The atmosphere in the city of Jiguan was extremely dull, and almost every sergeant in the pass had a tired look on his face.

The defenders of the city have now lost nearly a third.

Moreover, under the siege of Cao's army day and night, the defenders in the city almost did not get a good rest.

No matter day or night, the sound of shouting and killing shook the sky. When night falls, the light of the torches almost reaches into the sky.

Even if Hao Zhao had already divided the soldiers into two shifts to take turns resting and defending the city.

However, in this environment of war, listening to the never-ending sound of war drums, the soldiers had no way to rest.

Now the second city wall built by Hao Zhao in the city is also somewhat dilapidated, and Cao's army may break through the defense line and enter the city at any time.

Hao Zhao was ready to build another wall, but due to limited manpower, he has not been able to build the wall until today.

"This section of the wall may not last more than three days."

Hao Zhao's eyes were red, and he looked at the already dilapidated city wall, with a look of worry on his face that could not be concealed.

"We must find a way to delay time, otherwise if the second line of defense is broken and the third line of defense has not been established, Jiguan will also be lost."

The firelight shone on Hao Zhao's face, revealing an extremely haggard face.

When the morning sun spread across the land and the red morning sun rose from the east, the sound of Mingjin finally sounded in the sky.

After a night of offensive and defensive battles, the curtain gradually came to an end, and only when it was time to eat would Cao's army stop attacking the city.

"Whew!"

As Cao's army retreated, many of the Guanzhong troops couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief, and they leaned against the city wall regardless of their image, breathing in a big breath of air.

Although the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood, these people did not care in the slightest.

During this time, everyone has long been accustomed to this kind of life, and there is no discomfort at all.

Even, many people were still sitting next to the corpses, holding blood-stained dry food and gnawing wildly.

Hao Zhao sat on the ground and rested for a while, and when he stood up, he suddenly felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, the leader of the pro-soldiers was sharp-eyed and quick-handed, and hugged Hao Zhao so that he didn't fall.

Now that the battle to defend the city is already very difficult, it has reached the critical point of life and death, if Hao Zhao faints in front of the public, it will definitely be a very bad thing.

"Help me go back and get some rest."

Hao Zhao knew that his body was about to reach its limit, so he didn't act rashly anymore, and whispered to the commander of the pro-soldiers.

During this time, the offensive and defensive battles were extremely fierce, although Hao Zhao repelled the ferocious attacks of Cao's army again and again.

But he himself remained on the walls almost all the time, resting no more than two hours a day.

In addition, he shouldered the life and death of Jiguan and the entire Guanzhong, and felt extremely great pressure every day.

The physical and mental pressure makes Hao Zhao finally a little unbearable now.

The commander of the pro-soldiers helped Hao Zhao, quietly returned to the mansion, and asked people to make some steaming meals, and served them to Hao Zhao.

"Whew, whew, whew!"

This meal was not extravagant, because Hao Zhao was very frugal, and usually ate with the soldiers most of the time.

However, due to today's incident, the commander of the pro-army opened a small stove for Hao Zhao.

This meal is relatively simple, so it doesn't take long to cook. But he didn't expect that in such a short period of time, Hao Zhao would have fallen asleep.

The commander of the pro-soldiers looked at the steaming meal, and then at Hao Zhao, who was asleep, and quietly closed the door and retreated.

……

During this period of offensive and defensive battles, the generals of Jiguan already knew how to defend against Cao's army, even if Hao Zhao fell asleep, the Guanzhong army was also in good order when defending Cao's army.

However, how many people know about the casualties and grief?

Although Hao Zhao was exhausted, he still hadn't slept for long, and after waking up, he summoned the deputy general over and prepared to use this person again.

At the beginning, because of the contradiction between the two, Hao Zhao beat the adjutant general with thirty military sticks in order to seize the time to unite the front, and then deprived him of his military power.

But now Hao Zhao is alone, and he already feels that he is a little lacking in skills, and he urgently needs the help of the deputy general.

Otherwise, it may be that before Cao's army conquered Jiguan, Hao Zhao would have already collapsed first.

After the deputy general left Hao Zhao's mansion and came to his residence, his face was still a little cloudy, and he was silent for a long time.

Seeing that the adjutant general's face was wrong, a cronie couldn't help but cautiously ask, "General, what happened?" ”

The adjutant general had anger on his face and said, "Hao Zhao first beat me with thirty military sticks for no reason, and then took away my military power. ”

"Now that he can't support it alone, he wants to use me again, it's really a good fight!"

