Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 554 Cao Hong is confused
In the sky, there is only a crescent moon, scattering faint moonlight, guiding the direction of the pedestrians on the ground.

In the woods nearby, apart from the rustling sound of the autumn wind blowing the leaves and the occasional "cooing" of an owl, the only sound was the light sound of Ji Ling's army stepping on the grass and trees.

"Clusters, clusters, clusters..." The sound of hurried footsteps was getting closer and closer. Soon, a soldier ran to Ji Ling who was quietly on his way.

"General, the torches are still lit on the towers of Luoyang's west and south gates, and soldiers can be vaguely seen standing as usual. However, on the road leading to the north gate, a small group of enemy cavalry are patrolling, so it is difficult for me to go and investigate."

"What about the East Gate?" Ji Ling urged.

"Just as the general expected, the east gate is wide open, and there is no one on the city wall, nor any fire."

"Great! What was said in the letter is indeed true." Ji Ling was sure it was correct this time and no longer had any doubts.

"There is still more than half an hour until midnight. Pass the order and march quickly. We must enter the east gate before Cao Hong."

Ji Ling's military order was passed down one level at a time. When the 30,000-strong army learned that they could win so easily, they were naturally excited and wished they could grow two more legs so that they could quickly enter Luoyang City.

After a long time, the army finally bypassed the very long southern city wall of Luoyang and appeared under the east gate of the city.

"Sure enough, there is not a single person in sight, and the city gate is open wide. God help me, let's go into the city!"

Ji Ling gave an order and the 30,000 troops behind him ran towards the city frantically, just like a group of starving refugees seeing food.

Ji Ling climbed up the city wall, stood on the tower which was several meters high, and looked into the distance inside and outside the city. He saw a flat road outside the city. Although the houses in the city were lined up one after another, there were no lights at all. It was like a dead city, without any life.

"General, there are no weapons on this wall, nor any huge crossbows. It seems that the defenders in the city have indeed retreated to other gates."

After several soldiers finished checking separately, they came over to report.

Ji Ling didn't care about it at all: "This is also expected. Since they are sure that our army will not attack the east gate, why waste the crossbow here? Hehe, they didn't expect that I, the general, would suddenly appear from the sky and seize this gate. Cao Hong only has 3,000 or 4,000 people, and our army has 30,000. If he comes later, we must make a quick decision, and then take the other three gates by surprise. I, Ji Ling, have achieved such a great feat, and I will be famous from now on, hahaha!"

He was feeling proud when a soldier beside him suddenly said, "General, look, someone seems to be coming over there."

Ji Ling quickly stopped smiling and looked over. Sure enough, in the woods in the distance, there seemed to be some movement. The other party did not light a torch, and was obviously very cautious when moving. If you don't look carefully, it is really difficult to find them. However, Ji Ling came towards them, so naturally he widened his eyes and stared at that direction carefully for a long time. Finally, he confirmed that there was indeed a group of people moving.

"It's time to come. It must be Cao Hong. Give orders to the whole army to keep quiet, light torches, and do not close the city gates. When half of the enemy troops have entered the city gates, they will be most relaxed. Then we can launch a sudden attack and easily annihilate them."

"Here!"

Outside the city, Cao Hong and Le Jin, leading three thousand soldiers, hurried towards the city gate.

However, when they were more than a mile outside the city gate, Le Jin suddenly froze.

"Wait a minute, General Cao. Look, there is no fire at the city gate ahead, and there seems to be no defenders on the city wall."

Cao Hong then looked carefully. Although it was dark and blurry, he could indeed not see any human figure.

"Hmm? This is a bit strange... But it makes sense when you think about it. There are less than 10,000 defenders in the city now. It is not easy to resist Ji Ling's 30,000 troops. They believe that the East Gate is the safest, so it is not incomprehensible that they have withdrawn troops from here."

Le Jin shook his head: "I think it is better to be cautious. Xun Yu, Cui Jun, and Gao Shun are all men of extraordinary wisdom and strategy. We are shouldering a heavy responsibility and must not be careless."

Cao Hong also became cautious after hearing this: "What should we do about Wen Qian's intention?"

