The next day, drums and trumpets sounded, and the siege of Dongpingling began.
Guan Yu carefully observed the city defense of Dongping Ling the day before and realized that Dongping Ling today is much better than before under the management of Cao Jun.
But even so, Guan Yu still decided to take Dongpingling.
In fact, after Guan Yu's previous offensive and defensive battles against Xiang State, he had a very clear understanding of the bloody and cruel siege, so he made very detailed arrangements for the attack on Dongpingling.
In order to first pull out the strongholds outside Dongping Mausoleum, Guan Yu ordered his troops to conduct diversionary attacks on Dongping Mausoleum from all sides. Starting from July 11, the Taishan Army carried out nine tentative attacks on Dongping Mausoleum, all of which were caused by Xun Xun in the city.
Defeated by Yu.
But Guan Yu's real intention was to attack the Zhangcheng and other Tingsui acropolis surrounding Dongpingling. Without the support of Dongpingling, these peripheral strongholds were successively captured.
Afterwards, Guan Yu personally supervised the division and assembled the main force on the east line of Dongpingling City.
At the same time, Cao's troops from Jinan Nanzo and other places also crossed Jishui southward and began to support the troops northeast of Dongpingling.
However, the fighting will of these county soldiers Cao Bing was not high. After crossing the Jishui River, they kept patrolling nearby. Afterwards, the Tianxiong Army's assault cavalry regiment under Guan Yu's tent, led by the army leader Li Fu, attacked Baili.
, defeated the reinforcements on the north bank on the south bank of Jishui River.
At the same time, Guo Mo, who was in charge of the siege, also dispatched Li Jing and Guo Song to repel Cao's army from the east and north gates respectively.
For a time, Cao Jun was completely defeated by Guan Yu.
Later, Zhang Nan, who had previously been responsible for attacking Tai County, also made special contributions.
After Zhang Nan received Guan Yu's military order the day before, he took an emergency rest and then sneaked to the Taixian area and carried out a fire attack that night.
Because Cao's army was exhausted and sparse, Zhang Nan made a successful attack, which not only burned most of the food and grass in the city, but also captured two generals of Cao's army.
But soon, bad news came.
The drum-protecting soldiers originally deployed in the southeast were defeated by Bian Bing, who was heading north, because the front line was too stretched.
By the time the news reached Guan Yu that the earth-gu field-protecting soldiers had withdrawn to the rear, Cao Jun's support troops had already arrived.
Here, Guan Yu made an empirical mistake.
Before the expedition, he learned from intelligence that Cao's army was mainly distributed in Pingyuanjin and Jinan. Qi did have some troops, but not many as far as Guan Yu knew. Therefore, his investigation focused on the northern area.
There are fewer sentries on the south side.
But the change in the situation far exceeded the intelligence detected by the Taishan Army. Who would have thought that Cao's army would take over Beihai Kingdom so easily, and who would have thought that Guan Haihui here would give up his business area so easily?
Bian Bing, who obtained Beihai's military resources, soon became a variable in the war.
After defeating the field guards in the northern area, they quickly rushed to the rescue of Dongpingling, and at dawn on July 13th, they led their troops to appear less than five miles south of Dongpingling.
After receiving the news, Guan Yu promptly filled the vacancy. He ordered Captain Gao Ya and two thousand men to set up defenses and containment. However, Bian Bing's army was obviously full of enthusiasm and chose to take the initiative. However, Gao Ya's covering arrow rain and the melee of the armored soldiers
, still suffered a big loss.
These officials from Beihai Kingdom obviously thought that the Taishan Army was the same as the Yellow Turban Army.
Fortunately, the number of Bian Bing's troops was large enough, and the old soldiers could fight to the death, so the rear joined the front, and finally retreated safely into the camp wall.
That night, Gao Ya also received follow-up reinforcements from Guan Yu and began to build forts in Geqiu and Luqiu areas south of Dongping Mausoleum.
Later in the morning, after Gao Ya had a full meal, he attacked the camp of Bian Bing's army again. On that day, he captured three of Cao's army's camps.
But that night, Cao Jun launched a counterattack, and Gao Ya's troops had to withdraw from the camp wall because of their small number.
As a result, within one day, the three camps of Cao's army changed hands, which shows the fierceness of the battle.
Then in the early morning of the next day, Cao Jun's Bian Bing Army began to take the initiative to attack the elegantly arranged Luqiu defense line. They attacked for a whole morning, but could not get a single card down.
The gap in combat power between Taishan's army and Cao's army was fully apparent.
It was not until a little later that Bian Bing, who had lost his face, went to the front of the battle to supervise the troops and sent an additional 500 soldiers under his tent to finally capture a camp wall.
But in the back, no matter how fiercely Bian Bing's army attacked, they were all destroyed by the Taishan Army's ballistae.
Bian Bing's army's offensive stalled.
But Guan Yu's army was advancing with great success here.
