As the sound of rolling horse hooves became louder and louder, more and more cold sweat appeared on Han Bu's forehead.
The powerful Bingzhou cavalry rushed in front of them, but instead of launching a charge, there was a loud shout.
"Fire arrows."
Following the order, countless arrows flew into the air, like a dark cloud, flying towards Han Bu and others.
Han Bu was so frightened that he cleverly hid under a car almost subconsciously.
Bang bang bang!
Puff!
"Ahhh!"
In just a blink of an eye, with the sound of arrows, screams could be heard one after another in the convoy.
The Bingzhou Cavalry was like a cat catching a mouse when dealing with these grain escort teams, without any pressure.
With the sound of horse hooves rolling and several rounds of arrows flying, there were few people in the entire convoy defending. Most people were hiding under the cars to avoid the flying arrows.
Han Bu's sleepiness was gone at this moment, his eyes were wide open, and he kept looking out from under the car, but from his angle, he could only see countless horse hooves passing in front of him, and the sound of countless arrows piercing the air.
Coming.
Not long after, a roar came from the cavalry, "I'll give you one more chance. Surrender quickly, or we'll kill you without mercy!"
Hearing these words, Han Bu couldn't help but be stunned, and a sense of hope arose in his heart.
Others were faster than him. They had climbed out of the carriage, raised their hands in the air, and shouted in a trembling voice, "Don't shoot the arrows, we surrender."
"If you want to surrender, hold your head with both hands and come out slowly. If you dare to move, let me give you a taste of the power of bows and arrows."
Han Bu, who was hiding under the car, was still hesitating when he saw countless figures walking out from under the car.
"We surrender, please don't shoot any more arrows!"
Many of these soldiers were refugees before. They had just joined Cao's army not long ago, so what's the point of loyalty?
Now that there is a chance to survive, no one is willing to let it go. Most of them hurriedly stood up and walked out, preparing to surrender.
There were also a very small number of people who wanted to resist, but to no avail. Apart from being shot to death by Bingzhou cavalry, they could not make any waves.
……
Cao Hong didn't know what was happening here, and was still desperately chasing Lu Bujun in front.
But it is a pity that Lu Bujun also traveled quickly and finally arrived at Cangting before Cao Hong caught up.
The county magistrate Yu Zhen had already received the news and ordered people to prepare hot water and meals for the army. At the same time, he also ordered the soldiers to strictly guard the city wall.
Cao Hong stood outside the city wall, his face ashen, his teeth chattering, and he roared.
"It's really shameful that we arrived a step too late and allowed them to escape into the city."
Yu Jin looked at the soldiers beside him. They were all weak and exhausted. He couldn't help but sigh, "General Cao, since the enemy has entered the city and the soldiers are tired, let's take a rest."
Cao Hong took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and shouted loudly, "Go down with the order, set up camp, and prepare to rest."
Yu Jin cupped his hands and said with a wry smile, "General Cao, the baggage troops haven't caught up with us yet. I see there is a forest in front of us. Why don't we all go to the woods to have a rest. It won't be too late to set up camp after the baggage troops catch up." Cao Hong just remembered this and sighed, "Okay, let everyone go to the woods to rest."
Having said this, Cao Hong frowned and suddenly said, "After the break, let everyone build the ladder quickly. We must break the city as soon as possible."
Yu Jin nodded and turned around to tell the soldiers to rest.
At the same time, Xia Houyuan, who was waiting in line in Fan County, had been inquiring about Lu Bujun's movements.
"General, Lu Bu's army continues to advance towards Fan County, which is only 50 miles away from here."
Hearing the news, Fan County Magistrate Jin Yun was a little nervous, "General Xiahou, Lu Bu's army has already arrived. There are not many troops in Fan County, how should we deal with it?"
Xia Houyuan frowned and said slowly, "Magistrate Jin, don't be nervous. I have sent someone to deliver a message to the lord. As long as we hold on for a few days, the lord will definitely send troops to support us."
While the two were talking, someone suddenly came to report.
"Reporting to General, Lu Bu's army has stopped and seems to be changing its marching direction."
Upon hearing the news, Xia Houyuan couldn't help but be stunned, "Which direction are they going?"
"It seems like we have to go back the way we came."
Jin Yun was immediately overjoyed, "General Xiahou, that's great. Lu Bujun has gone back, we are fine."
Xia Houyuan's brows furrowed even more tightly, wondering in his heart, why did Lu Bu want to go back?
There are not many soldiers and horses in Fan County now. If Lu Bu attacks with all his strength, he might have a chance to break the city!
But why did Lu Bu give up?
