Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 77: Fraudulently Seizing Shangcai, the Northern Line is Broken

That night, we captured Caicheng.

In the cover of night, the defending general Chang Nu was patrolling the city.

Chang Nu's name is not revealed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but he was actually a former general under Yuan Shu.

When Cao Cao was going to welcome the emperor, Yuan Shu ordered Chang Nu and General Dong Cheng to block the dangerous area and stop Cao Hong, a general under Cao Cao's command.

Later, after the emperor was taken away by Cao Cao, Chang Nu also returned to Shouchun.

This time when Yuan Shu marched westward, he took most of the elite generals with him, leaving only low-level generals such as Chen Lan who were not valued.

Liu Bei then went south, successively captured Longkang and launched a surprise attack on Yicheng.

Ji Ling was afraid that Chen Lan was no match for Liu Bei, so he ordered Chang Nu to lead 3,000 troops to Xia Cai to guard against Liu Bei's sneak attack.

When Chang Nu arrived in Xiacai, thinking about the previous attack on Yicheng, he set up spies to ambush on both sides of the Huai River to prevent Liu Bei from launching a surprise attack by water.

He himself also divided his soldiers into three shifts, which patrolled the city every day and did not dare to slack off at all.

After searching for 12:00 p.m., and seeing that it was getting dark, he instructed the city gate commander:

"It is now night, the city is closed and guarded. No one is allowed to approach the city gate. Anyone who violates the rules will be killed!"

When the governor heard this, he quickly agreed.

Upon receiving the order, Chang Nu called a few officers to instruct them on various matters, then went down the city wall and headed towards the county government.

As the old saying goes, the hour of Xu is dusk and the hour of Hai is the time of meditation.

In fact, it was already eight o'clock in the evening at three quarters after the hour of Xu.

Chang Nu had been busy all afternoon and even though he had lunch, he still felt hungry.

He found the county magistrate in the county government office and wanted to order some wine and meat to enjoy his meal.

Unexpectedly, the county magistrate complained when he heard this:

"General, you may not know that drought has arrived and the price of food in our city has skyrocketed. Not to mention wine and meat, even fine rice is hard to afford."

"Even though we are the head of a county, we are also short of food."

"If the general really wants to eat, I still have some bean paste and millet cakes in my house. You can take them and help the general to fill his stomach."

Although Chang Nu was a general of Yuan Shu, he was not unreasonable. When he heard this, he sighed and said:

"Well, what can I eat? Go and get it!"

When the county magistrate heard this, he felt as if he had been pardoned, and hurriedly sent people home to fetch some sauce cakes.

Not long after, bean paste and millet cakes were brought, and Chang Nu began to eat them with big mouthfuls.

After eating two in a row, I no longer felt hungry, but my mouth tasted bland.

Looking at the bland food, Chang Nu couldn't help but have evil thoughts.

They thought that there was a severe drought in Huainan and food was scarce everywhere, and even generals like them could only eat millet cakes to fill their stomachs.

I also thought that the wealthy families in the city must have fine clothes and delicious food, with plenty of wine and meat.

With national affairs at stake today, how can we allow such wealthy families to get away with it?

While he was thinking, he called the county magistrate and asked him if there were any wealthy families in the city.

The county magistrate knew his evil intentions, but was afraid that he would attack him, so he could only say:

"There is a family named Wu in the city, they are quite wealthy, General, you can go and ask for some wine and meat."

Upon hearing this, Chang Nu grinned, grabbed the county magistrate's hand and said:

"Although I know there is such a house, I don't know where it is. Please take me there!"

After saying this, without waiting for the county magistrate to refuse, he pulled the county magistrate to lead the way.

The county magistrate saw this and knew that the man was going to rob. He wanted to persuade him, but when he saw the soldiers around him holding sharp blades, he was frightened.

He also thought that if he led the way now, he would definitely be blamed if something happened in the future, and he became more and more panicked.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the street, they saw a rider galloping over, shouting:

"General, urgent news from Dangtu: Chen Lan has been defeated by Liu Bei's army!"

Upon hearing this, Chang Nu trembled, and said with wide eyes:
"Chen Lan has been defeated? Where did you get the news?"

The knight hurriedly said to Chang Nu:

"Because the soldiers came here in defeat, that's why I know!"

When Chang Nu heard this, he gave up the idea of ​​robbing and said hurriedly:

"Where is that soldier? Take me to see him!"

