Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

Wang Ping was shocked.

Cao Xiu wants to set up camp on Nanping Mountain!

He naturally understood the necessity of this.

After the fall of Jieting City, with only 7,000 soldiers and horses, they would definitely not be able to wait until Cao Cao's reinforcements arrived.

The Han army arrived too quickly, and it was too late to build and thicken the city walls.

Giving up Jieting was even more impossible.

They fled without a fight, allowing the Han army to take Jieting without bloodshed, open up the Longshan Passage and drive a nail into Longxi. Could Cao Cao let them go?

After weighing the pros and cons, setting up camp on Nanping Mountain seemed to be the only hope to hold Jieting.

Moreover, they found a hidden spring on the back of the mountain, and the risk of water supply being cut off was eliminated. It seemed that camping on the mountain was not a desperate situation.

"General Wenlie, I am worried. What will we do if the Han army finds our hidden spring?"

Wang Ping expressed his final concern.

Cao Xiu groaned for a moment and snorted coldly:

"Nanping Mountain is surrounded by cliffs on three sides. How could the Han army have thought that we would use ropes to draw water from the hidden spring in the dense forest on the back of the mountain?"

"I guess even if Xiao Fang were here, he wouldn't be able to come up with this idea even if he racked his brains."

Wang Ping was not as confident as him, and his eyes were still hesitant.

Just as he was about to say something else, Cao Xiu waved his hand:

"Well, I will give you two thousand soldiers, and you will set up camp in the dense forest on the back of the mountain to guard the hidden spring."

"The situation is urgent. I have no choice but to deploy in this way to have a chance to defend Jieting."

"You don't have to worry about it anymore and shake the morale of the army. Just follow the order immediately!"

Wang Ping was speechless and could only obey the order silently.

When the order was given, the Qin army that was building the city immediately abandoned the city and hurriedly moved to Nanping Mountain with food, fodder and military equipment.

Wang Ping led more than 2,000 elite soldiers and set up a camp around the hidden spring in the dense forest on the back of the mountain.

The 7,000 Qin troops were divided into two camps. They built camp walls and dug trenches overnight in preparation for fighting the 30,000 Han troops that were expected to arrive at any time.

The next day.

The sky was getting light and the east was gradually getting brighter.

The Qin soldiers, exhausted after a whole night's work, sat together in groups of three or four, with their backs to each other, hugging their weapons and taking naps.

Cao Xiu stood with his sword in hand, his sharp eyes fixed on the northeast direction of the slope, where the western entrance of Longshan Mountain was.

In the morning light, a cloud of dust rose faintly from above the valley and soon spread out of the valley entrance.

Flags with the word "Han" on them and thousands of Han infantry and cavalry figures broke through the dust and fog and came into view.

In the morning sun, you can vaguely see a general flag with the word "Zhang" on it.

"The Zhang character flag? Is it Zhang Liao, Zhang Xiu, or Zhang He?"

After a brief guess, Cao Xiu snorted proudly:
"No matter who is leading the army, if you have the guts, just let your horses attack the mountain. I will let you see my strength!"

At the mouth of the valley.

Thirty thousand Han troops were exhausted and marched out of the valley in groups one after another.

The terrain ahead gradually became flatter, the mountains gradually receded, and the outlines of small towns located on the south bank of the Long River came into view.

"General Zhang, we are out of Longshan. Jieting City should be ahead. After this city, we will reach Longxi!"

Ma Su pointed the whip in his hand far ahead.

"After five days and five nights of chasing, we are finally here."

Zhang He breathed a sigh of relief, ordered the entire army to slow down, and sent out scouts to investigate the strength of Jieting City. "Jieting is located at the western entrance of Longshan Mountain. Cao Cao will not fail to see its importance. He will most likely leave a general to lead the army to guard it."

"But Cao Cao probably didn't expect that the Prime Minister would advise His Majesty to send us to seize Jieting City first. I guess there won't be too many soldiers left."

Ma Su took off his water bag and took a few sips while analyzing and calculating.

Zhang He also took out a Hu pancake and said while chewing it:

"I think the wall of Jieting City is not very high. It should be a small city. If the Qin army only has 5,000 to 6,000 people, with our 30,000 troops, we can capture it in three days at most."

"Cao Cao's main force should have gone to Jicheng by now. We should be able to capture Jieting before Cao Cao sends troops to rescue us."

Zhang He was still quite confident in his siege capabilities.

As the two marched, they began to discuss the strategy of capturing Jieting.

The scouts ahead returned in a hurry.

"General, there is no soldier stationed in Jieting. It is now an empty city."

"Qin general Cao Xiu led 7,000 soldiers and moved his camp to Nanping Mountain in the south of the city yesterday!"

Zhang He and Ma Su's faces changed, they looked at each other, and hurriedly looked towards the south.

really.

On top of that hill, one could vaguely see the camp flag, which clearly showed that there were soldiers camped on the hill.

"This Cao Xiu actually abandoned the city and went up the mountain?"

Zhang He and Ma Su looked at each other again, with the same surprise in their eyes.

The two of them immediately urged their troops and headed straight for Jieting City.

When daybreak came, the main force of the Han army had already reached Jieting City.

As the scouts had reported, at this time, this important city guarding the western entrance of the Longshan Valley Road was empty of Qin soldiers except for a thousand or so civilians.

Zhang He and Ma Su stood on the city gate and could clearly see the southern hilltops, which were densely packed with tents and flags with the word "Cao" on them flying in the morning light.

"This Cao Xiu, he left the city unguarded and actually abandoned it and went up the mountain?"

"What does he think?"

Zhang He stared at the Qin camp on Nanping Mountain with suspicion in his eyes.

Ma Su watched for a long time, but his face showed some appreciation:
"I heard that Cao Xiu is known as the Cao family's talented general, and his military talent is the best among the Cao family's younger generation. It is true that he does not get the title in vain."

"He knew that he couldn't defend Jieting with the troops he had, nor could he withstand the siege of our 30,000 troops, so he had no choice but to resort to the worst strategy."

At this point, Ma Su raised his hand and pointed to Nanping Mountain:

"General Zhang, please look, the three sides of the mountain are extremely steep, forming a natural barrier. Only the north side has a slope that extends down the mountain."

"This is a natural stronghold that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it can make up for the weakness of the Qin army's small number of soldiers."

"This is why Cao Xiu abandoned his camp and went up the mountain."

Zhang He suddenly understood and frowned:
"So, this Cao Xiu is indeed quite capable. Judging from the danger of this mountain, it will be difficult for us to break through it in a short period of time."

Ma Su smiled and pointed toward the mountain:
“Although Nanping Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, its disadvantage is that the water source is at the bottom of the mountain.”

"We don't need to launch a massive attack on the mountain. We only need to block the northern slope and cut off Cao Xiu's access to water. Within three days, the Qin army will be in chaos due to lack of water without a fight."

"By then, his soldiers will be exhausted from thirst and Cao Xiu will have no choice but to risk his life to rush down the mountain. We will take advantage of our leisure time to defeat them."

Zhang He's eyes lit up and he turned his approving look to Ma Su.

"No wonder this guy could become the first number one scholar in the Han Dynasty, and even be trusted by the emperor and Prime Minister Xiao. He really has some wisdom..."

Zhang He secretly praised it, and then his brows relaxed, and he smiled happily:
"Okay, okay, let's follow You Chang's plan. We will cut off Cao Xiu's access to water and force him to come down the mountain and die!" (End of this chapter)