Chapter 99 Counterattack against Cao Bao
The only difference is that Zang Ba from Kaiyang has already finished his lunch.
Zang Ba’s face naturally cannot be better-looking than Wu Dun. Even if he has much more troops than Wu Dun, Kaiyang City is not comparable to Jiqiu City.
Kaiyang City is the capital of Langya Kingdom, and later the county seat of Langya County. It has a prosperous economy, fertile land, and prosperous culture. It is located at the bifurcation of Yishui River and has extremely convenient waterway transportation.
Therefore, the prime ministers and county guards of Langya in the past dynasties have repeatedly reinforced Kaiyang, making Kaiyang city easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Kaiyang City is two feet and three feet high, with a base of five feet and a top width of six feet. The walls are three miles and seventeen steps (one step is equivalent to 1.4 meters in today's measurement unit). Not only is it surrounded by water on three sides, it is not afraid of siege, but also attracts The Yishui River surrounds the city, and the deep ditches and barriers can be described as daunting.
The entire city wall has a total of 866 battlements, 14 watchtowers, and four city gates.
Although Zang Ba only had 4,000 defenders, they were all capable of conquering A veteran soldier who is accustomed to fighting, his fighting ability is astonishing. What's more, there are tens of thousands of people in Kaiyang City, and thousands of strong soldiers can be easily mobilized as auxiliary troops to go into battle to kill the enemy when necessary.
Kaiyang is an impregnable city, and it has always been a close and important place that Zang Ba relies on for his foundation. Naturally, it is managed with care and is very popular among the people.
For such a solid city that has the support of the people and is heavily defended, the enemy would never be able to break the city unless they drop thousands of corpses.
But Zang Ba himself knew that the city now had a fatal weakness, that is, the treasury was running out of food.
“Damn the Mi family.”
At this point, it is definitely impossible to hide the matter any longer. Zang Ba didn’t react at all.
The Mi family must have completely turned to Liu Bei. The previous purchase of grain was also based on the idea of consuming Kaiyang's stored grain. He must have been deceived by them.
Zang Ba was filled with hatred. At first, he thought it was too crazy for the Mi family to use their reputation to help Liu Bei. Aren't they afraid of ruining their own brand?
But when I thought about it carefully, I realized that the Mi family didn't seem to have lost anything.
On the surface, the Mi family came to collect grain, and they promised to sell it, and they also paid for it, and the price was still high. The transaction was reasonable and you were willing to do it.
More importantly, how can this be spread?
You can't just say that you were fooled and deceived by the Mi family when you meet someone. He gave me real money and silver to buy me food just so that Liu Bei could sneak attack me?
Zang Ba himself felt embarrassed.
Not to mention that even if Zang Ba is completely shameless, he still has to defeat the Xuzhou Army first, otherwise he will lose his life, and there is no need to talk about revenge.
Zang Ba could only try to control his temper and make calculations in his heart.
The food in the warehouse right now is only enough for them to eat for two or three weeks at most. Even if they plunder private food, I am afraid it can only last for one or two months at most.
Can reinforcements come within two months?
This question will only make Zang Ba despair, because he can't even find anyone to ask for help.
Cao Cao and Xuzhou are mortal enemies. If he dared to ask Cao Cao for help, the people in Kaiyang City would be able to rebel against him first. Zang Ba was able to win over the people so quickly in Kaiyang because when Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou, he forced him to retreat. Cao Hong preserved Kaiyang and its surrounding counties.
What's more, Zang Ba is not sure whether Cao Cao is willing to save him or whether he can save him.
Huainan Yuan Shu is a good partner, and Zang Ba has always been in contact with him.
It's a pity that the other party is beyond reach, and they have to pass through Liu Bei's territory on the way to ask for help.
Kong Rong in the north has always been on good terms with Liu Bei, and it is impossible for him to send troops to help him in turn.
Xiao Jian, the prefect of Langya, is his old enemy but also has no real abilities.
Even if the other party is willing to help him regardless of past suspicions, it will only result in the death of Liu Bei's Xuzhou Army.
As for Chang Xi, Sun Guan, Sun Kang, Yin Li and others, I am afraid that they are all as vulnerable as Wu Dun now.
Zang Ba suddenly felt that the world was so big that no one could help him.
Standing at the head of Kaiyang City, watching Liu Beijun outside the city set up camp step by step, cutting off his road connections with the outside world.
They began to dig earth and walls and build fortifications, as if they were not in any hurry to attack.
Zang Ba's heart fell straight into the ice cellar, and his bones were numb from the cold.
Zang Ba suddenly shouted: "Here comes someone!"
"General!"
A group of trusted generals gathered around him.
