My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 619: Zhang Ren is defeated and Liu Zhang surrenders

On the 27th day of the first lunar month in the 13th year of Jian'an, Chengdu, the Yizhou Governor's Mansion.

Liu Zhang had not been sleeping well in recent days, and he was worried all day long. Because more than ten days ago, he heard reports from scouts in the front that Luocheng had been completely surrounded by Zhang Fei and Wei Yan, and Zhang Ren and Wang Lei were trapped in the city, and the news from inside and outside was completely cut off.

Of course, Liu Zhang also wanted to know the current situation of Luocheng, which was more than a hundred miles away, but Luocheng was on the north bank of the Luo River, and all the boats along the Luo River had been collected by Wang Lei before the war.

Later, when Zhang Fei arrived, he cleared out all the broken boats and small boats that had escaped the net, and even cut down all the trees along the river that were easy to cut down and used them to make rafts. The scouts sent by Liu Zhang from Chengdu were unable to cross the Luo River.

The scouts could only watch from afar across the river. If they got too close, they would be discovered by the siege camp garrisoned by Zhang Fei on the south bank of the Luo River, and most of the scouts would not be able to return alive.

Through these limited inquiries, the scouts initially reported that in the first few days after the siege of Luo City, shouts of killing were heard from the east and west of the city every day, as if Zhang Fei and Wei Yan were attacking at all costs. But after ten days, the news sent back became increasingly vague, and even the movement of the attack could not be heard from a distance.

Liu Zhang was worried about this and even sought advice from his advisers, such as Huang Quan, to know whether this phenomenon was a good or bad omen. Huang Quan and his advisers did not dare to speak nonsense, but only made a pertinent analysis: the shouting and killing during the attack was deafening a few days ago, but now it has suddenly stopped. There are two possibilities.

Either Zhang Ren and Wang Lei were determined to defend the city to the death. Zhang Fei and Wei Yan's fierce attack failed to break the morale of the Luocheng defenders, and the losses were heavier than expected, so Zhang Fei had to slow down and switch to siege.

Either Luocheng had been breached, or at least important outer positions and towers had been breached, so they stopped. If it was the latter case, it would depend on the enemy's subsequent reaction.

If Zhang Fei and Wei Yan were still lingering outside Luocheng after ten days or half a month, it would mean that Luocheng had not been broken at all and Zhang Fei was exhausted. But if Zhang Fei continued to march south with the main force after a few days of rest, Luocheng might be in great danger.

There were still 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Luocheng, as well as civilians and able-bodied men helping to defend the city. It was impossible for them to be annihilated so quickly by Zhang Fei. So if Luocheng was really lost, it was most likely that the army's morale collapsed and they surrendered out of fear and despair instead of fighting to the last moment.

It was after listening to this seemingly comprehensive analysis that Liu Zhang began to suffer from insomnia.

Is it that Zhang Fei can no longer attack and has to resort to siege, or is Luocheng in danger? Wang Lei, why don't you send someone to break out and give us a message?
……

That day, Liu Zhang woke up as usual before the fifth watch. He was afraid that his frightened state would be known to others, so he could only force himself to close his eyes and stay in bed until the end of the morning hour before getting up to dress and wash.

It was winter, and it was still dark in Chengdu at the end of the Mao hour (6:30). While Liu Zhang was having breakfast, he was still worried about the situation on Wang Lei's side.

"Today is the fifth day since there has been no movement from Luocheng. If the city is really broken, Zhang Fei will take a few days to rest and then make new moves. If there is no movement in the next two or three days, it means that Luocheng is still holding on..."

Liu Zhang was thinking this while drinking his porridge.

After conquering a big city, it takes at least three days to loot, restore order in the city, and let the soldiers rest and relax. Then the army marches south. The distance from Luocheng to Chengdu is less than 120 miles, so if you walk fast, you can reach there in two days, and if you walk slowly, it will only take three days.

So this timetable should be accurate. If everything is fine after you get through these few days, then everything will be fine for the time being and you can get through another difficult time.

However, just when Liu Zhang was anxiously waiting for time, a clerk from the governor's mansion named Wang Fu suddenly came in hurriedly, led by his attendants, and whispered something in his ear.

When Liu Zhang heard this, he was almost shocked to the point of dropping his chopsticks, just like Liu Bei in a parallel universe when he heard Cao Cao say, "The only heroes in the world today are you and me."

"What? Zhang Fei's troops are already outside the city? How is that possible! Quickly prepare the carriage. I want to go to the North City myself!"

