Chapter 62 Cao Mengde was taken to the dungeon! Zhou Gongjin sent troops north!

Chapter 062: Cao Mengde is taken to the dungeon! Zhou Gongjin sends troops north!

Xiling City, dungeon.

"I won the Xianzhen Camp! I won the Xianzhen Camp!"

"Xi Ling is finished! I, Cao Zixiao, have 30,000 soldiers at the gates of the city. Even if the Xi Ling defender is as fierce as Lu Bu, what can he do?!"

"Prime Minister! Prime Minister! Prime Minister Renwei has recruited the most powerful general in the world. The Prime Minister will sweep through Jingchu and capture Sun and Liu alive in the near future! Hahahaha..." A man with disheveled hair was shouting crazily.

He was a general under the command of former Prime Minister Cao, Cao Ren and Cao Zixiao.

The commander-in-chief of the three armies who once commanded the army, the right-hand man who assisted Prime Minister Cao in defeating all the princes in the world... now seems to have really become a madman.

Tap tap tap! ~
Outside the cell, footsteps were heard from afar.

Gan Ning walked at the end, with two Shanyue soldiers escorting a man walking in front of him. That man was Cao Mengde, the former prime minister of the Han Dynasty and now a prisoner of Xiling.

At this moment, Cao Mengde looked ashen...

There were drops of tea on my face...

He was awakened by a cup of cold tea, and before he could react, he was taken to the Xiling dungeon.

Lost!

I failed!

He had a large army, generals like clouds, counselors like rain, besieging a small Xiling! In the end, not only did he fail to take Xiling, but Liu Zilie also broke into the central army, broke through the generals' blockade, and captured him alive in front of tens of thousands of soldiers!

Shame, shame and humiliation!
Cao Mengde had fought wars in the south and the north, and had met many princes all over the world. He had been defeated before, but had he ever been defeated as miserably as today?
To the extent that even he himself became a prisoner of Liu Zilie!

Thinking of Liu Wu, he seemed to see that disheveled, bloodstained face with bloodshot eyes again...

Break through seven parts in a row!

He defeated thirty generals alone!
Finally, he captured his chief general alive among thousands of soldiers! !

For a moment, Cao Mengde shuddered subconsciously...

This man is really brave, so brave that it is scary!
Tap tap tap! ~
Deep in the dungeon, Cao Cao heard crazy shouting.

Looking up,

In the cell ahead, a figure with disheveled hair was seen shouting, "Who is Gao Shun? What is the Xianzhen Camp?"

"I, Cao Ren, will go down Xiling today, and tomorrow I will go downstream and attack Jiangdong directly! Haha, hahahaha..."

Cao Cao was stunned, his falcon-like eyes were full of disbelief, his voice trembled slightly: "Zi... Zixiao?"

The figure in front of me is so familiar!!
Although Cao Cao received intelligence that Cao Ren was captured alive by the defender of Xiling, he had not received any news about Cao Ren from Xiling for many days.

He thought that his cousin had been secretly executed by Liu Wu, but he didn't expect that he was still alive.

"Prime Minister Cao, please go in."

As Gan Ning spoke coldly, Cao Mengde stepped through the prison door: "Zixiao!"

Cao Ren, who was originally acting crazy and shouting, suddenly stopped.

This sound...

Do not!
impossible!
This sound shouldn't be here!

Cao Ren was like being struck by lightning.

He turned around with difficulty.

A familiar face appeared in my sight, it was...

"Prime Minister?" Cao Ren's voice was vague and he stared blankly at the person in front of him.

At this moment Cao Ren felt like he was dreaming. He walked step by step to Cao Cao with his eyes blank.

At this moment, Cao Ren was no longer crazy.

He was sure that he was not dreaming. The person in front of him was really Prime Minister Cao. Doesn't that mean that even the Prime Minister...

Since Cao Ren was captured, he has been pretending to be crazy and stupid! All he wanted was to wait for Prime Minister Cao to lead his troops to rescue him! But who could have thought! !

Prime Minister Cao is now in his own cell?

Cao Ren's heart sank to the bottom. He rushed forward and grabbed Cao Cao's arm tightly: "Prime Minister! How could you..."

Cao Cao's face was full of bitterness, and he sighed: "Alas!~"

"Defeated! I've been defeated!!"

"Just like you, I was captured alive by the Xiling garrison commander on the battlefield."

"He broke through the center of the army. More than 30 generals were unable to stop him. Wen Pin, Xiahou Dun, Liu Xun and other generals died in the battle..."

