Xiang Cun led his troops to the riverside and saw a general already waiting in formation. He was dressed in fancy clothes and looked very domineering.
Thinking it was Gan Ning, he shouted, "Gan Ning, you thief. Liu Mu was kind and lenient back then, and allowed you to mend your ways. Who knew you were so stubborn and rebelled again? How dare you come to Yizhou again?"
Gan Ning laughed and said, "Liu Yan died of illness, and his third son Liu Mao succeeded him. When will it be Liu Zhang's turn to be the ruler of Yizhou? Moreover, the imperial court has already appointed him. You have made yourselves rulers, and you are the thieves who stole the country."
Xiang Cun sneered, "You are really a thief. You have bitten deeply into the wood. I will get rid of you today!"
"I'm going to kill you first!" Gan Ning was furious and rode his horse to face Cheng Cun.
The two fought for more than ten rounds, and Gan Ning could no longer resist and fled towards the village.
"The Jinfan bandits are nothing special!" Xiang Cun was overjoyed when he saw that Gan Ning's strength was mediocre. This was a good opportunity to make a contribution, so he led his troops to attack and rushed straight to the water stronghold.
Gan Ning led his troops to retreat into the stronghold, jumped onto a large ship and turned back to fight. The navy hurriedly looked for arrows to resist, and the situation became chaotic.
Xiang Cun had just dismounted from his horse and was about to lead his troops to attack the ship when he suddenly heard the sound of war drums behind him. When he turned around hastily, he saw ambushing troops rushing out from both sides, blocking his way.
"Retreat, go quickly!" Xiang Cun was shocked and hurriedly climbed back onto the horse.
"Damn it, you still want to leave?" Gan Ning jumped onto the shore with a knife in hand, knocked down several panicked Shu soldiers, rushed to the front of the horse, and chopped off its front hooves.
The mount let out a wail and fell to the ground, throwing Xiang Cun off. Before he could get up, Gan Ning was right in front of him, with the blade less than an finger's distance from his face. He was so frightened that he fell to the ground, shouting for mercy.
"Those who surrender will not be killed!" Gan Ning stepped on Xiang Cun's chest and shouted with his knife raised.
The Shu army had no way to advance or retreat and was in a panic. When they saw Xiang Cun being captured, they threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground.
Since the Jingzhou army entered Shu, Liu Qi had issued an order that they could surrender their weapons but not be killed. Not only did he treat the prisoners well, but many of the surrendered officials even continued to serve.
Nowadays, a saying is circulating in Shu: Han people do not fight against Han people!
Liu Qi's reputation for benevolence and love for the people had already spread. Not only did the Shu army surrender at the sight of him, but many officials also took the initiative to defect, and the people were even more eagerly looking forward to it.
Xiang Cun was taken into the tent, and Gan Ning asked with a knife in hand, "Are you willing to surrender?"
Xiang Cun looked at the shining blade and thought of Gan Ning's reputation of roaming the rivers and killing countless people. How could he dare not hesitate at all and nodded repeatedly.
Gan Ning laughed and said, "You are smart. How many soldiers have come into the city? Who is leading them?"
He reported the situation to General Xiang Cun truthfully, saying that he had wanted to join Zhang Yi in persuading the enemy to surrender, but Liu Qi was arrogant and forced him to send troops, and he had no choice but to do so because he had military orders.
Gan Ning said: "Since you are willing to surrender and have no intention of fighting, are you willing to help me take the city?"
Xiang Cun asked, "I wonder what the general thinks?"
Gan Ning said, "I will let you go back to the city. Just say you are defeated and have fled. At four o'clock in the morning, light a fire at the west gate as a signal. Then, with the help of the enemy from inside and outside, you can break into the city and capture and kill Liu Qi. You will achieve great success!"
Xiang Cun was secretly delighted and said happily: "General Gan has sent me, and I will go through fire and water and die without hesitation."
Gan Ning laughed loudly and ordered his men to bring wine to calm Xiang Cun down. He called Zhang Yi over and agreed on a detailed signal, allowing him to blend in with the remaining troops and return to Wuyang.
Zhang Yi disguised himself as a fisherman and came to the camp to deliver fish. Su Fei was unaware of this and said, "I saw Cun's eyes flickering just now. I'm afraid something might happen. Xingba, please be careful."
Gan Ning laughed and said, "If this man knows what's happening, I'll give him a great achievement. If he refuses to change his ways, I'll kill him without hesitation if he runs into me again."
Su Fei frowned slightly. Although Liu Qi had ordered not to kill indiscriminately, it would be too rash to let the enemy general go.
