Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 416 Enemy, Not Friend
late at night.

Zhang Liao met Tian Zhao in Xiangguo County.

"General Zhang, I have sent men to escort the grain here, but we encountered bandits on the way and the grain convoy was cut off. I fear that Ren County will also be plundered by the bandits... Please send troops to rescue us immediately!"

Tian Zhao arrived with a grain transport team, and they all looked like they had run very fast, panting heavily.

"Thieves? Do you know who they are? Are you even capable of fighting?"

Zhang Liao did not receive Liu Bei's message, but seeing that Tian Zhao had indeed transported grain, he believed it to be true.

"Perhaps it is Yan Liang... General Zhang, I can have someone lead the way, but we are exhausted from escorting the grain here and need to rest..."

Tian Zhao had indeed traveled dozens of miles to transport grain, and his exhaustion was genuine.

So Zhang Liao had Tian Zhaoxian deliver the grain into the city, leaving some men to move the grain, while he led his troops to search outside the city and sent scouts to investigate the situation in Ren County.

Twenty miles west of Ren County, Zhang Liao encountered Tian Feng leading his clansmen on a journey.

Meanwhile, scouts reported that a large fire had broken out in Ren County.

"Is that Zhang Wenyuan ahead?"

Upon seeing Zhang Liao, Tian Feng immediately stepped forward: "I am Tian Yuanhao. Ren County has been captured by the rebel army, and we have fled here. Please, General, go to our aid immediately..."

At this moment, Tian Feng and his clansmen were all covered in black ash, clearly having come from a fire, and they were completely without armor, so they certainly looked like they were fleeing.

Those carrying weapons and armor were all in Tian Zhao's grain transport team.

Tian Feng's clansmen had no armor or weapons, so they were unable to fight. Zhang Liao then sent Tian Feng to garrison Xiangguo County, while he led his troops quickly to Ren County.

But not long after, several cavalrymen came galloping from the east.

That's Zu Mao.

"General Zhang! Capture Tian Feng! This traitor is an enemy, not a friend!"

Zu Mao didn't bring Qu Yi with him; Qu Yi was injured and couldn't run fast.

Upon realizing he had been tricked, Zhang Liao immediately turned back to pursue Tian Feng.

However, although they were only separated for a short time, Tian Feng's troops slept during the day and were full of energy at night, while Zhang Liao's troops marched dozens of miles overnight.

Tian Feng didn't bring any baggage or armor, not even weapons, and he ran incredibly fast, making it difficult to catch up in a short time.

Zhang Liao pursued them all the way back to the outskirts of Xiangguo County, and it wasn't until dawn that he finally saw Tian Feng's clansmen entering the city from afar.

Clearly, Tian Zhao had taken control of the city gates of Xiangguo County.

"late……"

Zu Mao sighed.

"It's not too late... the fighting is still going on inside the city!"

Zhang Liao heard faint shouts of battle coming from inside the city: "Brothers, can we still fight?!"

"kill!!"

Zhang Liao's troops were already exhausted, but their battle cries remained unified.

There is indeed still fighting in the city, and there are fires near the south of the city.

At this time, Zhang Liao's troops were exhausted, and logically they should not have risked attacking the city.

However, Zhang Liao was deceived by Tian Feng and was filled with resentment. He led his troops to charge towards the south gate.

There are indeed soldiers still fighting inside the city.

Qu Yi promptly instructed Zu Mao to inform Zhang Liao, which, although it failed to stop Tian Feng, still played a significant role.

Tian Feng was indeed difficult to deal with; he seized the opportunity simply because of a slight delay in receiving information.

If it had been any later, even just half an hour later, Xiangguo County would definitely have been completely occupied by Tian Feng.

Xiangguo County is not like Ren County. It is a large city with thousands of residents and is located on the Jixi Highway.

At this time, the city had both food and military supplies, and its defenses were also strong. If Tian Fengzhen could completely occupy the city, he could defend it to the death.

When Zhang Liao launched his campaign, he left 600 troops to defend Xiangguo County.

Tian Zhao entered the city to deliver grain on Zhang Liao's orders. The city's garrison had no suspicion of the grain transport team and had already allowed Tian Zhao's men to enter the city.

The garrison was ambushed by Tian Zhao's troops while they were transporting grain, and half of them were killed or wounded in an instant. Only the garrison that did not go to transport grain were unharmed.

Tian Zhao quickly took control of the city gates and began searching the city, intending to kill all of Zhang Liao's garrison.

Although Zhang Liao's troops were all elite soldiers, three hundred men were still unable to hold out in the city and had to retreat to residential areas or inns to fight street battles.

Overnight, most of the soldiers in the city had been killed or wounded, leaving only a hundred or so survivors.

Tian Zhao did not give them a chance to escape, nor did he dare to.

However, soldiers who had fought on the front lines against the Xiongnu were not so easily wiped out.

It's a pity that his comrades-in-arms, who died in battle, did not die on the front lines resisting the Xiongnu, but were killed by villains in Jizhou.

When Zhang Liao rushed to the south gate, the gate was of course closed, but the defenses on the city wall had not yet been set up.

Tian Zhao's men were still besieging and killing the soldiers inside the city. Tian Feng had not brought any weapons and had entered the city from the east gate, so it would take time for him to set up his defenses.

