Atop the gate tower, Zhao Yun continued calmly twirling his spear.
It was as though he paid no heed at all to the three hundred soldiers who had entered the city.
Before long, the three southern gates were raised again, and the sight revealed behind them brought expressions of horror to Yuan Shao and the others!
Corpses lay strewn throughout the gateways. Every cavalryman who had just entered had died a gruesome death-not one had survived!
"There really was a trap! Zhang Yan must have brought the Black Mountain Army to their aid!"
Yuan Shao's expression changed drastically. Even more certain that troops lay in ambush inside the city, he ordered without hesitation, "The entire army is to return the way we came! Retreat at once!"
Yan Liang and Yuan Tan were shocked as well. Three hundred soldiers had been wiped out so quickly-there truly were troops lying in ambush inside. Yi City was far from as simple as it appeared!
A few days earlier, they had intercepted a letter Gongsun Zan had written to Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army, requesting aid.
Now it seemed the Black Mountain Army must already have arrived and concealed themselves inside the city. Perhaps there were ambushes outside as well, waiting to launch a surprise attack when they began their siege and were completely off guard!
At Yuan Shao's command, the rear ranks of the thirty-thousand-strong army became the vanguard, and the vast host withdrew, not daring to linger.
Yi City, the southern gate tower.
Seeing the army outside retreat, the soldiers crouching beneath the battlements were overjoyed. They called to Zhao Yun, "General! The enemy really is retreating!"
"Don't stand up!"
Zhao Yun did not stop twirling his spear. Though tension had already brought sweat to his forehead, his expression remained