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

Chapter 99: Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, Shouchun falls

At this time, a siege had already begun outside Shouchun City.

After listening to Liu Bei's advice, Lu Bu thought that time was urgent and he could not slack off, so he simply left only his cavalry to guard the camp and sent the rest of the troops out of the camp.

This was because Qin Zhen did not give Lu Bu time to think.

In the past, if Lu Bu was asked to attack a city by force, he would most likely consider the pros and cons and let Liu Bei's army attack first while he would attack the flank.

But now when he heard that Ji Ling was leading his troops out of the city to dig for water, he was worried that his retreat would be cut off, so he didn't dare to think too much and pulled his men towards the east gate.

Taking advantage of the wooden bridge built in advance by Liu Bei's army and carrying ladders, they launched a fierce attack directly on the city.

In this unexpected attack, the effect was surprisingly good.

Firstly, Ji Ling is leading his troops out of the city, and Lei Bu has not yet reached the city.

Secondly, there are not many soldiers in the city, and they have to be divided to defend the four gates, with half of the soldiers left behind for support. There are no more than a few hundred soldiers guarding a single gate!
Hundreds of people may seem like a lot to defend a city, but for a big city like Shouchun, hundreds of people are not enough at all!

After all, one side of Shouchun's city wall is extremely wide, and if you divide it evenly, one soldier has to defend a gap of several meters.

Lu Bu was attacking with all his might, pressing forward with all his might!

Thousands of people spread out and dozens of ladders were set up on the wall. Soon they climbed up to the city wall.

When Lu Bu saw his troops approaching the city, he was overjoyed and waved his hands, shouting:
"Come on, beat the drums and attack the city!"

"The first person to break through the gate will be rewarded with 100,000 coins and 10 pieces of cloth!"

At his command, more than a dozen military drums lined up in a row, and under the beating of the soldiers, a deafening sound of war drums was made.

His soldiers listened and rushed towards the city.

Under such a fierce attack, a large number of soldiers climbed up the city wall and started fighting directly with Yuan Shu's army.

While he was fighting here, Yuan Huan was just walking out of the mansion with Lei Bu when he saw a soldier riding a horse and reporting:
"General, it's bad, the enemy has already climbed onto the city wall!"

Lei Bu was timid to begin with, and after hearing this, he became even more frightened. He was at a loss and said:
"The enemy has already invaded the city. What should we do?"

When Yuan Huan saw this, his face turned stern and he said in a deep voice:
"General, how can you be so cowardly? There are troops in the city who can provide reinforcements. Why should you be afraid?"

As he spoke, he drew out the long sword from his waist and said in a deep voice:
"Hurry up and send the order to mobilize the troops to reinforce the east gate. We must not let the enemy enter the city!"

When the soldier saw this, his expression changed. He looked at Lei Bu and saw Lei Bu glaring at him and saying:

"Why don't you go and pass on the message? What are you waiting for here?"

When the soldier heard this, he hurriedly took the order and left.

After the soldiers left, Yuan Huan said to Lei Bu:

"General, as the defending commander, you should lead the troops first, so that we can stop the enemy!"

"Now that we are blocked from the north and south, the only two gates left to worry about are the east and west gates. General, guard the east gate, and I will go and block the west gate!"

Although he is a humble person, when he is in danger, he is as capable as Cheng Yu.

Lei Bu was originally in a panic, but seeing this, he also gained a bit of confidence. He nodded hurriedly and led his troops to attack towards the east gate.

At this time, there were still more than 2,000 soldiers and horses in the city to provide support. After Lei Bu gave the order, more than 2,000 soldiers and horses rushed towards the east gate.

When Lei Bu reached the east gate, he saw that the city wall had not been lost yet, so he led his troops to charge into the city and started a tug-of-war with Lu Bu on the city wall.

People in the city were taking wood and moving stones, and they kept rushing towards the city.

He forcefully blocked Lu Bu's first wave of attack.

When Lu Bu saw this, he was furious. Seeing someone retreating, he drew his sword and killed him with one blow, shouting:
"Whoever dares to retreat, I will kill him with me up the city. No mistakes!"

When the generals saw what happened, they were all terrified and had to fight their way up to the city.

For a while, the two armies fought back and forth like this, and the sound resounded through heaven and earth.

The people in the city were terrified and closed their doors and windows, not daring to go out.

After Yuan Huan stabilized Lei Bu, he headed towards the west gate.

But before he reached there, he suddenly heard a burst of shouting and killing coming from the direction of the north gate. He hurriedly sent someone to investigate the cause, but the report came back:

"Sir, Liu Bei's army is attacking our north gate!"