After saying this, he abandoned the county magistrate and hurried towards the city wall.

As soon as we reached the top of the city wall, we saw several soldiers covered in blood standing in a corner of the tower.

Chang Nu saw this and shouted:

"Where are you from and why are you here?"

As soon as the question was asked, a man cried and said:

"General, send reinforcements to rescue you!"

"Our army was ambushed by the enemy today, suffering heavy casualties and being routed all the way here."

"The enemy is still pursuing us. If the general does not go, our army will be completely wiped out!"

Chang Nu was shocked when he heard this:

"Chen Lan was defending the city at Dangtu, how did he get ambushed by the enemy?"

When the man heard this, he immediately wiped away his tears and said:

"We, the soldiers, don't know either. We just heard that the spies learned today that Liu Bei's army had left, and we also heard that the enemy army was advancing by water."

"I don't know why, but the general ordered us to go out of the city and give chase."

"We didn't expect that we would be ambushed by the enemy after only traveling for half a day."

"The general fought with Zhang Fei for less than three rounds before he was stabbed by a spear. We fought hard with the enemy, but the enemy still followed us."

"The general saw that the enemy was chasing us very quickly, so he ordered us to come here on horseback to report and ask for reinforcements!"

"I'm afraid we are near Xiacai now. I beg you to send troops to help us as soon as possible, otherwise our lord's life will be in danger!"

The troop of this era was also the general's private army.

When Chang Nu heard the word "my lord", he knew that the person in front of him must be Chen Lan's personal guard.

Seeing his face covered in blood and his disheveled appearance, I knew he had been through a great battle.

And according to the situation he described, Chen Lan might really be able to leave the city.

Comparing the two, there is only one possibility: Chen Lan was really ambushed.
But when it comes to rescue, he is a little hesitant.

There are not many soldiers in the city. If we send more troops to rescue, I'm afraid the city will be difficult to defend.

Besides, even if Chen Lan had 5,000 men, he was no match for the enemy.

Can he rescue Chen Lan with just these few troops?
While Chang Nu was thinking and about to ask for details, he heard a soldier shouting:
"General, there are troops coming from afar!"

As soon as he heard this, he abandoned the guard, went to the parapets and looked out.

In the cover of night, a troop was seen rushing towards us. There were quite a few of them, hundreds of them, and their formation was chaotic.

Seeing this, Chang Nu's heart tightened and he quickly gave the order:
"The entire army is on alert and ready to meet the enemy!"

He gave an order, and saw archers on the city wall rushing out, aiming at the soldiers below the city. But at this time, a loud shout was heard:

"General, please don't shoot. We are friendly troops!"

Amid the loud shouts, the troops came closer and closer. Chang Nu looked carefully and saw that they were all wearing Yuan Shu's military uniforms. He hurriedly ordered the soldiers to stop shooting.

When the troops arrived at the city, Chang Nu just shouted:

"Who are your troops? How did you get to this point?!"

A man stood up from the city and shouted:
"General, we are General Chen Lan's troops, and we have been defeated!"

"General, please open the door and let us in. The enemy is coming!"

Chang Nu was extremely confused when he heard this. He squinted in the darkness and sweat dripped down his head.

He is also a veteran and knows how risky it is to let people in at night.

Sometimes even friendly forces can't be trusted.

But seeing the soldiers in the city like this, he felt a little reluctant and asked hurriedly:

"Where is General Chen Lan now?"

The soldier at the foot of the city said again:
"The general is seriously injured and has fallen into a coma!"

"We'll carry it all the way here!"

As he was speaking, a man who looked like a general was carried out.

Chang Nu only felt his eyes were blurry and he couldn't see clearly, but he heard someone beside him shouting:

"It's the general, that's General Chen Lan!"

Chang Nu took a look and saw that it was the soldier who had just answered him. He thought that this person was Chen Lan's personal guard. Now that he had spoken, it must be Chen Lan who was at the gate of the city!

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard a loud shout from a distance:

"Kill! Follow me to defeat the enemy and capture Xiacai!"

As soon as this voice was heard, a large number of soldiers and horses appeared in the distance.

Before Chang Nu could respond, the soldiers below the city shouted again:
"General, how can you stand by and watch us die? Open the gate immediately and let us enter the city!"

When Chang Nu heard this, he looked at Chen Lan at the foot of the city and saw the pursuers approaching in the distance. He gritted his teeth and said:

"Open the door, open the door quickly."

