ushernet Chapter 141 Zang Ba
Chapter 141 Zang Ba
Chapter 141 Zang Ba
late at night.
Cao Cao and Guo Jia were sleeping with their feet touching each other. They were awakened by Xiahou Dun when they were in a deep sleep.
Cao Cao and Guo Jia sat up and saw four or five beautiful women with makeup on, ranging from their teens to twenty years old, standing not far away.
Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other, both very puzzled.
"Yuan Rang, what are you doing?" Cao Cao asked.
Xiahou Dun had a strange expression on his face and said, "It was sent by Envoy Ding, who said he would take care of your daily life."
Cao Cao understood what was happening, and immediately became furious, shouting, "Ding Yuan, you old villain, bullied me!"
Guo Jia picked up the wine pot, took a sip, and said with a smile: "I think that Envoy Ding may not have any bad intentions, but is probably trying to please the general."
Cao Cao reacted and became even more angry. He said, "How dare you, old villain, look at me like that! Yuan Rang, send these people back to me and tell Ding Yuan that he will lead the attack tomorrow!"
Xiahou Dun responded and took the women out again.
Guo Jia drank his wine, lay back down, and said, "General, you need to be more polite to Envoy Ding tomorrow."
Cao Cao suppressed his anger, leaned down and said, "I know."
But with Ding Yuan's behavior, Cao Cao couldn't sleep. He raised his pillow a little higher, looked at Guo Jia, and said, "Fengxiao, I heard from the villagers nearby that there will be heavy snow in the near future. What should we do?"
Hearing this, Guo Jia half sat up and said, "There is no other way but to attack with force."
Their military rations will not last long, and if there is heavy snow, they will surely die here.
Cao Cao had a gloomy face and looked thoughtful.
Naturally, he did not want to attack by force. The troops under his command, except for those from the Imperial Guards Camp who had been trained for a few months, were basically young and strong men who were forcibly recruited. They did not have much experience in siege and would die in vain if they rushed forward.
Guo Jia drank his wine and shook his head.
Ding Yuan's delay pushed the good situation into an unpredictable situation.
"I'm worried about Jizhou." Guo Jia said after a long while.
Cao Cao was startled, raised his head and said, "Black Mountain Army? They are just some bandits, what can they do?"
Guo Jia drank and said, "Envoy Ying has just arrived and cannot control the situation. If there are some people with ulterior motives who hinder or add fuel to the fire, Jizhou may be even more chaotic than Yanzhou."
Cao Cao's expression became serious, as if he had thought of something. He put on his clothes and sat up, saying, "If I attack by force, how long will it take to take it?"
The number of troops under Cao Cao and Ding Yuan was equal to that of Qiao Mao's rebels, but since one was attacking the city and the other was defending it, it was hard to say who would win.
Guo Jia paused for a moment, his eyes grim, and said: "Qiaomao's rebellion was sudden, and the people are not united. We can attack day and night, use coercion and inducement, and it will take at most five days to take it down!"
Cao Cao looked gloomy and said nothing.
Even if he succeeded in such a fierce attack, he would lose at least half of his soldiers, and his victory would be a pyrrhic one.
Cao Cao thought that the court would definitely impeach him fiercely, so after some consideration, he said in a deep voice: "Then let's attack by force!"
Guo Jia looked at him and said, "General, you have to think carefully. After we take over, you may not be able to gain a foothold in Yanzhou."
Yanzhou was not only facing the Qiao rebellion, but also had to suppress other rebellions such as the Yellow Turban bandits. Without sufficient troops, it would not be able to survive.
Cao Cao hated Ding Yuan to death, but his expression was as firm as iron. He said, "There is no other way. We must wipe out the Qiaomao before the heavy snow!"
Guo Jia nodded slightly and drank leisurely.
"Fengxiao, will Jizhou really fall into chaos?" After deciding on the Puyang plan, Cao Cao became concerned about Jizhou.
Guo Jia wiped his mouth and said, "Envoy Zhu forced the gold bandits to flee in all directions in Qingzhou. I heard that quite a few of them fled to Jizhou."
Cao Cao knew this, and thinking about the Black Mountain Army, the Yellow Turban Army, and Ying Shao, who was not yet firmly established, he frowned and looked thoughtful.
The current situation seems to have returned to six or seven years ago.
At that time, the Yellow Turban Army suddenly became powerful, wreaking havoc in counties and prefectures, and even approaching Luoyang, which made the entire Han Dynasty very frightened.
