Dozens of ballista cannons rained down the stone shells they had accumulated for four days on the city walls of Ruyin. At that moment, the earth shook and the mountains shook, making Sun Qian feel unwell. His back was drenched in cold sweat, and some liquid began to flow out from under his body.
"My Lord, this Sun Qian seems to be a capable person. He can still remain calm under such an attack!" Liu Ye felt ashamed of his inferiority as he looked at the city wall that had been smashed by the ballista. Stones were flying right under his eyes, but Sun Qian was still sitting on his chair. The two children beside him were so scared that they were holding their heads and lying on the ground with their butts sticking out like two quails. However, Sun Qian was still sitting in his original position with a calm expression on his face.
"Calm?!" If Sun Qian knew about Liu Ye's words, he would have already fought Liu Ye to the death. He was not calm. It was not that he did not want to escape. It was just that his legs could not move. He was frightened by the ballista and his body was stiff. How could he escape? Sun Qian was not someone who had never been on the battlefield. The reason why Liu Bei was called Liu Bei was because Liu Bei was always defeated. At that time, Sun Qian was Liu Bei's military advisor and had also fought many battles. Therefore, Sun Qian had been on the battlefield before. However, he had never seen such a scene. The boulders were all bigger than Sun Qian. Not to mention smashing a person's body, even the bluestone bricks of Ruyin's walls could not withstand such bombardment. If it hit a person's body, that person would be sent to meet the King of Hell.
In fact, Sun Qian's worries were superfluous. Liu Mang's order was to avoid the city wall where Sun Qian was. Although the ballistae could not hit accurately, they could still avoid some things. The city wall was so big.
"Well, I really underestimated this Sun Qian!" Liu Mang could not help but nod. Although Sun Qian's strategy was not good, he still had courage. He was not prepared to run away under the bombardment of the ballistae. This showed that this person still had some character.
"Han Sheng, it's your turn now!" Liu Mang had originally intended to use the ballista to probe the situation. If Sun Qian had any ulterior motives, he would definitely come down from the city walls. Who knew that this fellow would be so calm? In that case, he could only use Huang Zhong, known as the number one archer of the Three Kingdoms, Huang Zhong.
Huang Zhong nodded and took the war bow from the soldier beside him. He nocked the arrow and shot it in one go. His target was naturally Mr. Sun Gongyou on the city wall. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! There were three arrows in Huang Zhong's hands, one at the top and two at the sides, forming a triangle as they flew towards Sun Qian's face.
"It's over, it's over!" Sun Qian's face was ashen. The three arrows had sealed Sun Qian's entire body. Even if Sun Qian wanted to escape, he couldn't. There was nowhere to run. Sun Qian was filled with hatred. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have come here to execute the Empty Fort Stratagem. He was simply courting death.
Clang! Clang! Clang! The three arrows directly sank into the wooden door behind Sun Qian, one above his head and one below his armpits. It held Sun Qian firmly in place.
"Han Sheng's archery is good!" Liu Mang saw that the three arrows were able to hit the target from such a long distance. If they hit a person, it would be fine. After all, a person was such a big target. However, Huang Zhong's three arrows hit the target without taking his life. This was Huang Zhong's superb archery skills.
"Young Lord, you flatter me!" Archery was originally Huang Zhong's specialty.
"Sir, Sir!" When the two boys saw that the ballista cannons had deliberately avoided the city gate tower, they stood up in fear and hurried towards Sun Qian. "Mister, you are truly a god. You are able to remain calm even when the enemy army is attacking. You are truly a god!" One of the boys saw Sun Qian's appearance and couldn't help but sigh. Sir was really a knowledgeable person. When would he be able to reach Sir's level?
Knowledgeable my ass! Sun Qian was about to curse in his heart. His mouth was still trembling. It took him a lot of effort to recover from the stiffness of his facial expression. "Quick, quick, quick, take, take, take, Sir, I, I, I, I will take you down!" He stammered a sentence and spent a lot of effort to complete it.
