Cao Hong encountered unprecedented trouble here, but Cao Ren on the other side of Fancheng didn't know very well.

Pen?

Interesting?

Pavilion wWw.

ｂiquge。

Seeing that after Cao Hong changed direction, the entire Hanshui River gradually calmed down, and there was no big movement in the east where Cao Hong disappeared, Cao Ren took it for granted that Cao Hong was normal over there, at least the enemies they encountered there definitely didn't want to be so perverted on the battlefield.

"I think we should go. Now the moon has risen to the middle of the heavens. If we don't do anything, I'm afraid tonight will be wasted. ”

Looking up at the bright moon hanging high above his head, Cao Ren couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said to Cheng Yu beside him.

This is a tentative suggestion, not an inquiry.

Because Cao Cao had instructed him to follow Cheng Yu's words as much as possible before leaving, Cao Ren did not dare to act arbitrarily in some matters.

He knows Cheng Yu's ability, so as long as Cheng Yu can say reasonable truths, he will always obediently follow Cheng Yu's advice.

"Hmm. It's time to go. ”

Cheng Yu thought about it, but didn't find anything wrong, so he nodded very seriously, and looked up at the still calm east.

There was no news there, and no news was good news for Cheng Yu, so Cheng Yu listened to Cao Ren's suggestion, so he agreed in one breath.

The second part of Cao's army began the operation.

Under Cao Ren's orders, and under the demonstration of Cao Hong, who was the vanguard in front, they did not directly try the strength of the frontal embankment attack and defense.

Instead, after entering the water, they followed the north bank and traveled eastward for a while, and then switched directions and ran diagonally to the south—they wanted to log directly to the place chosen by Cao Hong for them.

"It's kind of clever. Cao Ren! ”

Pang Tong sighed and said.

"So they're not going to come here? Are we going to support Brother Liu Feng and Brother Guan Ping? ”

Zhang Bao beside Pang Tong was very nervous.

Because the relationship between Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei was very good, Liu Feng, Guan Ping, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao also formed righteous brothers at the request of their respective fathers.

Now the three brothers of the earlier generation are gone, and Liu Feng took Guan Ping and them to take refuge in Li Sheng at the request of Zhang Fei.

Although Li Sheng did not treat them badly, they were still a little uncomfortable in such an almost unfamiliar environment.

This discomfort made them hug each other tightly, and their relationship with each other was comparable to that of their father.

At present, Zhang Bao saw that so many enemies were going to Liu Feng and Guan Ping, and Liu Feng and Guan Ping obviously only had 10,000 soldiers and horses, so he couldn't help but get nervous.

He feared what would happen to his brother because of this.

"Rescue? We are here to rescue. Not now, though. The defense on the frontal battlefield still has to be held out for a while. However, I will send someone to inform the two generals, Liu Feng and Guan Ping. At the very least, it's time for them to retreat. ”

Pang Tong looked at Cao Ren's actions on the other side, worried that they might just be a cover, so he made a slightly more steady decision.

After all, compared to the almost muddy east side, the embankment on the front is a real place to log in.

"In that case, will they really be okay over there?"

Zhang Bao was a little worried about this.

"It's okay, it's okay. Liu Feng and Guan Ping can be regarded as fierce generals. It's hard to say how to deal with others, at least it's absolutely fine to deal with guys like Cao Ren and Cao Hong, and there are woods in the east, but it's enough for them to cover. The order I gave them was not to confront the enemy head-on. ”

Pang Tong said with a smile.

He comforted the young man beside him who was on the battlefield for the first time, trying to reassure him.

"Really?"

Zhang Bao blinked, but said no more.

And so it was decided.

After waiting on the embankment in front for a while, and after confirming that Cao Ren really had no intention of coming to his side, Pang Tong made a move: he shrank the forces on the embankment and asked them to disassemble these things and move them to Xiangyang as soon as possible.

