My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 235 Is Liu Bei the reincarnation of Emperor Guangwu, the chosen one of this world? "By the mandate of Heaven, may his life be long and prosperous; the Imperial Seal of the State is presented to the Duke of Chu!"
"It seems Old Liu is indeed blessed with destiny; luck is on his side..."

Xiao He, standing on the watchtower, gazed at the collapsed Pengcheng city wall and murmured his lament.

Xun You guessed half right.

He did indeed resort to his old tricks, using the sound of gongs and drums as cover to secretly dig four tunnels from the camp all the way to the city of Pengcheng.

However, the objective was not to infiltrate Pengcheng and send a surprise force into the city through tunnels to launch a coordinated attack from within and without.

The tunnel was dug only down to the base of the city wall, creating a hollow space, with wooden beams supporting the top to prevent it from collapsing.

Half an hour ago, Xiao He ordered that all the wooden beams in the hollow bead be coated with oil and set on fire.

This explains why thick smoke was billowing from the entrance to the camp.

The wooden beams burned through, and the ground above lost its support. Unable to withstand the weight of the city wall built of rocks, it collapsed with a roar.

This was Xiao He's plan to quickly capture Pengcheng.

This plan was not something he came up with out of thin air; the inspiration came from the famous Battle of Yubi during the Northern Dynasties.

Back then, Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei Dynasty led a large army to besiege Yu Bi City of the Western Wei Dynasty. After failing to capture it for a long time, he used the same method to burn down the walls of Yu Bi City.

Of course, Gao Huan used the same tactic more than once, and the famous general Wei Xiaokuan, who was defending the city, was already on guard.

This famous general of the Western Wei Dynasty had prepared ample wooden palisades in advance, ready to seal the breach as soon as the city wall collapsed.

Although the city walls collapsed, Gao Huan's army still could not break into Yu Bi City.

Looking at the present, this plan by Xiao He is being used for the first time, with no precedent to follow.

Neither Li Dian nor Xun You had any prior precautions, so naturally they wouldn't have prepared wooden fences to seal the breach.

Once the city wall collapses, what will they use to mend it?

"My mission is complete. Now it's up to you, Lord Wei..."

Xiao He yawned, turned around and went down the watchtower.

The Chu army formation.

After a brief silence, the 40,000 Chu soldiers suddenly awoke and erupted like a tsunami.

"Did you see that? Pengcheng actually collapsed on its own!"

"Was there an earthquake just now? It actually caused Pengcheng to collapse?"

"Even if there is an earthquake, it can't just happen to hit the area right under the city walls!"

"This must be a blessing from Heaven for our Lord Chu! Heaven has sent down a miracle to help our Lord Chu break through the city!"

The 40,000 Chu soldiers were so excited and overjoyed that they cheered and jumped for joy, their eyes filled with awe as they all turned to Liu Bei.

Emperor Guangwu reincarnated!
At this moment, these five words echoed in the hearts of countless soldiers.

When Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, the chosen one, led 10,000 Han soldiers to fight against 400,000 of Wang Mang's army at Kunyang.

At this moment of overwhelming disparity in troop strength, a meteorite suddenly fell from the sky and crashed into Wang Mang's camp, throwing his army into chaos.

Emperor Guangwu then seized the opportunity to decisively defeat Wang Mang's army, achieving a miraculous victory.

A celestial being descended and fell, helping Emperor Guangwu defeat Wang Mang.

Now an earthquake has struck, which will help Liu Bei defeat Cao Cao.

Who else could their Duke of Chu be but the reincarnation of Emperor Guangwu?

Countless pairs of awe-inspiring eyes turned towards where Liu Bei was.

At this moment, Liu Bei's gaze was fixed on Xiao He's figure atop the watchtower of the main camp.

"Such a strategy for breaching a city is truly unprecedented in history. Shi Yuan is right; even if Bo Wen is not a celestial being descended to earth, he is certainly a genius among strategists..."

After sighing and lamenting, Liu Bei suddenly turned around and looked at Pengcheng again, his eyes burning with murderous intent.

The sword was drawn, pointing towards the breach in the enemy city:
"By my order, the entire army will storm Pengcheng and annihilate the Wei invaders—"

The sound of war drums ignited the fighting spirit of the Chu soldiers.

