The Warriors of the Three Kingdoms

"Xiangyang City has not been breached by me."

Liu Zheng's affirmative answer made everyone who had been terrified just now breathed a sigh of relief, but then Liu Zheng said something again, which made them feel relieved.

"Although I didn't enter Xiangyang City, I besieged the city for a few days and forced your lord Liu Biao to surrender and negotiate peace. As a last resort, I had to make the decision to sacrifice Cai Yao and make me retreat."

"It was because of Cai Yao that I considered letting Liu Biao go. I came back with my own troops. I didn't expect to meet you here. Do you think I should catch you all, or let you go back?"

Liu Zheng calmly said such words, which made Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others realize their situation clearly.

That's right, no matter what Liu Zheng said, no matter what happened to Xiangyang City, at least for now, their lives are in Liu Zheng's hands.

Now Liu Zheng's tens of thousands of troops surrounded the few remnants of them. As long as Liu Zheng gave an order, these troops rushed up, and they, the people trapped in the middle, had no way to retreat.

"Liu Zheng, a scholar can be killed but not humiliated. Now we have fallen into your trick. If you want to kill or cut him up, you will do as you please. Stop talking nonsense."

Cai Mao kept his face sullen and did not speak, because Cai Mao saw Cai Yao, and his scruples in Xiangyang City were Cai Yao, now that Cai Yao is not in Xiangyang, Cai Mao has no intention of going back to Xiangyang.

Seeing that Cai Mao had been silent and Zhang Yun who was standing behind him had a frightened and decadent look on his face, Kuai Yue had no choice but to stand up and negotiate with Liu Zheng.

Kuai became more aware that Liu Zheng did not directly order the attack, which meant that Liu Zheng still had room for negotiation.

"If I killed you, I wouldn't keep you here. The reason why I can keep those of you is thanks to Cai Hao. Do you know that Cai Yao is my woman? When it comes to Cai Mao, I have to take care of it." His name is Big Uncle."

"Now, your life and death depend on Cai Mao."

"If you are willing to live, then go and beg Cai Mao to surrender to me, and I can let you go. If you want to die, then continue to resist tenaciously and wait for my army to send you on the road!"

Liu Zheng didn't talk too much nonsense with these people, he came up to express his meaning, he just wants Cai Mao, as long as Cai Mao surrenders, the rest of Amen can live, if Cai Mao doesn't surrender, then they will die together.

Simple and clear, Liu Zheng didn't ask Cai Mao's meaning at all, but asked those vassals around Cai Mao.

This is much more interesting than asking Cai Mao directly.

Ask Cai Hao directly, maybe Cai Hao will take into account his own face, and be a man of backbone on a whim, and not choose to surrender to Liu Zheng. After all, he can't surrender to Liu Zheng one after another. The last time he surrendered, he was already ashamed. Throwing it again really made Cai Mao feel ashamed.

But now Liu Zheng didn't ask him, leaving the decision on whether to surrender to those around Cai Mao.

This puts the problem aside. Liu Zheng knows that those who are vassals around Cai Mao don't want to die, no one wants to die, especially when they know that Xiangyang has not fallen, Zhang Yun, Kuai Yue and others all want to die. If you want to leave alive, at least you don't want to be killed here immediately, such a death is useless.

So they will definitely try to persuade Cai Mao to surrender. This is not a question of whether Cai Mao wants to surrender, but Zhang Yun, Kuai Yue and others will persuade him to surrender, and even force Cai Mao to surrender. Such a surrender will not let Cai Mao have any heart A sense of guilt, and even a sense of mission that I saved everyone.

Sure enough, after Liu Zheng finished speaking, the enemy army on the opposite side began to commotion, and no one wanted to die, especially under such circumstances.

Although it is an honor for soldiers to die on the battlefield, it is better than everything else if they can live.

You have to choose when to die, and if you die on the way to support Xiangyang, Liu Biao will not thank them, and even blame them for the bad march, dying is more painful than living.

So Zhang Yun was the first to stand up and persuade Cai Mao to surrender.

"General Cai Mao, did you hear that, then Liu Zheng is willing to let us go, surrender, what else do you want?"

Zhang Yun spoke directly, and his tone was a bit hasty, he just wanted to finalize this matter as soon as possible, otherwise it would be a torment for him to be here all the time in fear.

Cai Mao turned his head and glanced at Zhang Yun, but did not speak, Zhang Yun was not Cai Mao, so he could not understand the pain in Cai Mao's heart.