Liu Zhang didn't even have time to wipe off the porridge that fell on his clothes, and he ran out in a hurry. He stumbled when he stepped over the threshold, but fortunately Wang Fu was quick to help him up and he didn't fall.

Liu Zhang had just rushed out of the palace and got on the carriage when he met Huang Quan and two other civil servants, Meng Guang and Du Qiong, who were only good at chatting, and they also came to inquire about the news. Liu Zhang asked them to ride on horses and follow him to the north tower to see the situation with their own eyes.

Soon, Liu Zhang rushed to the north gate. When he climbed up the city wall, Wang Shang, the governor of Shu County, and Yang Hong, the governor of Chengdu, were already waiting for him.

As local governors of Shu County and Chengdu County, it was naturally their responsibility to defend the city. They had to arrive earlier than Liu Zhang, otherwise they would definitely be considered dereliction of duty.

Liu Zhang didn't waste any words. Without even looking at him, he went straight to Wang Shang and asked, "Whose flag is that under the city? How many soldiers are there? Did Zhang Fei come in person?"

Wang Shang did not dare to make a conclusion, but Yang Hong, a junior official standing beside him, was not afraid of saying the wrong thing, and rushed to answer: "Only Ma Chao's flag was seen under the city, and neither Zhang Fei nor Wei Yan appeared. The number of enemy troops cannot be determined for the time being, but roughly speaking, there should be more than 10,000 cavalry, not only outside the north gate, but also more than a thousand cavalry at the east and west gates."

In fact, Ma Chao only brought 8,000 well-equipped Xiliang cavalry this time, but the cavalry moved with great momentum, and as they approached Chengdu, there was a lot of dust all the way.

The defenders did not dare to go out, and could not clearly see the actual number of troops, so they thought it was normal to have 10,000 or 20,000 or even more.

Liu Zhang was immediately frightened by this number, his face showing a look of horror and misery: "At least over ten thousand... With so many troops approaching Chengdu, how can the enemy's food supply be guaranteed? The real culprit in Luocheng must be in trouble... And you said there are more than a thousand cavalry outside the east and west gates? So many cavalry?"

As Liu Zhang asked, he bravely went to the archery window and looked down at an angle.

But when Ma Chao's pure cavalry troops came into his sight, Liu Zhang could hardly stand.

There are only so many cavalrymen, how many main forces will follow up!

Huang Quan and Yang Hong hurriedly supported him, and Yang Hong anxiously comforted him: "Don't worry, my lord. Although Ma Chao's army is strong, it is all cavalry, and it cannot attack the city. Our army maintains a strong defense and clears the fields, so we can still hold on and wait and see."

Huang Quan had just arrived at the top of the city wall and didn't know much about the situation, so he couldn't comfort him immediately. He waited for Liu Zhang to stand firm, then walked to the shooting window and observed carefully before analyzing:

"The enemy is all cavalry, and there are no infantry. Maybe it's a trick to confuse the enemy. Maybe Luocheng has not been breached yet, and the enemy's food supply route has not been opened, so they can only use cavalry to harass and destroy the enemy from the south."

Liu Zhang felt a little relieved after hearing this, but soon thought of another question: "If Luocheng is still in our hands and Ma Chao's food supply is blocked, how long do you think he can hold out outside the city?"

Huang Quan thought about it based on common sense: "Cavalry can move quickly and are not afraid of being surrounded. Moreover, horses can carry some food, so they can survive deep into enemy territory for ten days or half a month. If they want to stay longer, they must open up food routes or return to Luocheng regularly for supplies.

The most urgent task at the moment is that the lord should quickly send a messenger from the south gate to issue a proclamation to all counties before the city is completely besieged, notifying the five counties of Xindu, Du'an, Pixian, Jiangyuan, and Guangdu to defend their cities and clear the fields.

Chengdu is densely populated and the people are wealthy. If Ma Chao conquers any of the five counties, he will be able to raise military rations. Fortunately, spring plowing has not yet begun, so if the people move into the county town, it will not delay the farming season. "

Liu Zhang thought it made sense, so he immediately sent an express messenger with a fast horse to the five surrounding counties.

The core plain area around Chengdu is too densely populated, so there are many county towns. There are five counties in the surrounding area, the closest one is only more than 30 miles away from Chengdu, and the farthest one is less than 60 miles away.

