Although Cao Hong was passive and idle in fighting, preparing siege equipment in the rear, he sent out many scouts, and Lei Tong's unusual movements did not escape the eyes of Hubaoqi.
Lei Tong only took more than a hundred riders to contact the Di tribe. Cao Xiu was worried that this was Zhang Fei's trick to lure the enemy, so even if he discovered it, he did not divide his troops to intercept.
A few days later, Lei Tong contacted Lei Ding, the leader of the Di tribe, and they brought tens of thousands of Di tribe warriors to fight in defense.
Thousands of people were walking in the Chenghui Basin, but they were easily spotted by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Cao Hong got the news and urgently summoned the generals to discuss the matter, intending to use the Di people to make a point.
Yang Fu, the prefect of Wudu, was the first to speak: "According to the flags that the scouts found, these Di people are from the Lei family who live in Wudu Road. They are familiar with the terrain and are good at climbing over mountains and ridges. We can attack them before they can reach Xia Bian. Otherwise, Zhang Fei's help will be detrimental to us."
Xinpi, who joined the army and came to supervise the transportation of grain and grass from Hechi, followed up and said: "What Yishan said is true. The city of Xiabian is strong and difficult to attack. We cannot give Zhang Fei a chance to replenish his troops. General Wenlie's tigers and leopards are riding back and forth." Rufeng, why not let him lead the army to intercept these Di people? If Zhang Fei divides his troops to rescue, we can take the opportunity to attack the city."
"If Zhang Fei loses the city, this lone army will become a lost dog." Yang Fu added.
Cao Hong thought it made sense, but he still subconsciously asked Cao Xiu: "Wen Lie, what do you think?"
Cao Xiu frowned and shook his head: "I think it's better to hold back and let these Di people enter the city first."
"But why?"
Not only Cao Hong was puzzled, but Yang Fu, Xin Pi and others were also puzzled.
Cao Xiu explained: "Zhang Fei is trapped in an isolated city with few soldiers. Can his limited grain reserves be consumed by us? It may not be harmful to send more people into the city to eat grain..."
"General Wen Lie originally had this plan, but since Zhang Fei can recruit soldiers from the Di tribe, he should also be able to raise food from outside. I'm worried that over time, they will be able to take root in Wudu." Yang Fu looked worried.
Cao Xiu sneered and said: "I can let the Di people enter the city to eat food, but I will never let Zhang Fei replenish food and grass."
"Wonderful." Xinpi nodded in affirmation.
"Just as Wen Lie said." Cao Hong's face was gloomy.
After Xiabian City received reinforcements, he became more confident. Zhang Fei incorporated Lei Ding's troops under his command as a reserve force to assist Wu Yi in defending the city. Cao Hong still surrounded the city without fighting every day. Zhang Fei was happy to see that the containment effect had been achieved.
A few days later, Wu Yi went to Zhang Fei privately and reported: "Cao Hong's siege area is getting wider and wider. At first, it was only the eastern area, but now it has been connected to the north. If the enemy completes the siege, we will really be trapped in the isolated city. The general has to guard against it."
"Surrounded on all sides? Cao Hong's troops are not strong enough. I think it's a ploy to lure the enemy, or to remain unchanged in response to changes." Zhang Fei didn't care.
Wu Yi nodded and reminded when he left: "The Di people brought by Lei Ding were lightly dressed and carried only a few days' worth of food and grass. If we still plan to deprive the Di people of rations in Xia Bian's granary, then even if we save money, we won't be able to survive for three days." Months, General, please make plans in advance..."
Zhang Fei stood up in excitement. Under the influence of Lan Tian, he paid special attention to supplies. Food was always the first consideration in battles. When he heard Wu Yi's reminder, he frowned and said, "If Cao Hong doesn't come to attack the city for a long time, wouldn't we have more food every day?" Ten thousand mouths?”
"Of course." Wu Yi affirmed.
"Let Lei Ding take some people back to the tribe tomorrow to collect food. How can they live like this every day? But remember that they must act in secret to avoid being discovered by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and causing trouble." Zhang Fei ordered.
"Wei." Wu Yi cupped his fists and retreated.
