Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3443 Borrowing Knives from Each Other
As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while insiders watch the door.

Generally speaking, the hustle and bustle of this temporary camp was undoubtedly a sign of the success of Cao Xiu's strategy, but in Cao Xiu's eyes, there were at least two things wrong.

One is that the timing is wrong.

Cao Xiu promised to launch the program at three o'clock, but now there are probably less than two o'clock!
Cao Xiu was helpless about this.

Because most people estimate time based on some very uncertain time points such as a stick of incense, a bowl of tea, midnight, etc., and these time points can be easily misled by humans.

This is the case with the story of chicken-stealing and dog-stealing during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Of course, it is also possible that Cao Xiu deliberately went to Cao Zhao's place, resulting in a delay in time.

At this time, most people are probably asleep, but not too soundly.

If an ordinary person is awakened in the middle of the night, he or she will naturally panic and be easily aroused.

The saying "one man starts a rebellion and ten thousand people follow" means that it is easiest to fool and deceive people when they are brainless.

But it was a little early now, so the people in the camp were not asleep yet. After being awakened, they would most likely hide out of fear instead of joining in the restlessness.

Another problem is that the scope is too small.

Although the temporary camp was alarmed, with flames and human shadows moving everywhere, the overall range of the disturbance did not quickly spread to the entire camp. This made it seem like a big movement on the surface, but in fact the number of people involved was limited.

This is particularly fatal.

But at this point, the bow has been drawn and there is no turning back.

Cao Xiu did not explain any more, but just hurried forward.

……

……

In the Han Dynasty, the areas that the government could control were often limited to the city.

The same is true for Anyi.

Even in later times, there are still many areas without surveillance cameras, and once something happens, it is difficult to deal with it. Not to mention the country of Mitti, which claims to have advanced technology, but it seems that there are cameras, but they are inexplicably broken.

Therefore, for Xun Chen, the first thing to ensure is that there is no chaos in the city!

So Xun Chen took control of Xiahou Dun as soon as possible.

He thought that Cao Xiu was a bait thrown by Xiahou Dun. More importantly, if Xiahou Dun himself attracted too much attention and manpower due to Cao Xiu outside the city, Xiahou Dun might create a wave in the city!

Xun Chen did nothing wrong in this regard, but he also misjudged one point, that is, Xiahou Dun was not the main force of this rebellion. On the contrary, Xiahou Dun played a task similar to "feint attack" in the entire rebellion plan.

It is like this for both the real and the unreal.

Xun Chen sent Cheng Yun out of the city, while Li Er was in charge of the city.

When the commotion outside the city began, Li Er led his troops to block the streets and close the market.

In this way, even if someone wants to cause trouble, it can only spread to one or two neighborhoods at most, and it is difficult to expand to the whole city. Once dawn comes, even if one or two neighborhoods are corrupt, it will be quickly quelled.

The night wind howled.

There were several cavalry guards between Xun Chen and Xiahou Dun.

Even if Xiahou Dun wanted to do something, it would be impossible to do it.

The turbulent situation outside the city also had some impact on Anyi City.

However, thanks to the soldiers on duty on the streets, even the unrest in the city was quickly calmed down.

Xun Chen looked at Xiahou Dun's expression and suddenly asked, "Brother Yuan Rang, are you going to wait for the fire in the city?"

Xiahou Dun's heart skipped a beat.

Xun Chen nodded without waiting for Xiahou Dun to answer, "Yes. Anyi City... Prime Minister Cao had a backup plan before, was it for me to lead the cavalry?"

Xiahou Dun's eyes flickered, "I don't know what you are talking about."

The hussars standing around Xiahou Dun were eyeing him covetously.

Even Xiahou Dun's several trusted guards were in the same situation, with two people monitoring one person, almost as if they wanted to clamp all these people's hands and feet.

Xun Chen seemed not to have heard Xiahou Dun's denial. He looked back at Anyi City and sighed softly, "In Anyi City, there must have been many people who sent letters to the outside world..."

It is normal for the nobles to waver back and forth.

