The county seat of Jinxiang.

Above the county hall.

Everyone gathered together, Cao Cao, the commander of the whole army, sat on the main seat, and the rest sat on the left and right.

This is the third day of the defense of Jinxiang County, and it can be seen that everyone who participated in this discussion has an obvious look of exhaustion on their faces.

After yesterday's whole day, even today's half-day of high-intensity command operations, all the generals of the whole army are tired.

Even if his physical fitness is as strong as Cao Ang, under the non-stop continuous operation, his mind seems to have been forcibly stuffed into a pulp.

Even the civil servants and strategists who did not need to be in command on the battlefield became equally tired because they always paid attention to the dynamics of the battlefield, sat in the center to coordinate logistics operations, and also needed to think about strategies to break the enemy.

"Miaocai, what are the casualties of our army, have they been counted?"

Xiahou Yuan hurriedly presented the bamboo slip that he had been holding tightly in his hand, then stood up and gestured to Cao Cao and the people on the left and right.

"Back to the palace, according to the inventory of the generals under his command, the number of casualties in our army so far is less than 3,000, and most of them are wounded."

"It's just that because Jinxiang City is small, there are not too many doctors in the city, and the number of doctors in our army is insufficient, so it is likely that a small number of these wounded soldiers will die of serious injuries in the next period of time."

Cao Cao suddenly bowed slightly when he heard this.

Less than 3,000 casualties were less than 10% compared to the 30,000 troops that the city originally had, which was perfectly acceptable.

The Cao army was defending the city, and most of the soldiers were composed of regular troops, whose quality was much higher than that of the enemy army, and they could withstand such casualties.

There is one caveat, though.

No matter how little you lose.

The people in Jinxiang City will also fluctuate because of this, and the mobilization of people from all walks of life is not as smooth as when the war started, and the implementation of military orders is often delayed.

After all, among the troops defending the city.

Only some of them belong to the Cao family.

The rest are the family forces of the surrounding counties that were recruited by Cao Cao as the pastor of Yanzhou.

There are many mountains.

Once the casualties are too heavy, the Cao army headquarters may still be able to stabilize, and these marginal armies may collapse first.

"What about the enemy's casualties, have you ever ordered someone to count them?"

Xiahou Yuan can already be regarded as a general with relatively high military literacy, and some things do not need to be ordered from above, he can already do a good job.

That's why Cao Cao asked.

Xiahou Yuan, who had already been prepared, had already reported the situation without thinking.

"It is not easy to collect the casualties of the ant thieves, so the last general can only send someone to roughly count them, and the number of casualties of the enemy army should be around 30,000."

"However, unlike the situation of our army, the enemy army has more dead and fewer wounded."

"At the same time, the military doctors in the ant thief army array should be extremely rare, and any wounded soldier who is too seriously injured is no different from the dead."

……

Some things are afraid of comparison.

As soon as he heard that the Yellow Turban thieves outside the city had suffered such heavy losses and maintained a high casualty of at least ten to one against his own side, Cao Cao couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as the enemy army is unable to break through the county seat of Jinxiang, then if this situation continues, the enemy army will soon usher in their defeat.

It's just that when he thought of the war that had lasted two and a half days since the start of the war, and its situation was so tragic, it was still difficult for Cao Cao to calm down after all.

The nearly 200,000 troops invested by both sides directly turned Jinxiang City into a meat grinder, and the entire northern city wall was even stained with a layer of dark red with blood.

Both sides have basically run out of offensive and defensive equipment.

The building cars and crashes prepared by the enemy troops outside the city have now become a single one.

Even most of the ladders were destroyed, so they had to take advantage of the night to cut down trees outside the city, and temporarily rush to make some simple ladders.

And the city is no better.

The arrows used by archers, no matter how they are recycled and processed, maintain a high consumption rate.

There's not much left right now.

And things like rolling wood, thunder stones, and hot oil have become scarce materials in the city.

Hence the fight until now.

It has evolved into hand-to-hand combat between the two sides, and has become the most primitive war.

Expectedly.

If this war continues and the enemy and us hold out for two or three days, I am afraid that the number of casualties will rise in a straight line.

Even if you win.

The price paid is definitely not small.

So I thought about it for a while.

Cao Cao looked left and right around the crowd, and then asked in a deep voice.

"The ant thieves outside the city are a combination of homeless people, mountain bandits, and thieves, and it stands to reason that they are a team whose morale is easy to collapse and their morale is easy to collapse."

"But now they have lost nearly 30,000 soldiers, but there is still no sign of collapse, if they continue like this, I am afraid that there will be a lot of bad things, I don't know what you can do?"

