As Zhang Ni was ordered to lead a partial army to Longsang City, he conducted a short reconnaissance and built simple siege weapons before launching a tentative attack.

The partial army formed a battle formation and advanced slowly,

The cruel and fierce battle was staged again.

However, his mission this time was just to test whether the city's defense was tight, so he only attacked for about a quarter of an hour.

Zhang Ni, who was quietly watching the battle behind the formation, waved his hand and gave the order to retreat.

The order flag was waved, and the Han soldiers who were climbing up the stairs quickly withdrew in order.

This scene actually made the defenders on the city extremely depressed.

what's the situation?

That’s it? We haven’t had enough killing yet, so we ran away?

"Hey, thief, don't run away. What are you doing, a coward?"

"Come on, keep fighting with us!"

Regardless of the reason, the enemy army was finally repulsed. Now the faces of the defenders were full of fighting spirit, and they looked down at the Han army below the city to provoke them.

Only the general with a strong body wearing leather armor who was ordered to support the garrison of the city was standing on top of the city, his eyes fixed on the retreating enemy formation below.

The more he looked at her, the more he felt slightly uneasy.

"The enemy's retreat was so orderly?"

"This is obviously prepared!"

"I'm afraid this battle will be a bit difficult, and the other side only attacked for a short time and then withdrew. I think the former army was just testing our city defense."

This general is obviously also an experienced general in battle. From this short and limited clue, he already has the answer in his mind.

"Pass on the order, and then the soldiers of each department will stay with their armor and divide into two groups to alternately defend the front line of the city wall to prevent a large-scale invasion by the enemy!"

He pondered secretly for a while, then looked sideways at the soldiers on both sides, and quickly issued an order.

Give me a strict order,

The somewhat relaxed mood on the top of the city suddenly became serious.

At this moment, the battle formation was filled with strong murderous intent.

After the various units of the front army retreated to the temporary camps one after another, Zhang Ni also summarized the city defense conclusions drawn from the tentative attack just now and sent people to the back to report to the general.

After hearing the order, the scout did not dare to show any signs of neglect and quickly rushed over.

At the rear, where the Han and Qiang coalition forces were resting, at the central military station, the spies quickly jumped off their horses and knelt down on one knee, cupping their hands and saying loudly:

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, General Zhang said that based on the exploratory attack just now, he has roughly sorted out the defense in the city."

"Although the enemy's garrison has not yet assembled, the city defense is much stronger than when our army last invaded. It may not be a place that can be taken quickly,"

"I hope the Governor can think of other countermeasures!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Tongyun suddenly fell into silence. After a while, he gently waved his hand to signal him to retreat, and then ordered the guards at the side to take out the topographic map from Huo Yi's arms and spread it out.

He immediately pounced on it, carefully looking at each city on the map, and his mind seemed to be slowly thinking.

After pondering for a long time, his thoughts gradually began to become clearer, and a joyful expression appeared on his face unconsciously.

When Huo Yi, the personal guard general who had been following Zhao Tong for a long time, saw this, he had already understood Zhao Tong's expressions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. He immediately followed suit and smiled, and said:

"General, have you already thought of a countermeasure?"

After saying these words, Zhao Tong raised his head and looked sideways at the young Huo Yi. He knew that he was a famous general who stabilized the peace of South China in the late Shu Han Dynasty. His heart could not help but be filled with joy, and he wanted to learn something.

responded:

"I can't say there is a good strategy yet. I just sorted out some ideas. According to the military report sent back by Cai Boqi just now, the city defense of Longsang City was heavily reinforced by Cao Jun."

"If our army cannot quickly attack this city this time, the situation will be a little tricky until Fei Yao gathers the main force to bring reinforcements from Didao!"

"If Longsang City cannot be broken, Ayi, what do you think our next step should be?"

As soon as he said these words, he looked at the smile on his face.

Huo Yi was also a smart man, and he immediately realized that this move must be a test for him by his general.

Realizing this, his face was filled with emotions.

First, he looked at the picture solemnly and thought about it for a long time, then looked in the direction of Zhao Tong and said: "General, from what I can see, the strategic location of Longsang City is very important."

"This place is where the passage connects to the Wangjin Valley, and it borders the southern part of Longxi County to the southwest. If we are unable to take it, all subsequent plans will be stranded."

When the words came to this point, he paused for a moment, and then carefully observed Zhao Tong's expression. He saw a smile on his face and a slight nod, indicating for him to continue.

