Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 444: Lu Bu: Gongtai, please listen to my argument
When Xu Huang saw Zhao Yun coming to kill him, he was greatly surprised.

He had seen Zhao Yun's martial arts skills in the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation. Although he was not as amazing as Lu Bu, he was not someone he could defeat alone.

But now Zhao Yun was already right in front of him, and there was no other way but to fight him. Turning around and running away would only lead to a more miserable death.

So Xu Huang also grabbed a spear from a soldier nearby and went forward to fight Zhao Yun.

At this moment, more and more warships were approaching the city wall, and the Han soldiers hidden in the ship towers also swarmed out and climbed onto the city wall!
At the beginning, hundreds of Han soldiers climbed the western city wall, so this place fell first.

"Light the signal smoke and quickly send a signal for the army to rush to our aid!"

Gao Shun chopped down three Cao army soldiers with a sharp blade, then gave orders to the deputy general behind him.

There are still many defenders in the city. They cannot capture Xiangyang City alone, so they must request support quickly.

"promise!"

The deputy general nodded heavily, and then asked the Han soldiers on the boat to light the wolf smoke. Soon a straight beam of smoke rose up into the sky.

Although it is called wolf smoke, it is actually not made entirely of wolf dung. It is commonly fueled by poplar, red willow, rhubarb, Achnatherum splendens, white calamus, camel grass, licorice, Phragmites australis, Haloxylon ammodendron and other fuels, and is more widely used in the military.

Ten miles outside Xiangyang City, there are ships of the Han navy.

Zhuge Liang, who had been waiting for the signal, also noticed the rising black smoke and immediately realized that Zhao Yun and his men had successfully captured the city.

So he immediately said to Zhou Yu and Lu Bu: "Duke Wen, General Zhou, order the army to move out immediately, and all the warships go downstream to Xiangyang City!"

"promise!"

Not long after, the mighty Han navy sailed along the Han River, cutting through the waves towards Xiangyang City.

……

At this time on the other side.

Cao Ren, who was leading the remnants of Cao's army to escape to Xiangyang City on land, also noticed the wolf smoke rising in the distance.

"What's going on? Why is there a signal smoke signal in Xiangyang City?"

When Cao Ren saw the black smoke rising in the sky, he was startled and raised his hand to order the army to stop marching.

Signal smoke is usually used in the military to call for help or give warnings.

Could it be that Xiangyang City has been attacked by the puppet army?
The more Cao Ren thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. After all, they were traveling by land, while the puppet army was traveling by water, and their speed was much faster than theirs.

But why did the puppet army move so quickly? After just a fierce battle with them, they chose to go downstream and attack Xiangyang City?
However, he had no time to think about the reason, and ordered: "Speed ​​up the march! Hurry back to Xiangyang City to provide assistance!"

In any case, the current situation in Xiangyang City is definitely not optimistic, and he has to go back quickly.

But at this time Xiahou Yuan said: "General, the puppet army destroyed the dike and released water, and Xiangyang City is close to the Han River, so it must have been flooded."

"We don't have any boats now. Even if we rush back, we can't get back to the city. How can we help?"

They abandoned their ship to escape pursuit.

This also means that they are now unable to return to the city.

Cao Ren's expression froze when he heard this. He then remembered that he didn't even have a boat. Could he let the army swim back to the city?
"Let's go and take a look first!"

After some thought, Cao Ren decided to go to the vicinity of Xiangyang City first to see the situation and see whether the Han army had already launched an attack on the city.

So they continued on their way.

Cao Ren chose a relatively high place and looked at the situation in Xiangyang City. He soon noticed that there were more than a dozen warships docked next to the city wall of Xiangyang City.

The signal smoke rose from one of the warships.

But what surprised him most was that these warships were not those of the puppet army, but those of the Jingzhou Navy!
Cao Ren, as an experienced general, understood what was going on immediately and was furious: "This group of cunning villains, shameless traitors! How dare they pretend to be our army to seize the city!"

He finally understood why the puppet army wanted to attack Xiangyang City so quickly. It was precisely to disguise themselves as Cao's army and sneak into the city!
Judging from the current situation, I'm afraid it has already succeeded!

For a moment, Cao Ren was extremely anxious and wished he could fly back to Xiangyang City immediately to kill all those shameless puppet troops.

But at the moment he could do nothing but watch here and pray that Xu Huang, who stayed behind, could lead his troops to defeat the enemy.

"General, look over there!"

At this moment, Xiahou Yuan suddenly screamed in surprise.

