Lü Meng seemed to be calm and said, "This must be Zang Ba coming here to seek revenge."
Ling Tong sneered, "What's the point of a mere bandit? I'll go and kill him."
Lu Meng hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Gong Ji, no matter whether you win or lose, you should stop when you are ready. The fate of Xuzhou depends on the two of us, so you should not act rashly."
Ling Tong took the order and led his troops out of the city. Lu Meng went down to the city personally to plunder the enemy troops, and asked Deng Guang to watch him and follow his orders without any mistakes.
The garrison of Tan County is insufficient. If they want to deal with Cao's army, they must first dampen their morale. If they can kill Zang Ba, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Ling Tong rode out of the city, holding his sword in hand, and shouted, "I was the one who killed that thief. Are you Zang Ba, the thief from Mount Tai?"
Zang Ba's eyes were slightly stern, and he said in a cold voice: "What a big tone you have, kid."
Just as he was about to go out, he saw a general riding out from behind Zang Ba, shouting, "Leave this young boy to me, why do you need to take action?"
When Zang Ba saw that it was the third brother Wu Dun, he turned his horse back and watched the battle in front of the formation. He glanced at Lu Meng at the city gate, as if thinking about something.
After several battles, Ling Tong became more experienced. No matter who the comer was, he would kill him first, and he swung his sword to kill him.
Wu Dun was eager for revenge, and seeing that the other party was just a teenager, he didn't take it seriously. He thrust his spear straight at him. The two fought for more than ten rounds in front of the formation. Wu Dun couldn't help but be secretly shocked. This young man was indeed very powerful. No wonder his second brother was killed.
His mind changed, and he began to think of retreating. He fired a feint with his spear and turned his horse back to the formation. Ling Tong was chasing him closely, but Zang Ba turned his horse around and stopped him with his sword.
when-
With a loud noise, the two men's mounts stood up, raised their hooves and neighed. Zang Ba said coldly: "Young man, don't—"
"Shut up!" Ling Tong was furious. He pushed away the opponent's weapon and slashed back with his sword.
Zang Ba snorted slightly and held his sword across his chest again, causing his arms to sink. He couldn't help but frown. He didn't expect that Jiangdong would produce such a young man.
"You don't know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is!" Zang Ba was aroused to fight. He shouted and raised his sword. When the two horses crossed, he also swept his sword across.
Ling Tong snorted coldly, and actually faced Zang Ba head-on with his sword raised. The two fought for more than ten rounds but there was no clear winner. All the Cao army was shocked and shouted to cheer.
Zang Ba has been famous for a long time, but Ling Tong is a young and inexperienced man who is not afraid of tigers. The Cao generals he killed before were all unknown men. This fight with Zang Ba is a real test of his strength, and he becomes more and more courageous as the battle goes on.
Sima Yi also came to the front of the battle. Seeing Zang Ba fighting a young man, he could not help but frown and said, "Another hero has appeared in Jiangdong!"
Wu Dun was sweating profusely, and gritted his teeth and said, "This kid has some skills, but he is definitely not my eldest brother's opponent. He will definitely die."
Sima Yi thought about the current situation in Cao's camp again and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Ever since the great defeat in the Battle of Nanyang, the talents in Cao's army have been gradually dwindling. Several famous veterans have been captured and humiliated by Liu Qi many times, and the younger generation is not up to the task. The situation is deteriorating.
On the other hand, it goes without saying that Liu Qi promoted talented people to important positions and the family prospered. Jiangdong also had no shortage of rising talents. Lu Meng was both civil and military, Ling Tong was sharp and brave, and the young generals such as Zhu Huan and Zhu Ran who had fought against them before were also quite strong.
While he was thinking, the two had fought for more than thirty rounds. Seeing that Zang Ba's swordsmanship was steady and experienced, Lu Meng was worried that Ling Tong might be in danger, so he sounded the horn to call back the troops.
Zang Ba chased to the edge of the moat, but was shot back by the Wu army's arrows. He had to return to his camp, disperse his troops and set up camp, preparing to besiege Tan County.
Sun Guan's brother Sun Kang led his men to take back Sun Guan's body, knelt in front of him, and cried, "Ling Tong killed my brother. Please avenge me and take his head as a sacrifice for my brother."
Zang Ba helped Sun Kang up and sighed, "This boy is indeed quite capable, but don't worry, Sun Guan is also my brother, and I will definitely avenge him!"
