No matter how secretive the operation is, it will be discovered at some point. Cao Cao's army is not a loser. A group of Yanzhou soldiers wearing bamboo hats patrolled around the city wall and had already reached the east section of the city wall.
"Why are you walking around! Whose subordinates are you?" a general wearing armor and a bamboo hat asked.
The three shadow guards broke out in cold sweat, and one of them said solemnly: "Sir, we have urgent military information that we need to report to our superiors. It is a huge secret!"
"Ah?" The general became interested and took two steps forward.
"This secret is..." The shadow guard pretended to be very mysterious.
When the general stretched his head over, a cold light flashed from the secret guard's left hand, and the cold light slit his throat.
"Ah! What are you doing!" the soldiers nearby asked, but they didn't react for a moment.
How could a few shadow guards be so polite? In a flash, they rushed in front of the Yanzhou soldiers who were patrolling the night, and stabbed their vital parts with daggers, swords and other weapons in their hands.
Zhang Liao saw it clearly. He kicked his feet and jumped forward. A long knife neatly chopped down a Yanzhou soldier standing in front of him.
For a moment, there was chaos on the east wall. The shadow guards threw more ropes down the city, leaving some of them to fight with Zhang Liao to resist the coming Yanzhou soldiers. The remaining shadow guards followed Zhao Yun and went straight to the city gate.
Although the heavy rain has slowed down, it is still heavy. There were no torches on the city wall, so we could only rely on a few dim lanterns to illuminate our faces. So when the shadow guards came to the front, the Yanzhou soldiers reacted. The soldiers from both sides fought fiercely, and the Yanzhou soldiers didn't even have time to beat the drums to show vigilance.
Zhao Yun took the lead and ran down the steps beside the city wall, and he went straight to the east gate. Whenever Yanzhou soldiers were on duty at night, he would say nothing. The iron gun in his hand trembled and went straight to their heart, throat and other vital points.
More than a hundred Tiger Guard soldiers followed closely behind Zhao Yun. They struck fast and hard. After long-term training, they cooperated with each other very well. These tiger guards are Yuan Xi's trump cards, and they are also the most considerate guards.
They are all elites selected from the entire army. The lowest ranking ones are all generals, and they are veritable sharp knives.
Get closer to the city gate. The defense of Yanzhou soldiers became tighter, and more than a hundred Yanzhou soldiers firmly protected the city gate.
Zhao Yun's footsteps kept moving, and the iron spear pierced with a little cold light. A forward slash smashed a soldier's head into pieces, and then he swung his spear across the left and right sides. The Yanzhou soldiers were forced to close.
The Tiger Guard soldiers quickly took up the slack and cooperated to kill the panicked Yanzhou soldiers. All the elite soldiers in the Yanzhou army were taken out by Cao Cao for a night attack, so the soldiers left behind were only average in strength. In addition, the Qingzhou Army attacked suddenly, and they were often killed without knowing why.
Soon, under the leadership of Zhao Yun, more than a hundred tiger guards defeated the Yanzhou soldiers guarding the city gate. Zhao Yun opened the crossbar of the city gate and asked his soldiers to push the gate open. Raise the suspension bridge.
Tian Yu, who was waiting outside the city, saw the city gate open and immediately ordered the entire army to attack.
One thousand Xiaoqi and one thousand Wuhuan cavalry rushed into the city first. Although the cavalry could not exert their full combat power in street fighting, Tian Yu and others wanted them to keep running and use cavalry and horses to create momentum. To intimidate the city guards
Zhao Yun immediately joined the ranks of Xiaoqi. They also had another mission, which was to capture the enemy's leader.
Xu Chu, who was waiting outside the city and couldn't hold back his anger, roared loudly, raised his sword and slashed at the enemy soldiers in sight. The Tiger Guard soldiers gradually gathered around him.
The task of seizing the city wall and clearing out the garrison in the city was naturally given to the Guards Infantry and Danyang Soldiers. The Qingzhou Army adhered to the offensive tactics given by Yuan Xi. They pushed forward crazily, going straight to the heart of the enemy, and then outflanked them in roundabout ways.
Xi Zhong, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened by the sound of iron hooves and ran quickly to the courtyard.
