Chapter 285: The Tiger Crazy Seizes the Gate
The only problem is that Yuan Shu’s courage is far less than before.
Right now, Yuan Shu doesn't even dare to stay in Shouchun, and wants to escape to Liyang, or even Jiangdong.
You asked him to personally supervise the army to rescue Ruyin, but he didn't even have the advantage in strength. How could Yuan Shu agree?
It’s just that the attitude between Yang Hong and Yan Xiang was very fierce before, and they were his close advisors and right-hand men, so Yuan Shu could not refuse directly.
At the same time, Yuan Shu also needs to consider the opinions of the military in the city.
At this time, the generals in the city were headed by Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, Lei Bo, Chen Lan and others. Among them, the troops under Zhang Xun and Ji Ling were the most elite, and they were the favorites of Yuan Shu.
The quality of the troops of Lei Bo, Chen Lan and others was slightly inferior. They were powerful Jianghuai warriors who came to Yuan Shu with their tribes and were later incorporated into the regular army.
Liu Feng had a good impression of Lei Bo and Chen Lan.
It is quite extraordinary for these two people to leave their names in official history.
At the same time, these two people have a good sense of right and wrong and have good vision.
After Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, they ran away with their tribe and clan members and went to live in seclusion in the mountains of Yaxian County. Later, after Yuan Shu lost power, he once wanted to go to them, but he was rejected by them.
More importantly, these two people were quite dissatisfied with Cao Cao's policies and looked down upon Sun Shiwan's ability, so they finally defected to Liu Bei.
Speaking of which, Liu Feng wanted to ask Lei Bo if he had a son named Lei Yuan.
The three most useful generals under Yuan Shu are Qiao Rui, Zhang Xun and Ji Ling.
The relationship between the three of them is quite harmonious, especially Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun, who are close friends.
Therefore, although Zhang Xun knew that the risk was high, he still supported Yuan Shu in sending troops to rescue Ruyin.
Ji Ling's attitude was ambiguous, neither supporting nor opposing, so he was considered neutral.
Those like Lei Bo and Chen Lan are undoubtedly on a lower level, and under normal circumstances, their opinions cannot be asked.
Zhang Xun cooperated with Yan Xiang and Yang Hong. Even Yuan Shu himself could not directly object. Yuan Shu wanted to escape before, but they had stopped them together.
After all, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the centralization of power was far less powerful than that of later dynasties, let alone the current troubled times.
For this reason, Yuan Shu was very happy after discovering that neither Sun Xiang nor Zhou Yu supported the rescue of Ru Yin, but Zhang Xun's expression on the side did not look very good.
Yuan Shu took the initiative to ask: "In accordance with Wen Yang and Gong Jin's wishes, what should we do now?"
Sun Xiang and Zhou Yu looked at each other, and then Zhou Yu answered. : "Reporting to Duke Ming, in Yi Yu's opinion, Ru Yin can't help you sincerely, and the risk is too great. But after all, Ru Yin's garrison only has ten thousand people. Liu Bei's army is attacking fiercely day and night. If you defend for a long time, you will lose. Therefore, Duke Ming can send someone to pass the order first. Ruyin Bridge Captain, Ruyin can be guarded and guarded. If you can't guard it, you can give up Ruyin and surrender Shouchun."
As soon as Zhou Yu said this, Zhang Xun felt happy and hurriedly answered. : "My lord, Gong Jin's words are very reasonable. Qiao Rui's troops are only ten thousand, but Liu Bei has more than forty thousand, and they are still increasing their troops. If Qiao Xiaowei and his troops are all trapped in Ruyin City, It will also be a huge blow to our Shouchun troops. If they can safely evacuate Ruyin and return to Shouchun, it will greatly boost the morale of our troops."
Zhang Xun's words are actually correct. The essence of successive resistance is to add resistance one by one, and it does not require that every city must resist until death. As long as you try your best, retreating is also conserving strength.
After Yuan Shu pondered for a while, he became a little tempted.
Seeing this, Zhou Yu's eyes lit up, and he encouraged at the right time: "Ming Gong, at this time, you can send a troop to Shen County for unified command, and respond to the withdrawal of Ruyin's Qiao Lieutenant at any time. From now on, not only can you send troops to Shen County, If the county continues to resist, it can retreat to Shouchun at any time. In this way, there will be 30,000 to 40,000 troops in Shouchun City." Sun Xiang watched the fire from the side and knew Zhou Yu's thoughts very well.
This guy just wants to deceive Yuan Shu and continue to tune the backbone department away from Shouchun. He is really not a son of man.
