Although Cai Ji's uncertain state of life and death made some of his subordinates secretly plan a way out, not everyone was as willing to fight Cao Cao as Xiao Jian. For example, Tian Feng will not be killed and will not surrender Cao. However, not descending Cao does not mean that Tian Feng has no other thoughts in his heart. It must be known that Tian Feng was not optimistic about Cai Ji's future from the beginning, and now learning that Cai Ji is trapped in western Liaoning has made him pessimistic about the future of Cai's party.

In the study room of Nanpitian Mansion, the flames of beans on the lamp plate swayed in the wind, illuminating the shadows of the people. Tian Feng handed over a road stamped with an official seal to his eldest son Tian Heng, and said to him with a solemn expression: "Bo Cang, when the cold food is approaching, you will quickly bring your family to return to your hometown to worship your ancestors, no matter what happens in the world, you must not leave your hometown." ”

Tian Heng listened to what his father said, and then thought of all the rumors in the market in recent days, and couldn't help but be shocked and said, "Why did my father say this?" But Qi Hou's life is worried? If so, why doesn't the father return with the child? ”

Facing his son's suggestion, Tian Feng waved his hand both stubbornly and gloomily, "Qi Hou Yu has the grace to save his life for his father, and he can't abandon him for his father." ”

Hearing Tian Feng's tone so pessimistic, Tian Heng confirmed the judgment that the Qiying Building would collapse. So in a hurry, he immediately shook his long sleeves, kowtowed heavily to the old father, and said, "If the father doesn't leave, the child won't go either!" ”

"Nonsense!" Tian Feng blew his beard at his son and glared, "How can you not respect your father's order!" ”

Tian Heng was unmoved, "The child does not dare to disrespect the father's order, and the child cannot ignore the father's danger!" ”

Tian Feng has always paid attention to filial piety. It is said that Tian Feng was bereaved when he was a teenager, and although the time for the mourning had passed, he still smiled without showing his teeth, which made him valued by his neighbors at a young age. Seeing his son so filial at this moment, Tian Feng was relieved, and couldn't help but slow down his tone. "With Taishi Ziyi here, how can Nanpi be a dangerous place?"

Tian Feng's words were quite confident. It must be known that although Tian Feng feels that the future of the Cai family is more auspicious, he is very optimistic about Shi Ci's future. In Tian Feng's eyes, in addition to being a little low, Tai Shici is completely able to leave a name in history with his character and strength and become a feudal official. Of course, this is Tai Shici's limit. Because the next level is not only personal martial arts and resourcefulness, but also about background, reputation, and even a little luck. Just like Lu Bu back then, although he had the courage to be invincible, he was still unable to accommodate the Central Plains after all, and ended up dead without a corpse.

Therefore, Mo saw that Tian Feng was extremely disgusted with Cao Cao, but deep down, he still had to admit that Cao Cao was the prince who had the most hope of dominating the world since Yuan Shao's death. And the reason why he ordered his son to leave Nanpi with his family was also to leave a way back for the Tian family. After all, it is the character of Taishi Ci. As long as Cai Ji does not die, Tai Shi Ci will not vote for the second master. However, Cao Cao in the west was ready to move, and he couldn't wait to send Hou Cheng, Zang Ba and others to attack the border to test the reality of the Qi army. Tian Feng judged from this that as Cai Ji was unable to get out for a long time, the forces of Cao and Cai would fight in Hebei sooner or later. And the leaderless Cai party will naturally not be the opponent of the old fox Cao Cao. At that time, Tian Feng, who is also a member of the Cai family, will only be able to do his best to repay Cai Ji for saving his life.

And just when Tian Feng made up his mind to live and die with the Cai Group, his old colleague Guo Tu was celebrating thousands of miles away in Liaoxi. So far, the whole thing has been going according to his previous deduction. The counties and counties of Youzhou in the Guannai fell into the chaos of the dragons without a leader because Cai Ji was trapped, if it were not for Jia Xu and Zhang Qing in charge. The military order to assassinate Li Min couldn't even get out of Jicheng. And Zhang Liao and Pang Tong of the annexed states couldn't wait to send troops back to Youzhou, and directly lost the huge merger to Zhong Xuan. It's just that Zhong Xuan's forces in Taiyuan are limited after all. Cao Cao's main forces were all in the south. Therefore, the Xiongnu have become the largest force in the state at present. However, the Southern Xiongnu royal court didn't have long to be proud, because at this time, Guo Tu had already made contact with Yuan Tan, who lived in Mobei. It is believed that it will not be long before Yuan Tan can return to Heshuo with the soldiers and horses borrowed from Xianbei.

However, Guo Tu's wishful thinking played loudly does not mean that Gongsun Kang and Bang Dun are also satisfied with the current situation. In fact, after learning that Zhang Liao and Pang Tong were about to rush to Liaoxi from Bingzhou to rescue Cai Ji, Gongsun Kang and Bang Dun, who were still calm, suddenly panicked.

