Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 343: Being Beaten Again
In June of the sixth year of Jian'an, the Bufengwei in Hanoi discovered Qu Yi's movements, and reported them to their superiors step by step, gradually passing the news upward.
However, without the "radio wave" communication being activated , the message would not be delivered quickly within the "enemy country" range...
After all, each hidden line should be connected in a single line as much as possible, and the issue of hiding the identity must also be considered.
In Jiangxia County of Jingzhou, under the leadership of Liu Qi, the "supernova" who emerged last year, Wuchang is on the verge of crumbling.
Wuchang at this time was the former Echeng. Its outer city wall was forcibly destroyed by Sun Ce and Zhou Yu using the Baigong Cannon, so the city defense was greatly reduced. Liu Qi was even a little indignant - if the other party had not transported a kind of magical soil to quickly rebuild and reinforce the city wall, he would have already broken through Wuchang last year and captured those Little Overlords and Beautiful Zhou Lang!
That’s right, it was because of the use of cement that the city wall of Wuchang was quickly restored, which allowed Sun Ce and Zhou Yu to “linger on”.
Even so, under the fierce attack of the Jingzhou army, the Jiangdong army had already been defeated. Although Wuchang was still holding on, even Qichun downstream had been captured by Liu Qi.
Wuchang is about to be isolated and helpless!
Therefore, not only was the morale of the people in the city low, but even the commander was upset. During a siege, the section Huang Gai was in charge of was quickly climbed by the enemy due to a command error. Although they were quickly driven down, they also caused considerable losses...
Liu Qi didn't pay attention to this scene at first, but three days later, a messenger named Huang Gai in disguise came to pay a visit to Liu Qi!
"You said you were Huang Gai's personal soldier? If so, why did you come to see me? Are you going to betray your master and surrender?" Liu Qi was so happy in his heart, but his face showed an upright look.
"That's not the case! Commander Liu, please listen to my explanation... I didn't betray my master, but Zhou Yu bullied my general too much, and the general's mansion has always been perverse. In order to find the overseas elixir, even my general's only son was sent overseas, and his life and death are unknown...
"Before, Commander Liu and General Wen were so powerful that the Jiangdong army could not stop them. It was not the fault of the war. However, that kid Zhou Yu took his anger out on my general. Thirty military sticks may only cause minor injuries, but my general is over fifty years old. How can he be humiliated like this? That's why he ordered me to come here. My general is willing to give up the dark and join the light!"
This personal soldier vividly recounted how wronged Huang Gai was, how despicable Zhou Yu was, and also... accused Sun Ce of being depressed and lazy in fighting because of his previous defeat at the hands of Wen Pin, and not saying a word even when his father's old subordinates were humiliated.
Upon hearing this, Liu Qi immediately helped the soldier up with a look of pity on his face, and said emotionally: "Alas, we are too late... General Huang has suffered! Go back and tell General Huang that the gate of Jingzhou Prefecture is always open to those who know the times, just be careful to hide yourself."
"General Liu, Wuchang is now heavily guarded. I was able to get out because I have a younger brother who looks 70% like me... If I go back, I'm afraid I'll be discovered. My general said so. If General Liu trusts me, three days later at midnight, as long as General Liu sets fire to the east gate to attack the city, my general will open the west gate to welcome the king's army even if it costs his life!"
Liu Qi's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he seemed to have thought of something. He squinted his eyes slightly and said, "Okay, I understand General Huang's intention... Come on, take him to rest first."
The personal soldier wanted to ask more questions, but Liu Qi did not answer. He wanted to maintain the mystery at this time - anyway, the choice was in his hands, and the personal soldier would not go back at all.
"Zhongye, what do you think?" Liu Qi and Wen Pin discussed it.
Wen Pin is of similar age to Liu Qi, and indeed many of the recent strategic arrangements were proposed by Wen Pin.
Of course, the main reason is Liu Qi’s good leadership!
"You can give it a try, but it might be a fraud." Wen Pin said cautiously.
"That's right...but we really can't miss this opportunity. I think we should focus on the east gate!" Liu Qi said with some pride.
That’s right, this is the “foolproof plan” he thought of.
Didn't Huang Gai mean to have them pretend to attack the east gate at night as a signal, and then he would open the west gate to welcome them?
In this case, Liu Qi cleverly thought that he could do the opposite and send a normal signal to Huang Gai, but... he would aim at attacking the east gate!
As for the West Gate... just arrange some feint attacks and make a show of it. Anyway, when the West Gate causes chaos, Huang Gai will definitely attract most of the attention in the city.
If Huang Gai's surrender was fake, the ambush should be at the west gate, and Liu Qi's fierce attack on the east gate would at least not fall into the trap. And if Huang Gai's surrender was real, the attack on the east gate would be slightly weaker by then, and the defenders would definitely be lured to the west gate, and the same would happen if Liu Qi broke through the east gate later!
As for if Huang Gai really surrenders, will there be any danger?
Does this matter?
That night, Liu Qi pretended to launch a night attack and launched an attack on the east gate. In order to avoid discovering the location of the main force, only the soldiers in the front held torches.
As Liu Qi expected, the enemy's resistance was tenacious at first, but soon weakened.
Soon, scouts came to report that there was indeed chaos at the west gate!
At this time, Liu Qi's small army also pretended to support Huang Gai and attack the west gate. The momentum was as great as it could be, but... it was just a lot of noise but little rain!
After enduring for two moments, Liu Qi felt that a lot of the defenders had been moved away, so he launched a fierce attack.
The enemy troops on the east city wall were quickly defeated, and after occupying most of the wall, the battering rams easily broke open the city gate without any harassment.
Liu Qi led his men directly into the city...
However, at this moment, there was a sudden bright light all around, and Sun Ce was already standing in the middle of the road behind the gate of the city, leading his troops to look at Liu Qi who had broken in through the gate!
Liu Qi's heart skipped a beat, thinking he had fallen into a trap. He was so nervous that he didn't even shout "All troops retreat quickly"...
But after just a short moment of hesitation, Liu Qi discovered... there seemed to be no ambush?
There's no kerosene around, and...if we want to ambush him, we should wait until he enters completely, and then set fire from all directions, or set up an ambush, right?
Isn't this the case that the city gates have been opened and the street fighting has begun?
“Gongjin’s guess is right. You are such an arrogant and cunning boy... You will not miss the honor of entering the city! Tsk tsk tsk tsk…” Sun Ce licked the anchor in his hand with a hungry look on his face.
Sun Ce has been so depressed lately that even when he was fighting with Wen Pin, he pretended to be defeated and retreated - in order to make the performance more vivid, he even pretended to be a draw. When the surrounding situation became unfavorable to the Jiangdong navy, he pretended to be distracted and defeated!
"Prince, be careful!" Upon seeing this, Wen Pin hurried forward to protect Liu Qi.
Wen Pin had already tried to persuade them when they were entering the city.
However, Liu Qi's impassioned speech blocked his request. Wen Pin knew that Liu Qi didn't want to let go of this achievement, so he didn't dare to persuade him any further...
