Watching the moonlight fall, Cao Ren came to Xi Zhicai's side.
"Well, tell the soldiers and horses to prepare. We will set off at the second watch and attack the camp on time at the third watch. Have Lu Bu and Zhou Ping already contacted us?"
Looking at the moon in the sky, Xi Zhicai also sighed. Since Yan Liang and the others did not attack the city, he could only attack by force.
"The news from both sides has been sent back, and they have agreed to attack the camp on time at midnight."
Cao Ren nodded to Xi Zhicai and made plans to attack the camp tonight. Naturally, he had already agreed on a time with Lu Bu and Zhou Ping.
"Then do it."
Since Cao Ren has done everything he needs to do, there is nothing more to say next. It just depends on whose sword is sharper and whose spear is sharp enough.
"promise."
The two armies and horses in Auri Mountain and Qianshan Hill were each in action, and the lights in the east city closest to Yan Liang were also brightly lit, and armies and horses began to mobilize, preparing to attack the camp at midnight as agreed.
The unusual movements in Dongcheng were quickly detected by the scouts arranged by Yan Liang outside the city. Seeing the somewhat abnormal Dongcheng, they quickly spread the news to Yan Liang's account.
"You said that the east city is brightly lit and there are frequent troop movements within the city?"
After hearing the news from the scouts, Yan Liang couldn't help but stand up.
"Yes, it is indeed so."
The scout nodded to Yan Liang. As for what happened inside, it depends on Yan Liang's decision.
"Don't make any noise. Inform Zhang He, Mr. Xu Rong and Mr. Zhang Zhao to come to my camp to discuss matters."
Seeing the scout nodding, Yan Liang felt that there was something fishy here, so he simply asked others to come to his place to discuss matters.
After a while, the three people, who were slightly confused, were directly invited to Yan Liang's tent.
"Gong Ji, what's wrong?"
Looking at Yan Liang with a slightly thoughtful look in his eyes, Zhang Zhao couldn't help but frown. He didn't understand why Yan Liang would gather them here at this time.
"Mr. Zibu, the scouts just sent news that there are strange actions in Dongcheng."
Yan Liang looked at Zhang Zhao and read out the message from the scouts directly.
"Is there anything unusual happening in the east city?"
Hearing Yan Liang's words, Zhang Zhao and the other two people all frowned for a moment. Are you doing anything unusual at this late hour?
What do you want to do?
"Well, I felt that something might happen tonight, so I asked a few people to come over and discuss it."
Yan Liang nodded and expressed his thoughts.
"It's not a good sign that something is happening in Dongcheng right now."
Faced with Yan Liang's question, Zhang Zhao's brows furrowed into a tight frown.
"What's the explanation?
Please also ask Mr. Zibu to clarify my doubts."
Now that Zhang Zhao has said this, it proves that he already has an idea.
"A few days ago, when we attacked the city, we found that Dongcheng's defense was very tight, but we guessed that he would not send troops. The reason was that they would have done a good job as long as they defended this place. But the changes that have occurred now prove that they want to send troops to attack us at night.
What gave them the courage to send troops?
The most likely scenario is that they have brought help and reinforcements, and the number of reinforcements is definitely large, otherwise it would be impossible to give them such courage."
After Zhang Zhao directly stated his analysis, everyone in the big tent took a breath of air-conditioning.
"Mr. Zibu, Lu Bu is far away from Dan Tu. Unless they are all cavalry, he can't catch up with the speed of infantry even if he works day and night for three days. But except for Lu Bu's troops, I can't think of anyone who can give Dongcheng such help."
The great courage allowed them to dare to attack us at night."
Although Zhang Zhao's analysis was correct, Yan Liang shook his head slightly. There were only so many soldiers and horses in Yangzhou, and it was impossible for more soldiers and horses to appear for nothing. He couldn't figure out who could come here except Lu Bu.
"No, there is another possibility. Cao Cao has long expected that we might divide our troops in Jiujiang County, so he withdrew Dan Tu from Wangdu City. What would happen if he asked Lu Bu to come back in advance after returning to Dan Tu?"
After listening to Yan Liang's words, a bold idea suddenly flashed in Zhang Zhao's mind.
"Probably not. You must know that the lord's troops have already arrived outside Dantu, which is an army of more than 200,000. If Cao Cao really lets Lu Bu return to Jiujiang County, is he so confident that he can block the lord's attack?"
Faced with Zhang Zhao's bold idea, Yan Liang felt that it was a bit fanciful. Dantu's troops were already approaching the city. Would Cao Cao still dare to send troops to Jiujiang County?
It was really hard for him to accept it.
"How is it impossible?
It can be said that Cao Cao is riding a tiger now. We are going south just to force Chen Wen to trick Lu Bu back. This is a complete conspiracy. It can be said that as long as we come, Lu Bu will definitely leave. How can Cao Cao break the situation in the face of this situation?
The only way I can think of is to anticipate the enemy, take the lead, send Lu Bu to the west, defeat our partial army, and then return to Dantu to support Cao Cao's main battlefield.
It is even possible that Cao Cao did something more decisive, that is, he sent a group of elite troops to Jiujiang County with Lu Bu to join forces with Chen Wen to defeat us."
The more Zhang Zhao thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high, and he might face not only Lu Bu, but also Cao Cao's elite soldiers and generals.
"Is it really possible?
Does Cao Cao really have such great courage?"
Not only Yan Liang was confused now, but Zhang He and Xu Rong on the side also raised such questions.
"It is very possible that there is a reason why Cao Mengde has always been listed as the number one problem by the lord. This person is not inferior to the lord in terms of intelligence and strategy. We have to guard against him."
Facing the doubts of the three generals, Zhang Zhao nodded firmly.
"So what do we do now?"
Looking at Zhang Zhao's determined eyes, the three of them dared to believe this possibility.
"There are two ways now. One is to lead the army to withdraw immediately without giving them a chance, but this will probably make Lu Bu lead the army to return to Dantu immediately.
The second is to do the opposite, since they want to ambush us, then we will conduct a counter-ambush, leaving an empty camp for them, and then we will ambush them outside and catch them by surprise."
Faced with the situation at hand, Zhang Zhao directly gave his own countermeasures.
"If we withdraw our troops now, Lu Bu will return to support Dantu, which will be detrimental to the main battlefield. Instead of doing this, it is better to fight and ambush them and kill them by surprise. Even if a tooth is broken, the enemy's blood will be spread all over the ground.
, what do you think?”
Yan Liang has never been a person who is afraid of battle. Faced with Zhang Zhao's two strategies, he did not hesitate to ambush and counterattack. He could not lose the prestige of the Jizhou army.
"I agree, isn't it just a war?
I want to see if the Yangzhou Army is really invincible."
Xu Rong and Yan Liang have been working together in Youzhou for a long time. They both have the same character and would rather die than surrender.
"I also agree that if the enemy comes directly at night, we may be completely defeated. But now that we have guessed the enemy's actions, we have taken the initiative. We can prioritize the trebuchets outside and wait until they enter the main building.
Camp, just give him a meal first, then charge in and kill them all by surprise."
The same goes for Zhang He. Although he has been stationed in Changshan County most of the time since he followed Yuan Shu, it cannot be denied that he also has an unyielding heart. If he is really ambushed and defeated, there is nothing to say, but the current situation
But it was a reversal. How could he be willing to retreat in despair?
"Then do it. I will immediately make arrangements to go to Dantu. I will inform the Lord about the situation here and let the Lord make arrangements as appropriate."
Although he had guessed the enemy's movements, he had no idea how many troops they had. But since the three generals all wanted to fight, he had nothing to say, so let's fight.
