Xiaoqi

After speaking, Li Li waved his hand to signal Ma Yunluo and Zhen Shi not to wait.Go back first.

Watching the two daughters leave, Li Li walked slowly to the door of the handsome tent, looking up at the sky full of stars, seemingly thoughtful.Then he turned around and whispered to Teng Xiao: "There are many powerful noble families in Sili. It is inevitable that they will be damaged during the war. They are all centuries-old families, which are different from ordinary people like us! But the soldiers under my account are ordinary people. The object of protection is also the poor people, but it doesn't matter whether he is a century-old family. You can discuss with Xu Rong about how to do it. Do things cleanly and neatly. Don't leave any excuses to avoid being criticized. Okay, the weather It's getting late, go down and rest."

After speaking inexplicably, Li Li strode down the steps and walked straight to the tent behind the handsome tent.

"The hundred-year-old family is different from us ordinary people?" After Li Li and Li Zhi disappeared completely, Teng Xiao stood at the door of the big tent and muttered to himself, thinking over Li Li's words over and over again.

After a while, a murderous look flashed across his eyes, and while walking down the steps, he said to himself: "Since we are not in the same way, there is no need to exist..."

Xuzhou, Tancheng.

Xi Yuyu!

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

"what"

Under the city of Tancheng, horses neighed, and tens of thousands of Cao soldiers carried ladders on their shoulders, pushed chariots with their hands, set up well fences, and stormed the city of Tanxian County.On the top of the city, huge boulders rolled and fell, densely packed arrows roared and flew like rain. Cao soldiers trying to climb the top of the city were hit by horizontal logs and rolling stones. , the foot of the wall was piled with broken arms several feet high, and blood flowed like a river.

"Hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

At the same time, the generals of the Cao army who were attacking the city launched a catapult, placed kerosene jars, and after being ignited, hundreds of catapults flew out at the same time, roaring and galloping straight to the top of the city.All of a sudden, the flaming crock pots filled with kerosene roared into the sky and fell unstoppably straight to the top of the city.With a loud bang, countless bits and pieces of iron flew out of the earthen jar, piercing into the body of the defenders at a speed that was difficult for the naked eye, causing the defenders to scream in pain, and then lost their fighting power, curled up in the Weeping and weeping in the corner of the wall.

"Kill! Hurry, hurry, hurry up to the top of the city, capture the big-eared thief alive, and kill the old thief Tao Qian alive!"

A hundred steps away from the city gate, a strong and burly general of the Cao army immediately slashed his sword, staring angrily at the figures on the tower who were rushing to supervise the battle, wishing to rush to the top of the city and eat them alive.Perseveringly, arrows flowed like rain on the top of the city, and rolling wood and flying stones flew everywhere. If he was not careful, he would be shot by the arrows. So he shot down the arrows with a knife, and shouted loudly, motivating the siege soldiers to attack the top of the city with all their might, vowing Tancheng will be captured.

The fierce, brutal and bloody city attack and defense battle in front of us is the battle led by Cao Cao to attack Xuzhou.

In November last year, Cao Cao led his troops to attack Xuzhou for the first time to avenge his father. The whole army was wrapped in white silk and sackcloth, and their morale was high.After entering the territory of Xuzhou, Cao's army was unstoppable and unstoppable. They attacked the city along the north bank of Surabaya and captured more than half of Xuzhou's counties and counties in just two months.

Whenever a city was captured, Cao Cao ordered the whole army to plunder money, food and property, slaughter the people in the city, destroy government offices and city pools.When Cao Jun ran out of food and grass and had to retreat temporarily, most counties and counties in Xuzhou had been burned, killed and looted by Cao Jun. After Cao Jun withdrew his troops, only a devastated red land and countless ruins were left.

After the war, only a few people escaped the catastrophe by chance and survived by narrow escape, while most of the people were either killed or were forcibly taken back to Yanzhou by Cao Jun. Only two out of ten people really escaped the killing.

Three months later, Cao Cao's army made a comeback again, and the [-] Qingzhou soldiers, known as the elite of all battles, rushed to Xuzhou in mighty force.At the beginning of the war, in less than ten days, Cao Jun once again occupied the city captured last year, and continued to attack the city and land along the previous footsteps, and his combat power was still fierce and unstoppable.

Half a month later, Cao Cao's army had already attacked the city of Tancheng in Xuzhou Prefecture, and the Xuzhou offensive and defensive battle began. Xuzhou Mu Taoqian, who had been defeated again and again, had no way to retreat. Only by fighting to the death could Tancheng be kept.

If Tancheng fell, then Tao Qian would have lost his fortune and could only retreat to Haixi and flee to other states and counties for refuge.

Therefore, Tancheng is the seat of Xuzhou's state capital, and it has a lot to do with it, and it must not be lost.The most important thing is that this is the foundation of Tao Qian's painstaking efforts for many years. For a man who is over seventy years old, the peaceful paradise that he has worked so hard for many years has become what it is now, which has made him heartbroken, heartbroken, and regretful. endlessly.If Cao Cao still refuses to give up, he can only live and die with Tancheng, and he will not hesitate to die to keep the state capital, otherwise he will die with regret.