Cao Ren looked in the direction of his finger and saw a number of puppet army warships sailing down from the upper reaches of the Han River, their target clearly being the city of Xiangyang!
Upon seeing this scene, Cao Ren felt his eyes go dark and he almost couldn't stand. Only despair was left in his heart.

The city was easy to defend but difficult to attack because it was protected by city walls, but the flood allowed the puppet army to drive their ships directly to the city walls.

Now attacking the city will become extremely easy!
In addition, another group of puppet soldiers have disguised themselves as them and climbed onto the city wall. The situation in Xiangyang City has now become extremely bad!
"General, what should we do now?"

Xiahou Yuan was equally anxious. He knew how dangerous the situation in Xiangyang City was, but he didn't know what to do.

Cao Ren stared at Xiangyang City in the distance, his eyes changing repeatedly, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Let's retreat!"

It was only a matter of time before Xiangyang City was captured.

The defenders inside were also trapped.

They are doomed.

The only thing he could do now was to lead the troops to retreat and quickly pass this message back to stabilize the subsequent defense line.

They suffered heavy losses in this battle.

He thought he could rely on the Han River and Xiangyang City to hold off the enemy for months or even longer, but he didn't expect it to be lost in less than half a month.

After taking a final, deep look at Xiangyang City, Cao Ren turned and left.

……

At this time in Xiangyang City, the shouts and cries of killing shook the sky.

After the western city wall was breached, a large number of Han soldiers hiding in the warships of the Jingzhou navy climbed onto the city wall.

Before long, the remaining city walls were also captured one after another.

Although Xu Huang got rid of Zhao Yun's entanglement and fled into the city to mobilize troops for defense, the Han army's reinforcements had already arrived.

A steady stream of Han troops jumped from the tower ships onto the city walls and rushed into the city, fighting with the defenders inside.

Now the city of Xiangyang is surrounded by floods that have not yet subsided. The defenders in the city have nowhere to escape and can only fight desperately under the leadership of Xu Huang.

However, as more and more Han troops entered the city, the situation of the defenders in the city became increasingly unfavorable. After holding out for several hours, they finally could not hold on any longer and chose to lay down their arms and surrender.

The defending general Xu Huang was captured alive by Zhao Yun.

Xiangyang City, on the west wall.

Zhao Yun brought Xu Huang to him and clasped his fists towards Zhuge Liang, saying, "Military Advisor, Xiangyang City has been captured and the enemy general has been captured alive. Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission!"

Although he had just experienced a great battle, Zhao Yun was in excellent condition. He did not show any sign of fatigue and spoke with full energy.

Zhuge Liang waved his feather fan and smiled to his attendants, "Zilong's bravery is second to none except Lord Wen."

Zhou Yu was also surprised when he saw Xu Huang tied up. Xu Huang was a famous general under Cao Cao, but he was captured alive. The court was indeed full of powerful generals.

Although Xu Huang was tied up, he still refused to admit defeat and shouted, "You are a bunch of shameless traitors! You used such despicable means to seize the city. You are no different from the rats of Jiangdong!"

"Kill me if you want, but don't humiliate me!"

These words made Zhou Yu's face darken immediately. He tightened the blade at his waist and had the urge to step forward and kill the guy with a sword.

Lu Bu went up and slapped Xu Huang in the face, glaring and scolding him: "I've given you the face? How dare a defeated general shout at you?"

"Of course I will kill you, but I have to take you to see His Majesty first and wait for His Majesty's decision!"

"Someone, cover his mouth and take him away to keep him under guard!"

After Lu Bu gave the order, his left and right men stepped forward to cover Xu Huang's mouth and then took him away.

Then he looked at Zhuge Liang and couldn't help complaining, "Zilong got all the glory of capturing Xiangyang City this time, and I didn't make any contribution. Does the military advisor have any opinion about me? Otherwise, why didn't he let me take action?"

He didn't even make a move and Xiangyang City was captured, and he had no chance to show his power at all.

This is Your Majesty leading the army in person.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

He still wanted to perform well.

Zhuge Liang laughed and said, "Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? It's just a small city of Xiangyang. You don't need to take action. You will have the opportunity to take action when you attack Cao Cao next time."

"Besides, Lord Wen is now ranked on the third level of Lingyun Pavilion and is deeply trusted by His Majesty. These achievements are of little significance to Lord Wen, so let's give them to General Zilong."

Lu Bu has always been soft-hearted and would not tolerate tough situations. After hearing what Zhuge Liang said, he thought it made sense and his mood improved.

"The military advisor's ability is indeed impressive, much better than Sima Zhongda. Even Gongtai is not as good as him, as he can only talk nonsense."

Lu Bu praised with a smile, "If someone respects me one foot, I will respect him with a fight." This is one of Lu Bu's life creeds.

