Chapter 705 Prepare the City Array

Countless Jiangdong soldiers were nervous, but Zhou Yu, the commander of the Jiangdong Army, remained calm.

"Send the order!"

Zhou Yu pointed the flag forward in his hand and shouted: "Order the city gates on all sides to be closed tightly. The entire army must gather at the north gate of Shu County and prepare for the city!"

"promise!"

All the city gates on all sides of Shu County were immediately closed, and more than ten thousand Jiangdong Army gathered towards the north gate of Shu County. Zhou Yu gathered Han Dang's troops who had been defeated by Cao Ren before, and reorganized the military formation. Twenty thousand Jiangdong troops gathered outside the north gate of Shu County and formed a semicircular formation. The back was close to Shu County City, and the front was like a scimitar, waiting for Cao Jun.

Tap tap tap!

Cao Chun and Le Jin led a thousand leopard cavalry and ten thousand Cao Jun's infantry to come slowly, and suddenly stopped when they were about three hundred steps away from Jiangdong's army.

Cao Jun's infantry surrounded a general standing on horseback. He was not tall but had a strong face. He held a spear and had two big eyes. He was Le Jin, the fierce general who had followed Cao Cao's tent in his early years.

"Brother Zihe, the Jiangdong Army is in a tight formation and is well prepared for the city. Even if our army comes out in full force, it may not be possible to defeat the enemy for a while." Le Jin said to Cao Chuntian.

Cao Chun looked around and saw that the Jiangdong Army was in a neat formation with reasonable arrangements of troops. The flags were fluttering in the military formation, and the red water unicorn battle flag was fluttering in the wind. The water unicorn opened its teeth and claws and seemed to be about to burst out of the air, a solemn and mighty force. The momentum spread out instantly and should not be underestimated.

The formation of the 20,000 Jiangdong Army effectively avoided the disadvantage of insufficient troops. If there are 20,000 soldiers arrayed in the city, and there is a city behind them to rely on, only three sides will be attacked by Cao's army. Moreover, when Cao's army attacked, if the offensive was too urgent, the defenders on the top of the city would also use bows and arrows, rolling wood and stones as support, which could be said to be impregnable.

"Well, let's stop the march for now and wait for the Prime Minister and General."

Cao Chun nodded, and then sent out sentries to notify Cao Cao.

"Prime Minister, Cao Cavalry Governor and Yue Xiaowei asked for instructions from the Prime Minister." The sentry cavalry loudly reported to Cao Cao.

"Yeah" Cao Cao sat on the horse, looked forward with narrowed eyes, and shook his head.

"The troops are arrayed in the city and their morale is at its peak. Zhou Yu is really powerful."

Cheng Yu asked: "Prime Minister, the Jiangdong Army was entangled with Cao Lifeng before and was exhausted, while our army was recharging its strength. Although the Jiangdong Army now has 20,000 people, if our army attacks from all sides, it may not be impossible to defeat them." Come down, do you want to march?"

Cao Cao smiled and waved his hand: "No, bring me a pen and ink. I will write a letter to Zhou Yu personally and then retreat."

Cheng Yu's eyes lit up: "Is the Prime Minister planning to drive a wedge between Zhou Yu and Sun Quan?"

"Yes." Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction.

Cheng Yu said worriedly: "I'm afraid Zhou Yu is too smart to be fooled."

"It doesn't matter." Cao Cao waved his hand and said: "It would be best if we could drive a wedge between Zhou Yu and Sun Quan. Even if we can't separate them, we can still plant a gap between them. Zhou Yu is a foreign minister and leads a heavy army. As time goes by, Sun Quan will sooner or later become suspicious. ."

After that, Cao Cao ordered: "Retreat!"

"promise!"

Cao Jun's sentry cavalry galloped to Cao Chun and Le Jin and shouted: "Cao Governor, Le Xiaowei, the Prime Minister has an order, ordering us to withdraw our troops?"