Jin Yun suddenly said, "General Xiahou, why don't you ask General Cao to come back and let us garrison Fan County together?"
Hearing these words, Xia Houyuan nodded and was about to speak when his heart suddenly moved and the expression on his face suddenly froze.
Jin Yun asked tentatively, "General Xiahou, what's wrong with you?"
Xiahou Dun turned to look at Shi Huan on the side and asked slowly, "General Shi, where have General Cao's troops gone?"
Shi Huan cupped his hand and said, "According to the spies' report, we should continue to pursue Lu Bu's army along that route."
A chill suddenly rose in Xia Houyuan's heart, and he asked tentatively, "General Shi, where did that group of Lu Bu's troops go?"
Shi Huan thought for a while, "It should be retreating in the direction of Cangting."
At this point, Shi Huan's expression changed, "General Xiahou, do you suspect that Lu Bu's army withdrew because he wanted to deal with General Cao?"
Xia Houyuan nodded, "Other than this possibility, how could Lu Bu's army retreat?"
Seeing Xia Houyuan's ugly face, Shi Huan hurriedly waved his hand, "General Xiahou, don't worry. Even if Lu Bu's army goes back, General Cao has 15,000 troops. I'm afraid it won't be that easy for Lu Bu's army to win."
After hearing these words, Xia Houyuan felt relieved and nodded.
Lu Bu's army has a total of about 15,000 troops and horses, which is as many as Cao Hong's troops. Even if the two armies confront each other, they will not lose easily.
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But!
Xia Houyuan turned his head and looked at Shi Huan, and said slowly, "General Shi, how many troops and horses are there in the city now?"
Shi Huan bowed his hand and said, "During this period, we gathered some more soldiers. Adding the original strength of the city, the total strength should be around 5,000."
Xia Houyuan stood up, frowned, and paced back and forth in the room. After a long time, he slowly said, "The situation is critical now. It may take some time to wait for the main attack to arrive.
Lu Bu's retreat now must be to deal with General Cao. We cannot sit idly by and ignore it."
Having said this, Xia Houyuan turned to look at Jin Yun, "Magistrate Jin, I will leave you 1,000 soldiers and horses. I will take 4,000 soldiers and horses to chase Lu Bu."
Hearing this, Jin Yun was startled and asked in a trembling voice, "General Xiahou, only 1,000 troops and horses are left. Isn't that a little small? What should we do if Lu Bu comes back?"
Xia Houyuan waved his hand, "Mr. Jin, don't worry, Lu Bu has retreated, and no one will attack Fan County."
……
It was just dawn, and the sun was shining on the branches. Cao Jun, who had rested for the night, arrived in front of the city carrying a simple ladder that he had made overnight.
Following Cao Hong's order, countless Cao Jun soldiers immediately rushed towards the city wall carrying ladders.
"Kill!"
"Ahhh!"
Cao Hong stared at the city with murderous eyes, gritted his teeth and said, "Today, I must capture the city."
Soon, Cao Jun's soldiers rushed within the attack range of the defenders, immediately attracting countless arrows that flew down in the air.
"Ahhh!"
Although Hao Meng was still a little tired, she felt much better after a night's rest.
"Archers, shoot hard and drive them back."
Cao didn't say anything, but took out a strong bow and fired arrows at the Cao soldiers who were rushing over.
His archery skills are excellent. Every time an arrow is shot, one of Cao's soldiers will scream and fall to the ground.
Whoosh!
Arrows fell from the sky like raindrops, and some of the charging Cao soldiers were constantly hit by arrows and fell to the ground. But at this time, morale was at its peak, and no one cared about it. They were all yelling as hard as they could, and kept moving toward the city wall.
Edge charge.
Soon, Cao Jun's soldiers rushed to the city wall. Following the order, everyone worked together to put up the long ladder on the city wall.
The elite soldiers of Cao's army, who were already ready to go, immediately jumped onto the ladder and rushed towards the city wall with a big sword in their mouths.
Not to be outdone, the soldiers guarding the city kept throwing stones and wood downwards to knock down the Cao soldiers who were rushing up.
The morale of both sides was high and they refused to give in to each other. Countless Cao soldiers fell from the ladders, but more soldiers rushed up again.
The soldiers guarding the city were not without losses. The archers of Cao's army standing in the distance saw someone who dared to lean out near the city wall, and immediately drew their bows and fired arrows.
Whoosh!
Although the battle lasted only a short time, Hao Meng was already sweating profusely, his voice was hoarse, and he kept roaring.
"Don't be stunned, throw stones quickly and hit them down."
