"Brother, Shen Qian is reporting back. Our troops have been training relentlessly recently and are ready to fight at any time as soon as brother gives the order."
At the old residence of the Shen family in Xicheng, Shen Yi reported the situation there to Shen Dan, who was writing a letter.
Shen Dan kept writing and nodded: "When I finish writing three letters, I will send them to Chengdu, Wei Yan in Hanzhong, and Mengda in Fangling."
It was understandable that Shen Yi sent a letter to Mengda, telling him to raise troops to attack Shangyong, but why did he still send letters to Chengdu and Hanzhong?
Shen Yi asked the doubts in her heart, and Shen Dan said with a smile: "Although that fellow Liu Feng took advantage of you and me, he also did a good thing. Before we started to attack, he took action first. That's right. Report to Hanzhong and Chengdu.
"It is said that he was dissatisfied with the rewards given to Jingzhou after the war and relied on force to ask for money, food and goods from us. We already obeyed him, but he was still greedy and refused to obey, so he went to war rashly, attacked his colleagues, and occupied the upper reaches.
"In this way, the following offenders want to eliminate the Shen family to enrich themselves, and support the troops to occupy the city to respect themselves. How is it different from rebellion and rebellion? Wei Yan will send troops when he sees this.
"If the King of Wei has sent troops by then, we can help him eat the Hanzhong reinforcements. Without any defense, his troops will be defeated. If we can help Cao Wei regain Hanzhong, it will be a great achievement for you and me!"
"If Cao's army doesn't come, I will insist that Liu Feng is causing trouble. If I cooperate with Meng Da's words, I will definitely be able to trick reinforcements into joining me in attacking Liu Feng. I will make my own plans later..."
The more Shen Yi listened, the more excited she became. She clapped her thigh and said, "Wonderful, wonderful! Brother, this is a great plan. Whether Cao's army comes or not this time, our Shen family can all reap the benefits."
…
Those who sent messages to the rear boarded the ship from the west of the city, while those who sent messages to Fangling were discovered by the shadow guards who were following them.
"Huh? Isn't that a member of the Shen family?"
He saw this man walking in a hurry, his eyes occasionally looking around, and his hands touching his waist from time to time. His behavior was quite strange.
The shadow guard rolled his eyes and quietly walked around to the front.
The messenger from the Shen family was rushing to the east dock of the city when a black figure suddenly jumped out from around the corner and collided with the unsuspecting man.
"Ouch!"
The Shen family felt like they had hit a wall and sat down on the ground.
He looked up and saw a tall, gentle-looking man in front of him nervously stretching out his hand: "Are you okay, Shiba?"
"Don't you have eyes like this?"
The stupid man quickly helped him up, patted the dirt on his body, clasped his fists and bowed, apologetically saying: "My wife is about to give birth, and she was in a hurry. Don't blame me."
The Shen family snorted coldly: "Huh! If I hadn't had something important to do, I wouldn't have had a break with you today!"
In his desperation, he never thought that he was also a private soldier of the Shen family. How could he be knocked over by an ordinary man, but the other person didn't move at all...
After saying that, he touched his waist and felt nothing strange. He flicked his sleeves and left angrily.
The stupid man straightened up and ran in the other direction with an anxious look on his face, as if his wife was really about to give birth.
He ran all the way to the market, looking around, and finally stopped in front of a stall set up by a merchant.
After a few words with the vendor about the price, and taking advantage of the opportunity to buy something, the stupid guy handed over a bag of tips.
The Nashen family never dreamed that the brocade bag around their waists had turned into tattered linen cloth full of sweat stench.
Of course, the stupid guy never expected that his shameless experience in following the prince would come in handy one day.
It’s been a long time since I returned to my old business, and my skills don’t seem to be unfamiliar. After all, I used to make a living with this skill...
Not long after, the kit arrived in Shen Zhong's hands. After opening it, it contained several pieces of cloth with writing on it.
"Eh!" Shen Zhong sighed in annoyance after reading the letter.
The letter stated that Liu Feng had taken the lead and took advantage of Shangyong, and informed Meng Da to raise troops to attack together.
He also told Cao Jun whether he was coming or not, and what countermeasures he wanted to take.
Shen Zhong really didn't expect that Liu Feng would take action as soon as he stepped forward.
No wonder that when he arrived in Xicheng, he found that the Shen brothers were also here. It turned out that they wanted to mobilize private soldiers to prepare for war.
He also blamed himself at this time. Since he knew that Liu Feng was impulsive and reckless, he should probably think of a more secure way to deal with it instead of letting Liu Feng take the lead.
