Cao's army attacked Tan County all night long, with flames lighting up the sky red. They thought they could capture the city in one go, but unexpectedly, due to Lu Meng's good command, they still could not reach the city by dawn.
It was bright in the east. A layer of dew hung on Zang Ba's armor and his face looked slightly pale. Thousands of men had been lost in vain. The troops and horses were exhausted, so they could only order a temporary retreat.
Just as they returned to the camp to rest and prepare breakfast, there was a sudden shouting from the west gate. It turned out that Ling Tong was attacking from the city. By the time Zang Ba led his troops to support them, he had already returned to the city.
After a series of setbacks, the morale of Cao's army was low. Zang Ba's eyes were bloodshot and he dragged his tired body back to the tent. He saw Sima Yi sorting documents at the desk. He opened his mouth but didn't know how to start.
Sima Yi sighed and said, "Lü Meng's ability is comparable to Zhou Yu's. He must have expected that you would be eager to take revenge, and the Wu army would wait for you to tire out. This is what they call haste makes waste!"
Zang Ba put his helmet on the table. He calmed down now and realized that he had acted too rashly. He clasped his fists and said, "Military Advisor, do you have any good advice? Please enlighten me!"
From the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the present day, through the reigns of Tao Qian, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu, the Taishan Army has been able to stand firm because Zang Ba was good at assessing the situation and knew how to advance and retreat.
Even a man as strong as Lu Bu or as patient as Liu Bei will eventually be reduced to ashes if he fails to recognize the current situation.
"I dare not!" Sima Yi seemed a little surprised by Zang Ba's attitude, and returned the greeting: "Lü Meng is good at using troops and has quite a lot of strategies. Now the arrow is on the string and must be shot. If you want to defeat the Wu army, you have to follow the trend."
Zang Ba's eyes were slightly stern: "Military Advisor, do you want me to continue attacking the city?"
"That's right!" Sima Yi nodded and said, "We came from afar yesterday and attacked the city overnight without any rest. General, you can make a show of fighting to the death. When Lu Meng sees that our army is exhausted, he will definitely come out of the city to raid the camp, and we can defeat it in one fell swoop."
Zang Ba nodded slightly, then after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Military Advisor, Lü Meng is planning to raid our camp tonight. Can we use his trick against him?"
"Lü Meng is very resourceful. He used this trick to deceive Tan County before. How could he fall into the trap so easily?" Sima Yi shook his head slightly and said with a smile, "But he divided one army to take Houqiu, just to prepare a retreat route, and to form a pincer attack with Tan County, so that we can provide support at any time. I will not attack Houqiu first, just to lure him out: I only need to get rid of the Houqiu reinforcements, and then pretend to be Wu raiding the camp. Lü Meng will think he has got the plan, and he will surely attack from both inside and outside, and the enemy can be defeated!"
"Military advisor, this is a good idea!" Zang Ba suddenly realized something, stood up and bowed deeply to Sima Yi, then went out of the tent to pass on the order, sending out the Qingzhou soldiers to prepare to continue the siege.
Sima Yi sat alone in the tent, his eyes flashing with solemnity. Zang Ba's performance today made him look at him differently. He thought that this man's ability was no less than that of Cao's generals. If he could be used, he would be able to take on important tasks. However, he was worried that Cao Pi would not be able to suppress him, which would be counterproductive.
After giving the order, Zang Ba went to rest first. Although Sima Yi believed that Lu Meng dared not leave the city, he still had to be prepared for any eventuality. This was all his fortune. Once he had no military power in his hands, how could the Cao family use him
At noon, Cao's army launched another attack. Twenty thousand soldiers surrounded Tan County and attacked it from all sides. Sun Kang, Wu Dun, Yi Li and others led their troops, beat drums and marched forward, as if they would not give up until the city was captured.
On the city wall of Tan County, Lu Meng personally supervised the battle, Ling Tong and Deng Guang each guarded a gate. After the Battle of Guandu, Cao's army's siege equipment was very sharp. Ten tall siege towers and heavy catapults posed a great threat to the defenders, making them unable to resist.
Huge stones fell from the sky, flying onto the top of the city with a whistling roar, some smashed onto the city walls, and some fell into the city, making a terrifying sound.
The archers on the ledge could not only aim at the defenders and shoot arrows, but also point the direction for the catapults. They attacked from both top and bottom, making the Wu army miserable.
