"It's too."

On the front line of the pavilion, Cao Hong stood on the high oar and watched the situation.

Watching Shen Chen's army retreat like a tide, his endless defense line in place was in chaos, almost embarrassed, which made him feel aggrieved.

Although relying on bows and arrows and catapults alone to shoot at each other, he would definitely not be able to break through his camp, and if Shen Chen wanted to break him, he would have to spend at least tens of thousands of soldiers' lives to fill it, but this feeling of being pressed and beaten made him very uncomfortable.

This is much more aggrieved than Cao Cao being beaten by Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu.

In the battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao had more than 100,000 troops, while Cao Cao's number of soldiers and horses in Guandu was only 30,000 or 40,000, twice as many as himself, and it was normal to be pressed and beaten.

But Cao Hong's troops are still 30,000 more than Shen Chen.

The offensive and defensive situation was so stern that the soldiers had no power to fight back, which was also something that Cao Hong never expected.

"General."

Zhao Yan stepped forward and persuaded: "Although it is true that there are some nests, our task is to drag Shen Chen here, judging from today's offensive alone, even if he can't break our camp in a year, why should the general worry?" ”

"Yes, yes, but I have been fighting with my eldest brother for many years, and I have never felt so aggrieved. Even in the battle of Guandu back then, Yuan Shao did not let us suffer so much. ”

Cao Hong sighed and said, "The only thing I'm afraid of now is that Shen Chen attacks like this, and the morale of the soldiers will be damaged." ”

"But even Yuan Shao didn't break King Wei's stronghold."

Zhao Yan said seriously: "The general must remember that fighting a war is not a matter of losing face or killing a soldier, but a war between the two countries and unscrupulous means." It's Shen Chen who is anxious now, it's not us, defense, is what we should do. ”

"Yes, defense is what we should be doing."

Zhao Yan's words suddenly made Cao Hong sober up, and he hurriedly ordered: "Order the soldiers to clean up the battlefield, eat something as soon as possible, and rest to prevent the enemy from attacking again." ”

"The general is wise."

Zhao Yan bowed.

I have to say that at such a time, a calm person is still needed to give advice.

Cao Hong was easy to be impulsive in history, far from being as calm as Cao Ren, and having Zhao Yan by his side to encourage and persuade him did increase Cao Jun's chances of victory.

But it was also at this time that Cao Hong saw that after the Nanyang army retreated in the distance, in the area near the Lishui River, the people and auxiliaries brought by the Nanyang army were constantly digging trenches and spreading towards the center of the battlefield.

"Huh?"

Cao Hong was puzzled and said, "I can understand that Shen Chen dug a trench outside his camp and diverted water into a moat, but why does he seem to continue digging forward?" ”

Zhao Yan looked over and immediately frowned: "Speaking of which, in the past two days, I found that the water flow in Lishui seems to have decreased a lot overnight, at first I thought it was because the weather was too hot, which caused the water and soil to dry up, coupled with Shen Chen's military water, now it seems that he wants to flood our camp with water?" ”

"Flood our camp?"

When Cao Hong heard this, he burst out laughing: "Shen Chen, there is something wrong with him, this summer is scorching, and the river can't even go out of the riverbed, let alone the embankment." At most, he will store up some water and use the trenches he has dug to pour into our trenches, but what good is it that we can dig ditches in the camp and divert the water downstream of the water? ”

Zhao Yan raised his head and looked at the sky, at the end of the hour, that is, around five o'clock in the afternoon. Although the sun was already in the west, it had no intention of going down, and it was still shining with a scorching light, and even in the evening, the temperature was still hot.

In the summer, it is common sense that the hotter the sun is, the less water flows in the river. Did Shen Chen just want to rely on that little flow of water to flood their camp?

It's so whimsical.

However, thinking of the opponent's record, Zhao Yan felt that it was better not to relax his vigilance, and it was better to be rigorous, so he persuaded: "I'm afraid that Shen Chen has other plans, and the general still has to be careful." ”

"I think he has been sitting in Nanyang for more than ten years, and his ability is not as good as when he was a child."

