Chapter 331 He Qi asks for help

Chapter 331 He Qi asks for help

Although Sun Ce only has about 300 people around him, his force is overwhelming and no one can stop them. Even the intact Kuaiji army may not be able to stop them, let alone the current rout. .

Sun Ce ignored the defeated troops and civilians running around and chased Zhou Xin.

Zhou Xin himself rides a horse, but few of his soldiers have horses. Therefore, unless Zhou Xin abandons most of his soldiers and escapes with two or three of his followers, their speed will also increase. Can't get up.

In order to chase someone, Sun Ce took off his heavy iron armor, only put on a pair of leather armor, and chased Zhou Xin risking his life.

Seeing Sun Ce chasing closer and closer, Zhou Xin gritted his teeth, whipped his horse whip hard, dropped his soldiers and ran away.

As soon as Zhou Xin ran away, except for the three cronies with horses, the other dozen or so soldiers immediately dispersed and fled for their lives.

Sun Ce watched Zhou Xin ride away on horseback, his handsome face full of ferocity, and he was about to explode with anger.

Just at this time, Huang Gai's voice came from behind him: "Bo Fu, get on the horse!"

Sun Ce turned around in surprise and saw Huang Gai riding over on horseback, holding in his hand He also pulled the reins of another horse.

Sun Ce rushed to meet him and got on his horse.

Sun Ce followed Sun Jian to Yuzhou, and when he was born, Sun Jian had already made a fortune. He suppressed Xuchang and captured Xu Zhao alive. He was already a serious official with two hundred stones. He served successively as Yandu, The official career of Xuyi and Xiapi County Cheng was much smoother than that of Liu Bei.

Therefore, Sun Ce had excellent learning conditions since he was a child. Not only could he study and study, he could also learn horsemanship, archery, and riding skills quite well.

Sun Ce got on his horse, and before he could sit firmly, he whipped his riding whip. Huang Gai looked on with fear.

There are no stirrups at this time. Only a few places have one-sided pedals similar to stirrups, which can be regarded as one of the predecessors of stirrups.

Unexpectedly, Sun Ce took a few steps and stopped the horse abruptly. You must know that at this moment, he was purely relying on the force of his legs to clamp the horse's belly, and he was still holding a long knife in his right hand.

Just when everyone was wondering why Sun Ce stopped, he turned around and shouted to the crowd: "Do you have a bow and arrow!?"

Someone hurriedly rushed out from the crowd , raising a long bow and most of the bag of arrows above his head: "General, here are the bows and arrows."

"Good!"

Sun Ce was overjoyed, and he passed it by, and then fiercely With the whip whipped, the horse galloped out and chased Zhou Xin.

Huang Gai and others were deeply afraid that Sun Ce would be in danger, so they whipped him repeatedly and pursued him closely.

Zhou Xin was running away when he heard the sound of horse hoofbeats from behind. He looked back in confusion and saw that Sun Ce, who looked like a handsome evil ghost, had already chased after him.

Zhou Xin was suddenly startled, gritted his teeth, and shouted at his followers: "Go and stop him! I will take care of your family members!"

When the three relatives heard this, they knew that they had no room to refuse. If they refused, not to mention that their parents, wives and children would have no one to support them, and even the world would look down on them.

"Master, please leave quickly, I will serve as your queen!"

The three of them gritted their teeth, slowed down their horses, and turned around to stop Sun Ce.

Unexpectedly, the horse's speed had just slowed down. As soon as the last person turned his head, a sharp arrow pierced his throat and he fell off the horse.

The other two people were shocked. They were not afraid of death, but dying worthless would be too cowardly.

The two looked at each other and saw the same thought in each other's eyes.

“Kill him!”

At this time, the two men had successfully turned their horses' heads, whipped their riding whips in unison, and then blocked the young knight's shield in front of their vital parts.

There are no bows and arrows around them, so they can only be beaten passively. The only way out is to rush over, preferably by knocking Sun Ce over, but if not, they have to get close to fight back.

Sun Ce sneered and hit the horse in the chest with another arrow. Under the pain, the horse's steps were confused and it fell to the ground.

Although Sun Ce's archery skills are not as good as those of Lu Bu, Taishi Ci and others, he is still quite good among generals.

In history, when Xu Zhao and three others assassinated Sun Ce, Sun Ce struck first and killed one of them with one arrow.

