Night is falling, and the evening breeze drives out the heat.

Xuzhou, Cao Jun's camp.

Previously, heavy rain had fallen intermittently for more than ten days, making the ground muddy and making it difficult for the army to attack the city.

Then the weather cleared, and the army could finally continue to attack Tancheng, but the Xuzhou army took advantage of the rain to repair the city, and Shengsheng increased the city wall more than two zhang high to three zhang, and the city defense equipment was piled up, and it was extremely well prepared.

Therefore, even though the Cao army had the ambition to capture Tancheng in one fell swoop, the officers and men of the whole army marched forward bravely, but they were met with the most stubborn resistance of the Xuzhou army and did not retreat.

Since then, after a series of bloody battles, Tancheng is still in Tao Qian's hands, and Cao's army is still stationed in the same place, and he cannot advance an inch.

At this point in the battle, both sides are at the end of the crossbow, and whoever can grit their teeth and hold on to the last moment will be victorious.

But in comparison, the current situation is undoubtedly beneficial to Tao Qian, fighting at home, the right time, place and people are here for him. The Cao army, which has strong combat power, although the soldiers are brave and the lord is wise and wise, there are many unfavorable factors that plague the left and right, and they are in a dilemma.

Around the big tent of the Chinese army, there are flickering torches at a glance, the camp tents are brightly lit, and there are sparse bonfires in all corners of the camp, and the figures are bustling, so lively.

However, at this time, the atmosphere in the big tent of the Chinese army was solemn and very depressing, which was diametrically opposed to the lively scene outside the tent.

"Why don't you speak?" On the main seat, Cao Cao still looked fierce and calm, his expression was calm, his expression was relaxed, and he didn't seem to be worried about the current battle situation at all.

On both sides of the steps, there were more than ten generals of each battalion sitting at this time, among which Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Yu Ban, Le Jin and other major generals sat in the forefront. However, their expressions were solemn at the moment, their brows were tightly locked, and they were sitting in a precarious position, all of them looking bitter and hateful.

Since the siege of the city for several days. Although the Xuzhou army under Tao Qian suffered heavy casualties, almost twice as many as the casualties of the Cao army, Tancheng was still stable and could not be attacked for a long time. The war was not going well, and the generals of the battalions naturally could not be happy.

However, there are not many good strategies that can be used in the siege battle, and all the methods such as luring the enemy out of the city, deceiving the city and defeating the city, attacking the city through tunnels, and attacking the city with fire and flooding have all been used successively, with little effect. In other words, these tactics and strategies may be useful to others, but for Tao Qian, who never thought that he could win against Cao Jun. It's useless at all.

No matter what means Cao Jun uses or what tactics he comes up with, Tao Qian always uses one method to deal with it, that is: defend, defend!

He blocked most of the gates in Tancheng. Only one south gate was left to supply grain and grass, and the entire south of the city was built into an urn city. So it goes. As long as the walls of Tancheng are still there. Before it completely collapsed, the defenders were not dead, and Cao's army did not want to capture the city.

The most important thing is that Tao Qian never thought about what to do with Cao Jun, let alone the extravagant hope of defeating Cao Jun. He did a qiē with only one purpose, that is, to block the attack and burn and plunder of the Cao army at any cost. Forced Cao Cao to retreat. That's all.

The wall is standing thousands of people, and there is no desire.

No matter who encounters an opponent like Tao Qian, he will be distressed, except for attacking and killing Tao Qian, even if he has all kinds of plans, it is in vain.

That's it. In the past month or so, Cao's army has found nothing except the city it had captured before, and it has been blocked under Tancheng for nearly two months, without gaining an inch of land.

