There is an open area outside Fancheng, which is called Weitou by the locals.
In the past, the area around the area was empty, but now there were many tents standing there, and there were multiple antlers guarding the tents.
And in that camp, many flags of "General Pass before the Han Dynasty" were flying high.
Weitou is where Guan Yu's main force camped.
It was noon, but because it was winter, the sun was not shining brightly at noon outside Fancheng. Instead, the sky was still gloomy.
Looking at the scene of cloudy sky, the Wei troops surrounding Fancheng were very scared.
He was deeply afraid that another heavy rain would suddenly fall from the sky, and Guan Yu would take the opportunity to flood the Seventh Army again.
However, Guan Yu, who had been in charge of Jingzhou for several years and was well aware of the local weather, knew that the rainy season had passed, and the heavy rain that helped him annihilate Cao Wei's seven armies would be difficult to repeat in this winter.
Thinking of this, Guan Yu, who was standing on a lookout in the camp, couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.
Guan Yu is nearly sixty years old and has some white hair on his head.
Although he is old, he is eight feet long, has a majestic posture, has the majesty of a tiger in appearance, and has the heroic spirit of a dragon and leopard.
In addition, he is wearing a glorious armor, which makes Guan Yu standing on the high platform full of heroic spirit.
Old age will make you stronger, and your sincerity will last forever.
It's just that such a hero, this famous general who shocked China some time ago, felt a little helpless in his heart after seeing the dilapidated but still standing Fancheng.
After sighing, Guan Yu couldn't help but praise, "Cao Zixiao is truly worthy of being the number one general under Meng De."
Guan Yu sighed and praised, revealing his complicated emotions towards the guard in Fancheng.
Guan Yu's complicated emotions attracted the attention of a young general standing next to Guan Yu.
This young general looks young, probably no more than thirty years old, and his appearance is somewhat similar to Guan Yu. It is not difficult for others to guess his identity.
This man is Guan Yu's eldest son, Guan Ping.
Guan Ping saw that Guan Yu, who should be full of ambition and high spirits, suddenly sighed. He immediately asked Guan Yu,
"Is father worried about the delay in taking Fancheng?"
Seeing that his son expressed his thoughts, Guan Yu nodded. At this moment, he and Guan Ping were the only ones on this high platform. There were some things that he couldn't be taboo about.
"I have been besieging Fancheng for several months since I raised my troops in July."
"In August, I took advantage of the rain to flood Jin and Pang De's army, and finally defeated the tens of thousands of reinforcements sent by Meng De."
“At that time, the water was so strong that it gradually submerged the entire Fancheng.
I thought I could take down Fancheng in one go with the power of the water, but unexpectedly,
That Cao Zixiao defended the city well, even in such a harsh environment, and when I led the navy to attack fiercely day and night, he could still hold on to Fancheng without losing it. "
"Later, the flood gradually receded, and our navy could no longer be used.
Therefore, I ordered the infantry in the army to be in the ten trenches outside Fancheng, cutting off the inside and outside of Fancheng, hoping to defeat the morale of the Wei army in the city. However, over the past few months, the military morale in Fancheng has become more and more determined. "
"How can a father not worry about this for a long time?"
"If you don't conquer Fancheng for one day, you won't be able to capture Xiangyang. If you don't hold the two cities of Xiangyang and Fan for one day, let alone the future Northern Expedition to the Central Plains is just wishful thinking. Even Jiangling will always be exposed to the threat of the Wei army's front."
Guan Yu expressed his deepest worries to his eldest son.
In fact, unlike what the world thinks, Guan Yu sent troops this time for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains.
The most important thing Guan Yu wanted to do when he sent troops north this time was to unify the northern border of Jingzhou and capture the two cities of Xiangfan.
In this way, when Liu Bei sends troops to Liangzhou in the future, Guan Yu will be able to respond to Liu Bei's left and right sides in the Central Plains and act as horns to each other.