You must know that Xu Zhao and the others are not Han people, but Shanyue people, and they are all masters of archery. They carry only bows and arrows with them, and they have no intention of engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Sun Ce.

If Sun Ce's shooting skills were as good as Taishi Ci's, these three people would have no chance at all. I'm afraid they would all be shot dead by Taishi Ci at the beginning of the attack.

After Liu Yao's defeat, Taishi Ci fled into the mountains and called himself the Grand Administrator of Danyang.

Relying on his magic shot, he subdued the Shanyue people in the mountains, and then gathered Liu Yao's troops and defeated them. Then he attacked the city and occupied six counties west of Jing County.

This shows how powerful Taishi Ci’s shooting is.

After shooting two people down one after another, the third person was already approaching. With Sun Ce's archery skills, it was too late to draw his bow again.

So, Sun Ce flicked his left hand, raised his bow behind him, and then reined in the horse, causing the horse to move a step to the left, narrowly passing the opponent.

While passing each other, Sun Ce gently pulled the long knife in his hand, making a big hole in the opponent's abdomen, and a ball of hot internal organs poured out and rolled down on the opponent's abdomen. The ground was trampled to pieces by horses.

Sun Ce did not even look at the opponent after drawing the knife, and immediately continued to ride his horse and chased Zhou Xin.

Wang Lang ran onto the ship as soon as the city was broken.

The boat he was in was not big, but it was enough to accommodate twenty or thirty people. This still left enough food and supplies for twenty or thirty people. If these were not considered, it could even accommodate fifty or sixty people.

At this time, Wang Lang only had about thirty soldiers around him, and there were more than a dozen ships surrounding him to collect the defeated troops.

Wang Lang looked at the dock nervously, hoping to see Zhou Xin and Yu Fan as soon as possible.

Soon, a group of troops rushed out from the west side of the city, led by Yu Fan.

When we retreated, there were still more than a thousand people. By the time we got to the dock, there were less than four hundred. The rest were either intercepted or separated, and many of them saw the momentum of defeat. It is irreversible and he secretly left the team and slipped away.

At this time, Wang Lang no longer cared about the demeanor of a celebrity, and shouted towards the shore at the top of his lungs: "Zhongxiang, where is the Ming Dynasty?" What I was afraid of was that after arriving at the dock, all the ships had already left the shore.

Yu Fan, who was directing the remaining soldiers to board the ship, suddenly heard Wang Lang's shout and felt happy, but when he heard it clearly, his expression darkened again.

“Brother Daming hasn’t arrived yet?”

Yu Fan was puzzled at first, and then suddenly realized.

The south gate of Shanyin should actually be called the southwest gate, which is closer to the west of the city. Yu Fan and the others only need to walk in a straight line to reach the dock.

But the east gate where Zhou Xin is located is far away from him. No wonder Zhou Xin sent him a message first but arrived later than him.

"Zhongxiang, get on the boat first."

Wang Lang shouted at Yu Fan, while directing the boat beside him to quickly move over to pick up Yu Fan.

What he cared about most at the moment was Yu Fanli, and just wanted him to get on the boat quickly.

Yu Fan stood on the shore and looked around. The more than 400 people who had followed him had been arranged for boats and were queuing up to board the boat. He was relieved, so he got off the trestle and prepared to board the boat.

Not long after, a small boat docked on the trestle. The soldiers above helped Yu Fan board the boat, and then immediately paddled hard and quickly left the shore.

While Yu Fan was standing at the stern of the ship, looking at the city that was in chaos and even a little bit of fire, Zhou Xin rode towards the dock on horseback.

It was naturally impossible for Yu Fan to see clearly from such a distance, but someone with a war horse in the city must have a high status.

Yu Fan shouted towards the shore: "But Brother Daming!?"

"Brother Zhongxiang, I am here!"

Zhou Xin was overjoyed and finally escaped.

That Sun Ce is like an evil ghost, he looks like a human but how can he be just like his father when it comes to fighting?

How Sun Jian used his strength and tenacity to break through their camp outside Yangcheng, and how he fell into the city seemed to be vivid in his mind.

“Dock!”

Yu Fan immediately ordered the soldiers on the ship to dock. Looking at the capsized boat leaning on the trestle in the distance, as long as I get on the boat, I will be safe.

A smile appeared on the corner of Zhou Xin's mouth, but the next moment, the smile completely solidified. An arrow protruded from the front of his throat, with spots of bright red on it.

