My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 147 I, Liu Bei, cannot treat the people as straw dogs! Xiao He: Old man, are you worthy enough to find my master's weakness?
The north gate of Nanling City.

Huang Gai stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the remaining fireboats on the river and the Liu army surrounding the camp from all sides. His old face was twisted with grief and anger.

"A mere fire attack broke Gongjin's plan to block the river with iron chains. Hateful, hateful~~"

Huang Gai became angrier and angrier as he thought about it, and he punched the battlement hard with his fist.

"General Gongfu, Commander-in-Chief Zhou abandoned us in Nanling City. Now we are completely surrounded by the enemy. What should we do?"

The deputy general He Qi beside him spoke, with a hint of complaint in his tone.

"Gongjin didn't abandon us. It was the big-eared thief who cut off our retreat. He had too few troops and was powerless to save us."

"Could it be that you want him to send all of Jiangdong's remaining troops to Nanling to save us?"

Huang Gai glared at him and asked back unhappily.

He Qi was so frustrated that he could only sigh:

"But no matter what, it's a fact that we're trapped in Nanling. Liu Bei has an army of 70,000, and we only have 5,000 soldiers. How are we supposed to respond?"

Huang Gai snorted coldly and said arrogantly:
"Nanling City is a strong city after all. The food and fodder in the city is enough to last for five months. Five thousand soldiers are more than enough for me. Even if that big-eared thief has a million-strong army, what do I have to fear?"

"Since you are receiving the Sun family's salary, you should be determined to fight to the death with me, and live and die with Nanling City!"

"As long as we hold out for one more day, the lord will have one more chance to recruit the Shanyue people as soldiers and regroup. Even if we die here in the end, it will be a worthy death!"

He Qi took a deep breath.

Good man, you have no intention of walking out of Nanling alive at all. You are mentally prepared to die in Nanling for Sun Quan.

But you are a third-generation veteran of the Sun family. It is only natural for you to die for the Sun family. What are I and these five thousand soldiers?
He Qi swallowed and did not respond to Huang Gai's passionate speech.

At this moment, several riders and horses came out of Liu's camp and went straight to the front of Nanling City.

"It's Gan Ning, and that Ding Feng, those two rebel generals!"

He Qi had sharp eyes and recognized the person at a glance.

Huang Gai took a closer look and saw that it was indeed Gan Ning and Ding Feng. He frowned, with a mixture of hatred, anger and suspicion. He could not guess what these two people were trying to do by suddenly coming here.

"Where is General Huang? I am Ding Feng. Do you recognize me?"

Ding Feng, who was standing at the foot of Lema City, was the first to speak.

Huang Gai's eyes blazed with fire as he cursed:
"Ding Feng, you shameless traitor, even if you turn into ashes, I will still recognize you!"

"You disloyal and unrighteous man, how can you have the guts to appear before me?"

Ding Feng was not angry, but just smiled coldly:
"General Huang, there's no need to be so quick-witted. As the saying goes, a good minister chooses his master. My master's talent, strategy, and vision far surpass Sun Quan's. It's only natural that I should submit to him!"

Huang Gai was furious and was about to curse again.

"I know you're anxious, General Huang, but don't be impatient. Just listen to what I have to say before you start scolding me."

Ding Feng interrupted Huang Gai's roar and said loudly:

"My master has always respected you, old general, and has sent me here to tell General Huang that my 70,000-man army can raze Nanling to the ground at any time. You will never be able to hold it."

"General Huang, please consider the lives of the people in the city and the five thousand Jiangdong soldiers and open the city to surrender to our lord."

"My lord is respectful to the virtuous and humble. Even a small figure like me, Ding Feng, is respected by my lord. General Huang, if you can surrender, my lord will definitely treat you well!"

Liu Bei actually wanted to surrender him!

After a moment of stunned silence, Huang Gai flew into a rage and cursed:

"I am a third-generation veteran of the Sun family. Who is that big-eared thief? He's just a mat weaver and shoe seller. How dare he be so self-righteous as to want to recruit me as his own?"

"I told that big-eared thief, if he dares, just come and attack me. I will kill him without a single piece of armor left, and avenge my two dead brothers!"

