Although Xi Zhen was defending the city, Pan Jun was not in a hurry to attack the city because he could see very clearly that Xi Zhen was unable to defend the lonely city.

Xi Hong was not very optimistic about Xi Zhen's initiative to fight. He thought that Pan Jun would probably delay time and waited for Huang Gai to come and attack, so he said to Xi Zhen:

"Brother, the situation is very unfavorable to us. The county is too small and difficult to stick to. Pan Jun must have seen it clearly and may not be able to face the challenge. Even if Pan Jun agrees to start a war, our troops are at a disadvantage, and the chance of winning is less than 50%. Even if you win by chance, it will be a miserable victory. You will have no spare energy to deal with Huang Gai. This is clearly a situation of defeat. I don't expect Pan Jun doesn't want to suffer too much casualties, and will send someone to persuade him to surrender. Brother, why not accept his surrender, which can protect the interests of the entire family."

Because Xi Hong was extremely smart and knowledgeable since childhood, he was very knowledgeable, and even more rare is that Xi Hong was able to endure hardships and practice martial arts. He was a typical family of both civil and military affairs, and Xi Zhen also had high expectations for this brother.

If someone else surrendered to him, he would definitely be scolded by him, but he just glanced at Xi Hong and explained patiently:

"I promise Your Majesty that I will start a business in Jingnan with Fan Zhou to respond to Your Majesty's attack on Jingzhou. Now that Your Majesty's troops have not arrived yet, I can only persevere and follow the will of heaven and do my best. I can fail, but I must never betray it. Otherwise, not only will I have to take on the reputation of being unfaithful and unrighteous to my brother, but the reputation of the entire Xi family will also be affected. Therefore, I will never surrender."

Among the brothers, Xi Hong and Xi Zhen had the best relationship and were not afraid of being blamed. Xi Zhen had the intention to die and couldn't bear it, so he continued to offer advice:

"If your brother doesn't want to betray Your Majesty, he doesn't have to repay him with death. It's better to leave a useful body! I think it's better to surrender. When Your Majesty and Sun Quan stalemate, he suddenly raises troops and catches Sun Quan off guard. Wouldn't it be better to fight Pan Jun to the end!"

Xi Zhen did not object to surrender.

This time Fan Zhou's rapid defeat gave Xi Zhen a bad premonition, and it would be difficult for Liu Bei to retake Jingzhou.

The Xi family's foundation is in Jingzhou, and in the end, it still needs to surrender to Sun Quan. Therefore, he said to Xi Hong:

"I am loyal to Your Majesty. In addition to maintaining the orthodox Han Dynasty, I also maintain the good reputation of the family. I do not want to make a mortal enemy with Sun Quan and put the family in danger. Therefore, I can only fight Pan Jun upright, and not be capricious. Not to mention whether I can hide Pan Jun and Sun Quan from being deceived. Even if I can catch Sun Quan off guard as I wish, the Xi family will also be retaliated by Sun Quan. If Sun Quan occupy Jingzhou, the Xi family will face a catastrophe. Therefore, I can repay the death, but the family can judge the situation and surrender at the right time. After my death, you can lead the army to surrender to Pan Jun to ensure the safety of the family."

Xi Hong understood Xi Zhen's painstaking efforts and nodded in agreement with his decision.

Xi Zhen was afraid that his younger brother would follow him to die, so he asked Xi Hong to lead a thousand troops to station in the county and protect the food and grass in the city. He sent someone to issue a letter of war to Pan Jun.

After Xi Zhen sent the letter of war, he was restless and waited for the news.

Fortunately, Pan Jun did not avoid the battle, so he wrote back that day and agreed to a decisive battle in three days.

When Pan Jun received Xi Zhen’s letter of war, he certainly knew what Xi Zhen meant and immediately gathered to discuss.

All the generals also realized that Xi Zhen was fighting alone and would soon be defeated without fighting. Therefore, they advocated guarding the camps and avoiding fighting.

But Pan Jun opposed the opposition and advocated a fight. The generals questioned each other, and Pan Jun explained:

"I came to pacify Jingnan this time, not simply defeating the rebels and regaining lost territory, but to gain the hearts of the local aristocratic families so that they can be safe and sound! In Wuling, I killed Fan Zhou with a thunderstorm because I wanted to establish my authority. The Fan family is a merchant family, and it was the target of the lord's suppression, just to kill the chicken and scare the monkey, but the Xi family is different. They are a famous family in Jingzhou. They have always been in the Han Dynasty. I must fight with him in a dignified way, so that he can be convinced and return to his heart.

