Thief Emperor

Chapter 235 Bring the sack!

The documents of persuasion to surrender that Li Yun managed to deliver to Wuzhou City were naturally not just one copy. He probably had more than twenty copies copied and threw them all into Wuzhou City.

In other words, when Zhao Cheng got the document, it had already spread in Wuzhou City...or among the rebels.

Although the literacy rate was not high in this era, there were always people who could read among the one or two thousand rebels. When Zhao Cheng saw this document, it was already difficult to prevent it from spreading among his army.

As a result, General Zhao's face looked a little unhappy.

Only the main culprit will be punished, that is, only him will be killed, and the others can be spared.

As the saying goes, it is better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. Even if one knows that surrendering will lead to punishment by the court, or even exile or forced into exile, as long as one can survive, it is enough to make one excited.

Seeing Zhao Cheng's unhappy expression, Deputy General Min Xiong hurriedly whispered, "General, don't worry. As soon as I saw this document, I strictly prohibited anyone in the army from spreading it."

Zhao Cheng was silent for a while, then he sighed and said, "It seems that it was a big mistake for us to come back to Jiangdong. It's because I, as the commander, was not clear-headed and tired you out."

Min Xiong shook his head and said, "Brothers are all from Yuezhou. If the general had not returned at that time, I am afraid that the team would have been dispersed immediately."

"It was better to be dispersed then than to be trapped in Wuzhou now."

"General, you must not think like that."

Min Xiong whispered, "We have stored a lot of food in Wuzhou, and the government troops can't attack us. We can support ourselves for a long time just by relying on these food."

"The general should cheer up."

Zhao Cheng shook his head and said, "Without reinforcements, it will be useless no matter how long we defend the city."

"Go, call all the generals above the rank of brigade commander in the army. Those who are willing to leave the city and surrender can stay in the city and surrender in a few days."

"Someone wants to break out with me."

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice: "Tonight, let's break out of the city together."

Min Xiong looked at Zhao Cheng, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "General, where should we go after we break out?"

Zhao Cheng felt confused.

He returned to Jiangdong and originally wanted to rely on the two thousand men under his command to reopen the situation in Yuezhou. After all, Yuezhou was his hometown and he was familiar with every aspect of it. As long as he could reproduce Qiu Dian's momentum, Zhao Cheng would be confident that he could dominate Jiangdong.

Now, that vision is certainly no longer possible.

Now, he didn't know where he should go.

Although he had been holding a grudge against the imperial court because of his father's affairs over the years, Zhao Cheng had never left Yuezhou. Even when he rebelled with Qiu Dian, it was just a rash act.

He didn't think of retreat.

As for going to Central Plains...

He has never left Jiangdong and does not have a clear goal now. He really doesn't know what he can do in the Central Plains.

Go and join Wang Junping to continue the rebellion?

They now have an army of over 100,000, so it's probably hard for them to look down on him.

Thinking of this, Zhao Cheng exhaled a breath of foul air and said slowly: "Escape first, save yourself, and then act when the time is right."

He looked at Min Xiong and said, "Come with me to break out. If you are caught by the government troops, I don't think you will be spared."

Min Xiong lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "I obey your command."

………………

That night.

Li Yun was in the big tent outside the city, holding a large bone in his hand. He was eating the meat with big mouthfuls while chatting and laughing with several captains from neighboring states.

"Brothers just asked why our Yuezhou Army was able to train."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I followed General Su at the beginning and made some contributions. General Su recommended me to the court for merit, and then I became the Sima of Yuezhou."

"General Su will not take credit for his subordinates' contributions. He will ask for credit as he should. The same goes for Mr. Li. In our Yuezhou Army, we emphasize the distinction between merits and demerits. Everything in the army is based on military merits."

Li Yun smiled and said, "It's probably because there is a chance to stand out, so the brothers below train harder and are not afraid of the enemy on the battlefield."

Li Zheng, who was standing by, followed suit and said, "In our Yuezhou Camp, each head is rewarded with at least two strings of cash. When the battle starts, everyone is naturally willing to contribute."

