Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

Zhang Song couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and all the generals present breathed a sigh of relief.

All the generals were secretly glad that their emperor did not let his anger blind him and regained a bit of rationality at the critical moment.

"Your Majesty is wise and wise. We, the ministers, will fight to the death to protect Your Majesty and retreat to Longxi. One day in the future, we will help the Qin Dynasty recover the lost territory and retake Guanzhong!"

Zhang Song hurriedly offered a round of flattery and turned back to wink at the generals.

All the generals understood what he meant, and they bowed down one after another, praising Cao Cao's wisdom.

Cao Cao had no intention of enjoying these flatteries, and waved his whip feebly:

"You don't need to waste time here flattering me. Quickly issue an order to the Northern Camp, ordering Yuan Rang to abandon the Northern Camp and lead my 30,000 troops to retreat along the Wei River to Longxi."

"Order Xu Huang again, and tell him to delay as much time as possible to buy time for our troops, civil and military officials, and their families in the city to retreat westward."

Cao Cao calmed down and issued several imperial decrees.

All the ministers hurriedly accepted the order and rushed forward to pass it on.

Cao Cao looked back towards the east gate, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger, unwillingness and helplessness.

"Ugh--"

After a long sigh, Cao Cao silently mounted his horse, whipped the horse hard, and headed towards the west gate.

The Qin soldiers behind him fled towards the west gate as if they had been pardoned.

The east gate.

Xu Huang was still commanding 10,000 Qin troops, struggling to hold on and desperately resisting the Han army's overwhelming offensive.

The fire in the granary and the rebellion of the Xiliang Legion dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Qin army.

In addition, Cao Cao transferred nearly 5,000 soldiers and horses, making the already stretched East Gate's military force even worse.

Under such an unfavorable situation, the situation naturally deteriorated rapidly.

After holding out for less than half an hour, the Han army had breached the hundred-step-long city wall in various places. Hundreds of Han soldiers climbed up to the top of the city wall and engaged in a fierce battle with the Qin army.

Xu Huang ran back and forth with a battle axe in his hand, like a fire captain, desperately killing the Han soldiers who were climbing up the city wall.

Although he is a martial arts expert, he cannot reverse the impending collapse by his own strength.

"Guo Lingjun, the morale of the soldiers is low and the troops are stretched thin. Half an hour is almost up and I can't hold on any longer!"

Xu Huang returned to the city wall holding the bloody axe and shouted anxiously at Guo Jia.

Guo Jia, with a frown on his face, turned around and looked towards the granary.

The raging fire had covered the entire granary, and half of Chang'an City was filled with thick smoke.

Fires broke out not only in the granaries but everywhere. Shouts of "Capture Cao Cao alive" rose and fell, echoing over Chang'an.

It was as if all the people in Chang'an rebelled in the blink of an eye.

"I'm afraid it's too late. Your Majesty can't save the granary..."

Guo Jia sighed quietly, and there was little confidence left in his tone.

Xu Huang's heart trembled, and just as he was about to speak, a scout came galloping and climbed up the city wall.

"Reporting to Lord Guo, General Xu."

"General Xiahou and General Cao Zilian were both killed by the rebels including Pang De and Liu Ye, and all the granaries were burned by the rebels."

"Your Majesty has issued an edict to abandon Chang'an. Everyone must retreat westward to Longyou. I have ordered you to defend the East Gate as much as possible to buy time for the imperial concubines, princes, relatives, and civil and military officials to retreat!"

On the city wall, something like thunder exploded.

The Qin army, which was fighting hard on all sides, from the generals to the soldiers, were all shocked and in chaos.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty is actually going to abandon Chang'an?"

Xu Huang's voice trembled and he looked at Guo Jia in disbelief.

Guo Jia's eyes were dull and dazed.

It was not until he heard the soldiers' panicked discussions that he shuddered and suddenly woke up.

