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Text Chapter 181 "Laying a Giant Net to Capture Cao Cao 1"

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    Chapter 181 "Setting a Giant Net to Capture Cao Cao 1"

    Pang Tong also imitated Liu Jia and smiled bitterly a few times, and then said to the guards around him: "Mingjin retreats!"

    The team retreated quickly. Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan led their troops to break up the rear. It was not until the steel well railing was dismantled and dragged back that these generals returned to the camp dejectedly.

    The equally hard-working Cao army did not pursue the victory. Only a few Cao soldiers held torches and lowered themselves down from the city wall with ropes - because the south gate and west gate were blocked by garbage. After careful inspection of the bombed areas, the situation can be said to be very good.  , the city wall is basically intact.  The area where the explosions started one by one was almost undamaged, only a layer of ice was blown away, some stone chips were blown up on the wall, and a layer of black smoke was left behind.  The situation was more serious where three gunpowder carts exploded at the same time, but they only blew away the wall stones to a depth of about a foot. Four stone strips were a little loose at first, but soon became firm and difficult to shake because some of them were melted by the explosion.  Snow water seeped into the cracks, and once it solidified into ice, it fixed the stone again.  Although the strength of the city wall may be damaged when the weather warms next year, there is no need to worry now.

    After listening to the soldiers' report, Cao Cao, who was in a good mood, went down to the city and returned home with a smile, and publicly announced his rewards to the soldiers.  The three armies were naturally overjoyed, and the whole city roared with joy. The dark cloud of the loss of 60,000 soldiers that had been hanging over everyone's hearts was blown away.  Everyone believed that with the increasingly cold weather, the life of the Shu soldiers was becoming more and more difficult. Not only Ma Chao and others were starved to death and frozen to death, Liu Jia might not be able to escape either.

    Cao Cao, who drank a little wine at dinner, seemed to be unable to stand the large amount of heat released by the burning charcoal fire in the room, so he happily walked out of the mansion alone.  He looked up at the dark sky.  If it weren't for the fact that his soldiers didn't like the cold, and some soldiers froze to death, and because he was concerned about his identity, otherwise, he would have really wanted to shout: "God, let the weather get colder."  The colder it is, the more people freeze to death, the better.¡±

    It is different from Cao Ying.  Shu camp was much duller, except for the patrolling soldiers who were meticulously inspecting the inside and outside of the military camp.  The rest of the soldiers stayed in their tents in obscurity.  The wounded soldiers who were moaning also felt this atmosphere, and they all endured the pain in their bodies without making a sound.

    Liu Jia, Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others returned to the tent where Liu Jia lived after inspecting the wounded.  Liu Jia handed the cloak he took off to the guards and said heartbrokenly: "I didn't expect the losses to be so great. The two sieges took less than three hours to pay the price of killing and wounding more than 6,000 soldiers. Cao's soldiers were so strong."  It really deserves its reputation.¡±

    Pang Tong said: "In battles, we have always killed one thousand enemies and suffered eight hundred losses. We want to annihilate all Cao's soldiers but don't want to sacrifice. How can it be possible? We should have achieved our goal by doing this. Cao Cao must have thought that we were unprepared and jumped over the wall in a hurry."  Yes. Haha"

    Liu Jia turned around and asked Li Hui, "When will General Gan Ning arrive?"

    Li Hui said: "Tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

    Liu Jia continued: "The security of the gunpowder storage area cannot be relaxed. Are the few Cao Jun secretaries you have still in the military camp? Will they spread the word about our situation in time?"

    Li Huidao: "Please don't worry, King Shu. The defense of gunpowder is the place where I pay the most attention to ensure that it is foolproof. Those Cao Jun soldiers who are so careful don't know that we have discovered them. Now that our situation is so bad, they should be more active in passing on the news."  information."

    "Oh, that's true. I'm just worried that they will see the flaws." Liu Jiadao.

    Pang Tong interjected: "Don't worry, King Shu. Not to mention these small soldiers, even our own generals don't know what medicine we sell in our gourds. They also think that we are desperate to save General Ma Chao now. Yes.  It¡¯s getting late. We have big things to do tomorrow, so let¡¯s call it a night.¡±

    Liu Jia smiled and asked, "Why don't you drink wine to warm yourself up?"

