight to the death when you know you are invincible. It is of course best to be able to retreat completely. Exchange space for time to facilitate another battle.

So Zhao Yun was in a difficult situation. The scale between this battle and retreat was really difficult to grasp. If there was a slight mistake, all previous efforts would be wasted and the entire army would be wiped out.Facing the 10,000+ Cao army storming the city, if you want to retreat completely, the safest way is to block the east gate and organize the people to retreat immediately. As long as you retreat fifty miles, you will be in Zhongmou County, which is the east gate of Luoyang. The county means complete safety.But retreating without fighting when encountering a strong enemy is not Zhao Yun's fighting style, nor does it conform to his principles of doing things.During the more than ten years of leading the army, in which battle did he not charge forward, which time did not kill the enemy's crap, and was there ever a precedent for avoiding the fight and retreating in despair?

After pondering for a while, Zhao Yun ordered loudly: "Xia Houlan listened to the order, and immediately sent the order down, ordering General Suigu to lead the [-] cavalry from the headquarters to organize the people in the city to evacuate out of the city, and they must rush to Zhongmou County tonight; if there is any delay, they will be severely punished! Order Ma Tie to lead [-] cavalry to reinforce the north gate, and you personally lead [-] cavalry to reinforce the south gate, assist Suigu to transfer the people, and immediately reinforce Ma Tie's troops after the people leave, and be sure to guard the north gate."

"Promise, the last general will take orders!" Xia Houlan responded.Then he turned around and left, but at this moment Zhao Yun stretched out his hand to hold him, leaned into his ear and whispered: "You will get half of the black lump, take it to the north gate and give it to Ma Tie. Remember that it cannot be used during the day, only at night." Use the greatest power. Today, you must guard the city gate no matter what during the day. If our army suffers too many casualties, I will go out of the city to fight tonight, throw all these black bumps into Cao's camp, and then retreat at night. If there are not many casualties, I will wait for a few more days and try to delay the time for Cao Jun to go south, so as to buy time for His Majesty to dispatch troops and horses."

Xia Houlan nodded happily, and said rather reluctantly: "Brother, take care, don't be emotional, and if the situation is unfavorable, don't love to fight. If something happens to your brother, I will never live alone, and I will follow my brother to the death." After speaking , he lifted his legs and walked away.

Zhao Yun clearly saw that Xia Houlan's voice was choked up when he was about to leave, with tears in his eyes, watching him leave, the corners of Zhao Yun's eyes were moist.He looked up at the sky and raised his hands to cover his eyes. It seemed that the sun was too strong to dazzle his eyes. He wiped away the moisture from the corners of his eyes without any trace.

No one knows that he looked up at the sky to wipe away his tears, and no one knew that Changshan Zhao Zilong, who was praised by Li Li as "a man of courage", would also cry, even though his tears were only for his brother, for the friendship of more than 20 years And flow.Tears are not cowardice, not timidity, but the expression of true feelings, because he is not a god, but a human being with flesh and blood.

No matter in terms of ability or rank, Xia Houlan cannot be compared with Zhao Yun, the gap is so great that there is no comparison at all.Since ancient times, it has been said that people divide things into groups and likes gather together, but fame and fortune are not the only things between people, and not only people with equal status and wealth can be friends. True friendship comes from friendship that is not mixed with fame and fortune, otherwise life would be too much. too boring.

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When the fierce battle in Kaifeng City was in full swing, the battle in Deng County was coming to an end.

In the case of the city gate being lost, the county guard of Deng County, even if he has the talents of the world, can't save the defeat. What's more, he doesn't have this talent, so the failure is inevitable. There is only one way left for him, which is to lead the army to break through .

At the moment when he learned of the attack on the East Gate, Yu Jin tried to gather troops and horses to start street fighting with the Jingzhou army who had entered the city.After all, the Xiliang army did not have the habit of not fighting back when they were beaten. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was the consistent style of this tiger and wolf army.

That's exactly what happened.When Liu Pan, the vanguard general of the Jingzhou Army, led 2000 cavalry to the North City where the Chengshou Mansion is located, the overwhelming rain of arrows rushed towards him, and there was a strong sound of piercing through the air, which was only caused by crossbow arrows piercing through the air. Screaming.In just one round of random arrows, the cavalry under Liu Pan's tent paid the price of nearly [-] casualties, and Liu Pan who charged forward was the first to bear the brunt, and four of the crossbow arrows were directed at him.

At the critical moment, Liu Pan resolutely gave up his crotch mount, jumped up recklessly, and broke open the lattice window of the private house on the right, thus narrowly avoiding disaster and using the private house to save his life.After the first wave of arrows, followed by the second wave, and then the third wave, the continuous cavalry of random arrows caused huge casualties to the Jingzhou Army. About [-] cavalry were engulfed by the rain of arrows, and the injured cavalry even more Not a few.

After three rounds of arrow strikes, at least [-] Jingzhou iron cavalry lost their combat effectiveness. It was a real blow to the head, which made the Jingzhou army dizzy and demoralized.However, this kind of blocking could not last long, at best it was short-lived. As the follow-up war cavalry rushed over at lightning speed, the more than [-] county soldiers led by Yu Jin ushered in a catastrophe.

A mere [-] infantry troops could not stop the charge of tens of thousands of cavalry. Just a single charge broke through the line of defense that Yu Jin had finally set up, and smashed more than [-] defenders into pieces. It is said that the defenders were defeated Not too much.

Seeing that the general situation was over, Yu Jin made a decisive decision and immediately ordered to break out, not to mention the direction of the breakout, because breaking out to the north was their only choice.

