Cao Zhang stood in the tent, holding a military map in his hand and frowning.
The defensive strength of Chang'an City far exceeded his expectations. He did not expect that the siege with more than 50,000 soldiers could not break through the defense of Li Jue's army. This made him feel like he was facing an insurmountable mountain.
Now that there are only a few days left in the deadline, he is extremely anxious.
But he couldn't show it in front of everyone, so he could only pretend to be calm and let everyone go back to rest. He would postpone the attack on the city for the next day, and then he took Xu Shu, Xia Houshang and Xia Houru to discuss countermeasures.
"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 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 the city of Chang'an, and he also understood that time was running out, 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 anxious to break the city and wanted to ask him to fight so that he could continue to attack the city the next day.
He happened to hear Cao Zhang, Xu Shu and others discussing, so he stopped, thinking to listen first before going in.
Before Xu Shu could speak, Xia Houshang beside him took the initiative and said: "Brother Ziwen, Chang'an is well-defended. If we just rely on ordinary siege weapons, it will be extremely difficult to break through it. Now I think of something. Idea, we can break through Chang'an!"
Cao Zhang became excited after hearing what he said and hurriedly asked: "Brother Boyan, do you have any good ideas?"
Xiahou Shang looked into Cao Zhang's eyes and said seriously: "Brother, didn't you use the water to flood Li Jue's troops out of the city before? Why don't we try the same trick and divert the eight rivers outside Chang'an City and pour it back into Chang'an, then Chang'an will be destroyed!"
After hearing Xia Houchang's words, Xia Houru also added excitedly: "Yes, there is enough water in the river now, just right for water attack!"
After hearing what the two said, Cao Zhang's eyes lit up at first, but then he 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."
Xia Houshang asked in confusion: "Why?"
"Although Chang'an is surrounded by eight rivers, if we want to irrigate the city with water, we need to dig rivers, build dams, and guide the rivers to Chang'an. This requires a lot of manpower and time to achieve. Although our army has many soldiers, the digging The number of troops is limited, and the deadline is approaching, so I’m afraid it won’t be in time.”
"Our war is to destroy Li Jue and restore the safety of the people in the Sanfu area. If this flood continues, Chang'an City will become a water country. How many innocent people will die? After the river changes its course, the people downstream will have no water to use. And How we farm will be greatly affected? After the flood, there may be a plague. Our actions are not saving the people, but harming them!"
"What's more, after we capture Chang'an, we will be handed over to Ma Shijun. If we leave such a mess to others, what will they think of us? In today's battle, they tried their best to help us. We can't just care about Victory, no matter the consequences!”
Although Cao Zhang also wanted to win as soon as possible, this strategy was too late and had huge consequences, so he had no choice but to give up.
When Cao Zhang said this, Xia Houshang and Xia Houru stopped talking. They had to admit that Cao Zhang was far more thoughtful than them.
Their conversation was heard by Ma Chao outside the tent. He was very moved when he heard that Cao Zhang loved the people so much and thought about his father.
He was determined to go in and ask for a fight, but he also understood that with Cao Zhang's current mentality, he probably wouldn't agree. And he didn't have enough resourcefulness 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 relieve his worries.
In the big tent, Xu Shu, who had been silent all this time, now spoke: "Lord, I have a plan now. Although it cannot break the city immediately, it can destroy the enemy's newly established confidence and also achieve the effect of disintegrating the enemy's morale. "
Cao Zhang looked excited when he heard Xu Shu speak: "Yuan Zhi, what's your plan? Tell me!"
"Besieged on all sides!" Xu Shu said four words calmly.
"Besieged on all sides?" Xia Houshang and Xia Houru looked at each other, obviously neither of them understood what Xu Shu meant.
"We can set up a big pot under the city of Chang'an to cook meat to reward our soldiers. At the same time, we can ask the captured soldiers from the former Xiliang to help us persuade them to surrender, telling the soldiers in the city that as long as they surrender now, they will avoid death. If you eat meat, you will be treated well in the future." Xu Shu further explained his strategy.
Cao Zhang suddenly became energetic, and a scorching light flashed in his eyes: "I understand what Yuan Zhi means. We have issued persuasion to surrender before to disintegrate the morale of the enemy. Although today's siege was unsuccessful, we also killed thousands of enemies. Army, their bodies and minds have already suffered further blows. After a hard day of fighting, they are even more exhausted. After hearing such a temptation, some weak-willed people will inevitably be shaken."
"If we persist like this for a day or two, when their confidence has completely dissipated, and we launch a final fierce attack, the success of breaking the city will increase exponentially!" Xu Shu echoed Cao Zhang's words.
After hearing the explanation, Xia Houshang and Xia Houru nodded in admiration: "This is a good method. Our soldiers can get rewards and boost their morale. The enemy can only watch and eat, and with the voices persuading them to surrender, the morale of the soldiers must be in turmoil." .As one goes down and the other goes up, our winning rate will definitely increase greatly!"
"Without further delay, take action immediately!" Cao Zhang immediately issued the order.
The moonlight shines on Chang'an City. The Xiliang troops on the city towers and walls are sitting or lying down, eating military rations and resting.
Suddenly, a fire lit up under the city, and then there was the smell of cooking meat, drifting in the wind and directly into the noses of the soldiers.
The soldiers of the Xiliang Army immediately became excited. Some of them sniffed, got up from the ground, and leaned on the crevices of the city wall to look down, trying to see where the smell of meat was coming from.
Under the city wall, out of reach of long-range weapons, Cao Zhangjun's soldiers raised torches, set up large pots to cook meat, and deliberately used fans to fan the smell of cooking meat toward the direction of Chang'an City.
