"Master, Master, bad news, bad news!" In the Pang Clan's mansion, an old man was looking at a scroll in his hand. This scroll was made of wooden slips. It would take a lot of effort to read it. The old man was old, so he had a servant by his side who could help him turn the pages of the scroll.
Just as the old man was reading a profound part of the book, a voice interrupted him. He saw another old man rushing in. His cheerful footsteps did not seem old at all. He was even faster than a young man.
This old man was dressed like the housekeeper of the Pang Family!
"Hmm?" Pang Degong frowned, because he, Pang Degong, had always been a scholarly person. His every move should be in accordance with etiquette, should be orderly and well-proportioned, and should not be as impatient as he was now. "What a scandal!"
"Please forgive me, Master, please forgive me!" The housekeeper also realized that he was in such a hurry that he did not care about his image at all. However, he did not care so much. "Master, bad news! The First Young Master vomited blood and fainted!"
"What!" Pang Degong stood up. His reaction was faster than the old housekeeper's.
"Didn't he go to the banquet at Liu Jingzhou's mansion?" Pang Degong could not help but ask.
"That's right, that's right. First Young Master was so infuriated by that King of Shu that he vomited blood on the spot at that banquet!" The housekeeper explained to Pang Degong. It had to be said that the old housekeeper was very eloquent. He explained everything that had happened at the banquet to Pang Degong word for word.
After listening, Pang Degong did not speak for a long time. After a long time, he asked, "Is he okay?"
"The doctor has already said that the First Young Master is fine. However, he needs to rest for a few days to recover his Primordial Qi!" The old housekeeper heard this from the doctor. Pang Shanmin was really lucky. Liu Mang had angered him to the point of vomiting blood. It was not his fresh blood, but his congested blood. Pang Shanmin had been depressed in his heart after the death of his elder brother, Liu Mang, which caused the blood in his chest to not dissipate. This time, Liu Mang had stimulated the congested blood. Pang Shanmin vomited blood, which was not only harmless to his body, but also beneficial to his body.
"I got it. You can leave now!" Pang Degong heard the butler's words and waved his hand to let the butler leave.
"Master, you?" The housekeeper did not understand. Pang Degong was fine with his son's condition.
"Why aren't you leaving? I want to study? " After saying that, Pang Degong sat down again. He picked up the bamboo slip in his hand and started reading.
"I know!" The housekeeper nodded and left. When the master was studying, no one was allowed to disturb him. This time, something big had happened, so the housekeeper was helpless.
Study? Could Pang Degong really read books?
"You can leave too!" Pang Degong waved his hand at the servant beside him.
"Ruo!" The servant nodded and left. Pang Degong was the only one left in the pavilion. Pang Degong was not in the mood to read the bamboo slip, no matter how tempting it was.
"Pang Tong, Pang Shanmin?" Pang Degong had mixed feelings. There were only two successors in the Pang family. Pang Shanmin was Pang Degong's eldest son and only son. Pang Degong had a son in his middle age. It could be said that Pang Degong had high expectations for this son. He hoped that Pang Shanmin would be a modest gentleman. Pang Shanmin did not disappoint Pang Degong's expectations. He was indeed a modest gentleman. However, this modest gentleman was too simple. Pang Tong was the son of his younger brother. His younger brother died early, so Pang Tong had always been by Pang Degong's side. When Pang Degong went out to study, he would bring Pang Tong along. Pang Tong had been influenced by Pang Degong since he was young.
Pang Tong was very smart. It could be said that it was difficult to find someone more intelligent than Pang Tong in the entire Jingzhou or even the entire world.
Logically speaking, Pang Tong was the most suitable person to be the master of the Pang family. Pang Degong had arranged it this way before. Pang Shanmin was simple and he was a modest gentleman. Therefore, he would be like this for the rest of his life. With mountains and rivers, calligraphy and painting, and a close friend, Tang Yun, it could be said that Pang Shanmin's life was not lonely. The Pang family would be handed over to Pang Tong.
