The winch made an overwhelmed sound under the struggle of more than a dozen soldiers, and wanted to drag the Hefei North Gate Suspension Bridge under the sling, but there were too many people on the suspension bridge, so much that even a needle could not be inserted into it, more than a dozen soldiers who could touch the winch used their strength to eat, and the winch was constantly creaking, and the heavy suspension bridge was still difficult to rise quickly, and after a few inches from the ground, it was trampled by another wave of defeated soldiers who rushed onto the suspension bridge and fell to the ground again.

"The city is on the drawbridge! The city is on the suspension bridge! The people of the city are going to block us out of the city! "The action of the defenders of Hefei was finally discovered by the defeated soldiers outside the city, after a few screams of panic to the extreme, countless defeated soldiers in order not to stay outside the city to die, more squeezing and pushing forward, and even in order to open the way forward and draw knives against their companions, countless soldiers were squeezed off the suspension bridge, fell into the moat that has not been filled by the Xuzhou army, countless soldiers died tragically under the knives and guns of their companions, and more soldiers were overturned and pushed down by their companions, and then trampled to death by the constantly falling footsteps, trampled into meat sauce, Miserable cries echoed across the narrow drawbridge, and the scene was as messy as a pot of boiling porridge with wild vegetables.

"The thieves are here! The thieves are here! A new panic shouted sounded, between the torches and the crowds, the banner of the Xuzhou army was less than two hundred steps away from the drawbridge, and the defenders above and below the city were also more panicked and frightened, screaming in despair and desperately moving forward, not only pressing the drawbridge more unable to twist, but also completely breaking up the team guarding the city gate, the long city gate corridor was bustling with defeated soldiers, and the sound of crying resounded in the sky. Seeing such a critical situation, Qiao Rui, who fled back to the city with his wounds, had no choice but to order with tears in his eyes: "Release the arrows, and release the arrows against our defeated soldiers." ”

The bow and arrow of the defenders who had been waiting for a long time followed the order, and the dense feather arrows rained down like hail, and the defeated soldiers who did not enter the city fell one after another, and the screams and roars inside and outside the city wall also reached their peak at once, taking advantage of the precious opportunity for the soldiers on the bridge to fall into the water and dodge the feather arrows, the drawbridge finally slowly pulled up more than one person high, and the defeated soldiers on the other side of the moat let out terrible howls and pleadings, and countless people rushed up to jump to climb the bridge. However, the suspension bridge still unswervingly rose into the air, leaving countless Huainan soldiers outside the city of Hefei, allowing the brutal and vicious Xuzhou army to be slaughtered and mutilated, and Qiao Rui also knelt down on the city wall, crying like rain, "Soldiers, I'm sorry for you!" ”

On the side of the Xuzhou army, when the herald reported that the plan to seize the city had failed, Deputy Director Tao, who personally led the army to chase and kill, first said regretfully, and then ordered: "Shout the slogan of surrender and not kill, surrender, and surrender the desperate enemy as much as possible, so that the enemy in Hefei City can see clearly, and they can live safely after surrendering." The Xuzhou army marched according to the order, and successively shouted the slogan of surrender and not killing, and the desperate Huainan defeated soldiers surrendered to countless people, and those who would rather die than surrender also fled for their lives in all directions by the black, and almost no one resisted stubbornly, and this cruel and bloody pursuit battle was gradually coming to an end.

At the same time in the city of Hefei, the streets and alleys near the north gate were already crowded with embarrassed Huainan defeated soldiers, the screams of the wounded and the low moans came and went, the guerrillas who lost their establishment scattered bravely ran around looking for their own team, the grassroots generals shouted and gave orders, shouted out the name of their team to summon the lost soldiers to return to the team, and occasionally there were some defeated soldiers who took advantage of the chaos to rob, and after being discovered, they clashed with the people, and the scene was messy than the battlefield outside the city.

