While the decisive battle in Luogu had not yet decided, Cao Jun's offensive in Guandong was still in progress.
With the successive falls of Xingyang and Aocang, Cao Cao's heavy military group assembled in front of Hulao Pass began to move south. Cao Ren first led his troops to fight in Xinzheng and Yuanling. After quickly falling into the city, he continued to attack Yingchuan, trying to cut off the communication between the upper and lower reaches of Yingshui River, and then sent troops to Shenyuan Pass to pose a threat to Luoyang in multiple directions.
By this time, the flags of Jianwu General Cao Cao, Kaiwu General Yuan Shang, Fenwu General Jushou, Zhenwu General Bao Xin, Ningwu General Chunyu Qiong, and other generals under their command were all in one piece, and the fortresses stretched endlessly, with armored battles and attacking tools. The baggage piled up into a mountain. When Luoyang's scouts looked at it, they were all shocked.
In contrast, there were more than 50,000 soldiers guarding Luoyang's passes. Although the number of soldiers was large, the morale was really low due to successive defeats. In addition, the army was in urgent need of supplies and many wounds and medicines were insufficient, which resulted in an atmosphere of waiting for death among the soldiers. Under this situation, Bian Rang, Zhang Miao, Chen Gong and others who were guarding the pass naturally did not have the confidence to win, so they could only repair the city wall and welcome Cao Jun's attack in prayer.
Zang Hong, who was trapped in Dingtao City, had no information about these situations, but he could make a rough guess.
A month ago, Zang Hong had seen a sea of flags under the city, a forest of soldiers with spears and halberds, but there were only 8,000 defenders in the city. Therefore, Zang Hong once thought that the city was about to overthrow, and he was prepared to die. Unexpectedly, although the more than 100,000 Cao troops besieged the city, they had no intention of attacking the city. Five days later, Cao Jun reluctantly made two attempts to attack the city. Seeing that the defenders were determined, they only left about 10,000 people to guard the city. All the ministries relieved the siege one after another and headed west. Seeing the movements of Cao Jun, Zang Hong suddenly realized that Zhang Miao had fallen into Cao Jun's plan. Although he didn't know the extent of the damage, Dingtao had become an isolated city.
Zang Hong then discussed the matter with his colleagues in private and believed that Cao Cao's strategy must be to "defeat the Eastern Capital from Hulao, or cross Yangguan to cut off Ruying." But no matter what strategy Cao Cao adopts, it seems to have nothing to do with Dingtao. After all, Cao Hong's more than ten thousand soldiers are camped in the north of Dingtao City, and there is a mountain watchtower built in front of the city, which is enough to have a panoramic view of every move in the city. It is difficult for the army to counterattack. Moreover, the food reserves in the city are only enough for two months.
Dingtao Wei Jianggu persuaded Zang Hong: "Ziyuan, I know you are a strong man in the world, but God's will to destroy disasters cannot be stopped by human power. I heard that Cao Cao was ordered by His Majesty, and he has Lianjie's army. It can be said that God has Hang the curtain. However, Ding Tao Liang is short of troops and it is really difficult to compete with him. I heard that Cao Jun was very happy to massacre the city. If he continues to waste it, it will only increase casualties. Why bother? It is better to think of Li Shu and dedicate this city to Cao Jun. What else can he do? Give everyone a way to live."
Unexpectedly, Zang Hong flatly refused and said: "Why did Jiang Jun say this? In history, there have been many wars in which the weak defeated the strong despite great disparity in strength. Over the past few hundred years, Xiang Yu defeated the giant deer in the past, and Kun Yang later Even in this modern world, there are stories of Longshou pacifying Bingzhou and Polu (Sun Ce) conquering Jiangdong. How can we give up so easily? Besides, Ting Jian and I are close friends, and Cao Cao is a corrupt and tyrannical person. If he betrays Isn't it true that if a friend surrenders to Cao Cao, he is hiding from the truth and not upholding loyalty?"
