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

The siege begins.

More than a hundred divine thunder cannons rose from the ground and bombarded the city walls of Puyang day and night.

Within two days, all four city gate towers and the surface buildings above the city walls were razed to the ground by the divine thunder cannons.

To defend against the Chu army's divine thunder cannons, Cao Cao had already mobilized manpower half a year earlier to thicken and reinforce the city walls of various important towns in Yanzhou.

After Cheng Yu stayed behind to guard Puyang, he urgently mobilized all the city's residents to reinforce the city walls once again.

Even so, several sections of the city wall still collapsed under the bombardment of the Divine Thunder Cannon.

Fortunately, Cheng Yu was prepared and quickly filled the gap with the wooden fence he had prepared in advance, and organized the people to carry soil and stones to block it at all costs.

After bombarding the city, a full-scale assault followed.

Three hundred thousand Chu troops launched a relentless, day-and-night attack on Puyang in waves.

What about towers, battering rams, ladders, siege hammers...?

All the weapons available for siege were used to attack Puyang.

The skies above Puyang City were constantly shrouded in a dense, inescapable rain of arrows.

Under this intense, relentless attack day and night, the Wei army was finally on the verge of collapse.

There was no other way; the Chu army simply had too many soldiers.

The usual talk of non-stop attacks day and night is just talk. There are always gaps in each round of attacks to allow the soldiers to rest.

The Chu army is currently operating day and night without stopping, and that is truly the literal meaning of "non-stop".

At Xiao He's suggestion, Liu Bei divided the 300,000 Chu troops into six teams, rotating them every four hours with seamless transitions and no gaps.

This means that the Chu army was launching an attack on Puyang City every minute of every day.

Liu Bei had never fought such a wealthy battle in his entire life. With so many soldiers, he was incredibly powerful.

Cheng Yu was different; he only had seven thousand men.

They were distributed along the four city walls, with only a little over two thousand soldiers on each wall.

With such a small force, it was already stretched thin against the Chu army's attacks from at least 30,000 troops in every direction, let alone the option of rotation.

Thus, under the Chu army's "human wave tactics," the Wei soldiers in the city were constantly on edge. By the sixth day, they were exhausted and on the verge of physical and mental collapse.

The fall of Puyang seems imminent.

Inside the military camp within the city, in the main tent.

"Commander Cheng, the Chu army has too many troops. With such a relentless attack day and night, the soldiers have no time to rest."

"They are now exhausted, their morale and strength are depleted, and they are afraid they will not be able to hold on."

Jiang Ji, his face full of anxiety, cupped his hands and said:
"Commander Cheng, we must come up with a plan quickly, or Puyang will fall in two days!"

Cheng Yu's face was ashen, and he remained silent.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and shouted:
"By my order, immediately bring the people in the city to the city walls to help our army defend against the enemy."

Jiang Ji gasped, his expression suddenly changing.

What does it mean for ordinary people to help in the war?

He saw through Cheng Yu's wicked intentions at a glance.

Cheng Yu was using the common people as human shields to make Liu Bei hesitate to launch a large-scale attack on the city, thus giving the soldiers in the city a chance to catch their breath.

"Commander Cheng, you can't do this!"

Jiang Ji vehemently objected, and said sternly:

"As long as Puyang City remains unconquered, the people of Puyang are still subjects of our Great Wei. As officials of Wei, we should take it upon ourselves to protect our territory and ensure the safety of our people. How can we use the common people as a shield?"

Cheng Yu snorted coldly, dismissing it as nothing:
"Back then, to stop Liu Bei from advancing north into Yanzhou, we even breached the Ji River, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Why should we sacrifice a few thousand more today to serve as our shield?"

"As long as we can defend Puyang City, any sacrifice is worthwhile!"

Jiang Ji shivered and froze.

After a long pause, Jiang Ji asked incredulously:

“Cheng Zhongde, you are from Yanzhou, yet you first used your fellow townsmen as military rations, and now you are using them as shields. Do you really regard your posthumous reputation as worthless? Are you not afraid of being infamous for ten thousand years in the annals of history?”

Jiang Ji broke the ice, directly exposing Cheng Yu's dark history of cannibalism.

Provoked, Cheng Yu immediately flew into a rage and shouted:
"If I hadn't done that back then, the soldiers of the King of Wei would have starved to death, Yanzhou would have fallen into the hands of Lü Bu, and all the people of the province would have died without a burial place!"

“If I don’t use the people of Puyang as a shield today, Puyang will fall, and the entire Yanzhou will fall into the hands of that hypocritical Liu Bei.”

"The people of this state will perish at Liu Bei's hands sooner or later!"

"What I did was only out of necessity, when I had to sacrifice a small number of people to save the people of Yanzhou!"

"I, Cheng Yu, bear a bad reputation, but I act with great benevolence and righteousness. What right do you have to lecture me here?"

Jiang Ji was stunned and shocked by the rebuttal.

It wasn't that I was surprised by Cheng Yu's self-righteousness, but rather that I was shocked that Cheng Yu could argue so illogically.

“Cheng Yu, we are both scholars who have studied the classics. We can be loyal to the Great Wei and to the King of Wei, but we cannot distort the truth!”

Jiang Ji's sharp gaze pierced Cheng Yu as he said sternly:
"Although Lü Bu was fickle, he was never a cruel person. Back then, when there was a severe drought in Yanzhou, Lü Bu's army also lacked food, but when did he ever use the people of Yanzhou as food for his army?"

"Even if Yanzhou fell into Lü Bu's hands, why would the people of this province be left without a burial place?"

"And then there's Liu Bei, the King of Chu. You can say he's a hypocrite, but he has never slaughtered a single city, nor has he ever killed civilians in the name of conquering cities and seizing territory."

