When Zang Ba's soldiers and horses approached Yishui, Xiahoudun was not ignorant, he had already ordered all battalions to prepare for battle, and when Zang Ba's army besieged his own camp, he used the cover of the camp to counterattack, trying to drag Zang Ba's army near Yishui, and then create an opportunity for the main force of Cao's army on the east bank of Yishui to encircle and annihilate Zang Ba.

However, Zang Ba was not a reckless person, he had mastered the situation around Tancheng before he came to attack Xiahoudun, so he adopted the tactics of attacking and harassing, and did not let the troops directly besiege Xiahoudun's camp, but used fireworks on the periphery to bluff.

When Cao Cao sent out to investigate the truth and truth, he crossed the Yishui to the Xiahoudun camp, and found that Xiahoudun's soldiers and horses were not much of a real loss except for the smoke and fire that made them cough and runny nose, and his heart was finally relaxed. Wang Bi said to Xiahoudun: "The siege of the city is not going well, and the lord is very worried about the situation of the general when he sees the fire in Hexi, so he has sent me to find out the truth. Now that Zang Ba has led the army to attack the flanks and grain routes of the army, I wonder if the general has a strategy to force Zang Ba back? ”

Xiahoudun replied with a cold face: "Zang Ba is different from Sun Guan and Wu Dun's generation, he has the ability of a general, knows how to advance and retreat and use soldiers, and relies on the soldiers and horses under my command alone, and the defense is safe, but it is not easy to force Zang Ba to retreat." In my opinion, if the main force of Hedong can't take Tancheng as soon as possible, Zang Ba will become a big disaster! ”

Xiahoudun's meaning is very clear, he is sure to hold the back and flanks of Cao's army, but he is not sure to defeat or force back the soldiers and horses brought by Zang Ba to Kaiyang, if Cao Cao can't take Tancheng on the east bank of Yishui as soon as possible. Then Zang Ba, who is cruising on the periphery, may become a deadly threat.

Wang Bi was an early "old revolutionary" who followed Cao Cao's side, and he understood what Xiahoudun meant, so he ignored the hard work. Overnight, he crossed the Yishui and returned to report to Cao Cao.

Shortly after Cao Cao sent Wang Bi to the west bank of Yishui to investigate, Xizuo, who was guarding outside the north gate of Tancheng, risked his life to pick up a cloth bag dropped by the defenders at the head of the city, and after opening it, he found that there were letters hidden inside. Xi Zuo didn't dare to make his own claims, so he ran back to report to Xun You, who was in charge of military affairs by Cao Cao's side. After reading the letter, Xun You showed a look of doubt.

Looking at the content of this letter, it seems to be from Chen Yuanlong's instructions. But if you follow the steps in the letter to develop down, it is Liu Xuande who will profit in the end, which is really interesting! ”

Xun You came to see Cao Cao with a secret letter. After reading it, Cao Cao said to Xun You with a smile: "This letter must have been written by Liu Xuande in the name of Chen Yuanlong, and he is the one who is most unwilling to control the situation in the entire Tancheng now, Liu Bei just wants to cover people's eyes, for fear that he will be affected after the matter is revealed." ”

"My lord. Caution is also needed. Liu Bei is very deep in the city and cannot be trusted. Xun Yu reminded Cao Cao.

"Well, what Gongda said is reasonable, with Liu Bei's current power in Tancheng, if he wants to change the status quo, I'm afraid it won't be so easy. Tomorrow I will send troops to continue the attack on Ximen, consume the Mi family's private soldiers, and create opportunities for his actions in the city. Cao Cao nodded.

It's early in the morning. Wang Bi returned to the camp from the other side of the river and immediately reported to Cao Cao the results of the expedition across the river.

Cao Cao learned that Xiahoudun's soldiers and horses had no losses. He was much more down-to-earth, and he was very satisfied with Xiahoudun's old age, and he also recognized and agreed with Xiahoudun's analysis. The military advisor Xi Zhicai suggested to Cao Cao that he send someone to secretly go to Langya to contact Xiao Jian, the minister of Langya, and instigate Xiao Jian to rebel and put a fire in Zang Ba's backyard, so that Zang Ba could be forced back to Kaiyang without a single soldier.

