Yuan Shu ordered generals Liu Xun and Lei Bo to lead an army to attack Lujiang City.
At this time, Zhang Xiu had already left Lujiang City by boat, leaving Sun Ce and Zhou Yu to face Yuan Shu's troops alone.
Although Sun Ce had few troops, but with Sun Ce's bravery and Zhou Yu's tactics, how could Liu Xun and Lei Bo be their opponents?
Zhou Yu asked Sun Ce to lead a thousand cavalry to fight against Liu Xun and Lei Bo. He led ten thousand infantrymen to ambush in a valley under Jiguan Ridge.
Sun Ce fought with him, pretended to be defeated and fled.
Liu Xun and Lei Bo didn't know what the plan was, so they led their troops to pursue Sun Ce and entered the valley. Soldiers and horses from both sides rushed out. Han Dang and Cheng Pu led their troops and horses to cut off Sun Ce's retreat. Liu Xun and Lei Bo fought to the death and fled. There are countless people who have declined from 50,000 units.
After this battle, Sun Ce firmly settled in Lujiang City and occupied Lujiang County.
…
Liu Ye was originally a member of Liu Xun's tent. He expected that Liu Xun would be defeated when he went south, so he found an excuse not to go.
Now that Yuan Shu was in decline, his power could not last long, so he wrote to Zhang Xiu to inform Zhang Xiu of Cao's army's movements. Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiu still stayed in Wancheng and asked him to go to Wancheng to play chess.
This can't help but surprise Liu Ye.
Is Zhang Xiu really not worried about Nanyang, or does he have the ability to strategize and win a thousand-mile victory?
He twirled his beard and thought carefully, and decided to go and have a look. At the same time, the deafening words appeared in his mind unconsciously: "Establish a heart for the world, establish a destiny for the people, inherit the unique knowledge for the saints, and create peace for all generations."
Nodding his head, he said, "Zhang Xiu is really the master of the Ming Dynasty."
Then he ordered his servants to pack up their things and take a carriage to Wancheng. Halfway through the journey, I heard that Wancheng had been captured by Zhang Xiu's subordinate Wei Yan.
He smiled and said: "Yan Xiang avoided the battle in Wancheng, but his lord unexpectedly broke through the city and captured him."
When he arrived at the gate of Wancheng, Zhang Xiu had already received the news and greeted him at the gate from a distance.
Liu Ye was so flattered that he immediately jumped out of the carriage and bowed in obeisance: "Ming Gong is so respectful, and Ye is frightened."
Zhang Xiu cherished Liu Ye's talent and said with a smile on his face: "I am lucky to have Ziyang here. Please come in quickly. There will be a small bottle of wine inside to welcome Ziyang."
Everyone went into the city and held a banquet and drank wine.
Liu Ye twirled his beard, looked at Zhang Xiu and asked: "Now that Cao Cao is marching south to Nanyang, my lord does not hurry back to Nanyang, but instead sits in Anhui City. Aren't you afraid that Cao Cao will break into the city and seize the land?"
Zhang Xiu laughed and said two words: "Food and grass!"
These two words were written to him by Liu Ye. Zhang Xiu said these two words, which showed that he had listened to Liu Ye's plan and wanted to fight a war of attrition with Cao Cao. Since it was a war of attrition, it didn't matter whether he went or not. It's not important anymore, what's important is food and grass.
Hearing these two words, Liu Ye also smiled: "Now that there is no response, Cao Cao is eager to use his troops. When the army's food is exhausted, the lord will be in an invincible position."
"I ordered Nanyang to clear the four fields and let Cao Cao enter. Then I ordered the Qinglong Cavalry Battalion to go to the direction of Tongbai Mountain to rob and burn Cao's army's grain road. I also joined forces with Lu Bu to burn the unharvested grain and grass in Cao Cao's territory. In this way, Cao Cao's army ran out of grain and had to Withdraw your troops and leave, then it won't be too late for me to send troops to fight back." Zhang Xiu said.
Everyone stroked their beards and smiled.
…
When Lu Bu learned that Cao Cao had invaded Nanyang, he immediately called Zhang Liao and Chen Gong to discuss matters.
Zhang Liao did not expect that Cao Cao would be so impatient to attack Zhang Xiu, and immediately said: "My lord, we have an alliance with Zhang Xiu, so we must send troops to help, and there is no need to fight to the death. All we need is to have cavalry march on the territory and set fire to the food."
Lu Bu nodded and said, "If Zhang Xiu is destroyed, I, Xuzhou, will be the only one left in the Central Plains. How can Cao Cao let us go? If our lips are dead and our teeth are cold, we should send troops. What does Gongtai think?"
He set fire to the grain and grass in Yanzhou and Yuzhou. I am afraid that countless people in Yanzhou and Yuzhou will starve to death this year. However, this is a war, and we cannot be merciful. So he said, "We can send troops to burn the grain and grass in Yanzhou, so that Cao's army will have no time to take care of itself." .”
