Three Kingdoms: I, Liu Feng, do not want to die

Chapter 143: The destiny is on Liu Bei, Liu Bei beats Cao Ren into a coward (5k)

The arrow flew out and the flag fell.

Huang Zhong laughed and shouted: "I am already so old, but I never thought that I could shoot down the rebel flag on the top of the city with just one arrow. This must be a sign of destiny!
The traitors of Cao Wei will surely fall to the dust like the rebel flag on the city wall. Now that you have seen the will of heaven, why don't you surrender!"

Huang Zhong’s loud shouts rang out.

Looking at the fallen flags, many Cao Wei soldiers on the city walls were horrified!
"At this distance, he was able to shoot down the flag from under the city. Is this really an archery skill that a human can achieve?"

"Is it really a revelation from heaven? Is it God who is helping the general under the city?"

"How could that general, who is so old and gray-haired, still have such divine power? Is this really a sign of destiny?"

"How can we go against the will of heaven?"

"If I surrender I will die, and if I don't surrender I will also die. What should I do?"

"."

The Cao Wei soldiers on the city wall were in panic, but Huang Zhong below the city secretly said "I'm lucky".

Huang Zhong's original intention was to just shoot the arrow onto the top of the city wall, and then add a sentence "I am so old, I never thought I could shoot an arrow onto the top of the city wall" to show the Cao Wei soldiers on the top of the city wall Liu Bei's destiny.

I never thought that this arrow would unexpectedly directly cut off the flag on the top of the city wall. It was really an unexpected surprise!

This divine arrow left the Han army under the city stunned.

"General Huang, is there anyone else in the world who can shoot an arrow like this? Even Lu Bu, who shot the halberd at the gate, could only shoot through the small halberd!"

"The destiny is indeed with your majesty. It must be God's help, otherwise who can have such a great archery skill!"

"I couldn't even see the flags on the top of the city walls, but General Huang was able to cut the ropes of the flags with one arrow. It's so terrifying!"

"General Huang killed Xiahou Yuan at an old age, and today he cut off the flag with one arrow at an old age. God is truly blessing the Han people!"

"I have heard that General Huang's original name was Han Shu, but he later changed it to Han Sheng. Han Sheng, the great Han should be promoted! The Mandate of Heaven is with the Han, it is true!"

"."

After a moment's surprise, the Han army under the city shouted "The Han army should be promoted!", and their morale was as high as a rainbow piercing the sun.

Liu Bei also laughed out loud.

At first, Liu Bei just wanted Huang Zhong to show off his archery skills to suppress the morale of Cao Wei's soldiers on the city wall. Unexpectedly, Huang Zhong broke the flag with one arrow!
"Han Sheng is truly my lucky general!" Liu Bei stroked his beard and praised.

From a metaphysical point of view, it is not an exaggeration to call Huang Zhong Liu Bei's lucky general.

At an advanced age, he followed Liu Bei into Sichuan, and not only survived the battle but also killed Xiahou Yuan in Hanzhong.

Especially when Xiahou Yuan was killed, Xiahou Yuan happened to be trimming deer antlers. Huang Zhong actually ran into such a good thing. One has to praise Huang Zhong's good fortune!

Some are happy, some are worried.

Cao Ren on the top of the city wall was so angry that his face turned blue and his eyes were full of fire.

As a brave general who was also good at archery, Cao Ren didn't believe that Huang Zhong could easily shoot off the rope on the flag.

Cutting down the flag with one arrow at this distance is something that even Lu Bu, the best archer Cao Ren had ever seen, couldn't do!
"How could this thief get lucky!" Cao Ren was furious.

Cao Ren stopped the soldiers from talking and shouted, "Old General, do you dare to shoot another arrow? If your second arrow can also cut off the flag, I will believe in the will of heaven and surrender immediately!"

The Cao Wei soldiers on the city wall held their breath and looked at Huang Zhong below.

The Han soldiers under the city also looked at Huang Zhong in front of the formation.

Huang Zhong sneered.

Shoot another arrow?
I'm not stupid!

If I hit you, you won't surrender. If I don't hit you, then all my efforts would have been in vain, right?
Huang Zhong laughed and called out, "Who are you?"