……

Just when everyone was thinking and preparing to give an opinion on Cao Cao's question.

Zhang Liao, who has never been very talkative in this kind of meeting, stood up uncharacteristically and said to Cao Cao and Cao Ang.

"Fu Jun, General Cao, when the last general was defending against the enemy army on the east city wall today, he discovered a situation, please let me pay you a respect!"

People who don't usually like to talk much.

Once a solemn statement is made, there must be a major situation to report.

Cao Cao didn't dare to despise it.

hurriedly straightened up, and then raised his hand to Zhang Liao and said, "What's the situation, Wen Yuan, please report quickly!" ”

Zhang Liao walked quickly to the center of the hall.

After bowing slightly towards Cao Ang.

Then he said: "Before noon today, when the last wave of the offensive was approaching, the enemy's formation showed a tendency to escape to the left and right. ”

"While escaping, the enemy army also stopped the onslaught on the city walls, and there was a long gap between them until the next time the siege resumed."

"And then he watched from the castle tower, and saw with his own eyes that some of the escaped soldiers were captured, and then executed on the spot by the overseers."

"Judging by the last general, there should be a riot in the enemy's ranks, and some soldiers fled because they were afraid of the battle!"

As soon as this statement came out.

The audience was stunned.

Even Cao Cao couldn't help but tremble all over his body, and a look of excitement suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"The army's spirit is broken!"

……

Among these people who attended.

Either they are experienced generals or strategists.

How can you not see what this means?

There was a scene of soldiers fleeing and being captured and executed in public, which is definitely a manifestation of the disintegration of the army, which means that there are already some soldiers in the enemy's large army who have the intention of retreating.

And with the increasing number of people in this part.

It would trigger the collapse of the entire army.

This is undoubtedly great news!

Less than three days of fighting between the two armies.

Cao Cao and the others had actually been waiting for the signs of the enemy's collapse to appear.

As long as there is such a movement, and the trend is tilted, Cao Cao dares to give it a go and directly open the city gate for a counterattack.

If it goes well.

You can end the war a few days earlier, not only reduce your own casualties, but also increase the capture ratio, which is definitely a good thing to kill two birds with one stone.

However, after a whole day of bloody battles yesterday.

The Yellow Turban Army was still strong, and although the soldiers under their command were tired and numb, they had no intention of collapsing.

And so it goes.

Cao Cao naturally didn't dare to act rashly.

This made him depressed.

I all know that the Yellow Turban Army will collapse, but I can't figure out when it will collapse, and I can't wait until I can't wait.

What's the matter?

However, he didn't expect that at this moment, Zhang Liao brought him good news like Ganlin.

Of course.

This kind of major event related to the success or failure of the two armies, Cao Cao never dared to take it lightly.

So after calming down.

He hurriedly inquired again: "Wen Yuan, do you know how many people escaped from the enemy's army and were captured and executed?" ”

……

Zhang Liao thought about it for a while.

A more ambiguous figure is given.

"There are more than 100 people, because they are running in several directions at the same time, but they can still form a team, so there are more than 100 people."

"In your opinion, how likely is it that the enemy will set a trap and deliberately lure us out of the city?"

This question is even more important.

The two armies are facing each other, and the soldiers are not tired of deceit.

Even a homeless army like the Yellow Turban Army must beware of their tricks, after all, if you make a mistake, it will be a great disaster for your side.

When Zhang Liao heard this, he didn't dare to draw conclusions easily.

Instead, his mind began to recall the previous scene frantically, trying to restore every detail.

After so long.

Zhang Liao bowed his hand to Cao Cao and gave his own judgment.

"The last general thinks that the enemy's distraction is a definite thing, not a scheme."

"When these more than 100 people fled, the chaotic momentum in the enemy's army formation seemed very real, and it was easy to fake."

"Second, the execution of one's own soldiers in front of the battle, or the scale of hundreds of people, this matter itself has drawbacks, although it can deter people's hearts, but it will cause fear among the soldiers, and no general will do this at will."

When it comes to this.

Cao Cao nodded secretly.

And that's not enough.

Zhang Liao then compared the third finger.

"The most important point, in the eyes of the last general, once there are soldiers in the army who flee in fear of battle, it will become a spark and a prairie fire, and the rest of the soldiers will be ready to move."

"If the enemy general uses this incident as a bait, one careless mistake will lead to the fake becoming true, which is tantamount to playing with fire and self-immolation."

"So combined with the above points, the ant thieves should be because of the large number of casualties yesterday and today, which caused the morale to begin to crumble!"