Le Jin thought for a moment and said, "Why not send 500 men to investigate first? If there is indeed no defense, they can open the city gate and welcome us into the city. Then we can rush straight to the west gate from inside the city and cooperate with Ji Ling from inside and outside. If there is an ambush, at least we can avoid the danger of annihilation of the entire army."

"Well, Wen Qian is still thoughtful. Let's do this. If there is nothing happening in the city, raise the torch as a signal."

Cao Hong immediately selected five hundred men and asked them to run towards the city gate first, while he and Le Jin took the remaining soldiers and stayed in the grove.

"General, they are coming." A soldier squatting behind the city wall secretly poked his head out to take a few looks, then said to Ji Ling with some excitement.

When Ji Ling heard this, he couldn't help but stick his head out to take a look. "Okay, they're coming, they're really coming, pass the order down, get ready to act!"

The five hundred people quickly ran to the city gate, but the wide open gate still surprised them.

These people looked at each other, and for a moment, they didn't know whether they should go in or not. In the end, a few of the braver ones rushed in first.

The Yuzhou soldiers who were ambushing behind the houses in the city clenched their weapons and watched the people running in one after another. They felt happy and nervous. Everyone was waiting for a certain number of people to come in, and then they would rush out and kill the other party by surprise.

Soon, dozens, a hundred, two hundred, three hundred, seeing more and more enemy troops running into the city gate, finally, some soldiers who were filled with anger because of consecutive defeats could not bear it any longer and took the lead to charge out.

"Kill the Yanzhou thief!"

There were flashes of swords and sabers, and those who had just run into the city gate were beheaded before they could understand what was happening.

"Oh no! There's an ambush! Retreat!"

The remaining soldiers hurriedly retreated outside the city, but since Ji Ling had been prepared and deliberately ambushed them, how could he let them escape easily? With a "creaking" sound, the city gate was slowly closed.

"Kill them all!" Ji Ling was also full of anger with nowhere to vent, so he personally wielded a three-pointed, double-edged sword, ran down from the city wall, and cut an enemy soldier into two pieces with one sword.

For a while, screams and cries of killing could be heard near the city gate. But the strange thing was that no one in the nearby houses was awakened by such a noise. It was unknown whether they were used to the recent battles or they were too scared to come out. But no matter what the reason was, Ji Ling and his men were so excited about killing that they didn't pay attention to such trivial matters.

But there was no response from inside the city. Cao Hong, who was waiting for news outside the city, had already heard the shouts and screams, and his face changed.

"There is indeed an ambush! Gao Shun is worthy of being the general of Bingzhou, and his reputation is well-deserved. This empty city plan almost fooled me, thanks to Wen Qian's reminder."

Le Jin said modestly, "General Cao, you are too kind. Now that there is an ambush in the city, we must not go there again. It is better to wait here and wait for the battle at the west gate to start. Perhaps the garrison here will rush over to help defend the city. Then it will not be too late for us to take action."

Cao Hong made a prompt decision: "As you say. All brothers, rest where you are. Remember, do not make too much noise or run around, so as not to disturb the enemy."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, there was other movement in the city.

The five hundred people were killed almost in the blink of an eye, and Ji Ling immediately realized that the number of people was wrong.

"There are only a few hundred people here. Cao Hong and Le Jin are not among them. They must still be outside the city. They just sent these people to explore the way."

He had been pent up with anger for days, and now he finally found a place to vent it. However, a mere few hundred people obviously could not satisfy him.

"Open the city gates and follow me to fight your way out. Today we are going to take Cao Hong's head!"

With a "creak", the city gate was opened again. Ji Ling rushed out on his horse, and the 30,000 troops behind him all followed him out.

Ji Ling had already discovered the woods where Cao Hong and others were hiding, so he led his troops directly towards that place. Such a big commotion frightened Cao Hong on the spot.

"This... why is this happening? Why is there such a large army coming to kill us?"

Le Jin suddenly looked incredulous. He looked ahead, then shook his belt vigorously and continued to look ahead with his eyes wide open.

"How could it be...how could it be him...General Cao, look, it's the Ji flag!"

He had just finished speaking when Cao Hong was about to look in the direction he pointed to see the words on the military banner when he heard an angry shout.

"Cao Hong, don't run away. Take my sword!"

"What's going on?" Cao Hong was completely confused this time.

(End of this chapter)