"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The Jizhou cavalry kept throwing arrows. Although they were not very accurate at night, the random shots scattered nearly half of the Yanzhou soldiers who were attacking the camp.
On Cao's side, Li Tong was panting. He was leading an elite army. These soldiers had good coordination and physical fitness, otherwise they would have been surrounded and killed by ordinary soldiers.
Li Tong led the people to the south of Tucheng, and they finally saw the city gate.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Another burst of arrows struck, and a row of Jizhou cavalry who were chasing after them were also shot down.
"Kill!" The Yanzhou soldiers who were ambushing near the city gate shouted loudly, and they beat the war drums to make their voices louder.
Sure enough, Xu Chu, who led the troops in pursuit, hesitated for a while, and taking advantage of this moment, Li Tong quickly ran into the city gate with his troops. But in the darkness and panic, Li Tong and the others did not notice that there were dozens of black figures from the other side, running into the city gate with them.
Liu Yan waited behind the city gate for a long time, and he breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw Li Tong retreating safely.
"Wenda, what's going on!" Liu Yan asked anxiously.
"Hey, don't mention it. The Jizhou army was on guard for a long time. I was discovered as soon as I led my men into the camp." Li Tong replied.
Liu Yan saw the ambush outside the city retreating in, so he quickly shouted: "Quickly, close the city gate!"
"Don't close the city gate!" A thunderous cry rang out. Everyone lit up torches and took a look. They saw an ugly and strong man like an iron tower standing by the city gate, and there were many soldiers in different costumes standing next to him. .
"Ah!" Liu Yan exclaimed, "It's Jizhou soldiers!"
The strong man standing by the city gate is of course Yuan Xi's second guard Zhu Gongdao. He was ordered by Guo Jia to ambush outside the south of the city. Seeing Li Tong and others entering the city in panic, he took many tiger guards to follow him. Come in.
The Yanzhou soldiers raised their torches and took a closer look, only to realize that they were enemy soldiers. Suddenly, there was a killing sound at the city gate.
Zhu Gongdao waved a huge sword and slashed and stabbed the Yanzhou soldiers who were approaching. He summoned up all his strength to make the Great Sword Dance airtight, and firmly occupied the city gate with more than 40 tiger guards.
"Quickly, drive them out!" Li Tong shouted and personally raised his gun and stepped forward to fight.
"Report! General, Jizhou soldiers are attacking the city from the north gate!" the soldiers reported.
Liu Yan calmed down and realized that the Jizhou army was all cavalry and lacked siege equipment. The front was just a bluff.
So he ordered, "Let the people in front be on guard while the halberdiers go up and drive the thieves out of the city."
Groups of cavalry galloped over, and the Tiger Guards gave way to the city gate.
At the front of the Jizhou cavalry was a resolute-looking general on a white horse. This person is none other than Zhao Yun, the commander of Xiaoqi Camp.
After Zhao Yun controlled the horse and rushed into the city gate, he glanced around and saw Liu Yan, who was commanding behind the torch of the Yanzhou soldiers.
"The enemy general should stop running!" Zhao Yun shouted softly. He thrust his arm into the horse's belly and galloped towards the rows of Yanzhou soldiers.
"Ding!" Zhao Yun opened several halberds. The big iron gun picked out a few gun flowers, and the Yanzhou soldiers who were hit were either killed or seriously injured.
next moment. Zhao Yun spotted Cao General Liu Yan behind him, locked the opponent with a cold murderous aura, and stabbed him away with the tip of his spear.
Seeing Zhao Yun's unparalleled bravery, Liu Yan took two steps back. He quietly hid under the cover of the soldiers behind him.
Zhao Yun's riding skills were so superb. The horse took a step to the right, then kicked to the left, following Liu Yan like a shadow.
Three of Liu Yan's soldiers raised their halberds and stabbed Zhao Yun on the horse. Liu Yan also squatted down and stabbed Zhao Yun's horse. In this way, the four halberds locked Zhao Yun tightly.
Zhao Yun hurriedly circled the war horse and managed to escape behind the halberd blade.
He jumped off his horse. There were soldiers and debris everywhere around the city gate, and the horses were unable to gallop but became a burden.
"Ding!" Zhao Yun steadied his horse. First, he deflected the attacking halberd, then lunged forward with his left foot. Then his feet kept moving, and the spear in his hand kept picking up the flowers.
