The decision has been decided, and the potter immediately passed down the holy decree, ordering the troops to besiege but not attack, and encircle Zhuoxian County into an iron bucket array, and even a fine work of the Han State is not allowed to sneak in. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

When the order was handed down, the soldiers also gave up the idea of breaking through Zhuo County quickly, and only built one earthen wall after another, dug one trench after another, and surrounded Zhuo County with three layers inside and three layers outside.

At the same time, the pottery merchant ordered Han Xin to go to the front line of Liangxiang in person, commanding an army of 100,000, and forming a confrontation with the 80,000 Han troops coming from the south.

In view of the previous battle of Weihai, Sun Ce's navy suffered heavy losses and could no longer pose a threat to the Qingxu coast, so the potters ordered Zheng Chenggong and other generals to lead the Great Wei navy to the north again and attack Liu Bei's coastal counties from the sea.

……

North of Liangxiang City, thirty miles, the Han army camp.

A small banquet is underway, the aroma of wine is overflowing, and the atmosphere is pleasant.

At this time, Liu Bei had just received the news that the veteran general Huang Zhong had led the army to recover Youbeiping County, killed the rebel general Shi Siming, and completely wiped out the last rebel army in Han.

This good news naturally lifted Liu Bei's spirits.

In Liu Bei's opinion, as long as Zhang Fei and Wu Sangui can hold Shanhaiguan, he will no longer have to worry about the future, and he can let go south to meet Guan Yu and fight to the death with the pottery merchants.

"As soon as the thief dies, Your Majesty can finally clean up the pottery thief with confidence, congratulations to Your Majesty." Zhuge Liang toasted and congratulated.

Liu Bei laughed, raised his glass and drank it all, and the atmosphere in the big tent was even more relaxed.

At this time, Fu Zhu reminded: "Your Majesty, the pottery thieves have captured Yijing, General Guan only has 20,000 soldiers and horses, I am afraid that it will be difficult to resist Zhuoxian, for the sake of today's plan, Your Majesty should quickly order General Guan to lead the army to retreat to Liangxiang, waiting to meet with our army, so as not to be surrounded by pottery thieves, after all, these 20,000 soldiers and horses are also a considerable force for us today." ”

Liu Bei flicked his hand and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Yun Chang still has this bit of knowledge, maybe he has retreated to Liangxiang at this moment and is waiting for me." ”

As soon as the words fell, the scout hurriedly broke in and hurriedly gave Liu Bei a piece of silk information.

Liu Bei drank the wine in the cup, unhurriedly unfolded the silk book, only glanced at it, and his face suddenly changed.

The ministers watched Liu Bei's expression change, and knew that something big had happened, so they immediately quieted down, and a pair of uneasy eyes shot at Liu Bei in unison.

"Your Majesty, what did the intelligence say?" Zhuge Liang asked cautiously.

"See for yourselves what else there is!" Liu Bei looked annoyed and disappointed, and threw the silk book information on the ground.

Zhuge Liang and the others hurriedly got up and picked up the information on the ground, and when they unfolded it, they all changed color.

The words on the information are like knives, and they are clearly written:

The Wei army successfully attacked Liangxiang, Guan Yu's retreat was cut off, and he was trapped and died in Zhuo County.

"Yun Chang didn't retreat to Liangxiang in time, how could he be so negligent and let the 20,000 army be surrounded by pottery thieves in vain." Zhuge Liang shook his head and sighed.

Liu Bei was also so angry that his face turned blue, and he said angrily in his mouth: "I knew that he was so incompetent, I shouldn't have let him go to the palace in the first place, I lost more than 60,000 soldiers and horses in vain, and now even the only 20,000 people are surrounded by the enemy, if my Han really perishes, he will be the first sinner!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Zhuge Liang and the others all changed color, and Guan Xing was even more ashamed, not daring to look up at Liu Bei.

Over the years, even if Guan Yu has been defeated repeatedly, Liu Bei has only reproached a little at most, how could he have said such heavy things today.

Everyone knew that Guan Yu really disappointed Liu Bei.

Frustrated, he sighed: "General Yun Chang has been defeated repeatedly, and now he is still surrounded by the Wei army, which is indeed a bit disappointing, but at this point, it is useless to blame him again, General Yun Chang is my Han general, and there are more than 20,000 valuable soldiers under his command, we must not see death without help." ”

"Guan Yunchang, Guan Yunchang, alas-"

Liu Bei let out a long sigh, although he was annoyed, he could only order the army to go south, wanting to break through Liangxiang and go to rescue Guan Yu who was besieged.

It's a pity that Liu Bei is just wishful thinking.

Just when Liu Bei arrived in Liangxiang, the pottery merchant had sent Han Xintong 100,000 elite soldiers to stand by there to prevent him from going south.

With the skills of Han Xinhuo and other generals, plus an army of 100,000, Liu Bei wanted to break through the defense line and kill Zhuoxian, how easy it would be.

Liu Bei attacked several times to no avail, and was forced to be on the front line of Liangxiang, forming a confrontation with Han Xin.

And in Zhuoxian, the siege officially began.

In the blink of an eye, January has passed.

In the course of a month, the Wei army did nothing, just kept digging ditches and building walls.

Within a month, the Wei army built three earthen walls and six ditches outside Zhuoxian County, cutting off all connections between Zhuoxian County and the outside world, and enclosing the entire city into an isolated island.

The potters only dig pits, but do not attack cities.

The purpose is naturally clear, that is, to compete with Guan Yu in the city and Liu Bei in the north to see who has a thick family background and who has more grain and grass.

At the beginning of the stalemate, Liu Bei had to transport the precious stored grain hidden in the granary of Jijing to the front line one after another.