In the first two days, Cao's army in the city still went out to camp. Although they could not fight in the field, they still tried to camp and resist.
But all hopes were destroyed in just one morning by the officers and men of the Taishan Army's Left Army Marshal.
These elite soldiers from the Taishan area are brave and courageous. It is a bit difficult to climb the city walls several feet high, but for those log camps, it is as easy as walking on flat ground.
These Cao troops were also here, receiving a little shock from the combat power from the old Taishan area.
It turns out that elite soldiers can be so skilled and fierce.
At this time, Xun Yu finally gave up all the so-called military strategies, such as defending the city by defending the stronghold. He now gave up all of them.
At this time, he will keep all his troops in the city, just to defend it to the death.
But I felt sorry for Xun Yu. At this time, he was still a political talent with an excellent top-level perspective, while Guan Yu, who was opposite him, had already become a peak commander after several years of experience.
This is definitely not a duel on the same level.
For Guan Yu, the defenders in the city were far inferior to the Jushou who used to defend Xiang Kingdom.
Afterwards, Guan Yu used several tricks in succession.
First, spies from the Feijun foreign army were ordered to sneak into the Dongping Mausoleum and set fire to the grain depot at night. The defenders on the four walls were frightened, thinking that there was chaos in the city.
The Taishan Army, which had been deployed around the outer city early, took the opportunity to mobilize in full force and surrounded the city wall.
Among them, Guo Song attacked the east gate, Li Jing attacked the west gate, Zhu Ying attacked the south gate, and Chen Guang attacked the north gate.
Because there were spies in the city who set fire to each city gate, Cao Jun was panicked.
Of course they knew the mass base of the Taishan Army in Dongpingling, so they simply assumed that these people would rebel against the Taishan Army.
But Xun Yu soon discovered that this was just a small group of spies causing trouble, and almost all the people in the city stayed behind closed doors.
Obviously, Cao Cao's governance in Jinan was somewhat successful, at least allowing the powerful families in Dongpingling to choose not to help each other.
But it was too late. Taishan's army entered the city one after another. The walls along the streets were like powder and shattered at the first touch.
As a last resort, Xun Yu led some of the defenders to retreat into the inner city.
This inner city was built by Cao Cao after he took control of Jinan. He learned from the experience of the Taishan Army when they descended to the Dongping Tomb. He specially built an inner city with bricks and stones, and moved most of Jinan's arsenal, grain and government buildings there.
in.
Why spend huge cost to build a masonry one?
Didn't you see the fingerprints on the wall of the earth city outside? He, Cao Cao, didn't want to be asleep and have some inhuman being wander into the inner city at night and pick off his head.
It was this masonry inner city that became the last refuge of Cao's army in Dongpingling.
The Taishan Army, which had successfully invaded Dongpingling, was bruised and bruised under this small brick and stone city.
Because there were houses under the city and outside, the Taishan Army's large-scale engineering equipment could not be used at all. In the end, the Taishan Army had no choice but to attack by force.
However, the attack continued until noon the next day, with no progress, and even the officers and soldiers of the Taishan Army were seriously injured.
After Guan Yu, who had been paying attention to the internal affairs in the city, heard the news, he knew that the city was too strong to be attacked in a hurry, so he gave up the attack and turned to a siege.
On the second day after digging trenches, Guan Yu, who had not yet entered the city, received the second news, which was sent from Gao Ya in the direction of Luqiu in the south.
According to Gao Ya's report, they saw the flag of the Xuzhou Army in Bian Bing's Army on the opposite side.
At that time, Gao Ya couldn't believe it. It was not until the second day of the offensive and defensive battle that they indeed captured a group of Danyang soldiers from Xuzhou that they were really sure that Tao Qian from Xuzhou had entered the Qingzhou battlefield.
Why did Tao Qian take the initiative to enter Qingzhou and help Cao Cao?
Although on the surface, he had enough reasons to help, such as the reason why his lips were dying and his teeth were cold. But for Tao Qian, it was not something he could do just because it made sense.
The people who really pushed this matter forward were a group of Qingzhou scholars who lived in Xuzhou, led by Zheng Xuan.
Zheng Xuan's reputation was so high that even when he arrived in Xuzhou, he was still at the center of Xuzhou's gentry circle, with wealthy surnames such as the Chen family, Wang family, and Xiao family surrounding Zheng Xuan.
They pushed Xuzhou's will and decided to go north for rescue.
The reason why Zheng Xuan did this was that after his disciples joined Cao Cao's shogunate one after another, they had a very high evaluation of Cao Cao and believed that he had the courage to save the world.
So Zheng Xuan decided to increase his bets on Cao Cao.
In this way, with Wang Lang as the left army and Zang Ba as the right army, a total of 20,000 officials and soldiers on the left and right set out from Langyaju County to aid Jinan.
…
Guan Yu, who learned about this major change in military situation, felt very heavy in his heart.
