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The fire in Ye County burned all the way. On the top of Ye Wancheng City, Cao Hong's eyes were particularly solemn. He stared at the firelight under the night sky in the distance for a long time. Wancheng was nearly seventy miles away from Ye County, and it was still so clear that he could imagine how fierce the fire was.

Cao Hong had just returned to Wancheng from Fancheng, but encountered Ye County being attacked, which made him shocked and worried. At this time, his general Lu Kuang stepped forward and said, "Lu Lin, the governor of Cangcheng in Ye County, is careful and he will not be a fire. He should be attacked by the Jingzhou army."

After a pause, Lu Kuang suggested: "Ye County has little impact on the entire war situation. I suggest not telling Fancheng for the time being, so as not to shake the morale of the army."

Cao Hong shook his head, "Xiao is the master general, how can he hide it? Moreover, Jia Xu is also in Fancheng. They know very well what to do. Send someone to report to Fancheng immediately."

Lu Kuang agreed, and just as he was about to leave, Cao Hong called him again, "Also, immediately increase the guards of the grain transport convoy, and strengthen the investigation of the scouts on the grain channel."

"Abide by the order"

Lu Kuang hurried away, Cao Hong looked at the fire in the distance again. He gritted his teeth slowly and whispered to himself: "Dog bastard, if you have the ability, go and cut off my food route."

.........

It is about two miles from Wancheng to Fancheng. There is a flat and spacious official road that leads directly to the north and south. Vehicles and people usually come and go in a constant stream. It is the most important business road connecting Jingzhou and Zhongyuan.

Since the Cao army headed south and the Battle of Fancheng broke out, this official road was requisitioned by the Cao army, and the sky became deserted. I saw less vehicles and pedestrians, and the business trips were all turned to the small path. There were only troops or military ration convoys on the official road.

The war was a long time when the war was fought for logistics support. Cao's army went south with 40,000 troops, and there were thousands of war horses, which consumed a lot of food and grass every day.

The grain and grass were mainly transported from Wancheng through the official road. This time, Cao's army fought south, and Cao's army recruited more than a thousand ox carts and ten thousand deer carts from Nanyang, Yingchuan and Runan County, and transported grain and grass to Fancheng every day.

On the morning of the morning after the fire in Ye County, two thousand Jiangxia cavalry walked around Wancheng and headed south.

Early in the morning, it started to rain lightly, with drizzle thin drizzle, and distant mountains were as dark as dark as a layer of veil. The green leaves and grass were washed by the rain, becoming more lush and lush, with a bit of a flat forest and a distant smoke.

By noon, the rain gradually became heavier, drizzling, gray-white rain fog covered the earth, and the mountains and hills in the distance became blurred.

Liao Hua and Li Fu led the cavalry to the south and came to the vicinity of Hekou Town. This was a must-pass to visit Fancheng. A massacre turned Hekou Town into a dead town. Although the body had been buried, Hekou Town was still covered in blood and gloomy and terrifying.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier. The soldiers cherished their war horses and went into the town to hide from the rain. However, they unexpectedly found that the town was empty, the shop doors were open, and the shop was in a mess.

Li Fu rode on the horse, carefully staring at the bloodstains on the broken shop doors and walls on both sides, shook his head and said to Liao Hua: "A robbery and massacre should have happened here. The town's people were either killed or all ran away."

Liao Hua sneered: "Cao's army passes through the border like locusts. Can it still escape?"

He immediately ordered the cavalry to "find a place to rest"

The soldiers went into the shop one after another, fed the horses, fed the grass and water, and buried the pots to make rice. After a while of busyness, Liao Hua and Li Fu also went into a shop to rest. Since Ye County burned down Cangcheng, Liao Hua admired Li Fu and trusted him a lot, and discussed almost all military affairs with him.

"Does the Lord think that rain will affect the transportation of Cao's military rations?"

