A few days later, outside the east gate of Chang'an, the army led by Cao Zhang arrived and set up camp about five miles away from Chang'an.
In Chang'an City, the news of the arrival of Cao Zhang's army had already been reported to Li Jue.
Li Jue took Li Huan, Li Ying, Li Shi and others to the top of the east gate of Chang'an and watched from a distance.
It was almost dusk, and the soldiers were busy running around in Cao Jun's camp.
Although they only have about 10,000 people, their laws are strict and the layout of their military camps is also very elegant. They cleverly rely on the terrain to achieve the greatest possible offensive and defensive capabilities.
"This damn Cao Zhang. I originally wanted to organize our troops and fight towards Luoyang, but I didn't expect that he dared to lead his troops to pursue him to Chang'an. What do you think we should do to fight against him?" Li Jue cursed angrily and asked everyone. Take countermeasures.
Li Shi still maintained his arrogant character: "This Cao Zhang dares to come to attack Chang'an. Of course I must teach him a lesson. I will lead the troops out early tomorrow morning and I must kill his majesty!"
"In the battle of Luoyang, we lost more than 10,000 soldiers, and our military morale was seriously frustrated and morale was low. Although we can have 50,000 soldiers when we return to Chang'an and add the defenders. But under the current circumstances, we should hold on No. After all, Cao Zhang has come all the way, and the supply of food and grass will be a problem. We can wait until he is short of food and grass before going to war, and the chance of winning will be higher!" Li Huan, however, rejected Li Shi's idea of going to war and proposed to stick to his guns.
Chang'an was originally the ancient capital of the Western Han Dynasty. Dong Zhuo repaired it after moving westward, and Li Jue had been here for many years, and it had already been built into a strong city.
Li Huan firmly believed that with their force five times that of Cao Zhang, it would be difficult for Cao Zhang to break through if they stood firm.
"Uncle, is it necessary to be so afraid of that Cao Zhang? He came from afar and was in a state of exhaustion. Although our army has been newly defeated, it can stimulate the soldiers' revenge mentality and give them a hard blow while their foothold is not stable. , this is the truth that the mourning soldiers will win!" Li Shi was unwilling to hold on and insisted on going out of the city to fight.
Li Jue listened to the argument between the two, but fell into a conflict, and was not sure who to listen to.
"Father, please allow me to go to battle tomorrow. I will personally challenge Cao Zhang and avenge the two dead brothers!" Li Shi insisted on asking Li Jue for a battle.
Li Ying, who had been silent all this time, also spoke at this time: "Brother, the first battle is extremely important. If we can win, it can boost the morale of our army. Standing firm and showing weakness to the opponent will only make our soldiers more afraid of the enemy. It is indeed not a good strategy. I also agree to let Shi'er go out of the city to fight!"
Hearing that Li Ying also supported Li Shi's battle, Li Jue finally no longer hesitated and nodded: "Okay, tomorrow morning, I will go out with five thousand troops and horses with you to challenge Cao Zhang. If you can kill the enemy and win, you will be rewarded heavily!"
"Here!" Li Shi agreed excitedly.
Li Huan looked at him with a worried look on his face, but knowing that it was impossible to change, he could only helplessly shake his head and sigh...
The early morning light shone on Chang'an City. The battle horn sounded from the top of Chang'an City.
Then the city gate opened wide, and with the thunderous sound of war drums, five thousand Xiliang soldiers poured out of the city gate and formed a formation in the open space outside the city.
Li Shi came out with a spear in hand and clapped his horse, standing at the front of the team, leading his troops and horses straight to the camp of Cao Zhang's army in front.
A stone's throw away from Cao Zhang's camp, Li Shi led his troops to a halt, and then gave an order to the messenger behind him: "Scroll down the formation and tell Cao Zhang to come out and fight!"
Several messenger soldiers received the order, lined up in a row, and yelled and cursed at Cao Zhang's camp opposite, calling for Cao Zhang to come out and fight.
