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Seeing that everyone's eyes were attracted, Fa Zheng coughed gently, and then he calmly pointed at Wancheng with a wooden pole and said, "The biggest difficulty in Nanyang County is Wancheng. After Cao Cao defeated Zhang Xiu, he rebuilt Wancheng. The city became taller and more solid, and it was very difficult to attack. I think General Pang should be very clear about this."

Everyone looked at Pang De. After Pang De followed Ma Chao to surrender to Liu Jing, he was arranged to Xinye. He had participated in several battles against Nanyang County and even stationed Wancheng. He knew the situation of Wancheng very well. He nodded and said, "The military advisor is right. Wancheng is indeed difficult to attack. There is a saying that Wancheng is called using one enemy, that is, Wancheng 10,000 troops can resist the attack of ten thousand troops. Wancheng has always been a logistics site for Cao's army to attack Xiangfan. It has a lot of food and supplies, and it is easy to dig wells in the city, so it can be held for at least one year."

Everyone knew that Pang De was a real person and would not exaggerate. Since he said this, it means that Wancheng is indeed difficult to attack. If there were really tens of thousands of troops in Nanyang, wouldn’t it take 90,000 people to attack Wancheng? Everyone’s hearts couldn’t help but feel heavy.

Fa Zheng smiled slightly again and said, "Although Wancheng is difficult to attack, we still have a chance, that is, not all the troops of Nanyang County are stationed in Wancheng."

Everyone was excited, it was indeed like this. Pang De smiled and said, "When we occupied Nanyang County, we encountered a large-scale counterattack by Cao's army. Cao's army used cavalry assault to block the gathering of Wancheng from all over our troops. We can also use this method this time."

At this time, Liu Jing, who was sitting next to him, laughed, "General Pang has a good idea. This time I will transfer 6,000 elite cavalry as vanguards to imitate the tactics of Cao's army back then."

Pang De hurriedly bowed and said, "Abide by the orders of humble duties"

Liu Jing nodded and smiled at Fa Zheng and said, "Military advisor, please continue"

Fa Zheng said slowly: "According to the information provided by the general, the Cao army in Nanyang was stationed in four places, first of which was Wan County, with about 10,000 troops, commanded by Cao Hong himself, and secondly, Ye County."

Fazheng's wooden pole pointed to Ye County again and continued: "Ye County is the gateway to Xuchang, and its strategic position is of great importance. It was once conquered by General Liao Hua and Li Fu in the army. Since then, Cao's army has deployed doubled its troops in Ye County. Ye County has 10,000 troops, commanded by General Li Dian. Secondly, Yuyang County, which defends Xiangfan and Nanxiang County, which defends Guanzhong, each with 5,000 troops. Our important task is to raid Nanyang and block the troops from all over the country to gather in Wancheng."

Pang De pondered for a moment: "The military advisor hopes that my six thousand cavalry will be divided."

"It's okay to have two soldiers without division."

Fa Zheng smiled at Yuyang County, which was facing the south with a wooden pole, saying, "His Highness of the Han Dynasty has ordered General Ben to make an appointment to lead the Xiangfan army to surround Yuyang by the update tonight. General Pang only needs to block the two armies of Nanxiang County and Ye County."

Pang De calculated the distance silently in his heart. The distance from Wuguan to Nanxiang County was not very flat. He had to arrive in Nanxiang County before the time was really tight. He immediately clasped his fists and bowed to Liu Jing and said, "Your Highness, I want to lead the army immediately."

Liu Jing nodded, "Feasable"

Pang De bowed again and turned around and left the tent. At this time, Liu Jing slowly said to everyone: "The capture of Nanyang is only part of the Hefei war. The purpose is to open up the Nanxiang Pass. Although Nanyang and Hefei are far apart, the Hefei battle is related to the overall situation, so the battle will not break out in Hefei. In addition to Nanyang County, there is also Anlu County. In order to prevent Cao's army from going south from the Central Plains to Anlu County, we must strengthen the defense of Yiyang Pass, that is, Wusheng Pass, Jiuli Pass, Pingjing Pass, and defend this pass, and Cao's army will not be able to enter Anlu County from the Central Plains. Where is General Zhang Yi?"

