Overlord!

Zhou Yu's deployment was a combination of oddity and rightness, and he was well versed in the essence of the art of war.

But his opponent Cao Hong was obviously sorry for Zhou Yu's exquisite advance deployment.

In fact, it is impossible for just any person in the Cao family to know how to lead troops in war and how to deploy defense lines.

Although Cao Hong had fought with Cao Cao for several years and had some experience in battlefield combat, he was the type who didn't ask for a deeper understanding. He didn't focus on studying the direction of fighting, so he didn't make much progress.

It's okay for him to bring troops with all the equipment and armor to fight against a dozen yellow turbans, bandits and separatist princes. But if he is really allowed to face a well-trained army and Zhou Yu, a majestic and heroic figure who is a genius in the world, he will not be able to do it at all. Rules and regulations.

His garrison in Nanyang totaled 4000 people. His military disadvantage meant that he really didn't know how to allocate these 4000 people.

If all of them are stationed in Wancheng, it is very likely that Zhou Yu's army will follow them with light troops and cut off the connection between Wancheng and Xu County.That meant that he was cut off from food and grass and was completely trapped to death in an isolated city.

And if one or two thousand troops were assigned to garrison Bowang and Ye County to maintain grain routes, he was afraid that he would not be able to defend Wancheng.

Although Cao Cao was good at using troops, he could not completely guess Zhou Yu's march route. Before the battle with Yuan's army, he could only tell Cao Hong that Jiangdong will definitely attack Wancheng. Your soldiers are few and weak, so it is not suitable to fight hard. You should strengthen the wall and clear the country to stop the enemy. Yu Wancheng line.

We only need to hold off the enemy for a hundred days, and then our victory or defeat is determined. We will send our troops back to support, and the southern army will retreat!
But how to defend Wancheng's front line for a hundred days, Cao Cao really couldn't teach him.

After all, such a fierce general as Zhang Liao was unparalleled in Xiaoyaojin. In fact, it had no impact on the battle situation. Hefei was still besieged by Sun Quan's army for more than ten days.

Without reinforcements, it would be almost impossible to defend the city.

Perhaps because he knew that this general of the Cao family was indeed difficult to handle, Cao Cao also assigned him a very talented deputy general, Cao Cao's old friend Lou Gui.

Lou Gui was not only a counselor, but also a general. He had great ambitions since he was a child, saying: When a man lives in the world, he will be able to serve as tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of horses riding on the back of his head.

After surrendering to Cao Cao, he was reused as a general by Cao Cao and often consulted him on military and national affairs.

Therefore, Cao Cao often sighed and said: "Zibo's plan is beyond comparison."

After Zhou Yu led the army commander to advance directly, Lou Gui often looked gloomy. He was worried about Cao Hong's deployment, but he failed to accept his advice several times.

Although Lou Gui was the deputy general, he had no military power. The command of the four thousand garrison in Nanyang was in the hands of Cao Hong.

Lou Gui could only watch helplessly as Zhou Yu's two armies marched in easily without any obstruction. Seeing that Zhou Yu's army occupied half of the entire Nanyang City without bloodshed, the vanguard had already left Yuyang and was about to arrive at Xiaochang'anju. He was worried Found Cao Hong again.

"General, in the former case, I said that the troops should not be massed. It is better to divide the troops into Rang County to block its momentum. If the general does not use it, all the counties will fall in despair. The southern captives are like a broken bamboo. They have already reached Yuyang in only six or seven days, and they are only with Wan County. With a distance of dozens of miles, does the general want to hold off the enemy for a hundred days with just one county in Wancheng?"

After hearing Lou Gui's words, Cao Hong blushed instantly and became angry with embarrassment.

Rangxian County was Zhang Xiu's previous seat in Nanyang. The city was very tall and there were many descendants of the six relatives of the Xiliang Army. To the north of Rangxian County was Champion County, which was the former fiefdom of the champion Hou Huo Qubing. .

