Before the city gate was fully opened, Zhang Liao grabbed two bags of soil, weighing more than 200 pounds and put them on his shoulders, turned around and shouted: "Borrow the soil~~Get out of the city!"

Two thousand soldiers carried sacks filled with soil, followed Zhang Liao and rushed out of the city, taking advantage of the night to touch the trench outside the city. The thick night color made it difficult for Cao's soldiers to see the ground under their feet. When they reached the edge of the trench, soldiers kept falling down, and instantly they were pierced by sharp deer antlers. The wailing sound before the death of the air came from far away in the night sky, extremely ugly, but the night color also made the Liang army archers on the archery tower unable to shoot the Cao army soldiers who filled the trench with earth.

Compared with the huge lethality of the Liang Army archers, the danger of falling into the trench seems insignificant.

Outside the south gate, Liang army camp.

Gao Shunzheng stood on the watchtower and observed the movements of Cao's army.

Without warning, a raging fire suddenly lit up at the top of Xuchang City. Then a fierce sound of war drums echoed throughout the sky, and the closed city gate slowly opened. The black Cao army soldiers had already rushed out of the city gate. Unfortunately, the night outside the city was thick and the distance was far, so it was impossible to see the actions of Cao army. However, Gao Shun still made a precise judgment with his rich experience in the battle formation and turned around and said to the generals: "Cao Cao was asking the soldiers to carry the earth to fill the ditch. Haha, Cao army indeed chose to break through the south gate."

"Cao Cao was good at making plans and wanted to take advantage of the darkness of our army's archers who could not shoot accurately." Li Su sneered, "Fortunately our army was prepared for a long time."

Gao Shun turned around and shouted, "Jutu!"

Ju suddenly stepped forward and replied: "The last one will be there."

Gao Shundao: "Set the rockets and ignite the firewood pile."

"Affect the order."

Ju Tu agreed and pulled the bow and took the arrow.

A soldier had already stepped forward to ignite the hemp rope wrapped around the wolf teeth arrow with a torch. The hemp rope soaked in tinder oil was lifted by the torch and then burned. Ju Chu slowly pressed down the iron-tied bow and shot an arrow forward in a dive-firing posture. The burning rocket flew out an almost straight trajectory in the air, accurately hitting the dry firewood pile set up in advance in the trench.

It turned out that when digging the trenches, Ma Yue and Jia Xu had already expected that Cao's army would fill the trenches with soil while the night was filled with soil, so they made corresponding arrangements. A dry firewood pile was set up every thirty steps in the trenches, and the dry firewood pile was covered with extremely flammable white grass. In order to prevent Cao's army from setting rockets in advance, there was also a protective fence on the side facing Xuchang City. Ju Tu had already understood the location of these dry firewood piles, and the target was large. Ju Tu could easily hit even if he closed his eyes.

The white grass on the firewood pile was quickly ignited by the rockets and started to burn.

Ju Tu shot ten arrows in a row, igniting ten piles of firewood. The raging fire almost illuminated the outside of Xuchang's south gate as bright as daylight, and Cao's every move was in sight.

Gao Shun raised his one arm and waved his force forward, shouting loudly: "Shoot the arrow!"

At Gao Shun's order, the Liang army archers on the arrow tower were like cold killing machines. They began to pull the bow mechanically and coldly, shoot arrows, draw the bows again, and then shoot arrows. After each archer shot the twelve arrows in the archer, they immediately went down to the arrow tower to rest. The archers who were replacing the arrow tower continued to shoot arrows at the Cao army. This continued to repeat and continued, and waves of arrow rain continued to pour on the heads of the Cao army soldiers who were filling the ditch with soil. However, the Cao army archers guarding the city were unable to use their bows and arrows to suppress the Liang army archers on the arrow tower because of the distance and darkness. They could only watch their comrades fall down one by one.

[The trench excavated by the Liang army is exactly one stone away from the head of Xuchang City, so the archers at the head of Xuchang City cannot shoot the archers on the Liang army's arrow tower.]

The Cao army soldiers followed one after another, with many casualties. In less than half an hour, Zhang Liao's eight thousand elite soldiers had been shot to death, and countless injured soldiers were countless. The trenches dug by the Liang army were only filled with less than two feet. At this rate of casualties, before the trenches were filled with the trenches, Zhang Liao's eight thousand elite soldiers were left.