……

A good general.

It is possible to make one's own analysis and judgment on key matters based on the existing information, and implement certain measures.

Zhang Liao's confident and bold judgment.

made everyone present nod their heads again and again.

Cao Cao's eyes were full of appreciation.

I have long known that under Ang'er's hands, this Liao Zhang Wenyuan is a very capable cadre, and today's Q&A shows that he lives up to his name.

Come to think of it.

Cao Cao turned his head to look at Cao Ang and asked with a smile: "Zixuan, do you think that our army can take advantage of the fact that the enemy has shown signs of the collapse of the army's morale, seize this opportunity, and go out of the city to take the initiative to counterattack?" ”

Cao Ang pinched his chin.

After a little thought.

Then he nodded slowly.

"The child thinks that we can give it a try, mobilize all our cavalry, cooperate with a large number of infantry, and kill directly from the East City Gate at dawn tomorrow morning, even if the main force of the enemy army that cannot be disturbed is scattered, it will definitely be able to severely defeat the army besieging the East City!"

After having the affirmative attitude of his son.

Cao Cao had a bottom in his heart.

Instead, he continued to throw the opportunity to perform to Zhang Liao, and asked with a bit of solemnity.

"Wen Yuan, if you lead the troops to counterattack, what are you going to do?"

Speaking of specific military tactics.

Zhang Liao came to his senses all of a sudden.

Immediately shook it.

Then while pacing in a small area in place, he gestured with both hands and made an impassioned statement.

"As General Cao said, you can choose to use the cavalry as the vanguard tomorrow when the sky is faint, and break the enemy's defense line with a fierce charge, creating a huge momentum to cover the approach of the infantry in the rear."

"Stir up trouble on the north and west walls at the same time, creating the illusion of a center of gravity in these two directions, thereby distracting the enemy and slowing down the mobilization of his army to support the east."

"After our army leaves the city, it does not seek to annihilate the enemy troops, but only needs to form a semi-encirclement, drive the enemy troops on the east side to the north side, and use their own forces to force the formation of the main force."

"As soon as the enemy forces on the northern city wall are dispersed, our army can counterattack in an all-out way, and they who are already close to collapse at that time will definitely collapse completely!"

……

With Zhang Liao talking eloquently.

Cao Cao's eyes were getting brighter and brighter.

After such an analysis, he felt that this matter was indeed extremely feasible.

"Huh!"

Cao Cao didn't say a word, and unfolded a simple map of Jinxiang City defense on the table.

"Everyone come over and see what Wen Yuan said, whether it can be done!"

Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Yuan, Chen Gong, Xun You and others surrounded one after another, and the rest of the generals who were not so close to each other stood in a row outside.

After looking around the map for a moment.

Xiahoudun was the first to approve: "Fujun, I think this matter is feasible, our army already has 1,000 and hundreds of cavalry at the moment, plus the rest of the departments, it must not be too difficult to gather 2,000 cavalry." ”

"And the main strength of the ant thieves is placed on the north city wall, and the troops on the east side are less than 30,000, as long as the momentum is huge, it is definitely a promising thing to attack their army formation with 2,000 horsemen!"

As his brother's voice fell.

Xiahou Yuan also stretched out his hand, drew a line on the map, and then analyzed in a deep voice.

"Jinxiang City is not a big city, the distance from the east of the city to the north of the city is not far, as long as our army can keep the cavalry in the back, it will always be under pressure and drive away."

"If you want to force their main army, it won't take too long, and the short time means that the enemy's main general will not have time to mobilize troops and horses to respond, and the last general also agrees with Wen Yuan's strategy!"

……

The two clan generals both expressed their affirmation.

Basically, this means that there is nothing wrong with this decision.

Cao Cao suddenly became excited.

He wasn't much of a lover of holding the fort, preferring to lead an army on the initiative if he could.

Especially at this juncture.

Not long after he took office as Yanzhou Mu, this battle against the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army was an exam question for himself, and he had to come up with a brilliant victory.

Only the mighty one wins.

in order to convince Yanzhou of him.

And the turtle cowered in the city, dragged on until the enemy army collapsed, and then went out of the city to beat the water dogs.

That's a good thing.

But after all, it is not so enjoyable, not enough to show the majesty of our Cao army, and it is difficult to convince people.

Hence Zhang Liao's battle plan.

It was even Cao Cao's appetite.

Just as he was about to give the order to start preparing.

Chen Gong on the side suddenly vetoed coldly.

"Fu Jun, I don't agree with the strategy!"

Cao Cao was stunned for a moment.

…………

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(End of chapter)