Early in the morning of the third day, both sides sent troops as promised and both sides set up their formation.

According to convention, the first thing is to do is to fight.

Xi Zhen could not afford to lose, for fear that his generals would lose their aura, so he took the opportunity to fight in person and won three consecutive battles. Even Tan Xiong was defeated by Xi Zhen.

As a last resort, Pan Jun took the opportunity to fight, and the two fought dozens of moves, and the match was evenly matched.

Pan Jun was a heroic intern Zhen. Although he fought three consecutive games, he still couldn't win. Tucker didn't want to lose both sides.

So, Pan Jun retreated back to the formation on the grounds that he did not want to win with the wheels and suggested that the army fight in a mess.

Xi Zhen sent troops to seek war. He immediately agreed and personally led the army, preparing to break away from Pan Jun's central army and defeat Pan Jun.

The melee began less than a cup of tea, and the two sides were still in the tentative stage. Just when Xi Zhen wanted to break through Pan Jun's formation first, the rear army suddenly became in chaos.

Xi Zhen looked back and saw Ma Yun leading hundreds of elite troops to attack the rear army and shouted:

"The surrendered person will not be killed. General Pan has already broken through the city and his food and grass have been burned!"

Hearing this bad news, Xi Zhen's army was in a state of fluctuation, and many new recruits fled in panic. The formation was in chaos. Pan Jun took the opportunity to attack, and Xi Zhen was defeated.

Fortunately, Xi Zhen usually governed the army quite strictly, and the army did not completely collapse. Xi Zhen led the army to fight and retreat.

Xi Hong's army suffered no losses, but there was no food and grass in the city. He had to abandon the city and retreat to another county town to defend the city.

The two of them had some army, and only more than a thousand were left.

After Pan Jun won, he did not lead the army to chase and kill, but only led the army to capture the defeated soldiers.

It turned out that Pan Jun rejected his subordinates' suggestion to take advantage of the victory and lead the troops to rest and recuperate in Wuling City, which was actually a plan.

He used Ma Yun, a traitor, to lead hundreds of defeated soldiers into the interior of Xi Zhen's army, and was arranged to rest in the county town.

Pan Jun happened to meet the contact person sent by Ma Yun, thinking about how to use Ma Yun's chess piece, when Xi Zhen just sent the letter of war.

He promised to fight Xi Zhen three days later, and made an appointment with Ma Yun in his reply. Three days later, at the critical moment of the war between the two sides, Ma Yun accidentally burned Xi Zhen's food and grass.

Although Xi Hong was amazing, he did not expect that Ma Yun was a traitor. Ma Yun took advantage of the chaos to burn food and grass. He felt very guilty, but he had no choice but to help Xi Zhen stay in the city and wait for news from Liu Bei.

Pan Jun came to invite the battle every day. At first, Xi Hong was so angry that he often led his troops out of the city to fight, insulting Pan Jun with words, saying that he was capricious and unfaithful.

But Pan Jun accepted it calmly, but instead spoke kindly to persuade Xi Hong to surrender.

The two sides of the war had a victory or defeat. Although there were not much casualties, Xi Zhen could not afford to spend it without supplementary resources. After a few days, he began to hold on.

Pan Jun did not want to attack the city forcibly, so he sent letters to Xi Zhen several times, and Xi Hong advised them to surrender, but Xi Zhen ignored it.

In order to show sincerity, Pan Jun did not bring his entourage to the city gate alone and asked to talk to Xi Zhen.

Xi Zhen said to Pan Jun very firmly:

"I would rather be a Han ghost than be a minister of Sun Quan, you should not force me." After saying that, he shot an arrow at Pan Jun.

Pan Jun had no choice but to return it and continue to besiege Xi Zhen.

Xi Zhen persisted in the small town for more than a month, and the food and arrows were gone, but he still didn't wait for news from Liu Bei.

Xi Zhen said to Xi Hong and his subordinates:

"I have received my kindness from Your Majesty and have to repay you with death. As for what you do, you can decide for yourself!"

After saying that, he drew his sword and committed suicide
Chapter completed!