In the blink of an eye, it was the seventh month of the second year of Chuping. Zhao Xin was ready to lead his troops to attack Yuan Shu and take the land of Huainan. As he had been preparing for nearly three months, he had found out about the deployment of Yuan Shu's troops in Hefei and Shouchun. At this time, Yuan Shu had 100,000 troops, Shouchun had 60,000 troops, and Hefei had 40,000 troops. Yuan Shu did not dare to divide his troops to defend those small cities and counties.
When Liu Ye came to Runan, Zhao Xin had already asked Liu Ye to focus on developing catapults. When Zhao Xin first attacked Yuan Shu, he already had 100 catapults. In three months, he had another 30. For this expedition, Zhao Xin was prepared to let Liu Ye lead 50 troops with the army. The remaining 80 would be used by the three cities to defend the city.
Zhao Xin transferred the 15,000 troops from the county town under Runan to guard Runan, and ordered Pang De to lead 10,000 troops in the city, a total of 25,000 people, together with Xun, Sun Qian, Dong Zhao, Hua Xiong and Liu Pi to stay in Runan. He ordered Taishi Ci to guard Nanyang and pay attention to Liu Biao's movements in Jingzhou. He ordered Yue Jin, Shen Pei, Tian Feng and Chen Lan to lead 20,000 troops to guard Xinyang.
Zhao Xin mobilized 40,000 troops from Runan City and 10,000 troops from Xinyang City, totaling 50,000 troops. He led Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Zhang-, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Guo Jia, Xu Shu, and Liu Ye to attack Yuan Shu. Zhao Yun and Xu Shu were ordered to lead 10,000 troops as the vanguard, Zhao Xin with Zhang Liao, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Guo Jia, and Liu Ye with 30,000 troops as the central army, Zhang with 10,000 troops as the rear guard, and Xun Zai as the governor.
Yuan Shu received a report from his spies that Zhao Xin had led 50,000 troops to attack Huainan. He panicked and hurriedly gathered his civil and military officials to discuss the strategy of facing the enemy. Shouchun was guarded by Yuan Shu and Generals Ji Ling, Li Feng, and Liang Gang with 60,000 troops. Hefei was guarded by Generals Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, and Le Jiu with 40,000 troops.
"Now that Zhao Xin has led another fifty thousand troops to attack our Huainan region," said Yuan Shu,"do you have any plans to repel him? "
"My lord," said General Ji Ling,"our Huainan army now has a hundred thousand men. Why should we fear a mere fifty thousand men from Zhao Xin?" Please allow me to lead 40,000 troops out of Shouchun and General Zhang Xun to lead 30,000 troops out of Hefei. The two armies will attack Zhao Xin's army together and we will definitely win. "
Li Feng said,"No, my lord. Although our army has 100,000 soldiers, they are all new recruits and have never experienced a big battle." Although Zhao Xin's army is only fifty thousand, they have been through many battles. How can my newly recruited soldiers resist them? Now, our army should only defend carefully. Let Shouchun and Hefei form a corner of each other. If Zhao Xin's army can't attack for a long time, they will retreat. "
"Lord, Li Feng is right," Liang Gang said. "
Although Yuan Shu trusted Ji Ling, he knew that Li Feng's words made sense. Thus, he ordered everyone to prepare to defend the city. He also sent someone to Zhang Xun's place in Hefei and ordered him to guard the city.
In the city of Hefei, Zhang Xun said,"My lord has sent an order for us to guard the city. What do you think?" "
Qiao Rui said," This is a safe plan. However, it's already the seventh month. There are still two more months before the food outside the city is ready. If the enemy still doesn't retreat by then, what should we do?" "
"We'll talk about it later," Le said."Maybe the enemy has already retreated." "
The vanguard of Zhao Xin's army, Zhao Yun, led 10,000 troops and headed straight for Hefei City. Arriving at the city, they set up camp and led the troops to fight the next day. When Zhang Xun and the others on the city wall saw Zhao Yun, they were already terrified. At this moment, they did not dare to fight even if they were given the courage.
Zhao Yun fought for two days and saw that the Yuan army in the city did not dare to fight. He could only wait for Zhao Xin's army to arrive before discussing. Zhao Xin led the army to take over the cities along the road and ordered Xun to send people to manage them. It was already the third day when they arrived at Hefei City.
They discussed in the tent of the central army. Zhao Yun talked about the fact that Yuan Shu's army did not dare to fight.
