cite Han

Chapter 403
At ordinary times, Liu Jing woke up on time. The soul of the two lives made him different from ordinary people. He only slept for two and a half to three hours a day, that is, five or six hours. Therefore, even if he slept very late every day, he could still sleep. No problem getting up early.

Liu Jing got out of the mosquito net, put on his clothes and came to the window, and when he opened the window, a fresh scent of earth, flowers and grass came over his face.

Although the dawn is just around the corner at this time, the sky is covered with dark clouds, the rain is drizzling, and the fog is facing the morning. The sky and the earth are gray and there is no clarity.

Suddenly, Liu Jing's eyes narrowed, and he saw a sergeant in a coir raincoat striding out of the courtyard, talking to the gate guards.

Immediately, the guard turned around and rushed to report. Someone claimed to be the trilogy of Cai Xun, the lieutenant of Pingzei, and came to Jinxiang camp alone to ask for an audience.

Liu Jing couldn't help raising his eyebrows when he heard this, Cai Xun is not only Cai Mao's younger brother, but also his right-hand man, responsible for guarding the north gate, Liu Jing has been mainly attacking the north city wall recently, and has often dealt with him.

Cai Xun sent someone to ask for an audience. To be honest, it was a bit unexpected, but its purpose is not difficult to guess, it is nothing more than to ask for surrender.Ants still steal their lives, let alone humans.

Liu Jing attached great importance to this, and at the same time he summoned this person, he also sent people to inform Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, Jiang Wan, Deng Zhi, Li Yan and others.

Zhuge Liang's residence was the closest, so he arrived first. Liu Jing briefly explained the situation to him, and then the rest of the people also arrived one after another.

Soon, Cai Xun's envoy was led into the front hall by the guards, bowed to Liu Jing and said, "Cai Bao, the villain, I pay my respects to the general."

Liu Jing had no airs, He Yan asked: "Why are you here?"

"This time, the villain was ordered by the master of the family, Cai Xun, to ask the general to surrender. The general is a hero in the world, he is brave and brave, and he is not an enemy. Although Jiangling is solid, it is difficult to stop the general's attack. The master's heart General Mu has been around for a long time, and I always regret not being able to be used as an envoy..." Cai Bao was able to act as an envoy, so he was naturally eloquent.

"Nowadays, the disease is raging in Jiangling City, and countless soldiers and civilians have died, but Liu Nanjun and Cai Junshi are indifferent and still refuse to surrender. The master of the house cannot bear to see the people in the city suffer, and is willing to open the door to surrender for the general's internal response."

Liu Jing couldn't help frowning. Although he knew that there was a disease in Jiangling City, he didn't know that it was already so severe. Jingzhou was the hardest hit area of ​​the plague in history. Many heroes of the Three Kingdoms died violently in their prime because of the disease.

Liu Jing immediately asked about the specific situation in the city, and Cai Bao knew everything, and he had endless words.

Liu Jing said solemnly: "Lieutenant Cai knows obedience and injustice, and he abandons the dark and turns to the bright. It is an act of a wise man. Captain Cai reversed in time and saved the people of Jiangling from being ruined. It can be said that he has done a lot of good deeds." After finishing speaking, he asked someone to take Cai Bao down to rest.

After Cai Bao retreated, Liu Jing turned his head to look at Zhuge Liang, and asked, "Kong Ming, do you think Cai Xun's request to surrender is sincere? Is it possible that Cai Mao deliberately set up a trick to lure the enemy? To lure our army into the city, half-heartedly Crossing and hitting?"

"Cai Xun should have surrendered sincerely." Zhuge Liang murmured. "Now the Northern Army is trapped in the isolated city, with no reinforcements from outside, the disease is born inside, the morale of the army is turbulent, and the danger is overwhelming. At this moment, Cai Mao will never dare to let our army enter the city."

Xu Shu nodded lightly, and said: "Indeed, the current situation in Jiangling has no room for stratagem. Once our army enters the city, I am afraid that the Northern Army will immediately collapse without attacking."

However, Li Yan thought of another possibility, and reminded him: "Jiangling is in trouble at home and abroad, and it is only a matter of time before it falls. Cai Mao has always been selfish and will never live and die with Jiangling. This may be deliberately thrown to us by Cai Mao. The bait, to lure our army into the city, so as to take the opportunity to break through, the general must be on guard."

"What the affirmative party said makes sense." Liu Jingjing nodded, it was indeed possible.However, regardless of whether Cai Mao intends to take the opportunity to break through, he must divide his troops to guard the main roads outside Jiangling City to prevent Cai Mao and others from escaping.

Li Yan said again: "Jiangling has our army camps to the east and north, while the south faces the river. Therefore, Cai Mao and others are most likely to break out from the west side. The general should set up heavy troops to guard against it."

Liu Jing couldn't help laughing and said: "With Zheng Fang here, Cai Mao can't escape."