Zhou Xin felt that all the strength in her body had disappeared, and she could not even hold the reins. She turned over and fell off the horse.

Wang Lang on the stern and Yu Fan on the boat were dumbfounded and felt that their throats were stuck and they could not speak.

Not long after, another horse galloped out of the fireworks. Sun Ce reined in the horse, turned over and jumped down. He walked up to Zhou Xin, who was covered in blood and could not speak, and showed a ferocious smile.

Afterwards, Sun Ce took out the short knife from his waist, held the handle with one hand, and held the blade with the other hand. He inserted it directly into Zhou Xin's neck, then cut out Zhou Xin's neck with all his strength, and beheaded Zhou Xin. 's head.

Afterwards, Sun Ce stood up and raised Zhou Xin's head high: "The thief general has been given the head, and those who surrender will be spared death!"

Wang Lang, Yu Fan and the participating Kuaiji troops All the soldiers were silent and stared blankly at the handsome young man who looked like a devil.

********

In late January, Liu Feng sent troops from Wuxi, with Xu Sheng as the vanguard, Jia Kui's troops as the support, and Fan Neng's troops as the rear. The army set off, and within seven days, it had reached the gates of Wuxian County.

Sure enough, just as Xu Kun expected, Liu Fengjun began to build large-scale construction works after arriving.

This made Xu Kun feel relieved and felt that he could not hold on for another month.

But early the next morning, Liu Feng sent a knight to shoot arrows into the city.

After the city sergeant picked it up, he found that the arrow had no arrowhead and instead had a letter tied to it.

The soldiers did not dare to neglect, and immediately handed it over, passed it on layer by layer, and delivered it to Xu Kun.

Xu Kun received the letter and thought it was Liu Feng's letter to persuade him to surrender.

At this time, Xu Kun was different from before. After seeing the combat power of the Southern Conquest Army, his mentality had changed. Although Xu Kun still won't stab Sun Ce in the back, if the conditions are right, he won't fight to the end.

So, Xu Kun opened the letter and read it.

Contrary to Xu Kun's expectation, this letter was not a letter of persuasion to surrender, but a leaking letter.

It directly told Xu Kun the siege plan of the Southern Army, focusing on the south of the city.

Liu Feng directly informed Xu Kun in his letter that this time the siege of the city would no longer be siege of three buildings. After the construction of the camps in the east and north of the city was completed, the construction of the camp in the south of the city would begin.

As for the west of the city, it is the starting point of Hangou, which leads directly to Zhenze. The entire Hangou comes out from the southwest of the city, covering the entire west city of Wuxian County.

There is also only one water gate here for boats to enter and exit.

Xu Kun's expression changed slightly. Although even the south of the city was besieged, theoretically the west of the city could still leave the city through the water gate. However, the Sun family's navy had been defeated by the navy of the Conquering South Army and had no choice but to huddle in the city of Wu County. The waterway was undoubtedly blocked.

From this point of view, the south of the city is actually the last way out for Wuxian County.

Xu Kun didn't understand Liu Feng's purpose of sending this letter at first.

But now I understand a little bit, this is putting pressure on myself.

If you want to surrender, you are not qualified to delay. If they want to hold on resolutely, the Zhengnan Army will not let Xu Kun and his troops survive this time.

Xu Kun's face became quite ugly.

In addition, Xu Kun also saw another meaning, that is, the other party gave him enough time to think about it, and this time was the time for the Southern Army to build the camps in the north and east of the city.

Xu Kun smiled bitterly. The reason why he was willing to stay and persuade Wu Jing to leave first was obviously because he wanted to surrender.

The battle in Wuxi made him feel timid.

With such a fortified city and his determination to defend it, Liu Feng used no tricks to attack and captured it in just two months with less than a thousand casualties. .

This made Xu Kun completely lose confidence in guarding Wu County.

The reason why he made great efforts to persuade Wu Jing to leave first was that Wu County did not need so many defenders, but he also had some careful thoughts.

He was really scared of being beaten in Wuxi. Xu Kun was worried that if Wu Jing didn't leave, what would he do if he insisted on refusing to surrender?

Rather than fall into such a passive situation, it is better to persuade Wu Jing to leave first. He can keep the rules and stay, but cannot leave. If he can neither keep nor leave, then he will surrender.

Looking at the letter, Xu Kun looked ferocious and gritted his teeth, but he still could not make a decision.

At this time, in Liu Feng's camp outside the city, civil engineering projects were being carried out in full swing.

