In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, on the second day of April, Cao Cao led his army to Wancheng.
"Defeated? Won again?" Cao Cao looked a little strange after listening to Cao Ren and Cao Chun's narrative.
Why is it strange? Cao Cao is wondering how many times he has heard the reputation of Crouching Dragon and Phoenix. Why can Zhuge Liang defeat Cao Ren and Cao Chun in Xinye?
Pang Tong ordered an ambush of 10,000 people, but they were killed by two people.
At this moment, in Cao Cao's mind, Wolong and Fengchu were divided into two levels. In his eyes, the most difficult ones to deal with in the conquest of Jingxiang were Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.
"Prime Minister, if it hadn't been for the improper command of General Jing Xiang, Zixiao and I wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to win." Cao Chun was a down-to-earth man, and would not brag in front of Cao Cao.
Cao Cao came back to his senses and looked at the two of them, "Zihe uses both hardness and softness in his troops. When he should be cautious, he should be careful. When he should show his edge, he can kill with one blow. He is indeed a good general of my Cao family!"
"Zixiao, how come you haven't made any progress after so many years?"
"Prime Minister, I..." Cao Ren was at a loss for words.
Cao Cao was right. His performance this time was indeed poor. He was exactly the opposite of Cao Chun. He was reckless when he should be cautious, and cautious when he was aggressive.
Cao Ren followed Cao Cao and also fought in the south and north. He defeated Yuan Shu, attacked Tao Qian, captured Lu Bu, defeated Liu Bei, and fought in the Battle of Guandu.
He had participated in all the other battles, but since coming to guard Wancheng after the Battle of Guandu, he seemed to have fallen into a cycle of failure. First Xu Shu, and then Zhuge Liang.
He, Cao Ren, had no opponent, so Cao Ren wanted to make a great contribution before Cao Cao arrived at Wancheng. Let Cao Cao see that the brave and wise general of the Cao clan was not stupid yet.
Seeing that Cao Ren had been thinking for a long time and felt a little aggrieved, Cao Cao sighed, walked to him, and punched him in the chest, "There is no need to show it to Gu in such a hurry, Zixiao, Gu knows your thoughts, but you must be calm when using troops."
think."
"Lord, the last general..." Cao Ren's eyes were a little red.
"How can a man shed tears? Zhuge Liang is a very human being. He went south with me, and I will find this place for you!" Cao Cao's small and narrow eyes seemed to instill infinite energy into Cao Ren.
"promise!"
On the third day of the lunar month, Cao Cao sent Yu Jin and Li Dian with thirty thousand troops to garrison Xinye.
On the fifth day of the lunar month, Cao's army set out from Wancheng, marched to 20 miles away from Fancheng, and set up camp!
"Lord, if our camp is set up here, is it too close to Fancheng?" Cheng Yu asked Cao Cao in the Chinese army's tent.
Cao Cao picked up a bundle of bamboo slips and said, "Zhongde, are you worried that Liu Cong will send troops to attack Gu's camp?"
"Exactly."
Cao Cao put down the bamboo slips in his hand, looked at Cheng Yu and said: "That's just right. My cavalry in the north will leave all his troops outside Fancheng."
"Lord, this is the news about Fancheng's military deployment that the school affairs office has found out." Xun You came in with a silk book and handed it directly to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao took the silk book and read it, "Haha, there are naval forces cruising above the Han River. There are hundreds of thousands of troops in Fancheng, and Liu Cong himself is also there. Are you planning to defend Fancheng to the death?"
Cheng Yu looked at the map hanging in the tent, turned around and said to Cao Cao: "My lord, Fancheng is backed by the Han River, and there are beaches outside the city wall to the south. For Liu Cong, as long as the navy is still there, he has more than enough room to advance and retreat. But
For us, it’s not easy to attack.”
Xun You also looked at the map and said, "Moreover, even if we conquer Fancheng, as long as Jing Xiang's navy is still there, we cannot easily cross the Han River. Even if we cross the Han River, we will have to face the strong city of Xiangyang.
"
"Xiangyang is backed by Xian Mountain and surrounded by water on three sides. The Han River is a natural moat. The farthest water flow from the city wall is only about ten feet. It cannot provide a foothold for the army at all."