With every word Cao Cao spoke, Cao Ren's blood ran colder. When Cao Cao finished speaking, Cao Ren felt cold all over and his head was buzzing!
Now that the Prime Minister has been defeated and captured, doesn’t that mean that Jiangbei is empty... No, not only Jiangbei, the entire north is leaderless!

Once the news of the Prime Minister's defeat spreads, not to mention the people in the north who are enemies of the Prime Minister will be ready to take action, Liu Bei and Jiangdong alone will not miss such a rare opportunity.

Add to that the likes of Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Gongsun Du, who are surrounded by a pack of wolves and without the Prime Minister as their banner, how can the Cao family stop these people?

He seemed to see the Cao family's edifice about to collapse and the clan members scattered...

How many years! God knows how many years! In these years, we have fought in the north and south, pacified the Yellow Turbans! Defeat Dong Zhuo! Yuan Shao! Yuan Shu! Gongsun Zan! Tao Qian! Zhang Xiu! Lu Bu! Conquer the Wuhuan! !

Every time we fought bloody battles, every time we risked our lives, we killed so many opponents to build our current huge foundation. This is the accumulation of day by day and year by year.

After struggling for life again and again, God knows how many years it took, and the black hair turned into white hair.

The corpses of the soldiers who died in the battle piled up like a mountain, and God knows how much blood was shed! ! Only then could we have this towering building that dominates the eight states of the world! !
now,

actually……

Cao Ren was shaking all over, tears streaming down his face: "It's over, it's all over!"

“It’s all over!!”

"What a pity! A lifetime of fighting, now all gone in one night..."

“How pitiful! How pitiful!!”

"Woo woo~~" In the end, Cao Ren, such a tough guy, couldn't stop crying.

Cao Ren's every word pierced his heart.

Cao Cao, who was standing beside him, felt heartbroken...

At that moment, Cao Mengde could only close his eyes dejectedly and say nothing more.

……

In the dark room on one side of the cell,
Gan Ning listened to the conversation between the two brothers with a complicated expression.

Who could have imagined that Prime Minister Cao, who held the emperor hostage to control the princes and made the entire Jiangdong live in fear, would now become a prisoner in Xiling City?
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, no one would believe it if I told them.

Gan Ning's expression suddenly became a little strange. To be honest, if anything that happened in Xiling City were made public, it would shock the world.

The one who occupied Xiling was actually Liu Bei’s eldest son Liu Wu!

The Princess of Jiangdong, who was about to marry Liu Bei, was kidnapped by Liu Bei's eldest son!
Gao Shun, the general under Lu Fengxian in the past, is now also working for Liu Wu!
Even Liu Bei's famous deeds were done by Liu Wu...

Unfortunately, no one knows these things except himself. He knows too much and doesn’t know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing... But right now, there is something he must pass on immediately.

Under the dim light, Gan Ning sat at the desk.

He picked up his pen and wrote a few numbers on a bamboo slip...

Then, he called upon his trusted Shanyue guards to protect him.

Gan Ning took a deep breath and handed over the bamboo slip:

"Take this bamboo slip and leave the city quickly to the other side..."

……

It was dark in the main camp of Cao's camp.

"Attack the city! Attack the city at night! The Xiling defenders were already exhausted during the day. If we attack the city now, we will surely be able to take advantage of the situation and rescue the Prime Minister!"

"Ridiculous! If things go wrong, what should we do if Liu Zilie kills the Prime Minister?"

"In my opinion, it is better to withdraw the troops first and then make long-term plans."

"Bullshit! How can we take a long-term view on this matter? Once the news of the Prime Minister's capture gets out, whether the north will be in chaos or not is a matter of course. The Sun-Liu coalition forces will surround us in no time!"

"This won't work, and that won't work either. Doesn't the Prime Minister care?"

For the first time, the main seat in the central military tent was vacant.

However, at this moment, the entire tent was in chaos.

Prime Minister Cao was unexpectedly captured alive by Liu Zilie on the battlefield!
The army of tens of thousands was leaderless and the generals were caught off guard. They and Prime Minister Cao would prosper and suffer together.

Prime Minister Cao must be rescued, but how to do it is unclear. The civil and military officials discussed it for a long time but could not come to a conclusion.

Cao Hong paced back and forth in the military tent with a worried look on his face: "The Prime Minister was captured today. Tens of thousands of soldiers saw it. The army's morale has begun to waver. If the Prime Minister cannot be rescued as soon as possible..."