Cao Hong sneered, shook his head and said: "Forget it, don't worry about this for now, let him dig if he wants to dig, anyway, now that his army is watching, we can't stop them from digging ditches and blocking rivers." The top priority is still on the Dongying side. In order to prevent the inflow of sewage, the trench over there was blocked, and Shen Chen could send people to attack the camp from that side. ”

Zhao Yan shook his head and said, "Our camp is really too big, and coming down from the water diversion canal is only enough for everyone to live and drink." It is still too reluctant to fill all the trenches on the periphery of the camp with water and become a moat. ”

Cao Hong thought for a while and said: "Then continue to dig ditches to divert water, dig a few more, Shen Chen likes to dig, then we will also dig, not only to divert water from the water into the camp, but also to dig a ditch in the camp to divert water out." Shen Chen's offensive is very strong, if I can't improve the defense, I'm afraid that Dongying will become a hidden danger. ”

"Well, well, I'll take care of that then."

Zhao Yan nodded.

Cao Hong is right, although the number of people is smaller than them, they are well-equipped and have strong morale, and it is difficult for them to gain the upper hand in a head-on confrontation, and there is even a risk of being defeated by the other party.

Now it's all about seeing who makes the mistake first.

Cao Jun can only hold out, but defense is also a science, and any flaw may become a fatal point.

Therefore, it is crucial to check and fill in the gaps and nip the loopholes in the bud.

And their camp is now short of water, so they dig a ditch to divert water. But I was afraid that Shen Chen's side would flood the camp, so I dug a diversion canal from the camp again.

Such a project is indeed very large, and it is necessary to mobilize a large number of civilian auxiliary troops, but it is better in two words - safe.

For the next few days, Shen Chen did not attack again.

They were digging ditches over there, and Cao Jun was digging ditches on their side. The difference is that the canal dug by the Nanyang army extends to the Cao army, while the Cao army continues to dig the canal from the north to build in their own camp.

By late April, Shen Chen's army had dug a large number of criss-crossing trenches, all the way out of range of bows and crossbows on the periphery of Cao's camp.

It was about a hundred paces away before the trenches could be connected to the trenches on the outskirts of Cao's camp.

However, Cao Hong was not a fool, he had people dig a trench in the camp, which was connected to the downstream river of Lishui that they were close to, even if Shen Chen really built a dam upstream to intercept the water source, the water would not flood Cao's camp, but would only flow back down the ditch into Lishui.

This kind of confrontation was common in ancient warfare, and Cao Cao himself liked to do so, beating Lu Bu to surround Xiapi and digging canals to flood the city. Yuan Shang besieged Yecheng, and also dug a canal to flood the city.

It's just that that method doesn't mean pouring back the water, and Cao Cao doesn't have the ability to summon floods, at most let the river flow all the way into the city, so that the city's drainage capacity is much lower than the flow of water outside the city, causing the city to be continuously submerged by a few centimeters of water.

At that time, the soldiers of the enemy army would always step on the water, and their feet would be infected by sewage, which would cause beriberi, and the whole leg would rot, and then lose their combat effectiveness, and Cao Cao would easily break through the city.

Cao Hong thought that Shen Chen was probably learning Cao Cao's tactics, so he didn't plan to be Lu Bu and judge, and honestly dug a ditch in the camp to solve this problem.

But when the trench was about to be connected, it was within the range of the bow and arrow, and Shen Chen couldn't continue digging the ditch.

Because Cao Jun can shoot arrows.

So he continued to choose to start a war to cover the excavation work of the militia auxiliaries.

After half a month, Shen Chen launched a thunderous offensive, and constantly personally led the army to Cao Cao, just like the pressure that Yuan Shao gave Cao Cao in the Battle of Guandu, and the Cao army was defeated.

The rain of arrows on the cloud tower completely suppressed the archers on the wall of Cao Jun's village, and the range of their catapults and bed crossbows was also longer than that of Cao Jun, and their long-range firepower was almost incomparable.

Although Cao Hong also thought of a way, such as sending people to transfer men and horses from the westernmost camp that had not been attacked, and then assemble the camp to attack from the northwest flank of Shen Chen.

But before they arrived, they were detected by enemy scouts, and then the yellow gatekeepers in heavy armor intercepted them halfway.

At that time, Cao Jun in Xiying was stunned and did not dare to move.

Go up and fight?

Is the steel armor that weighs dozens of pounds of people furnishing?

Even if the knife is chopped and rolled, it can't break people's defenses.

Shoot with a bow and arrow?

Their bows and arrows have a longer range than yours.

Bypass?

In the distance, there is also the Xiliang Iron Ride.

As a result, Cao Jun of Xiying had just left the camp not long ago, and he ran back in ashes.

Under this kind of layers of protection and the timely deployment of the battlefield, Shen Chen's attack and defense can be described as leakless, making it impossible to find flaws.