As the order was given, the gate of Shangcai, an important town in Jiujiang, opened with a creak, and the soldiers under the city filed in.

Chang Nu heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this, and then he saw soldiers approaching from a distance, and hurriedly shouted:

"Archers, prepare to meet the enemy!"

He shouted loudly, and the archers drew their arrows.

But when the troops reached 300 steps, they suddenly stopped.

Chang Nu looked at it and said in surprise:
"Why did the enemy stop?"

While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a burst of fierce shouting and killing from below the city.

When Chang Nu heard this, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he shouted:

"Oh no, there are enemy troops outside the city!"

"Follow me quickly to the city to stop the enemy!"

After saying this, he walked down towards the city, but after taking only two steps, his heart trembled again.

If there were enemy troops outside the city, then where were those soldiers just now?

When he thought of this, he felt a chill on his back. Just as he was about to turn around, with a "whoosh" sound, a long sword pierced through his chest.

Xu Sheng looked indifferent, drew out his sword, turned around and shouted coldly:
"The enemy general is dead, and those who surrender will not be killed!"

Seeing such a shocking change, the soldiers were all stunned and didn't know what to do.

At this moment, the soldiers below the city had already come up.

As soon as the city gate opened, Liu Bei's army swarmed in and charged directly into the city.

With the main general dead, the soldiers in the city had no will to resist.

In less than half an hour, the situation in the city was under control.

At this point, Liu Bei's army had captured four cities in a row, completely breaking through Shouchun's northern defense line, and was only a line away from Shouchun City.

As time came to the second half of the night, Liu Bei led the main force here.

Upon hearing that Xu Sheng was the first to break the city in this battle, Liu Bei laughed heartily and said:
"Xu Wenxiang is truly a great general of our army!"

Then he led his troops into the city.

After entering the city, he praised Xu Sheng again.

Old Liu never expected that the young general recommended to him by Qin Zhen was so brave!
He had received so many surprises along the way!
After hearing this, Qin Zhen thought to himself that he was a fierce general now and would become a fierce minister in the future.

He is indeed a fierce general who defeated thousands of people with only two hundred men.

If Xu Sheng is trained well, he will definitely be one of Liu Bei's most powerful generals in the future.

Compared with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Xu Sheng is still young and will most likely become a pillar of the country in the future.

He thought so and said nothing more.

When Liu Bei entered the city, he not only praised everyone but also counted the spoils.

After counting, it was found that there were nearly three thousand surrendered soldiers in the city!
Among them, more than 2,000 were from Chang Nu's army, and the rest were soldiers originally stationed in Xia Cai.

With a simple calculation, including Chen Lan's troops, they now have more than 6,000 prisoners in their hands.

In the past, Liu Bei was worried about the lack of soldiers, but now he is worried about too many prisoners. He couldn't help but say to Qin Zhen:

"Military Advisor, it's good that our army is winning battles one after another."

"But now there are so many prisoners and our army is still advancing. What should we do with them?"

Qin Zhen heard this and immediately smiled:
"Why worry, sir? Our army is short of soldiers and horses, and these prisoners can be of great use!"

"Why not stop here for a few days to train yourself? Then order General Guan to lead 3,000 soldiers south to garrison here!"

"Leave Chen Dao here to train with him, and we will head south naturally. First, we can guard against Ji Ling's attack, and second, we can increase our military strength!"

There were not enough generals. He thought that Guan Yu and Xu Shu had to stay in Xiang County to intimidate Cao, so it would be better to pull Guan Ping out to train him.

If the time is right in the future, he will be able to break away from Guan Yu's protection and stand on his own.

When Qin Zhen mentioned Guan Ping, Liu Bei thought for a while and nodded in agreement.

Although Guan Ping is still young, Xu Sheng is able to do this just after he came of age. It is time for Guan Ping, the nephew, to be trained.

After agreeing to this, he sent someone north to convey the order.

At the same time, Xia Cai was training his troops and preparing to march south when the opportunity arose.

After this training, Liu Bei's army increased its strength again. Together with the soldiers who had surrendered in various cities before, there were more than 18,000 people in Jiujiang alone.

Although only the original troops can fight in the battle, the number alone sounds very impressive.

While Liu Bei was organizing his troops on the spot, the news that the entire northern line had been lost also reached Shouchun City.

ps: The title is wrong, it’s not Shangcai, it’s Xiacai. Shangcai is in Runan, and Xiacai is in Huainan.

(End of this chapter)