Guan Xing's thoughts unexpectedly coincided with those of General Cao Jun.
They all bypassed the enemy's main force and led their troops to attack the enemy's rear city by surprise.
If Liu Chan's army loses Xicheng, there is still Shangyong who can hold on and wait for reinforcements from Hanzhong to rescue them.
It doesn't take long to follow the Mianshui River from top to bottom.
However, if Cao Cao's army loses Fangling, it will completely lose its foothold in the three counties and become a lone army deep in the enemy's hinterland.
This will be a fatal blow to the morale of the army. Even if Xu Huang manages the army strictly, at most it will not be immediately defeated, and the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.
Of course, it is also very dangerous to bypass the enemy's main force and attack behind enemy lines.
After all, until the strategic goal is achieved, he is the lone soldier deep behind enemy lines.
Once the front line cannot effectively contain the enemy's main force, and they are temporarily unable to capture the enemy city... Under the attack from the front and back, defeat is almost certain.
High returns always come with high risks.
But for Liu Chanjun, who must find a breakthrough point in order to quickly break the deadlock, taking risks is often a helpless move.
Liu Chan's plan was like this, and so was Guan Xing's proposal.
This is one of the strategic disadvantages that the weak have to face when they try to weaken the strong until they finally defeat the strong.
While you can't afford to lose, you often have to take risks to create opportunities.
Not long after Meng Dajun passed by from the east, the waning Guan Xingjun boarded the ship upstream from the blocked water.
Go west along the river, turn south from the fork of the river, and follow Zhushui to Fangling.
Because they were traveling along the current, although they set off later than Meng Da's army, they arrived at Fangling at about the same time.
Guan Xing also led 6,000 troops to the gates of Fangling City.
"Listen to the defenders in the city!" Guan Xingce immediately stepped forward with his long cannon pointing directly at the city. "Now Cao's army has been defeated! Xiahou Shang, Xu Huang, and Meng Da have all been killed! The Shen family has been moved to Hanzhong by the prince. Our main army is numbered. The day is coming, if you don't rush to the city to surrender, when will we wait?"
Guan Xing's words were similar to what Meng Da said in Xicheng, but the reaction of the defenders was completely different.
Shen Zhong, who discovered the enemy's situation early, personally led his troops to the city, and everyone was mentally prepared.
At this time, the defenders at the head of Fangling City were not prepared at all. They hurriedly closed the city gate when they discovered that the enemy troops were approaching.
After hearing Guan Xing's words again, several city guards suddenly became panic-stricken. One of them quickly got off the city wall to look for the prefect.
Deng Fu, the prefect of Fangling, was Meng Da's confidant. Although he had become the prefect of a county, he still obeyed Meng Da's advice.
He previously helped Mengda recruit and expand his army in Fangling, and now he leads 500 troops to defend the city. Mengda also has great trust in him.
It's just that Deng Fu is good at managing the daily affairs of the county, but his military sense and level are much worse than Meng Da.
At this time, I didn't even know that the soldiers were approaching the city. I was still listening to music and drinking in my house.
Although there was no beauty performing, there was a newly purchased maid accompanying her. There are no beauties here, but the advantage is that she is young, and this girl's skin is naturally fair, completely different from the mountain people here, so Deng Shijun couldn't put it down in recent days.
At this time, she was serving Deng Fu a drink, but she did not use an ordinary cup, but drank it with her mouth...
"Um……"
The cold winter is gradually passing, spring is coming, everything is recovering, and it’s time for animals to reproduce and interact...
"Envoy! Envoy Deng——!"
"Pfft! Cough cough cough..." Deng Fu was startled, choked on a mouthful of wine with the girl's saliva, and immediately started coughing.
After being sprayed with wine and saliva, the disheveled girl quickly helped him pat his back.
"The envoy is in trouble! The envoy is in trouble!"
Deng Fu was so angry in his heart. Isn't something bad happened to me? Being so frightened by you made my scalp hard, and the places that should be hard became soft instead. I almost choked. Can I get better? !
"You bastard!" Deng Fu, who finally recovered after coughing for a while, stood up angrily and cursed, "Why are you yelling? If nothing important is reported, I will behead you!"
"Your Majesty, the Cao army and the Shen family have been defeated! Generals Xiahou Shang, Xu Huang, and Meng Da have all been killed, and the Shen family has moved to Hanzhong! Now the enemy vanguard has arrived at the city, and the prince's army will arrive in a few days!"
"What?!" Deng Fu took several steps back, unable to believe his ears.