Zhao Xin said,"We can't attack by force. Our army is equal to Yuan's army in the city. We also need to guard against Shouchun's reinforcements. I wonder if you have any good ideas?" "
"My lord," Xu Shu said,"our army now has a new siege weapon, the catapult. We can use it to strike the enemy on the city wall, making them tremble in fear, and then slowly plan to attack the city." "
"Fengxiao, what do you think?" Zhao Xin nodded. "
"My lord," said Guo Jia,"I think this plan will work. It would be better to use it to tire the enemy out. The effect would be even better." "
Zhao Xin said,"Please tell me in detail about the plan to exhaust the enemy." "
"My lord," said Guo Jia,"send men to lie in ambush outside the east and west gates. When the enemy is resting at night, beat the drums and shout. If the enemy leaves the city, we can return to the north gate." "
"Why did Fengxiao leave the south gate alone?" asked Zhao Xin. "
"If the enemy forces rush out from the south gate, I'm afraid our army won't be able to make it back to the north gate and will be in danger of being wiped out," Guo Jia said. "
"Fengxiao has thought it through," said Zhao Xin,"so we'll pick two well-trained lieutenants from the army and have them each lead five hundred soldiers and horses to beat drums and lie in ambush at the east and west gates. We'll beat drums and shout every hour at midnight. Send more scouts to Shouchun and report every two hours. Send more scouts to the west of the city. Tomorrow, our fifty catapults will be divided into two groups to take turns attacking the city. Zi Man and Zi Long will each lead five thousand soldiers to guard the formation. After a few days, when the strategy of exhausting the army takes effect, we will send people to attack the east and west cities. The generals will act according to the order! "
On the second day, Zhao Xin's army attacked the city with catapults outside the north gate, beating the Yuan army on the city wall until they cried for their parents. Zhang Xun couldn't help but worry in the city. If this continued, the soldiers would lose their will to fight. "General, why don't I lead my troops to attack tomorrow and destroy the enemy's catapults?" "
Qiao Rui said,"No, I see that the enemy has long been prepared." "
The generals racked their brains but failed to come up with a plan. In the middle of the night, while he was sleeping, drums and shouts were heard outside the east and west gates. Zhang Xun quickly ordered people to go up to the city to be on guard. After a long time, the enemy still did not attack the city, so Zhang Xun ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot. An hour later, just as the soldiers fell asleep, the sounds of killing outside the city rang out again. Everyone stood up and was on guard again. Zhang Xun was furious that not a single enemy had attacked the city after a whole night.
After repeatedly torturing the three of them, most of the Yuan soldiers in the city were exhausted and their morale was extremely low.
Zhang Xun's generals were even more furious in the city. He sent people to Shouchun to ask for help. He mentioned the predicament in the city. If the reinforcements did not arrive, Hefei City would not be able to hold on for long. He asked Shouchun to quickly send troops to attack the Zhao army from the inside and outside.
When Yuan Shu of Shouchun City saw Zhang Xun's letter, he was dumbfounded. He did not expect that the 40,000-strong army would not be able to hold on for more than three days. He thought that Zhao Xin was too powerful.
The generals of the assembly showed Zhang Xun's letter and looked at each other. Li Feng said,"My lord, for the sake of the present, we must send reinforcements as soon as possible. Otherwise, if Hefei cannot be defended, then Shouchun will be the only isolated city left." "
"Zhao Xin is crafty and his subordinates are extremely brave. If we send an army over, I'm afraid we will fall into Zhao Xin's trap." "
"Should we send reinforcements or not?" Yuan Shu asked. "
Ji Ling pleaded,"My lord, I will go. Hefei is in danger now. How can we hesitate?" "
Yuan Shu suddenly made up his mind and said,"Alright, you will lead twenty thousand troops to reinforce Hefei." "
"My lord," Li Feng suggested,"our army is in danger. We must seek help to protect Shouchun and Hefei."
"Who should I ask for help from?" Yuan Shu asked. "
"My lord," said Li Feng,"Sun Jian sent someone to ask our army to attack Liu Biao together. Now we can ask him for help." "
"Sun Jian is planning to attack Liu Biao," Yuan Shu said."How can he send reinforcements?" "
Li Feng said," Then ask Liu Biao for help. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If Zhao Xin gets my Huainan land, his next target will probably be Liu Biao. We can use this to convince Liu Biao." "
"If that's the case, then you should go!" Yuan Shu said. "
Meanwhile, Ji Ling was leading an army of twenty thousand to Hefei. She was extremely careful along the way and had sent out countless spies.
In Hefei, Zhang Xun's generals were in a panic. It turned out that in the past three days, Zhang Xun had only heard drums and shouts at night, but there was no enemy attack. Thus, on the fourth night, he relaxed a little. The night security was not as tight, and nothing happened that night. On the night of the fifth day, Zhang Xun ordered them to rest and not care about the shouts of the enemy outside the city. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xin saw that the city had relaxed and sent Zhang Liao and Zhang Liao to lead 5,000 troops to attack the east and west gates at midnight. There was no defense in the city, and the two generals charged up the city. Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, and Le Jiu led the army to resist desperately before they managed to kill the enemy. Yuan's army was killed countless times, and the city was filled with corpses.
With that, Zhang Xun lost the will to send troops to attack the Zhao army that was hiding outside the city. On the third day, Zhang Xun wanted to send troops to attack but was stopped by Qiao Rui and Le Jiu. Le suggested to ignore the shouts outside the city, which was why the Zhao army almost attacked the city on the fifth day. The generals had no choice but to wait for reinforcements.
On Zhao Xin's side, the scouts from Shouchun reported that Ji Ling had led 20,000 troops to reinforce Hefei, which was only a hundred miles away. Zhao Xin discussed with the others. He ordered Dian Wei to lead ten thousand soldiers thirty miles away from Li City to meet Ji Ling's army. He ordered Zhang Liao to lead ten thousand soldiers thirty miles away from Li City to lay an ambush. He let Ji Ling's army pass and ignored them. When Dian Wei and Ji Ling fought, he would attack and pincer attack Ji Ling's army from both sides. He ordered Zhang to lead 5,000 troops to the east gate of Hefei City to prevent the army from rushing out to meet Ji Ling's army.