But Cai Mao himself knew that what Liu Zheng meant was already obvious. If Cai Mao surrendered, he might have to follow Liu Zheng for the rest of his life. The current Liu Zheng is no longer the original Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng back then would not have been a yellow turban pawn, inconspicuous, no one would have thought that such a yellow turban pawn could stir up troubles in the world and occupy the land of three states.

Even if Cai Mao surrendered to Liu Zheng at the time, he would have lost Jingzhou carelessly at most. After all, when the horse stumbled, others would not care too much.

But if the current Cai Mao surrenders to Liu Zheng, he will be branded as a traitor, and he will follow Liu Zheng and work under Liu Zheng's command for the rest of his life.

For working under Liu Zheng, Cai Mao actually didn't have much repulsion. When he saw his sister, Cai Mao's resentment towards Liu Zheng was reduced a lot.

The only thing he can't let go of is the Cai family in Xiangyang.

Once he chooses to seek refuge with Liu Zheng, the Cai family in Xiangyang will definitely be devastated.Suppressed by Liu Biao.

But Zhang Yun, Kuai Yue and others don't care about the Cai family, they only care about their own lives.

Chapter 525 You Forced Me to Surrender

Of course, Cai Hao still has the Cai family in his heart. After all, it is his own family, and he still has feelings. In the late Han Dynasty, the power of the clan was sometimes strong, and it was the support of an individual in this world. There was only one family. to have enough voice.

When Cai Mao hesitated, Zhang Yun became anxious.

"General Cai Mao, you should say something."

Seeing Zhang Yun's aggressive manner, Kuai Yue was also afraid that Zhang Yun would push Cai Mao into a hurry, so he pulled Zhang Yun and signaled Zhang Yun to stop talking, but he took a step forward and moved closer to Cai Mao's side .

"Brother Degui Cai Mao's name, what does Liu Zheng mean by these words?"

Kuai Yue didn't force Cai Mao to question, nor asked Cai Mao to surrender, but played the emotional card, wanting to test Cai Mao first, and he didn't say General Cai Mao, but kindly called Cai Mao by his name.

The two of them knew each other, and Cai Mao and Kuai Yue's elder brother Kuai Liang were still good friends.So Kuai Yue wants to use this method to probe into Cai Mao's tone and find out what Cai Mao is thinking at this time.

As long as Cai Mao intends to surrender, then Kuai Yue will add fuel to the flames. If Cai Mao really has no intention of surrendering, then Kuai Yue will have to find another way.

Cai Mao frowned, pondered for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he answered Kuai Yue.

"Yidu, Kuaiyue Biaozi, do you know what Liu Zheng meant by saying that he wanted to trap me in injustice."

"How do you say this?"

"Do you know that the person next to Liu Zheng is my sister?"

"Of course I know, Cai Yao, a beauty who is famous all over Xiangyang, it's a pity that I have never seen it before, but I saw it today, it is indeed called two beauties."

"Then do you know that my sister and that Liu Zheng are husband and wife. If I vote for Liu Zheng, do you think I can still serve under the lord? Once I really follow Liu Zheng, I'm afraid that my Cai family in Xiangyang will disappear." .”

Cai Mao told Kuai Yue about his worries.

Kuai Yue immediately raised his eyebrows. If he were another Cai family child, he might be demoted directly, but Cai Mao can't do it. Cai Mao is the head of the family, so he can directly demote Liu Zheng, but the Cai family behind him Big and small, the suzerain has thousands of relatives, but it will be difficult. If Liu Biao is a good person, he can save a life, but if Liu Biao is cruel, I am afraid that these people will not have a good end.

"Degui, don't think so. Your surrender is not willing to surrender to the enemy, but to save me and other unavoidable actions. I think, even if the lord knows, you won't embarrass your family, and you are You saved the lord's nephew Zhang Yun, the lord will remember this kindness in your body."

"So, what to do, I don't need to say more."

Standing by the side, Kuai Yue gave his opinion in the tone of a close friend, in fact, to let himself and the thousands of remnant soldiers here go back intact.

In fact, Cai Mao still wanted to surrender in his heart. Even if Liu Zheng didn't make such a move, he still wanted to surrender, not for anything else. Compared with Liu Biao, Cai Mao was actually more optimistic about Liu Zheng.

When Cai Mao was just a captain under Qin Jie, he admired Liu Zheng with admiration. Cai Mao was very optimistic about Liu Zheng's future, but Liu Zheng was just a yellow scarf at the time, and he didn't have enough status to let Cai Mao raise his family. Take refuge with him.

Today's Liu Zheng is different. Sitting in the land of three states, Liu Zheng is the most promising person to win the world. Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao are not as powerful as Liu Zheng.

