Plan to cut off the nine states

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Xu Chu formulated a complex set of plans to deal with various possible accidents, and the results went smoothly beyond imagination.

He only brought more than thirty people with him. First, in the name of Guan Changling, he called in the remaining generals and commanded them to put down their weapons and surrender.

Seeing that the old general had fallen into the enemy's hands, none of the officers who entered the tent resisted. They obediently took off their swords and placed them on the ground. The only request was to treat the old general well.

Xu Chu personally untied the cloth from Guan Changling's mouth, held up his hands and apologized, and said to more than a dozen generals: "Everyone knows that Tiancheng will die. You should find your own way out to avoid disaster. I won't I force you to surrender and tell all the soldiers in the battalion that weapons, armor and horses cannot be taken away. You can stay or leave as you please. "

The officers and soldiers were no better than the rebels. Orders and prohibitions were all controlled by the generals at all levels. If the officers surrendered, the soldiers would never resist. Xu Chu escorted Guan Changling and walked around with the generals to announce his intentions. The soldiers put down their weapons and took off their armor one after another. Most left the camp, leaving very few behind.

After all, the Tiancheng Dynasty is still there, and its demise is obvious to some people, but others still maintain the habit of loyalty.

The men brought by Xu Chu lowered the flags of the officers and soldiers and replaced them with the flags of the Wu army that had been prepared in advance.

Shortly after dawn, a group of Wu soldiers arrived. They originally stayed in the camp outside the city. When encountering a sneak attack, they immediately fled outside the camp and rushed to the officers and soldiers camp as promised. When they saw their flags flying, they were overjoyed and immediately entered the camp to obey orders.

Xu Chu ordered more flags to be put on, utensils to be piled up, and then they lined up facing Runan City, waiting for the officers and soldiers to return from the night attack.

The officers and infantrymen failed to contact Xi Yuanyi, but they broke through the deer antler barrier and rushed back to their camp in a panic without paying attention to the general. Unexpectedly, what they saw was the enemy's flag, and they were all shocked.

The soldiers of Wu Army shouted: "Guan Changling has been reduced, why don't you just surrender?"

When the officers and soldiers heard the sound, they dispersed. Xu Chu sent out a small group of soldiers in pursuit. The officers and soldiers ran faster, and a few surrendered on the spot.

Wu Jun packed up his utensils, escorted Guan Changling and other generals, and lined up back to the camp.

Between the inner and outer cities of Runan, Xi Yuanyi led three thousand cavalry to charge left and right, destroying a group of uninhabited simple tents, but did not encounter a single living person. He also tried to climb the city, but the soldiers of Runan City He was not good at field combat, but he was good at guarding. He was extremely well prepared with hooks, spears, long bamboo poles, hot oil, sand, soil, wood and rocks, etc., and easily blocked the attacks of the officers and soldiers.

Xi Yuanyu did not bring any siege equipment. The people were panicked and the horses were tired. The three thousand people soon fell into an embarrassing situation.

It was already dawn, and someone on the wall of the inner city shouted: "General Xi, come and talk!"

Xi Yuan approached suspiciously, raised his head and saw that it was Meng Senglun. He couldn't help but get angry in his heart. He cursed a few times and said: "The Meng family in Jiangdong will be destroyed!"

Meng Nilun smiled and said: "Soldiers are not afraid of deceit. General Xi should be more open-minded. Why not dismount and surrender as soon as possible to save the soldiers from suffering? He can be regarded as a talented man who understands current affairs."

Xi Yuan sighed, turned around and ran towards the outer city again. It was already dawn and he wanted to find a breakthrough.

There was also a man at the top of the outer city who said loudly: "General Xi, come here and listen to me."

Xi Yuanyuan didn't want to pay attention to him, so the man said: "General Guan has surrendered outside the city, does General Xi still want to fight against the trapped beast?"

Xi Yuan rushed to the city gates suspiciously and said, "General Guan is a veteran of this dynasty. He is very loyal and will never bow to the rebels."