Zhang Yi was an important general of the Southern Division of Yizhou, that is, Yan Yan was the general of Badi, including Zhang Yi and Wang Ping and other generals. Zhang Yi was known for his goodness in defending the city. Liu Jing first wanted to consider letting Zhang Yi guard Wancheng, but this would make it difficult to hire the other side, so weighing the pros and cons, Liu Jing decided to let Zhang Yi guard the direction of Anlu County.

Zhang Yi stepped forward and bowed and said, "I am humble in my position."

Liu Jing said in a deep voice: "I will grant you the commander of Anlu County. After the Battle of Nanyang, you can lead 10,000 troops to Anlu County and take over Yiyang Pass. As long as you defend Yiyang Pass and do not lose your fortune, I will be your great contribution."

"The last one will follow the order"

After Liu Jing deployed the army, he whispered to everyone: "I hope you will fight bravely and capture Nanyang County in the shortest time."

Everyone bowed and bowed together, "I wish to serve your life for you."

...........

Since Cheng Yu led his army to recapture Nanyang County, the direction of Nanyang has been in a state of truce. The Han army has never crossed the border. With the calm of the war for several years, the people's livelihood in Nanyang County has gradually recovered and traditional commerce has also begun to become active.

Because Nanyang County has a special strategic position, it can go to Jingxiang in the south, connect to Xudu in Luoyang in the north, enter Guanzhong and Hanzhong in the west, and adjacent to Ruyu in the east. The location of such a transportation hub has made Nanyang County prosperous since ancient times, and caravans from all over the official roads can be seen everywhere.

At noon, a caravan composed of dozens of people and several mules and horses loaded with cargo slowly came from the official road in the distance. These merchants were all agile and energetic, which was very different from the usual dusty merchants.

This caravan was a special scout team led by Ren Ping, the deputy commander of the Eagle Strike Army. Their goal was of course to enter Wancheng, but they received news from other caravans that Cao Hong had strict defenses against Wancheng and no longer allowed foreign caravans to enter the city. He specially moved the market in Wancheng outside the Xicheng, called Caoshi, and required all merchants to trade outside the city.

Not only that, people from other countries are not allowed to enter the city with teams above the people. This is the rule set by Cheng Yu back then, and has been strictly enforced by Cao Hong. Caravans like them with dozens of people have no chance to enter the city.

Although the Wancheng City investigation is strict, there is no way. For example, it can be used to disperse each other to enter the city. However, it is time-consuming and dangerous. Ren Ping decided to adopt another method.

In addition to the forty subordinates who came to Wancheng with Ren Ping, there were also Chang'an County Magistrate Deng Hong. Deng Hong belonged to the Deng family, one of the prominent families in Nanyang, and was Deng Yizhi. He was admitted to Xiangyang with Cui Si and Xun Zhi. He was first sent to Huayang County, Nanjun to serve as the chief magistrate and county magistrate step by step. He was down-to-earth, honest in his work, and had a good reputation among the people's customs.

Last summer, he was transferred to Guanzhong to serve as the county magistrate of Chang'an County. Since Chang'an is the capital, he is actually equivalent to the rank of a county magistrate and has become the best among the younger generation.

His friends Cui Si and Xun Zhi also did a very good job. Cui Si served as the Governor of Lingling last fall, while Xun Zhi served as the Censor of the Censor the year before yesterday, in charge of the government inspections in Jingzhou. There has been news from Chang'an that Xun Zhi may be promoted to the Chief Censor of the Censor after this term is over.

This time, Deng Hong was specially transferred to the army by Liu Jing. As an important figure in attacking Nanyang, in addition to the Deng family, the great aristocrats in Nanyang County also had the Huang family of veteran Huang Zhong and the Zhang family where Zhang Zhongjing was located.

Although Deng Hong was an official in the Han Dynasty, he was the chief of the Deng family after all, and had a high status in the family. Many people believe that Deng Hong should take over the position of head of the family after his father Deng Yi passed away.

The group was less than ten miles away from Nanyang. You could see the majestic city walls from afar, like a long dragon in front of them. On both sides of the official road were endless farmlands, and lush forests stood among the farmlands. The ice and snow in the Nanyang area had melted, and green wheat seedlings grew in the fields. The winter wheat began to recover after the cold winter.

