The war has reached the current level, and the casualties have reached tens of thousands, if Sun Jian chooses to withdraw from the army, not to mention that he is unwilling, even Huang Gai and other generals are unwilling, not to mention those soldiers who have the dream of making a fortune.

How can it be in vain to give so much?

Sun Jian discussed carefully with everyone, and everyone unanimously decided to step up the attack, if they did not take Xiling City, they would be in a hurry to eat and grass, and they would not be able to retreat back to Yangzhou at all.

This time, a strong team was organized, with Sun Jian taking the lead, and Huang Gai, Zu Mao and other generals following and participating in the siege.

In order to select elite warriors to attack the city, Sun Jian announced that the cavalry would also participate in the siege, including the cavalry, from which the brave men were selected, and the first to attack the city wall was rewarded with 100 catties, the second place was 90 gold, the third place was 80 gold, and so on, and the first ten people who took the lead in attacking the city wall were rewarded, which greatly stimulated the soldiers' passion for siege.

In the past, only the first warrior who attacked the city wall was rewarded, resulting in the latter's low enthusiasm, but Sun Jian rewarded the top ten all in the hope of strengthening the team spirit, more people climbing the city wall, and holding on, expanding the results, rather than being beaten back again.

His decision was that the soldiers would intensify the siege of the city, and when the defenders were tired, his team would suddenly attack the city walls, which would inevitably lead to a great defeat of Huang Zu's army.

Sun Jian's cavalry assisted in the siege, and their archery skills were even more powerful, causing great casualties to the officers and soldiers defending the city, and now the number of defenders of the city is seriously insufficient; It made Huang Zu very difficult to defend the city, and if the Yangzhou soldiers continued to attack so fiercely, he would not be able to hold out for long.

Liu Biao's reinforcements have not arrived for a long time, and he has held out for so long, even if the city is broken, the blame is not on him; He has held out long enough, and has inflicted great casualties on the Yangzhou soldiers, and has fulfilled his responsibility as a guard.

Once Huang Zu's will to defend the city was shaken, the idea of escaping quickly expanded, but he was still hesitating, Sun Jian had so many cavalry outside the city, even if he went out of the city now, he would not be able to escape the pursuit of those cavalry; Continuing to stick to it can only be a dead end; Jingzhou lacked cavalry, and even if Liu Biao sent reinforcements, it would be difficult to defeat Sun Jian's cavalry.

He first returned to his house and consulted with the patriarch about escaping.

The patriarch understood that Liu Biao had not sent reinforcements for a long time, the lonely city would be difficult to defend, and the day the city was broken, the family would be slaughtered; For the sake of the long-term interests of the family, the seeds of the family's rise must be preserved.

The old patriarch selected ten shrewd young men from among the descendants of the family and asked Huang Zu to take them away, and for safety, take away the hundred crossbowmen secretly cultivated by the family.

Huang Zu and the ten teenagers kowtowed to the old patriarch and resigned.

The old patriarch said open-mindedly: "You can rest assured, even if the Yangzhou soldiers attack the city fiercely, we still have two thousand Danyang soldiers, if they are put into the defense of the city, it will be no problem to hold on for half a month." ”

Huang Zu said: "Don't worry, the old patriarch, send these offspring out, I will move in to rescue the soldiers within half a month, otherwise I will return alone and fight side by side with the patriarch to the end." ”

The old patriarch was speechless, just waved his hand to let everyone leave, ready to leave.

Sun Jian also surrounded Xiling City, keeping the east gate, in case the people in the city communicated with the navy on the river west of the city, if he escaped from the east gate, he could only flee into the vast Dabie Mountain; Losing the logistical baggage, a large number of people entered Dabie Mountain, as long as they starved to death, so Sun Jian's monitoring of the east gate was very loose.

In the middle of the night, Huang Zu and the others quietly left from the east gate and went straight to Dabie Mountain, as long as they entered the mountainous area, Sun Jian could not do anything.

Due to the limited number of horses, there were only forty war horses and ten horses.

Huang Zu only took forty crossbowmen to make a detour to Xiangyang, and the remaining sixty crossbowmen and ten family descendants could only flee to Xiangyang on foot, and the ten horses carried the baggage.

Liu Biao was very angry at Huang Zu's arrival, and as a taishou, he actually abandoned the city and left.