……

Liu Zhang had just finished giving these instructions, and Ma Chao, who was standing below the city, had already been circling the city to observe the enemy situation for a long time, and had shown off enough of his might. Ma Chao saw that the people on the city suddenly stepped up their guard as if they were facing a powerful enemy, and there were a lot of noisy noises, so he knew that Liu Zhang had come to observe in person.

Ma Chao then stood on his horse with his spear in hand and came to two or three hundred steps outside the north city tower. He led a group of elite cavalrymen, who were called "charioteers", and began shouting and cursing at the top of the city wall, forcing the enemy to surrender.

"Liu Zhang! Considering that you once formed an alliance with the Grand Commandant to fight against Cao, even though you were temporarily bewitched by the treacherous officials and refused to work for the court, and even withheld money and food and killed our soldiers, as long as you repent and surrender as soon as possible, you will still be able to maintain your position as a senior official! The Grand Commandant's words are as good as gold, and he will never break his promise!"

Ma Chao had been shouting for a long time, thinking that he would get some soft words from Liu Zhang, or a direct fight back.

However, the result was beyond his expectation. He just shouted for a long time but there was no response from the city. It was like a hard punch on cotton, making him feel uncomfortable all over.

Finally, Ma Chao was a little unconfident, wondering if he had guessed wrong and Liu Zhang had not personally gone to the city. In order to dampen the enemy's morale, he changed his words and shouted:

"Liu Zhang, you coward! Don't play dumb and hide! I know you are up there! Surrender or not, just make a statement!"

Ma Chao shouted and cursed again and again, but no one on the city wall responded, and no general in charge of guarding the city gate came forward to curse back.

Ma Chao was in great pain, so he had to send out a group of cavalrymen who were good at archery to approach the city wall at a gallop. In a similar manner to the half-turn tactics, when they got close, they took turns shooting arrows at the top of the city wall, and then quickly distanced themselves.

At this time, some arrows were shot back sparsely from the top of the city wall, but the reaction was slow, as if they were waiting for Ma Chao to start retreating before they came to see him off.

Ma Dai, who was still young, also accompanied Ma Chao to this battle. Ma Dai witnessed the whole process and could not help but quietly asked his cousin: "Brother, is it true that Liu Zhang is not on the city wall? Did we scold him in vain?"

Although Ma Chao was not very smart, he was very good at cursing and angering the enemy. Hearing this, he just sneered and analyzed: "How is it possible? Liu Zhang must be on the city wall. He saw our army threatening him, so he gave him the last chance to surrender and keep his wealth.

He didn't want to completely break off relations with us and personally order a bloody battle with us, so he kept silent. This shows that he was indeed hesitant in his heart and knew that the situation was probably over. As long as he didn't personally order a bloody battle, he could still shirk responsibility in the future and say that it was Wang Lei and Zheng Du who instigated him.

If Liu Zhang was not on the city wall, the enemy generals guarding the gate would have definitely cursed back or shot arrows in advance. The fact that there were no such reactions shows that there were important people in high positions who could decide whether to fight or make peace, suppressing the actions of those generals. "

As long as Liu Zhang did not want peace, who else in Chengdu would dare to issue the order "no shooting, no further provoking of the enemy"? There would be no second person. If the second person did so, it would be collaborating with the enemy.

When Ma Chao came, he did not expect this result, but in the end this was the fact, which gave him a new understanding of Liu Zhang's cowardice.

Ma Dai benefited greatly from his brother's analysis and asked him what to do next.

Ma Chao thought for a moment and said, "Before we set out, Pang Changshi told me to divide our forces far away to surround each gate before we reach Chengdu. Liu Zhang is so weak that he will not dare to lead a large army out of the city to fight against our cavalry. Therefore, even if each group has only a thousand people, we don't have to worry about being annihilated.

After Liu Zhang discovered my main force, he would certainly send messengers everywhere to reiterate that all counties should fortify their defenses and clear the fields to prevent our army from collecting food. But I have already surrounded them in advance, and I will try to kill all the messengers. It would be even better if I could capture them alive.

When the time comes, we will have Liu Zhang's letter and seal, and we can cheat if we can, or intimidate if we can't. We can raise food and grass locally with the money and silk that accompany the army. After we succeed, we can come back and continue to intimidate Liu Zhang. There will always be a day when he will lose his courage. "

……

Ma Chao was repeating the order Pang Tong had given him before, and he actually did so.

Later that day, the messengers sent by Liu Zhang were indeed encountered by Ma Chao's agile and careful cavalry patrols. Two of them tried to escape but were shot to death, and the other three groups were captured and surrendered.