When Yuan Huan heard that Liu Bei was attacking the north gate, his heart sank. He thought the enemy would concentrate their forces to attack one gate, but he didn't expect Liu Bei to divide his forces.

From this we can see that Liu Bei’s army acted this way because they knew the city was empty.

Thinking of this, he felt annoyed again. If he had known this would happen, he would have followed Ji Ling's plan to rob the camp, and they might not have come here.

Ji Ling is not in the city now. If Shouchun is captured, he will be the number one sinner in this battle!
At that moment, he did not dare to slack off and simply led his troops towards the north gate.

But Yuan Huan didn't know that at this time an army had quietly arrived at the west gate of Shouchun.

However, unlike the East Gate and North Gate, this army did not carry much siege equipment.

In the dark night, Zhang Fei and Xu Sheng led thousands of soldiers and horses to the bottom of the city gate. Seeing that the soldiers on the city were not prepared, Zhang Fei smiled and said to Xu Sheng:
"There are at most 4,000 to 5,000 people in the city now. I think the defenses are lax. It must be because Lu Bu's attack is too fierce!"

"If we can charge up to the city and open this gate, we will win!"

"I wonder if Wen Xiang dares to climb the city first!"

When Xu Sheng heard this, he nodded and said:
"Why not? But General, you must listen to me!"

"Although I dare to climb the city, if our army does this alone, there will be heavy casualties!"

"I have a method that may be useful to you!"

Without waiting for Zhang Fei to ask, he pointed to the city wall and said:

"General, please take a look. I have seen that this wall is old. Although it has been repaired, there are many protruding places. Maybe we can use shovels and pickaxes to climb the city!"

"General, why don't you go to the gate here and attract the troops from this city? I will quietly climb up from the corner of the north gate and attack from the flank."

"In this way, our army can attack from both sides and catch the enemy off guard!"

Zhang Fei's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"What a great way to attack from both sides! That's exactly what we can do!"

Otherwise, why do they say it is easy to get thousands of soldiers but difficult to get a good general?

In fact, many times, although Qin Zhen, as a military strategist, can give advice and suggestions, when it comes to practical use, the generals still need to perform personally.

If they attacked the city using ordinary methods, they would be able to get to the city, but there would also be a lot of strife.

But Xu Sheng's current method can effectively attack the city and reduce casualties.

Zhang Fei and Xu Sheng were used to working together, so when he heard this, he no longer hesitated and asked Xu Sheng to select soldiers to go ahead and prepare.

Xu Sheng selected about two to three hundred people and quietly climbed across the moat in the cover of night.

It was also during this era that most soldiers were malnourished and had very poor night vision.

In addition, the walls of Shouchun city were relatively high, so two or three hundred of them quietly crossed the river without the soldiers on the city noticing at all.

After Xu Sheng reached a corner of the north gate and hid, Zhang Fei turned around and called a general, saying:
"Choose some soldiers for me and climb up the city wall. If you can break the gate, it will be counted as a credit to you!" The military officer did not refuse when he heard this, because Zhang Fei was very strict in his military discipline and he never whipped his soldiers. The generals also respected his bravery and did not dare to disobey him at all.

After hearing Zhang Fei's order, he called up his soldiers and headed towards the city again.

After a while, they arrived at the foot of the city, used a wooden bridge to pave the way underneath, and placed the ladder directly on the city.

There were quite a few noises of collision in the process, but as there were shouts of killing everywhere, the soldiers on the city did not pay any attention.

Before long, dozens of people climbed up the ladder.

At this moment, with a light cough, a head popped out from the top of the city wall.

Seeing the situation outside the city, this person was almost scared to death. He reacted, turned around and shouted:
"Enemy attack, enemy attack, there are enemy troops outside the city!"

But before he could finish his words, there was a loud gust of wind, blood splattered everywhere, and he was shot dead by Zhang Fei on the spot.

Seeing that it was difficult to conceal, Zhang Fei shouted:

"Kill! Fight with me to the city!"

He shouted loudly, and thousands of soldiers in the darkness shouted in unison:
"Kill!"

A large number of soldiers and horses rushed towards the city.

Amid the shouting and screaming, the soldiers on the city wall reacted and gathered here.

Then I saw that the general had already led his men to climb up the parapet and attack the city in one fell swoop.

Xu Sheng saw the opportunity and knocked directly on the city wall with his shovel and hoe, saying in a deep voice:
"Follow me up to the city!"

Upon hearing this, his warriors began to climb the city wall.

Originally, using shovels and pickaxes to climb up the city wall would have made quite a bit of noise, but now with Zhang Fei's support and Liu Bei's feint attack, the corner of the north gate was suddenly empty.

