The next morning, Liang Xing was organizing his troops outside the city, thinking about how to defeat the enemy, but he saw Liu Qi sending Zhao Yun to fight.
Liang Xing was overjoyed. Zhang Heng had just suffered a defeat and his confidence was shaken. He urgently needed to win back a battle. This would also give Zhang Heng the confidence to fight the enemy.
Liang Xing came out and shouted, "How dare Liu Qi come to Xiliang and cause trouble when he is not in Jingzhou?"
Zhao Yun snorted coldly: "The whole world belongs to the king, why don't you surrender soon?"
"Ask first whether the sword in my hand agrees!" Liang Xing urged his horse to fight, and after only ten rounds, he killed Zhao Yun so badly that he turned his horse and ran away.
Liang Xing laughed loudly and immediately led his troops forward, chasing them along the river, giving Zhang Heng on the city a good opportunity to see the strength of the two armies.
As they were chasing, an army arrived from the front. Zhang Fei shouted, "Zhang Fei from Yan is here. Who dares to fight?"
Seeing that Zhao Yun had stabilized his formation, Liang Xing did not dare to fight the two generals and led his troops to retreat. Although he failed to achieve a complete victory, it was enough to boost morale.
He urged his horse to the foot of the city and shouted to Zhang Heng, "Zhao Yun is no better than this. If you had left the city just now, you and I would have chased him together and defeated Liu Qi."
Zhang Heng turned around and looked at Wang Shuang: "Is Zhao Zilong just a name for nothing?"
Wang Shuang nodded and said, "It's very likely. Why not let General Liang test Zhang Fei's strength again?"
Zhang Heng fought with Zhang Fei yesterday and felt that he was at a disadvantage, so he said: "Although Zhao Yun is not a concern, Zhang Fei is brave and we should not underestimate him."
Liang Xing was furious and said, "My dear brother, just wait and see as I challenge you to a fight."
He then returned to the camp and dispatched another 5,000 elite soldiers, and headed straight for Liu Qi's camp, shouting and cursing. However, he saw that the Han army was guarding the camp tightly, and no one came to fight.
Liang Xing returned in high spirits and laughed loudly. Zhang Heng, who was on the city wall, saw this and became more and more puzzled. Could it be that Liu Qi did not dare to fight because he saw that he had sent more troops
The next day, Liang Xing led his troops to fight again, but the Han army just avoided them and returned to the camp in a high-spirited manner, which made Zhang Heng's subordinates in the city feel embarrassed and felt that they had lost face.
Zhang Heng was very depressed. He sat in the government office and wondered, "Zhang Fei has always been reckless. How could he be afraid of fighting?"
"Not good!" Wang Shuang suddenly exclaimed, "Liu Qi has not been advancing for several days. He must be transferring troops from Wudu. Hanzhong and Yizhou have a hundred thousand troops. If we wait for the troops to arrive, we will be in danger."
Zhang Heng was shocked, and suddenly came to his senses. He stood up and asked, "What should I do?"
Wang Shuangyan said, "Since my adoptive father is planning to dominate Longxi, we must send out troops early to repel Liu Qi first and guard the key roads to prevent him from coming again. If we can take the opportunity to kill this man, my adoptive father will be famous all over the world, and Prime Minister Cao will have a huge reward, and I'm afraid he will be ranked higher than Han Sui. By then, not to mention Longxi, even the lord of Xiliang will belong to my adoptive father."
“Hiss—” Zhang Heng’s heart was pounding when he heard this, he clapped his hands and laughed, “Great! I didn’t expect my son to have such insight. If I were the ruler of Xiliang, my son’s reputation would surpass Ma Chao’s.”
Wang Shuangyan said, "Liang Xing has been suppressing the enemy these past two days, and Liu Qi has been avoiding fighting. The morale of the Han army is low. Why don't we discuss with Liang Xing and raid the camp tonight, and then divide the troops into two groups to attack from both sides. We will surely succeed."
"This is a great plan!" Zhang Heng was overjoyed when he heard this and patted Wang Shuang on the shoulder: "I didn't expect my son to have such a strategy. In time, you will be the most powerful general in the world."
Wang Shuangxi couldn't help himself and clasped his fists and said, "I would like to thank you for your support, my foster father. I only hope to stand by you through thick and thin!"
