Seeing that everyone's eyes were attracted, Fa Zheng coughed gently, and then he calmly pointed at Wancheng with a wooden pole and said, "The biggest difficulty in Nanyang County is Wancheng. After Cao Cao defeated Zhang Xiu, he rebuilt Wancheng. The city became taller and more solid, and it was very difficult to attack. I think General Pang should be very clear about this."

Everyone looked at Pang De. After Pang De followed Ma Chao to surrender to Liu Jing, he was always arranged in Xinye. He had participated in several battles against Nanyang County and even stationed Wancheng. He knew the situation of Wancheng very well. He nodded and said, "The military advisor is right. Wancheng is indeed difficult to attack. There is a saying that Wancheng is called 'one to fight three'. In other words, Wancheng 10,000 garrisons can withstand 30,000 troops attacking the city. Wancheng has always been a logistics important place for Cao's army to attack Xiangfan. It has a lot of food and grass. It is easy to dig wells in the city, so it can be held for at least one year."

Everyone knew that Pang De was a real person and would not exaggerate. Since he said this, it means that Wancheng was indeed extremely difficult to attack. If there were 30,000 troops in Nanyang, wouldn’t it take 90,000 people to attack Wancheng? Everyone’s hearts couldn’t help but feel heavy.

Fa Zheng smiled slightly again and said, "Although Wancheng is difficult to attack, we still have a chance, that is, not all the 30,000 troops in Nanyang County are stationed in Wancheng."

Everyone was excited, it was indeed like this. Pang De smiled and said, "When we occupied Nanyang County, we encountered a large-scale counterattack by Cao's army. Cao's army used cavalry assault to block the gathering of Wancheng from all over our troops. We can also use this method this time."

At this time, Liu Jing, who was sitting next to him, laughed, "General Pang has a good idea. This time I will transfer 6,000 elite cavalry as vanguards to imitate the tactics of Cao's army back then."

Pang De quickly bowed and said, "Abide by the orders of humble duties!"

Liu Jing nodded and smiled at Fa Zheng and said, "Military advisor, please continue talking!"

Fa Zheng said slowly: "According to the information provided by General Wen, the Cao army in Nanyang is stationed in four places, first of all, Wan County, with about 10,000 troops, commanded by Cao Hong himself, and secondly Ye County."

Fazheng's wooden pole pointed to Ye County again and continued: "Ye County is the gateway to Xuchang, and its strategic position is extremely important. It was once conquered by General Liao Hua and Li Fu. Since then, Cao's army has deployed doubled its troops in Ye County. Ye County has 10,000 troops, commanded by General Li Dian. Secondly, Yuyang County, which defends Xiangfan and Nanxiang County, which defends Guanzhong, each with 5,000 troops. Our first task is to raid Nanyang and block the troops from all over the country to gather in Wancheng."

Pang De pondered for a moment and said, "Does the military advisor want my six thousand cavalry to be divided into three groups?"

"No! Just divide the troops into two groups."

Fa Zheng smiled at Yuyang County, which was facing the south with a wooden pole, and said with a smile: "His Highness of the Han Dynasty has ordered General Wenpin to make an appointment to lead General Wenpin to surround Yuyang by the third update tonight. General Pang only needs to block the two armies of Nanxiang County and Ye County."

Pang De calculated the distance silently in his heart. The distance from Wuguan to Nanxiang County was a hundred miles away. The official road was not very flat. He had to arrive in Nanxiang County before the third update. Time was indeed very tight. He immediately clasped his fists and bowed to Liu Jing and said, "Report to Your Highness, I want to lead the army to set off immediately!"

Liu Jing nodded, "It's feasible!"

Pang De bowed again and turned around and left the tent. At this time, Liu Jing slowly said to everyone: "The capture of Nanyang is only part of the Hefei war. The purpose is to open up the Nanxiang Pass. Although Nanyang and Hefei are far apart, the Hefei battle is related to the overall situation, so the battle will not break out in Hefei. In addition to Nanyang County, there is also Anlu County. In order to prevent Cao's army from going south from the Central Plains to Anlu County, we must strengthen the defense of Yiyang's three passes, namely Wusheng Pass, Jiuli Pass, Pingjing Pass, and defend these three passes, and Cao's army will not be able to enter Anlu County from the Central Plains. Where is General Zhang Yi?"

