In fact, there was nothing wrong with Simbi's response, after all, he didn't know that Gao Ye still had the navy under him. It is precisely because of this that Xin Bi could not think of any way to obtain grain and grass for Yu Ban, who was deep behind enemy lines. After all, a big war is imminent, and although the rear is empty, the grain and grass are also exhausted, and it is almost impossible to feed the enemy if you want. As long as the army withstood Gao Ye's attack on the plains, Yuan Xi with 30,000 soldiers and horses, even if he couldn't completely annihilate the forbidden department, there would be no problem in defeating him.

Gao Ye in Jinan City, since he received the military report that Yu Ban took down Yang Xin, the faint smile has never disappeared on Gao Ye's face. Speaking of which, Yangxin is just a small border town in the southeast of Bohai County, the city is not high and the pool is not deep, and it is not even a strategic place. In the past, neither Yuan Xi nor Xin Bi would look at it squarely. However, this city is adjacent to the Bohai Sea, as soon as the forbidden soldiers and horses go ashore, they will run ten miles after a short rest, and suddenly attack, which is used to ban in the words of the military newspaper is called "a thousand people attack the city, and go down with a drum".

Now in Yangxin City, Gan Ning is still transporting grain and grass materials, Cao Zhen is temporarily stationed here with 2,000 soldiers and horses, and Yu Ban has already sent troops to Leling. Gao Ye knew in his heart that the current situation of confrontation between the two armies on both sides of the Yellow River would inevitably undergo earth-shaking changes in the near future. Sure enough, only five days have passed since Gao Ye received the report from the forbidden army, and news from all over the country has come one after another. Xiahoude, Xiahoushang and others sent military reports one after another, saying that the Yuan army on the north bank of the Yellow River suddenly retreated, and they no longer moved in the past, and they were all asking how to move next.

"How? Don't you need to ask, of course it's to kill the river! Xu Huang, who was in the big tent, suddenly smiled when he heard this, "Now that the Yuan army has retreated, it is the perfect time for us to cross the river, you say yes, general." ”

Gao Ye nodded and said: "What Gongming said is very true, now that Wen Ze has taken Yangxin and besieged Leling, Yuan Xi's kid must be deeply stressed." It was also a wise move for this kid to decisively shrink his forces, but I don't know if he has any other tricks. But now that the Yuan army has retreated, our army naturally has to keep up. Gaotang's Wenyuan has prepared a pontoon bridge, ready for our army to cross the river, and it is time for our army to act. Gao Ye said as he looked at the map, and then asked, "Yuan Zhi, what do you think?" ”

Xu Shu arched his hand and said: "I agree with the general, this is the perfect time to cross the river at this time. ”

"Well, it's just that Yuan's retreat this time will inevitably concentrate its forces on the plains. This is the key point of the intersection of Qinghai and Hebei, and it is a place of contention, if we can't take this city, it is nonsense to threaten Yuan Shao's flank to help the lord. The plain has not been subjected to war for a long time, the city is intact, the city defense equipment is sufficient, and now there are 80,000 soldiers and horses under Yuan Xi to garrison, and the strong attack will inevitably cause heavy casualties, and it may not be able to take the city. Yuanzhi, what do you have to do? ”

As soon as Gao Ye's words fell, Xu Huang and Xu Shu both fell into deep thought. Gao Ye's worries are not unreasonable, if it is attacked, even if the city can be taken, the casualties will be large. When the troops are stretched thin, how can they help Cao Cao? Therefore, Plains City is naturally outwitted. Seeing that the two of them were in deep thought, Gao Ye asked Gao Shun to gather troops and horses first and prepare to set off tomorrow. As for Xiahou De and Xiahou Shang, Gao Ye sent orders for them to continue to guard the city so that Yuan would not be suddenly attacked by Xi soldiers and horses.

The two people in the big tent were still pondering, but a junior colonel hurriedly ran into the tent and said: "General, General Yu Ban reported that Yuan Xi personally led 30,000 soldiers and horses and rushed to Leling. Gao Ye nodded when he heard this, took the military report handed over by the little colonel in his hand, and motioned for him to retreat for the time being. opened the high night of the military newspaper and read it carefully. Xu Shu on the side said: "General, Yuan Xi personally led his troops to meet General Yu Ban?" ”

Gao Ye nodded when he heard this: "Exactly, General Yu Ban came to report that there were 3,000 defenders in Leling, and he failed to take it after attacking twice." Now Yuan Xi's men dispatched nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses to kill Leling. ”

When Xu Shu heard this, he smiled lightly and said: "I am still thinking about how to take the plain, and now Yuan Xi has sent troops to meet General Yu Ban, God bless our army!" ”

"Oh? Will the Yuan Zhiji be settled? Gao Ye then asked.

"General, if Yuan Xi has been stationed on the plain with his soldiers and horses, it will indeed be difficult for our army to capture it. However, Yuan Xi rushed to Leling with 30,000 horses, which gave our army an opportunity. I think the reason why Yuan's army chose to stick to the plain on the one hand and meet General Yu Ban on the other must be because he thought that General Yu Ban's army was alone and it was difficult to replenish. Therefore, Yuan Xi must want to eat this lonely army, and then turn back to meet the main force of our army. They didn't know that our army had a navy, and that General Gan Ning could send supplies from the sea to Yangxin. So what is the use of their strategy? Therefore, our army should immediately cross the Yellow River and make a posture of attacking the plains with all its might. On the contrary, General Yu Ban does not have to attack Leling anymore, he can properly engage Yuan Xi's army, retreat step by step, show the enemy weakness, and make Yuan Xi and others think that they have a plan......"

