The offensive and defensive battle of the large army that took place under Chen Liucheng would need to last at least a few days before there would be a definite result. But for the Liyang battlefield far to the north, the battle only takes one day to determine the winner and loser.

Cao Cao had already overestimated the strength of the Liyang garrison as much as possible. However, after the initial battle, he found that if he took the means of frontal attack, it would be impossible for Cao Cao's army to take Liyang in time.

The 1,500 elite soldiers carried by Xiahou Yuan were the vanguard of Cao Cao's army's raid on Liyang City this time. Because he was good at rushing through long-distance marching during combat, detouring back to the enemy's flank and rear, and attacking the enemy's unpreparedness, Xiahou Yuan has always been known as a "strange general" in Cao's army. The soldiers in Cao's army even made up a sentence of "five hundred in three days, one thousand in six days" to describe Xia Huayang's combat style.

However, the so-called advantages have disadvantages, and Xiahou Yuan's blind pursuit of marching speed naturally has many deficiencies in all aspects. If you want to march quickly, the various equipment carried by the non-commissioned officers naturally cannot be too much. And the physical consumption of the soldiers on the high-speed march is also quite huge.

Therefore, when Xiahou Yuan fought, he often won by striking the enemy by surprise. If the enemy had been prepared in advance, Xiahou Yuan's troops would easily expose their weakness of not being good at hard fighting.

Therefore, Xiahou Yuan's record over the years is also a mixed bag. Fortunately, because his subordinates ran fast on their long legs, even if they lost the battle, Xiahou Yuan was usually able to retreat with his whole body. And once the battle is won, Xiahou Yuan's ability to pursue the enemy is not covered.

Since the defenders of Liyang had made full preparations for the battle in advance, it meant that Xiahou Yuan needed to fight the enemy hard-to-head. When Xiahou Yuan was the first to come to Liyang City, due to the fatigue caused by the march of the soldiers, he was immediately attacked by the Liyang defenders and suffered nearly 100 injuries. suffered a small defeat.

After getting the news of the small defeat of the vanguard army Xiahou Yuan, Cao Cao immediately knew that the enemy general guarding Liyang this time was afraid that it would be quite difficult.

In order to get first-hand information, Cao Cao ignored the possible dangers on the front line, and deliberately sneaked under Liyang City to observe it at close range. The small half of the city defense patrolled down. Cao Cao found that the garrison work at the head of Liyang City was done in an orderly manner. Not to mention that the battle equipment between the battlements was complete, and the morale of the soldiers was also quite high, and it was impossible to see that those were all recruits.

In the face of such a tricky defender, not to mention that Cao Cao abandoned all the combat equipment that would slow down the progress of the army for a surprise attack, even if the army had complete combat equipment and a large number of siege equipment, he had to add more than double the troops. It will take a few more days before it is possible to conquer Liyang.

Of course, for Cao Jun, it was impossible to increase the number of troops and delay time. Cao Cao infiltrated the rear of the arrogant army, which belonged to a real military adventure. If he can't get fruitful results in the first time, when Zhang Qiang gets the news that the back road is being attacked, he will react, and this lone army led by Cao Cao. You will encounter several times the superiority of the enemy's encirclement and interception, and the end will definitely not be too good.

And this time. Since Cao Cao dared to lead the elite of his subordinates of less than 10,000 people to attack Liyang City in the hinterland behind the enemy with light equipment, he must have a reliable plan to break the city. Therefore, after seeing the layout of Liyang's city defense, Cao Cao returned to the army and did not rush to attack the city. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to start building a makeshift camp and rest for the night.

According to Cao Cao's statement to his subordinate generals, he has found the flaw in Liyang City, and he will be able to break the city in one fell swoop tomorrow after a night's rest today.

That's it. Cao Cao's army began to camp and rest at a place only three or four miles close to the Liyang city wall. It was actually very unsafe for Cao's camp to be stationed so close to the city wall. In case the Liyang garrison quietly sent a small group of night raiders at night, it would make Cao Cao's army suffer a big loss.

Cao Cao's abnormal behavior that did not conform to the art of war made Sun Li and Hao Zhao, who were responsible for guarding the city, a little confused.

Although the Liyang defenders won a small victory in the battle against Xiahou Yuan during the day, Sun Li and Hao Zhao also understood that it was their own advantage that they had the advantage of waiting for work, not that Cao Cao's army was really so vulnerable. On the contrary, although Xiahou Yuan was defeated in that battle, the army was defeated but not chaotic. As the price of victory, Sun Li's men also suffered a full fifty or sixty casualties, and the difference in the casualty ratio between the enemy and us was not large.

Therefore, after winning the first battle and boosting the morale of the defenders at the head of the city, Sun Li and Hao Zhao agreed that they must not go out of the city to meet the enemy at will in the future, lest they lose the battle and the morale that had just been boosted will fall again.

However, the enemy relied on such a close distance to get down the village, and the defenders of Liyang, who had the advantage of the city, would be a little unreasonable if they did not attack the other party well.

