In the evening, before it was completely dark, Xu Huang, standing on the tower, saw new changes in the Han army outside.
They were divided into several groups and surrounded Nancheng and Beicheng from the north, south and left sides of Puban.
After arriving at Nancheng and Beicheng, they began to cut down forest trees outside the city, or used the waste from the fences that Xu Huang had repaired before, and then moved them over to camp directly.
Generally speaking, when besieging an enemy's city, you will often surround it with three towers and one tower, which is more in line with military common sense.
But there is another sentence in "Sun Tzu's Art of War": surround the enemy ten times!
In other words, when encircling the enemy, the force required is often several times or even ten times that of the enemy to be able to achieve this.
Historically, Yuan Shao's military strength was about three times that of Cao's army during the Battle of Guandu, but even so, he did not completely surround Cao Cao's camp. Cao Cao was still able to transport grain and grass from the rear to the camp in Guandu, which shows how difficult it was to siege the city.
Now Shen Chen's military strength is far inferior to that of Yuan Shao. In this way, the Han army that was originally camped outside the West City was divided into the South City and the North City, further weakening his own forces.
Seeing this scene, Xu Huang was very puzzled.
The Han army only had 50,000 to 60,000 troops. Although they were not as numerous as the Han army, they could still garrison the city and even a hundred thousand people might not be able to capture it in a short period of time.
Why would the other side dare to divide their forces?
Aren't you afraid that after the troops are divided, the troops at each city gate will become weaker, so you must concentrate your troops to break through all the way, or break them one by one?
Xu Huang looked at the situation outside with a serious face.
General Lu Jian said: "General, the enemy has suddenly divided its forces at this time. If we take the opportunity to raid them, will we have unexpected effects?"
"Um."
Xu Huang thought it made sense, thought for a moment, pointed to the north and said: "Go and have a look outside the North City Gate. If there is an opportunity, that would be the best."
With that said, they left the west city gate and headed towards the north city gate.
After a while, they arrived at the north city gate and looked to the north. About ten thousand Han troops with a large amount of supplies began to set up camp on the vast plain four or five miles away from the city gate. They seemed not to worry at all that Cao's army in the city would raid them.
"They are a bit far away. If we leave the city immediately, Shen Chen's reinforcements outside the west city gate may come over immediately."
Lu Jian saw this scene and knew that it might not be easy to launch a surprise attack.
Although the enemy may not be able to react within a short period of time after the surprise attack, Shen Chen himself has brought about 20,000 people outside the west city gate to guard against their attack. If they take action here, they will definitely be able to react there.
Another general, Yang Ping, said in a deep voice: "Shen Chen is not an easy person. This is most likely his strategy. Once we make a surprise attack, he will be able to rush to our rescue and cut off our retreat."
"Let's take a look first."
Lu Jian thought it made sense and suggested waiting and seeing first.
"Report!"
At this time, the scouts watching in the West City reported to Xu Huang: "The enemy has returned the soldiers and horses stationed outside the West City to the camp."
"oh?"
Yang Ping said in surprise: "They went back?"
"Yes."
The scout replied: "I have seen it with my own eyes."
Lu Jian immediately said to Xu Huang: "General, the soldiers and horses they were on guard withdrew from the main camp. Aren't the camps outside Beicheng isolated and helpless? At least the Han troops outside the West City gathered again to assist Beicheng. It would be a long time.
, not as good as us”
"Well"
Xu Huang hesitated.
Seeing his hesitation, Yang Ping also persuaded him: "General, this opportunity is not to be missed."
"Let me think."
Xu Huang frowned and began to think deeply.
He always felt something was wrong.
The main reason was that Shen Chen's military operations made him feel uneasy. It was unreasonable to besiege the city with few soldiers.
Unless the opponent is sure of winning.
Otherwise, if the other side doesn't concentrate its forces to attack one gate, why would it dare to divide its troops into three to encircle it?
Where does the confidence come from?
Could it be that Zhu Ling in the north was defeated?
Xu Huang unconsciously thought of Zhu Ling's situation.
Cao Zhen's army on the western front was the largest, about 50,000 to 60,000, his side was second, with about 30,000, and Zhu Ling's was the smallest, with only more than 10,000.
This time the Han army launched a sudden attack. Zhao Yun had fewer troops than Cao Zhen, so he was definitely no match for Cao Zhen. All he had to do was wait until Cao Zhen defeated Zhao Yun and then come to his aid.
The only thing that needs to be worried is Zhu Ling's side.
But yesterday he and Zhu Ling communicated with each other, and there was nothing unusual about the situation there. Pound did not cross the river immediately to attack, so it was impossible for it to fall so quickly.
Or there is something wrong with you.
Xu Huang carefully thought about his layout, relying on Puban and Jiecheng, and providing grain and grass in the rear area outside Jiucheng, dragging the Han army along the river.
There is no problem.