Rammed earth walls were built here, and facilities were complete. There was even a lack of ceramic bricks to reinforce the city.

The Han Dynasty had bricks, and Nanyang, as the center of wealth in the world, was rich in ceramic bricks. There were a large number of ceramic brick kilns and iron official workshops in Guangzhou and Rangxian counties.

It is an important military town for the defense of Nanyang. When the war started, Lou Gui suggested to Cao Hong that he should divide [-] troops to garrison in Rangxian County and station the generals here. He could gather the Xiliang army's children from Rangxian County and Champagne area, so that he could win the Qing Dynasty. With more than a thousand strong men and two thousand troops to defend it, they will definitely become rivals with Wancheng and even threaten the Nanlu grain road.

From Rangxian County, you can go down the rapids and penetrate directly into the new wilderness, cutting off the food route to the south.

If this is the case, even if Zhou Yu does not divide his troops to attack Rang County in the west, he will divide his troops to garrison in the rear and maintain the food route.It can greatly relieve the pressure on Wancheng's defense line, and Cao Hong will not have to use [-] people to resist Zhou Yu's [-] elite army.

That's right, Cao Hong's troops nominally numbered 4000, but in fact only more than [-] remained after fleeing.

Relying on these more than [-] men, he not only had to resist Zhou Yu's main force, but also prevent Zhou Yu from bypassing Wancheng and attacking Xu County with his light cavalry, which lasted for nearly a hundred days.

Even thinking about it, Cao Hong felt like he was about to collapse.

Only six or seven days after the mission given to him by Cao Cao, he was approached by Nanlu and fell into Wancheng City. He couldn't imagine how he would survive the remaining few months.

So although he was so angry that he still had to consult Lou Gui and asked: "In your opinion, Lou Gui, how should you deal with Nanlu's arrogance?"

Lou Gui ignored his rudeness and arrogance and immediately replied: "Nanyang is where Emperor Shizu's dragon thrived. In the past, the rebels and the Xinmang rebels fought here. In the battle of Kunyang, Shizu used thousands of elite soldiers. , defeated the 42 Mang army."

"Even if we are not as majestic as our ancestors, we can still imitate the decisions made in the war back then. The gathering of Xiao Chang'an is the key point of Nanyang. Because it is accessible by water and land, the road is wide, leading to Chang'an in the west, Yingchuan in the north to Luoyang, and Luoyang in the south. Connecting to Jiangling, the waterway can pass through the Minshui River and enter the Mianshui River, to Hanzhong, Nanzheng, and Mianyang. In the south, it can reach the Jiangshui River and directly connect to the sea. Its prosperity is as fast as Chang'an, so it is called Little Chang'an Jue."

"In the past, Liu Yan, the brother of the ancestor, first launched the rebel army in Xinye. He wanted to attack Wan. He gathered in Xiaochang'an and fought with Zhenfu and Liangqiu. It was a dense fog and the Han army was defeated. The ancestor was walking alone and met his female brother Bo Ji. , riding with each other and running; forward, I saw my sister Yuan again, and asked me to mount the horse. Yuan waved his hand and said: "Let's go, we can't save each other, there is no way to do both!" "Pursuing troops arrived, Yuan and his three daughters were all killed, and his younger brother Zhong and Zong's followers died dozens of times."

"The Union army thus inflicted heavy losses on the Confederacy."

"Now that the southern barbarians are rampant, the arrogant soldiers will be defeated. Our army is familiar with the geographical location and uses surprise troops to set up an ambush in Xiaochang'an. If the enemy army marches straight in, they will be ambushed by me!"

Ju means a prosperous place, and a place smaller than a village is called Ju.

The Battle of Xiaochang'anju was the most brutal battle of the rebel uprising.

The famous Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty was beaten and fled alone. When he met his sister Liu Boji on the road, he pulled her on his horse and rode away together.As a result, on the way to continue their escape, they met the second sister, Princess Xinye, Liu Yuan, and Liu Yuan's three daughters.

