The three of them also had high morale and led more than 1,000 people to kill Zigui, and about two hours later, the army arrived at the outskirts of Zigui, and the sentinels in charge of exploring the road returned to Liu Cong one after another.

"Are you saying that the bandits didn't enter the city, but camped outside the city?" Liu Cong was very surprised, no matter how stupid these mountain bandits are, they will not play tricks at this time, there is a danger to defend when they enter the city, and no one will give up!

"Yes, Lord Captain!" The scout replied in the affirmative.

Liu Cong listened to the reports of a few sentry riders and was very puzzled, these mountain bandits were only 500 people, did they dare to ambush? Two thousand people are not opponents, and the thief has killed seven or eight out of ten, so these people can't be brains.

Immediately, Liu Cong felt that it was definitely not, these mountain bandits could capture Zigui County so easily, it must be a combination of inside and outside, but they pulled up more than 1,000 people so quickly, there are only two possibilities, one is to pull Zhuang Ding all over the city, and the other is to blackmail the big families in the city and let them hand over their private soldiers.

Either way, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among the people in Zigui County......

"Get closer and see what's going on in the city!"

"No!"

When the sentinel rode away, Gan Ning and Wei Yan also stopped the troops, and the two rode to Liu Cong's side.

"My lord, what now?" Just a day ago, Wei Yan only regarded Liu Cong as a son, and after the battle in the morning, he admired Liu Cong from the bottom of his heart and regarded him as his boss, so he took the initiative to come over and ask for advice.

"Wen Chang, Xingba, get off the horse and rest for the time being, maybe there is good news." According to the report of the sentry rider and speculation, Liu Cong felt that these mountain bandits did not want to return to Zigui, but they should not be able to go back.

"Yes!" Hearing Gongzi call his own words, Gan Ning and Wei Yan were flattered, although this is just a simple change of title, but it is enough to show that Gongzi's trust in himself is not only trust, but also closeness. The two immediately jumped off their horses and stood beside Liu Cong on the left and right.

Liu Cong walked with the two of them to climb a small dirt slope, and as far as the eye could see, the opposite Zigui County already had a clear outline. But the gates of the city were closed, and the bandits outside the city were clamoring and uneasy.

"Guess what's going on over there?"

Gan Ning shook his head blankly, strange, why didn't the mountain bandits enter the city, no wonder the second son was so leisurely.

Wei Yan was also confused, and said tentatively for a long time: "Could it be that Zi has changed hands?" ”

"Eighty percent of the way that's the case, haha!" Liu Cong patted Wei Yan's shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't look at the number of these mountain bandits, but there are also a lot of private soldiers of the wealthy families in the city, but they usually have their own masters, if someone picks the head and gathers them......"

"Then these bandits are not opponents. But why didn't the bandits leave the defenders? Gan Ning also seemed to begin to understand.

"I definitely stayed, but I didn't expect an accident, or maybe they went too far when they captured the county, which angered the local wealthy families to cause such a situation. Therefore, if we can get Zigui back, we must remember to focus on appeasement and not to plunder. ”

"The last will understand! Lord Captain, it looks like the bandits are ready to attack the city! As far as Wei Yan could see, the mountain bandit gate had already lined up, facing the north gate of Zigui County.

"Gan Ning, Wei Yan!"

"The last general!"

"The two of you quickly send a tun to the east and west sides of Zigui County to ambush, and the rest of the troops are ready to attack the mountain bandits at any time!"

"No!"

Liu Cong understood that the mountain bandits didn't know that Liu Cong had followed him here, and they must want to fight hard to get back to the county seat. If not, retreat. Liu Cong wanted to eat these mountain bandits, but he must not let the mountain bandits enter the city again, as soon as the county town has a city wall, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Second, if the mountain bandits are allowed to enter the city again, the lives of those who lead the city will not be guaranteed. The people in the city will also complain, which will damage the prestige of themselves and Liu Biao.

As soon as Gan Ning and Wei Yan went down to send out the ambush soldiers, the sentry cavalry returned.

"Lord Qiyu, Zigui County seems to have fallen into the hands of others, and the mountain bandits can't enter, and it seems that they are preparing to attack the city again."

"Well, do you know who took Zigui?"

"I don't know ...... yet"

No matter who took Zigui, it was better than letting these five hundred mountain bandits into the city, Liu Cong turned over and got on his horse after hearing the report, beckoned to Wei Yan and Gan Ning, and the two horses quickly approached.