"Zhang Yu, Guan Zhu, and Lu Ling, summon your soldiers to wear armor and follow me to fight!"
Zang Ba knew that he must not let this group of Liu Bei's troops siege the city successfully, otherwise his side would never be able to last.
Only when the opponent has just arrived and is not yet firmly established, can we have a chance to win.
"Yes! General!"
Zhang Yu, Guan Zhu and Lu Ling are all powerful generals under Zang Ba. They all have the power of Xiong Zhu and must be the first in every battle. Yes Zang Bayi was a fierce general in Qiancheng.
Immediately after receiving the order, the two men hurried down to the city to order troops, while Zang Ba stood on the city wall and continued to observe the enemy's situation and look for opportunities.
In his opinion, the two groups of enemies below are divided into two groups, with more on the right and fewer on the left. There are about seven or eight thousand enemies on the right, but their military discipline is lax and their movement is slow.
Although the troops on the left only had 4,000 men, nearly half less, they acted quickly and had high morale.
Zang Ba knew that if he wanted to fight, he must hit the right side first.
Although there are many enemies, they are easy to defeat. Once the breakthrough is successful and causes internal chaos in the enemy, a great victory is just around the corner.
But the problem is that the enemies on the left are not all fools. They can only watch but not move.
Once the enemy on the left wing moves and attacks your abdomen and back, the worst will be done to your own side.
If you want to block the opponent's left wing and defeat the enemy's right wing at the same time, there is only one conclusion.
The more Zang Ba thought about it, the clearer it became that he would either attack with his entire army or not attack at all.
It is better to just retreat after getting a small advantage than to stick to the city.
"The whole army attacks! Give you two moments and the whole army will gather at the north gate. Anyone who delays will be killed immediately!"
The generals took orders and went down to the city to gather troops and horses.
Although Zang Ba has made a decision, the pressure in his heart is getting bigger and bigger.
Is Liu Bei crazy?
Isn’t he afraid that Cao Cao and Yuan Shu will steal his home?
I didn't rebel against you, nor did I collude with you... Do you need such a big battle to deal with me?
Zang Ba felt angry, aggrieved, and slightly guilty. He stared at Liu Jun's formation fiercely, trying to find a good breakthrough.
Two moments passed quickly, and the troops had been assembled.
Zang Ba knew that he could not delay any longer. Once the opponent's fortifications were raised, he would really become a turtle in the urn.
“Attack!”
Zang Ba hurried down the city, got on his horse, and shouted loudly to the soldiers around him: "The thieves do not know their own strength and attack me for no reason. Today, I will advance and retreat together with you. I will not return to the city until I defeat the thieves!"
"I will never return the city until I defeat the bandits!"
Zang Ba's direct troops are much better trained and better equipped than Wu Dun's troops.
There are thousands of people here who have accompanied him to raid hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans. They are rich in experience and skilled in combat. They are veterans who have been in battle for a long time. Their equipment is much better than that of other soldiers. Almost all of them have One piece of full armor.
The city gates were wide open, and the Taishan army soldiers and horses came out of the city one after another. The formation was strict and they could be called elite soldiers.
Liu Bei's army outside the city was also prepared. When he saw Taishan's army coming out of the city to counterattack, he was not surprised at all and changed his formation step by step.
Soon, the Xiapi Army on the left relied on the semi-formed fortifications to form a defensive formation, while Zhang Fei's troops on the side dragged back about a mile, with their sides open. When the enemy comes to attack the Pijun soldiers, Cao Bao's troops and Zhang Fei's troops can all attack in a straight line and attack the enemy's flanks.
If the incoming enemy dares to directly attack Zhang Fei's headquarters, it will be equivalent to leaving the flank directly to Cao Bao and Xiapi County soldiers, and the end will be even worse.
Zang Ba is also experienced, how could he be fooled like this.
He went straight towards Cao Bao's troops according to the original plan.
At the same time, a branch was set up to cover the flanks. If Zhang Fei's troops wanted to attack from the flank, they must first defeat this branch of Taishan's army.
The place where Chen Deng deployed his formation was about three or four miles away from the Taishan city wall. The vanguard of the Taishan army soon came into contact with Cao Bao's Danyang army.
The two sides began a fierce battle.
Although Cao Bao's level is not high, he is still a veteran general after all, and he was once the number one general under Tao Qian, so he still has some abilities. He divided his troops into four groups, each with 2,000 men, and formed separate formations.
The central army formed two formations, one on the left and one on the left. Cao Bao drew a group of 500 people from each of the two wings, and he and more than a hundred personal soldiers were in the center as a reserve team.
Zang Ba was desperate and ordered the entire army to dispatch, leaving only hundreds of auxiliary troops to guard the city.
