Zhao Xi was not very successful in Handan because he had a good relationship with Deng Feng. After Deng Feng rose up, Zhao Xi was suspicious of the emperor and could not hold an important position. Thanks to Wu Han's appreciation of Zhao Xi's talents, he brought him in the army and gave him a confidentiality.

This inconspicuous move received the greatest reward. Zhao Xi almost used his strength to delay the march of Ma Yuan's 100,000 troops, dragged it to the front line of the Yangtze River, avoiding the Shouchun army from being attacked on both sides, winning time for the Jianghuai battlefield, and providing the possibility for Wu Han's strategy of fighting two.

However, with Wu Han's death in battle, the battlefield of Jianghuai was in a slump, making Zhao Xi's efforts meaningless. At this time, he was more like a tragic hero, and he persisted even though he knew it was impossible.

However, when the news of Tang Jing opening up a second battlefield behind him came, Zhao Xi clearly understood that he could no longer hold on. If Yuzhang County was lost, he would no longer have a logistics support base and strategic depth. The small city where he lived became a Jedi.

Zhao Xi faced a choice whether to start over with Liu Xiu Jinzhong, who did not value him, or to start over on another stage.

This is a choice that requires little thought, and the answer is clearly in front of you.

His soldiers were begging: "General, you have done everything you should do. God will do this, how can a man go against the will of heaven?"

A sentence from countless voices clearly penetrated his ears, "General, give your brothers a way out!"

Yes! Even if he is not afraid of death, he still wants to make such useless persistence. What sins do these soldiers who follow him and the brothers who fight together have to waste their great lives and be buried with him?

Zhao Xi said: "I have no kindness to you all, but I have brought you here to fight for several months. Many of my brothers were killed and injured, and many of them were unable to return to their hometowns. It was because of me. Now things are no longer possible. It is useless to fight again. How can I lead my brothers to die?"

When the soldiers heard this, they were cheering, not as if they were going to surrender, but as if they had won a big victory. Zhao Xi felt relieved. It seemed that they should have surrendered. Everyone had no desire to fight and could not fight this battle at all.

At this moment, the imperial edict of the Emperor Chang'an surrender arrived. When the generals saw it, they became more and more happy. This was really sleepy. Someone gave him a pillow. Such surrender would make him look more respectable.

Zhao Xi received the edict and immediately sent an envoy to the reinforcements of Ma.

He said: "I made an agreement with Zhou Shengfeng to advance and retreat together, how can I surrender alone now? I will go to Chaisang now and advise him to surrender together."

General Lu Wan said, "Zhou Shengfeng has not yet expressed his intention to surrender, his intention is unpredictable, and the general should not easily take risks."

As he was speaking, Zhou Shengfeng's letter arrived, and Chaisang was in a hurry and asked Zhao Xi to send troops to reinforce.

Zhao Xi said: "A real man cannot speak without trust and violates the alliance. I will lead the army to persuade him to surrender himself. If he does not surrender, he will make a reason."

Zhao Xi was famous for his trustworthiness in Nanyang and was very famous. He used his reputation to recruit many forces for Emperor Gengshi. Now he asked Zhou Shengfeng to help each other and counterattack Jianghuai. If he surrendered alone, he would violate the oath. This was something that Zhao Xi, who focused on trust and righteousness, could not accept it anyway.

Zhao Xi immediately led more than 40 ships, a total of more than 1,000 people, down the river and headed straight for Chaisang.

The two places were not far apart, and Zhao Xi was on the way downstream again. After a half day, Lu Wan said, "General, you will leave the river and enter the sand water. The sand water is narrow, so we will go in rashly. If someone sets up crossbows on both sides of the straits and crossbow arrows are launched at once, we will die without a place to bury them. Now it is unknown whether the prefect Zhou is fighting or surrendering. It is not advisable to enter the sand water easily. The general can send an envoy to ask the prefect Zhou to come to the river to speak."

On the south bank of the Yangtze River, there is a sand and water tributary. You have to go to Chaisang along the river from the waterway. You must first enter the narrow sand and water channel, and follow the river and walk a few miles before you reach Chaisang City.

The river is wide and has a lot of room for maneuver, but the sand is too narrow. If Zhou Shengfeng really had any thoughts, they would be blocked in the river.

Zhao Xi thought Lu Wan was right and followed his advice. He first sent an envoy to Chaisang on a small boat to invite Zhou Shengfeng to speak.

Everyone was waiting on the river. After waiting for more than an hour, they saw dozens of ships coming downstream, and small boats continued to emerge from the sand and water. The Chaisang ship was coming.

When the ship opposite approached, Zhao Xi was about to call Zhou Shengfeng to speak, but suddenly the crossbow arrows on the other side shot down one after another, shooting down the people here.

Zhao Xi and others rushed back, but his boat was small and few, and he was suddenly attacked again. He was suppressed from the beginning and was completely at a disadvantage. Strokes kept hitting arrows and falling into the water.

Zhao Xi had to fight and retreat and tried to retreat to the lower pheasant, but the opposite side was polished very tightly and followed behind and refused to relax. It seemed that they were going to kill them.

There was no barrier on the river and no way to hide, and the casualties of the soldiers became increasingly serious. Zhao Xi ordered the entire army to abandon the boat and land on a small hill on the shore to defend the battle situation slightly.

Chaisang's soldiers also came ashore to chase him. Zhao Xi saw that there were many people and horses, and said, "If we wait for them to surround us, we will have no way to survive. For the sake of the current plan, we can only break out while the troops have not surround us."

He took the lead in rushing down the Tushan Mountain, and the soldiers followed him and shouted that they were very brave and brave. The people at the foot of the mountain could not stop him. Zhao Xi led his army to break through the siege.

However, the other party seemed to not want to give up, and still chased after him persistently. Zhao Xi fought and left. Although there were many killings, the soldiers were also suffering from casualties.

Zhao Xi said: "If you are in one place, you will die. You can break through separately and return to the pheasant to gather together."

The team fled separately, and Zhao Xi did not tell the direction. He led a team of men and horses to move forward randomly. First, there were soldiers following behind, but then gradually disappeared. When he finally got rid of the pursuers, he found that there were only dozens of people left by his side, most of whom were loyal to him.

Zhao Xi said: "The incident of our army surrendering to the Han Dynasty has not been made public yet, and Zhou Shengfeng does not know that this matter must be because he wants to kill me and make meritorious service. It is really hateful to use Zhao's head as his promotion rank."

"I have a covenant with Zhou Shengfeng first. How could he break the contract and abandon the alliance? He took this vicious move to kill me? Poor these brothers, who followed me to fight south and north, did not fall on the battlefield, but fell under his vicious hand." Zhao Xi became more and more angry as he spoke, and drew his sword and said, "If you don't take this revenge, you will not be a human being!"

His subordinates were also full of grief and anger, and they all clamored to take revenge. Someone suggested returning to Xiazhi immediately and bringing troops to challenge him. However, Lu Wan said: "If Zhou Shengfeng wants to surrender, he will be a minister of the same dynasty as the general. How can the general be given a military force and how can he take revenge?"
Chapter completed!