Zang Ba in Xiapi City is very sad now. Very sad.
The Soochow army besieged Xiapi from all four directions. Zang Ba focused on one thing but not the other, and it was extremely difficult to resist.
Indeed, there is a saying that Xiapi County is very large. Among the four counties and one country in Xuzhou, Xiapi is the largest county. Zang Ba still has time to adjust the depth of defense.
But this time will not be left to Zang Ba for too long. Once Zhou Yu breaks through Huailing in the south and Xu Sheng's army breaks through Xutai, they can go directly north to attack Xu County. Xu County is not far from Xiapi City .
Once Lu Xun on the western front of Xiapi County captured Pengcheng Kingdom, he could directly cut off the retreat route of Zang Ba's army and completely trap Zang Ba in Xiapi County.
What's even worse is that it's still September.
The grain in Xuzhou was harvested in early September. It is now late September, and the local governments have just registered the taxed grain into the treasury and have not had time to transport it down yet.
In other words, if Soochow's army breaks through the counties of Xiapi, they can directly obtain a batch of new grains as food supplies, but the defenders of Xiapi must rely on last year's old grains to hold on when they are surrounded on all sides and lack of food. , Under such circumstances, let alone Zang Ba, even if Emperor Wu was resurrected, he would not be able to defend Xiapi County.
Therefore, Zang Ba thought about it again and again and felt that there seemed to be only two ways before him.
Or, stick to Xiapi yourself and wait for help.
Or, pick up the remaining troops now, lead the retreat, abandon Xiapi, retreat to Peng Chengguo, and establish the first line of defense in front of Yanzhou.
This is the first choice. It seems not very good.
First, Zang Ba did not have such a high consciousness after all. Zang Ba, who was born as a powerful bandit, pursued the principle of "fight if you can beat him, and run if you can't beat him."
It would be too dangerous for Zang Ba to risk his life and defend until Cao Wei's other reinforcements come to rescue him.
Second, even if Zang Ba defends Xiapi, it does not mean that Cao Jun can come to rescue in time.
Xu Huang of Yanzhou was an upright man, rigorous in his military use, "quite like Zhou Yafu". This was not Zang Ba's evaluation, but Emperor Wu's evaluation of Xu Huang when he was in power.
Therefore, Zang Ba believed that Xu Huang would definitely lead troops to rescue him in time after receiving his distress letter. With Xu Huang's ability, it was not impossible to carve out a passage to rescue Xia Pi.
But Cao Xiu, Jia Kui, and Zang Ba in Yuzhou really didn't dare to have hope. Zhou Yu in Huainan was right under their noses. They could let Zhou Yu go north to attack Xiapi. What else could you expect from them? !
Really, Zang Ba really felt that as long as Zhou Yu from Huainan didn't come, with just Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin from Langya County, and at most Xu Sheng from Guangling County, Zang Ba would grit his teeth and have a chance to hold on.
Zang Ba is not an incompetent person after all. Although the three-pronged attack made Zang Ba confused, the defenders still have an advantage in this era. It doesn't matter if they don't have enough troops. As long as Xu Huang can ensure the safety of Peng Chengguo, Xiapi also has a lot of grain reserves, and he can hold on for two or three days. Three months is still enough. By that time, Cao Pi should be able to lead troops to rescue Xiapi.
But now Zhou Yu suddenly appeared. His appearance easily broke the battlefield situation.
Zhou Yu led 30,000 Huainan troops into Xiapi County, which instantly widened the gap in military strength between the two sides. Moreover, after Zhou Yu's army joined Xu Sheng's army, it already had an absolute advantage in strength on the southern front. If Zang Ba wanted to hold on, he had to When troops are divided into different areas for rescue, there must be fewer soldiers left in Xiapi to hold on.
Zang Ba knew that he could not hesitate and must make an immediate decision - whether to protect Xiapi or the army.
Whether it is from the situation or from Zang Ba's heart, he is leaning towards the latter.
Before the four armies of Soochow were encircled, they abandoned Xiapi and retreated to Pengcheng, relying on Pengcheng to block the Soochow army.
There are actually benefits to doing this.
To the west of Peng Chengguo is Yanzhou and to the south is Yuzhou. Zang Ba's retreat can shorten the time for Yanzhou and Yuzhou to come for reinforcements, and at the same time, Pengcheng, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou can be connected into one to form a complete line of defense.
At the same time, if Pengcheng State is guaranteed to be in hand, Cao Jun will still have a foothold in Xuzhou. If he wants to counterattack Xuzhou in the future, he will at least have a channel.
The only trouble with retreating to Peng Chengguo is that Cao Pi may be very unhappy that the war is about to begin, and he will lose ground first. What does this sound like? !
Cao Pi is not Cao Cao. This man still has abilities, but he really lacks temperance. In addition, Cao Pi has always disliked Zang Ba. Anyone who comes from a local wealthy family and has been a bandit can do what Governor Qingxu does. The location, in Cao Pi's eyes, was very incredible.
But Zang Ba was appointed by Cao Cao after all. If Zang Ba didn't cause any big problems, then Cao Pi would not easily touch Zang Ba. But Zang Ba had almost completely destroyed Qingxu and Qingzhou in recent years, and he was still defeated by Cao Pi. It would be strange if Cao Pi had no objection to Zang Ba in the hands of Soochow, who didn't like it very much.
Therefore, it is hard to say what position Zang Ba will have in Cao Wei after his retirement.
Zang Ba didn't want to be in danger and die, but he also wanted to keep his glory and wealth. After thinking about it for two days, Zang Ba decided to withdraw from Xiapi.
Save your life first. If you have life, you will have a future. If you don't have life, it's hard to say how much care you will take of the Zang family based on that person's character and temper.