The potters did not have to worry about the grain and grass at all.

For several years, although the Great Wei Dynasty was in a state of war almost every year, the Shang Dynasty Reform Law made the Great Wei stronger and stronger national strength and economy.

From Liangzhou in the west to Xuzhou in the east, from Jizhou in the north and south to Jiaozhou in the south, large areas of wasteland have been cultivated, and millions of farmers are working hard regardless of their hard work.

Under the industriousness of the people, coupled with the talent of the pottery merchants, the Great Wei Dynasty has been in good weather for five consecutive years, and the new grain in the granaries everywhere is about to overflow.

It is precisely because of this strong economy that although the Great Wei invested 400,000 troops in Hebei, the supply of grain and grass did not feel difficult.

Liu Bei is completely different, his Han Kingdom originally only had two states, and the newly acquired Manchu is located in a cold place, many areas are undeveloped, and the economy is not as good as Jiaozhou.

The loss of Manchuria, the Han economy, coupled with the destruction of the An Lushan rebellion, was another heavy blow to the Han economy.

The decline of national strength has reached this point, although Liu Bei's total strength is less than one-third of that of the potters, but the pressure of logistics grain and grass is ten times that of the potters.

Liu Bei was worried, and Guan Yu, who was trapped in Zhuo County, was even more worried.

When Guan Yu fled, in order not to leave it to the Wei army, he had to burn them all.

Although Zhuo County is a county governor, the grain is limited, and at most only his 20,000 horses are left to eat for three months.

Therefore, less than a month after the siege of the city, the supply of grain and grass in the city began to show signs of tightness.

The grain and grass can barely support it, and if you want to burn the fire and cook rice, you can't lack firewood, and after the city is besieged, the supply of firewood and grass in the city is also cut off.

Within ten days, the city ran out of firewood and grass, and the soldiers and civilians of the city had to tear down the doors and windows, and tear down all the wood that could be burned to use as firewood.

And now it is autumn, the temperature in the north is cold and fast after autumn, and soon I feel the cold, this door is opened, in order to save firewood and grass, and dare not make a fire for heating, every household can only spend the night in the cold, and the environment is becoming more and more unfavorable.

Of course, the physical pain can barely endure, and the suffocation of cutting off news from the outside world is really desperate.

For a month, Guan Yu had no idea what was going on outside, whether Liu Bei led an army to rescue him, and whether the Han Kingdom still existed.

He felt like his left eye, blind, in endless darkness, and the feeling of helplessness was suffocating.

In a blink of an eye, the siege has been nearly two months.

The weather is getting colder, and the grain and grass in the city are less than one-third, Guan Yu can only continue to reduce the rations of the soldiers in order to last a few more days, which makes the soldiers who are afraid of the cold more and more depressed, and everyone secretly complains.

Guan Yu's life was not easy, and Liu Bei outside was also restless, seeing that the grain and grass in Zhuocheng were about to run out, he had to do everything possible to try to force the Wei army to withdraw.

Under Zhuge Liang's suggestion, Liu Bei decided to take advantage of his large number of cavalry and sent a large number of cavalry generals such as Yan Liang and Zhang Liao to go around to the Wei army in an attempt to destroy the Wei army's grain route.

The potter, however, had already prepared.

After Han Xin commanded 100,000 infantry to take over the defense of the front line of Liangxiang, the pottery merchant added 10,000 iron cavalry to the 20,000 cavalry that had retreated, mobilized the vast majority of his cavalry force, and ordered Huo Quai, Ma Chao, Luo Cheng and other commanders to protect the grain road with all their might.

Under the tight defense of the potters, the Han army's raids on the grain routes were repeatedly frustrated, and after losing thousands of cavalry, they were declared a failure.

After the grain and grass had no worries, the potters were able to come and ravage Guan Yu with peace of mind.

After the siege entered the third month, the Wei army finally began to move, and hundreds of heavenly thunder cannons were deployed in Zhuoxian Simen, and began to bombard the dead city day and night.

Tens of thousands of stone bullets crossed the city walls and bombarded the houses in the city.

Hundreds of enemy soldiers and civilians were killed by the collapsed rubble before they could escape.

After a few days of bombardment, most of the houses outside Zhuocheng were razed to the ground.

The Han army was already short of firewood and grass for heating, and it was already painful enough to sleep in a leaky house at night, but now even a tile that sheltered from the wind was shattered by the Wei army, and they could only tremble in the open air.

The bombardment of stone bullets caused the spirit of the enemy soldiers and civilians in the city to suffer a heavy blow again.

As the siege entered its third month, the worst of anguish finally came.

Hunger.

All the pain is so insignificant in the face of hunger.

In three months, Guan Yu's 20,000 soldiers ate most of the grain and grass, and they were almost about to enter a desperate situation of running out of food.

The lobby of the county hall.

Guan Yu's face was gloomy to the extreme, one eye stared at the grain books and accounts on the desk, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"General, the rations of the soldiers have been reduced to the limit, and the little things they eat every day don't even have the strength to pick up weapons, and if this continues, if the pottery thieves don't kill a single soldier, we will collapse ourselves." Wen Chou's tone has brought out the crying tone.

"There is no food and grass in the army, so won't you go looking for food?" Guan Yu asked in a deep voice.

Looking for food?

Wen Chou was stunned, his face was dazed, and he said in his heart that this Zhuo County has been surrounded by water, where do you let me go to find food.

Guan Yu raised his hand and pointed outward, and said in a cold tone: "Those people in the city must have hidden a lot of grain, especially those rich households, you immediately lead the troops to go door to door to loot, but everything that can be eaten will be forcibly requisitioned by the general, and they are not allowed to hide a grain of rice." ”

As soon as this order came out, everyone in the hall changed color.