Ji Han Liu Zhang

Yellow and white city.

Li Jue and Guo Si decided to attack the Shu camp at night. The two intended to take advantage of the dim moonlight tonight to gallop out of the city and trample on the Shu camp, so as to create a big wave and give Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, a little shock to Liangzhou.

The two who had decided to launch a night attack were now discussing the details of the attack, including how many people were needed to go out of the city for the attack, who would go out of the city for the attack, who would guard the city, and who would provide support. All of these needed to be planned in advance.

The Art of War says: Be prepared and there will be no danger!

"The Shu army has surrounded Huangbai City from all sides, and there are Shu army camps all around the city. You and I can lead our respective troops and attack in opposite directions. In this way, when it's late at night and the lights are dim, the Shu army won't know how many troops we have for the night attack and will be surprised and panicked, leading to their defeat." Li Jue's words were well-organized, and he planned carefully.

Guo Si nodded without hesitation. He agreed with Li Jue's plan, but there was one thing he still had some doubts about: "Zhi Ran, then should you and I leave the city from the north and south, or from the east and west?"

According to Li Jue's strategy, he and Li Jue needed to go in opposite directions and attack the city at night, which means there were two routes, one from east to west and the other from north to south. Guo Si was confused about this.

"North and south are better." Li Jue said affirmatively after considering for a moment.

Following the idea of ​​"north and south are the best", Li Jue continued his analysis: "The army led by Liu Zhang has just arrived and is stationed south of Huangbai City. Therefore, the Shu army south of the city has traveled a long distance and is very tired. It is easy to be disturbed and attacked. Here, another person is needed to go out of the north of the city and make a night attack to force the Shu army to protect the northern camp and prevent the Shu army from reinforcing the southern camp."

Guo Si nodded heavily. He believed that he was more brave than Li Jue, so he said, "Since the Shu army in the south of the city is easy to break, then you, Zhiran, will attack the Shu army's southern camp at night, and the Shu army in the north of the city will be handed over to me. I will make sure that the Shu army in the north of the city will not be distracted and will not lead troops to reinforce the Shu army in the south of the city."

Here Guo Si made up his mind to take on the tough bone in the north of the city and let Li Jue eat the soft persimmon in the south of the city. If it were in the past, he would not have made such a loyal move, but now that things have come to this, he feels that he and Li Jue are grasshoppers on the same rope, and neither can do without the other, and it is time to put aside the old grudges and unite.

Hearing Guo Si's righteous words, Li Jue's expression was a little shaken at first, but only after a moment, he took a deep breath and firmed his expression.

Li Jue shook his head and denied it: "No, this is not in line with the art of war."

"Not in line with military strategy?" Seeing Li Jue reject his decision, Guo Si was puzzled and asked, "Where did you get that?"

Li Jue said slowly: "Aduo, have you heard of Tian Ji? In the past, Tian Ji raced horses, and the top four horses were against the middle four horses, and the middle four horses were against the bottom four horses, so he won the game... The situation is the same as tonight. With your bravery, Guo Aduo, you can be the top four horses. I am good at wisdom and weak in bravery, so I can be the middle four horses. The Shu army in the south of the city has come from afar and is exhausted, so I can be the bottom four horses. The Shu army in the north of the city has been well-trained for a long time, so they can be the top four horses..."

"I understand." Guo Si interrupted Li Jue. He seemed to have been enlightened, and his eyes shone with wisdom: "I will go to the Shu army in the south of the city, with the upper horse against the lower horse, and you will go to the Shu army in the north of the city, with the middle horse against the upper horse. This way, we have a better chance of winning."

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant." Li Jue responded with a look of delight. He exclaimed, "I have always thought that you, Guo Aduo, were a reckless man, but I didn't know that you, Guo Aduo, are also a man of great wit and wisdom."

"Zhi Ran, I, Guo Aduo, have been dominating the world for a long time, so I naturally have some strategies in my mind. Why do you look down on me like this!" Although Guo Si said this, he was very happy in his heart. He enjoyed Li Jue's praise very much, as if he had eaten rock honey from the Western Regions, and it was sweet in his heart.

But at the same time of sweetness, Guo Si had some hesitations in his heart. He was hesitant about Li Jue's behavior. He thought he was short-sighted and was always afraid of being deceived, especially by a wise general like Li Jue.

