Vol 2 Chapter 2854: Deng Jiugong battles Cao Ning, Liu Tichun contributes

Chapter 2854 Deng Jiugong battles with Cao Ning, Liu Tichun offers Ding Tao (Part 1)

Chapter 2850: Deng Jiugong battles Cao Ning, Liu Tichun offers Ding Tao (Part 1)

Although Liu Tichun is the guard general of Dingtao, Cao Ning is a member of the Cao Wei clan, and his military rank is much higher than him. If he arrived in Dingtao and wanted to enter the city, the city gate captain would naturally not dare to stop him, so he did not notify Liu Tichun. Let Cao Ning enter the city.

As soon as Cao Ning entered the city, he learned from the soldiers at the city gate that Ma Shouying had entered the city to lobby Liu Tichun. Now, regardless of whether Liu Tichun rebelled or not, Cao Ning had to capture Liu Tichun.

Puyang and Xuchang both fell, and once Dingtao also fell, Chen Liu's 100,000 Cao army would be cut off from their retreat, and would be in danger of annihilation.

At such a critical moment of life and death, Cao Ning naturally did not dare to take the risk to bet on whether Liu Tichun was loyal or not, so whether Liu Tichun rebelled or not, he had to capture Liu Tichun first.

As soon as he thought about this, Cao Ning immediately asked: "Who among you has the highest level?"

 “The first general is the last general.”

Chengmen Colonel immediately responded, and Cao Ning said: "From now on, you and your subordinates are under the control of this general."

 The captain of the city gate was startled, and then hesitantly said: "But, this is against the rules."

"Um?"

 Cao Ning's eyes immediately widened when he heard this, with murderous intent faintly revealed in his eyes, and he said calmly: "I have been ordered by my lord to come here. My words are orders. Do you want to disobey the order?"

The naked and powerful killing intent made the captain of the city gate feel the temperature around him plummeting. How dare he refuse, he immediately nodded and said: "I don't dare, I am willing to obey the general's orders."

"Okay, take your people with you immediately and go to the city lord's palace with me."

Relying on his identity and the threat of force, Cao Ning forcibly took over the military power of the city gate, and then led his troops straight to the city lord's palace, intending to capture Liu Tichun with lightning speed.

On the other side, although Liu Tichun knew that Cao Ning had entered the city, he obviously did not think that Cao Ning would kill him.

After all, he didn't really rebel. The worst he could do was cooperate in handing over military power to prove his innocence. Since he no longer had the ability to rebel, it was impossible for Cao Ning to still believe in himself, right?

 It's just that Liu Tichun was worried that Cao Ning would kill his good brother Ma Shouying.

Ma Shouying can't blame him for surrendering. After all, he only has 200 county soldiers in his hands, and it is impossible to stop Bai Qi's tens of thousands of Qin troops. Whether he surrenders or not will not affect the overall situation.

But having said that, Ma Shouying surrendered after all, and he also took the initiative to act as a lobbyist, so it was naturally impossible for Cao Ning to let him go.

After Liu Tichun thought for a long time with a gloomy face, he responded to Ma Shou with a stern expression: "When Cao Ning comes later, no matter how you press me, you have to say that you faked the surrender and then returned with the intelligence of the Qin army, not something else." The lobbyist of the Qin army."

At this point, Ma Shouying will definitely not be able to escape. The only way Liu Tichun can think of is that Ma Shouying's surrender was a false surrender, and he brought important information about the Qin army to atone for his crime. Only in this way can he save Ma Shouying's life.

After hearing what Liu Tichun said, Ma Shouying smiled bitterly and said, "It's useless. The title I gave when I entered the city was the envoy of the Qin Army."

　　　…”

Liu Tichun wanted to sew Ma Shouying's mouth shut at this moment. Just say you can come in. You are talking too much. Now your last way of survival has been destroyed by yourself.

After Liu Tichun thought for a while, he finally said helplessly: "There is no other way. I will help you hold Cao Ning. You take this token and escape from the back door immediately, and then go to the north gate. I am the defender of the north gate." My old subordinates will let you out of the city after seeing the token."

Seeing that his good brother was still thinking about himself regardless of his own safety, Ma Shouying was extremely moved and asked: "If I just leave like this, what will you do? If Cao Ning finds out, he will definitely not let you go."

“We have been brothers for so many years, so I can’t watch you die, right? Don’t worry, as long as I cooperate in handing over military power, Cao Ning will not kill me.”

Liu Tichun walked to the gate, but saw that Ma Shou didn't move. He immediately frowned and said, "Why aren't you leaving? If you don't leave, it will be too late."

Ma Shouying smiled miserably and said, "If I leave, you will definitely die. Even if I successfully escape from the city, Cao Ning can catch up with me on his own, so what's the point of escaping?"

