Eight hundred and sixtieth chapters have no choice
Abandon the city and break out!
Cao Ren's face changed with shock, and he blurted out his objections.
When the words came to his lips, Cao Ren swallowed them back.
Yecheng was the imperial capital. Once it was abandoned, it would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the morale of the entire Han Dynasty's military and civilians.
Once the city of Ye is lost, it will be even more difficult for Han to resist the Chu army.
However, now that food and grass are running out and there is no hope for foreign aid, if we continue to defend like this, everyone will either freeze to death or starve to death, and Yecheng will also fall.
Yecheng fell, and Cao Ren was about to be buried here.
Ask yourself, are you, Cao Ren, willing to live or die with Yecheng?
"No, it can't be done. I, Cao Ren, still want to remain useful and kill the Yan thief to avenge my Cao family. How can I die in this lonely city!"
Cao Ren had already weighed the situation in his mind, so he fell silent.
When Zhuge Liang saw that Cao Ren was silent, he smiled bitterly and said, "I am very pleased that General Zixiao can understand the overall situation. Don't worry, as long as we can be useful, why worry about not taking back Ye City in the future, and why not be able to kill Yan Liang?"
To avenge the tragic death of our relatives."
Zhuge Liang's words made Cao Ren's decision firmer.
After pondering for a long time, Cao Ren silently asked: "Prime Minister, besides abandoning the city and breaking out of the siege, do we really have no other option?"
"Other than that, there is no other way." Zhuge Liang replied simply.
Cao Ren paused for a long while, exhaled a long breath, nodded and said: "Okay, since the Prime Minister has nothing to do, let's abandon the city and break out of the siege. However, we should discuss how to break out of the siege.
"
As a result, the two settled their differences and discussed for a long time before finally formulating a plan.
After the strategy was decided, Cao Ren immediately went to prepare.
After Zhuge Liang said goodbye to Cao Ren, he went straight to the back hall to see his stepmother.
After entering the Buddhist hall, Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "Mother, my son and Cao Ren have decided on a plan to abandon the city and break out of the siege in the near future. Please make preparations early so as not to be in a hurry."
Mrs. Song's beauty changed, and she was so shocked that she forgot to continue twisting the beads in her hand.
"Yecheng is the imperial capital, do you really want it no longer?" Song asked in surprise.
Zhuge Liang sighed: "There is no other way. If we continue to defend, we will die together with Ye City. Now there is no other way but to abandon the city and break out."
Song's charming face was gradually gloomy, and her eyes were filled with anxiety.
In her mind, she couldn't help but picture Zhuge Liang leading her, charging through thousands of troops, with corpses strewn on the ground and rivers of blood flowing.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Song couldn't help but shudder.
After a long silence, Mrs. Song said sadly: "My mother is a woman, and following you will only become a drag on you, so you don't need to worry about my mother. Go and break out by yourself."
Zhuge Liang, however, looked shocked and said hurriedly: "Yan Liang is cruel and unkind. He has a big feud with Zhuge Liang. How can I leave my mother in Yecheng? Absolutely not."
"But……"
"Don't worry, mother. The son has his own way. You don't have to think too much about bringing mother to Yecheng safely. She just needs to make preparations in advance." Zhuge Liang looked confident and confident.
Thinking about Yan Liang's cruelty, Mrs. Song did not dare to stay in Yecheng. Just now she had only talked about it, but now that Zhuge Liang was so confident, she stopped talking.
Zhuge Liang settled his mother and then resigned.
"Buddha bless you and help my mother and son escape from danger. Buddha, I hope you will be merciful and compassionate. You will get rid of the devil Yan Liang as soon as possible and restore peace to the world. Buddha..."
Mrs. Song was reciting something, and then started reciting the sutra.
Looking at his mother who was devoted to Buddhism, Zhuge Liang shook his head, smiled, and strode out of the Buddhist hall in a blink of an eye.
As soon as he left the Buddhist hall, a close servant came over and whispered: "Prime Minister, something happened again. Two more people were crushed to death."
Zhuge Liang frowned and asked in a deep voice: "Is the project affected?"
"There is no construction work. The digging will be completed by tonight at the latest."
Zhuge Liang breathed a sigh of relief, waved his hand and said: "You guys have been working all night and dug as soon as possible. As for the dead man, carry him out through the back door and bury him. Don't disturb anyone else."
"I understand, little one." The servant cupped his hands and retreated.
Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly, and a mysterious sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
…
Three days later.
In the imperial tent, everyone was in high spirits, and an atmosphere of promising victory filled the tent.
This exciting mood all comes from a secret letter from Cao Ren.
Just last night, Cao Ren secretly sent someone out of the city and delivered a handwritten letter stating that he was willing to surrender the city.
Cao Ren stated in the letter that since Zhuge Liang was very guarded against him, he could not control the situation on his own, so he agreed to secretly open the south gate tomorrow night and ask Yan Liang to send troops to attack from the south gate, so as to capture Ye City in one fell swoop.
All the generals knew that Cao Ren was the second most powerful figure in the Han army in Yecheng after Zhuge Liang. If Cao Ren was willing to surrender, the capture of Yecheng would be imminent.
The generals were mostly optimistic, but Yan Liang was calm and not excited at all.
"He, you have worked with Cao Ren before. Do you think he will surrender to me?" Yan Liang turned his attention to Jia Xu.