At the top of Xuchang City, when Cao Cao held the battle with his forehand to watch the battle, a sudden sound of rapid footsteps sounded behind him. He turned around quickly. Zhang Liao, who was covered in dust, had already arrived quickly and clasped his fists and said, "Lord, all the archers stationed on the archery tower are the archers in the Liangzhou army. The shooting skills are excellent. Our army has too many casualties. I am afraid that this will not work!"

"Lord, why not send archers out of the city to suppress them?" advised Liu Ye, a counselor, "Otherwise, if the casualties of the soldiers are too heavy, they may be frustrated and will not be conducive to breaking through."

"Suppress! How to suppress?" Cao Cao stretched out his hand and pointed to the dark night sky outside the city and said, "Ziyang, can you see where the Liang army's arrow tower is? The Liang army has dry firewood piles in the trenches, but what should our army's archers use to illuminate? If you can't see where the Liang army is, how can the archers overwhelm?"

“This ~~”

Liu Ye was speechless and turned around and saw that it was pitch black outside the city. There was no light in the Liangzhou military camp opposite. Those Liang army sharp archers with excellent shooting skills were like killers hiding in the shadows, slaughtering Cao army infantry who had nowhere to hide. Seeing these, Liu Ye couldn't help but sigh, turned his head and couldn't bear to see the tragic scene under the city. Next to Liu Ye, Xun Yu, Xun You, Cheng Yu and others were also silent. They naturally knew Cao Cao's intention to do this, and naturally they would not come out to stop Cao Cao at this time!

Zhang Liao said miserably: "Lord, is there really no way?"

A trace of imperceptible twitching flashed across the corner of Cao Cao's mouth, and turned his back to Zhang Liao, and said firmly: "General Zhang Liao, now is not the time to consider casualties. The task I have given to you is to fill the trench at all costs and clear obstacles for the subsequent army to attack the Liang army camp! Remember, it is to do whatever it takes. Even if you know it is death, you must strive forward bravely and let your body fall into the trench and become a stepping stone for the subsequent army to launch a charge!"

Zhang Liao was silent and said sadly for a while: "The last general will take the order!"

Until Zhang Liao's figure left, Cao Cao began to breathe a sigh of relief and turned to Cao Xiu and said, "Wen Lie, quickly send the orders Yin Li, Sun Guan and Song Xian, and let them lead their troops out of the city and fill the ditch with soil!"

"Ah, let them also carry the soil to fill the ditch?" Cao Xiu said inexplicably, "Isn't the direction of our army's breakthrough in the south gate? Why do you have to do this in one go?"

"Just treat it as Wen Yuan relieves some pressure." Cao Cao said sadly, "At least, the butcher Ma cannot gather all the archers outside the south gate without restraint!"

"Understood."

Cao Xiu suddenly realized and took the order and left.

Zhang Liao's troops suffered heavy casualties, so why didn't Cao Cao feel heartbroken?

After all, among the eight thousand elite troops led by Zhang Liao, 5,000 were Cao Cao's old subordinates, and Cao Cao's only five thousand old subordinates. Except for these five thousand people, the other 5,000 people were all surrendered troops in Jizhou. If Cao Cao had not moved Zhang He with his realistic and bitter plan, Zhang He would have devoted himself to his life, it would be difficult to tell whether the 50,000 surrendered troops in Jizhou would have the life of the three armies. Maybe it would be entirely possible to turn against each other in front of the battlefield again! Cao Cao would have to let Zhang Liao's troops carry the land to fill the ditch without any casualties. In fact, it was a forced one. If the Cao army's direct troops had the advantage of military strength, Cao Cao would definitely send the surrendered troops in Jizhou to fill the ditch and die, but it is not possible now!

Whether or not we can successfully break through the siege this time depends entirely on these 50,000 surrendered troops in Jizhou!

In order to inspire the fighting spirit of the surrendered army in Jizhou, Cao Cao even let his only five thousand elite troops die in battle!

Outside Xuchang City, Liang Army Camp.

Li Su's expression changed: "Cao Army is really desperate. Even if you fill in this way, you can't fill half of it until dawn. It's simply a target for our archers to practice arrows."

Gao Shun said solemnly: "Yes, this Cao army is indeed dying!"

"What?" Li Su said in surprise, "Is Cao's army indeed dying? Why is this?"

Gao Shun's eyes were clear and sharp, and he said in a calm voice: "It's worthy of being Cao Cao, who actually used such a poisonous plan to crack the military advisor's plan!"