Li Fu smiled and said, "The people responsible for transporting food and grass are all civil servants collected by nearby counties. Cao's army is not a person who cherishes the beauty. If the transportation of food and grass is interrupted and Cao Ren is angered. Who can afford General Liao? Don't worry, a grain transport convoy will come soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, a scout rode into the town and rushed to Liao Hua to report: "I reported to the general that the enemy's grain transport team was found in front of him, about five ox carts, ten miles away from us."

Liao Hua and Li Fu looked at each other, and they smiled at each other. The opportunity really came. Liao Hua immediately ordered, "Send an order, get on the horse and get ready to set off."

The cavalrymen boarded their horses, draped them with oil cloth, turned their horses to gallop outside the town, like a stream of water quickly gathered into a small river, and rushed out of Hekou Town.

Hekou Town is built on the official road. The wide official road passes through the middle of the town and divides the town into two. The cavalry did not leave much, but just hide in a forest of miles apart a few steps away.

About half an hour later, a team of ox carts, like a long snake, slowly walked south, with muddy roads and the ox carts walked particularly slowly.

Generally speaking, in addition to the ox carts, there are also deer carts. The so-called deer carts are human wheelbarrows. In the Huaihai Battle, the small carts for civilians to transport grain were deer carts.

The convoys carrying grain were mostly mixed with ox carts and deer carts, but today the grain carts on the official road were all ox carts, and two ox carts were running side by side, full of food and grass. Because it was raining, the grain and grass on the ox carts were wrapped in black tart cloth, and a driver drove the ox cart slowly.

There are cavalry guards on both sides of the ox cart. Every few ox carts, there will be a soldier holding a spear in his hand, staring vigilantly at both sides.

Li Fu came out of the town and pondered, as if he had something to do. At this time, he stared at the grain ox cart and frowned even deeper. Liao Hua discovered his abnormality and asked, "What happened?"

Li Fu shook his head, "I can't say it, I just think something is wrong."

He looked into Liao Hua's eyes and said, "I was thinking, we burned Cangcheng in Ye County, and the thick smoke rose ten feet high, visible inside and outside. Don't Wancheng know that if they knew, would they think of our next offensive target?"

Liao Hua understood what he meant, and his brows frowned, "Are you saying that the guards of this grain team are a bit too few?"

Li Fu nodded, his eyes turned to the ox cart slowly approaching, and said to himself: "There are at most people. If they are usually guarding against hunger and bandits, these soldiers are enough, but now they should know our existence. They are still so careless and negligent, which is inconsistent with the truth."

"And the things carried by these ox carts seem to be the same. The forage should be piled up very high and the grain carts should be heavy, but they all have the same appearance. What will be under the oil cloth? Is it food or ambush?"

Liao Hua was shocked and looked carefully. The more he looked, he became more suspicious, and then he said to a treasure leader behind him: "Take a few brothers around behind the last ox cart, shoot the ox cart with crossbow arrows, see what the reaction is."

"Abide by the order"

The garrison leader waved his hand and rushed away with two cavalrymen. After a moment, he rushed to the back of the last ox cart. The guards of Cao's cavalry rushed to intercept him. The man had good riding skills and bypassed the Cao's cavalry.

On the other side, gradually approaching the ox cart. A few dozen steps away, people raised crossbows and shot them into the ox cart with arrows.

A scream came from the ox cart, and the oil cloth suddenly lifted up, and there were five Cao Jun crossbowmen hidden inside. Two of them were shot and fell into the ox cart. The other person jumped out of the ox cart and looked around in a daze.

""

Liao Hua cursed, it was indeed bait. If they rushed up and the ox cart's crossbowmen fired arrows at once, they would probably have suffered nearly half of their casualties.

"not good"

Li Fu's face changed and he immediately said, "Leave here quickly, how can Cao's army have no soldiers to respond?"

Liao Hua also realized that the other party was almost all crossbowmen. If there were no soldiers to respond, it would be the consequences of being massacred. Cao's army would never be so careless.

He turned his head and looked around, and saw black soldiers appearing in the north and south miles and blocking both ends of the north and south. It was obvious that the other party had set up a trap to hunt them.

