noon.

Pengcheng.

Zhu Zhi had led his army to attack the city for five days. He did not cheat and attack with all his strength. The war was quite fierce, and both sides suffered huge casualties.

The same is true today, corpses and blood spread all over the city.

Although it is winter, the air smells bad.

The Jiangdong soldiers siege the city temporarily extinguished.

On the city, the Liang soldiers took advantage of this skill to eat quickly. The food was corn, some pickles and soybeans. There was really nothing good to eat, but Xuzhou's granary was full and the amount was large to keep it full.

Chen Deng and his chief Liu Dong climbed up to the city wall together, patrolling the sword, with a serious expression.

The Jiangdong soldiers were indeed fierce. Fortunately, the 10,000 soldiers in his camp were elite soldiers who had been trained for many years. Otherwise, the 20,000 mobs who had been pieced together would not be able to defend the city at all.

"Although Hua Xiong has sent troops, we still need to be cautious and hold on to the last few days. Otherwise, we will lose all our efforts." Chen Deng turned to Liu Dong and said.

"No." Liu Dong agreed seriously.

Although it was winter, in order to prevent the corpses from rotting, Chen Deng still asked Min Zhuang to quickly send the bodies of the dead soldiers to the outside of the city to bury them.

The Jiangdong army was not a large army besieged the city, and both sides dealt with the bodies and lived in peace.

Under the city.

Zhuzhi Daying.

Zhu Zhi was wearing armor and patrolled the camp gate with his son Zhu Ran. Many soldiers who had retreated from the front line were eating on the ground.

Their food was similar to that of Liang Jun.

"Chen Deng is indeed very talented and he is very steadily." Zhu Zhi returned to the tent with a serious look on his face, sat down, took off his helmet and sighed.

"What my father said is, it may be difficult for us to break through Pengcheng before the Liang army reinforcements arrived." Zhu Ran was also a little depressed and sighed.

No matter what size of war it is, siege battles are extremely difficult. The gains and losses of many cities can only be overcome by internal responses, spies, or early layouts.

Things are now in a hurry, and their troops are only 50,000. However, their opponent Chen Deng is quite talented. Although he is only 30,000 ragtags, he is stable.

If they have enough time, it is certainly not a problem to attack the city. But they don’t have enough time, and a sharp sword hanging on their heads will fall down at any time.

At this moment, a personal soldier broke in from outside and bent down to Zhu Zhi to report: "Report to the general. News came from the north to explore horses. Lord Liang sent Hua Xiong to lead 30,000 cavalry to Pengcheng south."

Zhu Zhi, Zhu Ran and his son's eyes twitched.

"What happened a few days ago?" Zhu Zhi took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice.

"Huaxiong sent troops two days ago." The personal soldiers replied.

Zhu Zhi's heart sank even more.

Starting from Linzi in Qingzhou, the cavalry went south to Pengcheng. In two days, Huaxiong was about to arrive. If they did not leave, they would be blocked by Huaxiong and could not return to Yangzhou.

Cavalry.

"I ordered Zhou Tai to cut off the rear and withdraw troops immediately." After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Zhi suddenly stood up and ordered.

Although rescue of Cao Cao is important, their own safety is also very important. Let’s take the least of the two evils.

"promise."

The personal soldiers agreed and immediately went down to pass the order.

"Son. I think it's very difficult for this great man to do." After Zhu Zhi gave the order, he smiled bitterly, turned to Zhu Ran and said.

"Oh." Zhu Ran also sighed.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and General Sun of the Han army were so powerful at the time, but now they are getting worse and worse. Yuan Shao has even been destroyed, and Cao Cao may not be able to hold on.

Don't say anything else.

Now that the Liang army has divided Huang Zhong, Hua Xiong and other troops, they can stop their southern troops from heading north.

General Sun repeatedly raised troops to attack Nanyang, but was defeated by Huang Zhong.

Moreover, Zhao Yun and other Liang generals from Yizhou also repeatedly launched troops to attack Nanjun.

"Unless Zhang Xiu suddenly died, otherwise...ah..." Zhu Ran shook his head gently and sighed.

In other words, there will be changes in the world, otherwise the Han army will not have a chance.

"Although Cao Cao is afraid of being unable to protect, Yangzhou and Jingzhou are still in our hands. The north is where cavalry lies, and the south is where boats lies, which is our territory. Although I am a little desperate when I attack, I have confidence in my success."

