Outside Xiapi City, it was already the second day of Lu Bu's attack on the camp.
Fang Guang took Qu Yi and Zhao Yun and followed Gao Shun to recruit Zhang Liao to surrender. Cao Cao took advantage of Lu Bu's illness and ordered Lu Bu to order him to reorganize his troops and surround Xiapi City to the west.
After Pengcheng's power declined, Xiapi became a prefecture in Xuzhou, where the state government was generally located.
This city guarded the eastward march from the Central Plains and was built by Tao Qian, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu. It was already an extremely strong city.
Originally, Liu Ye's thunderbolt chariot was the most powerful tactic to attack such a city.
It's just that this thing was not yet mature at the end of the Han Dynasty. The Guandu Thunderbolt Chariot showed its power. It was only because of the materials Liu Ye brought with him from Xuchang that he could form an army overnight.
The thunderbolt chariot destroyed the wooden city and also destroyed many in Yanzhou!
For this reason, Liu Ye simply stayed in Dongjun and continued to polish the equipment. At this time, under Xiapi City, Cao Cao was temporarily unable to use the thunderbolt combat power.
There were no siege equipment available, and the number of soldiers in Bingzhou was not lower than that of Cao Jun. Lu Bu even used rudimentary methods to gather a lot of food and grass. This city, in Cao Cao's mind, was already defined as a fortified city!
At the foot of Xiapi City, Xu Chu and Dian Wei looked at Lu Bubu with unkind expressions on their faces. They wished they could climb the wall first and kill the slave with the third surname!
"Although Lu Bu's traitors were defeated, Gao Shun certainly returned to his hometown, and he has been galloping around the world for decades. If he were to hold on to the city, it would be too desperate!"
"My army has been staying in Xuzhou for more than a month, and I don't know what happened to Xuchang, Guanzhong, and Yanzhou! The day before yesterday, Manchong reported that Nanyang was planning to invade the border!"
"Xuchang has already mobilized the people to build a city at the pass. Does Zhang Xiu want to launch a surprise attack?"
Cao Cao saw that Xiapi was heavily defended, his brows were furrowed, and he looked worried.
Behind him, Xun Yu's eyes flickered. He had obtained Xun You's letter about the Xuchang matter, and he actually knew more than his lord.
The nephew lost to Shi Tao in a bet, and the peasants had assigned Shi Guangyuan to farm in Yingchuan and in the countryside of Xuchang.
Fang Guang carried out large-scale construction projects in Xuchang and mobilized a lot of people's power!
Man Chong was the young enemy's mortal enemy. Taking advantage of the absence of agricultural workers, he sent many people from Xuchang and farmers to the south of Yuzhou to do construction work.
In fact, it was deliberately slowing down the construction progress of Xuchang and preventing Shi Tao from using his land to build a military garrison, which made Fang Guang unhappy.
Among them, there is also the matter of Dong Cheng, the chariot and cavalry general, snatching the land of the prefectures and counties, and the water in this is quite deep.
In short, without the young man, the three original high-ranking families in Yingchuan have somewhat restrained themselves. The emerging aristocratic families, relying on their reputation in front of Emperor Xian, began to poach Shi Tao and Fang Guang!
A cold light flashed in Xun Yu's eyes, and he coughed lightly.
"Lord, I heard that Jia Xu, the sorcerer in Guanzhong, is now in Zhang Xiu's army. Zhang Xiu's tribe is from Zhang Jixiliang's lineage, strong and good at fighting!"
"With Jia Xu's wisdom! Bonin's move to mobilize people's power is also reasonable!"
Xun Yu helped Man Chong cover up, but Guo Jia realized that half of the matter was directed at Datong, and couldn't help but sneer softly.
"How could Zhang Xiu dare to covet Xuchang? Boning just wants to mobilize troops and people!"
"It's less than three months until your Majesty's wedding to a girl from the Dong family. Unfortunately, the palace has not yet been completed. Isn't it the Datong built by Commander-in-Chief Xuchang that is ultimately to be blamed?"
Cao Cao noticed a different flavor in Xun Yu and Guo Jia's words. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes and coughed twice.
