Long Xiang shook his head and replied: "I can't explain clearly, but I just feel something is wrong. Besides, the city of Qixian County is not strong. If Cao Cao orders a strong attack..."

"A strong attack is the best. We are not afraid of him if we defend the city. Cao Cao has been chasing us for more than ten days and has not brought any siege equipment. He will not attack the city in a short time. You are tired these days. Go back and rest soon.

"

After Qiao Rui finished speaking, she closed her eyes and fell down on the bed.

Although the division of troops plan was proposed by Long Xiang, it was Qiao Rui who fought for it from Zhang Xun in the end. If the Huainan Army had a major change, he would not have the shame to go back and return to Yuan Shu, so he had to bear too much psychological pressure during this period, and he finally arrived here now

At the destination, Qiao Rui just wanted to have a good sleep.

"But..."

Long Xiang still wanted to fight for it, but Li Tun reached out to stop him and reminded him: "Long Quhou, the general is tired..."

"good..."

Cao Cao had mobilized troops to drive them away in the past ten days. Long Xiang felt that the Huainan Army was like a big fish biting a hook.

The big fish is dragged here and there by the fisherman. When it is exhausted, the fisherman will pull it to the shore and pick it up in a net.

The reason why Long Xiang repeatedly proposed his plan was that he didn't want to be a fish in the net. He had finally managed to escape from the encirclement before, but now he had entered another dangerous place due to fatigue.

Zhang Xun, a low-ranking bastard, has no ability to compete with Cao Cao.

Based on his two years of experience in the army, Long Xiang found that Cao Cao's methods were obviously better than Liu Bei's in the same battle of fighting more with less.

Long Xiang was severely beaten by society, and he also knew that hobbies could not challenge his profession, and the result would only be humiliation.

Taking the current profession as an example, Long Xiang is definitely a competent Quhou if he can lead three to four hundred people in battle, but if he wants to lead three to four hundred thousand people, something will happen.

Real ancient wars are no child's play, and are far different from the scenes of armed fighting depicted in film and television works.

The positions between the formations are dense and compact. Attacks and retreats will be carried out in strict accordance with the orders. Unless the entire army formation breaks up and disperses, individual soldiers who run away and move around will be trampled to pieces by their comrades behind them.

Furthermore, the ancient military system was rough and strict. In addition to obeying orders on the battlefield, each army and battalion also had warlords secretly monitoring them. Once any defecting soldiers were found, they could be killed without asking for instructions, so Long Xiang could not escape.

Just run away.

If he hadn't felt that the matter was urgent, Long Xiang, who was well versed in the ways of the workplace, would not have bothered Qiao Rui at this time. Unfortunately, his persuasion failed and he had to stand by.

After a good night's sleep, Qiao Rui remembered Long Xiang's words last night and walked around the four gates of Qi County in person.

As a result, the four defenders performed their duties well, but when he saw familiar enemies appearing outside the city, he immediately became uneasy.

When they met back at the Qixian government office, Qiao Rui looked serious.

"Cao Cao still didn't give up. He actually pursued him to Qixian County. Now there are Cao Cao soldiers on three sides. Should we take action?"

"Huh, I have deployed the city defense yesterday. If Cao Cao wants to attack the city, he can come here. If he is still here to surround me, we don't need to pay attention..." Zhang Xun snorted proudly.

Qiao Rui frowned and asked: "If Cao's thieves still refuse to retreat, won't we be unable to move?"

Zhang Xun stroked his beard and smiled and said: "General Qiao, what's wrong with you? We are now defending the city and have ready-made food. Cao's soldiers are eating and drinking outside the city, staying there as long as they like. When the food is exhausted, they will naturally retreat.

If we don't retreat, we will kill the general and go out, and maybe we can capture the Cao thief alive."

"How much grain is stored in Qixian County?"

"When the chief secretary comes and asks, he will know that no matter how little he has, he still has more than Cao Cao. Let's rest in peace and don't have to worry."

"All right."

Qixian County was secretly occupied by Yuan Shu last year. Because it was located in the strategic buffer zone, the people in the county either moved north or fled south. The grain handed over by the people was very limited. After checking and accounting, it was found that it was only enough for the army for seven or eight days.

expense.