These words made several captains in neighboring states jealous. Some looked at Li Yun and couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder Sima Li is so young and has become a Sima of a state. It turns out that he was recommended by General Su."

"General Su is a man of high character and integrity."

The man sighed: "And our boss in Huzhou is far inferior to Su..."

He was about to finish his sentence when his colleague beside him shook his head and interrupted him. He looked at Li Yun and asked, "Sima Li, we have been stationed outside Wuzhou City for more than ten days. When are you going to attack the city? We can't just stay here and waste time with those rebels, right?"

Li Yun put down the big bone in his hand and said calmly: "This time, we have 1,000 people from Yuezhou. Some of them were injured in Dongyang County. Now there are only 700 to 800 people who can fight. The states in Jiangdong were supposed to send 5,000 people, but now there are less than 4,000 people."

"These rebels are fierce."

Li Yun said calmly: "I have estimated that if we storm Wuzhou City and everything goes well, at least half of our 4,000-plus troops will be injured or killed before we can take it."

"Everyone here, are you willing to bear more than half of the casualties? If you are willing, Li will arrange for a strong attack on Wuzhou City tomorrow."

As soon as he said this, several captains fell silent.

In the fierce fighting on the battlefield, these officers at the level of colonels may not have to fight directly with others, but if half of the soldiers under their command were injured or killed, they probably would not be able to hold on.

If they scatter and flee at that time, those who lead the troops will bear the blame.

Just as Li Yun was about to continue speaking, Deng Yang, panting, rushed into the tent and shouted, "Sima, the enemy has broken through!"

Li Yun was overjoyed and stood up and asked, "Have all of them left the city? Or only part of them?"

Deng Yang shook his head: "I don't know, but at least several hundred people have left the city!"

"In which direction did you break out?"

"Leave the city from the west gate and break out all the way west!"

Li Yun clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Okay, Deng Yang, you take your troops and go with me to stop these rebels who have broken through. We must stop them!" After that, he looked at the several captains in his tent and said loudly: "Everyone, go back to your camp and cooperate with the Yuezhou Army to stop the enemy who have broken through!"

"Yes!"

Several people responded loudly with fists clasped, and hurried back to the camp.

Li Yun put on his armor in a hurry, which delayed his running for some time. After putting on his armor, he rode his horse and headed straight to the battlefield west of Wuzhou City.

Although it was night, the fighting in the west of the city was extremely fierce. About six or seven hundred rebels were fighting fiercely with the Jiangdong soldiers guarding the west of Wuzhou City.

The defenders in the west of the city were not the Yuezhou army and were relatively weaker. In less than half an hour, the encirclement was almost broken by Zhao Cheng's troops.

Fortunately, the Yuezhou army arrived in time and plugged the hole.

When Li Yun arrived at the battlefield, the fighting situation was very tense. Li Yun put on his armor, charged into the battle array with his gun, and shot down a rebel with one shot. He shouted loudly: "Li Zhao, the Sima of Yuezhou, is here. Lay down your weapons and surrender on the spot. You are still the people of the court. Otherwise, you will be treated as treason and executed immediately!"

He had a loud voice to begin with, and now it echoed throughout the battlefield. After he shouted, Meng Qing and others behind him also shouted along.

"Surrender without killing, surrender without killing!"

Accompanied by slogans, Li Yun and others rushed into the formation. For a moment, the pressure on Zhao Cheng and others suddenly increased.

Zhao Cheng, who was in the middle of the formation, couldn't help but look back from a distance and glanced at Li Yun behind him. His eyelids couldn't help but twitch.

From the Battle of Qiantang to the Battle of Dongyang, this ridiculously reckless Sima of Yuezhou gave him too many painful memories!
It can be said that if there were no somewhat perverted character like "Li Zhao", Zhao Cheng's plan to return to Yuezhou would not have been a problem at all.

Because even if Zheng Yu formed an army, Zhao Cheng was confident that he could win.

However, Zheng Wei is Zheng Wei, and Li Yun is Li Yun. The current Li Yun is far superior to Zheng Wei in military ability.

When it comes to fighting, sometimes it's all about talent and there's no logic to it.