Chapter 241 Drive the tiger and devour the wolf ([-])

During the breakout, under the forbidden tent, the titan Tie Zhu acted as the pioneer, sweeping away thousands of troops with a two-foot-long spear, unstoppable.Another general, Huan Yi, was in charge of the rear of the palace, covering Yu Jin and rushing out of the north gate.

Under the brave charge of the two titans in the front and the back, Yu Jin led more than a thousand remnants of the city to leave the city smoothly.

However, just when they thought they had broken out of the siege, a group of 5000 black armored cavalry suddenly appeared in front of them, and the leading general was Yiyang Wei Yan and Wei Wenchang.

At the same time, Liu Pan, Wenpin, Xu Shu and others led a large army to arrive, encircling the front and back, and besieged outside the north gate with more than a thousand soldiers including Yu Jin, Tie Zhu and Huan Yi.

There are strong enemies in front and chasing soldiers in the back. There is really no way to go to heaven and no way to go to earth.

In an instant, Yu Jin was completely desperate, and his heart was filled with endless regret.He hated himself for underestimating the enemy and being negligent in guarding against the enemy, but even if he was a little bit on guard, the Jingzhou army would not easily break through the east gate.If the Jingzhou army hadn't broken through the city gate, he and the [-] soldiers under his tent would not have been in a desperate situation and the entire army would have been wiped out.

It's a pity that there are no what-ifs in the world, and it's too late to wake up to the situation, and everything can't be changed.Self-blame can't solve the problem, regret is useless, and the only options are to surrender or face death.

Contrary to Yu Jin, who was heartbroken, Tie Zhu and Huan Yi launched an attack without hesitation just as the Jingzhou army was encircling them. Breakout.As long as they can rush out, the west is still the territory of the Western Jin Dynasty. No matter how bad they are, they can directly enter the western mountains and forests. To the northwest is Wuguan, the southwest fortress guarding Chang'an.

It's a pity that the bravery of Tie Zhu and Huan Yi is too conspicuous.The two of them didn't know at all.As early as when the Jingzhou Army captured the East Gate, the four generals Wen Pin, Wei Yan, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin had their eyes on them.And Liu Pan, who led the army into the city, was determined to win the two of them, and threatened to use their heads to cheer for the Northern Expedition.

It was with this thought in mind.Liu Pangui was the leader of the Southern Han Dynasty, the nephew of the Han Emperor Liu Biao, but condescended to serve as the deputy vanguard. His purpose was to lead the iron cavalry into the city at the first time and kill Tie Zhu and Huan Yi.Especially Tie Zhu, he is Li Li's long-established titan. He became famous in the battle of Bahe, Sangu and Lu Bu, and it has spread all over the world ten years ago.If you can kill a long-established titan like Tie Zhu.It is bound to become famous in one battle and become famous all over the world.

Therefore, this is a good opportunity to become famous, attracting Liu Pan, Wei Yan, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin and others eager to try, almost impatient to want to become famous in one fell swoop.

In troubled times, fame is a good thing, as long as the fame is loud enough, fame and wealth are within easy reach.All the glory and wealth.Don't you see that "Phoenix Young" Pang Tong was able to command the three armies in just a few years, "Crouching Dragon" Zhuge Liang was already ranked higher than the Sangong at a young age, the great Confucian Kong Rong of Beihai couldn't even manage a county well, but he was able to rank among the Three Dukes, Hulao Sanying (Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei) who are mortal but can be brought back to life.Relying on fame.There are too many examples like this to enumerate.From ancient times to the present, fame has been sought after by people.Whenever there is fame, status, status and wealth will follow.The so-called "celebrity, star" also comes from this.Comparison is a common problem of human beings.

It is better to think than to do it, and to do things first.

In the sound of "clang clang" weapons colliding.But seeing Wei Yanfang stared blankly in front of him, he couldn't help but not to arrest him, but pursued and killed Tie Zhu and Huan Yi at a distance, and fought Tie Zhuo before Liu Pan, Wenpin and others.That's right, it's catching and fighting.

When he was fighting Tie Zhu, the other generals of the Jingzhou Army did not intervene, not even Liu Pan, Wen Pin, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin.Although they also wanted to compete with Tie Zhu, they resisted not to make a move, because Tie Zhu is a veteran general of Xiliang, if he wants to step on his corpse and make a name for himself, he must not bully the less with more, but must defeat him in an upright manner. He is persuasive, recognized by the world, and truly famous in the first battle.

The ambitious Wei Yanyi thinks that although Tie Zhu has been famous for a long time, his reputation is in vain, and even though his fighting power is strong, he is not his opponent.That's why when he made a move at the very beginning, he was aggressive and aggressive, forcing Tie Zhu to take a defensive position, and he was in a passive situation of being beaten.However, Wei Yan didn't know that Tie Zhu's best attack method was not offense, but defense, but he was a poisonous snake in defense.

He can always be on the defensive, even if he has the opportunity to turn from defense to offense, he will not counterattack, which is directly related to his simple and honest character.He is used to being beaten passively and doesn't easily fight back, but once he seizes the opportunity to fight back, the consequences will be very serious.Just like an honest man who doesn’t get angry easily, he looks like a doormat, which makes people think he is pitiful and irritating. However, once an honest man gets angry, it is as extreme as a volcanic eruption. .The consequences are really serious.

This confrontation is different from the pre-battle.There is no such thing as how many rounds of fighting, and there is no sprint time for people to come and go. There is only desperate fighting, and the slightest chance will not be missed. There is no time gap. Either you die or I die, but after they parted The occasion is when one party is seriously injured or dies.