Speaking of this, the lieutenant couldn't help but snort coldly.

When his cronies heard this, they couldn't help but say: "Although General Hao Zhao was too harsh on the generals before, he was extremely brilliant in defending the city during this time. ”

"Although the general has some old grudges with him, in the face of major rights and wrongs, he shouldn't have trouble with him at this time."

The adjutant general was even more angry when he heard this, and shouted: "When I followed the lord to fight in the Quartet, Hao Zhao was just a hairy boy, but now he has climbed on my head. ”

Speaking of this, he sneered: "I think he thinks he can't hold the Keiguan, so he wants to reactivate me, and then let me carry the black pot for him." ”

The adjutant general's face showed a hideous look, and he said: "If Hao Zhao has not given me military power, even if I want to retaliate, I will not be able to succeed." ”

"He is unkind to me and unjust, seeing that Jiguan can no longer be defended, I intend to surrender to Cao Mengde, what do you think?"

The cronies were shocked when they heard this, and said, "How can a general betray the lord? ”

The adjutant general said: "I didn't betray the lord, but I was forced into this situation by Hao Zhao, and I had no choice." ”

The cronies still shook their heads violently, and persuaded bitterly: "Brother, please think twice, I was originally under the command of a great sage and good teacher before, and I must not betray the lord." ”

The relationship between the adjutant general and his cronies is not purely superior-inferior, but a real blood relationship.

Hearing the word 'brother', the adjutant general couldn't help but sigh, pressed his hands on his cronies' shoulders, and stared at him with his eyes.

"If you still consider me a brother, let me do as I please; If you don't want to surrender to Cao Mengde, you can go to Hao Zhao and report me. ”

The cronie's face struggled for a while, and finally nodded with extreme difficulty.

……

Cao Jun attacked again for a day, and the entire city seemed to be a little crumbling, and Cao Jun also paid an extremely tragic price for this.

Night fell again, and another group of Cao troops came in shifts to attack Keiguan, and they were completely trading their lives for victory.

It's not that Cao Cao is cold-blooded, but that he has to do this, and he must conquer Jiguan as soon as possible. If you can conquer Keiguan, no matter how much it costs, it will be worth it.

But every day looking at the reports of casualties among the soldiers, Cao Cao felt that his heart was dripping blood.

Thinking of Hao Zhao in the city, who was called the 'Iron Wall General' by Cao Jun, Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh: "I really didn't expect Hao Zhao, an unknown person, to be so difficult. ”

That night, Cao Cao stayed in the tent, but he couldn't sleep anyway.

Just as he was tossing and turning, he suddenly heard the soldiers outside shouting: "Lord, there are people in Keiguan who want to see him." ”

Cao Cao woke up suddenly, hurriedly put on his clothes and asked, "There is no mistake for someone from Jiguan?" ”

The soldier replied, "There can be no mistake!" ”

Cao Cao pondered for a long time and shouted: "Hurry up, please!" ”

In the camp tent, Cao Cao sat on the main seat in a military uniform with a big horse golden knife, but Xu Chu was holding a big knife and standing aside.

After the person from Jiguan was invited into the camp, he raised his head and looked at Cao Cao very unreasonably.

Xu Chu was furious when he saw this, and shouted: "Who are you, you dare to be so presumptuous!" ”

The person who came snorted coldly and glanced at Xu Chu with disdain.

Xu Chu was furious when he saw this, and was about to step forward to kill this person, but was stopped by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao got up and came to the man's side, and said with a smile on his face: "The strong man came to my camp late at night, not just to see me, right?" ”

This sergeant is none other than a confidant of Adjutant General Keiguan.

If the deputy general of Jiguan wanted to surrender to Cao Cao, he could only send a trustworthy person to negotiate with Cao Cao.

Seeing Cao Cao's posture, the man suddenly saw Chen Xu's figure vaguely for some reason.

Shaking his head suddenly, he secretly thought: "Who is the great general, how can Cao Cao be compared with the great general?" ”

This person's loyalty to Chen Xu is undoubted, but Deputy Ji Guan is not only his boss, but also his brother.

In any case, there was no reason for him to refuse his brother's request.

However, this person was absolutely unwilling, and Keiguan was really conquered by Cao's army.

So after he came in, he put on an arrogant look, hoping to provoke Cao Cao and kill himself here.