The Han army did not have cavalry, and its troops were not overly overwhelming and could not march straight in. It was unreasonable for the enemy to be so bold as to besiege the city, which was incomprehensible.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Huang was still a little confused, but after thinking for a long time, he did not choose to send troops out of caution. He said to the two lieutenants: "Shen Chen is full of tricks and must set up an ambush. Don't move lightly."
Yang Ping and Lu Jian were immediately disappointed. For a moment, they thought that Xu Huang was afraid of the Han like a tiger. It would inevitably make them a little unhappy.
However, as the sun set and it was getting dark, Shen Chen, who had yet to see Cao Jun's attack, was still at the gate of the village looking regretfully at Puban City several miles away.
The Han army camp behind him has just erected the wall, and each battalion headquarters is setting up tents. As for the trenches, towers, earth mountains, trapping horse pits, Juma and other series of camp defenses, none of them have been built yet. .
Not only his side, but also the Han army in Beicheng and Nancheng. The Han army is still in the stage of building forts. They have just put up fences and tents on the first day. They are extremely weak and it is the best time to attack.
Unfortunately, Xu Huang was not fooled.
Yes.
Shen Chen's side was indeed deliberately trying to lure Cao Jun out by selling a flaw.
The Han army would definitely gain an advantage in the fierce battle between the two sides in the field. Although he withdrew his troops back to the camp, he ordered the soldiers not to take off their armor and to be ready to support other camps from the north and south gates at any time.
The two camps in the north and south are relatively far away from the city wall. If Cao Jun fights out, if they want support, they will be able to arrive less than a quarter of an hour later than Cao Jun at most.
What's more important is that all the cavalry of Cao's army have been transferred to Jiucheng at this time. It is not that fast to rush back immediately because of the long distance. Even if they ride hard, they will be half-dead from exhaustion when they reach the battlefield and have little combat effectiveness.
So Shen Chen is definitely not afraid of fierce battles in the wild.
In addition, there is another point, that is, if the news of the burning of food and grass in Jiucheng reaches Cao Jun, the morale of Cao Jun, who is in the midst of a battle, will inevitably drop sharply, and may even collapse directly.
In this way, he could use the northern and southern camps as bait and easily defeat the opponent.
Now that Xu Huang is holding back, Xu Huang will have a lot of room for maneuver when the cavalry heading to Jiucheng discover the situation later and report it to Xu Huang.
For example, they could conceal the information for the time being and continue to hold on with the food and grass in the city, or find a way to break out of the encirclement and wait for Cao Zhen's reinforcements to come to rescue them.
No matter what, Xu Huang's side must have a way to stabilize the situation, and it will be much more difficult to attack the city in the future than it is now.
But Shen Chen was not in such a bad mood.
Because it doesn't matter even if the opponent is not led out of the city. Without follow-up food and grass, the worst case scenario is that the city will continue to be surrounded.
If Xu Huang had come out, he would have died faster. If he had not come out and huddled, he would have died slowly after the forts in the north and south were built and the encirclement was formed.
The final result was that Shen Chen spent half a year here, waiting for all the food and grass inside to run out and all Cao's army starved to death.
certainly.
Cao Zhen in the south still needs to be on guard.
He has already sent people to set up an ambush at Lei Shou Mountain. If Cao Zhen repels Zhao Yun and crosses the river to Fenglingdu, he will surely reap the rewards.
The situation between the two sides slowly passed in such a strange and silent silence.
Xu Huang has not received news of the fall of Jiucheng until now. After all, when he sent people there, both Deng Ai and Jiang Wei had burned, killed, looted and fled. There was a time difference of nearly an hour.
It was not until dusk, that is, around eight o'clock in the evening, that the sound of galloping horse hooves appeared outside Puban's east city.
Xu Shang hurried back. He did not bring 10,000 cavalry into the city. Instead, he asked all the cavalry to go to Zhangyang Zepan to rest and recuperate, and he came back with hundreds of cavalry.
Zhang Yangze was the Wu surnamed Hu in Yongji City in later generations. The reason why Xu Shang did not dare to retreat with his army to Puban was because if he came back directly, if he encountered an enemy setting up an ambush, the whole army might be wiped out when the horses were exhausted. risk.
Therefore, he could only come back alone, showing a certain degree of military literacy.
At least for now, the military quality of the entire Cao Wei and Han army generals is relatively high. Except for top commanders such as Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang, and Guan Yu, ordinary generals are more than enough to serve as tribal leaders among any border ethnic minority.
This is due to the continuous wars that lasted for forty years from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties. From the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 AD to the present in 228 AD, the 44 years of war were enough to cultivate a large number of outstanding generals.
Xu Shang arrived at the city, gave the password to confirm his identity, and then entered the city. When he learned that Xu Huang was now on the Beicheng Tower, he almost galloped towards the Beicheng Tower.
After a while, Xu Shang ran to the Puban North Gate Tower, sweating profusely, and shouted to Xu Huang: "General!"