Sun Quan, Sun Ling, Sun Kuang and Sun Lang led a team of Sun veterans to shuttle through the defeated group, among the four brothers, as well as their youngest sister Sun Shangxiang, the five brothers and sisters came to find their relatives, every time they saw a Huainan general, the five brothers and sisters had to ask them about the whereabouts of Sun Ben and Wu Jing and others, but most of them shook their heads and didn't know, and some of the short-tempered Huainan generals also roared at their brothers and sisters, "Get out!" Today is a bad thing for your Danyang team, which has dispersed our palace team and the Chinese army, and it is best for your Danyang team to die and die! ”

Hearing such scolding, Sun Kuang and Sun Lang, who were relatively weak, both cried, but Sun Shangxiang, who was the youngest and a girl, was stronger than her brother, and never shed a single tear, until she finally found Wu Jing, who was covered in blood, and Sun Ben, who was lying on a stretcher, in the crowd of defeated soldiers, Sun Shangxiang threw herself into the arms of her uncle Wu Jing and cried aggrievedly, hugging Wu Jing and just crying and asking, "Uncle, what's wrong with you?" What happened to you? And Brother Sun Ben, what's wrong with him, why is he lying on a stretcher? ”

"It's okay, it's okay, my uncle is okay." Wu Jingqiang, whose left arm was slashed by Xu Chu, endured the pain, hugged Sun Shangxiangqiang and comforted with a smile, "Uncle was slightly injured, it's not in the way, your lobby brother is fine, he was knocked off his horse in the chaos and his head was broken, but his skull was not broken, he just passed out." ”

Jumped off the ground and tried it under Sun Ben's nose, and found that Sun Ben was still breathing, Sun Shangxiang, who was young and old, finally relieved himself, and when he carefully counted the people in the Sun Wu family, Sun Shangxiang became nervous again, and quickly pulled Wu Jing's sleeve and asked, "Uncle, where is Brother Sun Fu?" What about my two cousins, Wu Fen and Wu Qi? Why didn't they come back? ”

Wu Jing's tears burst out of his eyes, and he quickly turned his face away, unwilling to answer his niece's question, until Sun Quan, Sun Ling and others participated in the questioning, Wu Jing choked up and said: "They ......, Sun Fuxian's nephew was captured by the pottery thief, Qi'er died in battle, Fen'er was separated from us on the way to retreat, and I don't know ...... life and death." ”

Brother Sun Quan opened his mouth in disbelief, but Sun Shangxiang fainted directly in Wu Jing's arms, and after being rescued and woken up, Sun Shangxiang opened his small mouth, and the first thing he said was to cry silently, "Brother Fu!" Brother Fen!! Brother Qi ――――!! ”

With the gradual end of the battle, the gradual return of the soldiers, and the gradual confirmation of the missing and killed, more and more sad cries and cries gradually rose one after another in the city of Hefei, and at the same time, such voices also sounded the most among the Sun Wu troops with the heaviest casualties -- the main force of the Huainan Army in this battle was the Sun Wu team, and the Sun Wu team naturally suffered the greatest casualties. And what made Sun Wu's team sad and angry was still behind, almost every Huainan general who participated in the war pointed the finger of shirking responsibility at Sun Wu's team, and insisted that it was Sun Wu's team who rushed to flee for their lives, and broke up the Huainan team behind the palace and Qiao Rui, resulting in no order when retreating, plus it was the retreat of the whole army caused by the defeat of Sun Wu's team and the Xuzhou army, so the Huainan generals insisted that Sun Wu's team was the culprit of this fiasco, and some radical ones also asked Qiao Rui to behead Wu Jing and Sun Ben for questioning.

Speaking from the heart, the Huainan generals' accusations against Sun Wu's army were both justified and unfair, because it was indeed the military discipline of Sun Wu's army that was not strict enough, and the defeated army of Sun Wu who lost control broke up Qiaorui's Huainan team; But to say that to break up the team behind the palace is simply a random planting, because it is the core backbone team under Sun Ben and Wu Jing who always holds the responsibility of the queen in the retreat. At the same time, the more critical reason for the heavy casualties was that Qiao Rui temporarily adjusted the retreat route and failed to retreat according to the original plan, and Qiao Rui himself failed to personally serve as a bait to attract the Xuzhou army to cross the Shishui pursuit, and more than 10,000 defeated soldiers crowded in front of a small city gate and entered the city in disorder, which gave the Xuzhou army the opportunity to let go and expand the results of the battle.