If the Pang family was handed over to Pang Shanmin, with his temperament and uncompetitive nature, the Pang family would fall into decline in a few years. Pang Degong was confused.
Pang Degong was at a loss because Pang Tong had changed. He had really changed. Pang Tong's intelligence seemed to have been used in the wrong place. Pang Degong understood that in this chaotic world, both sides were scheming against each other. However, Pang Tong shouldn't have schemed against his own people. No matter what, Tang Yun was still Pang Tong's elder brother. But now, because of Pang Tong's words, Tang Yun had become a cold corpse. Pang Shanmin's heart had also died along with Tang Yun's death. Pang Shanmin had turned from a gentleman to such a person because of Pang Tong's actions.
If Pang Shanmin knew that Pang Tong killed Tang Yun after getting information from him, would he completely fall out with Pang Tong? Once they fell out, according to Pang Tong's temperament, if Tang Yun was in his way and Pang Shanmin was in his way, he would definitely get rid of his elder brother!
Moreover, Pang Tong had his eyes on Liu Bei from Yu Province, not Liu Biao from Jing Province or Cao Cao from Yan Province. Liu Bei's Nanyang was a part of Jing Province and was very close to each other. If Liu Bei and Liu Biao fell out, the first unlucky one would be his Lumen Academy!
Pang Degong smiled bitterly. He didn't know how to choose. One was his son, whom he had a child in his middle age, and the other was his nephew, Pang Tong, whom he had watched grow up. If anything bad happened to either of them, he wouldn't forgive himself.
After thinking for a long time, Pang Degong finally made a decision.
…
"Get on the boulders. Release, release, release!" Below Zhongtian City, huge siege weapons were in operation. Huge rocks weighing hundreds of kilograms were thrown at Zhongtian City from time to time. This place, which Qin Feng had rested on, was like a fortified city.
The entire earth began to shake, and the cities along the way became live targets.
The troops attacking from below were the Black Flag Army under Liu Mang's command. Previously, Zhang Liao had been holding back because if he didn't have the ballista, taking down the Central City would result in a terrifying number of casualties. Even if Zhang Liao took down the Central City, he wouldn't be able to protect him. Rather than that, he might as well not attack. However, when Xu Sheng's ballista arrived, Zhang Liao stopped attacking. This was because he was afraid that the ballista would scare the people in the city. Once they were scared, they would really become cowards. If Qin Feng suddenly abandoned the Central City and ran away, how could Zhang Liao fight against reinforcements? Therefore, after knowing that the boss behind Qin Feng, Sun Ce, had sent out troops, Zhang Liao finally started attacking.
"Oh my God!" In the Central City, Qin Feng was really scared. He originally thought that relying on the Central City, he could completely defend the city. One must know that the city walls and the moat were all supervised by him. He was originally a greedy expert. Who would dare to take bribes under his nose? Therefore, the Central City was very sturdy. However, it seemed that this wasn't the case. Under the impact of the boulders, the entire city was shaking.
Qin Feng originally thought that the city wall was incomparably sturdy, but it was suddenly smashed by those huge rocks, creating a big hole in the wall. Only a few soldiers were left on the wall. They were not beaten to death, but they were scared to death. Once the huge rocks hit people, they would either be killed or injured. Some of the more unfortunate ones were directly smashed into meat pies by the huge rocks. This kind of attack was not scary, ah!
Even his new governor's residence in the city had several boulders falling down yesterday, causing a few servants in the governor's residence to be smashed into meat patties. Seeing such a miserable state, Qin Feng had not been able to eat meat for several days!
"Milord, Milord, more than half of the southern gate tower has been destroyed!" Just as Qin Feng was still feeling uneasy, his incompetent advisor came to report that something bad had happened. This made Qin Feng's head even bigger.
The tower at the south gate, which was originally used to eliminate enemies from a higher vantage point, was now directly blown to smithereens.