"Military advisor, it's not good!" Li Tong's face was full of anxiety. "The enemy attacked the city at night. The east gate has fallen!"
Xi Zhong's eyes turned black and his heart twitched. Military advisor! Are you okay?" Li Tong quickly supported Xi Zhong.
Bowen drew his saber with his remaining hand. "I'm going to gather the soldiers and defend Puyang no matter what!"
Li Tong immediately stopped him and advised: "General Bao, you and the military advisor should stay here while I go to gather soldiers to fight back against the enemy."
"Let's go together, and the military advisor will stay here!" Bao Xin insisted.
While talking, Li Tong asked the soldiers to carry out his armor. Just as Li Tong was putting on his armor, the sound of horse hooves and fighting had already reached outside the courtyard.
Li Tong's face changed color: "How come the enemy knows where our general is? Could there be a spy?"
"Kill!" "Those who surrender will avoid death!" "Kill Li Tong!" the Qingzhou soldiers who rushed into the city shouted while fighting.
"It's too late, I was too careless!" Xi Zhong sighed, his face full of dejection.
"The enemy has just entered the city. The military counselor said it's too late. We can still hold on for a long time!" Li Tong said loudly.
Xi Zhong shook his head: "Most of our soldiers are scattered inside civilian houses. The enemy troops came so suddenly that we had no time to gather them."
Just as they were talking, the guards could not resist and forced the knights into the courtyard, and the knights continued to climb into the wall.
Li Tong called more than fifty guards to guard Xi Zhong and Bao Xin firmly in the middle.
"Military advisor, withdraw first!" Li Tong said.
The actor nodded, "Everything will be at the discretion of the general."
"This is Zhao Zilong from Changshan under Major General Yuan! Puyang has been captured by our Qingzhou Army. Put down your weapons as soon as possible, otherwise, don't blame Zhao for being rude!" A clear, firm and powerful voice resounded throughout the courtyard. .
Naturally, these soldiers who were loyal to Li Tong would not surrender. But Zhao Yundi's words severely damaged their morale.
Xi Zhongxin asked reluctantly: "Who came up with the plan to attack the city tonight on a rainy night?"
Zhao Yun saw the opera loyalist in the crowd and said, "Who are you, sir?"
"People from Yingchuan play with Zhicai!" Xi Zhicai replied.
Zhao Yun secretly remembered that there were a few names that Yuan Xi specially asked to pay attention to, including Xi Zhong.
"It turns out he is Mr. Xi from Yingchuan. The night attack on Puyang was a decision made by my son, Military Advisor Guo and Military Advisor Jia. Military Advisor Guo often mentions Mr. Xi. You might as well come to our camp and talk to him. We promise not to harm him!" "Zhao Yun said loudly.
Xi Zhong shook his head and murmured: "It is indeed Guo Jia. I have already said that he is not a thing in the pool! Is all this destiny? We will be defeated because we only calculated Yuan Benchu instead of not calculating. Come to Yuan Xianyi!"
"There is no need to talk nonsense with the military advisor. I will escort the military advisor away!" Li Tong said in a deep voice.
After that, half of the more than fifty soldiers fought to resist Zhao Yun and others, while the other half protected Bao Xin and Xi Zhong and fought their way out of the house.
As soon as they came out of the streets, Li Tong and the others found that the situation was worse than expected. Xiaoqi and Wuhuan Tuqi kept running in the streets, suppressing the Yanzhou soldiers to the point where they could not assemble at all. The fierce and arrogant Danyang soldiers continued to clear out the defenders.
With great difficulty, Li Tong was able to gather more than two hundred soldiers. They ran together toward the west of the city, which was not occupied.
Suddenly, a group of more than a hundred Danyang soldiers rushed out of the streets and abruptly cut Li Tong's team in half.
At this time, the sky gradually became brighter, and the sound of fighting in the east of the city had stopped. This indicates that the area east of the city is completely occupied by the Qingzhou Army. The Yanzhou soldiers on the city wall were also driven down, and now it was covered with Yuan Xi's guard infantry. Now only the west city gate is still in the hands of Yanzhou soldiers.
"Your grandpa, run away now!" A vulgar shouting reached the ears of Li Tong and others, and a black-faced man with a steel beard walked out from among the Danyang soldiers.