After hearing the question of the lord Cao Cao, the generals bowed their heads and remained silent, and their fighting spirit was far less than that of the beginning of the expedition.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Seeing that everyone didn't speak, Admiral Cao Ren coughed a few times, moistened his dry throat, and said in a low voice: "Lord, since the attack on Tancheng, I have used all the methods, and killing tens of thousands of soldiers under Tao Qian's account can be regarded as quite a battle." In the past half a month, the generals of our army have not been afraid of life and death, and have taken the lead in attacking the city, trying to gain a firm foothold on the city tower and take the city in one fell swoop. However, the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei each guarded one door, and their martial arts were strong, and they did not retreat from the battle, and they repeatedly forced us to retreat. Now we have been on the expedition to Xuzhou for more than a few months, and the heavy consumption of grain and grass is huge, and more than 20,000 soldiers have been killed and injured so far. If we can't capture Tancheng to replenish grain and grass in the short term, then we can only retreat to Yanzhou.

Therefore, the end will be built and as many catapults as possible, I don't believe that the city wall of Tancheng is an indestructible copper wall. Within half a month, we will fight to the death with Tao Qian's old man, if we still can't capture this city, then we 、、、 have to withdraw our troops. ”

Cao Ren's words were not so much a suggestion as an excuse for the generals in the tent, but in fact they were also a disguised persuasion to Cao Cao to withdraw his troops.

In fact, Cao Ren asked the army about the grain and grass situation yesterday, and the result was very bad, and the army only had five days' food left. This means that if the army withdraws at this time, it can barely drink some porridge on the way, so as not to return to Yanzhou hungry; If the fight continues, the food will be out of food after four days.

However, Cao Ren would never say such a top-secret thing, so he just falsely claimed that there was still half a month's food in the army, just to reassure the generals of each battalion, so as not to panic and shake the morale of the army.

"Zixiao's words, can the generals have any objections?" Cao Ren's words made Cao Cao's thick eyebrows furrow slightly, and his eyes instantly lost concentration, but this uneasy expression was fleeting and not noticed by anyone.

Obviously, Cao Cao was already moody, and no one could see the clues from his face, let alone his thoughts.

"We have no objections, please decide." The generals in the hall got up one after another and bowed in response.

"Hmm." Cao Cao bowed slightly, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he waved his hand and said, "In this case, do what Zixiao says." It's been a day of bloody fighting, so let's all go down and rest early. ”

"No!" The generals received the order in unison, and then they left the tent one after another, and each of them departed.

After everyone left, the brothers Cao Ren and Cao Hong still stayed in the military tent and never left, still sitting in their respective positions.

"Hey! If Xun Yu was here, he must have a strategy to break the enemy, but unfortunately he stayed in Yanzhou and couldn't get out. Seeing the crowd leaving, the smile on Cao Cao's face instantly disappeared, and he sighed with a gloomy face.

"The lord doesn't have to worry too much, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers. What's more, we have captured most of Xuzhou this time, and we have not been defeated. Cao Ren said with relief.

Cao Cao shook his head slightly, and said in a deep voice: "Zixiao doesn't have to comfort me, and don't be too optimistic. We attacked Xuzhou twice, and although we captured more than ten cities, we did not kill Tao Qian after all. Capture Tancheng. Tao Qian's immortality means that we will not be able to get Xuzhou, as long as our army withdraws, all the cities we occupied before will return to Tao Qian's hands overnight. ”

Speaking of this, Cao Cao's voice paused for a moment, and then he said with some annoyance: "I underestimated Tao Qian's old thief too much before!" I thought that he was over seventy years old, and at best he was just a man who was about to die, and he was dying of old age, and there was nothing to be afraid of. In addition, the Xuzhou army has been sparse for a long time, and its combat strength is weak. Although there are many soldiers and horses, they are vulnerable. I didn't expect it, but it turned out to be like this, undefeated and undefeated, in a dilemma. It's hard to ride a tiger. The reason for this is that I misestimated the influence of Tao Qian's old thief in Xuzhou. It is precisely because of the desire of the people. That's why Tao Qian has been able to stick to it to this day. At present, he still has the strength to resist, but our army is running out of food and grass, and it is difficult to fight for a long time. If Tao Qian doesn't die for a day, I Cao Cao won't be able to capture Xuzhou, and Tao Qian's old thief should die! ”

After hearing these words, Cao Ren and Cao Hong nodded thoughtfully. But the expression on their faces was very heavy, resentful and melancholy.