If he was killed by Cao Cao, he not only helped his brother to envoy Cao Ying, but also cut off the possibility of the surrender of the deputy general of Jiguan, which can be regarded as a mistake.

However, Cao Cao's performance was greatly unexpected by him.

Faced with Cao Cao's inquiry, the man was silent for a long time before struggling to say, "My general intends to surrender the city. ”

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, and then looked at the man with some suspicion. He is a very suspicious person, so naturally he will not trust others easily.

After hearing that someone from Jiguan had come and explained the cause and effect of the matter, Cao Cao believed it a little.

However, for that person, Cao Cao still tried again and again.

Cao Cao didn't expect that the man's performance was completely unexpected, and he didn't have the slightest intention of surrendering.

Looking at this guy who seemed to be bent on seeking death, Cao Cao couldn't help but ask: "Your general is willing to surrender, but why do I think you don't have the slightest sincerity?" ”

The people from Jiguan snorted coldly and shouted: "Although the general wants to surrender to you, I swear not to surrender, and the day the city is broken is also the time when I am martyred!" ”

Cao Cao was even more surprised when he heard this, and couldn't help but ask, "Since you are unwilling to surrender, why did you come to report the news?" ”

The people from Jiguan shouted: "The general is not only my lord, but also the elder brother of a certain family. ”

Cao Cao thought about it for a while, and immediately figured out the key to it, and couldn't help but admire this person, but also smiled a little dumbly.

He thought to himself, "This is not a person who has achieved great things, otherwise why would he be so indecisive?" ”

If you want to live up to it, in fact, most of the results are two-sided, and you don't make up your mind to follow one.

But it was this kind of somewhat stupid move that made Cao Cao somewhat believe in the sincerity of the surrender of the deputy general of Jiguan.

Cao Cao's eyes flashed slightly, and he said, "I wonder when your general will be able to cooperate with the outside and help me break through the Ji Pass?" ”

Although the people from Keiguan were reluctant to answer, they also pinned their hopes on the deputy general.

He could only reluctantly say: "Because of the disagreement between my general and General Hao, the general may not be able to be trusted when he first takes charge of the army. ”

"Therefore, it will take at least three days to seize the city from inside and outside."

"You don't have to worry, after my general takes control of some men, three green lights will be hung at the city gate."

Cao Cao thought for a moment, and then nodded secretly.

Since Hao Zhao and Deputy General Jiguan don't like each other, it is reasonable for Hao Zhao to be wary of the deputy general.

The adjutant general has just taken charge of the army, and it will take a while to win the hearts of the people, and it is nothing to wait for three days.

Subsequently, Cao Cao inquired about the people from Jiguan and said, "Since the strong man is unwilling to surrender to me, in order not to make you in a dilemma, you should stay in my military camp first." ”

"As for the liaison with your general, I will send others there."

Hearing this, the people from Jiguan snorted coldly, and said mockingly: "Are you afraid that I will have two hearts and report to General Hao after returning to Jiguan?" ”

Cao Cao stroked his beard and smiled without saying a word.

Cao Cao saw that this person was quite disdainful of him, and he was even more loyal to Chen Xu, if it weren't for the deputy general, he would definitely not come out to deliver the letter.

Since this person is loyal to Chen Xu, it is difficult to guarantee that after returning to the city, he will not tell Hao Zhao because of extreme inner suffering.

In this way, the matter of cooperating with the outside to seize the Keiguan will also fall short.

Seeing Cao Cao's performance, the people from Jiguan already knew his thoughts, and couldn't help but snort coldly again.

He opened his mouth and said, "If I want to tell the truth, I have already told General Hao Zhao before I leave the city, do I have to wait until now?" ”

"What's more, if it weren't for the relationship between me and my brother, how could I have done such a rebellious thing!"

Everyone has their own rules of conduct, and perhaps to some people they may seem incredible, but for others, they will be desperate for it.

What this man cannot let go of is the titular ruler.

The two grew up together since childhood, followed Zhang Jiao's uprising together, were born together as if they were dead, and they didn't know how many times they saved each other.

It is this inseparable feeling that has become a fetter in their hearts.

Otherwise, how could this person go out of the city to deliver a letter while holding the determination to die in the city? What he did was originally a great contradiction.

When Cao Cao heard the man's words, he chuckled twice and said, "Don't blame the strong man, it's okay to be careful." ”

(The content of the duplicate chapters has already been changed, and if you can't read it on your phone, you can remove the book from the bookshelf first, and check the delete local book, and then search again.) ）