"It's you!" Bao Xin's eyes were red and seemed to be on fire.
Guan Hai carried the long knife, squinted his eyes, and became happy: "It turns out it's you, a bitch from Yanzhou. Last time, I only left you with my dog's paws, so you escaped! This time, I won't kneel down to control grandpa for you." If you kowtow and admit your mistake, I will kill you!"
Bao Xin was filled with shame and anger. During the battle to encircle and suppress the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, one of his arms was chopped off by Guan Hai. If his subordinates had not saved him desperately, Bao Xin would have been killed in the crowd of Yellow Turban thieves. This was also cited as the greatest shame in his life.
"General Li, you lead the military advisor and go first, I will stop the rear!" After Bao Xin finished speaking, he roared and rushed towards Guan Hai.
Guan Hai sneered and slashed at Bao Xin with his sword.
For a while, the soldiers on both sides started fighting again. Li Tong shouted several times, but he couldn't call Bao Xin back. In desperation, he left half of his soldiers behind and then took Xi Zhicai with him to mount his horse and run towards the west gate.
Guan Hai was so strong that he didn't put Bao Xin's ring-headed sword in his eyes. As soon as he swung his long knife, Bao Xin's saber bounced away, causing Bao Xin's left hand to go numb.
Bao Xin saw that the battle situation was dangerous. I know that Puyang cannot be defended. He stayed behind to fight Guan Hai, partly to give Xi Zhong and others a chance to escape. Half of them were determined to die to avenge their shame.
When Guan Hai saw Xi Zhong and others running away, he thought that those were the big shots. He was impatient with Bao Xin's entanglement. The long knife was swung out, and a straight strike knocked Bao Xin's saber away, and then the blade struck Bao Xin directly in the face.
In an instant, blood and blood burst out from his brain, and Bao Xin fell softly.
The west city gate opened, and Li Tong and nearly a hundred cavalry escorted Xi Zhicai and fled. However, their move was discovered by the guards infantry who were still on the city wall.
Zhang Liao, who was standing on the city wall, immediately took out his strong bow and put an arrow on it. He saw Li Tong and Xi Zhong. These two goals made Zhang Liao hesitate for a while, but he still made a decision in an instant.
"Whoosh!" The feather arrow was fired out. When Li Tong and others on the horse noticed the attack on the city wall, the arrow had already flown in front of them.
"Tsk!" "Ah!" Xi Zhong screamed, and the arrow went straight from his back to his chest.
"Military advisor!" Li Tong shouted and helped Xi Zhong, who had fallen off his horse, onto his own horse. Then they quickly ran away from the city. It is true that he died before he left the army, which made the hero burst into tears. What a pity and pain.
Wei Zhong, the governor of Puyang, surrendered, which no one expected.
However, what is somewhat puzzling is that the Puyang Prefect, as a high-ranking member of the party, did not write any more about such an important battle. There is something strange in this. It should be that Taizong Xuanwu Emperor Yuan Xi was the historian of the dynasty, and he deliberately Cover up something.
Baima, Qingzhou Army Camp.
Yuan Xi stayed up all night, and Guo Jia, Liu Ye, and Gu Yong also lay on the desk and fell asleep. Once there are soldiers moving around outside, they will be awakened immediately.
Yuan Xi looked at the clearing sky, feeling anxious and uneasy in his heart.
"With the master's handwriting, Jia Wenhe will definitely be able to persuade Gao Lan. And Zhang Wenyuan and the others are leading elite soldiers, so taking Puyang will not be a problem." Guo Jia's voice came out.
"If, as we expected, Cao Cao's target is the food and grass in Baimajin and Liyang, and then blocks our retreat, then Zhang Wenyuan and the others have more than a 60% chance of winning." Liu Ye's voice also came out.
Yuan Xi shook his head: "I am not only worried about whether Zhang Wenyuan and the others can capture Puyang. I am even more worried about how my father and the others will respond after the news of the fall of Baimajin reaches here. And whether the morale of the soldiers will plummet, so that Cao Cao can take advantage of it. machine."