When had he ever fought a battle like this? Other than fire, what other weapon could destroy a tower? Qin Feng was about to cry.
"Milord, Milord, the enemy has begun to fill up the moat!" Another person came to report.
"Shoot them back, shoot them back!" Qin Feng roared angrily.
"I don't know how to shoot!" The general was also helpless. Who would dare to show their face in this situation? Once the archers appeared, it would be good. In just a moment, the sky would be filled with countless boulders. Even if the boulders didn't smash them to death, they would be scared to death. Now, not to mention using bows and arrows, it would be difficult for the soldiers to climb up the city walls.
"Milord, if there are no reinforcements, we won't be able to hold on to this city!" Song An cried. He followed Qin Feng for glory and wealth. He didn't want to live and die with Qin Feng.
"Reinforcements, reinforcements, yes, we still have reinforcements!" Qin Feng's eyes suddenly flashed. They still have reinforcements. Didn't Jiangdong's boss Sun Ce say that their reinforcements would arrive soon? It was the second young master Sun Quan leading 50,000 troops from the waterway. "Quickly, quickly, quickly send a letter to the second young master. We can't hold on much longer. The enemy is too fierce. Tell him to quickly send reinforcements! Otherwise, the city will be destroyed! "
"Yes!" Song An nodded. He ran over to ask Qin Feng to write a letter to urge for reinforcements. Song An was afraid that they wouldn't be able to hold on to the 20,000 troops in the city.
"Kill, kill, kill!" Under the city walls, the Xiliang Cavalry once again demonstrated how they used heavy cavalry to attack the city. Each of them was holding a sandbag. The horses galloped back and forth and threw the sandbags one by one into the moat. After dozens of trips, half of the moat was filled up.
"General, won't this scare Qin Feng away?" Although Zhang Liao's buttocks were injured by Zhang Liao, it was only a flesh wound. It didn't hurt his bones. He would recover in a few days. However, he was more and more in awe of Zhang Liao.
"Scared away? Can he still run away now? " Zhang Liao sneered. Before Jiangdong sent reinforcements, Zhang Liao was really afraid that Qin Feng was a coward. If that happened, Sun Ce might really give up on Linhuai. After all, Sun Ce had a shadow in Lujiang.
However, now that Jiangdong's reinforcements were already on the way, if Qin Feng abandoned Linhuai and ran away, not to mention Zhang Liao, even the boss behind Qin Feng would not be able to bear the consequences. Moreover, with the reinforcements, Qin Feng's courage had increased a lot.
"Reporting to General, from the east gate of Linhuai City, a group of scouts rushed out. They are heading towards the river." A hundred Xiliang Cavalry soldiers reported to Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao did not let them fill up the moat. Instead, he sent them out to observe closely.
"General, do you want us?" The one hundred Xiliang soldiers made a blocking gesture, meaning to kill the scouts.
"There is no need for that. Let them deliver the letter. "Zhang Liao said indifferently.
Zhang Liao's current plan was to make Qin Feng panic. He would think that Linhuai City would be breached in a few days. This way, he would send out an urgent request for reinforcements. After receiving such a request for reinforcements, the first reaction of the reinforcements would be to speed up. Although Zhang Liao was confident in the Xiliang Cavalry and the Black Flag Army, he could not play a field battle with fifty thousand soldiers. Therefore, he had to take a bite out of the fifty thousand soldiers first.
That's right, Zhang Liao had guessed correctly. Sun Quan was reacting this way.
"Reporting, reporting to the general, our army intercepted a scout on the way. He said that he came from a city and wanted to see the general!" A messenger immediately ran into Sun Quan's tent and reported to him.
"Linhuai City's scout? Quickly let him in. "Sun Quan and the youth beside him looked at each other and immediately let the scout in.
A travel-worn man was quickly brought in front of Sun Quan. As soon as he saw Sun Quan, he immediately knelt down and said, "General, general, general, please send troops quickly and save our Zhong Lu City. Zhong Lu City is about to fall!"
