"The main force of the Xuzhou thief army is almost here, why haven't Liu Xian and Deng Yi's rescuers arrived yet? Did Wang Zhong fail to deliver the news to Jiangling? Or did Liu Xian, Deng Yi, Cai Mao, and Huang Zu, the two puppets who sold their lords for glory, also surrender to the pottery thieves? ”

Seeing more and more Xuzhou military flags outside Dangyang City, Liu Qi became an ant on a hot pot on the Dangyang city wall, and kept looking in the direction of Jiangling to the south, hoping to see the Jingzhou army and horse banners earlier, but every time it ended in disappointment, although Jingzhou is big, Liu Qi can see the land of Jingzhou, as if there is only the small city of Dangyang at Liu Qi's feet, although Liu Biao left Liu Qi with many soldiers and horses, it seems that there are only less than 2,000 soldiers and horses left in Dangyang City.

Liu Qi was very lucky to get rid of the pursuit of the Xuzhou army, and fled to this famous Dangyang city to hide, on the night of the break of Xiangyang City, Liu Qi immediately led less than 1,000 soldiers and horses to open the south gate to escape, how much to seize some opportunities to break through, the Xuzhou army that hastily organized the attack did not have time to arrange troops outside the south gate of Xiangyang to intercept Liu Qi's retreat, so that Liu Qi successfully escaped from Xiangyang City and retreated to Jiangling at full speed, until the sky was twilight, after learning Liu Qi's whereabouts from the mouth of the soldiers, Deputy Director Tao hurriedly sent Xu Huang to lead 5,000 cavalry to chase and kill with all his might, and asked Xu Huang to chase and kill to the end, even if he chased to Jiangling City, he must block Liu Qi outside Jiangling City!

That night, Xu Huang's team caught up with Liu Qi's army, Liu Qi made a decision again, ordered the infantry to break off, and led the cavalry to flee south frantically with Wang Wei's father and son, relying on Wang Wei's loyal infantry to fight to the death and cover at night, Liu Qi was extremely lucky to get rid of Xu Huang's team. In a day and a night, he fled frantically for more than 300 miles, and fled to Dangyang City before Xu Huangjun caught up. Then although Liu Qi still wanted to continue to flee to the south, but the overwhelmed crotch war horses were exhausted and died, and at the same time, Liu Qi's team was also exhausted, tired and hungry, and was forced to helplessly, Liu Qi had to flee into the small city of Dangyang with the last more than 300 horsemen to hide temporarily, wanting to take a rest to let the soldiers and horses recover their strength, and then continue to flee for their lives.

Fortunately, the current Dangyang Ling happens to be Zhou Zhao, the brother-in-law of Liu Xian in Jingzhou. The whole family has been favored by Liu Biao for a long time. Counting that he still has some twists and turns with Liu Qi, when the Xuzhou army's pursuers were already close at hand, he still did not hesitate to open the city gate to welcome Liu Qi into the city, and without any hesitation, handed over the more than 1,000 defenders in the city to Liu Qi's command. Let Liu Qi's team have a hot meal. Had a good night's sleep. But just when Liu Qi was gobbling up food. Xu Huang's team had already chased to the foot of Dangyang City, and unceremoniously immediately surrounded the four gates of Dangyang.

Seeing that Xu Huang's team had already caught up, he had no physical strength to break through and flee for his life. Liu Qi could only hurriedly send Wang Zhong, the son of Wang Wei, to rush to Jiangling to ask for help on a war horse with a book, asking Liu Xian and Deng Yi to immediately send troops to meet him to the south, and he asked the team to rest for a while to recover their strength, and then find a way to break through to the south. Wang Zhong led the order regardless of fatigue, under the cover of more than 100 Dangyang fresh troops, fought out of the south gate and rushed to Jiangling, although the same exhausted Xu Huang's team also tried his best to intercept, but the men and horses were all strong crossbows, and finally let Wang Zhong luck to break through successfully, with more than a dozen people fled to Jiangling, Xu Huang urgently interrogated the captured Wang Zhong's team soldiers, learned that Liu Qi was still in the city, this is also relieved, quickly waved the army to surround Liu Qi, while resting while blocking Liu Qi's escape road.

