A pocket surrounded on all sides slowly tightened. There were 110,000 troops on Yuan Shu's side, and 100,000 troops on Zhang Hong's side. Coupled with Xu Huang's 50,000 troops and Dong Zhao's 70,000 troops, the apparent number of troops was
Three hundred and thirty thousand troops,
If coupled with Cai Mao, who is an internal agent, their strength has reached about 400,000 people, and they have reached the level of crushing against the New Han forces with only more than 200,000 people.
Time passed day by day. After Huang Kui left Xiangyang, he traveled day and night. In three days, he was like a divine soldier descending from the sky and directly reached the outside of Caiyang City.
Cai Yang's defenders numbered only five thousand. Seeing Huang Kui's fifty thousand troops approaching the border, the defenders resisted desperately, but they were still no match for an enemy ten times their size. Cai Yang fell in two days, and three of the defenders died in the battle.
Thousands, and the remaining two thousand soldiers were all injured.
In this way, Huang Kui occupied the key city of Caiyang without much loss, and then he detached 10,000 troops and went directly south to Anchang. He stationed nearly 40,000 soldiers in Caiyang, ready to send troops to attack Xinye at any time.
"Sir, something is very wrong."
The soldiers and horses in Xiangyang are almost gathered. Even if Huang Kui leaves, they still have 200,000 soldiers and horses in hand, which is all their strength.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing the scouts rushing towards him in a panic, Xiang Lang couldn't help but feel depressed.
"There is news from Nanxiang County that Dong Zhao and Wang Lang have gone south from the Lu family with 70,000 troops and are launching an attack on Nanxiang. His purpose may be to cooperate with Yuan Shu and us to encircle Xiangyang."
The scout directly read out the news from Nanxiang County.
"What?"
When he heard that Dong Zhao and Wang Lang actually led their troops south to support Yuan Shu's war, Xiang Lang stood up immediately.
"Absolutely true."
The scout rushed directly to Lang and nodded.
"I will report the news to Mr. Wan immediately."
Since the military situation was urgent, Xiang Lang did not dare to neglect and went directly to report the news to Huang Wan.
"Wan Gong, Dong Zhao and Wang Lang have sent out troops. Seventy thousand troops are going south to attack Nanxiang in order to cooperate with Yuan Shu to encircle us. Do you want to send troops now to defeat us?"
Xiang Lang looked at Huang Wan in front of him and directly told the news about Dong Zhao going south.
"Yuan Shu's army will arrive in the near future. Do you think it's appropriate to divide his troops and go north to annihilate Wang Lang now?"
Huang Wan glanced at Xiang Lang and wondered what was going on now. He was still thinking of dividing his troops and going north to defeat Dong Zhao. Xiang Lang was really young and energetic.
"But we can't sit back and watch Dong Zhao just fight Yuan Shu."
Although Huang Wan is right, it would be detrimental to him to sit back and watch Dong Zhao and Huang Wan's fight.
"Then what can you do?
Send people north to snipe Dong Zhao who is heading south?
Now that Yuan Shu's army is pressing down, people on our side are very impetuous. Although the news of Yuan Shu's massacre of Zhang Fang has been released, who can guarantee that they will not defect before sending people over, can you?"
Huang Wan naturally knew what Xiang Lang meant, but sending people north now was like sending Huang Kui to Caiyang himself. This was because he could guarantee his loyalty to the New Han Dynasty and that he would not rebel.
If they send people to Nanxiang to support them, they will probably surrender directly after being besieged by Dong Zhao. Not only will they not be able to stop Dong Zhao from going south, but they may also waste their own strength in vain.
"I understand. Only by gathering all our troops here can we ensure 100% control over them. Otherwise, once these people spend their time, there's no telling what will happen."
Of course, Xiang Lang was Xiang Lang, and he understood Huang Wan's meaning instantly. Rather than sending people to the north where they might be incited to rebel, it would be better to have people stay in Xiangyang and prepare for a decisive battle with Yuan Shu.
"Well, let him go. Remember to appease the morale of the good soldiers and make sure nothing goes wrong."
Xiang Lang directly clasped his fists and left Huang Wan's mansion.
Yuan Shu's army went all the way south and directly arrived at Xinye City.
"Your Majesty, Xinye is very important. It is an important place for supplying our rear. Such a small number of troops and horses are not enough."
Zhong Yao glanced at Xin Ye's defense, his eyes full of worry.
"Well, I don't feel enough either, Tian Yu."
Yuan Shu nodded and directly named Tian Yu.
"Wei Chen is here."
Tian Yu knelt down on one knee and saluted Yuan Shu.
"You lead 20,000 troops to garrison Xinye. Remember, this place is very important, and the safety here must be guaranteed no matter what."
Because he often does this job, he also attaches great importance to logistical support, so he directly arranged Tian Yu in Xinye to ensure absolute safety here.
"promise."
