Outside the city, the entire Xiliang army pressed forward and fought fiercely. The city was also in chaos. After the Liangzhou army in the city was defeated and dispersed, they saw that they could not get out of the city, so they fought hard and were almost wiped out in the end.
However, something unexpected happened at this time. First, the Baibo Army took the opportunity to attack Dong Cheng and Yang Ding, but ended up being taken advantage of by Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan who took both sides into account.
After Xiahou Yuan shot Yang Ding to death, Cao Ren killed Hu Cai, and the two of them surrounded the remaining soldiers. Han Xian took the opportunity to break through and fled with his men.
When Cao Ren saw this, he led his troops to intercept Han Xian, while Xiahou Yuan went to chase Dong Cheng.
The four armies fought in the city. Han Xian's army and Dong Cheng's army had lost their courage and were defeated by Cao's attack. People kept falling down on the long street.
Xiahou Yuan chased Dong Cheng closely, killing Dong Cheng's army in pieces. Just as he was about to catch up, he bumped into an army from the side.
Xiahou Yuan took a closer look and found that it was Zhang Liao. His heart sank. Wasn't Zhang Liao guarding the east gate? Why did he lead his troops into the city?
Dong Cheng saw this and shouted, "General, save me!"
Zhang Liao let Dong Cheng pass and stopped Xiahou Yuan, asking, "General, why are you chasing after the emperor's close ministers?"
Xiahou Yuan's face froze, and he shouted, "Follow orders, and don't meddle in other people's business!"
Zhang Liao said calmly, "Whose orders?"
Xiahou Yuan was speechless, "Of course it's in the name of the emperor. Dong Cheng colluded with the Baibo Army to hold the emperor hostage. His crime is unforgivable!"
Dong Cheng pointed at Xiahou Yuan and said, "You are talking nonsense!"
"How could the emperor do this to me?"
"I want to see the emperor!"
After hearing this, Xiahou Yuan said coldly: "Wait for me to bring your head to see the emperor!"
Dong Cheng was immediately frightened and silent. Zhang Liao waved the gun in his hand and said: "General Dong is right. When we meet the emperor, the truth will be revealed."
Xiahou Yuan narrowed his eyes and said, "Is Marquis Wen determined to become the enemy of Envoy Cao?"
"Does Marquis Wen also have evil intentions towards the emperor?"
Zhang Liao said calmly: "The emperor will naturally understand what Marquis Wen is thinking."
"Who is loyal and who is treacherous, when they come before the emperor, he will make the final judgment."
Seeing that Zhang Liao was not moved by his persuasion, Xiahou could not help but clench the longbow in his hand.
The night is long and dreams are many. The task assigned by Cao Cao must be completed no matter what!
Although Zhang Liao is difficult to deal with, he may not be impossible to deal with. All you need to do is delay time and wait for Cao Ren to kill Han Xian and come back, then you can join forces and kill Zhang Liao!
However, Xiahou Yuan was depressed. Zhang Liao's appearance here obviously showed that he had seen through Cao Cao's plan. Is Lu Bu so smart?
Or is it the Youzhou side who is behind this?
The two sides confronted each other silently, ready to attack at any time.
Over there, Cao Ren had just caught up with Han Xian at the city gate and was ordering his troops to charge. Han Xian fought desperately while ordering his soldiers to open the city gate.
As soon as the city gate opened, Han Xian fled to the east of the city desperately. He wanted to see Yang Feng and tell him about Cao Cao's betrayal!
As a result, after he had run a few steps, a troop of soldiers outside the city blocked the road. It turned out that Xun You, who was sitting on the top of the city, had already seen Han Xian escape, and issued orders from the city to mobilize an ambush that Cao's army had placed in advance.
This troop of soldiers did not have many men, only about a hundred or so. But this was very troublesome for Han Xian, who had escaped with dozens of men, because the enemy blocked his route to join Yang Feng!
Seeing Cao Ren chasing him out of the city and there were obstacles in front, Han Xian panicked and had to flee south. At this time, he had no time to inform Yang Feng. In order to save his own life, he ran away in a flash.