After a little rest and recovery of some physical strength, on the city wall to see Xu Huang's team look tired, Wang Wei once suggested sending a fresh army out of the city to fight, after killing Xu Huang calmly broke through, Liu Qi hesitated whether to risk the battle, but the north road was like thunder, it turned out that Deputy Director Tao for the sake of prudence, and Zhao Yun led 8,000 cavalry to the south to meet Xu Huang, and arrived in time to save Xu Huang. Seeing that there were too many soldiers and horses in the Xuzhou army, and Liu Qi, who only had more than 1,000 local garrison infantry in his hands, also died of the idea of going out of the city to fight, he honestly hid in Dangyang City to rest, waiting for the Jiangling garrison, which had a lot of soldiers and horses, to come to the rescue.

Liu Qi's decision may be the biggest mistake in his life, because although Zhao Yun's army has many military horses, the army is also a tired division, Liu Qi broke through with more than a thousand fresh troops, even if it is all infantry, there may not be no hope of breaking through again. But after Liu Qi chose to wait for Jiangling to rescue the troops, he completely lost the initiative to break through, and the two armies of Xu Huang and Zhao Yun, which were all composed of elite soldiers, quickly recovered a certain combat effectiveness after taking turns to rest, and Liu Qi, who only had more than 1,000 local infantry in his hands, wanted to break through on his own, and it was naturally difficult to reach the sky, and there was almost no possibility.

Of course, even if things come to this point, Liu Qi is not hopeless to escape back to Jiangling, because Dangyang is only one hundred and seventy miles away from Jiangling, but it is three hundred miles away from Xiangyang, not counting the time it takes for Xu Huang and Zhao Yun to report the news to Deputy Director Tao, it will take at least six or seven days for the main infantry of the Xuzhou Army to arrive in Dangyang to start the siege, and Jiangling's rescuers can calmly arrive in Dangyang and rescue Liu Qi and withdraw to Jiangling in half the time. So even though he was surrounded by the Xuzhou army, Liu Qi still did not fall into despair, and kept looking south every day, hoping that Liu Xian and Deng Yi's rescuers could arrive in time.

Liu Qi waited for bad news, because Liu Qi forgot that there was a Han River east of Dangyang that could transport troops and ships, and Deputy Director Tao would never let the precious cavalry go deep alone without food and no help, and after more than a day, Cai Cheng, who had been named the Pavilion Marquis, rushed to the Jingcheng Wharf west of Dangyang day and night with a team of Jingzhou sailors, and got in touch with the messenger team sent by Zhao Yun, not only to Zhao Yun and Xu Huang, who only had dry food with them, to send urgently needed grain and grass baggage, but also to Zhao Yun and Xu Huang to send 5,000 infantry troops, It took more than a day to send the first batch of grain, grass, horse fodder and baggage to Dangyang City, and the number of Xuzhou troops outside Dangyang City quickly reached more than 20,000 -- many of them were Jingzhou Navy soldiers who had not even had time to change their military uniforms, so that Liu Qi had no hope of breaking through on his own.

The reinforcements from Xuzhou far away have arrived, but Jiangling near the road has not seen a single reinforcement coming, Liu Qi's anxiety can be imagined, and it was the evening of the fourth day. Xu Huang suddenly led the army to the outside of Dangyang City, and shouted for Liu Qi to come out to answer, Liu Qi showed up nervously and asked Xu Huang what was the matter. Xu Huang didn't talk nonsense, threw a bloody human head directly under Dangyang City, and laughed loudly: "Liu Qi'er, let me introduce you, he is the chief general of the reinforcements sent to you by Liu Xian and Deng Yi, and the 10,000 reinforcements he brought have also been killed by me personally leading the iron cavalry." Clever words. Open the gates and surrender now! Otherwise, when our army breaks through this small city of Dangyang, it will be too late for you to regret it! ”