After Liu Yan blocked three times with his halberd, his arms were really numb. He knew that he couldn't fight against Zhao Yun, so he kept retreating, trying to escape Zhao Yun's pursuit by encircling his soldiers.
"Open!" Zhao Yun shouted softly, held the gun barrel flat with his left hand, grabbed the tail of the gun with his right hand, charged up and pushed, and was about to catch Liu Yan and leave.
"Whoosh!" A harsh sound broke through the air, and the spear pierced Liu Yan's chest like an arrow from the string.
"Oops!" Liu Yan screamed, flying backwards and taking two steps back.
The distance between the two was only one foot, and the spear was thrown without leaving any trace. Liu Yan couldn't dodge even if he wanted to.
Moreover, the strength of the spear was astonishing. It was inserted into Liu Yan's chest through the armor, and the tail of the spear was still trembling.
"The enemy will be killed by me!" Zhao Yun shouted to the surroundings, took two steps forward and drew out his iron gun.
"General Liu is dead!" "That's not good!" Yanzhou soldiers exclaimed and panicked.
"Anyone who blocks the way will die!" Zhu Gongdao couldn't help but get angry. He waved his sword and led the tiger guards to rush out of a tunnel leading to the city.
Li Tong raised his gun to block, but was shocked to the point where his blood was boiling.
He knew that he could not fight so blindly, so under the cover of his own soldiers, he slowly retreated into the city.
Zhao Yun mounted his horse again and ordered: "The general ordered my troops to go and burn food. It's fair to you to guard the city gate!"
"I know, General Zilong left this place to me, just because I'm afraid they won't dare to come and seize the door!" Zhu Gongdao agreed.
Zhao Yun nodded and saw his own soldiers pouring in near the city gate, so he rushed into the city with his more than 400 brave cavalry.
While they were galloping and fighting, they were looking for the warehouse where the Yanzhou army stored grain. Because the vanguard of the Jizhou army were all cavalry, Yuan Xi gave the order in order to force the Yanzhou army out of the city.
Zhao Yun led four hundred knights to rush left and right. When he saw something that could be lit, he went up to burn it without hesitation. Two quarters of an hour later, the city was ablaze with fire.
While Li Tong was commanding his soldiers to resist the attack of Zhao Yun's cavalry, he also sent people to put out the fire. It was a hectic night. The rhythm was disrupted by Zhao Yun.
Historically known as the unparalleled Zhao Yun's bloody night battle on the long street.
Early the next morning, the fire in the city was finally extinguished, with black smoke rising everywhere, and the smell of burning wafting into the nostrils of the soldiers.
After Li Tong's desperate rescue, half of the food was saved. The Yanzhou soldiers suffered nearly a thousand casualties, and there were still two thousand soldiers and horses left. However, after last night's battle, the morale of Cao's army was severely low.
Without waiting for a slight adjustment, Li Tong ordered his soldiers to dig trenches in the city and bury antlers to prevent Jizhou cavalry from rushing in.
At this moment, he was in an embarrassing situation where he could not retreat. He only hoped that Cao Cao could send someone to rescue Baima.
At this time, Yuan Xi followed his followers and rode to the south of the city for inspection.
Looking at the blood-stained city gate, Yuan Xi couldn't help but sigh: "Zilong, Zhongkang, Gongdao and others are really fierce generals who can defeat ten thousand enemies. How courageous they are to seize the gate and kill them. Gaozu's Fan Kuai is only like this."
Hearing Yuan Xi's approval, Xu Chu grinned.
Zhao Yun clasped his fists and said, "It's a pity that we can't burn all the enemy soldiers' food and fodder, and let the traitor soldiers gain a foothold in the city."
"If we take down the white horse at the city gate, it will be in the hands of our army. As long as the foot soldiers from behind follow up, the white horse can be defeated in a day." Yuan Xi smiled and then asked, "Actually, this is also good. Drag Li Tong behind Here at Baima, I wonder if Cao Cao will send troops to rescue us."
Guo Jia waved his fan, smiled, and said knowingly, "Young master, are you planning to ambush Cao Cao's reinforcements?"
"Well, I can't hide it from you. To the south of Baima is Baima Mountain. Send an army to lurk in Baima Mountain. If Cao Cao's reinforcements pass by Baima Mountain quickly, they will be wiped out in one fell swoop. If Cao Cao's reinforcements go west of Baima Mountain Road, then attack them from the flanks!" Yuan Xi said firmly.
"This is what the young master calls the encirclement and reinforcements. I don't know who is suitable to send." Guo Jia said.