According to the appearance of the imperial court, once the imperial court loses its prestige and the world is divided, Liu Zheng will be the biggest prince. Cai Mao, as an imperial official, naturally understands that although the Han court is still in the hands of the Liu family, the strength of the princes from all over the country is getting stronger. The strength of the imperial court gradually weakened, and it was already faintly unable to control these princes.

If Cai Mao took refuge in Liu Zheng at this time, and Liu Zheng would become famous in the future, then his Cai family would rise accordingly. By then, he would not only be a wealthy family in Xiangyang, but even rely on his sister's relationship to become a big family with foreign relatives. impossible.

It's just that although Cai Mao wanted to surrender, he didn't know how to speak for a while, and it happened that Liu Zheng gave him a chance.

In his heart, he secretly admired Liu Zheng's beautiful move, which not only gave him a chance to surrender, but also made these people feel grateful.

Only then did Cai Mao pretend that he was unwilling to surrender, and asked Zhang Yun and Kuai Yue to persuade him, and then he said that he did not want to surrender, but that you all wanted me to surrender. matter.

"Okay, I understand what you're thinking. I can't let you die here. Otherwise, even if I die, I won't be able to explain to the Lord. I, Cai Mao, can only endure the humiliation and surrender Liu Zheng, the bastard."

Cai Mao looked at Zhang Yun and Kuai Yue seriously, and a smile finally appeared on Kuai Yue's face.

"It's still Degui who understands righteousness. Here, I will thank Brother Degui first."

Kuai Yue immediately praised Cai Mao, and Zhang Yun beside him was also a sensible person. After hearing Cai Mao's words, he understood that Cai Mao had expressed his position, and immediately followed Chen Xie.

"Thank you, General Cai Mao. If I can return to Xiangyang, I will tell Uncle that you surrendered to the enemy as a last resort. Your Cai family's position in Xiangyang will definitely be preserved, and I, Zhang Yun, will guarantee it with my life!"

With what Zhang Yun and Kuai Yue said, why did Cai Mao hesitate? He stood up immediately and surrendered to Liu Zheng in the distance.

"Liu Zheng, as long as you don't embarrass my brothers, I am willing to surrender!"

Liu Zheng had been waiting for Cai Mao's words for a long time, because he knew that Cai Mao would definitely surrender, so after hearing Cai Mao's words of surrender, he immediately expressed his position.

"Okay, I know that you are a person who understands current affairs, brother-in-law. As a report, as long as you surrender, I can pardon all these people under your command and let them return to Xiangyang. And I promise not to chase them down, but the same Yes, Changsha County City is mine, so you have no objections."

Liu Zheng said something, Zhang Yun, Kuai Yue and others naturally had no objections, even if they had opinions, they dared not speak out at this time.

It is still important to save their lives now. Even if they have opinions on Liu Zheng's words, Changsha County is not in their turn to take care of them. Anyway, they have lost 3 elite soldiers here. Although Changsha County still has [-] people, they want to stop Liu Zheng. It is not so easy to fight the army.

Sooner or later, Changsha County will be defeated by Liu Zheng.

"When I return to Changsha, I will let them open the city and surrender."

Cai Mao hesitated for a moment, but said something anyway.

Chapter 526 The Dust Settled

The next thing is simple.

Liu Zheng's people began to accept the surrender of Cai Mao and others.

First, they unarmed them and temporarily settled them down. Liu Zheng took them back to Changsha County.

The reason why he didn't let them go back to Xiangyang directly was also because Liu Zheng wanted to stabilize the situation in Changsha after capturing Changsha County, and then let these people go back so that they wouldn't make trouble in it.

Zhang Yun, Kuai Yue and the others had no objections either. After all, people had to bow their heads under the eaves. As long as they could temporarily save their lives, everything would be fine.

After arranging these things, Liu Zheng met Cai Mao alone.

Cai Mao first talked about the past with Cai Yao, and then his eyes fell on Liu Zheng.

"Liu Zheng, you're really good at playing around with your hands, even I was fooled by you."

Cai Mao now thinks carefully, if Liu Zheng hadn't made a surprise attack on Xiangyang, he might still be fighting bloody battles with him in Changsha City.

If it was in Changsha, relying on the convenience of the city wall, Cai Hao actually had some confidence that he could rely on the tens of thousands of troops to deal with Liu Zheng's men and horses, but now, Liu Zheng's surprise attack on Xiangyang forced him to go out of the city and Liu Zheng's men and horses in the wild fight.