At the end of last year, Tao Qian asked Yuan Shao of Jizhou and Gongsun Zan of Youzhou for help.Because Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were friends and allies, Yuan Shao refused to send troops to rescue Xuzhou, and watched Xuzhou's success or failure.Fortunately, Gongsun Zan of Youzhou and Tao Qian had always been friends. At the critical moment, his Pingyuan Prime Minister Liu Bei led his troops to rescue Xuzhou and rescued Tao Qian from danger.After the war, Cao Jun withdrew his troops, but Liu Bei and his [-] soldiers and horses never left. They still stayed in Xuzhou to support Tao Qian until now.

Today is the fifth day since Cao Cao personally led the army to attack Tancheng.

Now the moat under the city has long been filled, and the originally clear river has been dyed bright red. There are endless broken bodies and broken arms floating in the canal, as well as countless soaked white flesh and bloody clothes and broken armor.

After besieging the city for five consecutive days, Cao Jun paid a heavy price of [-] casualties, while Tao Qian's troops on the defending side also suffered huge casualties, and the number of casualties was comparable to that of Cao Jun.

With the advantage of the city, Tao Qian's Xuzhou army still paid the same casualty price as the Cao army who attacked the city.It can be seen from this that Cao Cao's soldiers are elite and good at fighting, and Tao Qian's defeat is not without reason. The low combat power of Xuzhou army is the key factor for his defeat to Cao Cao.

The reason is that it has been six years since Tao Qian appointed the governor of Xuzhou. In the past, when the alliance of princes attacked Dong Zhuo, Tao Qian only provided food and grass support, and did not send a large army to join the alliance.After that, he appointed Zang Ba to lead the army to wipe out the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Langya County, and then drove the Xuzhou Yellow Turbans to Qingzhou. Since then, there has been no war in Xuzhou, and it is peaceful.

During the six years when the situation in the world was the most chaotic, complex and changeable, the Xuzhou army under Tao Qian hardly participated in any major wars. In addition, the world was not in chaos six years ago, and it was only the Yellow Turban riots that were short-lived in the year of Jiazi. In addition, the six counties of Xuzhou There was almost never a major war.Except for the Yellow Turban riots, there will be no more wars, because Xuzhou is an important town in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and the border wars will not spread to Xuzhou at all.

Since then, it is self-evident how powerful the Xuzhou army is.

Long Shu war, this sentence is very suitable for Xuzhou soldiers and horses.

There hasn't been a major war for a hundred years in a row, isn't it still a long-term war?

Perhaps the reason why Cao Cao was so resolute in wanting to capture Xuzhou was because he saw the weakness of Xuzhou's soldiers and horses in the Jiushu battle formation.In troubled times, Cao Cao's move is by no means bullying the weak, but wise and wise, with keen eyesight and extremely accurate strikes.

Chapter 475

There is no reason at all to fight for the hegemony in troubled times, and the weak eat the strong. No one will sympathize with the weak, and no princes and heroes will have the benevolence of women.

It is an indisputable fact that Tao Qian's soldiers and horses are not strong in combat, and they have been neglected for a long time.

If he consciously lost to Qingzhou soldiers under Cao Cao's command, he could follow the example of Han Fu in Jizhou and dedicate Xuzhou to Cao Cao.

Perhaps this was Cao Cao's original intention to attack Xuzhou in the name of avenging his father.He hoped that Tao Qian in Xuzhou would be like Han Fu in Jizhou, knowing that he was invincible, cowardly and cowardly fighting, and if there was a large army of Qingzhou soldiers, maybe Tao Qian would obediently submit and hand over the six counties of Xuzhou to Cao Cao.

Didn't Yuan Shao's occupation of Jizhou mean that Han Fu was cowardly and cowardly? With a little trickery, Han Fu couldn't stand it anymore, and then handed over the huge Jizhou.As Yuan Shao's ally and friend, seeing Yuan Shao occupying Jizhou so easily, it is absolutely impossible for Cao Cao to have no idea at all.It's a pity that Cao Cao never had such an opportunity, nor did he meet a fat sheep like Han Fu, so he could only rely on his own strength to work hard step by step. After several years of fighting, he gained a firm foothold in Yanzhou and occupied most of Yanzhou.

However, whatever you want, opportunities always come quietly.

Cao Cao's father was murdered by Zhang Kai, a small school under Tao Qian's command, on the way from Langya County to Yanzhou. The fat sheep is delivered to your door.And this old sheep is Tao Qian who is more than seventy years old. The reason why he is fat is not referring to himself, but the six counties of Xuzhou in his hands.

It was with this kind of wishful thinking that Cao Cao dismissed Tao Qian's sincere apology letter when he saw it, and sneered at Tao Qian's large sum of money and food.It was Tao Qian's cowardly behavior and his great expectation of Cao Cao's forgiveness that made Cao Cao feel that Tao Qian was the second Han Fu, and that he, Cao Mengde, would follow Yuan Shao and occupy the six counties of Xuzhou without bloodshed.

