Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 102 96. Return to the City
"Report, Sir Governor, a detachment of troops from Zhang Fei's camp is heading towards our position now!"

In a valley twenty miles southeast of Lingling City, Liu Xian was sitting under the shade of a tree to rest when he was suddenly woken up by a scout who reported to him loudly.

"Hmm? Zhang Fei fell into the trap? It seems that Brother Xi Zhen's plan of feigning surrender worked. How many people are there?"

When Liu Xian heard that Zhang Fei had a detachment of troops moving towards here, he was overjoyed. After all, Liu Xian was not very sure about this plan.

The Han army was so terrifying that it left an indelible impression on him.

Xing Daorong, the general who was feared in Lingling County and wielded a huge axe with great vigor, was stabbed to death by Zhao Yun, who was riding a white horse and wearing white armor, like a child.

When Liu Xian arrived in Jiangdong and witnessed the power of the Jiangdong generals, he also felt that the Han army might be no more than that.

As a result, less than a month ago, the Han army and the Wu army fought a fierce battle in Yiling and Yiling. Those seemingly invincible generals of the Wu army died or fled. It is even said that many of their heads were hung under the banners of the Han army like decorations.

Although Liu Xian knew that the Xi brothers were extremely capable, he was still concerned about what they could achieve. After all, they were facing Zhang Fei, the fierce and evil Zhang Fei.

"Sir Governor, this detachment seems to have only three or four thousand men, but they are almost all cavalry."

The scout had no idea of ​​what Liu Xian was thinking and just answered truthfully based on the information he saw.

"A few thousand people is fine... but if they are all cavalry, I'm afraid it will deal a heavy blow to the morale of the Han army."

Liu Xian didn't care about how many people Zhang Fei had at this moment. As long as he won the battle, he could show that he was not a soft persimmon.

Liu Xian’s logic may seem strange to others, but this logic is very common in nature.

For example, when an animal is pricked by a hedgehog, it will know that this creature is not to be trifled with. Even if it is able to kill the hedgehog, it will not waste time attacking it slowly, but will look for another easier target to hunt.

Similarly, Liu Xian's goal was not to defeat Zhang Fei completely, but to let Zhang Fei know that it would be impossible for him to attack easily, so that Zhang Fei would retreat, and it would be feasible for him to be recruited later.

Liu Xian was thinking a lot and ordered his more than 3,000 soldiers to prepare to act according to the plan. When they saw the fire in the valley, they set it on fire and surrounded the army in the valley to catch Zhang Fei off guard.

It would not be a problem if Zhang Fei had a backup plan. At this time, Xi Hong, who stayed in Lingling, would lead his troops to support him.

Lingling County had a total of 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers, of which more than 1,000 had been given to Xi Zhen to challenge, and most of them fled back to Lingling City. At this time, Xi Hong led 3,000 men to defend Lingling City, ready to support Liu Xian and prevent Zhang Fei from taking advantage of the chaos to attack the city.

It was almost noon at this time. Liu Xian saw from the mountain that Zhang Fei's army had already taken up their positions and were heading towards the valley. He estimated that they would fall into his trap in less than half an hour.

Just as Liu Xian had calculated, half an hour later, there was indeed flames in the valley and noise. The fake camp he had set up should have been burned down by Zhang Fei's reckless troops. They probably found that there were only some wood chips and hay inside, and were confused at the moment.

"Pass my orders! Set fire! Kill!"

Liu Xian drew his sword suddenly and gave an order. More than 3,000 soldiers hiding in the bushes on the mountain immediately took out the flints, tinders and other ignition materials that they had prepared long ago, lit the hay balls, rolling logs and other objects prepared on the side, and threw them down the mountain.

"Follow me down the mountain!"

Seeing the shadowy figures at the foot of the mountain, Liu Xian was very excited as the Han army seemed to have suffered heavy losses due to his fire attack. He personally led his soldiers to the foot of the cliff, ready to personally participate in this first battle to defeat Zhang Fei.

"Uh... eh?"

When Liu Xian led his men down, they discovered that there seemed to be not as many people in the fire scene as they had imagined, only about a thousand people, and they seemed to have been prepared. They were not too panicked when they saw Liu Xian, but were still trying to form a formation to resist the attack of Liu Xian's army.

"Kill!" Without giving Liu Xian time to think, shouts of killing were heard again from the outside of Liu Xian's encirclement. They were the other troops of Zhang Fei who had disappeared just now.

"Fight them out! Retreat back to Lingling City!"

At this point, even if Liu Xian was a fool, he realized that Xi Hong's plan seemed to have been discovered. Liu Xian had no choice but to abandon his previous plan, break out of the chaos, return to Lingling City, and continue to defend Lingling.

Fortunately, Zhang Fei's army did not seem to have time to encircle the enemy, and Liu Xian fled back to the city of Lingling with some soldiers and generals on horseback, leaving the remaining soldiers there to delay the enemy's pursuit.

"Brother Xi Hong! It's me, Liu Xian! Open the city gate quickly!"

Liu Xian fled back to the foot of Lingling City and shouted loudly to the city. Liu Xian was not disappointed. The drawbridge at the city gate was quickly lowered to help Liu Xian retreat back to the city.

However, after entering the city, Liu Xian found something was not right. There seemed to be a lot more soldiers in the city than he had imagined. Could it be that Xi Hong asked the people to go up to the city walls to help guard the city after he left?
"What is Xi doing?"

Liu Xian found it very strange that Xi Hong had not shown up yet, so he grabbed a team of patrolling soldiers from the roadside and asked them.

"Your Excellency, Xi Gongshi is currently in the governor's residence."

The soldier did not seem surprised and reported to Liu Xian truthfully. Liu Xian nodded and thought about it and felt that there was nothing wrong. After all, Xi Hong had to deal with important matters in the city and could not be on the city wall all the time.

The sun was about to set, and when Liu Xian arrived at the door of his prefectural mansion, the servants in the mansion had already lit lanterns.

"Brother Xi Hong! Brother Xi Hong!"

Liu Xian shouted as he strode towards the main hall.

"Brother, what happened?"

Xi Hong walked out of the door and was not surprised to see Liu Xian return. Instead, he was unusually calm.

"Zhang Fei saw through our plan! He actually sent a small team into the mountain to burn the camp first, and the main force ambushed outside the mountain. I almost couldn't escape!"

Liu Xian complained a few words in shock, and Xi Hong nodded repeatedly after listening.

"After all, the three generals are veterans of the battlefield, so it is understandable that such a simple trick to lure the enemy was seen through. It just so happens that a distinguished guest is visiting today, who can provide us with a way out. Brother, why don't you go with me to meet him?"

Xi Hong seemed unmoved by the failure of his plan and moved directly to another topic.

"Dear guest? Who? Where?"

Liu Xian was quite puzzled. He knew Lingling's capable people well, so how could anyone provide him with a way out? However, out of trust in Xi Hong, he agreed to meet him and asked Xi Hong where the other person was.

"It's in the hall. Come with me, brother."

Xi Hong pulled Liu Xian into the main hall of Ling Ling Tai Shou Mansion without saying anything. A man sat at the top seat in the hall, with white hair and beard, a leopard head and round eyes. On the left and right stood two young generals, one with a similar face to the man at the top, but slightly more handsome; the other was Xi Hong's biological brother, Xi Zhen.

“Zhang…Zhang Fei…?!”

When Liu Xian saw the man at the top, he was so frightened that his legs trembled and he almost fell to his knees.

(End of this chapter)