Nanzheng County.
There was a cry of killing from the tower.
Cao Cao led his army on a rapid march and arrived at Nanzheng County in the shortest possible time. When he first arrived, he did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, he chose to call for surrender, hoping to incite Zhang Lu to rebel.
Unfortunately, Cao Cao's surrender was first scolded by Fazheng, and then by Zhang Lu in the name of five buckets of rice, saying that Cao Cao was a butcher and would die badly.
After hitting a wall, Cao Cao gave up his thoughts of surrender and ordered a fierce attack on Nanzheng.
However, Nanzheng and Juxian are different.
Ju County is a small city, and Nanzheng is the administrative seat of Hanzhong. Ju County does not even have a moat or a urn city. Nanzheng County is not only surrounded by a moat, but also has a urn city built tall and strong.
In addition, Fazheng prepared early and mobilized sufficient defensive supplies. The most important point is that Nanzheng City has sufficient troops, with 20,000 Zhang Lu's elite troops present. In addition, Zhang Lu was the religious leader of the Five Dou Rice Road, which mobilized the people of Nanzheng.
All the people in Nanzheng were soldiers.
When Cao Cao came to besiege the city, there was inevitably a little panic in the city, but Zhang Lu was able to calm people's hearts.
As a result, Cao Cao's repeated attacks failed to capture the county seat, and the army was blocked outside the city.
Cao Cao watched the battle from a distance, frowning slightly as he looked at the city where shouts of killing were everywhere. If he had been blocked outside Nanzheng City, Cao Cao would not be able to mobilize the power of Hanzhong and make use of Hanzhong.
In fact, it will be delayed instead.
This is not allowed by Cao Cao.
Cao Cao turned his eyes and looked at Guo Jia, asking: "Feng Xiao, Nanzheng is a fortified city, and Zhang Lu is determined to fight to the death, and there are people from Wu State getting involved. If we want to attack by force, it will take too much time." .Apart from brothers Yang Song and Yang Bai, are there any other hidden stakes in the city that cooperate with us inside and outside?"
Guo Jia shook his head and said: "King Qin, although there are some informants in the city, they are all insignificant pawns and some assistants, which are ineffective. After the core Yang Song and Yang Bai were captured, there will be no other people in charge of the army."
Cao Cao looked at Yang Ang and asked, "Yang Ang, do you know anyone?"
"No!"
Yang Ang also answered simply.
Cao Cao frowned deeply, pressed the hilt of the sword at his waist with his left hand, put his fist on his hip with his right hand, and walked back and forth for a moment, with a trace of cruelty flashing in his eyes. But in the blink of an eye, the fierceness subsided again, and he ordered: "Continue to attack and wait a moment."
The army is still on the offensive steadily.
The shouts of killing continued, but large numbers of Cao's troops still failed to break through the city, and the situation remained deadlocked.
Just at this time, a soldier came to Cao Cao and reported: "King Qin, General Xiahou Yuan has an urgent message to send back."
"Bring people here."
Cao Cao ordered.
The soldier went to inform him, and after a while, the sentry came to Cao Cao, saluted with his fists clasped in his hands, and then handed over the letter.
Cao Cao took the letter and read it down quickly. When Cao Cao saw that Cao Ren was killed and Ju County fell, his pupils suddenly went blank.
The next moment, Cao Cao's expression became even colder.
"It hurts me too!"
Cao Cao let go of his hand and the letter fell to the ground. He held his head in his hands, his sharp eyes flashing with blazing anger and murderous intent.
Guo Jia quickly picked up the letter and checked it. When he saw that Cao Ren was killed, his face was solemn and he couldn't help but sigh.
Xun You, Cheng Yu and others looked over one after another, all very worried.
Cao Cao's eyes widened in anger, and after a long while, the pain in his head eased slightly. He clenched his fists and beat his chest, looking grief-stricken, and said loudly: "Lu Xuan killed my Zixiao and destroyed my city. This is an irreconcilable hatred. I, the king, swear to avenge Zixiao."
The people around him immediately understood.
Cao Ren had a very high status beside Cao Cao. Now that Cao Ren has followed in Cao Hong's footsteps, one can imagine Cao Cao's anger.
Guo Jia was worried that Cao Cao would lose control of his emotions and advised: "My lord, General Zixiao was killed. Everyone is sad and angry. It's just that Lu Xuan is still outside the pass and cannot break Yangping Pass for the time being."
"The top priority is to capture Nanzheng as soon as possible, so that my lord can change direction, join General Xia Houyuan, fight bloody battle with Lu Xuan at Yangping Pass, and avenge General Zixiao."
He changed his title and called him Lord Cao Cao again.
This is a relief to Cao Cao.
