It was November, the beginning of winter, and the weather in the north was freezing cold. The Zibo River was frozen, and people and horses were traveling on the ice.
Xu Sheng held the ancient ingot sword in his arms and couldn't let it go. He invited Ding Feng to the government office and discussed the matter. "The Grand Commander ordered me to defend Linzi, with the Zibo River as the boundary, and to build more warships to prevent Cao's army. Now the water is frozen, and the boats are not in a good condition. Cao's army is advancing straight in. I wonder what countermeasures the commander has?"
Ding Fengyan said: "Wen Xiang doesn't know that General Taishi has also arrived in Qingzhou! As long as you and I hold on and wait for help, when Xiahou Dun arrives, we can kill him by surprise."
"What did you say?" Xu Sheng was shocked and said, "General Taishi, he, he has already..."
Ding Feng said with emotion: "In fact, General Taishi was not dead at that time. He was just seriously ill and worried that if he stayed in Jingzhou for too long, the Marquis of Wu would be worried and suspicious. So he ordered Taishi Xiang to return to Jiangdong first to report the news to reassure the Marquis of Wu, and he stayed in Xiangyang to recuperate!"
Xu Sheng shook his head helplessly and laughed, "Marquis Wu is a wise ruler, how could he be such a narrow-minded and suspicious person?"
Ding Fengyan said: "General Taishi has returned from the dead. It must be the blessing of the spirit of the first lord in heaven. He is helping us with our great cause in Jiangdong. This time we will definitely make a difference in the Central Plains."
Xu Sheng thought of Sun Ce's magnanimity, and as he touched the ancient ingot knife, his eyes flashed with a gleam of light: "If Cao's army comes, I will defeat them."
Ding Fengyan said: "Cao's army knows that they are at a disadvantage in a water battle. When they see the river is frozen, I expect they will cross the river directly. Cheng Xi is eager to take revenge this time, so we can take precautions first, defend the city to the death, avoid the enemy's attack, and wait for heavy snow to fall and the weather to become cold. Cao's army will retreat, and then we can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop."
"This is a very good plan!" Although Xu Sheng was eager to start a fight while holding the ancient ingot knife, he still held back.
They are far away from Jiangdong and have no support. They have to rely on themselves for troops, money and food. This is in the heartland of Cao's army, and a head-on confrontation with them is definitely not the best strategy.
He then ordered all camps to prepare carefully and send more scouts to gather information. He had previously tried to use Xiahou Dun several times but had not really fought. This battle was related to the gain or loss of Qingzhou and should not be taken lightly.
The next day, the vanguard of Cao's army reached Zibo River. The general of the vanguard was none other than Cheng Xi, the governor of Qingzhou. Cheng Xi was to be held accountable for the loss of Beihai, but he relied on his close relationship with Cao Pi and knew that Cao Pi liked Mingzhu.
Cheng Xi presented a pair of luminous pearls that he had hidden in the Qingzhou treasury. Cao Pi was very pleased with them and did not question the Qingzhou officials. He appointed Cheng Xi as the Prime Minister of Jibei and allowed Xiahou Dun to order him to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.
This time, Cheng Xi vowed to avenge his previous humiliation when he made a comeback. Cao Pi also sent General Anyuan Tang Zi as the commander to help Cheng Xi.
The troops were camped on the shore. Cheng Xi saw the river was frozen and said happily, "The Wu soldiers relied on the strength of the navy to deploy defenses along the Zibo River. Now the river is frozen and the navy is useless. God is really helping me!"
Tang Zi was also eager to show his merit, and said: "Mingshang, what you said makes sense. I will lead an army across the river to attack the city first, and you can set up camp here to support us. Once we capture Linzi City, it will be a great achievement."
Cheng Xi then ordered Tang Zi to lead 10,000 soldiers to cross the Zibo River on the ice, guard the eastern dike, and then support the main army to cross the river and attack Linzi.
Seeing that the Wu army had not deployed defenses along the river, Tang Zi concluded that the Eastern Wu was afraid of fighting, so he ordered his men to organize their weapons on the shore and led 3,000 elite soldiers to the city of Linzi.
The Wu army on the city wall had already learned the news. Xu Sheng and Ding Feng were guarding the city wall. No matter how Tang Zi shouted and challenged them, they just stayed indoors and refused to come out.
The northwest wind was howling and Tang Zi's mouth was frozen. Seeing the Wu army hiding in the corner tower to avoid the wind, he became furious and urged his troops to attack the city.