"Sir, what's wrong with you?" The two boys hurriedly went forward and asked.
"Sir, my leg is cramping!" Sun Qian could only tell the truth. "Quick, quickly take me down the city walls. We can't stay in this city anymore. We can't stay in Ruyin anymore. Let's go, quickly!" Sun Qian was already frightened by Liu Mang. With the boulders and the arrows, he didn't know what kind of trouble would appear and take his life. Only now did Sun Qian realize that life was so beautiful.
"Black Fatty, this old man and you are irreconcilable!" Sun Qian thought of the scene of him being "abandoned". Originally, he could have rushed out during the night. After all, he had already completed the task of guarding the city. Moreover, he had also transferred more than half of the enemy troops away. However, who knew that this Black Pang would actually set up an ambush in Yingshang. If you had an ambush, you should have told me earlier. That way, Sun Qian could have made plans earlier. However, you didn't tell Sun Qian. Now that your ambush was successful and you received credit from Lord Liu Bei, a group of Qiu Ba was coming for revenge. How could Sun Qian not hate them?
"Hmm? Could it be that there really is an ambush in the city?! " Liu Mang looked at Sun Qian calmly. He didn't even dodge Huang Zhong's three arrows. Could it be that he knew that Liu Mang wouldn't kill him? Or? Liu Mang also began to have doubts. Could it be that this wasn't an empty fort strategy? Were they really going to fight in the streets? It wouldn't be good if there were tens of thousands of troops in the city. Just as Liu Mang was hesitating whether to kill his way in, two City Guard ran in front of Liu Mang.
"Reporting to Lord! The city, the city, there is no one. This Ruyin, this Ruyin, this Ruyin is simply an empty city. There are no guards, no citizens! " Liu Mang ordered Wei Yan to bring 20 Urban Army soldiers to scout for information. These two soldiers are from the group of 20 Urban Army soldiers that Liu Mang ordered.
"Empty city?!" Liu Mang was stunned. If it was really an empty city, why was Sun Qian so calm? He didn't even care about Huang Zhong's three arrows.
"Lord! Look at this! " Xu Sheng suddenly had a strange expression on his face as he called out to Liu Mang. He was holding a monocular in his hand. After Sun Qian left, the zither table was overturned. The bottom of the zither table was wet.
"Sigh!" Liu Mang shook his head. He was really helpless. Not only was Liu Mang attacked, but he also almost got hit. "All troops enter the city!" Liu Mang waved his hand. The City Guard took the lead, followed by Black Chess' 5,000 troops. The ballista cannons also began to be dismantled.
The army marched towards Ruyin. After entering the city, the city defense was naturally left to Xu Sheng and the others. The City Guard and Liu Mang needed to go to the storehouse. Didn't he conquer these cities for these rations? Liu Mang had obtained more than 10,000 dan of rations in Yingshang. He wondered how much rations he would get in Ruyin this time. Liu Mang was also looking forward to it. The City Guard quickly surrounded the storehouse. Liu Mang excitedly opened the door to the storehouse. However, when the door opened, Liu Mang was stunned. Rations? Horse feed? Liu Mang's eyes were completely empty. The storehouse was so clean that even a mouse would not want to visit it.
"Rations, where are the rations?!" Liu Mang was angry. Didn't he capture Ruyin for rations? Now, there was nothing. "Go, capture a few people who stayed behind. Ask them where the rations went."
Two guards obeyed the order and came back in a short while. They brought an old soldier who was escorted to kneel in front of Liu Mang.
"General, spare my life. General, spare my life!" The old soldier was escorted to Liu Mang and begged for mercy.
"Spare your life? As long as you answer my questions, I will not kill you! " Liu Mang was not interested in killing an old soldier. If such a person was in the regular army of the enemy, Liu Mang would laugh. He was not a threat at all. On the contrary, if he returned to Liu Bei's army, he could delay the quality of Liu Bei's army. After all, one more person had to eat. An old soldier could not carry anything. At most, he could clean and clean. "Tell me, where are the rations?!" Liu Mang looked at the old soldier and asked.
