"Zilong, are you as stubborn as this gigolo?" Zhang Fei was furious as he held his spear. He had known Zhao Yun for a long time. At that time in Qingzhou, Liu Bei was Gongsun Zan's junior brother. Liu Bei escaped because he had whipped the Inspection Deputy of the Prefect. It was Gongsun Zan who took Liu Bei in and made him the Minister of Plains. Gongsun Zan's troops in Qingzhou were Tian Kai and Zhao Yun. Liu Bei also asked for permission to go there and had a good fight with Yuan Shao in Qingzhou. Therefore, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun had known each other for many years. After the Battle of Xuzhou, when Tao Qian asked for help from Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei also took the initiative to go there. In this way, Zhao Yun also followed him. Later, when Tao Qian gave Xuzhou to Liu Bei, Liu Bei received the title of Governor of Xuzhou from Cao Cao and went to attack Yuan Shu in Shouchun. Zhao Yun was also with him. But now, this Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong, had actually attacked him! Not only did he attack, but he also attacked mercilessly. If Zhang Fei had not decisively abandoned Xu Shu, he might have been nailed to death on the city wall of Shouchun. How could he be an acquaintance? Even if he was an enemy, an enemy should not kill him immediately!
"I, Zhang Fei, am not educated. I don't know what benefits that false King has given you to make you blinded by lard. But I know that if you don't surrender, you will die!" Zhang Fei whispered to Zhao Yun and Zhao Yun. Zhang Fei did not feel any pressure to kill Xu Shu. After all, Zhang Fei did not know Xu Shu. Xu Shu was a stranger. However, Zhang Fei hesitated when it came to Zhao Yun. Zhang Fei was right. Shouchun was about to fall. The city wall was full of corpses. Of the ten thousand defenders, only two thousand were left in the morning. Now, there were only a few hundred people left. The green flag on the city wall was fluttering. It was the war flag of Liu Bei's Army. It could be said that in less than an hour, the city wall of Shouchun would fall and the entire city would be exposed to Liu Bei's Army!
"Stubborn and obstinate? General Zhang, although Yun and you were once fellow soldiers, we are now enemies. If General Zhang continues to speak arrogantly and speak ill of my Lord, then don't blame Yun for not taking our old friendship into account! "Zhao Yun's eyes were filled with pain. He was a person who valued loyalty. Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and even Liu Bei were people that Zhao Yun respected. Zhao Yun felt a bit of pain when he attacked them. However, when he thought of what his Lord, Liu Mang, said to him and the people of Yangzhou on the map, Zhao Yun calmed down. "Even if it is not for anything else, just for the millions of people of Shouchun, General Zhang, I am sorry!" Zhao Yun cupped his fist and said to Zhang Fei.
"Millions of people? Zilong, have you become muddle-headed? My brother is the one who is supporting the Han dynasty. Have you forgotten that after my brother lost Xuzhou, the people of Xuzhou fell to follow him? Have you forgotten that my brother is loved and respected by the people of Xuzhou? "Zhang Fei did not want to fight with Zhao Yun. It was not that he could not win, but he did not want to.
"Haha, the people fell to follow him? What a good Left General, what a good Great Han Imperial Uncle! In order to escape, you actually abandoned the people! " Zhao Yun and the other generals could not see, but Xu Shu could see that Liu Bei made the people fall to follow him. With more people, it would give Liu Bei more time to retreat. If the people were blocking the road, the pursuers would either wait for the people to pass before chasing, or they would directly kill them. If they waited for the people to pass before chasing, then Liu Bei would have already run away. If they killed the people before chasing, then the reputation of the butcher would be unshakable. As for Liu Bei winning the love and respect of the people of Xuzhou, one could not blame the people of Xuzhou. This was because they were scared of Cao Cao. Cao Cao had threatened to take Xuzhou to avenge his father. The original master of Xuzhou, Tao Qian, was no match for him. With Liu Bei's help, it was like a person who had fallen into the water and caught a straw in the water. Moreover, Liu Bei's luck was very good. Cao Cao was about to take Xuzhou, but because his hometown, Yan Zhou, was attacked by Lü Bu, Cao Cao had to go back and rescue his troops. Because of this, Liu Bei was very grateful to Liu Bei.