Jiang Gu was so embarrassed by these words that he never mentioned surrender again. This incident also made Zang Hong realize that the morale of the military in the city was unstable, and if no action was taken, it might cause a catastrophe. After thinking about it again and again, one day, Zang Hong suddenly held a big banquet in his mansion and summoned all his colleagues in the city to drink and have fun together. During the banquet, Zang Hong's beautiful concubine came out of the room to drink wine and play music for everyone.
In the previous repressive situation, it was rare for everyone to indulge. When I got the chance, I drank too much. Before the banquet was over, most of the people were half drunk and half conscious. At this time, Zang Hong suddenly stood up and said, "What do you think the situation is now?" Everyone looked at him in silence, obviously thinking that the situation was extremely unfavorable.
Seeing this, Zang Hong sighed and continued: "The isolated city is under siege and the future is uncertain. No wonder you are so passive. But I still want to fight to the death with Cao Jun." Everyone was shocked when they heard this and were about to interrupt when they heard him speak quickly. : "I also know that people have their own ambitions and cannot be forced. You are all colleagues, and I do not want to force everyone. If you want to leave, you can say so. I will let you out of the city early tomorrow morning."
After that, he glanced at the banquet, and sure enough, six people stood up one after another and said goodbye to Zang Hong. At first, these six people were quite hesitant, but when they saw Zang Hong toasting with them one by one, talking and smiling, they felt relieved.
Early the next morning, these six people took their family documents and property and rode to the city gate. Zang Hong greeted him at the door as promised, and everyone saluted him and said goodbye. When the city gate opened, Zang Hong sighed sadly: "If we say goodbye today, we will be our rivals." Everyone was ashamed and walked out of Dingtao in an awkward atmosphere.
Unexpectedly, more than 20 people had just left the city. The soldiers on the city who had been preparing for a long time suddenly lost their arrows. The rain of arrows immediately covered the very small area in front of the city gate. The sound of the arrows colliding even overshadowed the tragic pain of the person who was hit by the arrow. Screams and groans, and soon there was no one left alive in the city.
This action also attracted the attention of Cao Jun outside the city. The scouts inquired several times, but were still unable to learn about the changes in the city, so they had no choice but to report the truth to Cao Hong.
At first, Cao Hong heard that the Han armies were engaged in the city, and he was interested for a while, but then he heard that he didn't know the reason, and he felt very disappointed. He then called Zhu Zhu, who was responsible for monitoring the movements in the city, and asked, "Is there still chaos in the city?"
Zhu Zhu had been watching it in person for a day on the watchtower, and he answered truthfully: "No."
Cao Hong asked again: "Is there anything unusual happening in the city?"
Zhu Hu replied: "It seems that the troops are being organized and trained, but there is no other change."
When Cao Hong heard this, he couldn't help but wonder: "Reorganize the troops? Could it be that Zang Ziyuan wants to lead his troops out of the city?"
Zhu Ju obviously thought so too, and replied fluently: "I heard that there is no food in the city, and there are few rebel soldiers. If you are not ready to leave, why don't you stay in the city and wait to die? They must want to leave. The school captain can send Jingqi is hiding under the mountain, waiting for my news. Once the traitor leaves the city, we will send troops to intercept and kill him, and we will definitely achieve great results!"
Cao Hong applauded loudly and called the deputy general Cao Anmin. He handed over the general's three thousand cavalry to him and asked him to make relevant arrangements. However, after waiting for several days, the watchtower saw that the defenders were reorganizing their troops day by day, but there was still no sign of leaving the city. The cavalry in ambush soon relaxed, and they drank and had fun at the foot of the mountain every day. Seeing this situation, Zhu Ju was very anxious. After several warnings to no avail, he went to report the matter to Cao Hong alone one night.
Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the main tent, he heard the sound of drums, harps and Hujia.
As soon as Zhu Zhu entered the door, he smelled the aroma of wine that filled the tent, which made him dizzy. He shook his head slightly, then looked at the center of the main tent, and was shocked to find that there were four Orchids in the tent. Three of them were sitting on the left and right sides of the tent, playing drums, harps, pipas, and Hujia respectively. But what is even more eye-catching is the sight of a Hu Ji wearing a light-colored tulle, dancing on a large drum to the rhythm of Hu Jia. His figure is graceful and his skin is as white as snow, even under the candlelight. As the commander-in-chief, Cao Hong was sitting on the chairman's chair, drinking wine and applauding Hu Ji's dance, which seemed extremely absurd.