Lu Bu was about to send troops immediately.
At this time, Chen Deng came in to dissuade him: "My lord, no!"
Lu Bu asked: "Why not? Please Yuanlong explain it carefully."
Chen Deng glanced at Zhang Liao and Chen Gong, and then said: "Food and grass are the foundation of all peoples, how can they be burned easily? That Zhang Xiu letter asked the lord to burn grain will definitely be reviled by the world; that Zhang Xiu has tens of thousands of cavalry. Why not send troops to burn it but let the lord bear the infamy?"
"This...?" Lu Bu looked at Chen Gong.
Chen Gong sneered: "Yuan Long doesn't know how to be kind and doesn't command troops? Our army and Zhang Xiu rely on each other. If Zhang Xiu is defeated, will our army have any chance of winning against Cao Cao alone? After Cao Cao destroys Zhang Xiu, there will be no If you don’t worry about the future, when Cao’s army attacks, your life will be at stake, how can you manage your reputation?”
Chen Deng was anxious: "Gongtai! Do you want to trap the lord into injustice?"
Chen Gong snorted an air of coldness through his nose: "Are you going to put me in danger? Cao Cao's army is coming to attack the city. You can survive by surrendering. Will Cao Cao let us go? Chen Yuanlong, you are not the only smart person in the world!"
Seeing them arguing, Lu Bu lost his mind, but seeing Zhang Liao thoughtful, he asked, "What do Wen Yuan think?"
Zhang Liao calmly uttered five words: "My lips are dead and my teeth are cold!"
Lu Bu clapped his hands and said: "Immediately mobilize the troops and send them to Yanzhou. The whole army is not allowed to attack the city. They can only set fire to the food. I want to make the territory of Yanzhou full of smoke!"
Chen Deng shouted in his heart: "The Prime Minister's southern expedition was defeated!"
Lu Bu sent out 15,000 troops and divided them into five groups to march to Yanzhou. All of them were light cavalry. They only had to set fire to the food supplies and were not allowed to fight.
Yanzhou is almost entirely plain land, with thousands of miles of fertile wilderness. In just one day, thick smoke billowed out of Yanzhou. Wheat fields burned one after another, and the fire swept across Yanzhou like a wave.
All the people mourned and cried.
…
At this time, Cao's army had been attacking the city for three days.
Duyang City was in a mess, with corpses scattered all over the city. The corpses of two soldiers were stacked on top of each other, and blood flowed like a river.
Hu Che'er's face was haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, his armor was torn in large pieces, and his body was covered in blood.
He has been holding on to Duyang City for three days.
Cao Jun's attack on the city was extremely fierce. After the new soldiers paved the way, the elite soldiers swarmed up and climbed up the ladder. Below were Yu Jin, Xia Houyuan, Dian Wei, and Xu Chu supervising the battle. Fortunately, Hu Che'er defended the city risklessly. Hu Che'er's desperate efforts inspired the defenders' momentum and firmly defended Duyang City.
However, Duyang City is already in dilapidated condition and may not survive tonight. Cao Jun is preparing for a new round of attack.
After this battle, the number of the Shenniu Military Camp in his hands dropped sharply from 15,000 to 11,000. In just three days, 4,000 people were killed, which shows how brutal the battle was.
After the baptism of war, these recruits have transitioned into veterans and are no longer as afraid of the battlefield as they were at the beginning.
Just when Cao's army was preparing to attack the city, the messengers rushed over: "Hu Wuying, the military counselor has an order, ordering you to give up blocking Yang City, return to the army immediately, and hold on to Wancheng."
Hu Cheer finally breathed a sigh of relief. The winter wheat harvest in Nanyang County was finally completed and the fields were cleared.
Hu Che'er shouted: "The whole army listens to the order! Retreat in an orderly manner. After Hu Ji breaks up, there must be no mistakes!"
The entire army slowly pulled down the city wall in line with the team, and the entire army retreated.
After Cao Jun fired a round of arrow feathers, he rode a ladder to the city wall. After climbing up, he found that Duyang City was empty and there was no enemy.
Cao Jun all looked at each other.
Cao Cao was stunned when he learned about it. If it was a normal attack, he wouldn't have too many doubts, but it would be abnormal to give up Duyang City and let him get it easily.
As the saying goes, when things go wrong, there must be a monster.
He was not sure he didn't care, so he looked at Guo Jia next to him. Guo Jia frowned and analyzed: "Duyang City can hold on for at least a few days. If the troops suddenly retreat, the most likely thing is-" Guo Jia suddenly Wake up, "——Grain and grass, Ming Gong, Hu Che'er withstood our attack in order to harvest the winter wheat in Nanyang."
"Winter wheat?"
Cao Cao exclaimed and his eyes widened.
At this time, urgent news came from Yanzhou: Lu Bu led his army to invade Yanzhou and burned tens of thousands of acres of grain fields in Yanzhou.