"Hmph, no matter what, you can still defend Shouchun. You can only rely on the hundreds of old and weak people on the city walls. " Zhang Fei was choked by Xu Shu's words. He simply could not refute. This was because although Xu Shu did not say all of the reasons, it still covered most of the reasons.
"Zilong, don't worry about me. Quickly go. Take those things and go to Guangzhou to find Milord. As long as Milord is there, our great cause will definitely succeed." Xu Shu pushed Zhao Yun. Those things were too important and could not be lost.
"Military advisor, don't worry. Those things have already been sent to the warships. They should have already reached Lujiang County by now. " Zhao Yun smiled indifferently. This time, Zhao Yun disobeyed a military order. However, Zhao Yun was not a brainless person. Those things were more important than killing Zhao Yun. Therefore, Zhao Yun had a few soldiers who knew how to swim get on the warships and go against the current of Lujiang County. Previously, there was still Liu Bei's navy in the Huai River. However, Liu Bei's navy and Liu Mang had already sent them into the Huai River. "Moreover, who said that there were only a few hundred soldiers?" Zhao Yun smiled faintly. Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a loud battle cry behind him.
"Kill, kill, kill! Drive these bandits out of Shouchun and kill them all!" A group of people rushed out from the inner city of Shouchun. They were wearing heavy armor and holding swords in their hands. They were led by two hundred White Horse Soldiers. Although they were heavy cavalry, do not forget that they were transferred from the City Guard. The City Guard was made up of heavy infantry. Naturally, they were also very strong.
"Just a few hundred people?!" The battle cry shocked Zhang Fei. However, when he focused his eyes, he realized that there were only a few hundred people. Even if they were heavy infantry, even if they were elites, could he fight against ten of them? Liu Bei's army on the city wall was in the hundreds and thousands.
"Of course not!" Zhao Yun looked at Zhang Fei and said indifferently. "Kill, kill, kill!" Behind the two hundred White Horse Soldiers was a group of people wearing cloth clothes and holding swords. They did not have a trace of defense on their bodies. However, their fighting spirit was high and they dared to charge.
"The people of Shouchun?" Zhang Fei frowned and said.
"Why are they shouting all day long? Who are they? " Liu Bei was also paying attention to the movements on the city wall. However, he felt as if he had swallowed a fly because those people wearing cloth clothes were not the people of Shouchun. Some of them were holding swords that Zhao Yun had taken out from Shouchun's armory. However, there were less than a thousand swords in total. Most of the commoners were holding hoes, crowbars, and even wooden sticks. They rushed up the city wall with such weapons. Using the people to defend the city and using the people to fight. Wasn't this Liu Bei's strategy? Whether it was Cao Cao's army attacking Xuzhou or Liu Mang's army attacking Yuzhou, Liu Bei used the people to perfection. The reason why Liu Mang was delayed for so long and why Cao Cao was not able to kill Liu Bei was because the people's tactic was very useful. However, Liu Bei did not expect that Shouchun would play such a trick.
The two hundred White Horse Soldiers were like a sharp knife that pierced the heart of Liu Bei's army on the city wall. Although they were a little timid, they slowly became familiar with the situation after seeing blood. With the two hundred White Horse Soldiers in the lead, they began to hold their swords and slashed at the enemy's head. Behind them were people holding axes and sickles. Although they did not have swords, they had a lot of people. With this large wave of people rushing up, the soldiers of Liu Bei's army who had climbed up the city wall with great difficulty were beaten up.
"Reinforcements, reinforcements, our reinforcements!" The Shouchun garrison on the city wall also showed their might. They were selected by Liu Mang from the people. When they saw a large wave of people climbing up the city wall, their courage naturally surged. Liu Bei's army became fewer and fewer, but the number of Shouchun civilians increased. Many of them changed their weapons to swords. Some even picked up the armor on the ground and put it on.
