At dusk that day, a large number of crows flew over Licheng from the north, making a croaking noise that shook the whole city, causing all the birds in the city to sing and fly in unison. The news that Zhu'a had been breached came immediately. The sergeants on the city wall, the people in the city, and the generals in the military tents all raised their heads in fear, looking at the group of black cloud-like crows with envy, watching them as if they were fleeing. Passed by Jishui and flew to the far north.
At this time, Cao Jun's forward cavalry had already arrived at the gate of Licheng.
Before reaching the city, Cao Cao ordered Yue Jin to lead more than a thousand light cavalry to seize the Yangtze River ferry. That night, Le Jin's cavalry arrived at the shore of Jishui at Jiulidu downstream of Licheng. In the dark night, you can vaguely see the opposite bank hundreds of feet away. The surging river flows silently eastward, and the north wind blows from the river, making people feel refreshed. Looking back at Daishan Mountain reaching into the sky in the south, people felt a sense of awe in their hearts.
People found that the boats were in chaos at the ferry, but no one was guarding them. When the Qi people who were originally guarding heard the news, they all abandoned their boats and fled into the city. The remaining ships, which were originally intended for escaping and crossing the river when necessary, were all handed over to the enemy.
Yue Jin's troops crossed the Jishui River at night. In order to bluff, everyone lit several torches; those crossing the river also lit countless bonfires on the north bank. After Cao Jun crossed the river, all the ships along Jishui were driven to the north bank. Cao Jun sent ships to patrol along the Jishui River and arrest pedestrians. The traffic between Licheng and the north bank was cut off.
That night, I don’t know whether Cao’s army looted and burned, or whether it was the fleeing Qi people or the fleeing people who lit the fire. Anyway, hundreds of houses in several villages on the south bank were on fire. The raging fire swept over the wooden arrow towers, and thirteen outer camps in the north of the city were burned down. The fire reflected in the night sky, and the sound of mourning spread throughout the city. This was destined to be a sleepless night, and it was just the beginning of the heavy suffering that Licheng was about to suffer.
Sui Gu, the guard general of Licheng, led his men to visit the arrow tower at the south gate of Licheng. From here, they could see a scene of intense purgatory in the north. Further north, you can see the dots of torches at Jiuli Ferry, extending to the south bank of Jishui, where the ant-like Cao Jun is crossing the river. In the distance, on the north bank of Jishui, countless bonfires were burning in the dark night. Their appearance was terrifying and despairing.
Suigu asked one of his subordinates: "Has the letter for help been sent to Hebei?" The man replied: "It has been sent several times, but the situation in Linzi is more urgent, so I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of it." Everyone heard this. Everything was silent. After years of fighting, the last thing they want to encounter is this situation: unable to protect themselves, and can only place their hopes on others, as if the years of fighting and fighting are just a futile struggle! Moreover, they still had the courage and hope to fight to the death. Now, if there is no reinforcements to help them, they may indeed have only one dead end.
Early the next morning, when Sui Gu observed the situation under the city again, he found that the city was surrounded by Cao's army. Cao's soldiers under the city have been divided into two teams. One team is digging trenches, and the other team is warning everyone in the city to attack. Cao's soldiers on the outside are cleaning up the ruins of the houses and ruins that were burned down last night. Many places are still facing dangers. Black smoke. Sui Gu noticed that one of the cavalrymen held a flag high and walked through the camp and around the city. When the soldiers around him saw it, they all gave way to it, which was very special. He guessed that it was Cao Cao's troops, and he was observing his city defense layout, looking for flaws in it. Thinking of this, Sui Gu couldn't help but think of Cao Cao's invincibility in recent years, and the pressure in his heart increased dramatically.
In the afternoon, the sky became increasingly gloomy, and light rain began to fall at 3:30 noon. The soldiers above and below the city were working in the rain. Cao Jun repeated his old trick and sent dozens of arrow letters into the city. They were all letters urging surrender, but they were divided into two types, one was written to Sui Gu and the other was written to the soldiers defending the city.
The first one was to tell Sui Gu that the overthrow of the puppet dynasty was only a matter of seconds, and it was really shameless for Sui Gu to still work for him. If Sui Gu had immediately tied himself up and opened the door when the imperial commander arrived, and went to the former general to beg for forgiveness, the former general might not have been able to give him a way to survive, but the king's commander had been there for more than a day, and he still didn't want to surrender. It is truly an unforgivable sin.
However, the former general cares about the common people. As long as Suigu imitates Zhu'a and sacrifices his head, the former general will not pursue the case again. Instead, he will disperse the people and let them survive like Zhu'a's story. If Sui Gu remains stubborn, the king will kill every woman, child, chicken, and dog in the city. Cao's army will gather the earth mountains tomorrow. Once the earth mountains are reduced, it will be regarded as Sui Gu's rejection. At that time, Cao's army will launch a general attack.
The second part was to the soldiers who were guarding the city: You people are so ignorant that you have forgotten the kindness of the imperial court and carried out such a treasonous act. This crime and this crime cannot be washed away even if you pour all the water from all over the world. You can only be beheaded. It's just right. But the former general cared about the sufferings of the people, knew that the people were stupid, and was bewitched by traitors, and he has come to this day. Therefore, he was willing to give them a way to survive, which was to immediately throw down their swords and armor, go naked to Cao Jun and surrender, and then the former general would place them all in the Yanzhou camp.
