The second battle of Zhongmu City was dominated by fighting generals. He Xian was waiting for the Yuan Cao coalition army to run out of grain and grass, and Yuan Cao was also waiting for the Nanyang army to run out of grain and grass. The two sides tacitly fought in a way with the least casualties, and the Nanyang army won fewer and lost more. Except for He Xian, who did not play in person, the rest of the generals of the Nanyang Army all came on the field to challenge. In terms of foot combat, Dian Wei is invincible and deserves to be the first. In terms of cavalry warfare, Yan Liang and Tai Shici are not up or down, and Yan Liang and Zhang Liao are also up and down. Yan Liang, Zhang Liao, and Tai Shici are of the same level and are in the first echelon. The rest are slightly inferior.

As an ordinary soldier, being able to see the battles between the world's first-class generals in the past few days is simply the most bragging thing in life. Thinking that Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty launched the battle for the eight captains of the West Garden, the number of first-class generals was no more than that.

When the soldiers and generals in the city were all with the mentality of watching a big show, Cao Cao was alone in the camp and meditated, he had a hunch that there was a problem in Zhongmu City.

But all first-class characters will have a magical ability, that is, to predict danger. Cao Cao relied on this premonition in his previous career to avoid danger again and again. This time, the premonition of crisis reappeared.

The "lord ......" went out to raise "human flesh, grain and grass" and returned in a hurry, only because Cao Cao was urgently called. When Cao Cao saw Xi Zhicai, he expressed his worries: The grain and grass crisis of the Nanyang Army may just be a trap! The purpose is to drag down the Yuan Cao coalition army!

Xi Zhicai frowned tightly and asked Cao Cao if he had any clues.

Cao Cao shook his head, saying that it was just a guess on his part. He had already personally inquired about Chun Yuqiong, and although the facts were a little different from what Chun Yuqiong had said before, Cao Cao could conclude that Chun Yuqiong was not He Xian's person.

Looking at the mental condition of the Nanyang soldiers on duty on the city wall, they were all powerless, as if they were running out of food and grass and couldn't eat enough. But the more this happened, the more uneasy Cao Cao's heart became.

"Could it be that the lord is too worried?" Xi Zhicai tried to ask. The battle between Zhongmu and Mou is very important, especially for Cao Jun, it is not too much to say that it is a battle of life and death. Under such pressure, it is very likely that human judgment will be problematic.

Cao Cao rubbed his swollen temples and said, "I wish I was overthinking, but the strong crisis warning made me unable to ignore it at all." After thinking about it, the only possibility is that the plan that our army is now carrying out is wrong. It is true that there was a fire in Zhongmu, but this does not mean that Zhongmu's grain and grass must have been destroyed. All the news that our army got about the shortage of food in the Nanyang Army came from the Nanyang Army itself, but none of Cao Bing or Yuan Bing had seen it with their own eyes......"

"Didn't the lord just say that Chun Yuqiong has no problem?" Xi Zhicai asked rhetorically.

"Chun Yuqiong is fine, but there is a problem with what he sees. Because Chun Yuqiong only saw that the Nanyang army had no food to eat, but he didn't see the residue of the grain and grass burned in the city......"

Xi Zhicai was a little speechless. There is nothing wrong with Cao Cao's questioning itself, but if every judgment is questioned along this line, then every decision will be flawed. The strategy of besieging Zhongmu is based on the lack of food and grass in the Nanyang army, and if this foundation is overthrown, then all actions are now infinitely dead.

"Does the lord mean to withdraw the army?"

Cao Cao felt that his head disease was about to be made again, and constantly thinking about it consumed too much of his energy. But Cao Cao was not an ordinary person after all, and made up his mind: "Inform Liu Ye, prepare the ladder and siege vehicle, and inform Xiahou Yuan to lead 10,000 troops to prepare for the siege." Tomorrow, I'm going to try if the Nanyang Army is really short of food. ”

"Ten thousand?" Cao Cao's main combat force now has a total of only 30,000 people, and Cao Cao will test one-third of his troops in order to verify one of his ideas......

"If it's just a temptation, 3,000 people are enough~" Xi Zhicai admonished.

"No!" Cao Cao shook his head and said, "If it's only three thousand people, the Nanyang Army has a lot of time to adjust and disguise." Only by suddenly attacking with all his might can the Nanyang army be exposed. Because if they hide their strength, they will be attacked on the walls. Once the city gate is broken, or the city is successfully climbed, our army might as well make a move and change the feint attack to a real attack! ”

……

This is the seventh day of the siege of Zhongmu City by the Yuan-Cao coalition army, and according to He Xian and Jia Xu's calculations, the grain and grass of the Yuan-Cao coalition army can only last for about fifteen days, which means that the plan has been half successful. As a few days ago, Tai Shici went out of the city to drown, and Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to meet him. After less than fifty rounds of fighting, Cao Ren was at a disadvantage across the board. Seeing this, Cao Cao ordered the sergeant to blow the horn of an all-out attack!

Xiahou Yuan commanded the Yanzhou soldiers from the camp to kill, carrying ladders and pushing siege vehicles, and went straight to Zhongmu City.

Tai Shi Ci was shocked, and hurriedly asked Cao Rendou loudly, and he didn't have to lose so much, right?

Cao Ren retreated to a safe place, and the long knife said: "The thief will be rampant again, if you don't want to be hacked to death by a random knife, don't retreat quickly!" ”

Tai Shici was helpless, and hurriedly collected his troops and returned to the city.

The generals of the Nanyang Army in the city also did not expect Cao Cao to suddenly attack Zhongmu City. Today's guard is Wei Yan's Fucha army, although He Xian ordered the soldiers patrolling the city wall to pretend to be weak and smear brown gray on their faces, but when Cao Jun's real sword and real gun came to attack the city, no one dared to be soft. Because softness means death. The archers were in place and sent out the first wave of counterattacks. However, Cao's army was well prepared, using siege vehicles and hand shields to cover more, and the casualties were not serious. After the archers, the sword and shield men, the pikemen, and the Nanyang heavy step also appeared on the city wall. According to Wei Yan's command, the sword and shield men acted as laborers and began to transport a large number of sassal wood and stone bricks to the wall. Zhongmu is a small city with no moat. Therefore, Cao Cao's frontal siege was the most brutal battle to ascend the city.

Seeing that the lethality of bows and arrows was limited, the colonel in charge of the archers decisively ordered the archers to replace them with rockets, and the target was changed from Cao Bing to heavy siege vehicles. Cao Jun's siege vehicle is made of wood, the overall structure is like a spire wooden house, extremely strong, equipped with four wheels underneath, covered with cowhide, in order to prevent the fire attack of the Nanyang army, Liu Ye also ordered the sergeant to pour a thick layer of mud on the outside of the cowhide. The rockets of the Nanyang army were shot at the siege vehicle, but they were unscathed.

"Trebuchet! Hurry up and ask Captain Ma Jun to let his engineering team come and operate trebuchets to destroy the enemy's siege engines! After Wei Yan learned that the rocket was attacking the enemy's siege vehicle, he immediately ordered his guards to go and invite Ma Jun. Under the city wall in Zhongmu City, hundreds of trebuchets were arranged, which prevented the strong attack of Yuan Cao's coalition army!