A person's position may be firm and unwavering, but if it is extended to a family, it is hard to say.

When Anyi was besieged before, the people in the city must have been in panic.

Under such circumstances, secretly sending letters to express loyalty to Cao Cao was a basic operation of the gentry. Just like after Fei Qian took control of Hedong, these people immediately turned around and bowed down to Fei Qian.

But this kind of thing is always unpopular, and it will become a handle to some extent...

In addition, Cao's army camp in Anyi was defeated too quickly, and many Cao soldiers surrendered. Among these Cao soldiers, it was difficult to immediately distinguish who was sincere and who was fake.

At the same time, Anyi City was severely damaged in many places due to the war. The battlefield was full of debris, and a large number of laborers were needed to clean it up. Therefore, during this period, there was order, but also considerable chaos.

The most crucial point is that when the General of Cavalry led his army south, the area around Anyi City became relatively empty.

All these factors taken together became the reason and basis for Cao Xiu and others to dare to commit treason.

Xun Chen looked at Xiahou Dun for a moment and suddenly frowned.

"Brother Yuan Rang, could it be..." Xun Chen stared at Xiahou Dun and said slowly, "Could it be... in the city... Oh, I see!"

Murder and arson.

Arson and murder.

The two have been closely linked since ancient times.

Setting fire in the city is important, but we must also guard against "murder"!
At the beginning, Xun Chen thought that Xiahou Dun and others were targeting him, so he simply stayed on the top of the city wall among the cavalry soldiers, and did not choose to stay in the government office where the situation was not very clear.

Obviously, Xun Chen was right to do this, but he also had some omissions that he had not thought of for the time being...

"Send the order quickly!"

Xun Chen turned around and shouted, "Send a message to Lieutenant Li in the city immediately! Send someone to protect Pei Hui and Pei Wenji!"

The messenger immediately responded loudly and then rushed down the city gate.

Hearing this, Xiahou Dun's originally forced calm expression suddenly became a little distorted.

Xun Chen looked at him and smiled, but the smile didn't last long. Suddenly, his expression became stern again, "Brother Yuan Rang! I almost let you get away with it! So this was a plan within a plan!"

Xun Chen suddenly figured out all the things he had been confused about before, as well as some questions that he was still confused about...

Assassinate.

Solving problems on the human body is undoubtedly a traditional and effective way of dealing with problems since ancient times.

It can even solve some very difficult problems.

This method is often chosen to solve problems in Han tradition.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Xun Chen guessed that Xiahou Dun and Cao Xiu had the intention to assassinate him.

When Xun Chen reached the top of the city wall and saw that Xiahou Dun clearly saw that Xun Chen was under heavy protection but still did not show much frustration, he realized something was wrong. However, at first Xun Chen thought that Xiahou Dun was just pretending to be calm. It was not until later that Xun Chen realized that maybe Xiahou Dun was not deliberately calming down, but was deliberately covering up?
What to cover up?
Since Xun Chen has already made it clear that he is on guard against assassination, what else is there to hide?
Unless Xiahou Dun, Cao Xiu and others' target of assassination is not just Xun Chen!

The question naturally becomes, besides Xun Chen, who else is more valuable and more likely to be assassinated?

So, the answer came out.

Pei Hui!

Because the Pei family has now completely turned to the cavalry, and before Pei Ji left Hedong, he also launched a powerful attack on these gentry and wealthy people in Hedong!
These gentry and nobles in Hedong have enough reasons to hate Pei Ji!
But Pei Ji had already gone to the Western Regions, so naturally, these people transferred their hatred to Pei Hui and the Pei family!
These aristocratic gentry and local tyrants might not dare to do other things, but why not use Xiahou Dun and Cao Xiu's swords to vent their anger?
So, what happened tonight was a matter of borrowing knives from each other!

Xiahou Dun and Cao Xiu borrowed swords from the gentry of Hedong, and similarly, the gentry of Hedong were also borrowing swords from Cao's army!

