Three Kingdoms

Maicheng.

Maicheng was an important city in Chu State during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It is said that it was built by King Zhao Zhao of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, when the Wu people attacked Chu, Wu Zixu built two donkey and mill cities on the left and right of the city in order to attack the city, which means "the donkey mills from the east to the west, and the wheat city will be destroyed". Therefore, in history, Guan Yu's visit to Maicheng may be just a coincidence, or it may also reveal a bit of the flavor of killing a donkey...

Now Zhang Yun feels like wheat being constantly crushed in a donkey mill.

Because from the Spring and Autumn Period to the present, the terrain around Maicheng has undergone many changes. It was originally a dangerous city located between the Juzhang River and the two rivers. Due to the accumulation of sediment and the diversion of the river, Maicheng has now become an ordinary small town. , although Zhang Yun and other Jingzhou soldiers urgently repaired it and erected fortifications, it is obviously still not a strong city.

Whether it is arrows, rolling stones, or grain and grass reserves, there are some problems. The only thing that can support Zhang Yun and others to hold on may be the hope of reinforcements from Liu Biao.

The only good thing is that the course of the Juzhang Ershui River has changed, forming a large area of ​​reed fields and mud fields, making it difficult for the attacking Jiangdong to set up a formation to attack.

This time, it was Pan Zhang who was mainly responsible for attacking Maicheng.

Pan Zhang can also be regarded as Sun Quan's confidant general, and he followed Sun Quan in the early years. Zhou Tai had captured Jiangling before, but this time Pan Zhang led the troops, determined to capture Maicheng and open up the road to the north!

The most important thing when attacking a walled city is to consume the strength and equipment of the defenders, so that the city can be broken in one fell swoop. To consume it, human lives must be sacrificed. Fortunately, Nanjun has a large population, and Pan Zhang does not care about human lives the least. Yes, they collected a large number of people without any hesitation, and attacked in turns day and night, even if they created a sea of ​​​​blood, they would still submerge Maicheng!

Therefore, this siege seemed extremely tragic from the beginning.

A group of ten people from Jiangling were tied into a team, and then, forced by swords and guns, they carried mud bags toward Maicheng like zombies. They threw the mud bags into the river, filled the ditches, and then braved arrows. Pile up under the city. Let the Jingzhou soldiers guarding the city shoot. Not to mention the consumption of arrows, it will not have much effect. If you don't shoot, if you can't stop the people of Jiangling from filling the trenches and piling up mounds of earth, they will sooner or later be attacked on the city wall, so there is no need to Without mercy, he shot down one or two people in a group of Jiangling people, and then tried to delay the Jiangdong soldiers' attack.

But what he didn't expect was that Pan Zhang didn't care whether the moat under the city was filled with soil or flesh and blood!

Jiang Dongbing, who was behind, held up a large shield and forced the living people to be pushed down together with the dead!

The people of Jiangling wailed, but there was little resistance. Just like a group of bleating sheep, even if they see the same kind being skinned, cut, fleshed and deboned, they will just bleat twice more and then turn their attention to the green grass in front of them. The next one will be captured anyway. It’s not necessarily you who’s being slaughtered.

From day to night, the offensive never stopped.

Pan Zhang ordered to light the torches and continue the night battle.

Countless amounts of soil were filled in, flesh and blood was filled in, and the moat was filled. Blood mixed with mud water overflowed from the blocked moat, showing a strange purple color under the dim light of night.

Among the filled soil, some human hands or feet are exposed here and there, stretching in different directions, and in some cases even twitching violently, just like these landfilled objects. It's as if the people in it are still alive, and it's like these dead souls want to grab the living people passing by and drag them into the underworld together.

However, this is just the beginning...

More Jiangling people were escorted and dragged to the front of the formation. Jiangdong soldiers held a basket and began to distribute black pancakes about half a fist size one by one, and then began to stuff these people with broken swords and guns. Drive them forward until they reach the bottom of the city.

On top of Maicheng, dozens of Jingzhou soldiers held up large shields and blocked the crenellations. With their spears and wooden forks, they withstood fifteen or sixteen long ladders. Under these long ladders, there were groups of Jiangling people who had just picked up swords and guns. Their faces were pale and they were at a loss. Some people have finished eating the black pancakes, and some people are still just munching...