Sun Xiang was criticizing Zhou Yu in his heart, but unexpectedly Yuan Shu suddenly asked him for his opinion.
"Wenyang, what do you think of what Gong Jin said?"
Sun Xiang raised his head and met Yuan Shu's gaze. The look on Yuan Shu's face showed that he was moved.
Sun Xiang naturally could not dismantle Zhou Yu, so after thinking about it, he turned around and agreed: "Although Gong Jin is young, he is mature and prudent. If he can take back Ruyin's troops, he will be great. It couldn't be better."
Sun Xiang's approval made Yuan Shu make up his mind.
But when he sent someone to respond to Qiao Rui's words, he hesitated a little.
Originally the best candidate was Zhang Xun. He and Qiao Rui had a close relationship. If he was sent there, he would naturally do his best.
But Zhang Xun is now the leader of the generals in Shouchun City. If he is sent out, the most trusted general around Yuan Shu will be Ji Ling.
Thinking of this, Yuan Shu couldn't help but take a breath, when did he feel so empty around him.
After careful calculation, Qiao Rui, Li Feng, Le Jiu, Liang Gang and other confidant generals were all sent outside. Yuan Shu couldn't help but regret it.
Yuan Shu intended to let Zhou Yu or Sun Xiang take care of Qiao Rui, but he was worried that such employment would make Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang dissatisfied.
After all, this mission is very risky, and you might even fall into it.
Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang are much more independent than Zhang Xun and Ji Ling. If they really anger each other, how can they make them do their best to defend the city for them?
After careful consideration, Yuan Shu made a decision: "Fu Yi, I still want you to take action this time."
Ji Ling, whose courtesy name is Fu Yi, is one of the top five generals under Yuan Shu.
Since Zhang Xun couldn't move and Lei Bo, Chen Lan and others were not qualified, we could only ask Ji Ling to take action.
Ji Ling is a tall man with a maroon face. He looks like a bankrupt version of the second master.
His abilities are actually quite good. In the official history, he has the ability to command an army of 20,000 to 30,000 people.
The gap between the official history and the romance is quite big, at least it won’t be like in the romance with hundreds of thousands of troops at every turn.
Being able to lead tens of thousands of troops on an expedition alone, regardless of victory or defeat, as long as he can maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, he is already a qualified general.
If he can win another battle, he will be an ordinary famous general.
Therefore, Ji Ling himself is definitely not stupid, on the contrary, he is quite smart.
He had estimated early on that Yuan Shu could only send his own troops, so at this time he said: "My lord, two thousand troops are really not enough. It happens that Brother Wen Yang and Gong Jin are entering the city. Can we reinforce Mali from the south?" Bring out another one to enhance our strength?"
A hint of joy flashed in Yuan Shu's eyes, and he turned to Sun Xiang and Zhou Yu and said, "Wen Yang, Gong Jin, what do you think?"
< br>Zhou Yu's heart sank, but he didn't expect to shoot himself in the foot.
After looking at each other with Sun Xiang, both of them knew that they could not refuse this request at this time, so they could only agree: "We are all at the disposal of Ming Gong."
"Good!"
A satisfied smile finally appeared on Yuan Shu's face, and he immediately made a decision: "Wenyang, Gongjin, transfer two thousand troops from your department to the governor of Fuyi temporarily. In this way, plus Shen There are two or three horses in the county, a total of six to seven thousand people, which is enough to support Qiao Rui's troops."
Afterwards, Yuan Shu said to Ji Ling: "Fu Yi, I will give you three days to prepare. In four days, send troops to the north and be sure to bring Shengde back to me!"
Ji Ling crossed his arms and replied: "Here!"
After dealing with his troubles, Yuan Shu felt relaxed and thought about the banquet again, so he said to Sun Xiang and Zhou Yu: "Wenyang, Gongjin, please go down and rest first. I will host a banquet in the palace in three days. You'll be able to catch the wind and wash away the dust."
Sun Xiang and Zhou Yu naturally agreed and then left first.
Ji Ling was left alone by Yuan Shu. Looking at Yuan Shu's hesitant expression, he had some bad premonitions. It was not until Yuan Shu spoke that he breathed a sigh of relief.
It turns out that Yuan Shu told his Qiao Rui troops to save him if he could. If he couldn't save, he would just abandon Shen County and return to Shouchun with all his troops. As long as the troops were not damaged, he would have done nothing wrong.
After hearing this, Ji Ling obeyed the order, but when he thought that Qiaorui in Ruyin City was sold like this, Ji Ling felt a little empty.
