Chapter 2007: The Fall of Jiangling
"Mr. Qin Hui can abandon the darkness and turn to the light. It is so comforting for the lonely heart."
Liu Ji grabbed Qin Hui's hand and said enthusiastically.
Liu Ji was very happy about Qin Hui's surrender, not for anything else but because of Qin Hui's identity.
You know, Qin Hui is a disciple of the Qin family, but now he has abandoned his family and taken refuge in himself. Doesn't this further prove that Qin Hao is unpopular and he is the master of destiny.
Just when Liu Ji was immersed in his own imagination, Liu Xiu suddenly discovered that a huge fire broke out in Jiangling City.
"This fire is also your masterpiece, sir?" Liu Xiu asked with a smile.
However, Qin Hui's expression changed drastically and he exclaimed: "No, Meng Gong is going to set fire to the grain. That's where the granary is."
"What?"
Before Liu Xiu could react, Liu Ji woke up and screamed.
The cost of transporting grain from Yizhou was too high, and Jingnan was unlikely to be responsible for the coalition's grain and grass. After all, it was the Shu army that conquered Jingbei. It was already interesting enough for the Chu army to provide manpower, but asking others to provide grain would be a bit greedy.
Liu Ji originally thought that after taking Jiangling, he would rely on the captured grain and grass to tide over the difficulties, but now Meng Gong actually wanted to burn it, which naturally hit Liu Ji's heart.
"My Lord, there are still one million stones of grain and grass in the Jiangling Grain Depot. It seems that the fire will not be burned out in a short time. If we quickly send people to put out the fire now, we may be able to salvage some of it. If it is too late, it will be too late. "Qin Hui urged with an anxious look.
"well."
Liu Ji quickly agreed, and immediately led his troops into the city to put out the fire and save the food and grass in the city that had not yet burned.
On the other side, after Meng Gong finished burning the food, he saw Zhang Xian sending messengers.
After learning Zhang Xian's true words, Meng Gong's face was full of sadness. He knew that Zhang Xian had already decided to die. After taking a deep breath, he said in a deep voice: "General Zhang Xian, Meng Gong must go back alive. , tell Governor Yue Fei what you said."
Zhang Xian asked Meng Gong to pass a message for him, not only to kill Qin Hui, but also to persuade Meng Gong to turn back, not to make unnecessary sacrifices, but to lead the remaining troops to break out.
Just as Zhang Xian had thought, Meng Gong was originally prepared to fight to the death. After understanding Zhang Xian's painstaking efforts, Meng Gong gave up his plan to fight to the death. After all, such a sacrifice was meaningless.
"Send the order and prepare to break out." Meng Gong ordered.
"But general, where should we break out?"
Huo Jun's question was on point. After all, there were more than 100,000 coalition troops outside the city. Leaving the city was tantamount to asking for death.
Meng Gong fell into deep thought, but Han Shizhong's eyes flashed with light, and he quickly said: "Break through to the west.
The number of enemy troops is the largest in the north, and the south gate has been breached by the enemy, so there are only two gates to choose from, the east and west gates.
There is a road back to Xiangyang in the east, and the enemy will definitely be on tight guard. But the west can only lead to Jiangxia, and that is Liu Xiu's territory. The enemy will definitely not expect that our army will go west.
Therefore, we can use the method of claiming to the east and attacking in the west to make the enemy think that our army is breaking out to the east, but in fact it is heading west, leaving it to death and surviving. "
"But how can our army return to Xiangyang after breaking through to the west?" Huo Jun asked in confusion.
"We can take the water route to Zhangling County and return to Xiangyang early."
"Snapped……"
Meng Gong's eyes suddenly lit up, he clapped his hands hard and said, "What a great idea, let's do it this way, General Han Shizhong."
"promise."
squeak……
With a loud noise, the east gate of Jiangling, which had been closed for two months, was opened wide by the Qin army. However, the coalition forces outside the city did not take this opportunity to rush out. Instead, they quickly mobilized their troops toward the east gate, as if they were ready. look like.
As expected by Han Shizhong, the Shu-Chu coalition thought that the Qin army was going to break out eastward, so they sent more troops to the east.
The reason why we did not take this opportunity to directly enter the city is because to capture Jiangling, we only need to break one gate. Now that the south gate has been broken, Jiangling's fall is a foregone conclusion. The next thing to consider is not to break the city, but to break the city. It is to resist the Qin army's dying counterattack to minimize casualties.
Although the east gate gate has been opened, no Qin army has come out. However, there are shadows of people moving around the city and there are constant noises. It should be that the Qin army is gathering towards the east gate and will attack them in one fell swoop after the assembly is completed.
Just when the Shu-Chu coalition thought that the Qin army was going to break through at the east gate, generals such as Meng Gong, Han Shizhong, and Huo Jun had led four thousand defenders to gather at the west gate.
"Breakout."
Meng Gong raised his sword high and let out a roar of thunder, while the four thousand soldiers behind him also roared.
Naturally, there were enemy troops outside the west gate, but the number was not too large. In addition, they thought that the Qin army would break through from the east gate, so there was not much preparation at all.
The roar of the Qin army startled the enemy troops outside the city. Before they had time to react, Meng Gong, Han Shizhong, Huo Jun and other generals led four thousand soldiers and rushed out from the west gate.
The unsuspecting enemy army was thrown into chaos under the vigorous charge of the Qin army.
If the Qin army were to increase their strength, they would definitely be able to defeat them in one fell swoop, but breaking out is the most important thing now.
Meng Gong was not reluctant to fight. After successfully fighting his way out, he led the remaining three thousand soldiers and fled westward.
Seeing this, the generals of the Shu army quickly sent people to report to Liu Ji. However, because Liu Ji went into the city to put out the fire and could not find Liu Ji himself, the others were unable to make a decision and missed the best opportunity to pursue.
In Jiangling City, looking at the granary that had been completely set alight, Liu Ji was about to cry without tears. He gritted his teeth and said, "Meng Gong, if I don't crush you to ashes, it will be difficult for me to eliminate the hatred in my heart."
This was not tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass, but millions of stones of grain and grass. Just being burned by Meng Gong made Liu Ji's heart bleed.
"My Lord, General Fan Kuai has captured Qin General Zhang Xian alive."
Hearing this, Liu Ji's eyes flashed with joy.
If Zhang Xian hadn't fought to the death and delayed his efforts to put out the fire, he might have been able to save hundreds of thousands of stones.
Therefore, Zhang Xian also had part of the credit for millions of stones of grain and grass being burned.
"Bring Zhang Xian to me quickly." Liu Ji said bitterly.
"promise."
Unlike Qin Hui who was greedy for life and afraid of death, Zhang Xian fought until the last moment and was still fighting to the death even after Meng Gong left the city.
Zhang Xian killed more than a hundred Shu troops, including two Zhonglang generals, one side general, and three captains. However, he attracted the Shu army general Fan Kuai, and was ultimately defeated. He was shot down from his horse and captured alive.
Looking at Zhang Xian being rolled into a rice dumpling, Liu Ji had not spoken yet, but Qin Hui said first: "Zhang Xian, are you willing to surrender?"
"Bah, bah."
Zhang Xian spat out two mouthfuls of blood and spat in Liu Ji and Qin Hui's faces.
"Qin Hui, you are a shameless villain who is greedy for life and afraid of death. Do you really think that I am the same as you? Kill him if you want. Why should I, Zhang Xian, be afraid of death?"