Lei Ding led two thousand Di people out of the city at dawn. Zhang Fei was worried and asked Ren Kui to accompany thousands of Yizhou soldiers. The journey out of the city went smoothly without any obstacles.
Lei Ding raised 5,000 hu of grain from several tribes and saved some Di people who could survive for two months. Everything went smoothly on the way from the Wududao tribe to Xiabian, until he was suddenly attacked twenty miles away from Xiabian. to the attack of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.
Zhang Fei learned the news and planned to rescue him personally, but Cao's army, which was marching east and north, suddenly launched a large-scale attack.
"General Yide, Cao Hong and Cao Zhen are attacking the two northeastern routes at the same time. This time Cao Jun's offensive is quite fierce. It would be better for the general to sit down and defend himself," Wu Yi advised.
"Why do I smell a conspiracy? Now I can only work hard to rescue Meng Qi. Cao Xiu's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry only has 3,000 men. You and I must rescue them with 5,000 elite troops." Zhang Fei ordered.
"Wei." Ma Chao cupped his fists and accepted the order.
Wu Yi is now going to the east gate to supervise the battle. Zhang Fei walked out of the prefect's mansion and was about to go to the north gate, wanting to see what Cao Jun was up to.
Ma Chao called in reinforcements and went out to the west gate of Xiabian to rescue them. After walking more than ten miles, they encountered Lei Ding and the defeated Di people. When they saw the reinforcements, they burst into tears as if they were relatives.
"Where is General Ren?" Ma Chao asked loudly.
Lei Ding, his hair disheveled, replied with a sad face: "General Ren was entangled by Cao Cao's cavalry in order to cover our escape..."
Ma Chao was secretly surprised when he heard this, and immediately led his army to gallop west. When he was approaching the battle site, he saw plumes of smoke rising from the sky. He chased after him and found that the battle was over. The ground was full of corpses of Yizhou soldiers and Di people. He won. The tiger and leopard cavalry were burning the Di people's grain carts.
"Don't leave, traitor." Ma Chao rode up with a gun in hand.
Seeing that Ma Chao was well prepared, Cao Xiu did not fight head-on. Instead, he ordered the tiger and leopard riders to go south in a roundabout way, fighting and moving away.
Because the Hubao Cavalry was well-trained and marched quickly, Ma Chao and Cao Xiu were entangled for less than half an hour before the Hubao Cavalry broke away from Ma Chao's pursuit and flew away.
Ma Chao knew that the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were not easy to deal with. If they were to intercept them by force, he would not know how many of his 5,000 men would be left.
Ma Chao had no choice but to turn around to clean up the battlefield and dispose of the corpses. General Ren Kui had already been beheaded. Except for the hundreds of Di soldiers who fled back to Xiabian with Lei Ding, all the other soldiers who came out to raise food were killed. The food brought by Zhou Zhang at great expense was destroyed. Burned down.
The main task of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was to rob food, and killing Ren Kui and the soldiers was just a side event. After they retreated to a safe position, Cao Hong and Cao Zhen gave up the siege.
"ordinary man."
Zhang Fei was furious when he knew he had been tricked. There was no way to release the flames in his chest, so he could only pace back and forth in the room with a dark face.
Ma Chao and Wu Yi were separated and did not dare to talk to each other. After all, they suffered a big loss this time. At this time, the entourage handed the top to Zhang Fei to relieve his anger.
Zhang Fei whipped the top crazily in the room, and the snapping sound was accompanied by rude curses, which made Ma Chao and Wu Yi wonder.
They both heard that Zhang Fei loved to whip his soldiers, but they didn't expect that the one who was actually whipped was a toy. Ma Chao and Wu Yi stopped Wu Er outside the door and asked, "What did General Yide whip?"
Wu Er cupped his fists and replied: "This thing is called a spinning top. It was given to General Zhang by General Lan to relieve his boredom."
"This thing...seems...like a toy..." Wu Yi looked confused.
"It is indeed a toy made by General Lan for the children. Later, he gave it to General Zhang to replace the whipping of the soldiers. In short, it was a good deed..." Wu Er explained and said goodbye to the two of them with fists in his hands.
After listening to this, Ma Chao said to himself: "General Lan is such a strange person..."