Li Su was confused when he heard this and said in confusion: "What does the general mean?"

Gao Shun said: "When the two armies fought outside Xuchang City, the military advisor ordered our cavalry to specifically pick the Cao army's direct line and deliberately let go of the surrendered army in Jizhou. The purpose was to create a weak and strong master in Xuchang City, so that the Cao army would be in chaos without fighting and disintegrate from the inside first, but Cao Cao used an unexpected poisonous plan to resolve the military advisor's plan!"

"Cao Cao's poisonous plan?" Li Su said sternly, "General, is this Cao army who deliberately died?"

"No," Gao Shun nodded, "If this general was not wrong, this Cao army must be Cao Cao's old subordinate. Cao Cao did not hesitate to let his elite old subordinates die and had to fill the ditch with earth. The real purpose was not to really fill the trenches. In fact, there was no need to carry earth with earth to fill the land if you wanted to cross the trenches. As long as the heavy armored and shield soldiers set the way in front, Cao's army could go down the bottom of the ditch, clear the antlers first, and then attack our army's fences, but Cao's army did not do this. This only means that Cao Cao intended to kill all the elite troops."

"This~~" Li Su said in confusion, "What is Cao Cao doing this for?"

"It's very simple." Gao Shundao, "The purpose of Cao Cao's doing this is to motivate and control the surrendered army in Jizhou with all the deaths of his elite old subordinates."

"So that's it." Li Su suddenly realized, looked back at the Xuchang City Tower and said sternly, "It's worthy of being Cao Cao!"

"But~~" Gao Shun's face suddenly flashed a faint calmness and said loudly, "If Cao Cao thought that he could break through the siege with the return of 50,000 Jizhou surrendered troops, he would be very wrong. Although our army is at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, the siege has become a siege. Now the offense and defense are easy to break through. If Cao's army forces breaking through, it is equivalent to driving troops to attack a solid city. It is impossible to succeed without more than three times the advantage of military strength! Considering the advantages of our army's equipment, training and morale, even if Cao's army has five times the advantage of military strength, it is probably difficult to break through successfully."

Li Su nodded and said, "No matter what, Cao Cao cannot make a successful breakthrough, otherwise what kind of face will he have to meet his lord?"

"Now Cao Cao's intention is obvious, he is to forcefully break through the south gate!" Gao Shun said this and turned around and shouted, "Zhang Wei, Yang Ren, where is Yang Ang?"

Zhang Weisan stepped forward and stood side by side in front of Gao Shun, clasped his fists and replied: "The last one will be there."

Gao Shundao: "Each of each leads two thousand soldiers to guard the three gates of the north, east and west!"

"Affect the order."

Zhang Weisan agreed with a loud promise.

Gao Shun said again: "The other generals led their soldiers to gather outside the south gate to prepare to fight against Cao's army!"

The long night finally passed.

When the red sun rose from the east, the Shura Blood Prison-like scene outside the South Gate of Xuchang was finally exposed nakedly under the noses of the soldiers of the two armies. The eight thousand elite soldiers of Zhang Liao's troops were almost completely destroyed. The bodies of the fallen soldiers were lying in the ditch and outside the ditch. Many of the fallen soldiers were buried directly in the trenches in sacks. The so-called horse-haired corpses were just that! However, what is desperate is that the trenches that were nearly ten feet wide (the trenches that face the fourth gate of Xuchang were particularly wide, several ten feet wide, and the rest of the trenches that faced the city wall were slightly narrow, only five feet wide) were only filled less than half!

Less than five hundred remaining soldiers were lying on the open space inside the city gate to rest. Many soldiers even carried one or two feather arrows on their bodies. The leader Zhang Liao's iron spear was standing in front of the city gate like a cold statue. Looking at the sparse soldiers in front of him, a thick sense of sadness suddenly flashed through Zhang Liao's eyes. Eight thousand elite soldiers, and they were gone! Suddenly, Zhang Liao beat the iron spear in his hand to the ground, then raised his head and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The whole army obeys the order, form a formation~~"

The soldiers who were resting got up in panic and began to line up in front of Zhang Liao. Less than 500 defeated soldiers set up a relatively rigorous military formation in front of Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao took two steps forward, grabbed two large sacks and carried them on his shoulders, turned around and roared at the soldiers: "Borrow the earth~~Get out of the city!"
Chapter completed!