Outside Xiangfan City, Cao Ren joined Zhang Liao and General Zang Ba, leading 60,000 troops and setting up camp ten miles north of the city.
Zhang Xi in Fancheng also began to distribute various defensive materials and deploy defensive forces in preparation to defend Fancheng.
Outside Fancheng, Guan Yu was in the camp and began to prepare his troops for battle.
As for the reinforcements of Jiangling City, Guan Yu finally decided to take the risk and let Liao Hua return to Xiangyang City to lead the troops to guard, while Zhou Tai led 7,000 original Nanjun soldiers and 3,000 surrendered soldiers, totaling 10,000 people, to rescue Jiangling.
This is already the largest force Xiangyang can mobilize without affecting its own safety.
Although in this way, there were only 3,000 Nanjun soldiers in Xiangyang City, and there were more than 10,000 soldiers who surrendered. But Guan Yu felt that as long as Zhang Xi and he joined forces to block Cao Jun's attack in Fancheng, the grassroots families in Xiangyang City would not be so It is easy to choose to defect.
Those aristocratic families have such a virtue. As long as they have a good job here, they may choose to "eat the pot of pulp to comfort Master Wang."
Zhang Xi also thinks it makes sense, but Zhang Xi thinks that he needs to remind the second master carefully, but he must not underestimate the enemy and rush in just because the water flooded the seventh army.
The second master in history was defeated by Xu Huang. You can't believe it even if he killed Zhang Xi without underestimating the enemy.
Xu Huang led them, but the soldiers Cao Cao finally pieced together were not elite soldiers, but temporary recruits. Xu Huang led these people and pushed through the heavy defense lines set up by the second master along the way, and finally defeated the second master head-on. Master, he has left himself the reputation of "having the style of Zhou Yafu".
It's true that Xu Huang is very strong, but it's not like he can defeat Erye head-on with new soldiers. You must know that at that time, Erye had more soldiers and Xu Huang had fewer.
It can only be the second master's own problem. He did drift away after the Seventh Army was flooded. He underestimated the enemy and was defeated by Xu Huang and still refused to retreat. There are also factors in this aspect.
What's more, although Xu Huang didn't come this time, among the generals of Cao's army who came, there was Zhang Liao. They were also friends of the second master, but Zhang Xi still felt that Zhang Liao was a little more difficult to deal with than Xu Huang.
Second Master, please don't think that the two sides are old friends and that the other party will show mercy to you. Don't imagine that Zhang Liao led his troops to fight thousands of miles and came here specifically to surrender.
Zhang Xi gave Guan Yu a vaccination, and received two blank looks from Guan Yu. She didn't want to compete with this guy.
Yes, Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army and shocked China, which did make Guan Yu a little complacent. Especially after capturing Xiangfan, he felt that he had accomplished a good feat and was very happy.
But there was a boy who kept mumbling next to him every day and said some unpleasant things.
What about "The flooding of the seven armies was due to the coordination of time and timing, it is not a great achievement", what about "Under such circumstances, Fancheng could be conquered even if Zhang Yi led the troops", what about "The surrender of Xiangyang is just because the defender has no courage" , "Don't be complacent, maybe one day Jiangdong will betray and attack." To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that this guy is in his early thirties and he is a member of his own family, Guan Yu would really want to beat this guy up. Take it out.
I just listened to this kid say this all the time for three days. Even if Guan Yu wanted to be proud, he had no such intention.
If someone of his generation said this, with Guan Yu's arrogance, he might have a rebellious mentality and not take it seriously.
But Zhang Xi and Guan Yu always regarded him as a junior boy. In addition, Zhang Xi always said these things in private. In public, he started to give himself a lot of face. Guan Yu couldn't have any objection to this junior because of the trouble.
If you have objections to some of the junior's words, that's not arrogance, but stingy. The second master is not going to get angry with the junior by arguing with him.
Although he was still proud of his achievements, Zhang Xi always said that the second master unconsciously felt that although he had commanded the troops well this time, he was also really lucky.
So, facing the 60,000 troops brought by Cao Ren, Guan Yu really didn't mean to look down on him, and he took it more seriously.
Although Guan Yu felt that Cao Ren was just like that, Guan Yu did not dare to despise Zhang Liao.
The good news now is that Cao Ren is the coach of these 60,000 people, and Zhang Liao is just Cao Ren's deputy.