Zhang Yi was an important general of the Southern Division of Yizhou, that is, the Badi generals led by Yan Yan, including Zhang Yi and Wang Ping and other generals. Zhang Yi was known for his goodness in defending the city. Liu Jing first wanted to consider letting Zhang Yi guard Wancheng, but this would make it difficult for Wenpin to deal with it. So weighing the pros and cons, Liu Jing decided to let Zhang Yi guard the direction of Anlu County.

Zhang Yi stepped forward and bowed and said, "I am humble!"

Liu Jing said in a deep voice: "I will grant you the commander of Anlu County. After the Battle of Nanyang, you can lead 10,000 troops to Anlu County and take over the three passes of Yiyang. As long as you defend the three passes of Yiyang, I will be your great contribution."

"The last one will obey the order!"

After Liu Jing deployed the army, he whispered to everyone: "I hope you will fight bravely and capture Nanyang County in the shortest time."

Everyone bowed and bowed together, "I wish to serve Your Highness to die!"

Since Cheng Yu led his army to recapture Nanyang County, the direction of Nanyang has been in a state of truce. The Han army has never crossed the border. With the calm of the war for several years, the people's livelihood in Nanyang County has gradually recovered and traditional commerce has also begun to become active.

Because Nanyang County has a special strategic position, it can go to Jingxiang in the south, connect to Xudu in Luoyang in the north, enter Guanzhong and Hanzhong in the west, and adjacent to Ruyu in the east. The location of such a transportation hub has made Nanyang County prosperous since ancient times, and caravans from all over the official roads can be seen everywhere.

At noon, a caravan composed of dozens of people and hundreds of mules and horses loaded with cargo slowly came from the official road in the distance. These merchants were all agile and energetic, which was very different from those who were usually dusty.

This caravan was a special scout team led by Ren Ping, the deputy commander of the Eagle Strike Army. Their goal was of course to enter Wancheng. However, on the way, they received news from other caravans that Cao Hong had extremely strict defenses against Wancheng and no longer allowed foreign caravans to enter the city. He specially moved the market in Wancheng outside the Xicheng, called Caoshi, and required all merchants to trade outside the city.

Not only that, people from a foreign land who have more than three people are not allowed to enter the city. This is the rule set by Cheng Yu back then and has been strictly enforced by Cao Hong. Caravans like them with dozens of people have no chance to enter the city.

Although the Wancheng City investigation is strict, there is no way. For example, you can disperse each to enter the city. However, this is too time-consuming and more dangerous. Ren Ping decided to adopt another method.

In addition to the forty-three subordinates, there were also Chang'an County Magistrate Deng Hong, who was also among them. Deng Hong belonged to the Deng family, one of the three prominent families in Nanyang. He was the son of Deng Yi. At that time, he and Cui Si and Xun Zhi were admitted to the Xiangyang Scholars. They were first sent to Huayang County, Nanjun to serve as the head of the county magistrate and county magistrate step by step. He was down-to-earth, honest and had a good reputation among the people's customs.

Last summer, he was transferred to Guanzhong to serve as the county magistrate of Chang'an County. Since Chang'an is the capital, he is actually equivalent to the rank of a county magistrate and has become the best among the younger generation.

His friends Cui Si and Xun Zhi also did a very good job. Cui Si became the prefect of Lingling last fall, while Xun Zhi served as the Censor of the Censor the year before yesterday, in charge of the government inspections in Jingzhou. There has been news from Chang'an that Xun Zhi may be promoted to the Chief Censor after this term is over.

This time, Deng Hong was specially transferred to the army by Liu Jing. As an important figure in attacking Nanyang, in addition to the Deng family, the three major aristocrats in Nanyang County also had the Huang family of veteran Huang Zhong and the Zhang family where Zhang Zhongjing was located.

Although Deng Hong was an official in the Han Dynasty, he was the eldest son of the Deng family and had a very high status in the family. Many people believe that Deng Hong should take over the position of head of the family after his father Deng Yi passed away.

The group was less than ten miles away from Nanyang. You could see the majestic city walls from afar, like a long dragon in front of them. On both sides of the official road were endless farmlands, and lush forests stood among the farmlands. The ice and snow in the Nanyang area had melted, and green wheat seedlings grew in the fields. The winter wheat had survived the cold winter and began to recover.