"I'm afraid the morale of tens of thousands of troops will collapse soon. It will be difficult for us to return to Xuchang safely!"

"General Zi Lian is right! If the Prime Minister cannot rescue us, the army's morale will be broken. When the army is defeated, Jiangdong and Liu Bei will definitely send troops to pursue us." Li Dian spoke weakly while lying on the couch.

Today, Liu Wu dragged him off his horse, and he fell pretty hard. He even had to be carried here to attend the meeting tonight.

"But how can we save him?" Xu Chu, who had half of his face covered with rotten flesh, became impatient. "We said we would fight, but you guys didn't want to. But given the current situation, if we don't take over Xiling City, can Liu Zilie still take the initiative to release the Prime Minister?"

All the generals fell silent for a moment. It was Xu Chu who had just said that they wanted to attack the city at night.

But this guy didn't even think about it. Not to mention whether attacking the city would anger Liu Zilie and harm the prime minister, even if he really broke in, who the hell could be Liu Zilie's opponent?
"Then let's talk." Suddenly, a low voice sounded.

Everyone looked and saw that the person who spoke was Xun You, one of Cao Cao's military advisers, Xun Gongda.

Cao Hong hesitated. "We have besieged Xiling for several days, and there have been heavy casualties in Xiling. Besides, Liu Zilie is arrogant and would rather leave the city and die than bow to the Prime Minister... I am afraid he may not talk to us."

Both the enemy and us are well aware of how much loss Xiling has suffered in these days. Moreover, according to the letter Liu Zilie wrote to the prime minister, this man is also a stubborn person. How could he be willing to negotiate with Cao's army?

Xun You shook his head: "No, Liu Zilie is indeed arrogant, but it does not mean that we cannot negotiate. If he really came here to seek death today, why would he take the Prime Minister hostage and return to Xiling?"

"Besides, it would be of no benefit to him to harm the Prime Minister. In this case, it is better to talk to him."

The civil and military officials in the tent were silent for a moment, and everyone's eyes were on Cao Hong. At this time, Cao Hong was the person with the highest status in the tent and the one who had the closest relationship with Cao Cao.

As to how to save Cao Mengde, the final decision could only be made by Cao Hong.

Cao Hong did not hesitate for long: "Okay! Let's do as Mr. Gongda said and talk to Liu Zilie!"

At this point, only Xun You's strategy is the most reliable and the safest for Cao Cao, and Cao Hong has no other choice.

Xun You: "But for this matter, we still need a person who is brave and careful and has sufficient status to be the envoy."

As soon as Xun You finished speaking, a man suddenly stood up and said, "Cheng Yu is willing to go!"

Cheng Yu was not only resourceful and knowledgeable, but also held the titles of General Fenwu and Marquis of Anguoting. It was indeed most appropriate for him to go to Xiling City for negotiations.

Xun You looked solemn: "Zhongde is willing to take on this task, that's great! Zhongde, remember, this matter must have a result before dawn, otherwise..."

"I'm afraid the army outside the city will be completely defeated by then!"

……

On the other side of the river, the Jiangdong navy is densely deployed!
For this trip, Sun Zhongmou allocated a total of 40,000 troops to Zhou Yu, who had already arrived at the other side of Xiling and were waiting.

Just wait for the right time to cross the river and head north! If Liu Zilie holds on and Cao Cao returns without success, then what they want is a fisherman gaining the advantage while the snipe and the clam fight.

On the contrary, if Cao Mengde won, then they in Jiangdong would be like the mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole waiting behind.

At this time, in the central army tent, Taishi Ci tried his best to suppress the shock in his heart and handed a bamboo slip to Zhou Yu: "The news was secretly sent by Gan Xingba's confidant."

"What? Cao Mengde was captured alive by the Xiling defender on the battlefield?!" Zhou Yu stood up suddenly.

Snap! ~
Zhou Yu dropped the bamboo slip in his hand onto the table, his eyes filled with confusion...

This defeated all the princes in the Central Plains!
Occupied eight states in the world!

Cao Mengde, who made the people of Jiangdong uneasy... was actually captured alive in Xiling City!

Taishi Ci took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, saying, "According to the messenger, the Xiling garrison commander was escorted by his elite troops to break into the central army, and then he rode alone to charge under Cao Mengde's banner and captured him alive!"

　There is still a big chapter to be completed in the evening, and I am working hard to finish it!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)