Cao Ren shouted: "I am Cao Ren, the General of Chariots and Cavalry of Wei!"

Huang Zhong laughed heartily on his horse: "I was wondering who it was. It turned out to be Cao Ren and Cao Zixiao who were drowned in the flood. I heard people call you 'General of Heaven' before, and I thought you were blessed by the destiny.

Today, I shot an arrow and realized that the rumor was wrong. Two years ago, a flood flooded your Fancheng. Today, God helped me and shot down the flag. Are you worthy of being called "General of Heaven"?
You are a traitor of the Wei Dynasty who has been abandoned by the destiny. How can you be qualified to let the destiny be revealed for you? You are just a common man, so don't show off your power on the city wall.

I am Huang Zhong, Huang Hansheng, the rear general of the Han Dynasty. If you can kill me in battle, you will be able to restore the reputation of your Wei Dynasty without the need for the will of heaven.

"A common man, do you dare to go out of the city and fight?"

Huang Zhong's laughter and ridicule shattered Cao Ren's scheme.

If you let me shoot the second arrow, I will ask you to go out of the city and challenge you in a duel to see who can outsmart the other!
Cao Ren became even angrier.

If Cao Cao was the main general defending the city, Cao Ren would really put on armor and go out of the city to fight Huang Zhong to the death.

But now the main general defending the city is Cao Ren!

The commander went out of the city to challenge Huang Zhong in a duel. If he won, it would be fine, but if he lost, the morale of Fancheng would be ruined.

"General, don't fall into this trap!"

Man Chong was afraid that Cao Ren could not stand the provocation, so he hurried forward to persuade him.

Cao Ren angrily ordered: "Everyone listen, whoever shoots and kills Huang Hansheng will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins!"

Looking at the arrows flying at him from the top of the city wall, Huang Zhong rode away, shouting sarcastically: "Cao Ren, you are such a coward, how dare you be a chariot general? You'd better take off your armor and return to the countryside as soon as possible!"

Seeing Huang Zhong running away, Cao Ren was not to be outdone and shouted, "Huang Hansheng, why are you running away?"

Huang Zhong returned to the battle formation with a look of regret on his face: "Cao Ren is such a patient fellow. He dared not leave the city even after I provoked him so much."

Liu Bei chuckled, "Cao Ren's military strength is not as strong as mine. The previous times he sent troops out of the city, he failed. Now Han Sheng has cut off the flag with an arrow and dampened the morale of the city. How dare I go out of the city again?"

Huang Zhong looked around Fancheng and said, "Although the moat of Fancheng is not as wide as Xiangyang, it is still more than ten feet wide. If we don't fill the moat, we can't attack it. Your Majesty, you can go back to the camp and rest. I will lead the people to fill the moat."

Seeing Huang Zhong's eagerness to fight, Liu Bei shook the reins lightly and said with a smile: "Han Sheng, hold the horse for me."

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Although I am old, my weapons are still sharp. If Cao Ren dares to leave the city, he will never come back." Huang Zhong pretended to be stupid.

Huang Zhong's pretense of being stupid made Liu Bei laugh: "Han Sheng, Han Sheng, do you want to compete with the younger generation for the credit of filling the moat?"

Huang Zhong smiled but said nothing.

The officers on both sides laughed and said, "Old General, please show some mercy."

Looking at the high morale of the officers around him, Liu Bei felt even happier.

With such high morale, why worry about Fancheng not being captured?
Liu Bei stopped the generals from arguing over their achievements and said, "There is less water in autumn and winter. We can fill the moat after it dries up. This will achieve twice the result with half the effort. We can first build high oars and raise earthen hills to see how they respond."

Building a high earthen hill is a common way to attack a city or stronghold: from a high vantage point, one can rain fire on the city. It is specifically used to deal with cities with low walls and camps in the wild.

For example, during the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's army built high turrets and raised earthen hills. Sima Yi also built earthen hills and constructed high turrets when he besieged Xiangping.

Seeing the Han soldiers outside the city starting to build a hill of earth to make a high oar, the Cao Wei soldiers on the top of the city became even more panicked.

Cao Ren's face also turned gloomy.