When Ji Ling led the army 50 li away from Hefei, a scout reported that there were about 10,000 soldiers of Zhao Xin blocking their path. Ji Ling had been very careful along the way, afraid of ambushes. Now that the enemy was facing them head-on, how could Ji Ling be afraid? After letting the army rest for two hours, she rushed forward.
As for Ji Ling's spy, why couldn't he detect Zhang Liao's army lying in ambush thirty li away? It turned out that Zhang Liao's army was only about two li away from Dian Wei's army. The moment the spy arrived, he saw Dian Wei's army in front of him. How could he notice the ambush beside him?
When Dian Wei saw Ji Ling coming with his army, he rushed out and headed straight for Ji Ling's army. On the other side, Ji Ling saw Dian Wei charging over and hurriedly reorganized his army to meet the enemy. He rode his horse and brandished his saber to meet Dian Wei. The two of them exchanged blows. After more than thirty rounds, Ji Ling's strength gradually lost and she slowly retreated into the formation. The two deputies behind him caught up and fought against Dian Wei together.
At this point, Zhang Liao heard the loud battle cries in front of him and led his troops to charge towards the back of Ji Ling's army. The two sides were evenly matched. Ji Ling saw the chaos behind her own formation and knew that something bad was going to happen. She led her troops to charge forward desperately, wanting to open up a path of blood. Dian Wei pulled himself together and fiercely unleashed his divine might, stabbing down a Vice General Ji Ling with his halberd. When Ji Ling saw this, she abandoned Dian Wei and personally led the army towards his formation. How could Dian Wei let Ji Ling off? In just four or five moves, he finished off the other deputy general and rode his horse towards Ji Ling. At this moment, Ji Ling's rear army had already been scattered by Zhang Liao's army, and the two armies had fought together, causing Ji Ling's army to suffer a great defeat. Ji Ling was currently leading the troops of the main force to flee towards Hefei.
Zhang Xun saw that Zhao Xin's troops had decreased by a lot, so he knew that Shouchun's reinforcements had arrived. He knew that Zhao Xin had led his troops to kill Shouchun's reinforcements. So he opened the east gate and ordered Qiao Rui to lead 10,000 troops to attack. Qiao Rui led his troops and walked for five miles, but saw a general in front of him leading a standard army horse to rush out and block the way. Qiao Rui reined in the soldiers and horses and went out to call for battle. That general was Zhang-, leading the army here to guard against the reinforcements in the city. "Here's your name," shouted Zhang. "
Qiao Rui scolded,"Your Grandpa Qiao!" "
Zhang was furious, he rode his horse and fought with Qiao Rui. How could Qiao Rui's martial arts be comparable to Zhang's? After fighting for ten rounds, Zhang cut Qiao Rui under his horse. Zhang drew his sword and charged at Yuan's army. Seeing that they had lost their commander, the soldiers of the Yuan army panicked and ran back to Hefei City. Zhang Yinjun chased after him, killing Yuan Shu's soldiers until they cried for their parents, only to regret that their parents had given birth to two less retreats.
Zhang Xun was anxiously waiting for news in the city. In less than two hours, he saw the troops led by Qiao Rui scattered and headed towards Hefei. Zhang Xun immediately ordered his subordinates to open the east gate and let the defeated soldiers in. Before they were halfway there, they saw Zhao Xin's army chasing after them. Zhang Xun saw that the situation was not good and quickly ordered the city gates to be closed. Yuan Shu's soldiers, who had not yet entered the city, cursed outside the city. In a short while, Zhang's army arrived and killed the defeated soldiers outside the city. When they were about to reach the city, stones and arrows rained down from the city, and Zhang led his troops to retreat.
Zhang Xun asked about the soldiers who had returned to the city. When he found out that Qiao Rui had been killed, he wanted to cry but could not. He could only silently pray that the reinforcements from Shouchun would be able to break through Zhao Xin's army. Otherwise, with the current situation of the city's only 20,000 soldiers, they would not be able to hold on for a moment.
Zhang Xun was still in a daze when the guards at the south gate reported that a horse had arrived outside the city. Zhang Xun went up to the city and saw that it was obviously his own army. Just as he was puzzled, he heard someone shouting from outside the city,"General Zhang, it's me, Ji Ling. "Zhang Xun took a closer look. Not bad, it's really Ji Ling, but she looks a little too pathetic. Recalling how Ji Ling was deeply trusted by Yuan Shu and how she used to flaunt her power, he almost burst out laughing. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to open the city gates and let Ji Ling in.
Zhang Xun sized up Ji Ling and quickly asked her what was going on. Ji Ling said that she had led her army to help Hefei, but Zhao Xin had sent people to intercept her and kill her. She was defeated and fled, and her 20,000 soldiers were only able to defeat the 1,000 soldiers behind her.