How can this be? With the elite of Cao's army and General Meng Da's troops outside, and the Shen family who had dominated Shangyong County in Xicheng for many years, how could they be defeated? He was defeated so quickly!
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty? Please go to the top of the city and have a look!"
Deng Fu quickly put on his coat, left the greenhouse and climbed to the top of the city.
At first glance, I was shocked. It turned out that the Shu army was really approaching the city. It seemed that there were nearly ten thousand people, but there were only five hundred defenders in Fangling... What should I do?
Although Deng Fu panicked, he instinctively still couldn't believe that the matter was true, but the troops in front of him were definitely not false, which made him fall into a contradiction.
He suppressed his panic and stepped forward and shouted: "Who is under the city? Are you trying to defraud my house?"
It was the first time for Guan Xing to lead an army on his own, but he still didn't feel confident about doing such a big thing.
It's not that I'm in danger, but I'm afraid of missing a major military event.
But at this moment, seeing that the guard was so strong on the outside and so weak even in asking questions, he immediately calmed down.
After all, he is the son of Guan Yu. After getting over the initial nervousness, Guan Xing quickly entered the state.
"Ha." He sneered and said disdainfully, "If there is a war, there will definitely be heavy casualties. The King of Hanzhong and the Crown Prince are benevolent, and they cannot bear that the sergeants of your army die in vain and the people in the city suffer from the war, so they ordered me to persuade you with good words. Is it a plan?"
Deng Fu had not yet recovered from his panic and did not answer the call for a while.
Guan Xing pointed his finger and shouted: "The rebels are gone! The prince only punishes the first culprits. If you still have a benevolent heart, don't resist in vain. If the people and soldiers in the city can be saved, the prince will take this into consideration and will definitely spare you." Life! Don’t be stubborn and mislead others and yourself!”
Guan Xing's subsequent verbal attack was completely different from what Meng Da said.
There was no verbal threat, no words about what would happen if the city was destroyed, he still regarded the people in the city as his own, and even the defenders in the city did not take an opposing stance.
The words are only directed at the defender Deng Fu. You know that the situation is over, but if you still resist stubbornly, you are ignoring the people in the city and the soldiers under your command!
The pattern is high and low.
But Deng Fu struggled for a long time, not believing that Cao Jun, the Shen family and Meng Da could be defeated so quickly with such an advantage.
Xu Huang's reputation played a vital role at this time. Deng Fu had heard of his name for a long time and had seen him and his soldiers not long ago. His reputation was by no means in vain.
"That's nonsense!" Deng Fu knew that if he surrendered this time, even if he died, he would no longer have such a luxurious life today, so he decided to risk his life and trust his instincts.
"General Gongming has been fighting for many years, and now we have heroes from here and General Mengda helping us. How can we be easily defeated by you! I followed the king of Wei and followed the will of heaven. I am about to confer a title of lord and worship the general in the future. How can I Falling into your evil plan and ruining your future?"
After saying this, Deng Fu waved his hand: "If you want to attack, then attack, otherwise there is no need to make noises and disturb people's good deeds and shoot arrows!"
Deng Fu's final reaction and decision seemed similar to Shen Zhong's.
However, the soldiers around him felt uncomfortable after hearing what he said.
You only remember that you were granted the title of marquis and general, but you didn’t mention us a word in your words...
Everyone promised to save everyone's lives after opening the city, but if you don't surrender now, aren't you going to push your brothers to death? !
The prince's army will arrive in a few days, with five hundred people guarding the city... to guard you for XXX!
Unlike the 500 Red Star Army in the West City, the morale of the soldiers at the head of Fangling City dropped drastically. They fired their bows and arrows as if they were just doing an errand. Let alone being accurate, the arrows were even limp and had no strength at all.
The stones that a child could use a slingshot to knock out were more powerful than this.
Looking at the sparse wave of arrows in front of him, Guan Xing gradually smiled. He also did not order an attack on the city, but ordered his troops to camp outside the city.
At the same time, scouts were sent out to keep an eye on the upper reaches of Zhushui and the land route leading to Fangling on the west side.
Soldiers were also ordered to shoot letters of surrender into the city every day. The words in the letters were sincere and put themselves in the shoes of the soldiers and civilians in the city.
The content of the letter gradually spread among the literate people in the city, and the words were like daggers, each sentence piercing the heart.
The soldiers and civilians in the city were clearly distraught, but a strong man among the Fangling garrison secretly smiled with joy...
(End of chapter)