After half a year of management and repair by Xu Sheng, Linzi became high, steep and solid, and countless bows and arrows were prepared in the city. Cao's army attacked fiercely for an entire afternoon but gained nothing.
Tang Zi had no choice but to retreat to the shore and set up camp. Cheng Xi sent someone to deliver a letter, reminding Tang Zi to patrol the camp carefully to prevent the Wu army from attacking the camp.
Tang Zi secretly made arrangements in the camp, waiting for the Wu army to arrive so that he could ambush them. He then disguised himself as a Wu soldier and sneaked into Linzi to capture the city in one fell swoop.
Unexpectedly, after waiting for a whole night, there was no movement from the Wu army. It was already midwinter, and the Cao army waited in the cold wind all night. Many of them suffered from frostbite, their hands and feet were swollen and painful, and their morale was low.
Tang Zi was still furious, and the next day he urged the three armies to attack the city again. After several days of attack, more than 3,000 soldiers and horses were killed, but Linzi City remained unmoved.
That night, it suddenly snowed heavily, and Cao's army was camping outside, which was extremely miserable. The next morning, many tents were damaged by the snow and several people were even frozen to death.
Tang Zi held his breath and urged his troops to the city, but he was dumbfounded to see that the Wu army was pouring well water on the city wall, and the wall was raised several feet overnight. He was so angry that he jumped to his feet and cursed.
Seeing that they could not capture the city and the morale of the three armies was low, Tang Zi had no choice but to retreat to the west bank and discuss with Cheng Xi how to defeat the enemy.
Cheng Xi was at a loss as to what to do. He sighed helplessly, "When Xu Gongming attacked Wuguan Pass, Zhang Fei used this method to build an ice wall, and General Xu was helpless. It's a pity that General Xiahou has also come here. How can you and I get ahead?"
Tang Zi was unwilling to give up. He looked around and saw that there was no one around. He whispered, "It is often said in the army that Xiahou Yuanrang is a general who always loses. It is difficult for you and me to achieve success under his command. We should find another strategy."
Cheng Xi thought for a moment and said, "Linzi is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Now that the Wu army is defending the city, why not lure them out of their holes and defeat them from outside the city?"
Tang Zi hurriedly asked, "What good plan do you have?"
Cheng Xiyan said: "Xu Sheng and Ding Feng are young and energetic, but they are holding their ground. They must be following orders from General Zhou Yu. We can use provocation to provoke them: order the soldiers to go to the city and insult the Jiangdong rats. They are afraid of us and dare not fight. But you and I are celebrating here at a banquet, and they will definitely come to fight."
"This is a great plan!" Tang Zi was overjoyed. He immediately ordered his men to go to the city of Linzi to humiliate the Wu army. He, Cheng Xi and other generals set up a banquet.
At noon, the soldiers who were sent out fled back in a panic and reported that Ding Feng had led his troops out of the city to pursue them.
"My lord, this is a great plan. Let me kill this villain first!" Tang Zi was about to stand up and fight.
Cheng Xi said, "The commander of Linzi is Xu Sheng. General, don't worry about him for now. When Ding Feng is halfway across the river, attack him. The ice is slippery and it will be difficult to stand on it. We can win a complete victory. Xu Sheng will come to support us when he hears the news. This plan will work!"
"Your Excellency, this is a brilliant idea!" Tang Zi agreed with it deeply, so the two of them simply ordered a banquet to be held on the west bank, where they drank and had fun with the officers.
Soon Ding Feng led his troops to the scene and saw Cao's army drinking and playing on the opposite bank, so they stood on the shore and hesitated to move forward.
"They are indeed the rats of Jiangdong. They only hide in their nests and dare not fight head-on." Tang Zi also ordered the soldiers to fight in front of the table to boost the mood of drinking.
Ding Feng observed the situation on the other side of the river and passed the order back. Soon he saw that the Wu army was moving the boats and lining them up on the ice.
Tang Zi laughed up to the sky and said, "I never thought that the people of Jiangdong are not only cowardly, but also extremely stupid. The river surface has already frozen. Do you think you can gain an advantage by pretending to be a navy?"
Cheng Xi was also stunned, shook his head and laughed, "Isn't this just pretending to be deceiving oneself and others? I think Ding Feng is even worse than Zhao Kuo."
Ding Feng remained calm and ordered the soldiers to take off their armor and only wear a layer of soft fish skin armor. Each person boarded the boat with a short knife, but the long spears and halberds were used as oars and placed outside the boat.
Amid the laughter of Cao's army, Ding Feng raised his sword and shouted: "A real man should achieve fame and fortune. Today is the day to set sail—"