When Zhao Yun entered the city, Cao Ren had already been tied up by Wei Yan and taken to the government office, where he was as ferocious as a ferocious beast.
Zhao Yun frowned and looked at Cao Ren, seeming to hate Wei Yan to the core. If looks could kill, Wei Yan would have been turned into meat paste.
Wei Yan, however, remained calm and said to Zhao Yun, "General Zhao, this guy refuses to surrender, so we have no choice but to follow your advice."
Zhao Yun said: "Cao Ren's personal soldiers cannot go with us. We need someone familiar to the Wancheng garrison commander to go."
Kou Feng said hurriedly: "I have met the garrison commander Niu Jin several times, and I would like to go there."
"That's the best!" Zhao Yun nodded and said, "Wen Chang, please go with him, and I will pick him up later."
"What do you want to do?" Cao Ren heard several people openly discussing in front of him, and he stared and roared.
Wei Yan curled his lips and smiled: "Nothing special, just borrowing the general for a while!"
Cao Ren struggled and said, "Don't even think about it. I will never obey you even if I die..."
"You have no say in this!" Wei Yan stretched out his hand and slashed Cao Ren's neck, and then he fainted. He sneered and said, "If you don't accept my toast, you will be punished."
Everyone immediately prepared and put on Cao's armor. Kou Feng escorted Cao Ren to Wancheng overnight, and Zhao Yun led his troops to follow from a distance.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, the spring wind was blowing strongly, and we entered Wan County at five o'clock in the morning. At this time, the defeated troops in Xinye were fleeing back one after another, and there was panic in the country.
Along the way, many escaped soldiers joined them. When they arrived at Wancheng, the number of troops increased from 2,000 to more than 3,000. Many defeated soldiers also gathered outside the city, clamoring to open the city.
The defenders on the city wall treated the city as if they were facing a formidable enemy. They shouted at the deserters to stay away and wait until daybreak before opening the city wall to prevent the enemy from sneaking in.
Kou Feng led his men forward, lighting the surroundings with torches. Cao Ren was lying on a stretcher, and he shouted, "General Cao Ren is here, open the city gate quickly."
When the defenders heard the shouting, they leaned over to look and vaguely realized that it was Cao Ren. They did not dare to delay and hurried to report the news to the city.
Upon hearing the news, the garrison commander Niu Jin came forward and recognized Kou Feng, and hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
Kou Feng replied, "General Cao was defeated by a trick and the enemy took advantage of the situation to seize Fancheng. He was shot and injured and is unconscious. We risked our lives to rescue him. Come and treat him quickly."
Niu Jin no longer had any doubts, and seeing that Cao Ren was unconscious, he did not dare to delay, and hurriedly ordered his men to open the city gates and turned around to go down to welcome him.
Just when he was halfway up the stairs, he heard a shrill scream, followed by a shout of killing. He immediately stumbled and tumbled down from the city wall.
Boom—
Just as he got up in a panic, he heard a sound like muffled thunder coming from the city gate, and a team of cavalry came roaring and rushed into the city.
The first general, a white horse and white robe, raised his spear and shouted, "Zhao Zilong of Changshan is here!"
"We've fallen into a trap, retreat quickly!" Seeing that the situation was not good, Niu Jin turned around and left.
When Cao's troops in the city heard that the enemy was entering, they were thrown into chaos and fled in all directions. Any who tried to resist were killed by Zhao Yun.
At this time, Wei Yan and Fu Rong had already climbed the city wall. They left 500 soldiers with Kou Feng to guard the south gate, and the two of them divided their troops to attack the east and west gates. It was important to control the city gate first.
Zhao Yun led his troops to the government office, killed the defending soldiers and officers, and arrested the Nanyang prefect who was hiding in the back office. Niu Jin had already fled with his troops through the north gate.
At dawn, Wancheng had been completely occupied by the Jingzhou army. Zhao Yun sat in the county government office and brought Yang Jun to him. He asked, "The Yang family has three officials for four generations, and they are all loyal and good people. Why do you want to work for a treacherous official?"
Yang Jun sighed, "I am forced by the situation and have no choice. The Grand Commandant has retired to his post as he sees the decline of the Han Dynasty. I, a humble man, have taught the virtues of the people in Nanyang and established schools to promote the imperial cause. I dare not forget my roots. Please understand the general."
When Zhao Yun was in Xinye, he often heard Liu Bei mention Nanyang Prefect Yang Jun, who was a leader of the younger generation of the Yang family. He had made great achievements in governing the country and was praised by the officials and people.