"The war has lasted for more than two months. Our army seems to have the upper hand. However, the soldiers are exhausted and the supply of food and grass is gradually becoming difficult. It is no longer possible to capture Chenliu in one go. The fall of Baimajin will definitely greatly damage the morale of the army, even if we capture it Even going to Puyang can't make up for this morale." Liu Ye analyzed.
"If the young master is the commander-in-chief of the entire army, we can still make dangerous moves to turn the tide. But if Mr. Yuan leads the army, he may not adopt our plan." Guo Jia sighed.
"Our strength has been exhausted, and protracted fighting will only increase consumption. Young Master should persuade Mr. Yuan to retreat." Liu Ye, who had been silently thinking, suggested.
"I don't understand, our army captured Puyang. If Liyang can hold on, it will not be difficult to take it back as long as we return to Baimajin! Wouldn't our army have an even greater advantage?" Gu Yong asked.
"The news of the fall of Baimajin will come back soon. Once we return to attack Baimajin, the morale of the soldiers will be low. What if Cao Cao sends his soldiers to set up an ambush on the road or attack our grain road again. What should we do? ?" Yuan Xi said.
Liu Ye responded: "Cao Cao's troops stationed at Baimajin are all elite soldiers. Liyang's food and grass cannot be transported. If we cannot attack for a long time, our morale will collapse. And if Cao Cao abandons Baimajin, he can still use Chen Liu to follow me." Fang Zhouxuan. Henan is Cao Cao's territory. Their sneak attacks are hard to guard against, but we cannot afford to lose any battle."
"Our army occupied Puyang and its retreat route was not cut off. The food road was not cut off either. So retreating is considered a draw!" Guo Jia said.
"Report! Mr. Yuan asked the young general to come over to discuss matters!" the herald reported.
Yuan Xi got up, took Guo Jia and Liu Ye, and followed the herald to Yuan Shao's camp. In Yuan Shao's camp, all the civil and military personnel gathered here.
The scouts sent by Gao Lan reported the news of Li Yang's attack to Yuan Shao a day ago. Everyone started a heated debate around the news that Cao Cao's army had attacked Li Yang.
"It's not that simple for Cao Cao to attack Liyang. Liyang is just a line away from Baimajin. I'm afraid Cao Cao will also have Baimajin's idea." Jushou said excitedly: "If both Liyang and Baimajin are lost, our army's retreat route will be He Liangdao has made a complete decision. Then a hundred thousand troops will collapse without a fight as long as they are without food for a few days!"
"Gong Yu. Both Liyang and Baimajin have been lost. This is just your guess!" Yuan Shao stared at Jushou coldly: "Don't spread such rumors before you get the exact information!"
Jushu accidentally offended Yuan Shao. He could only explain: "What I mean is that Cao Cao wants to capture both Liyang and Baimajin ferries. In this way, our army should quickly return to support Baimajin and Liyang."
"Cao Cao has few soldiers, and there are at least 30,000 people pinned on the opposite side. How many people can he arrange to attack Liyang and Baima? Chunyu Qiong and Gao Lan's 20,000 people are just decorations! So there is no need to worry too much about the situation there. Dealing with the White Horse enemy is the most important thing," Guo Tu said.
Yuan Xi remained silent. He could only pretend not to know until news came from the Puyang front line. But he still very much hopes that Yuan Shao will withdraw to the front line of Baimajin. Whether it is to recapture Baima or withdraw from Puyang to Hebei, he can face it calmly.
"Father, the strength of a situation cannot be judged by the number of soldiers. There are many battles in ancient and modern times where a small number of people defeated a large number. You know Cao Cao. He likes to use cunning and deceitful tactics. He will not be able to move an army without being very sure. A dangerous attack on the front line of Liyang. If there is a loss in Liyang, our army will be in danger. The two generals Gao Lan and Chunyu Qiong are probably struggling to resist Cao Cao, so we should send heavy troops to help stabilize the rear." Yuan Xi said.
"Second brother, what you said is wrong!" Yuan Tan came out from one side, "What do you mean by dangerous tactics in military operations? That means not being completely sure! The so-called evil cannot prevail against good. Cao Cao's trick is not enough It will change the situation of the battle. Just take advantage of him to move his troops elsewhere, so our army should concentrate our troops and capture the white horse in one fell swoop!"
Yuan Shao was very moved when he heard this and was making the final decision.
