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Liu Jing asked the county-level Cao army prisoners and Cao Ren to Jiangling, and he himself led his army to Xiangyang. At this time, the Jiangxia navy had already controlled the Han River and cut off the connection between Xiangyang and Fancheng. At present, there are about 5,000 Cao army soldiers in Xiangyang City, commanded by Xiangyang Deputy General Zhao, who defended Xiangyang to the death.

Dongdongdongdongdong

The sound of war drums was ringing heavily, and six thousand Jiangxia soldiers launched a fourth attack on the east city of Xiangyang. The previous attack ended in failure. The Cao army in Xiangyang defended the city with the strong and tall Xiangyang City.

The black Jiangxia soldiers carried the siege ladder and launched an attack on the east city from one direction. On the top of the city, four thousand Cao soldiers took bows and arrows, waiting for the battle. Deputy General Zhao looked at the enemy rushing up coldly and shouted: "Shoot the arrow"

Arrows suddenly shot up the top of the city, and overwhelming arrows shot in the air. The soldiers of Jiangxia raised their shields to greet them. Despite this, many soldiers were shot by arrows and fell to the ground screaming.

Jiangxia soldiers continued to run with their shields, and used wooden boards to build the moat. Huge siege ladders were erected and built on the city wall nearly four feet high. Groups of soldiers climbed up the ladder, holding battle knives and shields in their hands to climb towards the city.

On the top of the city, Cao Jun smashed the huge wooden rock with a big rolling stone that had been prepared. A huge rock that weighed several kilograms rolled down the ladder and immediately smashed more than a dozen siege soldiers down the city. Screams one after another. The soldiers under the city were covered in blood and covered in corpses, but some soldiers were not afraid of death and continued to climb the ladder.

On the other side, more than a dozen Cao army soldiers used steel forks more than two meters long to hold the ladder and pushed it out hard. The siege ladder lost its center of gravity and turned outward. A series of soldiers on the siege ladder fell from the ladder, screaming in a whole lot.

On the southernmost side, a huge iron hook on the siege hooked the city wall, making it difficult for Cao's army to push the ladder away on the city. More than a dozen Jiangxia soldiers rushed to the top of the city, but were blocked by dozens of Cao's army. Both sides launched a tragic life-and-death battle at the battlement.

The Jiangxia army fought again and again, and the rolling wood and stones on the top of the city fell like hail, and arrows on the horse walls on both sides attacked the Jiangxia soldiers who were sieging the city.

This Jiangxia army with more than 10,000 people was once the elite of the Jingzhou army. It has been stationed in Fancheng and Xinye for a long time. It has been commanded by the pirate for nearly ten years. It has strong combat effectiveness and is well-trained.

Despite the stubborn counterattack from Cao's army and heavy casualties, they did not retreat and still attacked the city one after another. Unfortunately, they lacked enough weapons to attack the city and gradually seemed a little powerless.

Pin stood on a mound two miles away, watching his army siege from afar, while Cai Jin led a thousand navy troops to continue blocking the river. At this time, Pin felt huge pressure. He had lost nearly two thousand soldiers, and Xiangyang City was still standing tall.

If he continues to fight, his army will be less and less, and it will become more and more difficult to attack the city. In the end, the army will be exhausted, but Xiangyang still cannot take it down. The soldiers who attacked the city were suffering from heavy casualties, leaving only the last five siege ladders. Pin felt helpless and sighed and ordered: "Mingjin to withdraw the troops."

"Dangdangdang"

The bell to withdraw the troops rang, and the Jiangxia army retreated like a retreat. After nearly two hours of this battle, more than a thousand people were killed or injured. The Cao army on the top of the city cheered.

............

At dusk, Liu Jing led 10,000 troops to Xiangyang. At the entrance of the Jiangxia Army camp in the east of Xiangyang City, he hired and led more than a dozen generals to greet him. He stepped forward and bowed to Liu Jing and said, "See the governor of the state."

Liu Jing quickly helped him up and said with a smile: "General, don't be too polite, please get up quickly."

Pin stood up and sighed, "I am incompetent and have not been able to conquer Xiangyang yet."

Liu Jing smiled slightly, "If Xiangyang City is so easy to capture, it will not be the first city in Jingzhou. I understand in my heart, let's talk about it."

Pin met Zhao Yun again and took Liu Jing to the tent. In the middle of the tent of the central army, there was a sand table that was one meter long and wide, including Xiangyang and Fancheng. From the north to Xinye area, Liu Jing walked directly to the sand table. He was familiar with this area and he knew Xiangyang's weaknesses in offense and defense.

He pointed to the city gate with a wooden pole and asked, "Is the South City Gate still the same as last year?"

The South City Gate is the weakness of the defense of the entire Xiangyang City. It collapsed the year before yesterday. Although it was repaired later, the quality of the repair was very poor. It is easy to collapse again when subjected to heavy external attacks. Therefore, as long as you attack Nancheng with a heavy catapult, after more than a dozen huge rocks hit, the city wall on the South City Gate will inevitably collapse again.

Almost all the main generals of Jingzhou know this weakness, but Cao's army may not know it, so Liu Jing is most concerned about this place, but Pin shook his head and said, "I heard that Cao's army was repaired last winter. The southern city gate is now very strong and difficult to attack."

Liu Jing nodded, "It seems that Cao's army has made sufficient preparations, and there should be a lot of food in the city."

"I heard that more than 100,000 stones of grain were stored in the city, and Cao's soldiers were still clearing wastelands and growing vegetables on the open spaces in the city. In addition, five thousand elite defenders, it was really not easy to capture Xiangyang." Pin was a little depressed. He had already lost thousands of soldiers, but he did not take any advantage.