Zhao Xin was in the camp, listening carefully to the reports of the battle results. In the battle between Zhang Liao and Dian Wei and Ji Ling, they lost 2,000 soldiers, killed 8,000 enemies, and captured 10,000 enemies. General Ji Ling led more than 1,000 soldiers to escape. In the battle with Qiao Rui, Zhang had lost less than 100 soldiers, killed 3,000 enemies, captured 3,000 enemies, fled into the city, and the remaining 1,000 fled in all directions.
Seeing these numbers, Zhao Xin was quite satisfied. Since he led the army into battle, he had only lost 3,000 men, but he had killed more than 30,000. Currently, there were less than 30,000 troops in Hefei City. He, Guo Jia, and Xu Shu had to plan and take down Hefei as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, he said to everyone,"Zi Man, Wen Yuan, Jun, you've worked hard. Go and rest first." He then said to Guo Jia and Xu Shu,"Fengxiao, Yuanzhi, there are still less than 30,000 tired soldiers in Hefei. Think about it and see if you have a good way for our army to take down Hefei as soon as possible. "
"My lord," said Guo Jia,"the morale of the Yuan army in the city is low. We can calm them down with a single blow." Moreover, our army has been attacking the north gate for many days. The north gate of Hefei is already in ruins. I think it's better for our army to rest for half a day and then start attacking the north gate! "
Zhao Xin looked at Xu Shu. Seeing the latter nod, he clapped his hands and said,""Alright, pass down the order. We'll attack the city in half a day! "
In the city, Zhang Xun informed Ji Ling about the recent situation in Ji Ling City. Hearing this, Ji Ling shook her head vigorously, and everyone's faces were filled with worry. After the generals had a depressing meal together, Zhang Xun let Ji Ling rest for a day first. They would take care of the defense of the city together tomorrow.
In the evening, the soldiers of the northern city of Hefei were lazily sitting or leaning against the city wall to rest. For some reason, the catapults of the Zhao army outside the city had stopped attacking for the first time in a few days. The soldiers of the Yuan army were all guessing. Suddenly, someone shouted,"The Zhao army is attacking!" "
Everyone thought to themselves,"These days, which day is the Zhao army not attacking the city? What's there to be surprised about?" "
Someone poked his head out to take a look and saw the Zhao army outside the city carrying ladders and other siege equipment as they rushed towards the north city in dense rows. More and more people shouted, and in the end, everyone panicked. The catapults of the Zhao army had given the soldiers on the city wall countless nightmares. Now that the Zhao army had officially begun to attack the city, who knew what the situation would be like!
At this moment, Zhang Xun was rushing to the city to patrol the defense. When he went up to the city to take a look, he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. He couldn't help but say to the messenger beside him,"Quickly go to the city and order all the generals to come to the north city. Go to the other three gates and transfer 2,000 soldiers each. "
Outside the city, Zhao Xinjun rushed to the city and began to climb the walls. Rocks and arrows rained down on the city
At this moment, Zhao Xin's generals, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Zhao Yun, were like three tigers that had come out of the gate. They raised their shields and climbed up the city. Not long after, the three of them jumped onto the city wall. The three of them brandished their halberds, sabers, and spears, and very quickly, they broke through a section of the city wall. The soldiers behind them surged up like a tide.
Zhao Xin looked outside the city and saw that our army had already charged up the city wall. He waved his flag and ordered Zhang Liao and Zhang Ling to charge out.
Seeing that something was wrong, Zhang Xun quickly led his men to attack Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Zhao Yun. When the three of them saw Zhang Xun approaching them, they knew that he was the commander of the city. The three of them abandoned Yuan Jun beside them and bravely charged at Zhang Xun. The three of them arrived at the same time and killed Zhang Xun in one move.
At this moment, more and more Zhao troops were on the city wall. Dian Wei led the way, leading hundreds of people to attack the city gate. Everyone did their best to kill the guards at the city gate and opened the city gate. At this time, Zhang Liao and Zhang-led the army into the city. Ji Ling and Le Jiu had just arrived at the city gates. When they saw that the city gates had been breached, they turned around and left. Dian Wei had just caught his breath when he saw Ji Ling. Seeing Ji Ling and Le Jiu turn to flee, how could he be willing to give up? He led the people behind him and charged towards the two of them. The two guards stopped Dian Wei, and Ji Ling and Le galloped towards the south gate.
All the generals and soldiers fought in the city. Yuan Zhou's soldiers either surrendered, fled, or were killed. The battle ended in less than two hours. The generals sent people outside the city to invite Zhao Xin into the city. After Zhao Xin entered the city, he issued a notice to pacify the people, clean up the corpses in the city, collect the treasury, and count the results of the battle.
After a while, the results of the battle came out: 3,000 troops were lost, more than 9,000 enemies were killed, 17,000 enemies were captured, and the rest of the enemies fled. The enemy generals Ji Ling and Le escaped.
At this moment, Zhao Xin's army still had 44,000 men and 30,000 surrendered soldiers. Thus, Zhao Xin ordered people to reorganize the surrendered soldiers and take 20,000. Send people to report the victory to the cities and order Xun to send people to Hefei to take over the government affairs. While reorganizing the defense, he trained the soldiers and sent people to investigate Shouchun.