This "knife" is both a visible sword and a gun, and also an invisible sword and gun!
In addition, Xun Chen thought of another problem!
"Keep an eye on him!" Xun Chen called the military school on duty, gave him a few words, and then hurriedly led another group of people along the city wall towards the north of the city!

Xiahou Dun watched Xun Chen and his men walk away, and finally he hunched over slightly in exhaustion.

He tried his best, and the rest depends on how the situation turns out...

Or maybe let's see if God will give us this opportunity!
……

……

A dozen dark shadows, all dressed in black, were groping forward along the alley.

"Let's get started once we get there!"

"Push everything onto Cao Jun!"

"Have you memorized everything?"

"Once we leave this alley, we will all be Cao's army!"

"Even if I die, I can't bite the head of the family, otherwise... hehe! "

Sparse voices whispered in the darkness, like the chanting of demons.

A moment later, these dark shadows left the alley and rushed towards Pei's courtyard!

Almost at the same time when these shadows appeared, the guards on duty at the gate of Pei's courtyard discovered something unusual and shouted loudly: "Who are you? This is the main residence of Pei's family. No one is allowed to approach! Stop immediately!"

Unfortunately, the command that usually works well in daily life, now attracts ridicule, "I'm looking for you!"

"Pei betrayed the Prime Minister! He surrendered to the enemy for fame! He should be executed!"

"We will kill him on behalf of God!"

"Get started!"

Pei's guard was shocked and shouted: "How brave the thief is!"

"Stop them! Sound the alarm!"

The entrance to Pei's house was immediately plunged into fighting and chaos.

If it was before the war, the Pei family's guards were still quite capable, after all, they were a century-old family, and no matter what, they had a solid foundation, so they wouldn't be that bad. But the war had just ended, and many of the Pei family's best fighters had died in the war. Now the remaining guards were either injured or the tallest of the short guys, and they were not that strong and capable. Facing so many black-clad thugs rushing towards them, they panicked before the battle even started.

These black-clad thugs obviously did not follow the path of military fighting on the battlefield, but instead had a very obvious knight-errant style.

When people in the underworld fight, they don't emphasize cooperation and use all kinds of tricks. Throwing stones and raising sand are considered basic operations. Some unscrupulous ones even throw lime!
The chaotic battle quickly spread from Pei's door to the courtyard.

These guards of the Pei family were obviously no match for these well-prepared knights of the martial arts world, and were killed in a bloody massacre.

"Heavenly punishment!"

"Pei thief, accept your death!"

……

……

Once the murderous intention is aroused, even trivial matters may become the fuse for murder.

Perhaps the two cars met on the road, and neither of them gave way to the other, so the quarrel turned into a fight and the other was killed in anger.

Perhaps he was using a lantern to assess the damage when he was moving out of the lease, and he killed the man in anger just for the sake of a few taels of silver.

Before the bloody knife was raised, or even if it was raised, there were still many people who thought that the other party would not dare to chop it down...

"Come on! Stab here! If you don't do it, you're a grandson!"

Then when the other party really started to attack, he would scream and shout, "Grandpa, Grandpa, spare my life..."

Pei Hui also didn't expect that someone would target him and want to kill him.

In Pei Hui's view, he was just "following orders", not to mention that before, he and other Hedong gentry had a good relationship, didn't they usually laugh and joke, call each other brothers, drink wine, play the piano and sing, go on outings, didn't they have a good time?
Why have they become mortal enemies now?
Pei Hui didn't figure it out. Even when someone tried to kill him at his doorstep, he still didn't figure it out.

He has been a well-behaved person all his life and has never fallen out with anyone, but why?
Why do you want to kill him?
So much so that after seeing these black-clad thugs, Pei Hui couldn't help but shout, "Why are you killing me?! I have no grudges against you..."

Pei Hui's shouting not only failed to stop the criminals, but instead triggered even louder laughter.

"Kill him!"

"Kill on behalf of God!"

The black-clad thugs shouted slogans, as if the more sneaky things they did, the more they had to shout out a legitimate reason, so that they could neutralize the situation and not appear so despicable and shameless.