After listening to the analysis of the two great counselors, Cao Cao stood up and looked at the map, "If we can defeat Fancheng and Xiangyang, then Jiangling, Yiling, and Jiangxia in the north of the Yangtze River will not be a concern."
"Lord, maybe we can send a letter to Sun Quan, inviting him to attack Liu Cong, and agree to divide Jingzhou equally after the event is completed." Cheng Yu said again.
"The lips are dead and the teeth are cold, can Sun Quan agree?" Xun You said.
Cao Cao pointed to the location of Jiangxia on the map and chuckled, "Last year, Sun Quan was forced to cede four cities to Liu Cong. He may not agree to it now."
"You can write to Sun Quan to build siege equipment. Let's try to attack Fancheng first."
"promise."
On April 16, Sun Quan received Cao Cao's letter.
"I have been ordered by the emperor to lead an army of 600,000 soldiers south to conquer the enemy. The generals of Liu Cong and Liu Cong will definitely not be able to stop them. I invite the generals to attack Liu Cong together. If the success is achieved, Jingxiang and Xiang will be divided equally. If they don't obey, Jingxiang will be destroyed."
, we must attack Soochow!"
Sun Quan just called Lu Su and Zhou Yu to discuss, and they both advised Sun Quan to wait and see what happens!
At the same time, in Jiangxia, Cao Jun's various siege equipment, well trucks, ladders, catapults, etc. were all built. In ancient times, when marching and fighting, these things were built by cutting down the nearby forests. Including the warships needed by the navy.
.
The thick sound of the horn sounded, and except for the south, Cao's army was arrayed towards the city on three sides. In the military formation, the flags of the generals of Cao's army began to advance slowly as the trumpet sounded melodiously!
"Prepare the catapult!"
"Ballista ready!"
"Weng Che, move forward!"
As orders were issued one after another, Cao's army began to advance slowly.
"boom!"
"Bang bang bang..."
Within a moment, the stone thrown by Cao Jun hit the wall of Fancheng!
Following closely behind was the giant crossbow! Once fired, the Jingxiang army holding shields on the city wall was unable to resist it.
Fortunately, the ballistae fired straight at them and could only take away the lives of two or three soldiers.
"Hold it! Cao's army is about to attack the city wall. They only have this wave of stones and ballistae! Hold on!" Wenpin, wearing armor and holding a sword, shouted at the soldiers.
Sure enough, after a wave of long-range attacks by Cao Jun, Cao's soldiers followed up behind the Weng chariots and well chariots holding simple knives and shields. When attacking a city, the army would no longer use weapons such as spears.
"Fire arrows! The ballista aims at the enemy's chariots and well chariots!"
"stretch!"
The giant crossbow arrows fired hit Cao Jun's siege equipment, but they only knocked down a few well chariots and did not cause any damage to the chariots!
The arrow only landed on the shield, and the damage caused to Cao Jun was extremely weak!
Wenpin was guarding the north of the city, and he was replaced by Zhang Fei. To the east of the city were Wei Yan and Guan Yu. To the west of the city were Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun!
In comparison, the offensive of Cao Cao's army in the east and west of the city was obviously weaker than that in the north of the city. Cao Cao arranged his troops in the west and east of the city, with more intention to disperse the defenders in the city.
However, as long as Fancheng's defenders show any signs of fatigue, there will be a general attack from three sides!
Cao Cao was sitting on the high platform in Cao's military formation. He looked at the army that was almost unharmed and raised the corners of his mouth. "The rabble of Jingxiang can't stop my army."
"What the Prime Minister said is true!"
"Liu Cong Mantis blocks the car's ears with his arm!"
The surrounding staff immediately followed suit and praised him!
Cao Cao glanced at Xu Shu who said nothing and closed his eyes to rest, "Yuanzhi, in your opinion, how many days will it take to get to this city?"
Cao Cao's words were full of confidence!
Xu Shu looked at the advancing Cao army and lamented in his heart, "The prime minister's army is all elites from hundreds of battles. If we follow today's offensive, it will take at least half a month to attack this city!"
"Hahaha, Xu Yuanzhi, don't deceive me!" Cao Cao laughed wildly!