When dawn the next day, Zhang He had already conquered Linhu City, and he was only one step away from the Lujiang River. However, Zhang He did not immediately order a march to Lujiang, but stationed in Linhu City. Although Zhang He was also anxious to make meritorious contributions, and he was very likely to be the first to arrive in Lujiang City, he knew that as Yuan Shu's old nest, the solidity of Lujiang City was definitely not comparable to counties such as Xiang'an and Linhu. Zhang He needed to give his tired soldiers a break and wait for the arrival of large siege equipment such as trebuchets.

It was only at this time that Yuan Shu received the news that Liu Xin's army was coming. Originally, Liang Gang sent a messenger for help to Lujiang last night. But Yuan Shu has now been proclaimed emperor, and the rules are not ordinary, and it is impossible for the messenger to see Yuan Shu at night, so he has to wait outside the palace gate until dawn.

Knowing that Liu Xin's army was coming, Yuan Shu couldn't help but panic, and hurriedly gathered a group of civil and military personnel, and said: "Liu Xin's soldiers are attacking Xiang'an, I don't know what your good plan is." ”

Zhang Xun arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Xiang'an is the gateway to the southeast of the Lujiang River, and it must not be lost, and please send troops to rescue your Majesty as soon as possible." ”

Le got up and said: "Your Majesty, at present, the Lujiang army is empty, and the top priority should be to order Liu Bei and Ji Ling to return to the army and take Lujiang as the top." ”

Yuan Shu couldn't help frowning, he still had more than 200,000 horses under his command, but 100,000 people were dragged in Shouchun, 60,000 were taken to Runan by Liu Bei, and now there are only 30,000 people stationed in Lujiang, which is indeed a little stretched.

When he was in a dilemma, he suddenly stumbled into a person from outside the door, fell to the ground with a "plop" sound, and kowtowed again and again: "The enemy is strong, Weichen can't resist it, Xiang'an is lost, I ask Your Majesty to forgive ......"

Yuan Shu took a closer look, the man's helmet had long since disappeared, and there was a feather arrow stuck in his left shoulder, it was Liang Gang, the general of Xiang'an, who couldn't help but say angrily: "Liang Gang, since you have lost Xiang'an and opened the door of the Lujiang River, how can you still have the face to come to see me?" Someone came, pushed Liang Gang out of the palace gate, beheaded the public, and corrected the law and discipline! ”

General Yang hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty is angry, now is the time to employ people, you can spare Liang Gang's life and make him guilty and make meritorious service." ”

Yuan Shu was persuaded by General Yang like this, and his anger did not subside, he waved his hand and said: "For the time being, Liang Gang will be exempted from the death penalty, and he will be punished with a rod for twenty years and thrown into prison." ”

Zhang Xun and the others all looked at each other when they saw this, this Yuan Shu has been acting a little unscrupulously since he became the emperor, and they are now trembling in the face of Yuan Shu, and they really have a trace of the taste of accompanying the king like a tiger.

Seeing that all the generals lowered their heads and did not speak, Yuan Shu snorted coldly and said, "Zhang Xun, now that Xiang'an has been lost, do you have any good strategy to retreat from the enemy?" ”

Zhang Xun couldn't dodge, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that only by recruiting the people to strengthen the city defense on the one hand, and mobilizing the people and horses of Runan and Shou to return to help, can Lujiang not be lost." ”

General Yang said with a smile: "Your Majesty doesn't need to worry, I don't know if Your Majesty can remember, how did Liu Xin do the Taishou of the river back then?" ”

"Liu Xin was just a village husband back then, and he ......was nothing more than relying on the identity of a clan member of the Han family" Yuan Shu was in Luoyang City back then, and he had heard a little about how Liu Xin became the Taishou of Hejian, and he couldn't help but recall, and suddenly he was stunned, and only said after a while, "It wasn't Yang Aiqing who reminded me, I almost forgot about it." Yang Aiqing, I'll leave this matter to you, I want to see how Liu Xin comes to attack Lujiang City! ”

General Yang glanced at Zhang Xun and the others proudly, and then arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that what General Zhang said is also very reasonable, and asks Your Majesty to transfer the two military horses back, just in case." ”

Yuan Shu shook his head and said resolutely: "No! Ji Ling has been besieging Shouchun City for more than a month, and he can go down every day, how can he give up his efforts? I have the jade seal of the country in my hand, but today, what is Liu Xin, why am I afraid? Only send someone to send an edict to Liu Bei, so that he can return to the army for the time being. ”

In fact, even if Yuan Shu wanted to transfer Ji Ling back, it would be too late, at this time, the 60,000 troops of the Fifth Army led by Gao Shun and Guan Yu had already crossed the border, entered Jiujiang, and connected several cities, directly approaching the Yuan army camp outside Shouchun City.

Liu Xin knew that with Guan Yu's ability, he could be on his own. However, Guan Yu has some flaws in his personality, in addition to his high vision, he is also a little stubborn. These personalities are sometimes harmless, but in some cases they can be fatal. The country is easy to change, but the nature is difficult to change. Liu Xin thought to himself that he had no ability to change Guan Yu's character weaknesses, and could only restrain Guan Yu's behavior through strict military discipline. Therefore, even if Guan Yu could be appointed exceptionally according to his ability, Liu Xin still only let him serve as Gao Shun's deputy. Guan Yu still blamed himself a little in his heart because of the last time he let Liu Bei go, and he didn't have many objections to such an arrangement.