There are also ways to break through the earth and build a high oar.

The easiest way is to go out of the city and destroy it before the earthen hill and high turret are formed. The more difficult way is to make a thunder car to launch huge rocks to destroy the high turret.

After carefully weighing the gap in military strength between himself and Liu Bei, Cao Ren gave up on leaving the city to destroy the high rudders on the earthen hill and chose to build a thunderbolt chariot to destroy the high rudders.

Upon hearing this, Man Chong hurried to advise, "Making the Thunderbolt Chariot is time-consuming and laborious, and the wood used is demanding. Now we cannot go out of the city to cut wood, and can only use the wood stored in the city. Even if it is made, it will not be of much use except for destroying the high oars.

Although Liu Bei wanted to build a high turret by building a mound, I think he was not very determined to attack by force, and he wanted to deliberately consume the wood in the city. In addition, winter is coming, and the firewood consumption in the city is very high, so the use of wood needs to be more cautious.

Please think carefully, General."

Cao Ren would not listen and said, “If we do not build the Thunderbolt Chariot, when Liu Bei builds a high oar from the earthen hill, not only will the arrows be able to penetrate Fancheng, but Liu Bei will also be able to see the interior of Fancheng.

Whether they attack the east gate, the west gate, or the north gate, I can only deal with them. Even if they cannot be used, I can destroy them as firewood. "

Man Chong was speechless.

Man Chong also understood Cao Ren's reasons.

The function of the city wall is not only to provide a barrier for the defenders, but also to prevent the specific layout of the city from being discovered by the attackers.

But if Liu Bei could see the specific layout of the city through the earthen hills and high towers, he could use the advantage of more soldiers to make the defenders in the city exhausted.

The saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle. The prerequisite is to know your enemy.

Once the full map is revealed, any conspiracy or trick will be exposed.

With a sigh, Man Chong stopped advising.

Over time.

Man Chong's words were also verified.

Liu Bei's construction of the high oars by building the earthen hill was really intended to consume the timber in the city.

The earthen hill was built and the high oars were also made. However, after seeing the thunder chariot on the city wall, Liu Bei did not send anyone to climb the high oars.

It was as if telling Cao Ren: Welcome to throw stones!

Subsequently.

Liu Bei sent people to transport soil to fill the moat.

in the process.

Huang Zhong kept provoking Cao Ren outside the city, trying to provoke Cao Ren to leave the city and make Cao Ren very annoyed. If he left the city, he would fall into the trap, and if he didn't leave the city, he would have to endure the humiliation.

"Old Huang Zhong, I am so angry!"

In Fancheng, Cao Ren smashed the wine jar countless times.

Since Liu Bei laid siege to the city, he had not launched a proper siege. He either built earthen hills to build high oars, or transported earth to fill the moat, or made siege equipment directly under the city. He also sent Huang Zhong to challenge the enemy every day, constantly putting pressure on the soldiers in Fancheng.

A low-level siege method that uses piles of human lives.

An intermediate siege method to lure the enemy out of the city.

Advanced siege tactics, making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, surrounding but not attacking, using every possible means to break the enemy's morale.

Liu Bei took advantage of Jingzhou's home advantage and first divided Cao Ren's troops in Xiangfan, and transferred the warlike Xu Huang and Yu Jin to Nanxiang and Shiyang respectively.

Then he took the opportunity to block the Han River with warships to isolate Xiangyang and Fancheng, and surrounded Fancheng with antler trenches and fortresses on all sides. Finally, he showed Cao Ren his siege methods to consume Fancheng's supplies and the morale of the soldiers in the city.

Liu Bei was well versed in the theory of morale and knew the principle of making a strong push but failing to make a strong push again and again.

When attacking a city for the first time, morale is at its highest.

The longer the siege lasts, the lower the morale becomes.

As long as we don't attack the city, even if the morale is dropping every moment, we can replenish it through daily accumulation of strength, until the morale in the city collapses to the expected level, and then we can make a big splash!
Faced with Liu Bei's sophisticated siege tactics, Cao Ren felt powerless in Fancheng.

Without Cao Cao's coordination, a general like Cao Ren was still not up to the task when facing Liu Bei alone.