When Cao Ren saw this, he sent dozens of cavalrymen to chase Han Xian. Fearing that the city might be lost, he turned around and led his troops back to the city, only to see Xiahou Yuan and Zhang Liao confronting each other.
He rode over and asked Xiahou Yuan, "What's wrong?"
Xiahou Yuan was overjoyed to see Cao Ren return. He whispered to him about Zhang Liao's disruption and said, "Let's go over there and kill him now!"
"Otherwise, tomorrow's instructions will be in trouble!"
Cao Ren hesitated for only a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay!"
Seeing that his opponent was about to attack, Zhang Liao could not help but clench his spear. He knew that the next moment, there would be a brutal melee. Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan were both powerful generals in Cao's camp. He was outnumbered by two at once and had no guarantee of survival!
At this time, the sound of countless horse hooves came from the other side of the long street, rapidly approaching the three people. When the three generals present heard it, their faces changed immediately.
Why is there another cavalry?
All the soldiers and horses that can be mobilized inside and outside the city are performing their respective duties. Whose soldiers are they?
Judging from the sound of horse hooves, there are at least a thousand people on the other side. This force, no matter which side it comes from, is enough to change the current situation!
Not long after, a cavalry unit came running over. When everyone looked, they found that they were carrying the flag of the Jizhou army!
The first general rode his horse to the front of the crowd and said, "I am Zhang He from Jizhou. I have been ordered to assist Marquis Wen and welcome the emperor!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan's faces changed drastically. They knew that the plan in the city had completely failed!
Zhang He is one of the fierce generals in Hebei and has a great reputation. Now that he has joined forces with Zhang Liao, the two generals of Cao's camp have very little hope of defeating the enemy. They may even be killed by the enemy!
Zhang Liao felt relieved after hearing this and said, "Thank you, General Zhang!"
Cao Ren clenched the long sword in his hand and wanted to attack suddenly several times, but finally let go of it dejectedly.
Even if they take action next, there will be no point. Not to mention that there is no chance of winning, even if they win, it will be a pyrrhic victory. There is also a third party, Dong Cheng's army, present, and Cao's camp still cannot take the emperor away.
The only option now was for him to lead the troops with Xiahou Yuan and confront the enemy, waiting for Cao Cao to win the battle outside the city and come back to take charge of the situation.
But it looks like the outcome outside the city is almost decided, right?
Yang Feng outside the city had no idea that the Baibo Army in the city had been wiped out. He and Xu Huang were attacking Guo Si from both sides. Both sides were killing each other and the soldiers under his command suffered heavy casualties.
Seeing that Cao Cao's infantry was only making some probing attempts at the periphery and had no intention of helping him at all, Yang Feng could not help but burst into curses.
But Liu Xie designated Cao Cao as the commander-in-chief this time, and Yang Feng had no choice. He realized that the previous actions of the four Baibo generals had seriously violated Liu Xie's bottom line, so Liu Xie wanted to sideline the Baibo Army and let Cao Cao make the contribution!
Yang Feng was secretly resentful in his heart. He decided to wait until the battle was over and he returned to the city, then he would join forces with others to deal with Cao Cao together!
At this time, Guo Si felt gradually exhausted, because Xu Huang on the opposite side was getting more and more courageous, and Yang Feng's martial arts were not bad either. Guo Si was at a disadvantage in a one-on-two situation. The Xiliang cavalry also lost its mobility advantage and was entangled by the infantry, resulting in heavy casualties!
Seeing that the situation was not good, he fired a feint and fled to the main camp with his cavalry. Yang Feng would not let him go and shouted to Xu Huang: "Kill him together!"
Guo Si ran in front, and the two men chased him from behind. After all, Guo Si was an expert in horsemanship, so he fled back to his camp. The Xiliang soldiers, Xu Huang and Yang Feng, stopped him. Guo Si took a breath and shouted to his lieutenant general, "Go and join forces with Li Jue to defeat them together!"
Finally, the lieutenant general said, "General, General Li is being entangled by the enemy and cannot break out!"
"What!" Guo Si was startled and quickly rode his horse to the front of the formation, only to find that Li Jue's flag had been surrounded in the center of the formation and there was no way out!
He yelled, "What's going on?"
