The words were said beautifully, but Zhang Ren didn't dare to be careless in the slightest. After dozens of scouts were sent into the city to investigate, Zheng Lue's three thousand Shu army cautiously entered Maicheng.
The possible ambush did not happen, and the whole process went smoothly beyond imagination.
In a forest ten miles away from Maicheng, Zhang Ren's army of nearly 10,000 people was lurking here. After listening to the scout's report, Zhang Ren nodded half puzzled and half satisfied.
"Tai Shici can afford to pick it up and put it down. This Maicheng was given to me for nothing without any tricks."
The atmosphere around them suddenly relaxed, and many soldiers had smiles on their faces. A young general next to him stepped forward and spoke.
"Congratulations to the general, General, for winning the battle without any effort!"
If this kind of flattery were normal, Zhang Ren would definitely not like it.
However, the previous defeat of Zhang Ni's vanguard army had cast a haze on the hearts of the soldiers. This opportunity could be used to boost the morale of the entire army. Zhang Ren touched his chin and ignored it.
Then, Zhang Ren once again ordered Zheng Lue to strengthen the defense of Maicheng, close the city gates and block roads to prevent business travel. This was not only to prevent the Jiangling and Xiangyang defenders from contacting each other, but also to allow the news to spread to the north later. He was afraid that if Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo received the news of the Shu army's attack, many changes would occur in Xinye and Xiangyang, as well as in these two cities. his goal.
Continuing to send more scouts to pay attention to the movements of the Jiangling defenders, Zhang Ren ordered the army to return to the Yiling camp.
When the troops walked out of the woods, they saw countless thick smoke billowing in the distance.
How is this going?
Could it be that they fell into the Chu army's trick of diverting the tiger away from the mountain and the camp was attacked by surprise?
At this thought, the soldiers couldn't help but panic.
"Why panic! The camp is further south, don't mess up your position!"
Zhang Ren shouted and the restless soldiers immediately calmed down.
His face remained calm, but he knew in his heart that something serious must have happened. Zhang Yi, who was left behind in the main camp, would never have sent troops to attack the area around Jiangling without his orders. Could it be that some soldiers went to harass the people and fight the Chu army without permission? Or is it that the thick smoke is the Chu army's suspicion formation?
Zhang Ren's eyes were cloudy and uncertain. He suppressed the impatience in his heart and asked the scout to speed up the investigation. I don’t know how long it took, but the scout finally got back the news.
"General, the Chu army is burning their own farmland!"
The soldiers around him looked at each other in confusion, but Zhang Ren's pupils shrank suddenly after hearing this.
I've still been tricked. Now it's the autumn harvest season, which is the busy time for farming. The strength of the Chu army is only enough to defend the city. If they go out to fight outside the city, they will naturally fall into the problem of military disadvantage. No matter how easy it is to defend the crops in the field, what's the use? Why are the Chu troops burning their own farmland? They are clearly burning our spoils of war!
Zhang Ren was secretly annoyed that the Shu army had just arrived in Jiangling and had not yet had any problems with food and grass. He was only thinking about how to fight Taishi Ci, but he didn't know that Taishi Ci had moved so many tricks. Use Maicheng to attract our army's attention, and take the opportunity to burn all the surrounding farmland that is not yet under our army's control.
It’s so cruel!
It was obvious that the city of Chu State was lost and the fields of Chu State were burned. For some reason, Zhang Ren also felt a bit of physical pain. While feeling the pain, a trace of doubt also arose in Zhang Ren's heart.
What does Tai Shi Ci want to do?
He had never seen anyone fighting like Tai Shici.
"The whole army returns to the camp."
After another three days, Zhang Ren's troops slowly returned to the Yiling camp from near Maicheng, not even a shadow of the enemy army could be seen along the way.
In just a few days, the Chu army burned their own farmland; the Shu army took a city in vain and did not suffer any damage. In terms of the result alone, this can be said to be a great victory, which should make people happy, but since returning to the Yiling camp, Zhang Ren has been sitting in the commander's tent with a sullen face, constantly scanning the map.
General!
General!
Zhang Ren came back to his senses and saw Zhang Yi's confused face.
"General, how should our army act now?"
Zhang Ren suddenly felt a lot of irritation in his heart. It was ridiculous that he had told Zhang Yi before that fighting was an art. You can understand what your opponent is thinking as long as you have fought with him. But now he really can't understand what Tai Shici is thinking. fight?
Zhang Ren stood up slowly and walked back and forth for a few steps, his eyes constantly wandering between Jiangjin Port, Jiangling City and Wulin Port.
"How are the siege engines prepared?"
Yong'an City is more than ten days' journey from Jiangling City, and the Shu Road is rugged and difficult to navigate. Naturally, it is impossible for them to come far away with siege equipment. During these six days, Zhang Ren went to capture Maicheng not only to expand his sphere of influence in order to compete with Taishi Ci, but also to wait for Zhang Yi to make final preparations to attack Jiangling at any time.
I saw Zhang Yi clasping his fists heavily.
"Living up to the general's trust, the required number of ladders and vehicles have been completed."
Zhang Ren nodded slightly, closed his eyes again and pondered for a while, and when he opened his eyes again, he was filled with a chilling air.
"Zhang Yi obeys orders."
"The general is here!"
"I order you to lead five thousand troops to attack Jiangjin Port. I will lead ten thousand troops to set up ambushes on the roads from Jiangling to Jiangjin Port to stop the Chu army. Just attack with confidence and don't worry about anything else. Jiangjin Port must be captured within five days. !”
Jiangjin Port has been stationed with two thousand defenders since Taishi Ci's reinforcements arrived in Jiangling. However, there is no high city or deep pool, only a water fortress. It can be said that it is very easy to attack with more than twice the force.
"If Jiangjin Port cannot be taken within five days, Zhang Yi will come to see you!"
After saying that, Zhang Yi immediately turned around and left the tent.
Zhang Ren looked at the map again, but there was no trace of confusion in his eyes at this moment, he just snorted coldly.
"Since you are trying to be mysterious, I will gradually eat away at it. If you pull out this front tooth again, I will see whether you are advancing or retreating in Jiangling City?"
????????????
"Fire the arrow!"
"Fire the arrow!"
The horn whined, and the enemy officer's loud military orders reached Zhang Yi's ears from a few hundred meters away. When he arrived at the water village of Jiangjin Port with five thousand soldiers and horses, he was greeted by a dense rain of arrows from the Chu army.
Long arrows flew through the air and roared towards them.
Zhang Yi was not angry but happy. Compared to before, he won the battle without even seeing the enemy. The unreal feeling of being at war with something invisible was finally here.
Looking at the rain of arrows in front of him, he seemed to smell the smell of blood. This is a war, if you can't find the enemy, it's just a fight!
"Charge! Break through the gate of the village and destroy the Chu army!"
The soldiers below don't think as much as the generals. Victory is victory, and defeat is defeat. They only knew that although the vanguard was frustrated, as soon as the general arrived at Jiangling, the Shu army immediately captured a city. The Chu army fled into Jiangling City in panic and burned all their farmland.
In their view, the Chu army did not seem to be as scary as the rumors said, and they were even vulnerable.
"Kill!" "Kill!"
It only took half a day for the Shu army to break through the gate of the water village and enter it. The dazzling firelight illuminated the river bank red.
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