Chapter Forty-Six: Tune the Tiger from the Mountain
But he said that Guan Yu was defeated and returned to Xiangcheng to recover from his injuries, and he would recuperate for a few days. Seeing that Gao Jin was drowning under the city again, and was about to leave the city to fight, Chen Qun strongly admonished him: "General, the old injury has not recovered, why not rest for a few days, my lord will Xiangcheng
It is entrusted to the general. The general should defend the city, why should he act on his own initiative?"
Guan Yu also suddenly woke up and said hurriedly: "Chen Biejia reminded me." He suppressed his anger and ignored Gao Jin in the city.
A few days later, Guan Yu was very surprised when he saw that the rear of Lu Bu's army still did not appear. He summoned Chen Qun and asked, "Is it possible that these three thousand troops and horses are the only ones entering Xiangcheng County?"
Chen Qun was also puzzled. He was silent for a moment and suddenly realized: "General, we have fallen into a trap. This Gao Jin falsely claimed 20,000 to induce the general to withdraw his troops from Lu County and intercept them halfway. From this point of view, 20,000 Lu Bu's army
It’s a completely false trick.”
Guan Yu was furious again and cursed: "This thief is very cunning."
Chen Qun said: "General, please calm down. They have few soldiers, only three thousand in number. We will defend the city. As long as we are cautious and don't go out, there will be nothing we can do despite his many tricks."
Guan Yu thought so.
Gao Jin fought under the city for several more days, but Guan Yu never came out, so Gao Jin stopped doing this useless work. After breaking through the idea, his spirit improved significantly, and he returned to the camp to think hard about how to attack the city.
However, he had no idea, so he called Yu Jin to discuss the matter.
Yu Jin said: "There is a saying in the art of war: surround it ten times, attack it five times, and divide it if the number is doubled. Our army has few soldiers. If Guan Yu cannot escape from the battle, it will be difficult for him to siege or attack the city."
Gao Jin nodded: "This is exactly why I am worried. What should I do if Guan Yu doesn't go out to fight now?"
Yu Jin frowned and thought hard for a long time, but still couldn't think of any other way, so he had to say: "The general is also at his wits' end."
Gao Jin asked: "Does Guan Yu have any weaknesses?"
Yu Jin said: "Although this person is arrogant, he has no other weaknesses."
Gao Jin suddenly said: "Liu, Guan, and Zhang have a deep love for each other as brothers. Is this a false rumor?"
Yu Jin said: "It's no lie. The three of them have a cordial relationship. They talk to each other when they go out and eat at the same table when they sit down. I saw it with my own eyes in the camp."
A hint of cunning flashed in Gao Jin's eyes, and he said, "Bring some outstanding scouts here, I have something to give you."
Yu Ban went according to the order.
On the same day, dozens of scouts swarmed out and captured some of Liu Bei's defeated troops in the middle of the night. The last time Zhao Cheng was defeated at the ferry, thousands of rebel soldiers dispersed and scattered everywhere, so it is not a big deal to capture a few of them.
difficulty.
One of them was once the captain of the Lu County garrison. Gao Jin personally asked him to tell him the inside story about Liu Bei's army. The man was already trembling with fear. He told everything he dared to hide.
Gao Jin asked him in great detail, including the various relationships in Liu Bei's army, as well as the military princes who led the troops, the army commanders, and even the nicknames of some generals. He kept asking him till dawn, and Gao Jin stood there quite tiredly.
He stood up and said to Yu Jin who had stayed up all night with him: "Write down all his words and memorize them for the scouts."
Yu Jin took the cloth from the scribe that contained various questions and answers and looked at it for a while, nodded, put the cloth away, and said, "I'll do it now."
A few days later, a group of Liu Beijun knights came roaring from the direction of Peiguo County. Gao Jin had few soldiers, so he only stationed on the outskirts of Nancheng. He immediately sent out scouts to intercept. The two sides charged for a while in the wilderness, except for a few who were knocked off their horses.
In addition, the other knights rushed to the gate of Xiangcheng.
The scouts of Lu Bu's army stopped chasing him, fearing that they would be within the range of the archers on the city wall.
Dozens of knights dismounted one after another and shouted at the moat: "We are the sergeants under General Zhang. Open the city gate quickly. We want to see General Guan."
The soldiers on the city wall were hesitant and quickly flew to report to Guan Yu.
When Guan Yu heard the news that Xiao Pei was coming, he could not calm down. He immediately went to the tower to take a look. Sure enough, he saw that the people below the city were wearing the clothes and armor of Liu Bei's army. He said: "Lower the suspension bridge and prepare the bamboo baskets and cables to tie them down."
They hanged them up in the city."
Guan Yu was still recovering from his injuries most of the time, and all the defense on the city wall was entrusted to Chen Qun. At this time, Chen Qun also hurriedly arrived and said: "General, wait a minute. It won't be too late to put them into the city after their identities are verified."