The Grand Marshal he was referring to was none other than the famous scholar Yang Biao, who was dismissed by Cao Cao and stripped of his title two years ago. Although he had retired at home, he still played an important role in the literati circle.
Zhao Yun saw that Yang Jun was sincere and respected Yang Biao, so he left his seat and said, "Since you are loyal to the Han Dynasty, are you willing to lend a helping hand to General Liu?"
Yang Jun bowed and said, "The Yang family is a loyal family, and we are willing to serve you."
Zhao Yun also asked Yang Jun to temporarily take charge of the affairs in the city and issued a notice to reassure the people. When the people of Wancheng heard the news, they were not panicked, but ran around cheering.
Zhao Yun said with emotion: "With such people's hearts, why should we worry about Cao Cao not being destroyed and the Han Dynasty not being revived?"
Yang Jun said: "Nanyang is the place where Emperor Guangwu restored the country. The people all miss Emperor Taizu. There are many descendants of loyal and righteous people who swear to be loyal to the Liu family until death. Now that the eldest son has led the army to fight against the bandits, all the counties in the territory can be conquered by issuing an order."
Zhao Yun was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to inform Liu Qi that as long as they could successfully capture the entire Nanyang, they would be able to confront Cao's army with ease.
Liu Qi had already arrived in Fancheng at this time. He dispatched Wenpin's reinforcements to the north and sent another 20,000 troops from Xiangyang, totaling 50,000 troops to reinforce Nanyang.
After receiving Zhao Yun's report, Liu Qi was overjoyed. He left Guan Yu to guard Fancheng, and took Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong to rush to Wancheng without stopping.
Nanyang is the place where Liu Xiu made his fortune and the seat of his empire. Naturally, there are many officials and people who are loyal to the Liu family until death. This is the benefit of having a foundation.
Regardless of ancient or modern times, homesickness has always been the root of Chinese civilization. This kind of emotion is simple yet noble. Everyone is proud of their hometown, let alone the imperial hometown
Even Zhuge Liang called himself the Nanyang Wildman instead of the Langya Zhuge. This was a halo of supreme honor.
After the establishment of Cao Wei, there were many rebellions in Nanyang. The Hou Yin incident when Guan Yu attacked Fancheng had the greatest impact and almost cut off Cao Ren's retreat.
The greatest guarantee is the people's support, and Liu Qi also stepped into this city of Guangwu's revival with great excitement.
After arriving at the government office and greeting each other, Liu Qi said, "I have heard of your great name. Nanyang is a vast land with a large population. How about asking you to continue to govern the territory?"
Yang Jun was extremely grateful and said hurriedly, "I will obey the general's orders! But Cao Cao will surely raise a large army to attack upon hearing the news. To calm people's hearts, we need to suppress them with a large army."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir. I have already dispatched troops to the north, and the seat of Nanyang has been moved back to Rang County. You only need to take care of the people and the internal affairs, recruit talents, and I will take care of the anti-Cao affairs."
Yang Jun also heard about the changes in Liu Qi during this period. Seeing that Liu Qi was indeed full of confidence and had captured Cao Ren alive, he felt relieved and accepted the order.
After everyone finished discussing, Yang Jun first persuaded the officials in the city to surrender, then wrote letters and sent people to various counties to solicit surrender, and moved to Rang County that day to stabilize the rear.
Liu Qi stood on top of Wancheng with his hands behind his back, looking at the mountains in the north, and said with a smile: "This place that once saddened Cao Cao will once again become a pain in his heart."
Huang Zhong stroked his beard and smiled, "How can Zhang Xiu be compared with you, General? If Cao Cao comes again, I will kill him!"
Liu Qi's performance in the past half month made Huang Zhong truly see hope. He was relieved and after getting over the pain of losing his son, he rekindled his fighting spirit.
Liu Qi stood with his hands behind his back, facing the gentle breeze, his face full of spring light. The grass and trees outside the city were sprouting new buds, and from afar it looked like a sea of fresh green, full of vitality.
In this battle, the enemy was shown weakness, and Cao Ren was captured by pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger. Every step was taken carefully without any omissions.
He launched a surprise attack on Fancheng, captured Cao Ren alive, captured Wancheng with strategy, and fully recovered Nanyang, firing the first shot in the fight for world domination.
From now on, Liu Qi's name will spread throughout the nine provinces, and Wancheng will once again become the focus of the world.
The morale of the entire army is high, but everyone knows that this is just the beginning and the real tough battle is coming.