Cao Zhang stood in the big tent, holding the soldier map in his hand, his brows furrowed.

The garrison of Chang'an City far exceeded his expectations, and he did not expect that the siege of more than 50,000 soldiers could not break through the defense of Li Dao's army, which made him feel as if he was facing an insurmountable mountain.

Now that there were only a few days left before the deadline, his heart was extremely anxious.

But he couldn't show it in front of everyone, so he could only pretend to be calm, let everyone go back to rest, and suspend the siege the next day, and then he pulled Xu Shu to discuss countermeasures with Xiahou Shang and Xiahou Ru.

"Yuan Zhi, Chang'an's defense is so strong, have you thought of a way to break the city!?" Cao Zhang asked Xu Shu urgently, he thought hard for a long time, but he still couldn't think of a suitable way, so he could only ask Xu Shu for help.

Xu Shu looked at the sand table on the table, frowning and thinking. He knew that Cao Zhang had a deep desire for Chang'an City, and he also knew that time was pressing, and he had to come up with practical methods to help Cao Zhang break the city.

Outside the big tent, Ma Chao walked quickly, he knew that Cao Zhang was in a hurry to break the city, and he wanted to find him to ask for battle, and strive to continue the siege of the city the next day.

He happened to hear Cao Zhang, Xu Shu and the others discussing, so he stopped, thinking about listening to it first before going in.

Before Xu Shu could speak, Xiahou Shang beside him took the initiative to say: "Brother Ziwen, this Chang'an has a strong defense, if we just rely on ordinary siege weapons, it will be even more difficult to break through it." I have now thought of an idea to break through Chang'an! ”

Cao Zhang became excited when he heard his words, and hurriedly asked, "Brother Bo Yanxian, what good way do you have?" ”

Xiahou Shang looked into Cao Zhang's eyes and said seriously: "Didn't my brother once flood Li Dao's troops out of the city with the help of water before?" Why don't we concoct it with the law, lead the eight waters outside Chang'an City, and pour Chang'an into Chang'an, then Chang'an will be broken! ”

Xiahou Ru listened to Xiahou Shang's words, and also added excitedly: "Yes, now that the river is sufficient, it is just right to take a water attack!" ”

Cao Zhang's eyes lit up after listening to the words of the two, but immediately thought of many details, and shook his head gently: "Bo Yan, although this plan is wonderful, I'm afraid it's not feasible now." ”

Xiahou was puzzled and asked, "Why?" ”

"Although Chang'an is surrounded by eight rivers, in order to irrigate the city with water, we need to dig the river channel, build a dam, and lead the river to Chang'an, which takes a lot of manpower and time to achieve. Although there are many soldiers in our army, the number of diggers is limited, and the deadline is approaching, so I am afraid that it will be too late. ”

"Our battle is to exterminate Li Dao and return the safety of the people in the Sanfu area, this big water will go down, Chang'an City will become a water country, how many innocent people will die? After the river is diverted, the downstream people have no water to use, and how to farm, which will also be greatly affected? After the flood, there may be a plague, and our move is not to save the people, but to harm the people! ”

"What's more, after taking Chang'an, we are going to hand it over to Ma Yuanjun to be in charge, and we leave such a mess for others, what do people think of us? In today's battle, they are all trying their best to help, we can't just care about victory, regardless of the consequences! ”

Although Cao Zhang also wanted to win as soon as possible, this strategy was too late in time to do so, and there was a huge aftermath, so he could only give up.

As soon as Cao Zhang said this, Xiahou Shang and Xiahou Ru stopped talking, and they had to admit that Cao Zhang's consideration was far more thoughtful than theirs.

Their conversation was overheard by Ma Chao outside the tent, and he was very moved to hear that Cao Zhang loved the people so much and thought about his father.

He had the heart to continue to go in and ask for battle, but he also understood that with Cao Zhang's current mentality, he should not agree. And he didn't have enough wits to help Cao Zhang come up with ideas, and he didn't want to go in and disturb them, so he finally chose to turn around and leave, he wanted to go to Ma Teng to discuss how to help Cao Zhang share his worries.