Wu Dun and his men also threatened to take revenge, and requested orders to attack Tan County overnight, with the intention of cutting Ling Tong into pieces after breaking into the city.
Sima Yi advised: "General, please accept my condolences. Lü Meng and Ling Tong are both elite troops from Jiangdong. The Wu army is in high spirits. It is getting dark. Attacking the city now will not be worth the loss."
Sun Kang was furious and said, "It's not your brother who died, you just said these sarcastic remarks."
"Don't be rude!" Zang Ba's face was gloomy. He stopped Sun Kang and clasped his fists to Sima Yi and said, "Military Advisor, since I gathered people in Mount Tai to fight against the enemy army, I have put loyalty first, which is why I have the brothers following me. If I can't avenge my brothers, how can I convince them?"
Military officer Yin Li also said: "The Wu army attacked Tan County by surprise with only 3,000 to 5,000 men. They came in a hurry and were not well prepared. Now our army has 20,000 men, several times more than the enemy. If we attack them day and night, the Wu army will surely not be able to hold out. We can break into the city and take revenge tomorrow."
Wu Dun was humiliated in front of the battlefield, and he felt ashamed. He clenched his fist and shouted, "Yes, we will destroy Tan County and take revenge!"
A group of Taishan army generals behind responded one after another, waving their weapons and shouting, demanding revenge for Sun Guan.
A cold light flashed in the depths of Sima Yi's eyes, but he nodded slowly and said: "General, you are very loyal, I admire you. Now the three armies are indignant, if we can take advantage of the situation to break the city, it is not a bad idea!"
"Thank you for your understanding, military advisor!" After all, Sima Yi came here under the orders of General Cao Ren, so Zang Ba still had to give Sima Yi face and bowed to express his gratitude first.
Then he turned around and gave the order: "At 3 p.m., the entire army will attack the city and take Tan County with all their strength. I will take Lü Meng's head as a night pot."
Wu Dun and Sun Kang immediately returned to the army to pass on the order, and the Cao army returned to their camps to prepare, cook and eat. An hour later, they lit torches and attacked Tan County.
Sima Yi returned to the tent silently, took out a secret letter from Cao Pi from his sleeve, read it again, put it under the lamp to burn, and sighed as he looked at the ashes.
Although Zang Ba surrendered to Cao Cao, he led the Taishan troops and part of the Qingzhou troops on his own, and was on and off with the generals in Cao's camp. Cao Cao first appointed him as the prime minister of Langya, and ceded the lands of Qing and Xu states to defend the east. Later, when the war in Huainan became tense, he was appointed as the governor of Xuzhou and the general of Yangwei to fight against Jiangdong, but he was never used as a confidant.
Ever since Cao Cao's northern expedition against the Xianbei, rumors spread among the army that Zang Ba was too ill to return to the Central Plains, and it was also rumored that he had the intention of establishing himself.
Cao Xiu first secretly reported to Zang Ba that he had complaints. He once said: "The country is unwilling to use Zang Ba. If you can lend me 10,000 infantry and cavalry, I will be able to recapture Huainan and dominate the Jiangbei area."
Cao Pi was worried about this, so he wrote a secret letter to Sima Yi, asking him to try to weaken the Taishan Army in Huainan to prevent it from becoming too powerful and even defecting to Jiangdong and biting back.
When Sima Yi arrived in Xia Pi, he saw that Zang Ba was a calm and experienced person, and he would listen to his suggestions more. He thought that Cao Xiu was afraid of Zang Ba's ability and kept it secret.
After watching the scene on the battlefield today, we know that these Taishan bandits are hard to change. Although Zang Ba has restrained himself to some extent, he is still unruly and has always been arbitrary. Even Cao Cao is afraid of him and dares not to recruit him by force.
Since they were determined to attack the city, Sima Yi stopped and did not try to persuade them any further, allowing them to suffer losses on both sides and taking the opportunity to eliminate this hidden danger.
Night fell, but the area around Tan County was still brightly lit. Cao's army moved tree stumps to light bonfires outside the four gates. The torches surrounded the entire city. The soldiers and horses formed a battle formation and divided into eight teams and four gates to launch a fierce attack on Tan County.
Zang Ba personally rode his horse to inspect and supervise the battle, with Sun Kang beside him gritting his teeth, staring at Ling Tong on the city wall, wishing he could grow wings and fly to the top of the city wall to eat the young man alive.