Fortunately, Kaiyang City is surrounded by water on three sides. If you want to sneak attack on the city, you will easily be attacked by Zang Ba’s tribe and the city, but you don’t have to worry about your retreat being cut off.
Zang Ba divided the four thousand men into a group of one thousand men, led by Sima Luling from another department, who were responsible for blocking Chen Deng and Zhang Fei's troops.
Lu Ling is a warrior whose prowess is second only to Guan Zhu and Zhang Yu. This time he was entrusted with an important task by Zang Ba. He wanted to stop Chen Deng's troops and buy time for the main force to defeat Cao Bao.
After that, Zang Ba used the remaining three thousand men, using Guan Zhu as the arrowhead, and pressed them all, hoping to pierce through the Danyang army's formation in one go.
Don’t ask Lu Ling’s group of thousands to block it for too long. As long as the opponent can block it for an hour, it will be enough for him to defeat Cao Bao’s formation.
The morale of the Taishan army was high. Although they attacked more with less, they showed no fear and slowly approached.
At the eighty-step mark, the Danyang soldiers began to throw their bows and arrows, and a large number of arrows fell from the sky.
The Taishan troops raised their shields one after another. Most of the arrows were blocked by the shields. Only a few unlucky ones were pierced by the arrows that penetrated through the gaps in their insteps, calves, arms and other places, and screamed in agony. Voice.
The attrition caused by bows and arrows was not serious, and most of the arrows were blocked by shields.
Those with minor injuries who are still able to move will continue to follow the team, while those with more serious injuries and lying directly on the ground have basically no chance of survival and will almost die at the feet of their comrades. .
This is the cruelty of war.
Most of the people still remained silent and continued to approach the Danyang military formation unswervingly. The archers of the Taishan Army also began to counterattack, throwing missiles at the opponent's formation. The main purpose was to disrupt the opponent's formation. Military formation.
When the military formations of both sides approached twenty steps, both sides burst into loud shouts at the same time, and then charged together.
This kind of charge is not a full sprint, but closer to a quick step. Try to maintain the formation as much as possible. The main purpose is to use the impact of running to suppress the opponent and disrupt the opponent's formation.
At this time, the battle entered the stage of hand-to-hand combat. Both sides used brave men as their spearheads, trying to break the enemy's formation, then go deep into it, squeeze the opponent, and finally defeat the enemy.
This is called defeating the enemy.
Guan Zhu is indeed very brave. He holds a long sword and can open and close it widely.
With one strike of the knife, the enemy in front of him was split into two, and the hot blood spilled out, along with the minced meat and intestines, spraying onto the people around him, it was like hell.
Then, Guan Zhu strode forward, drew a semicircle in the air with his long knife, slashed sideways, and directly gutted the two Danyang warriors who fought back from right to left.
Following this, he slashed left and right. After a fierce attack, he actually killed seven or eight people and opened a small gap in the opposite formation.
Encouraged by Guan Zhu, the morale of the Taishan army was greatly shaken, and they swarmed in, rushing inward along the gap, and at the same time pushing the battle line to crush the Danyang soldiers.
The Danyang soldiers could not stand their strength and retreated slightly, but they were frustrated after just one encounter.
Cao Bao was immediately furious and loudly encouraged him. At the same time, he sent flying cavalry to warn the military commanders in the front formation that if he retreated again, he would be killed immediately.
Captain Cao Ruyi was Cao Bao's nephew. He knew that his old uncle was really angry, so he didn't dare to neglect him.
Seeing the extraordinary bravery of the opponent's vanguard general, Cao Ruyi felt that he was no match for the opponent, and none of his soldiers were so good at martial arts, so he could only think of other ways.
So, he secretly called some strong crossbowmen to prepare for a surprise attack on Guan Zhu.
This can also be regarded as Cao Ruyi's treasure. Such a heavy crossbow can penetrate even iron armor as long as the distance is within thirty steps.
Cao Ruyi secretly calculated in his heart that even though the opponent was so fierce, it would boost the morale of the Taishan Army.
But as long as his strategy succeeds and the opponent is successfully shot, the morale of the Taishan Army will definitely turn from high to low. At that time, he can personally lead a group of soldiers to counterattack and catch the Taishan Army by surprise.
Guan Zhu didn't know Cao Ruyi's plan, he just felt that the Danyang soldiers in front of him kept retreating, so he became more and more courageous as he fought, cutting deeply into the enemy formation in the middle, and actually made a convex shape, and the surrounding Taishan soldiers also Inspired by it, he howled and marched forward bravely.
Guan Zhu once again beheaded a Qu Junhou who wanted to surround him with more than a dozen soldiers, but suddenly found that everything was clear in front of him.