Xu Huang turned around and saw Xu Shang's panicked face. He was shocked and said quickly: "Xu Shang, I didn't ask you to go to Jiucheng. Why are you back?"
Xu Shang quickly walked up to Xu Huang, looked around, and whispered a few words in Xu Huang's ear, which made Xu Huang's face change greatly.
In order to prevent the soldiers from panicking, Xu Shang lowered his voice, but Lu Jian and Yang Ping came around and heard what he said. He said to Xu Huang: "Jiucheng was raided and millions of grains and grains were burned. ."
"what happened?"
Xu Huang's eyes were almost red. How come the Han army had just arrived this morning, and at noon, Jiucheng, which was a hundred miles away, was raided. Where did the Han army's cavalry come from? Did they fly over?
"The last general met some fleeing soldiers on the road. It was said that the Han army disguised itself as Huns and approached Jiucheng at noon."
Xu Shang whispered: "The defenders of Jiucheng were unprepared and were defeated by a surprise attack. Later, another group of real Huns came to our aid, but soon after, more than a thousand Han cavalry arrived again and scattered the Huns.
People burned the food and grass."
"This is impossible."
Lu Jian couldn't help but said: "When their fleet came down, there were no horses at all. Even if there were horses in the boat, they broke through our wall at noon, and they couldn't arrive immediately. Not to mention the Han troops who were coming around the mountains to the north.
, also without horses.”
Xu Huang said with a serious face: "You have forgotten one thing. There are a large number of Huns living in the Dongjie Mountain and Sushan Pavilion areas from Dongting. If they open a road from the mountains to the north in the morning and go around, they will rob the Huns.
We got some horses, and for some reason we found out where our grain and grass were stored, so we went straight to Uucheng, and we had enough time."
"That's right."
Yang Ping said: "Didn't the enemy disguise themselves as Huns? They must have robbed the Huns' tribes and used their horses and clothing to deceive the Uucheng defenders."
"You blame me for this."
Xu Huang glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice: "I sent someone to inform the soldiers in Jiucheng behind that the Xiongnu King Zuoguli's troops will go to get the grain and grass they need. I think the soldiers in Jiucheng were unprepared."
Hearing that he did not shirk responsibility, the three generals were impressed.
In fact, they naturally know this, but if Xu Huang insists on finding a scapegoat or shifting the responsibility to others, there is nothing they can do.
But now that he is taking the responsibility on himself, it will make people think that he is very upright, which will make him more trustworthy.
Xu Huang continued: "Now that the big mistake has been made and cannot be undone, the most important thing is what should be done now. If my prediction is correct, Shen Chen should have known that Jiu City was raided, so he planned to besiege the city on three sides."
"Then if we had just taken the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, would there still be a chance to break through?"
Lu Jian said in shock.
Xu Huang shook his head: "If we had just raided, I'm afraid we would have been dead. Think about it, if we raided the Han army camps in the north and south, Shen Chen would definitely lead troops to help. During the battle, Ruojiu City caught fire, and the subsequent food and grass supplies would be gone.
Spread the word and boost the morale of the soldiers."
hiss..
Hearing these words, the three of them suddenly took a breath, and then they only felt Shen Chen's viciousness.
If the news spreads at that time, I am afraid that the army will collapse immediately.
Xu Huang continued: "Now you should understand why I stopped you from leaving the city for a raid."
"The general is wise!"
Lu Jian and Yang Ping immediately raised their hands and saluted.
Xu Shang said: "General, what should we do now?"
Xu Huang said: "I never understood why Shen Chen dared to surround us on three sides before. Now it seems that he is preparing to besiege us. I am afraid that the Han army will not take the initiative to attack the city in the future, but will wait for our food and grass to run out.
."
If Shen Chen didn't choose to be surrounded on three sides, Xu Huang could completely withdraw his troops and leave. Anyway, Shen Chen's main force was outside the west city, so they could just evacuate from the east city.
But now they are surrounded on three sides, and they are retreating. According to the strategy of surrounding three buildings, Shen Chen will definitely arrange an ambush outside Dongcheng soon. If he dares to retreat, the ambush will only entangle them, and the three armies will directly surround them. It will be a dead end.
One piece.
So Xu Huang now understands Shen Chen's sinister intentions. He will surround you even with few soldiers, just to bully you because you have little food and grass in the city. He has also burned the food and grass outside the city. Without the follow-up food and grass, he can only sit back and wait for death.
"That"
Xu Shang asked again: "Should we evacuate at night now?"
Xu Huang raised his head and looked at the increasingly dark sky. The deep night shrouded the earth, the stars were dotted, and the Milky Way hung in the sky like a bright strip of light, which made him feel deeply uneasy.
"let me think again."
He held the city wall with both hands and closed his eyes, feeling a splitting headache.
The current situation is already very bad for him.
Should we break out or hold on?
Xu Huang thought for a long time, but finally did not give an answer immediately.