Gan Ning kept attacking the enemy successfully, and each time he returned with beheadings as a tribute to Liu Bei.
But now, the scouts reported that Cao Cao had suddenly increased the number of troops in his rear army to more than 10,000 people. They had built forts, dug ditches, set up strongholds and camps, and were covered with antlers. It seemed that they could not stop.
"Haha, they must be scared of being beaten."
Gan Ning said so, but he knew in his heart that the matter was not that simple, so he quickly sent someone to report to Liu Bei.
Xia Houyuan now has more than 10,000 people and has set up a camp to fortify himself. Gan Ning only has 2,000 troops. If it hadn't been for his lord's order, no matter how courageous he was, he would not deliberately attack the enemy camp. After all, this kind of thing would be too risky.
He led his men to stop three miles away from Xiahou Yuan and set up camp, waiting for Liu Bei's military orders.
Liu Bei received the report and learned that Xia Houyuan led more than 10,000 people to set up camp in the road to block his way. Cao Cao personally led the rest of the troops and continued to move forward. He was not sure what Cao Cao's intention was.
"Sir, Cao Cao should be rushing back to Xudu at this time. Why did he let Xiahouyuan set up camp and not leave? Does he want to use Xiahouyuan to stop us and rush back to Xudu? If so, Xiahouyuan is afraid that it will be difficult
If you escape and are defeated, Cao Cao will never be like this. It is really difficult to understand what he means."
"Has my lord forgotten General Guan?" Zhou Ping reminded.
Liu Bei suddenly remembered that according to the itinerary, Guan Yu was about to arrive at Xinji County. He had asked him to stop Cao Cao there. It was just because Cao Cao was walking very slowly recently and it would take a few days to reach Xinji County.
forget.
"Haha, I forgot for a moment. What do you mean, sir, is Cao Cao going for Yunchang?"
"Yun Chang is approaching Xinji. No matter how fast Cao Cao rushes, he will be blocked by General Guan. Cao Cao will definitely not leave Xia Houyuan and more than 10,000 troops here and let them be destroyed. Cao Cao asked Xia Houyuan to set up a camp to block the way.
Yi Ping's point of view is to deal with our attack from both front and rear."
Zhou Ping continued: "If I were Cao Cao, I could only divide my troops at this time and block the attack from behind. Only in this way can I avoid being attacked from both front and rear, and only in this way can I return to Xudu. However, if I were Cao Cao,
Then we will use a small number of troops to hold the fort to resist the troops from behind, and then gather strong troops to attack the enemy blocking the front."
"Cao Cao divided half of his troops and horses to resist the rear, but only used half of his troops to attack General Guan. Perhaps it was because the lord personally led the troops, and the generals led by the lord were all fierce generals. At the same time, Cao Cao underestimated General Guan, thinking that the front army
It is easy to break, so we divide our troops like this."
Liu Bei agreed with Zhou Ping's analysis and said with concern: "Although Yun Chang is brave, the soldiers he leads are Yuan Shu's old soldiers. I'm afraid it will be difficult to stop Cao Cao."
Zhou Ping smiled and said: "Both Yun Chang and Zi Yi are fierce generals in the world. A brave general makes a soldier strong. Now that the troops are equal, it will not be easy for Cao Cao to defeat them. It seems that it will be difficult for General Guan to stop Cao Cao. The current strategy is our emergency.
To attack Xiahou Yuan, only by defeating him and forming a pincer attack with General Guan can we destroy Cao Cao."
"Urgent attack?" Liu Bei hesitated.
The total number of troops Liu Bei led to pursue now was only 20,000, while Xiahou Yuan had more than 10,000. The camp was surrounded and fortified. If the camp was attacked, the losses would be huge.
"Yes, when Xia Houyuan first set up a camp, he would have thought that we would not attack. If he suddenly attacked when his defenses were lax, he would have a high chance of winning." Zhou Ping said.
In fact, Zhou Ping was also vaguely worried, worried that Guan Yu would not be able to stop Cao Cao.
Because Guan Yu and Tai Shici only have 15,000 troops, and Cao Cao has more than 10,000 troops, and he personally leads the troops, his soldiers will fight hard.
If Guan Yu were defeated, it would have a great impact on the morale of the rear army led by Liu Bei and the soldiers and horses of Jizhou and Jingzhou who besieged Xudu.
Since Cao Cao divided his forces and refused, he would have to defeat Xiahou Yuan one by one, and then engage in a pincer attack with Guan Yu. In this way, Cao Cao would probably be crippled even if he did not die.
Liu Bei lowered his head and thought.
He was not sure that he could win with a sudden attack, and if he was defeated, Guan Yu who was blocking the front would probably be defeated too.
The soldiers and horses in Jizhou and Jingzhou will retreat immediately. Not to mention destroying Cao Cao, I am afraid that I will be in decline.
On the battlefield, victory or defeat is always unpredictable, so Liu Bei was weighing the pros and cons of victory or defeat.