The various military formations suddenly shattered, and forty thousand Chu soldiers surged towards the collapsed six-zhang-wide gap like a tidal wave.

Pengcheng North Gate.

Just moments before, Li Dian and Xun You were frowning, looking at the Chu army outside the city with suspicion.

Having arrayed their troops for nearly an hour, yet still not attacking the city, what exactly is Liu Bei up to?

"Gongda, could this big-eared thief be plotting something?"

Li Dian looked at Xun You with unease in his eyes.

Xun You stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and then said:
"I suspect that Liu Bei is simply using a feint, pretending to attack our north gate with his main force while simultaneously attacking another gate with a detachment."

"Mancheng, quickly order the other three gates to be on high alert, and report any unusual movements by the Chu army immediately."

Li Dian agreed and immediately arranged for a messenger to deliver the order.

Just then, the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled slightly.

The veteran's keen senses immediately alerted him to something amiss, and he instinctively looked down.

The ground was indeed shaking, and it was getting stronger.

From the initial slight tremor, in the blink of an eye, the earth shook violently, as if the sky were about to collapse and the earth to cave in.

"How is this going?"

Li Dian was taken aback and hurriedly grabbed the doorpost behind him.

"It's an earthquake!"

Xun You's expression changed drastically. Before he could even lean on something for support, he was so shocked that he fell to the ground with a thud.

Sudden.

With a deafening crash, large sections of the city wall on the east wing of the city tower collapsed suddenly, like pieces of tofu.

Dozens of soldiers above, caught off guard and unable to evacuate in time, screamed in terror as they fell along with the debris from the wall.

The collapse spread rapidly toward the city gate tower like a chain reaction.

"Gongda, let's go!"

Li Dian cried out in alarm and immediately turned and ran away.

Seeing this, Xun You scrambled to his feet in a panic and tried to escape with Li Dian.

It's too late.

Just as he stood up, the ground beneath his feet collapsed.

Xun You, along with more than ten soldiers, screamed as they plummeted down, disappearing into the dust and mist in the blink of an eye.

The collapse came suddenly and ended just as quickly.

In the blink of an eye, the roaring stopped, the tremors beneath our feet ceased, and the world returned to calm, leaving only a series of wails coming from below.

Li Dian leaned against the battlements, panting heavily, his face showing the shock and despair of someone who had just escaped from the brink of death.

The surviving Wei soldiers on both sides were still shaken and unable to calm down.

When the dust settled, everyone gasped in shock.

The seemingly indestructible city wall of Pengcheng suddenly collapsed, creating a gap more than six zhang wide!
Li Dian stared wide-eyed, carefully moved to the edge of the broken wall, looked down, and instantly gasped.

Below, all that could be seen was a scene of ruins, with the bodies of hundreds of soldiers lying haphazardly among the rubble.

They either fell to their deaths or were crushed to death by the collapsing city walls; both were gruesome sights.

The few survivors, all with broken arms and legs, lay in the crevices, howling in agony for help.

"why?"

"How could an earthquake happen so suddenly, and it just so happened that the north gate city wall collapsed?"

"This this……"

Li Dian's voice was hoarse, and his face was contorted with endless astonishment and terror.

"Mancheng, save me, save me~~~"

A familiar voice interrupted Li Dian's shock and astonishment.

Upon closer inspection, Li Dian spotted Xun You among the trash.

The newly appointed head of the Xun family was now half-buried under the collapsed wall and was desperately pleading for help.

Li Dian gasped, and hurriedly shouted:
"Quickly, save Lord Xun! Quickly, save him!"

Tom-tom-tom——

The deafening sound of war drums interrupted his shout.

Li Dian turned around shakily and saw 40,000 Chu soldiers rushing towards Pengcheng and the collapsed breach like a flood.

The Chu army, which had been arrayed and motionless for an hour, finally launched its attack, intending to take advantage of the collapse of the city wall and storm Pengcheng through the breach!
Liu Bei wanted to take advantage of your weakness and kill you!