After all the defenders hid under the city wall, Cao's army divided into two teams of cavalry to guard the flanks, and the infantry pressed forward in the middle. Archers covered the siege soldiers as they approached the city, carried ladders to the bottom of the city wall, and climbed up like ants.
With his hand on his sword, Lu Meng stared at the soldiers climbing the city wall from the tower. The catapults were no longer in motion, otherwise the huge stones would not distinguish between friend and foe and would instead smash Cao's soldiers who were climbing the city wall to death.
"Beat the drum and shoot!" Lu Meng walked out of the gate tower, drew his sword and shouted.
The Wu soldiers on the city wall stood up one after another. One hundred archers with accurate arrows aimed at the Cao army on the well, and the rest of the archers shot arrows at the bottom of the city. At the same time, the prepared boulders and wooden beams fell down one after another and hit the enemies who were climbing the city wall. Boiling water and boiling oil were also poured down. The shrill screams were horrifying.
After a night of attack and defense, the Wu army had become very coordinated, and the battle situations at the other three gates were similar. There was no need for the generals to intervene too much, and each unit acted in turn. Arrows were fired from the city, and the arrows fell like locusts below the city, and the Cao army in front was instantly defeated.
Although the Wu army had few soldiers, each of them was an elite force. In addition, they were in a desperate situation. Although they were exhausted, they all fought hard. The Cao army kept rushing to the city, but no one could climb up. Outside the city of Tan County, black smoke filled the air and corpses piled up like mountains.
After a hard battle for a whole morning, Sun Kang and his men saw that their attack was fruitless and had to temporarily rest and retreat. Seeing that Tan County was crumbling, but they were still unable to break through, everyone was angry and the army became more and more anxious.
As Cao's army retreated, Lu Meng immediately ordered the soldiers in each camp to rest on the spot. It was the transition from summer to autumn and the weather was cool, so they spread straw mats, lay down on the street outside the city, and fell asleep.
Ling Tong also looked exhausted. Seeing Cao's army besieging the city, he offered a suggestion: "Cao's army has been fighting all night, and their morale must be low. Let's raid the camp tonight. The two of us can work together to kill Zang Ba and Sima Yi and break the siege."
Lü Meng said, "Sima Yi is treacherous and cunning, so we must be prepared. Moreover, we have been fighting all night, and the soldiers in the camp are exhausted. Fighting alone is not a foolproof plan."
Ling Tong said anxiously: "Cao's army is attacking fiercely. Today, nearly a thousand people were killed or wounded. If this continues, I am afraid it will be difficult to hold out until reinforcements arrive. What should we do?"
Lü Meng sneered, "The Art of War says: Besiege a city with ten times the strength. Cao's army must be ten times more exhausted than mine. The soldiers outside the city are all former members of the Taishan Army and Zang Ba's confidants. They lost thousands of soldiers overnight. I don't think they will dare to attack with all their strength again. The first attack was strong, and the second was weak. Cao's army retreated this time, and it was already showing signs of defeat!"
Ling Tong was puzzled and asked, "Since the general also thought so, I was just about to attack at this moment, why did I miss the opportunity?"
Lu Meng looked at the gloomy Cao army camp outside the city and said slowly: "Don't forget Zhu Ran's army! I ordered them to station troops in Houqiu just to solve today's difficulties! Zang Ba relied on his strength and tyranny. He did not take Houqiu first, but came directly to attack Tan County, hoping to pacify Donghai in one battle. He is so arrogant that he will only bring disgrace upon himself!"
Ling Tong frowned and said, "However, we are trapped in Tan County and cut off from the outside world. How can we inform Zhu Ran to come and rescue us?"
Lü Meng smiled and said, "Since I have predicted this, how can I not make any arrangements? Zhu Ran has given instructions before he left. He must have learned the news by now and is on his way to Tan County. We can attack Cao's army from behind. If we cooperate from the inside and outside, Cao's army will be attacked from both sides. How can we not be defeated?"
Ling Tong was overjoyed when he heard this, and clasped his fists and said, "Liu Qi once said: The Yangtze River's waves behind push forward the waves in front, and the new generation replaces the old. This is exactly what the general said. This time, the surprise attack on Xuzhou, you have both civil and military skills, and you have anticipated the enemy's moves first. I'm afraid you have surpassed the Grand Commander!"