After great efforts to suppress the rebellion, the Han people unexpectedly found that the situation did not improve, but instead became like being stuck in a quagmire, making it increasingly difficult to move forward.
Guo Jia saw what Cao Cao was thinking, his eyes moved slightly, and he said: "General, if you can gain a foothold in Yanzhou, a chaotic place, why worry about not achieving your goals?"
Cao Cao glanced at him and continued thinking.
Yanzhou's geographical location is too special, blocking the main roads from east to west, south to north. Based here, we can fight wars in the east and west, and travel from south to north, and there will be many battles to fight!
However, it is extremely difficult to gain a foothold in such a chaotic place.
But after a moment, Cao Cao's expression became firm, and he said, "Let's pacify Qiaomao first, and then we can talk about it later!"
Guo Jia drank his wine, looked out the window, and began to plan Cao Cao's future.
……
The next morning, Cao Cao and Ding Yuan gathered their troops and stationed them in front of the south gate of Puyang City.
Ding Yuan stroked his sparse beard, glanced at Cao Cao, and said, "Meng De, how about you lead the siege today?"
Cao Cao said expressionlessly, "Your Excellency's Lü Bu is extremely brave and invincible. Why do you need me to come? I want to see how brave Lü Bu is."
Ding Yuan snorted in his heart, called Lu Bu and ordered him to fight.
Lu Bu rode a green-maned horse, holding a spear, and shuttled back and forth in front of the formation, shouting and cursing.
"Qiao Mao, you said that the heaven has no eyes, but do you know that Qiao Gong has eyes?"
"Mr. Qiao is one of the Three Dukes, respected by the world, but you are plotting rebellion, being unfilial and disloyal, why don't you die!"
"Old thief, you are a wall of dung that cannot be paved over. You are standing on the high wall, visible to everyone, and the stench is overwhelming!"
Lu Bu didn't know whether someone taught him deliberately or he read some books on his own, but he brought up the ancestors of the Qiao family and cursed them.
Qiao Mao on the city wall remained calm and responded loudly: "Cao Cao, you are a eunuch, how can you understand justice! The treacherous and corrupt officials are in power and are causing chaos in the government. Why don't you join me in killing the treacherous and evil and rebuilding the country!"
"Stubborn!"
Cao Cao saw that Qiao Mao had exposed his weakness, and looked at him with disdain. He said to Ding Yuan, "Sir, Qiao Mao is a man of deep rebellion. I want to attack him by force. Please give me your instructions."
Ding Yuan stroked his sparse beard and said, "I only have a few thousand people..."
"Surround us on three sides and leave one side open. I will attack the east and west, and leave the South Gate to you, my lord!" Cao Cao said without waiting for him to finish.
Ding Yuan said with a serious face: "Since Meng De has made up his mind, good!"
After Cao Cao and Ding Yuan made their plan, tens of thousands of troops rushed towards Puyang City like a tide.
Lü Bu attacked the south gate, Xiahou Yuan the east gate, and Xiahou Dun the west gate. Their offensive was fierce, and it seemed that the victory would be decided in one battle.
The small city of Puyang was suddenly under pressure like a mountain and seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
Soon, the top of the city was crowded with people, as if they were fighting hand-to-hand and physical battles to fight for the small top of the city.
Arrows rained down, logs rolled down, blood flowed, and corpses piled up.
Cao Cao stood in the distance with a cold and stern expression.
Ding Yuan glanced at him, expressionless, but feeling extremely painful inside.
He only has more than 10,000 people left, and if they are killed here, how can he, the governor of Yanzhou, stay in Yanzhou?
Siege warfare has always been brutal, and the fighting between the two sides quickly became intense.
Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were so desperate that they led the troops and attacked the city with all their might.
The shouts of killing shook the sky, and the angry cries were like thunder.
The battle lasted from morning, noon, and evening until dark.
The armies of both sides cleared the corpses and cleaned up the battlefield.
"Mengde!"
Xiahou Dun wiped the blood off his face and said, "More than 8,000 people were killed or wounded."
Cao Cao's face twitched. It was only the first day and he already had eight thousand.
Guo Jia came up with a wine jug and said, "Don't stop tonight."
Cao Cao nodded and looked in the direction of Ding Yuan.
Guo Jia smiled and said, "General, don't worry about Envoy Ding. As long as you attack the city, Envoy Ding won't be able to slack off."
Cao Cao understood instantly and said in a deep voice: "Yuan Rang, divide the soldiers into three, take turns to attack and rest, and make sure to capture Puyang City before the heavy snow comes!"