At this time, a military marquis next to him suggested: "General, you can leave from the back of the town. There is a small wooden bridge to the north of the town. You can cross the water. The Beizhi ensures that the wooden bridge is not broken."

Liao Hua immediately made a decision, "bypassing the ox cart and returning to the town."

Two thousand cavalrymen rushed out of the woods. Instead of rushing to the ox cart, they bypassed the ox cart from the south and rushed towards Hekou Town. Hekou Town was close to Bishui. There was indeed a wooden bridge more than a step north, hidden among more than a dozen dense weeping willows.

The cavalry team quickly crossed the wooden bridge, and the last few soldiers set a fire on the wooden bridge. After the cavalry team crossed the east bank of Bishui, Liao Hua left a cavalry team of fifty people to continue harassing the food road. The rest of the army no longer stopped and ran directly towards Fancheng to the south.

Liu Jing told Liao Hua in the information that there were cavalry supply ships moored beside the Han River.

...........

In the camp of Cao's army in Fancheng, the chief general Cao Ren paced back and forth in the tent with his hands. As soon as he connected to several quick letters sent by Cao Hong from Wancheng, he learned that Cangcheng in Ye County was burned and more than a thousand soldiers guarding the city were annihilated. The intelligence said that the attacker was an elite cavalry of more than 2,000 people.

Cao Ren certainly knew the origin of this cavalry. Before he sent troops, the prime minister told him again that to prevent Liu Jing from leading the Jiangxia army to the north, he should be careful of a cavalry of more than 2,000 people.

Now the cavalry has finally appeared. Not only did they attack Ye County and burn Cangcheng, but they also escaped from the trap set by Cao Hong. They are now missing.

The Cao army has occupied Fancheng for ten days, but the Jingzhou army on the other side has shown no sign of counterattack, which makes Cao Ren feel powerless when he fails to hit the target through boxing.

Although Cao Ren's mission was not to defeat the Jingzhou army and occupy Xiangyang, Cao Cao gave him the mission to occupy Fancheng and maintain his deterrence against Jingzhou, as a general, when he saw a weak brigade not far away, the torture of seeking war made him almost crazy, but he had no warships.

This pain made Cao Ren even more hated Cai Mao. He had already surrendered to the prime minister, but he deliberately burned the ferry. What kind of posture is he doing? Is he contemptuous of his orders?

Just as Cao Ren was sighing in the camp, Jia Xu appeared at the door of the tent and asked with a smile: "General Cao, can I come in?"

Because of Cao Ang and Cao Anmin, Cao Ren and Cao Hong have never liked Jia Xu. Cao Cao had an extraordinary mind and forgave Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu, but the other Cao brothers did not have such mind.

Cao Ren is a little better. As the main general, he must be responsible for the entire Jingzhou battle situation, so he is quite polite to Jia Xu in the army, but Cao Hong is not good. He is impatient and always glares at Jia Xu every time he sees Jia Xu, and his eyes are so clear that he can't wait to kill Jia Xu with one knife.

Every time Jia Xu offered suggestions, Cao Hong was the first to jump out and oppose it, and Cao Hong's opposition made other generals difficult to express their opinions. Cao Ren's several persuasions were useless, so he sent Cao Hong back to defend Wancheng to prevent them from affecting the situation of the war.

Cao Ren glanced at Jia Xu, and forced a smile and said, "Is there anything wrong with joining the army?"

"I'm here to congratulate the general"

Cao Ren was stunned, "Why am I happy?"

Jia Xu narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Aren't the general worried about not having a ferry? I'll use a little trick to let the general collect a few ferries for free."

Cao Ren was still confused, he didn't understand what Jia Xu meant.

.........

That night, Cao Ren issued an order that due to the sneak attacks on Nanyang County by the Jiangxia cavalry and harassment of the grain channels, it made it difficult to replenish military rations, and ordered the order to abandon Fancheng and withdraw troops to Xinye County.

With the order to withdraw troops, a group of Cao troops began to evacuate Fancheng and marched towards Xinye County in the north.
Chapter completed!