The lieutenant general replied, "Duan Wei rebelled and surrounded General Li together with the Youzhou army!"
After hearing this, Guo Si's eyes went dark. He was entangled by Yang Feng and had no idea that Duan Wei was attacking Li Jue's rear. He was still thinking that if Duan Wei entered the battlefield, his side would immediately decide the victory.
Now that Duan Wei has rebelled, it will be difficult for me to escape!
He waved his hand and said, "Come with me and rescue Li Jue!"
As a result, before he could make any progress, Yang Feng and Xu Huang had already broken in. Guo Si had no choice but to turn back to fight.
Over there, Li Jue was entangled by Zhao Yun's spear. Seeing that Duan Wei's army behind him had broken his rear formation, he could not help but shout in anger: "How dare you, thief!"
"When I get away, I'll kill you all!"
Zhao Yun did not answer, but just pointed his spear at Li Jue.
Cao Cao was in the middle and saw Li Jue and Guo Si being ambushed by Duan Wei and their formation collapsed. He couldn't help but feel very happy. This time he won without losing almost any strength!
In this way, if the Baibo Army and Dong Cheng Army in the city were destroyed, he would become the most powerful side, and the remaining Lu Bu, Yang Feng and others would not be his match even if they joined forces!
At this moment, a spy rushed into the central army on horseback from behind and whispered something to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao heard it, his face changed drastically and he turned back to look towards the city.
The Jizhou army came out to disrupt the situation?
The person who came was Zhang He, one of the Four Pillars of Hebei. Was he sent by Yuan Shao to ruin his own plans?
He lowered his head and thought about it. This was really beyond his expectations. He thought that after tying up Lu Bu and killing him outside the city and transferring Li Le away with false military intelligence in advance, Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan alone would be enough to wipe out all the forces in the city.
At the beginning, things went in line with Cao Cao's expectations. Cao's army killed Yang Ding and Hu Cai, drove away Han Xian, and defeated Dong Cheng. What they did was impeccable.
Although Zhang Liao, who was guarding the east gate, came out to disrupt the situation, he was not impossible to deal with. But with Zhang He who appeared out of nowhere, Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan had no chance of winning!
His face was gloomy. Should he wait until Li Jue and Guo Si were driven away before returning to the city to turn against them and kill Zhang Liao and Zhang He?
He hesitated. Zhang He's identity was sensitive. If he killed him, it would be tantamount to falling out with Jizhou in advance. Now was not the best time.
Damn, why did the Jizhou Army appear here!
Could it be that Yuan Shao had seen through his idea of commanding the princes in the name of the emperor?
And by the time the war is over, it will be too late!
Now, regardless of Li Jue and Guo Si, we should retreat back to the city, kill Zhang Liao and Zhang He, and control the emperor?
He looked at the field, his eyes becoming increasingly gloomy, and then he glanced at Lu Bu beside him and was horrified.
He trapped Lu Bu here, but wasn't the other party also keeping an eye on him?
If Lu Bu suddenly attacks, will I still be alive?
Thinking of this, Cao Cao broke out in a cold sweat.
Ju Shou had already climbed to the top of the city wall, and he saw everything that happened inside and outside the city from beginning to end.
He thought to himself that sometimes it was just right. Most of the current events in Anyi had appeared in the countless possible deductions made by him, Guo Jia, Yuan Xi and the other two a long time ago.
But by the time we got to this point, many deviations had occurred. Fortunately, when facing Cao Cao, these deductions and predictions did have some effect.
The emperor is not controlled by Cao's army, Li Jue and Guo Si are about to be defeated, Cao Cao wants to control Lu Bu in the central army, but isn't Lu Bu also exchanging pieces with Cao Cao?
The situation turned in our favor.
Of course, there are still many variables.
How much did the emperor participate in what Cao Cao did?
If the emperor is biased towards Cao Cao, then everything we have done here will be in vain, or at least will be greatly reduced in value.
Moreover, if Cao Cao disregards the overall situation and enters the city to forcibly control the emperor, there is still hope of success!
Ju Su looked at Xun You who was on the city wall in the distance, and coincidentally, the person on the opposite side was also looking at him. The two of them looked at each other, and then turned their heads away at the same time.