"Rations, rations, all of them were transported away by the generals!" The old soldier looked at Liu Mang in fear and answered.
"Transported away?!" Liu Mang asked unwillingly. "When were they transported away? Where did they go?! "Liu Mang asked in succession.
"They started transporting the rations ten days ago. Five days ago, it was the last batch of rations and people. Those generals not only transported the rations, but also the people in the city!" The old soldier did not dare to hide anything. When Liu Bei received the news that Liu Mang had invaded Yuzhou, Liu Bei received Pang Tong's suggestion to strengthen the defense and clear out the fields. Guan Yu had experienced the power of Liu Mang's ballista. Therefore, Ruyin's people and rations were all transported back to Runan by Liu Bei's troops. The reason why Yingshang and other counties were not transported away was because Yingshang was too far away. If they were transported, it would be too late. It was better to buy time for Ruyin and other cities!
"Damn it!" Liu Mang punched the door frame of the storehouse. Just when Liu Mang was vexed and ordered his subordinates to take the old soldier away, a voice came from outside. "Reporting to Your Highness, King Of Shu, Wei Yan of the City Guard's Giant Shield Soldier requests an audience!"
"Wei Yan?" Liu Mang suddenly remembered that he let Wei Yan explore Ruyin first. It was also Wei Yan's men who told Liu Mang that Ruyin was an empty city. Wei Yan got the credit of exploring the city. Logically, Liu Mang should reward him. However, when he saw that there was nothing left in the storehouse, Liu Mang was not in the mood to pay attention to Wei Yan. He had too many things to think about. "Let him go back first. When the time comes, I will naturally reward him according to his merit!" Liu Mang waved his hand to dismiss Wei Yan.
"Your Highness, General Wei Yan said that he has important information to report to you!" The guard replied to Liu Mang.
"Important information?" Liu Mang was a little confused. What important information did Wei Yan have? Liu Mang was very annoyed and did not have time to listen to his nonsense. He was just asking for credit. "What important information does he have? Let him go!"
"Yes!" The guard was about to leave but was stopped by Liu Mang. "Wait." Liu Ye cupped his fist towards Liu Mang and said, "My lord, this Wei Yan was sent by you to enter Ruyin first. Perhaps he really has some important information to tell you! Even if he doesn't, it's fine for us to listen! "
"Okay, okay!" Liu Mang was a little impatient. "Let Wei Yan in!" Of course, he had to give face to Liu Ye.
After a while, Wei Yan was brought in. Once Wei Yan entered the storehouse, he bowed his head and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, King Of Shu. Fortunately, I did not disappoint you and captured Ruyin's Governor, Sun Qian!"
"Huh?" Liu Mang was stunned. "Wei Yan, what did you say?"
"I said that I captured Liu Bei's Ruyin's Governor, Sun Qian," Wei Yan repeated.
"Where did you capture him?" Previously, Liu Mang had sent people to capture a person in charge so that they could see if they had captured Sun Qian. After all, Sun Qian was the leader of Ruyin City. If they found him, they would be able to understand everything. However, the news that the soldiers gave them was that Sun Qian had escaped. They did not expect that he would be captured by Wei Yan. Wei Yan explained. It turned out that Wei Yan had entered the city after listening to Liu Mang's orders. He wandered around the city but could not find a single person. Wei Yan then sent two of his soldiers to report while Wei Yan went to the storehouse and other doors to check. However, he did not expect to meet Sun Qian halfway. It was because Wei Yan had captured Sun Qian that the other City Guard subordinates could not find Sun Qian.
"My lord, it seems that we have provisions!" Liu Ye who was at the side suddenly had a thought and went forward to say.
"We have provisions?!" Liu Mang did not understand. At most, they could get some ransom from Liu Bei after capturing Sun Qian. At most, they could kill Sun Qian to vent their anger. Where did the provisions come from?