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In the blink of an eye, it was the seventh month of the second year of Chuping. Zhao Xin was ready to lead his troops to attack Yuan Shu and take the land of Huainan. As he had been preparing for nearly three months, he had found out about the deployment of Yuan Shu's troops in Hefei and Shouchun. At this time, Yuan Shu had 100,000 troops, Shouchun had 60,000 troops, and Hefei had 40,000 troops. Yuan Shu did not dare to divide his troops to defend those small cities and counties.
When Liu Ye came to Runan, Zhao Xin had already asked Liu Ye to focus on developing catapults. When Zhao Xin first attacked Yuan Shu, he already had 100 catapults. In three months, he had another 30. For this expedition, Zhao Xin was prepared to let Liu Ye lead 50 troops with the army. The remaining 80 would be used by the three cities to defend the city.
Zhao Xin transferred the 15,000 troops from the county town under Runan to guard Runan, and ordered Pang De to lead 10,000 troops in the city, a total of 25,000 people, together with Xun, Sun Qian, Dong Zhao, Hua Xiong and Liu Pi to stay in Runan. He ordered Taishi Ci to guard Nanyang and pay attention to Liu Biao's movements in Jingzhou. He ordered Yue Jin, Shen Pei, Tian Feng and Chen Lan to lead 20,000 troops to guard Xinyang.
Zhao Xin mobilized 40,000 troops from Runan City and 10,000 troops from Xinyang City, totaling 50,000 troops. He led Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Zhang-, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Guo Jia, Xu Shu, and Liu Ye to attack Yuan Shu. Zhao Yun and Xu Shu were ordered to lead 10,000 troops as the vanguard, Zhao Xin with Zhang Liao, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Guo Jia, and Liu Ye with 30,000 troops as the central army, Zhang with 10,000 troops as the rear guard, and Xun Zai as the governor.
Yuan Shu received a report from his spies that Zhao Xin had led 50,000 troops to attack Huainan. He panicked and hurriedly gathered his civil and military officials to discuss the strategy of facing the enemy. Shouchun was guarded by Yuan Shu and Generals Ji Ling, Li Feng, and Liang Gang with 60,000 troops. Hefei was guarded by Generals Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, and Le Jiu with 40,000 troops.
"Now that Zhao Xin has led another fifty thousand troops to attack our Huainan region," said Yuan Shu,"do you have any plans to repel him? "
"My lord," said General Ji Ling,"our Huainan army now has a hundred thousand men. Why should we fear a mere fifty thousand men from Zhao Xin?" Please allow me to lead 40,000 troops out of Shouchun and General Zhang Xun to lead 30,000 troops out of Hefei. The two armies will attack Zhao Xin's army together and we will definitely win. "
Li Feng said,"No, my lord. Although our army has 100,000 soldiers, they are all new recruits and have never experienced a big battle." Although Zhao Xin's army is only fifty thousand, they have been through many battles. How can my newly recruited soldiers resist them? Now, our army should only defend carefully. Let Shouchun and Hefei form a corner of each other. If Zhao Xin's army can't attack for a long time, they will retreat. "
"Lord, Li Feng is right," Liang Gang said. "
Although Yuan Shu trusted Ji Ling, he knew that Li Feng's words made sense. Thus, he ordered everyone to prepare to defend the city. He also sent someone to Zhang Xun's place in Hefei and ordered him to guard the city.
In the city of Hefei, Zhang Xun said,"My lord has sent an order for us to guard the city. What do you think?" "
Qiao Rui said," This is a safe plan. However, it's already the seventh month. There are still two more months before the food outside the city is ready. If the enemy still doesn't retreat by then, what should we do?" "
"We'll talk about it later," Le said."Maybe the enemy has already retreated." "
The vanguard of Zhao Xin's army, Zhao Yun, led 10,000 troops and headed straight for Hefei City. Arriving at the city, they set up camp and led the troops to fight the next day. When Zhang Xun and the others on the city wall saw Zhao Yun, they were already terrified. At this moment, they did not dare to fight even if they were given the courage.
Zhao Yun fought for two days and saw that the Yuan army in the city did not dare to fight. He could only wait for Zhao Xin's army to arrive before discussing. Zhao Xin led the army to take over the cities along the road and ordered Xun to send people to manage them. It was already the third day when they arrived at Hefei City.
They discussed in the tent of the central army. Zhao Yun talked about the fact that Yuan Shu's army did not dare to fight.