By noon, there were more pedestrians on the official road, most of them were farmers living nearby, and there were rich people who went to Wancheng to visit relatives. They were sitting in large caravans, with family servants and horses, and many caravans like them, or large caravans with several mules and horses, or small merchants with more than a dozen mules and horses. They all went to Caoshi outside the West City.

"Mr. Deng, this is all your land, right?" Ren Ping smiled at the farmland on both sides with a horse whip.

"There is the south, not the north, and the north is the Huang family's land, which is slightly less than the Deng family."

"It is said that the Deng family has five manors in Nanyang County, and this is just one of them."

"There is nothing to do, the Deng family has a large population."

Deng Hong smiled faintly and changed the subject. He pointed to a fork in front of him and said, "Ren Master, go to the fork in front of him and we will turn the way south. We will walk about five or six miles to arrive."

Ren Ping nodded and turned around and ordered: "Everyone is following, don't get lost."

Everyone quickly moved to the fork road, turned the way south again, and walked about five or six miles before an ancient manor appeared in front of them. The manor covered several acres. In addition to more than a dozen large warehouses, there were also several two-story wooden houses, and the houses of the upper tenants.

This is Wancheng Manor, one of the five manors of the Deng family. Nearly ten hectares of land are owned by the Deng family. There is a deacon in charge. Deng Hong urged his horse to gallop into the manor and shouted: "Is Uncle Long here?"

"Master, is it you?"

An old man in his fifties ran out of the wooden house and looked at Deng Hong excitedly. At this time, many servants came out to salute Deng Hong, and several servants ran to the wooden house.

Ren Ping, not far away, felt something was wrong. There were too many people who knew that Deng Hong had returned, and there were risks. After all, Deng Hong was an official from the Han Dynasty. Once Cao Hong knew about it, would he send someone to review it?

But it was a bit too late to find out that something was wrong, so Ren Ping had to decide to adopt a backup strategy. Once he entered the city, he would immediately leave the Deng family. At this time, Deng Hong came back and smiled and said, "Master Ren, please come in, my father happened to be in the manor."

Ren Ping nodded and walked into Deng's farm with his men. They rested in a wooden house and had lunch. About half an hour later, Deng Hong hurried into the room and said to Ren Ping: "Ren Dongzhu, please follow me."

Ren Ping ordered everyone to walk towards another big wooden house and walked into the innermost house. He saw an old man with disabilities sitting in the room with gray hair and thin face. He was Deng Yi, the head of the Deng family, and Deng Hong's father. At that time, the Jingzhou master, had a lofty prestige in Jingzhou and Nanyang.

Although Cao Hong also knew that Deng Yi was inclined to Jingzhou, he asked Deng Yi for many things and was very polite to him. In many aspects, Deng Yi was also very assigned to Cao Hong, and the two of them also formed a friendship.

Ren Ping bowed and said, "The Han Army Captain Ren Ping met with Deng Gong"

Deng Yi had already received the news that the Han army was going to attack Nanyang County from the mouth, and he also knew that it was Han King Liu Jing who personally led the army to the west, which surprised him very much. This time it was extraordinary, and it was probably that the Han army would completely occupy Nanyang.

Deng Yi knew how to deal with this matter with decades of political wisdom. He smiled at Ren Ping and said, "I can help the general and his subordinates enter the city, but there is Cao's army stationed in Deng's mansion, which is nominally protection, but actually surveillance. I can't take you to Deng's mansion, I hope General Ren can understand."

Ren Ping immediately said: "Thank you for your support, we don't need to go to Deng's mansion. As long as we can enter Wancheng, we can make arrangements by ourselves."

Deng Yi smiled slightly, "Wancheng is not as good as before. Cao Hong has a reward order. More than five people from other places gather. As long as the people report, they can get a heavy reward. Therefore, you cannot go to the city to find a hostel or something. I will arrange your residence. In addition, the weapons you need can also provide the Deng family. Fortunately, you are not many, more than fifty people, so I can do nothing."

"Thank you Mr. Deng, I don't know how we entered the city."

"It's a coincidence that Cao Hong borrowed 10,000 s of grain from me these days, so I came to the manor to count the grain today. If you don't feel wronged, you can pretend to be a servant of the Deng family and send the grain to the city."
Chapter completed!