Quyou is just a small city with a small number of defenders and complete defensive equipment. It poses a very low threat to the Qin army and can be captured at any time.
On the other hand, Ba Ling is a big city with all kinds of defensive equipment. If there are enough defenders, it will be a big trouble for the Qin army.
During the first Guanzhong War, Sima Yi was responsible for guarding Baling, but the Qin army failed to break it at that time.
Therefore, after learning that Li Mu had stationed in Baling, Wu Qi abandoned Quyou immediately and came to compete with Li Mu for Baling City in order to prevent Li Mu from completely controlling Baling.
Unfortunately, Wu Qi was a step too late. By the time he arrived with his army, Li Mu had completely taken control of Ba Ling.
"Before joining the other two armies, we should capture Quyou first."
Wu Qi said, and then ordered his three thousand troops to march straight to Quyou City.
Quyou only had more than a thousand defenders, and the Qin army's strength of 3,000 was already enough.
Wu Qi's army had just arrived at Quyou City when they received news that the defender Li Li wanted to surrender the city.
"This Li Li is from the Li family. When he sent envoys to persuade him to surrender, he said he would rather die than surrender. Why did he suddenly give in now?" Yang Hu asked in confusion.
Zhang Xiuze said: "With the current situation in Guanzhong, I would not be surprised no matter who surrenders."
After hearing what the two men said, Wu Qi raised his telescope and looked at Li Li at the city gate and the Jiangjun standing behind him.
Li Li held the roster and seal in his hands, his face expressionless, showing no sign of relief.
Behind him were more than a thousand defenders, all of whom had left the city at this time. This also reduced Quyou City to an empty city, naturally unable to resist the Qin army.
Judging from Li Li's performance alone, the possibility of false surrender is very low, but Wu Qi is used to being cautious, and he will not let down his guard even at the last moment.
Seeing Wu Qi's thoughtful look, Yang Hu asked, "Lord Governor, is there anything wrong?"
Wu Qi shook his head and said: "Yang Hu, you accept the name list and seal on my behalf, and test it out by the way to see if this person is really surrendering or pretending to surrender, and whether he is cheating."
"promise."
After saying this, Yang Hu rode his horse to the city gate and went to talk to Li Li.
After a long time, Yang Hu returned with the roster and the seal, and said to Wu Qi: "My lord, I have been tested by my humble position. There should be no fraud. If there is a fraud, Li Li will not be able to let all the defenders leave the city."
Wu Qi stared at the open city gate and said, "Send someone into the city to check and see if there are still Tang troops hiding in the city."
"promise."
Yang Hu took the order and then sent hundreds of soldiers into the city to inspect
"Hey, do you think our governor is too cautious?"
"That's right, all the Tang troops have left the city. This is obviously a surrender. There is nothing to investigate."
"There is nothing wrong with being cautious, otherwise you think that the governor is the governor and you are just a big-headed soldier?"
"that is……"
After standing under the scorching sun for a long time, some soldiers of the Qin army began to become anxious and began to whisper among themselves.
Wu Qi heard all these words, but ignored them all. He would never let the opinions of soldiers affect his judgment.
After a long time, the soldiers who entered the city for inspection returned and found no other troops at the city gate.
"Am I really thinking too much?"
Wu Qi thought to himself, and after a long time he said to Zhang Xiu: "General Zhang Xiu, take a thousand soldiers to disarm Li Li's surrender and take custody of them."
"This... Mr. Governor, since the Tang army has surrendered, would it be too, too..."
Zhang Xiu didn't say the following words, but the meaning is self-evident.
Only defeated prisoners of war need to disarm, and if they are surrendering troops and not prisoners of war, it would be a bit too much to surrender voluntarily but be asked to hand over their weapons.
Wu Qi naturally knew this, but he still insisted on disarming.
"If he sincerely surrenders, he will naturally not care about this. If he refuses to surrender, he must have evil intentions."
"This... subordinate obeys your orders."
Zhang Xiu took the order and left, going to discuss with the surrendered general Li Li to let the surrendering Tang army surrender.
When Tang general Li Li heard Zhang Xiu say that he wanted all the surrendering troops to hand over their weapons, his expression changed instantly, and he began to fight with Zhang Xiu emotionally.
But the people who gave the order, Wu Qi and Zhang Xiu, were only the executors and naturally did not have the authority to take back the generals.
After Li Li fought hard, he also knew that he could not let the Qin army take back his fame. After struggling for a long time, he still ordered the surrendering troops to put down their weapons.
"Lord Governor, Li Li asked the surrendering troops to lay down their weapons. It's impossible for Xi to surrender, right?"
Zhang Xiu said to Wu Qi helplessly, obviously not understanding why the other party was so cautious.
This time Wu Qi was not looking for trouble, and said to Zhang Xiu: "General Zhang Xiu, you lead a thousand soldiers to guard these surrendered troops, and the rest of the troops will enter the city despite being the governor."
"promise."
Under Wu Qi's repeated tests, the Qin army stood outside the city for two hours, and fighting in the military posture was also a very tiring task.
Now that it was finally time to enter the city to rest, the tired Qin soldiers suddenly cheered and ran quickly into the city.
Wu Qi was still a little worried. He always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't explain it, so he took Yang Hu to the front of the team and was the first to enter the city.
Although Yang Hu had not been serving under Wu Qi for a long time, when he saw Wu Qi frowning all the time, he knew that he was still worried, so he smiled and said: "Master Governor, it is a good thing to successfully capture Quyou City, but why are you...
What about such an expression?"
"But it all went so smoothly that I felt like it was deliberately arranged."
As he spoke, Wu Qi glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw the gray-black stones paving the ground, and his brows frowned even more.
"Immediately pass the order and the entire army withdraws from Quyou City." Wu Qi ordered coldly.
Yang Hu was startled and asked in confusion: "But Lord Governor, why is this? We have just entered the city."
Wu Qi dismounted, removed stones from the ground, and said, "Do you see what this is?"
"Stone."
"This is coal."
"Charcoal?"
Yang Hu exclaimed, and after careful observation, he said solemnly: "It's really charcoal."
When I looked at the ground in the city, there was this kind of coal everywhere, and I felt a cool breeze coming from my back.
This is not only a trap, but also a trap carefully planned for a long time and specifically targeting the Qin army.
The coal all over the place alone cannot be laid in a short time.
The Tang army had a premeditated plan. They pretended to surrender, left the city, and disarmed, just to make the Qin army paralyzed.
Once all the Qin troops enter the city and are unprepared, Quyou will immediately turn into a city of fire and engulf all the Qin troops at the city gate.
"So cruel."
Yang Hu said in a trembling voice, fearful of what would happen next.
If Wu Qi hadn't been cautious enough and meticulous, he might have been burned to death.