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The 25,000 Cao army finally arrived at the Han army camp and stopped two miles away. At this time, Li Dian urged the horse to Zhang Liao and bowed: "General, this camp is not large in size, with a maximum of more than a thousand people. We don't have to pay attention to it and continue to go north to Xiangyang."

Zhang Liao shook his head, "If this military camp is not removed, it will become a thorn on my back and will also damage our food transportation. At most one hour, I will razed this military camp to the ground."

Zhang Liao did not accept Li Dian's suggestion and ordered: "Attack from all sides"

The order was issued by the main general, but the specific order was executed by the deputy general. Li Dian had no choice but to arrange 20,000 troops to launch an attack on the Han army camp from four directions at the same time.

The sound of Cao's drums was like thunder. Twenty thousand Cao's troops launched an attack on the Han army camp like a tide. The overwhelming arrows shot towards the camp. Four heavy trenchers smashed the huge rocks from the south, and the huge rocks hit the camp wall. The wall made of soil and wood could not withstand the attack of the heavy trenchers. The earth and rocks splashed, and the wall collapsed, and a gap of two feet wide appeared instantly.

The Cao army soldiers shouted and rushed towards the Han army camp. On the wall, a thousand Han soldiers refused to all directions and fought back with bows and arrows. Although they kept shooting down the Cao army soldiers, the Cao army had a huge military strength and they were unable to stop the Cao army soldiers' attack.

In the dense rain of arrows, the defending Han soldiers were constantly being shot by arrows and screamed and fell down from the village wall. In just a moment, the Cao soldiers, who were rushing like a tide, rushed to the wall and set up dozens of siege ladders. The dense Cao soldiers climbed up frantically. They held shields and spears in their hands and fought desperately with the Han army on the wall.

"Go and report to General Huang, we can't stand it anymore." A military marquis guarding the camp in the east yelled in an anxious voice.

A soldier ran towards the Nanzhai Wall, but the situation in the Nanzhai Wall was even more critical at this time. The addition of four catapults caused serious challenges to the defense of the Han army. The whistling giant rock had already smashed the wall into a five-meter-long gap. At this time, the catapult's attack stopped, but thousands of Cao's soldiers rushed to the gap, and dense arrows shot towards the gap.

In the gap, more than one Han soldiers raised their shields and spears to greet each other. On the walls of both sides, dozens of Han soldiers shot arrows outward from the archery entrance, constantly shooting over the Cao soldiers who rushed up. However, after only a moment of support, thousands of Cao soldiers rushed to the gap, and several spears hit each other, making a crisp sound of impact, followed by the screams of the soldiers being stabbed. The two sides fought fiercely in front of the gap.

Cao's drums sounded like thunder, and the waves of attacks followed one after another. The Han army could no longer support them and was full of crises. "General Huang" reported the message and rushed to the scene and shouted: "We can't support them in the east, so please help."

When Huang Xin turned around, he saw that the Cao army in the east had already entered the camp. Thousands of Cao army soldiers completely swallowed up the defending Han soldiers. He looked north again, and Cao army's blue flag was also planted on the wall of the north camp.

At this moment, several Cao army soldiers used ropes to cover the wall of the camp and used force together. With a loud bang, a wall of more than twenty feet long was pulled down. Dust was flying. In the dust, thousands of Cao army soldiers rushed into the camp. The situation was hopeless. Huang Xin yelled, "Brothers, let's fight me to the end."

Huang Xin turned over the horse and waved his sword to kill the dense Cao army. The remaining soldiers behind him shouted and followed him into the group of thousands of Cao army soldiers. Gradually, they were submerged by Cao army who had entered the camp from all directions.

In less than an hour, 20,000 Cao troops captured the Han army camp, and a thousand soldiers were wiped out. The chief general Huang Xin died among the chaos, and only dozens of soldiers escaped from the camp by chance and ran towards Xiangyang.

Under Zhang Liao's order, 25,000 Cao troops razed the Han army camp to the ground. They lined up again and continued to march towards Xiangyang with murderous intent.

After an emergency evacuation of Xiangyang City for one night and one morning, more than 50,000 refugees temporarily stationed outside the city and nearly 10,000 local residents of Xiangyang in suburban villages all retreated into the city. Han soldiers also transported various supplies, including tents, grain, trucks and other materials into the city. They were busy until noon, and the Xiangyang city gate finally slowly closed.

At this time, 20,000 defenders had all entered the defenses on the city. The Xiangyang government summoned tens of young and strong men from hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the defense of the city. All the young and strong men gave armor and weapons. On the wide city, groups of young and strong men were lined up to train everywhere.

He hired a horse to take Yu Qinwei to patrol the city top and gave him great confidence. Xiangyang had made four major repairs when Liu Biao was in charge. After Liu Jing moved into Xiangyang, he re-planned the city wall defense, greatly broadened the moat and made up for various loopholes, making the city wall solid, with a high city and a deep pool, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and was as solid as a soup, and was known as the "Iron Xiangyang".