In addition, Sun Wu's team had a more wronged place, that is, when they went out of the city to fight, Sun Ben and Wu Jing did not know Qiao Rui and Liu Ye's plan to lure the enemy at all, and used their tens of thousands of troops as one of the bait to lure the enemy, inducing the Xuzhou army to pursue with all their might -- in Liu Ye's view, Deputy Director Tao should never think that the Hefei defenders would be willing to use so many troops as bait for the Xuzhou army to devour. So in this way, Sun Ben and Wu Jing, who were unprepared in advance, naturally couldn't retreat after a little battle, and stupidly fought hard with the Xuzhou army, and used Qiao Rui, who had been prepared, as cannon fodder in vain, and ended up complaining.

It is precisely because of this understanding that when the defending generals gathered at noon the next day to discuss the gains and losses, Qiao Rui, who had a good character, did not listen to the advice of the generals and put all the responsibility on Sun Ben and Wu Jing, and also took the crime of defeat on himself with great generosity, and decided to write to Xiao Yuan Sangong to ask for punishment, and at the same time comforted his old friends Sun Ben and Wu Jing for many years, so that Wu Jing and Sun Ben, who had been wronged, were moved to almost tears, and made up his mind to help Qiao Rui defend Hefei City on the spot.

Seeing that Qiao Rui's plan to collect his heart had been successful, but at this time, a herald outside the hall rushed in, knelt down on one knee in front of Qiao Rui and said: "General Qiyu, the Xuzhou thief army has brought Sun Fu and Wu Fen, the two generals of the Danyang army, and Tao Ying, the commander of the Xuzhou thief army, also went to the city in person and asked the two generals Sun Ben and Wu Jing to go to the city to answer, saying that they wanted to return the two generals Sun Fu and Wu Fen to Sun Wu and the two generals!" Tao Ying also said that if it was convenient for the general and Mr. Liu Ye and Mr. Liu Ziyang, they could also go to the city to answer. ”

"What? And such things? Qiao Rui, Wu Jing and the others exclaimed at the same time, saying that they didn't expect Tao Ying to come to such a show. Extremely curious, Qiao Rui, Liu Ye, Wu Jing and Sun Ben and others did not think about it, and immediately led the crowd to climb the north gate of Hefei and meet Tao Ying on the wall of the north gate of Hefei, which had been smashed by Xiangyang cannons. After climbing the city wall, Qiao Rui and Wu Jing and others were surprised to find that Deputy Director Tao, who was in silver armor, was really waiting under the city, in addition to a team of Xuzhou elite soldiers holding shields to protect them, Sun Fu, who was captured by the generals, and Wu Fen, who was missing in the chaotic army, were really under the city of Hefei, and were escorted to Tao Ying's side by the Xuzhou army, and they were also protected by a long shield.

Seeing Qiao Rui, Wu Jing, Sun Ben and others standing out of the city, Deputy Director Tao's delicate face immediately showed a habitual smile, and he tore his throat and said loudly: "General Qiao Rui, Wu Taishou, General Boyang, let's meet again." The civilian official next to General Qiao, you shouldn't be the famous Mr. Liu Ye and Liu Ziyang in Lujiang, right? Mr. Jiuyang's name, now I can see it, and I should be fortunate to have three lives. ”

"Tao Ying is so young? I seem to be a little younger than me, how can I have such deep scheming and such strong resourcefulness? Shocked by Tao Ying's age, Liu Ye owed himself in the city, and said very politely and loudly: "Make the king have a good reputation, and his name is humiliating, and it is Liu Ye below." ”

"Pottery thief!" Wu Jing, who hated Deputy Director Tao to the bone, was too lazy to talk to Tao Ying, and shouted unceremoniously when he opened his mouth: "What do you mean by escorting my son and nephew here?!" ”

"Wu Taishou, didn't the herald of your army tell you what I said?" Tao Ying was very surprised and asked, "I'm here to return the two major generals to you?" Didn't the herald of your army tell the Taishou about such an important matter? ”

