Although Cao Hong was passive and lazy in fighting, preparing siege equipment in the rear, he sent out many scouts and sentries, and Lei Tong's unusual movements did not escape the eyes of the tiger and leopard cavalry.

Lei Tong only took more than a hundred riders to contact the Di tribe. Cao Xiu was worried that this was Zhang Fei's trick to lure the enemy, so even if he discovered it, he did not divide his troops to intercept it.

A few days later, Lei Tong contacted Lei Ding, the leader of the Di tribe, and they brought tens of thousands of Di tribe warriors to fight in defense.

Thousands of people were walking in the Chenghui Basin, but they were easily spotted by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. After receiving the news, Cao Hong urgently summoned the generals to discuss the matter, intending to use the Di people to make a point of defence.

Yang Fu, the prefect of Wudu, was the first to speak: "According to the flags that the scouts found, these Di people are from the Lei family who live in Wudu Road. They are familiar with the terrain and are good at climbing over mountains and ridges. We can attack them before they reach Xia Bian.

Otherwise, Zhang Fei's help will be detrimental to us."

Xinpi, who joined the army and came to supervise the transportation of grain and grass from Hechi, followed up and said: "What Yishan (Yang Fu) said is true. The city of Xiabian is so strong that it is difficult to attack. We cannot give Zhang Fei a chance to replenish his troops. Wen Lie (Cao Xiu)

The general's tiger and leopard cavalry come and go like the wind, so why not let him lead the army to intercept these Di people? If Zhang Fei divides his troops to rescue, we can take the opportunity to attack the city."

"If Zhang Fei loses the city, this lone army will become a lost dog." Yang Fu added.

Cao Hong thought it made sense, but he still subconsciously asked Cao Xiu: "Wen Lie, what do you think?"

Cao Xiu frowned and shook his head: "I think it's better to hold back and let these Di people enter the city first."

"But why?"

Not only was Cao Hong puzzled, but Yang Fu, Xin Pi and others were also puzzled.

Cao Xiu explained: "Zhang Fei's soldiers are so small that he is trapped in the isolated city. Can he consume more food than us? It may not be harmful to send more people into the city to eat food..."

"General Wen Lie originally had this plan, but since Zhang Fei can recruit soldiers from the Di tribe, he should also be able to raise food from outside. I'm worried that over time, they will be able to take root in Wudu." Yang Fu looked worried.

Cao Xiu sneered and said: "I can let the Di people enter the city to eat food, but I will never let Zhang Fei replenish food and grass."

"Wonderful." Xinpi nodded in affirmation.

"Just as Wen Lie said." Cao Hong's face was gloomy.

After Xiabian City received reinforcements, he became more confident. Zhang Fei incorporated Lei Ding's troops under his command as a reserve force to assist Wu Yi in defending the city. Cao Hong continued to besiege the city without fighting every day. Zhang Fei was happy to see that the containment effect was achieved.

A few days later, Wu Yi went to Zhang Fei privately and reported: "Cao Hong's siege area is getting wider and wider. At first it was only the east area, but now it has been connected to the north. If Xiabian is surrounded by the enemy, we will really be trapped in the isolated city.

The general has to guard against it."

"Surrounded on all sides? Cao Hong's troops are not strong enough. I think it's a ploy to lure the enemy, or to remain unchanged in response to changes." Zhang Fei didn't care.

Wu Yi nodded and reminded when he left: "The Di people brought by Lei Ding were lightly dressed and carried only a few days' worth of food and grass. If we still plan to deprive the Di people of rations in Xia Bian's granary, then even if we save money, we won't be able to survive for three days."

Months, General, please make plans early..."

Zhang Fei stood up in excitement. Under the influence of Lan Tian, ​​he attached great importance to supplies. Food was always the first consideration in battles. When he heard Wu Yi's reminder, he frowned and said, "If Cao Hong doesn't come to attack the city for a long time, wouldn't we have more food every day?"

Ten thousand mouths?”

"Of course." Wu Yi affirmed.

"Let Lei Ding take some people back to the tribe tomorrow to raise food. How can they eat and drink for free every day? But remember that they must act secretly to avoid being discovered by the tiger and leopard cavalry and causing trouble." Zhang Fei ordered.