Zhao Xin said,"We can't attack by force. Our army is equal to Yuan's army in the city. We also need to guard against Shouchun's reinforcements. I wonder if you have any good ideas?" "
"My lord," Xu Shu said,"our army now has a new siege weapon, the catapult. We can use it to strike the enemy on the city wall, making them tremble in fear, and then slowly plan to attack the city." "
"Fengxiao, what do you think?" Zhao Xin nodded. "
"My lord," said Guo Jia,"I think this plan will work. It would be better to use it to tire the enemy out. The effect would be even better." "
Zhao Xin said,"Please tell me in detail about the plan to exhaust the enemy." "
"My lord," said Guo Jia,"send men to lie in ambush outside the east and west gates. When the enemy is resting at night, beat the drums and shout. If the enemy leaves the city, we can return to the north gate." "
"Why did Fengxiao leave the south gate alone?" asked Zhao Xin. "
"If the enemy forces rush out from the south gate, I'm afraid our army won't be able to make it back to the north gate and will be in danger of being wiped out," Guo Jia said. "
"Fengxiao has thought it through," said Zhao Xin,"so we'll pick two well-trained lieutenants from the army and have them each lead five hundred soldiers and horses to beat drums and lie in ambush at the east and west gates. We'll beat drums and shout every hour at midnight. Send more scouts to Shouchun and report every two hours. Send more scouts to the west of the city. Tomorrow, our fifty catapults will be divided into two groups to take turns attacking the city. Zi Man and Zi Long will each lead five thousand soldiers to guard the formation. After a few days, when the strategy of exhausting the army takes effect, we will send people to attack the east and west cities. The generals will act according to the order! "
On the second day, Zhao Xin's army attacked the city with catapults outside the north gate, beating the Yuan army on the city wall until they cried for their parents. Zhang Xun couldn't help but worry in the city. If this continued, the soldiers would lose their will to fight. "General, why don't I lead my troops to attack tomorrow and destroy the enemy's catapults?" "
Qiao Rui said,"No, I see that the enemy has long been prepared." "
The generals racked their brains but failed to come up with a plan. In the middle of the night, while he was sleeping, drums and shouts were heard outside the east and west gates. Zhang Xun quickly ordered people to go up to the city to be on guard. After a long time, the enemy still did not attack the city, so Zhang Xun ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot. An hour later, just as the soldiers fell asleep, the sounds of killing outside the city rang out again. Everyone stood up and was on guard again. Zhang Xun was furious that not a single enemy had attacked the city after a whole night.
After repeatedly torturing the three of them, most of the Yuan soldiers in the city were exhausted and their morale was extremely low.
Zhang Xun's generals were even more furious in the city. He sent people to Shouchun to ask for help. He mentioned the predicament in the city. If the reinforcements did not arrive, Hefei City would not be able to hold on for long. He asked Shouchun to quickly send troops to attack the Zhao army from the inside and outside.
When Yuan Shu of Shouchun City saw Zhang Xun's letter, he was dumbfounded. He did not expect that the 40,000-strong army would not be able to hold on for more than three days. He thought that Zhao Xin was too powerful.
The generals of the assembly showed Zhang Xun's letter and looked at each other. Li Feng said,"My lord, for the sake of the present, we must send reinforcements as soon as possible. Otherwise, if Hefei cannot be defended, then Shouchun will be the only isolated city left." "
"Zhao Xin is crafty and his subordinates are extremely brave. If we send an army over, I'm afraid we will fall into Zhao Xin's trap." "
"Should we send reinforcements or not?" Yuan Shu asked. "
Ji Ling pleaded,"My lord, I will go. Hefei is in danger now. How can we hesitate?" "
Yuan Shu suddenly made up his mind and said,"Alright, you will lead twenty thousand troops to reinforce Hefei." "
"My lord," Li Feng suggested,"our army is in danger. We must seek help to protect Shouchun and Hefei."
"Who should I ask for help from?" Yuan Shu asked. "
"My lord," said Li Feng,"Sun Jian sent someone to ask our army to attack Liu Biao together. Now we can ask him for help." "
"Sun Jian is planning to attack Liu Biao," Yuan Shu said."How can he send reinforcements?" "
Li Feng said," Then ask Liu Biao for help. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If Zhao Xin gets my Huainan land, his next target will probably be Liu Biao. We can use this to convince Liu Biao." "
"If that's the case, then you should go!" Yuan Shu said. "
Meanwhile, Ji Ling was leading an army of twenty thousand to Hefei. She was extremely careful along the way and had sent out countless spies.
In Hefei, Zhang Xun's generals were in a panic. It turned out that in the past three days, Zhang Xun had only heard drums and shouts at night, but there was no enemy attack. Thus, on the fourth night, he relaxed a little. The night security was not as tight, and nothing happened that night. On the night of the fifth day, Zhang Xun ordered them to rest and not care about the shouts of the enemy outside the city. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xin saw that the city had relaxed and sent Zhang Liao and Zhang Liao to lead 5,000 troops to attack the east and west gates at midnight. There was no defense in the city, and the two generals charged up the city. Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, and Le Jiu led the army to resist desperately before they managed to kill the enemy. Yuan's army was killed countless times, and the city was filled with corpses.
With that, Zhang Xun lost the will to send troops to attack the Zhao army that was hiding outside the city. On the third day, Zhang Xun wanted to send troops to attack but was stopped by Qiao Rui and Le Jiu. Le suggested to ignore the shouts outside the city, which was why the Zhao army almost attacked the city on the fifth day. The generals had no choice but to wait for reinforcements.
On Zhao Xin's side, the scouts from Shouchun reported that Ji Ling had led 20,000 troops to reinforce Hefei, which was only a hundred miles away. Zhao Xin discussed with the others. He ordered Dian Wei to lead ten thousand soldiers thirty miles away from Li City to meet Ji Ling's army. He ordered Zhang Liao to lead ten thousand soldiers thirty miles away from Li City to lay an ambush. He let Ji Ling's army pass and ignored them. When Dian Wei and Ji Ling fought, he would attack and pincer attack Ji Ling's army from both sides. He ordered Zhang to lead 5,000 troops to the east gate of Hefei City to prevent the army from rushing out to meet Ji Ling's army.