The person guarding the outer city was Bao Dun, who smiled and said: "You will not bow to the rebels, but you will bow to the son of an old friend? Governor Xu knew his interests, and General Guan was very self-aware. He led his army to surrender and even handed over the camp. You You can’t see it in the city, so I’ll give you a few things.”

Several flags fluttered down from the city, and the officers and soldiers could see clearly that they were the flags of senior generals. They would stay with them when they went on an expedition and would never fall into the hands of others for no reason.

Xi Yuansui bent his bow and shot an arrow towards the city, "Don't lie to me."

The heads on the city disappeared, but the laughter was still there, "We are not in a hurry, General Xi will consider slowly, either dismount and surrender, or starve to death in the city, there is no other way."

Xi Yuanyi said to his subordinates: "This is a trick of the rebels. General Guan has experienced hundreds of battles and is rich in experience. He will never fall into the hands of Xiao Xiao. He must be thinking of ways to break the city and relieve the siege. Let's hold on a little longer." , look for weaknesses and lend a helping hand to the general.”

Runan City is not big, and the distance between the inner and outer city is even narrower. There is a river in the middle, so the cavalry cannot cross it. They can only run back and forth within a small half circle. They did find several low walls, but that was where the Wu army was most heavily guarded. In this place, there is no equipment to help, and the cavalry is completely useless.

After a few more laps, many of the horses were foaming at the mouth. The officers and soldiers had to dismount. Xi Yuanji sighed with emotion: "It's my fault. The cavalry should not have entered the city and the infantry should have stayed outside. If it were the other way around, there might be a chance of improvement." . I have no face to see General Guan again, and I have no face to return to the court. Please take my head and surrender."

Xi Yuan suspected that he was going to kill himself with his sword, but the general beside him hurriedly rushed over to seize the sword and advised: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. Why would General Xi commit suicide? Let's surrender together and then make plans."

"I am from the Xi family, how can I surrender to the rebels? Let go..."

The crowd couldn't help but walk to the bottom of the city with Xi Yuanyi in their arms, shouting to the top: "General Xi is willing to surrender, please come and speak!"

Xi Yuanyu struggled for a while, then finally gave up and sighed: "The reputation of the Xi family has been destroyed by your hands."

No one paid attention to him, and no one rescued him. He knew in his heart that surrender would happen sooner or later. Xi Yuanqi was embarrassed to admit it, so he could only rely on everyone to push for it.

Someone on the city said: "Leave your horses, armor and weapons and go to the city gate. If anyone has a weapon hidden on his body, even if it is a dagger, we will not be polite."

Xi Yuanyu's armor was taken off by others. He did not resist or cooperate. In short, he was "forced" to surrender.

The city gate was slightly opened, and the officers and soldiers filed out of the city. When they saw Guan Changling among the rebels from a distance, they all lowered their heads and no longer regretted their surrender.

Xu Chu still announced the same content: Tiancheng Dynasty was not far from destruction, but officers and soldiers could stay or leave at will, and the Wu army would not force others to do anything.

Most people left anyway. Their families were in Dongdu and they did not want to become rebels.

Xi Yuanyi walked behind and came to the front of the Wu army formation. He bowed his hands to Guan Changling, took a few steps forward and knelt at the feet of the old general. "The general is incompetent and has caused General Guan to be trapped. He deserves death."

Guan Changling had calmed down and said: "That's what fighting is like. There is always a victory or defeat. A defeat is a defeat. I am the commander-in-chief, and I bear all the responsibilities. Alas, I am old, I am really old. I think about those days, Even the general can't force me to send troops rashly. You don't need to apologize to me, but you should pay tribute to your opponent."

Xi Yuanyu stood up, looked at Xu Chu, refused to salute, and said proudly: "I have seen you."

"Oh, I don't have much impression." Xu Chu said with a smile.

"Although I am a defeated general, I am not convinced. If we have another chance to fight, I will definitely take your head." Xi Yuanyi still believed that if he adopts his strategy from the beginning and decides the battle quickly, the officers and soldiers will never If you fall into the trap, victory or defeat will be another outcome.