As soon as these words came out, Liu Tichun fell silent. Ma Shouying was right. Cao Ning's mount was a famous horse and could travel thousands of miles a day. Otherwise, Cao Cao would not have sent him to Dingtao.

 In other words, Ma Shouying is dead this time.

"As I was about to die, I suddenly figured out something. In fact, your current situation is the same as mine. No matter whether you let me go or not, you are dead. Cao Ning cannot take the risk of letting you go."

Liu Tichun was shocked when he heard this. Yes, for Cao Ning, letting him go is tantamount to taking a risk. It would be fine in normal times, but now that Cao Wei is about to perish, is it possible for Cao Ning to take risks for himself?

After figuring out the key, Liu Tichun couldn't help but smile bitterly: "It seems that our two brothers may die together this time."

It is not that Liu Tichun has not thought about resisting, but Cao Ning has already entered the city, and it is impossible for the defenders in the city to dare to resist Cao Ning. Moreover, with his terrifying strength, he alone is enough to kill himself and all his cronies.

 “No, there is another way that may allow you to survive.”

At this point, Ma Shouying came over, and under Liu Tichun's puzzled gaze, he pulled out the saber from Liu Tichun's waist, and then forced it into Liu Tichun's hand.

“The way is to kill me with your own hands. Only in this way can Cao Ning believe in you and you have a chance to live.”

Hearing Ma Shouying's words, Liu Tichun fell silent immediately. He also knew that this might be the last resort, but Ma Shouying had been his good brother for more than ten years, and he couldn't do it at all.

"Needless to say, if Cao Ning really wants to kill our brothers, the worst he can do is fight with Cao Ning. After eighteen years, he will be a good man again. It is absolutely impossible for me to kill you."

As soon as Liu Tichun said this, Ma Shouying became anxious.

“If both of us die, what will happen to the whole family behind us? How will your two sons, my two daughters and one son survive in this troubled world?

 You can exchange your life for my own death, so my death is worth it. From now on, I will entrust you to take care of my boy and girl. "

Everything Ma Shouying said was reasonable. Even if Liu Tichun couldn't bear it anymore, he had to think about the two families. He could only raise the saber tremblingly, but he still couldn't swing it.

Seeing this, Ma Shouying immediately urged: "Hurry up, if you keep grinding, Cao Ning will come, and we will both die by then.

If Cao Ning hadn't noticed it if he committed suicide, I would have committed suicide a long time ago, why would I have made it so difficult for you? "

After hearing this, Liu Tichun finally stopped hesitating and said with red eyes: "Brother, let's go." Then he waved the knife decisively. After beheading Ma Shouying, Liu Tichun collapsed and knelt in front of Ma Shouying's body.

At this time, no matter how iron-blooded a tough guy he is, he still can't help crying.

 After a while, Cao Ning arrived with his men aggressively. Originally, he was ready to take action directly, but when he saw Ma Shouying's body and Liu Tichun kneeling on the ground, he was stunned and did not take action.

With Cao Ning's strength, it was obvious that Ma Shouying died at the hands of Liu Tichun, but I couldn't believe that these two people had such a good relationship that Liu Tichun would have the heart to kill Ma Shouying.

 "Liu Tichun, why did you kill the horse to guard the response?" Cao Ning asked sharply.

Liu Tichun wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said seriously: "General Qi, Ma Shouying has rebelled, and he also wants to persuade the general to surrender to the Qin army.

Liu Tichun was a defeated general, but the lord ignored the past grudges and still gave him important tasks. It was hard to repay such a kindness even if he was ruined.

But Ma Shouying not only betrayed his lord, but also thought that Lamo would fall into the water. Since it is difficult to have both loyalty and righteousness, he could only choose to sacrifice righteousness for loyalty. "

Cao Ning could see that Liu Ma's feelings were real, and Liu Tichun's pain after killing was also real, but even so, Liu Tichun still killed Ma Shouying.

Even Cao Ning couldn't help but be moved by such an act of benevolence and loyalty, and the murderous intention towards Liu Tichun in his heart naturally faded away.

"troubled you."

Cao Ning patted Liu Tichun's shoulder intimately, and then said: "My lord ordered me to Dingtao to assist General Liu in guarding Dingtao, but now something like this has happened. With the general's current condition, I am afraid he is not suitable to lead the army anymore." Well, let’s make some adjustments and serve our lord again.”

 The implication is to ask Liu Tichun to hand over military power.

Although Cao Ning has believed Liu Tichun and is not planning to kill him, he will not let Liu Tichun continue to be in power. The military power will definitely be deprived.

