A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 641: Expansion

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records that Zhou Cang's arms were as strong as a thousand pounds, his ribs were strong and his beard was curly, and he looked very majestic. After Zhou Cang followed Guan Yu, he also fought with Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun defeated him several times in a row and shot him three times, but he was able to run back to Guan Yu to report the news and take Guan Yu back to seek revenge on Zhao Yun.

Just from the record of his fight with Zhao Yun, it can be seen that Zhou Cang's martial arts value is definitely not weak, and he is the type with thick blood and high defense. It's not a big deal even if he was stabbed three times by Zhao Yun.

Moreover, when Guan Yu flooded the seven armies, Zhou Cang chased Pang De on a raft, overturned the small boat Pang De was riding on, jumped into the water, and captured Pang De alive by relying on his swimming skills.

From this we can see that Zhou Cang is not only powerful in martial arts, but also familiar with water.

The opposing army had 5000 soldiers and horses, but they had no decent generals. When the third general who went out to fight was also killed by Zhou Cang, no one on the opposite side dared to come out to fight.

For a moment, Zhou Cang, alone on his horse, intimidated the 5,000 officers and soldiers on the opposite side.

Fighting before a battle is a way for both sides to boost morale. The victor is in high spirits, while the loser is in low spirits.

The five thousand soldiers came from afar and were already exhausted. After losing three battles in a row, their morale was even lower.

Lu Cheng seized the opportunity and decisively ordered his troops to leave the city to fight the enemy.

A moment later, more than a thousand soldiers poured out of the city and rushed straight towards the five thousand government troops on the opposite side.

Lu Cheng and Zhou Cang took the lead and charged straight into the enemy camp with more than a hundred cavalrymen.

As soon as the soldiers' archers fired two rounds of arrows, Lu Cheng and Zhou Cang were the first to charge into the army formation and kill people everywhere.

More than a hundred cavalrymen followed closely behind and rushed up.

Lu Cheng and Zhou Cang charged into the enemy camp from two directions, rushing directly towards the enemy's upright general and commander flags, scaring the enemy's commander into retreating in a hurry.

Seeing that the enemy commander was about to flee, Lu Cheng drew his bow and shot an arrow, which flew like a meteor, and the enemy commander fell off his horse. Then, Lu Cheng shot the second and third arrows in succession, shooting off the enemy commander's flag and general's flag.

For a moment, the entire government army formation was in complete chaos. They were chased by Lu Cheng's more than a thousand soldiers and horses, and they fled in all directions, abandoning their weapons and armor.

"Those who surrender will not be killed, and those who kneel down will be spared death!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed, and those who kneel down will be spared death!"

As the shouts spread across the battlefield, the slow-running officers and soldiers knelt on the ground and raised their hands in surrender.

The battle came and ended quickly. In less than half a day, the 5000 soldiers that the officers and soldiers had assembled with great difficulty were completely dispersed, leaving weapons and armor scattered all over the ground, as well as some surrendered soldiers.

Compared to the fighting process, cleaning up the battlefield actually took more time, because the officers and soldiers were too scattered and it was not easy to catch them, so most of them could only be allowed to leave.

In the end, less than two hundred officers and soldiers were beheaded, more than a thousand surrendered, and the rest all fled.

After cleaning up the battlefield, the captured officers and soldiers had their weapons and armor confiscated and were dispersed to two cities to serve as laborers and provide free labor.

Once the resettlement facilities in the two cities are completed, those officers and soldiers with good performance will be re-recruited.

After this battle, Zhou Cang became a little famous in Liaodong, which would be of great benefit to him in defending the city in the future.

Three days later, Lu Cheng dispatched 1500 soldiers from the two cities and headed straight for Fang County in the east.

After the previous battle, Lu Cheng's team had already made a name for itself. When he led his troops to the west gate of Fang County, the entire Fang County was already on high alert.

Lu Cheng came to the foot of the city, took out a spear, tied a letter of persuasion to surrender on the spear, and then threw it with force. The spear seemed to be shot out by a crossbow, with a sharp whistling sound, and with a bang, it hit the gate tower pillar above the city gate.

The officers and soldiers on the top of the city wall were terrified when they saw this, and they hid their heads behind the parapet, fearing that Lu Cheng would shoot them again and take their lives.

The magistrate of Fang County trembled and said, "Someone, take down that gun."

The soldier guarding the city gate took the order and stepped forward. He grasped the spear shaft with both hands and pulled hard, but failed to pull the spear down. He quickly held the spear shaft with both hands again, exerted all his strength, and pushed forward with his feet.

This time, the military officer successfully pulled out the spear, but his footing was unstable and he retreated three or four steps, almost hitting the city wall behind him before he could steady himself.

Afterwards, the military officer handed the document of surrender to the county magistrate. After reading it, the county magistrate remained silent for a long time.

"Sir, the troops of Liaodong, Liaoxi and the three counties of Liaodong's vassal states were all defeated by the Yellow Turban Army. If we defend the city, once the city is broken, I'm afraid disaster will not be far away. In my opinion, it is better to surrender early."

"We are paid by the imperial court, how can we surrender so easily? Han Junhou, you should tighten your defenses and find a way to hold the city. As long as we can hold out for ten days or half a month, the county governor will definitely send reinforcements."

"I'm afraid there won't be any reinforcements..."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

"Yes, I humbly accept my order."

After sending the document of persuasion, seeing that the people on the city wall were reluctant to surrender, Lu Cheng just smiled, returned to the army, and made some simple arrangements for the siege.

Fang County was smaller than Tuhe and Bintu, with a population of only seven or eight thousand. The city wall was only ten feet high, and the moat outside the city was less than ten feet wide. There were less than a thousand defenders in the city.

For Lu Cheng today, such a small city doesn't even require any siege equipment.

The guards on the city wall saw that the enemy troops outside the city did not move, and thought that they had not prepared siege equipment and would not attack the city today, so they all breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next moment, Lu Cheng outside the city rode his horse to within an arrow's reach of the city, then dismounted and rushed towards the city gate with a knife in hand.

The soldiers on the city wall were startled and quickly ordered: "Shoot! Shoot quickly!"

Without waiting for the rain of arrows from the city to fall on him, Lu Cheng had already rushed to the edge of the moat, leaped over the moat easily, and slashed quickly with the long sword in his hand.

With two "clang clang" sounds, the ropes of the city gate suspension bridge were cut immediately and the suspension bridge was lowered directly.

The siege troops in the rear immediately rushed towards the city gate with shields raised, and Lu Cheng also went straight into the city gate hole, kicked the city gate to make it shake, then aimed at the middle and chopped it down with a knife, directly cutting off the bolt behind the city gate.

When the sword and shield soldiers rushed to the city gate, Lu Cheng had already rushed into the city and reached the top of the city wall.

For those ordinary soldiers, Lu Cheng controlled the strength and knocked them out or sent them flying with the back of the knife, clearing a path in an instant.

Seeing this, the military officer on the city gate quickly surrendered: "Wait a minute, General, we surrender."

Lu Cheng's unique way of siege had a great deterrent effect, making the soldiers on the city walls dare not resist too much, and they retreated or surrendered one after another.

"Put down your weapons, and those who surrender will be spared death."

In less than half an hour, Lu Cheng captured another city.

Afterwards, Lu Cheng stayed for only one day, waiting for the arrival of the follow-up troops. He left a certain number of soldiers to garrison Fang County, and then headed to the next city again...