Cao Ren pondered for a long time and decided to suspend the withdrawal of troops, rest on the spot, and wait for the news to be confirmed.

He asked Zhang Song to send scouts to pay close attention to the movements of He Qi and Zulang. He was unwilling to be deceiving the soldiers. He suspected that Zhou Yu might use a slowdown to fight the troops and buy time for He Qi and Zulang to deviate from his retreat.

For Zhou Yu, field battles are obviously more beneficial than siege. Even if Fangshan is well-known for its land, it is not as easy as the Path to defend.

But he was unwilling to give up this opportunity and immediately withdrew from the sacrificial path.

Time is endless. First, even if Zhou Yu was seriously injured, as long as he did not die, with Wu Jun's medical skills and medical skills, it would be a matter of time before he could cure it; second, he knew in his heart that Sun Shangxiang had defeated Cao Ang, and attacking Chengdu was imminent, and he had to defeat Zhou Yu and Sun Yi as soon as possible in order to return to Chengdu.

It is definitely easier to deal with Sun Yi than Zhou Yu.

In the face of crisis, Cao Ren had to take a risk, otherwise he would not have rushed to the camp. Now that he has successfully taken the risk, it is time to take advantage of the victory to pursue and expand the results of the battle. How can he give up easily?

Zhang Song understood Cao Ren's concerns, sent additional scouts, and rewarded the soldiers involved in the attack camp. He revealed to the generals in a vague way that Zhou Yu might be injured, boosted morale, and prepared for the next battle. If he could defeat Sun Yi, it would be a great achievement, almost saving the general, saving Shu Kingdom, and saving Yizhou. It is self-evident that high officials and generous salaries are self-evident.

The generals were overjoyed and were all full of energy.

As time passed, defeated soldiers returned to the camp one after another, especially the scattered cavalry. One thousand cavalry attacked, and less than a hundred cavalry who followed Cao Ren back to the camp, two or three hundred were returning to the camp one after another, and they barely got together again for the personal guards.

The scouts tried their best to inquire about the news and soon gained something, both good and bad news.

The good news is that Sun Yi took over the command of the Wu army in full, and Zhou Yu did not show up for several days. Although everything was normal in the Wu army, the lack of morale was unquestionable, and it was confirmed from different channels.

The bad news is that He Qi and Zulang are camping on both sides of the Yangtze River on the west side of Fangshan, establishing positions, blocking the river surface, and cutting off the retreat route of the Shu army.

Cao Ren smelled the danger and discussed with Zhang Song, and decided to launch an initiative to attack He Qi and Zulang's troops to test the truth and see if Sun Yi would send troops to reinforce.

Zhang Song felt it was reasonable and immediately recommended Meng Da to lead the troops to attack, and Cao Ren led the main force to cut off the rear in Fangshan.

Cao Ren rejected Zhang Song's suggestion and decided to personally lead troops to attack He Qi and Zulang.

It is impossible to determine whether Zhou Yu was really injured at the moment, but it is certain that He Qi and Zulang cut off his retreat. Whether it is decided in Fang Shan or retreating to the Tao in the future, He Qi and Zulang must be defeated. With time limited, he must do his best to fight and make a quick decision.

After arranging the defense of Fangshan Camp, Cao Ren led his troops to advance along the water and land, and headed westward.

He Qi and Zulang were building a position. When he heard that Cao Ren came to fight, he was a little surprised and he was also alert.

Unlike Xiahou Dun, who emphasized defense before, this is an opponent who is better at attacking and should not be careless.

They immediately stepped up the construction of positions, discussed a plan for coordinated combat, and sent people to report to the central army. Cao Ren took the initiative to attack, which was a good opportunity to encircle and annihilate him. As long as Cao Ren himself was taken down, Fangshan's Shu army would be defeated without a leader.

Cao Ren came very quickly. Before He Qi and Zulang's military newspaper had been sent out, the scouts of the Shu cavalry appeared outside the camp and frantically intercepted and killed the Wu army's command soldiers.

The Heqi family is rich and some personal guards did not suffer any major losses in the battle. However, Zulang did not have that strength. Facing the sudden appearance of Shu cavalry, the command soldiers were intercepted and the military newspaper was also intercepted.

Zulang was furious, but he had no choice.

Cao Ren came in full force and not only sent cavalry to reconnaissance Jiangnan, but also did not dare to take it lightly, but also launched a fierce attack on the river. The warship braved the Wu army's arrows and forced itself to break through the Wu army's blockade, destroying the floating bridge on the river, and isolating the contact between the Wu army in Jiangnan and Jiangbei.

Seeing this, He Qi and Zulang immediately gave up the offense and defended with all their might.

Without warships, they could not compete with Cao Ren for control of the river. However, even if they fought behind the battlefield, even if their troops were less than half of the Shu army, they still had the confidence to win.

After successfully regaining control of the river, the morale of the Shu army was greatly boosted, and then divided troops to surround the Wu army on both sides of the strait.

Cao Ren chose Zulang's troops as a breakthrough point and personally led 30,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Zulang.

