Huang Zhong has been in Brazil for more than half a year. Except for Xu Huang breaking into Bameng Mountain in the early stages, the main force has never been able to break through the Shu army's defense line in Gunlongpo.

As time went by, the Brazilian tribes—especially the counties of Langzhong, which were far away— gradually lost interest in him and their money and food support gradually decreased, but they only maintained an unrelated situation on the surface. The guerrillas sent by Huang Zhong were active near Langzhong. As long as they did not touch their personal interests, they turned a blind eye to each other, and Cao Cao himself had a headache.

To a certain extent, they hoped that these Wu army guerrillas would be more fierce, so that Brazilian heroes who were familiar with the terrain would have more opportunities to make contributions. Just half a year later, Huang Quan, Hu Du and others continued to be promoted and became young generals that Cao Cao relied on.

In contrast, the Wu army was too stingy with the Brazilians, especially with the Brazilian tribes.

In the face of Yan Pu's suggestion, most people ignored it and at most politely replied to a letter. There is no food now, so I will talk about it after the autumn harvest.

Faced with the unanimous rejection of many big clans, Yan Pu was helpless even if he was as smart as Yan Pu.

In order to solve the current crisis, Huang Zhong ordered Deng Zhan to approach Xuanhan and oppress Cao Ang, so that the Shu army did not dare to leave the city easily. At the same time, he mobilized the nearby people to seize the time to harvest and deliver the harvested food to the army to ensure the supply of the army.

Huang Zhong promised all tribes that His Majesty the Emperor was about to fight in person, and that this winter and next spring, he would be able to repel Cao Cao and relieve the people of Sanba from the water and fire. The grain they borrowed now will be repaid before the plowing next spring, and those who borrowed more will be rewarded.

After more than half a year of getting along, the Han and barbarians in Bajun all had a good impression of the Wu army. Huang Zhong was also a promised person. He borrowed grain at the beginning of the year and promised to pay it back before the spring plowing. As a result, he paid it back before the spring plowing and sent soldiers to assist in the farming. Now General Huang wants to borrow grain, many people have almost no hesitation and actively cooperate.

Many people patted their chests and said, "The general doesn't have to worry. Once the food is taken back, we will send it over, and then we will not come back. We will stay in the camp to fight and help General Huang with his armies. The Wu army will work hard for us people, so we cannot just look at it with our eyes."

Ordinary people are not big families, with limited arable land and limited food. After leaving their own food rations, the more food they can borrow is only a few dozen stones, and the less is only a few stones, and the average household is only about twenty stones. However, the amount of accumulation is enough, and it is still more than enough to solve the supply of Huang Zhong’s troops in one or two months.

With the support of the people, Wu Jun quickly came back from his frustration, stepped up his training, and prepared to fight back.

Li Yan received Huang Zhong's order. The order is very simple. In addition to task arrangement, there are eight words: Be brave after knowing shame, be at ease and be restless.

Li Yan was very calm and convened the entire army to a meeting. He read out Huang Zhong's order in public, and then criticized himself. As the army Sima, he was responsible for part-time military plans to provide advice to the general of the Central Leader. I underestimated the enemy and made impolite. I was guilty of the general of the Central Leader, and I was ashamed of the Party of Jingxiang Township. I was ashamed of you. You were humiliated because of me. I apologized to you and let you deal with it. I only asked you to give me a chance to lead you to avenge you.

If you don’t take this revenge, you will not be a human being.

Li Yan bowed to the captured and humiliated soldiers. The soldiers of the entire army cried bitterly and vowed to take revenge, which shocked the valleys.

The Shu army monitored nearby changed its color when they heard this.

Li Yan brought his subordinates back to Xuanshang City, lined up under the city, and challenged the Shu army on the city.

Faced with the murderous Wu army, the Shu army guarding the city did not dare to act rashly and could not stand out. Cao Ang on Phoenix Ridge also urgently ordered the army to hold its position and not fight in a vain.

Just under the noses of Cao Ang and others, Li Yan and Deng Zhan met with him. Deng Zhan brought weapons, food, and medicine to Li Yan to heal the wounded soldiers and comfort the soldiers. Seeing that the robes came to help and food and weapons were provided, Li Yan's morale was restored.

Deng Zhan and Li Yan discussed the tactics of counterattack and regained Xuan Seoul.