Therefore, after Zang Ba made his decision, he immediately ordered the county soldiers in Xiapi counties to continue to stand firm and wait for reinforcements. However, he summoned the defenders in Xiapi City to assemble, and the entire army withdrew to Pengcheng under the banner of supporting Peng Chengguo.
As for Zang Ba's retreat, anyone with a little bit of brains would know what Governor Qingxu was doing. The county soldiers are not stupid either. Your commander has given up on Xiapi, so who will help you hold on?
What happened after that was that Zang Ba led his army to quickly retreat to Pengcheng, while Zhou Yu and Xu Sheng's coalition forces on the southern front and Zhuge Jin's army on the eastern front advanced vigorously. It only took less than ten days to conquer Huailing one after another. Three armies from Xutai, Xuxian, Quyang and other places surrounded Xiapi City.
At this time, Zang Ba had already retreated to Pengcheng. On one side, he sent troops to block Lu Xun's attack, and on the other side, he began to strengthen the city. At the same time, he sent a second request for help to Xu Huang and Cao Xiu behind him.
If you don't come again, then don't blame me for retreating directly to Yanzhou.
It's not easy for Zang Ba, but at any rate, Cao Wei's teammates these days still have reliable people.
On the fifth day after Zang Ba retreated to Pengcheng, Xu Huang arrived with 20,000 reinforcements from Yanzhou.
Xu Huang arrived just in time, which greatly relieved Zang Ba's pressure and gave him the confidence to stabilize his defense.
But Cao Wei has a reliable teammate like Xu Huang, so naturally he also has that deceptive thing. So far, there has been no movement at all.
For example, Cao Xiu and Jia Kui in Yuzhou.
Cao Xiu and Jia Kui were in conflict again.
Zhou Yu slipped out with 30,000 people between the two men's garrison, and went north to attack Xiapi County. This made both Cao Xiu and Jia Kui extremely angry.
No matter which angle you look at this matter, it is like a slap in the face of two people, the kind that cannot be taken off.
Cao Xiu was very angry. He had been beaten up in Shiting two years ago. This time he sent troops to Huainan, and he was thinking about whether he could have a chance to save some face. Now, he had completely lost his face.
To be honest, Cao Xiu actually has some abilities. His biggest problem is not his ability, but his responsibility as a coach. Cao Xiu didn't even think about it. He passed the blame to Jia Kui for Zhou Yu's escape from the encirclement. He relied on himself. It was the boss, so he immediately called Jia Kui over and scolded him.
Jia Kui was so angry.
Who did he provoke? !
The last time Zhou Yu captured Hefei, it was not because he desperately saved you, a prodigal thing like you. Now that Zhou Yu sneaked out this time, isn't it your responsibility? !
Jia Kui's ability is not low, he is both wise and brave, but his problem is not his ability, but his temperament is too stubborn and his temper is too straightforward.
Originally, Jia Kui was displeased with Cao Xiu, thinking that this man was a second-generation ancestor, but now he could forget about being scolded for no reason. Cao Xiu also put all the responsibility for Zhou Yu's escape from the encirclement on himself. Jia Kui didn't want to do it.
Jia Kui directly argued with Cao Xiu and broke up on bad terms.
After the two men returned to their respective camps, they both wrote letters to Cao Pi, accusing the other of their faults.
After the quarrel and complaint, the two people also had disagreements about the next military operation.
Zang Ba's letter asking for help has reached Cao Xiu, and Cao Xiu's first reaction was not to rescue Zang Ba, but to take advantage of Zhou Yu's opportunity to lead his army north to break through Yinling and attack Shouchun.
According to Cao Xiu's thinking, Soochow's troops in Huainan are definitely insufficient now. There will not be too many defenders in Shouchun, and the defender is Sun Shao, an unknown person whom he has never heard of. You can tell from his surname that this person It may be inseparable from Sun Quan.
As long as they can take advantage of Zhou Yu's opportunity to send troops to regain Shouchun and suppress Huainan, it will be equivalent to cutting off Zhou Yu's return route. At worst, it can also force Zhou Yu to retreat and relieve Zang Ba's pressure.
But Jia Kui doesn't think so.
Jia Kui believed that since a resourceful man like Zhou Yu dared to take the initiative to lead troops northward, he must have done a good job in the defense of Huainan and must have backup plans.
Soochow's troops in the Huainan area are indeed insufficient, but behind Huainan is Jiangdong. As long as General Shouchun holds on for a month, Jianye's Sun Quan can bring troops to help at any time. How can it be said that it is easy to suppress? !
Finally, this point is actually a bit disgusting for Jia Kui. Cao Xiu, don’t think that all the clan generals are idiots like someone else. Emperor Wu could have famous clan generals like Cao Ren, Cao Chun, and Xia Houyuan. How do you know that Sun Shao is incompetent? ? !
It would be better to honestly follow the original plan, go north to reinforce Zang Ba, try to keep Pengcheng, and wait for an opportunity to recapture Xiapi.
Actually, both of these ideas have a certain truth. If we calm down and discuss it carefully with each other, and then implement it together after making a decision, no matter what we do, it can actually be done.
But the problem is that these two people have been at odds for a long time, and they did not have the consciousness of Zhang Liao and Li Dian to tolerate each other for the sake of the country, and the final result was an unhappy separation.
Cao Xiu wanted to lead his army to attack Huainan, while Jia Kui wanted to lead his army to rescue Zang Ba. In the end, Cao Xiu gave Jia Kui 5,000 men and asked him to go north to rescue Pengcheng, while he took more than 30,000 men. The people went south to attack Huainan.
Jia Kui was so angry that five thousand people went to rescue Pengcheng? !
Damn rescue! ! !
(End of chapter)