As soon as Xu Shu's words fell, Xu Huang on the side said strangely: "Yuan Zhi's plan is to defeat Yuan Xi's army of soldiers and horses." But even if Yuan Xi is defeated and retreats, Plains City is still difficult to attack. ”

Gao Ye smiled slightly: "What Yuan Zhi has in mind is a serial plan. Gongming was calm for a while, and listened to Yuan Zhi finish speaking. ”

Xu Shu also grinned when he heard this: "What I think in my heart, General Hou already knows everything." Yes, whether it is our army's feint attack on the plains, or letting General Yu Ban show weakness to the enemy, it is only one part of this strategy. Even if there are only 50,000 horses in Plains City, it is not something that our army can easily take. That's why it needs to be ......"

The news of Gao Ye's soldiers and horses crossing the river was discovered by Yuan Jun's scouts when Zhang Liao began to erect the pontoon bridge. By the time the Yellow River was crossed at night, on the head of the Plains City, all kinds of city defense equipment had already been prepared. Zhang Nan, who was guarding the city, inspected the city defense every day to avoid any omissions. Even a literati like Xin Bi were dressed in armor, appeasing the people in the city and inspiring the soldiers who defended the city. Therefore, in the evening, when the two of them got together in the Taishou Mansion, they were covered with dust and tired.

"General Zhang, how is the city defense inspection, but are there any omissions?"

"The military advisor can rest assured, I have checked seven times before and after in the past few days, and the walls of Plains City are already strong, and now the rolling wood and stone feather arrows are all ready, so there is no problem."

"Well, that's good. Our army has 50,000 soldiers and horses, and the grain, grass and ordnance are quite sufficient, so it should not be a big problem to hold the plain. I have been pacifying the people of the city for the past few days, and I can mobilize the people to defend the city as a last resort. However, Gao Ye's soldiers and horses are only forty or fifty thousand, and it is estimated that these people are not needed. This time, as long as you and I do our best to defend until the second son is defeated in the ban, this battle can be won! ”

Zhang Nan also nodded when he heard this: "Gao Ye's subordinates have that little bit of soldiers and horses, even if he is invincible all these years, he can't take the Plains City." Siege siege, that is to fill in with human lives! ”

After really seeing Gao Ye's soldiers and horses, Zhang Nan was confused. What about filling it with human life? Since Gao Tang crossed the river, Gao Ye's army drove straight in, directly besieging the plain city, besieging it for several days without attacking, and building a camp. To be honest, I can understand all this, after all, if the army wants to attack the city, it must be prepared, right? Moreover, Gao Ye, Xu Huang, Zhang Liao, and Gao Shun were divided into four gates, so that they didn't even have the heart to harass and sneak attack. In Xinbi's words, these people are all generals under Gao Ye, how can they be defenseless? When the attack fails, it will be defeated by the enemy, and the gains will outweigh the losses. Now defending the city is a great achievement, there is no need to make extraneous branches, and I also think it is true.

But the real thing that makes me confused is still to come, the camp is built, and Gao Ye is naturally preparing to attack the city with a large army, which is understandable. Even if he said something under the city, "If you don't surrender again, you won't be left with chickens and dogs when the city is broken" can understand it. After all, it's a siege, you can't lose the momentum, right? When Gao Ye's soldiers advanced, the scene of the same pace, even he was a little frightened. I have always heard that Cao Jun is elite, but I never thought that Cao Jun was actually elite. But when Gao Ye really ordered the siege of the city, none of the scenes he thought of in his heart, such as charging, erecting ladders, and climbing the city to fight, appeared!

With Gao Ye's order, in the military formation, a group of soldiers actually launched an ordnance that Zhang Nan had never seen before. Zhang Nan was standing at the head of the city at the south gate, and seeing more than a dozen large ordnance standing in front of the military array, Zhang Nan already had an ominous premonition in his heart. When more than a dozen boulders fell from the sky, Zhang Nan couldn't say anything about the bitterness in his heart. The fall of the boulder from the sky was never expected by either himself or Simbi. Although Gao Ye used a trebuchet to attack Runan and Langya, Yuan Shao, who was far away in Hebei, never received any news. This also made Zhang Nan, who was at the head of the city, feel a little caught off guard.

Seeing that another boulder was flying, Zhang Nan hurriedly shouted, telling the sergeants to hide and be careful not to be smashed. But the size of the thousand-pound boulder can be imagined, where is it said that you can dodge. Gao Ye never sent a single soldier forward, and the morale of his own soldiers was lost, this ordnance is really powerful!

"General Zhang, the one who used the high night is a trebuchet. This thing appeared as early as the Warring States period, but the one used by Gao Ye seems to be more clever than recorded in ancient books. I went to the city yesterday to see it, and the sound was terrifying, and it was really extraordinary. But even if this catapult is so powerful, we must defend the city! ”

Zhang Nan shook his head when he heard this: "Now that Gao Ye does not send troops to attack the city, it is useless to defend the city. If Ren Gaoye is so wreaking havoc, I am afraid that the army's morale will be lost, and it will be difficult to hold on. ”

"Well, that's what I thought, too. What a trebuchet, what a high night! However, I found that the trebuchet was not easy to carry, and it was not even moved at night for a few days, only a few soldiers guarded it. General Zhang, why don't you raid at night and destroy this trebuchet? ”[.]