When the soldiers guarding the gate saw the Xiliang army coming, they had already lined up in formation, positioned their horses, strung their bows, and unsheathed their swords, making defensive preparations.
In the Chinese army's tent, Cao Zhang and his generals and counselors had already gathered.
"Sir, the enemy general Li Shi is scolding outside the camp!" The soldiers entered the tent and reported to Cao Zhang.
"Understood, pass the order, defend tightly, and don't give the enemy a chance to rush into the camp." Cao Zhang calmly gave the order, and the soldiers followed the order and exited.
"Ziwen, if Li Shi dares to call for battle, why should we be afraid of him? I will go out to fight and take his head!" Xiahou Ba took the initiative to challenge.
Xu Huang also stepped forward: "Sir, the last general is also willing to fight against Li Shi!"
Yuan Tan looked at the two of them, but was not in a hurry. He just said calmly: "Who said that if he scolds the formation, we must go out to fight? Have a good rest, ignore him, don't get used to his bad habits!"
"Gong Ming, Zhong Quan, you lead troops to guard the gate of the stronghold for me. If Li Shi dares to charge the stronghold, shoot arrows to my death!" Cao Zhang gave the order to Xu Huang, but he could not hold on.
Neither Xu Huang nor Xia Houba understood Cao Zhang's decision, but they did not dare to disobey the military orders, so they could only retreat angrily to carry out Cao Zhang's instructions.
However, Xu Shu fully understood Cao Zhang's intention and stepped forward and said: "Li Jue must have been furious when we attacked him in Luoyang and killed two of his nephews. Now that Li Shi has come to call for battle, he must be determined to take revenge and be aggressive." The young master avoids fighting because he wants to avoid his sharp edge, right?"
"His momentum has been exhausted again and again. Now his momentum is at its peak. We don't have to worry. Let's wait for an hour before talking." Cao Zhang responded to Xu Shu with a smile.
"Good advice, young master." Xu Shu praised sincerely.
At the gate of the camp, Xu Huang and Xiahou Ba came with their troops, but they only strengthened the defense and did not open the door to fight.
When Li Shi saw the mobilization of soldiers in Cao's camp, he became even more angry and cursed loudly: "Cao Zhang, you don't even dare to come out to fight with me. You came all the way to Chang'an and you are just showing off to us." Of?"
As Li Shi shouted, the messenger behind him also yelled and cursed with him.
However, Xu Huang and Xiahou Ba strictly abided by Cao Zhang's instructions. They just stood firm and did not listen to his yelling and scolding at all.
Li Shi's lieutenant rode to his side and asked, "Sir, if the enemy doesn't go out to fight, do you want to attack their camp?"
Although Li Shi was arrogant, he was still self-aware. He looked at Cao's troops who were waiting in the camp and knew that they would suffer heavy losses if they rushed to the camp, so he shook his head and said: "The enemy has already taken precautions and rushes into the camp rashly, we will suffer heavy losses." , and you may not be able to succeed!"
"Keep scolding me, no matter how unpleasant it sounds, you must scold Cao Zhang!" After Li Shi thought for a while, he gave the order to the messenger.
After receiving the order, the orderly soldiers started shouting and cursing crazily, and started all kinds of crazy "greetings" directed at Cao Zhang's various relatives...
Xu Huang and Xiahou Ba were guarding the camp with their soldiers. They frowned as they listened to the various insults from the Xiliang army outside.
The soldiers of Cao's army who were guarding were filled with indignation and extremely angry when they heard that their beloved commander, Mr. Cao Zhang, was so reviled by the enemy but could not go out to fight.
Xiahou Ba asked Xu Huang angrily: "Gongming, Li Shi insulted Ziwen like this, are we really going to endure it like this?"
Xu Huang responded helplessly but resolutely: "Military orders are like mountains. The master said we can't go to war, so we can only carry out the military orders!"