"What?" Sun Quan and the youth could not sit still when they heard the scout's news. The two of them stood up together.
"Say it again. What happened to Linhuai City?"
"Linhuai City, Linhuai City is about to fall!" The scout repeated.
"How could that be? Wasn't Linhuai City the most fortified city that Qin Feng had repaired? There are countless provisions in the city and twenty thousand soldiers and horses. Even if Liu Mang came in full force, the city could still hold on for several months. How could it fall so quickly? "The youth beside him asked sternly.
"No, it's not like that. Although the city is sturdy and our Lord has twenty thousand soldiers and horses, the enemy, the enemy has a huge thing. He can, he can throw boulders of a few hundred pounds from the ground into Linhuai City. When these boulders hit the houses, the houses would collapse. When they hit the city walls, the city walls would be smashed into pieces. When I left, the south gate tower had already collapsed. If they hit someone, they would die. If they grazed someone, they would be injured. If they were unlucky, they would be smashed into a meat patty. That was so miserable! They can't even recognize it. " The scout gave a detailed explanation to the young man and Sun Quan.
"What kind of weapon is so powerful?" The youth and Sun Quan were stunned.
"Zijing, do you know what kind of weapon it is?" Sun Quan asked the youth beside him. Yes, this youth was Sun Quan's friend, Lu Su, Lu Zijing, who had attacked Yangzhou.
"According to the scout's explanation, it should be a catapult." Lu Su knew how to use mechanisms. When he attacked Lujiang, he even designed a well. If it were not for the ballistae and Huang Zhong's giant arrows, Wancheng city would have been burned into a sea of fire.
"Catapult?" Sun Quan said. "What kind of catapult can throw stones so high and so far?"
Sun Quan had a detailed map of Midway City in his hand. If this map was real, then Midway City was extremely sturdy. Just the moat alone was dozens of meters long. Coupled with the drawbridge of the city, the trebuchet was actually able to penetrate the city from outside. It even smashed the houses and collapsed the towers. The distance was really a bit far.]
"Don't you know how to use bows and arrows to shoot them back?"
"Bows and arrows can't reach them at all. Our archers didn't even get to show their faces before they were smashed to death by those huge rocks! "The scout cried out.
"What about when you came?"
"When I came, the moat was already half filled. The enemy was about to attack the city, but our sergeants didn't even dare to go up the wall. So General, send reinforcements. Reinforcements! "The scout knelt down and held Qin Feng's letter in his hand.
Sun Quan opened Qin Feng's letter and read it. He then passed it to Lu Su. In the letter, Qin Feng almost said that he had lost his Midway City.
"Pass my order, quickly send troops to rescue Qin Feng." Sun Quan put away the letter and ordered the army to start their journey.
"No, you can't!" Lu Su stopped him. "Milord, the army's rations are not ready yet. If we send troops now, where will the rations come from?" "It takes a long time to prepare the rations for an army of fifty thousand. Moreover, the rations are not from the army, but from the nobles. It is impossible for the nobles to put their rations together, so they have to transfer them from different warehouses. This is why the speed of the army is delayed.
"Zijing, I will lead the army forward first. You will arrange the rations and send them to me later." Sun Quan was ready to let the army move first and send the rations later.
"Milord, you can't! Right now, the Central Army's rations are only enough for a few days. The army can't fight on the way. Moreover, the transportation of rations for fifty thousand troops is not a small matter. If there is a problem, the entire army will be in a desperate situation. " Lu Su knew that the enemy this time was the Xiliang Cavalry. If the army didn't move with the rations, once the rations were cut off by the Xiliang Cavalry, the army of fifty thousand would starve to death.
"We can't do this, and we can't do that. Are we going to watch Lu Cheng fall?" Sun Quan was a little angry. This was his first time leading an army. He wanted to meet the enemy now and fight. He wanted to let the enemy know that the Jiangdong Sun family didn't only have one brother, Sun Ce, who could fight. Sun Quan could also fight.
