In July 218 AD, Cao Cao consulted with the people about raising an army.

Cao Cao said: "Liu Bei and Sun Quan have united with each other, and they have become a problem for their henchmen. ”

Cao Ren said: "The last general thinks that if you use troops, you should attack Jiangling first, Jiangling is flat, which is conducive to transporting troops and grain, and has Nanyang and Yuzhou as supports. Taking Jiangling is equivalent to cutting off the connection between the Sun and Liu families. ”

Cao Cao nodded and said, "This is true. ”

Chen Qun suddenly said: "Great King, although what General Cao said is reasonable, but now the foreign races in the north are restless, and the Qiang in the west has not yet been completely subjugated. Previously, he conscripted Jiangdong Sun Quan, which cost a lot of money and food, and if the military affairs were raised again, it would be protracted, and I am afraid that it would exhaust the people's strength and exhaust the treasury. Think twice! ”

Cao Cao said: "The words of the public are also very reasonable, but the henchmen are in great trouble, and they can't help but levy, Cao Ren, you can lead the troops to Fancheng to camp first, allocate grain and grass, look for opportunities, and use troops for laymen." ”

Cao Ren was ordered to go to Fancheng and Xiangyang with Runan Taishou Manzhong first, preparing to attack Jiangling.

Cao Renbing tun Fancheng, collecting grain and grass, and organizing the tuntian soldiers to transport grain. He also prepared to build ships and transport grain and grass by water during the conquest.

Due to the heavy conscription, in October, Nanyang Hou Yin and Wei Kai rebelled, occupied Nanyang, and led troops to reject Cao. Ask for help from Jiangling Guan Yu and return the city to Shun. After Guan Yu received it, he sent a messenger to report to Liu Bei in Chengdu.

At the beginning, Liu Bei once left a message to Guan Yu: If Nanyang changes, you can act cheaply. Guan Yu did not delay, and immediately raised 40,000 soldiers and horses to attack Xiangfan. Send someone to return with Hou Yin's envoy to inform Nanyang Hou Yin and Wei Kai that they only need to hold on, and they will personally lead troops to respond in the near future, so as to strengthen Nanyang's heart to defend the city.

Cao Renwei was shocked when he learned that the back road was unstable, and Hou Yin of Nanyang rebelled, and ordered Lu Chang to guard Xiangyang, and Runan Taishou to guard Fancheng, and led 20,000 soldiers and horses to quell the rebellion.

Kuaima Bao and Cao Cao learned that Cao Ren had just traveled to the land of Nanyang for a hundred miles.

Guan Yu has already begun to march into the army, Guan Yu put aside the burden of grain and grass, and only took ten days of grain and grass first, and Gan Ning led the army to press the grain behind.

Advancing by land and water, the troops have reached Xiangyang and Fancheng. Xiangyang guard general Lu Chang refused Guan Yu's persuasion to surrender and could not hold out.

Guan Yu besieged and attacked for more than ten days, but it did not stop. Guan Yu said to the generals: "Now that Hou Yin has turned his back on Cao to join me, this is a God-given opportunity to enter the Central Plains, and it cannot be lost." Xiangyang and Fancheng are close to the waterway, and Xingba can lead the water army to attack, so I immediately went north and seized Nanyang. ”

Xu Shu said: "What Yun Chang said is true, but if the two cities are not captured as soon as possible, once the reinforcements of Cao Cao in the north arrive, it may be disadvantageous, and Xiangyang and Fancheng are better to break through one place!" Xiangyang is strong, it is better to attack Fancheng urgently, take Fancheng, isolate Xiangyang, and then go north, it is a foolproof plan. ”

Guan Yu said: "Xingba will arrive in a few days, and when Xingba leads troops to attack the city, he will definitely be able to break the city before the Cao army arrives, needless to say." I will divide half of the troops with Yuan Zhi, and after Gan Ning arrives, I will hand over the soldiers and horses to Gan Ning to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng, and you will come to meet me at that time. ”

Xu Shu's persuasion was ineffective, so he had to agree. Guan Yu himself went north.

Xu Shu built siege equipment, sent someone to report the battle situation to Liu Bei, divided his troops to besiege Xiangyang, prepared to attack Fancheng, and cut off Cao's stronghold to support Xiangyang.

Full of favor stationed in Fancheng, not afraid of Jingzhou soldiers and horses, boosting morale, guarding the city, and preparing for a big battle.

After Gan Ning arrived, he supervised the troops to attack, and the attack was more than 50 days without defeat, and the soldiers and horses in Yuzhou began to be mobilized, and Gan Ning was worried.

The situation was urgent, and the deputy general was ordered to lead the army to break the Han River and flood Fancheng. As a result, the amount of water was insufficient, so I had to give up. Gan Ning attacked fiercely, and all the favors were repulsed, and Gan Ning was worried when he saw that this did not work.

Ma Liang led the Wuxi volunteers to help in the battle. Gan Ning connected, the two talked, Ma Liang saw that Gan Ning was always sighing and said: "I see you frowning and smiling, are you frustrated in the siege and depressed?"