Ding Feng just watched Huang Gai cursing in silence, as if he had expected Huang Gai's tactless reaction.

When Huang Gai finished scolding, Gan Ning pointed his whip at the defenders on the city wall and shouted:
"Listen up, fellow Jiangdong soldiers of Nanling City! Our lord is marching eastward only to destroy Sun Quan, not against you, the Jiangdong people."

"When Sun Ce conquered Jiangdong, he killed countless people from Jiangdong. Many of you probably have blood debts with the Sun family. Now that you are in dire straits, why would you risk your lives for the Sun family?"

"My master is known for his benevolence and righteousness. As long as you surrender the city, my master will forgive your past mistakes, give you money and food, and let you go home to reunite with your wives and children!"

"Listen to me, don't let that old bastard Huang Gai coerce you any further. Continuing to resist stubbornly and sacrificing your life for the Sun family is a waste!"

Gan Ning's words of surrender were directed at the Jiangdong defenders on the city wall.

These words hit their soft spot, and all the soldiers in Jiangdong were greatly disturbed.

Huang Gai saw that the morale of his soldiers had been shaken, and suddenly realized that Liu Bei's purpose was not to surrender him, but to launch a psychological attack to shake the morale and will of his army.

"Jinfan thief, you traitor, I will kill you—"

Huang Gai was furious. He snatched the bow and arrow and shot an arrow at Gan Ning.

He was an excellent archer, and the arrow was extremely accurate, heading straight for Gan Ning's face.

Gan Ning was a martial arts master and was well prepared. He easily deflected the incoming arrow with a flick of his sword.

"Old Huang Gai, if you understand the current situation, you should stop forcing these five thousand Jiangdong men to be buried with you. Quickly surrender the city to our lord."

"If you continue to be stubborn and refuse to change, when Nanling City is destroyed, I will kill you with my own hands and send you to reunite with Cheng Pu and Han Dang!"

Gan Ning pointed his sword at Huang Gai, issued a domineering ultimatum, then turned around and rode away.

Ding Feng sneered, turned around and sped away.

Huang Gai was so angry that he shouted while shooting arrows:
"What are you still standing there for? Where are the crossbowmen? Let me shoot those two rebels!"

Under his coercion and scolding, the Jiangdong soldiers on both sides had no choice but to slowly bend their bows and arrows, and symbolically shoot a few arrows.

Seeing that the two men had already gone far away, Huang Gai was furious but could do nothing. He could only break the bow in his hand to vent his helpless rage.

"General Gongfu, this must be Liu Bei's strategy to attack our soldiers' hearts and minds. The morale of our soldiers has obviously been shaken. If Liu Bei's army attacks, I'm afraid they will have no intention of resisting." He Qi lowered his voice and reminded worriedly.

Huang Gai's heart trembled, and he came back to his senses from his rage. He looked around and saw that the soldiers were all whispering to each other, with hesitant and panicked expressions. It was clear that the morale of the army was shaken.

"What a vicious psychological scheme! This must be another despicable trick used by Xiao He, that demon. How hateful~~"

Huang Gai pounded the battlements with his fists and gritted his teeth.

Sudden.

The mumbling stopped and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

After pondering for a moment, Huang Gai's anger turned into sarcasm, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth:
"Liu Bei, don't you claim to be righteous and righteous, and keep saying you want to save the people of Nanling? I will let you shoot yourself in the foot..."

...

The next day.

Tens of thousands of Liu's soldiers left the newly built camp and gathered in front of Nanling City from all directions.

Noon, outside the north gate.

Liu Bei personally led an army of 30,000, which had already lined up in front of the city, ready to attack.

At the same time, at the southwest and east gates, Huang Zhong, Wen Pin and other generals also led their troops and lined up in front of the gates.

Liu Bei stood in front of the battle formation and looked towards the enemy city.

On the top of the city wall, the Jiangdong army soldiers were scattered, and the defenders on the north gate line were less than two thousand people.

There were a total of 5,000 defenders in the city, and the defenders at the other three gates had less than 1,000 men at each.

With a tenfold advantage in military strength, our army has the upper hand!