"Of course, the attack can be defeated, but it only needs to pay a heavy price. This is not the price I want to bear. I have to seize Xiangyang City in another way."

At this time, Zhao Yun next to him said, "Cao's army has stored more than 100,000 stones of grain in the city, but only 5,000 troops defend. This is a bit unreasonable. I guess the chief general of the Cao army already knew that Cao Ren was going to retreat north, so he defended the city and waited for Cao Ren to return north. If we let the enemy in the city know that Cao Ren's army has been completely wiped out, then they would not have to defend Xiangyang to the death."

Liu Jing pondered for a moment and said, "Long said it right. The army that defeated others without fighting is the plan. Tomorrow morning, we might as well let the Cao army in the city see our military appearance first."

.........

Zhao was about forty years old this year. He followed Cao Cao for many years and made great contributions when he attacked Yuan Shu. Although his reputation was not as prominent as Xu Huang and Zhang Liao, he was also an important general under Cao Cao's sect, especially good at defending. After Cao Cao went north, he left him and Xu Huang to guard Xiangfan, with Xu Huang as the main general and he was the deputy.

Before leaving, Cao Cao once told him and Xu Huang that Xiangyang should not be lost. Once Xiangyang is lost, Cao Ren's retreat will be cut off. Therefore, Zhao led 5,000 troops to defend Xiangyang to the death.

At this time, Zhao already knew that Cao Ren had given up Jiangling and retreated northward. In this case, he did not dare to give up Xiangyang easily.

In fact, he had nowhere to retreat. If Xiang Shangyong retreated, he would inevitably be pursued by the Jiangxia army. Now he can only wait for Cao Ren to withdraw back to Xiangyang, and then Cao Ren will decide whether to hold on or withdraw his troops.

At night, Showa patrols the city as usual, and at this time, soldiers rushed to report: "Report to General, someone in the East City is going to enter the city."

"Who is it?"

"It seems to be a general under General Zhennan."

Zhao was shocked and quickly ordered: "Take him here to see me."

After a moment, the soldier brought a man and came forward to salute him, "See the general with a humble position"

Zhao knew this man, Cao Ren's subordinate general, named Zhu Huan. He hurriedly asked: "Where is General Zhennan now?"

When Zhu Huan heard some news, it seemed that Cao Ren was also arrested, but Liu Jing did not allow him to mention Cao Ren's incident, and he did not dare to reveal any secrets. He sighed and Zhu Huan reported that "We were ambushed by the Jiangxia army in the county, and the entire army was wiped out. General Zhennan was missing. Unfortunately, he was captured by the Jiangxia army. I was actually released to pass the message."

Zhao was stunned. Cao Renjun had been wiped out. After a while, he hesitated and asked: "What are you going to spread?"

Zhu Huan smiled bitterly and said, "Now Liu Jing has led the main reinforcements to Xiangyang. He asked me to tell the general that if the general is willing to give up Xiangyang, he can promise the general to retreat westward and never pursue, or he can also send a ship to send the general and the army across the river, and the general will choose himself."

"this....."

Zhao's heart was in a mess, which made him more important to choose. He couldn't make decisions. At least Xu Huang needed to decide. After thinking for a long time, Zhao asked again: "How many troops did Liu Jing come?"

"I have been locked in a prison van. I don't know how many troops there are, but according to what Liu Jing meant, it seems that there are 40,000 troops."

"I understand, you go down and rest first. Let me think about it before making a decision."

Zhao quickly walked down the city and headed towards the military yamen. He needed to report this matter to Xu Huang as soon as possible. Although he and Xu Huang were blocked by the river, they could communicate through pigeon letters, which was of great importance, and he dared not be careless at all.

The next morning, Cao's army on the top of Xiangyang City discovered that Jiangxia reinforcements were coming outside the city. They quickly rang the bell, and soldiers rushed to report to the guard general Zhao. Soon, Zhao rushed to the top of the city.

I saw that the outside of the city was completely different from the Jiangxia army a few days ago. It was obvious that the Jiangxia army arrived. The Jiangxia army lined up one mile away, with flags waving and loudly extending south for more than ten miles. Judging from this formation, there were at least 40,000 to 50,000 people.

Zhao didn't know that this was the bluff of the Jiangxia army. A dozen miles away, perhaps only one or two soldiers were resisting the banner, but Liu Jing was the governor of Jingzhou and the lord of the entire Jiangxia army. It was completely normal for him to lead 40,000 troops to arrive.

Zhao took a breath of air conditioning. There were only five thousand defenders in his city. If Jiangxia's army attacked from all sides at the same time, how could he be able to defend the city.

At this time, a cavalry of Jiangxia rushed over and shot a letter to the top of the city. A soldier picked up the letter and ran to Zhao. More than a dozen middle and low-level generals also surrounded him, "General, what is the letter?" Everyone asked in a verbal way.

After reading the letter, Zhao sighed and said, "It's the same as last night that I asked me to withdraw my troops. Liu Jing said he didn't want to destroy Xiangyang City, so he gave us a chance."

"General, let's withdraw."

The generals advised one after another: "Since General Zhennan has been wiped out, there is no need for us to stick to Xiangyang City. Moreover, he is the governor of the state and will not break his promise easily. There will definitely be no fraud. General, please withdraw."

Zhao shook his head and said to everyone: "I can't decide whether to withdraw the troops or not, General Xu must decide."

He ordered someone to find Zhu Huan and said to him: "Go and tell Liu Jing that as long as General Xu Huang agrees, I will withdraw my troops immediately."

"I understand it"
Chapter completed!