The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 121 The Fall of Tianshui City

"you!"

“What’s wrong with me!” Li Jue said, “No matter what, we are of the same status. What right do you have to point fingers at me?”

"Insolence!" roared one of Guo Si's subordinates, gripping the hilt of his sword.

"You dare!" Li Jue's subordinates glared defiantly at Guo Si's general.

"Stop!" Guo Si and Li Jue shouted simultaneously, "With a formidable enemy at hand, how dare you fight amongst yourselves?"

"General Li, I hope you can come up with a solution as soon as possible, otherwise this city may not be able to be defended tomorrow." Guo Si said to Li Jue, "Our army has already suffered one-third casualties. If we still cannot repel Gongsun Zan, I'm afraid we really won't be able to hold out until Han Sui and Ma Teng's reinforcements arrive."

“Then Liangzhou will belong to the Gongsun family!” Guo Si lamented.

Li Jue said to Guo Si, "Don't worry, Guo Jianjun, I will definitely not let Tianshui City fall."

After Guo Si left his tent, Li Jue spat on the ground and said, "What a piece of trash. If it weren't for the fact that you still have some value, nobody would care about Tianshui City."

Li Jue turned to his general and said, "Be prepared to retreat at any time. I don't think I can hold Tianshui City."

"Yes, General."

Li Jue was well aware that the allied forces within the city had developed rifts, making it unrealistic to expect them to work together as one again. Guo Si was not a generous man, and Niu Fu, already in the weakest position due to the plan, had now essentially lost his voice. The balance between Li Jue and Guo Si was extremely fragile.

Another day has come to an end. In today's battle, the Chang'an army in the southern city suffered very few casualties thanks to the support of the Shenwu Cannon. Under the muzzle of the Shenwu Cannon, almost no army could stop the Chang'an army's attack. By the afternoon, the Chang'an army had almost reached the main street. Of course, the closer they got to the main street, the more tenacious the Xiliang army's resistance became. However, in the face of the Shenwu Cannon, this was nothing. Although the advance was a little slow, it was nothing compared to their own lives.

The soldiers of Chang'an had become superstitious about the power of the Divine Cannon, and they didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

When Chen Er learned of the performance of the Chang'an army in Tianshui City, he couldn't help but sigh. When people are pushed to the limit, they can come up with any method. Gongsun Zan even came up with this infantry-artillery coordination tactic, which is quite remarkable.

However, the loading speed of the Shenwu cannon still limited the performance of the Chang'an army. If it were the current autonomous region army, with the combination of flintlock muskets and general cannons, Chen Er was confident that he could break through the Xiliang army's defenses within a day.

Of course, this is based on disregarding the safety of the people. Chen Er is hard-hearted, but he will not launch indiscriminate attacks like Gongsun Zan, regardless of whether there are civilians in the houses. As long as there are enemies inside, they must be attacked!

The Xiliang army, of course, didn't care at all. Some units even used civilians as human shields or lookout posts to ensure their own safety. Such behavior was simply outrageous. But in this era, human life was the least valuable thing. Everyone knew that those civilians were innocent, but who would help them?

No, at this moment they could only rely on themselves and the elusive God.

Tianshui City fell, it finally fell. On the third day of the street fighting, the Chang'an army reached the main street, and the other walls behind the city were under threat. Moreover, the retreat route to the west was also very likely to be cut off by the Chang'an army.

Danger was imminent. Faced with this situation, Li Jue and Niu Fu began to hesitate, especially Niu Fu, who only had six or seven thousand men left. If they were all lost here, they would be truly wiped out, and there would be no hope of turning the tide.

So while the other two were busy with defense, Niu Fu led his men to the west city and took over its defense. He also secretly stole Guo Si's five thousand horses and then ran away.

When Guo Si and Li Jue received the news, it was already more than an hour later. When they rushed to the west city wall with their men, it was deserted. Fortunately, the Chang'an army had not discovered the change at the west city wall. Li Jue led his last 5,000 reserve troops to take over the west city wall and strongly condemned Niu Fu's actions. He also said that he would hold out with Guo Si to the end. Guo Si knew that this was a fait accompli and could not be changed. Now he could only do his best to defend it. After trying to win over Li Jue, Guo Si led the army back to the east city and the main roads in the city. Now the only hope was that Han Sui and Ma Teng still had some sense of the big picture.

However, another unexpected event occurred. Guo Si never expected that Li Jue, who had just said he would persevere to the end, would immediately gather his troops and run away after Guo Si left, following in Niu Fu's footsteps.

"Damn it!"

Upon hearing the news of Li Jue's escape, Guo Si flew into a rage and threw his favorite vase to the ground, shattering it into pieces, just like his heart, which was also shattered into pieces.

With Li Jue's escape, a gap of more than 10,000 men immediately appeared in the city. Guo Si now only had more than 20,000 men left, with no reserves at all. At daybreak tomorrow, the Chang'an army will immediately discover their defenses riddled with holes, and defeat will be a foregone conclusion.

"What should we do?" Guo Si asked, looking at his trusted confidants inside the tent.

"General, perhaps... perhaps..." an officer stammered to Guo Si. Guo Si interrupted, "Speak plainly, no need for such beating around the bush." ​​"General, perhaps we should surrender?"

"Surrender?" Guo Si was tempted by the officer's suggestion, but he still hesitated. After all, surrendering would mean becoming someone else's subordinate again, which made Guo Si, who was used to living the life of a local tyrant, somewhat hesitant.

“General, Da Niu is right. We definitely can’t hold Tianshui City. We must make a decision quickly. If Gongsun Zan discovers our army’s abnormality, he will definitely launch an attack tonight. By then, it will be too late. We must come up with a decision: to retreat or to surrender.” A lieutenant said to Guo Si.

"Yes, we can't hold on anymore. But where else can we go in this world? Everywhere we go, we're just living under someone else's roof." Guo Si said dejectedly, "If it weren't for Li Jue, Niu Fu, Han Sui and others misleading me, I wouldn't have ended up like this! But will Gongsun Zan really accept our oath before we went to war if we surrender?" Guo Si was still hesitant.

Gongsun Zan had, after all, stated his policies. Now that I am surrendering, will Gongsun Zan accept it?

“General, although Gongsun Zan said he would not accept surrender, it depends on the situation. We still have more than 20,000 men. If Gongsun Zan does not accept our surrender, we can just fight to the death and run away with all the money we have accumulated over the years. Anyway, this money is enough for us to live a good life.” The officer called Da Niu said to Guo Si.