Liu Xiu quickly urged Liu Yuan to get on the horse, but Liu Yuan waved goodbye and told Liu Xiu to take Liu Boji away quickly. Don't save them. No one would survive if they saved them.

At this time, the pursuers arrived, and Liu Xiu could only watch as his second sister and three daughters were all killed by the pursuers.Dozens of Liu Xiu's clan members were killed or injured in this battle!
Lou Gui's attitude was very firm. Although he, Zhou Yu, was a genius in the world, he was probably much weaker than Emperor Shizu in terms of ability and popularity.

When the world was in turmoil, Liu Xiu rode a bull and rose up. Within ten months, he defeated the official army and was invincible. It was like a prairie fire when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled.

With the blessing of great righteousness and a sharp military front, he was even ambushed by the Northern Army in Xiao Chang'an and returned with a heavy defeat.

Now Cao's army follows suit, taking advantage of the rapid advance of the Nanlu troops and not having time to check out the terrain, to ambush here and disrupt their momentum. It is quite possible!

But when Cao Hong heard what he said, he was shocked and asked: "Go out of the city to fight against the enemy? If this battle fails, the situation in Nanyang will be over! Cao Gong ordered us to guard the front line of Wancheng, and we must use our troops carefully. Why can we take the initiative to fight?" ?”

Cao Hong only has more than [-] men under his command, and he may not be able to defend the city. He really does not have the confidence to defeat the enemy in a field battle!
But Lou Gui said anxiously: "To stick to it is to surrender the situation to the Nanlu. The terrain of Nanyang is flat and there are no dangerous passes. If the general defends Wancheng, the Nanlu will not be out for ten months, and they will have all the land in Nanyang. .”

Although it is a defensive operation, the art of war also requires a combination of offense and defense!

Blind defense will only allow the opponent to easily besiege the isolated city.

But Cao Hong's attitude was very resolute and said: "The southern captives have just arrived and their troops are at a sharp point. It is just right to fight with them at this time. We should guard the city carefully and wait for them to defeat."

Lou Gui had no choice but to say: "Since the general insists on holding on, please lead your troops out of the city and gather troops to garrison at sunset in the north of the city to protect the grain road and protect the horns of the city."

When the setting sun gathered at the Jinkou of the Zhuli Ferry crossing in Juishui, Hou Jiafu, the champion of the Han Dynasty, followed Emperor Guangwu to kill Deng Feng here.

The reason why this place has become a prosperous settlement is not only related to the ferry, but also because there is an important water conservancy project called Sha Weir. Together with Shangshigu, Madu Port and Dung Mantis Weir, it is the fourth Weir of the Water River, with more than [-] irrigated fields. This can provide a large amount of food and grass for Wancheng's defense.

If there is another loss here, Wancheng will really be an isolated city!

Cao Hong actually didn't want to divide his troops, but Duke Cao asked him to listen to Lou Gui's opinion. Lou Gui made three strategies, but he didn't use them, and he felt it was inappropriate.

Then he had to say: "In that case, you will lead [-] troops and station them at Xiyangju to block the enemy east of the Feishui River."

Wancheng and Xiyangju were all on the west bank of the Tuo River. They set up strongholds near the water and attacked the enemy halfway across the river. The strange army led by Li Yan from the east of the Yangtze River wanted to cross the water to join forces with Zhou Yu in Wancheng. It was not easy to surround this place. It's over.

It can only be said that Cao Hong has a little ability to lead the army, but not much.

He can only think about one side of things, and is simply unable to coordinate the overall situation of such a huge battlefield.

After Lou Gui went out, he had no idea. After all, he was facing Zhou Yu.In the Battle of Xia Cai, Zhou Yu used more than [-] infantry and cavalry to defeat a comparable force led by Cao Ren in one battle.

Cao Hong is still self-aware, and he knows very well that he may be slightly worse than Cao Ren in terms of marching and fighting.