With Cai Xun as the internal support, there was little suspense in capturing Jiangling, so Liu Jing did not spare any casualties to storm Jiangling during the day.Of course, he did not close the camp without fighting, so as not to arouse Cai Mao's suspicion.

Seeing Liu Jingjun receding like a tide, Cai Mao couldn't help but doubts flashed in his eyes. Today, the Southern Bandit seems to have no strong will to fight, and the several offensives are quite anticlimactic. Could it be that after continuous bloody siege battles, the Southern Bandit finally couldn't take it anymore? ?
Cai Mao relaxed his mind, turned his attention to Cai Xun beside him, and asked, "Hey, why didn't you see Cai Bao?" This question.

Cai Xunxin raised his throat all of a sudden, and deliberately said with a bitter face: "Cai Bao had a lot of diarrhea last night, I don't know if he was infected with the disease, I let him recuperate in the dormitory."

Cai Mao did not doubt that he was there, patted Cai Xun on the shoulder, and comforted him: "I think Cai Bao is very healthy, so he should be fine."

"Borrow auspicious words from my brother."

Accompanied by the deafening sound of war drums, Liu Jingjun attacked the city wall again, but of course, was soon repelled by the Jiangling defenders.

After that, Liu Jingjun's offensive did not improve, and in the afternoon, it ended in a hasty manner.

The battle was imminent, and Liu Jing slaughtered pigs and cattle to feed the soldiers. After the soldiers were full of wine and food, they rested early. It was only midnight the next day, and the sky was still dark, and the soldiers got up one after another.

Huang Zhong and Wei Yan each took the task of entering the city first, followed by Liu Liang and thousands of cavalry under his command. After they had eaten, they picked up their bells and headed out of the camp quietly, and rushed to the north of Jiangling City in the dark. .

Gan Ning and Chu Fang each led 5000 men, as the main force of the attack, followed closely behind.

On the other hand, Liu Zong and Han Guang supervised thousands of water infantry and blocked the main waterways of Jiangling. At the same time, they also served as a reserve team.However, given the current situation in Jiangling, the two of them had almost no chance to appear on the stage.

As for Liu Jing, he, Zhuge Liang and others stayed in the camp in Jinxiang, quietly waiting for news of victory.

At this time, the moon is dark and the wind is high outside, and you can't see your fingers. Although the chances are not high, you may still encounter danger. Now he has the chance to win, and there is no need to go out to take risks.

The recent defense focus of the Jiangling defenders is almost all at the gap in the north city wall, and the north city gate is naturally neglected.

Cai Xun placed a few cronies in advance, and then in the dead of night, he brought dozens of relatives and athletes, in the name of night watch, to cooperate with the inside and outside, and quietly killed the guards who were not cronies, and successfully seized control of the city gate .

The city gate has been completely sealed from the inside, Cai Xun spent a lot of effort to open the city gate.

The time agreed by the two parties was when the cock crowed, and the risk of being discovered would increase exponentially any later. Huang Zhong and Wei Yan led the crowd to arrive as promised.

In order to show that he was sincerely surrendering, Cai Xun went out of the city alone to welcome him.

Soldiers are precious and fast, Huang Zhong and Wei Yan have no time to spend much time with Cai Xun, and simply checked the top and bottom of the city gate to confirm that there was no ambush. Under the guidance of his cronies, he went straight to the garrison's residence.

After Huang Zhong and Wei Yan entered the city, they no longer had any scruples, they were no longer as cautious as before, hiding their whereabouts, and they were quickly discovered by the defenders.

"The southern bandits have entered the city, the southern bandits have entered the city..." The mournful shout resounded over Jiangling in an instant, and the content was even more creepy.

"Boom... boom..."

At this time, Liu Liang led Qianqi into the city, and galloped freely in the lanes. All the people who met along the way, whether they were defenders or ordinary people, were wiped out.

"The southern thief has entered the city, the southern thief has entered the city..."

Cai Mao vaguely heard shouts in his sleep, and immediately woke up, not caring about getting dizzy, rushed to the door in a few strides, and listened attentively. When he confirmed that he had heard correctly, his face changed drastically.

At this moment, a close aide staggered in and reported with a panicked face: "Military Master, something is wrong! The southern bandits have entered the city!"

Cai Hao's eyes were bloodshot, and it was extremely frightening. He lost his composure and shouted: "How could the southern bandits enter the city?! Why is it at this time? I'm dead!"

The city wall of Jiangling was damaged, many soldiers died, and the epidemic was rampant. It was almost impossible to hold it. Therefore, he had planned to abandon the city to break out of the encirclement recently. Unexpectedly, Liu Jingjun entered Jiangling before he could take any action.

The confidant said again: "The southern thieves entered the city from the north. The north is heavily guarded. How could they fall easily? There must be traitors. Open the door to meet the thieves."

Cai Mao's heart sank. Originally, in his mind, the most unlikely place was the north, because more than half of Jiangling's troops were stationed here, and the guard was his younger brother Cai Xun.

"Did Zigu betray me?"