Compared with He Qi, who came from a noble family, Zulang's reputation among the generals of the Wu army was not very famous, and his military service was not as steady as He Qi, and he retained many habits when he was a bandit. When fighting in the mountains, he was known for his good at seizing fighter opportunities. He was elusive and caused the Shu army to suffer enough, but his performance in frontal combat was far inferior to He Qi.

In the plains and fields, there were no established cavalry, Zulang's disadvantages were very obvious.

The situation was progressing as Cao Ren expected. Zulang's advantage could not be exerted in positional warfare, so he could only hold his position. Cao Ren gathered all the generals' personal guards, with about a thousand cavalry, divided into two teams, galloping back and forth around Zulang's position, looking for an opportunity to take advantage of.

Zulang was under great pressure. In order to weaken the power of the cavalry as much as possible, he chose a slope by the river, stood up with a backwater, defended intensively, and counterattacked head-on with a strong bow and hard crossbow. He dug several trenches in front of the formation to introduce the river water to prevent the cavalry from attacking the flanks.

The Shu army was very excited and launched wave after wave of frontal charges, intending to squeeze Zulang's troops into the river.

The Shu Navy also launched an attack from the river, using weapons such as bows and crossbows to launch long-range strikes on the Wu army, shooting waves of arrows into the Wu army formation, and constantly trying to land. Zulang had to divide his troops to garrison along the coast.

The two sides fought fiercely for a day and night, no victory or defeat.

——

At night, Cao Ren closed his lips tightly, reached out to pinch the battle report on the table, threw it hard on the ground, and sighed.

Zhang Song lowered his head, bent down and picked up the battle report, slowly smoothing it on his legs.

He could understand Cao Ren's despair.

The Wu army's tenacity exceeded everyone's imagination. Facing the Shu army several times more than itself, the Wu army was extremely calm. Not only could it defend, but it could also launch several counterattacks from time to time, eating up hundreds of Shu army that advanced too quickly and lost its main support.

In the fierce and even tragic hand-to-hand combat, the Wu army showed its strength to make the opponent frightened. Not only did they have outstanding personal martial arts, but their cooperation was far superior to the Shu army. With the same force, they could often quickly defeat their opponents, kill and injure a large amount of time before reinforcements arrived, and quickly retreated to their positions.

The Shu army paid a heavy price, with only superficial advantages, but could not make substantial breakthroughs.

Once this battle report is released, morale will inevitably decline. How many people are willing to attack at any cost is really not optimistic. Most of the soldiers of each department are private parts, and once the losses are too heavy, it will inevitably affect the strength of the entire family.

"Yongnian, what can you do?" Cao Ren said with a wry smile.

Zhang Song smiled the same bitterly. Faced with this dilemma, he had no better way. Judging from today's battle situation, even if he could defeat Zulang's troops, the Shu army would be greatly damaged and would be unable to face the next battle situation. The temporary victory could not change the final result.

This is undoubtedly frustrating, even desperate.

The advantage of the Shu army lies in local operations and military strength. Now that the Wu army has broken into Bashu, the strength advantage of the Shu army cannot be transformed into a real advantage on the battlefield. If the defeat is decided, what can we do?

"General, victory is as bad as defeat." Zhang Song said carefully. Although there is no hope, he cannot surrender easily now. "In the plains and fields, our army has limited advantages. It is better to take advantage of its strength, retreat to the Tao and wait for the opportunity to move."

Cao Ren glanced at Zhang Song and his brows frowned even more.

Zhang Song has been passively avoiding the battle and watching the situation. Now he has raised the trend of retreating and holding on to the road. It is definitely not as simple as waiting for the opportunity. It is simple to retreating and the situation is, but it is difficult to attack again.

Seeing Cao Ren hesitating, Zhang Song advised again: "General, Taishi Ci, Gan Ning is urging troops north, and the road of the 黑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑滑�

Cao Ren weighed the pros and cons, and even denied Zhang Song's proposal.

Taishi Ci and Gan Ning went north to a great threat, Zhou Yu and Sun Yi must also be on guard. After they controlled Jiangyang, they could go upstream without going through the road and work together with Sun Shangxiang to join forces to join Chengdu.

It is obviously not the best way to sit and wait for death when you are alive. It is better to take advantage of Zhou Yu's injury and Sun Yi's opportunity to command the troops and fight hard, and perhaps you can survive and resolve the current dilemma.

"The Wu army's position is strong and our army cannot win quickly. It is better to withdraw to Fangshan and make a decision."

Zhang Song was very disappointed. "What if the Tao is lost?"

Cao Ren gritted his teeth and made up his mind. "Yongnian, thank you for your hard work, there are still thousands of people in the Taoist Dao. With Yongnian's ability, he should be able to hold on for a while. If Taishi Ci and Gan Ning broke the city, I could not defeat Zhou Yu and Sun Yi and return to the Taoist Dao. That was the will of heaven. Yongnian could decide for himself."

