Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 178 Taking advantage of the situation
Outside Changzi City, Guan Yu killed three major leaders in a row, showing his great power and greatly undermining the morale and military power of the Yellow Turban Army, which had been rising.

Before the city gate was captured, Huangfu Song's army finally caught up. Zhang Jue had no choice but to lead his troops to retreat into the mountains west of the city.

When it comes to fighting in the mountains, these imperial troops were actually inferior to the Yellow Turban Army, so they did not dare to pursue and had to temporarily cease fire.

It was almost noon at this time. The governor of Zhao came out of the city with excitement on his face to welcome Guan Yu, Huangfu Song and his generals, as well as Guan Yu's cavalry troops, into the city and prepared a welcoming banquet.

Based on the lessons learned from the last battle, Liu He specially improved the armor for the more than 200 cavalrymen, and re-studied the tactics of cavalry combat with Guan Yu, Cui Jun and others, so in today's battle, the cavalry losses were very small.

The real name of the prefect Zhao was Zhao Yu. At the welcoming banquet, he praised Guan Yu highly to Huangfu Song, using almost all the flattering words he had learned in his life. He spoke so much that his face turned red and his neck became thick, which made Guan Yu feel a little embarrassed.

Huangfu Song sat in the main seat and deliberately arranged Guan Yu to the first seat on his left. Many of his generals, even those whose official positions were higher than Guan Yu, were arranged below Guan Yu by Huangfu Song.

The old general, who was nearly fifty years old, looked at Guan Yu, and the more he looked, the brighter his eyes became.

"Oh my, I have heard that Bingzhou is full of heroes. Seeing them today, it is true. This General Guan is so brave that I have rarely seen him even though I have been a soldier for half my life. Such a great general is relegated to a county lieutenant. It is really a waste of talent. I will definitely recommend him to the court!"

Guan Yu clasped his fists and said, "I am ashamed to receive such praise from Zuo Zhonglang Jiang. However, I am from Xieliang, Hedong. I drifted to Bingzhou for some reason. I met you in Langtiao County. I studied literature and martial arts with you for several years. Only then did I achieve what I have today. I don't want to take credit for it. You are only a county magistrate now. How dare I, Guan Yu, be above you?"

Huangfu Song said in surprise, "This Liu He is truly extraordinary. When I was on the expedition, Lu Zigan mentioned that if I were to pursue the bandits into Bingzhou, I should pay attention to a man named Liu He in Langtiao County. He said that this man was so talented that even the youngest son of Cui Tingwei gave up his bright future in Luoyang to follow him. I didn't take it seriously at first, but today, seeing Yunchang as such a hero, I am convinced."

When the governor Zhao heard this, he suddenly showed a look of surprise on his face, and whispered softly: "It turns out that the county magistrate Liu He has such an important background. Hey, he is the wolf-taught county magistrate, then my Jin'er..."

When Guan Yu heard that Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi both thought so highly of his elder brother, a look of pride suddenly appeared on his face.

"I am not boasting. My elder brother is a genius and a man of unparalleled righteousness. It was my elder brother's plan that allowed me to arrive first to rescue Changzi City. If the general wants to recommend someone, just recommend my elder brother. Wherever my elder brother goes, I will go there."

"Oh? Where is your brother now?"

"He and General Gao, the commander of Taiyuan County, are leading their troops behind. If nothing unexpected happens, they will arrive tomorrow."

"Good!" Huangfu Song seemed particularly happy.

"Tomorrow I must have a good look at this legendary Magistrate Liu He. Haha! Come, drink this cup to the full!"

Military affairs were urgent, and everyone did not dare to drink too much. After a brief banquet, they went on patrol separately, and the rest of the people quickly rested.

However, less than two hours after everyone went to bed, just after midnight, they heard a loud shout suddenly coming from the county magistrate's mansion.

"Oh no! The Yellow Turban Army is heading for Huguan!"

"what!"

Huangfu Song and Guan Yu woke up suddenly, took off their armor and weapons, hurried out of the house, and went up to the city wall. The prefect Zhao soon followed.

A soldier on the tower pointed to the fire in the distance to the north of the city and said, "General, look! Those Yellow Turban soldiers are heading northeast!"