"It was my mistake. I shouldn't have advised Your Majesty to let Pang De go. The loss of Chang'an and Guanzhong is all my fault!" "I, Guo Jia, have failed Your Majesty. I am a sinner of the Qin Dynasty—"

Guo Jia cried out to the sky and fell into endless self-blame.

Xu Huang had recovered by now. Looking at Guo Jia, who was blaming himself and feeling guilty, there was no trace of blame on his face. Instead, there was only helplessness and sympathy.

"The Han army has the upper hand. Even if Pang De hadn't rebelled, could we hold out today? And could we hold out tomorrow?"

"Perhaps, Chang'an will eventually fall."

"Guo Lingjun, at this point, you don't have to blame yourself anymore. Let's do our best to buy time for His Majesty to retreat westward."

After Xu Huang comforted himself, he picked up the blood axe in his hand, forced himself to be alert, and shouted:
"My men of the Qin Empire, listen up! For the sake of His Majesty's safe departure from Chang'an, and for your wives and children to be able to leave Chang'an alive, I want you to fight to the death and not retreat even a single step!"

Xu Huang's passionate shout echoed on the city wall.

However, only a few Qin soldiers responded to him.

No matter how stupid the soldiers were, how could they still believe his lies at this time?
You, the Emperor Cao Cao, have already fled, why do you ask us to defend here to the death?
Now that you, the royal relatives and the families of high-ranking officials have evacuated, will you take away the wives and children of us, the ordinary soldiers?

of course not.

We are all from Chang'an, we are all from Guanzhong, why should we leave our homes and follow you, Cao Cao, to flee to Longxi?

The collapse begins.

The morale of the Qin army had completely collapsed. Not only was Xu Huang not inspired to fight to the death, but instead, like a group of ants whose nest had been breached, they threw away their armor and weapons, abandoned their posts, and fled towards the city.

No matter how much Xu Huang shouted, he could not suppress the collapse.

Crash across the board!

"Guo Lingjun, the soldiers' will has collapsed. We can no longer defend the East Gate. We have done our best. Let's retreat!"

Xu Huang also gave up the idea of ​​fighting to the death and tried to persuade Guo Jia.

Guo Jia drew his sword and said sternly:
"General Xu, please go. I will do my best to buy time for His Majesty to retreat westward!"

Xu Huang was stunned.

The situation has come to this point, with ten thousand soldiers fleeing. What use can you, a mere strategist and a sword, be?

Aren't you just giving the Han army heads?

When Xu Huang was about to persuade him again, Guo Jia suddenly brandished a sword and pounced on a Han soldier who climbed up the city wall.

When the other party saw him coming with a sword, he picked up the ring-handled sword on his back and slashed at him fiercely.

"clang!"

Swords clashed.

The sword in Guo Jia's hand was knocked away, and his frail little body was shaken to the point that he fell to the ground.

The Han soldier raised his sword and was ready to take his life.

Xu Huang was quick-witted and quick-handed. He rushed forward in one step, raised his axe and chopped the Han soldier to the ground.

Guo Jia escaped from the gates of hell with his life, but he was not afraid. He picked up the sword on the ground and pounced on another Han soldier.

Xu Huang now understood that Guo Jia was feeling guilty and had no face to face Cao Cao, so he wanted to die on the city wall to show his loyalty to Cao Cao.

"This is a stupid way to die!"

Xu Huang cursed, reached out and grabbed Guo Jia, held him under his armpit like a chicken, and strode towards the city.

"Xu Huang, let me go, I won't leave!"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I will fight to the death for Your Majesty. I am a sinner of the Qin Dynasty—"

Guo Jia struggled desperately, shouting sadly.

Xu Huang remained indifferent and carried him down the city wall and placed him on his horse.

The East Gate gradually moved away, until he saw the "Han" flag rising on the city wall, Guo Jia finally stopped shouting and struggling.

At this moment, he was already in tears. (End of this chapter)