Now his troops are far smaller than Cao Hong's, while Zhou Yu's troops are twice as large as before. He really has no confidence to defeat Zhou Yu.

Therefore, after Zhou Yu's army successfully arrived at Wancheng, he could not defend it.

Zhou Yu also did not hesitate to command his subordinates and civilians to dig ditches, forts, and besiege the city.

He did not defend blindly, knowing that Zhou Yu could not completely besiege the city, especially in the north direction of the city. If he was besieged, not only would it be inconvenient to transport food and grass in, but he would also be unable to break out of the siege if he failed.

Therefore, Cao Hong personally fought bravely and led his army to fight day and night, attacking the north of the city, making the siege difficult.

But when facing Zhou Yu, he was inevitably defeated. He lost several troops and hundreds of people.

So his subordinates advised him: "What you fear is only Jiangdong general Zhou Yu. When the ditch is built, Zhou Yu will definitely leave troops to surround the city and retreat. None of his generals are your opponent, so what's the use of building the ditch?" ?”

Cao Hongxin believed it was true and believed that no one of the Jiangdong generals except Zhou Yu could rival him.He also felt that Zhou Yu would not gather a large number of troops here, so he allowed Jiangdong to build ditches.After the trench was built, the trench was deep and the base was high, making it impossible for Cao's army to approach.

And Zhou Yu did as Cao Hong thought, and left his troops, but the direction he went to was Cao's important town in the north, where Lou Gui led his army to garrison at Sunset Ju.

Zhou Yu personally led an army of tens of thousands and besieged 800 people under Lou Gui's command along the Feishui River.

The key is that Wancheng was trapped by Wenpin and his [-]-strong army with a ditch camp. Cao Jun could only watch the land and sea divisions from Jiangdong marching in as if they were entering uninhabited territory.

Tens of thousands of Jiangdong's troops gathered around Jinkou. The troops on foot and cavalry were in full formation on the shore. The navy's flags were densely covered on the water. The siege was so overwhelming!
It was impossible for Cao Jun to enter the water and float across the other side!
Zhou Yu stood on the deck of the boat division's building, watching the soldiers calmly carry hundreds of crossbows from the boat, and assemble them in an orderly manner in front of Cao's camp. A smile was on his face, and the spring breeze blew through his large command. It further highlights his majestic appearance and impressive energy.

He smiled and said to Li Yan who boarded the boat from the east bank of Feishui River and stood next to him: "Cao Hongxing has no sense of self-discipline and contentment, but has the quality of a wolf who is insatiable. He is twice as greedy as a mediocre general. Cao Cao is known for his As a general, this man is not as good as Liu Biao and Huang Zu. How can Nanyang gain or lose?"

Li Yan immediately held up his hands and said respectfully: "The success of this battle is also due to the civil and military planning of the governor, who is truly the hero of ten thousand people. Once a hundred crossbows are completed, the big arrows are activated and can destroy everything. The governor is chatting and laughing, The bandit army also turned the boats and oars into ashes."

The situation was just as Li Yan said. Cao Jun really didn't expect that he would encounter Jiangdong's siege equipment in the wild!
Hundreds of huge crossbows fired, instantly causing debris from the fortress built by Cao Jun to fly everywhere, and screams continued.

In fact, hundreds of crossbows did not cause much damage. Cao Jun's camp covered an area of ​​more than ten acres, which was not dense. There was a large area to store grain, equipment, carts, etc. Only three or four of the hundreds of crossbows hit Cao Jun. The place where the soldiers are.

But just these three or four crossbow guns killed four or five people in an instant!

Two of the soldiers were directly penetrated by the crossbow and were nailed to the ground. The two soldiers held the crossbow and howled in pain, which was really shocking.

After three rounds of crossbow fire, Cao Jun gave up resistance, lowered the flag, opened the camp gate, knelt down in front of the camp and surrendered!

Lou Gui, the general who was closest to Cao Cao among the foreign generals, did not hesitate to lead his troops to surrender even when the situation was overturned. (End of chapter)