Jia Xu stroked his white beard, pondered for a moment, and said: "Forgive me for speaking frankly, your Majesty forced Cao Cao to death, killed Cao Pi, and destroyed the Cao family. Based on my understanding of Cao Ren, there is no way this person can return to your Majesty.
"
Jia Xu denied the possibility of Cao Ren's surrender, and given Jia Xu's resourcefulness and his past identity, his words were naturally very convincing.
The optimistic mood of the generals was immediately dampened by Jia Xu's words.
"If Cao Ren didn't surrender, then what happened to this letter of surrender?" Veteran Huang Zhong questioned.
Jia Xu said calmly: "In my opinion, Cao Ren probably can't hold on anymore and wants to abandon the city and break out. As for this letter asking for surrender, it should be just a false surrender plan to confuse us."
With one word of awakening, everyone suddenly realized.
But Yan Liang remained calm. Obviously, Jia Xu's speculation coincided with his thoughts.
"The words of peace are reasonable. According to my opinion, Cao Ren pretended to offer the south gate to surrender. He just wanted to induce us to mobilize heavy troops at the south gate, and he could take the opportunity to break out from the other three gates." Pang Tong also agreed with Jia Xu's judgment.
Cao Ren's tricks were further exposed.
The words of all the brilliant thinkers have cleared away the fog, allowing everyone to see clearly the true purpose of Zhuge Liang and Cao Ren.
Yan Liang pondered for a moment and sneered: "Reply to Cao Ren, I am willing to accept his surrender. Tell him that I will gather all my troops at the south gate tomorrow night, so that he can carry out his conspiracy boldly."
After seeing through Zhuge Liang and Cao Ren's conspiracy, Yan Liang decided to play a trick on them.
Therefore, Pang Tong responded to Cao Ren's envoy on behalf of Yan Liang. Yan Liang accepted his request for surrender and would gather all his troops to meet him at the south gate tomorrow night.
With everything in place, the day flies by in a blink of an eye, and before you know it, it’s nighttime the next day.
Under the cover of night, the Chu troops from all walks of life gathered quietly towards the east camp of Yecheng. When midnight arrived, the number of troops gathered in the east camp had reached 50,000.
According to the planning of Pang Tong and other advisers, since Zhuge Liang was planning to attack the east and attack the west, the direction he chose to break out should be the other three gates except the south gate.
Although the north gate direction is closest to Liu Bei, and besides the besieging army, there is also a 60,000-strong army of Chou Suo stationed near the river, so most of the Han army will not choose this direction to break out of the encirclement.
As for the west gate direction, although it is possible to break through the siege and escape to the front line of Shangdang, it has to cross the Taihang Mountains and the journey is difficult. In theory, Zhuge Liang would not choose this place to break out of the siege.
In this way, only the east gate remains.
If Zhuge Liang and Cao Ren can break through the eastern siege, Xiangdong can enter Zhang Fei's defense area as quickly as possible, and they have the greatest chance of breaking through from here.
After all these considerations, the counselors believed that the real direction of the Han army's breakout must be along the east gate.
Yan Liangsui mobilized 50,000 elite troops. He believed that with 50,000 troops and horses, if fully prepared, they would be enough to stop the Han army of less than 20,000.
The night was already dark, and the "return" time agreed by Cao Ren was getting closer and closer. The 50,000 troops were in high spirits, just waiting for a bloody battle to end this protracted siege.
Yan Liang stationed his horse in front of the camp, staring at the east gate of Ye City with stern eyes, hunting murderous intent flowing in his eyes.
The atmosphere in Yecheng was also tense.
On the top of the city, Zhuge Liang and Cao Ren stood side by side, scanning the Chu camp in the dark night from a distance.
Inside the city gate, there were less than 20,000 Han troops, all standing with swords in hand, excitement and uneasiness flashing on their faces.
They were excited because they had been trapped for so long and finally received the order to break out. They were all eager to escape from this hellish city.
The reason for uneasiness is that there are more than 100,000 enemy troops outside the city, and tonight's breakout will definitely be a brutal and bloody battle. No one can guarantee that they will be the lucky one to escape alive.
"Zixiao, it's almost time, let's start taking action." Zhuge Liang said solemnly.
Cao Ren took a deep breath, cupped his hands and said: "Prime Minister Zhuge, Ren must do his best in this battle. Whether he can get out depends on everyone's luck. I hope we can meet up alive behind the enemy camp."
According to prior discussions, Cao Ren led his elite troops to the front to open the way, while Zhuge Liang and other officials followed behind.
"I believe that God will bless my big man, and we will definitely meet again alive." Zhuge Liang was full of confidence.
Cao Ren then said no more, turned around and strode down to the top of the city, glanced at all the soldiers, and said sternly: "Soldiers, listen, it's life or death. We will fight tonight. Those who want to survive, use all you have."
If something happens, we will fight a bloody path!"
All the Han troops were excited and inspired. They all cheered up and vowed to follow Cao Ren in a bloody battle.
Having boosted his morale, Cao Ren said nothing more, so he ordered the city gates to be opened, lowered the drawbridge, and led the remaining soldiers out of the city.
On the top of the city, Zhuge Liang watched Cao Ren leave the city. Seeing his troops disappear into the night, he vomited and hurried down to the city.
Zhuge Liang did not follow Cao Ren's troops out of the city, but galloped towards his prime minister's mansion.