Cheng Yu was the oldest, with a solemn look on his face, and said solemnly: "King Qin, it is crucial to capture Nanzheng. Please don't act out of emotion, King Qin."
Xun You said, "Please ask the King of Qin for advice."
Everyone was worried that Cao Cao would be angry and send troops to fight at Yangping Pass. When the time came, they would be trapped in a pincer attack.
Cao Cao's eyes were cold, he flicked his sleeves and said, "I know what I should do and what I shouldn't do? Nanzheng is our rear and must be captured. It's just that Zhang Lu is determined to resist and it is difficult to attack."
At this point, a ruthless look appeared in Cao Cao's eyebrows, and he said: "The army and people of Nanzheng are enemies of this king, so there is no need to leave any room. He ordered all the soldiers who attacked Nanzheng to loot Nanzheng for three days. "
"I want to break the city in the shortest possible time."
"In those days, wherever I led my army, everyone was frightened and did not dare to fight. Over the years, I have cultivated my moral character and lost my murderous spirit. The people in these remote villages have lost their awe."
Cao Cao said coldly: "Since you don't want to submit, then just kill them."
A cold and murderous aura spread from Cao Cao's body.
The order was passed down, but no one spoke to dissuade him, and no one showed mercy to the people in Nanzheng City. At this point, Nanzheng must be captured, otherwise Cao Jun will be in a very bad situation if he continues to delay.
The officers and soldiers of Cao's army were excited and excited, especially the Qingzhou soldiers, who were direct descendants of Cao Cao, started to scream.
The Qingzhou soldiers followed Cao Cao, and their military discipline was very bad, but they were very brave every time they fought, because after winning the battle, they could plunder, and whatever they plundered was theirs.
Just like this, Qingzhou soldiers dared to fight and kill, and they all obeyed Cao Cao's orders.
According to history, when Cao Cao died, the Qingzhou soldiers started a riot, beating drums in the army and clamoring to go home. You must know that the place where the Qingzhou soldiers played drums was the capital of the Wei Dynasty. It was a huge political incident for the army to play drums without authorization and cause trouble.
The root cause of the trouble was that Cao Cao was gone.
After Cao Cao's death, all kinds of preferential treatment and benefits for the Qingzhou soldiers disappeared, and the Qingzhou soldiers were unwilling to serve Cao Pi.
Now that Cao Cao's order was issued, the Qingzhou soldiers were in full swing, and their offensive was like a tide. They rushed forward wave after wave, making Nanzheng seem like a ship in the big waves, as if it was in danger of capsizing at any time.
Zhang Lu was very scared.
Fa Zheng saw the situation outside the city and learned about Cao Cao's order to loot and massacre. He glanced at the brave and skilled Cao Jun, and watched the crazy and bloodthirsty Qingzhou soldiers attacking. He didn't feel any panic, but instead had a smile.
Fazheng looked at Zhang Lu and said quickly: "Master, Cao Cao ordered the looting and massacre after breaking the city, and his brutal nature was revealed again. Although Cao Cao's army's offensive is fierce, in fact, this is a good thing."
"Originally, when the master was in Nanzheng, the hearts of the people surrendered, and the whole people became soldiers. Now because of Cao Cao's arrangement, the people's escape route has been cut off, and our people's hearts have been further unified, and the soldiers and the people will be more united."
Zhang Lu thought about it, and it seemed like this was true.
After Cao Cao gave the order to loot and massacre, the people of Nanzheng could not surrender and could only fight to the death.
After Zhang Lu figured it out, he quickly said: "I will immediately go to the Sifang City to make a message and inform the people about Cao Cao's arrangements."
Fazheng said: "Thank you for your hard work, Master, but we still have to make arrangements so that the common people who volunteer to participate in the battle can gather in the city and form an array. In this battle, we will first let the soldiers fight hard. If the soldiers cannot hold out, we will mobilize the common people to join the battle. . This battle must be defended, otherwise everyone will die."
Zhang Lu nodded and left in a hurry.
In fact, Zhang Lu was very nervous inside. But seeing Fazheng and Zhao Yun remain calm and composed, they regained their fighting spirit and felt inexplicably stable.
Fazheng looked at Zhao Yun, who was commanding steadily, and a smile flashed across his eyes. Bringing Zhao Yun here this time is the wisest decision. Because Zhao Yun was on the top of the city tower, he commanded the troops to remain calm in the face of danger and remained unmoved.
When Zhao Yun is there, the army is there.
Fa Zheng glanced at the fighting on the tower. More and more soldiers were entering the battlefield. There would be no winner in a short time, and fierce fighting would continue.
It just so happens that this is what he wants to achieve, not to defeat Cao Cao, but to hold him back.
