The dusk fell heavily, and the sky and the earth were vast.
On the dim ancient road, the silent army was marching with strong steps, facing the setting sun in the west.
Among the army, that red cape was very dazzling.
Lu Lingqi was sitting on horseback, her clear eyes sparkling with unprecedented excitement.
Finally the war started with Cao Cao.
Once upon a time, Lu Lingqi was dreaming and looking forward to this moment.
She will never forget the surging flood in Xiapi City, let alone her father's head hanging high on the Baimen Tower.
For so many years, she never thought about avenging her father's murder, and she even wished she could cut Cao Cao into pieces with her own hands.
After waiting for a long time, this day finally arrived.
Today, Lu Lingqi is not only fighting for Yan Liang, but also fighting for her late father.
Motivated by the rage of revenge, Lu Lingqi's blood boiled all over, and she whipped her horse wildly, urging her soldiers to march towards Li City.
Before the last ray of the setting sun set, Lu Lingqi finally saw the outline of Li City.
Most of the cities in Nanyang County are concentrated along the line from Ye County to Wancheng, and from Wancheng to Xinye.
Licheng is located in the west of Nanyang. It was originally a small town. It was massacred and destroyed by the Xiliang army before. At this time, there were only a thousand people in Dingkou of Licheng.
This is a truly barren town.
Lu Lingqi glanced at it for a few times and then prepared to order the entire army to continue advancing. They must finish the fort at Licheng before dark.
At this moment, a scout rushed over and shouted: "General Qi, Li County has been occupied by Cao's army."
"What?"
Lu Lingqi was taken aback, her thin eyebrows suddenly furrowed, and she said sternly: "How many soldiers and horses are there in the bandit army, and who is leading the army?"
She followed Yan Liang's urgent order to seize Li County and attack Wuguan, but now she didn't want to let Cao's army seize Li City first. How could Lu Lingqi not be surprised?
"According to the people who escaped, the enemy army consisted of more than a thousand light cavalry, and the enemy general at the head seemed to be named Zhang Liao." the scout said hurriedly.
When she heard the name "Zhang Liao", a look of anger suddenly appeared on Lu Lingqi's pretty face.
"Zhang Liao, it turns out you are an ungrateful person. You came just in time for me to behead you, a thief, in order to honor my father's spirit in heaven!"
In anger, Lu Lingqi immediately ordered the army to advance rapidly, making sure to recapture Li City and surround and kill Zhang Liao and his troops.
Five thousand vanguard infantry, under the supervision of Lu Lingqi, swarmed toward Li City several miles away.
Not long after, the army had arrived at the east gate of Li City.
Lu Lingqi raised her eyes and looked into the distance, and sure enough she saw a large flag with the character "Zhang" hanging high on top of the city. Cao's troops were lined up along the city line, waiting for battle.
Lu Lingqi then sent an order to have the five thousand infantry troops put into attack formation. As soon as the order was given, the entire army immediately attacked the city. At the same time, she ordered Pegasus to go and notify Zhang He, ordering him to speed up the following five thousand infantry troops.
Come as soon as possible.
The troops and horses were arrayed again, but Lu Lingqi was not in a hurry to attack the city.
She only ordered the army to line up and wait, but she carried Fang Tian's painted halberd and went straight to the moat, shouting loudly: "Where is that ungrateful Zhang Liao? Why don't you come and see me soon?"
That clear and angry voice could only be heard by the soldiers of both armies.
On the top of the city, Zhang Liao was as calm as water. Facing the fierce enemy soldiers, he was calm and prepared to command his troops to defend the city.
After generously asking Cao Cao to fight that night, Zhang Liao led 1,500 cavalry and rushed to Li City day and night.
Finally, before dusk, he successfully captured this small city only dozens of miles away from Wancheng.
Just when Zhang Liao was about to take a breather, he received an urgent report from the scouts. It was said that Yan Liang's army of nearly ten thousand was swarming towards Li City.
After being surprised, Zhang Liao did not dare to fight the enemy due to the small number of troops, so he ordered the entire army to ascend the city to meet the enemy, and at the same time sent Pegasus to Shunyang to request Cao Cao's army for support.