Guo Si made a guess based on his intuition. He guessed that Li Jue might have bad intentions, so he asked him to tie down the Shu army in the south of the city and draw the attention of the Shu army camp to the south of the city. Then Li Jue would take the opportunity to flee to Beidi County.

However, the doubts, speculations and worries in Guo Si's heart disappeared in an instant after hearing Li Jue's next words.

Li Jue pointed at his cousin Li Huan and said, "Aduo, Zibiao is quite brave and can help you. Let Zibiao serve you during the night attack tonight!"

"This..." Guo Si was moved by Li Jue's words. He did not expect that Li Jue would place his younger brother Li Huan under his command to help him. Involuntarily, the slightest doubt in Guo Si's heart about Li Jue disappeared.

Guo Si cursed himself in his heart. He did not expect Li Jue to be so frank with him. He was still hesitant. This was too cowardly and humble.

"Zhiran, I would like to become brothers with you. We don't ask to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but we ask to die on the same day of the same month of the same year." Guo Si stepped forward, held Li Jue's hand, held their hands tightly together, and said emotionally.

Li Jue listened to Guo Si's emotional words. The first part about them becoming brothers of different surnames was fine, but when he heard the last part about dying on the same day of the same month of the same year, the corners of his mouth twitched, but his expression did not change. He, like Guo Si, showed an emotional look.

After Guo Si finished speaking, Li Jue immediately spoke up: "I have had this wish for a long time. We just need to attack the Shu camp tonight. When we succeed tonight, you and I will become brothers of different surnames..."

Li Jue said in a loud and emotional voice: "I don't ask to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but I ask to die on the same day of the same month of the same year."

"Childish." Guo Si said.

"Aduo." Li Jue replied.

This moving picture moved everyone around.

Time waits for no one, and the night gradually deepens. Li Jue and Guo Si each went to make preparations. A night attack on the camp would not require too many people. Firstly, most of the soldiers had poor night vision and could not see in the darkness. Secondly, the night was dim and only elite soldiers could follow orders, and ordinary soldiers would only make things worse.

After the night attack was ready, Guo Si went to Li Jue and pointed to his lieutenant Xia Yu and said, "Zhi Ran, you put Li Huan under my command, and I will repay you. Although Xia Yu is not as brave as Li Huan, he can also be called a brave general. Let Xia Yu act under your command tonight, and I hope he can be of some help to you."

As an adult and a very thoughtful person from Liangzhou, although Guo Si was moved by Li Jue's actions at first, his emotion came and went quickly. He soon felt that he still needed to be on guard against Li Jue, so he planned to place Xia Yu in Li Jue's army.

As he spoke, Guo Si carefully observed Li Jue's expression, fearing that Li Jue might refuse. However, what made Guo Si feel at ease was that Li Jue readily agreed, and almost immediately nodded in agreement after he finished speaking.

"I was too suspicious." Guo Si couldn't help but blame himself, but if he hadn't sent Xia Yu to Li Jue to keep an eye on him, he would never feel at ease and would not have left the city to attack the Shu army's southern camp at night.

Among Guo Si's army was Li Jue's cousin Li Huan, and among Li Jue's army was Guo Si's spy Xia Yu. Although the two sides had a friendship like sworn brothers, they seemed to be on guard against each other. So both sides led their troops out of the city, one in the south and the other in the north, and attacked the Shu army camp.

As for the generals who stayed behind in the city, they were Wang Cheng under Li Jue, and Wu Xi under Guo Si. Wang Cheng and Wu Xi had some grudges against each other during the previous battles between Li Jue and Guo Si in Chang'an, so the two would not coordinate and conspire. In addition, the soldiers left in the city were relatives of Li Jue and Guo Si, so Guo Si was relieved to let the two of them stay in the city to guard the city.

South of Huangbaicheng.

"Brother, Li Jue has always been cunning. I am afraid that he is not going to attack the Shu camp at night, but there is a high probability that he will flee northward to Beidi County." Guo Pu, Guo Si's cousin, was equally suspicious and expressed his concerns to Guo Si.

Guo Si shook his head upon hearing this. He motioned Guo Pu to look at Li Huan who was in the front army. He laughed briskly and said, "Li Huan is in our army. How can Li Jue abandon Li Huan? Besides, Xia Yu is in Li Jue's army. If Li Jue wants to leave, how can he let me keep Xia Yu in his army?"

"Why are you so suspicious?" Guo Si complained, shaking his head, "Today, Li Jue and I are travelers on the same ship. If the ship capsizes, we capsize together. If we want to survive, we must unite and work together, and not be suspicious of each other."

