The summer rainstorm came quickly and went away quickly. The sky cleared up before noon.
The sun shone through a gap in the clouds when Cao Cao came out of the camp. He saw the ground in a mess and the tents looked like mud houses. The soldiers were listless and were hanging their clothes out to dry.
Seeing the army's poor discipline and disarray, Cao Cao frowned and said with regret: "If Yu Wenzhe were still here, why would the army be in such a mess?"
Among all the generals, Yu Jin was the best at commanding the army and had strict military discipline. Even in this situation, he would not allow the soldiers to be so lax.
The lunch was extremely simple, consisting of only porridge and wet and swollen bread. It was distributed first to Xu Huang and Le Jin's troops, who each led 5,000 elite soldiers and headed south.
Muddy footprints were left on the road. Cao Cao looked at the troops going away, full of worry. If this trip failed, the army would be caught in a dilemma.
Three hundred thousand soldiers were scattered everywhere, their morale was low, their military spirit was divided, and there was also a food and grass crisis. If Guan, Zhang and others led their troops there, the consequences would be disastrous.
Cheng Yu came to Cao Cao's side and whispered, "The army's morale is unstable, so the Prime Minister should relax military discipline appropriately."
"Hmm?" Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly. "If we allow the soldiers to plunder, Nanyang will lose the people's hearts. How can we take Jingzhou?"
Cheng Yu said: "The Prime Minister raised a righteous army and obeyed the imperial edict to suppress the rebellion. The people of Nanyang suddenly rose up in rebellion and brought about the war. It was all their own fault. Now that the army is trapped, we should sacrifice the small and save the big."
Cao Cao put his hands behind his back, looked up at the scorching sun hidden in the clouds, and closed his eyes slightly. In the current situation, if he continued to restrain the soldiers, it might cause a riot.
After a long while, Cao Cao let out a long sigh and suddenly stroked his forehead: "My headache is flaring up. Cao Hong will take charge of the military affairs for the time being."
Cheng Yu had followed Cao Cao for a long time, so he naturally understood what was going on. He immediately ordered his personal soldiers to help Cao Cao return to the tent to rest, and then he went to discuss military matters with Cao Hong.
When Le Jin led his troops to Anzhong, it was already evening. He rushed straight to the city, surrounded the city on all sides, and shouted at the county magistrate to surrender.
Since Zhang Xiu surrendered, An Zhong has been under Cao Cao's command. Le Jin launched a surprise attack here, hoping to use military force to intimidate the county magistrate and force him to surrender.
The defenders stayed inside their houses and did not come out. The magistrate of Anzhong County came to the top of the city wall and saw that it was Cao's army. He asked, "Who is leading the troops?"
Le Jin said coldly, "I am Le Jin. You have betrayed Prime Minister Cao. If you can repent soon, I will forgive you. If you insist on not changing your ways, I will kill you in the city and leave no one alive."
As soon as the words fell, a loud laugh came from the city. Someone said in a cold voice, "Cao Cao is a traitor who deceives the emperor and deceives his superiors. You are helping Zhou to commit atrocities. How dare you speak so arrogantly? Do you know the word shame?"
Le Jin's eyes were slightly stern, and he asked sternly, "Who are you?"
"It's Wen Pin from Nanyang!" Wen Pin stood on the city wall with his sword in hand and said in a deep voice, "General Liu has long expected that Cao Cao would launch a surprise attack. Even if Cao Cao himself came, I would not be afraid, let alone you, the drowned rats and the stray dogs."
Le Jin was furious and ordered an attack on the city. Cao's army marched hastily without any baggage and rushed towards the city with weapons in hand.
Wen Pin stood still and ignored the charge of Cao's army. The defenders drew their bows and arrows, and there was a squeaking sound from the city, like the chirping of sparrows, but no arrows were shot.
Cao's army shouted and rushed to the foot of the city wall, but saw no arrows. Instead, they were stunned for a moment before throwing the grappling hook onto the top of the city wall, preparing to climb the city wall.
"Shoot!" It was only at this time that Wen Pin gave the order.
Boom boom boom—
Drums beat loudly on the city wall, arrows rained down, Cao's soldiers screamed and fell to the ground, and the ropes thrown onto the city wall were also cut off.
In the blink of an eye, half of the troops fell under the city. Le Jin's eyes seemed to be spitting fire and he clenched his teeth.