"I'll go, this is so delicious!" "My soldiers have meat to eat!" The Xiliang soldiers in the city looked at it from a distance, smelling the smell of meat in the air, and they all looked envious and said He expressed admiration.
At this moment, the shouts of the Xiliang army's surrender suddenly rang out from below the city, calling for their former friends or comrades in the city.
Hearing their shouts, the soldiers of the Xiliang Army on the top of the city became even more agitated.
"Brothers, why do you have to follow Li Jue to death? How many people died in today's battle, haven't you counted? How many people are left in the city, how long can they last?! If you don't surrender, you will only die. ah!"
"Brothers, Mr. Cao is a good man. He treats us as human beings and treats us well. Look, after the war, there will still be meat to eat! Why do you need to follow that cruel guy Li Jue!"
"Yes, surrender quickly. Mr. Cao said that as long as you surrender now, you will not only avoid death, but also have meat to eat! Those who want to go home will have to pay for it, and those who want to stay can enjoy the same treatment as us. You still What are you waiting for? Come down and surrender!"
The surrendered soldiers of the Xiliang Army under the city began to shout non-stop to persuade them to surrender, and the voices came and went in an endless stream.
The continuous shouting made the Xiliang army, which was already very tired and had no fighting spirit, begin to waver.
"Is what they say true? If you surrender now, you will avoid death and get good treatment?! They are not lying to us, are they?"
"You are stupid. You saw Xiaowuzi and the others wearing Cao Jun uniforms and eating meat together. How can you fake it after seeing it with your own eyes?!"
"Then why are we wasting our time? Are we really going to die with Li Jue and the others!?"
The soldiers were just whispering in low voices at first, but then the voices became louder and turned into an unbridled discussion.
When the officers heard the soldiers discussing so loudly, they all realized something was wrong and began to shout loudly to stop.
But at this time, their shouts of silence could no longer stop the soldiers' increasingly agitated mood.
Some soldiers were no longer limited to just talking. They directly pulled up the rope, tied it to the top of the city, and then started to climb down the city wall along the rope.
They arrived at the bottom of the city, untied the rope, and ran frantically in the direction of Cao Zhangjun, shouting loudly as they ran: "Don't kill us, we surrender!"
As expected, Cao Zhangjun's soldiers did not fire arrows at them, but warmly accepted them and immediately gave them bowls and chopsticks, allowing them to join the ranks of eating meat.
The soldiers who surrendered from Xiliang increased their voices and continued to shout: "See, we are telling the truth. As long as we surrender, we will avoid death and have meat to eat!"
As a result, the Xiliang soldiers on the city were completely overwhelmed and began to get restless. Many people also began to try to climb down the wall along the ropes. Some of the more daring people who found it troublesome ran directly down the stairs to the city. Go, want to open the city gate and run out directly.
"Bold!" With a roar, Li Jue appeared with Li Huan, Li Ying and Hu Feng. He received a report from his subordinates and learned that Cao Zhangjun was tempting his subordinates to surrender, so he hurried over.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived, they saw an uncontrollable situation on the top of the city, and they immediately roared angrily.
Li Jue drew out his sword and stepped forward to cut off many ropes. The soldiers who had not yet reached the ground fell directly and died under the city, screaming in agony.
Afterwards, Li Jue struck down several soldiers who were trying to get down to the city and open the door with his swords: "I'll kill anyone who dares to surrender!"
Li Jue's ferocious and cruel behavior frightened the originally shaken military morale. The soldiers shrank their heads and retreated, not daring to move any more.
Li Jue's cruel behavior was witnessed by all Cao Zhangjun in the city.
Those soldiers who had just ran over were secretly glad that they were quick and ran down before Li Jue came. Otherwise, they would have been killed or had to stay at the top of the city to die.
Cao Zhang and Xu Shu had been watching from a distance, and they also saw Li Jue's cruel behavior.
"Sir, Li Jue's violence to stop the restless soldiers will only deepen the soldiers' resentment towards him. As long as we continue to persuade him to surrender, if this continues, the conflict between the soldiers in the city and him will become more intense, and we will have an opportunity to take advantage of him." It's a chance!" Xu Shu suggested to Cao Zhang in a low voice.
"Yuan Zhi is absolutely right. Send the order, keep shouting day and night to persuade them to surrender, and shake the enemy's morale!" Cao Zhang followed Xu Shu's suggestion and issued the order.
After receiving Cao Zhang's order, the surrendering soldiers under Cao Zhang began to shout louder and louder to persuade them to surrender. They also cursed and abused Li Jue, reprimanding him for his cruelty to his subordinates.
The Xiliang army on the top of the city heard the shouts from below. Although they did not dare to move, their faces showed expressions of approval and dissatisfaction.
Li Jue glared and issued an order to Li Ying, Li Huan and Hu Feng: "Give me the order. Anyone who dares to escape and surrender or disturbs the morale of the army will be killed on the spot regardless of their rank! We will never tolerate it!"
Li Huan and Li Ying looked at each other. Although they couldn't bear it, they also understood that the current chaotic situation could only be stabilized by this method. They immediately accepted the order: "Here!"
"Also, from now on, you will take turns to be on guard duty to prevent the enemy from launching night attacks. You must also control the morale of the army and not let Cao Zhangke take advantage of it!" Li Jue issued another order to take turns on guard duty!
"Yes!" Li Huan and others took the order again.
Li Jue stared and waved his bloody sword as a warning to the soldiers at the top of the city. After seeing that no one dared to react, he turned and walked towards the city.
Seeing Li Jue leaving, the soldiers at the top of the city showed resentment in their eyes. They hated Li Jue for cutting off their last hope of escape. This resentment condensed in everyone's hearts and spread rapidly...