Seeing the human head rolling under the city, Liu Qi, Wang Wei, Zhou Zhao and others were simply desperate. Such a thought came to my heart. "Do you really have to take a risk? Kaesong breakout? ”

"The general under the city." At this time, a still somewhat immature voice sounded in the city, and shouted to Xu Huang very politely and asked, "Please ask." What is the name of this general you killed? What is the official residence in Jingzhou? If you say so, we will open the gates and surrender to you. ”

"Who's talking nonsense?" Liu Qi turned his head angrily, but saw that the person who spoke turned out to be Zhou Budo, the only son of Dangyang Ling Zhou Zhao and Liu Xian's nephew. Zhou Zhao also said angrily: "Don't doubt, don't talk nonsense!" ”

"Father, have you noticed anything strange?" Zhou Budo said with a serious expression: "If the general under the city really defeated our 10,000 reinforcements in the south today, then why haven't we seen a large-scale movement of their army in the city today?" Also, if he really killed the commander of our reinforcements, why didn't he report his name? He has already thrown the head under the city, and asked him to report the name of the commander of our reinforcements, and we will pick up the head and take a closer look, and we will know at once whether he is telling the truth or not. ”

Zhou Zhao, Liu Qi and the others were stunned, and after finally coming back to their senses, Liu Qi immediately yelled at Xu Huang under the city: "Xu Huang Pifu, you said that you killed our reinforcement general, then what is the surname of our reinforcement commander?" If you can answer, I will verify that the head is correct, and I will immediately open the city and surrender to you!" ”

This time it was Xu Huang's turn to open his mouth and stammer, and after knowing in his heart that Liu Qi had seen through the mechanism, Xu Huang didn't want to admit defeat, so he laughed and said: "The nameless ghost under the knife, I don't bother to remember his name!" Anyway, if you don't believe in the best, after our army breaks through the city, you can wash your neck and wait for death! Anyway, I gave you the opportunity, you must be obsessed with finding death by yourself, Mr. Zhongming, I also have an explanation. ”

After speaking, Xu Huang returned to his horse and left, secretly scolding the kid in the city for his big things, but Liu Qi, Wang Wei and others in the city were in a cold sweat, and they understood that if it wasn't for Zhou Budo to see through Xu Huang's plan in time, I was afraid that the self-army would probably risk breaking through the siege and dying tonight. After rejoicing, Liu Qi hurriedly praised Zhou Budo for being naturally smart, with extraordinary qualifications and comparing with himself, and also took out his jade pendant to reward Zhou Budo, Zhou Budo also thanked him politely. At this time, Zhou Zhao, who didn't want his son to overpower him, suddenly remembered a big event, and said in surprise: "Lord, Xu Huang Pifu used a trick to trick us into breaking through the city, could it be that our Jiangling reinforcements are about to arrive?" ”

"That's right! Definitely! Liu Qi, who was looking forward to his eyes straightened, shouted happily, "It must be that our reinforcements are approaching Dangyang, Xu Huang is afraid that we will be rescued by the reinforcements, so he used a fake head to deceive me!" ”

"Lord forgive me, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed this time." Zhou Budo calmly analyzed: "In my opinion, the enemy outside the city is not afraid that we will be rescued by reinforcements, but they don't want to waste any more strength and soldiers and horses to kill our reinforcements, so they tricked us into breaking through or surrendering, and want to capture the thief and capture the king first, and Mr. capture the lord or kill you, so that all the dragons in Jingxiang are leaderless, and easily take the entire territory of Jingzhou." ”

"Nonsense, what basis do you have?" Liu Qi's face changed again.