Cao Jun could only continue to be pressed and beaten, and even because the problem of the eastern camp had not been solved, even the camp was almost broken, if it wasn't for the fact that the ditch was finally dug through and the trench was dug later, the east camp would have been leveled long ago.

In the following half a month, from the beginning of March to the end of April, Cao Hong was miserable in the face of the stormy offensive in the morning, and the daily battle reports were sent to Yecheng one by one, and the pressure on the front line was huge.

In early May, Cao Pi of Yecheng saw that the battle report was getting worse day by day, and Cao Jun was shot dead by more than 5,000 people, and his morale was low to the bottom, so he decided to send reinforcements.

At that time, there were still many troops left behind in Yecheng, so Cao Pi sent generals Jia Xin and Chen Zhong to lead 10,000 people to help.

At the same time, there was also a military sacrifice wine and Wang Lang, the Taishou of Wei County, as the supervising army.

More than ten days later, Jia Xin marched more than 100 miles a day and arrived at Taiting in late May, and Yan Kuang also brought a large number of supplies to supplement Cao's army.

With the number of soldiers and horses and material reinforcements, Cao Hong's situation was finally much better, which made him much easier.

Two days passed.

On the evening of 21 May, Cao Hong convened a meeting of generals from all walks of life in his main tent of the Chinese army.

In addition to Zhao Yan, Jia Xin, Chen Zhong, and Wang Lang, Deng Zhan, Yan Ming, Niu Jin, Liu He, Dong Chao, Dong Heng, Liu Kai, Liu Zhu, Cheng He, and other generals of various departments and battalions were present at the meeting.

The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss the changes in Shen Chen in the past few days.

Under the cover of the army, the people finally connected the trenches with the ditches on the periphery of Cao's army, after which Shen Chen's army withdrew, leaving behind a large area of criss-crossing and pothole-riddled ditches, making it impossible to understand what he was thinking.

You must know that Shen Chen has prepared countless siege equipment this time, although they have left a road for the siege equipment, but so many ditches always make it difficult for soldiers and horses to come.

This made the later offensive of the Nanyang Army much weaker due to the problem of the trenches, and it was inconvenient for them to dispatch their own people.

It's a puzzling operation.

In the camp tent, Cao Hong sat in the position of the main general, his current official position is General Wei and Governor of the Metropolis, in this part of Henan, the highest official position, Cao Wei in the southern front of the Jingzhou battlefield.

The deputy general under the tent is Deng Zhan, the general of Fenwei, and Zhao Yan, the protector, and the rest of Wang Lang and Jia Xin sit in the second seat, followed by the rest of the generals.

After Cao Hong and the others arrived, he spoke: "Everyone, I summoned everyone here today to discuss the matter just to talk about what Shen Chen was doing. He dug the ditch in front of us, hindering his own march, and I didn't even understand what was going on. ”

Deng Zhan once supported Cao Cao and called him the king of merit, so he was the first general under Cao Hong, and he got up and shouted: "General, no matter what he does, he is delaying his own march, and he can't delay us. ”

"That being said, the ditch has been dug in the camp anyway, and I'm not afraid of him releasing water."

Cao Hong thought for a while and said, "It's just that I think that since he has withdrawn, why don't we send someone to block the ditch they dug at night?" It's always reassuring. ”

"Huh."

Wang Lang, the overseer below, said with a smile: "Governor, maybe this is Shen Chen's plan. ”

"Oh?"

Zhao Yan hurriedly said: "What advice does the prison army have?" ”

Wang Lang looked around and said, "Think about it, now that our reinforcements have arrived, can Shen Chen break through the camp?" ”

"Naturally, I can't."

Everyone shook their heads, although they were walking on thin ice these days, and the camp was also crumbling.

But that's just the beginning.

If Shen Chen wants to seize the camp, he must send people to cross the trench bridge and kill into the camp.

But Cao Jun is only inferior in long-range firepower, and they have the advantage of numbers and terrain in their own battalion, and they are not afraid of Shen Chen's army.

So even if it seems that the camp is difficult to defend, if it really fights, they may not have anything to fear.

Wang Lang continued: "Therefore, Shen Chen must lure us out of the camp, and there are hundreds of trenches he has dug outside. In order to fill in, such a large project must also dispatch tens of thousands of people and auxiliaries to that Shen Chen, so many people are outside, if Shen Chen takes advantage of the night to raid, what will happen? ”

Raid at night?