"Where is Liao Hua? Put on the Yuzhou Army and rush up the city wall to support Zhang Fei!" Liu Bei's eyes flashed coldly. Since these people did not know life from death, then they should not blame him. He wanted the Yuzhou Army and the Qingzhou Army to go up and kill these people.
"Milord, let's retreat!" Pang Tong stopped Liu Bei's next move because it was difficult for Liu Bei's army to gain a foothold on the city wall. The morale of the civilians was high, but the morale of Liu Bei's army was low. Even so, it did not matter because Liu Bei's army was a military, and the civilians were just a mob. However, the sky was gradually darkening, and if they rushed up the city wall, they would have to fight in the night! Pang Tong also saw that there was an endless stream of civilians rushing up the city wall. If they really started a massacre, how could they kill them all?
Even if they killed all of them, Liu Bei's benevolence and righteousness would be finished. This was Liu Bei's ultimate move, how could he throw it away just like that?
"Hmph! Beat the gong to retreat! " Liu Bei was also helpless and could only listen to Pang Tong's suggestion. The sound of the gong sounded from the camp below the city wall.
"Ding ding ding!" Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, and Xu Shu also heard the sound of the gong. The three of them felt relieved. Zhang Fei was relieved because he was injured. Zhao Yun's strength was not inferior to Zhang Fei's. In fact, Zhao Yun was even stronger than Zhang Fei. If they were to fight now, Zhang Fei would be the one to die. Zhao Yun was relieved because he did not want to fight Zhang Fei to the death. Although they were enemies, Zhao Yun had thrown his spear like a javelin to stop Zhang Fei. Now, he only had a saber in his hand. It was not a problem for him to deal with an ordinary warrior. However, if he were to fight with an opponent of the same level, it would be fatal. Zhao Yun did not dare to be careless when fighting Zhang Fei. The most important thing was that Zhao Yun had to take care of his military advisor Xu Shu. If Zhang Fei were to attack Xu Shu, Zhao Yun would not be able to take care of himself.
Xu Shu let out a sigh of relief. This was because Shouchun had been defended for another day. Moreover, if the commoners were to coordinate well, they would be able to defend Shouchun for a longer period of time. After all, Shouchun didn't lack people right now.
"General Zhang, why are you still not leaving? Do you need us to send you off? " Xu Shu said as he looked at Zhang Fei. His face was still as white as snow. His battle with Zhang Fei had really reached his limit. After today, he had to recuperate properly. Otherwise, his body might not be able to take it.
"Humph!" Zhang Fei snorted. It was rare for him to not refute. Instead, he looked deeply at Zhao Yun and said, "Zilong, I hope you can take care of yourself." After saying that, Zhang Fei grabbed his spear and ran towards the city wall. Soon, he appeared in front of Shouchun.
"Cough cough cough cough!" Xu Shu could not bear it anymore. He spat out blood from his mouth. This was an internal injury.
"Military Advisor, Military Advisor, what's wrong with you? What's wrong with you?" Zhao Yun quickly went forward to help Xu Shu up. However, he did not expect that Xu Shu had already fainted. Fortunately, Zhao Yun heard that Xu Shu still had a pulse. He quickly ordered people to help Xu Shu down.
…
"Brother, if you had sent more troops today, Shouchun would have been broken." Zhang Fei entered Liu Bei's tent and said to Liu Bei. "This is good. That pretty boy ran away. This is the only one left." Then, Zhang Fei threw Deng Yi's head to Liu Bei.
"Third brother, not bad, not bad. You killed the deputy general of Shouchun. I will record your merit. Shouchun will be broken in a day or two. Alright, you can go. You must be tired. I will allow you to drink some wine tonight." Liu Bei looked at his third brother and said with a smile.
"Thank you so much, Big Brother!" Since there was wine, it was naturally easier to negotiate. Zhang Fei smiled and left.