    "Forget it, let's go back and have a drink secretly. If we drink here, if our soldiers know about it on the road, they will think that we don't know the heights of the sky. If Cao Jun's meticulous work knows, it may arouse their suspicion." Pang Tong smiled and left.  The others dispersed.

    The next morning, Liu Jia raised his tent, and the leading generals, counselors and civil servants lined up neatly in the tent after the three-tone drum sounded, waiting for Liu Jia's orders.  Seeing that all his men had arrived on time, Liu Jia said loudly: "I don't need to explain the current situation. I think all the generals and officials have already understood it. Yes, we have reached the last moment. The 20,000 cavalry led by General Ma Chao have almost arrived.  We are at the end of our rope. If we don't break the small city of Wei Mi, our 20,000 brothers will either starve to death or freeze to death. Or they will be killed by Cao's soldiers. Can we watch our brothers die like this? No.  ! Absolutely not! If we give up our brothers who are in trouble this time, then maybe everyone here will not be rescued next time. The weather is cold now, but Cao JunSuch a cold.  Some time ago, our generals Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan led us to eliminate Cao Cao's 60,000 elite troops and captured three generals including Le Jin, Li Dian, and Han Hao.  This victory is huge. How many elite soldiers does Cao Cao have that we can destroy like this?  Although we did not achieve the expected results yesterday, we did not lose anything. Generals, there is no need to be discouraged.  Now the south gate and west gate of Yumi City are basically sealed by us, and we only need to leave a small number of soldiers.  Now we are ready to move to the north gate and launch an attack on Cao Bing with a favorable wind.  Time is running out. The longer the time drags on, the more difficult it will be for us. The more our soldiers will freeze to death and suffer frostbite. Because the situation is urgent, I have no time for you to rest. The battle yesterday will be moved today.  Camp, I hope that the generals will talk about the current situation after returning to the camp, especially telling the soldiers that fighting in the north is to let Cao's army fight into the wind. The cold north wind will blow them so hard that they can't open their eyes and let their arrows fly.  The shot does not go far, but the stone throws close.  But we can shoot farther and hit more accurately.  The difficulty is temporary. As long as we conquer the city of Mi and drive away Cao Cao, we will have no worries and rest in a warm house.  I believe you all understand that morale can be boosted but not depleted.  Besides, since we sent out troops, we have only achieved victory and victory. This time, I will also bring victory to the soldiers of the three armies.  And this victory will be greater and more glorious.  Are you confident?  "

    The generals in the camp are all experienced in hundreds of battles. Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan have only won one victory after another since they followed Liu Jia. How can they not be confident?  The war-loving generals such as Wu Tugu and E Huan only look forward to fighting, so they are naturally full of confidence: "Hey, yesterday's battle is not a failure. As long as there is no death in the siege, where can we attack the city?"

    Although all the generals do not think that the combat effectiveness will be much stronger if they change positions.  Moreover, they also had many opinions on sealing the south gate and west gate: "We originally wanted Cao Bing to come out, but you, King of Shu, would be better. If these two gates are sealed, how can Cao Bing come out?"

    Seeing that the generals were all eager to try, he didn't say anything more and turned to Pang Tong: "Please ask Shi Yuan to make arrangements!"

    Pang Tong was not polite. He immediately pulled out an arrow from the token tube and said loudly: "Zhao Yun obeys the order!"

    Hearing this, Zhao Yun immediately took a big step forward, turned around to face Pang Tong and bowed: "The general is here!"

    "General Zhao led 50,000 elite troops to immediately go to the north gate of Yumi City. Set up a formation outside the city to block Cao's troops from leaving the city. There is no need to shout. If the enemy does not move, I will not move. If the enemy leaves the city, we will firmly block it!" Pang Tong said.

    "General, I obey!" Zhao Yun took the token, turned around and strode out.

    Pang Tong took out another token and said: "Wei Yan listens to the order!"

    Wei Yan also stood out with his head held high and replied loudly: "The general is here!"