In the big tent, Xu Shu, who had been silent, spoke at this time: "Lord, I have a plan now, although I can't break the city immediately, but it can destroy the confidence that the enemy army has just established, and it can also achieve the effect of breaking the morale of the enemy army." ”

Cao Zhang heard Xu Shu speak, showing an excited expression: "Yuan Zhi, what kind of strategy, come and listen!" ”

"Embattled!" Xu Shu said four words calmly.

"Embattled?" Xiahou Shang and Xiahou Ru glanced at each other, obviously not understanding what Xu Shu meant.

"We can set up a cauldron under the city of Chang'an, cook meat and reward our soldiers. At the same time, the captured Yuan Xiliang soldiers can be asked to help shout and persuade them to surrender, telling the soldiers in the city that as long as they surrender in the city now, they can avoid death, have meat to eat, and have good treatment in the future. Xu Shu further explained his strategy.

Cao Zhang's spirit instantly perked up, and a scorching light flashed in his eyes: "I understand what Yuan Zhi means." We have sent out persuasions to surrender in order to demoralize the enemy. Although the siege was not victorious today, it also killed and wounded thousands of enemy troops, and their bodies and minds were already further damaged. After a hard day's fighting, they are even more exhausted, and hearing such a temptation, some weak-willed people will inevitably waver. ”

"If we persist like this for a day or two, when their confidence completely dissipates, we launch a final onslaught, and the success of breaking the city will increase exponentially!" Xu Shu echoed Cao Zhang's words.

After listening to the explanation, Xiahou Shang and Xiahou Ru also nodded again and again in admiration: "This method is good, our soldiers can be rewarded, and it will boost morale." The enemy can only watch and eat, coupled with the sound of persuasion to surrender, it must be that the army's heart is turbulent. Under the trade-off, our winning rate will definitely increase! ”

"Without further ado, act now!" Cao Zhang immediately gave the order.

The moonlight sprinkled on Chang'an City, and the Xiliang army on the city tower and the city wall was sitting or lying, gnawing on military rations in their mouths, resting.

Suddenly, a fire lit up under the city, followed by the smell of boiled meat, which wafted in the wind and went directly into the noses of the soldiers.

The soldiers of the Xiliang Army immediately became excited, and some of them directly sniffed, got up from the ground, and looked down on the battlements of the city wall, wanting to see where the smell of meat came from.

Seeing that under the city wall, where long-range weapons could not reach, Cao Zhangjun's soldiers raised torches, set up a cauldron to cook meat, and deliberately used fans to fan the taste of boiled meat in the direction of Chang'an City.

"I'll go, it's too fragrant!" "People's soldiers have meat to eat!" The Xiliang soldiers in the city watched from afar, smelling the smell of meat in the air, and they all showed envious eyes and exclaimed.

At this moment, the shouts of the Xiliang army suddenly sounded under the city, calling out their past friends or comrades in the city.

Hearing their shouts, the soldiers of the Xiliang Army at the head of the city became even more restless.

"Brothers, why do you want to die with Li Dao! How many people died in the First World War today, haven't you counted? How many people are there in the city, and how long can they last?! If you don't surrender, there is only one way to die! ”

"Brothers, Cao Gongzi is a good person, treat us as human beings, and give us good treatment, you see, after the war, you can still have meat to eat! Why do you bother to follow that brutal guy like Li Dao! ”

"yes, surrender quickly. Cao Gongzi said, as long as you surrender now, not only will you not die, but you will also have meat to eat! Those who want to go home can be entangled, and those who want to stay can also enjoy the same treatment as us, what are you waiting for, come down and surrender! ”

The soldiers of the Xiliang Army under the city began to shout and persuade them to surrender, and the voices came and went, and there was an endless stream.

The continuous shouting made the Xiliang army, which was already very tired and had no fighting spirit, begin to waver.

"Are they telling the truth? If you surrender now, you will be spared death, and you will be treated well?! It can't lie to us, right? ”

"You are stupid, you see that the little five sons are now wearing Cao Jun's uniforms, and they are also eating meat together, what you have seen with your own eyes, can it be fake?!"

"Then what are we going to do, we really want to accompany Li Dao and them to death together!?"

