Chapter 1021: Joining Forces at the Foot of Changyi City

In addition to the strict defense facilities in Changyi City, there are currently 40,000 central troops and 40,000 county soldiers of Cao Cao's army defending the city.

It can be said that if there were no 50,000 troops of Huangfu Li's army, Huangfu Chaobo would not have needed to send troops to Changyi. Of course, Huangfu Chaobo was not sure that he could capture Changyi with these troops alone, because in fact, there were only 80,000 combat soldiers and 20,000 guards among these troops, and then there were 15,000 civilians and 15,000 Cao Cao's prisoners.

Such a force actually has no advantage in attacking the city, but Huangfu Chaobo once again transferred 40,000 guards from Chenliu and the three counties of Yuzhou to support. With these guards, Huangfu Chaobo's troops barely reached twice the number of the guards in Changyi City, and he was basically confident.

According to the idea of ​​Huangfu Chaobo and others, after a period of time, once the flood season is over, 50,000 to 80,000 troops will be transferred from Hebei, and then it will not be a problem to capture Changyi City.

In the central army tent west of Changyi City, Huangfu Chaobo sat in the main seat and looked at the people below and said: "The army has set up camp. Has there been any news from General Huangfu Li's troops?"

Guo Jia next to him said: "A fast horse came early this morning to report that the army has begun to attack Fangdong County. It is estimated that it will take two or three days."

"Is there any news from Hebei? How is the army prepared?"

"General Zhao Yun sent a pigeon letter saying that the 50,000 troops recruited in Hebei have begun to gather in Liyang, waiting for the flood season Once we cross the river, we can arrange to cross the river, land at Baima Port, and then rush south to Changyi to join the army. "

Huangfu Chaobo nodded and fell into deep thought. It is not impossible for the reinforcements from Hebei to rush to Qingzhou for rescue, but the number of 50,000 troops is too small. However, if these 50,000 troops are put into the battlefield of Yanzhou, the chances of winning will be much greater. Therefore, after repeated discussions, several people decided to temporarily abandon the two counties of Qingzhou and seize the counties of Yanzhou with all their strength. Since it is an exchange, then exchange more.

According to the original plan, he led his troops to contain the main force of Cao Cao's army under the city of Changyi. The army of Huangfu Li first captured the two cities of Fangdong and Dongmin to cut off the reinforcements from the southeast of Changyi City, and then joined the army to attack the city. Of course, Huangfu Chaobo's army did not do nothing when it arrived at the city of Changyi. More than 10,000 civilians and more than 10,000 prisoners could do a lot of preparations for the early stage of the war.

For example, the moat should be filled, siege equipment should be prepared, and a few tunnels can be dug first. After the arrival of Huangfu Li's army, the siege will begin. At that time, the 50,000 troops in Hebei should be arriving soon. After the arrival of the 50,000 troops, the city can be attacked in a large scale.

Of course, if Cao Cao takes advantage of this period of time to suddenly go out of the city to start a war, Huangfu Chaobo will be very happy. You know, he now has 60,000 soldiers around him, not to mention 17,000 special soldiers who are more elite than ordinary soldiers. Although he is not weak in attacking the city, he is not afraid of anyone in the field.

However, everyone believes that Cao Cao will not do such a brainless thing, but relevant preparations still need to be made. After the camp was set up, 15,000 cavalrymen kept patrolling around Changyi for 20 miles, keeping a close eye on the movements of Changyi City. The golden eagle also went outside to the sky every hour to make a circle. Once a large force approached, Huangfu Chaobo would get the news within a quarter of an hour.

"Starting tomorrow, make preparations before the attack. Dugu Ba and Dugu Tian, ​​start looking for a suitable place to dig tunnels tomorrow. This time, there is no need to rush. There will be more time. Moreover, Cao Cao's army in the city will definitely be prepared, so digging a few more tunnels will be a relief, even if they don't work in the end."

"Also, starting tomorrow, arrange for civilians and craftsmen to start making a large number of siege equipment. Prisoners can also be used. The siege channel for filling the moat should also be started. These things must be done before Huangfu Li's army arrives."

When everyone heard this, they all agreed in unison.

Fangdong County, dozens of miles south of Changyi, is the southernmost county in Shanyang County.

It is less than 20 miles away from Shanfu County in Jiyin County. Although the city is not large, it is the only way to go north to Changyi. If this city is not captured, Huangfu Li's army can only detour northward, so all the way north, Huangfu Li must capture this city first.

At this time, the 50,000 troops of Huangfu Li's army had arrived at the foot of Fangdong City. Cao Cao originally arranged 5,000 county soldiers in Fangdong City. However, after Lou Ci's withdrawal, only 2,000 old soldiers were left. During this period of time, after the two generals' order to recruit soldiers arrived, 2,000 soldiers were recruited again. However, the longest time for these 2,000 newly recruited soldiers was less than a month, and the highest level was only about 25 levels, which was more than ten levels lower than the elite soldiers of Huangfu Li's army. Of course, such soldiers can still be used to defend the city.

After arriving in Fangdong, Huangfu Li did not stay for long, and directly ordered an attack on the city. After a day of fighting, the city was captured. Afterwards, the army rested in Fangdong for one night, leaving 1,000 people to defend the county. After handing over all the wounded soldiers to the soldiers guarding the city, the army continued to head towards Dongmin County in the northeast direction with 2,000 prisoners.

Dongmin County is located more than 30 miles east of Changyi City. Controlling Dongmin would cut off the route for Cao Cao's reinforcements from the east. If Cao Cao's army wanted to send troops to aid Dongmin, unless they captured Dongmin, they could only get reinforcements from the north of the Duoji River, which would make it more difficult to get reinforcements.

Two days later, Dongmin County was also captured by Huangfu Li's troops. This time, Huangfu Li left 5,000 soldiers to defend the city, 2,000 combat soldiers and 3,000 guards. Even if facing the attack of tens of thousands of Cao Cao's troops, they could at least hold out for three to five days. Once Cao Cao's reinforcements were dragged under the city, without the protection of the city, tens of thousands of Zhengdong Army's combat soldiers arrived in an instant, defeating their reinforcements or even annihilating them under Dongmin City.

After arranging the defense of Dongmin, Huangfu Li led the army to the city of Changyi and joined Huangfu Chaobo.

On the top of Changyi City, Cao Cao was leading everyone to watch the situation of Zhengdong Army outside the city. An hour ago, the general on duty on the top of the city sent someone to report that a large army of Zhengdong Army was coming from the south. After receiving the report, Cao Cao immediately led everyone to the city wall and looked at the tens of thousands of troops slowly approaching from the south. The two main general flags at the head were "General Huangfu of the Right Army of the Expedition to the East" and "General Wang of the Jianwei of the Expedition to the East". Next to them was a slightly smaller deputy general flag "General Guan of the Right Army of the Expedition to the East". Next to them were dozens of flags of generals of various levels.