When Ji Ling led the army 50 li away from Hefei, a scout reported that there were about 10,000 soldiers of Zhao Xin blocking their path. Ji Ling had been very careful along the way, afraid of ambushes. Now that the enemy was facing them head-on, how could Ji Ling be afraid? After letting the army rest for two hours, she rushed forward.
As for Ji Ling's spy, why couldn't he detect Zhang Liao's army lying in ambush thirty li away? It turned out that Zhang Liao's army was only about two li away from Dian Wei's army. The moment the spy arrived, he saw Dian Wei's army in front of him. How could he notice the ambush beside him?
When Dian Wei saw Ji Ling coming with his army, he rushed out and headed straight for Ji Ling's army. On the other side, Ji Ling saw Dian Wei charging over and hurriedly reorganized his army to meet the enemy. He rode his horse and brandished his saber to meet Dian Wei. The two of them exchanged blows. After more than thirty rounds, Ji Ling's strength gradually lost and she slowly retreated into the formation. The two deputies behind him caught up and fought against Dian Wei together.
At this point, Zhang Liao heard the loud battle cries in front of him and led his troops to charge towards the back of Ji Ling's army. The two sides were evenly matched. Ji Ling saw the chaos behind her own formation and knew that something bad was going to happen. She led her troops to charge forward desperately, wanting to open up a path of blood. Dian Wei pulled himself together and fiercely unleashed his divine might, stabbing down a Vice General Ji Ling with his halberd. When Ji Ling saw this, she abandoned Dian Wei and personally led the army towards his formation. How could Dian Wei let Ji Ling off? In just four or five moves, he finished off the other deputy general and rode his horse towards Ji Ling. At this moment, Ji Ling's rear army had already been scattered by Zhang Liao's army, and the two armies had fought together, causing Ji Ling's army to suffer a great defeat. Ji Ling was currently leading the troops of the main force to flee towards Hefei.
Zhang Xun saw that Zhao Xin's troops had decreased by a lot, so he knew that Shouchun's reinforcements had arrived. He knew that Zhao Xin had led his troops to kill Shouchun's reinforcements. So he opened the east gate and ordered Qiao Rui to lead 10,000 troops to attack. Qiao Rui led his troops and walked for five miles, but saw a general in front of him leading a standard army horse to rush out and block the way. Qiao Rui reined in the soldiers and horses and went out to call for battle. That general was Zhang-, leading the army here to guard against the reinforcements in the city. "Here's your name," shouted Zhang. "
Qiao Rui scolded,"Your Grandpa Qiao!" "
Zhang was furious, he rode his horse and fought with Qiao Rui. How could Qiao Rui's martial arts be comparable to Zhang's? After fighting for ten rounds, Zhang cut Qiao Rui under his horse. Zhang drew his sword and charged at Yuan's army. Seeing that they had lost their commander, the soldiers of the Yuan army panicked and ran back to Hefei City. Zhang Yinjun chased after him, killing Yuan Shu's soldiers until they cried for their parents, only to regret that their parents had given birth to two less retreats.
Zhang Xun was anxiously waiting for news in the city. In less than two hours, he saw the troops led by Qiao Rui scattered and headed towards Hefei. Zhang Xun immediately ordered his subordinates to open the east gate and let the defeated soldiers in. Before they were halfway there, they saw Zhao Xin's army chasing after them. Zhang Xun saw that the situation was not good and quickly ordered the city gates to be closed. Yuan Shu's soldiers, who had not yet entered the city, cursed outside the city. In a short while, Zhang's army arrived and killed the defeated soldiers outside the city. When they were about to reach the city, stones and arrows rained down from the city, and Zhang led his troops to retreat.
Zhang Xun asked about the soldiers who had returned to the city. When he found out that Qiao Rui had been killed, he wanted to cry but could not. He could only silently pray that the reinforcements from Shouchun would be able to break through Zhao Xin's army. Otherwise, with the current situation of the city's only 20,000 soldiers, they would not be able to hold on for a moment.
Zhang Xun was still in a daze when the guards at the south gate reported that a horse had arrived outside the city. Zhang Xun went up to the city and saw that it was obviously his own army. Just as he was puzzled, he heard someone shouting from outside the city,"General Zhang, it's me, Ji Ling. "Zhang Xun took a closer look. Not bad, it's really Ji Ling, but she looks a little too pathetic. Recalling how Ji Ling was deeply trusted by Yuan Shu and how she used to flaunt her power, he almost burst out laughing. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to open the city gates and let Ji Ling in.
Zhang Xun sized up Ji Ling and quickly asked her what was going on. Ji Ling said that she had led her army to help Hefei, but Zhao Xin had sent people to intercept her and kill her. She was defeated and fled, and her 20,000 soldiers were only able to defeat the 1,000 soldiers behind her.