At first, the soldiers whispered in a low voice, but then they grew louder and louder, and it became a discussion without any scruples.

When the officers heard the soldiers discussing so loudly, they all realized that the situation was not right, and they began to shout loudly.

But at this time, their cheers could not stop the soldiers from becoming more and more excited.

Some of the soldiers were no longer limited to just talking, but simply pulled up the rope, tied it to the head of the city and went down, and then began to climb down the wall along the rope.

When they arrived at the city, they untied the ropes and ran frantically in the direction of Cao Zhangjun, shouting loudly as they ran: "Don't kill us, we surrender!" ”

Cao Zhangjun's soldiers did not fire arrows at them, but accepted them warmly, and immediately gave them dishes and chopsticks, so that they also joined the ranks of eating meat.

Those Xiliang soldiers raised their voices even more, and continued to shout: "See, what we said is the truth, as long as you surrender, you will be spared death, and there will be meat to eat!" ”

In this way, the Xiliang soldiers in the city completely blew up the nest, and they all began to be restless, and many people began to try to go down the wall along the rope, and some of them were even more bold, and those who were troublesome ran directly down the stairs to the city, wanting to open the city gate and run out directly.

"Bold!" With an angry roar, Li Dao appeared with Li Huan, Li Ying, and Hu Feng, and he got a report from his subordinates that Cao Zhangjun was tempting his subordinates to surrender, so he hurried over.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived, he saw that there was already an uncontrollable situation in the city, and he immediately roared angrily.

Li Dao drew his sword and directly stepped forward to cut a number of ropes, and the soldiers who had time to land in the future fell directly and fell to their deaths under the city, letting out a miserable scream.

Subsequently, Li Dao slashed to death several soldiers who tried to open the door of the city with several swords: "I see who dares to surrender, don't worry about killing!" ”

Li Wei's ferocious and brutal behavior frightened the originally shaken morale of the army, and the soldiers shrank their heads and retreated, not daring to move again.

Li Dao's brutal behavior was seen by Cao Zhangjun under the city.

Those soldiers who had just run over secretly congratulated themselves on their fast movements, and ran down before Li Dao came, otherwise they would either be killed or could only stay in the city and wait for death.

Cao Zhang and Xu Shu had been watching from afar, and they had also seen Li Wei's brutal behavior.

"Childe, Li Dao's violent use of violence to stop the soldiers' restlessness will only deepen the soldiers' resentment towards him, as long as we continue to persuade him to surrender and continue, the contradictions between the soldiers in the city and him will become more and more intense, and we will have an opportunity!" Xu Shu whispered to Cao Zhang.

"Yuan Zhi said it very well, the order went down, and he kept shouting and persuading him to surrender day and night, shaking the hearts of the enemy army!" Cao Zhang followed Xu Shu's suggestion and gave an order.

Cao Zhang's soldiers received Cao Zhang's instructions, and some began to shout and persuade them to surrender, louder, and mixed with curses and insults to Li Dao, denouncing his cruelty to his subordinates.

The Xiliang army at the head of the city heard the shouts from the city, although they didn't dare to move, but their faces were full of expressions of approval and dissatisfaction.

Li Dao glared and gave orders to Li Ying, Li Huan, and Hu Feng: "Give me an order, if anyone dares to run away and surrender or disturb the morale of the army, no matter how high or low the rank, they will be killed on the spot!" No toleration! ”

Li Huan and Li Ying glanced at each other, although they were a little unbearable in their hearts, but they also understood that the current chaotic situation could only be stabilized by using this method, and immediately gave up their orders: "Oh! ”

"Also, from now on, you will take turns on duty to prevent the enemy from launching a night attack, and you must control the morale of the army, and you must not give Cao Zhang a chance to take advantage of it!" Li Dao gave the order to guard the wheel again!

"Yes!" Li Huan and the others received the order again.

Li Wei glared, brandished his bloody sword at the soldiers at the head of the city as a warning, and after seeing that no one dared to react, he turned around and walked towards the city.

Seeing Li Dao leaving, the eyes of the soldiers at the head of the city showed resentment, and they hated Li Dao for cutting off their last hope of escape, and this resentment condensed in everyone's hearts and spread rapidly......