"My son is indeed loyal and righteous!" Zhang Heng was deeply touched and sighed: "Even if I had a biological son, he would be no more than this."
Wang Shuang requested to guard the city, while Zhang Heng led his troops out of the city to discuss the matter of robbing the camp with Liang Xing.
In the Han army camp, Zhang Fei was already getting a little impatient. Before he even entered Xiliang, he was already being yelled at by a rat like Liang Xing, which was a complete disgrace to the reputation of the Han Dynasty.
In the afternoon, Liang Xing came again. Zhang Fei said angrily, "My lord, I will send out my troops to stab him to death with a spear, and then take advantage of the situation to charge into the enemy camp and seize the main camp. Zhang Heng will be isolated and helpless and will surrender of his own accord."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "I have already made arrangements. We can take the city without any soldiers. Why should we ask the soldiers to fight? We will see the outcome tonight."
Zhang Fei angrily cursed: "It's all Wang Shuang's fault for not being able to speak well. If he had half the eloquence of me, he would have persuaded Zhang Heng to surrender long ago."
After three o'clock in the night, drums suddenly sounded from the west and north sides of the Han army camp. It was Liang Xing and Zhang Heng's troops who came in two groups to raid the camp, and they broke into the camp from the left and right.
Just as they rushed into the camp gate, torches suddenly lit up outside the camp, and there were ambushes waiting there. Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei attacked from behind. The Xiliang army was attacked from both sides and the whole army was in chaos. Liang Xing and the other two risked their lives to break through and escape.
In this battle, more than 2,000 Xiliang soldiers were captured and taken to the parade ground. They were questioned one by one about who their subordinates were and divided into two teams for guarding.
Liang Xing's men were taken to the rear camp and there was no further movement, but Zhang Heng's men were given dry food and water to eat and drink on the spot.
In the past few days, everyone in Liang Xing's army laughed at Zhang Heng for being weak and incompetent. He almost surrendered to Liu Qi after one battle. When they saw that they were treated differently, they immediately panicked, and many of Liang Xing's troops pretended to be Zhang Heng's troops.
Half an hour later, when the troops were reorganized, Kou Feng called out several surrendered soldiers from Liang Xing's troops, pointed out the people who had mixed in with Zhang Heng's troops, and beheaded them on the spot.
After clearing out the impostors, Liu Qi came forward and said, "Although our army does not kill prisoners, it only targets those who are willing to abandon darkness and join the light. Those who pretend to obey but secretly disobey and persist in their evil deeds will never be forgiven."
Liang Xing's soldiers were trembling with fear, lowering their heads and not daring to answer. Those of Liang Xing's subordinates who were still mixed in the crowd were sweating profusely.
Liu Qi ordered Lei Tong to take Liang Xing's men aside and said to them, "I am ordered to fight against the enemy and revive the Han Dynasty. No matter who you are, you will be given a chance to reform. Those who are willing to surrender will stay in the army, and those who are unwilling to surrender can return home. Liang Xing is already in my pocket, so you better take care of yourself. If you are captured next time, you will be killed without mercy!"
After Liu Qi left, Lei Tong persuaded everyone to surrender, telling them that Zhang Heng had actually surrendered long ago, and he just wanted to kill more Xiliang soldiers to gain merit, so he pretended to be an enemy. Last night's raid on the camp was Zhang Heng's action according to the plan, and advised them to see the situation clearly.
The captives were secretly frightened when they heard this, knowing that they had no choice at this point. Whether they were willing or not, they had to surrender due to the situation.
Liu Qi came to the other side and saw that the food and wine had been prepared. He waved and announced, "Let's feast!"
Everyone was confused, Zhang Fei laughed and said, "You were all brought here by Zhang Heng to rob the camp on purpose, just to lure Liang Xing into a trap. Not only is he innocent, he has also made contributions! What are you standing there for? Sit down!"
The Xiliang troops were extremely surprised. There were five rows of long tables with wine and meat. The brave ones took their seats first, and the others followed. Even Liang Xing's troops who were mixed in the group also sat down with their heads down.
Liu Qi raised his cup and said, "General Zhang has abandoned the dark and joined the light. He is truly a loyal and righteous man. All of you just need to be loyal and serve me. I will get rid of Liang Xing and the candidate, and then I will reward you according to your merits."
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they arranged for everyone to rest in the camp. When they woke up, it was already dusk, so they were all allowed to return to the city.