Yuan Shu naturally didn't know what Ji Ling was thinking, and even if he knew, he wouldn't have any reaction.
In his opinion, allowing Ji Ling to meet Qiao Rui was an act of kindness and justice.
Subordinates are meant to sacrifice themselves for their superiors. I, Yuan Shu, cannot be allowed to risk my life just to save you Qiao Rui.
Here Zhou Yu and Zhang Xun left together, deliberately walking with each other to build friendship.
Zhang Xun is also from Jianghuai, a powerful son of Lujiang, and one of the first batch of local powerful people to seek refuge with Yuan Shu.
Almost all of Yuan Shu's original confidants and favorite generals were slaughtered by Cao Cao in the Battle of Kuangting, except for the Sun family army who went to Jianghuai early.
Nearly all of the current confidants are gathered in JAC.
After chatting with Zhang Xun, Zhou Yu obtained a lot of information. When Zhou Yu returned to the camp, Liu Feng and others were already waiting for him to return.
Zhou Yu hurriedly described the situation on Yuan Shu's side first, and even Yuan Shu's final decision was no exception.
Then, he talked about the information he got from Zhang Xun.
At present, Lei Bo's troops are stationed in the north of the city, and Chen Lan's troops are stationed in the west of the city, with two thousand men each.
There are a thousand people stationed in Xiangguo City, led by Captain Zhang Ben, who is Zhang Xun’s confidant and an elder of the Zhang family.
According to Yuan Shu's order, the south of the city was handed over to Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang for defense, and all the troops in the south of the city were taken back to the palace by Yuan Shu.
The other 3,000 people under Zhang Xun's command were stationed in Jincheng in the north of the city, and the remaining 8,000 people were Yuan Shu's personal troops, stationed at the palace in the inner city, responsible for protecting Yuan Shu's safety.
This information was not a secret to the friendly forces, so Zhang Xun had no awareness of keeping it secret and leaked it to Zhou Yu during casual chat.
After learning all the situation, after some discussion, everyone agreed that the banquet three days later would be the best opportunity to take action.
So Liu Feng began to assign tasks.
Now that the army has entered the city, Liu Fengjun is actually in an invincible position. The next winner is not who loses or wins, but whether Liu Feng can catch Yuan Shu.
Then everyone acted according to the tasks assigned by Liu Feng.
Zhou Yu was very active in these days, and frequently made friends with the generals in the city. He was handsome, of noble birth, well-versed in music, with a magnificent personality and generous actions.
For a time, Zhou Lang's name resounded throughout Shouchun.
At the same time, according to Yuan Shu's order, the defense of the south of Shouchun City was also handed over to Zhou Yu's army, but Xiangguo City was still under the control of Yuan Shu's army. It can be seen that Yuan Shu was not completely assured of Zhou Yu, and there were checks and balances. means.
Three days later at night, Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang each brought more than a hundred personal guards to Yuan Shu's palace for a banquet.
There were many people attending this banquet. In addition to Zhang Xun and Ji Ling, military generals such as Lei Bo and Chen Lan, as well as civil servants such as Yang Hong, Yan Xiang, Li Ye, and others were also present.
Only Yuan Huan still asked for leave and stayed at home.
The banquet was quite successful. Yuan Shu had not been so happy since Liu Bei raised troops in the north of Runan.
Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang were also very drunk and overwhelmed.
Seeing that it was getting late, Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang quietly slipped out of the hall and went straight to the palace gate in the name of changing their clothes.
There were two hundred defenders at the palace gate, a hundred people lived on the city wall, and a hundred people lived inside and outside the palace gate.
The gatekeeper also knew Zhou Yu, and when he saw him and Sun Xiang being drunk and staggering toward the city gate with the support of several followers, he even laughed and joked a few words.
Seeing that my lord was drunk, the guards outside the palace gate came out. Several tall and tall men in iron armor were concerned but confused. They greeted Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang without caring about the rules. He rushed up.
Originally this kind of behavior is not allowed. How can people outside the palace enter the palace at will without getting the token.
But Zhou Yu's throwing coins up and down in the past few days has been very effective, especially at the palace gate. Zhou Yu has received generous gifts every time he came in and out. In addition, tonight is Yuan Shu's special banquet for Zhou Yu.
Although the head of the palace gate was a little hesitant, he saw that there were only three or five people on the other side and he was eager to protect the master, so he did not scold him.
Soon, the three or five big men entered the palace gate, finally greeted their lord, and hurriedly helped Zhou Yu, Sun Xiang and others out.