He took a closer look and saw that thirty steps ahead, there were three crossbowmen lined up in a row.
These crossbowmen were arranged in a row of three. The front row squatted, the back row bent their knees, and the last row stood. The nine-shot heavy crossbow was aimed at Guan Zhu.
Guan Zhu shouted loudly, threw away the long knife in his hand, and used both his left and right hands to lift up the two armored corpses in front of him and block them in front of his body.
I could only hear the sound of swishing crossbow arrows, all of them piercing the corpse, but not a single arrow hurt Guan Zhu.
Guan Zhu threw away the body and picked up the long knife again. The soldiers around him rushed over to protect him, but he pushed him away hard.
Guan Zhu Changdao pointed forward: "The Danyang thieves are weak and can only hurt people with hidden arrows. Even if they want to sneak attack Nai Weng, they will not be able to do it. What do you have to fear from such cowards? Follow me and break the formation. ! Kill the thief for the general!"
After roaring, Guan Zhu Fenyong took the lead. Seeing Guan Zhu's bravery and fearlessness, the surrounding Taishan soldiers were all excited. They followed closely and rushed forward, causing the Danyang soldiers to rush forward. The formation began to loosen up.
Cao Ruyi's idea was very good, but he never expected that the other party was not dead.
Not only was he not dead, he was not even injured, and he even brought people screaming at him
Cao Ruyi was sweating profusely, and he also knew that the only way now was to bring his own soldiers. Countercharge with the reserve team, even if they can't kill Guan Zhu, they can at least hold the opponent back.
As long as it can be delayed, the military formation will not be broken and there will still be a fight.
But looking at the fierce Guan Zhu, Cao Ruyi couldn't move at all.
Cao Ruyi could only ask the military commander to lead the counterattack.
The commander of the military camp was also scared, but he did not dare to disobey the military order after all. He led the military soldiers of the military camp and rushed towards Guan Zhu.
Guan Zhu was not afraid at all, and came forward with his own soldiers. Both sides only charged, and seven or eight fell down.
Guan Zhu is still very brave, and the fierce battle between the two sides has become intense. No one on the Danyang soldiers side can stop Guan Zhu, and they can only rely on human lives to continue to fill the gap.
Seeing Guan Zhu directly kill the soldiers in front of him, he also personally strangled to death the soldier who led the counterattack.
This horrific scene not only frightened the surrounding Danyang soldiers, but even Cao Ruyi, who was watching the battle from a distance, was stunned.
Guan Zhu soon discovered Cao Ruyi and showed him a ferocious smile. He wiped his neck with the big knife in his hand, which showed his ferocity.
At this moment, Cao Ruyi could no longer suppress the fear in his heart, and actually turned around and ran away.
Guan Zhu had already set his sights on him. When he saw him turning around and running away, he burst into laughter and shouted at the top of his voice: "Your general has already escaped. What are you waiting for? Hurry up." Run! "
The Danyang soldiers were doubtful, and some of them were timid and couldn't help but look back. When they saw Cao Ruyi's running back, they were immediately in an uproar.
The resistance was already very difficult, and the deformed former army formation began to rapidly disintegrate, and a large number of soldiers followed Cao Ruyi and turned around and ran away.
Cao Bao jumped up and down watching from behind, while Zang Ba was ecstatic.
“Guan Zhu Qian is so beautiful!”
Zang Ba was full of momentum: “Let Zhang Yu step forward to take over Guan Zhu as the leader and drive the rebels towards the opponent’s rear formation!”
“Come here, wear armor, I will personally take Cao Bao’s head!”
Zang Ba seemed to have seen the dawn of victory. He wanted to completely defeat Cao Bao's Danyang troops before Chen Deng's troops in the west could move.
The remaining Chen Deng troops may be completely frightened and may flee overnight.
Zang Ba swept away the depression in his chest, Liu Bei was nothing more than that!
When I attack Tancheng myself, I would like to ask Liu Bei why he dared to sneak attack on me.
Cao Bao hurriedly ordered his soldiers and supervisors to come forward to supervise the battle, so that the broken troops could leave the battlefield from both wings and not attack their own formation.
After all, the Danyang soldiers were veterans who had been fighting for a long time. Most of them still had this awareness and knew how to run to both sides. Only a few people who got carried away were still running towards the formation, and they encountered a wave of arrows. .
Then I heard the supervisors and soldiers holding gleaming swords, shouting at them and running in both directions.
Those who were lucky enough to escape the arrows and ran fast were directly pushed down in front of the formation by the supervising team and had their heads chopped off on the spot.
With such operations, the rear formation was prevented from being collided by broken troops, causing the Taishan soldiers to rush into the formation, resulting in a complete collapse.
(End of this chapter)