You must know that it was Pang Tong and Zhang Liao who joined forces to thwart Gongsun Du's ambition to annex Jinxi, which greatly damaged the vitality of the Gongsun family. In the next two years, the father and son could only shrink in Xuanwu County to recuperate. At this moment, hearing that the old opponent was coming back, Gongsun Kangdang rushed to Guo Tu's camp in a hurry to ask him for advice on how to deal with it.

Facing Gongsun Kang and Badun, who came together, Guo Tu was stunned at first, and then stepped forward to salute the two of them in surprise. "The two generals can send someone to summon the old man if they have something, why do you need the general to come in person."

Gongsun Kang obviously didn't have the heart to be polite with Guo Tu, so he saw him wave his hand, and while sitting straight on the first seat, he anxiously asked Guo Tu, "Does the military advisor know that Zhang Liao and Pang Tong have withdrawn from Pingcheng and are rushing towards Liaoxi?" ”

Seeing this, Guo Tu smiled dumbly and said, "What should the old man do?" The two generals don't have to mind. Zhang and Pang have to travel for a long time, and we can wait for the halfway to intercept them. ”

"The military advisor said it lightly. That's a full 50,000 Qi army, how to intercept halfway? What about Cai Ji on the other side? Bun asked angrily with a cold face. If Gongsun Kang could continue to insist on besieging Qi Ying on the grounds of avenging his father, then Ban Dun had already been impatient. In his opinion, whether it is to capture Qi Ying's head in one go, or simply sit down and negotiate with Cai Ji and extort a ransom, it is better than spending it every day like now.

At this time, Gongsun Kang also nodded and agreed, "Lord Bunton's words are reasonable. There is a saying that shoots a man first and shoots a horse, and a thief captures the king first. I thought that we would first take the head of the Cai family, and then face the two generals Zhang and Pang. But I don't know if the attacking equipment has been properly purchased? ”

Listening to the statements of Gongsun Kang and Bun Dun, Guo Tu knew that if he continued to insist on the status quo of besieging but not attacking, it would only make the two in front of him suspicious of him. Anyway, he wants the situation to be preliminarily reached, and it is not too early to start storming the Qi camp. So Guo Tu immediately rode a donkey downhill and replied, "Don't worry, general. The craftsmen have set up three trebuchets and are ready to storm the camp. ”

It turned out that the Gongsun army had not been completely idle, in addition to tentatively attacking the Qi camp a few times, Guo Tu also sent people to build three trebuchets. Don't look at these three trebuchets with rough workmanship, simple structure, and limited range. But in the remote western Liaoning, it can be called a sharp weapon for attacking the city. Therefore, when Gongsun Kang heard that there were three more trebuchets under his account, he was immediately full of confidence, and when he and Guo Tu and Badun formulated a general attack plan.

So, the next morning, the bank of the White Wolf River, which had been silent for a long time, once again sounded the drums of slaughter. The Qi army that heard the news hurriedly set up bows and crossbows on the sentry post and waited for the battle. It is said that the sentry post of Qi camp is two wooden fences made of stout logs. The wooden fence facing the enemy line is high enough to resist arrows. The second wooden fence is relatively low, with a row of wooden rows between two rows of wooden walls of varying heights, on which the sergeant can stand and shoot arrows at the enemy, while the space below is set aside to resemble a chamber for the sergeant to rest.

It was with these strong fortifications that the Qi army repelled the attacks of the Gongsun army and the Wuhuan people again and again with a relatively small number of troops. So much so that for a period of time, Gongsun Kang, who was embarrassed and angry, sent several scolders to scold day and night in front of the Qi camp. From greeting Cai Ji's ancestors for the eighteenth generation to the eighteen forbidden jokes with him as the protagonist, the words are so filthy that they are unbearable. However, Cai Ji in the camp was like an old monk, not only turning a deaf ear to the enemy generals' shouting and scolding, but also strictly prohibiting the soldiers under his tent from going out of the village to face the battle.

In the face of the unforgivable ban of his own master. The soldiers of the Qi battalion, who were holding back their anger, had no choice but to return the color to the other party. However, just when the Qi army thought that the mouth cannon battle was about to start again, they were surprised to find that this time the Gongsun army did not send people to the front of the battle as usual, but pushed three heavy trebuchets to the forefront of the battlefield.

The Qi army trapped in the White Wolf River was the elite of Cai Ji's side, so he naturally saw the other party's intentions at a glance. Soon the sound of the warning horn sounded throughout the Qi camp. But before most of the Qi troops could react, in the blink of an eye, three stones the size of a horse's head were already roaring towards the Qi army camp.