"My lord, our army is ten times larger than the enemy's. From what I've seen, the strategy of attacking the enemy's heart yesterday, proposed by Military Advisor Bowen, must have shaken their morale."

"In today's battle, we will surely defeat our lord and destroy Nanling!"

Gan Ning pointed his sword at the enemy city and smiled with confidence.

Having just joined Liu's camp, he was full of energy and couldn't wait to capture the city and make merit, so as to gain a foothold in Liu's camp and establish his own position.

Liu Bei also had a determined smile on his face. He whipped his horse whip and ordered the entire army to attack the city.

Before the order was issued, something suddenly happened on the city wall.

Thousands of soldiers suddenly rushed out from the north gate where the soldiers were originally scattered. In a blink of an eye, they filled the empty spaces on the top of the city wall, and it even became crowded.

Liu Bei put down his whip and couldn't help wondering:
"There are only about 5,000 Jiangdong troops in the city. How come so many of them suddenly appeared at the north gate? Could the spy intelligence be wrong?"

Gan Ning and other generals all looked suspicious and were at a loss for an explanation for the moment.

"My lord, those are not soldiers from Jiangdong, they are all civilians!"

Fa Zheng had sharp eyes and was the first to notice something unusual.

After his reminder, Liu Bei looked at the top of the city wall again.

As expected, the thousands of newly appeared soldiers were not armored and armed soldiers, but unarmed civilians.

Men, women, old and young, totaling two to three thousand people, were panicked and crying as they were driven to the front of the battlements by the Jiangdong Army, as if they were afraid that he could not see that these people were civilians.

"What does Huang Gai want to do?"

Liu Bei frowned, confusion in his eyes.

Gan Ning and the others all looked bewildered.

"What else could it be? Of course, they're using the people as a shield."

Xiao He pointed it out and sneered:
"Huang Gai knew he was short of troops and their morale had been shaken by us. There was no way a few thousand demoralized soldiers could withstand an attack ten times larger than mine."

"That's why he came up with this despicable plan, driving all the people in Nanling City into the city to serve as his shield."

"He calculated that the lord was a man of righteousness and would definitely not attack Nanling without caring about the casualties of the people, so he came up with this vicious plan!"

After hearing this, Liu Bei suddenly understood.

"The people of Nanling are now his subjects, Sun Quan. As a veteran minister of the Sun family and a renowned general, I never thought they would resort to such shameless and despicable tactics."

"Isn't he afraid of being despised by the world, or of damaging Sun Quan's reputation?"

Anger burned on Liu Bei's face, and his eyes shot towards the "yellow" flag like a knife.

Xiao He raised his mouth with a hint of sarcasm and said disdainfully:
"If Sun Quan cared about his reputation, he wouldn't have broken his alliance twice. The two brothers, Sun Ce and Sun Quan, have committed many massacres. As a minister of the Sun family, Huang Gai's ruthlessness is naturally passed down from generation to generation."

"Now, in order to defend Nanling and hold us back for Sun Quan, he's using a few thousand civilians as human shields. What does that mean?"

Liu Bei seemed to understand something, and disgust appeared in his eyes.

After taking a deep breath to suppress his anger, he sighed:
"The Sun clan's chief ministers treat the common people like straw dogs, but I, Liu Bei, cannot. It seems that a brute force attack on Nanling is impossible. We must find another way to break the city."

Everyone around started talking.

"If we can't attack with force, we can only take advantage of it through strategizing. The best strategy is to dig a tunnel leading to the city, and then use surprise troops from inside and outside to break through the city."

"However, Huang Gai has been through many battles and must be well versed in the art of defending a city. He may have taken precautions, most likely burying water vats beneath the city walls to monitor movements underground."

"Our army wants to secretly dig a tunnel into the city, but I'm afraid we can't hide it from his surveillance..."

Fa Zheng stroked his thin beard and muttered to himself.

"Authentic, authentic..."

Xiao He listened to Fa Zheng's mumbling, and suddenly his eyes lit up:
"Xiaozhi, I have an idea. Perhaps we can dig a tunnel into the city without anyone noticing, so that old bastard Huang Gai won't be able to detect it!"

(End of this chapter)