Qiao Rui, Wu Jing and the others were completely confused, and Sun Fu and Wu Fen, who were escorted by Xuzhou soldiers, also turned around in surprise, saying that they didn't think that Tao Ying's previous words were really not a joke. And after the surprise, Sun Ben, who was still wrapped in thick gauze on his head, roared angrily, "Thief! Don't be coy here! You will give my brother and cousin back to us, unless the sun comes out in the west! ”

"Then the sun must be coming out of the west today." Tao Ying laughed and said, "General Boyang, don't be impulsive first, listen to me after I finish speaking." To tell you the truth, in fact, I didn't plan to release Sun Fu and Wu Fen so soon, I want to explain the misunderstanding between us to them first, so that you can understand that General Sun Ce and Sun Bofu were not killed by me, and even if they can't be friends in the future, they won't be enemies again, and then release them. But this morning, I had to be reminded by Mr. Jia Xu Jia Wenhe, and suddenly I figured out something, so I gave up my original plan, and hurriedly sent the two major generals to Hefei City, and returned the two major generals to General Boyang and Wu Taishou in person, so as not to have more and more misunderstandings between us, and the hatred will become deeper and deeper! ”

"Jia Xu Jia Wenhe?" Hearing the name that Tao Ying deliberately reported, Liu Ye subconsciously shivered, and began to understand why he lost so badly. Sun Ben and Wu Jing became more and more confused the more they listened, and Wu Jing hesitated and asked loudly, "Pottery thief, what tricks do you want to play?" ”

"Alas, why is Wu Taishou so wordy, I said that I came to pay back your son and your nephew, how many times do you want me to say it?" Tao Ying sighed and complained loudly, then turned to Qiao Rui and Liu Ye and shouted: "General Qiao Ruiqiao, Mr. Liu Ye and Liu, if it is not bad as expected by Mr. Wen He - yesterday, the two generals Sun Ben and Wu Jing started from leading the army out of the city until our army burned the bridge on the Shishui River, during which the two of you did not inform Sun Ben and Wu Jing of your true purpose, right?" Otherwise, the two generals Sun Ben and Wu Jing would not have fought so hard, right? ”

Hearing Tao Ying's words, Sun Ben Wu Jing and Sun Fu Wu Fen were naturally in the same place, but Liu Ye was dizzy and almost fell on the city wall, crying bitterly in his heart: "It's over!" How did I forget to take this into account?! ”

"Pottery thief!" Qiao Rui also sensed that the situation was not good, and he slapped the arrow buttress with his frightened and angry hand and roared: "Do you want to sow discord? ”

"I'm just here to sow discord, what's the matter?!" Deputy Director Tao brazenly said loudly: "If General Qiao and Mr. Ziyang were not vicious first, with the misunderstanding and hatred of the two generals Sun Ben and Wu Jing, how could they be easily separated from the subordinates?!" ”

Speaking of this, Tao Ying turned to Liu Ye again and said with a smile: "Mr. Ziyang, everyone in the world says that Cao Ying is deceitful and Dong Zhuo is brutal, now it seems that it is necessary to add a sentence that Mr. Ziyang is vicious, and he did not hesitate to sacrifice General Zheng Bao's entire team as bait before, and now he has thrown the entire family of Sun Ben and Wu Jing and the team of more than 12,000 people out to die, as a bait to lure him into the bait, this viciousness, this courage that can afford to let go, I am really ashamed of myself!" ”

Liu Ye sweated like rain, but Qiao Rui over there couldn't bear it, grabbed a bow and arrow and shot an arrow at Tao Ying, but unfortunately General Qiao Rui's archery and city defense skills are too far apart, Tao Ying is fifty steps away, this arrow is very outrageous, seven or eight steps away from Tao Ying's side, and was blocked by the Xuzhou soldiers who are quick to see the shield. Tao Ying was not afraid, and laughed and said: "General Qiao Rui, don't be so annoyed and ashamed, you can fire arrows and arrows to prevent you from finishing your words - but don't forget, the two generals Sun Fu and Wu Fen are still in my hands, I will tell them what happened after I retreat, and then let them go back to the city to tell Wu Jing and Sun Ben, what will General Qiao Rui do when the time comes?" Did you kill the two generals Sun Fu and Wu Fen? ! ”