At present, it is useless to defend the embankment, and Pang Tong decided to fight a regular city attack and defense battle with Cao Renjun.

"I hope that before the retreat on our side is completed, Liu Feng and Guan Ping's side can still support it."

Looking at the gloom to the east, Pang Tong thought.

He estimated the speed of his current move, and judged that he would need about two hours.

At that time, it was dawn, and Pang Tong really hoped that the special forces he sent out would be able to support the time.

Of course, he never forgot to urge the people on his side: "Hurry up, every moment of your life is obtained for you by the brothers of the east with their own blood and even their lives." If you continue to slow down like this, you will undoubtedly waste everything they have. Are you worthy of your brothers? Fast, speed up. The sooner you finish moving everything, the less they will lose a number of men, and the sooner they will be able to retire. ”

Pang Tong loudly cheered up the soldiers under his command.

He didn't have any illusions such as righteousness, but just told the soldiers a very plain and real relationship to shake their mood.

"Oh......"

After listening to Pang Tong's words, I understood that I could successfully "move" here

After working without any harassment, which was the reason why their brother had resisted them in the east, they were naturally deeply moved, and they all invariably quickened the speed of their work.

The kind of group spirit that Li Sheng has been trying to cultivate in the army has played a big role here.

They don't want their brothers' blood to be shed in vain, and their lives to be sacrificed in vain.

"That's ...... Very good, very good! ”

Seeing them like this, Pang Tong nodded with a smile, but his thoughts flew to Liu Feng and Guan Ping in the east: "What happened to them?" ”

Although he said that everything was fine, Pang Tong's heart still hung in the air.

He wasn't at the scene, so he naturally didn't know how Liu Feng and Guan Ping's side targeted Cao Ren's reinforcements.

He only hopes: "Everything will work out." ”

At this moment, in the woods to the east, the battle continued.

Cao Hong had already gone deep into the woods, and although he was aware of the danger of the situation, he couldn't stop it, and he didn't know if there were still enemies in front of him.

I don't know if there is a trap for me to retreat like this.

He once tried to retreat, but after only a few steps back, he encountered a pit that was three feet wide, and he was reimbursed a dozen people at once.

Such a loss was certainly nothing to his army, but the fear that lurked in the darkness was even more terrifying than the danger that lay ahead.

People are full of fear of the unknown, and darkness is often the best protective color of the unknown.

Although Cao Hong himself knew that it was impossible for the enemy on the opposite side to place a large-scale trap behind him, after one or two attempts and found that there were indeed traps, they refused to go back, even though they knew that there were many more traps in front of them than in the back.

"Go ahead carefully."

There was no way, after Cao Hong found out that something was wrong behind him, he had to let his men gather and walk towards the depths of the woods step by step.

This trick really had some effect, although his soldiers still suffered heavy losses under the attack of the army of cold arrows and traps, but all of them found that in this way, their own hearts were hit a lot less, at least to the point where they could bear it.

When their mood stabilized, they became more and more cautious, and all the people followed the actions around them closely, but they were not in a hurry to leave, perhaps they thought that this would ensure their safety.

In this way, I walked in the dark in the dark forest for nearly half an hour.

They thought they had gone far, but Cao Hong could hear from the gurgling sound of the river faintly coming out of the north that his people hadn't gone far.

Because everyone is worried about stepping on traps and cold arrows that may appear anytime and anywhere.

They walked very slowly, but it was all for their own safety.

Cao Hong always believed that as long as he did this, the enemy's attack would not have much impact on him.

I walked for I don't know how long, and finally saw the edge of the woods.

At that moment, everyone was excited, but they did not rush over, but still moved forward cautiously, prepared all defensive measures, and prepared to face these imminent enemies.

However, in the end, the truth was much more than they expected, when they thought that they would definitely encounter the enemy's army when they came out of the woods, what they saw when they came out of the woods was the soldiers and horses of their brother Cao Ren.