"Attack!" Go up! Move quickly! Jiang Dongbing, who was supervising the battle from behind, waved his sword, "Up, up, up!" One person goes to the city, and the young and old return home! If you can get the head of a first-level Jingzhou soldier, you will be rewarded with a hundred gold! superior! superior! 』

These Jiangling people have weapons in their hands. If they are willing, they can even turn around and fight Jiangdong soldiers for their lives!

But no one does it...

The Jingzhou soldiers above Maicheng shouted, "Fellows!" You are from Songjiaqu! I also built a road in your village and passed the canal. Have you forgotten? We were the ones who caught the thieves and thieves you caused in the past few years! Don't come up! If you don’t dare to fight, just run, run! 』

"superior! superior! Whoever dares to run will be hacked to death! "Jiangdong soldiers roared from behind, and then slashed the last Jiangling citizen with a knife. Blood spurted out. The Jiangling people who were not yet dead screamed and rolled on the ground. The black pancake was half-pulled in the mud, water and blood. Soaking in water.

The other Jiangling people who gathered under the city began to climb up the ladder one by one as if they had been pricked by needles...

"Why? ” The local soldiers in Jingzhou on the top of the city cried out anxiously, “Why should you listen to them? Can’t you tell the difference between good and bad? Why? ! 』

The people in Jiangling who were being persecuted were also crying and pushing forward desperately, "Don't blame me, they are so cruel... We were forced, they are so cruel..."

There was a stalemate between the two sides on the city wall. In the end, it was unknown which side made the move first, and then pieces of flesh and blood fell like rain.

The Jingzhou soldiers guarding the city had no choice but to take action and kill the Jiangling people.

In the rain of blood, the people of Jiangling, brandishing swords and guns, cried and shouted, "I blame you, I blame you, didn't you say you want to protect us?" You failed to defend yourself, and now you are coming to kill us... I blame you all, you deserve to die, you all deserve to die..."

……(╯︵╰)……

Gan Ning brandished his thick-backed sword and slashed into Cao's army. In the last few steps of sprinting, Gan Ning almost flew up, and with the power of forward motion, he chopped down three people in one fell swoop.

The strategy of directly ramming in was also formulated before the war, which was to make these Cao Jun's infantry collapse under the attack, let them turn around and flee, and disrupt the subsequent Cao Jun array. This is also the only way to conduct a night raid. The enemy will be defeated in a chaotic formation, and one wave will lead to another, eventually affecting the entire opponent's array until they are completely defeated.

Gan Ning is also a person who is proficient in battle formations, so it goes without saying that he uses these methods. At least now it seems that Gan Ning has done a good job in both the breakthrough point and the unfolding aspect, and it is also the most correct choice.

Behind Gan Ning, Jiang Dongbing followed closely and broke into Cao Jun's formation. Cao Jun who dared to stand in front were basically cut down, like wild boars arching into a corn field, and they were swaying all over the place. , all kinds of inarticulate screams and screams broke out.

The sound of weapons piercing flesh was heard all around, blood spurted out in an instant, and screams were heard from everywhere. In the blink of an eye, Gan Ning's troops overran the first formation of Cao's army. Ning waved the sword on his back and shouted: "Over there!" Drive towards the central banner! 』

Defeating Cao Jun's camp may be just around the corner!

However, in the center of Cao's army, under the banner of the Cao family, it was not Cao Hong, but Cai Mao and some of Cao Hong's guards...

Although Cai Mao was wearing Cao Hong's armor and could not sit still, his eyes could not help but move around, and some beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead. The guard of Cao Hong behind him made Cai Hao feel like a thorn in his back.

When Gan Ning came in, Cai Mao's hands and feet were even trembling. Cao Hong may not know, but Cai Mao doesn't know how good Gan Ning and Gan Xingba are? If he is killed close by, and he is surrounded by Cao Hong's guards, he will definitely not risk his life to protect himself. I don't know what to say...

Guard Cao Hong seemed to notice Cai Mao's discomfort and said coldly: "It's so hard to sit here!" Nothing will happen! The general has made arrangements and this battle will be won! 』

Cai Mao forced a smile and prayed in his heart that these soldiers left behind by Cao Hong could stop Gan Ning!

Where did Cao Hong go?

Cao Hong led his cavalry and prepared to rush straight to Xiangyang Bridge and surprise Xiangyang North Camp!

Facing the Xiangyang Bridge is the Xiangyang North Camp of the Jingzhou soldiers.

