Shouchun City could not be taken, not only Zhou Ping was worried, but Liu Bei was also worried.
Soldiers and horses are guarding here, and they consume a lot of food every day. If they guard it for too long, the morale of the army will also be problematic.
He even had the idea of retreating. Fortunately, Jiujiang counties provided food and grass. Currently, there is no shortage of food and grass, so there is no problem.
But if we continue to hold on and cannot capture Shouchun in two or three months, we will have no choice but to retreat.
"Brother, are you looking for me?"
Guan Yu came to Liu Bei's tent.
Liu Bei asked: "Well, how is the morale of the army now?"
"Fortunately, it's just that we haven't been able to fight for a long time, and the city can't be attacked. The officers and men in the army are a little slack, and there's quite a discussion."
"What's the discussion?" Liu Bei asked urgently.
Guan Yu hesitated for a moment and replied: "It is said that in another month, we may have to return to Xuzhou."
"Hey, I heard that Yide went to see Mr. Yide for a drink again. Now even Mr. Xi is helpless. This Shouchun City will probably be difficult to break." Liu Bei sighed.
"Brother, why don't we retreat to Xiquyang, send another army to guard Chengde, and surround Shouchun together with Hefei. We will only wait until the city of Shouchun is short of food and the city collapses."
"I have thought about this too, but I heard that there is plenty of food and grass in Shouchun City. If Shouchun is short of food, I don't know how long it will take!"
The two were silent for a moment.
At this moment, I suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the tent. Zhou Ping pulled Zhang Fei into the tent. The two of them smelled strongly of alcohol.
"Lord, I have a way to destroy the city. No, it's General Yide who has a way to destroy the city."
Zhou Ping even forgot to salute and said to Liu Bei quickly.
"Hehe, that's right, brother. Let's attack the city. I will be the first to climb to the top of the city and behead Qiao Rui." Zhang Fei said immediately.
Liu Bei was greatly surprised when he heard that Zhou Ping had a plan to break the city, and a smile immediately broke out on his sad face.
But after hearing about Zhang Fei's plan to break the city, it turned out to be an attack on the city, and he immediately became embarrassed again.
"Sir, the enemy is defending the city with 10,000 troops. How can we attack the city?"
Even though Liu Bei didn't understand the art of war, he still knew that Shouchun City couldn't be attacked by force.
Zhou Ping said anxiously: "It's not about attacking the city. Lord, we can besiege the city."
"Hehe, that's right, brother, we are besieging the city on all sides, and the city's defenders will immediately be frightened and leave the city to surrender." Zhang Fei said again.
The smell of alcohol in his mouth made Liu Bei frown.
"Sir, we only have more than 30,000 soldiers, how can we besiege the city on all sides?"
It's not that Liu Bei has never thought that sieging a city on all sides can frighten the enemies in the city, but he still knows the truth in the art of war that "encircle an enemy ten times, attack it five times, and divide it twice as many times as necessary".
Now that our troops and horses are less than four times that of the enemy, how can we besiege the city?
These more than 30,000 people were surrounded on four sides, with less than 10,000 people on each side, and they were not as numerous as the enemies in the city. Such a siege seemed useless, and it was not enough to frighten the enemies defending the city.
"Lord, the besiegers must be surrounded. We can surround three and one is missing, and force the enemy defenders away in the city."
Seeing that Zhou Ping was speaking seriously and not talking drunkenly, Liu Bei hurriedly asked: "Sir, please explain in detail."
"My Lord, the guard in the city is Qiao Rui, and there are also three generals Liang Gang, Liu Xiang, and Qin Yi to assist in the defense. Liang Gang and the three men previously guarded Yinling and Xiquyang. Li Feng was killed by General Yide. They were afraid
As for returning to Shouchun, it can be seen that these three men are timid generals and must not defend Shouchun."
"Now with our military strength, we cannot besiege the city on all sides, but we can besiege it on three sides. Then let Lu Zijing, who is stationed in Hefei, lead his troops to make a move to besiege the city on all sides. Then shout to the city, saying that we should leave the city at this time to surrender or surrender.
