Chen Gong supported Cao Cao's analysis, and even if Cao Ang had any questions, he could only hide it in his heart.

He had no way to make a decision. Since Cao Cao's opinion seemed to solve this problem, let's follow it.

Cao Cao immediately discussed specific tactics with Cao Ang and Chen Gong.

Although Sun Ce’s personal preparations for the expedition were far from completed, they had a lot to deal with. The most urgent task was how to solve Huang Zhong and Xu Huang’s troops in front of him, especially Xu Huang’s troops.

Bameng Mountain is like a nail, stuck in the waterway of the canal water, which not only restrains a large number of troops from the Shu army, but also may form a pincer attack.

Cao Cao hoped to take down Bameng Mountain before the war, and it would be best to repel Huang Zhong and relieve his worries. The reason why he did not take action before was that the troops were limited and not enough to divide the troops; the other was that Huang Zhong was kept and Jingxiang's manpower and material resources were consumed. Now that the war was about to begin, Cao Ang led 10,000 elite troops to reinforce, so naturally he could not allow Huang Zhong to live here.

After repeated discussions, Chen Gong suggested taking Huang Zhong first.

Xu Huang occupied Bameng Mountain for several months and has operated Bameng Mountain into a solid position, which is extremely difficult to forcibly attack. Xu Huang's subordinates are all selected soldiers, who can give full play to the advantages of the terrain with one or ten. In contrast, although Huang Zhong has a large number of troops, he is still short of them, and perhaps he has the opportunity to take advantage of them.

More importantly, the supply of Huang Zhong's tribe is heavily dependent on the mountain road that crosses Daba Mountain. Once this mountain road is cut off, Xuanhan County is not enough to support the needs of Huang Zhong's tribe, and Huang Zhong can only rely on the support of the major tribes of various Brazilian counties. In this way, the major tribes of Brazil may reconsider who to support.

Sun Ce personally sent an army and said that his will to implement the new policy cannot be changed. The expectations of the Brazilian tribe to go further have been lost. Even the promise that Huang Zhong had agreed to can be fulfilled is a question. The interests are not guaranteed, but they are naturally reluctant to ask them to provide more support.

At that time, the King of Wei issued another edict, which might induce them to fight back.

The main attack direction was determined, and Cao Cao formulated specific tactics.

The first step is to conquer Xuanhan and cut off Huang Zhong's retreat.

Cao Cao originally wanted to attack himself. Cao Ang had been struggling for a long time and volunteered to lead 10,000 elite troops brought from Hanzhong to leave Dangqu County and detour behind Huang Zhong.

Before going to the war, Cao Ang wrote two letters in tears, one to Mrs. Ding, the other to Sun Ce, and the other to Ding Yi.

——

Li Yan didn't take it seriously when he received news that bandits appeared in the mountains of Daba behind him and the military rations were robbed.

This is not the first time such a thing has happened. The poor mountains and rivers are out of troublemakers, not to mention that there are people who deliberately make trouble from it, using the name of bandits to rob food. However, this kind of small-scale attack is not difficult to deal with. As long as he sends out the main force, the other party will retreat. When he is lucky, he will not only recover some of the losses, but also make some gains.

Therefore, Li Yan did not notify Huang Zhong immediately, but arranged the defense of Xuanhan County as usual, so he set out with two thousand infantrymen.

In Xuanhan for several months, in addition to the two thousand people assigned to him by Huang Zhong, he successively recruited some people from tribes in the nearby mountains and captured some from repeated battles. Now there are more than 3,000 people.

Along the way, Li Yan didn't see many civilians and soldiers who fled back, and couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Normally, a team of thousands of people coming from the West City had a large number of baggage, seven or eight hundred people, mainly civilians, and then there will be soldiers ranging from one to two hundred soldiers responsible for protection along the way. One or two hundred well-equipped Wu army, even if they encounter some 300 or 500 bandits, they will have the power to fight. If they really encounter thousands of bandits, they can still defend and wait for reinforcements. Even if they are careless and ambushed, at least some of them can break through successfully and rush to Xuanhan or Xicheng for help.