Cao Cao asked Xi Zhicai: "At this time, send someone to contact Xiao Jian, and regardless of the delay on the way, even if Xiao Jian is really willing to start an incident, it will take time to prepare, how can you know how much changes will occur in Tancheng for such a long time?" ”

Xi Zhicai replied: "Tancheng is difficult to conquer immediately, so the lord might as well divide his troops and horses to the south to attack Xiapi and Pengcheng, which are in chaos, so that we can not only raise grain and grass, but also prevent our army from rushing to attack the city because of food shortages, and also weaken the strength of Xuzhou to prevent it from suffering a backlash in the future." ”

In the early time, Pi Xiangzhu melted into chaos, not only coerced the young and strong people in the county to flee south, but also killed Pengcheng Xiang Xue Li, so the two counties of Xiapi and Pengcheng under the rule of Xuzhou are now leaderless and chaotic. Xi Zhicai suggested that Cao Cao detach a group of soldiers and horses to attack and plunder, which could not only easily solve the problem of food for the army, but also weaken the resistance of Xuzhou, and at the same time implicitly prevented Cao Cao from continuing to launch a strong attack on Tancheng.

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and said, "What the military advisor said is true. These two days let Yuan Rang stop Zang Ba, our army continued to attack the West Gate, if Tancheng is still difficult to overcome, after a few days our army will withdraw to the west bank of Yishui, and Yuan Rang's soldiers and horses together, first forced Zang Ba to retreat, and then immediately sent Zixiao to lead the soldiers and horses south to attack Pengcheng and Xiapi, but also sent people to secretly contact Langya Xiang Xiao Jian, it is best to rebel against it, for my use. ”

Xun You, Cheng Yu and Xi Zhicai had no objection to Cao Cao's overall plan, and the armies began to act according to the division of tasks.

During the day of this day, Cao Ren commanded 5,000 infantry to attack the west gate of Tancheng again, after a fierce and cruel battle, more than 3,000 people were killed and wounded on both sides, Cao's army still failed to capture the west gate, and the losses of the Mi family's private soldiers were further expanded.

At night, Mi Fang counted the casualties of the soldiers, and found that the number of private soldiers that the Mi family could now call in Tancheng had been reduced from the initial 10,000 to more than 6,000, and if the Cao army continued to stare at the West Gate, I was afraid that in a few days, there would be few remaining 6,000 private soldiers. Tai Shici also found that five of the dozens of elite backbones he brought to Xuzhou from Jizhou were also killed and seven were injured.

Mi Zhu asked Tai Shici with some concern: "The Cao army changed its strategy today, and only concentrated its forces to storm the West Gate, obviously wanting to consume the strength of my Mi family." If the Cao army is still like this tomorrow, the Mi family's private soldiers will be consumed in another three or five days, and then I will not be able to control the situation inside Tancheng. ”

Tai Shici understood Mi Zhu's worries, and he comforted Mi Zhu and said: "The eldest prince once taught us that 'the brave wins when we meet on a narrow road', and when we feel that it is difficult and difficult, the enemy army is also gritting their teeth. Although the private soldiers of the Mi family have lost thousands of people in these days, there is no need to regret it too much, the elite soldiers with real combat power have survived the hard battle, and now the number of troops of the Mi family has weakened during the day, but the actual combat power is gradually improving, as long as it survives this time, everything will be different. ”

Mi Zhu asked Tai Shici: "Can you borrow thousands of soldiers from Cao Bao at the East Gate to help defend the West Gate?" ”

Tai Shi Ci shook his head and said, "Never! Yesterday, Cao Bao had already been forced to send out 4,000 soldiers, and if he was asked to borrow troops again, he was afraid that the situation of unity and cooperation within Tancheng would immediately collapse. If the West Gate is really tight, you might as well borrow troops from Zhang Min at the South Gate. ”

"Zhang Min's headquarters has suffered heavy losses in soldiers and horses, and at a critical juncture, is he willing to borrow troops?" Mi Zhu hesitated.