They seemed to have been waiting for them here for a long time, and Cao Hong clearly saw the unprecedented anger and annoyance on Cao Ren's face under the faint darkness of a little light.

"Why are you here now? Well! ”

Cao Ren looked at his brother and asked coldly.

"The woods are full of traps. In the darkness, we can't move an inch. And there are people who are constantly stopping us, and they are all using cold arrows. ”

Cao Hong glanced at Cao Ren with a wry smile, and said helplessly.

"Huh? There are blockades, and there are traps? What's going on? We didn't encounter that. If I hadn't seen the sign here saying you're still in the woods, I wouldn't have known there was such a thing. ”

Hearing Cao Hong say this, Cao Ren suddenly felt a little strange, although he had also encountered enemy attacks when he came through the woods, but those enemies seemed to be very weak, and they didn't dare to fight with themselves seriously at all, they just rushed forward a few times, and they ran away without a trace, where would they expect to encounter such a situation here.

"Is this true or false?"

Cao Ren doubted this.

He believed that his brother was unlikely to be a liar, but that seemed too hard to believe.

"Brand?"

Cao Hong caught this word from Cao Ren's words, and couldn't help but be a little curious: "Where is this brand?" ”

"...... over there"

Cao Ren compared it casually, but showed it to Cao Hong.

I saw that on the east side of the place where they were, there was indeed a handmade wooden sign standing alone.

When Cao Hong went up to look, he saw a few lines written on it: "General Cao Ren has learned that your brother Cao Hong and his soldiers and horses are slowly grinding in this wood." There are a lot of troubles in the woods, so please bear with me and wait for them here for a while. That's the truth, don't chase us for that. ”

"The other party is really honest."

Cao Hong smiled bitterly.

"Honest? You're the only one who thinks so. If you think about it from another angle, wouldn't there be the confusion of three hundred years without silver here? ”

Cao Ren rolled his eyes and asked Cao Hong coldly.

"That's why I say they're honest. But it's also relative, and if you don't listen to them and catch up, I think something worse might happen. ”

Cao Hong thought for a while and guessed and said.

"That's right."

Cao Ren nodded approvingly: "I once sent people to reconnoiter the road ahead, but I found that the enemy used the same ambush method that Liu Bei used at the edge of Yingshui - they planned to ambush us on the flat ground. ”

"Is that so? But it's so easy to see, it's too simple. It was dark just now, and the ambush in the dark should not be so easy to see. ”

Cao Hong was a little skeptical.

"There's some truth to that. Is it ......?"

Cao Ren heard Cao Hong say this, and suddenly came to his senses.

"Fiction and reality, reality and fiction ......"

Cao Hong said lightly.

This sentence was often hung on the mouth of the lord Cao Cao in the past, and Cao Ren and Cao Hong also truly captured the unpredictable meaning of this now.

"This phoenix chick really can't be underestimated. Even ......"

Cao Ren said this, but secretly raised his eyes and glanced at Cheng Yu, who was still calm.

“…… Even Mr. Zhongde can't see through all this. ”

He wanted to say this, but after thinking about it, he swallowed it back.

The so-called "can't see through"

It's not that simple, Cao Ren completely understands that even if Cheng Yu tells himself that this is just the other party's suspicious soldiers, he will not fully believe all this and go to danger.

Pang Tong's prestige was deeply rooted in his heart, and he would rather believe that Pang Tong had set up an ambush there than that it was just the most ordinary plan of doubtful soldiers.

"Alas...... Never mind. We'll meet here and we'll be fine. The army has already crossed the river, and all that remains is to prepare to attack Xiangyang City. ”

Cao Hong knew what Cao Ren meant, so he no longer entangled with his brother, but lightly shifted the topic.

"Well, it's time for a tragic orthodox battle next. I'm going to be hit by a storm like the one I had on the levee. ”

Cao Ren thought for a moment and said.

"You mean, Pang Tong will defend Xiangyang City with all his might?"

Cao Hong was surprised.

