The Nameless of the Common Clans

The morning light had not yet completely dissipated, and the sound of the Ming army's drums and trumpets quickly put Fancheng on alert. However, to the surprise of the Jingzhou army, the imagined siege did not occur.

Zhuge Liang took Zhang Fei to the city to watch, and when he saw the mighty Ming army rushing towards Liqiu, his face suddenly became ugly.

"Kong Ming, why do you look so ugly? Isn't it a good thing that the Ming army doesn't come to attack the city?" Zhang Fei looked at the Ming army that had already begun to line up in the distance, and looked at Zhuge Liang in confusion. At this moment, Zhuge Liang was surrounded by a gloomy atmosphere.

"The Ming army is attacking Liqiu. Should our army rescue them?" Zhuge Liang asked in return. It was really uncomfortable to fight against an enemy who had a great situation and whose commander had a high IQ. From the beginning of the war to now, even though Chen Mo had an advantage in military strength, he never attacked blindly. He planned before he acted, constantly weakening their advantage, from delaying time and waiting for the right time to later making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, tearing up the defense line along the river, and even wanted to burn the floating bridge last night. Now that he saw that the floating bridge could not be burned, he pointed the spearhead at the Jiangdong camp.

Chen Mo always puts controlling casualties first. Even Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu feel powerless against such an opponent. If everyone had similar military strength, they could naturally compete, but now Chen Mo has an absolute advantage in military strength, and every time he moves, he takes advantage of the situation. Although there are a few small defeats, they cannot hurt the foundation. If this continues, Zhuge Liang really has no confidence in whether he can defend Xiangfan.

"After all, we are allies, so we should save them if we can." Zhang Fei said as a matter of course. Although he didn't think much of Jiangdong, they came to help, so Zhang Fei didn't really think that this was a matter of course.

"Look over there!" Zhuge Liang pointed to Chen Mo's central army in the distance. Although the large number of cavalry there was blurry, they could still be seen. Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "The cavalry is not sent out, which is a preparation for our army. Once they leave the city now, the cavalry will be dispatched at the first time. Chen Mo is attacking Liqiu, but in fact he wants to take this opportunity to wear down our troops in the city."

"Then why don't you go out?" Zhang Fei frowned, thinking that this was a bit inappropriate.

"That will make Jiangdong feel resentful. Even if they don't withdraw their troops after this battle, our army may not come to rescue them in time when they are in danger." Zhuge Liang sighed.

As soon as Chen Mo made a move, he gave him a dilemma. Whether he advances or retreats, it is good for Chen Mo, and they are the losers.

"It's not right to send troops, and it's not right not to go out. What should I do?" Zhang Fei asked with a headache.

"Go out, or not!" Zhuge Liang frowned as he watched the Ming army start to attack the camp.

"Ah?" Zhang Fei looked at Zhuge Liang in astonishment, with a look of "you're kidding me". How the hell is this going to work?

"Send out troops, use the Yuanrong crossbow cart to shoot at the enemy's rear formation, but not too far away, it must be within the range of our crossbow cannons. If the enemy cavalry attacks, quickly retreat and use the crossbow cannons on the top of the city to attack their cavalry. If the enemy retreats, continue to use the Yuanrong crossbow cart to attack the enemy's rear formation, and so on, the Ming army will retreat on its own!" Zhuge Liang said.

The Yuanrong crossbow cart has a range of up to 120 steps, and it is 100 steps out of the city. Judging from the distance between the two sides now, it can just reach the rear formation of the Ming army, which can not only prevent the enemy from attacking the Liqiu camp with all its strength, but also minimize its own losses.

"Okay, I will lead the troops myself this time. If the enemy army dares to come, I will twist off their heads with my own hands!" Zhang Fei nodded fiercely, and ordered people to push the crossbow cart out of the city. First, a team of spearmen went out of the city to form a battle array to prevent the enemy cavalry from suddenly rushing over. Then, under the push of strong men, one Yuanrong crossbow after another was pushed out of the city.

In the distance, on the high platform of the Ming army, Chen Mo watched this scene and understood Zhuge Liang's plan. He immediately ordered people to drive the Pojun crossbow. The Pojun crossbow is the bed crossbow of the Ming army. After years of improvement, the range is not worse than the Yuanrong crossbow cart, but the power of a single arrow is stronger than the Yuanrong crossbow cart.

Rows of crossbows were quickly deployed, and then they took advantage of the fact that the Jingzhou army had not yet deployed their formations to launch the first attack. In fact, the three-shot crossbow was far superior to ordinary crossbows in this era, but Zhuge Liang's Yuanrong crossbow was also powerful. When the range of both sides was similar, they fired at each other, and several Yuanrong crossbow carts were broken in succession. However, the rear formation of the Ming army was also shaken by the Yuanrong crossbow carts. Chen Mo took the opportunity to order the cavalry to charge, and Zhang Fei personally led the spearmen to protect the front of the crossbow carts, lined up to meet the enemy, and fought fiercely with Ma Chao.

Pang De led the cavalry to attack the rear of the enemy, and the crossbows flew all over the city in an instant. Not only were many Ming soldiers shot and killed, but many Jingzhou soldiers who went out of the city to fight were also killed by their own cannonballs.

This move was indeed effective, but it was also cruel enough to stun the soldiers of both sides. Chen Mo quickly ordered a withdrawal, and Zhuge Liang also ordered a withdrawal of troops in Fancheng.

"Zhuge Kongming, you want to kill me!" After Zhang Fei returned to the city, he rushed to Zhuge Liang as soon as possible. Zhuge Liang was eight feet tall, and was lifted up by Zhang Fei and roared.