By noon, there were more pedestrians on the official road, most of them were farmers living nearby, and wealthy people who went to Wancheng to visit relatives. They were sitting in large caravans, with family servants and horses, and many caravans like them, or large caravans with hundreds of mules and horses, or small merchants with more than a dozen mules and horses. They all went to Caoshi outside the West City.

"Young Master Deng, these are all your land!" Ren Ping smiled at the farmland on both sides with a horse whip.

"There is the south, not the north, and the north is the Huang family's land, which is slightly less than the Deng family."

"It is said that the Deng family has five manors in Nanyang County, and this is just one of them!"

"There is nothing to do, the Deng family has a large population."

Deng Hong smiled faintly and changed the subject. He pointed to a fork in front of him and said, "Ren Master, go to the fork in front of him and we will turn the way south. We will walk about five or six miles to arrive."

Ren Ping nodded and turned around and ordered: "Everyone is following, don't get lost."

Everyone accelerated and soon came to the fork road, turned the way south again, and walked about five or six miles before an ancient manor appeared in front of them. The manor covered an area of ​​hundreds of acres. In addition to more than a dozen large warehouses, there were also several two-story wooden houses, and the houses of hundreds of tenants.

This is Wancheng Manor, one of the five manors of the Deng family. Nearly thirty hectares of land are owned by the Deng family. A deacon is in charge. Deng Hong urges his horse to gallop into the manor and shouts: "Is Uncle Long here?"

"Young Master, is it you?"

An old man in his fifties ran out of the wooden house and looked at Deng Hong excitedly. At this time, many servants came out to salute Deng Hong, and several servants ran to the wooden house.

Ren Ping, not far away, felt something was wrong. There were too many people who knew that Deng Hong was back, and there were risks. After all, Deng Hong was an official of the Han Dynasty. Once Cao Hong knew about it, would he send someone to review it.

But it was a bit too late to find out that something was wrong, so Ren Ping had to decide to adopt a backup strategy. Once he entered the city, he would immediately leave the Deng family. At this time, Deng Hong came back and smiled and said, "Master Ren, please come in! My father happened to be in the manor."

Ren Ping nodded and walked into Deng's farm with his men. They rested in a wooden house and had lunch. About half an hour later, Deng Hong hurried into the room and said to Ren Ping: "Master Ren, please follow me!"

Ren Ping ordered everyone a few words, and then followed Deng Hong to another big wooden house and walked into the innermost room. He saw an old man with disabled legs sitting in the room with gray hair and thin face. He was Deng Yi, the head of the Deng family, and Deng Hong's father. At that time, the Jingzhou master had a lofty prestige in Jingzhou and Nanyang.

Although Cao Hong also knew that Deng Yi was inclined to Jingzhou, he asked Deng Yi for many things and was very polite to him. In many aspects, Deng Yi was also very assigned to Cao Hong, and the two of them also formed a friendship.

Ren Ping bowed and said, "The Han Army Captain Ren Ping met with Duke Deng!"

Deng Yi had already received news from his son that the Han army was going to attack Nanyang County, and he also knew that it was Han King Liu Jing who personally led the army to the west, which surprised him very much. This time it was extraordinary, and it was probably that the Han army would completely occupy Nanyang.

Deng Yi knew how to deal with this matter with decades of political wisdom. He smiled at Ren Ping and said, "I can help the general and his subordinates enter the city, but there is Cao's army stationed in Deng's mansion, which is nominally protection, but actually surveillance. I can't take you to Deng's mansion, I hope General Ren can understand."

Ren Ping immediately said: "Thank you for your support, we don't need to go to Deng's mansion. As long as we can enter Wancheng, we can make arrangements by ourselves."

Deng Yi smiled slightly, "Wancheng is not as good as before. Cao Hong has a reward order. More than five people from other places gather. As long as the people report, they can get a heavy reward. Therefore, you cannot go to the city to find a hostel or something. I will arrange your residence. In addition, the weapons you need can also provide the Deng family. Fortunately, you are not many, more than fifty people, so I can do nothing."

"Thank you Mr. Deng, I wonder how we entered the city?"

"It's a coincidence that Cao Hong borrowed 10,000 s of grain from me these days, so I came to the manor to count the grain today. If you don't feel wronged, you can pretend to be a servant of the Deng family and send the grain to the city!"
Chapter completed!