Although on the way to escort the Mi Zhu family to Xiangyang, there was a battle between Gao Shun and Guan Yu. It was that battle that allowed Gao Shun to see Guan Yu's martial arts, so he was very relieved to let Guan Yu serve as the vanguard of the attack on Jiujiang. And Guan Yu was anxious to make meritorious contributions, and before Liu Xin's attack order was issued, he broke into the territory of Jiujiang, which is why he was so fast.

Due to the heavy casualties suffered during the siege, the soldiers were exhausted, and their morale was also hit to a certain extent, so Ji Ling had to temporarily stop the attack and resort to siege tactics. At this time, the news came that Liu Xin's army was coming. Ji Ling didn't dare to slack off, divided half of the troops, handed over Lei Bo and Chen Lan to continue to besiege Shouchun City, and brought 50,000 horses to meet him.

Not far away, they were colliding with the 10,000 forward troops led by Guan Yu, and they set up a formation twenty miles east of Shouchun City in two clicks. Ji Ling deceived Guan Yu with few soldiers, so he pounced on him violently. Guan Yu was about to make a meritorious service, so he was willing to let go of this opportunity, and immediately waved his army to meet him and launched a fierce battle.

Ji Ling was the first fierce general under Yuan Shu, and he relied on his martial arts, brandishing his three-pointed and two-edged blades to rush forward, and cut down several Han soldiers one after another.

According to Liu Xin's latest military order, the commander-in-chief is not allowed to rush to the front and fight the enemy alone. But seeing this situation, Guan Yu still couldn't hold back, and rushed forward with a wave of his big knife, fighting with Ji Ling. The two of them fought for about fifty rounds, and they didn't win or lose, but Ji Ling already felt that his arms were slightly numb.

Ji Ling couldn't help but turn his head to look at his side, and couldn't help but be surprised. In fact, in Ji Ling's heart, he still has a lot of jealousy for the Han army, but he just relies on his own large number of soldiers, so he wants to fight. Who would have thought that his 50,000 horses would face the 10,000 people of the Han army, and they would actually show a trend of defeat and retreat.

The Han army was far superior to Yuan Shu's hastily expanded army in the past six months in terms of equipment, training, and morale, and it had undergone special training in how to deal with the situation of the melee. Although the Han army is at a disadvantage in terms of the total number of troops, in local battlefields, there is often a strange phenomenon that the Han army fights more and fights less, which is the gap between them in terms of cooperation.

Ji Ling knew that he was not Guan Yu's opponent, and the soldiers around him could not provide him with support, so if he continued to fight, he would probably be more than lucky. Ji Ling didn't dare to fight, so he slashed and left. Where is Guan Yu willing to give up, and then chase. Ji Ling lost his armor along the way, and finally escaped back to the Yuan army camp outside Shouchun City. Lei Bo, Chen Lan and others hurriedly caught it.

Chen Lan arched his hand and said: "General Ji, Liu Xin is not good, if Liu Miao in the city hears the wind and attacks inside and outside, our army will be suspended, and it is better to withdraw the army." ”

After fighting under Shouchun City for so long, Ji Ling had already begun to retreat. But he followed Yuan Shu for a long time, and knew Yuan Shu's personality, so he couldn't help shaking his head and said: "Your Majesty Fang Deng, you and I will suffer this defeat, and we will definitely not be tolerated after we go back. ”

Zhang Ying saw the Yuan army outside the city rising from the top of the city, and saw a piece of smoke and dust billowing in the east, and several "Han" banners could be seen in the distance, and couldn't help but rejoice: "Lord, the reinforcements have arrived over there." ”

Liu Xuan's face was solemn, and he sighed: "Now that Liu has become a loner, where did he get reinforcements?" Let's take a look first. ”

When the smoke and dust gradually approached, he could already vaguely see that the army that came was all dressed in black clothes and black armor, Zhang Ying said: "Lord, look, those men and horses seem to be the Jingzhou army. ”

Liu Miao hesitated: "I have nothing to do with Liu Xin, how can he send troops?" ”

Zhang Ying thought for a while and said: "The last general heard that Liu Xin is also a member of the Han family, but it is precisely for the sake of the same origin as the lord that he gave a helping hand." ”

Liu Miao was originally a person who didn't have much assertiveness, and there were not a few capable subordinates around him, so after listening to Zhang Ying's words, he felt that there was some reason, and he couldn't help but order: "Quick, open the city gate, I want to greet you in person!" ”

Although Guan Yu chased Ji Ling all the way, harvesting the enemy's lives like a god of death, but in this way, he was also blocked by those routs, and his speed slowed down.

When I came to Shouchun City, I saw the Yuan troops besieging the city retreating to the west in a hurry. Captain Yang Fan arched his hand and said: "General Qiqiguan, poor Kou Mo chases, the last general thinks that he should choose a high ground to set up camp, and when General Gao's men and horses arrive, he will make a plan, please show the general." ”

Guan Yu glanced at Shouchun City, but was surprised to find that the city gate was slowly opened, and he couldn't help but lift the reins, and said in a deep voice: "The lord ordered me to wait to take Jiujiang, but it doesn't matter if it is in the hands of Yuan Shu or Liu Xuan." If the four gates of Shouchun City are closed, we can only wait for the arrival of siege equipment, and now that the city gate is wide open, what are we hesitating about? Brothers, go in with me! ”

Thousands of miles away in Luoyang City, Xu Huang finally received a flying pigeon message from Liu Xin, and immediately ordered 30,000 elite soldiers, all of whom only carried five days' dry food, only lightly dressed, and marched all the way to Runan.

Since Zhang Ning left, Xu Huang has not slept for a day, and now Liu Xin asked him to send troops to Runan to meet Zhang Ning, he was very relieved, and he couldn't wait to fly into Runan City, but at this time, Runan City had suddenly changed.