Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1286 Ending
When Liu Bei led the people to the city gate, he saw that Chen Shi had retreated behind the city gate, and the Wu soldiers outside were attacking fiercely.

Seeing Liu Bei coming, Chen Shi hurried over and said, "I am ashamed. The Wu army on the other side is much stronger than us. They have blocked all the roads outside the city. It is obvious that they want to burn us to death here."

Liu Bei looked at the sea of ​​people outside the city gate and frowned without saying a word. A rough calculation showed that the number of Wu troops was close to 10,000. It was obvious that the Wu Kingdom had planned this in advance. They had retreated outside the city after being defeated, just to lure him in!
Thinking of this, Liu Bei felt very regretful. If Pang Tong was sober, he would never be so anxious to hunt down Sun Quan. Now he was blocked in the city, and his retreat route was blocked by the people who rushed over. It was impossible for him to escape through other gates.

He asked aloud: "Who is leading the troops outside?"

Chen Shi replied: "I only know of Zhuge Jin."

After hearing this, Liu Bei said, "Let's charge once and see if we can defeat the Wu army!"

Immediately Chen Shi and Feng Xiqi came out and led Liu Bei's army to attack outside the city, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

After observing carefully for a while on the top of the city wall, Liu Bei knew that he had no hope. If he wanted to rush out of the city, he had to pass through the narrow road in front of the moat. Now that the Wu army had blocked the passage, Liu Bei's army would be attacked from several directions if they rushed up, and they would not be able to break through the Wu army's formation at all.

Seeing that the fire behind was about to spread to the city gate, the people panicked and could not help but rush out of the city gate. As a result, they were blocked in the passage by Liu Bei's army who were fighting outside the city. The Wu army took the opportunity to shoot arrows, and the city gate was in chaos.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Liu Bei had to order his soldiers to retreat. After the people rushed out of the city gate, they found that the road had been blocked by Wu's army, and they begged Wu's army to give way.

The Wu army was naturally unmoved. Seeing that the only way out was blocked, the people had no choice but to walk along the wall and try to swim to the other side through the moat.

Several strong young men swam over first, but were greeted by the long spears of the Wu army. They had no choice but to retreat back and cursed in the water: "We are all citizens of Wu, why don't you let us go?"

The Wu army on the shore shouted: "Who knows whether you have surrendered to Liu Bei!"

"Now everyone in the city is an enemy, retreat, or I will kill them all!"

The people behind him heard this and started to curse, "What kind of people are you? You can't even protect your own people, and now you're setting fire to our homes. You're worse than beasts!"

"How can you point a gun at your own people? We have fought for the Wu Kingdom for half our lives, and now this is the end?"

"The Wu Kingdom is unjust, and we will rebel today!"

"Yes, fight them!"

The general of the Wu army sneered and said, "Look, isn't this the enemy?"

"Come here, shoot the arrow!"

Upon hearing this, the Wu army archers on the shore drew their bows and drew their arrows, shooting at the people in the river and on the shore. Immediately, there were continuous screams, and the people ran back in panic and retreated back to the city. However, the fire in the city had now spread completely. Looking at the burning houses so close to them, the people cried even more.

Liu Bei watched from inside the city and could not help but feel suffocated. He shouted to the people below the city: "These are your people. Aren't you afraid of being punished by God for what you have done?"

"I can fight you in a big fight, but before that, please clear a path and let these people leave!"

"You have families too. Do you think that if your family encounters a situation like this one day in the future, they will be betrayed by the people who are supposed to protect them?"

The Wu army was silent for a while, and then gradually became agitated. Now the Wu Kingdom was almost defeated in Nanchang. Their families might really be like what Liu Bei said. At that time, would the other Wu troops kill their family members?

Zhuge Jin rode out on his horse and bowed to the top of the city wall, saying, "King of Hannan, I am Zhuge Jin, the military advisor of the Wu Kingdom. I am sorry for the impoliteness."

"Jin admires the benevolence of King Hannan very much, but when two armies are at war, there are no righteous soldiers. Today, Jin risked his life to trap King Hannan here to death, just to clear the obstacles for King Wu."

Liu Bei shouted, "I know you want to kill me, but don't harm innocent people. Just let the people of Chaisang go first. I promise to stay and fight you to the death!"

Zhuge Jin shook his head and said, "Sorry, I can't agree to this."

"Jin has no certainty of keeping King Hannan, so he can only use these people as a burden to King Hannan."

"Jin knows that this is not a fair thing to do, but this is a sacrifice that must be made for the foundation of King Wu. Jin does not want to go back alive today, so King Hannan does not need to say anything more."

After hearing this, Liu Bei could not help but grit his teeth. He knew that Zhuge Jin was determined to die, and his goal was to kill himself here!

He looked back and saw that the fire in the city had spread to many civilians. He was furious and shouted to the sky, "You are following an ungrateful and ungrateful person like Sun Quan. Even if Sun Quan can gain control of the world in the future, will the people of the world be convinced?"

"I'm afraid he will end up like Wang Mang. When the Wu Kingdom loses its moral integrity, everyone in the world will be able to kill him!"

Zhuge Jin couldn't bear to see the people of Chaisang crying, but now the hope of Wu's army defeating Liu Bei depends on this, and he would never give in even if he was left with a bad reputation!

At this time, Zhu Ran beside him stood up and said, "Military Advisor, let the people of Chaisang come out."