Except for a group of people breaking through at the beginning of the attack, all the rest were surrounded or even wiped out. Such a thing has never happened and cannot happen. Fighting in the mountains is destined to be unable to effectively surround, and there will always be someone who successfully breaks through. Unless the forces of the two sides are very different, the attacking party has enough military strength and can set up a lot of warnings so that no one in it can escape.

If ordinary bandits cannot do it, they can only be the main force of Shu, or at least the tribe of the Brazilian tribe.

Li Yan became alert.

The edict of Your Majesty’s personal expedition has been issued, and relevant preparations have been carried out. Although Brazil will not become the main battlefield, it has the role of restraining the main force of the Shu army. Before moving to Zhenjiang Prefecture and facing the main force led by Your Majesty, Cao Cao must launch an attack on Huang Zhong’s army and eliminate his worries as much as possible. This is common sense of military strategy and is not difficult to understand.

Li Yan slowed down the marching speed and sent more scouts. At the same time, he ordered people to return to Xuanhan to remind the left-behind subordinates to strengthen their vigilance and issued an early warning to Huang Zhong: The Shu army may have begun to take action, so be careful.

Li Yan's caution played a role. When Cao Ang's subordinates took the initiative to encircle them from both wings, the Wu army scout found their traces and issued an alarm in time. Li Yan immediately ordered to seize the favorable terrain and organize a counterattack on the spot.

After an encounter where neither side was fully prepared, the two sides entered a stalemate. Li Yan was surprised to find that these Shu troops were not the Brazilian tribes they had encountered before, nor were they Cao Cao's subordinates. Although the word Cao was on the battle flag, it was not Cao Cao's big banner. These also well-trained Shu troops were not the central army under Cao Cao's command, but were garrisons from Hanzhong.

Some of the former subordinates of Wu Yi under Li Yan were familiar with the Hanzhong garrison. However, these surrendered soldiers did not dare to conclude that these Shu troops were Cao Ang's subordinates, but they just thought that they were children of a royal family. After all, Cao Ang was not the only one who led the army to fight. The prince was also responsible for the heavy responsibility of guarding Hanzhong. How could he suddenly appear here and pretended to be bandits to rob supplies and food?

Li Yan was moved. After all, the flag on the opposite side did not look like an ordinary general. If the other party was really Cao Ang, then the significance of this battle would be great. Not only did the Shu army begin a full-scale counterattack, but the hero also cut off his arm, which means abandoning Hanzhong and shrinking the defense line.

This is a strategic trend, far from being able to compare the outcome of a battle.

Li Yan originally wanted to fight quickly as usual, but now he learned that Cao Ang might be the other side, so he calmed down. He knew very well that no matter what the final result was, he would make a contribution to drag Cao Ang down. Just like no matter whether Huang Zhong could take over Brazil County, dragging Cao Cao would be a victory.

Li Yan ordered the formation to be adjusted, guarded and defended strictly, and then drew 100 elite troops to enrich his personal guards as a reserve team and a killer weapon.

Cao Ang led the main force to arrive and surrounded Li Yan. He personally checked Li Yan's position and sent someone to attack him tentatively twice. Cao Ang knew that Li Yan had made sufficient preparations and that a strong attack was not easy.

He immediately ordered the attack to stop and leave some to monitor Li Yan. The main force rushed to Xuan Seoul overnight, and attacked Li Yan and rescued him.

Li Yan complained secretly. He knew that he had met an opponent, and Cao Ang was definitely not Yi. Xuanhan was just an ordinary small county with average city defense and limited military strength. It was okay to deal with ordinary enemies, but the elite troops led by Cao Ang were definitely not enough and could not last long.

He really wanted to lead his troops to attack, forcibly break through Cao Ang's blockade, and rush back to Xuanshang City. However, after repeated weighing, he gave up this plan. Night combat is too dangerous. If Cao Ang uses a plan, he hopes that he will break through the siege on his own initiative. The troops of the two sides are very different, and they may have the power to defend. Active attack will inevitably lead to heavy casualties. If he is defeated by Cao Ang, Xuan Han will still not be able to save it.

The two evils are the least of the right to take power. It is better to give up Xuan Seoul than to preserve the vitality.

If people lose their land, they still have the possibility of recovering their lost land. If people lose their land, they will inevitably lose both people and land in the end.
Chapter completed!