"Yes, sir!" Xiahou Dun responded in a deep voice.
The current situation is very bad for them. Once Puyang snows heavily, they will be unable to advance or retreat.
The government troops that had retreated soon lined up again and prepared to attack.
However, the government troops did not launch a real attack. Instead, they made a feint attack just like last night, only on a larger scale and with greater momentum, just like the real thing.
The city of Puyang was on high alert, and no one dared to bet that this was a "feint attack".
For three consecutive days, the government troops continued to attack, and the fighting between the two sides at the three gates of Puyang City almost never stopped.
"Is Cao Cao crazy?!"
On the top of Puyang City, Zang Ba cursed angrily with red eyes and a tired face.
The government troops seemed tireless and unafraid of death, and they were attacking the city desperately.
During the three days, Zang Ba hardly slept a wink, and there were countless soldiers like him.
He was accompanied by a military officer who went downstairs with him.
Inside the city, there were corpses, wounded soldiers, and cries of grief everywhere.
"This is what happens to deserters!"
Suddenly, not far away, a group of soldiers pressed down more than 20 shirtless men and hacked them to death in front of everyone.
Zang Ba's heart skipped a beat and his expression became even uglier. He strode towards the Puyang City government office.
The military marquis grabbed him and whispered, "What are you going to do, Captain?"
Zang Ba glared at him and said, "Go find Qiao Mao and reason with him!"
Seeing this, the military marquis hesitated for a while, then suddenly pulled him to a corner and whispered, "Captain, don't you know? The families of all the officials in the city have been taken away by the governor of Qiao!"
Zang Ba's eyes widened with anger, and he asked, "My wife and children were also captured by Qiao Mao?"
The military marquis glanced outside and whispered, "Captain, you are different from us. We were forced into a desperate situation by the imperial court. You just robbed some civilians. You don't need to be frightened by Qiao Mao. You'd better run away as soon as possible."
Zang Ba's expression changed for a moment, and he asked, "Where are my wife and children?"
The military marquis shook his head repeatedly and said, "How could I possibly know about this kind of thing?"
Zang Ba looked at him and said, "Don't be afraid. As long as I'm not dead, you'll be fine!"
The military marquis said, "My family has committed a capital crime and I have nowhere to go."
Zang Ba snorted coldly and said, "I have also committed a capital crime. What is there to be afraid of? Just follow me from now on!"
As Zang Ba was speaking, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Qiao Mao patrolling, and a murderous look flashed in his eyes.
Qiao Mao didn't see him, and was chatting and laughing with the people around him, saying: "Cao Cao's attack on the city must be because the army is running out of food and can't hold out for long. I estimate that in three days at most, it will be time for us to counterattack! By then, Yanzhou will be in our hands! We can form an alliance with the Black Mountain Army in the north, annex Qingzhou in the east, attack Luoyang in the west, and enter Yuzhou in the south. The whole world is a place for us to stay, and great things will be accomplished!"
Everyone listened and nodded in agreement.
Zang Ba waited for him to walk away, sneered, came out from the corner, looked around, turned around and walked towards Wang Gong's mansion.
Wang Gong was busy calculating the food and fodder and was extremely worried.
Cao Cao did not have much food and grass, and in fact there was not much in Puyang City either. The consumption of 60,000 to 70,000 people was a huge number every day.
Seeing Zang Ba coming over aggressively, Wang Gong frowned and said, "Captain Zang, I have given you everything I should give you. If you want more, you need the governor's approval."
Zang Ba snorted coldly and asked, "Where are my wife and children?"
Wang Gong remained calm, secretly alert, and said, "Captain Zang, don't worry. Governor Qiao has taken them away and placed them in a safe place."
Zang Ba stared at him and said, "Qiao Mao promised you the title of governor of Dongjun. Do you really think you can take the position? Don't forget, you are Liu Dai's man, and Liu Dai is a member of the royal family!"
Wang Gong's face darkened and he asked, "What does Captain Zang mean?"
Zang Ba pulled out a letter from his bosom and threw it directly on the ground, saying coldly: "This is a letter from Cao Cao to me. Wang Gong, you have one too, right?"
Wang Gong's face suddenly changed, staring at Zang Badao: "What do you want to say?"
Zang Ba drew his sword, full of murderous intent, and said: "Either you help me rescue my wife and children, and we escape Puyang together, I will return to my Taishan, and you will find your backer. Or, we will fight to the death, and I will expose you as a traitor, and then open the city gates to welcome Cao Cao into the city!"
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