Xiang Cun led his troops to the riverside and saw a general waiting in formation. He was dressed in fancy clothes and looked unruly.
Guessing that it was Gan Ning, he shouted: "Thieves Gan Ning, back then Liu Mu was kind enough to allow you to change your evil ways and return to the right side. Who would have thought that your traitorous nature is hard to change and you rebelled again? How can you have the dignity to come to Yizhou now?"
Gan Ning laughed and said: "Liu Yan died of illness, and there are still three sons, Liu Mao, to succeed him. When will it be his turn, Liu Zhang, to be the leader of Yizhou? What's more, the imperial court has already appointed him. If you stand on your own as the master, you are the thieves of the country."
Xiang Cun sneered and said: "If you bite a real thief, you will be deeply hurt. Japan will kill you today!"
"I'll kill you first!" Gan Ning was furious and slapped Cun on his horse.
The two fought for more than ten times before Gan Ning couldn't resist and fled towards the stronghold.
"The Jinfan thief is nothing more than that!" Xiang Cun couldn't help but be overjoyed to see Gan Ning's mediocre strength. This was a good opportunity to make a meritorious deed. He sent his troops to cover up the attack and rushed straight to the water stronghold.
Gan Ning led his troops to retreat into the stronghold, jumped on the big ship and turned around to fight. The navy hurriedly looked for arrows to resist, and became a mess.
Xiang Cun had just dismounted and was about to lead his troops to fight on board the ship. Suddenly there was a sound of war drums behind him. When he turned around hastily, he saw ambush soldiers coming out from left and right, cutting off the way.
"Get out, go!" Xiang Cun was shocked and quickly climbed back on his horse.
"Ge Laozi, you still want to leave?" Gan Ning jumped onto the shore with his sword, chopped down several panicked Shu soldiers, rushed in front of the horse, and cut off the front hooves.
The mount whined and fell to the ground, throwing Xiang Cun off. Before he could get up, Gan Ning was in front of him. The blade of the knife was less than a finger away from his face. He was so frightened that he lay on the ground and shouted for mercy.
"I won't kill anyone who surrenders!" Gan Ning stepped on Xiang Cun's chest, raised his knife and shouted.
The Shu army had no way to advance or retreat, and they were all in panic. Seeing that Xiang Cun was captured, they all threw away their weapons and knelt down.
Since the Jingzhou army entered Shu, Liu Qi had issued orders to disarm and not kill. Not only did he treat the prisoners well, but many officials who surrendered continued to serve.
Nowadays, there is a saying in Sichuan: Han people do not fight Han people!
Liu Qi's reputation as a benevolent and caring person has long been spread throughout the country. Not only did the Shu army surrender, many officials also took the initiative to defect, and the people were eagerly looking forward to it.
Xiang Cun was taken into the tent. Gan Ning raised his knife and asked, "Are you willing to surrender?"
Xiang Cun looked at the shining blade, thinking of Gan Ning's reputation of crossing the river and killing people like hemp, how dare he hesitate for a moment and nodded repeatedly.
Gan Ning chuckled and said, "You know how many soldiers and horses are coming to the city, and who is leading them?"
He told General Xiang Cun the truth, saying that he originally wanted to agree with Zhang Yi and persuade him to surrender, but Liu Wei was arrogant and forced him to send troops. He had military orders and had no choice but to do so.
Gan Ning said: "Since you are willing to surrender, but you have no intention of coming to fight, are you willing to help me capture the city?"
Xiang Cun asked: "I wonder what the general has to say?"
Gan Ning said: "I will let you go back to the city. You just say that you will be defeated and come back. At the fourth watch, raise a fire at the west gate as a signal, and cooperate with the inside and outside to break the city and capture Liu Wei. This will be a great achievement!"
Xiang Cun was secretly happy and said happily: "As sent by General Gan, I will go through fire and water, and I will not give up even if I die."
Gan Ning laughed and ordered people to get some wine to calm Xiang Cun's panic. He called Zhang Yi and agreed on a detailed signal for him to return to Wuyang among some of the remaining troops.
Zhang Yi pretended to be a fisherman and went to deliver fish to the camp. Su Fei didn't know about it and said, "Just now, I looked at Cun with a twinkling look. I'm afraid something might happen. Xing Ba must be careful."
Gan Ning laughed and said, "If this person understands the current situation, I will give him a great achievement. If he persists in his obsession, if he falls into my hands next time, there is no need to worry about killing him."
Su Fei frowned slightly. Although Liu Qi had given orders not to kill indiscriminately, it would be too reckless to let the enemy general go.
"Don't worry, regardless of whether Xiang Cun is willing to surrender or not, I have my own plan to break the city!" Gan Ning patted Su Fei on the shoulder and called Shamoke in to discuss it together.