A talented person, like Li Yunlong, can figure things out on his own if he is thrown into the battlefield.

A person without talent, even if he has read various military books since childhood, is just talking about military strategy on paper.

As for Li Yun, it is obvious that he has a good talent in military affairs.

After seeing Li Yun chasing after him, Zhao Cheng's eyelids twitched. He looked around the battlefield and quickly made an impromptu decision.

"Divide the troops! One on the left and one on the right!"

Zhao Cheng shouted in a low voice: "Min Xiong, you lead one group, and I will lead another group!"

Min Xiong was about to speak, but Zhao Cheng said sternly, "Otherwise, none of us will be able to escape!"

After saying that, he decisively turned right, and while running away, he shouted behind him: "Zhao Cheng is here!"

"Zhao Cheng is here!"

After saying that, he led a group of people and ran to the right.

Li Yun grinned, raised his gun and knocked one man away, then led more than a hundred people to chase in the direction of Zhao Cheng, and at the same time instructed Deng Yang: "Be careful, this is a decoy, you lead people to chase in the other direction."

"Try to capture them all. If you encounter Zhao Cheng, make sure he is killed."

Deng Yang quickly nodded his head and agreed, and then the two of them began to split up and chase after him, one on the left and one on the right.

Li Yun was quite excited at this moment. He quickly led his men and saw Zhao Cheng running ahead from a distance.

At this time, there were only a dozen people left around Zhao Cheng. Obviously, he had divided the people again and again along the way in order to give more people a chance to escape.

After chasing for another half an hour, Li Yun, who was panting, was finally able to surround General Zhao, whom he had been thinking about all the time.

Even with Li Yun's strength, he couldn't stop panting. He leaned against the tree and panted: "You..."

"You can really run."

Under the light of the torch, Zhao Cheng was also looking at Li Yun. After staring at Li Yun for a while, he also exhaled a breath of turbid air: "Sima Li is really a hero of the time, but it's a pity that he has become a lackey of the court."

Li Yun laughed and didn't respond.

At this time, the two were only a dozen steps apart.

Zhao Cheng closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again and looked at Li Yun: "Sima Li, I will go back with you and let you take the credit for this great achievement. Can you let my companions go?"

As he spoke, he drew the sword from his waist and placed it on his neck.

"A living Zhao Cheng is more valuable than a dead Zhao Cheng."

Li Yun didn't even think about it and laughed: "General Zhao has already committed treason, whether he lives or dies is not that important anymore."

Zhao Cheng closed his eyes, holding the sword close to his neck, feeling somewhat desperate.

Just as he was about to commit suicide to avoid the pain of being tortured to death, he heard "Li Zhao" not far away saying with a smile: "General Su mentioned General Zhao several times when he was in Jiangdong."

Zhao Cheng stopped and before he opened his eyes, he heard a cry of surprise from his subordinates.

"General, be careful!"

He suddenly opened his eyes and saw "Li Zhao" only ten steps away from him, drawing his bow and arrow!

The feather arrow whizzed out, and with a "ding" sound, it hit the sword in his hand. With a huge force, even Zhao Cheng could not hold the sword in his hand. The sword slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground.

Zhao Cheng was shocked.

Although the two of them were already very close, it was not particularly difficult to hit the sword at such a close distance, but in such a hurry, to have such confidence that he would definitely hit the target was really...

so horrible!

As he was astonished, he couldn't help but look up at "Li Zhao".

Looking up, he saw Sima Li, who was not far in front of him, excitedly throwing the bow in his hand to his subordinate beside him, striding towards him, still shouting loudly.

"Bring the sack! Bring the sack!"

　I believe readers can also see that Zhao Cheng is actually a very important character in the later period, so I spent a lot of space to describe him here. Some readers said that I dragged this part out, while others said that Zhao Cheng, as a member of a military family, cannot be easily taken down by the protagonist.

　　Based on the opinions of both parties, the idea here is to make the plot as reasonable as possible while avoiding procrastination. However, the progress of this chapter has been accelerated.
　　If you have any comments or suggestions, you can tell Xiaoman here!
　　Thank you, dear readers!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)