Yanzhou was smoking, it was indeed smoking. More than half a month ago, the Tang army used oil and gold juice to attack Puyang and Lihu. The battle made the place ablaze and filled with smoke. However, after breaking through the first line of defense of Cao's army, the war continued due to

A mist and rain temporarily extinguished it.

At the end of June and the beginning of July, the plum rains began to move from the Yangtze River Basin to the Huanghuai River Basin. It rained every three days in the Yan and Xu areas, and the water levels in the rivers continued to rise. This kind of weather was really not suitable for fighting. As the defender, Cao Jun was okay

, with a city to rely on, it was very difficult for the Tang army. The tents were wet and the camp was filled with mud.

People are uncomfortable, and so are horses. Originally, after conquering Puyang, Lu Bu planned to send his cavalry into Yanzhou to divide and surround Cao's army. However, in this weather, horses are prone to illness if they are not properly hygienic. There is no other way, so the army just

I can temporarily stay in Puyang and Lihu area.

It was not until two days ago, when the drizzle finally stopped, that Lu Bu convened another civil and military meeting.

"Amo has successfully captured Yangping Pass. Liu Xuande's 50,000 troops are stationed in Shiquan County and have not taken any action for the time being. After Wenyuan captured Jibei Kingdom, Lu Kingdom, and Langya Kingdom, Xiahou Dun took the initiative to shrink the front and defended the city. The battle situation in the east

temporarily helpless

Open; Xingba and Zhou Yu fought twice in the East China Sea, no matter who was up or down, and it can only be used for water defense at present; Sun Ce personally led more than 30,000 people to the north, and had already arrived at Pengcheng State. He should be waiting to see whether the situation is going to happen.

Should we support Yanzhou or Xuzhou?"

Lu Bu briefly talked about the recent battles in various places, and said straightforwardly, "The enemy's troops have arrived at the same time, and the weather has cleared up, so it's time for us to take action! The gap in Puyang has been opened, which is the opportunity to divide and surround Cao's army."

"Except for Gongyu, Henglian, and Yuansi who stayed behind in Yecheng, everyone else will go out with me to fight! Gongming, Anren!"

"The general is here!" Xu Huang and Guan Hai immediately came out!

"Gongming will lead 20,000 infantry cavalry, An Ren will lead 3,000 golden eagle guards, and Gu will allocate you 5,000 cavalry. You two will go east along the river, and first pull out Cao Ren who is stationed at Qin Pavilion, and then Gongming will go south to Juancheng.

Anren went to Cangting, and Dong'a and Zang Xuangao besieged Cao Hong."

"No!" Xu Huang and Guan Hai responded respectfully.

"Jun Yi, you lead 20,000 cavalry to Dingtao to attack Cao Ang and Li Dian. If the city cannot be captured, then trap it."

"No!" Qu Yi answered the order loudly.

"Zi Yan, you go south from Xuanyuan Pass to Yingchuan to capture Xiahou Yuan. You must capture him before Liu Xuande makes a decision. After looking at Liu Xuande's movements, if he surrenders, you should leave some troops to guard the pass with the king.

Concubine, Liu Xuande will attack Nanyang Cheng Yu from east to west, but if that fellow surrenders to Cao Cao, you can help the concubine to contain Cheng Yu first, and order Ming to lead 20,000 troops south to Wuguan, deal with Liu Daer first, and then take Cheng Yu."

"Yes!" Gao Shun bowed his hands in agreement.

"Others, follow Guzhi to Changyi, Cao Mengde's base camp!"

"No!" Hua Xiong, Yan Liang, Cao Xing and others responded in unison.

"The king is pressing so hard, Cao Mengde is going to lead the main force out for a decisive battle!" Jia Xu said.

As soon as the gate of Lihu in Puyang was broken, a gap was opened in the defense line built by Cao Jun. Xu Huang and Guan Hai went east to remove Qin Ting. After Dong'a, the northern defense line was completely opened, and only Cao and Sun were left among the original three families of Cao, Liu, and Sun.

Compared with the Tang State, although its military strength is still superior, it has to disperse its defense in various places, which in turn weakens its strength. If it continues to be passive, it will be eaten up by the Tang Army sooner or later. Instead of doing this, it is better to lead all the troops and horses to a decisive battle.