"Lord, don't hesitate any longer. If you want to destroy Cao Cao, we can only fight here!"
Zhou Ping was afraid that the more Liu Bei thought about it, the less he would dare to fight.
Zhou Ping is not sure of winning this battle, but with the current morale and combat power, he believes that his side has a much better chance of winning.
Zhang Fei, Gan Ning, Chen Dao, Xu Chu, Zang Ba, Gao Shun, there are so many powerful generals, as well as generals such as Li Jia and Cao Cheng. As for the other side, in addition to Xia Houyuan and Xu Huang, the most famous generals are Zhu Ling
and Shi Huan.
The generals have already won the contest and have more troops than them. Although it is a bit difficult to attack the camp, attacking the camp is not sieging the city. As long as you can pull off the antlers and break into the camp with all your strength, victory will be in sight.
Liu Bei was still hesitating.
Although the camp defense is not as strong as the city defense, the camp defense also has trenches, antlers, and possibly barriers. There are enemy soldiers guarding behind the barriers. If you attack the camp, the losses will be too great.
However, if he does not attack, he will not be able to advance. Guan Yu and Tai Shici in front will have to face Cao Cao's attack alone.
"My lord, please be the vanguard and attack the enemy camp."
Gao Shun also felt that now he should attack the enemy camp urgently and ask for a battle.
"Brother, let me lead the troops and be the first to break into the enemy camp and capture Xia Houyuan."
At this time, Zhang Fei must fight, otherwise others will think that he has no courage.
"My lord, if we don't attack the camp, it will be difficult for our troops to advance and they will be stuck here. If Cao Cao orders Xu Du's troops to come to meet him again, General Guan will attack him from both front and rear. This will be dangerous!"
Zang Ba also advised.
He has now recognized Liu Bei as his lord.
Zhuge Liang believed that attacking the camp was not a good strategy, but it was also a helpless strategy. As Zang Ba said, if Cao Cao allowed thousands of soldiers and horses from Xu Duzhong to come to meet him, it would form a pincer attack with Cao Cao, and Guan Yu and Tai Shici would probably be overthrown.
Lost.
"Lord, the only way to win is to attack the camp," Zhuge Liang advised.
"My lord, if Cao Cao was guarding the camp, Ping would definitely not persuade him to attack. However, Xiahou Yuan's troops are far inferior to Cao Cao's and it is difficult to defeat him." Zhou Ping said again.
Liu Bei looked at the crowd, nodded slightly and said: "It is really difficult to advance without attacking the camp. Now that the situation has come to an end, the only way for the whole army to work together is to attack the camp. We must break the enemy camp and advance together with Yun Chang to attack Cao Cao. He died because of being indiscriminately killed by Cao Cao."
The people of Xuzhou take revenge!"
"Ling Gan Ning, Chen Dao and Liang Lu led 6,000 men to attack the front of the enemy camp. Zhang Fei and Gao Shun led 5,000 men to attack the north of the enemy camp. Zang Ba and Li Jia led 5,000 men to attack the south of the enemy camp.
.The rest of the people followed Gu Gu and took action when they saw the opportunity."
Liu Bei suddenly stood up and gave a stern order.
Everyone cupped their hands and responded: "No."
Zhou Ping was quite satisfied with Liu Bei's arrangement.
They want to attack from three sides and overwhelm the enemy in the camp. Gan Ning and Chen Dao are both brave generals. They have accomplished very little. If they are planning to kill the enemy and seize the merit, they will definitely attack with all their strength.
camp.
Such a comprehensive attack on the camp can only be carried out quickly and not delayed. Once you delay, the enemy general will know the distribution of your troops and have a countermeasure.
Among these three generals, Gan Ning, Zhang Fei and Zang Ba are all fierce generals. If the three sides rush to attack at the same time, the enemy general will not be able to figure out the strength of each side, and it will be difficult to divide his troops to deal with them.
It has to be said that Liu Bei knows these generals in his army quite well. He will know who is braver and wiser.
After dividing his troops, Liu Bei gathered the people in the tent and ordered them to attack in turn.
On the front, Gan Ning took the lead, pulled out the antlers, and stormed into the camp, followed by Chen Dao and Liang Lu.
To the north, Gao Shun was in front and Zhang Fei was behind. Originally, Zhang Fei tried to be in the front, but Liu Bei didn't allow it, because staying behind would also have the role of supervising the battle.
To the south, Zang Ba is in front and Li Jia is behind.
On that day, Liu Bei ordered people to kill pigs and sheep, and distribute the meat to the men who were about to attack the camp in front, because they were at the front and most likely to die in battle.
After everyone had eaten, Liu Bei asked Zhang Fei, Gao Shun, Zang Ba and Li Jia to lead their troops in the dark and circle around to the north and south of the enemy camp, waiting for Mao hour to arrive and dawn to attack the camp at the same time from three sides.