But the matter has come to this, and it is useless to regret. It is better to make amends before it is too late.
"Hurry, the prince should have arrived in Hanzhong, maybe on the way here. Report this to the prince quickly!"
"yes!"
…
After Shen Dan sent several letters, he prepared for one day, and the next day he and Shen Yi led the private troops to Shangyong.
Since they started this battle, they must win. Not only did they recruit 3,000 private soldiers, but they also summoned 2,000 strong civilians to accompany them.
This is not difficult for the Shen family, which owns thousands of houses.
Those families all depend on the Shen family for their livelihood, and they dare not disobey them.
The Shen family's army marched to Shangyong, and continued to gather local warriors in the counties and villages in the mountains along the way.
By the time the army landed south of Shangyong City, there were nearly 10,000 people.
Shangyong City faces the river to the south. Shen Dan led his army to block the north, west and east gates, but they were not close to fighting yet.
"I am Shen Dan, the general who conquered the north! Where is the rebel general Liu Feng? Come forward and answer!" Shen Dan shouted loudly while riding a short horse under Shangyong City.
Liu Feng, who was standing at the top of the city, was furious: "Bah! You are a treacherous villain who secretly communicated with Cao Wei and wanted to seek glory from your master! If you don't kill yourself now to apologize, why do you have the face to come here to see me!"
"Haha, you just asked for money over and over again, but you dare to commit the crime below and lead the army to cause chaos! You are so shameless and rebel against us. Now that my army has arrived, if you don't open the city to lay down the law, when will we wait?"
Of course, the two of them didn't expect that with just a few words before the battle, they could convince the other party to surrender.
The reason why we still talk trash to each other is to occupy the so-called righteousness and put ourselves on the moral high ground to boost morale.
Even if you are really a villain, you still have to find some fig leaf, otherwise your soldiers will be discouraged before they can be beaten.
This point is extremely important, even in later generations. Stealing oil cannot be directly said to be stealing oil, but to fight for freedom for the local oppressed people. This is in line with justice.
Shen Dan then set up camp near Shangyong and ordered the army to rest temporarily while the people cut down the trees and made simple siege equipment.
As soon as Meng Da's army comes to join forces, they will attack Shangyong!
"General! Shendan's army has set up camp outside the city and is ordering people to go into the mountains to cut trees."
When the troops came to the city, Liu Baoyou said very calmly: "The city defense will be carried out according to my previous arrangements. There is enough food and grass in the city, so it is not necessary for him to attack for several months. He reserved manpower and kept an eye on the officials and people in the city."
"If anyone dares to approach the city gate, baggage and grain storage and other important military locations without permission, and refuses to comply, he will be shot to death!"
"yes!"
With the previous lessons, Liu Feng now maintains strong vigilance against all locals.
Within three days, he killed five sneaky people in succession and left them dead on the street, finally frightening Shangyong City.
The city defense was not allowed to have any more loopholes, giving the Shen family an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Although Liu Feng was annoyed by his recklessness and wanted to show off but was self-defeating, he was not too worried to say that he was worried.
The ordinary civilians recruited by the Shen family have no armor and are purely disposable consumables that consume the defenders' physical strength during the siege.
There are only three thousand people who can really be considered an army.
Even if Shangyong City is not tall and strong enough, trying to storm the city with the same number of people as the defenders is tantamount to wishful thinking.
Even if Meng Da led his army to help, the total number of soldiers would only be 7,000.
The "super plan" food and grass given by the Shen family was of great use at this time. All he had to do was hold on to it and wait for the prince to resolve the crisis.
However, the house leaked and it rained continuously all night. The scouts he had sent before returned on a raft and quietly returned to the city from the south gate.
"General, many ships can be seen coming one after another on the river outside the north of the county! The flags on the ships are definitely not ordinary civilian ships and caravans. Although I haven't seen the flags clearly yet, I guess it is the arrival of Cao Wei's troops!"
Liu Feng's face darkened: "Probe again and report again!"
"yes!"
…
On the Mian River, a military commander stood on the boat.
This man was in his thirties, tall and handsome, with an upright posture. He was the commander-in-chief of Cao's army this time - Xia Houshang (also known as Boren).
He is a veritable "second generation". Although he has not taken charge of the army himself before, like Cao Rui, he is often taken by Cao Cao to observe marching and fighting on the spot. He is not a idiot who knows nothing about fighting.
He had a close friendship with Cao Pi and was one of the princelings who was highly regarded by Cao Pi.
He was determined to win this battle.
"Ayue, please wait patiently. After I defeat you, I will go back to see you immediately."
(End of chapter)