Immersed in contemplation, Cao Cao faintly heard the sound of the galloping horses of the war horse, and suddenly his expression was shocked. Cao Hong asked urgently: "Has it been a month since Miaocai and Yuan Rang led their troops to follow Li Li?" Hasn't there been any news before? ”

Cao Hong nodded and said, "What Lord Meng 、、、 said is good. It has been a full month since Miaocai left the camp, and it has been more than a month since Yuan Rang's eldest brother led the family dead soldiers to follow Li Li, almost two months. But they had never received any report of their trip before, presumably because Li Li was a thief who was scheming and extremely alert, so that Yu Yuan made them have no time to send someone back to deliver the letter. ”

Cao Hong wanted to call Cao Cao's name, but he felt a palpitation inexplicably when he remembered Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Yuan's brothers, so he immediately changed his words, for fear that Cao Cao would be irritated and angry with him. In addition, although there was a sense of consolation in his words, he was actually comforting himself.

After Cao Cao heard this, his face showed worry, and his fingers lightly tapped on the handsome case, so as to relieve the worry and anxiety in his heart.

Seeing this, Cao Ren said in a low voice: "Miaocai and Yuan Rang will do it together, and there are more than 300 family dead soldiers with him, who are strong and powerful. If Li Li Xiao'er really dared to take risks in person, and there was no personal guard accompanying him, then he would definitely be in danger this time, and he would definitely die in the hands of Yuan Rang and Miaocai. If Li Li hadn't secretly gone south, the two brothers would have returned to Dongjun long ago. In this way, they must have discovered the whereabouts of Li Li's thief, and they led their troops to follow all the way, waiting for an opportunity to attack. If I'm right、、、、、、"

"Report to ——— East County Tanma Urgent!"

An urgent report interrupted Cao Ren's words, and then saw that the pro-soldiers were holding bamboo slips and walked into the tent quickly, while Cao Cao in the handsome position had already gotten up, ran up head-on, grabbed the book slips, and casually signaled the pro-soldiers to retreat.

"Whoa!" Looking through the bamboo slips in a glance and ten rows, Cao Cao's slightly dark and thin cheeks showed a sense of surprise. After reading the book, he looked sluggish, his eyes were full of extremely complicated looks, hesitation, stunned, sadness, surprise and other emotions appeared in his eyes one after another, but in the end he stayed on the surprise. However, the expression on his face was very heavy, faintly sad.

"My lord, what happened?" Seeing Cao Cao's sad expression and stunned, the brothers Cao Ren and Cao Hong hurriedly got up and came to the front.

Cao Cao came to his senses when he heard this, and handed the bamboo slip to Cao Ren without saying a word, and then slowly walked to the handsome seat and sat down.

"Ahh Yuan Rang died? Flipping through the book quickly, Cao Ren exclaimed, and then exclaimed: "More than 300 family members were almost killed and wounded, and only three people remained, including Lian Miaocai, after the war!" How is this—how is this possible? ”

Cao Hong gathered beside Cao Ren, and also saw the contents of the book, and then said with a sluggish face: "Yuan Rang is dead?" Miaocai is dying, and there is more than auspicious? ”

"Li and Li, too, are dead!" Looking at the incredulous shocked expressions of the two brothers Cao Ren and Cao Hong, Cao Cao said word by word in a serious tone.

"This 、、、、、、" Cao Ren and Cao Hong brothers were stunned when they heard this, and the expressions on their faces were also extremely complicated, mixed with joy and sorrow, and mixed feelings.