"Lü Bu has not been defeated, so why do you have to worry about things thousands of miles away? Defeat Lü Bu, capture Xuzhou, and return to Xuchang, then everything will be clear!"
"Wen Ruo, Feng Xiao, you two, think about how to capture Xiapi City?"
While Cao Cao was standing at the edge of the city in a daze, Xun Yu and Guo Jia, the commanders of Cao's camp, were already thinking hard about how to defeat the enemy.
Both of them are outstanding men whose ingenuity is not inferior to that of Wolong or Fengxia. In fact, they have already thought of a strategy to destroy the city.
"My lord, we have always taken advantage of water and fire to seize the city. Xiapi is not easy to set fire to, but it is surrounded by Si River and Yishui River. The terrain is low, so we can use the strategy of flooding!"
"Lü Bu was afraid of tunnel digging, so he had already thinned the buildings around Xiapi by several layers. Compared with Surabaya, the Yishui River is quite high. If he digs the earth from the south of the city and diverts water for irrigation, Xiapi will be destroyed!"
Xun Yu and Guo Jia's words won Cao Cao's heart. Meng De's face became happy when he heard about it, and he was about to praise the two men's strategy. Suddenly, in the south of Pi City, the sound of horse hooves, mixed with the sound of wooden shovels and iron rakes digging into the soil, was mixed with soldiers.
Shouts came from a distance.
The generals below Cao Cao were surprised and suspicious. They looked up and saw that Liu, Guan, and Zhang, who had disappeared from the battlefield last night, were coming from the south of the city with a few human heads hanging in front of them without their mounts.
Behind the three men, there was a fat black man, whom all the generals recognized as Guan Yu's knife-wielding brother Zhou Cang. He was digging the earth very fast, like a wild boar digging for food, and had already dug out a river channel, leading directly to the moat outside Xiapi City.
Cao Cao's face was full of surprise, but also with a hint of appreciation. He did not expect that Big Er's execution was so strong. He just came up with a strategy to defeat the enemy here, but at the other end, he had already started digging soil to divert the water.
Liu, Guan, and Zhang came together on horseback. From a distance, Big Er relaxed when he saw the look of surprise on Cao Cao's face and his heartstrings lifted.
Xuande's acting skills, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, firmly ranked among the best actors. His big ears conveyed confusion, pride mixed with shame, and complex facial expressions. Pegasus came to Cao Cao's side.
"Mr. Cao, last night Gao Shun's army took advantage of the chaos to attack the camp and was unaware that the rebels would succeed. He thought that Lu Bu's entire army would march out and Xiapi would be empty, so he went up against the rebels and attacked the south gate of Xiapi!"
"Unexpectedly, the thieves in the city were heavily guarded. Xiapi was desperate, so he had to retreat and do the next best thing and attack the Yishui embankment in the south of the city!"
"Lü Bu's general Hou Cheng and his soldiers are all Yun Chang. Although the wing virtue is broken, Hou Cheng was stabbed to death for his third brother. At this moment, the Yishui River is in my hands!"
"I am ordering Fengchu Pang Shiyuan to lead the army to divert the water. It won't be long before the Yishui River flows into the Xiapi City Moat. This city, four feet below, is completely submerged in the water!"
Liu Bei's face was full of energy and dust, and he didn't have time to wipe it off. It looked like he had worked hard all night!
After listening to his words, Cao Cao looked at Yun Chang and Zhang Fei behind Big Er. Their faces were full of exhaustion, and their armors were stained with blood. The grudge in his heart disappeared in an instant, and he raised his head and laughed.
"Okay, Xuande is indeed knowledgeable in the art of war, Feng Chu? But that Pang Tong, who is as famous as Datong? This person also joined Xuande's command?"
"Yes, Pang Shiyuan said, he has admired my character and integrity for a long time, and he came all the way to join me. He is a learned man, and I deserve it for his sincerity!"
"Of course, serving me means serving Ming Gong. This plan of digging the earth to divert water was Feng Chu's idea!"
"Xuande is really a parasol tree in the world. Only then do phoenixes come to throw themselves at me. Phoenix chicks, unicorns, and crouching dragons. I got two of them. Why worry about the uncertainty of the world. When the river opens and the water comes, Xiapi will be destroyed!"