The general stationed in the Xiangyang North Camp was Shen Mi, who had followed Gan Ning to Jingzhou. His personal martial arts skills are naturally not as brave as Gan Ning's, so Gan Ning has always been in the limelight. In comparison, he is somewhat unknown.

Shen Mi originally hated Sichuan and Shu. He thought that Sichuan and Shu were poor, dirty, and chaotic. It looked like mountains, trees, soil, and insects everywhere. After arriving in Jingzhou, everything seemed to be fine. When I get up, I no longer have to run around to conquer the barbarians. I can even eat meat and drink wine regularly without having to worry about sleeping. When I wake up, I have a few blood-sucking flesh bugs on my neck...

In the past two years, Shen Mi has always spared no effort in killing thieves and suppressing powerful men for Liu Biao. And Liu Biao was of course extremely kind to such an obedient general who was not from the Jingzhou faction, and he continued to reward him. For Shen Mi, life in Jingzhou is certainly a big step up compared to Sichuan and Shu.

But I don't know why, during this period of time, Shen Mi often thought of Sichuan and Sichuan, folk songs, streams, moss, and the cloud-shrouded mountain peaks in his dreams.

Obviously I hate Sichuan and Shu?

Obviously Jingzhou is much better than Sichuan, right?

This made Shen Mi not quite understand.

What Shen Mi didn't understand even more was that the big man's situation was getting more and more weird. The central court of the Han Dynasty was in turmoil, and it seemed difficult to maintain peace in the country.

The alliance between Liu Biao and Cao Cao suddenly collapsed. Cao Cao's army approached Xiangyang, turning the situation upside down. Coupled with the intensification of the conflict between the Liu family and the Cai family, Shen Mi was somewhat panicked. At this time, Liu Biao summoned Shen Mi and implored him to guard Xiangyang North Camp and defend the place...

In Shen Mi's view, since he has received a lot of courtesy and benefits from Liu Biao in the past two years, he naturally has to stand by Liu Biao at critical moments. This is the basic integrity of life, so Shen Mi will definitely express his stance to Liu Biao. Defend the camp in the north of Xiangyang City. When the camp is there and the people are there, if the camp dies, the people will die.

As for Liu Biao and Cao Cao, who will win?

Shen Mi didn't know, and he didn't think much about it.

But when he was free, sometimes Shen Mi would wonder, weren't Liu Biao and Cao Cao both Han officials? Why call back and forth? Didn't Liu Biao and Cao Cao call themselves brothers before? Could it be that the friendship between brothers is so fragile?

Tonight Gan Ning attacked, and Shen Mi was sleepless. He stood on the wall of the camp, watching the firelight swaying in the distance and the figures shaking, and watching Gan Ning lead his soldiers into the half-built camp of Cao Jun. His hands couldn't help but shake. He clenched it tightly, as if he wanted to transfer part of his strength to Gan Ning through the air.

Seeing Gan Ning slashing and killing in Cao's camp, Shen Mi couldn't help but cheer loudly!

After all, this time can be regarded as the last time Shen Mi will lead the army.

Fighting and fighting are all about oneself, and killing are all about oneself.

This is true in Sichuan and Shu, and it is also true in Jingzhou...

Shen Mi felt tired.

Regarding the current chaotic situation in the Han Dynasty, Shen Mi had revealed to Gan Ning many times that as long as he waited for this battle and defeated Cao Jun, he was ready to bid farewell to Liu Biao, taking only a few belongings with him and escaping from the world. In the mountains, those gold and silver belongings were either left to Gan Ning or returned to Liu Biao. Anyway, he risked his life to defend Cao Jun for Liu Biao, which could be regarded as repaying Liu Biao's kindness in the past two years.

Thinking about what he hated most in the past was Sichuan and Shu, but now he wants to go back to Sichuan and Shu, Shen Mi didn't know whether he had done the right thing or the wrong thing in these years.

Seeing the battle between Gan Ning and Cao Jun, Shen Mi stood on top of the camp and applauded when he saw the benefits. He couldn't help but shake his head when he saw the tangle and sighed: "We should go to the flanks, how can we go straight in?" From the outside to the inside, it is involved layer by layer, so that it can be driven more. It is like marching straight into the central army at the moment. Although it is brave and shocks the enemy, but if we say... Hey, Xingba is good at everything, but it is too brave. So aggressive..."