Zhuge Jin was anxious after hearing this, "What if Liu Bei takes the opportunity to escape?" Zhu Ran said in a deep voice: "Liu Bei is not that kind of person."

"He is right. If today's events are spread, even if the King of Wu gains control of the world, he will lose the trust of the people. Will the Kingdom of Wu be able to survive then?"

Zhuge Jin said in a hoarse voice: "But have you ever thought that if Liu Bei escapes now, and Wu is defeated, wouldn't it be the same?"

Zhu Ran sighed and said, "Military Advisor, don't deceive yourself. Even if you kill Liu Bei, can you stop the Jin army?"

"I'll go up and tell you."

Zhuge Jin remained silent, and finally shook his head and said, "It's up to you."

Liu Bei was helpless on the top of the city wall when he saw a Wu general coming over and ordering the Wu army to make way for him. He also said, "Let the people leave the city, and then we can fight to the death!"

Liu Bei was overjoyed and quickly ordered his soldiers to clear the road and let the people out of the city. He looked at the Wu general below and said, "Thank you, General. Wu has a man like you, which shows that he still has conscience."

The man said calmly, "No need to thank me, I am Zhu Ran, the man that King Hannan wanted to kill."

"Once all the people are out, I can fight to the death with King Hannan and see if he can avenge General Zhang."

After hearing this, Liu Bei gritted his teeth and said, "So you are Zhu Ran!"

"Your father is also known for his kindness, why did you do such a treacherous thing?"

Zhu Ran said calmly: "I studied with the king when I was young, and we were as close as brothers. At that time, I swore to conquer the world for the king, just like the relationship between the King of Hannan and the two brothers Guan and Zhang."

"Although I used deception in the case of General Zhang, he was indeed a great enemy of Wu at that time. I was determined to kill him, not for myself, and the same is true today."

"King Hannan should know that the two countries have different paths and cannot work together. Now each side will rely on its own ability, and the winner will be the king."

"Today, I want to fight with King Hannan. Whoever can take the other's life will be determined by heaven. The grudge ends here. How do you think?"

At that time, all the people had fled, and the Wu army blocked the city gates again. Seeing this, Liu Bei shouted: "Okay, since you let the people escape, I will agree to your request!"

"Although we each serve different masters, I respect you as a man. After this battle, no matter who survives, the feud will be settled!"

He waved his hand and said, "Follow me, all soldiers, and fight to the death with the Wu army to decide the outcome of life and death!"

The generals and soldiers shouted and followed Liu Bei out of the city, and the two sides fought again.

At that time, Sun Quan had already led his fleet several miles away from the shore on the river. Seeing the entire Chaisang City burning, and soldiers and civilians with burning bodies constantly jumping off the top of the city, he was silent. What on earth had he been doing in the past few years?
He fought Xiong Hu and Liu Bei, and brought the State of Wu to the point of desperation. For the sake of his pride, he could no longer turn back. What was all this for?
In the distance on the river, a fleet flying Liu Bei's military flags was approaching rapidly. When Sun Quan saw the number of ships, he knew that he could not defeat them. But if he left now, what would happen to Zhuge Jin and Zhu Ran?
Moreover, the battle has become like this now. Even if they retreat southward to Nanchang, the waterway leading to the Yangtze River will be cut off by Liu Bei's navy. By then, Xu Sheng at Ruxukou will be completely cut off from supplies, and the destruction of the Wu State is imminent!

As Sun Quan hesitated, Liu Bei's navy approached and the two sides began to fight. Sun Quan looked towards Chaisang, gritted his teeth, and shouted to the generals around him: "We will not retreat. If we lose Chaisang, we will have no way to retreat!"

"Fight and destroy the navy in front of us. We still have a glimmer of hope for a comeback!"

The warships on both sides collided with each other. The fighting on the river was not as loud as on land, but more dangerous. Soldiers' bodies kept falling into the river.

As time passed, Liu Bei's naval forces gained the upper hand. These naval forces were trained by Guan Yu himself and led by Zhou Cang. For a time, they actually suppressed the Wu army, which was good at naval battles.

Sun Quan saw his warships losing their combat effectiveness one after another, and his own ship being approached step by step. He couldn't help but feel like retreating. If he died on this battlefield, wouldn't it be too worthless?
At this time, on the distant river, a fleet was rushing over from afar, flying the flags of the Wu army, and they attacked Zhou Cang's navy directly. Seeing the fierce attack, Zhou Cang had to temporarily retreat and reorganize his troops.

After meeting up with Sun Quan, Sun Quan discovered that it was Zhou Tai. He was surprised and delighted and asked, "Youping, didn't you and Wen Xiang resist the Jin army together?"

"How's the fight going over there?"

Zhou Tai heard this and looked very sad. "Your Majesty, they can't hold on any longer!"

"The Jin army advanced on three fronts, and Wen Xiang and I were completely unable to resist. When I heard the news from Chaisang, Wen Xiang asked me to rush to rescue the lord, saying that there was no more Wu territory above the Yangtze River, and hoped that the king would quickly return to Nanchang to defend and prepare to march south. The Jin army was simply too large and could not be defeated!"

After Zhou Tai finished speaking, Sun Quan realized that among the three forces that Zhou Tai and Xu Sheng had encountered before, in addition to Lu Xun and Gan Ning, there was actually Xiong Hu who came in person, and finally Lu Su and Jiang Qin also joined in.

He couldn't help but roared: "Lu Su Jiang Qin?"

"I treated them well, but now they betray me. What ungrateful people!"

(End of this chapter)