Xiahou died tragically, Xiahou Yuan was more than lucky, and the Xiahou family was killed and wounded, but they finally dragged Li Li into the torrent and buried him underwater. It's just that the price is too great!

The two Xiahou brothers plus three hundred and twenty dead soldiers braved the rain to assassinate Li Li and his party, which was a battle with a certain victory. However, the result was so unexpected, almost all the troops of the Xiahou brothers were wiped out, and Li Li and his party were the only one Li Li who fell into the water and died, and the rest were all unharmed. From this, it is not difficult to imagine how tragic the battle was that rainy night, and how strong the combat power of Li Li and the others was.

"Yuan let seek benevolence and get benevolence, die heroically, die well!" Just when Cao Ren and Cao Hong were stunned, Cao Cao spoke.

After the Cao Ren brothers woke up when they heard the sound, they saw Cao Cao sighing in a deep voice with relief: "As soon as Xiliang Li Li dies, he will be in a big trouble, and I will wait for no worries after that!" ”

Cao Ren's expression was shocked, and he was still immersed in the pain of Xiahou Dun's death just now, but at this moment, his face was happy. Immediately, he continued: "What the lord said is extremely true. As soon as Li Li died, the 400,000 Xiliang army suddenly lost its generals, and the original good situation in the land of Xiliang Sanzhou would be ruined, and then they would attack each other, and they would fall apart and fight continuously. Since then, the lord only waits for the collapse of Xiliang, and when the Xiliang army is greatly damaged, he waives his troops to advance into the division, and directly takes Guanzhong, such a big thing can be achieved, and hegemony can be expected! ”

Seeing that Cao Cao and Cao Ren were in high spirits, Cao Hong also threw away the sadness in his heart and said: "The land of Xiliang today is completely different from the Xiliang in Dong Zhuo's period. When Dong Zhuo occupied Xiliang, he only had the land of Sanfu and most of the counties of Sili, and the two states of Yongliang were not in his sphere of influence, but now the land of Xiliang is not the same. Two years ago, Li Li Xiaoer swept through Xiliang with his troops, exterminated all the princes of Liangzhou, and unified Xiliang; In the past two years, although the Xiliang Army has not had a major war, it has been expanding its territory all the time. attacked the border of Hetao in the north and wantonly annexed the territory of the Southern Xiongnu; sent troops to Dunhuang in the west to plunder the desert for 3,000 miles; In the southwest, troops were sent to Hehuang and even the West Sea to capture a territory of thousands of miles.

Therefore, under the rule of Xiliang, it is now a veritable land of three states, with more than 100,000 iron cavalry and 200,000 elite infantry troops, and its strength is already above all the princes in the world. Now that Li Li is dead, he will be like a thousand-mile embankment bursting, and he will no longer be as strong as before, and it is inevitable that he will collapse! ”

"Hahaha!" Cao Cao laughed loudly when he heard this, and said loudly with infinite pride: "Li Li died well!" If he doesn't die for a day, he will be like a giant sword hanging over the heads of the princes of the world, so that we will never come out! Now that he's finally dead, we'll see the light of day, and we can finally let go of our hands and feet! ”

"Report to the ——— of the main book, Xun Yu eight hundred miles to expedite the report!"

Just as Cao Cao was laughing loudly, the pro-soldier just now walked into the big tent again and handed the letter to Cao Cao, who was full of smiles.

"Ah———" As soon as he opened the letter, Cao Cao exclaimed angrily, his face full of horror. After reading the letter, he held his head in both hands and fell sideways next to the handsome case, as if he had a splitting headache and was in pain. Immediately, he didn't wait for Cao Ren and Cao Hong to come forward to ask, and immediately said urgently: "Lu Bu thieves led the crowd to sneak attack Yanzhou, and now they have captured most of my Yanzhou city, the situation is urgent!" Immediately give the order to withdraw the troops, and the five thousand iron horsemen will go first, and leave immediately! Go and give the order———"

———————————————— (To be continued)(To be continued......