Yangzhou, Chaisang City.

Yuan Yao, as a pure northerner, basically has never been on a boat, this time the march for many days has been on the warship, at this time the body has been extremely unwell, when he was resting, suddenly Pang Tong came to report: "Lord, General Zhang led his troops to force the defenders of Xia Pheasant County, and now he has captured Xia Pheasant City!" ”

Yuan Yao sat up straight and said: "Order Li Siye to send two thousand soldiers and horses to take over the city defense of Xia Pheasant County, calculate the time, at this time Wei Yan's troops and horses should have also captured Qichun County, and then order him to send a thousand soldiers and horses to take over the city defense of Qichun County, and bring the prisoners from these two places back to Chaisang; After the Long Xiang army arrived in Exian, let Wei Yan leave 5,000 soldiers and horses to guard Exian, and then ordered him to lead the rest of the soldiers and horses to Huangzhou to set up a large camp, waiting for me to lead the army to join him. ”

"No, the minister will go to give an order, and ask the lord to rest early."

"Well, I see, you go down."

……

Yuan Yao led the army to rest in Chaisang for a day, and then went up the Yangtze River against the trend, and went to join the naval army of Zhang Dingbian, and after the two armies joined forces again, the army went straight to Huangzhou.

When Yuan Yao led the army to Huangzhou, Wei Yan had already set up a large camp on a high ground fifteen miles east of Huangzhou, which could not only hold the east road of the city, but also be close to the waterway of the Yangtze River.

After Yuan Yao's army arrived in Huangzhou, Wei Yan invited everyone into the camp, Yuan Yaogao sat on the throne, and Pang Tong, Wei Yan, Yang Zaixing, Zhang Dingbian and others lived separately.

Yuan Yao looked at Wei Yan and said, "Wei Yan, you led your troops to raid Exian County and forced down in Xia Pheasant and other counties, so that my army can drive straight into it without much effort, which can be described as an outstanding meritorious service, and you should be the first to make the first contribution to this battle!" I hope you will continue to work hard, after the end of this battle, there will be a great reward! It's the same with you, as long as you make meritorious deeds, I will definitely reward you! ”

Wei Yan stepped forward and bowed, and said, "The last general thanked the lord for his favor, and swore to repay the lord's kindness!" ”

Everyone also followed and bowed: "I will receive the order and swear to serve the lord to the death!" ”

"Wei Yan, let's talk about the situation in Huangzhou first."

"No!"

Wei Yan took the order, looked around at everyone, and said: "Huangzhou is an important town in Jiangxia, and after Huangzhou, it is Xiakou and Sanjiangkou, as long as this place is broken, our army can go deep into the hinterland of Jiangxia!" ”

"The city of Huangzhou is three zhang high, the moat is five zhang wide, and the moat water refers to the living water of the Yangtze River, if you don't make a lot of effort, it is difficult to cut it off and fill it in; Huangzhou is backed by the Yangtze River, surrounded by water on both sides, only the north and east can be used with troops, and the terrain here is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack! ”

"The last general has found out that the Huangzhou garrison is Deng Long, the general under Huang Zu, there are about 10,000 defenders in the city, Deng Long has learned the news that our army has captured Exian, Huangzhou City is now closed and heavily guarded, and there is no chance to raid and rob the city. After the last general set up the camp, he led his troops to challenge, Deng Long closed the city and defended himself at all, and did not go out of the city to face the battle, our army wanted to take Huangzhou City, only a strong attack! ”

Military law is cloudy: go up to the army to plan, then to attack the enemy, then to attack the army, and then to attack the city.

Storming the city is undoubtedly exchanging sacrifice for the city, if it is not a last resort, Yuan Yao is really unwilling to use the soldiers and horses he has worked so hard to gather to storm the city.

Yuan Yao waved his hand to order Wei Yan to retreat, and said, "Wen Chang has already told you about the situation in Huangzhou, I don't know if you have a strategy to break the enemy?" ”

Pang Tong lowered his head and thought for a moment, and said: "Lord, if you want to break the city, you must first cut off its aid, and Xiakou in the west of Huangzhou can get support and replenishment from Xiakou at any time, which is extremely unfavorable for my army to attack the city." The lord can adjust the water army to go to the west of Huangzhou City to find land and build a water village, so as to cut off the connection between Huangzhou and Xiakou. In this way, Huangzhou can become an isolated city, and the defenders in the city will definitely fluctuate, and it will be easier for our army to attack the city again. ”

Yuan Yao nodded and responded: "Well, what Shiyuan said is very much in line with my wishes, Zhang Dingbian, you immediately lead the naval army to the west of Huangzhou to build a water village, and you must cut off the Yangtze River waterway, and you can't let Huangzhou get the slightest supplement!" ”

Zhang Dingbian stepped forward and said: "No, the last general will take the order, and he will live up to the trust of the lord!" ”

Yuan Yao thought for a while, and then ordered: "Although the mission of this trip is important, you must also be extremely careful behind enemy lines deep in your army, and all caution comes first. ”

"No, the last general knows, and he will be careful!"

Yuan Yao glanced at the generals, saw that no one spoke anymore, and said: "All the armies are coming from afar, let's go down and rest first, and tomorrow morning, the general will personally lead the army to attack Huangzhou!" Wen Chang, as soon as my army arrives, the matter of the vigil will be entrusted to you, and you must be extra careful to prevent the enemy from attacking at night. ”

"No, the last general has ordered that more horse sentinels and patrol sergeants will be dispatched."

……

Nothing was said all night.

I don't know if Deng Long has already made up his mind to defend this battle to the death, although Yuan Yao's army is very tired from coming from afar, but Deng Long did not choose to go out of the city to attack at night, so that Wei Yan's various preparations fell into the void.

After the army was full, Yuan Yao left 3,000 soldiers and horses to guard the camp, and then led the rest of the army straight to Huangzhou.

Yuan Yao's army arrived at the city of Huangzhou and formed a formation, Yuan Yao began to observe the city defense of Huangzhou City, only to see that the city wall of Huangzhou was all made of bricks and stones, indeed as Wei Yan said, the city was three zhang high and the river was five zhang wide, and the moat was flowing rapidly, and a bag of sand would be washed away immediately, and there was no way to fill it in the ordinary way.

The gates of Huangzhou were closed, the drawbridge was high, and the city walls were densely packed with soldiers with bows and crossbows, waiting to shoot Yuan Yao's soldiers when Yuan Yao's army filled the moat.

I have to say that the land of Jingzhou is really rich, and the number of bows and crossbows of the defenders in the city is so large that even the soldiers and horses under Yuan Yao's command can't catch up.

Yuan Yao looked at the heavily guarded military town in front of him and couldn't help but feel a little numb, such a strong city, how to use flesh and blood to break through?

"Wen Chang, send some sergeants with loud voices to challenge, even if Deng Long doesn't come out, he has to scold him for me!"

"No, the last general will send a sergeant to call for battle!"

Wei Yan sent dozens of sergeants with very loud voices to the city to call for a challenge, but Deng Long ignored it at all, and had no intention of going out of the city to meet the battle.

Yuan Yao didn't know that Deng Long was cautious, he knew that Jiang Xia and Yuan Yao would have a battle, and after he learned the news that Li Siye and Zhou Tai were tied, he was already consciously investigating the situation of Yuan Yao's generals.

He had already found out that Yang Zaixing and Wei Yan under Yuan Yao were excellent in martial arts, and their martial arts were almost equal to Li Siye's, and Deng Long had no intention of going out of the city to die at all.

Yuan Yao couldn't help but feel anxious in his heart after seeing that the scolding challenge was really useless......