But at this moment a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Mr. Wen is right. My limited ability is certainly not comparable to that of Minister Zhuge."

Lu Bu's smile froze on his face. He slowly turned around, looked at the person behind him, and laughed dryly: "Gongtai, when did you come here?"

Chen Gong looked at him coldly and said expressionlessly, "Your Majesty sent me to inquire about the battle situation. I didn't expect to hear about the battle situation, but heard Duke Wen's evaluation of me."

"It seems that I talk too much on weekdays, which makes Lord Wen impatient. I will go to ask His Majesty to transfer me out of Bingzhou Army later."

At this time, Lu Bu's toes were almost digging through his boots. Hearing this, he quickly stepped forward and said with a smile: "I was just talking nonsense just now, Gongtai, please don't take it to heart."

"In my heart, your ability is no less than that of a military advisor."

Chen Gong sneered, "It turns out that I am only as good as the military advisor in Lord Wen's heart. In reality, I am still inferior to the military advisor. I understand Lord Wen's meaning. He still despises my lack of talent."

Lu Bu was dumbfounded, and quickly explained: "No, I didn't mean that, don't talk nonsense..."

Chen Gong no longer paid attention to Lu Bu and asked Zhuge Liang, "Military Advisor, what is the current situation of the battle?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Xiangyang City has been breached. The flood will subside in a few hours. Your Majesty can take a ship to Xiangyang City to rest for a while."

"Wait until the flood recedes, and then I will send troops to search for the Jingzhou navy."

Chen Gong nodded, then ignored Lu Bu who kept pulling at his sleeve in an attempt to argue, and sailed back to report.

"Gongtai, Gongtai, Gongtai!"

"Don't leave!"

Lu Bu stood on the city wall, watching the ships go away and kept shouting.

Seeing this, Zhuge Liang burst into laughter, and walked down the city wall with everyone else and entered the city.

……

Changsha, the prefectural government.

In the study, Cao Cao was reading the battle report sent back from the front line, with deep dark circles under his eyes.

When the war broke out, the things that needed to be dealt with doubled; the intelligence coming from the front lines about the worsening situation kept him awake at night and he suffered from insomnia.

"The imperial court has already begun to attack Yangzhou. With war going on three fronts, the situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable."

Cao Cao sighed and rubbed his aching brow.

At the same time, fighting on three fronts put a lot of pressure on him. The capital in his hands was not as strong as that of the imperial court, and even with the support of major families, he could only support it with difficulty.

Fortunately, the defense line of Jingzhou has been set up, and it is not easy for the imperial army to attack at once, so he has time to take Yizhou.

As long as Yizhou takes over, his pressure will be relieved a lot. Then he can attack or defend, or at worst retreat to Yizhou.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao felt a little relieved.

"My lord, you haven't slept for a whole day and night. You should take a rest first and don't hurt yourself."

Xu Chu on the side couldn't help but say that he couldn't bear to watch Cao Cao go on like this without a rest.

"I'm not sleepy. Give me another bowl of strong tea."

Cao Cao shook his head and said that although he was extremely tired physically, he still couldn't fall asleep, especially since it was still daytime.

Xu Chu hesitated for a moment, then sighed and accepted the order.

Just as he was about to leave, Cheng Yu suddenly ran into the study, his face full of anxiety.

"My lord, this is bad! The false emperor's army, they, they have already breached Xiangyang City!"

Hearing these words, Cao Cao was instantly horrified.

The brush in his hand also fell to the ground.

Cao Cao's sleepiness disappeared immediately because of these words. He immediately perked up and stared at Cheng Yu and asked word by word: "What did you say?!"

Cheng Yu's face was filled with heavy expression. He said, "Just now, General Cao Ren sent a message back, saying that the puppet army defeated the Jingzhou navy with a water attack strategy. All the warships were destroyed, and only tens of thousands of soldiers escaped under the leadership of General Cao Ren."

"General Xiahou Shang and the 10,000 troops ambushed on both sides of the Han River were drowned by the flood, and their lives are unknown. Xiangyang City was captured by the puppet army a few days ago, and the situation of General Xu Huang is unknown, but I am afraid..."

Cheng Yu didn't say anything else, but everything was implied.

The city was breached, and the defending general would either die in battle or be captured. What other outcomes could there be?
After hearing Cheng Yu's words, Cao Cao stood there in shock for a long time.

There was only one thought left in my mind.

Xiangyang City... was broken.

A moment later, Cao Cao fell straight down.

"My lord! My lord!"

Cheng Yu and Xu Chu were shocked upon seeing this, and hurried over to support him, while calling for people to come and help.

(End of this chapter)