After losing nearly half of his troops in one breath, Liu Huangshu still stayed in Xiaopei and refused to leave. The key reason was that the terrain of Xiaopei was relatively easy to hold on to. It had the advantage of being surrounded by water on three sides, which was very rare in the Central Plains. The east and south of the city were

The three directions in the north are surrounded by Surabaya and Paoshui. Although there are bridges on the rivers that can pass through, it is not conducive to the deployment of the attacker's forces. It prevents the siege weapons of the siege army from getting close to the city wall, forcing the attacker to only use the only open terrain.

Launching an attack to the west will also help the defenders concentrate their strength.

It is precisely because of these characteristics that Xiaopei has become a rare exception among the cities in Xuzhou. Almost all the cities in Xuzhou are easy to attack and difficult to defend. Only Xiaopei and Xiapi are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Xiaopei also has

One advantage over Xiapi City is that the terrain of Xiaopei City is relatively high and is not threatened by the surrounding Sishui River and Buoshui River. On the contrary, the lower-lying Xiapi City only needs to dig the banks of Sishui River and Huaishui River.

, the defenders of Xiapi could only fight against the siege enemies and floods at the same time. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Xiaopei is definitely one of the most difficult cities to attack in Xuzhou.

"Little Tao Ying, come on! I want to see if your hypocritical army can attack my city of Xiaopei!" The confident Uncle Liu thought bitterly.

The city is strong, the terrain is dangerous, there are strong reinforcements from outside to rely on, and the soldiers and civilians inside are relatively united. Liu Huangshu basically has the right time, place and people. But it is a pity that Liu Huangshu's opponent in this battle is Deputy Tao Buqun.

Director. When it comes to demolishing houses and demolishing buildings, let alone the Three Kingdoms era, even in another thousand years or fifteen hundred years, I’m afraid I won’t be able to find anyone who is more proficient than Deputy Director Tao - because our Tao

The deputy director happens to be from the demolition office...

On the second day after the battle with Liu Bei's army, nearly a thousand Jun's troops and Zang Ba's four thousand troops all moved to the north bank of Paoshui and set up camp five miles outside the west gate of Xiaopei. Tao Ying also personally led Zang Ba

, Xu Chu, Chen Dao and others arrived outside Xiaopei City, observing the terrain and Xiaopei City, looking for gaps in the city. After carefully observing the walls of Xiaopei, Deputy Director Tao couldn't help but smile. It turned out that

The area of ​​Xiaopei lacks large pieces of bluestone. Although Liu Bei has been operating in Xiaopei for more than half a year, he has repaired the city wall at all costs. However, due to material limitations, the city wall is still not very strong and is a brick-earth structure, that is, fired bricks sandwiched with rammed earth.

Completed - Such a city wall in front of the Xiangyang cannon is basically the same as the Dinghu fence with the word "demolished" spray-painted in front of the bulldozers.

"When Lu Su's rear army arrives, eight trebuchets will throw stones together, and within seven days, I can smash this earthen wall to the ground!" Tao Ying shouted arrogantly and high-spirited.

"Gong, there are also two trebuchets in Liu County." Zang Ba next to him interjected: "During the Gongxi expedition to Ruying, Xuzhou craftsmen built two more trebuchets and a large number of stone bombs. This confirmed the Gong's determination to capture Xiaopei.

, Chen Yuanlong asked General Cao to send the two trebuchets and special stone bombs to Liu County for public attack on the city."

"Very good. Brother Xuan Gao can quickly order to send all the two trebuchets and stone bombs." Tao Ying was overjoyed and ordered: "Moreover, send three hundred sergeants to station on the east bank of Surabaya to destroy the small

All the bridges connecting Pei and the east. If big-eared thieves are found trying to build pontoon bridges, they should be destroyed immediately, so as not to give the big-eared thieves a chance to escape eastward."

Zang Ba agreed and immediately arranged for his men to arrange the arrangements, but Tao Ying ordered: "Brother Xuan Gao, send another five hundred soldiers to the surrounding villages and pavilions and bring all the people who can be gathered here. Let them bring the diggers with them.

The earthen shovels surrounded the west gate of Xiaopei. They built me ​​an earthen wall and dug a trench three hundred steps away. Duoli resisted the antlers of the horse and completely blocked the way out of the city for the big-eared thieves!"