Lu Bu laughed and said, "It is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive to fight one by one like this. I just want to force him to come out for a decisive battle!"

Jia Xu nodded happily after hearing this. In the past, when the princess was there, the king mostly listened to her words and rarely came up with any big ideas. Now that the princess is gone, he can still take charge of his own affairs. At least in military matters, the king's talent is still the same.

Extremely high, this three-sided hunting strategy was enough to force the cowering Cao Mengde out.

"The king's main force must not approach too quickly. We don't know where the main force of Cao's army will be stationed in the field, so as to prevent us from being surrounded instead of hunting!" Jia Xu reminded.

Lu Bu nodded, "Then I'll ask Wen He to go out with Suigu so that we can be reminded at any time!"

The princess was not here, so Jia Xu could only nod his head in resignation, praying silently in his heart that this would be his last expedition with the army, and that after this battle, he would be able to enjoy his old age comfortably!

Lu Bu's large-scale mobilization of troops and horses naturally caused panic among Cao's army. Do you think that you can sit back and relax by defending the city? That's a big mistake. Although the total number of Tang troops is not as many as that of Cao and Sun, there are more cavalry, more than ten

There are nearly 100,000 cavalry among the 10,000 soldiers and horses. After breaking into Yanzhou's territory, they can cut off your food route anywhere. The key point is that the cavalry is highly mobile. You can't catch it or catch up. You can only watch and watch.

in a hurry.

As for leading the cavalry to fight in the field with the Tang army, it was not impossible, but Cao Cao would never dare to rush out to fight in the field without knowing the distribution and direction of the opponent's troops.

Since being cut off from the military and horse trade by the North, he has only managed to gather 30,000 cavalry from here and there over the years. Lu Bu may have 10,000 or 20,000 cavalry with him, although his own cavalry are now equipped with high-bridge saddles and double stirrups.

, but in terms of elite level, it is definitely not as good as the Tang army.

Moreover, the cavalry of our own family can be reduced as much as they are destroyed. They have several horse farms and a big business. It only takes a few months to kill 10,000 and replenish 10,000 more. How can they afford it?

"We can only mobilize our troops for a decisive battle. Otherwise, when the food routes everywhere are cut off and the morale of the army collapses, my lord will not be able to do a decisive battle even if he wants to!"

In Changyi City, Cao Cao had been receiving intelligence from various detectives in the past few days. He was convening counselors to discuss countermeasures. Xun Yu was the first to speak.

Cao Cao frowned, "Is there any other way?"

Although there was no fear on his face, deep down in his heart he did not dare to fight with Lu Bu. Perhaps no one in the world dared to fight with Lu Bu. Just look at the experiences of Sun Jian, Ma Teng, Han Sui and Gongsun Zan.

These were all powerful heroes at that time, but they were all defeated by Lu Bu in a single battle because they had more troops than their opponents. Among them, Gongsun Zan was directly beheaded.

Cao Cao always remembered the scene when Lu Bu led 500 cavalrymen to trample the 100,000-man allied camp in Suanzao. If Lu Bu had not shown mercy at that time, he would have died long ago. Now that he thought of the scene at that time, he still couldn't help but get nervous.

numb.

Xun Yu shook his head helplessly, and Lu Su, the representative sent by Sun Ce, also shook his head.

Surrounded on three sides, there was no movement from Liu Bei's side. Cao Cao also knew that there was nothing he could do, but he still struggled to make a decision.

Two days ago, news came from Nanyang that Amo secretly went to Hanzhong at this critical moment. In more than a month, he used 60,000 soldiers and horses to conquer a series of checkpoints from Hanzhong to Shuzhong, killing Liu Xuande and tens of thousands of people.

The soldiers and horses blocked the outside. Although there was an advantage in this battle, she acted so fast and her methods were so high, which really scared Cao Cao and the others.

One of the couple was invincible in field battles, and the other was unparalleled in resourcefulness. Coupled with Tang's strong military and economic strength, it was not that Cao Cao had no confidence in himself, but that the odds of winning were really too low.

"My lord, there is no need to be timid!"

Just when Cao Cao was hesitant, Xun You stood up and held up his hands and said, "In my opinion, even if we fight a decisive battle, our army may not lose!"
Chapter completed!