Man Chong and Zhao Yan were also helpless.

Liu Bei had the advantage of military strength and home advantage, and he used the orthodox siege tactics. As long as he proceeded steadily, there would be no mistakes.

Not to mention Man Chong and Zhao Yan, even if Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Sima Yi and others under Cao Cao were tied up in Fancheng, they could only hold on and wait for help.

Cao Ren only hoped that Cao Xiu and Zhu Ling in Runan or Cao Pi in Luoyang could send troops to support him in time.

Another day.

Cao Ren comforted the soldiers on the city wall of Fancheng.

Suddenly an arrow flew straight towards Cao Ren and flew past his helmet.

The sound of the arrows made Cao Ren's head buzz.

"General!"

The guards on both sides were shocked and quickly pulled Cao Ren down to avoid the arrow.

It took Cao Ren a while to catch his breath, and his anger grew.

"It must be that old bastard Huang Zhong!"

"Set up the Thunderbolt Chariot and destroy the high towers outside the city!"

Cao Ren was shocked and horrified. If the arrow had not missed by an inch, Cao Ren would have suffered a concussion even with the protection of a helmet.

The defenders were shot by the attackers from their high ground, which made Cao Ren feel even more aggrieved.

On the hill outside the city, there were waves of shouts of “old general’s amazing archery!”

"Pity."

Huang Zhong thought it was a pity that he did not have the good luck of cutting the flag with one arrow as last time. He then saw the Thunderbolt Chariot on the top of the city adjusting its position, so he climbed down from the high oar in a flash and told the soldiers to run away.

That agile figure doesn't look like that of an old man at all.

After a while.

The Thunderbolt Chariot on the top of the city threw huge rocks at the Gaolu as if to vent its anger, smashing the Gaolu where Huang Zhong was just now into pieces.

"Cao Ren hates me too much."

Looking at the smashed Gaolu, Huang Zhong angrily came to Liu Bei to complain about his grievances.

Upon learning that Huang Zhong almost shot Cao Ren with an arrow, and then Cao Ren retaliated by bombarding him with huge rocks, Liu Bei couldn't help laughing: "Han Sheng doesn't need to be discouraged. Although he failed to hurt Cao Ren, he scared Cao Ren a lot. He is really my lucky general!"

A month ago, he was able to cut the flag with one arrow, and a month later, he almost hit Cao Ren. This good fortune is truly amazing.

On the battlefield, luck is sometimes more important than strength and intelligence.

For example, Zhou Yu was shot in the right rib by a stray arrow while fighting in Nanjun, and eventually died of illness in Baqiu.

For example, Pang Tong was hit in the vitals by a stray arrow during the attack on Luo City and died on the spot.

For example, Sun Jian, when he was victorious, pursued Huang Zu to Mount Xian and was shot and killed by a hidden arrow.

For example, Ling Cao, who was the first to board the ship in a light boat, was hit by an arrow and died.

For example, Xiahou Yuan, even when he was growing deer horns, he would meet Huang Zhong.

Such as various.

Whether they are brave or wise, they will die from hidden arrows and stray arrows because of their bad luck.

Huang Zhong was inspired and eager to try: "The siege has been going on for a long time, and the moat has been filled. The morale of Fancheng is getting low. We should take the opportunity to attack. I am willing to put on armor and go first."

Liu Bei stroked his short beard and shook his head: "The time has not come yet. If we attack the city now, our chances of success are slim. We will make a decision after receiving news from Yancheng."

Cao Ren is waiting for reinforcements.

Liu Bei was also waiting for reinforcements from Cao Ren.

To completely crush the morale of Fancheng, it is not enough to just besiege the city.

A siege requires reinforcements.

Only by defeating the reinforcements can the Cao Wei soldiers in the city feel even deeper despair.

Only by launching a strong attack at that time can we achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Huang Zhong rolled his eyes and chuckled as he moved closer: "Your Majesty, do you have anything for me to deliver to General Zhang? I don't mind the trouble."

The words fell.

Liu Bei looked left and right at Huang Zhong with a strange look in his eyes.

Are you going to give a message to General Zhang?
Your intentions are almost written on your face!
Liu Bei couldn't help but hold his forehead: "Han Sheng!"

finally.