Cai Mao, who had seen the strength of Liu Zheng's soldiers and horses, naturally knew that once he was in the wild, even if his soldiers and horses were twice as many as Liu Zheng's, he would be defeated.

Sure enough, despite his overall planning, it was still difficult to defeat Liu Zheng's men in a head-to-head confrontation on the battlefield.

"What's the matter, but I just noticed it. You Nanjun mobilized troops to Changsha. You know that Nanjun doesn't have too many troops at this time. As long as you use a little bit, you can make use of your strengths and avoid weaknesses."

Liu Zheng didn't think he played well in this hand, but it was just a normal operation.

"Hey, it's because we are too afraid of you, otherwise the soldiers and horses of Nanjun will not be dispatched to Changsha at this time. As long as there are [-] troops in Nanjun, this battle will definitely not end so soon. At least insist on attrition." For a few months, there is no problem at all."

"Haha, this is how battles are fought. You guys have to fight a protracted war, but I don't have that much time to fight a protracted war. The situation in Youzhou is about to become clear. If Yuan Shao is defeated by then, I'll just fight a protracted war." We have to face the Han court alone, so we must occupy a large enough territory and cultivate a strong enough force before the final confrontation with the Han court."

For Cai Mao today, Liu Zheng has nothing to hide. It is obvious that he has won the hearts of the world.

Although Liu Zheng has not yet started to claim hegemony, the things Liu Zheng has done are enough to show that Liu Zheng has the heart of being emperor.

For example, the army system established by Liu Zheng and the generals he canonized all show that Liu Zheng has the intention of proclaiming himself emperor. Even if you don't look at these, Liu Zheng himself is also a rebel, a remnant of the Yellow Turban Army.

Although Liu Zheng is no longer under the banner of the Yellow Turban Army, the philosophy of Liu Zheng's army has never changed.

As long as Liu Zheng has enough strength, it is very possible to overthrow the centuries-old Han Dynasty and establish himself as emperor.

"When I help you take down Changsha County, you will take over half of Jingzhou. At that time, you will be able to fight against the imperial court with the land of three states."

"It's still too early to confront the imperial court. Let's solve the current problems first."

Liu Zheng and Cai Mao didn't say much about their plan. Although Cai Mao surrendered, Liu Zheng didn't really treat Cai Mao as one of his own.

The reason why Liu Zhenghui asked Cai Mao to surrender was because of Cai Yao, and because Cai Mao was there, Changsha County would be much easier to seize, and Changsha could be easily captured without a big battle.

At the same time, if Cai Hao can really come to Liu Zheng's command, it means that the Cai family supports Liu Zheng. In the Jingzhou area, the Cai family still has a great influence.

In September, under the leadership of Cai Mao, all the major counties in Changsha County surrendered.

Basically, Liu Zheng took Changsha County into his pocket without encountering too many obstacles.

During this trip to Jingzhou, apart from Liu Zheng losing 7000 soldiers and horses during the surprise attack on Xiangyang, Wenpin and Gan Ning lost [-] soldiers when they intercepted Cai Mao on the way.

Add up to capture a Changsha County, and lost more than 1 people.

This was only when Changsha County, with the help of Cai Mao, did not have any major battles. Otherwise, Liu Zheng would need to lose a lot of troops to completely defeat Changsha County.

After seizing Changsha County, Liu Zheng also repatriated Zhang Yun, Kuai Yue and others, as well as the remaining thousands of remnants, and returned them to Xiangyang as promised.

Meanwhile, the time is fast approaching October.

Liu Zheng also received news from Jiang Xia.

When Yuan Shu led [-] soldiers and horses to attack Jiangxia, Liu Zhengzheng led people to surround Xiangyang City, so Jiangxia's reinforcements did not come to support Xiangyang at the most critical time.

They were all restrained by Yuan Shu's men. Although Yuan Shu was beaten helplessly when facing Liu Dai, Cao Cao and others, it didn't mean that Yuan Shu's subordinates didn't have capable people.

At least Ji Ling, Yang Hong and others are still somewhat capable, and with the cooperation of several other generals, they are still somewhat stronger than Huang Zu's generation. Okay, it is impossible to defeat Yuan Shu.

The two sides had a stalemate in Jiangxia for more than a month. In the end, Yuan Shu used the tactics of attacking Liu Yao in Huainan to clean up the small counties around Jiangxia, and finally concentrated firepower to besiege Jiangxia. In just half a month, he finally defeated Huang Zu's army. soldiers and horses.

Huang Zu was beheaded by Ji Ling in the final battle.Several people under his command were lost.