Countless boulders and arrows hit the top of Xuchang City, like dark clouds, and the soldiers of Cao's army were so overwhelmed that they could not even lift their heads.
While Cao Hong ordered the soldiers to attack the manhole fence with arrows, he said angrily: "The hateful Tao thief, attacking the city during the day is not counted, and attacking the city again at night, does he really think that our officers and soldiers are easy to bully?"
The deputy general next to Cao Hong hurriedly remonstrated: "General, the enemy did not attack the city directly, but only bombarded the city wall with catapults and manhole railings. If this continues, although the casualties will not be large, the morale of the three armies will probably be..."
"Fight back! Where are our trebuchets? Put them on the top of the city, and shoot them with arrows and crossbows. Don't we have Tao's powerful weapons?"
The deputy general hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "General, we really don't have any."
"What?" Cao Hong couldn't help but became angry when he heard this: "Why not?"
The deputy general whispered: "The defensive equipment in Xuchang City and the current support for the three armies have always been donated by the gentry and gentry in the city. When Xun Gong presided over the military affairs, the people in the city also took the initiative to help with the defense.
, but now..."
Cao Hong gritted his teeth in anger, but he couldn't get angry.
"Is this Xuchang city's surname Cao or Xun?"
The deputy general whispered: "Mr. Wen Ruo has a very good reputation in Xuchang, and he also has the reputation of the Xun family in Yingchuan. In addition, he has been in power for many years, built the city, and is impartial. He is highly respected by the people and nobles in the city. Many nobles secretly
They all recognize Mr. Xun better than Sikong..."
This is a bit much to say.
Just say that Xun Yu won the hearts of the people. Why compare him with Cao Cao?
Isn't this a scam?
Sure enough, Cao Hong's face instantly turned red with anger, and his blood pressure rose to 180.
"Asshole, this guy Xun Yu really didn't have any good intentions from the beginning..."
Before he could finish his words, he saw a flying stone flying towards Cao Hong's head.
The deputy general was frightened and hurried to Cao Hong's side, protecting Cao Hong with the iron shield in his hand.
"boom!"
With a heavy muffled sound, the guards and Cao Hong all fell to the ground, and the flying stone slowly fell down the city after hitting the iron shield.
Cao Hong was knocked to the ground by the powerful force of the flying stone. His chest hurt and a mouthful of blood spurted out.
If the guard hadn't come over with a big shield to block this blow for him, Cao Hongshi would have died and his head would have been smashed to pieces.
Cao Hong touched the blood on his lips, stood up, and shouted toward the outside of the city: "Tao Shang! I'll go to your mother! I'll go to your hundred generations of Tao family ancestors!"
When the Jinling army was in the rear, the pottery merchant sneezed hard.
He looked up at the starry sky and murmured to himself: "It's getting too cold today."
At the same time, Cao Hong shouted from the top of the city to his lieutenant to order his troops, and he wanted to go out of the city to fight the pottery merchant head-on.
The lieutenants tried their best to dissuade him, but Cao Hong refused to listen.
It was at this time that Cao Pi came to see Cao Hong.
Seeing that Cao Hong was so irritable, Cao Pi hurriedly tried to persuade him, saying that the purpose of the pottery merchants' cyclic attacks on the city was to undermine their own morale and force them to leave the city to fight, so that Cao Hong must not fall into the pottery merchants' tricks.
After a lot of dissuasion, Cao Hong finally calmed down.
He gritted his teeth and said to Cao Pi: "What should we do in this situation now?"
Cao Pi thought for a while and carefully told Cao Hong what happened when he went to see Xun Yu in the cell just now.
After hearing this, Cao Hong was immediately struck by thunder.
"These unsatisfactory bastards, chaotic people! When Xun Yu was in power, they helped defend the city and provided property. Now that Xun Yu is in prison, they are all shrinking? This is clearly looking down on me, the Cao family.
The middle man!"
Cao Pi said worriedly: "If we want to defend the city now, we must recruit all the nobles and people in the city and let them fully support us, just like Xun Yu did at the beginning. Only in this way can it be possible to defend Xuchang City."
Cao Hong punched the wall with his fist and said angrily: "After tonight, I will discuss with the nobles in the city tomorrow and ask them to provide money and people as soon as possible. If they are slow, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
…
After one night, the Jinling Army finally slowly withdrew, and the soldiers of Cao Army on the city wall finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Many soldiers lay limp on the ground like mud.
This night's offensive and defensive battle was really tiring and exhausting.
The supplies for defending the city have basically been exhausted.
Cao Hong was also very tired, but he did not rest. He immediately sent people non-stop to summon the noble leaders in Xuchang City and asked them to come to see him collectively.
As a result, after the order was issued, few of the noble clan leaders came.
Only a few insignificant people came, some sent family members to come on their behalf, and some simply complained of illness and did not come.
If it were Xun Yu who encountered this kind of situation, he would definitely give both kindness and power and start practicing Tai Chi with these nobles.
It’s not that the noble leaders really don’t want to come, they just want to take some initiative.
After all, they also knew what Cao Hong was looking for, and they could guess it with their toes.
In fact, for the noble leaders, it didn't matter whether they donated things or paid people, but what they wanted was Cao Hong's promise. After all, they really did their best, so there would be no benefits if they didn't.
Xun Yu dealt with the benefits very appropriately in this regard. Every time, he not only lost his majesty, but also provided benefits and comfort.
In the tug-of-war between the two parties, they can often get what they want.
There is no love without reason in the world, and there is no hatred without reason. The Xuchang nobles naturally have their reasons for supporting Xun Yu.
Because they get along very well with Xun Yu, they can finish the work without getting tired.
But Cao Hong and Xun Yu are obviously not in the same routine.
The methods of the Xuchang family are completely different from Cao Hong's.
What Cao Hong hates the most is their behavior.
Without mincing words, he directly sent people to capture all the noble leaders in Xuchang before him.
Cao Hong said nothing. When he saw these captured noble leaders, he opened his mouth to ask for money and things.
Faced with such a tyrannical and rude request, of course the noble leader could not give it.
Brother, there's nothing wrong with you asking for something, but you can't ask for it like that. What's the difference between this and grabbing things openly?
If we really give in, then these noble clans in Xuchang will not let your Cao clan die in the future?
As a result, the leader of the most representative gentry family in Xuchang City stood up and expressed some doubts and indignation about Cao Hong's actions.
After hearing what he said, Cao Hong gave him great face.
He directly ordered someone to chop him down.
After a while, the head of the gentry leader was thrown in front of the other gentry leaders.
At this moment, everyone was silent.
A good man will not suffer immediate losses, and they will do whatever Cao Hong asks them to do.
After bullying the nobles, Cao Hong ordered people to forcibly summon ordinary people in Xuchang City, and each household sent one person to assist in the city defense.
In fact, if you want the people to leave the city for defense, you only need to promise benefits, or give an inspiring speech, or... In short, there are many worthy methods that can be used, but Cao Hong's temper is too grumpy, especially
There was Xun Yu who was competing with him in front, but he was not convinced.
So, he resorted to the most stupid and stupid trick.