Chapter 442

Pengcheng was surrounded by Zang Ba, so naturally he couldn't go out to report. Zhang Xun didn't know it, but instead coerced the people with great fanfare and led the army to attack Xiapi.

Cao Cao adopted the strategy of playing Zhicai to lure the enemy into deep, and after Zhang Xun was introduced into the dangerous terrain, 20,000 Qingzhou soldiers besieged on all sides, and the people trapped by Zhang Xun suddenly collapsed.

Unexpectedly, Cao Cao killed two birds with one stone, led 20,000 Cao troops westward to Pengcheng, and surrounded Zang Ba and Pengcheng in one fell swoop. Zang Ba had no choice but to obey Cao Cao. Cao Cao conquered Taishan County, and his power increased greatly.

After the news of Zhang Xun's defeat was transmitted back to Yuzhou, it immediately caused a shock. However, most of Sun Ce's subordinates are the former Sun Ce's, and Sun Ce's prestige is deep, so the influence is not great. Yangzhou Governor Liu Yao and Chen Bing Niu Bing are ready to fight Sun Ce decisively.

But when the news reached Yingchuan County, it exploded.

"What?" Ji Ling slapped the table and said angrily, "Zhang Xun lost?"

"The news is correct, General Ji." Han Yin said with a wry smile, "Zhang Xun was defeated, and he returned to the territory of Pei with less than a thousand remnants of the defeated army. The latter general was furious and deducted Zhang Xun's salary for one year."

Ji Ling sighed: "Understood, you have worked hard, you have prepared food and drinks, go down and rest."

"promise."

Han Yin turned around and left, Ji Ling suddenly became excited: "Zhang Xun, you! Haste to advance lightly, now that you are defeated, won't it damage the morale of a certain army?"

Yan Xiang shook his head and said: "General Ji, I have already stated to the general later that there are three ways to send troops, and if there is a mistake in any one of them, it will have a negative impact on the other two ways. Now I am afraid that the news has already spread to the army, and I want to break through it." It will be even more difficult in Yingyang City."

Ji Ling sighed, paced back and forth in the camp, thinking about it, but there was no good solution, so he asked Yan Xiang: "Yan Xiang, you are always resourceful, come up with a plan for me, and quickly break through Yingyang City! "

Yan Xiang sighed: "General Ji, our army is short of food and grass, and our morale is low. Even if we can capture Yingyang City by force to attack the city with such an exhausted army, the loss outweighs the gain if there are too many casualties. As the saying goes, we will not worry about keeping the green hills alive." Without firewood, our army still has more than 24,000 people, and these fresh troops have withdrawn to Runan, and they will have a lot to do in the future."

"Impossible!" Ji Ling shook his head, his face troubled: "I have followed the command of the lord to lead the army to attack Liu Bei. Before I left, I had already boasted to Haikou. If I retreat like this, how can I explain to the lord?"

"General Ji." Yan Xiang comforted: "Although Liu Bei occupies Yingchuan County and Chen State, they are only two counties. Besides, our army has recruited many young men from these two counties. Even if Liu Bei occupies these two counties , there are less than 10,000 soldiers under your command, so is it possible to annex Yuzhou?"

"When our army withdraws to Runan County, repairs morale, and repairs armor soldiers, it will not be too late to attack Yingchuan in one go."

Ji Lingchu was still a little reluctant at first, but after hearing Yan Xiang's words, he thought for a while and nodded.

"Okay, if that's the case, let's go back first and talk about it later. When I go back, I must teach Zhang Xun a lesson!" Ji Ling gritted his teeth.

Yan Xiang reminded: "General Ji, although the withdrawal of troops has been confirmed, it must be guarded against, especially the two thousand cavalry under the command of the enemy general Xu Huang."

"Damn it, talking about Xu Huang, a thief, makes people angry!"

Ji Ling was furious. In the past few days, he had fully appreciated Xu Huang's ability to use troops, which was even worse than Peng Yue's scratching Chu back then.

Governor Ji Ling attacked Yingyang City. On the first day, Xu Huang drove straight in, leading 2,000 cavalry to penetrate a total of 30,000 Yuan Shu's army. Xu Huang was expelled.

The next day, Ji Ling strengthened his defense against Xu Huang, and ordered ten thousand troops to stand ready, gather around him, and be careful of Xu Huang's cavalry assault.

Xu Huang saw Yuan Shujun erected a large shield and spears, forming an iron wall, and the swords and spears gleamed under the sun. Xu Huang didn't break through head-on, but circled around Ji Lingjun, and when he found a breakthrough, he suddenly led his troops in. The two thousand iron cavalry did not love to fight. After fighting among Yuan Shu's army for a while, before Yuan Shu's army could encircle them, they immediately tore a hole in Yuan Shu's army and killed them.

Xu Huang judged the situation and saw the fierce attack and defense at the top of the city, so he led his troops straight to Yuan Shujun's siege position. Two thousand cavalry made a mess of Yuan Shujun's archer position, which greatly reduced the defensive pressure of Yingyang City.

As expected, Ji Ling was the number one general under Yuan Shu's command. He had been in battle for a long time and was quite experienced. Therefore, he ordered his subordinates to dig several trenches outside Yingyang City overnight to prevent Xu Huang from leading the iron cavalry to attack left and right.

Xu Huang adapts to the situation, you have Zhang Liangji, I have a wall ladder. After seeing Ji Lingjun digging trenches and the two thousand cavalry unable to gallop freely, he stopped harassing Ji Lingjun's siege troops and focused on intercepting the grain transport team that was transporting grain to Ji Lingjun.

Xu Huang deeply understood the essence of cavalry combat, and spread half of the cavalry under his command widely around Yingyang City for dozens of miles.

Whenever grain and grass from the direction of Runan were transported to Ji Ling's army, Xu Huang immediately learned about it, and then led troops to intercept it and send it to Nanyang County.

Ji Ling was quite proud at the beginning, thinking that he had effectively stopped Xu Huang's cavalry harassment strategy by digging trenches, and led his army to storm Yingyang City with all his strength. Guan Yu was wounded in many places, and the defenders in Yingyang City suffered heavy casualties. It is worthy to hold Yingyang City.

But within a few days, Ji Lingjun withered, because Xu Huang's interception led to insufficient food and grass. Ji Ling couldn't change the food out of thin air, so he had no choice but to change the large dendrobium into a small dendrobium to reduce the expenditure on military food.

As the saying goes, the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers. Ji Ling's reduction in military ration expenditure is of course temporarily maintaining the army. As Ji Lingjun's offensive slowed down, Guan Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Xu Huang's cavalry has great mobility and can intercept our army at any time. Our army must retreat slowly and retreat in formation." Yan Xiang suggested.

Ji Ling nodded, and said in embarrassment: "Retreating like this can certainly prevent Xu Huang's cavalry from harassing us, but our army may retreat less than fifty miles a day. When will we be able to withdraw to Runan County?"

Yan Xiang said calmly: "It doesn't matter if you are slow, the key is to bring the 24,000-plus troops back to Runan County. General Ji can write to the lord, asking him to send a general to lead reinforcements out of Runanhui and our army to cover the retreat. "

Ji Ling nodded: "Well, let Le come."