Zang Ba is indeed a character, he really has the ability to command, he was sent to Taishan County to defend the north of Xuzhou, blocking Lu Peng's iron flow south, he actually blocked Lu Peng's army under Zhu Shuo's army.

Taishan County was originally Zang Ba's lair, and when Lu Bu attacked Taishan, he was beaten by Zang Ba and had no temper, and finally had to reconcile with Zang Ba. It can be seen that it is brave and capable. Therefore, when Cao Pi was on the throne, Zang Ba moved to the general of Zhendong, entered the Marquis of Wu'an, and then Cao Wei moved south, and then entered Zang Ba as the military governor of Xuzhou, and became the Marquis of Liang.

After accepting the defense of Taishan County, in order to reach an alliance with Liu Bei, Zang Ba took Wu Dun, Yin Li, Sun Guan, and Sun Guan's brother Sun Kang to rely on the Taishan Mountains to begin to fortify layer by layer, and take the method of resisting step by step, and fought desperately with Lu Peng's Xi Zhen's department, making it difficult for Xi Zhen to move an inch.

With the change of the situation, it is imperative to take Xuzhou as soon as possible and completely wrap Liu Bei's forces in his sphere of influence, so Lü Peng personally led Pang De's 60,000 cavalry to reinforce Xi Zhen.

At the same time, he ordered Tian Feng's western part to obtain half of Yuzhou, and the army that already bordered Liu Bei created a tense atmosphere, so that Liu Bei could not take the opportunity to take Xuzhou.

When Xi Zhen saw Lu Peng, he bowed down and pleaded guilty: "It's all the last general who is incompetent, with an army of 60,000, he can't let Zang Ba collapse, and he also asks King Tang to punish him." ”

Lu Peng used a horsewhip to mention Xi Zhen, this is his most confidant, and he doesn't have to be so particular, if he is too particular, he will be a little raw.

"Tell me about your current situation." Rubbing the tip of his nose, which was red from the cold, Lu Peng followed Xi Zhen step by step to climb up the hillside.

There were several heavy snowfalls in the past few days, the new snow covered the old snow, and the flat ground was not over the calves, and although the roads leading to the various camps were constantly cleaned by the soldiers, it was also difficult to walk.

And there are mountains everywhere here, and there is no flat land for the camp to settle down, so the entire military camp can only rely on the mountains to camp, so that huge difficulties began to appear in defense, for example, now Xi Zhen's big tent can only be tied on this mountain bag, around him, and lined up at one time, and the camp that should have been tied together turned out into a long snake formation.

Standing on the top of the mountain, Xi Zhen proudly reported to Lu Peng: "We are difficult, but the enemy is not easy either, and the morale of our soldiers-"

Lu Peng directly interrupted him: "It's difficult to say." ”

Xi Zhen paused, and then replied in a dry voice: "It's too difficult." First of all, this ghost weather, although the winter of previous years is cold, but it rarely snows, the next heavy snow, the people will cheer, the next year's moisture will be good, it indicates that the coming year is a good omen, but this year's heavy snow is suddenly surprisingly much, not only let the road cut off, and the people's houses collapsed, it is really miserable, and compared to our army, it is even more difficult, although we live in sheepskin tents, but still can't stop the cold wind dry cold temperature, Now the biggest attrition in our army is frostbite, which already accounts for 10% of the entire army. ”

"Isn't there a supply of coke in Changli?" Lu Peng asked worriedly.

"Changli's coke has been transported, but due to the heavy snow along the way, the number of transported is quite scarce, and in such a cold weather, this pot of charcoal fire is not borrowed at all, this really responds to that sentence, the fire is warm in the chest, and the wind blows the cold behind, so that in the tents of the soldiers, it is necessary to light the charcoal fire all day and night, the consumption of coke is greater, and the supply of the rear is more difficult, and the convoy of coke materials is already miserable."

Lu Peng frowned and listened, but didn't say anything.

"There is also the problem of food, what we have always adopted is to use merchants to supply our grain and grass, but at this time, it will not work."

"Why not? Can't they keep the contract? ”

Xi Zhen said with a wry smile: "Our original merchants still abide by the contract and provide us with grain and grass, but this heavy snow closes the road, their consumption is huge, and the speed of transportation cannot keep up, and there is another point, Zang Ba divided at least a hundred soldiers to encircle and suppress the merchants we supplied along the way, which made them suffer heavy losses, and several merchants have been wiped out the entire caravan, according to the contract, they are not in breach of contract, so there are many merchants who no longer take huge risks, We have been provided with food and grass. ”

"And what about the local merchants? We can double our pay. ”

Xi Zhen smiled even more bitterly: "Zang Ba originally grew up in Mount Tai, his reputation is extremely high here, this time, he has returned to his hometown, he has already sent a message, hoping that those businessmen will not cooperate with us, and at the same time, he has killed those businessmen who want to cooperate with us and earn huge profits, which has played a role in killing a hundred people, so the local businessmen will not provide us with any grain and grass." ”

"Anything else?"

Xi Zhen continued to complain: "Since we entered the Taishan Mountains, there is no palm-sized flat land here, and under the steep mountains are undulating hills. But you see. ”

Xi Zhen stood here and pointed around, the joint camp of the 60,000 army was sparsely packed, one in the east and one in the west, and there was almost no contact with each other, let alone looking at each other. "It is precisely because of our way of camping that Zang Ba has the opportunity to sneak attack us, they keep sending small troops to attack us day and night, although we are repelled every time, but it is already annoying, so that our soldiers are tired."

Lu Peng stood here, looking at the mountains in the distance, and fell into deep thought.

Familiarity is treasure, this is the advantage of Zang Ba, at this point, he occupies the people, and now this continuous Mount Tai mountain range lies in the north of Xuzhou, the mountain range is steep, only a few river valleys are the access road, the army wants to enter, must attack step by step along the river valley, this is he occupies the geographical advantage.

God is also against himself, snowflakes that were rarely seen in previous years, but this year they are overwhelmingly and constantly falling, so that the speed of the army's march and logistical supply, there are huge difficulties, and he occupies the time again.

The time, place and people are all right for him to occupy, and he is indeed in a dilemma.

Originally, according to the normal rhythm of the war, everyone agreed that the two sides would cease fighting in winter, because the two sides would be a problem that could not be solved.

But now the situation does not allow him to make a truce, and he must take this place before Liu Bei occupies Xuzhou to achieve his goal.