"Scoundrel! You are the number one scoundrel in the world!! Qiao Rui yelled angrily, Sun Ben and Wu Jing over there were suspicious, and turned their eyes to Qiao Rui together, their faces were full of suspicion, Qiao Rui saw Sun Ben and Wu Jing's expressions, and immediately panicked, and hurriedly whispered: "General Boyang, Wu Taishou, don't misunderstand, the specific reason of the matter, I will explain it to you in detail in a while, but you must not fall into Tao Ying's divisive tricks to destroy the thief!" ”

"General Hashirui, how's it going? Don't have anything to say? Tao Ying laughed again and said: "Actually, I also want to say a fair word for General Qiao, if I am in your position, I will definitely choose to sacrifice the team of the two generals Sun Ben and Wu Jing, and will never sacrifice my Xuzhou team, this is human nature, I really can't blame you - Zheng Bao at the beginning, and Liu Bei, the big-eared thief, were not also sacrificed by you like this?" ”

"Shut up!" Qiao Rui roared angrily, patted the arrow stack and argued with Tao Ying, and roared with a blue face: "I deceived the two generals Sun Ben and Wu Jing, so what's wrong?" You thief is incomparable, if I don't do this, you can get into the scheme? Besides, Bo Fu Xian's nephew was killed by you, a thief, and if the two generals, Sun Ben and Wu Jing, knew that I was doing this to avenge Bo Fu, they would definitely understand me! ”

"It's good for General Qiao Rui to admit it, then you can explain it to the two generals Sun Ben and Wu Jing and their team, I didn't sleep last night, so I won't waste time catching up on sleep here." Tao Ying laughed even more happily, took out a letter in public, and said with a smile: "Wu Taishou, General Boyang, I have already explained the matter in detail on the letter, and I will ask General Sun Fu and Wu Fen to bring the letter into the city in a while, so that you can testify with General Qiao's words, and see if General Qiao has made fun of you again, and whether he has told you all the truth." ”

After finishing speaking, Tao Ying really stuffed the letter into Wu Fen's arms next to him, and asked his soldiers to bring a package to hang around Sun Fu's neck, and said with a smile: "It's all Xuzhou-style dim sum, bring it back to your little cousin Sun Shangxiang to try it, and tell Sister Shangxiang that I'm sorry about her eldest brother Sun Ce, but there are no eyes on the battlefield, either you die or I live, even if I can be soft on Sun Ce, will Sun Ce be soft on me?" ”

"You ......, do you really want to let us go? No, not to lie to ......, to lie to us? Sun Fu asked in disbelief.

"Of course." Tao Ying smiled gently, waved his big hand and shouted: "Release the people and let the two generals, Sun Fu and Wu Fen, return to the city." ”

The soldiers of Xuzhou followed the order, let go of Sun Fu and Wu Fen to move freely, Sun Fu and Wu Fen, who had already made up their minds to die, you look at me, I look at you, and it took a while to come back to their senses, and quickly rushed to the moat of Hefei City, shouting that the city should put the bridge, and Sun Ben and Wu Jing, who were so surprised that they couldn't believe their eyes, also yelled, asking Qiao Rui to immediately release the bridge and open the city gate to let his brother and son enter the city, but Qiao Rui gritted his teeth and did not dare to give this order.

"General Qiao, are you afraid that our army will take the opportunity to enter the city?" Tao Ying laughed smugly again, and said, "Don't worry, I'm not interested in attacking the city today." Oh yes, I heard the soldiers of your army who surrendered, General, you have also prepared a large number of sandbags and wood and stones in the city gate, planning to block the four gates of Hefei, and drag the soldiers and civilians of Hefei to accompany you for burial, so that they will not even have a chance to escape from the city. In fact, you don't have to be like this, I have never had the habit of killing prisoners and slaughtering the city, after the city of Hefei is broken, as long as the people and civilians who surrender, including your General Qiaorui, will be spared death! ”

After saying these words in Qiao Rui's increasingly blue face, Tao Ying turned around and left in a dashing manner, shouting loudly as he walked: "Order the whole army, start tomorrow, and attack Hefei City with all your might!" After the city is broken, those who descend will not die! If one person resists stubbornly, the whole family will be killed! ”

"No!" The soldiers of Xuzhou agreed neatly to protect Tao Yingyang, leaving the civil and military officials and generals of the Hefei garrison with different thoughts on the city wall.