"Our King Wei, on the other hand, slaughtered countless cities throughout his life, and his hands are stained with the blood of countless innocent people."

"Back then, in order to stop the Chu army from advancing north, they did not hesitate to breach the Ji River, disregarding the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Yanzhou."

"If we're talking about cruelty and inhumanity, who in the world can rival our King of Wei?" "I, Jiang Ji, will utter a defiant word today: only when Yanzhou falls into the hands of the King of Chu will the people of this province truly be freed and their lives saved!"

Jiang Ji spoke with increasing intensity and agitation, his words becoming more and more vehement and defiant.

Clearly, he had witnessed Cao Cao's many misdeeds and harbored a great deal of resentment in his heart.

Today, provoked by Cheng Yu, he finally lost his temper and exploded completely.

Cheng Yu's expression changed drastically, and he angrily said:

"Jiang Ji, have you gone mad? How dare you slander and defame the King like this? Are you plotting a rebellion?"

Jiang Ji, however, remained fearless and proudly declared:
"I am not plotting rebellion; I am merely stating the truth, and what I am saying is common knowledge!"

Cheng Yu was so angry that his face turned red. He wanted to retort but was speechless.

After holding it in for a long time, Cheng Yu had no choice but to shake his hand:

"I won't argue with you. I'm in charge of Puyang City. You insist on using the people of the city as a shield. Why should I discuss this with you?"

Having said that, Cheng Yuteng leaped up, summoning the deputy generals waiting outside the tent and relaying the order to use the people as a shield.

The lieutenants looked at each other, their faces showing difficulty and hesitation.

With the battle at this point, it's clear to everyone that Puyang cannot be defended.

Even though these generals were all from Hebei, none of them were willing to die for Cao Cao. They planned that if Puyang fell, they would surrender to the State of Chu, thus fighting for the State of Wei to the last moment.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yu pulled this stunt at this critical juncture.

If the common people are used as human shields, how could the King of Chu spare them in his rage?

I fear that Puyang will still fall in the end, and all seven thousand soldiers in the city will suffer the Chu King's wrath and be wiped out.

For a moment, everyone was hesitant and dared not accept the order.

Cheng Yu was enraged. He drew his sword and roared:
"My order has been given, how dare you disobey? Do you all intend to rebel?"

"Anyone who dares to harbor disloyalty towards the Great Wei shall first test the sharpness of the sword in my hand!"

The generals were terrified, their faces showing fear, and they had no choice but to accept the order with their hands clasped.

At this time.

Jiang Ji, who had been watching quietly from the side, looked at Cheng Yu, who was almost insane, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes, as if he had made up his mind.

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Ji suddenly drew his sword and unexpectedly slashed at Cheng Yu.

The sword strike came too suddenly; Cheng Yu was completely unprepared.

"puff!"

The sword sliced ​​across his arm, and blood splattered out.

Cheng Yu cried out in pain, his wrist twitched, and the longsword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Just as he clutched his wrist, Jiang Ji's blood-stained sword was already pressed against his neck.

"Jiang Ji, you...you don't really want to rebel, do you?"

Ignoring his wrist injury, Cheng Yu glared at Jiang Ji in shock and anger.

After taking a deep breath, Jiang Ji said with a helpless expression:
“The King of Wei has been kind to me and helped me. Although he is cruel and tyrannical and is becoming increasingly senile, I, Jiang Ji, am still willing to be loyal to him and die for him.”

“But now, Cheng Yu, in order to gain a reputation as a loyal minister, you are willing to disregard the lives of all the people in this city and make me stay with you to be infamous for ten thousand years. I, Jiang Ji, absolutely cannot agree to that.”

"I have no choice but to betray the King of Wei and submit to the King of Chu!"

With nowhere else to retreat, Jiang Ji decided to surrender to Chu.

Cheng Yu's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly shouted at the deputy generals:

"This traitor is plotting rebellion and defecting to Liu Bei. What are you all standing there for? Seize him at once!"

Although the generals were all surprised and their hands were already on their sword hilts, none of them made a move.

Jiang Ji secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As he expected, under immense pressure, all the generals had lost their will to continue defending the city and had begun to consider surrendering to Chu.

It seems his gamble paid off.

Jiang Ji then sheathed his longsword and bowed to his generals.

"For the sake of the people of the city and the survival of my seven thousand soldiers, Ji has decided to submit to the King of Chu."

"Are you all willing to travel with Ji?"

After exchanging glances, the generals' eyes all hardened with determination.

So the generals loosened their swords, bowed, and said in unison:

"We are willing to follow Minister Jiang in surrendering to Chu!"

Jiang Ji breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Cheng Yu:
“Cheng Zhongde, you have seen the will of the generals. No one is willing to follow you and be infamous for eternity, to die for Cao Wei.”

"The situation is settled. Decide quickly what you will do!"

Cheng Yu slumped down, tears streaming down his face, and pounded on the table, crying out in anguish:
"You are trying to put me, Cheng Yu, in a position of disloyalty and injustice, causing me to lose my integrity in my later years! Lose my integrity in my later years!"

Cheng Yu beat his chest and stomped his feet, complaining incessantly.

His appearance suggests that although he harbors resentment and unwillingness, he can only accept this cruel reality.

Jiang Ji then said no more, bowed to Cheng Yu once more, and then turned and left.

All the deputy generals also left the tent and went to surrender the city, leaving only Cheng Yu behind.

As the last person left, Cheng Yu abruptly stopped wailing, gently wiping away the tears from his eyes, a sinister smile curling at the corner of his lips. (End of Chapter)