Seeing that Cai Mao was in a daze, he was very anxious in his heart and said: "Military Master, the southern bandits suddenly entered, the city was in chaos, and all the camps were also shocked. Jiangling is completely finished! The military master should not delay here. It is the best policy to break through the encirclement quickly. The military master is I am the pillar of Jingzhou, the southern thieves will definitely want to get rid of them quickly, and the traitor will definitely bring the southern thieves to arrest the military division in order to claim credit, if you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to leave in a while.”

"Yes, yes... Breakthrough..." Cai Mao came back to his senses, and hurriedly ordered: "Quick, bring my horse." At the same time, he asked someone to fetch his armor pocket.

Cai Mao put on his armor as quickly as possible, and with twenty or thirty bodyguards left and right, rode out on horseback and fled westward. Those without horses, Cai Mao had no choice but to grit his teeth and abandon them. At this time, there must be no women. Human kindness.

Cai Mao believed that the north, east, and south sides were all difficult to break through, and only the west side had some hope.However, what he didn't know was that Liu Jing had already deployed heavy troops outside the city.

When Cai Mao fled to the west city, the city gate was opened by the defenders eager to escape, but because there were too many fugitives, the city gate was densely packed with people, and it was blocked.

At the time of life and death, Cai Mao was eager to flee for his life, and his heart became ruthless. He directly led dozens of horsemen to step on the crowd, screaming and cursing everywhere in an instant.

At this time, it was already dawn, and Cai Mao was afraid of bumping into Liu Jingjun, so he didn't dare to follow the rout and flee northward. He planned to continue westward, taking the Zhijiang and Linju routes back to Xiangyang.

It's a pity that he was doomed to be in vain. Before he could go out, he met Liu Jingjun with three or four hundred people head-on.

Looking at the enemy ten times larger than himself, Cai Mao turned to flee north without hesitation, but before he could shake off the enemy, he encountered Liu Jingjun again.

The number of Liu Jing's army is also no less than three or four hundred, and there are cavalry in the formation, so it is difficult to get rid of the enemy directly.

There was a touch of madness in Cai Mao's despair. If he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to fight hard to save himself a way out before the enemy encircled him.

"Kill..." During the gallop, Cai Mao pulled out the long knife at his waist and shouted violently.

"Kill..." Cai Mao's personal guards are all skilled in bow and horse, brave and brave fighters, and none of them is timid at critical moments.

Cai Mao was also very unlucky, unexpectedly meeting A Pu, Captain Xiaowu.

Looking at Cai Mao and the others rushing towards them, a cruel smile appeared on A Pu's face.The horse he was riding was six feet two inches tall, quite handsome, even if it was placed in the north, it is also a rare good horse, but this servant is more than eight feet long, with a body like a bear and a tiger, which is different from ordinary people, so it contrasts with the horse under his crotch. Mediocre.

A servant took down the [-]-jin strong bow, pointed the arrow cluster at Cai Mao, and slowly pulled the bowstring.

In history, those who were able to draw a bow of three hundred catties were all powerful generals, such as Huya General Gai Yan in the early years of this dynasty, and Liaodong Taishou Jitong, and now Jianwu Zhonglang General Han Guang and Zhenwei Zhonglang General in Liu Jing's army Gan Ning.

A Pu Nai Qiang Huzhong's falling carving hand, piercing Yang with a hundred steps, never misses a shot, once beat his masters Han Guang and Gan Ning in an archery competition in the army.

"Hoo..." When Cai Mao advanced to dozens of steps, A servant decisively released the arrow, and saw a black light piercing the sky, and shot into Cai Mao's chest in an instant. Down.

The left and right were shocked, and they all reined in their horses to evade. The momentum of the charge collapsed immediately, and then they were destroyed. After the round of arrow rain, only five people were able to sit on their horses. Everyone is wiped out.

A servant immediately stepped forward, and unexpectedly found that Cai Mao had been shot by an arrow, but he was not dead, not even seriously injured. A servant was curious, and got off his horse to check, only to find that it was the excellent armor that the other party was wearing, which saved his life .

It must not be an ordinary person who can wear such an excellent armor. A servant resisted the urge to make up the knife, and asked in a slightly weird Chinese: "I think you are not an unknown person, tell me, who are you?" ?”

Cai Mao didn't want to be killed for no reason like this, lying on the cold and wet ground, grinning miserably and said: "I am Cai Mao and Cai Degui who Liu Jing must want to get rid of quickly."

A servant couldn't hide the surprise on his face when he heard this, and then he laughed loudly and said: "Haha... being guarded by the general outside the city, and unable to enter the city to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds, I was quite bored at first, but I didn't expect to get the first meritorious service .”

Cai Mao sat up with difficulty, and said to servant: "Take me to see Liu Jing."

"Naturally." Servant bent down, picked up Cai Mao like a chicken, and said: "The general said before, Liu Qi and Cai Mao are better not to be killed if they can be captured." , assigned a team of men and horses to escort Cai Mao back to the camp in Jinxiang.

(End of this chapter)