Tian Yu also knew the importance of this place, and he had no complaints at all about Yuan Shu placing him here.
"Well, the rest of the army will continue to move south, and I will send troops to Deng County."
Now that the problem in Xinye has been solved, Yuan Shu has nothing to miss here and directly leads his 90,000 troops south to kill in the direction of Deng County.
Deng County had a large number of troops under Zhang Fang, with a total of 50,000 troops waiting for him. When Yuan Shu arrived, he immediately turned his back and surrendered to Yuan Shu.
After the two armies joined forces, there were a total of 140,000 troops in Chen Shi Deng County.
"Wan Gong, Yuan Shu has arrived. After fighting with the enemies in Deng County, they already have 140,000 troops. If combined with Dong Zhao's troops in Nanxiang, their troops have exceeded 200,000. In terms of number, they have exceeded
us."
Xiang Lang and Zhou Mao came over together, and Xiang directly reported the news they just got to Huang Wan.
"What do you mean?"
Huang Wan glanced at the two of them. It was normal for Yuan Shu's troops to surpass theirs. After all, he was only in a state, but his opponent Yuan Shu dominated the entire China. In terms of mobilization ability alone, the gap between them was huge. This was also
The reason why Xiang Lang said that fighting early is better than fighting late.
"What we mean is to take the initiative and take advantage of Yuan Shu's unsteady foothold and the troops and horses to gather directly to fight him directly."
Xiang Lang and Zhou Mao looked at each other and directly stated their suggestions.
"It's not impossible to take the initiative, but are you sure you can break through Deng County where 140,000 people are stationed?
Or do you have a way to induce Yuan Shu to fight with us in the wild?
Even in a field battle, are you confident that you can defeat Yuan Shu?"
Huang Wan knew that the two of them were also eager to fight, but the key now was not the matter of fighting. Although Yuan Shu had fewer troops and horses than himself, he had many elite soldiers and generals under his command. A single guard could handle over 50,000 elite soldiers, let alone
Talking about other soldiers and horses, how to fight them?
"Then we just wait like this now?
Do nothing?"
Hearing Huang Wan's words, Xiang Lang felt confused. If it was okay to hit others, he really didn't know what to do if he really wanted to fight Yuan Shu, who had experienced hundreds of battles.
"Who said that, our mission is to strengthen the city defense and build Xiangyang into a fortified city that cannot be defeated, so that it can become a castle that Yuan Shu cannot attack at all.
Now Huang Kui has led his troops to capture Caiyang, and Yuan Shu's people haven't discovered it yet. If the opponent really ignores it and kills him, then he will not be far from failure."
Regarding the two people's worries, Huang Wan smiled slightly. He was not afraid of Yuan Shu coming to kill him now. On the contrary, he hoped that the other party would send troops now. In this case, Huang Kui would be able to send troops straight into the new field and give Yuan Shu's army a painful blow.
"Since Wan Gong has already prepared a countermeasure, we have nothing to say. We are waiting for Yuan Shu to arrive and fight him decisively."
Now that Huang Wan had thought of everything, Xiang Lang also clasped his fists and saluted. He tried his best and left the rest to God's will.
The Xiangyang side did not move, and Yuan Shu did not send troops immediately after occupying Deng County, because they only had 140,000 troops. If they wanted to send troops, they must leave 20,000 troops to garrison Deng County to prevent the opponent from cutting off their retreat.
In this case, his real soldiers are only 120,000, and 120,000 fight against 200,000 enemies. It's a bit crazy to think about it. Dong Zhao's people also came to report to him.
They could cross Nanxiang and kill Zhonglu in five days, so at Zhong Yao's suggestion, they waited for Dong Zhao to arrive and then followed him to kill Xiangyang.
"Wan Gong, after Yuan Shu's army entered Deng County, they did not continue southward, but stationed in Deng County. Dong Zhao, who was heading towards Nanxiang, also marched very quickly. It took as long as seven days and as fast as five days to teach the entire Nanxiang.
Fight to Zhonglu and surround us with Yuan Shu."
Xiang Lang felt that he would be stationed in Huangwan Mansion these days, delivering military information every day. Now that it was better, Yuan Shu could not take him with him in Deng County. He had to wait for Dong Zhao to come and encircle Xiangyang.
"Let them do it. This battle will come sooner or later."
Hearing that Dong Zhao was about to surround him with Yuan Shu, Huang Wan smiled slightly. He had been waiting for this day. As long as Yuan Shu took action, Huang Kui's chance would come.
"promise."
While Xiangyang was waiting for Yuan Shu to launch his attack, Zang Ba also attacked Nanjun.
Nanjun was originally under the control of Cai Mao. Now that Zang Ba led his army to the north, Nanjun naturally surrendered. However, there were also families who supported the puppet Han. Seeing Zang Ba's overwhelming attack, they fled directly towards Xiangyang.