    "General Wei led 20,000 troops to stand guard between the current Diyingzhai and General Zhao Yun's troops to meet General Zhao Yun."

    "The general will obey your orders!"

    After Wei Yan left, Xu Shu and Wu Tu Gu were next.  They led 10,000 soldiers and 10,000 prisoners to widen the road between the current Diyingzhai and the north of Yumi City, building a road that could run carriages. If wood or stone could not be found on some roads, ice could be used instead.  Anyway, this mile-long road will be completed today.  E Huan was responsible for setting up camp three miles away from the north gate.  General Li Yan led 20,000 troops to guard the south gate and west gate, which were basically blocked, to prevent Cao's soldiers from leaving the city to attack.  Each gate has only a rugged road about one foot wide that Cao Bing cleared at night. It is rugged because there are still many stones, wood and even corpses frozen on the road, which have not been completely cleared.  General Huang Zhong led the remaining soldiers to protect the rear and central army.

    The news that the Shu troops moved to the north of the city finally reached Cao Cao's ears through various channels. After hearing this, Cao Cao, who was in a good mood, just smiled and shook his head, and said to his subordinates: "This kid Liu Jia has worked hard.  After spending a lot of effort in the south gate and west gate direction, they then moved to the north gate, which is more than cautious. Although they can get some advantages from the north gate in the direction of the north gate, what can this little advantage do to me?  I want to see how hard he is and how long he is going to do it."

    Yang Xiu said with a smile: "Haha, Liu Jia actually pretended to besiege three buildings. With just his few soldiers, he couldn't be sure of defeating us even on flat ground. He actually wanted to encircle and occupy us.  The advantage of the city to us is really ridiculous. I am afraid that the plan to force us to withdraw our troops was a little too precise."

    Cao Cao asked Jia Xu: "Some time ago, I heard from Tan Ma that Liu Jia had transferred another 20,000 troops from General Li Yan?"

    Jia Xu said: "Yes. Moreover, Tan Ma has just received the information. Liu Jia has also mobilized General Gan Ning's 30,000 horses. It is estimated that they will join them after noon today. It can be said that most of Liu Jia's men are concentrated here.  ¡±

    Cao Cao asked his subordinates: "Liu Jia's son is now the president of the land."The strength is close to 300,000, and except for the troops necessary to maintain order, almost all of them are deployed in the rear, and now their configuration is completely desperate. Is it because of what they have or because they are crazy?  You must know that although we have recently lost 60,000 elite troops, we still have nearly 300,000 troops in this city. General Xu Chu, who is dealing with Ma Chao, also has 80,000 troops. If necessary, we can return reinforcements. There are also 50,000 troops in Chang'an.  Can be transferred.  I can definitely gather 400,000 people, and they are fully aware of this situation.  Without gunpowder, our strength is still superior to him. Why are they so stubborn?  Tell me which play they are singing.  Could it be that God is helping me to eliminate the guys who have suddenly appeared in the past few years in one fell swoop this time?  I have been on the battlefield for decades, but I don¡¯t believe that such a cheap thing can happen.  "

    Indeed, according to common sense, when the strength of the attacker and defender is basically equal, the attacker is absolutely passive and it is impossible to capture the city.  It can be said that it is an egg hitting a stone, no wonder Cao Cao said so.

    Xun Yu said slowly: "I am also wondering why Liu Jia and the others are doing this. This is your death or my death attitude. It is not good for them no matter whether they win or lose. I believe that they are the most courageous and they have not completely eaten us."  Are you sure? If they lose, they will naturally have no chance to make a comeback. Even if they win by luck this time and break through our city. I think it will definitely be a lose-lose situation. It will be difficult for them to cope by then.  Since Liu Jia, Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others are not reckless in the attack launched by Soochow, then Yu concluded that there are only two possibilities: first, they have other means that we don't know about. Second, they are ready to give it a final fight.  . If the goal is not achieved, the troops will be withdrawn quickly. Those newly arrived troops are ready to cut off the rear. We have already planned to deal with the second situation. Now what we need to consider most is the first situation, but do they really have any basis?  I really can¡¯t think clearly!¡±