At Huang Zhong's shameless request, Liu Bei handed the order, which was supposed to be delivered by an ordinary messenger, to Huang Zhong.

Liu Bei's family is probably the only one in the world who would let the general serve as a messenger.

"The general is getting more energetic as he gets older."

Looking at Huang Zhong's back as he happily left, Shizhong Ma Liang couldn't help but sigh.

Liu Bei also sighed: "Han Sheng's son died young, and now he is old and I don't know how many years he has left. Apart from making great achievements and leaving his name in history, Han Sheng has nothing else to pursue."

I sighed for a while.

Liu Bei looked at the battle report in his hand again.

This battle report comes from the direction of Xincheng.

The general idea is: Liu Feng sent a small army to capture Shunyang City to the east of Nanxiang City, blocking the water and land routes between Nanxiang City and Xiangyang City. Xiahou Shang and Xu Huang were trapped in Nanxiang City.

After seeing the content of the battle report, Liu Bei felt even more relieved: My son is no weaker than Xu Huang!

Although there are many brave generals in the world, there are not many good generals.

Among Cao Cao's generals with other surnames, only Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Zhang He, Yu Jin and Le Jin were good generals. The rest were more or less inferior.

Among the generals under Liu Bei, there are not many who can be called good generals.

The fact that Liu Feng can be compared with Xu Huang means that Liu Bei has successors to his talented generals.

A good general in his thirties is enough to support the Han Dynasty for another thirty years!

[My son has contained the west road, Yunchang has contained the east road, I am in the middle road, and I have to work hard too. ]

And on Liu Bei's desk, there was a war map.

The map shows Liu Feng, Xiahou Shang and Xu Huang on the west route, Guan Yu, Wen Pin, Yu Jin and Sun Quan on the east route, Cao Ren on the middle route, Cao Pi in Luoyang, Cao Hong in Xu County and Cao Xiu in Runan.

and many more.

a long time.

Liu Bei's eyes became sharp, and he called Ma Liang forward: "Ji Chang, remember, I will make the following deployment adjustments"

Luoyang.

After proclaiming himself emperor, Cao Pi never had a single day of peace of mind.

There were rebellions in various states and counties, officials in the court attacked each other, and even the concubines in the harem fought with each other all day long.

Sometimes Cao Pi wondered if Cao Cao's migraine was caused by overexerting his brain from playing tricks on others every day.

Before the internal affairs of the newly established Wei Dynasty were properly dealt with, Cao Ren sent someone to say that "Liu Bei is very likely to lead the expedition to Xiangfan in person."

In this regard.

Cao Pi even wanted to send people to Fancheng to scold people.

Either you lead the army in person or you don't. By sending someone to say "it is very likely that you will lead the army in person", are you asking me to guess in Luoyang?

Cao Pi even wondered: Was Cao Ren so frightened by Guan Yu that he believed everything he heard?

As early as last year, Cao Ren wrote a letter requesting to abandon Xiangyang and return to Wancheng.

The gist of the letter: Xiangyang's moat is several dozen feet wide, but Cao Ren has no navy! If Guan Yu comes again, the dilemma of Fancheng being besieged last year will repeat itself. It is better to burn Xiangyang and Fancheng.

In fact, Cao Pi also had the idea of giving up and concentrating on stabilizing the internal situation. However, he had to reject Cao Ren's request in the end because of the advice of his ministers that "Xiangyang is located between land and water, and is a key point for defending against invaders. If Xiangyang is abandoned, Liu Bei will be difficult to control."

Now that he received Cao Ren's letter asking for help, Cao Pi wanted to give up Xiangyang again.

Cao Pi had long been impatient with being led by the nose for the sake of Xiangyang: I am the emperor of Wei, not a workhorse!
"Your Majesty, Minister Sima requests to see you."

A handsome young eunuch came forward in a low voice.

Cao Pi glanced at the sky and felt even more headache.

a long time.

Cao Pi sighed and asked the eunuch to call someone.

Not long after.

A tall, middle-aged man with a "loyal" face came in and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I am the Minister Sima Yi, and I pay my respects to His Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)