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the other side of Cao Jun's camp!

In the flickering light of the fire, I saw a group of cavalry mixed with infantry. They completely ignored the fighting on Gan Ning's side and ran straight towards Xiangyang Bridge!

The Xiangyang Bridge, spanning the Han River, was originally an important passage connecting Fancheng and Xiangyang. If Liu Biao's original plan had been followed, even if Cao Jun came, he would have to cross Xinye first, then block it with Fancheng, and finally reach Xiangyang. Therefore, Liu Biao had no intention of demolishing Xiangyang Bridge from the beginning.

However, what he didn't expect was that Cao Jun did not take the route of Xinye Fancheng at all. Instead, he passed directly through Bishui to the foot of Xiangyang City. In Fancheng, northwest of Xiangyang, there was no general stationed there. Secondly, he was probably caught off guard and failed to target him. How did Cao Jun respond to the attack?

Therefore, Liu Biao's three lines of defense against Cao Cao were now reduced to the last one, the North Camp of Xiangyang City. To reach the North Camp of Xiangyang City, you must first pass the Xiangyang Bridge.

I had previously considered whether to destroy the bridge, but firstly, the number of Cao Cao's troops seemed to be small. Secondly, destroying the bridge also meant cutting off the road. It was even equivalent to automatically ceding Fancheng and the area north of Fancheng to Cao Cao. This was very important to Cao Cao. For the already low morale of Jingzhou soldiers, this was undoubtedly another blow.

Therefore, the Xiangyang Bridge was not touched, but I didn't expect that Cao Jun's counterattack would be so fast, even a little incredible!

After Shen Mi was stunned for a moment, he immediately patted the wooden stacks on the camp wall, "It's broken!" Hurry...』

Before he finished speaking, Shen Mi felt a sharp chill on his lower back, like a piece of ice sticking to his skin, and then the next moment, severe pain hit him!

Shen Mi howled subconsciously, and then instinctively punched back, but the punch missed. He reached out and touched his lower back. Apart from the biting cold, he only felt a slippery patch.

"you……"

Shen Mi widened his eyes and stared at the guard standing behind him, the personal guard who had followed him all the way from Sichuan and Sichuan to Jingxiang.

The other guards also looked at all this in surprise. One guard asked blankly, "A-Cheng, what are you doing..."

Before anyone could react, the person who took action gritted his teeth and shouted: "Do it!" 』

Immediately, more than a dozen people rushed up, wielding swords and guns, and surrounded Shen Mi's remaining personal guards. In the blink of an eye, blood and flesh were flying everywhere!

Shen Mi felt that all the energy in his body seemed to be disappearing through the wounds, but he still didn't understand, and shouted with anger, "Why?" Why? ! 』

"This is because you are ignorant!" In such troubled times, we don’t want to die like this! ” The man who made the move had his hands shaking, “You want to retreat into the mountains and forests, but where will you put us? ! We risked our lives to protect you all the way out of Sichuan and Sichuan, just to go back to the bushes with you one day? If you don’t want the gold and silver, no problem, just give it to us, but you have to give it back! I completely forgot how we got to where we are today! You want to go into seclusion, you want to go back, I will send you back today! 』

Shen Mi was stunned, "When I asked you, you didn't say..."

"we say? What do we say? The benefits and reputation are all yours, what can we say..."

Before the man could finish speaking, Shen Mi roared fiercely, and actually pulled out the sharp short blade from his waist. He rushed towards the man with a bloody light, grabbed him, and then the knife flashed. If you move, it will be plunged in!

The people next to him were shocked by Shen Mi for a moment, and by the time they reacted, they were unable to rescue him.

However, the knife in Shen Mi's hand stopped in front of the man. The blood on the tip of the knife dripped on the man's face and flowed down the man's face.

"Hehe, hehe..." Shen Mi laughed twice, "I really thought... you and I are like brothers..."

Shen Mi pushed the man away, then looked up to the sky and laughed, "Brother..." Before he could finish his words, the other people had already rushed forward, raised their swords and guns, and stabbed Shen Mi thoroughly, and then brutally With a sharp knife, Shen Mi's head was chopped off, and Shen Mi's blood spurted out, covering the heads and bodies of everyone around him!

"Shen Mi has been consecrated!" Open the camp gate quickly! Welcome the imperial army! Kill the rebels! 』