    Jia Xu was responsible for collecting information, so he answered: "From all aspects of intelligence analysis, the Shu soldiers can rely on nothing more than four things: one is gunpowder, the other is Zhuge Crossbow, and the third is stone lacquer."  What kind of hand oil bombs, and the fourth is the steel well trap. In yesterday's attack, these four things were used by them. Six carts of gunpowder exploded without any effect, so the first one can be ruled out; Zhuge Nu was the one they used in Changsha.  After being captured in the battle with Guan Yu, they secretly imitated Zhuge Liang and made more than 2,000 crossbows. However, these crossbows can only be most effective when attacking city walls or fighting on the ground. Besides, we also have more than 1,000 crossbows.  Their advantage is not obvious. If we are on the city and they are below the city, if we use crossbows at the same time, our thousand crossbows will be more effective. The hand oil bombs made from southern bamboo are actually only slightly stronger than our tung oil cans  . They may be great for driving away wild beasts, but their effect on siege is not significant. You can't throw them on the city wall if you stand on the ground, and it doesn't take much effort to climb on the ladder. Yesterday, someone was on the watchtower of Gangjinglan.  Throwing them on the city wall, some of them were picked up by our soldiers and thrown into the city, which burned their own soldiers. If the above is excluded, the steel wells will be even less scary. Their characteristics were not known before.  I still thought it was impossible to deal with it. But after we built the iron-roofed corridor, its use is very limited."

    Jia Xu pointed out one, two, three, four with his fingers and then said: "After these things lose their effectiveness, even if we cannot rely on these reinforced city walls to defeat one against five, we can definitely do it with one against two. From now on.  The results of yesterday's battle can be seen: yesterday they attacked the city and suffered at least 6,000 casualties, while we only suffered less than 2,000 casualties. As for defending the city, we are by no means afraid of them. As Wen Ruo said, they should have something to rely on.  It can be ruled out that Liu Jia and the others did this as a last-ditch effort before withdrawing their troops."

    Cao Cao nodded in approval, but still asked uneasily: "I'm still a little worried. Are they attacking the city here openly, but secretly sending troops to meet Ma Chao's men?"

    But he soon denied his suspicion.  He said to himself: "It's impossible. In this ice and snow, as soon as his troops are dispatched, we can know how many men and horses they dispatched and how long they set out based on the traces on the ground. If they send fewer troops, General Xu Chu's eight  Tens of thousands of horses can definitely deal with them. Even if Ma Chao joins them in a flanking attack, General Xu can stop them with more than 200,000 horses based on his camp. If we send more people, we can take the opportunity to rush out of the city to kill him and put them to death.  The troops who stayed here were stunned. "

    Finally, Cao Cao shook his head and said, "Hey, my head hurts just thinking about these things."

    Xun Yu said: "After much thought, Liu Jia has the greatest chance of relying on his own. Otherwise, it would be far better to withdraw his troops voluntarily than to withdraw his troops after a desperate fight. Liu Jia and Pang Tong are both very strategic people, and they will definitely not be so stupid."  Don¡¯t be angry.¡±

    Sima Yi asked in agreement: "Is it because our detailed work is not accurate in detecting how much gunpowder the Shu soldiers have? Maybe they also hide a large amount of gunpowder that we don't know about?"

    Cao Cao takes overHe said: "This is the only possibility. The way they used the gunpowder cart failed, doesn't it mean there is no other way?"

    They discussed and discussed, and finally Cao Cao and the others made second-hand preparations. First, they were prepared to withdraw their troops decisively after Liu Jia fought for a while.  The second was to prepare for the possibility that Liu Jia would adopt the old method of digging trenches and using coffins to bury gunpowder, so night patrols were further strengthened.