Gan Ning heard this and said: "Exactly, Manzhong is quite resourceful and has a deep military heart. It's been a month since I attacked and I haven't captured Fancheng, and the attack on Xiangyang has not gone well, and Yunchang has already gone north, which is a risky move, and now I am in a dilemma, so I am quite worried. ”

Ma Liang said with a smile: "Xingba, don't worry, Wuxi has lived in the mountains for a long time, and he is vigorous. In the past, the lord recruited Wuxi Barbarians as an army with a large profit, and I saw their advantages, so I specially trained them how to climb the city, and now I can help you attack the city. ”

Gan Ningxi said: "It's so hard."

Ma Liang said: "This is duty. However, Xingba was reluctant to give up gold and silver. ”

Gan Ning said: "As long as you can break the city, gold and silver will no longer matter!" ”

Ma Liang said: "Under the heavy reward, boost morale, it can be effective." ”

Gan Ning immediately sent people to give out all the gold and silver and Wuxi Man, and killed cattle and sheep to reward them.

Ma Liang took the opportunity to say to Wuxi and said: "Now that you have not made meritorious contributions, you will get such a generous profit, what if? ”

The people said, "Mine will repay the Lord regardless of life and death." ”

Gan Ning stood up and said: "Fancheng can't be attacked for a long time, no more progress, the opportunity is missed, tomorrow I will lead the troops and horses to attack the city for three days to exhaust the enemy army, and then Ji Chang will lead you to break the city, I hope you will do your best." ”

Everyone: "We will definitely live up to the great reward of the adults." ”

Gan Ning was overjoyed and drank with everyone. The next day, the three armies rose up and desperately broke the city.

The next day, Gan Ning wore triple armor, held a shield in one hand and an iron chain in the other, and personally led troops to besiege on all sides.

At noon on the third day, Gan Ning took advantage of the dazzling moment of the sun's rays on the city wall to storm and personally resist the attack of Jingzhou's soldiers and horses.

Ma Liang led the Wuxi volunteers to the other city gate, withdrew the siege soldiers and horses, and changed the Wuxi soldiers and horses to attack the city, and the Wuxi volunteers swarmed up, waiting to get close to the city, while shooting arrows, but the speed did not decrease at all, and the bows and crossbows were fired in unison, one after another, and there was some suppression of the Cao army.

Before approaching the city wall, several Wuxi volunteers had erected the cloud ladder, and three people on the ladder were on top of the ladder. They used rattan shields that could cover almost half of their bodies to block the arrows, and they kept their balance flexibly, Cao Jun had never seen this kind of formation, and they hurriedly shot at the people on the ladder.

As soon as the ladder approached the city wall, the Wuxi volunteers immediately began to climb, and the Wuxi volunteers on the ladder engaged in battle with short weapons.

The general of Cao Shoucheng immediately commanded to greet the Wuxi rebels with long knives and bows and arrows, but the Wuxi barbarians under the ladder were not idle, and kept throwing short axes in the back, while the first Wuxi volunteers struggled to open the gap and quickly climbed the city with a rattan shield, and Cao Jun wanted to block the flying axe with an iron shield.

The Wuxi volunteers rushed up without fear of death, and once they reached the top of the city, they pounced with brute force, and they could hold three or four Cao soldiers at a time to buy time for the Wuxi volunteers behind.

The Wuxi volunteers in the back took the opportunity to gain a foothold in the city and fought against Cao's army with short weapons and rattan shields. Ma Liang saw that the gap was opened, so that Wuxi Man behind him carried the bone stack on his back, held a big knife in his hand, and swarmed up at the gap.

After ascending to the head of the city, the Wuxi volunteers used big knives and bones in close combat, and used flying axes from afar, where did the Cao army see this kind of formation, and they couldn't resist it for a while, and the Wuxi volunteers gathered more and more, set fire on all sides, killed the city, opened the city gate, and let the Han army outside the city enter the city.

Seeing that the city gate was lost, the Cao army in the city hurriedly led the reserve army to support. At this time, the firelight attracted the attention of the Han army and the full favor.

The morale of the Han army was greatly boosted, and Gan Ning shouted loudly, working harder to lead troops to attack the city, not giving the Cao army a chance to breathe.

Seeing the firelight and having the heart to support, seeing Gan Ning personally going into battle, the Han army attacked tightly, full of favor was powerless, and there was chaos in the city when he hesitated, and the Han army entered the city and led the reserve soldiers and horses to intercept the Han army's partial generals.

Seeing that the matter was irreparable, Man Zhong sighed: "I have the trust of General Cao." ”

Drawing his sword and wanting to kill himself, he hurriedly persuaded him left and right, and set up Man Pet to break through from the east gate, and Man Pet suddenly shouted: "Wait with me!" ”

Man Pet led the remnants of the soldiers to the grain storage place, burned the hoarded grain and grass, and then broke through.

Gan Ning saw the fire and hurried to the rescue, but it was too late. The Han army took advantage of the victory to chase and kill Manzhong, who was delayed by burning grain, so he suffered heavy casualties.

After Gan Ning entered the city, he went out of the list and sent someone to Guan Yu to report the victory. At the same time, this news was spread to Xiangyang to disrupt Xiangyang's resistance.