Liu Bei smiled as he watched Zhang Fei leave. However, as soon as Zhang Fei left, Liu Bei's face turned ugly. He knew that if he could not take down Shouchun today, it would be more difficult in the future. At the very least, the siege tomorrow would not be so easy. The common people had already climbed up the city wall. Liu Bei was best at using the common people tactic. Once the common people were told that the siege would be massacred, they would have no way to escape.
Although the common people's fighting strength was not as strong as the well-trained soldiers, don't forget! No matter how elite a soldier was, they would not be able to fight against a hundred people. As long as Xu Shu could mobilize twenty percent of the people in the city, that would be two hundred thousand. Liu Bei could not help but shudder at the thought of such a terrifying scene.
"Milord, there is no need to worry." Pang Tong was very indifferent. He had just entered the tent and asked Zhang Fei about his encounter with Xu Shu. After asking, he entered Liu Bei's tent and saw Liu Bei sighing.
"Shiyuan, tomorrow's siege might be difficult to break through. It might even be difficult for us to take down Shouchun." Liu Bei said with a bitter smile. If the common people were mobilized, it would be difficult to fight.
"Milord, you worry too much." Pang Tong smiled. "It is true that the common people are helping to defend the city. However, from another point of view, isn't this telling us that Shouchun is about to fall? If he had enough soldiers, he would not have mobilized the common people. "
"But Military Advisor, haven't you seen how terrifying the common people are?" Liu Bei explained to Pang Tong how he was able to use the common people to defeat Cao Cao. Even after being defeated by Cao Cao, he was still able to retain most of his strength.
"Haha, Milord, although the common people are terrifying, they can not be used by Xu Shu alone." Pang Tong already had a conclusion.
"Oh? Teacher, teach me? " Liu Bei's eyes lit up when he heard Pang Tong's words. The calmer Pang Tong was, the more relieved Liu Bei was. This meant that Pang Tong already had a plan and had a card up his sleeve.
"Milord, why did the common people abandon their original families and come to Shouchun?" Pang Tong answered his own question. "Naturally, it is because of the fertile land. Although the fertile land is good, it will only be harvested next year. Therefore, this year's rations will be provided by the Lvbu's Army."
Liu Bei nodded. This was Sun Ce's plan, but Liu Bei was also involved in it.
"These days, no matter if we take down Gushi, Anfeng, or Hefei, the result is the same. There is not much food in the treasury. What does this mean? It means that there is not enough food in Yangzhou. The food for millions of people. Shouchun has been closed for such a long time. Where can he get food to replenish it? If there is a rumor that there is not much food left in Shouchun and the common people are going to starve to death, what do you think the common people will think? "
"Military Advisor, what do you mean?" Liu Bei was not a person who did not understand anything. Naturally, he could see the advantage of this plan.
"Attacking the city is more important than attacking the heart. Although the common people are powerful, this is a double-edged sword. If Xu Shu does not use it well, he will hurt himself." Pang Tong calmly told Liu Bei his plan. "Milord, I have already sent spies to the city. You just need to inform them." With a good military advisor, there was no need to worry about other things. Everything could be done.
"What do you need?" Liu Bei looked at Pang Tong. If he did not need the army to do anything, Pang Tong would not have come in.
"Milord, what you need to do is to let the army cook. Take out the dozens of cows and sheep in the camp and slaughter them. After cooking one cow a day, place them under Shouchun and send people to inform the common people of Milord's benevolence. "
Why did the common people help Xu Shu defend the city? Wasn't it because they were afraid that Liu Bei's army would massacre the entire city? Now that Liu Bei had prepared food under the city and sent people to shout loudly, telling the common people to not be afraid. We are not butchers. We are only defeating the Lvbu's army. You can still be the common people. At this time, if we spread the news that the Lvbu's army is running out of food, it would definitely make the common people panic. With this, the common people's thoughts of resistance would weaken. On the contrary, the common people would help Liu Bei's army to attack the Lvbu's army because of the problem of food. In this way, Shouchun would be destroyed. They could even capture Shouchun without spending a single soldier.
"Good, let's do it according to Military Advisor's plan."
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