"Yes, that's right, big brother." Guo Pu nodded, his expression showing agreement, but he didn't care in his heart. He didn't think that a mere cousin could restrain Li Jue's intention. It was possible that Li Jue deliberately placed Li Huan under Guo Si's command so that Guo Si could attack the Shu camp in the south of the city with peace of mind.

But seeing Guo Si's determined tone and expression, Guo Pu didn't dare to say anything more. Secondly, he was also worried that his words would not work, and he would be regarded as a divisive villain, which would not be good.

Going a little further, Guo Si and Guo Pu stopped talking. They held their breath and concentrated, fearing that the slightest sound would disturb the Shu army and make them prepared, thus preventing their plan of a night attack from working.

However, just as Guo Si approached the Shu army camp and thought that this night attack would be a great success, he heard the sound of gongs and drums, which sounded like thunder in the dead of night with only the chirping of insects and birds.

"What's going on?" Guo Si was puzzled. He didn't understand why the sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out. He was obviously so cautious, could it be that the Shu army still discovered his movements.

Just as Guo Si had deduced, ever since Guo Si left the city, the movements of his army had been detected early on by the scouts planted by the military advisory lieutenant Fa Zheng. The Shu army had also made preparations early on and dug a big pit for Guo Si to jump into.

"Guo Aduo, you are a horse thief, you are really a bad person, you dare to sneak into the camp at night, but you don't know that the master is waiting for you to come."

When Guo Si heard a very frivolous and sarcastic remark coming from the Shu army opposite, his face suddenly turned red. It was because the horse theft in his early years was a stain on his life.

After all, no matter how famous a hero is, he would never steal a horse, and how can a despicable horse thief become a hero?

"Retreat, retreat, retreat." Although Guo Si was furious, he was overwhelmed by the situation. He knew that the night attack would be discovered by the Shu army, and it would be bad if he stayed here. He had to retreat back to Huangbai City as soon as possible.

However, as the general who set the ambush and the one who made fun of Guo Si's words, Gan Ning would naturally not sit idly by and watch Guo Si retreat. He called out to his Jinfaner and charged forward, chasing after Guo Si who was fleeing back to the city.

"Zhi Ran, when will your plan work?" Listening to the shouts and screams from the rear, Guo Si could not help but curse Li Jue in his heart. Whether it was Chencang, Chang'an, or now Huangbaicheng, Li Jue's plans were always guessed in advance by the Shu army, who prepared countermeasures, causing him to fall into the trap every time.

Li Jue, who was being secretly criticized and scolded by Guo Si, went towards the camp of the Shu army after leaving the north gate of Huangbai City. When he was not far from the camp of the Shu army, he summoned Xia Yu, who was placed under his command by Guo Si.

"Captain Xia, I have always heard of your bravery. You are one of the best warriors in Liangzhou. Now that Guo Aduo has assigned you to my command, I want to see your bravery."

Li Jue's words were as sweet as honey, and Xia Yu couldn't help feeling proud. He looked up and said in a muffled voice, "General, please give me an order. No matter which direction we attack, I will fight a good battle and satisfy you."

"That's great. I'll appoint the captain as the vanguard to break into the camp first, and I'll support him from behind." Li Jue looked very satisfied with Xia Yu's response, and he quickly issued the order.

"Yes." Xia Yu responded with full energy.

Then Xia Yu led hundreds of soldiers under his command and charged towards the seemingly undefended Shu army camp, thinking of showing off his martial arts in front of Li Jue and at the same time giving face to his chief general Guo Si.

When Xia Yu led his troops to the vicinity of the Shu army camp and it seemed that a great achievement was about to be accomplished, something unexpected happened.

But after hearing the sound of drums in the Shu army camp, the Shu army attacked from all directions and surrounded his hundreds of men, like catching a turtle in a jar, trapping Xia Yu and his soldiers to death.

"General, help me." Xia Yuzi immediately looked back and shouted loudly, but when he looked back, Li Jue and his men were still there. Li Jue and his men had already disappeared into the night.

"People from Liangzhou are the most untrustworthy."

Xia Yu, who was born in Guanzhong, cursed in his heart. Seeing that the situation was not good for Li Jue, he immediately put aside his behavior and made a regional slander.

But even though he cursed, Xia Yu looked around. The most important thing for him right now was to fight his way out. (End of this chapter)