Zhang Liao returned in vain, Xu Rong was furious, removed Zhang Liao from his military position, demoted to an ordinary knight, and stayed in the Chinese army to serve.

Although Li Meng and the others knew that Xu Rong deliberately favored Zhang Liao, Zhang Liao had already become an ordinary knight and had no threat to them, and they didn't bother to care about it anymore. They hurried up time to besiege Xixian and strive to break the city as soon as possible.

After entering Nanyang for more than half a month, the grain and grass carried had long been exhausted, and the grain looted from the countryside could not completely solve the problem, and only by breaking through the county seat could it be effectively replenished. In addition to food and grass, there are many things that attract them, women, money and silk, beautiful houses, soft beds. Nanyang is rich, not as good as Luoyang, but stronger than Chang'an, and for those of them who have spent most of their lives in Liangzhou, it is full of temptations.

The county is at the east end of Wuguan Road, and it is the main road from Nanyang to Yiluo Sanchuan, and the city is also larger than the ordinary county seat. And Duan Xuan is far away from the championship, and it is impossible to know in a short time.

Xixian has been besieged for more than ten days, but there was no attack a few days ago. Although the people of Xixian County did not know that the Xiliang soldiers would come, they knew that Wancheng was fighting, and Yuan Shu had arrested many people and robbed a lot of manors, and they were worried that Yuan Shu would be unfavorable to them, so they strengthened the city defense in time, and the rich people hid in the city. This resulted in limited looting by the Western Liang soldiers outside the city, and Xu Rong had to order a siege.

To attack the city, it was necessary to prepare siege equipment, and the Xiliang soldiers were not good at these, and they were delayed for several days. When they were ready, the people of Xixian County defended the city again, and Li Meng, Fan Chou and others attacked fiercely for several days, although the damage was not small, and the losses were not small, but they have not been able to succeed.

However, after all, Xixian is a county seat, and the defense force is limited, and in the face of the onslaught of more than 10,000 Xiliang soldiers, the losses are heavy, especially the elite casualties are very large, and the morale is also rapidly declining. If it weren't for the fear that the Xiliang people would slaughter the city if they were red-eyed, they might have given up.

Just when the people of Xixian were about to despair, good news suddenly came: Sun Ce led the army to help, and he had broken through the Xiliang people who attacked Lixian and relieved the siege of Lixian. Rushed to the doctor in a hurry, and the people of Xixian County didn't care whether Sun Ce was good or evil, no matter how evil he was, he should be better than the people of Xiliang, so he immediately sent people out of the city to ask Sun Ce for help.

Ten people were dispatched, eight of whom fell into the hands of Xu Rong, who were beheaded after being forced to extract information, one fell into the river and died, and the other was unknown in his life and death.

Xu Rong didn't think much of the missing person, and the people of Xiliang didn't take it seriously. Sun Ce only had 10,000 foot soldiers, and defeating Duan Xuan was just an accident, if he dared to come to Xi County, they couldn't ask for it, and they would have to run away.

The sun rose, and it took a lot of effort for Li Meng to get out of the hot quilt, and the robbed woman obediently put on her clothes. Li Meng opened his eyes half-open, opened his arms, and enjoyed the gentle waiting of the Nanyang woman. Nanyang is good, the women are as gentle and obedient as water, unlike Liangzhou women, who scold people at every turn, maybe they will cut with a knife, and their temperament is as fierce as a wild horse.

It's just that the weather is so bad. Li Meng rubbed the chilblains on his hands and scolded viciously. On such a cold day, you should hide in Chang'an City and roast the fire, drink wine, eat meat, and sleep with a beautiful woman in your arms, why do you want to come out to fight. But it's nothing, under the county, except for this damn chilblain, which can't be cured for the time being, everything else should be there, no worse than Chang'an.

After breakfast, Li Meng casually stepped on the war horse and rushed to the front of the battle. Standing under the city, he looked at the dilapidated city wall in the distance, as if he could see the desperate eyes of the people of Xixian, and couldn't help laughing. In two days at most, maybe just one day, you can break through the county and go to the city to eat and sleep. I must find the best house in the county, find the most beautiful woman in the county, and drink the best wine in the county. As for the woman today, let's give it to the subordinates who broke the city first today, and it's not bad to make meat soup.

Just as Li Meng was thinking about the beautiful life after entering the city, a rapid and sharp gong suddenly sounded behind him, revealing an extremely uncomfortable uneasiness. Li Meng looked back and saw dozens of horsemen rushing from a distance, and the knights who met him to inquire were shot down one after another by a burst of arrows, obviously friend or foe. Li Meng was furious and ordered the cavalry to intercept him. The knights of the guards shouted, turned on their horses, and greeted them. But they were a step too late, and the knights rushed to the moat with lightning speed, shot something into the city, turned their horses' heads, and galloped away.

An ominous premonition rose in Li Meng's heart, and he thought of the unaccounted for man from Xixian County. He turned his head to look at Xixian, and as expected, after a while, there was a cheer at the head of the city, and some people ran along the city wall, shouting loudly. It was too far away for Li Meng to hear clearly, but he had already guessed.

Reinforcements came, Sun Ce came.

Li Meng was so angry that he immediately ordered the siege of the city. But what frustrated him, the people of Xixian resisted as if they were crazy, and repelled several of his attacks one after another, and just when he ordered to prepare for another attack, Xu Rong's order came.

The troops stopped the siege and immediately returned to the Chinese army to discuss matters.

Li Meng didn't dare to slack off, and while ordering the adjutant general to collect his troops and return to the camp, he hurried to Xu Rong's camp with his personal guards. When he arrived, Fan Chou and Li Fang had already arrived, talking around the fire pit, and their faces didn't seem to be very happy. He leaned over and understood after two sentences.

Xu Rong actually wanted to give up Xixian and retreat to Shunyang.

Li Meng was puzzled, is this necessary? Although Duan Xuan and others are dividing their troops to attack Shunyang and Champion, there are only more than 15,000 people in Xixian County, and there are still more troops than Sun Ce, and there are more than 3,000 cavalry, which is the strongest advantage of the Xiliang people, Sun Ce's cavalry is only a few hundred people, and it is not an opponent at all, why should he withdraw? This withdrawal, the county is not in vain.

There are many people who have the same mind as Li Meng. They were all reluctant to get rid of the county that was about to be obtained, and felt that it would not be a problem to defeat Sun Ce, and there was no need to retreat at all. Xu Rong was neither angry nor anxious, just quietly watching them argue. Wait until they stop talking before pointing to the map.

"Does anyone know what this place is?"

Li Meng and the others looked at each other. They don't know what this place is.

"The ancient name here is Danyang, where the Qin army defeated the Chu army and beheaded 80,000."

When Li Meng and the others heard this, they immediately turned their anger into joy. When you go to war, you always have to get a good omen. Since this is the place where the Qin army broke the Chu army, then of course it is good luck for these Qin people to face Sun Ce here, once Sun Ce is killed, Nanyang is at his fingertips, and it is not comparable to a county seat in Xixian County.

Seeing that the generals had no objections, Xu Rong allocated men and horses to arrange the marching order of the various departments, how to cover each other, how to control the speed, and arranged it properly with just a few words. Zhang Liao watched from the sidelines, pricked up his ears, and engraved every word Xu Rong said in his heart.