As for Second Master Zang Ba, he really didn't take it seriously, he was just a Taishan thief.
But, the development of things made the second master want to slap a certain kid who was stuck in Fancheng.
The cause of the matter is this.
After Cao Ren set up camp, he learned from the previous experience and did not attack rashly. Instead, he led Zhang Liao and Zang Ba to Fan City to call for battle.
Cao Ren knew that the current guard of Fan City was Zhang Xi. Although he sent people to call for field battles, Cao Ren knew very well that with Zhang Xi's virtue, he would never leave the city to fight easily.
Cao Ren mainly wanted Zhang Liao and Zang Ba to get to know Zhang Xi a little bit. By the way, Cao Ren was still explaining to Zhang Liao and Zang Ba that Zhang Xi had always been good at guarding and being cautious. As a result, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared at the top of the city. , started shouting loudly.
"Cao Ren, a young man, abandoned his troops and generals, was as timid as a mouse, and fled away."
Zhang Liao and Zang Ba looked puzzled when they heard this, and Cao Ren's face turned dark.
"Cao Cao has two generals who are unparalleled in the world. One will climb the mountain and the other will slip away and die."
Zhang Liao and Zang Ba probably understood now. After all, Zhang He was really embarrassed in Brazil County. After thinking about it for a while, they also knew that "escaping to death" was not a good word.
The two of them quickly acted expressionless and did not look at Cao Ren, which made Cao Ren angry.
But Cao Ren was still so angry that his teeth chattered.
"Zhang Junyi, the general who climbed the mountain, and Cao Zixiao, the prefect who slipped away."
Okay, now Cao Ren can't stand it anymore.
"Zhang Xi, my son, I swear to kill you!!!" Cao Ren yelled, and then immediately ordered, "attack with the whole army, attack the city immediately. I swear to break Fancheng and kill the kid!!!!"
When Cao Jun heard this, he thought there was nothing he could do.
There is an order from above. If we don't fight now, we will be subject to military law when we go back. The general is angry.
Cao Jun's soldiers didn't care whether they were ready to attack the city. Anyway, the general gave the order, so they could only launch an attack immediately.
Zhang Liao and Zang Ba didn't know what to say for a while. Although they didn't know what happened, Zhang Liao and Zang Ba had heard about Zhang He being beaten up in Brazil County, and they also knew that Zhang He climbed a mountain to retrieve a dog. Life.
The current "Mountain Climbing General" and "Liu Bian Prefect" are put together. Well, it is probably because Cao Ren lost miserably before and had to abandon his troops and sneak away.
There is a saying, victory or defeat in the army is uncertain, and no one can guarantee that he will not lose. Although he lost a little embarrassingly, the junior named Zhang Xi was indeed a little too arrogant.
Such mocking of a veteran made Zhang Liao and Zang Ba feel sad.
So, if Cao Ren wanted to attack, they really couldn't persuade him to do anything.
What Zhang Xi wanted was Cao Ren's attack.
Cao Ren has too many troops and trying to use up some of them would be quite detrimental to the defenders.
These days, one of the most effective ways to consume enemy troops is to defeat them in the field. This is a bit difficult.
The other is to attract enemy troops to attack the city.
So, it's not that Zhang Xi is unkind and insists on using Cao Ren's dark history. What he wants is for Cao Ren to take the initiative to attack.
However, when Cao Ren sent troops to call for battle this time, he actually brought not many soldiers, just over ten thousand. The main purpose was not to attack the city, so the preparations for siege equipment were insufficient. The effect of hasty siege can be imagined.
After paying nearly a thousand casualties, Cao Ren slowly calmed down, and Zhang Liao and Zang Ba also persuaded Cao Ren at this time.
"General, the army is unprepared and cannot be attacked lightly!"
This is what Zhang Liao said to persuade Cao Ren.
"General, using anger to build an army is a taboo for military strategists. General, please be aware of this!"
This is what Zang Ba said to persuade Cao Ren.
Although, Cao Ren felt that Zang Ba's words to persuade him were harsh, as if he was the kind of reckless man who had no military knowledge and used anger to raise troops. Zhang Liao was right. The purpose of sending troops this time was not to attack the city.
After all, Cao Ren is also a general, especially when his mind is still calm, Cao Ren will make correct judgments.