Yuan Xi thought of the Battle of Guandu in history, where Cao Cao personally led his troops to rescue him. If it was the same this time, then he should not miss this good opportunity to kill the enemy chieftain!
"The generals listen to the order, Zhang Liao leads 3,000 Wuhuan cavalry, and Zhao Yun leads 2,000 guards' cavalry. With Zhang Liao as the leading general, they set up an ambush at Baima Mountain. If the enemy's army is led by Cao Cao, kill him at all costs. ! Create the title of Marquis of Wanhu!" Yuan Xi ordered.
"Here!" Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao immediately took the order.
"Boom!" The water poured into the excavated channel and hit the northern wall of Juancheng.
The east and west sides of Juancheng were also piled up with mounds by the Jizhou army. This makes Juancheng's terrain lower than its surroundings.
"Let's see how long he can last!" Xu Sheng stood on the mound and laughed.
"Be careful to prevent them from abandoning the city and escaping." Zhang He reminded.
Xu Sheng rolled up his sleeves, touched his sword, and sneered, "As long as they come out,
City, then you can’t escape! "
"General, some people came out of the city and said they were squires from this area and wanted to sacrifice the city gate!" Guo Huai ran to the mound to report.
"Oh. Bring it up!" Zhang He ordered.
After a while. Guo Huai was a middle-aged man who was soaked all over. They were all dressed in silk and satin clothes.
"Why did you leave the city?" Zhang He asked.
"Oh. General, please be noble and don't flood the city again. The city has been flooded for three days, and there is no place to cook or sleep!" one of the middle-aged people cried.
Zhang He couldn't bear it for a while, but this was a way to avoid a large number of casualties among his men, so he had to use it.
"What a silly bird, if you want us not to flood the city, you tell Yu Jin to open the city and surrender!" Guan Hai shouted.
"Yu Jin is determined to live and die with the city. We can't persuade him." Another squire said.
"How do you plan to dedicate the city?" Zhang He asked.
The squire paused and replied: "General, please stop releasing water. In the evening and morning, we will gather more than two hundred village warriors to the west of the city, open the door and let the army enter the city!"
Guo Huai stepped forward and looked carefully at the so-called squires.
Seeing that there were no calluses on their hands, and that their skin and tender flesh looked like those of a wealthy family, I felt a little more convinced.
"How can you get out of the city?" Guo Huai asked sharply.
"Ah! Yu Jin also recruited men from the city to guard the city. They are all members of our family. After we were hung from the city, we swam over." A squire replied.
"General Zhang, do you think it's credible?" Xu Sheng also asked from the side.
"Their family fortune is here, so they won't all be destroyed together. It's possible that they are sincere." Zhang He replied.
"We are all sincere. Who doesn't know that General Yuan is so powerful? How can we not welcome the army respectfully?" The squires said flatteringly.
"Leave three people to lead the way tonight, and the remaining two will go back to prepare." Zhang He said.
The two squires were grateful and waded back to the city wall.
Zhang He then placed the remaining three people in place and ordered the watering to stop to wait for the opportunity.
"General Zhang, do you really believe them?" Guo Huai asked.
"Whether it's true or not, you have to give it a try. If it's true, you can quickly capture Juancheng." Zhang He replied.
"That's right, as long as you are more careful, you don't have to worry about what tricks he will pull!" Xu Sheng sneered.
The crescent moon retreated to the horizon, and more than 4,000 Jizhou soldiers quietly gathered in the west of Juancheng. They walked slowly through the mud and approached the city gate.
Yanzhou soldiers patrolled the city walls from time to time, and torches were lit everywhere.
A quarter of an hour passed at noon, but there was still no movement on the city wall. Xu Sheng cursed impatiently in his heart, and at the same time he wondered if it was a trap by the other party.
"Quack!" The three squires here imitated the cry of a frog.
"Creak!" The city gate slowly opened.
"Wow!" Suddenly, torches ignited on the city wall, instantly making the area around the city gate pale.
"Dong Dong!" "Kill!" Yanzhou soldiers in the city shouted in unison and beat the golden drums hard. The momentum of the cavalry was so frightening that the Jizhou soldiers outside the city were frightened.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Feather arrows were continuously set up on the top of the city, and ladles of boiling oil were occasionally poured down.
A burst of powerful crossbow arrows were fired from behind the city gate, and the shields of the Jizhou soldiers at the front were also shot through.
"Damn it!" Xu Sheng raised his shield and retreated, and he chopped down the three so-called squires.