"Liang had no choice but to do this. The Ming cavalry had already surrounded him from front and back. If Liang did not do this, the soldiers outside the city would be completely defeated!" Zhuge Liang looked at Zhang Fei and said in a deep voice: "If Yide wants to kill me, wait until after this battle, but it is absolutely not possible now. This battle, our army cannot lose!"

Zhang Fei turned his head and looked at the Ming army that began to retreat outside the city. He gritted his teeth, let go of Zhuge Liang, and ran away angrily.

On the other side, after Chen Mo withdrew his troops, he took a look at Fancheng and frowned, saying: "How did Liu Bei enter Sichuan?"

Chen Mo couldn't help but be surprised. Although Zhuge Liang's approach was effective, it was too ruthless. Although it is said that kindness does not lead to the management of troops, but Zhuge Liang did this. Isn't he afraid that the army's morale will be shaken? It is true that kindness does not lead to the management of troops, but if you don't treat your soldiers as human beings, who will be willing to follow you?

Why was the morale of the Ming army so high? One reason was that they occupied the general situation. Another reason was that Chen Mo would never let his soldiers make unnecessary sacrifices. He would not blink an eye no matter how many casualties he felt was necessary. However, if there were no unnecessary casualties, Chen Mo would choose to give in and compromise. Chen Mo would never do the same as Zhuge Liang.

Chen Mo did not know much about Zhuge Liang, but judging from his actions and layout, a man like Zhuge Liang should not be so extreme unless he had to. Even if the Jiangdong army retreated, with Xiangfan being strong, it would be no problem to delay for a few months or even a year, which was enough to wait for Liu Bei to come back. However, Zhuge Liang's approach clearly meant that he did not intend to give up Jiangdong as an ally.

In other words, Zhuge Liang knew that Liu Bei would not come back for a while, but he was still thinking about attacking Yizhou. Was he crazy?

"Your Majesty, there have been constant wars in Shu since last year. The disputes between the Dongzhou scholars and the Shu gentry have become increasingly obvious. Zhang Lu also wanted to take this opportunity to attack Bashu, so our army has insufficient intelligence in Shu." Xun You approached Chen Mo and bowed.

"What is the current situation in Hanzhong?" Chen Mo asked while ordering people to return to the camp for repairs.

When Zhang Lu received Chen Mo's letter, he had already chosen to surrender to the court. Wuyi had led his army to Hanzhong at the beginning of the year. At that time, Chen Mo allowed Zhang Lu to promote the Five Pecks of Rice Sect and develop believers in Guanzhong. Hanzhong should be relatively stable, so Chen Mo did not pay much attention to Hanzhong. Now it seems that the situation needs to be sorted out.

"General Wuyi has taken over Hanzhong. According to the king's order, he was not in a hurry to attack Shu. He withdrew the troops from Jiameng and reorganized the troops in Hanzhong. Hanzhong originally had 50,000 troops, so General Wuyi has been in charge of this matter during this period. Cui Geng is the governor of Hanzhong to stabilize the people's hearts in Hanzhong." Xun You said with a smile.

"Notify Wuyi that I want detailed information about Liu Bei's entry into Shu." Chen Mo nodded and said in a deep voice: "This is not right!"

He had fought to Liu Bei's doorstep, but Liu Bei did not come back but stayed in Shu. Jingzhou is such a small place. Can the food and grass keep up with the two-front war? Even if the food and grass can keep up, the home is gone, and Shu may not be taken. Even if Xichuan is of great significance to Liu Bei, he should not insist on attacking Shuchuan at this time, unless he is absolutely sure that he can take Shuzhong, and he does not need to use Jingzhou's food and grass.

Is this possible?

Chen Mo is not sure, after all, he does not know what Liu Bei is like now.

"Yes!" Xun You nodded, indicating that he understood.

After Chen Mo returned to the camp, he did not gather the people to continue the siege, but began to adjust the deployment. Since Zhuge Liang was determined to fight like this, given the terrain of Liqiu, it would be easy for Zhuge Liang to attack Liqiu from the front and back. From the perspective of the attack position, Fancheng is still easier to attack. Zhuge Liang is forcing Chen Mo to attack Fancheng.

Chen Mo naturally did not want to let the enemy control his rhythm, so he needed to think carefully about what to do next.

Liqiu, Jiangdong Camp

Cao Ang frowned as he looked at the direction of the Ming army's withdrawal, and turned to look at Zhou Yu in confusion: "General, Zhuge Liang actually came to help, does it mean..."

"Liu Bei will not come back." Zhou Yu nodded, and also frowned at Zhuge Liang and said: "They are confident enough to take Yizhou."

"How many troops can Liu Bei have?" This result puzzled Cao Ang. Everyone is a neighbor, and Jiangdong can guess how strong Liu Bei is. Liu Bei can take away 50,000 troops at most. This attack on the city will also consume a lot of grass. Can Jingzhou support such an expedition?

"I don't know how many soldiers and horses there are, but I'm afraid there are Yizhou scholars who are supporting them from within. The fighting between Dongzhou scholars and Yizhou nobles has been going on. When Liu Yan was alive, he could suppress it with Dongzhou scholars, but after Liu Yan left, Liu Zhang began to win over Yizhou nobles with a soft strategy, which made Dongzhou scholars dissatisfied with Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang was not tactful enough, and he failed to win over Yizhou nobles. Now, I'm afraid both factions are suspected of choosing another leader. Liu Bei has obviously received support in secret, but I don't know whether he won over Dongzhou scholars, or whether both factions are on this side." Zhou Yu squinted his eyes. This opportunity happened to be taken by Liu Bei, and he had to help Liu Bei block the Ming army. This result made Zhou Yu a little depressed.