Li Dian suddenly shivered, and a chilling thought suddenly rose in his mind:

The reason the Chu army remained in formation for an hour without attacking was that they were waiting for this earthquake!

In other words, some members of the Chu army were able to predict celestial phenomena and calculate that an earthquake would occur in Pengcheng at this time!
That person even calculated that the earthquake would definitely cause the city walls to collapse!

That's why Liu Bei lined up his troops outside the city today, waiting for this opportunity to arise. "Xiao He!"

The name instantly popped into Li Dian's mind.

Besides Xiao He, who else has this ability?
How can one accurately predict celestial phenomena? What kind of incredible divine ability is this?

"Could that rustic villager really be a deity descended to earth?"

"Duke Wei and we are actually overestimating ourselves and trying to fight a celestial being?"

Li Dian took a half step back, trembling all over, and broke out in a cold sweat in a short moment.

While they were still in a daze and terrified, the Chu army surged onto the ruins of the breach like a tide.

Li Dian was startled awake. He quickly calmed himself and shouted:

"Quickly, follow me to seal the breach! We must not let the Chu army break in, we absolutely cannot—"

Li Dian quickly mounted his horse, brandished his spear, and galloped down the city wall.

More than a thousand Wei soldiers, as if waking from a dream, followed Li Dian and charged through the breach.

"Form ranks! Quickly form ranks!"

Li Dian brandished his spear and shouted at his soldiers.

late.

Before the thousand or so soldiers could even form ranks, an army several times larger than theirs surged forth.

In an instant, the Wei army's scattered formation was smashed to pieces, like paper.

Wails sounded.

The morale of the Wei army collapsed, and they fled like frightened ants.

"Don't escape! Hold the breach! Hold it!"

"Li Dian, prepare to die!"

A thunderous roar interrupted Li Dian's shouts.

Li Dian's body trembled, and he suddenly looked up, only to see an old general with white hair and beard riding up in front of him, dragging his sword.

The visitor was none other than Huang Zhong.

Li Dian's expression changed drastically, and he almost lost his grip on the spear.

When he was captured by the Chu army, he knew Huang Zhong and was aware of the old general's martial prowess, which was comparable to that of Guan Yu.

With such a formidable general, capable of defeating ten thousand men, right before my eyes, how could I possibly be his match?
Huang Zhong arrived too quickly; by the time Huang Zhong reacted, the man and his horse were already blocking his way.

Li Dian had no time to be frightened; almost instinctively, he raised his gun to block.

Before the spear could be drawn, a blade as sharp as lightning was already slashing down.

"Crack!"

A deafening cracking sound.

Li Dian was cut in two.

The two bloodied corpses crashed to the ground from the horse.

Huang Zhong rode past, his blood-stained blade slashing once more at the terrified and routed Wei army.

The gap has been breached.

Tens of thousands of Chu troops flooded into Pengcheng like a tidal wave, marching into the heart of the city.

Not long after, a flag bearing the character "Chu" was raised on the north gate tower.

Then, the East Gate, the West Gate, the South Gate…

Flags bearing the character "Chu" were successively raised at the four gates of Pengcheng and above the prefectural government.

Pengcheng has changed hands!

Thus, the last major town of Wei in Xuzhou fell to the Chu army.

The entire territory of Xuzhou is now under Liu Bei's control.

...

Yecheng, the residence of Duke Wei.

"Lord Wei is still alive. My brother went to Pengcheng to deliver the imperial edict, but was killed by Lord Wei!"

"Duke Wei has issued an edict to all the armies at the front and to all the prefectures and counties, informing them that he is still alive and ordering all the armies to stay put and not to move without permission."

"The Duke of Wei has now led an army of 30,000 to Baima and is crossing the river to advance towards Liyang. I have rushed back day and night to inform the Lady and the Prince!"

Ding Yi knelt before the steps, his face filled with grief, indignation, and panic as he reported.

Sitting side by side on their high throne, Lady Bian and Cao Zhi, mother and son, looked ashen-faced.

"Mother, didn't you say that Father had died of illness on the front lines in Pengcheng? What's going on now?"

“My father is still alive, yet I lied and claimed to be succeeding to the throne by his will. This is a capital offense of treason and usurpation.”

