There are gentlemen in the Three Kingdoms

Cao Zhang said with a smile: "This is an opportunity to test Xun Yu and the pottery merchant. If the pottery merchant really sends troops to attack Xuchang, then he will be convicted of colluding with the pottery merchant!"

Cao Pi secretly praised Cao Zhang for being able to cooperate with him in his heart, and said with a smile: "That's exactly the reason."

The news that Xun Yu was imprisoned and that Xuchang City was going all out to strengthen the city defense soon reached the ears of pottery merchants.

"It seems that in Xuchang City, someone seems to be trying to hurt Cao Hong." The pottery merchant put down the information in his hand and smiled at Chen Deng.

Chen Deng stroked his beard and said, "Xun Yu has been imprisoned, so we can attack Puyang with peace of mind. After Puyang City is broken, we can turn around and attack Xuchang."

"No." The pottery merchant shook his head: "At Puyang City, leave the soldiers and horses to continue the siege and attack. I will personally lead the troops to attack Xuchang."

Chen Deng asked suspiciously: "Puyang City will soon be captured, so it would be a pity to give up now, wouldn't it?"

The pottery merchant smiled and said, "It is precisely because we gave up Puyang City, which is about to be laid down, to save Xun Yu, that we can better demonstrate our beautiful friendship. Since there are people in Xuchang City who cooperate with us so much, they want to send Xun Yu to me." Face to face, how could I not respond?"

Chapter 791 Attack

Chen Deng never expected that the potter's thinking angle seemed to surpass him.

Of course, Chen Deng thought that he was a gentleman in the open, but cheated in the dark.

At this point, the one surnamed Tao will always be the ancestor.

"Well." Chen Deng hesitated for a moment, and said: "But we have been attacking Puyang City for so long, it would be a pity if we just give up like this."

The pottery merchant threw the information on the table, leaned back, and said: "There is no way to give up. After all, the situation is in front of us. For me, letting Xun Yu leave the Cao family is far more important than taking Puyang City." important."

Speaking of this, the potter turned his head to look at Chen Deng, and said, "You know, getting Xun Yu alone is equivalent to getting the support of the entire Yingchuan gentry. This is an aspect that Cao Hong hasn't thought of yet. I can't give up this opportunity." .”

Chen Deng paced back and forth in the tent, and said: "That's the thing, but Xuchang City is extremely strong. Now that Cao Hong has put Xun Yu in prison, he is doing his best to strengthen Xuchang City. Judging from the current situation, I'm afraid that Xuchang City is not easy to attack. If Xuchang City can't be defeated, Xun Yu can't be rescued. Looking back, the city defense of Puyang City has been strengthened by Cao Ang and Hao Zhao. Our offensive against Puyang City for a while will be considered in vain. .”

The pottery merchant smiled and said, "You can rest assured about this. According to my guess, Xuchang City should be much easier to fight than Puyang City at the moment."

Chen Deng was taken aback when he heard the words, then lowered his head and thought about it carefully, and suddenly realized: "Yes, yes, the current Xuchang seems to be reinforced by Cao Hong with all its strength, but in fact it is completely different from when Xun Yu presided over it. Xun Yu can The guarding of the city is entirely due to his reputation, which attracted the full support of the gentry and common people in Xuchang City. Only by uniting together can we stop our army's offensive, but now Xun Yu is imprisoned."

The pottery merchant said indifferently: "I'm afraid that the people's hearts in Xuchang City will be unstable, let alone fighting our army with one heart and one mind. It is inevitable that there will be people who admire Xun Yu or complain about his situation, and come to secretly fight with us. connect."

This time, Chen Deng admired the potter from the bottom of his heart.

He cupped his hands and said, "Then Puyang?"

"I'll leave it to you and Qu Yi. On Cao Ren's side, I will send Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and other troops to besiege the city. You all bluff and cover for me. This time, I will take down Xu Chang and Xun Yu! I thought it was a congratulations for entering the Central Plains."

Some of the soldiers and horses of the pottery merchants began to move to Xuchang, and before going to Xuchang, he also sent members of the school affairs office to spread the news that Xun Yu was imprisoned everywhere around Xuchang city.

Purely watching the fun is not afraid of big things.

He wanted to let the general public know how wronged Xun Yu was.

The power of the masses is powerful, and Cao Hong will suffer.