"Don't worry, no matter whether Xiang Cun is willing to surrender or not, I have my own plan to break the city!" Gan Ning patted Su Fei's shoulder and called Shamoke in to discuss together.
Liu Gui harassed Zhang He's troops during the day and returned to the city at nightfall, but he received no news from Xiang Cun. Just as he was getting impatient, the garrison reported that Xiang Cun had returned.
They arrived at the west gate with great expectations, but saw that he only brought more than 200 remaining soldiers. They knew that they had suffered another defeat. They wanted to not let him enter the city, but they had no one available, so they ordered their men to open the city gate.
When Xiang Cun entered the city, Liu Qi asked coldly, "General Xiang, how is the battle going?"
Seeing Liu Qi's ugly face, Xiang Cun recalled his heroic words before leaving, and his face was burning. He was also worried about being punished by Liu Qi, so he said: "When I arrived at the water fort, Gan Ning had already prepared for it and set up an ambush on the shore. I fought desperately and killed Gan Ning, and then I broke through the encirclement."
"The Jinfan bandits have stopped robbing money and learned the art of war?" Liu Qi was surprised. Seeing the defeated soldiers hanging their heads in dejection, he sighed, "It seems that we still underestimated Gan Ning!"
Xiang Cun clasped his fists and said, "Gan Ning only relied on his large number of troops to launch a surprise attack. I was careless and let him succeed! This revenge must be avenged. If he dares to attack the city, I will kill him."
Liu Qi was afraid that the army would lose morale, so he did not dare to scold the deserters. Instead, he appeased them with kind words and asked them to return to the camp to rest.
Xiang Cun felt guilty and offered a suggestion: "Zhang He has won a battle and will certainly underestimate the enemy. Why don't we raid the camp tonight?"
Seeing Zhang He's bravery and Gan Ning's preparedness, Liu Qi shook his head slightly and said, "Zhang He is a famous general from Hebei and has been on the battlefield for a long time. He must be prepared. It seems that I will have to go out in person tomorrow."
Xiang Cun immediately flattered him, "General, your martial arts are second to none in Shu. If you personally go out, you will surely win!"
"No, no, there are always mountains beyond mountains and people above you, so don't be arrogant!" Liu Qi waved his hand gently with a smile on his face.
There has always been an endless debate in the army about who is more capable than Zhang Ren. He has also been competing secretly, always feeling a little insecure. Xiang Cun's words just hit the nail on the head.
Xiang Cun took the opportunity to say, "I will guard the city tonight, and you can conserve your energy and kill the enemy tomorrow to boost the army's prestige!"
"Thank you, General!" Seeing that Xiang Cun was working hard again, Liu Qi's anger subsided a lot. He no longer blamed Xiang Cun for the defeat and went back to the yamen to rest.
Xiang Cun inspected the city wall, but he became angrier and angrier the more he thought about it. Being stepped on by Gan Ning was such a shame and humiliation. He would not be able to get rid of the hatred in his heart unless he killed this man!
What's more, he was a descendant of a prominent family in Shu. If he surrendered to a pirate like Gan Ning, not only would his clan members think of him, he would also be ridiculed by his neighbors.
Suddenly, an idea came to him. He decided to take advantage of the situation and kill Gan Ning to avenge himself while making a contribution. It was a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone.
Of the four famous generals in Yizhou, Deng Xian defected to the enemy, Ling Bao was killed, and only Zhang Ren and Liu Gui were left. Since I have killed the enemy and made meritorious service this time, shouldn't I be promoted to general
When he was excited, he immediately replaced the defenders of the West City with his own trusted men, and ordered the soldiers to prepare more arrows and fireworks, and to ambush on the top of the city and in the streets and alleys of the inner city gate.
After deploying everything, he returned to the camp, called the deserters, and ordered them to guard the west gate half an hour later.
As long as he could lure Gan Ning into the city and let them fight with the Jingzhou army, he could take the opportunity to get rid of him, and no one would ever know that he was captured.
Zhang Yi thought Xiang Cun was going to open the city, so he followed the army to the west gate, but found many ambushes. He knew the situation was not good, so he hid in an alley under the pretext of going to the bathroom and went straight home.
Gan Ning led his troops to the outskirts of Wuyang City. Su Fei had already been there monitoring the situation, and everyone was lying in ambush in the woods.
Just as the fourth watch arrived, they saw the flickering of fire on the city wall. Shamoke was overjoyed and said, "That boy really surrendered sincerely. He was smart."
He was about to lead the troops ahead, but Gan Ning stopped him and said, "Don't move rashly, there might be a trap in the city!"
Shamoko was puzzled: "The fire number is correct, why can't I see what's wrong?"
Gan Ning chuckled: "How stupid! There is murderous intent ahead!"