"Listen to the righteous brother on the other side, you have been abandoned by your Guan Shuai...... The righteous master outside the city began to retreat in batches as early as last night, leaving only you and others as an outcast to delay Kunyang. If you are willing to put down your weapons and surrender immediately, Ju can take care of the old feelings, plead with Leader Zhou, and leave you with your life......"

A moment later, Ju Sheng came to South Street and stood in front of the position and shouted to the rebels on the opposite side.

Most of the rebel soldiers on the opposite side knew Ju Sheng, and knew that Ju Sheng was a rebel general who 'betrayed' his righteous teacher, and they had a lot of disdain in their hearts, so they naturally didn't believe what Ju Sheng said.

But there were still some soldiers who were suspicious, and although they did not respond to Ju Sheng, they began to whisper.

"Think about it carefully, since last night, General Zou Qu, General Luo Qu, and General Ji Qu have disappeared......"

"Isn't Cao Qu still there? …… Do you believe what the traitor on the other side said? ”

"Didn't General Cao Qu explain, Zou Qu temporarily transferred them outside to take charge of the whole army's winter......

"Even so, is it necessary to transfer all the generals outside the city? …… In case the Kunyang people on the opposite side break the agreement and suddenly counterattack, only Cao Qu will be alone, how can he command the soldiers everywhere in the city? …… Something is wrong, something is wrong......"

"You say that......"

"Guess what? Shall the brothers at the gate go and ask if they are not? ”

"But General Cao Qu has ordered that no one should leave the city gate without permission."

"Is there such a thing?"

"Well, speaking of which, it seems that Cao Qu will not allow the seriously wounded brothers to be transported outside the city...... Not quite right. ”

In the midst of the discussion, more and more rebel soldiers felt uneasy in their hearts, joined the discussion, and told the robes around them everything that happened today, which seemed strange to them.

They thought about it carefully, and felt that Cao Qu's various behaviors today were indeed strange, such as ordering the city gate to be closed, not allowing anyone to go out, and refusing to send the seriously injured soldiers outside the city, as if this Cao Qu general was deliberately hiding something.

"Could it be that the army outside the city has really withdrawn? Have we really been abandoned? ”

Or a soldier whispered something that the crowd was suspecting.

Suddenly, the faces of the nearby rebel soldiers changed drastically, and their whole faces turned pale.

After a moment of dead silence, a soldier with a blood-stained cloth wrapped around his shoulder angrily threw the wooden bowl of soup in his hand to the ground, and angrily exclaimed, "How can they do this?!" ”

The rest of the rebel soldiers on the side also showed anger on their faces.

At this time, there was an uncle surnamed Xu in the crowd, and when he saw this, he shouted in a deep voice: "Hugh will be deceived by the words of the other side!" That Ju Sheng turned his back on the righteous master and surrendered to the Kunyang people, and his words were not trustworthy. …… As for the truth, I will invite General Cao Qu and ask as soon as I ask. ”

As he spoke, he instructed a soldier: "Go and ask General Cao Qu." ”

"Yes!"

The named soldier hurried to the city gate, for at this moment Cao Wu was sitting at the city gate, behind the table that was placed in the middle of the city gate.

After a short time, the soldier came to Cao Wu, clasped his fists and said: "General Cao Qu, for some reason, the Kunyang people sent Ju Sheng, who had turned his back on my righteous teacher, to shout to us, and he announced that the righteous teachers outside the city had been evacuated in batches, leaving us alone. Many soldiers believed the traitor's lies and instructed the army to be angry, so Uncle Xu asked you to go and stabilize the army's heart and expose the lie of Ju Sheng......"

"Have the people of Kunyang found out? It's earlier than expected...... Damn!'

Cao Wu cursed to himself, and said quietly: "Okay, I'll go right away and see what tricks that Ju Sheng plays." …… You go first. ”

"Yes!" The soldier clenched his fists and left.

Glancing at the back of the soldier leaving, a guard behind Cao Wu bent down, and said to the former: "General Qu, we can't hide it after all, we have to prepare to evacuate, if the soldiers in the city all realize that they have been deceived and defect to Kunyang, it will be too late for us to withdraw when we want to......"

“……”

Cao Wu crossed his chin with his fingers crossed, his eyes flickering.

He and his guards were the only ones in the city who knew about it, and his guards had pre-arranged their mounts for the retreat.

As long as he uses lies to stabilize the morale of the soldiers in the city, and then uses an excuse of 'going to the camp outside the city in person' or 'asking to see Qu Shuai Guan Shuo', he can escape with his henchmen and guards.

Although as soon as he leaves, the righteous soldiers in the city are bound to be in chaos, so there is no doubt that they will be driven out by the angry Kunyang people, but what does it have to do with him? After all, he had already left the city and joined the evacuated army......

"I'm going to stay."

After a moment of silence, Cao Wu said in a deep voice.

"Qu Jiang?"

One of the guards unconsciously raised his voice, causing the nearby soldiers in the distance to look at him in bewilderment.

Afraid of arousing the suspicion of the nearby soldiers, he immediately lowered his voice and asked in a low voice: "Qu General, ...... you?"

Cao Wu didn't answer again, just turned his head to look at a few guards, and asked inexplicably, "Are you afraid of death?" Afraid...... Let's go, while there is still a chance at the moment. ”

“……”

Several guards glanced at each other, and they were panicked at first, but gradually calmed down.

After nodding to each other, one of the guards stepped forward and said, "How can I, who is the general of Naiqu, abandon the Lord and live?" Since the song is going to stay, we are willing to stay......"

Cao Wu took a deep look at the determined look in the eyes of these guards and nodded slightly.