Abandoning the city and retreating can save his life. If the siege of the city is completed and the city is broken, no matter whether they are surrendered or captives, all the defenders will be killed. At the same time, you can also threaten that Cao Cao's 30,000 troops have entered Runan and raise his troops.
Come help.”
"In this case, the city guard will face a life and death decision. As I expected, Liang Gang and others will be afraid of death and will leave. We can ask Lu Zijing to advance slowly and let the city guard find out where Hefei is.
When everyone comes forward, every ten miles Lu Zijing advances, the enemy generals will become more fearful. In this way, before the siege is closed, they may have abandoned the city and fled."
Liu Bei and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei listened quietly. Zhang Fei felt that something was wrong with what he said about sieging the city on all sides.
Guan Yu lightly stroked his long beard and said: "Brother, this strategy is feasible. There are many soldiers in the city and plenty of food and grass, but we have a few soldiers and horses. They must think that they can retreat at any time, so they have no fear in their hearts and hold on to the city.
If we let them know that continuing to defend the city will lead to death, and leaving the city in time is the only way to survive, they will abandon the city to survive and not dare to defend the city and wait to die."
"Will they really abandon the city and escape? The main guard in the city will be Qiao Rui. This person is loyal to Yuan Shu, so I'm afraid he won't abandon the city easily."
Liu Bei felt that it was unlikely that Qiao Rui would abandon the city and escape.
"It is precisely because there is a bridge in the city that they will stick to it. Without this person, Liang Gang and others would have abandoned the city and retreated long ago." Zhou Ping said.
Liu Bei nodded slightly: "This is also a helpless strategy, just as the teacher said."
Zhou Ping discussed some specific details with Liu Bei.
Liu Bei immediately summoned his generals and ordered Zhang Fei and Li Jia to lead 10,000 troops to siege the north side of the city, Zang Ba led 5,000 Taishan soldiers and Tai Shi Ci led his troops to siege the west side of the city, and Liu Bei led the remaining troops to siege the east side of the city.
He also asked Lu Su to leave 3,000 men to garrison Hefei and lead 10,000 people to march towards Shouchun. However, they had to go slowly, covering thirty miles a day. The purpose was to let the guards in Shouchun City know that they were coming.
Already.
Zhang Fei, Li Jia, Zang Ba, Tai Shici and others led the troops to take their positions. Liu Bei sent people to the city to announce that Zhang Duo, Xu Qian and others who had gathered in Chaohu had led their troops to join forces with Lu Su.
Now he is leading more than 20,000 people to Hefei.
At the same time, Cao Cao has led 30,000 troops into Runan and is heading towards Shouchun.
Just wait for Lu Su and others to arrive, and form a siege on Shouchun from all sides. Then wait for Cao Cao's troops to arrive, and immediately launch an attack on Shouchun City from all sides.
On the day when the city is broken, all the guards in the city will be killed regardless of whether they surrender or be captured. If you leave the city now to ask for surrender, you can avoid death and can be entrusted with other tasks.
Liu Bei also ordered people to make siege equipment and deliberately let the guards in the city see it.
"Sir, is this strategy really feasible?"
Liu Bei still felt unsure about such a bluff.
"Whether it is feasible or not depends on whether the city guards are willing to die. If they are not afraid of death, this strategy will be useless. If they are afraid of death, they may have to make a decision before the siege is completed."
Zhou Ping remembered that when Yuan Shu was in Chenliu before, he escaped several times before Cao Cao's troops could form a siege. Generals such as Qiao Rui, Liang Gang and Liu Xiang were all there at that time.
Now, they will face the same situation. Zhou Ping doesn't know whether it will be the same as Yuan Shu's choice. But he believes that generals like Liang Gang definitely don't want to defend Shouchun.
As soon as they leave and Liu Bei gains Shouchun, he can march towards Lujiang.
Although Lujiang may be more difficult to attack than Jiujiang, attacking the city is not easy in the first place.
