The scorching sun is in the sky, and the blazing sun is baking the earth, without a trace of wind, the whole earth is like a stuffy oven, and the heat is abnormal.

The hot weather inevitably makes people a little impatient, yesterday it was still a cool breeze, and today the temperature has risen suddenly, so that many people are a little uncomfortable.

Under the city of Zhuyi, Yuan Shu slowly came to the front of the army from the Chinese army in the crowd, wearing a golden helmet and gold armor, and even the war horse under the seat was wrapped in a layer of gold-plated iron armor, all showing his nobility and extraordinary.

Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, Sun Ce, Le Zhuo, Liang Gang, Yan Xiang, Yuan Lian, Yuan Yin, Yang Hong and others lined up behind Yuan Shu, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were neatly arranged into a phalanx, extending far and wide backwards.

On the city of Zhuyi, Zhang Yan, Chen Qun, Xu Sheng, Wang Bo and others looked at the tens of thousands of troops displayed outside, and had to admit that Yuan Shu's military appearance was strong.

The small Zhuyi City, but within a radius of two miles, can only be regarded as a flat boat in the sea of people composed of tens of thousands of Yuan army soldiers.

The quiet inside and outside of Zhuyi City is surprisingly quiet, and the silence also makes people feel a little scary, with a murderous atmosphere.

Yuan Shu was the first to break this brief silence and sent a cavalryman, carrying a large sword, to appear in front of the two armies.

There was no wind, and Daxu couldn't float, and it hung weakly on the flagpole, but at the top of the flagpole, an unrecognizable human head hung high there, and there was a huge note on his forehead, which read "This is Cao Ren".

On the city wall of Zhuyi, there was a commotion all of a sudden, and when Cao Bing, who had surrendered, saw it, he immediately exclaimed: "General Cao......"

Yesterday, Cao Ren and Xu Sheng went out of the camp in front of everyone, but Xu Sheng was the only one who came back, and Xu Sheng informed these soldiers that Cao Ren had led Yuan Shu's pursuers away in order to cover them.

Seeing that Cao Ren had not returned overnight, and there was no news that Cao Ren had been captured, the soldiers had a glimmer of hope, but they knew that Cao Ren was in a different place overnight.

These soldiers were brought out by Cao Ren on weekdays, and they also had deep feelings for Cao Ren, and now seeing Cao Ren die tragically in the hands of Yuan Shu, they were all grief-stricken and cried.

Seeing this, Zhang Yan, Chen Qun and others glanced at each other, and felt that Cao Ren's death was finally deserved, at least, his purpose of killing people with a knife was achieved, and Cao Ren's death was used to inspire this group of surrendered soldiers, so that they were full of anger against Yuan Shu, so that they could be used by him and swear to resist Yuan Shu's army to the death.

"Lord, General Cao died tragically in the hands of Yuan Shu, General Cao is kind to me, please let me out of the city, I will go to kill Yuan Shu and avenge General Cao!" Beside Zhang Yan, a man with a nine-foot-long body, a sturdy physique, and a cheeky face suddenly clenched his fists and said.

Zhang Yan glanced at this person, it was Cao Ren's subordinate general, surnamed Niu Mingjin.

As soon as Niu Jin's words fell, the soldiers around him also asked Zhang Yan to fight.

Zhang Yan saw that everyone hated the same enemy, regarded death as home, and admired it in his heart, so he said: "Now that Yuan Shubing is coming to the city, there are tens of thousands of troops outside the city, and our army has few soldiers. General Cao died tragically at the hands of Yuan Shu, and I am also very sad, but we must not be rash, and we must turn our grief into liliang. We first hold on to this city, and then wait for the opportunity to counterattack, although Yuan Shu has many soldiers and horses, but not all of them are excellent, and you are all elite soldiers in a hundred battles, all of them are ten, if you don't know how to preserve your strength, how to counterattack? ”

Niu Jin frowned when he heard Zhang Yan say this, and looked thoughtful.

Seeing this, Chen Qun hurriedly said to Niu Jin and the others: "Brothers, what the lord said is very right, if you take the initiative to go out of the city to fight against Yuan's army on impulse, it is undoubtedly equivalent to sending them to death. If you are all dead, who do you expect to avenge General Cao? ”

After Niu Jin and the others heard this, they all felt that what Chen Qun said was very reasonable, they were Cao Ren's old subordinates, if they all died, would they still expect the Xuzhou soldiers to avenge Cao Ren?

"Brothers, all listen to the lord, as long as we can avenge General Cao, we will do whatever the lord tells us to do. In the future, if anyone dares to disobey the lord's order, I will not be able to spare him first! Niu Jin immediately shouted.

Niu Jin is brave and good at fighting, and he is well-known among everyone, and his military horses are all fought with a knife and a gun, and among this batch of soldiers, he can be regarded as a very prestigious person.

As soon as his words came out, the rest of the people did not dare to disobey, and everyone nodded their heads and stopped talking.

Zhang Yan saw that these surrendered soldiers were all looking forward to Niu Jin, so he intended to cultivate Niu Jin in his heart. And his subordinates are also short of talents, and he really hopes that there will be more people like this who can lead troops to fight.

Outside the city of Zhuyi, Yuan Shu sent another horseman, slowly drove to the city, and shouted loudly: "Those who follow me prosper, and those who oppose me die." You must go out of the city and surrender within a quarter of an hour, otherwise you will be able to level the city and end up like Cao Ren. ”

"Whoosh!"

An arrow burst out of the string, pierced the sky, and quickly lightning towards the shouting Yuan soldier.