The Gongmen Tuen Chief breathed a sigh of relief, and did not notice that the soldiers waiting outside the city had quietly organized their teams.
When Zhou Yu came to the palace gate, the head of the palace gate saw him coming to his side, so he asked with concern: "Xiaowei Zhou, are you okay? Ma Ke should be more careful later."
"Then please ask the village chief to give me a ride."
Zhou Yu suddenly smiled at the palace gate village chief, and before the other party understood the meaning, he suddenly shouted: "Do it ! ”
The few armored soldiers who had just arrived beside him suddenly took action. Two of them rushed out, and one of them grabbed the palace gate chief like a chicken. The other pulled out a long knife and divided the palace into two. Three or four of the guards around the head of the gate were killed.
The village chief was tied up and gagged before he understood what was happening.
At the same time, Zhou Yu could only be heard shouting to the surroundings: "General Zuo is unruly and has been dismissed by the emperor. Now Liu Shijun has raised his righteous troops to go south. He is like a broken bamboo and has broken Ruyin. He will be dead in a few days. Spring. Do you want to die together with Yuan Shu, or surrender to the enemy? "
"If you want to surrender, you can save your life by abandoning your troops!" The soldiers outside the palace gate rushed in.
Among the two hundred soldiers, there were forty or fifty wearing iron armor, which was an astonishingly high proportion.
Before, the head of the palace gate and his cronies were envious of the Zhou family's extravagance and ability to produce so much armor. However, now his soldiers have to face the charge of these armored soldiers.
There were more than 40 people outside the city who could not resist these tiger warriors. They broke through the front line and entered the palace gate as if the snow melted and the ice disappeared.
At the same time, the soldiers inside the palace gate were also killed by those armored tiger soldiers, and there was no time to close the palace gate.
The defenders on the city wall wanted to fight back with bows and crossbows, but Zhou Yu retreated into the palace gate, while the soldiers outside the city held their shields high and poured into the palace gate, which also made these guards The army is useless.
Zhou Yu said to a big man who was eight feet tall and majestic in stature: "Brother Zhongkang will help you next."
The person who came was none other than Xu Chu.
Faced with Zhou Yu's politeness, Xu Chu just said lightly: "Don't worry, Colonel!"
Then, with a move of his hand, forty soldiers immediately followed behind him. He rushed directly into the doorway.
These soldiers used Xu Chu as their arrowheads to kill towards the city wall.
The defenders who can guard the palace city are obviously Yuan Shu's most trusted troops.
When Zhou Yu shouted before, he did not really expect these soldiers to surrender. He hoped to slow down their reaction and cause some chaos, which was Zhou Yu's real purpose.
This goal was indeed achieved. At the same time, the capture of the commander of the village also made these soldiers somewhat leaderless and fought on their own.
Under such circumstances, it was even more impossible for them to stop Xu Chu's offensive.
In just a moment, Xu Chu had already climbed up the city wall from the bottom and cleared a place to stand.
Xu Chu was about to continue attacking, but when he heard a shout from the other side, he turned around and ran away along the city wall.
Xu Chu was a little surprised, but he didn't expect that the three layers of heavy armor on his body had been soaked in blood, almost turning red.
On the way up, Xu Chu killed at least twenty or thirty soldiers of Yuan's army.
Senior Yuan saw the warriors in his army being slaughtered by Xu Chu as easily as he slaughtered chickens and dogs. No matter how high the morale was, it would collapse, let alone the current situation.
Although Xu Chu was a little surprised that the other party collapsed so quickly, he did not forget his job.
At this time, a soldier behind him had lit a torch and handed it to Xu Chu.
Xu Chu took the torch and shook it toward the distance.
Zhang Liao had already led 800 people to lurk at the intersection of Long Street. When he saw the torch, he was overjoyed.
"My sons, come with me to fight!"
Zhang Liao shouted and led eight hundred elites towards the palace gate.
His unit had only one mission, which was to capture Yuan Shu alive.
When Zhang Liao rushed outside the palace gate, the palace gate passage was completely cleared, and Zhou Yu's soldiers had been replaced on the city wall.
"General Wenyuan, come with me!"
Zhou Yu was standing at the end of the palace gate, with starry eyes, not even a little bit drunk.
Looking at Zhang Liao who was getting closer and closer, Zhou Yu shouted loudly: "Yu has done a great job. I wonder if General Wenyuan will come with me to get it?"
Zhang Liao galloped in, looked at Zhou Yu and replied: "I don't dare to ask for your ear!"
(End of this chapter)