Cao Hong's face turned a little red at this time. When he saw Zhu Hu coming in, it took him a long time to remember his name and asked, "What's the matter with Mr. Zhu?" After Zhu Hu said a few words, he only mentioned the defenders. Before he made any move, he waved his hand to interrupt and said: "It seems like the bandit army is just bluffing! There is no need to make the soldiers hold fast, just let them withdraw."
Seeing the general's expression, Zhu Zhu immediately knew something was wrong and wanted to speak out to persuade him, but when the words reached his lips, he couldn't say them out. After all, he was just a junior military commander, and Cao Hong was famous for being stingy and narrow-minded. If he was offended, how could he have any hope of promotion in the future? After thinking about it like this, Zhu Ji kept silent.
When he said goodbye to Cao Hong and rode back to Tushan, it was almost Haishi. The night wind was still strong, and Zhu's hand holding the torch almost lost consciousness, but he didn't care. He just watched the fire on his hand go out, and the frustration in his heart was hard to see: now the main force was attacking cities and territories one after another under the command of the marshal. But he was wasting his time in an isolated city, not knowing when he would become famous.
With heavy thoughts on his mind, Zhu Hu did not return to the camp immediately. Instead, he walked carelessly as if he didn't know where he was. He felt as if he had merged into the wind, with his soul flying behind him every moment, but he did not feel lonely. Instead, he had the illusion that his body and mind were filled with the night wind.
When he walked to a dead forest, suddenly a loud shout came from in front of him, and he asked through the shadows: "Who is it? Stop!"
Zhu Zu frowned slightly, thinking it was his own secret whistle, so he said, "It's me, Zhu Zu." To prevent misunderstanding, he then said the bugle call: "Tai Yi three times." Then he waited for the other party's confirmation. Unexpectedly, the person on the other side did not say the next sentence "Destroy the temple to save the soul." Zhu Ju immediately felt something bad. Just when he was about to turn his horse around, several lights and shadows flashed very quickly in the forest. They were exactly where the arrow had passed. sign.
Although two arrows missed the wooden branches, one arrow hit the mark, and the arrow came from the back of Zhu's arm and shot out from his throat. This caused blood to block his trachea and soon made him stop breathing. Zhu Zu's mount stood there blankly. When Zang Hong and his men came forward to take a look, they found that Zhu Zu had put one hand into his quiver and was holding a hammered dysprosium arrow.
His failure to shoot out meant that Zang Hong's night attack was half successful.
Zang Hong felt calm after seeing this. In the past few days, he had used drills to confuse Cao Jun, but secretly sent people to dig tunnels in civilian houses. It was only today that he dug tunnels. At this time, he led more than a thousand elite soldiers out of the tunnel. Except for Zhu Arm, who had just died, no other Cao soldiers were known.
Under the silence, these more than a thousand people, only wearing cloth clothes and holding knives in their hands, quietly crossed the mountain and entered the Cao Jun camp outside the city. Soon, fire and noise suddenly rose from the camp, from small to large, from dark to bright. Cao Jun was caught off guard, and most people didn't know what was happening. They were engulfed in chaos and screams, and became confused and confused, and even became the lambs to be slaughtered by Zang Hong.
That night, Cao's army's main camp was defeated in a battle. Cao Hong led more than 3,000 remaining troops and fled eastward for thirty miles. Cao An's people at the foot of the mountain were unaware of the situation and had to withdraw overnight. Zang Hong took the opportunity to burn down the watchtower outside the city, overturned the mountain and searched for remaining grain.
When the news of Cao Hong's defeat reached Xingyang, Cao Cao was furious and immediately dismissed Cao Hong from his military post. He also ordered Cao Ren's troops in Yingchuan to suspend the offensive and led 30,000 people to quickly return to attack Dingtao.