Xiangyang City is about forty miles in circumference, known as the largest city in Jingchu. It is divided into inner city and outer city. The outer wall is 2 8 feet high, and the inner city wall is 2 8 feet high. The inner and outer city walls are more than two steps apart. In the middle is the military camp station, and the inner and outer city walls are connected by the urn city gates of the north and south.

But the most spectacular thing in Xiangyang City is the moat. A wide moat is dug around it, and water is diverted from Tanxi to the moat. The moat is ten feet wide and ten feet deep. It is even more than twenty feet wide at the widest point east of the city. It can sail warships and is the best moat in the world.

All four gates have high suspension bridges. It is this tight and solid defense that has made Xiangyang City the most difficult city to conquer since ancient times.

At this time, he was stationed in the south city and watched with great interest a special team of more than ones conducting bow and arrow training. This team was a volunteer selected from the thousands of soldiers of Xiangyang Academy. They were all strong and usually studied and practiced martial arts. Today they finally had the opportunity to go to battle to kill the enemy. They were all wearing helmets and armor, holding bows and arrows in their hands, and under the command of the soldiers, they shot arrows outside the city.

The leader of this soldier army is Deng Ai, who is quite famous in the Han army. Deng Aiwu has both been involved in Lumen Academy since he was a child. He was a favorite student of Pang Degong. At the same time, he followed Zhao Yunwu. A bright silver spear made him superb. He is only seventeen years old this year and has become the best among the younger generation of the Han army.

Deng Ai wanted to join the army several times, but Liu Jing rushed back to the academy and forced him to continue his studies. However, in order to appreciate him, he appointed him as his military service, so that Deng Ai often had the opportunity to come to the camp to counsel military affairs.

At this time, Deng Ai also saw the pirate and hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Students meet the governor."

Pin turned over and dismounted, patted his shoulder and asked with a smile: "How could there be so many soldiers coming to participate in the city defense?"

"Reporting to the governor, in fact, all Qianshi were dispatched, and most of them went to assist the government in resettlement of refugees. This person was willing to join the army and participate in the city defense."

Pin nodded and smiled, "Although the governor of the state said that you must be eighteen years old before you can enter the officialdom, the Han army is now in the northern expedition. If you can seize this opportunity to participate in the northern expedition, it will be of great benefit to your future."

Deng Ai nodded and sighed, "I think too, it's just that the provincial governor is not allowed."

"Who said the state governor is not allowed? You are in my military camp to join the army? Do you think the state governor doesn't know this? After fighting this battle, I will give you the merits and let Chengdu officially grant you an official position. In this way, the state governor will have nothing to say. Then you can transfer it to General Zhao. Isn't that enough?"

Deng Ai was overjoyed and bowed quickly, "Thank you for your commitment to the governor."

At this time, Jia Xu came over with several followers, and Deng Ai hurriedly saluted Jia Xu, "Meet the Military Advisor."

Jia Xu waved his hand with a smile, "I'm just saying, where did you go, why can't you see you in the city? It turns out that you came to defend the city, why did you start to abandon martial arts?"

Deng Ai scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "I dare not throw away the books, but I just followed the martial arts for the time being, and I still think it will be the main thing in the future."

"In fact, it's okay to follow the martial arts. The key is to go to the commander. Just like the governor, you can only conquer the other side in Xiangyang. If the governor is in Xiangyang, the governor can rest assured to prepare for the northern expedition on the western front." Pin's face was hot and he said ashamed: "The military advisor is mocking me. This time, I can't even explain to the governor of the state."

Jia Xu smiled slightly, "The governor made Xiangyang like a wall. Cao's army could not capture 20,000 troops. I was very worried last night, but today, I no longer worry."

"The military advisor said it well"

Deng Ai next to him said, "Seeing that the main force of Cao's army did not advance south, you know that Cao Cao actually had no intention of attacking Jingxiang. He just wanted to create a crisis in Xiangyang and disrupt the northern expedition on the western front."

Pin and Jia Xu looked at each other and laughed together. Deng Ai said uneasyly: "Is the novel wrong?"

"You said it well"

The head of the sect said to him: "But for generals, you cannot be sure that the other party has not moved just because the other party's camp has not moved and the military flag has not fallen. You must send a scout to make a judgment after obtaining the exact information. Whether it is for generals or for plots, the most fear is to take it for granted."

Deng Ai nodded silently, "I understand it"

At this moment, the alarm bell on the tower on the top of the city sounded again. The alarm bell was very fast, which meant that an enemy situation had appeared. Pin quickly walked to the battlement and looked southeastward. After a moment, he faintly saw a black line appearing in the distance, and Cao's army finally came.

Pin immediately ordered: "Order the entire army to enter combat alert"

Twenty thousand soldiers appeared on the city wall. They were ready, and they were all tense and ready.

Zhang Liao led 25,000 people to finally kill Xiangyang City. Zhang Liao rode on the war horse and stared at the strong and tall city walls in the distance. With their current strength, it was not realistic to conquer Xiangyang, but their goal was not to conquer Xiangyang, but their strategic goal was to capture the Han River.

Zhang Liao waved his sword and said, "Station camp by the Han River."
Chapter completed!