But he still maintained a calm appearance. He called the generals on each line of defense back to his tent and decided to hold a military meeting.
When the generals who had returned from the past, such as Zhang Nan, Guo Mo, Guo Song and others, heard the news, everyone fell silent.
Zhang Nan was the first to speak.
Zhang Nan is the closest follower general to Zhang Chong among these people. He is an old man who has followed Zhang Chong since Jian Geng.
In addition, he has always been a wise general in the army and is often courageous, so he has a deep prestige in the army. He also became the most important captain in the army after Li Damu resigned.
In other words, his words and attitude are very important at this time.
But the first words Zhang Nan spoke were three words:
"Trouble."
Guan Yu felt nervous, knowing that Zhang Nan might not want to fight. He twirled his long beard and asked:
"Oh, why? Just because the Xuzhou Army came with those 20,000 people?"
Zhang Nan nodded, and finally shook his head. He cupped his fists and said to Guan Yu:
"Commander, the current situation has been clearly seen. The most beneficial thing for our army at this stage is to withdraw."
Even though the other generals vaguely had this intention, everyone was still shocked when they heard Zhang Nan say the word "retreat".
Especially Guo Mo, he retorted immediately:
"Retreat? We have already captured Dongpingling, why should we withdraw? I still say the same thing, as long as Commander Guan gives me five thousand soldiers, I will drive away those Xuzhou soldiers for the commander."
Of course Zhang Nan knew the hidden meaning behind Guo Mo's words, which was military merit.
The first victory in this battle must be Guo Mo's, but if this first victory is a failed retreat, then even the military achievements will be overshadowed.
So Guo Mo definitely wants to rely on this to win the battle.
But it's a pity...
Zhang Nan replied calmly:
"Capture Dongpingling? I don't think the inner city is still in the hands of Cao Jun?"
Now Zhang Nan's words hurt Guo Mo's lungs, because he was the one responsible for attacking the inner city.
But with Zhang Nan's identity and qualifications, Guo Mo's face could only turn the color of pig liver, and finally he muttered:
"Give me one more day and I will definitely plant the flag in the inner city."
But Zhang Nan ignored Guo Mo. He shook his head and said to Guan Yu, who had been deep in thought:
"Commander, is it because of the 20,000 Xuzhou Army that I am worried about? Last year, our army defeated the Xuzhou Army in the Langya area, and our army's front was pointed directly at the East China Sea. Isn't Tao Qian still wagging his tail to pray for mercy?
What I am worried about is Cao Cao in Pingyuanjin."
Only then did Guan Yu speak:
"Cao Cao? Isn't he in Pingyuanjin? I have already informed Ding Daqi about our army's actions before, asking him to contain Cao Cao and prevent him from going south. With Ding Daqi here, even if Cao Cao wants to go south, he can't catch him, right?
.”
Hearing Guan Yu's words, Zhang Nan sighed inwardly. He could tell that Guan Yu didn't want to retreat.
This is also human nature. Guan Yu has been fighting for so many years, but he has never run away except when his enemies look at him.
But Guan Yu entrusted Cao Cao to move south to Ding Sheng, which Zhang Nan couldn't accept. It wasn't that Zhang Nan didn't look down on Ding Sheng, but based on reality, Ding Sheng's ability was definitely stronger than his own.
But the current situation is not Ding Sheng's advantage. How can he keep Cao Cao?
However, Zhang Nan did not say what he really thought, but said this:
"Commander, I have been guarding Taixian County in the north before. Every time I look north, I feel a chill. I always feel that Cao Jun is lurking somewhere opposite Jishui. Now our army is trapped under the inner city, and Cao Cao is in the south.
Tao's coalition forces may face Cao Cao's southward army in the north. Once they are really flanked, our army will be in danger."
Finally, Zhang Nan solemnly suggested to Guan Yu:
"Commander, please stand behind the army and cover its retreat to Mount Tai."
In fact, if an ordinary scholar heard Zhang Nan's words, he would definitely sneer and think that Zhang Nan said something stupid. You are so frightened in the dark that you have Cao Jun? Can such a major decision be based on Zhang Nan's personal status?
Based on understanding? Is it funny or not?
But the warriors present who fought out of the sea of blood remained silent.
Until now, they had to seriously consider Zhang Nan's suggestion.
Among them, Zhang Nan's words just now are an important reason. They all have more or less intuition. After being on the battlefield for a long time, no one will disbelieve this.
On the other hand, everyone also knows that although the battle has not been fully successful, the original goal of sharing the pressure on the Pingyuanjin battlefield has been achieved.
Although I am unwilling to retreat at this time, it is acceptable.
But will the commander-in-chief, who is known for his perseverance, bravery and diligence, care?
So at this time, everyone else in the tent turned their attention to Guan Yu, who was at the top, and everything depended on his decision.
Brothers, withdraw or not. You are Guan Yu, what do you do?