"Of course, isn't that the most normal thing?"

Cheng Yu, who had never spoken, suddenly spoke: "I now understand Pang Tong's strategy a little. His defense on the embankment was resilient. If we really storm the embankment, then the arrangement of the embankment will naturally cost us a lot; If we carry out the policy we have already carried out, then he will use the city defense of Xiangyang to drain our strength. You know that the city defense of Xiangyang is very strong, and with the fact that we don't have many siege equipment prepared at all, it is a fool's dream to attack it. Pang Tong seems to be planning to fight us in this way. He wants us to be trapped under the city of Xiangyang. ”

"Sleepy? It's unlikely. ”

Cao Ren heard Cheng Yu say this, although he felt that he had some truth, but he still didn't want to believe that such a dangerous possibility really existed: "How did they trap us? Even if we don't have siege equipment, if we are given some time, we can build the siege on the spot. By then, will we not be able to capture Xiangyang with our strength? ”

"Time. As you said, it takes time. But do you think we really have time? ”

Cheng Yu asked lightly: "The approach of the Jiangdong Army, the return of Li Sheng's army, all of this is possible." In such a situation, the most important thing we lack is time. If we don't capture Xiangyang as soon as possible, I'm afraid that we will fall into a miserable situation where the whole army will be wiped out. ”

"I know that, too. The time is indeed of the essence. Do you have any way out of the situation? ”

empathized with what Cheng Yu said about Cao Ren, and asked at the moment.

"There's no way for now."

Cheng Yu spread out his hands and said helplessly: "Now it seems that the only way to do this is to send people to cut down trees and build siege equipment as you said." Although it may consume precious time because of this, I think that the presence of our soldiers is more precious than time. I always felt that this time it wasn't going to be so smooth......"

Cheng Yu said in a low voice, as if he was a little vague.

Although he just said that "it won't be that smooth"

, but whether it is Cao Ren or Cao Hong or Xiahoudun and Zhang He, they all understand that this "will not be so smooth"

What does the proximity represent, it means that this expedition may be lost.

They all understood this, but they didn't have the idea of making it clear at all.

After all, this will affect morale, they feel that they just need to put things in their hearts and let themselves understand, as for the rest, they don't want to know so much.

"Maybe it's not bad yet? Maybe this was just a mistaken guess on the part of Mr. Chung-tak? ”

In their hearts, there is still such an idea of what if.

However, no matter what they thought in their hearts, they had already made the final decision: that is, to build siege equipment first as Cao Ren said, and then directly launch a strong attack on Xiangyang City - the current time is running out, and the Cao army is simply unwilling to calmly carry out siege arrangements, so launching a strong attack as quickly as possible has become their only means.

They have to do it.

The team drove to the city of Xiangyang, and after hastily setting up a large camp, Cao Renbian asked his soldiers to cut down wood and prepare to assemble siege equipment.

Because it was only improvised on the battlefield, it was unlikely that a more refined bed crossbow could be made quickly, so Cao Ren had his men build a total of four things: crash cars, building cars, trebuchets, and city ladders.

The 70,000 army was divided into 30,000 to build this, leaving 20,000 to defend the camp, and the remaining 20,000 people were going back and forth between Fancheng and Xiangyang non-stop, transporting the bed crossbows stationed in Fancheng one by one.

It's a bit of a hassle, but it's a necessary thing.

Cao Ren is an old soldier, and he naturally knows what kind of strength he needs to have to attack such a big city as Xiangyang.

In five days, Cao Ren spent five days building the siege equipment he needed.

Looking at the slightly rudimentary one hundred ladders, twenty building cars, thirty catapults, fifteen crash cars, and fifty bed crossbows transported from Fancheng, the confidence in his heart condensed a little.

Although he felt that it seemed a little insufficient to attack Xiangyang City with such strength, he thought that he could launch an attack.