Zhao Xin was in the camp, listening carefully to the reports of the battle results. In the battle between Zhang Liao and Dian Wei and Ji Ling, they lost 2,000 soldiers, killed 8,000 enemies, and captured 10,000 enemies. General Ji Ling led more than 1,000 soldiers to escape. In the battle with Qiao Rui, Zhang had lost less than 100 soldiers, killed 3,000 enemies, captured 3,000 enemies, fled into the city, and the remaining 1,000 fled in all directions.
Seeing these numbers, Zhao Xin was quite satisfied. Since he led the army into battle, he had only lost 3,000 men, but he had killed more than 30,000. Currently, there were less than 30,000 troops in Hefei City. He, Guo Jia, and Xu Shu had to plan and take down Hefei as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, he said to everyone,"Zi Man, Wen Yuan, Jun, you've worked hard. Go and rest first." He then said to Guo Jia and Xu Shu,"Fengxiao, Yuanzhi, there are still less than 30,000 tired soldiers in Hefei. Think about it and see if you have a good way for our army to take down Hefei as soon as possible. "
"My lord," said Guo Jia,"the morale of the Yuan army in the city is low. We can calm them down with a single blow." Moreover, our army has been attacking the north gate for many days. The north gate of Hefei is already in ruins. I think it's better for our army to rest for half a day and then start attacking the north gate! "
Zhao Xin looked at Xu Shu. Seeing the latter nod, he clapped his hands and said,""Alright, pass down the order. We'll attack the city in half a day! "
In the city, Zhang Xun informed Ji Ling about the recent situation in Ji Ling City. Hearing this, Ji Ling shook her head vigorously, and everyone's faces were filled with worry. After the generals had a depressing meal together, Zhang Xun let Ji Ling rest for a day first. They would take care of the defense of the city together tomorrow.
In the evening, the soldiers of the northern city of Hefei were lazily sitting or leaning against the city wall to rest. For some reason, the catapults of the Zhao army outside the city had stopped attacking for the first time in a few days. The soldiers of the Yuan army were all guessing. Suddenly, someone shouted,"The Zhao army is attacking!" "
Everyone thought to themselves,"These days, which day is the Zhao army not attacking the city? What's there to be surprised about?" "
Someone poked his head out to take a look and saw the Zhao army outside the city carrying ladders and other siege equipment as they rushed towards the north city in dense rows. More and more people shouted, and in the end, everyone panicked. The catapults of the Zhao army had given the soldiers on the city wall countless nightmares. Now that the Zhao army had officially begun to attack the city, who knew what the situation would be like!
At this moment, Zhang Xun was rushing to the city to patrol the defense. When he went up to the city to take a look, he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. He couldn't help but say to the messenger beside him,"Quickly go to the city and order all the generals to come to the north city. Go to the other three gates and transfer 2,000 soldiers each. "
Outside the city, Zhao Xinjun rushed to the city and began to climb the walls. Rocks and arrows rained down on the city
At this moment, Zhao Xin's generals, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Zhao Yun, were like three tigers that had come out of the gate. They raised their shields and climbed up the city. Not long after, the three of them jumped onto the city wall. The three of them brandished their halberds, sabers, and spears, and very quickly, they broke through a section of the city wall. The soldiers behind them surged up like a tide.
Zhao Xin looked outside the city and saw that our army had already charged up the city wall. He waved his flag and ordered Zhang Liao and Zhang Ling to charge out.
Seeing that something was wrong, Zhang Xun quickly led his men to attack Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Zhao Yun. When the three of them saw Zhang Xun approaching them, they knew that he was the commander of the city. The three of them abandoned Yuan Jun beside them and bravely charged at Zhang Xun. The three of them arrived at the same time and killed Zhang Xun in one move.
At this moment, more and more Zhao troops were on the city wall. Dian Wei led the way, leading hundreds of people to attack the city gate. Everyone did their best to kill the guards at the city gate and opened the city gate. At this time, Zhang Liao and Zhang-led the army into the city. Ji Ling and Le Jiu had just arrived at the city gates. When they saw that the city gates had been breached, they turned around and left. Dian Wei had just caught his breath when he saw Ji Ling. Seeing Ji Ling and Le Jiu turn to flee, how could he be willing to give up? He led the people behind him and charged towards the two of them. The two guards stopped Dian Wei, and Ji Ling and Le galloped towards the south gate.
All the generals and soldiers fought in the city. Yuan Zhou's soldiers either surrendered, fled, or were killed. The battle ended in less than two hours. The generals sent people outside the city to invite Zhao Xin into the city. After Zhao Xin entered the city, he issued a notice to pacify the people, clean up the corpses in the city, collect the treasury, and count the results of the battle.
After a while, the results of the battle came out: 3,000 troops were lost, more than 9,000 enemies were killed, 17,000 enemies were captured, and the rest of the enemies fled. The enemy generals Ji Ling and Le escaped.
At this moment, Zhao Xin's army still had 44,000 men and 30,000 surrendered soldiers. Thus, Zhao Xin ordered people to reorganize the surrendered soldiers and take 20,000. Send people to report the victory to the cities and order Xun to send people to Hefei to take over the government affairs. While reorganizing the defense, he trained the soldiers and sent people to investigate Shouchun.
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