When Tao Ying said this, Zang Ba, Chen Dao and others were shocked, and said quickly: "Sir, what are you planning to do? Since ancient times, sieges have always been about siege, allowing the defenders to see a glimmer of hope.

In a battle between trapped beasts, you not only have to destroy the bridges in Surabaya, but also dig trenches and build walls to surround the west gate of Xiaopei. The big-eared thieves have no way to escape, so don't you have to resolutely defend the city?"

"No need to ask, the mountain people have their own clever ideas." Deputy Director Tao, who has rich experience in demolition, shook his head decisively, and said with a smile: "Generals, just rest assured and carry out the order. Within ten days, I will definitely break through this Xiaopei

City!" Zang Ba, Chen Dao and other generals were hesitant, but seeing that Tao Ying was confident, they did not object and carried out the order honestly.

After splitting up, a group of about 300 Xuzhou infantrymen, under the cover of the Jun army, detoured back to the east of Xiaopei, quickly destroyed the Surabaya bridge outside the east gate of Xiaopei, and built a bridge on the east bank of Surabaya.

A small village was stationed at the garrison. Although Xiaopei's defenders were aware of it, they were afraid of the Jun army who was covering this group of infantry. No general dared to leave the city and die. They could only watch the bridge being completely destroyed and could no longer escape to the east.

.

"What the hell is Tao Ying kid doing?" Liu Bei was also confused and didn't understand what kind of medicine Tao Ying was selling in the gourd. According to common sense, if the Xuzhou army used the orthodox siege tactic of surrounding three and missing one, they would deliberately give up.

The gap should be to the east. Because the bridge is narrow, it is difficult for the defenders to cross the bridge quickly, which is very conducive to the pursuit and blocking of the Xuzhou army. Now the Xuzhou army has destroyed the Surabaya bridge without hesitation. What is it planning to do?

What left Liu Bei confused was still to come. In the afternoon, a large number of surrounding people were driven outside the west gate of Xiaopei. With shovels for digging dirt, they began to dig trenches 300 steps away and build Juma earth walls. In order to

In order to improve the progress of the project, Tao Ying also mobilized thousands of infantrymen to participate in digging the earth and digging the wall. At the same time, this temporary fortification was quite long, extending from the west bank of Surabaya in the north to the north bank of Paoshui in the south, forming a semi-arc and surrounding the west gate of Xiaopei.

Coupled with the water-soaked bridges that were firmly controlled by the Xuzhou army and could be destroyed at any time, Xiaopei was actually completely surrounded by the temporary fortifications and rivers of the Xuzhou army, and the Xiaopei defenders basically had no way to break out.

If friends still don’t understand, you can refer to the photo of Niu Dinghu in a certain place. His building is just like Xiaopei today. Except for the building being intact, the surrounding roads have all been dug up.

Seeing such a situation, Liu Bei, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, was inevitably surprised, happy and secretly worried. Of course, he was surprised by Tao Ying's weird siege tactics, and he was happy because since Tao Ying did this, before the fortifications were completed, the Xuzhou army

It should not launch an attack, which will help Liu Bei buy precious time; but what is worrying is that if asking Lu Bu for help fails, and asking Kong Rong and Tian Kai to mediate and negotiate for peace will encounter setbacks, then once Xiaopei is defeated by the Xuzhou army, Liu Huangshu's army will

But there was nowhere to run.

"Brother, what is Tao Ying's son doing?" Zhang Fei, who was wounded and leading his army to defend the city, was also confused. He couldn't help asking Liu Bei: "Does Tao Ying's son want us to run out of food and destroy ourselves? Doesn't he know?"

, the food and grass in Xiaopei City can support us for at least half a year?"

"If Tao Ying wants us to run out of food and destroy ourselves, then it will be easy for us." Liu Bei sighed and said: "Tao Ying is very cunning and cunning. Since he dares to do this, he must have his own intentions. Just for

My brother is not as cunning as Tao Thief, and for a while I still can’t see through what he is up to.”

"In this case, let me lead the army out of the city and charge for a while, and don't let them dig trenches and build walls!" Zhang Fei suggested.

Liu Bei was a little moved, but looking at the Jun's cavalry looking at him behind the temporary fortifications, looking at Zhang Fei who was still wearing his clothes, and thinking about Guan Yu who was still lying on the hospital bed, Liu Bei finally gave up his plan to take the risk.

