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The sky gradually became brighter, and the heavy rain that had been raining for several days did not show any sign of stopping. Instead, it became heavier and heavier, and there was a vast white rain fog outside.

Today is the day when a large number of people migrated to Wuling County in Nanjun. Groups of people came from all directions to support the elderly and the children, from the north to Dangyang County, as well as Huarong County in the east, Zhijiang County and Zhiyang County in the west, and more than 200,000 people from five counties left their homes to escape the war.

But not everyone retreated to Jiangling. Most of the people retreated to Jiangxia in the northernmost county, and most of the Huarong County to the east fled to Jiangxia.

In fact, there were only more than 100,000 people from Zhijiang County, Zhaoyang County and Dangyang County following Liu Bei to evacuate to Jiangling. On the official road, nearly 100,000 people moved to the south.

The team was surrounded by ox carts and donkey carts, and the crowd was storming and stretching for more than ten miles. They supported the elderly, held children, and wore straw raincoats and cloaks, and walked hard on the muddy official road in the heavy rain, slowly moving towards the south.

There is an official road in Nanjun, one is the west road, connecting Zhijiang County and Zhiyang County from Dangyang County, and the other is the east road, connecting Huarong County from Dangyang County. The current escape route is called the middle road, which is the flattest and widest of the official road.

Although the official road is flat and wide, it still cannot increase the speed of the fleeing army. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are unable to move on the official road. Many elderly people cannot withstand such torture. In addition, after being wet all night, people continue to die of illness.

Liu Bei rode on a majestic war horse. He also wore a hat and a straw raincoat and led five thousand soldiers to escort the surnames on both sides.

At this time, Liu Bei felt a little regretful. He did not expect that the marching speed of these people was so slow that they could only walk twenty miles a day. It was still close to Jiangling. Isn’t it going to take ten days and solve the food and accommodation problem of refugees?

If it was four days, he might have room for maneuver, but now he will have to spend ten days, and there will be something wrong here.

Liu Bei wanted to leave these people behind, but he could not afford the loss of reputation. He had to be patient and constantly ordered soldiers to help the weak elderly and try to speed up the marching speed.

"Master"

A scout cavalry rushed over in the distance and reported urgently: "Report to the lord, we discovered the enemy's situation."

Liu Bei was shocked. He suspected that he had heard it wrong, and there would be an enemy situation here.

"What's going on?" he asked nervously.

"Just dawn today, a brother discovered a cavalry, about 5,000 people, heading south along the western path. The cavalry was fast and the scouts could not keep up."

Liu Bei's face turned pale. He suddenly realized that the so-called aid to Anlu County by Cao's army was a delaying strategy, which was to confuse himself, delay his retreat south, and then sent cavalry to seize Jiangling and cut off his retreat.

He was suddenly panicked. Because it was raining and the wind and waves on the river were strong, he stopped sending people across the river in the past few days. Nearly half of them were on the north shore, including his family. If the Cao army cavalry arrived, their warships and population would be completed.

Liu Bei was anxious and regretful, and quickly said to his personal soldiers: "Go and find the general quickly."

The personal soldiers rode away on horseback. Liu Bei urged his horse to come forward and whispered to thousands of refugees around him: "Dear fellow villagers, Cao's army is coming, everyone should return home and don't suffer unintentional disasters."

Thousands of people shouted together: "We are willing to follow the emperor's uncle"

"We are willing to serve the emperor's uncle"

Everyone shouted louder and louder, and soon a torrent of public opinion was formed, "Seeking the Emperor to the death"

Liu Bei was anxious and embarrassed in his heart. The population wealth that had originally placed great hopes has now become his burden, but he still wanted to follow him to the death.

At this time, Zhang Fei led a dozen personal soldiers to come and shouted, "Brother, what's wrong?"

Liu Bei was already anxious and hurriedly said to Zhang Fei: "The scout discovered the Cao army's cavalry and was heading towards Jiangling. I must rush back to Jiangling immediately to see if I can rob the Cao army's cavalry."

Zhang Fei was stunned. He immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and said hurriedly: "Brother, please go back quickly, and I'll leave it here to me."

"That's what I mean. I will lead two thousand soldiers back first, and you will take thousands of troops to stay."

After hesitating for a while, Liu Bei whispered again: "I suspect that Cao Cao's army is going to come down from Xiangyang, and send more probes. If Cao Cao's army really comes, you can retreat south immediately. These refugees will give up for the time being. You won't care about them."

"Don't worry, brother, I won't force it."

Liu Bei patted Zhang Fei on the shoulder, then turned his horse's head and left. After a moment, he led two thousand soldiers to Jiangling quickly. He had to keep the warship and his family.

After a long period of time, heavy rain fell in Jingzhou, and the Yangtze River was windy and waves were rushing. A ferry full of refugees was overturned in the middle of the river. More than two people were swallowed up by the waves. The tragedy of the capsized ship forced Jiangling to stop transporting and wait for the heavy rain to stop.

Tens of thousands of people who had not crossed the river could not withstand the heavy rain, and they all returned to the city and returned to their homes to hide from the rain. The soldiers were also transferred back to the city to garrison, making the dock deserted. Several thousand stone warships were moored by the river, following the waves.

About a step away from the pier, there was a warehouse group covering an area of ​​more than ten acres. The supplies of more than a dozen warehouses had long been emptied. At this time, the warehouse was filled with boatmen, and most of the local boatmen sneaked back to the city. Despite this, thousands of people gathered in the warehouse.