Cao didn't even bother to fire arrows anymore and kept running on the city wall, commanding the soldiers to defend the city.
Although the county magistrate Yu Zhen did not step forward to command the battle, he directed the civilians under the city wall and constantly moved the defense materials to the city wall.
"Kill!"
"Ahhh!"
Standing in the distance, Yu Jin frowned slightly when he saw how fierce the battle between the two sides was. After thinking about it carefully, he quickly came to Cao Hong and whispered.
"General Cao, it seems they have been prepared!"
Cao Hong was stunned, turned his head and looked at Yu Jin, frowned and asked, "General Yu, how do you say this?"
Yu Jin frowned and said, "General Cao, look, there are a lot of supplies on the city wall. Even though we have been sieging the city for so long, there is still no shortage.
Even if they prepare overnight, there is absolutely no way they can prepare so many supplies, so I guess they have expected that we will come, so they have prepared a lot of supplies to defend the city."
Cao Hong snorted coldly, "So what, as long as our army attacks with all its strength, we will definitely be able to break the city!"
Yu Jin shook his head and said with a wry smile, "General Cao, since they have been prepared for a long time, I dare to ask why they were prepared for a long time. Did they expect that we would come here to attack the city?"
Having said this, Yu Jin frowned even more tightly and turned his head to look at the city wall in the distance, "I'm worried if they expect us to come?"
Just as he said this, he suddenly heard a burst of confusion from behind and a burst of rapid footsteps. He couldn't help but stop talking and turned around to look.
Several soldiers with disheveled armor and staggering steps hurried over from behind.
"General Qi, that's not good. Lu Bu's army sneak attacked our army's supply troops."
Hearing these words, Cao Hong felt a buzz in his mind, his eyes suddenly widened, and he looked at the person coming in disbelief.
"What did you say? The transport troops were attacked by surprise?"
"The whole army may have been wiped out now. A few of us took advantage of the chaos to escape and rushed over to report the news to the general."
Cao Hong stared at the soldier in front of him, suddenly roared, and stepped forward to grab him, "How could this happen? I left 3,000 soldiers and horses, how could I be attacked by them?"
The soldier gasped and said, "General, these are the Bingzhou Cavalry. They are all cavalry. We can't stop them!"
"Ah!" Cao Hong shouted, "Bingzhou Cavalry, how is this possible?"
Yu Jin stepped forward and asked, "You mean, they all took it away?"
"They were all taken away, nothing is left."
Yu Jin's expression changed, and he screamed in his heart. He hurriedly turned his head to look at Cao Hong, and said in a trembling voice, "General Cao, this is terrible, they have taken away the food!"
Cao Hong felt that his mind went blank, with only Yu Jin's voice constantly echoing in his mind.
"The food was taken away!"
This time, in order to catch up with Lu Bu's army in front, they only brought two days' worth of food. They thought they would be able to get replenished when the troops behind them caught up.
However, the food was robbed, and the people on my side did not bring much food.
This?
Won’t we soon be in a state of food shortage!
Thinking of the horror of food shortage, cold sweat gradually broke out on Cao Hong's forehead. He suddenly reacted and shouted loudly, "They must not have gone far, let's go after them."
The soldier said with a mournful face, "General, I can't catch up. The food was taken away last night and I don't know where it went now."
There were beads of sweat on Yu Jin's forehead. After thinking for a long time, he hurriedly raised his hands to Cao Hong and said, "General, should we stop attacking the city?"
Cao Hong looked at Yu Jin with wide eyes and asked slowly, "You said we should stop attacking the city?"
Yu Jin nodded, "General Cao, our army didn't bring much food to begin with, and now I'm afraid the food left is less than a day.
If we continue to attack the city and fail to capture it after one day, the soldiers will starve. By then, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Cao Hong turned his head and looked at the city wall where the fierce fighting was taking place. His eyes were full of unwillingness. After a long time, he suddenly sighed and waved weakly.
"Send the order and withdraw the troops."
Yu Jin smiled bitterly and said, "General Cao, there is nothing we can do now. Let's return to Fan County as soon as possible. In addition, we will send someone to Fan County to deliver the message. Maybe we can still hold on to the place."
Cao Hong was already confused and nodded, "General Yu, just do as you say and send someone back to deliver the message."
After the siege soldiers withdrew, before they knew what was going on, Cao Hong had already disembarked and returned immediately.
On the city wall, Hao Meng looked at Cao Jun going away and breathed a sigh of relief.
Cao Hong walked over with a smile and said, "General Hao, it seems that Marquis Wen has succeeded. Otherwise, Cao's army would not have retreated."