Guan Yu proudly raised his sword and held his bag and said: "There are only dozens of soldiers, why do we need to identify ourselves? If there is fraud, can these unknown soldiers capture the city?"
Chen Qun also felt that it was reasonable and stopped trying to dissuade him. He just thought that Gao Jin had many tricks up his sleeve, so he was more cautious, fearing that he would fall into Gao Jin's tricks again.
All the sergeants worked hard together and used baskets to pull up the knights from the city one by one and sent them to the tower. Guan Yu waited for a long time, but saw that all of them were in ragged clothes, and some were stained with dried blood. His eyebrows sank, and he was surprised.
I thought: "Could it be that something happened to the eldest brother and the third brother?"
When everyone saw Guan Yu, they cried together: "Second General, Xiaopei is in danger..."
Guan Yu confirmed his guess. He, who had always been calm and composed, was quite upset at the moment and asked quickly: "What happened?"
One of them choked up and replied: "Yuan Shu's army attacked Xiaopei, and an army of more than 20,000 people pressed down on the border. My lord originally wanted to hold on, but General He wanted to go out of the city to fight. He might as well have fallen into Yuan Shu's army's trick and returned in defeat.
The three generals were also seriously injured. Ten stops of troops and horses were sent to three stops. Xiaopei City was in danger and several county towns were lost. We were the defenders of Guyang. Yuan Shu's army occupied the city and then surrounded Xiaopei.
We had nowhere to go, so we had to come to the Second General for help."
Guan Yu's face turned even redder, his half-closed eyes suddenly opened with murderous intent in them, and he asked: "How is the third brother's injury?"
The man replied: "I didn't know anything about it, I just said I was hit by a secret arrow."
Guan Yu stood up, confused for a moment, and paced back and forth with his hands behind his hands: "How many troops and horses are there in Xiaopei City?"
"I only know that 20,000 Yuan Shu's troops have trapped the city, and there is no news. I'm afraid... we can still hold on for some time."
Although the man said this, there was some luck in his words.
Guan Yu couldn't bear it anymore and shouted: "Come here, order all the troops and horses, and follow me to Xiaopei!"
Chen Qun hurriedly said: "When the general goes to Xiaopei, what should Xiangcheng do?"
Guan Yu was angry, and a sharp flash of light flashed in his eyes: "If there is no skin left, how can the hair be attached? If Xiaopei is missing, eldest brother and third brother will be in trouble, what is the point of us sitting in Xiangcheng? I have made up my mind.
Chen Biejia doesn’t need to say anything more.”
Chen Qun said, "How can the general trust these few unknown soldiers?"
Guan Yu was stunned. He had a tepid temperament and was rarely provoked. If it weren't for the two brothers, he probably wouldn't have lost his temper like this.
At this time, Chen Qun listened to the reminder and nodded with deep understanding. Then he turned his eyes to these soldiers and asked the person who had just answered: "If you are under the command of the three generals, in which department are you serving?"
The man talked eloquently: "I am in the right camp and making a left bend."
Guan Yu said: "Who is your Sima? Why haven't you seen him come?"
"The military commander's name is Liu Qi, and Gu Yang has been killed in battle."
"Liu Qi?" Guan Yu sneered, and murderous intent suddenly appeared in his eyes: "How dare you bully me, you thief? Sima of the Zuoqu Army in the right camp, whose surname is Fang, came and pushed him out and beheaded him. This man is a spy of Lu Bu's army.
"
A flash of panic flashed in the man's eyes, and he said quickly: "I will never dare to hide it. The army commander is indeed Liu Qi. The general knows it well..."
Chen Qun remained calm and secretly observed the man's performance. Guan Yu also showed murderous intent. Upon hearing Guan Yu's order, several military princes present drew their sabers and moved towards the man.
The man's spirit seemed to have collapsed, and he kept muttering: "General Mingcha... General Mingcha... Liu Qi is seven feet tall and is from Zhuolu, Hebei. The army calls him Liu Laizi just because he has one leg."
I limped a little on the battlefield..."
"Wait!" Guan Yu closed his eyes and shouted. Just now he said that the military commander's surname was Fang. This was originally a test. In fact, he had seen the military commander named Liu Qi before. As this person said, Liu Qi was indeed a lame, but
The injury was not serious and there was no difficulty in moving.
Now that the identity of this person was confirmed, Guan Yu felt sad. He thought that his eldest brother was surrounded in Xiaopei, and his third brother was also injured by an arrow. He didn't know how serious it was. How could he feel anymore. His eyes fell on Chen Qun and said: "Farewell Chen, I will take the three
Thousands of soldiers and horses went to rescue Xiaopei, but there are still 2,000 people left in the city. All of them are entrusted to you, how about it?"