Huang Zu immediately explained: "Mingjun is not angry, Xiling City has not been lost, our Huang family swears to live and die with Xiling City, Zu just came to ask Mingjun to send reinforcements urgently, otherwise, Xiling City will hold on for ten days at most." ”

Liu Biao, Cai Mao and others didn't expect that Sun Jian did not evacuate after being intercepted on the back road, but continued to attack the city, which made Kuai Yue's prediction right; Liu Biao did not continue to blame Huang Zu.

Kuai Yue said unhurriedly: "Huang Taishou is not in a hurry, please tell me more about the situation in Xiling City." ”

Everyone knows the importance of Xiling City, if Xiling City is occupied, Yuan Shu will have a foothold in Jingzhou, the north can threaten Xiangyang, the west can attack the south county, Jingzhou will never have peace; And Nanjun is the richest county in Jingzhou and must not be threatened.

Huang Zu said: "Xiling City is high and strong, Yangzhou only has more than 30,000 infantry to attack the city, Zu is confident to hold, even if Sun Jian sent Danyang soldiers to attack the city, they did not take advantage, but they later sent cavalry to assist, shooting arrows to the city, causing great casualties to my defenders, if there are no reinforcements, Xiling City will not be able to hold on for long." ”

Cai Mao asked, "How many cavalry do they have?" ”

"At least five thousand."

Cai Mao said: "There are not many cavalry in Yangzhou, and they will not use cavalry to charge our infantry and cause unnecessary losses, as long as we are careful and do not give them a chance, such a small number of cavalry will not be able to exert much power, you don't need to worry." ”

There is a lack of war horses in the south, and it is difficult to replenish the loss of war horses, which are very precious, and the cavalry will only be used at critical moments.

Huang Zu asked eagerly: "Military Division, when will you send troops?" Otherwise, Xiling City will not be able to hold it. ”

Cai Mao asked, "How many officers and soldiers are there in the city?" What is the maximum amount of time it lasts? ”

Huang Zu hurriedly replied: "Military division, there were originally more than 20,000 officers and soldiers in the city, 10,000 young and strong, and now the loss has reached 10,000, but there are still 2,000 Danyang soldiers as reserves, and they have not participated in the war for the time being, so they can hold out for more than ten days at most, otherwise, it will be too late, if Xiling City is occupied by Sun Jian, it will be difficult to take it back." ”

Liu Biao also wanted to rescue, but Sun Jian had 5,000 cavalry, which made him a little afraid, and only the 20,000 infantry temporarily organized by Nanjun was sent, and it didn't play much role, and it was easy to be scattered by the cavalry, so he asked: "What is the good strategy of the military division?" ”

Cai Mao said: "Mingjun, Mao thinks that Xiling City must be rescued, and the 20,000 soldiers of Nanjun must go, and 10,000 infantry must be transferred from Xiangyang and Fancheng respectively to protect the 20,000 soldiers of Nanjun into the city. ”

Kuai Yue did not support the transfer of troops from Xiangyang and Fancheng, but the palms and backs of his hands were full of meat, Xiling City must be rescued, and Dong Zhuo had not sent troops so far, so he did not say anything to stop it, but suggested: "The more it is not recommended to encircle and annihilate Sun Jian, if he gives up the siege, you can let him go, and we must preserve our strength and avoid fighting with him, so as not to lose both." ”

Originally, he also wanted to suggest that Liu Biao go to Jiangling to sit in the town to avoid Dong Zhuo's surprise attack, but thinking that he and Cai Mao's families were in Xiangyang, Cai Mao would definitely not support it, if Dong Zhuo did not attack, it would leave a bad impression on Liu Biao.

Huang Zu looked at Liu Biao with blank eyes, hoping that Liu Biao would give the order to send troops as soon as possible.

After thinking for a while, Liu Biao asked: "With an army of 40,000 troops, does Huang Taishou have the confidence to lead them into the city and defend Jiangxia County?" ”

Huang Zu hurriedly promised: "People are in the city, and Zu will never live up to the trust of the envoy." ”

Since this is the case, Liu Biao finally made up his mind and said: "Okay, just send reinforcements as soon as the military advisor said; If you can hold Jiangxia, you don't need to encircle and annihilate the Yangzhou thieves. ”

Huang Zu was greatly excited, and immediately thanked him: "Thank you for your support, Zu will never disgrace his mission." ”