Rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 462
An hour later, the drums outside Tucheng sounded again, and the Wu army regrouped and prepared to attack Tucheng overnight.

Sun Ce ordered the archers to suppress the defenders, commanded the soldiers to throw all the prepared stones on the city wall in one go, and immediately marched forward.

Lu Fan himself was in front, and Sun Ce followed. Wu Jun carried the ladder and rushed under the city wall. Still, the defenders did not respond, but he was startled and stopped.

"Beat the drum, charge!" Sun Ce pulled out the ancient ingot knife and roared angrily.

The drums sounded again, and the whole army rushed to kill. Wu Jun climbed from the ladder to the city wall like ants. When they jumped down the city wall and rushed to kill them with knives and guns, they finally discovered that something was wrong with the city.

I saw that the soldiers didn't know how to dodge at all, and they didn't react when they were hit by knives and guns. Only then did they realize that they were all scarecrows wrapped in armor. No wonder they climbed into the city so easily.

At this time Lu Fan also came to the city wall, knowing that the enemy was retreating, he immediately ordered someone to open the city gate to welcome Sun Ce into the city, and reported the situation just now.

"Damn it!" Sun Ce was about to make a full charge, as if he had been punched in the air, feeling very uncomfortable, and yelled angrily, "Old dog Huang Zu, you know how to escape, how dare you fight me to the death?"

Lu Fan hurriedly persuaded: "My lord, calm down. Now that we have entered the city, we have a place to rest. When the soldiers recharge their energy, we can break the city tomorrow."

Sun Ce snorted heavily and his face was gloomy, but after fighting all day today, he also knew that the three armies were exhausted and morale was low, so they had to take a good rest.

He took a deep breath and sent the order: "Order those soldiers who have no tents to go into the city to rest, see if there is any food and grass in the city, finish eating and drinking early, and attack Xiling early tomorrow morning!"

Lu Fan immediately sent someone to deliver an order. The soldiers were killed for a day, and then they attacked and burned their tents. When they entered the city, they had a place to stay. There were still many pots and stoves in the houses in the city, which could be used for cooking, which solved the urgent need. .

Jia Hua first led troops into the city to search, and sure enough, there was no one in the city, and everything they needed was evacuated, and all the houses were abandoned. It seems that the soldiers here were also sent here temporarily.

It took half an hour to pack up, and the Wu soldiers who had nowhere to live entered the city. The soldiers each chose to rest in empty rooms, and shared some food for cooking and rest.

After the tense fight, everyone relaxed and felt exhausted. Even the patrolling soldiers were listless. After eating something in a hurry, they fell to the ground and fell asleep.

At this time outside Tucheng, Hao Zhao led his soldiers back to the mountains three miles away, eating dry food to recharge his energy, waiting for news from the direction of Xiling.

Not long after, I saw Zhuge Liang coming in person with only five hundred elite soldiers. They quietly left the city, and the Wu army outside the city was also tired from fighting, so they didn't notice them.

Standing on the high hill, Zhuge Liang looked at the outline of Tucheng under the shadow of the moon. There were more than a dozen sparse torches swimming in the city, and the Wu army's patrol was not strict.

He asked Hao Zhao beside him, "Has General Hao arranged everything in the city?"

Hao Zhao nodded and said: "Don't worry, Kong Ming, everything has been prepared. Fire starters such as sulfur, flame, saltpeter, etc. have been hidden on the roofs of people in the city. Most people's roofs are covered with thatch, which has long since dried up and will burn when exposed to fire."

"Very good!" Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, and said, "Wu's soldiers are exhausted after attacking for a day, and when it's around four o'clock, the general can lead his troops to shoot arrows under the city, and when the city is on fire, go to the lower reaches of the Chiting River to ambush. "

Hao Zhao was startled, frowned and said: "If the Wu army retreats, they will only cross the Chiting River and retreat south. I'm afraid no one will go downstream."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "General, you don't know. I have ordered people to block the Chiting River upstream. When the Wu army retreated to the shore, the water flooded, and they could only go downstream. Maybe this battle can capture Sun Ce." .”

Hao Zhao suddenly realized, clasped his fists and said: "It turns out that you have already made careful arrangements, but I was overly worried."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "At Guishan, Sun Ce was ambushed earlier, so he would not dare to retreat here. I have my own way to intercept him. I will leave the matter of Tucheng to General Hao."

"Don't worry about Kong Ming!" Hao Zhao no longer doubted, and trusted Zhuge Liang more and more.

Zhuge Liang knew that Hao Zhao was prudent in his work, so he didn't say much. Seeing that there was nothing wrong with Tucheng, he immediately led his people eastward from the back mountain. He would have to see the people in other places in person before he could rest assured.

This was the first time he had made a plan, and it was related to the plan to capture Sun Ce, so he couldn't be careless. Although those people were familiar with the terrain, Zhuge Liang was afraid that some people didn't understand his arrangements, so after dark, he went to the army one by one to check in person.

Hao Zhao watched Zhuge Liang go away, and told the soldiers to rest on the spot, and waited until about four o'clock, when the whole army was ready, everyone carried firewood and rockets, and went down the mountain in batches to approach Tucheng.

At this time, all the defenders on the Tucheng were drowsy, and the torches were lying crookedly under the city wall, and not many of them were on fire.

Although the Wu army suffered several defeats, they have always been strong. Jiang Xia's army is relatively weak, and they think they dare not fight again after retreating.

Hao Zhao divided his troops and came to the bottom of the city. The defenders on the city didn't notice it. He waited for the opportunity at the north gate. He had ordered his soldiers to shoot rockets and torches into the city at the east and west gates. , Only let the south gate let them escape.

The night wind was getting tighter, and the wind was howling in the Tucheng. Sun Ce was running around for days, and he got angry several times, so he didn't have time to eat dinner and went to bed early.

In his sleep, the soldiers suddenly entered the yamen in a hurry and knocked on the door to make a noise. Sun Ce turned over and sat up, shouting angrily, "Why are you panicking?"

The soldiers hurriedly caught fire at the north gate, and Sun Ce scolded angrily: "Which bastard accidentally caught fire while cooking, hurry up and put out the fire."

After saying that, he turned over and fell asleep again, but before he could sleep well, several soldiers came to report that the west gate and east gate were also on fire, all the houses were on fire, and the city lacked water, so it could not be extinguished.

Sun Ce was terrified and sleepy, knowing that he might have been tricked again, he hurriedly got up and grabbed his armor and ran out. Seeing Lu Fan rushing over, he shouted:
"My lord, the houses in this city are weird, the roofs are bought with sulfur, the fire is too big, hurry up!"

Sun Ce gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Old thief Huang Zu, you are so angry, get out!"

When the two left the government office, they saw that the entire Tucheng was on fire, the sky was red, thick smoke was billowing, and the shouts of soldiers kept coming, and there was complete chaos.

Jia Hua hurried over leading the horse, and said in a low voice, "My lord, the south gate is not on fire yet, retreat from here."

Sun Ce hurriedly got on his horse and retreated to the south gate with his own soldiers. Along the way, he saw soldiers running all over the city, some of them were burned by the fire, screaming and writhing, gnashing their teeth in anger, but there was nothing they could do.

No one would have thought that Hao Zhao would set fire to the city. Many Wu soldiers died in the sea of ​​flames, and some even choked to death in the thick smoke in their sleep.

(End of this chapter)