"What? Are you going to withdraw your troops without fighting a single battle?" Le Jin frowned and said, "Isn't this a waste of morale?"

"The Prime Minister has an order to withdraw the troops. Just ask Lieutenant Yue Xiao to carry out the order." The sentry knight frowned.

Cao Chun nodded and said: "Report to the Prime Minister, I will retreat as soon as possible."

The sentry knight nodded, turned around and left.

Cao Chun said to Le Jin: "Wen Qian, since the Prime Minister has given the order, he must have another plan. Let's just obey."

Le Jin frowned, nodded, and ordered: "Retreat!"

Cao Chun and Le Jin ordered their troops to retreat, only to see the 11,000 Cao Jun cavalry in the van turned around, and the rear team became the front team, slowly retreating like a tide.

Although the morale of Jiangdong's army arrayed in Beicheng was high, they were not war-mad. Naturally, they did not want to fight if they could avoid fighting. When they saw Cao's army actually retreating on their own initiative, they naturally breathed a sigh of relief, and then cheered loudly.

"Cao's army retreated!"

"Cao's army is a rat and a coward!"

Cheers erupted from the Jiangdong Army. Not only the nearly 20,000 soldiers, but also some Jiangdong Army generals breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they are preparing for the city, you must know that Cao Cao's army has a total of 40,000 people, and Cao Cao himself led the army. Once there is a battle, even if it is not defeated, it will definitely suffer heavy losses. Now that Cao Jun has ordered to retreat, naturally It could not be better.

Seeing Cao's army retreating, Cheng Pu asked Zhou Yu: "Grand Governor, since Cao's army has retreated, do our troops want to withdraw into the city?"

Zhou Yu nodded and shook his head.

"Forty thousand Cao's troops are coming with force. They are overwhelming in numbers. If our troops retreat into the city, won't they be at the mercy of others?"

"Besides, my 20,000-strong army is fighting outside and consumes countless amounts of food and grass every day. This war must be ended as soon as possible."

Zhou Yu said slowly: "Send the order! Order Huang Gai and Xu Sheng to lead an army of 10,000 people and set up a military stronghold outside the city to form a horn with Shu County. The rest of the people will withdraw into the city and take a rest."

If more than 20,000 Jiangdong troops retreat into the city, then Cao Jun only needs to increase the siege, encircle without fighting, and dig deep trenches on all sides outside Shu County, and then Jiangdong troops can be trapped alive.

Setting up a military stronghold outside Shu County can form a horn with Shu County. If Cao Jun attacks Shu County, troops can be sent from the stronghold to respond. If Cao Jun attacks Jun Zhai, troops can be sent from the city to respond. If Cao Jun attacks Shu at the same time, troops can be sent from the city to respond. The power of county towns and military villages has been weakened.

After Zhou Yu issued the military order, the Jiangdong soldiers cheered and cheered. Zhou Yu led nearly 10,000 soldiers into the city, while Generals Xu Sheng and Huang Gai led 10,000 soldiers to cut down trees outside the city and set up camp.

There are still more than 2,000 soldiers under Chen Wu in the city, so there are 12,000 Jiangdong troops in the city, and there are 10,000 Jiangdong troops in the military camp outside the city, for a total of 22,000 Jiangdong troops. Attack Although it is slightly lacking, the defense is more than adequate.

Not only generals Xu Sheng and Huang Gai were cutting down trees to set up camp, more than 40,000 Cao troops also needed to set up camp, and they needed many more trees than Jiangdong's army. Both armies were cutting down trees around Shu County, but they had no intention of hostility. Some Jiangdong soldiers and Cao soldiers were only a few dozen steps apart, but they pretended to be invisible to each other. If it weren't for a battlefield, who would be willing to kill people casually?

The trees around Shu County were cut down by nearly 50,000 troops. It is estimated that many woodcutters will be unemployed again after this battle. The deterioration of the environment is also inseparable from the ancient military campaigns.