, shook his head and said: "The third brother is injured, so we should not take risks easily. Since Tao Thief wants to trap Xiaopei to death, let him be trapped. Our army has strong support from Lu Bu. We also have Kong Beihai and Tian Shijun to come forward to mediate.

The longer it takes, the better it will be for our army."

"Brother, how can you, a villain like Lu Bu and a slave with the third surname, be willing to contribute to our army?" Zhang Fei asked unhappily.

"My dear brother, what you said is wrong. In the battle of Liuxian. I have not failed Marquis Wen, and Marquis Wen will certainly not fail me." Liu Bei shook his head. Some words were not convenient to explain to Zhang Fei, but Liu Bei also felt a little worried in his heart.

"If the third brother's words come true and the villain Lu Bu really abandons Xiao Pei, then I will have to vomit blood."

The next day, two rush-made Xiangyang cannons and a large number of stone bombs were delivered to the city of Xiaopei. However, Tao Ying did not let the two Xiangyang cannons be used to attack the city immediately. Instead, he put them on hold for the time being, while he ordered the sergeants and the people to continue building fortifications to siege the city.

, In order to encourage the people to work hard, Tao Ying also rewarded these people with precious grain and grass, promising that if the fortifications could be completed within seven days, then each common person would receive one stone of grain as wages. Originally, they were only doing unpaid labor.

The people suddenly cheered like thunder, and those who worked worked harder, and the progress of the project was greatly accelerated.

Regarding Tao Ying's arrangement, not everyone within the Xuzhou army objected. At least Zang Ba worriedly reminded Tao Ying: "Sir, although you can ensure that our army will wipe out the main force of the Big Ear bandits, it will take too much time.

Not to mention that Kong Rong and Tian Kai, who are friends with the big-eared thieves, may intervene. Lu Bu will never miss this opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Our army should only fight quickly and not delay it for a long time. Otherwise, once the situation changes, our army's

During the siege, not only will all the previous efforts be wasted, but the consequences will be reversed."

"Brother Xuan Gao, I understand all the situations you mentioned." Tao Ying replied helplessly: "But brother Xuan Gao, have you considered another issue? Our army currently does not have enough trebuchets. Two trebuchets are enough.

If you keep throwing stones day and night, without considering the malfunction and damage of the trebuchet, how long will it take to break open Xiaopei?"

"We also have other siege weapons." Zang Ba retorted: "We also have siege ladder trucks, ramming trucks, and ant flying ladders. We use these together with trebuchets to siege the city!"

"What about our casualties?" Tao Ying said with a wry smile: "Our army currently has only more than 5,000 troops, and nearly 1,000 of them are Jun cavalry who cannot participate in the siege battle, while Xiaopei's defenders have at least

Three thousand men forcefully attacked the city. How much loss will our army suffer? If Lu Bu brings troops to help again, how can our tired division with heavy casualties resist his tiger and wolf division?"

"We still have backup, including the Western Expedition infantry led by Sun Guan and Xu Sheng, as well as the main force of General Cao Bao from Xuzhou. We can mobilize troops from Xuzhou." Zang Ba added.

"There is no need to mobilize troops to capture Xiaopei at a small cost. I am at least 80% sure." Tao Ying replied with a smile: "So Brother Xuan Gao can rest assured that he will wait until the fortifications are completed, and then wait for the rear forces led by Jing and Zhongtai.

Once the army arrives, we can attack the city."

Of course Zang Ba didn't believe it, but he couldn't resist Tao Ying, the de facto heir to the governor of Xuzhou, so he had no choice but to continue urging the people to speed up the construction of fortifications full of doubts. During this period, Liu Beijun left the city twice, once for an attack

At the construction site of the siege fortifications, they attempted to sabotage the fortifications built by the Xuzhou army. Once they tried to build a pontoon bridge on the Sishui River, but they were repelled by the Xuzhou army both times. There were many casualties and no results were achieved. Liu Bei was forced to have no choice but to honestly

Retreat to Xiaopei, preserve your strength, and at the same time repair the city's fortifications, so as to last as long as possible in the face of the Xuzhou army's strong attack.

The Xuzhou army worked day and night to build the siege fortifications, and Xiaopei and Liu Bei's army worked overtime to build the city defense fortifications. After seven days of confrontation, on the evening of the seventh day, the siege fortifications were finally basically completed. Tao Ying fulfilled his promise and rewarded the people with food.