Zhang Song looked at Cao Ren for a moment and nodded in agreement. When it comes to this, he understands the other party's intentions, and it also means to get together and part.

Zhang Song immediately rushed to Wudao under the protection of his personal guards.

——

The next day, Cao Ren summoned all the generals to discuss matters and deployed a battle.

His plan is very simple: since it is difficult to win after the formation, then lure the enemy into deeper and ambush the Wu army during the march.

The target is Zulang. Although Zulang defended the position, he was besieged for one day and suffered a great loss. If he had the opportunity to take revenge, he would never let it go. As long as the tactics were used properly and the offensive was fierce, the chance of success was high.

If Zulang can be defeated, then take advantage of the victory to advance and then take over He Qi from Jiangnan.

If Zulang is not deceived, then the entire army will withdraw to Fangshan to defend and look for opportunities for fighters.

After fighting for a day yesterday, the Shu army suffered a lot of losses and their morale was depressed, but they were not defeated after all. In addition, Cao Ren attacked the camp and injured Zhou Yu's record base, the generals were convinced by Cao Ren. After hearing Cao Ren's tactical deployment, they all agreed.

Cao Ren was secretly ashamed. He had never announced the news of Cao Ang's defeat and drove Zhang Song back to the road, in order to directly control the information to avoid leaking the news. If these people knew that Sun Shangxiang had entered the country, he might attack Chengdu at any time, and I wonder if these people would listen to him.

After the plan was formulated, Cao Ren ordered Meng Da to prepare for his response, and sent people to continue attacking Zulang's position. However, this time it was not for the purpose of conquering Zulang's position, but for the purpose of angering Zulang.

Cao Ren ordered people to curse the formation and challenge it in front of the formation, and say something ugly, especially to capture Zulang's identity as Yue Zongshuai, saying that he was a bandit and could only be king in the mountains. He was useless when he arrived on the plains, and could only be beaten like a dog of a family. He looked at the Shu army that wanted to come and left when he wanted to go.

Zulang was so angry that he was exposed to thunder. If it weren't for the Shu army's strength and cavalry, and there was no chance of winning the attack, how could he have tolerated Cao Ren so arrogant?

While cursing, the Shu army began to retreat, and the troops successively set off camps and retreated to Fangshan. Cao Ren led his personal guards to break the rear and continued to try his best to stimulate Zulang, and he couldn't bear to listen to all kinds of dirty words.

Zulang was so angry that he gritted his teeth, but did not act rashly. He watched the Shu army withdraw, and then ordered another floating bridge to connect He Qi's troops across the river. As soon as the floating bridge was built, he rushed to He Qi's camp and discussed with He Qi about pursuing Cao Ren.

He Qi strongly opposed it. He believed that Cao Ren's intention was very obvious, just to anger Zulang and lure him into the vassal.

Zulang was scolded by Cao Ren and almost ran away, so he could not listen to He Qi's opinions. He even felt that He Qi wanted to laugh at him, but fortunately he would be overwhelmed in the future. He said to He Qi, "I won't force you if you don't want to send troops, but I hope you can borrow tens of thousands of arrows."

Facing Cao Ren's superior troops siege, his arrows consumed a lot.

Seeing that he could not stop Zulang, He Qi had to agree. He transferred 100,000 arrows to Zulang and repeatedly instructed him to be careful when marching. Cao Ren was trapped in Fangshan, and it was a matter of time before he could lose. Don't rush for a moment. Once he finds something wrong, defend on the spot immediately and wait for reinforcements.

Zulang agreed, and then returned to the camp with 100,000 arrows and chased Cao Ren overnight.

While rebuilding the defense line on the river surface and cutting off the retreat of the Shu army, He Qi sent people to inform Zhou Yu, especially Zulang's plan to pursue Cao Ren, and was ready to respond. He also gathered 3,000 elite troops and quietly went out of the camp, along the south bank of the Yangtze River, walking side by side with Zulang.

Cao Ren received the news of the scout and learned that Zulang had gone out to pursue the camp, while He Qi from Jiangnan was busy rebuilding the defense line on the river. He was very happy and immediately set up a heavy ambush in the Yinggu area and surrounded Zulang who led his troops to pursue him. He used his military advantage to arrange the ambush circle very much. When Zulang found out that he was in trouble, his retreat had been cut off and he had no choice but to retreat.

Although Zulang regretted not listening to He Qi and was caught by Cao Ren's plan, he was not panicked. He ordered all units to seize advantageous terrain, defend on the spot, organize counterattacks, and sent only a few personal guards to inform the Central Army for help. Zhou Yu and Sun Yi's main force were only twenty or thirty miles away and could arrive at any time.

The plains and fields are fighting, and this is a good opportunity to destroy Cao Ren.

Cao Ren was obviously aware of this. Before the encirclement was completed, he ordered the attacks of various troops, and those who defeated the first ones would be rewarded with great rewards.

A great war broke out at dawn and entered a white heat from the beginning. The war drums thundered and arrows were like rain. The Shu army attacked from all directions, one after another, endless.
Chapter completed!