Zhu Zhi was excited and looked up and said to Zhu Ran.

"Yes." Zhu Ran nodded and became a little excited.

Soon after, the father and son turned over and led the headquarters and the weak and wounded soldiers to go first. Zhou Tai broke the rear, Jiang Qin followed him, and went south in an orderly manner.

After Chen Deng received the news, he stood on the city with his sword and watched Zhu Zhi withdraw his troops.

"Sir, this time you have captured Xuzhou with 10,000 elite troops and defended Pengcheng without losing your losses. The emperor rewards merits, and I will definitely be promoted. It is a joyful congratulation." The chief minister Liu Dong showed a look of joy and cheerfulness and bowed to Chen Deng.

Chen Deng had political ambitions. He first served as the governor for a few years, and then waited for the prime ministers to grow old, and then became the prime minister in the court, which was famous for being in history.

After hearing Liu Dong's words, he was quite happy. But reason prevailed. He shook his head calmly and said, "Zhu Zhi is resourceful, and this may be his plan. Send them to follow them. Order the soldiers to be on guard at night to prevent Zhu Zhi from killing him and attacking us Pengcheng at night."

"There is already Zhuangkang Avenue ahead. You cannot lose your horse or overturn it at this time."

At the end, Chen Deng said meaningfully.

"promise."

Liu Dong was so proud that he agreed.

Although Zhu Zhi had withdrawn his troops, Pengcheng's vigilance did not decrease but increased. Chen Deng defended the city, and was stable.

.............

Rencheng.

This is a big city with an extremely important strategic location, with a large population in the city. As long as the troops are enlisted here, it can prevent Cao's army from advancing eastward and rescue Qingzhou.

At this moment, it had been occupied by Zhang Yong, and the city was full of Liang soldiers, and there were soldiers in the city constantly inspecting to prevent anyone from causing trouble in the city.

West of the city.

Zhang Yong was wearing black armor and a red cloak. He pressed his sword to look at the Cao army camp ahead. He turned to the people around him and said, "Xiahou Dun will not attack the city."

Everyone nodded slightly.

Although the Cao army did not give up on rescuing Zang Ba, it was obvious that the Cao army was powerless. They had 50,000 horse and infantry troops, of which 30,000 were cavalry and 20,000 were combat soldiers.

With 20,000 combat soldiers to defend the city, it can stop a hundred thousand troops for a while. 30,000 cavalry will accumulate strength. If Cao's army dares to take a detour to Qingzhou, it will definitely give a thunder blow.

Dong Zhao exhaled gently. How desperate would he be if he looked at it from Cao Cao's perspective?

The Liang army was strong and had a large number of horses. The cavalry was even more powerful. The elite cavalry under Cao Cao were just tiger and leopard cavalry.

Now as long as the emperor does not die, the Liang Dynasty will not be in chaos.

When the Liang Dynasty was not in chaos, Cao Cao could not defend the Central Plains.

Cao's army camp.

Although Cao's army was extremely passive in strategy, the quality of ordinary soldiers was still very high. After all, generals such as Xiahou Dun were not ordinary people.

The soldiers either stood guard, patrol, or stayed quietly in the tent to rest, and none of them were walking around randomly.

Inside the Central Army's tent.

Xiahou Dun sat with his general Han Hao.

"Yuansi. I feel like drowning and suffocating." After a long silence, Xiahou Dun sighed.

"It's also like a fish in the net. The net is getting tighter and tighter." Han Hao nodded and sighed.

Even Dong Zhao felt despair for Cao Cao, let alone them.

Immediately, Xiahou Dun and Han Hao were excited, looked at the topographic map in front of them, and thought hard about a way to break the situation.

Now it's not just Rencheng.

From north to south, there are Zhang He and Fan Chou from Licheng, who are currently confronting Liu Bei.

Zhang Yong, Rencheng, confronted them.

In the south, Chen Deng guarded the garrison.

These three big cities are connected together and are blocked by the Wen River. It is really difficult to break through.

............

Licheng.

Zhang He and Fan Chou quietly stationed their troops in the city.

Liu Bei personally led 25,000 troops, and the soldiers were outside the city. However, Liu Bei did not dare to attack the city, so he could not defeat it.

Before leaving, Zhang Xiu hooked Fan Chou's neck, making Fan Chou listen to Zhang He. Although Fan Chou was not very happy, he still did as he did.

Zhang He's statement only has one word.
To be continued...