"In any case, we can't continue to be silent under Xiangyang City. Even if it's a tentative attack, we should be starting now. Let those above bear our furious roar. ”

Facing the tall Xiangyang City, looking at the soldiers of Li Shengjun, who were always in a tense state at the head of the city, Cao Ren gave such an order loudly: "Attack, let these cowardly southerners, see the bravery of our Chinese soldiers." ”

"Oh!"

The soldiers of the Cao army responded loudly.

They all think that they are orthodox Central Plains people, and they are not comparable to the poor southerners in the poor mountains and rivers on the other side.

As a native of the Central Plains, with the most outstanding culture and the best living environment, he naturally has the most arrogant self-esteem.

The massacre they had encountered while crossing the river a few days ago was enough to make them depressed, and although they were scared at the time, they were a little ashamed to think about it now.

At Cao Ren's instigation, they turned this shame into their own anger and gained strength from it.

"Who are you?"

Cao Ren asked his soldiers loudly.

"We are soldiers, and we are the kings of the imperial court!"

The soldiers replied equally loudly.

"What are you here for?"

Cao Ren asked loudly again.

"Destroy the unsubordinate and dominate the world!"

The soldiers also raised their voices.

"The rebellious Buchen is on the other side, what is your decision?"

Cao Ren asked this question.

"Kill!"

The overwhelming voice remembered, but it was the most affirmative answer given to Cao Ren by the soldiers.

Cao Ren nodded with satisfaction at the soldier's answer.

He turned around and gestured to Cheng Yu, and then ordered the drummer behind him to beat the rumbling war drums.

Hearing this deafening drum sound, Cao Hong, who was in charge of this tentative attack as the vanguard, raised the long knife in his hand high.

"Kill!"

He let out such a roar from the bottom of his heart.

Under the cover of the shield cart and under the guard of tens of thousands of soldiers on the left and right, the trebuchet slowly stepped forward.

They braved the arrows that were shot from Xiangyang City, and although countless people fell under the sharp arrows, the entire phalanx of the army was still slowly advancing, and all of them were moving their steps under orders.

Some of them were voluntary, some were not, but whether they were voluntary or involuntary, they had to move forward.

Even if they had the corpses of their fallen comrades in front of them, even if there were deadly arrows that could fall at any moment above their heads, they could not stop themselves.

The cry before the start of the war was bloody and exciting, but the march after the start of the war was dull and orderly.

The range of the catapult was not as good as that of the bed crossbow, so Cao Jun had to push the catapult forward until the catapult had put the city head within its attack range.

Of course, there is a loss, although Cao Jun also has bed crossbows on his side, which can be used to carry out reinforcement attacks, but Cao Renjun's bed crossbows are too few, but they are not as good as those installed by Pang Tong on the head of Xiangyang City, and naturally it is impossible to completely eliminate the threat posed by the defenders on Xiangyang City to their own catapult troops.

There was no way, the soldiers under the city had to use their own flesh and blood to withstand such an attack, and slowly advanced with blood-colored footprints step by step.

In this way, after enduring the loss of nearly a thousand people, Cao Jun's catapult was finally brought to the city.

They stopped about fifty feet from the city, and one by one huge stones were lifted onto the spoon platform of the catapult, and with the soldiers pulling the ropes of the catapult heavily, under the force of the bar, the boulders on the spoon platform suddenly rushed towards the city with a whistling sound.

Thirty boulders, like thirty life-threatening demons, descended on the city of Xiangyang.

"Smack...... Syllable! ”

There was a loud bang, and the bombardment effect of the thirty boulders turned the whole earth upside down.

Thirty shots and nine hits, such a hit rate is already very high for a catapult, and the effect caused by it is to kill more than a dozen soldiers defending the city and smash several bed crossbows.

Although such a kill was completely within the scope of Pang Tong's ignorance, the deterrence generated by it caused a lot of commotion in the city.

"How can the enemy inflict such damage on us? It's terrifying to be smashed into a ball of meat sauce. ”

They thought so, but the aftermath of the shock in their hearts was still shaking.