He was known as the first to climb the mountain in Cao's army and was best at attacking cities and strongholds, but at this time he had no weapons, his surprise attack and deterrence failed, and he was helpless.
Wen Pin laughed and said, "Ask Cao Cao to come in person!"
It was getting dark, and looking at the messy corpses lying outside the city, every soldier was afraid. They knew that a strong attack was useless and the surprise attack had failed, so they had no choice but to retreat.
On the other side, Xu Huang led his troops to Xinye. At dusk, they came to a forest, where their men and horses hid. He ordered his men to go forward to gather information.
Xinye was originally Liu Bei's garrison. The city walls had been reinforced many times and the water in the moat was extremely strong. If they attacked by force, they would only return empty-handed. They could only launch a sneak attack at night.
At three o'clock in the night, a half moon was hanging in the sky. The summer night was very refreshing. Xu Huang led his troops quietly to Xinye.
Seeing that there were few torches on the city wall and the defense was lax, he was secretly delighted. He surrounded the city and observed it. He saw that there was only one team of soldiers patrolling at the south gate, so he concentrated his troops there.
Five hundred people who were good at swimming were selected to quietly cross the moat first, and then another five hundred people were selected to cross the river. They quietly came to the foot of the city, threw their hooks and chains onto the top of the city walls, and started to climb the city walls.
Under the moonlight, Xu Huang couldn't help but feel his heart beating faster as he watched the dark shadows climbing up quickly like geckos, and he held his breath and waited in the distance.
He just waited for the soldiers to climb to the top of the city, lower the drawbridge and seize the city gate, and then he led his troops in and captured Xinye in one fell swoop.
The night wind was blowing, cicadas were chirping in the distance, and Cao's army lay in the damp mud, allowing mosquitoes to bite them but not daring to move. They stared at the dark shadows on the city, feeling like their days were passing by like years.
As they saw that half of the soldiers had climbed up the city walls and the patrolling garrison passed by, everyone's heart was in their throat, fearing that they would be discovered.
The team of soldiers walked by with torches, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but at this moment, a shrill scream suddenly came from the night sky, and someone slid down the wall.
Xu Huang and others were all frightened and were about to curse the man for failing and ruining their plan.
However, torches were lit on the top of the city wall, and countless arrows, stones, and wooden planks fell without warning. The soldiers climbing the city wall fell one after another, and screams rang out one after another.
Xu Huang stood up suddenly and exclaimed, "We've fallen into a trap!"
Judging from the situation, it was obvious that the defenders had been prepared for this. They had been holding back their attack just now, waiting for the soldiers to climb over the city wall so that they could strike head-on.
Arrows were fired from the top of the city wall and rocks fell. In a blink of an eye, Cao's soldiers fell to the ground and all died. The screams disappeared in the night wind, and everything fell silent again.
"Hahaha, you bastards, you want to launch a sneak attack?" On the top of the city wall, Huo Jun pointed at Cao Jun and laughed, "You're dreaming!"
When Xu Huang saw that the defenders on the city were fully armed, he knew that they had been prepared in advance. The soldiers were already tired and had no dry food with them, so he could only sigh helplessly and order a retreat.
The next day, the two men returned to the camp one after another. Cao Cao saw that both armies were defeated and thousands of soldiers were killed. His headache really flared up. Coupled with being caught in the rain, he had a fever all over his body and was bedridden.
Cao Hong reorganized his troops, avoided the water of the Baihe River, set up camp in the Bowangpo area, waited for food and fodder to arrive, and then attacked Wancheng.
In recent days, troops have been sent to nearby areas to rob food from the people. Although there is a strict order not to kill people, it has also caused public outrage and complaints.
Cheng Yu discussed with Xun You, "The army encountered obstacles when marching southwards. Liu Qi had prepared for the situation in various places. This shows that Zhuge is very good at using troops. However, the Prime Minister is seriously ill, and the army is not motivated. Liu Qi has not come to advance. I am afraid there is a trick. What do you think, Gongda?"
Xun You also frowned, "I am worried about this matter. The roads are slippery due to the rain, and it will take three days for the food and grass to arrive. If Liu Qi does not move his troops, I am afraid he is planning to rob the food."
Cheng Yu stroked his beard and said, "Gongda's concerns coincide with mine. We need to take precautions early."
Xun You said: "The roads south of Bowang City are narrow and difficult to travel. We can send troops to Bowang City to provide support."