So they went up to the city from here, and no one stopped them!

Xu Sheng led the way, climbed to the top, grabbed the parapet, and climbed over the wall. Seeing that the enemy was trying to stop Zhang Fei from climbing the city wall, he shouted:

"Kill, follow me to seize the city gate!"

With a shout, he led the soldiers behind him to climb forward and attack the defenders from the side.

The gatekeeper had already had a hard time dealing with Zhang Fei, and now he was even more frightened when he saw the enemy troops climbing the city wall. He hurriedly said:
"Hurry and help me to resist the enemy!"

Naturally, he did not dare to lead his troops to attack, but only ordered his soldiers to go and stop them.

But at this time there were less than 600 soldiers left at the north gate, how could they stop the attacks from both sides? They went to stop Xu Sheng's troops, while Zhang Fei's side began to go up to the city in a steady stream.

But Xu Sheng was seen holding a steel knife and killing several people in a row, and no one could defeat him.

The enemy was frightened and retreated continuously.

Zhang Fei, who was standing at the foot of the city, was filled with excitement when he saw this. He raised his sword and shield, stepped forward, and pulled aside a soldier, saying:

"Get out of the way. I'll lead you to the city!"

With a shout, he climbed up the ladder and scaled the wall himself.

When the soldiers behind him saw their commander doing this, their morale soared and they rushed forward shouting.

Led by Zhang Fei and Xu Sheng, the soldiers won a great victory. Once they entered the city, the enemy was unable to stop them and they captured the west gate in less than two minutes.

With a loud bang, as the city gate fell, thousands of soldiers and horses rushed into the city.

On the other hand, Yuan Huan heard that Liu Bei was approaching the north gate, so he headed towards the north gate.

When they climbed up the city gate, they saw a large number of soldiers standing below the city, with drums beating loudly, but the attack was sparse.

Seeing this, Yuan Huan was shocked and said:

“When did the enemy arrive here?”

The young goalkeeper replied hastily:
"It has been more than three quarters of an hour!"

When Yuan Huan heard this, he was so frightened that he said hurriedly:

"This is a feint attack by the enemy. The main force must be somewhere else!"

Having said this, he led his soldiers toward the city wall, thinking that the South Gate was safe now and the enemy troops were most likely at the West Gate.

Worried, he headed towards the west gate, but halfway through, he saw a group of soldiers covered in blood approaching and shouting:

"Sir, retreat quickly! The enemy has already entered the city!"

Hearing this, Yuan Huan felt ashamed and angry, and shouted:
"The enemy is extremely cunning!"

Even though he had a good temper, he couldn't hold it in anymore.

Where on earth do the enemy get so many schemes from!
There are so many tricks to attack a city!

Feeling angry, he raised his sword again and shouted:

"Follow me to stop the enemy!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw that all his soldiers were frightened and began to turn around and run away.

When Yuan Huan saw this, he turned around and saw Zhang Fei leading his troops charging towards the street.

When Yuan Huan saw Zhang Fei arriving, his face turned pale.

He thought the enemy had just entered the city and was thinking about leading his troops to resist, but he didn't expect that they had just entered the city!
And the leader was none other than our old acquaintance Zhang Fei!
Before he could react, Zhang Fei saw his expression and laughed:

"Hahahaha. Isn't that Yuan Yaoqing? Come, help me capture this guy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers behind him rushed forward like wolves and tigers.

Seeing that he was no match for the enemy, Yuan Huan had no choice but to surrender.

In less than a moment, Yuan Huan was arrested.

With Yuan Huan captured, Zhang Fei marched forward again.

There were not many soldiers in the city at that time, and when they saw him rushing into the city, they had no strength to resist.

On the other side, Lei Bu heard that the west gate had been broken into by the enemy, and also heard that Yuan Huanbei had been captured by the enemy, and he no longer had the will to fight.

Because he blocked Lu Bu's advance and was afraid of being angered by him, he simply led his troops into the city and surrendered to Zhang Fei.

At this point, Shouchun City fell completely!

In this battle, Liu Bei's army only suffered hundreds of casualties in the feint attack and siege, and the military force did not suffer too much damage.

On the contrary, due to Lei Bu's surrender, the remaining 3,000 soldiers in the city all joined Liu Bei's army, causing the number of soldiers under Liu Bei's command to increase instead of decrease.

In contrast, Lu Bu lost nearly a thousand soldiers and gained nothing except capturing some of Chen Lan's soldiers outside the city.

But after all, Shouchun was captured and money and food were right in front of them, so Lu Bu was not angry but happy.

As soon as the city gate was opened, he happily ordered his soldiers to enter the city and prepare to join Liu Bei.

(End of this chapter)