If someone is unwilling to be a slave and wants to make meritorious service, the former general will naturally be rewarded. Those who can get to the first level in the city will be punished and rewarded with a thousand coins. Those who can take the head of a noble official in the city will be given a title and be rewarded with one hundred thousand coins. Those who can take the head of Sui Gu can be made a school captain and be rewarded with one million coins. If the former general is so kind and kind, if everyone still persists in his stubbornness, the former general will kill them all, regardless of age or age.
Sui Gu finished reading both copies, sighed deeply, and threw them both on the table. Looking at the wet marks on the white silk, he didn't know how much of it was rain from the sky and how much was Sui Gu's. Cold sweat on palms.
In the evening, Cao Jun pulled the stone cart to the city and began to throw the heads into the city. This throwing continued for two hours, as if a rain of heads had fallen in Licheng for two hours. This scene was so gloomy. The fear is not only ten times greater than when Feng Gao was there? As a result, the lights in Licheng were brightly lit, and the children in the city were crying. No one could fall asleep in this scene. Some people who believe in Buddhism said: Could the man outside the city be the reincarnation of Asura?
But even so, the people in the city were not willing to surrender. After years of hard fighting, how many relatives died at the hands of the Han army. I have long lost count. I only know that every family is in a state of poverty and everyone is angry. So what if they survive? Since ancient times, everyone has to die. There are so many generous and unyielding people, and death is not a terrible thing.
But Sui Gu couldn't think like this. As a guard general, he led the people to survive, not to lead them to death. Under Cao Cao's successive attacks, he had completely lost confidence in defending the city. The only thing he could hope for was reinforcements from the north bank who didn't know when they would arrive. If they don't come, his persistence will only bring disaster to his rule.
He hesitated all night, but he was still confused and undecided. Even after washing with well water several times, he could not calm down. Fortunately, at this time, Cao Jun sounded the drums, which finally dispersed his hesitation.
Le Jin encountered some Yuan troops on the north bank of Jishui. The two sides confronted each other, and eventually a field battle broke out. There were only a few hundred Yuan troops, and they were backed by a swamp, making it difficult to escape. They were quickly captured by Le Jin, who had the advantage in military strength. . After interrogation, it was discovered that Yuan Jun had just received news that Licheng was under siege, so he sent these people to spy on the situation, but had no plans to rescue.
After learning that the Licheng defenders had asked Yuan Jun for help many times, Cao Cao had an idea. He beat the drums that morning and ordered his men to tie up these Yuan Jun soldiers and bring them to the city gate. He shouted into the city: "Yuan Shao is here." We are storming Yijing and sending people to rescue Linzi, but there is no one left. The general has even defeated Jimo, what hope do you have? And there are 40,000 reinforcements behind us. Think about it carefully. , If you don’t surrender, you will be the companion of the heads that entered the city last night!”
The defenders on the city were silent. In the afternoon, the city gate of Licheng slowly opened, and three knights filed out of the city gate, then dismounted. Each of them held a box of mail in his hand, bowed his head and knelt down, and walked towards Cao Jun's camp in the mud. When the officers and soldiers of Cao's army saw this, they all knew that the enemy army had surrendered in Kaicheng. They immediately raised their swords high and shouted long live the mountains. The shouts were like waves, sweeping back and forth, surrounding the silent city of Licheng, making it even more deserted.
The three of them knelt for an hour, their trousers and knees worn out, and bleeding all the way, before they finally knelt down outside Cao Cao's tent. Cao Cao was drinking with his subordinates at this time. When he learned that they had arrived, he smiled and said to everyone: "The bereaved dog has arrived." So he asked them to wait outside and asked Dian Wei to bring in three boxes of letters first.
After Dianwei moved in, he placed three boxes in the middle of the tent and opened them one by one for everyone to examine. The first box contained the head of Sui Gu with his eyes closed, and the second box contained the seal of the Jinan Prefect engraved by the puppet dynasty. The third box contains the folded Yellow Turban flag. After everyone saw it, they congratulated Cao Cao one after another.
"Shura Martial God"
Cao Cao smiled indifferently and nodded slightly to everyone. After it was quiet for a while, he gave the order to let the three people outside the door come in, intending to see who they were. But to everyone's surprise, as soon as the first person came in, Cao Cao's expression suddenly changed drastically, and he said loudly: "No need to look, just let him in alone."
Everyone was startled and turned their gazes over. They saw the man raised his head and said, "Cao Amo, there is no need to say anything more. I will commit suicide myself. I hope you will keep your promise and not involve other people." He said Then he took out a short knife from his chest and inserted it straight into his heart. All this was like lightning, and no one knew why. As soon as Cao Cao stood up, the man fell down.
Cao Cao quickly ran forward, knelt down on the muddy ground in front of the man, then tugged on the man's collar and hissed: "Old slave Zhang Qi! Since you dare to come, how can you die!", but that The man closed his eyes and moved the corners of his mouth. Blood continuously overflowed from his chest and dripped on the ground. His breath quickly dissipated.
It turns out that this person is Zhang Qi, a domestic slave who betrayed the Cao family. He originally defected to Guan Hai's family. It is said that he was promoted to a military rank due to his meritorious service, but he did not know why he appeared here.
Cao Cao pulled out the short sword from Zhang Qi's chest and tried to stab Zhang Qi again, but he failed after all. He stood up and issued a terrifying military order to his subordinates: "How can we not avenge the murder of our father? How can the evil people in this city survive? They all deserve to die!"