With Liu Zhang's messenger, it would be easy to deal with those undefended small counties in the surrounding areas.

Ma Chao tried to trick them one by one, but when he encountered the county magistrate and the garrison commander who were alert and didn't fall for it, he didn't care and went straight to the next one -

The level of ease and carefreeness is like the mass fraud emails sent in later generations, where a few typos are deliberately written. If the readers have a slightly higher IQ and can see the flaws, they will be directly removed from the list of potential target customers.

Among the five counties, there is always a county magistrate with a particularly low IQ, so we will focus on tackling this problem.

In the end, the magistrate of Du'an County became the "shortest board among the five planks that make up the wooden barrel" and leaked.

Ma Chao used Liu Zhang's messenger to trick the city gate into opening at dusk, and then the cavalry ambushed in the distance suddenly rushed out, taking advantage of the defenders' slow reaction and rushing in. However, Ma Chao did not cause any damage, because the city was defeated without a fight, and the troops had no losses or resentment, so it was easy to control them.

Now he represents Liu Bei's benevolent and righteous army and can no longer be as brutal as he was in the past with the Western Liang Army.

After conquering the city, Ma Chao first went to the government treasury, sealed up the stored grain in the government warehouse, and recorded the grain for use.

However, the county town was too small, so for the part that was not enough, he directly took out his saber and invited the wealthy families in the city to drink and appease the people. At the banquet, he took out the silver-plated copper coin worth 500 coins that had just been minted in Jingzhou and asked the wealthy families in the city to buy grain at a fair price.

Of course, the price of military rations was not allowed to increase. According to the normal grain price in a bumper harvest year, five hundred coins could buy two dan - that is, one silver-plated copper coin could buy two dan.

The wealthy people in the city saw that Ma Chao was actually quite reasonable, holding a shiny saber in one hand and a shiny silver-plated coin in the other, so they could only hold their noses and choose the shiny silver-plated coin rationally.

After taking Du'an County, although Ma Chao did not deceive other counties, he could try to use this victory to snowball and use it as a deterrent.

When the main cavalry was on their way back to Chengdu from Du'an, passing through Pi County, Ma Chao tied the Du'an County Magistrate and the County Lieutenant to a cart, along with Liu Zhang's messenger, and took them to the city gate, where he threatened Pi County to surrender. He also asked the military advisers to talk about some principles to win over the people, which was a combination of kindness and force.

There were not many defenders in Pi County. When they saw that Ma Chao's army was strong and, more importantly, they were also supported by their counterparts from Du'an County, they became increasingly shaken.

Finally, Pi County was the first in Shu County to benefit from the Linyi double-season rice promoted by Zhuge Liang, and the people had been prosperous and lived a good life in the past two years. The county magistrate also knew the people's sentiments well, and seeing that people's hearts were unstable, he had no choice but to follow suit.

As counties that surrendered voluntarily, Ma Chao also treated them differently when dealing with them - as for Du'an County, which was attacked and destroyed, Ma Chao sealed up the official treasury and directly recorded it as taking food and military supplies for free.

As for Pi County, which surrendered without a fight, Ma Chao showed his magnanimity. He did not even take the official treasury for free, but chose to buy all the supplies with silver-plated copper coins worth 500 coins.

In this way, with the two examples of Du'an and Pi County as teaching materials, the officials and garrisons of the counties around Chengdu also knew the pros and cons, and no one dared to act rashly.

After Ma Chao succeeded, he was able to raise enough food to feed tens of thousands of troops for several months, so he was no longer afraid of a long siege of Chengdu.

While he was delivering the letter to Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei learned that Ma Chao had succeeded in raising food supplies behind enemy lines and no longer had to worry about the food supply route, so he divided another 10,000 troops and gave them to Wei Yan to lead, sending them south to Chengdu, preparing for a strong attack.

After three days of marching, Wei Yan successfully arrived in Chengdu and began to build and assemble siege weapons.

Liu Zhang, who was standing on the city wall, saw that the enemy's camp was becoming more and more well-organized, and that all the gates were blocked by fortifications. Infantry reinforcements also appeared. He finally panicked and thought that Luo City must have been breached by Zhang Fei.

And after Wei Yan arrived, Ma Chao sent people to scold him and persuade him to surrender.

This time, Liu Zhang’s attempt to play the cowardly role and pretend to be deaf was of no use, after all, the enemy had been besieging the city for six or seven days.

He discussed it with Huang Quan, and Huang Quan felt that he could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb. After some consideration, he gave Liu Zhang a compromise plan to preserve his wealth and status.