"Make it clear to the soldiers below, I will be surrounded tightly in a while, and not a single soldier will be allowed to be let go!"

"No!"

"Let the troops sneak slowly and try not to make a noise!"

"No!"

The energy of the mountain bandits was completely concentrated on the siege of the city, and they did not know that they had been surrounded by Liu Cong and others, although the first time they attacked the county seat, they forced the major families to make up five or six hundred families, and pulled five or six hundred strong men from the county seat. But the mountain bandits lacked people with scheming, and they couldn't bear it when they heard that Wu Ju was leading his troops to attack.

If 2,000 soldiers stick to the county seat and fight steadily, even if Wu Julai has 5,000 people, it will not be easy to take it. Although the first day of the ambush caught the officers and soldiers off guard, the officers and soldiers immediately showed their true colors on the second day, especially the two generals who took the lead made the mountain bandits tremble when they thought about it.

To say that they also left defenders in this Zigui county, but it was too few, only two hundred. As soon as their front feet went out of the county, their back feet were turned over. Now the defenders standing on the walls also numbered about two hundred.

In normal times, these five hundred mountain bandits would turn around and leave, because the city could pull strong men and mobilize the people to constantly replenish, two hundred against five hundred, and they were not afraid at all. It's just that the city wall was broken a few days ago, and before it had time to repair it, the mountain bandits wanted to charge once or twice, maybe they could go in and be caught off guard. If they really want to enter the battle, they are afraid that they will choose to run away, so where to go back and forth.

After all, the officers and soldiers of Yiling may chase after here at any time.

But the defenders in the county town are not vegetarians, they can easily subdue two hundred mountain bandits, and they must have an absolute advantage in numbers, these people are usually some wealthy families, and the heads of the families are naturally not willing to enter the city again, so they also gave a death order, of course, the reward is not low.

The mountain bandits outside the city found two broken parts of the city wall and organized several charges, all of which ended in failure, and just as they were about to retreat and find another way out, shouts erupted all around. When the mountain bandits saw it, it was broken, the officers and soldiers were coming, and they were attacking outside here, and they were going to make dumplings. Some of those who reacted quickly immediately fled along the city wall to the east and west.

But they reacted too late!

I was insulted yesterday, and if I let these mountain bandits run away under my nose today, Liu Cong won't be able to pass this hurdle in his heart. With the battle on the outskirts of Yiling at the bottom, these mountain bandits saw that they were surrounded and disarmed almost without resistance.

Seventy or eighty of the five hundred or so people were killed, and all the others knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.

The enemy stopped fighting, and all the soldiers looked at Liu Cong.

Liu Cong first asked the soldiers to collect all the weapons scattered on the ground, and then took Wei Yan, Gan Ning and others to inspect, these mountain bandits are completely different from the captured Yiling, most of them have fierce faces, and they look like perennial bandits.

"What do you say about these people?"

"These people are full of gangsterism, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to subdue." Wei Yan said as he looked at Gan Ning unnaturally. Gan Ning naturally knew what Wei Yan was worried about, bandits were not the same as bandits, this group of mountain bandits was now leaderless, and they didn't have to be managed as well as Gan Ning's subordinates. But he is also a thief, so Gan Ning is naturally reluctant to say more on this kind of issue.

Liu Cong also thought in his heart, there are more than 400 people, it would be good if they could be co-opted, but if they become rat, it would be a waste of food. After thinking about it, he came to the mountain bandit and asked loudly: "Are any of you who have just been pulled into the gang in the past few days, and their families are all in the county seat." ”

"Yes!" Some people knelt on their stomachs at any time, and when they saw Liu Cong asking, they still whispered.

"The family was originally in the county seat, and the mountain bandits were not more than one month out!"

As soon as the words fell, forty or fifty people left the team one after another and walked to the other side.

Liu Cong looked at it and thought to himself that these guys were not bad, they had strong battlefield adaptability, and they were naturally a little cautious if they could escape in the battle on the outskirts of Yiling City. Even if the strength is not good, the brain is definitely not stupid!

"You people were originally the people of this county, why did you help the abuse, the previous time in Yiling Bendu Lieutenant surrendered, but you didn't surrender, do you want to be a mountain bandit, all of them will be detained, stay with the team into the city, there are those who are willing to enlist in the army are exempted from punishment, and those who are unwilling to enlist in the army are fined 3,000 to show punishment!"