All the Jizhou soldiers retreated to avoid the arrows. In addition, the visibility was poor at night and the ground was muddy. Naturally, there were jostling and crowding.
"Kill!" Yu Jin personally rushed out of the city gate with more than a hundred cavalry, followed by more than 800 elite soldiers of the Yanzhou Army.
The Jizhou soldiers were already at a disadvantage, and immediately formed a rout as soon as they retreated. No matter how much Xu Sheng shouted, he couldn't stop it.
Jizhou soldiers crowded onto the mound and trampled on each other in panic, causing many casualties. But with the support of the crossbowmen on the mound, Yu Jin was finally able to fight back.
"No, there's a fire in the east camp!" the soldiers shouted one after another.
Zhang He and Guo Huai on the mound looked at it, and their expressions suddenly changed. It turned out that Yu Jin also used the trick of making noises in the east and attacking in the west to lead them to the west of the city. In addition, a detachment of troops was sent to the east of the city to transport the supplies.
The camp was set on fire.
Later, the battle in Zhencheng became a worry for Zhang He, Guo Huai, and Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng cursed angrily, mounted his horse and ran towards the supply camp. Zhang He was annoyed and ordered his soldiers to surround Juancheng and take precautions.
Xu Sheng rushed to the baggage camp and saw about three to four hundred Yanzhou soldiers setting fire everywhere in the fire. Some of them were also burned.
"It's really a life-threatening situation. Yu Jin dares to use such insidious tricks!" Xu Sheng had no choice but to go to a place where the fire was not burning to meet the Yanzhou soldiers. Similarly, more than a hundred soldiers from Yanzhou dug out the Jishui dike again.
In the morning, green smoke billowed out from all over the baggage camp, and nearly half of the grain and grass baggage was set on fire. However, no one of the Yanzhou soldiers survived the sneak attack. They were either killed or burned to death.
Zhang He couldn't help but feel annoyed. Said: "I will apologize to the general, but the siege cannot be stopped. Send people to Puyang quickly to collect food and build some siege equipment!"
"If the city is destroyed, kill all the men in the city!" Xu Sheng said coldly.
Looking at the angry generals, Zhang He frowned and felt helpless.
"Report! General, more than a hundred cavalry are coming from the northeast, saying they are Sima Yi, Sima's military advisor." The scout reported.
"Is it Sima Military Advisor?" Zhang He was surprised. He knew that Yuan Xi admired this Sima Yi very much and said that Sima Yi was one of the most wise men in the world. But from the fact that he was assigned to command the Wuhuan cavalry this time, we can know Yuan Xi's trust in him.
Zhang He, Xu Sheng, and Guo Huai mounted their war horses to meet Sima Yi. They saw Sima Yi and Wen Chou in the north of the camp.
Sima Yi looked at the camp with green smoke in the distance, raised his eyebrows, and said, "Is it the Juancheng defenders who came out to attack at night?"
"I am ashamed to say that I allowed the enemy to succeed!" Zhang He shook his head and told what happened before and after the siege.
Sima Yi looked in the direction of Juancheng and said: "The guard is a good guard. Although he made some mistakes in the middle, he played this trick well last night."
"I should have known better than to be merciful. A day or two more flooding would have destroyed the city wall. Now it will take a few more days to build a dam!" Guan Hai said bitterly.
Sima Yi shook his head and said, "Water and fire are often powerful weapons to defeat the enemy, but the attacker who uses fire to support the attack is wise, and the attacker who uses water to support the attacker is strong. Water can be used to destroy the enemy, but it cannot be captured. Water can block enemy soldiers, but it is not as direct as fire attack after all. Deprive the enemy of their strength. With the help of water and fire, the general must ultimately act according to the situation and cannot blindly follow it. For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhibo flooded the city of Jinyang with water, but was defeated. The two generals must investigate."
"Sir, what you said is that our army will continue to flood the city, or will we make other plans?" Zhang He. asked.
"Half of the food and supplies have been burned. I think we should retreat." Sima Yi said.
"What!" Xu Sheng was immediately irritated and said sternly, "Half of the food and grass are gone, but we can still replenish it. Our army's strength has not been damaged. Why should we retreat when we see that the city is about to be destroyed!"
"What are you yelling about!" Wen Chou glared at Xu Sheng, "Before the expedition, the general told me that everything must be listened to by the military advisor!"
"Those are your people. I didn't receive such an order!" Xu Sheng said coldly.