"Poof!"

With a muffled sound, the Yuan soldier was shot by an arrow in the front door, screamed, and immediately fell off the horse, struggled on the ground for a while, and then stopped moving.

The person who shoots the arrow is extremely accurate, and it is the captain Tai Shici of the Xiao Cavalry.

Yuan Shu was originally hypocritical, but seeing that the other party did not appreciate it, he shot the messenger he sent with an arrow, drew the sword in his waist, and waved it forward, and shouted angrily: "Siege!" ”

With Yuan Shu's order, Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, Sun Ce, Le Qiang, Liang Gang and others rode back to their own formation, and Yuan Shu quickly withdrew to the Chinese army with Yan Xiang and other strategists.

A moment later, the war drums of the Yuan army sounded, and the rumbling war drums stirred the hearts of the soldiers of the Yuan army, and the morale of the soldiers of the Yuan army was high, and tens of thousands of people at the same time let out a cry that resounded through the heavens and the earth: "Mighty!" Mighty! Mighty ......"

The shouts were mixed with the sound of war drums, and they reached the ears of Zhang Yan and the others like thunder, and the low voice was more like a boulder, constantly knocking on the door of Zhang Yan and the others' hearts.

On the walls of Zhuyi City, all the people were eager to try, and they all knew that war was coming.

"Changwen, Yuan Shu will attack the city in a while, you quickly retreat to the vicinity of the dock and act according to the original jihua!" Zhang Yan turned his head and said to Chen Qun.

Chen Qun let out a "whoosh", turned around and went down the city tower.

Zhang Yan said a few more words to Xu Sheng beside him, Xu Sheng nodded, and also went down the city tower.

Then, Zhang Yan walked to Tai Shici's side again, put it to Tai Shici's ear, squirmed his lips, and said something.

After hearing this, Tai Shici's originally cold face suddenly showed a smile, and he said to Zhang Yan: "Lord, you just look at it!" ”

There are more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in the entire Zhuyi city, and there are 20,000 soldiers alone. When Zhang Yan defeated Cao Ren's army in Gaoping County, he captured more than 13,000 people, and then captured more than 7,000 people when he sniped Cao Cao on Kang's father's dangerous road, but Zhang Yan brought only the 3,000 cavalry, I have to say, this was an extremely risky operation.

After all, all he used were Cao Cao's troops, and if these Cao soldiers rioted, Zhang Yan would not be able to resist at all. Simply enough, these Cao soldiers who surrendered were not Cao Cao's descendants, nor were they the elite of Cao Cao's army, and most of them joined the army just to make ends meet.

Therefore, for them, survival is the most important thing, no matter who they are soldiers for, as long as they stutter.

However, when these people arrived in Pengcheng, they were all reorganized by Zhang Yan, who abolished the original military position, re-elected the officers by themselves by relying on the level of force, and then issued weapons and equipment to these people, and also encouraged them to have the enthusiasm to fight.

Although this enthusiasm is very small, this army has not yet carried out a complete set of training, but in order to fight against the sudden arrival of Yuan Shu's army, Zhang Yan can only bite the bullet.

Zhang Yan made proper arrangements, called Niu Jin and several other military horses to his side, and said to them: "Our army is outnumbered, and this battle is extremely dangerous. You all surrendered because you wanted to live, and if any of you want to live now and don't want to fight, stand up. I've had boats ready at the docks to transport you across the river and then disperse on your own, and I'm not going to force you to stay. ”

As soon as these words came out, Niu Jin and the others all looked at each other, each with a ghost in their hearts.

Zhang Yan continued: "Don't worry, I will never break my word. While Yuan Shu has not yet attacked the city, you can still leave, once Yuan Shu has attacked the city, you can't leave if you want to. ”

Niu Jin clenched his fists and asked, "Lord, what do you mean by this?" Don't you believe us? ”

"That's not what I meant...... If I don't trust you, why did I leave my old ministry elsewhere and bring you here with me? ”

"What does that mean?" Niu Jinyu asked.

"I know you don't fear death, but do you dare to guarantee that everyone isn't afraid of death? If you weren't afraid of death in the first place, how could you choose to surrender? What I mean is very simple, those who want to live should leave quickly, and those who are not afraid of death will stay, and I can't help but think that the battle will start in a while, and I will be affected by those cowards! You convey my words quickly, as soon as the Yuan army's three-way drum is finished, it will launch an attack, and while there is still some time, make a decision quickly. Otherwise, whoever dares to mess with themselves in a battle for a while, don't blame me for being ruthless! ”

Niu Jin frowned, feeling that what Zhang Yan said was very reasonable, as the saying goes, a mouse feces is a bad pot of porridge. At this juncture, there must be no black sheep in the army.

So, Niu Jin discussed with several military horses around him, and decided to convey Zhang Yan's words, who wants to leave, who wants to stay, whether he is a coward or a warrior, it can be seen at a glance.

Zhang Yan's words were quickly conveyed, and sure enough, there were many cowards in the team, who took the initiative to leave the team in order to survive and went in the direction of the dock. This time, there were more than 3,000 people.

Looking at the backs of these cowards who were far away, Niu Jin and the others had to admire Zhang Yan's foresight.

At this moment, the rumbling drum suddenly stopped, and after the three-way drum was beaten, the two military formations in front of the Yuan army were unhurriedly advancing towards Zhuyi City, and the siege officially began.

"Draw the bowstring and get ready for battle!" Zhang Yan shouted in a high-pitched voice.