I only heard a muffled sound, and a stone bullet smashed heavily on the Qi army's sentry post. I smashed the thick wooden raft out of a black hole. Fortunately, there was no sergeant downstairs to rest at this time, otherwise he would have to be smashed into a meatloaf by this stone bullet. But the horses in the other stable weren't so lucky. A stone projectile that fell from the sky directly smashed the two horses tethered to the stable. As for the third stone bullet, it landed a hundred paces in front of the wooden fence wall rather uncompetitively, and only stirred up a puff of smoke and dust.

However, even so, the effect of the first round of stone-throwing still greatly boosted the morale of Gongsun Jun. It is important to know that trebuchets in this era mainly used manpower to throw stone projectiles at the tips attached to the crossbar at a distance from the trebuchet. I can't talk about what is accurate at all, I can only roughly recognize what is smashed in one direction. Therefore, for the Gongsun Department, who had never received relevant training before, the quasi-head of the third middle school and the second was already a valuable result.

"Quick! Reload! Lonely is going to eat in Cai's tent today! ”

Gongsun Kang waved his horsewhip and excitedly instructed the sergeants around him to readjust the trebuchet, fill the stones and pull up the holster. On the other hand, Badun took advantage of the situation to send a siege team of 10,000 people, under the cover of 5,000 cavalry archers, to launch a new round of attacks on the newly defeated Qi camp.

The black-pressed cavalry swept towards the towering log fence like a tumbling raging wave. The arrows in the sky were even more pressing, so that the Qi army on the sentry could barely raise their heads. However, even though the first wooden fence was already full of flying arrows, the Qi troops behind the wooden fence still held their respective posts, either holding their shields high to defend their comrades against arrows, or holding bows and crossbows to pull bows and counterattacks. As a result, he was able to block the oncoming Wuhuan cavalry in front of the wooden fence.

But just when the charge of the Wuhuan cavalry was suppressed, two more stone bullets flew in the sky, one of which passed by the arrow tower of the Qi army, and the other directly smashed a hole in the wooden fence wall, and at the same time greatly confused the formation of the Qi army. In the blink of an eye, a burst of blood mist splashed on the sentry, screaming miserably, and cold arrows pierced into the flesh and blood like the fangs of poisonous snakes, taking away fresh lives one by one.

Under the double blow of trebuchets and Wuhuan cavalry, the first line of defense of the Qi army was completely suppressed. The infantry of the Gongsun Army, who rushed towards the Qi camp, could clearly feel that the rain of arrows from the opposite side was gradually thinning. However, before they could touch the wooden fence of the camp, suddenly a deafening thunderclap sounded in their ears.

The pitch-black projectile with a sharp hiss struck a gray arc across the clear blue sky, striking a trebuchet of Gongsun Jun's impartially. The flying sawdust injured the war horse under Gongsun Kang's crotch in the blink of an eye, causing him to pout his front hooves and almost throw Gongsun Kang off the horse. As for the soldiers beside Gongsun Kang, they were even more frightened by this sudden blow. Because the entire Liaodong knew that when the thunderbolt sounded on a sunny day, it must be Qi Hou's artifact that was angry.

Cai Ji stood on the watchtower with his hand and observed the movement of the enemy formation on the opposite side with the crystal monocular in his hand. At her feet, on the wooden fence, three artillerymen were busy cleaning the chamber of a bronze cannon and filling it with gunpowder. It is said that Cai Ji brought this artillery to Liaoxi because he wanted to show off his salute at the oath meeting with the Bundun Division, so that the Wuhuan people could have a good look at their strength. Now although this artillery also shows Cai Ji's strength, it is no longer a show, but to save himself.

"Fire!"

As the red order flag fell, another cannonball crossed the sky and headed straight for the Gongsun army's camp. Through the crystal telescope, Cai Ji could clearly see that the shells had directly broken up the other trebuchet. Obviously, both in terms of range and hits, bronze artillery was far superior to the trebuchets of this era. It's a pity that Cai Ji only has one cannon in his hand at the moment, and it is a piece of cake to deal with three trebuchets, but it is not enough to help her get out of the current predicament.

Sun Quan watched the Qi army below fiddle with the artillery and prepare for the third shot, his eyes full of envy that was difficult to describe in words. From Pingcheng last year to the White Wolf River here today, Sun Quan has seen the power of such artifacts more than once. At the same time, it also gave him another confidence in the matter of breaking the siege. Listening to Sun Quan's disdainful smacking of his tongue, "Gongsun Kang wants to storm the Qi camp with only three trebuchets, but he really can't do it. ”

Thinking of Sun Ziquan's cousin Xiàn a few days ago, Cao Pi Nu Nu Nu mouthed and wanted to ridicule him a few words. But before he could speak, Cai Ji had already put away the telescope in his hand, and said thoughtfully, "Maybe the reinforcements are coming soon." (To be continued......)