"I'm looking forward to the next battle. Please take General Guan away and escort him back to the Eastern Capital." Xu Chu said to Guan Changling: "When you see the general, please tell me this: If the Lou family dies, I will do it for you." Revenge, if the Lou family is here, I will fight with them."

Guan Changling laughed several times and said, "Okay, no matter whether we live or die, the Lou family will not lose."

Among the surrendering troops, only Guan Changling rode on horseback and slowly left along the road, surrounded by Xi Yuanyi and others.

Xu Chu looked at the officers and soldiers retreating in silence, and Tang Weitian beside him couldn't help but said: "Are you really going to let them all go?"

"There is no use in keeping it. Putting it back can demoralize the court."

"Haha, I think the Governor is selling his favor."

"Haha." Xu Chu did not explain any more.

The officers and soldiers in the city came out one after another, and they were all beaming with joy. In this battle, there were almost no casualties, the officers and soldiers were defeated, and a large amount of military supplies were obtained. This was a great victory that had never been achieved since everyone raised the flag to rebel.

Meng Senglun and other generals arrived, and dozens of people approached Xu Chu's horse. They knelt down at the same time, touched their foreheads to the ground, and said in unison: "The general will pay homage to the governor."

Xu Chu immediately dismounted, first helped Meng Senglun up, took his hand and said: "General Meng has made the greatest contribution in this battle, and he will return to his old position as an official. I have no choice but to accept my bow from General Meng."

"It's my wish to be able to do my best for the Governor." Meng Nilun returned the favor hurriedly.

Even if the whole matter was covered up, Xu Chu led his troops into the city and immediately distributed military resources and rewarded them based on their merits. He deliberately favored officers with lower surnames to appease them.

Xu Chu did not see Bao Dun among the generals, so he looked for an opportunity and asked a Bao general: "Where is Bao Hujun?"

The general whispered back: "The third master is injured."

Xu Chu was shocked, handed over the reward to Wang Dian, and immediately went to visit Bao Dun.

Xi Yuan suspected that he was good at archery, and shot Bao Dun in the shoulder. The officers and soldiers did not see him, and Bao Dun did not show his face. He only used his voice to persuade him to surrender.

The arrow had been pulled out. Bao Dun exposed half of his arm and wrapped it in thick silk cloth. He drank heavily to relieve the pain. When he saw Xu Chu, he smiled and said, "I am the only injured person to make the governor laugh, right?"

Xu Chu paused, "Who shot and wounded Bao Hujun? If I had known this, I would have killed this person to avenge Bao Hujun."

"I didn't pay attention. How can I take revenge? That General Xi is a good man. Is he willing to stay?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "I let all the officers and soldiers go, and not one out of ten was left. Xi Yuanyi also left. He wants to fight me again."

"Haha, Xi Yuanyuan can shoot accurately, but he is far behind in terms of intelligence. He is definitely no match for the Governor."

Xu Chu smiled and won one after another narrowly. He still did not have much confidence in this army.

Seeing that Bao Dun's injury was not too serious, Xu Chu felt relieved and comforted him for a long time before leaving.

But Bao Dun wanted to ask: "Does the Governor want to lead troops to the Eastern Capital?"

"Well, all the heroes are in the east capital. The Wu army cannot fall behind others. At least they have to watch the battle."

"With all due respect, the Governor was right not to leave any officers and soldiers behind. The Wu army already has several forces. If more officers and soldiers are added, there will only be more disputes." Bao Dun let out a long breath. These words just now were not "blunt words". Seeing that Xu Chu did not refute, he continued: "The generals of the seven tribes are commendable for their loyalty. They should be the backbone of the Wu army. Unfortunately, they have no generals and cannot serve the masses. Although the generals do everything personally, they can only win a small victory, and it is difficult to compete with the heroes." Let’s fight, I hope the Governor will pay more attention to it.”

Xu Chu bowed his hands and saluted. This was exactly the problem that bothered him.