Everyone thought about it carefully, and Cao Hong said in a cold sweat: "The auxiliary soldiers of the people are far less well-trained than the soldiers, and once they are raided, they will inevitably flee for their lives, which may collapse the camp and drag down the three armies." ”

"Exactly."

Wang Lang is sixty-seven years old this year, although he has gray hair, but he is in good spirits, and said with a smile: "Shen Chen's plan is ruthless, let us mistakenly think that he is going to flood the camp, so that we can send people to fill the channel, and then take the opportunity to attack and kill, it is rumored that he was so strong in his early years, more than ten years have passed, and the means have not diminished." ”

Cao Hong only felt a chill in his back, and said again and again: "Fortunately, the prince sent the prison army here, otherwise I might really fall for that little thief." Zixiao was ambushed by this guy back then, and if I want to avenge Zixiao, I must sit firmly in the Chinese army and stand still. ”

"It turns out that Shen Chen fought this idea, but fortunately, we haven't left the camp these days."

Zhao Yan also sighed: "General, continue to be stable and unmoving." ”

"Huh."

Wang Lang laughed again and said, "Governor, although it is indeed a way to stay still, when I entered the camp, the morale of the soldiers was low and they were weak all day long, why is this?" ”

Cao Hong sighed: "Shen Chen attacked the camp every day, the arrows that came in were piled up, many people were shot and killed, and the casualties were 7,000. ”

"Hmm."

Wang Lang nodded slightly, and then said: "The Nanyang soldiers have been attacking the camp for several days, and the morale is booming. ”

"Oh?"

Cao Hong was shocked: "We are not Shen Chen's opponents, do we still go out of the camp to fight a decisive battle?" ”

Zhao Yan was also busy and said: "The prison army can't come nonsense, at this time, our morale is low, their morale is strong, how can they go out of the camp?" ”

"No, no, no."

Wang Lang shook his head and said, "It's a good time to go out of the camp." ”

"Forehead ......"

The soldiers looked at each other and were confused.

Cao Hong said: "I also asked the prison army to make it clear why they went out to fight." ”

Wang Lang said with a smile: "First, going out of the camp to fight a fierce battle can boost morale. ”

"Hmm."

Cao Hong nodded slightly, being a turtle with a shrunken head is indeed very sad for the army.

Wang Lang said again: "Second, Shen Chen dug so many ditches by himself, which seriously hindered his army, his siege equipment will only not be able to pass, without those equipment, why are we afraid?" ”

"Hmm."

When everyone heard this, they immediately felt that it made sense, and they should have been.

Wang Lang finally said: "Three, I heard that Shen Chen is a scholar of the scriptures, and the old man has also read his "Zhuziyan" and "Shen's Sutra Collection" written by him in Yecheng, although there are indeed subtleties, but it is not impossible to argue, tomorrow in front of the two armies, the old man only needs a word, discipline Shen Chen to surrender, and the Nanyang soldiers retreat without a fight. ”

"Huh?"

The soldiers looked at each other.

Cao Hong and Zhao Yan were also stunned.

Deng Zhan hurriedly said: "Prison army, what kind of person is Shen Chen, how can he retreat from the enemy by saying a few words before the battle?" ”

"Huh."

Wang Lang said with a smile: "If General Deng doesn't believe it, he will see the difference tomorrow in front of the two armies." ”

"This ......"

Cao Hong was stunned and said: "Could it be that the prison army wants to debate the scriptures with him, I heard that he debated the scriptures countless times in Jingzhou, and even Mr. Sima Decao, the great Confucian of Yingchuan, said that he was the first scholar of the scriptures in the world, and the first Confucian at that time, how could the prison army argue with him?" ”

"Don't worry, the old man has his own high opinions."

Wang Lang smiled confidently and said to Cao Hong: "At that time, the governor can strictly organize the team and show off the banner to strengthen the army." ”

"Okay."

Seeing that he was so confident, Cao Hong couldn't help but believe a little, and patted him and said: "Then I will give Shen Chen a letter tonight and ask him to fight tomorrow." ”

"The governor is relieved, even if he can't be made to surrender tomorrow, he will also be discredited by his great Confucianism."

Wang Lang got up and said: "At that time, the old man will make him ashamed to retire!" ”

"Everything will have a labor prison army!"

Zhao Yan bowed.

And they all stood up and saluted.

Only Wang Lang smiled slightly, as if he had a bamboo in his chest, and in just a few words, he could kill Shen Chen without leaving a single piece of armor!