Suddenly, he stood up and ordered in a deep voice to the guards guarding the city gate: "All the soldiers listen to the order, pass on my order, seal the city gate immediately, and no one is allowed to enter or leave unless I Cao Wu gives an order!" ”

Those rebel soldiers looked at each other, or a soldier such as a captain or a chief ran to Cao Wu with courage, and asked in surprise after saluting with his fists: "General Qu ordered the city gate to be sealed, I don't know why?" ”

Cao Wu didn't mean to explain at all, and shouted with a straight face: "Obey my orders, soldier!" ”

“…… Be! ”

The soldier was glared at by Cao Wu's eyes, and did not dare to ask any more questions, so he immediately turned around and left, beckoned a group of soldiers who were also unknown, and pushed several grain trucks into the city gate hole.

Seeing this, Cao Wu turned around and walked towards South Street, and several guards behind him immediately followed.

A moment later, he came to South Street, to the battlefield where he had commanded the battle for the rest of his day.

At this time, on the South Street, the soldiers guarding the position were arguing loudly, some of them were angry at the truth that Ju Sheng had revealed to them, while others held the opposite opinion, and they were noisy and inextricable.

Suddenly, a soldier noticed Cao Wu and shouted with a little joy: "Don't quarrel, don't quarrel, Cao Qu is coming." ”

"Cao Qu is coming?"

"Cao Qu is coming?"

In a small muttering of surprise, the soldiers who were still arguing took the initiative to separate the two sides and make way for Cao Wu and the others to pass.

During this period, they questioned Cao Wu again and again with trepidation.

"General Cao Qu, the other side said that we have been abandoned, this must be a conspiracy of the Kunyang people? Right? ”

"General Cao Qu, that Ju Sheng is a traitor to my righteous teacher, what he said must be a lie, right?"

"Cao Qu will ......"

Cao Wu turned his head to look around at the soldiers around him, and suddenly, as if he had made a decision, he jumped onto a pile of ruins in front of the buildings on the street, and pressed his hands.

Seeing this, the nearby soldiers quieted down and surrounded the pile of ruins where Cao Wu was.

Not only them, but the soldiers who were sent to the buildings on both sides also poked their heads out of the broken windows at this moment and looked at Cao Wu below.

After glancing around at the nearby soldiers, Cao Wu said in a deep voice: "Rong Cao apologizes to you, I'm sorry, Cao deceived you, the army of our righteous division outside the city has retreated in batches last night, only we waited, were left in Kunyang, to buy time for the retreat of the army......"

Hearing this, the surrounding rebel soldiers were in an uproar.

The angry soldiers became more and more angry, and the soldiers who insisted on not believing were full of panic and despair at the moment.

"They abandoned us and waited for ......"

"They want us to die in this city......"

Hearing the angry shouts and scolding of many soldiers, Cao Wu shouted in a deep voice: "We are not abandoned, we are just selected as a broken army!" ”

He took a deep breath and said bitterly: "Brothers, we have lost, we have lost this battle, and we will not be able to seize the city of the Kunyang people before the cold winter comes, so our righteous master can only retreat to the rear...... The situation is very vicious, brothers, when our righteous master was fighting in this city, the cunning Yexian people attacked Dingling, forcing my righteous master to trek more than 100 miles to Yuncheng and Zhaoling...... The people of Kunyang will not easily let go of the defeated righteous division, they will inevitably exert their strength and take the opportunity to pursue, and strive to defeat our righteous division to the greatest extent, therefore, our righteous division can only leave a broken army. …… It's just us. …… And this is the price of defeat. ”

He took a deep breath and said again: "Someone must break the rear, delay the Kunyang people, and buy time for the rest of my righteous brothers to retreat, otherwise, our Changsha army may be killed and wounded on the way to retreat." …… I know you must be resentful, but I want to tell you that the vast majority of you, even if you were allowed to evacuate, would not be able to retreat to the rear alive in the coming snowstorm. ”

“……”

All around, there was silence.

Suddenly, an uncle said angrily, "I'm not doing it anymore!" …… I will not fight for those who abandon me! ”

With that, he dropped the weapon in his hand and walked towards the opposite position with his hands raised, obviously preparing to surrender to Kunyang.

There were more than a dozen soldiers who were probably under this uncle, and when they saw this, they all dropped their weapons and walked to the position of the Kunyang people with their hands raised.

"Whoa—"

Seeing that someone was taking the lead, dozens of rebel soldiers chose to surrender one after another.

"Qu Jiang!"

Several guards behind Cao Wu said anxiously.

"Let them go."

Cao Wu shook his head slightly, and then looked at the soldiers in front of him who were still hesitating and said in a deep voice: "Those who want to surrender, surrender, I will not use orders to restrain you...... But if you still have a trace of loyalty to the righteous teacher in your heart, please resist with me Cao Wu to the end. Maybe we will die in the end, or we will be captured by the Kunyang people, but until then, we are still the righteous soldiers of the Changsha righteous master! …… Are there any brothers who are willing to advance and retreat with me? We will be righteous teachers, loyal to the end! ”

“……”

The soldiers who had dropped their weapons and walked towards the Kunyang people's position did not look back.

But the rebel soldiers, who were still hesitating, did not turn around.

The uncle surnamed Xu approached Cao Wu and solemnly hugged his fists: "Qu will be the only one who has never abandoned us, Xu Ji is willing to be side by side with Qu Jiang until the end......"

Immediately, one after another, soldiers also saluted Cao Wu with fists, expressing their willingness to follow.

“……”

Seeing that there were still a considerable number of soldiers willing to fight side by side with him, Cao Wu nodded heavily.