Although it is winter at this time, the ground is relatively frozen. Fortunately, this is Jiangdong, which is much warmer than the north. Secondly, the Xuzhou army also has many iron tools, such as iron hammers and hoes. , shovels, etc., all greatly improving efficiency.

Liu Feng's large tent was erected immediately for Liu Feng to handle military affairs.

At this time, Liu Feng was receiving a brave man.

This man's surname was He Qi, his courtesy name was Gongmiao, he was from Shanyin County, Kuaiji County, and he was an officer in the Kuaiji Army.

Sent by Wang Lang, he went out to sea from Shangyu and came by water to ask for help.

"Reporting to Zhengnan, my lord is now in danger. I implore Zhengnan to send troops immediately to rescue Shanyin."

Like Dong Xi, He Qi surrendered to Sun Ce when Sun Ce went south to attack Wang Lang and sneak attack on Gaoqiantun. of.

Dong Xi was simply a rebel from Gaoqiantun, but He Qi was different. His status was much higher than Dong Xi's.

If Dong Dong is just a middle-class or even low-level powerful person, then the He Qi family is a famous person in Shanyin, and he is also powerful.

He Qi himself was a county official, and later became the acting county magistrate of Shan County. His growth trajectory was actually very similar to Gan Ning's. If Gan Ning had not rebelled, he would have been promoted step by step in Shu.

In the Battle of Guling, He Qi and the He family were originally neutral in history and did not bet on Wang Lang.

But this time is different, because the situation has changed greatly. Although Sun Ce's military strength is similar to that in history, its potential is much smaller.

Originally in history, when Sun Ce went south to Kuaiji, he had already occupied most of Danyang and most of Wu County, which was at least one and a half counties in strength. But now when he goes south, although the south is constantly losing battles, the north is Repeated battles and defeats.

In addition, Danyang had never been in Sun Ce's hands. At this time, the He family and most of the powerful Kuaiji nobles made a wrong judgment and placed their bets on Wang Lang.

Now that Shanyin was besieged, He Qi had to leave the city and bypass Shangyu to ask for help by sea.

There is a very counter-intuitive piece of trivia: the scale of shipping does not become more developed the further back it goes.

In fact, in the era when maritime trade and transportation prospered, the Song Dynasty was the first, followed by the Han Dynasty. Of course, the Ming Dynasty cannot be defined. Zheng He's voyages to the West were indeed technologically advanced and large-scale, but it was only one time. Later, the Ming Dynasty could not even handle grain and sea transportation, let alone other things. However, during the same period, the scale of smuggling ships was terrifyingly large.

Since the Western Han Dynasty, the tribute taxes from Jiaozhi (including northern Vietnam) have been transferred from the sea route to the Yangtze River via the waiting officer, and then transported to the Central Plains from Hangou. At this time, there were a large number of sea ships responsible for sea transportation. Although the technology was not as advanced as that of later generations, the scale was not small.

Therefore, it is quite reasonable for He Qi to seek help by sea.

He Qi himself was tall and burly, with an upright face. He looked at Liu Feng with eyes full of reverence and begging.

He Qi was a native of Shanyin, and there were many relatives and friends of his family in Shanyin City. Once it fell, he could hardly imagine what the consequences would be.

Liu Feng remembered that He Qi was also very capable and a talented person with both civil and military skills. Although he could not compare with those top talents, he could still be regarded as a talent with a score of 70 points in both civil and military skills.

The first thing Sun Ce did after taking Kuaiji was to promote He Qi as Xiaolian. This shows that the He family's status in Kuaiji County is high, second only to the Zhou and Yu families, and still behind the Lin and Jiao families. superior.

"How many troops are there in Shanyin City? In your opinion, how long can Shanyin hold on?"

Liu Feng saw the anxiety in He Qi's heart, and he said it straightforwardly Asked about the military situation.

When He Qi heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up and he hurriedly reported back: "There are only 6,000 intact county soldiers in the city, and there are another two or three thousand broken troops. If we have time to organize them, we can still fight. But Sun's army is chasing after them. , We will arrive at Shanyin City in a few days. Shanyin City only has two or three days to prepare."

Liu Feng frowned, stood up and walked back and forth in the tent.

He still has to deal with the enemies of Wuxian County, so he will definitely not be able to rescue Shanyin.

If we want to save him, we can only count on Taishi Ci and Zhou Yu.

(End of this chapter)