Zhang Liao didn't bring any supplies or equipment, but filled with rage, he didn't use any siege equipment. Taking advantage of the fact that there weren't many people on the city wall yet, he directly ordered his soldiers to form a human ladder and climb the city wall with Zu Mao.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Tian Feng had organized his men, gathered weapons, and climbed the city wall to defend it. By this time, Zhang Liao and Zu Mao had also reached the city wall.

The two didn't have many people with them. Climbing the four-zhang-high outer wall was no easy task. They formed a human ladder and climbed up. Only about twenty people made it to the top of the wall.

It was becoming increasingly difficult for the soldiers outside the city to climb the walls, as Tian Feng's men had already begun shooting arrows.

But Zhang Liao climbed the city wall...

Liu Bei's army included Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun. Zhang Liao might not be able to call himself a fierce man in front of these men.

But now, facing the Tian family's private army, Zhang Liao seems too fierce.

Zhang Liao's most proficient weapon is the halberd, but he now also uses a horizontal sword to climb walls.

Like Zhang Fei, he also wielded two swords and charged directly into the enemy ranks without dodging.

It seems to be similar to Guan Yu's style, both emphasizing speed and aiming for the fatal point with every strike.

Of course, this is actually quite different from Guan Yu.

Guan Yu's swordsmanship doesn't look complicated, and most people can even see the sword's movements clearly, but each strike is fast and heavy, and even if you see it, you can't block it.

Zhang Liao's sword was purely about speed; almost every strike was faster than the last, so fast that it was impossible to see.

As soon as he rushed into the crowd, a large amount of blood splattered. Zhang Liao roared and smashed through the enemies in front of him, killing his way towards the steps at the city gate.

Zu Mao wasn't that fierce, but having served as the captain of the guard for a long time, he was quite skilled at protecting his boss. He followed behind Zhang Liao, slashing left and right to protect Zhang Liao's flanks.

The two quickly killed more than ten corpses on the city wall, and Zhang Liao gradually moved to the ladder inside the city.

At this moment, the shouts of battle from the buildings in the center of the city grew louder, clearly indicating that the surviving troops in the city knew that reinforcements had arrived.

"Quickly, quickly, seal the city gates! Don't let them open them!"

Tian Feng had also arrived at the South Gate and was directing his troops inside the city to fill the gate opening with sand.

Zhang Liao led such a small group to forcibly scale the city walls, obviously to open the city gates. If the gates were blocked, then no matter how powerful Zhang Liao was, he would only be surrounded and killed inside the city.

"Come die!"

Zhang Liao turned his head and saw Tian Feng. Suddenly, he roared and jumped directly from the city ladder to the city gate. After landing, he did a forward roll to dissipate the force, and it seemed that he was going for Tian Feng.

Seeing this, Zu Mao roared and pounced down as well.

The city wall was over 9 meters high. Tian Feng was clearly surprised that the two strong men would jump down directly. He was stunned for a moment, and then ran away.

Tian Feng escaped, but Zhang Liao and Zu Mao couldn't chase after him. Many private soldiers had already surrounded them. The two stood back to back at the city gate, clearing the area and slowly moving towards the gate.

The dozen or so elite soldiers remaining on the city wall also jumped into the city. Many of them injured their legs upon landing, but the momentum of them all jumping into the city instilled fear in the Tian family's private soldiers and gave Zhang Liao and Zu Mao the opportunity to open the city gate.

Zhang Liao stood guard at the gate with his twin swords, while Zu Mao rushed to the city gate and used all his strength to push the bolt against the gate with his shoulder.

The city gate had no winch, but the bolts were as thick as roof beams, too heavy for one person to lift.

Zu Mao's face turned bright red, but he could only pry the bolt open halfway.

An arrow shot into Zu Mao's shoulder from behind, causing him to stumble.

Seeing this, Zhang Liao retreated to the city gate and, together with Zu Mao, pried open the gate bolt. At the same time, he was also struck in the chest by an arrow.

The dozen or so brothers who jumped off the city wall desperately held off the counterattack of Tian Feng's troops inside the city, and most of them died roaring in the crowd.

But the city gates opened.

"Kill the thief!"

Zhang Liao roared and snapped the arrow in two, then led his troops in a swarm of troops.

The shouts of battle from inside the south gate were deafening.

Tian Feng had already reached the east gate. He glanced back and then ordered his men to open the city gate and head east out of the city.

This is the direction he entered the city.

Tian Feng was indeed very good at reverse thinking; there were indeed no Zhang Liao troops outside the East Gate at the moment.

but……

Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was a coincidence.

Qu Yi arrived at this time along with Zu Mao's personal guards.

It was sunrise, and the sky was already bright.

Tian Feng had just left the city when Qu Yi spotted him at a glance.

Qu Yi raised his hand and fired a crossbow bolt, knocking Tian Feng's horse over.

Tian Feng fell from his horse, his leg injured and unable to move. He looked at Qu Yi with some sadness as he walked forward.

"Qu Yi, Liu Bei won't believe you..."

Tian Feng watched as Qu Yi raised his knife, then closed his eyes.

"At least I can survive."

Qu Yi knew, of course, that Liu Bei wouldn't believe him, but who would believe him now?

Qu Yi exhaled a breath of stale air and chopped off Tian Feng's head with a single stroke.

(End of this chapter)