Under the protection of Pei's guards, Pei Hui retreated all the way to the small building in the backyard.

Pei Hui was confused, angry, and felt unspeakably humiliated.

For anyone, being chased and killed by another group of people with knives and guns in their own home is undoubtedly a great psychological torture.

Especially, why can't Pei's guards defeat these black-clad thugs now?

It’s not that Pei’s guards are really incompetent, but in order to protect Anyi, Pei had almost put all of his combat power on the city walls, and consumed it in the fight with Cao’s army!

Where were these black-clad thugs at that time?
When foreign enemies invaded, these people were submissive, but in the blink of an eye they could raise their knives and attack their fellow city dwellers with extreme brutality!
When facing people who are stronger or higher in status than themselves, they show obedience, respect and even flattery in order to protect themselves or gain some kind of benefit. However, when facing people who are weaker or lower in status than themselves, they may become arrogant, overbearing and even cruel.

Facing lions, they are sheep, but facing sheep, they become wolves!
Pei Hui originally disliked these people, but for the sake of harmony at that time, he said nothing. Until now, they showed their wolfish faces towards Pei!

Because at this time, Pei was the weakest and most like a sheep!

Pei Hui was angry, but he had no fighting power, not even a weakling. He would be killed instantly if he went out, so he could only grit his teeth and retreat again and again.

The Pei family is in big trouble.

Some servants were unaware of the situation and were attacked by swords and guns as soon as they went out, and died tragically.

Some of the gangsters were staring at Pei Hui and hacking at him, but some others in black turned their killing attention to the maids and servants. Some of the gangsters in black had bulges in their chests, and it was unknown whether they had stolen something from somewhere.

This situation seems a little funny, but it is also the biggest characteristic of the wandering knights.

It was precisely because of this that, although these black-clad thugs were obviously more brutal than Pei's current guards, they just couldn't work together. They were scrambling here and there, and they had clearly pushed Pei Hui into a desperate situation. It seemed that they only needed one strike to complete the attack, but they just couldn't attack...

Then, Li Er came with his soldiers!

These black-clad thugs had an advantage against the Pei guards, but when these black-clad guards faced the hussars, they could not gain any advantage at all.

When stones were thrown, the hussar soldiers were protected by armor. If they lowered their heads slightly, even if they were hit on the head, the helmets would block it and they would not suffer much damage at all.

When sand is blown up, most of the dust can be blocked by using a shield. Even if some of them are blinded occasionally, there will be comrades who will come forward to cover them, allowing them to retreat to the back to clean up.

After all, small tricks can only be used in small situations. Once the upright soldiers come forward, all the small tricks become a joke.

The black-clad thug was still shouting "Heavenly Punishment" just now, but at this moment he was surrounded and strangled by the Hussars.

"Leave a few alive!"

Li Er shouted.

But capturing it alive is obviously more difficult than strangling it.

Especially when these are desperadoes.

The last two or three black-clad thugs were forced into a corner by Li Er and his men.

"Drop your weapons, kneel down and surrender! I will spare your life!" Li Er shouted, holding up his sword, "You can't escape! Why don't you kneel down and surrender!"

The last two or three black-clad thugs looked at each other and saw that they really couldn't get out, so they shouted and started hacking at each other, stabbing their knives at the people around them, and were stabbed to death by them at the same time...

Li Er was stunned when he saw this.

"These... these people are all dead soldiers..." Pei Hui came down from the small building, his face pale, but his eyes were bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Captain Li, hand over these people's bodies to me... These are dead soldiers! It takes more than a few days to raise a group of dead soldiers! There must be someone who has seen these people! I will definitely get to the bottom of it!"

Li Er was a little hesitant, thinking about whether to take some corpses away or really hand these people over to Pei Hui for processing, when he suddenly heard soldiers shouting nearby. He followed the direction the soldiers pointed and was shocked!
Suddenly, a fire broke out in the northeast direction of the city!
It was a dark and windy night, with murder and arson!