Huo Yi just felt completely relieved, then he reached out his hand to touch his chest to calm down his excitement, and said again: "If we don't take down Longsang City, we can't attack elsewhere."

"Otherwise, the enemy can cut off our army's connection with Longxinan and the Qiang Dao at any time, which would be bad!"

"Then what will happen if this city is not captured before the enemy's main force arrives?"

After Zhao Tong heard this, he chuckled and asked.

"General, in Yi's humble opinion, our army does not even need to attack Longsang City."

"This city is a serious problem on the west side of Longxi. Last year, our army went north to take advantage of the situation and captured it. With our weak army, we fought against the enemy's main force here for several months and still managed to keep the city intact!"

"This is enough to prove the strength of the city. Now it has been greatly reinforced by the Cao family. I think the defense must be even better!"

"If our army makes a forceful attack and doubles its casualties, wouldn't it be playing into Cao's army's ambitions?"

When he first told about his plan, there was still a hint of worry on his face, but when he saw Zhao Tongyi's face showing encouragement, he became more relaxed as he spoke.

Speaking of this, his tone unconsciously became as loud as a bell, and he said loudly, "In that case, why don't our army use the white horse to help the Wolf and Qiang people?"

"The army chooses a place outside Longsang City to set up a large camp, and then forms a semi-encirclement and intimidation force on the city. In this way, on the one hand, the enemy forces in Longxi County can only focus their attention here. Our army's

The soldiers' front firmly deterred them from moving!"

"On the other hand, we are requesting the Prince of Baima Qiang and the commander of Shenlang Qiang to lead their troops north to harass Daxia and Baishi."

"This area was originally the habitat of the Qiang and Di tribes. Even though it was cleaned up by Xia Houyuan, most of the forces were suppressed."

"So much so that the power of the remaining tribes has been weakened to the point where they are no longer substantial."

"But if White Horse and Shenlang went there and cheered, and with the hatred of the Qiang and Di tribesmen in this area towards the Cao family, wouldn't it mean that those who responded would be ignored?"

Words came out one after another,

The more Zhao Tong listened, the more information revealed on his face became more intense.

After a while, he even couldn't help but nod his head in approval and said, "Ayi, it seems you have quite a bit of military talent!"

"This strategy is indeed quite subtle!"

"The general has given too much praise. This is just Yi's humble opinion. The general can only use it as a reference."

After saying this, Huo Yi responded with a look of self-effacement.

But the uncontrollable joy in his eyes could not be concealed.

Obviously, he was very happy to be recognized by Zhao Tong.

Zhao Tong praised him so much, not only because of encouragement, but also because Huo Yi's strategy was indeed quite subtle.

Use his strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

Since Longsang City is a fortified city, a strong attack will inevitably pay a huge price. Even if it is captured, the gain will not be worth the loss!

But at the same time, this city is also an important strategic location stuck in Wangjin Valley, and it cannot be left alone.

If it was impossible to attack by force, the only option was to station on the outskirts and frighten the city with military force, attracting all the garrison troops from all over Longxi to come to a stalemate.

We are borrowing the reputations of the two Qiang tribes, Baima and Shenlang, to pacify the Qiang and Di tribes gathered in Baishi in Daxia in the north of Longxi County and create chaos.

Fishing in such troubled waters to achieve one's own goals.

This move was also the countermeasure that Zhao Tong was thinking about.

However, apart from the fact that Huo Yi's thoughts coincided with his, he also had a bigger intention.

After the discussion with Huo Yi is completed,

Zhao Tong sent the order, and all the troops moved forward at full speed and rushed to join Zhang Yi's troops outside Longsang City.

The Han and Qiang coalition forces set out again.

Not long after, the main armies of various ministries arrived at the temporary camp outside Longsang City.

Immediately, under Zhao Tong's instructions, various ministries quickly went to cut down trees to build forts and create real siege equipment.

The main force was divided up one by one, almost making the area outside the city densely packed with people, each of them scattered and busy.

On the other side, there are Qiang people wearing strange military uniforms.

Although Han and Qiang are allied forces, they certainly cannot mix.

Therefore, on the west side of Longsang City, there are Han army camps on the east side, and on the west side, there are white horses and wolf and Qiang troops stationed respectively.

The Cao family's defenders on the top of the city looked down at this dark area, and couldn't help but swallow their saliva for no reason, which made people feel awe!
To be continued...