Facing Deng Zhan's suggestion, he was silent for a while and shook his head. "Compared with Cao Ang, Xuan Seoul City is not worth mentioning." He reached out and pointed at Phoenix Ridge. "It is the right thing to find a way to intercept Cao Ang."

Deng Zhan looked at Li Yan worriedly. In just a few days, Li Yan lost weight a lot. His originally shiny hair had a lot of white hair. His eye sockets were deep and bloodshot, but his eyes were even more restrained, as if he had been tempered with a sharp blade.

Deng Zhan pondered the sentence. "The positive side, Fenghuang Ridge is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Cao Ang has thousands of soldiers who are in danger. We are short of troops, and the sacrifices of strong attacks will be great, and it is very difficult to succeed."

Li Yan nodded. "So I said to intercept him, not catch him."

Deng Zhan was slightly stunned, and then understood Li Yan's meaning. "Use Cao Ang as bait to hold Cao Cao?"

"Yes, not." Li Yan let out a sigh of relief. "The autumn harvest is coming, and Your Majesty is about to fight in person. You must first clear the periphery, and Hanzhong is also in it. Cao Ang came here. The troops left by Hanzhong are limited. It is difficult to be our army's troops. You can go down in one go. There are three roads from Hanzhong to Bashu, two south of Nanzheng. One is Shiniu Road, passing Baishui Pass, Jianmen, and entering Shu. The other is Micang Road, crossing Micang Mountain, and entering Brazil. Cao Ang should have come from this road. The last one is the road we are walking."

Li Yan's fingers crossed the map and explained one by one. "Baishui, Jianmen is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and will not become the first choice. After our army seized Hanzhong, it is likely to pass through the Micang Road and reach Hanchang, and then go to the Weidangqu in the east, and go to Langzhong in the west, and attack Zishan and Guanghan."

Deng Zhan reacted. "So, as long as Cao Ang is intercepted, the north gate of Yizhou will be opened."

Li Yan added. "Our army, with a mere 30,000 people, not only dragged Cao Cao's main force, but also trapped Cao Ang. No matter what, this achievement of destroying Shu must be divided into a piece of the pie."

Deng Zhan laughed silently. He looked at Li Yan for a moment, then reached out and patted Li Yan on the shoulder. "You can't be made of jade without being carved. You have become a great person, which is gratifying." He paced back and forth for two steps and said, "You said, how can we intercept Cao Ang?"

Li Yan's fingers crossed Phoenix Ridge and reached the west side. "Lotus Lake."

Deng Zhanyang raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Using his own way, countering his body is a good plan. But Cao Ang is well aware of military tactics. This lake is so close to Fenghuang Ridge, can he let us succeed?"

"Cao Ang regards reality as false, and deceives me. We can go against the way, take the virtual as true, and seize food from the tiger's mouth." Li Yan sneered: "The military strategy says: A mourning army will win. Cao Ang knows that I want to fight to the death. Even if I force it to the bottom of the ridge, he will not attack easily. He will definitely wait for me to take the initiative to attack so that I can rely on the terrain and kill a large amount of damage. I will line up in the east of the ridge to make a strong attack. The general leads troops to sneak west of the ridge and will succeed. If Cao Ang is on guard, the general can lead troops to camp on the west ridge."

Li Yan said, taking out a map from his arms and spreading it on the table. "This is the topographic map I prepared for the general to consider."

Deng Zhan took the map, looked carefully, nodded secretly, and looked at Li Yan with a little strange look. Li Yan has not been idle in Xuanhan for the past six months, and he has investigated the nearby terrain very clearly, but he didn't expect it to be useful for one day.

Xuanshen City is between the three mountains. Fenghuang Ridge is the middle one, but it can only be considered a half ridge, and there are hills on the south side. There is also a north-south mountain ridge in the west of Fenghuang Ridge, which is higher and steeper than Fenghuang Ridge. You can follow the ridge north-south, and there are only a few channels to pass from east to west. The Micang Road is west of the mountain. As long as you guard the ridge to the west, Cao Ang will not be able to block the Wu army coming through the Micang Road.

If you can occupy the Lotus Lake, it is equivalent to shaking Cao Ang's throat. Cao Ang even went south to follow the ridge and had no chance to meet with Cao Cao's main force.
Chapter completed!