After making up my mind.On the day Cao Cao gave his father Cao Song's funeral, he led an army south to Xuzhou, posing as if he would kill his father, hoping to scare Tao Qian out of the city and surrender.

However, Cao Cao has made countless calculations, but he has ignored the most critical details, that is, although Xuzhou Tao Qian is old, he was born as a general in his early years.Moreover, Tao Qian once guarded the border in Youzhou, and together with Gongsun Zan resisted Wuhuan and Xianbei barbarians.Later, he followed Huangfusong to Xiliang to quell the chaos, and fought on the battlefield for more than ten years.It was not until he was over sixty years old that he was appointed as the governor of Xuzhou. At the beginning of his tenure, he quickly wiped out the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou.

Therefore, Tao Qian and Han Fu cannot be compared at all.The two are two types of people with different backgrounds.

Han Fu was a student of the Yuan family in his early years and had close contacts with the Yuan family.Thanks to Yuan Gui's support, he was able to serve as Jizhou Mu.Therefore, the relationship between Han Fu and Yuan Shao is quite deep.In addition, Han Fu is a pure literati and scholar, timid and timid by nature, he is in charge of government affairs but does not understand military affairs, and has never personally led troops to fight, and naturally he has never won a battle.so.When he faced Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan's two-sided attack, out of nature, he would naturally choose to send Jizhou to Yuan Shao in order to protect himself.

Compared with Han Fu.Xuzhou Tao Qian is different.

Although Tao Qian is more than a few years old, he still has the blood tempered in his decades of military career and more than ten years of battles on the battlefield. His health is not good, but his bones still exist.Tao Qian felt he was wrong about Cao Song's death, but it was out of good intentions, hoping to show his favor to Cao Cao;In addition, there was friction between him and Cao Cao before, and the two had no personal friendship. Instead, they were wary of each other and belonged to different camps.

Therefore, if Tao Qian were to give up the six counties of Xuzhou, unless he wanted to, he would definitely not surrender to anyone, including Cao Cao.

Therefore, when Cao Cao led his troops to invade Xuzhou for the first time, Tao Qian knew what Cao Aman was up to. He was clearly deceiving his old age and trying to force Tao Qian to give up Xuzhou obediently by approaching the city.

Cao Cao's move undoubtedly angered Tao Qian.Thinking of him, Tao Qian, who fought in the battlefield for more than ten years, and when he was old, he was persecuted by his younger generations, thinking that he was too old to be useful, so he became a weak and deceitful old man.

But Cao Cao may have forgotten.When he was still wearing open trousers, Tao Qian was already a captain of a county; when Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others wandered unrestrainedly in brothels, Tao Qian was already guarding the border in Youzhou, confronting the barbarians on the border, and fighting on the battlefield. .

It was for these reasons that Cao Cao's dream of occupying Xuzhou without bloodshed was shattered.And his attempt to intimidate Tao Qian with his mighty military power, instead of intimidating Tao Qian, aroused Tao Qian's blood and fighting spirit that had been hidden for a long time.

In this way, in the end, Tao Qian knew that the Xuzhou army was defeated by Cao Cao's army, but he still fought to the end and never compromised.

Therefore, although Cao Cao first set off to Xuzhou and captured more than half of Xuzhou, the excessive killings aroused the people of Xuzhou to unite and vowed to resist Cao's attack.As a result, Cao Cao's first dispatch of troops to Xuzhou failed to achieve the expected goal. In the end, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops because of insufficient food and grass.

In fact, in terms of the number of soldiers and horses alone, Tao Qian has more than 8 county soldiers and tens of thousands of Danyang elite soldiers, and the number of soldiers and horses is no less than that of Cao Cao.

However, the combat effectiveness of Xuzhou soldiers and horses is indeed not as good as Cao Cao's Qingzhou soldiers.Even the "Danyang Elite Soldiers", which are known as elite soldiers, can only be called "elite soldiers" compared with Xuzhou County Fubing, and they can be regarded as generals among dwarfs.When the actual confrontation with the Cao army, compared with the Qingzhou soldiers, Danyang's elite soldiers will not be able to see the skill and demeanor of the "elite soldiers".

In addition, Xuzhou is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, with flat terrain, easy to attack and difficult to defend, and far less steep than the northern passes.Therefore, in the offensive and defensive battle, although Tao Qian's soldiers and horses were condescending and defended the city, they still suffered heavy casualties, which was almost the same as the number of casualties of the Cao army who attacked the city.

In this way, Xuzhou's offensive and defensive battle is actually a bloody and tough battle of consumption. Soldiers, horses, money, food and arms are all indispensable.If anyone can't hold on anymore, he is doomed to lose.After all, Tao Qian was fighting in the local area, occupying a favorable location and harmony. Although the location was also unfavorable, it was still better than nothing.If the two armies faced each other on the plain, the battle of Xuzhou would have ended long ago, and Cao Cao's occupation of Xuzhou was almost a certainty.

The sky was gloomy and cloudy.