As soon as he entered the city, he was bombarded by cannons.
"Damn it, they're not giving me any face at all!" He was too ashamed to return to the governor's mansion. He found a secluded corner in the city and went to lick his wounds.
Sun Quan's expression was equally ugly.
The cannons bombarded the city walls, creating holes. The River East soldiers who were guarding the city wall were mercilessly harvested like weeds, falling one after another.
Especially the catapults on the city walls, they had become the main target of attack.
The only thing that could threaten the warships in the Kindling Mulberry Wall were the catapults. As for the navy stationed outside the Kindling Mulberry Wall, they were completely paralyzed by the first round of attacks and fled back into the city.
As the catapults were destroyed one after another, the defenders on the city walls lost all hope. Surrounded by water, the Kindling Mulberry Wall became a clawless tiger, allowing the Shanhai City fleet to ravage it.
The defenseless Kindling Mulberry Wall had no choice but to retreat from the city walls. According to the words of the generals, standing on the city wall was just taking a beating. It was purely a suicide mission, and there was no meaning to it.
The cannons continued for an entire day and only stopped in the evening.
Shanhai City had spent twenty to thirty thousand gold coins on the cannons alone, which made Ouyang Shuo's heart ache.
After the bombardment, the Kindling Mulberry Wall was like a little girl that had been ravaged, riddled with holes and in ruins. Standing outside the city, one could clearly see the situation inside.
If the cannons continued, the people in the city would be the ones to suffer.
Although the Kindling Mulberry Wall was River East, Sun Quan was not someone who was inflexible. He had thought of abandoning the city and escaping. As long as Zhou Yu's army broke through Yiling, the enemy would not be a problem.
The problem was that the Kindling Mulberry Wall was surrounded by water.
The Shanhai City fleet covered the river, surrounding the Kindling Mulberry Wall so tightly that not even a fly could escape. At this moment, the Kindling Mulberry Wall was like an isolated island, isolated and helpless.
As night fell, white smoke rose from the city.
It was the smoke from cooking in every household. No matter how worried they were, they still had to fill their stomachs.
But at the thought of being trapped for a long time, the housewives unconsciously scooped a little less rice. During the day, all the rice shops in the city had been sold out.
The prices of all kinds of resources in the city had increased wildly, and there were already signs of chaos.
As they ate the tasteless food, the commoners were terrified and uneasy. This was the first time that the people of the three countries truly felt the power and lethality of firearms.
Such a heavy weapon was simply a killing machine in a chaotic world.
That night, the common people of Kindling Mulberry Tree passed in fear and trepidation.
…
The next day, the sun rose.
The bright and beautiful sunlight shone through the holes in the city wall into the Kindling Mulberry Wall, casting spots of light. There was no one near the city walls. Whether it was the streets or the residences, they were all empty, without a trace of life.
Occasionally, a stray dog would pass by the street and dive into the ruins to search for leftovers.
The people in the city did not sleep for the whole night, but no one dared to sleep in. They got up early and nervously prepared for a new round of artillery attacks. The people who lived near the city walls moved into the city overnight.
If they had relatives, they could stay at their relatives' house for the night. Those without relatives could only sleep on the streets or find a roof or a hole under a bridge.
All the temples in the city became popular places to visit.
In the cold winter, the north wind was biting cold.
Sleeping on the streets, even with blankets to cover them, those with poor health would not be able to bear it.
Interestingly, the commoners near the city walls evacuated overnight. The commoners, who were still a distance away from the city walls, immediately lost their composure when they saw that they had lost their 'shield'. One by one, they also retreated into the city.
The crowd mentality of the commoners was very serious.
With someone taking the lead, it quickly triggered a second wave of moving houses.
Because of this, everyone became even more anxious.
The entire night, Kindling Mulberry Wall was not truly peaceful.
Late at night, there were still children who were woken up by their parents in their sleep. Braving the cold wind, they moved their families into the city overnight. The sound of dogs barking and children crying resounded intermittently for the entire night.
"What a torture!" The commoners were miserable.
All the temples in the city were immediately filled with people. Even the hole under the bridge became a popular place to visit. In order to fight for a good spot under the bridge, there was no lack of fists and kicks.
"It's all for survival!"
In the worst case, they could only sleep on the streets.
The central street near the City Lord's Mansion was also filled with people. It was so densely packed that even horse carriages could not pass through. In the eyes of the commoners, the City Lord's Mansion was the safest place.
No matter how heartless Sun Quan was, he could not bear to drive the commoners away. He had no one to talk to about the depression in his heart.
That night, there were no less than a thousand commoners who froze to death on the streets.
Under the sunlight, the Kindling Mulberry Wall was a tragic scene.
Even the rare good weather in winter could not dispel the coldness in the commoners' hearts.
…
Strangely, by nine o 'clock in the morning, the cannons had not arrived.
Instead, a special envoy from Shanhai City entered the city for the second time. He conveyed Ouyang Shuo's message: If Sun Quan did not leave the city and surrender before noon, the entire city would be slaughtered without mercy.
Such a letter of persuasion was bloody.