"As long as Lord Mi hints to him that his safety in Tancheng can be guaranteed at any time, and that he is allowed to retreat to the East China Sea to escape Cao Cao's pursuit at a critical moment, Zhang Min should not refuse."

"Ziyi's words are reasonable, so I will send someone to the south gate to send a message to Zhang Min."

In the North Gate camp, Liu Bei and several of his subordinates were plotting something.

Liu Bei first said: "In yesterday's battle, there were many losses in each door, and our army was fortunate to have the second and third brothers who took the lead and bravely killed the enemy, but the casualties were relatively light. However, our army has the least number of troops, and if it is attacked a few more times, I am afraid that there will be very little left. ”

Liu Bei said this, revealing a look of deep worry.

Jian Yong followed and said: "Judging from Cao Cao's scheme, he will definitely not give up with Xuzhou, even if this attack on Tancheng is frustrated, when he returns to Yanzhou to rectify the troops and horses, I am afraid that he will attack again in the coming year." Our army is now staying in Tancheng, which is equivalent to being tied to the chariot of the Mi family, if you hold Tancheng, the profit is nothing more than the Mi family; If we lose Tancheng, we will be destroyed with the Mi family. ”

Liu Deran said with a disdignant face: "The world is so big, with Xuande's talent and prestige, it is really unfair that he can't find a place to live!" My generation has great ambitions, how can we condescend to Tancheng and be the eagle dog of the Mi family? Plan ahead and find another way! ”

Zhang Fei, who had been in an unhappy mood since entering Tancheng, said in a deep voice: "Mr. Deran is right, how can we act as a guard dog for incompetent people like Mi Zhu and Mi Fang!" Since the death of Shi Kongling, Yuzhou has become a borderless land, where the remnants of the Yellow Turban are rampant, it is better to go to the Runan area as soon as possible to pacify the Yellow Turban thieves and lay a foundation. ”

Guan Yu asked Zhang Fei: "It's easy for the third brother to say, but now that Tancheng has been sealed, if Cao's army does not retreat one day, we will not be able to evacuate safely, so how can we get Runan?" ”

Jian Yongyin said predictively: "Since the city gate can be filled from the inside, it can also be re-dug up from the inside. ”

"That's right! It is better to take advantage of the fact that Cao's army only attacked the west gate, and we opened the north gate overnight and retreated to Runan with soldiers and horses! Zhang Fei immediately echoed.

Guan Yu refuted Zhang Fei and said: "Our army from Tancheng to Runan must pass through the territory controlled by Cao Cao, with the relationship between us and Cao Cao that we are now at war, how can he sit back and watch us leave safely?" ”

Liu Bei said slowly: "It's still the second brother who thinks about it carefully. However, the enmity between our army and Cao Cao is not deep, as long as we secretly get in touch with Cao Cao and sell personal favors to Cao Cao, presumably he will not embarrass us. ”

"Sell a favor to Cao Cao? The soldiers in our army also shared some of the Cao family's money, and now that the name is hanging above the city, how can Cao Cao give up with us? Guan Yu looked at Liu Bei with a somewhat solemn face.

Jian Yong explained for Liu Bei: "Cao Song's death has nothing to do with us, Cao Cao is now suffering from the inability to break through Tancheng, if he knows the news that we are about to leave, when our army quietly withdraws from the north gate, Cao Jun takes the opportunity to attack the city from the north gate, Tancheng can fall, the favor we gave to Cao Cao is immeasurable, he will not embarrass us!" ”

Guan Yu heard Jian Yong's words, and was very disgusted in his heart, because he felt that betraying the soldiers and civilians in the city at such a critical time was really a bit subordinated and shameless. Guan Yu looked at Liu Bei, who was looking forward to it, and Zhang Fei, who was flat, and finally didn't say anything to object. (To be continued......)