"Because our Gangneung reinforcements cannot be the opponent of the enemy outside the city, and the enemy's strength is ten times higher than ours, we still have a sure chance of winning when we divide our troops." Zhou Budo's expression was still very calm, and he said: "Our enemy now has two choices, one is to besiege the city and send reinforcements, use the lord and you as bait to lure the Jiangling team to rescue, and take the opportunity to defeat the main force of our Jiangling army in the field battle." The second is to capture the thief and capture the king first, and quickly take down the lord, you, the new lord of Jingzhou, and spread the entire territory of Jingzhou. In contrast, capturing the thief and capturing the king first is far more advantageous to the enemy than besieging the city and sending reinforcements, which can save the enemy countless food, grass, soldiers and horses and time, so the enemy tried to attack the mind and try to solve the battle quickly. ”

"Yellow-mouthed child, shut up! The enemy split up and were still able to defeat our Gangneung reinforcements. What kind of dream talk are you talking about? Liu Qi roared angrily, "Our Jiangling army is a fresh force, with plenty of soldiers and enough food, how can it be easily repelled by the tired army of the Xuzhou thief army?" If it weren't for the meritorious work you made just now, I would have punished you for the crime of confusing the army's mind right now! ”

Zhou Budo lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything more, but Wang Wei and Zhou Zhao next to him had complicated expressions, because they knew very well that what Zhou Budo said was indeed the truth, and it was true that there were more than 20,000 troops stationed in the Jiangling area. But the more than 20,000 troops are second-tier teams that are not even as good as the Jingzhou Army, Xiangyang and Nanyang. Only a small number of troops have participated in the actual battle to exterminate Zhang Xian, and their combat effectiveness is low and their experience is seriously insufficient. encountered the elite of the Xuzhou army, which had experienced a hundred battles. That's a lot of bad luck.

…………

Zhou Budo, the No. 2 prodigy of the Three Kingdoms era, is indeed true. Xu Huang and Zhao Yun's team is indeed fighting the idea of capturing the thief and capturing the king first, because although the Xuzhou army is now sure of its chances of winning, it can easily use the siege tactics to send reinforcements. Easily kill the main force of the Jiangling team of the Jingzhou Army in the field battle and reduce the pressure of the siege in the future, but Dangyang, which is located in the hinterland of Nanjun, is not a good battlefield for besieging the city and reinforcing the city, it is three hundred miles away from Xiangyang and a hundred miles away from the Hanshui waterway, and the grain and grass transportation is quite inconvenient, and it is not suitable for large-scale legions to fight for a long time, so Xu Huang and Zhao Yun, who are quite brainy, came up with such a method, trying to capture Liu Qi and capture the king first, laying a solid foundation for taking the entire territory of Jingxiang in one fell swoop.

It's a pity that in front of Zhou Budo, who even Boss Cao is jealous and fearful, Xu Huang and Zhao Yun imitated Deputy Director Tao and Boss Cao's heart-attacking tactics but still failed, but it didn't matter much, Xu Huang and Zhao Yun only used tactics to save time and food and grass, not because they were afraid that the Jiangling army would rescue Liu Qi. So on the second day, after confirming that the Jiangling reinforcements had approached within thirty miles of Dangyang through scout reconnaissance, Zhao Yun immediately led five thousand cavalry south to block the attack, and defeated the Jiangling rescuers led by Deng Yi himself in a battle, and brought back two real Jingzhou army generals to Liu Qi.

After besieging the city for another six or seven days, Deputy Director Tao finally personally led the main force of the 60,000 Xuzhou Army to the Dangyang battlefield, and joined forces with Xu Huang and Zhao Yun, and the 80,000 army surrounded the small city of Dangyang, which had only more than 1,000 defenders.

Seeing that the general trend had gone, the prodigy Zhou Budo quietly gave his father Zhou Zhao a good idea, suggesting that his father tie up Liu Qi and dedicate it to Deputy Director Tao in exchange for his own glory and wealth and official title. Zhou Zhao hesitated again and again, and was about to listen to his son's advice and follow the plan, but unexpectedly, news suddenly came from outside the city, saying that there was a person who claimed to be Liu Qi's mentor Yang Hong Yang Zhongming, and asked Liu Qi to answer at the North Gate.