They were either lying or lying, bored, and their anxiety had been smoothed out by the heavy rain for several days. Many people gathered together to gamble. Many gamblers were not sleeping all night, their eyes were red, and their voices were as if they were going to kill someone.

At this time, someone shouted in the west warehouse. The warehouse suddenly became quiet. Several people straightened their ears. They seemed to have heard something

I heard a muffled thunder sound in the heavy rain outside, and then the earth began to tremble. Many people couldn't stand firm and sat down on the ground. At this moment, someone suddenly shouted: "This is a cavalry, the cavalry is coming."

The warehouse was suddenly in chaos, and several people rushed out, but as soon as they ran out of the warehouse, the Cao army's cavalry came fiercely. The few people who had just rushed out of the warehouse could not dodge and were instantly knocked over by the war horse. They were too late to scream. They were caught under the iron hoof of the war horse and were soon trampled into pieces.

There were still many people rushing out from more than a dozen warehouses and running towards the dock with no life. Their only idea of ​​escape was to escape by boat.

But the cavalry of Cao's army had already rushed over, and Xiahou Yuan's strategy was very clear. He first snatched the warships. They didn't even care about Jiangling from the city and killed directly to the dock.

Xiahou Yuan took the lead. He saw that the two boatmen had already rushed onto the board dozens of steps away and were about to rush onto the big ship. He was furious and snatched two spears and threw them away. The two spears broke through the rain and fog, like two black lightning, instantly pierced the bodies of the two boatmen. The two screamed and fell down the river.

The other boatmen who ran to the dock were so scared that they were scattered, and they knelt on the ground and hugged their heads, begging for mercy.

The cavalry had driven out all those hiding in more than a dozen warehouses, and thousands of people stood densely on the docks. Xiahou Yuan yelled, "All those who don't want to die kneeled down."

His voice was like a huge thunder, which scared everyone to tremble and they all knelt on the ground. For a moment, everyone fell to their knees in the heavy rain.

Xiahou Yuan pondered for a moment and ordered a general to say, "Turn them all into the warehouse and imprison them. If you bring your five brothers to the dock, you will kill anyone who dares to steal the ship."

"The last one will obey the order"

Ya will waved her hand and "Come with me"

He led the five cavalry to drive the boatman back to the warehouse. Xiahou Yuan knew very well that it was raining now and there were no ships coming from the other side. Once the rain stopped and the ships on the other side came, the warships would probably not be able to be saved. The most urgent task was to take down Jiangling City.

He immediately turned around the dock and led 4,55 cavalrymen to Jiangling City.

Jiangling City is close to the wharf. When the cavalry rushed past the city and rushed towards the wharf, the defenders on the top of the city had already discovered it and immediately reported it to the other lord Pang Ji. There are currently no generals in the city, only five thousand troops. Liu Bei ordered Pang Ji and Wang Jie to stay in Jiangling.

Pang Ji stared at the dock with complicated eyes. Although the rain and fog blocked his sight, he knew that Cao's army had come, and this was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Surrendering to Cao Cao at a critical moment could enable him to gain the greatest political benefits.

Cao Cao had promised him to guard the Nanyang, and it depends on whether he could seize this opportunity. However, surrendering like this would damage his reputation. He immediately ordered someone to discuss with Wang Jie. Unexpectedly, the soldiers came back soon to report: "Wang Chanjun was wet from the rain and fell ill. He was seriously ill and could not get up. He asked not to make a decision on his own and do not have to consider his opinions."

"This old fox"

Pang Ji cursed in a low voice. He pondered for a moment and immediately returned to the city tower to write a letter, handed it to his confidant soldiers, and whispered: "Give this letter to General Luo Jin."

Luo Jin was Pang Ji's confidant and took up the position of Ya General. He was stationed at the west gate of Jiangling City. Now Pang Ji can only build a plank road openly and secretly Chen Cang. The confidant soldiers quickly took the letter.

Pang Ji returned to the top of the city and shouted loudly: "All soldiers go to the city and fight with Cao's army to the end. The city is there, and the city is there and the city is dead."

A team of soldiers rushed to the top of the city and were ready for battle. Pang Ji changed into a suit and pressed the handle of the knife with his hands in great enthusiasm to cheer the soldiers up and boost morale. "Cao's army is a cavalry and cannot attack the city. As long as everyone sticks to the city, the lord will come back soon."

At this moment, a soldier rushed over and shouted in horror: "Don't go, Xicheng has surrendered, Cao's army has entered the city."

Pang Ji screamed and fainted. The generals hurriedly rescued him. Pang Ji burst into tears: "I'm sorry to my lord, I failed to defend Jiangling City. Dear generals, in order to save Mancheng's surname, I, Pang Ji, will bear all the blame for surrendering."

The generals looked at each other, and for a moment, everyone silently put down their swords. Seeing that the generals were all surrendered, Pang Ji sighed and said to the generals: "We must protect the lord's family. We cannot be loyal to death, we can only give the lord an explanation."

Liu Bei's only hope was that Pang Ji could lead his army to resist Cao's army. After all, Cao's army was five thousand cavalry, without siege weapons and a small number. As long as the defenders defended, with the tall and strong Jiangling City, the Cao army would never be able to capture Jiangling.
Chapter completed!