Outside Beihai City, Liu Yi was worrying about the attack on Beihai. Suddenly he heard that Cheng Xi was defeated. He was shocked and hurriedly ordered his soldiers to attack the city urgently.
Gongsun Yang advised: "Beihai City is strong. It was besieged by the Yellow Turban bandits in the past. Successive governors such as Kong Rong have repaired it many times. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. General, please do not act rashly."
Liu Yi was furious and said, "Why would I care about personal grudges? Now that Cheng Xi's army has been defeated, if we don't break the city before Zhou Yu arrives, and the Wu army takes Beihai, not only will all our previous efforts be wasted, but we will also be restricted in taking Qingzhou."
Gongsun Yang said: "Even if Zhou Yu takes Beihai, the Wu army is also aiming at Xuzhou. We will go north to join the lord. What's the harm in giving the land south of the Yellow River to the Eastern Wu?"
Liu Yi sneered, "Military Advisor, you have been traveling around the Central Plains for many years, but you still don't know that the people of the Central Plains are treacherous and untrustworthy? Especially the people of Jiangdong, who are indecisive and can't be trusted. If you really regard Zhou Yu as an ally, I'm afraid that not only will you fail to achieve success, but you will also die in a foreign land."
Gongsun Yang was shocked and said, "Zhou Yu is a famous scholar of the time, with a broad mind, how could he go back on his word?"
Liu Yi said: "Although Zhou Yu is a famous scholar, he is also the commander of Jiangdong. Now the world is in turmoil and everyone is loyal to his own master. As the saying goes, all is fair in war. If he is for the benefit of Jiangdong, why would he care about the friendship between the two families?"
Gongsun Yang also saw the intrigues among many princes and sighed, "General, what you said makes sense, but if we forcefully attack Beihai, we may lose our troops. If Zhou Yu turns against us and comes to seize it, how will we respond?"
Liu Yi snorted coldly in his heart. This Gongsun Yang was called a military advisor, but he was timid and cautious and indecisive. If it wasn't for the sake of Gongsun's family, he would have been sent back to Liaodong long ago.
At this time, he had to attack the city with all his strength, and he needed Gongsun Yang to dispatch the rear support. He patiently explained: "Cheng Xi's army was defeated, and Tian Yu can no longer support the city alone. If we wait for the Wu army to reach Beihai, they will be trapped in the city. I think they have the intention to retreat and will leave within a day or two. This is the time for us to make achievements."
Gongsun Yang suddenly realized and said happily: "General, your idea is great. If we can take Beihai without bloodshed before Zhou Yu arrives, our army will take the initiative in Qingzhou."
"That's right!" Liu Yi ordered all camps to be ready to go into battle at any time and send more scouts to monitor the movements in the North Sea. Once Cao's army showed signs of retreat, they would immediately launch a campaign to pursue and kill them. Tian Yu would never be allowed to escape unscathed.
He also knew that Gongsun Yang was intimidated by Zhou Yu's reputation, which was why he was so timid. In fact, in a real confrontation, as long as the troops were used properly, the result would be nothing more than this.
On that day, the Liaodong army launched a fierce attack on Beihai and found that Cao's defense was not as tight as in the previous few days. The vanguard army almost climbed to the top of the city several times. Liu Yi was secretly happy to see this, because the morale of Cao's army was already in chaos and they would retreat as long as more pressure was exerted.
The next morning, Liu Yi was eating in the camp. The whole army was about to launch a fierce attack in half an hour. Suddenly, there was a loud drum sound outside the camp gate. It turned out that Tian Yu took the initiative to challenge.
Liu Yi was startled, and he put on his armor and rode to the camp gate. As expected, he saw Tian Yu coming in person. He said in a deep voice: "Tian Yu took the initiative to fight, so he must be retreating. I'm afraid the defenders in the city are retreating. Go after him immediately."
Upon hearing the order, the generals on the left and right immediately divided their troops into three groups and marched out from a distance towards the North Sea.
Tian Yu was so angry that he shouted, "Liu Yi, you bastard, do you dare to fight me to the death?"
Liu Yi sneered as he held his sword horizontally, "Tian Yu, your petty tricks are only suitable for deceiving those without any plan. How can you deceive me? Today, I will help you!"