At this time, Zhang Liao had been on the city for a long time, and finally saw the approaching enemy troops.
Although the enemy was several times greater than his own, Zhang Liao had full confidence in himself. He believed that with his own strength and the elite soldiers under his command, it would definitely not be a problem to hold on to this small city until Prime Minister Cao's army arrived.
However, when Zhang Liao saw the young female general appearing outside the city, his calm face could not help but gradually become troubled.
When Lu Lingqi openly denounced him as an "ungrateful" person in front of the two soldiers, Zhang Liao's eyes actually flashed with a trace of imperceptible shame.
"Where does this thief woman come from? She dares to scold Wen Yuan like this. Wenyuan, if you don't open the city gate, I will suddenly rush out and stab this thief woman to death."
The person who fought for Zhang Liao was none other than Cao Chun.
After retreating to Guanzhong, Cao Cao reorganized his elite tiger and leopard cavalry and appointed the clan general Cao Chun as the commander to ensure that this elite cavalry was completely in the hands of the Cao family.
Although Cao Chun was capable of running an army, in terms of his ability to command cavalry, among the generals under his command, apart from Xia Houyuan, the only one was Zhang Liao.
Now Xiahou Yuan is guarding the Mahan and Xiliang princes in Guanzhong, and the only cavalry general Cao Cao can rely on is Zhang Liao.
Therefore, this time they used light cavalry to compete for Li City, so Cao Cao ordered Zhang Liao to be the chief general and Cao Chun to be the deputy general.
Hearing Cao Chun wildly claim that he had stabbed Lu Lingqi to death with one shot, Zhang Liao could not help but reveal a wry smile, "Zihe, that female general below the city is not an ordinary person. If you really go out of the city alone, you will be asking for your own death."
Cao Chun was startled, and his eyes suddenly flashed with surprise. For a moment, he couldn't figure out why Zhang Liao was so afraid of that female figure in the city.
"Zihe doesn't know that the female general at the gate is the daughter of Marquis Wen. Even I am afraid of her martial arts skills."
Zhang Liao sighed and revealed Lu Lingqi's identity.
Cao Chun was shocked and turned his head to look at the arrogant female general, but he never expected that she would be Lu Bu's daughter.
How powerful Lü Bu was, how could the feudal lords of Cao camp not know how powerful Lü Bu was. Whether it was the war against Dong or the battle for the two states of Yan and Xu, Lü Bu made them suffer a lot.
Now, with Zhang Liao's martial arts skills, he was actually very wary of Lü Bu's daughter. Cao Chun knew that his martial arts skills were inferior to Zhang Liao's, and he was probably no match for the female general named Lu.
"It turns out that he is the remnant of the slaves of the three surnames. I didn't expect that he would work for Yan Liang, a thief. They really have the same chemistry."
Hearing Cao Chun's words to insult his old master, Zhang Liao frowned slightly, but did not respond to him. He only said loudly: "Open the city gate. I am about to leave the city and take out the enemy general for a while."
As soon as these words came out, Cao Chun's expression changed again, and he said anxiously: "Wen Yuan, that thief woman is just a remnant of the slaves of the third surname. Why talk nonsense to her? Just order to shoot arrows to force her back."
"Although Marquis Wen has a bad reputation, after all, he was the old master of Liao. Now that the daughter of the old master wants to meet, how can Liao be unable to retreat?"
Zhang Liao's tone was solemn, and after saying that, he ignored Cao Chun and went down to the city with his sword in hand.
Cao Chun was "choked" by Zhang Liao tactfully, and his brows couldn't help but furrowed. When he was about to say more, Zhang Liao had already strode away.
A trace of displeasure flashed in Cao Chun's eyes, but there was nothing he could do.
The city gate opened, and Zhang Liao rode out of the city alone, arriving directly in front of the city moat, facing Lu Lingqi across the moat.
Zhang Liao hung up the sword and slightly raised his hand: "During the battle of Xiapi, everyone rumored that the young lady was killed in the rebel army. Unexpectedly, the young lady is still alive. Liao is really relieved."