After Jinling's soldiers and horses arrived at Xuchang City, the potter personally inspected Xuchang City carefully.

He found that the city was indeed much stronger than when he first came here, and it seemed that Cao Hong's ability to use troops was still superior to Xun Yu's.

Unfortunately, what Cao Hong didn't understand was that in order to protect Xuchang City against the large army of Jinling City, the use of troops can only be second, accounting for 30.00% at most.

The reason why Xun Yu was able to defend this city at the beginning was because of his popularity and popular support.

With him, the gentry and common people in Xuchang City will unite as one, and the army and the people will be one.

And after he was imprisoned, this person who could motivate the army and the people was gone.

Even Xu Chang's people's hearts will change dramatically because of his imprisonment. This is a disadvantage that Cao Hong can't erase with his army.

After the pottery merchant circled the city for a week, he had a general understanding of Xuchang's city defense. After returning to the commander's tent, he immediately called for Xu Rong, Huang Zhong, A Fei, Gao Shun and other generals, and asked them to divide into four groups, each Lead the troops and storm the city of Xuchang.

Huang Zhong hesitated after hearing the pottery merchant's military order, and said, "Prime Minister, you led your troops here from Puyang to attack the city. I shouldn't have said much, but Xuchang City is much stronger than when we first came here. The enemy's vigor is in full swing. We are attacking the city now. We will definitely not be able to attack the city. On the contrary, it is easy to lose our vigor. It is better to postpone the siege for a few days and wait until the enemy's vigor is exhausted before attacking. This is the best way Policy."

Huang Zhong is mature and prudent, and his opinions have been affirmed by famous generals such as Xu Rong and Gao Shun.

The pottery merchant smiled and said: "According to the normal arrangement, the old general's words are really high-minded. It's just that today's storm is not to win the city, but to show the world, and also to show Cao Jun."

Ah Fei made another mistake of being cheap: "What is the Prime Minister going to show off to Cao Jun?"

The pottery merchant sighed: "You kid really doesn't like what you say. What do you mean by showing off? I mean show it to Cao Jun!"

Ah Fei turned to look at Huang Zhong in doubt: "Father, is there a difference between these two words?"

Huang Zhong rolled his eyes: "If the difference is too big, shut up quickly."

The pottery merchant continued: "I attacked the city today, and what I want to show Cao Jun is our eagerness and determination to attack the city and save Xun Yu. We know that the city is stronger than before, and our army will attack at all costs to rescue Xun Yu. Determination."

Only then did Huang Zhong understand something.

The pottery merchant continued: "As the saying goes, attacking the city is the bottom, attacking the heart is the top, fighting with the heart is the top, and fighting with soldiers is the bottom!"

After hearing the sixteen-character mantra, the generals couldn't help but admire the potter.

The prime minister's accomplishments and art of war are excellent, so he came here casually with such advanced military experience!

Pottery merchant looked at them with a smile, and said: "Of course, I also hope that you can help me carefully test the strength of Cao Jun in today's tough battle, so that I can know in my heart that it is not against them." Defensive capabilities, but their long-lasting combat capabilities, understand?"

"promise!"

So, under the orders of the potters, the Jinling Army was divided into four divisions and began to attack Xuchang City violently.

In all honesty, Cao Hong did not expect that the Jinling army would launch an offensive against Xuchang just after setting up camp.

This is completely unreasonable.

In Cao Hong's impression, the pottery merchant was proficient in the art of war, so he probably wouldn't do such a thing.

But that's exactly what he did.

Cao Hong personally went to the front line and presided over the soldiers and people in the city to resist the Jinling army together.

After the battle lasted for two full hours, the Jinling Army finally retreated.

It can be said that this battle was a head-to-head battle, and the losses of both sides were not small. Xuchang City was bombarded by pottery catapults beyond recognition, countless soldiers were killed, and the battle was extremely tragic.

But through this battle, the potters also tried out the current situation in Xuchang City.

According to Huang Zhong and Gao Shun's report, although the defenders of Xuchang City are tenacious, as expected by the potter, they lack the ability to continue to fight for a long time. It seems relatively weak, not as strong as when the Jinling Army first came to Xuchang.

Through Huang Zhong's narration, the potter's idea was confirmed.

In Xuchang City right now, the people are uneasy, and the ability of the gentry and common people to assist the city defense soldiers has been greatly reduced compared to the last time Xun Yu was in charge.