Seeing that Cao's army was encircling him from behind, Tian Yu could no longer hold back. He shouted and spurred his horse to charge forward. The two had not yet decided the winner. Liu Yi had always been dissatisfied and wanted to kill Tian Yu in front of the battle to enhance his reputation.
The two men fought in front of the formation, and the fight was hard to determine the winner. After fighting for more than twenty rounds, Tian Yu was obviously absent-minded, his moves became increasingly chaotic, and he made a feint with his gun and rode away.
"Tian Yu, don't run!" Liu Yi roared. He was determined to win this time and immediately mobilized his army to charge forward.
Tian Yu was defeated and Cao's army was in chaos. They turned their backs on their enemies and fled. When they were about to reach the city, they saw that the Liaodong army was already attacking the city. Ladders were set up at the north gate, and grappling hooks were thrown from east and west. The fighting was fierce.
Tian Yu rode his horse around the city through the east gate. When the city defenders saw this, they suddenly opened the south gate and fled along with Tian Yu.
When Liu Yi saw that the southern city gate was wide open, he was overjoyed. He did not bother to chase Tian Yu, but led his troops into the city first. The most important thing was to occupy Beihai City.
Along the way, there were only a thousand elite cavalrymen chasing Tian Yu, and the rest of the army had been left far behind. The dull sound of horse hooves rang out in the city gate, and the Liaodong army entered the city first.
Liu Yi urged his horse on and charged into the city. He saw that the defenders had already fled and were only a few in number. He was about to rush to the government office when he suddenly heard the sound of drums overhead. His heart sank.
Before he could react, the army in front suddenly screamed and cried out in surprise. The cavalry in front of him fell down with a loud bang as soon as they crossed the street. It turned out that a horse trap had been dug on the street long ago, and both the men and horses fell into it, causing chaos.
"Retreat, leave quickly!"
Liu Yi had not expected that there was an ambush in the city. He roared and hurriedly reined in his horse to turn back. The cavalry in front of him had already huddled together, shouting and neighing.
"Hahaha, you bastard Liu Yi, you've fallen into my father's trap. Today is the day you die!"
Tian Pengzu had been hiding in the city gate tower, waiting for a long time. Seeing that not only did the Liaodong army rush into the city, but Liu Yi also arrived in person, he waved his arms excitedly and roared, "Shoot, shoot—"
Ambushes came out from the city walls and rooftops, and archers shot arrows at the same time. Arrows rained down from the city walls, covering all the ground in an instant.
The Liaodong army was crowded together, unable to advance or retreat. Arrows rained down and there was nowhere to hide. Most of them were shot and fell to the ground. Only a few hurriedly hid in the city gate, trampling on each other, resulting in countless casualties.
Liu Yi yelled anxiously. He was hit by several arrows. Just as he was about to reach the city gate, he saw wood and stones from the city falling down. A wooden stake as thick as his waist fell on his head. He struggled to push it away, and his blood boiled and stars appeared in his eyes.
At this time, most of the guards around him were shot off their horses. Liu Yi endured the pain and rode his horse into the city gate. He saw the soldiers huddled together. He shouted at the rear army to go out, but he heard screams outside the city.
It turned out that Tian Yu had already led his troops back and blocked the city gate, shooting the Liaodong soldiers who were about to retreat with arrows, making it impossible for them to engage in a conflict.
In the midst of the chaos, suddenly countless firewood fell from the city, mixed with the smell of sulfur and kerosene. Liu Yi was so frightened that he turned pale and no longer cared about commanding his soldiers, and forced his horse to charge forward.
But at the same time, firewood was thrown down at the outer city gate, and flaming arrows and torches fell from the sky. Raging fires broke out at the inner and outer city gates, and the war horses were frightened and neighed and stopped moving forward.
At the same time, the soldiers who had no time to dodge caught fire and squeezed into the city gate, quickly drawing the flames in. The Liaodong Army was burned and screamed miserably, and the smell of burnt flesh was pungent and unpleasant.
Liu Yi growled and stabbed the horse's butt with the butt of his gun. The horse felt the pain and ran away at full speed, rushing out from the thick smoke and flames.
As the men and horses crossed the wall of fire, Liu Yi's face changed drastically and his scalp went numb. He saw Cao's army standing densely along the bank of the moat in front of him, drawing their bows and aiming at the city gate. The arrowheads were like thousands of stars, gathering towards him.