, good news also came from the direction of Pei State. The infantry brigade led by Lu Su had arrived at Zhuqiu the night before, and was expected to arrive at the battlefield of Xiaopei on the morning of the eighth day. Tao Ying was naturally overjoyed when he heard the news. He quickly organized people to stay overnight.

A pontoon bridge was built on the Paoshui River to allow the infantry brigade led by Lu Su to cross the river quickly. Fortunately, the water dried up in winter, and six pontoon bridges were built overnight.

On the morning of the eighth day, the infantry brigade led by Lu Su, Sun Guan and Xu Sheng finally arrived at the bank of Paoshui River. Tao Ying was overjoyed and went to the pontoon bridge to greet Lu Su. However, Lu Su saw that Tao Ying had spent countless manpower and material resources to build the bridge.

When they heard about the siege fortifications and heard that Tao Ying had not launched a siege in the past few days, he immediately turned pale with fright, stamped his feet and shouted: "Sir, why are you building this siege fortification? Have you forgotten,

When I left Chen State, I analyzed it for you again and again. With Liu Bei's habit, once the war goes unfavorably, he is likely to give up Xiaopei to break out, and will never stay in Xiaopei to wait to die! Your Majesty, you completely surrounded Xiaopei, and then destroyed the bridge.

Everything is destroyed and Liu Bei has nowhere to escape, so doesn’t he have to defend the city to the death and wait for help?”

Zang Ba, Chen Dao and other generals smiled bitterly and agreed with Lu Su's accusation against Tao Ying. Tao Ying smiled and replied: "Jing, do you think I didn't give the big-eared thief a chance to give up Xiaopei? Eight days ago, I was

The southern part of Xiaopei killed nearly half of the Big-eared Thief's army in one go. They also deliberately did not block all the roads in Xiaopei except the south overnight, but the Big-eared Thief just refused to escape? It was clear that he wanted to wait for help. Now I will give him

No matter how many breakout roads are left, what's the use?"

"Then why don't you seize the time to attack the city?" Lu Su asked angrily: "Don't you know that Shanyang is only more than 250 miles away from Xiaopei. Once Lu Bu sends troops, he can arrive there in four to five days.

Under Xiaopei City?"

"Of course I know this, so I sent a spy to keep an eye on Changyi. If there is any movement from Lu Bu, I will have news here within three days." Tao Ying replied with a smile.

"Then sir, are you still wasting your precious time?" Lu Su asked angrily.

Tao Ying looked up to the sky and laughed, without explaining. He just waved his hand and said: "Please don't be anxious, Brother Xuan Gao and other generals. Since I dare to be so generous, I naturally have my own reasons. This is not the place to talk. Let's go first."

Let's go back to the commander's tent and warm ourselves by the fire and drink while discussing how to attack the city." Lu Su, Zang Ba and others had no choice but to go back to the Xuzhou army camp to rest according to Tao Ying's request, and at the same time let the main infantry who had just arrived also camp and rest.

Eight Xiangyang artillery pieces were sent to the army to prepare for use in siege.

Luck on the battlefield has never been on Deputy Director Tao's side. The worries of Zang Ba, Lu Su and others finally became a reality. When Tao Ying led the generals back to the Chinese army's tent, everyone had not yet settled down.

There was a report from the soldiers outside the tent, saying that there was a spy coming from Shanyang, bringing urgent military news. Tao Ying immediately ordered the report. After a while, a middle-aged man wearing ordinary people's clothes and covered with dust rushed over.

After entering the commander's tent, he showed the Xuzhou governor's palace badge and shouted hoarsely: "Master, the morning before yesterday, Lu Bu personally led an army of 8,000 infantry and cavalry to send troops from Changyi and go south to Xiaopei! The villain presses

At the father's request, he drove fast to deliver the message at all costs, but a horse died on the road."

"Lü Bu is here in person?" Except for Tao Ying, all the Xuzhou civil and military officials in the commander's tent jumped up and screamed loudly with pale faces.

"Sure enough, he's here." Tao Ying smiled and asked calmly: "Have you found out what happened to you? Who is the envoy Liu Bei sent to contact Lu Bu? Jian Yong or Sun Qian?"
To be continued...