Liu Tichun had no hope of retaining his military power, so he immediately said: "I'm sorry, the general is restless now. He is really not suitable to lead the army anymore. I leave the important task of defending the city to the general."

“Don’t worry, with the general here, we can’t even do anything. Reinforcements will arrive in one day at most.”

After Cao Ning comforted Liu Tichun some more, he left to take over the military power of the city. This made Liu Tichun relieved, but at the same time he felt increasingly frightened.

Ma Shouying was really right. When Cao Ning saw him, the murderous intent in his eyes was not concealed at all. It can be seen that Cao Ning would kill him regardless of whether he resisted or not. If it were not for his good brother Ma Shouying, he would definitely be dead.

"Brother, from now on, your children are my children." Liu Tichun said to himself secretly.

 At the same time, it was twenty miles outside Dingtao City.

A cavalry force of 3,000 people under the banner of the Qin Army was galloping towards Dingtao at full speed, and the leading generals were none other than Deng Jiugong and Deng Xiu's father and son.

After conquering Puyang, Li Cunxiao, Qin Niu, and Yu Yuan all went to hunt down Lan Yu's defeated army, while Hao Zhao and Wu Wenhua were sent to lead the army to suppress the Dongjun uprising army. Yu Hua was seriously injured in the Battle of Puyang.

 So much so that in the huge Northern Route Army, although there were many soldiers and generals, there were not many strong generals.

Bai Qi became a general, so he couldn't go into battle to kill the enemy in person, so he transferred Deng Jiugong and his son who were staying behind to serve on the front line.

Deng Jiugong was injured in the battle across the river, so Bai Qi stayed in Baima to cooperate with Huang Feihu of Yanjin to guard against Yin Shou of Yan County.

But with the fall of Puyang, Yan County has become an isolated city, and there is little point in keeping Deng Jiugong to keep an eye on Yin Shou. After all, Huang Feihu is enough, so Bai Qi transferred Deng Jiugong and his son to the front line.

Deng Jiugong, Deng Xiu and his son, marched three hundred miles in two days before catching up with Bai Qi's army that had conquered Lihu County. Without any rest, they were ordered by Bai Qi to lead three thousand cavalry as the vanguard. And rushed to Dingtao with simple equipment.

Although Bai Qi was determined to win Dingtao, he would not place his hope only on Ma Shouying. He sent Ma Shouying to persuade him to surrender as a courtesy, while Deng Jiugong was a soldier.

Ma Shouying would be the first to greet him with courtesy, but if Liu Tichun didn't know how to commend him, then Deng Jiugong would fight behind him. This is called courtesy first and then fighting.

Bai Qi also felt that there was a high probability that Deng Jiugong would not be needed this time. Ma Shouying alone could convince Liu Tichun. However, he was always used to making two preparations, but he did not expect that Deng Jiugong would really come in handy this time.

When Deng Jiugong, Deng Xiu and his son led their troops to Dingtao, Cao Wei's flag was still hanging on the city tower, and the soldiers on the city wall were also hurriedly carrying supplies. This was obviously not a sign of surrender.

"Father, Ma Shouying probably failed. He failed to persuade Liu Tichun to surrender. What should we do now?" Deng Xiu asked.

Deng Jiugong put away his telescope and said calmly: "Since we can't persuade them to surrender, we can only attack by force. Before the Dingtao defenders are ready to defend the city, we can catch them off guard."

Deng Jiugong was very lucky to have brought a detachable ladder with him on this trip. Otherwise, with his full cavalry lineup, he would not even be able to attack the city.

Under the order of Deng Jiugong, the Qin army quickly installed ladders, and then some of the cavalry dismounted and transferred to infantry, preparing to storm Dingtao.

When the Dingtao defenders discovered that the Qin army was coming, they immediately blew the horns, and then the entire city defenders mobilized to prepare for a defensive battle.

Looking at the city not far away, Deng Jiugong did not come down directly to attack. He wanted to try to persuade him to surrender again. If it didn't work, he would try to see if he could fight the generals. By killing the generals, he would first dampen the morale of Cao's army.

"Cao Jun on the city, listen, I, General Deng Jiugong, have something to say to your general Liu Tichun." Deng Jiugong shouted.

On the city tower, Cao Ning heard the words and responded with a sneer: "Deng Jiugong, don't waste your time. General Liu has already killed Ma Shouying and proved his loyalty to the Wei Dynasty. He will not see you."

Deng Jiugong was shocked when he saw Cao Ning. Cao Ning, who was supposed to be in Chenliu, now appeared in Dingtao. Now he understood why Ma Shouying failed to persuade him to surrender.

 “It’s troublesome.” Deng Jiugong couldn’t help but muttered to himself.

 (End of this chapter)