"We can't fall on Lu Cheng either!" Now that Linhuai has been lost, if Zhongcheng were to be lost as well, then the defending army would become the attacking side. Lu Su also felt a trace of fear towards Liu Mang's ability to defend the city.
"Then what is it?!"
"Milord, we can do this! Milord, let Lu Meng and Ling Cao lead their troops to reinforce Lu Cheng! " Now, the entire army couldn't move. However, they couldn't go without reinforcements. Therefore, they could only send one troop to restrain the enemy.
"What about the allocation of rations?" Sun Quan asked doubtfully. Lu Meng and Ling Cao had five thousand elite troops under their command. Even if these five thousand elite troops were deployed, they would still need to have food to eat.
"The army's rations will be allocated from the Jiangxia Army in Jianye first!" Although Lu Su was now Sun Quanjun's Military Advisor, he was still responsible for allocating the provisions of the Jiangdong Navy in Jiangxia. He could take a portion of the provisions from there. After that, he would let the nobles replenish the rations.
"Is this really okay?"
"Don't worry, Milord. Zhang Zhao will still give you face!" Lu Su's words might be useless, but with Zhang Zhao's help, it was different.
"Good. Then I will leave it all to you!" Sun Quan said to Lu Su.
"Don't worry! Milord! "
"Pass down my orders. Lu Meng and Ling Chao are to set off immediately. There must be no mistakes!"
"This general obeys!" Ling Chao and Lu Meng cupped their fists towards Sun Quan. The two of them went to prepare the troops.
"Generals Lu Meng and Ling Chao, please wait!" Just as the two of them were about to set off, Lu Su once again appeared in front of them.
"Military Advisor?" Lu Meng worshipped knowledgeable people. Ling Chao was the second generation of the military, so he was familiar with Lu Su.
"Generals, on this journey, unless absolutely necessary, you must not go out to battle!" Lu Su instructed the two generals.
"Military Advisor, why is that?!" Lu Meng and Ling Chao did not understand. Originally, they were going to provide assistance, but now Lu Su told them not to fight. What was he trying to do?
"Generals, although Zhongcheng is in Qin Feng's hands, Qin Feng is not from Jiangdong. The Milord is dispatching troops not only to rescue Linhuai, but also to take over Linhuai!" Lu Su told the two of them not to fight because he wanted Liu Mang's army to exhaust Qin Feng's troops. Otherwise, once they helped Qin Feng defend Linhuai and Zhongcheng, it would not be good if Qin Feng did not listen to orders with his 20,000 troops.
"Also, as the vanguard, the two of you only have five thousand men. You must be tired after such a long journey. You must rest well before you go outside the city. Once you are outside the city, you must set up camp and wait for my army to arrive!" Lu Su was not at ease. A few days ago, Lu Su received a letter saying that Zhang Liao did not dare to attack the city. But now, Lu Su was saying that the city would be captured. It was obvious that there was a problem. Lu Su's 50,000 troops were not afraid of Zhang Liao's 10,000 troops, but the 5,000 vanguard troops were. If he were to rush over in a hurry, he would be mentally and physically exhausted. Then, he would really become a dish.
Therefore, Lu Su told Lu Meng and Ling Chao to rest well before heading out to Zhongcheng. This way, they would not be exhausted when fighting the enemy. They would also set up camp and wait for the army to arrive. They would not have to fight the enemy with 5,000 troops.
"Lu Meng, Ling Chao understands!" Lu Meng and Ling Chao cupped their fists and said to Lu Su.
"Then I will leave everything to the two generals!" Lu Su also cupped his fists in return.
Soon, carriages of rations began to be transferred out. The rations that were supposed to be transported to Jiangxia were transferred to Lu Meng and Ling Chao's camp. Very soon, the rations for the 5,000 soldiers were prepared. This month's rations were enough for Lu Su's army to arrive. Lu Meng's army looked at Lu Meng.
The army immediately set out.
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