This is also the reunion of Yang Changshi and Liu Qi's master and apprentice after eight years, time has passed, people are wrong, Liu Qi and Yang Changshi are inevitably sighing, Liu Qi, who was born in a family, also kowtowed respectfully to Yang Changshi on the city wall, and then asked loudly: "Teacher, what are you doing here?" ”

"Child, the teacher is here to save you." Yang Changshi's voice was a little choked, and he said: "The situation in Dangyang City, the lord already knows, Deng Yi also withdrew to Jiangling with the reinforcements to save you, the lord he doesn't want to waste time on the battlefield of Dangyang, and he will launch an attack tomorrow. Ah Qi, my good student, you listen to my advice and surrender. ”

"Teacher, you are also here to deceive me!" Liu Qi laughed loudly: "Don't you forget, you once taught me back then, never believe the words of the enemy, and now the teacher is the enemy of the student, how can the student believe your words?" ”

"Kid, I mistook you." Yang Changshi cried out loud and said: "Back then, I taught you a lot of things, at that time, I saw that you were too honest and pitiful, and I couldn't bear to teach you some tricks of abduction, but I didn't expect that what I taught you would eventually hurt you." Child, you have stepped into the evil way! Go back, kid, it's still too late for you to turn back, don't make mistakes again and again, do you know, because you were brought into the evil way by me, how many innocent Jingzhou soldiers have been killed? The thousands of Jingzhou soldiers who have sacrificed in the past two years have all been killed by your obsession! ”

"Nonsense!" Liu Qi was furious, "It was Tao Ying's traitor who killed our Jingzhou soldiers, not me!" It was Tao Ying's traitors who coveted our Jingzhou and sent troops to invade, which killed them. ”

"Child, what about Chaisang?" Yang Changshi cried and asked, "If it weren't for your treacherous sneak attack on Chaisang, how could the lord send troops to retaliate against you?" In the battle of Chaisang, you killed more than 40,000 Jingzhou soldiers and tens of thousands of Chaisang soldiers! If it weren't for that war, how would you be where you are today? ”

Liu Qi was speechless, and only after a while did he roar angrily: "You taught me, you taught me, if people don't do it for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed!" It was you who taught me that Ma is good at being bullied, and people are good at being bullied, and if there is a hatred, you will be protected! Don't miss out on your chance! The pottery thief first yin me in Liu Cong's matter, so I sent troops to Chai Sang to take revenge on him! ”

"So, I mistook you!" Yang Changshi cried bitterly and said: "When I was a teacher, I taught you to cheat and deceive, teach you to form a gang, and teach you to be sycophant, these are all crooked and heretical ways, they are all dogs and thieves, and they will bring disaster on themselves when they are used to seek their own lives, and if you use them to seek the country, you will bring disaster to the country and the people, and you use them to seek Jingzhou and the world, that is to harm others and yourself!" Good boy, listen to the teacher's advice, you must not learn from me, you have to learn from your junior brother, he is on the right path! If you learn from me again, even if you can survive this time, you will definitely die in the future! As a teacher, after listening to some of your junior disciples' teachings, I already regret what I did in the past few years! ”

Liu Qi's face was pale, looking at the teacher who was crying bitterly and was silent for a long time, Yang Changshi cried for a long time, and suddenly knelt down on Liu Qi's knees, crying and said: "Ah Qi, you have knelt down to me many times, and I will kneel to you again today." Listen to the teacher's advice, don't mistake others and yourself, the lord doesn't want to waste any more time, the generals in our army don't want to waste the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, they are all scrambling to ask the lord to fight, asking to be the vanguard to attack this small city of Dangyang! Being a teacher is for you, and it is also for yourself to atone for your sins, so you knelt down and begged the lord for this opportunity to persuade you to surrender, you surrender, with the teacher and your junior brother, you can at least have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life! ”

"Kid, save yourself! Also save the more than 1,000 innocent soldiers in Dangyang City! Crying, Yang Changshi kowtowed heavily to Liu Qi, and cried hoarsely: "Ah Qi, I beg you for the teacher!" ”

Hearing the heartfelt cry of the teacher, and seeing the heartfelt respect and gratitude of the teacher bowing to him, Liu Qi couldn't help but burst into tears, and after crying for a long time, Liu Qi finally choked up and ordered: "Open the city gate and surrender." (To be continued......)