The governor of Zhao was shocked and said, "It's terrible! If we let them occupy the fortress of Huguan, we will have a long battle. When the bandits from Jizhou come to help us, their situation will be very dangerous!"

Guan Yu volunteered: "General Huangfu, I will lead my cavalry to pursue!"

Unexpectedly, Huangfu Song frowned and said nothing.

He observed the marching troops in the distance, and after a while, he slowly spoke.

"This is a decoy! If the enemy really wanted to sneak into Huguan under the cover of night, why would they light torches? They knew that our army would patrol outside the city and on the towers all night, so they would definitely not be able to hide their march from us. Wouldn't this mean that their plan would fail?"

Guan Yu said, "General, what you mean is that the enemy army deliberately set up a false front to lure us out of the city to pursue, but in fact the enemy army is coming from the rear to steal the city?"

Huangfu Song nodded and said, "That's right. I have been fighting with the traitor Zhang Jiao for nearly two months. His army has been short of food for a long time. Even if they have not run out of food, I am afraid they can't last more than one or two days. Even if he captures Huguan, what can he do? In my opinion, the enemy's goal is only this city, not anywhere else!"

Governor Zhao suddenly understood. "I see, the general is really a master of foresight! How should we respond now?"

"Now our army is equal in number to the enemy's. Although our weapons and equipment are superior to the enemy's, the soldiers under General Zhang Jiao are trained like death warriors. Although they are frightened by Yun Chang's divine power today, their fighting spirit is still far superior to the official army I brought. If we fight head-on, I can't predict the outcome. But now they are seeking their own death, which is exactly where our army's chance of victory lies!"

Huangfu Song suddenly straightened his expression and turned around to look at everyone.

"Captains Li and Wang, step out!"

"The general is here!"

"You two will each lead an army of 8,000 men, light more torches, pretend to be a large army, and go to intercept and kill this enemy force!"

"Here!"

The two men took the order and retreated, and then Huangfu Song looked at Guan Yu.

"Yun Chang, during the day, your bravery frightened the enemy. If you were not here, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to convince them that our army had indeed left the city."

Guan Yu clasped his fists and said, "I understand. I will lead my cavalry there right away!"

Huangfu Song looked relieved: "You must be careful."

"Thank you for your concern, General. I'm just a small thief, it's not worth mentioning!"

Guan Yu turned and left.

Huangfu Song said to the other generals: "All the generals, cheer up, guard the four gates, temporarily stop the flags and drums, extinguish the torches, and if the enemy attacks, report immediately!"

"Here!"

Not long after, the armies of both sides started a fierce battle to the north of the city, and the sound of fighting echoed in all directions.

At the same time, in Changzi City, it was dark. Except for a few patrolling soldiers on the city wall, there was no movement.

Huangfu Song and the generals squatted on the city wall, waiting quietly.

The governor Zhao seemed to be getting a little impatient and said softly, "General, I'm sorry to be rude. It's been more than half an hour and there's still no movement. Will the enemy..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard shouts and screams outside the city.

"Kill! Attack the city!"

"If we take this city, we can all have enough food to eat. Charge!"

Huangfu Song's eyes flashed with light: "It's finally here, the day to defeat the thieves is now!"

He suddenly stood up, drew his sword, and shouted, "Zhang Jue, you have fallen into my trap! Shoot me!"

Many soldiers had been enduring for a long time. This silent atmosphere was about to drive them crazy. Now it was finally time to start fighting. They drew their longbows and shot arrows crazily out of the city as if they were free!

Zhang Liang was shocked and said, "Brother, Huangfu Song has not fallen into our trap. There are still a large army in the city. Let's withdraw!"

Zhang Jue cursed angrily, "What a fool! Our army has run out of food and grass. Where can we retreat to? We are fighting a desperate battle. Regardless of whether this plan to lure the enemy succeeds, this battle is inevitable! The only option now is to fight to the death. Follow me and charge into the city!"

Zhang Jue led the charge towards the city wall. Zhang Liang, fearing that his elder brother might be in danger, quickly followed to protect him.

(End of this chapter)