Liu Quan harassed Zhang He's troops during the day, and returned to the city at nightfall. However, he waited for no news from Xiang Cun. In his impatience, the defenders reported Xiang Cun's return.
He came to the west gate with full expectations, but saw that he only brought more than 200 remaining soldiers. He knew that he had suffered another defeat, and he was determined not to let him enter the city. However, he had no one to use, so he ordered people to open the city gate.
When Xiang Cun entered the city, Liu Quan said coldly: "General Xiang, how is the battle going?"
Xiang Cun saw that Liu Suan's face was ugly, his face was burning as he remembered his heroic words before leaving, and he was worried about being punished by Liu Suan, so he said: "When I arrived at the water village, Gan Ning was already on guard and set up an ambush on the shore. It was me who fought to the death and defeated Gan Ning, and then I broke through the encirclement."
"How can the Jinfan thief learn the art of war without robbing money?" Liu Quan was greatly surprised. Seeing that all the defeated soldiers were dejected, he sighed: "It seems we still underestimate Gan Ning!"
Xiang Cun cupped his fists and said, "Gan Ning just relied on his large number of troops to make a sneak attack. It was because of my carelessness that he succeeded! This revenge must be avenged. If he dares to attack the city, he will be killed by the general."
Liu Quan was afraid that the morale of the army would be weakened, so he did not dare to scold the deserters. Instead, he comforted them and asked them to return to the camp to rest.
Xiang Cun felt guilty and took the initiative to offer advice: "Zhang He will surely underestimate the enemy after winning a battle. Why not go and rob the camp tonight?"
Seeing Zhang He's bravery and Gan Ning's preparedness, Liu Sui shook his head slightly: "Zhang He is a famous general in Hebei. He has been on the battlefield for a long time, so he must be prepared. It seems that I will have to take action in person tomorrow."
Xiang Cun immediately flattered him and said, "The general's martial arts are second to none in Shu. If you go out in person, you will definitely win!"
"No matter where you are, you need to know that there are mountains outside the mountains, and there are people above you. Don't be arrogant!" Liu Suan waved his hands gently, but a smile appeared on his face.
There had always been endless debates in the army about the abilities of him and Zhang Ren, and he had always been secretly competing with each other. He always felt that he lacked confidence. Xiang Cun's words just scratched the itch.
Xiang Cun took the opportunity to say: "Tonight, the last general will defend the city, and the general will recharge his batteries. Tomorrow, he will kill the enemy and strengthen the army's power!"
"Thank you, General!" Seeing that Xiang Cun worked hard without complaint, Liu Suan's anger subsided a lot, and he no longer held the blame for the defeat, and went back to the Yamen to rest.
Xiang Cun inspected the city, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Being stepped on by Gan Ning was really a shame and a great humiliation. It would be difficult to relieve the hatred in his heart without killing this man!
What's more, he is a member of a wealthy family in Sichuan. If he surrenders to water thieves like Gan Ning, not to mention what his tribe will think of him, he will also be ridiculed by his neighbors.
Suddenly an idea came to him, so he decided to use his plan to kill Gan Ning in order to avenge him and make a contribution at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.
Among the four famous generals in Yizhou, Deng Xian surrendered to the enemy, Lingbao was killed, and only Zhang Ren and Liu Sui were left. If he had made meritorious service by killing the enemy this time, wouldn't he be promoted to general?
Thinking of the excitement, he immediately replaced the west city defenders as his trusted followers, ordered the soldiers to prepare more arrows and fireworks, and ambush at the city head and the streets and alleys of the inner city gate.
After arranging everything, he returned to the camp, called the deserters, and ordered him to guard the west gate in half an hour.
As long as Gan Ning is lured into the city and allowed to fight with the Jingzhou army, he can take the opportunity to get rid of him, and no one will ever know about his capture.
Zhang Yi originally thought that Xiang Cun was going to open the city, so he followed the army to the west gate, but found many ambushes. He knew that the situation was not good, so he hid in an alley through urine and went straight to his home.
Gan Ning led his troops to the outside of Wuyang City. Su Fei was already here to monitor the movement, and everyone was ambushing in the woods.
As soon as they arrived at the fourth watch, they saw the lights of fire flickering on the city. Samoko was overjoyed and said: "That boy really surrendered sincerely. He knows what's going on."
He was about to lead the troops ahead, but Gan Ning held him back: "Don't move rashly, for fear that there is a scam in the city!"
Shamoko wondered: "The fire number is correct, why can't I see something is wrong?"
Gan Ning chuckled: "How stupid, there is murderous intent ahead!"