Furthermore, this time, the letters of surrender were no longer sent to Sun Quan in secret. Zheng He arranged for the soldiers on the city walls to announce it loudly and repeatedly. Countless letters of surrender were directly fired into the city through cannons.
As such, the people in the city were agitated.
The commoners of the three countries were no strangers to massacres. Naturally, they believed it. At the thought of the impending massacre, the commoners shuddered.
In the face of the crisis, the commoners looked at the City Lord's Mansion with strange, worried, and resentful gazes. In fact, it was not only the commoners who felt strange. Even the eyes of the soldiers flickered.
After all, most of the families of the soldiers lived in the Kindling Mulberry Wall. Once the Kindling Mulberry Wall fell, their families would be ruined.
The will of the entire city was shaken by the letter of surrender.
To the commoners, to live or to die, this was an extremely simple choice.
…
"Bastard!"
Sun Quan's face was livid. He could not block the news even if he wanted to.
"My Lord, let's accept the other party's conditions. We have no other choice." Zhang Zhao once again firmly supported the side of surrender. He continued, "If we continue to resist, we will only increase the number of casualties. Surrendering is a small matter, but if we lose the support of the people of River East, everything will be over!"
To be honest, Zhang Zhao was very knowledgeable. Compared to Zhou Yu, what Zhang Zhao lacked was an unparalleled view of the big picture, as well as sharp insight.
"That's the only way!"
Sun Quan sighed, his heart full of reluctance.
In addition to worrying about losing the support of the people, Sun Quan was more worried about the mutiny of the soldiers. That was something more terrible than losing the support of the people. The Sun family could be sent to hell at any moment.
Before the war, Sun Quan never thought that the iron wall of the Red Cliffs would fall. There were 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers stationed inside, and Lu Su's army and Huang Gai's army outside, but they still suffered a crushing defeat.
One careless move and the whole game would be lost.
"Xiong Ba and the other mutants are really useless! Before the war, they vowed to defeat the Shanhai City fleet in one fell swoop. But when the time came, they were wiped out. What a shame! "Sun Quan had turned into a resentful woman.
But no matter how he complained, he could not escape the humiliating fate of leaving the city to surrender.
At noon, Sun Quan, dressed in white, held the official seal and led a group of civil and military officials out of the city to surrender.
Ouyang Shuo did not deliberately make things difficult for Sun Quan, nor did he do anything to humiliate Sun Quan. He respectfully invited Sun Quan to stay in the Dragon Head for the time being.
After all, Ouyang Shuo was still thinking of subduing Zhou Yu and the other Jiangdong generals.
Wasn't insulting Sun Quan asking for a snub?!
"General, please write a letter to Zhou Yu and have Zhang Zhao personally deliver it to Yiling." In the guest room, Ouyang Shuo stated his request.
As he spoke, someone had already presented a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
Sun Quan was an ambitious and ruthless person. Since he had surrendered, he did not intend to act shamelessly. He picked up the brush and wrote a letter in the blink of an eye.
He stamped the letter with his official seal.
Ouyang Shuo smiled in satisfaction and took the letter. Seeing that there were no problems, he immediately ordered someone to put it in a wooden box. Apart from Zhang Zhao, there was also a deputy general from the City Guard Division accompanying him to deliver the letter.
With Zhang Zhao's help, Ouyang Shuo was not worried that Zhou Yu would cheat. Zhang Zhao was a smart man and would not dare to joke around with Sun Quan's life.
Apart from Sun Quan's letter, Ouyang Shuo also wrote a letter to Zhou Yu. Not only did he express his admiration for Zhou Yu, but he also explained the purpose of the Battle of Chaisang Mulberry.
At the end, he added, "General Sun's life is at the mercy of the public. Please reconsider!"
Zhou Yu would probably not know whether to laugh or cry when he saw this letter. How could there be such a way to recruit talents? Kidnapping a former master to threaten him was unheard of.
This was simply a bandit!
…
After sending off the messenger, the Shanhai City fleet did not stay long at Chaisang Mulberry. The next day, they set off for Red Cliff. The commoners of Chaisang Mulberry heaved a long sigh of relief when they saw this. They had just taken a trip to the edge of hell.
Ouyang Shuo decided to return to Red Cliff for two reasons. First, Red Cliff had sufficient rations and was convenient to resupply. Moreover, there was a water stockade, which made it convenient for the fleet to dock and reorganize.
Second, Red Cliff was relatively close to Yiling. If necessary, they could return to Yiling at any time.
Ouyang Shuo predicted that even if Zhou Yu withdrew his troops, Di Chen and the others would still cause some trouble. Therefore, the Shanhai City fleet had to be prepared for another battle.
This Battle of Red Cliff could be considered a series of setbacks.
Ouyang Shuo was not worried that Di Chen would detain Zhou Yu or even kill him. This was because according to the rules of war, mutant armies of the same faction could not attack the natives of the same faction.
This was especially so for historical figures of the same faction. Gaia had special protective measures.
This was also to prevent lords from harboring the dark mentality of "if I can't get it, no one else can". Otherwise, the historical figures of the battle map would suffer.
Similarly, Ouyang Shuo naturally could not order the Siege Lions to kill Liu Bei, who had already escaped.
On this point, both sides were fair.
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