    Because it was a snowy day, the ground was covered with pure white snow, so it was not dark at night. Soldiers standing on the city could see clearly whether the Shu soldiers under the city were digging trenches, let alone during the day.  At the same time, just in case, Cao Bing placed a long tile jar filled with water on the city wall, and put some hot water in it from time to time to prevent the water in the jar from freezing.  This water is mainly used to deal with the Shu soldiers digging trenches: if the Shu soldiers dig trenches to the base of the city wall, once they fail to drive out of the city, they will dump a large amount of well water downwards, either to prevent them from digging or to allow them to dig out.  The trenches were filled with ice and were not dug.  In order to force the Shu soldiers out of the city, Cao soldiers still cleared a foot-wide path through the south gate and west gate that were filled with rubbish. However, the clearing was not thorough and could only ensure that the cavalry and infantry could get out.  After all, frozen garbage is too difficult to move.  Because the garbage was thrown to both sides during cleaning, two mountains of garbage were formed outside the south gate and the west gate, extending forward between the cleared roads.  The mountains of garbage on both sides of these roads are as tall as a person.

    Because the weather was too cold and there were large rocks under the city wall, it was very difficult to dig the outside of the trench. It was also possible that the Shu soldiers did not want to work hard and did not want to trouble the Cao soldiers. They did not dig hard for two days in a row.  A few challenging soldiers came to the city to curse and throw away their dirty things, but they did not touch a pickaxe, allowing Cao Bing to spend a few days in peace.

    Another two days passed, and more than 200,000 Shu soldiers' vanguard troops moved to the north of the city.  There were less than 100,000 troops left in the rear, guarding grain, grass and other logistical supplies as well as some prisoners who were too late to be transferred.

    After the forward battalion was moved into place, the situation gradually became clear: the date for the decisive battle between the two sides was approaching.

    Sure enough, early the next morning after the camp was moved, the Shu soldiers began to quietly assemble the steel well railing at dawn.

    The soldiers who had participated in assembling the steel well rail many times found that this assembly seemed a little different.  The first difference is that the steel plate of the watchtower on the top of the steel shaft seems to be sealed, and there are not as many archery openings and lookout windows as before.  There is only one four-foot-square opening in the entire archery tower that has not been sealed.  Second, when the assembly was being done in the past, the general in charge of the assembly often found some soldiers who were willing to help from the soldiers watching the fun, and also allowed other soldiers to watch. However, this time the area was heavily guarded, and no one was allowed to stay around.  After the frame was assembled, the final work, such as loading bows and arrows, hand oil bullets, bows, and crossbows, was not done by them. Instead, they were moved far away, and Liu Jia's personal guards were sent to do the remaining work.  Third, some attentive soldiers discovered that at least some of the sharp archers did not enter the archery tower that they originally entered. It is unknown whether they entered the personal guards.  The last thing that is different from before is that there are four more iron pipes running from the base to the watchtower next to the columns around the steel shaft, which had never been there before.

    Another difference is that the entire steel shaft rail looks much heavier than before, because when trying to move the steel shaft rail, the marks made by the wheels on the ground are deeper than before, but this difference is not so obvious.

    Although the soldiers were whispering and guessing in their hearts, they did not dare to ask, and they all acted honestly according to the general's instructions.

    After having breakfast half an hour earlier than usual, drums were played in the Shu barracks to raise tents.  Orders immediately came one after another, and batch after batch of soldiers dropped their jobs and grabbed their weapons and ran back to the team. Everyone knew that the war was about to begin again.

    The movements in the Shu camp had long been reported to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao's soldiers had finished their breakfast early accordingly. Group after group of soldiers also began to gather from the south, east, west to north.  The generals all speculated that this might be the last battle before the Shu soldiers fled.

    Cao Bing's main focus now is on defense, and of course he is also ready to go out of the city to pursue: 30,000 soldiers are prepared at the east, west, and south gates. They are used to go out of the city and beat up the drowned dogs when the Shu soldiers retreat.  Only 20,000 soldiers were left in the center of the city to take charge of public security and protecting food and grass, while the remaining nearly 200,000 soldiers were moved as far north as possible.  Because the city is not big, the density in the north is very high, and the entire North City is like a large military camp.

    When Cao Bing was dispatching troops and generals, the Shu camp's dispatching of troops and generals had come to an end.

    Chapter 181 "Setting up a giant net to capture Cao Cao 1"
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