Outside Chang'an City, inside the camp of Cao Zhangjun.
Thousands of soldiers, only wearing shorts and holding short knives in their mouths, lined up in the middle of the camp. These were carefully selected elite warriors with strong water resistance and close combat abilities.
Fortunately, it was midsummer now and they only wore shorts, so they didn't feel cold at all.
Cao Zhang walked slowly at the front of the team, looking at the soldiers in front of him, all of them had determined eyes, and they were all confident of victory.
Cao Zhang cleared his throat and began to lecture the soldiers: "Brothers, what you are performing now will be a very dangerous mission. You have to drill into the sewers of Chang'an through the river, sneak into the city, open the city gate, and give us other Soldiers fight for the chance to enter the city."
"To be honest, we don't know the situation in the river and whether Li Jue's army may have ambushes or traps in the city's sewers. Therefore, your trip is full of dangers, so please be careful!"
"As long as you can successfully open the city gate and let the army enter, it will be a great achievement in this battle and there will be a heavy reward!" Cao Zhang finally promised a heavy reward to the soldiers.
Cao Zhang turned to Yan Xing and Duan Xuan, who were standing in front of the team. The two of them had the best water skills among the generals, so the task of leading the army to dive into the city was given to them.
Cao Zhang waved his hand, and a soldier came forward with a tray and presented wine bowls to several people.
Cao Zhang picked up a bowl of wine and said sincerely: "General Zhongming (duan Xuan's nickname), general Yanming, I will use this glass of wine to help you make a strong trip. I hope your trip goes well and will be successful!"
Duan Xuan and Yan Xing raised their wine bowls and responded in unison: "You must live up to your trust!" Then they drank all the wine in the bowls.
Cao Zhang waved his hand: "Let's go!"
Duan Xuan and Yan Xing took five thousand soldiers and set off quickly under the cover of night. They got into different rivers and dived towards Chang'an City.
In the camp, Cao Zhang also began to assign tasks to other generals.
"Brother Meng Qi, you lead 10,000 soldiers and wait outside the south gate of Chang'an. Once the city gate opens, immediately lead your troops to seize the city gate, rush into the city, and go straight to the mansion of Commander Li Jue!" Cao Zhang first assigned Ma Chao a task.
"Here, I will bring Li Jue's dog head to see you!" Ma Chao accepted the task with confidence.
"Gongming, you also lead 10,000 soldiers and wait at the north gate of Chang'an. General Zhang Heng, you lead your troops at the west gate. General Liang Xing, you lead your troops at the east gate." Cao Zhang then assigned tasks to the three of them.
Xu Huang, Zhang Heng, and Liang Xing stepped forward to accept the order.
"Ma Shijun and Han Shijun, please take your own troops and horses to inspect the city. You must not let Li Jue and his party members go." Cao Zhang then assigned tasks to Ma Teng and Han Sui.
The two of them responded in unison: "Here!"
"Yuanzhi, Boyan, and Junlin, the three of you will lead five thousand soldiers and horses to defend the camp." Cao Zhang then assigned tasks to Xu Shu, Xiahou Shang, and Xiahou Ru.
Seeing that Cao Zhang never assigned a task to him, Xiahou Ba looked at him anxiously, but did not dare to say anything, so he could only keep winking at him.
"Zhong Quan!" Finally, Cao Zhang finished assigning tasks to everyone and called Xiahou Ba's name.
"The general is here!" Xiahou Ba stepped forward excitedly, waiting for Cao Zhang's instructions.
"Call three thousand soldiers and follow me. Once the four gates are opened, we will rush into the city together to meet Li Jue!" After all, Cao Zhang was closest to Xiahou Ba, so he left him with the task of making relative arrangements and possibly achieving great success.
Xiahou Ba was extremely excited and immediately accepted the order.
"Every general will act according to the order, but there is a strict order that you must abide by, that is, you must not rob the people or kill innocent people indiscriminately!" Cao Zhang emphasized military discipline to everyone.
Liang Xing showed some dissatisfaction and whispered to Zhang Heng beside him: "Go into the city to rob things and rob women. We have been doing this for many years, why can't we do it now!?"
"Because in the past, everyone was separatist, but now they are all officials of the imperial court. We are here to regain Chang'an and restore the peace of the people on behalf of the imperial court, so we must not use violence! If someone dares to disobey the order, I will never tolerate it and will definitely kill him!" "Cao Zhang emphasized his order again very sternly.
Seeing Cao Zhang's stern attitude, everyone did not dare to say anything more, and all responded in unison: "Yes!"
"Tonight we will break through Chang'an and kill Li Jue!" Cao Zhang finally stood up, raised his arms and shouted.
All the generals also raised their arms and shouted: "Kill Li Jue!"
…
In the gatehouse inside the east gate of Chang'an City.
Li Huan was lying on the bed, and Li Ying was spreading medicine on his beaten buttocks. Li Huan clenched his teeth and remained silent.
Li Ying sighed softly while spreading the medicine: "We were such close brothers, what happened?"
"Brother, the way he looked just now, did he still treat us as brothers?!" Li Huan finally spoke, but there was obvious resentment in his words.
"The 100,000 troops outside the city may come in at any time, but instead of trying to find a way for everyone to escape, he will only suppress them brutally and bloodyly. After Cao Zhang issued a heavy reward, you can't see how many soldiers are ready to move. Kill him?!"
"He thought that the Flying Bear Army was loyal to him. In fact, it was just me who discovered something strange in someone in the Flying Bear Army. I wanted to kill him to receive the reward, so I rushed over to save him. But what happened? He actually wanted to kill me!?" Li Huan became angrier as he spoke.
Li Ying thought of Li Jue's actions just now and had a look of helplessness on his face. He could only sigh softly, help Li Huan treat the wound, and signal that he could get up.
Li Huan sat up, looked at Li Ying anxiously and said: "Brother, at this time, do you still want to stick to the so-called morality and continue to follow him and follow him to death?!"
Li Ying looked at Li Huan helplessly: "Brother Huan, do you want to..."
"You have also heard the huge reward Cao Zhang offered. If we don't move, others will naturally want to touch him. Why should we give up this good opportunity?!"
"What's more, based on our relationship with him, if the city is destroyed, we will definitely die. But if we kidnap him and surrender, not only will we have a chance of survival, but we can also get rewards, so why not?" Li Huan persuaded. With Li Ying.
Li Ying was a little moved when he heard this, but he hesitated and did not respond immediately.
"Brother, don't hesitate any more. He was the one who was unkind to us first. We can't blame us for being unjust. Otherwise, we might not wait until Cao Zhang's army enters the city, and we will be killed by those soldiers who are eager to collect rewards!" Li Huan continued He persuaded Li Ying.
Li Ying was finally moved by what Li Huan said: "But now he is guarded by the Flying Bear Army. He also gave the order just now. No one is allowed to approach. Where do we have the chance to attack?"
Li Huan smiled: "Do you think the Flying Bear Army is really willing to accompany him to death?! As long as you are willing to work with me, dealing with those Flying Bear Army will not be a problem at all!"
Seeing that Li Huan was so confident, Li Ying finally made up his mind: "Okay, our son died because of him anyway, so there is no need for us to die with him. Go ahead and do it!"