Besides, Cao Ren didn't want to withdraw his troops, so he just attacked the city. When Cao Ren led his army to attack the city, Guan Yu had already ordered Guan Ping to lead a group of thousands of soldiers and appeared not far from the east side of Fan City. Obviously, he was looking for This is to take the opportunity to attack your own flank and relieve the pressure on the defenders.
This also made Cao Ren realize that it would be unrealistic for him to lay siege to Fancheng and tear off Zhang Xi's child's head and use it as a ball without eliminating Guan Yu's threat.
Therefore, the calm Cao Ren issued the correct military order, temporarily withdrawing his troops back to camp and calling a truce.
After returning to camp, Cao Ren thought calmly for a while and finally decided to divide his troops.
Allocate 20,000 troops to Zhang Liao and let him lead the troops to set up a separate camp to confront Guan Yu and contain Guan Yu's actions.
Cao Ren also figured out that Guan Yu was difficult to deal with. Even if he attacked with his entire army, it would be very difficult to completely defeat Guan Yu.
However, if you just delay Guan Yu's rescue of Fancheng, or contain Guan Yu's actions to create opportunities for yourself to attack Fancheng, this can be done.
However, to contain Guan Yu, that is not something that ordinary generals can do. At least Cao Ren doesn't think that Zang Ba can do this.
But Zhang Liao really can.
Zhang Liao was the first general with a foreign surname in Cao's army to guard one side, except for Cao Cao and the Xia lords. He also blocked one side with one city, which in itself illustrates Zhang Liao's ability.
Furthermore, Zhang Liao's friendship with Guan Yu was really good, and he was very familiar with Guan Yu. It was perfect for him to lead the troops to contain Guan Yu.
As for whether Zhang Liao would let off steam because of his good relationship with Guan Yu, no one who knows a little bit about Zhang Liao and Guan Yu would believe this.
Not to mention Cao Ren's disbelief, even Guan Yu and Zhang Liao themselves would not believe that the other party would let them go.
On the battlefield, everyone relies on their own abilities. How can you abandon public service for private reasons?
In this way, Guan Yu suddenly discovered that his good friend Zhang Liao personally led an army of 20,000 people and set up camp less than ten miles opposite him.
After figuring out the reason for Zhang Liao's arrival, Guan Yu was speechless for a while. That boy, just defend the city properly. Why are you irritating Cao Ren? !
If Cao Ren has been leading the army as the commander-in-chief without dividing the troops, then with Cao Ren's ability, it will not be easy to break through Fancheng, which has the power of a horn.
Well now, you scolded Cao Ren on the tower, and you were very happy, but Cao Ren didn't get angry, and instead let Zhang Liao lead the army alone to contain him.
Guan Yu was not afraid of Zhang Liao. Even if Zhang Liao led troops to contain him, Guan Yu was confident that he could support Fancheng.
But after all, it will not be as smooth as before. We can send out troops as we want and support as we want.
This means that Zhang Xi must face the attack of more than 40,000 people led by Cao Ren alone for most of the time. It is not known whether Zhang Xi can withstand it.
Just when Guan Yu was thinking about how to quickly get rid of Zhang Liao's threat, Zhang Liao suddenly sent a messenger to his subordinates, saying that he would be invited to come out to answer the question the next day.
An old friend invited me, and the fight hadn't started yet, so Guan Yu had no reason to refuse.
Just like this, the two of them set up a desk between the two armies on the second day. The two of them sat down and recalled the past. They talked about some things in the past, but basically they had nothing to do with the military formation. Both of them were old. , it’s even more difficult to meet him, but it’s normal to talk about these things.
Then, it was Zhang Liao who took the initiative to bid farewell to Guan Yu. After returning to his own camp, he announced in public, "This is a national matter. I dare not deprive myself of public service for personal gain, so I am ordering the entire army - anyone who cuts off Yu's head will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins."
After Guan Yu heard this, he was very surprised. After all, he had just recalled the past and talked about friendship, and you suddenly turned against him. It was a bit hard to deal with it.
But Guan Yu was Guan Yu after all, and he immediately understood Zhang Liao's intention. At the same time, he looked at Zhang Liao subtly, thought for a moment, and said in public, "I don't dare to betray my lord's trust, but I don't want to lose my friendship, so I am ordering the three armies here - anyone who captures Liao alive will be rewarded with tens of thousands of gold."
Zhang Liao's expression suddenly changed. Finally, he silently handed over his troops and slowly retreated back to the camp.
In the first round of secret confrontation, Guan Yu won.
(End of chapter)