After all, the number of soldiers Guan Yu brought out this time was only 30,000 at first. With these 30,000 troops, it was almost impossible to fight all the way to Xudu and pacify the Central Plains.
However, the development after sending troops exceeded Guan Yu's own expectations.
In the past six months, he led an army of 30,000 to defeat famous Cao Wei generals such as Cao Ren, Man Chong, Lu Chang, Yu Jin, Pang De, etc., and eliminated enemies several times his own.
With such military exploits, he caused great turmoil in the Central Plains, causing many people who were dissatisfied with Cao Cao's rule to raise troops to rebel against Cao Cao. For a time, he shocked China and overcame the king of Wei.
But as long as the two cities of Xiangfan are not captured, Guan Yu will not dare to relax or be complacent.
He always kept Liu Bei's earnest expectations in mind.
Faced with Guan Yu's worries, Guan Ping was much more optimistic than him.
Guan Ping comforted Guan Yu and said, "Don't worry, father. Father has been surrounding Fancheng for a long time. I think that Cao Ren's garrison is no more than a few thousand people at most due to father's repeated consumption."
And after so many days, I think there is no enough food and grass in Fancheng. Under such internal and external difficulties, how long can Cao Ren hold on, no matter how capable he is? "
"In my son's opinion, Fancheng will be owned by his father within a few months at most."
Guan Ping's optimistic attitude is the attitude of most people in Guan Yu's army today. After all, Guan Yu's previous record was too strong, which made the people in the army's belief in Guan Yu reach its peak.
Moreover, what Guan Ping said is not unreasonable. Even if Cao Ren has the power to reach heaven, when Fancheng has been surrounded for so long, there will definitely be a shortage of food in the city. There will be no food and grass.
Any famous general is useless.
But Guan Ping's optimistic attitude did not comfort Guan Yu. There were some things that not even Guan Ping knew about, but they were the top secrets in the military.
That is, after sending troops for nearly half a year, Guan Yu's army was already short of food!
Guan Yu's area of control was no more than three counties in Jingzhou. Among these three counties, only Nan County could truly supply Guan Yu's army.
But with the national strength of one county supporting the consumption of tens of thousands of troops for nearly half a year, this is almost reaching its limit.
Only the general Guan Yu and the grain officer Zhao Lei knew about the news of the shortage of food in the army.
Guan Yu knew that this news must not be revealed, otherwise if it caused moral turmoil in the army, everything he had done in the past six months might be in vain.
If the army was not short of food, how could he urge Mi Fang and Fu Shiren day and night to provide military supplies?
In order to make Mi Fang and Fu Shiren do their best, they even made harsh words, saying that if they delayed the provision of military supplies, they would be punished when they returned.
If it weren't for the lack of food in the army, he wouldn't have done what he did recently...
Guan Yu turned around and looked at Guan Ping with an excited expression on his face, but there was a feeling of pity flowing in his heart.
His son inherited his bravery, but was not very proficient in strategy.
At this time, Guan Yu's mind showed a handsome man in white clothes, fluttering his feather fan, and he sighed in his heart:
"If Kong Ming is here, why should I worry about food and grass?"
After sighing about this, Guan Yu suddenly remembered something again. He asked Guan Ping, "There was a hidden epidemic in the army before, but has this matter been dealt with well?"
When Guan Ping saw Guan Yu mention this, a serious look flashed on his face, and he replied,
"Thanks to the early detection, the epidemic in the military did not spread. Now, under the management of military doctors, most of the soldiers who were infected have recovered and are expected to be fine."
After hearing what Guan Ping said, Guan Yu felt relieved.
During the rainy season in the Jingxiang area, the Han River overflowed and harmed the people. Since ancient times, epidemics have been prone to epidemics.
If this matter is not controlled early, once it breaks out, it will be a more difficult matter than the lack of food in the army.
While Guan Yu and Guan Ping were talking, a sergeant quickly ran up from the high platform. When he came to Guan Yu, he immediately knelt down and told Guan Yu,
"General, a messenger has arrived in Jiangling City."