"My lord! This is Ruyin City! Although Ruyin City is not as big as Yingshang, Ruyin has a characteristic that my lord does not know! This Ruyin is a granary of Yuzhou! " Liu Ye explained. Although Ruyin was not as developed as Yingshang, it had an advantage that Yingshang did not have. Ruyin was a plain. Although it did not rely on Yingshang, it was irrigated by Yingshang's water. Moreover, because it was not as close to Yingshang as Yingshang, the annual floods and floods did not affect Ruyin City.
Therefore, there was still a lot of provisions in Ruyin City. Moreover, it was only summer and the harvest had not been long. Ruyin was a land that produced grain. The grain should be counted in the hundreds of thousands of dan. Liu Bei had sent people to transport the provisions ten days ago. However, do not forget that there was so much provisions. Where would Liu Bei get the carriages to transport them? Even if there were carriages and grain carriages, they should have been collected by Liu Bei and sent to the army for battle! The horses and grain carriages that could be found in Ruyin were definitely limited. It was impossible to transport all the provisions. Therefore, the remaining provisions must still be in Ruyin City.
If they wanted to find them, it might take a long time. Liu Mang's army lacked time. However, if they had Sun Qian, it might not be the case. Sun Qian was the Governor of Ruyin. He might be the one who presided over the scorched earth clearing operation. It would be easy to find the hidden provisions!
"But Ziyang, what if Sun Qian swears that he won't say anything?" Liu Mang was a little worried. This was because the scholars of this era were not like the cyan insects of a thousand years later. They only knew how to squeak. Once they really did something, they would immediately cower. The scholars of this era were very unyielding. They were even more unyielding than some generals. Su Fei could be considered half a scholar. He was unwilling to surrender for the sake of Liu Mang's army even if he was killed. There was also Chen Gong. Lü Bu was defeated and Chen Gong was captured. Cao Cao tried every possible way to persuade Chen Gong, but Chen Gong still refused to surrender. In the end, Cao Cao could only endure the pain and kill Chen Gong. There was also Ju Shou. This person was the same. After Cao Cao won the Battle of Guandu, he captured Ju Shou. As long as Ju Shou surrendered, he would tell Cao Cao about the movements of Yuan Shao's army. With Ju Shou's talent, he would definitely be placed in an important position in Cao Cao's army. However, Ju Shou would rather die than say anything! In the end, he was also under Cao Cao's command.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. Does Your Highness still remember what you said about the ambush on Yingshang?" Liu Ye said with a smile.
"Huh?" What did that have to do with this? Liu Mang only wanted to use that to test Sun Qian's reaction. He wanted to see if Sun Qian really had an ambush in the city or if it was just an empty city stratagem.
Liu Mang did not know that he had unintentionally sowed dissension. Who was Sun Qian? He was the Governor of Ruyin and one of the three strategists under Liu Bei. He should be considered one of Liu Bei's trusted aides. However, when Liu Mang said that they had ambushed Ying Mountain and that Milord's whereabouts were unknown, Sun Qian was clearly shocked. Even when Liu Mang said that he wanted to take revenge, Sun Qian was eager to stand up and explain.
It should not be such an expression and reaction. Sun Qian should know all of this. If Sun Qian did not know, then there was a big problem. Sun Qian was Liu Bei's trusted aide but he did not know about Liu Bei's ambush plan. What did this mean? It meant that Sun Qian had been excluded by Liu Bei. Moreover, if what Liu Mang said was true, and Liu Mang's Army would take revenge for Liu Mang's disappearance, then Sun Qian would be treated as an abandoned pawn by Liu Bei. Being trapped in this empty city was a path to certain death.
If you were Sun Qian, what would you think? How could he not have any complaints after being abandoned by others? It was impossible. Moreover, Liu Bei had another piece of information. It seemed that Sun Qian and Liu Bei's new strategist, Pang Tong, did not have a good relationship. This was a perfect plan to sow dissension. It would depend on how deeply Sun Qian was poisoned.
"We only need to do this, this, and this!" "Liu Ye, Liu Mang, Wei Yan and the others have already started to plan for the hidden provisions in the city.
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