Li Shengjun's soldiers, especially many of these people in the Jingzhou Legion, have no combat experience, if they fight a smooth battle, it is better to say, just like the last massacre, they are much braver than the ordinary army, but if they fight a confrontation, after finding that the other party also has the ability to attack themselves, Zhang Huang in his heart involuntarily rose.

Their hearts were trembling, their hands were restless, although they themselves knew that this would not work, Zijing should calm down, but the feeling in their hearts was not so easy to control.

They can only force themselves to numb themselves and attack mechanically.

For a while, the arrows were still flying, and the bed crossbow guns were still being thrown, but this accuracy was undoubtedly much worse than just now.

"That's not going to work."

When Pang Tong saw the appearance of his soldiers, he secretly screamed in his heart.

What kind of problems have arisen with his own soldiers, how could he not know.

He understood that it was all due to the inexperience of his soldiers, and they were definitely nervous at the moment.

So how to eliminate their nervousness, Pang Tong couldn't help but use his brain to calculate: "Use a speech?" That's not going to work. Although I am very sure that I will be able to convince these soldiers, where is the time to convince them in such a war situation? No, it doesn't work. ”

Pang Tong shook his head and vetoed the idea, "So, let them wake themselves up?" That's not going to happen, the time is very important for us. Leave it all to chance? God knows when our soldiers will come to their senses. That's all it seems......"

Pang Tong gritted his teeth and secretly made a decision in his heart.

He quickly gave an order: "General Zhang Bao, you quickly take my personal guards there." Attack your enemies with the thunderbolts in your package. ”

"Huh? With a thunderbolt? That's one of our strongest weapons, is it worth wasting here? ”

Zhang Bao was puzzled.

"There's nothing wasted and not wasted, it's an order!"

Pang Tong said in a deep voice.

He had realized that this matter had to be resolved quickly.

"Understood."

Hearing Pang Tong say so seriously, Zhang Bao naturally didn't dare to say anything.

According to Pang Tong's orders, he led a team of men and horses to the top of the city.

In the face of the Cao soldiers who swarmed under the roar of the boulder, he took out the thunderbolt in the package without saying a word, lit it with a fold of fire, and threw it out of the city with all his might.

"Boom!"

A thunderous sound sounded, but I saw hundreds of Cao soldiers falling down the ladder to the city under such a blow, and they didn't know whether they were alive or dead—this was the power of the so-called thunderbolt.

The so-called thunderbolt is actually an iron ball that carries a large amount of gunpowder and iron sand, gravel and a certain amount of poison.

They weigh about six pounds and are the size of a cantaloupe, but they use twisted threads that can delay burning for a certain period of time as a firestarter.

This is the one that ignites this thunderbolt.

For ordinary people, gunpowder weapons are definitely dangerous, and this danger is often accompanied by great power.

At present, the thunderbolts that Zhang Bao shoots are weapons that meet the requirements in both aspects.

The effect of the thunderbolt is undoubtedly amazing, and this amazing effect is undoubtedly a nightmare for Cao Jun, but it is a very favorable encouragement for Li Shengjun.

For a while, Li Shengjun's morale was high, and Cao Cao's morale fell all of a sudden.

Cao Cao Jun was stunned, but Li Shengjun became more calm because of this.

"The enemy is not invincible."

Li Shengjun's people are aware of this.

The trembling in their hearts was gone, and their strong hands were full of strength.

Li Shengjun's firepower suddenly became fierce, and after cooperating with the strong shots of those archers, the arrows on Xiangyang City completely suppressed Cao Cao's actions.

"That's not going to work."

Cao Ren thought so, but let Cao Hong's team quickly retreat: "The enemy's defense is still very strong, and it can't continue to fight." If we continue to fight, I'm afraid our sergeants will not be able to stand it. ”

"Mingjin ......"

Cao Ren ordered loudly.

For a while, the crisp golden sound sounded densely.