Xiahouba muttered unwillingly: "Question, these bastards really dare to scold anything, including Ziwen's ancestors. Doesn't this bring our Xiahou family with them? It's really hateful!"
Xiahou Ba listened for a while and couldn't stand it anymore, so he said to Xu Huang: "Gongming, you stay here, I'll go find Ziwen and tell him, this Li Shi is really too much! He must be taught a lesson Give him a try!"
Xu Huang was not reconciled, so he nodded, Xiahou Ba turned around and walked towards the Chinese army's tent.
When Xia Houba arrived at the Chinese army's tent, he saw Cao Zhang, Xu Shu, Xia Houchang, and Xia Houru gathered around the topographic map of Chang'an, pointing and discussing.
"Ziwen, that Li Shi keeps scolding him, and the more he scolds, the worse it gets!" Xiahou Ba stepped forward and said to Cao Zhang anxiously.
"A Xiliang barbarian, he can scold him if he likes. Just pretend you didn't hear him!" Cao Zhang didn't care at all.
Xiahou Ba was anxious. He walked up to Cao Zhang and said anxiously: "How could you pretend you didn't hear it? He scolded all the ancestors of our Cao family and Xiahou family. You can bear it, but I can't. Just let me Go out and teach him a lesson!”
In fact, Xia Houshang and Xia Houru had already heard the abuse outside, but they were kept silent by Cao Zhang.
Now seeing Xiahou Ba's excitement, he couldn't hold it back anymore and followed him to challenge Cao Zhang.
Seeing that the three people were extremely excited, Cao Zhang knew that he had successfully used the provoking method to arouse the hatred of his subordinates towards Li Shi, which would allow them to inspire greater fighting spirit and unleash their potential to kill the enemy.
But Cao Zhang believed that it was not the time to go to war yet, and he would further consume Li Shi.
"Don't be anxious. Eat first. After eating and drinking, you will feel energetic. If he still scolds you, then deal with him!" Cao Zhang still did not agree to the request to fight.
Xiahou Ba was anxious: "Ziwen, people are already sitting on our heads and shitting on us, you are still in the mood to eat!"
Xu Shu stepped forward with a smile and said: "Master Zhongquan, we are waiting for work in the camp, eating and drinking enough; Li Shi is basking in the sun, has not eaten or drank, and keeps yelling and scolding. You said that after a while, he will still Do you have the strength? If we attack at that time, are we still worried that we won't be able to defeat him in one battle and will vent our anger on you?"
When Xu Shu said this, Xiahou Ba and others suddenly understood.
"Ziwen, so that's what you were thinking, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Xiahou Ba complained to Cao Zhang.
Cao Zhang chuckled and shook his head, and said helplessly: "You three, one will be a general in the future, and the two are my army recruits. Let me teach you everything. When will you be able to take charge on your own?"
Xiahouba and the other three were a little embarrassed by Cao Zhang's remarks and lowered their heads in embarrassment.
"How about it? Do you want to eat or not?!" Cao Zhang asked urgently.
"Eat, you must eat first, and eat more. When you are full, beat him hard!" Xiahou Ba responded loudly.
Cao Zhang looked at Xu Shu and showed a satisfied and gratified smile. Fortunately, he had a smart military advisor who could understand his own thoughts. Otherwise, it would have been too tiring to lead these three novices with little combat experience...
"Cao Zhang, you bastard is a coward, and your men are cowards just like you! Come out..."
At the entrance of the camp, Li Shi and his men were still cursing.
He was really not tired. He cursed for nearly an hour without stopping.
Li Shi also felt a little thirsty and planned to turn around to take a rest and drink some water.
At this moment, war drums suddenly sounded in Cao Jun's camp, and then the soldiers guarding the camp dispersed, the gate of the camp opened wide, and a group of soldiers and horses rushed out.
The person who rushed out first was wearing chainmail, holding a spear, and yelled and cursed: "Li Shi, have you scolded enough, do you want to leave? Look at your young master Cao Zhang coming to take your head..."