"Now that Father has returned with a large army, he clearly intends to kill us. What should we do?"

Cao Zhi grabbed Lady Bian and questioned her with a mixture of fear and resentment.

Bian's fists were clenched, her face was as pale as paper, and her eyes were filled with despair and disappointment.

The despair stemmed from the fact that her husband, Cao Cao, was still alive.

As soon as Cao Cao appeared, the generals on the front lines, the court officials and governors who originally intended to support the new ruler immediately changed their tune and abandoned him without hesitation.

At this moment, Cao Cao had just crossed the Yellow River when the civil and military officials in Ye City rushed to flee south to welcome him.

In less than ten days, the mother and son were left all alone, like monkeys scattering when the tree fell.

All they can do now is sit here and wait for Cao Cao to come and take their lives.

Disappointment stemmed from the fact that Cao Zhi was weak, cowardly, and irresponsible, and when the time came, he blamed his mother instead.

As for her eldest son, Cao Pi, he openly refused her edict and refused to go to Xuchang to force the emperor to issue an edict to confer the title of Duke of Wei upon Cao Zhi.

Two of her four sons died; one was weak and incompetent, and the other decisively cut ties with her to protect himself in a moment of crisis.

How could Bian not be utterly desperate and disappointed?

"Now that things have come to this, what else can we do? You and your son can only sit and wait for your father to come and cut off our heads."

Bian let out a sorrowful and helpless sigh.

Cao Zhi shuddered and sat frozen in place, his eyes filled with fear.

"Madam, young master!"

“When I was sent as an envoy to the Chu camp, the Chu military advisor Xiao He said that if the Lady and the Prince failed, they could flee south from Qingzhou to Xuzhou.”

"Then Lord Liu Bei of Chu promised to treat the lady and the young master with respect and to give the young master a life of wealth and honor."

In his haste, Ding Yi suddenly remembered this matter.

The mother and son, who had been in despair, suddenly perked up and their eyes rekindled with hope.

"Liu Xuande is known to be a benevolent and righteous gentleman. If we go to seek refuge with him, he will surely treat us with courtesy as promised, and our lives will be safe without a doubt."

“Qingzhou is where Cao Zidan is stationed. I grew up with him since I was a child, and my mother also raised him as half a son. He shouldn’t stop us from passing through Qingzhou to Xuzhou.”

“Mother, what Ding Jingli said is indeed a way out!”

Cao Zhi saw a glimmer of hope and excitedly shouted to Lady Bian.

Lady Bian frowned deeply and remained silent.

As the wife of the powerful Wei ruler, she went to defect to the enemy state and lived a life of hiding under Liu Bei's protection!

Even if Liu Bei was benevolent and treated him with courtesy, he was still living under someone else's roof, becoming a laughingstock and bringing shame upon Cao Cao.

This is what Bian was concerned about.

If you don't go and seek refuge with Liu Bei, you're doomed!
Would Cao Cao spare the lives of the mother and son out of consideration for their marital and paternal bond?
Of course not.

She conspired with Yang Xiu to betray Cao Cao so many times, and now she's helping her son usurp the throne. How could Cao Cao possibly forgive her?

Let alone Cao Cao, even if it were Liu Bei, he would not have spared the lives of the mother and child.

After weighing the pros and cons for a long time.

A sarcastic smile played on Bian's lips as she coldly snorted:
“Aman, you always said that I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me. My son and I are just learning from you, so please don’t blame us for betraying you.”

Having said that, Lady Bian leaped to her feet and resolutely shouted:
"What are you waiting for? Prepare immediately! We're leaving Ye City to head east, then south through Qingzhou to seek refuge with the State of Chu!"

Cao Zhi and Ding Yi breathed a sigh of relief, as if they had been granted a pardon, and hurriedly accepted the order.

Just as the two were about to make preparations, Lady Bian suddenly remembered something and said:

"You don't need to bring any gold, silver, or valuables; just bring the Imperial Seal of the State."

"The Duke of Chu will become emperor sooner or later. My son and I have made a great contribution by presenting the Imperial Seal to him."

"This Imperial Seal is our talisman for a life of wealth and honor for my son and me!"

(End of this chapter)