Although he was an enemy general, Zhang Liao still remembered his old master and addressed him as Miss Lu Lingqi.
However, Lu Lingqi condensed her thin sword, pointed her halberd at Zhang Liao, and said sternly: "Zhang Liao, my father treated you well during his lifetime, why did you surrender to Cao Cao, the enemy who killed my father, and helped him perpetrate evil? Are you worthy of my late father?"
Facing Lu Lingqi's scolding words, a trace of shame flashed in Zhang Liao's eyes.
The shame was just fleeting, and Zhang Liao's expression soon returned to calmness.
"Marquis Wen has been kind to me, and I, Zhang Liao, fought to the death for him until the city was destroyed. It's just that a good minister chose a tree to live in. Prime Minister Cao is the hero of the world. Liao surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and obeyed the will of heaven. Liao feels clear in his heart."
Zhang Liao generously defended his surrender to Cao Cao.
After hearing this, Lu Lingqi sneered, "What a clear conscience, Zhang Liao, if the rumors are true, I remember that when you were at Baimen Tower, you personally cursed Cao Cao as a traitor to the country. Is this true?
.”
"This..." Zhang Liao frowned, paused and said, "This has indeed happened."
Zhang Liao responded with another even more contemptuous sneer.
"You just called Cao Cao a traitor to the country. After Cao Cao spared your life, you surrendered to Cao Cao. The change has been so rapid. I want to ask, do you really have a clear conscience?"
Hearing these sarcastic remarks, Zhang Liao suddenly felt embarrassed and didn't know how to respond.
Zhang Liao did call Cao Cao a traitor to the country at that time, but people always want to save face. Faced with that kind of moment, even if he had long been envious of Cao Cao, he couldn't show no integrity and surrender immediately.
If he surrenders, it will make Cao Cao and the world look down upon him.
The so-called reprimanding Cao Cao was just a performance on stage before surrender.
Who would have thought that Lu Lingqi would use this to mock Zhang Liao, which made Zhang Liao embarrassed and unable to defend himself.
Lu Lingqi did not intend to listen to his explanation, and immediately raised her halberd and said coldly: "You don't have to argue anymore, you only have two choices at the moment. One is to surrender to my sworn brother in Kaicheng. I will treat you as if you have made amends for your past mistakes and let bygones be bygones.
The last way is if you continue to act as a helper and remain stubborn, on the day the city is destroyed, I will personally cut you into pieces."
Lu Lingqi spoke arrogantly, almost giving an ultimatum to Zhang Liao in a commanding tone.
Although Zhang Liao felt ashamed, Lu Lingqi's harsh commanding style angered Zhang Liao.
At that moment, Zhang Liao raised his long sword and said sternly: "Zhang Liao has been favored by the Prime Minister. How can he betray me? Please forgive Liao for not obeying his orders. Liao also wanted to persuade the young lady that Yan Liang is a cruel and unjust person and will eventually be punished by the Prime Minister."
Defeated, it would be better for Miss to leave him as soon as possible."
Not only did Zhang Liao not surrender, but he also made sarcastic comments about his sworn brother, which made Lu Lingqi furious.
"Very well, you asked for it."
With an angry shout, Lu Lingqi glared at Zhang Liao and returned to the main formation.
Zhang Liao let out a long breath, reined in his horse and returned to the city, returning to the top of the city again.
After going to the city, Cao Chun hurriedly asked: "Wen Yuan, what did that thief woman say to you?"
Zhang Liao wanted to tell the truth truthfully, but he thought that Lu Lingqi's words of persuasion to surrender, if told to Cao Chun, would only increase suspicion when they reached the prime minister. Instead of doing this, why bother asking for trouble?
Thinking of this, Zhang Liao said: "It's nothing, she just scolded me and said I betrayed Marquis Wen.
"Is that all?" Cao Chun asked.
"It's just that." Zhang Liao replied calmly.
Cao Chunsui asked no more questions, but a hint of suspicion quietly flashed across his eyebrows. (To be continued)