Huang Quan said: "Ma Chao has been in the city for many days, he must know that the lord has already known the current situation. For now, if we want to show our army's sincerity, we might as well respond openly.

He only said, "My lord and the commander-in-chief are like brothers. It is only because of some misunderstandings that things have come to this. My lord has no intention of fighting, but he is afraid that he will be harmed by a villain. He asks the commander-in-chief to come to Chengdu and swear an oath in person outside the city before he will consider surrendering."

Liu Zhang heard this and looked worried: "Then if Brother Xuande comes, I will have no choice but to surrender?"

Huang Quan gritted his teeth and said, "Before the war, I heard that the Grand Commandant was in Jingzhou. Even if he was in Changsha County or even Zigui, it would take more than half a month to travel from Sichuan to Chengdu by horseback. It would take more than a month to go back and forth. Although Luocheng has not been confirmed to have fallen yet, the situation will definitely be clear in more than a month.

Therefore, my method is just to delay the war for the last one or two months. When the Grand Commandant arrives in Chengdu, it means that Cao Cao in Guandong has not yet posed a threat to the Grand Commandant. If there is still no news from Luocheng and no ability to come back to Chengdu, what other options will the Grand Commandant have except to surrender? "

Liu Zhang had no choice but to agree with this argument.

……

Finally, that afternoon, when Ma Chao again sent people to curse and persuade Liu Zhang to surrender, Liu Zhang, who had pretended to be deaf and dumb for six or seven days, finally appeared in person on the north city tower of Chengdu and spoke loudly to Ma Chao.

When Ma Chao heard that Liu Zhang had finally appeared, he was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to react.

Has this coward finally stopped pretending?

Don't hit a smiling person. In order to encourage the other party to negotiate and communicate, Ma Chao concealed the dirty words he usually used and called Wei Yan to be a witness.

After listening to Liu Zhang's earnest words, Ma Chao and Wei Yan looked at each other and both saw the enemy's intention to delay time.

"Liu Zhang just wants to waste some time to see if there is any turning point." Wei Yan made an accurate prediction.

Ma Chao: "So, Mr. Wen, do you think we should let him delay?"

Wei Yan stroked his beard and said, "With the kindness of the lord, as long as Liu Zhang offers a price, he will definitely come in person. Liu Zhang should also want to see if the lord can easily leave the front line of Jing and Xu. If the lord can come, it means that Cao Cao is not a big threat to the lord for the time being, and Liu Zhang's heart will finally die."

The two of them sorted out the context and decided to report it as soon as possible and go to Jingnan to inform Liu Bei.

……

The round trip from Chengdu to Jingnan takes at least one month.

Since Liu Zhang has put forward the conditions, Ma Chao will certainly not kill people in Chengdu anymore, and will definitely continue to surround the city without attacking.

Of course, the fortifications of the siege camp still need to be repaired, which is also to ensure that the Yizhou army on the periphery cannot return to Chengdu for support. Once they show up, they will be intercepted and killed halfway and surrounded.

At the same time, on the battlefield of Luocheng, Zhang Fei and Han Dang, after besieging Luocheng for a long time, also listened to a strategy proposed by Fa Zheng.

Fa Zheng suggested: "Third General, Liu Zhang has wavered now, but if the lord arrives in a month or two and Liu Zhang changes his mind, we must be on guard. Especially since Zhang Ren and Wang Lei are still alive, they will certainly greatly help Liu Zhang's confidence in resistance. If the Luocheng defenders are destroyed, it will be the last support of Liu Zhang.

We might as well take advantage of the opportunity that the two armies are nominally negotiating peace and surrender, and cooperate with the officials and messengers from the counties around Chengdu who were captured before, to attack Zhang Ren's military morale on the Luocheng battlefield, forcing Zhang Ren to mistakenly believe that "Liu Zhang thought that the Luocheng defenders had been wiped out, so he decided to surrender."

In this case, given Wang Lei's pedantry, he might force Zhang Ren to divide his troops and break out via the Luo River waterway to establish contact with Chengdu in order to strengthen Liu Zhang's determination.

If Zhang Ren goes to the battle, we can just fight him in the field or on the water, ambush him and capture him. If Zhang Ren refuses to go to the battle, there is a possibility that Zhang Ren and Wang Lei will have a rift, causing a civil-military conflict. If Wang Lei, as the military supervisor, pushes too hard, there might even be a mutiny. "

After Zhang Fei thought about it, he felt that it was a good idea, so he asked Fa Zheng to arrange it.