"Wei." Wu Yi clasped his fists and retreated.

Lei Ding led two thousand Di people out of the city at dawn. Zhang Fei was worried and asked Ren Kui to go with thousands of Yizhou soldiers. The journey out of the city went smoothly without any obstacles.

Lei Ding raised 5,000 hu of grain from several tribes, saving some Di people who could survive for two months. Everything went smoothly on the way from the Wududao tribe to Xiabian, until he was suddenly attacked twenty miles away from Xiabian.

To the attack of tiger and leopard cavalry.

Zhang Fei learned the news and planned to go to the rescue personally. He went down to the east and Cao's army from the north suddenly attacked in a large scale.

"General Yide, Cao Hong, and Cao Zhen are attacking the two northeastern routes at the same time. This time Cao Jun's offensive is quite fierce. It would be better for the general to sit down and defend himself," Wu Yi advised.

"Why do I smell a conspiracy? Now I can only work hard to rescue Meng Qi. Cao Xiu's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry only has 3,000 men. You and I must rescue them with 5,000 elite troops." Zhang Fei ordered.

"Wei." Ma Chao clasped his fists and accepted the order.

Wu Yi is now going to the east gate to supervise the battle. Zhang Fei walked out of the prefect's mansion and was about to go to the north gate, wanting to see what Cao Jun was doing.

Ma Chao called in reinforcements and went out to the west gate of Xiabian to rescue him. After walking more than ten miles, he encountered Lei Ding and the defeated Di people. When they saw the reinforcements, they burst into tears as if they were relatives.

"Where is General Ren?" Ma Chao asked loudly.

Lei Ding, with disheveled hair and a mournful face, replied: "General Ren was entangled by Cao Cao's cavalry in order to cover our escape."

Ma Chao was secretly surprised when he heard this, and immediately led his troops to gallop west. When he was approaching the battle site, he saw plumes of smoke rising from the sky. He chased after him and found that the battle was over. The ground was full of corpses of Yizhou soldiers and Di people. The victors

The Tigers and Leopards were burning the Di people's grain carts.

"Don't leave, traitors." Ma Chao rode up with a gun in hand.

Seeing that Ma Chao was well prepared, Cao Xiu did not fight forcefully, but ordered the tiger and leopard riders to go south in a roundabout way, fighting and moving away.

Because the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were well-trained and marched quickly, Ma Chao and Cao Xiu were entangled for less than half an hour before the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry broke away from Ma Chao's pursuit and flew away.

Ma Chao knew that the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were not easy to deal with. If they were to intercept them by force, he would not know how many of his 5,000 men would be left.

Ma Chao had no choice but to turn around to clean up the battlefield and dispose of the corpses. General Ren Kui had been beheaded. Except for the hundreds of Di people who fled back to Xiabian with Lei Ding, all the other soldiers who came out to raise food were killed. The food brought by Zhou Zhang at great expense was destroyed.

Burned down.

The main task of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was to rob food, and killing Ren Kui and the soldiers was just a side event. After they retreated to a safe position, Cao Hong and Cao Zhen gave up the siege.

"ordinary man."

Zhang Fei was furious when he knew he had been tricked. The fire in his chest could not be released, so he could only pace back and forth in the room with a dark face.

Ma Chao and Wu Yi were separated on the left and right and did not dare to talk to each other. After all, they suffered a big loss this time. At this time, the entourage handed the top to Zhang Fei to relieve his anger.

Zhang Fei was beating the top crazily in the room, and the crackling sound was accompanied by rude curses, which made Ma Chao and Wu Yi wonder.

They both heard that Zhang Fei loved to whip his soldiers, but they didn't expect that the one who was actually whipped was a toy. Ma Chao and Wu Yi stopped Wu Er outside the door and asked, "What did General Yide whip?"

Wu Er cupped his fists and replied: "This thing is called a spinning top. It was given to General Zhang by General Lan to relieve his boredom."

"This thing...seems...like a toy..." Wu Yi looked confused.

"It is true that General Lan made toys for the children, and later gave them to General Zhang to replace the whipping of the soldiers. Anyway, it was a good deed..." Wu Er explained and said goodbye to the two of them with fists in his hands.
Chapter completed!