Therefore, Sun Li ordered two auxiliary troops of 100 men to beat drums and trumpets from time to time at the head of the city, pretending to attack the enemy out of the city, so that Cao's army could not rest well all night.

However, Cao Cao's strict management of the army, and his subordinates were all battle-hardened veterans, under the effective control of generals at all levels, Cao's army did not make any obvious response to the harassing noises in the city from time to time. On the contrary, with the help of the cover of night, a few sharpshooters on the side of the Cao army quietly lurked very close to the city wall, and when the defenders at the head of the city were noisy, they shot and wounded several defenders with hidden arrows.

What's more, several groups of Cao troops lurked near the four gates of Liyang City, and suddenly shouted, which caused a commotion among the defenders in the city. As soon as it was stirred up like this, the soldiers and civilians in Liyang City were all alarmed, and they didn't want to sleep well. Seeing Cao Jun's counterattack, Hao Zhao hurriedly led his own soldiers in the city in the middle of the night to suppress them, so that the city of Liyang could be restored to peace.

In this way, the two sides came up with their own strategies and competed with each other, and no one showed weakness. Under such disturbances, before I knew it, the night had passed.

After all, Cao Jun's side is a veteran of the battlefield, and in the harassment competition at night, he showed a stronger ability to resist harassment. When the sky was light, Cao Cao's army had already sorted out their weapons and armor, lit a fire to cook, and had breakfast. Next, some improvised siege equipment was pushed out of the Cao army's barracks and placed in front of the tired Liyang defenders, lined up outside the east gate.

Looking at the more than a dozen ladders in front of him, as well as a few crashing cars, Sun Li only felt his eyelids jump violently. This is not only due to exhaustion, but also to the oddity of the situation.

- It's weird!

As a good city defense general, Sun Li didn't believe it anyway, just with this little tattered guy in front of him, Cao Cao could capture the heavily guarded Liyang City. However, Cao Cao made such a completely unreasonable siege posture.

Could it be because Cao Cao was an idiot?

Those who dare to say this will definitely be spat on the face by countless Zhao Guojun soldiers.

The history of several years of warfare between Jizhou and Yanzhou has fully illustrated the degree of Cao Cao's difficulty. It can be said that in Cao Cao's army, Zhao Guo's [] army has not had a significant upper hand so far. This point is very different from the brilliant achievements of Zhao's army in Qingzhou and Xuzhou.

In the face of the powerful army of Zhao, with the weak forces in his hands, he was able to do this, and Cao Cao's military ability can be imagined.

After thinking for a while, Sun Li could only think that Cao Cao must have some tricks to perform. However, he thought about it and did not think of what tricks Cao Cao might use. All the defense work in the city, Sun Li thought that he had done it all. And in the case of his own side being closed, if Cao Cao can still use tricks, then Sun Li will also think that he is powerless.

This is also normal.

If the enemy's strategy could be seen through by Sun Li at a glance, then Cao Cao would not be the most difficult enemy of Zhao's [] army.

In Sun Li's speculation, if Cao Cao used these broken weapons in front of him to attack the city, if he wanted to successfully break the city, he must have a strong internal response in the city.

It's just that since the Jizhou Incident that year, a large number of Jizhou auxiliaries fell to Yuan Shao, allowing Yuan Shao's army to suddenly go north to besiege Julu City, and Zhang Yan's control of the loyalty of his subordinate troops has been greatly valued.

The middle- and low-level officers of the Zhao State [] Army, who are now deployed by the insolent in Liyang City, have all been reviewed by the insolent secret spies. There may be many recruits in the army who have not been tested by the war, and it may also be mixed with the meticulous work of a few Cao troops, but among the middle and low-level officers, it is unlikely that Cao Cao's internal response will appear.

However, just when Sun Li was thinking like this, an obvious shouting and killing sound suddenly sounded in the north of Liyang City, and then on the arrow tower at the head of the city in the north, the double rabbit flag was decisively raised!

Once the double rabbit flag is raised, it represents the meaning of asking for help in the army. Obviously, Cao Cao's army has not begun to attack the city now, but there is a sudden chaos in Liyang City. All this shows that Cao Cao's army does have an internal response in the city!

is a good Sun Li, and he is worthy of being a strong man who can leave his name in the annals of history. Although the city suffered an unexpected incident, Sun Li was in danger. He stood at the head of the city and did not move, but immediately ordered:

"Captain Hao, quickly lead people to quell the chaos! The rest of the generals must not act rashly! ”

Sun Li's order was obviously very suitable. At the same time as shouts of killing sounded in the north of the city, Cao Cao's army outside the eastern city also began their tentative attack. However, after discovering that the defenders of Liyang City were still effectively defending and counterattacking despite being panicked, Cao Cao's army abandoned half of the destroyed ladders and crashing cars, and decisively withdrew to the starting position, without giving the Liyang defenders a chance to kill and injure their own soldiers in large numbers.

Successfully thwarted Cao Cao's army's temptation to attack the city, Sun Li was slightly determined. Soon, however, his brow furrowed again.

Because, the shouting and killing in the north of the city not only did not gradually subside with Hao Zhao's arrival, but spread towards the city! (To be continued......)