After Zhang Xun understood the situation, although his face was still calm, he felt a little panic in his heart, but he was very good at comforting himself, thinking that Cao Cao had no food and would definitely not be able to use it up.

However, Cao Cao was not a pedantic person. In addition to sending Xia Houyuan to adjust the grain in advance, he also sent troops to the nearby Gu County to "borrow grain", making preparations for a protracted war early in the morning.

The situation in Qixian was calm for five days. Liu Bei also led his troops from the north of Pei State to come for reinforcements. Later, Cao Cao arranged to guard outside the north gate of Qixian.

Liu Bei hated Yuan Shu deeply and would definitely beat up the Huainan army when he saw him.

It rained continuously all night, and on the second day after Liu Bei's reinforcements arrived, Cao Cao's grain transport convoy outside the city also appeared in the sight of the Qixian defenders, and immediately someone came to the city to persuade them to surrender.

At this time, not only the soldiers in the city were panicked, but also the general Zhang Xun was so panicked that he could not sit still.

Zhang Xun took the initiative to discuss countermeasures with Qiao Rui: "That thief Cao is really insidious and cunning. We can't wait any longer."

"General, don't panic. We still have the upper hand. But at night, we can take advantage of the darkness and go out together. Just like last time, we will divide our troops and go south. We should have a chance to escape."

"Cao's thieves are surrounded by three and one is missing. I don't know which side is weaker in defense..." Zhang Xun said to himself.

Qiao Rui immediately thought of Long Xiang and asked him for advice, so he said perfunctorily to Zhang Xun: "Let's organize the army first, and it won't be too late to break it down before setting off."

"That's fine." Zhang Xun nodded lightly.

Qiao Rui said goodbye to Zhang Xun and went straight to Long Xiang. When they met, they got straight to the point.

"The food and grass in the city are about to run out. General Zhang and I have decided to break out tonight, but we don't know what is going on outside Cao Cao's city. What do you think?"

After several days of persuasion, Long Xiang finally received news of the retreat. He said sternly: "The general should be well aware of the strategy of encircling three and missing one. It stands to reason that the ambush at Ximen is the largest, but we should go south in the near future when returning to Shouchun.

gate, so the southwest gate has the most Cao soldiers, the east gate comes second, and the north gate has the least."

Qiao Rui was noncommittal and asked, "In your opinion, how will we go after leaving the city?"

"The final general believes that there are two routes to choose from. The main force leaves from the two gates in the northeast. The first route, out of the east gate, detours to Guyang, Jianxian and Hongxian in the southeast, replenishing along the way and then crossing the Huai River south; the second route

The route goes out of the north gate and goes northwest, then crosses the water (today's Wo River) and then goes south."

Long Xiang said while pointing at the map in Li Tun's hand.

Qiao Rui frowned after hearing this: "The second route seems to be going back? Moreover, the southeastern area of ​​Runan is deserted, and there are no supply towns along the way. Can the army return to Shouchun alive?"

"Although the conditions of the second route are poor, it is definitely the weak point of Cao Jun's defense. Anyway, everyone has to divide into small groups to break out. It is good to have another option. Of course, you can also go directly around the west and then go south without crossing the water. There are also dragons

Kang, we can supply supplies to the county, but there must be many Cao troops along the way..."

"If you take the north gate to break out, will you choose to cross the river?"

"Yes."

"That's true."

Qiao Rui went back and discussed with Zhang Xun, and finally decided to open the four gates of Qixian County at the same time.

The two southwest roads select death squads to break through the barrier. Once passed, they will jump out of the encirclement. They are the two roads with the highest risks and the highest returns.

Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui each divided half of their troops and broke out from the two northeast gates. As the general, Zhang Xun gave priority to the east gate, leaving the north gate to his deputy Qiao Rui.

As night fell, the four gates of Qixian County opened at the same time, and countless torches poured out of the city.

Long Xiang took the one hundred and sixty people with him and followed the crowd and rushed out of the north gate of Qixian County.
Chapter completed!