Fa Zheng's trick of deceiving and intimidating people really made the Luo city defenders panic.

"Not good! Because we have been cut off from Chengdu for more than a month, and Zhang Fei has transferred most of his main forces to the Chengdu battlefield, so the lord mistakenly believed that we have been destroyed! This caused the lord to waver and surrender! If the lord surrenders, what is the point of us staying here?
General Zhang, you can only try to lead the troops to break through and establish contact. You must not let the lord fall into Zhang Fei's deception!"

When Wang Lei made this request, he knelt down in front of Zhang Ren and kowtowed repeatedly.

Zhang Ren was embarrassed: "At this time, attacking would be a waste of life! The key is that after the disastrous defeat, we still can't deliver the message! The enemy's siege of Chengdu must be very tight, and our army is no match for it in a field battle!"

Wang Lei pleaded again and again, and finally could only use verbal humiliation to motivate him: "General Zhang, are you afraid of death?!"

Zhang Ren was so angry that he said, "I have fought many battles since I retreated to this place in Mianzhu. I have fought again and again despite repeated defeats and refused to give up. Who is the one who is so afraid of death?

Well, this kind of thing is already dangerous, and bringing too many people will only make things worse. I will only take my own light troops and leave the city at night, and try to see if I can break out. This is probably the last time I will be loyal to my lord, and Wang Jianjun will not have a chance to ask me to do something next time!"

Wang Lei felt very embarrassed by Zhang Ren's counterattack, but he knew nothing about military affairs and had no other choice but to let Zhang Ren vent his anger.

That night, Zhang Ren, like Geshu Han in later generations, cried helplessly and led his troops out of the city. He boarded the light warships that had been secretly hidden in Luo City and quietly broke through by going upstream along the Luo River, trying to get in touch with Chengdu.

Unfortunately, when Zhang Ren was still on the Luo River, he was suddenly intercepted downstream by Gan Ning's navy, which was lurking in the upstream harbors.

Zhang Ren did not dare to fight, and his ability in naval warfare was far inferior to Gan Ning's. So as soon as they fought, they were intercepted, captured and annihilated.

Zhang Ren and the vanguard hurriedly abandoned their ship and went ashore, intending to continue fleeing south by land. However, they had not gone far before they were surrounded by the army led by Zhang Fei.

Zhang Ren put up a brief resistance, then realized that the game was over. He was also angry that Wang Lei had no knowledge of military affairs and only knew how to be loyal, sending people to die in vain. He sighed deeply and asked the soldiers to shout that they were willing to surrender.

Seeing that the enemies all chose to surrender, Zhang Fei stopped his offensive and had the enemy soldiers who had laid down their weapons tied up.

Two days later, Zhang Ren was tied up and brought back to the city of Luo. Zhang Fei had someone shout to inform the defenders in the city that even Zhang Ren had failed to break out and was captured and surrendered, and the troops that broke out were also annihilated. Moreover, Liu Zhang had already discussed the terms of surrender with the Grand Commandant, hoping that the defenders of Luo would recognize the situation and not make unnecessary sacrifices.

The generals defending Luo City of course all recognized Zhang Ren, and when they saw Zhang Ren being captured and surrendered, they were naturally panicked.

Wang Lei still wanted to suppress his generals and not let them surrender. Seeing this, Zhang Fei chose the direction where Wang Lei could not supervise the battle in person and attacked from several directions at the same time, launching another tentative attack.

This exploratory attack soon turned into a real general offensive, which caused the Luocheng defenders to collapse on their own.

Seeing that Wang Lei was going to drag everyone to death, several officers guarding the gate mutinied on the battlefield, beheaded Wang Lei, opened the city gate and shouted that they were willing to surrender.

Zhang Fei led his troops in a rush and successfully captured Luo City before Liu Zhang surrendered.

At the same time, Liu Bei, who was in Wuling County, finally got the news. He heard that Liu Zhang would not surrender until he met him in person and promised him the treatment and conditions after surrender.

Of course Liu Bei would not refuse. He handed over the defense of Jing and Xu to Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu, and he went to Sichuan again, riding a horse at full speed without regard for the hardship.

Finally, at the end of early March, Liu Bei himself arrived in Chengdu, bringing with him a large group of captured enemy soldiers and a large number of freshly-made siege results, to negotiate with Liu Zhang in person to accept the surrender.

-

PS: I won't split up the 7,000-word chapter. I want to finish writing Liu Zhang's map in one go.

(End of this chapter)