After Tao Ying led the army away, Sun Fu and Wu Fen were finally able to enter Hefei City, and after reading Tao Ying's letters brought by their brothers and sons, Sun Ben and Wu Jing's faces were simply more ugly than dead people, and they stared at Liu Ye as if they could eat people. Liu Ye was sweating profusely, and he didn't even have the courage to explain and distinguish in front of Sun Ben and Wu Jing, Qiao Rui was also full of embarrassment, and explained to Sun Ben and Wu Jing again and again in a low voice, saying that he deceived Sun Ben and Wu Jing because the pottery thief was too deceitful, and if he didn't lure the enemy, he would definitely not let the pottery thief fall for the trick, but he didn't expect the pottery thief to be deceitful to this point, and he actually saw through Mr. Ziyang's clever plan and smashed the bridge in advance, which led to the heavy casualties of Sun Wu's army.

In fact, Sun Ben and Wu Jing are quite easy to deal with, the most headache for General Qiao Rui and Mr. Liu Ye is the reaction of the soldiers of Sun Wu's army, when the rumors leaked into Sun Wu's army, the Sun Wu army, which was already full of resentment, suddenly exploded, and directly surrounded Qiao Rui's Chinese army lobby and scolded, forcing Qiao Rui to send troops to suppress and personally come forward to apologize and appease, at the same time, under the promotion of some people's intentional or unintentional efforts, countless rumors and discussions also began to circulate in Sun Wu's army............ "Fellow, have you heard of it?" The Xuzhou Thorn Shi Tao envoy outside the city is actually our hometown Danyang people! ”

"You're talking nonsense, aren't you? Tao Yuanjun is also our fellow Danyang countryman? ”

"I know this, the two generations of Tao envoys in Xuzhou are from our Danyang, and the old Tao envoys also brought many people from our Danyang to Xuzhou to serve as soldiers, and my maternal uncle followed."

"Why did you go to Xuzhou to be a soldier? Go to Xuzhou to enjoy happiness! Our Danyang people have the highest status in Xuzhou, and many Danyang people have become generals and officials in Xuzhou, even if they are ordinary Danyang soldiers, they receive five buckets of food more than other soldiers in a month! ”

"Really? Xuzhou is so good to us Danyang people? ”

"Lie to you as a king! Of the five counties in Xuzhou, the Taishou of three counties is our Danyang people! Pengcheng is too shou cao bao is our danyang people, xiapi too shou xu tan is our danyang people, guangling is too shou zhang xu is also our danyang people, and the east china sea minister lu you is still our danyang people! Anyone who has a little ability in Danyang can mix good things in Xuzhou, even if it is our traitor Danyang Rong, he also became the county minister in Xuzhou, managing the grain transportation of the three counties, how much money he spent in Xuzhou at a time? Five hundred dollars? Six hundred dollars? A thousand bucks? A few of you underestimate Xuzhou, it's 10,000 yuan! 10,000 dollars that can bury us alive! It is the money that a Danyang person from Danyang spent in Xuzhou at one time! ”

"My mother! True or fake? 10,000 yuan, even if I just take a little money from the middle, I can let my whole family not worry about food and clothing in this life. ”

"Really! Really, really, I know, my cousin's brother-in-law, who was so poor that he had no food to eat, starved his two sons to death, and had no way to go to Xuzhou with Zhenrong to join Tao Yuanjun, and then it was less than a year later, and my cousin's brother-in-law built a new house and bought fifteen acres of fertile land! I regretted my cousin to death, and my father and mother agreed to let me join the army this time, just hoping that I, like my cousin's brother-in-law, would also earn some money for my family to go back! ”

"My family is still close to the Tao Envoy Jun family! My uncle's cousin's brother-in-law is the cousin of Lao Tao Yuanjun's cousin and brother-in-law. ”

"Dog! Tao Yuanjun is so good to our fellow countrymen, and Qiao Rui, the dog, is so ruthless to us, when Tao Yuanjun attacks the city, we will simply ......! ”

"That's right! Simply......! ”

(To be continued)