Chapter 358 Deterrence Tactics
In Xiangcheng, Cao Ren climbed up to the top of the mountain again to look into the distance.

Guan Yu's camp was under fierce attack from Cao's elite troops. Relying on simple defensive fortifications such as barracks and fences, Guan Yu was unable to stop the fierce attack from Cao's elite troops!
Cao Ren was very confident about this because the current elite Cao army was the best manpower from the four states in the Central Plains.

As for Guan Yu's troops, there were less than a thousand real old soldiers. Although the remaining troops included re-recruited veterans, these people, like other new recruits, had not experienced the trials of the brutal war in the Central Plains!

The elite troops of Cao's army are all veterans who have survived the bloody Battle of Guandu.

"Even if Lu Bu were to be resurrected, he would not be able to resist the strong attack of the elite troops of the Central Plains with his newly recruited soldiers."

Cao Ren sighed and ordered his men: "The whole army will have a good meal and leave the city in the afternoon!"

"Here!"

The colonels and lieutenant generals around him responded loudly. After Cao Hong's death, Cao Ren's status rose rapidly, and they naturally benefited as well.

On the southeast road of Xiangcheng, Liu Bei also climbed to a high place to watch the battle twenty miles to the east.

You can't see anything specific, you can only see thick smoke rising up.

Cao Chun had led the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry across Guan Yu's military camp and lined up on the Chi Road, completely blocking Guan Yu's way of retreat.

If Guan Yu dared to abandon the camp, Cao Chun's tiger cavalry, who were well-rested, would attack in formation. Even if they could not kill Guan Yu, they would at least be able to inflict heavy damage on Guan Yu's veteran troops.

The lightly armed Leopard Cavalry spread out in all directions to block the battlefield. Guan Yu's messengers were unable to break through the siege, and Liu Bei's scouts also found it difficult to break in and observe the battle situation up close.

But Liu Bei remained silent, believing that Guan Yu could hold out until dark.

After dark, Cao Chun could no longer block the battlefield in this way.

Liu Bei did not move his troops, and neither did Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun's ambush troops.

Zhao Yun's ambush was located on Yingshan Mountain on the west side, and his main attack was on Cao Ren's army outside the city; Zhang Fei was ambushed in the canal on the east side, and his only target was Cao Ren's head.

Liu Bei refused to send reinforcements, and Cao Chun became more and more anxious.

After a journey of twenty miles, Liu Bei's reinforcements must be out of breath by the time they arrive at the battlefield.

Guan Yu must not be allowed to drag on until dark. If Guan Yu's camp is not captured in one day and the news reaches Xu Du, unexpected events may happen to the other troops left there.

No matter how anxious Cao Chun was, he had to stay on the road.

His mission was simple, to attack Liu Bei's reinforcements and cut off Guan Yu's reinforcements!

Guan Yu’s camp was very strong, with a circle of fences outside and two layers of earthen walls inside the fence.

When building the camp, Guan Yu was deliberately wary of the sudden attack by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

Around ten o'clock in the morning, the firewood transported by Zhu Ling's troops in vehicles almost burned and destroyed the fence on the east side of Guan Yu's camp.

After the fence was subjected to intensive arson, the hemp ropes and straw ropes were quickly burned and destroyed, and the fence structure became loose.

Yu Jin and Le Jin also led their troops forward, and the heavy infantry stepped forward and used hook halberds to quickly clear the fence.

At this time, the Nanyang soldiers behind the earthen ramparts began to shoot arrows, throw stones, or throw short spears and poisonous smoke spears.

Guan Yu did not participate in the front-line command, but stood on the lookout tower in the camp to direct the entire camp's garrison.

Relying on two layers of earthen ramparts, they fought fiercely with the attacking Cao army soldiers.

The earthen rampart made of boards was more than six feet high and nearly two feet thick, and it was impossible for infantry equipment to easily destroy it.

With these two earth ramparts in place, the defenders had no fear of close-range shooting, and the heavily armed Cao army was unable to quickly climb over them.

The Cao army soldier who acted on his own and jumped over the earthen rampart alone was soon surrounded and killed by the defenders.

The two earthen ramparts blocked the fierce attacks of Le Jin and Yu Jin.

Relying on the preset shooting holes in the second earthen rampart, the veteran soldiers of the defending army who served as crossbowmen could aim and shoot more calmly, creating a great burden for Cao's armored soldiers.

After another hour of fierce fighting, Le Jin was the first to break through the first earthen barrier from the northeast corner.

The defenders in the earthen fort retreated quickly, and Yu Jin, who was approaching the southeast corner, also broke through successfully.

At this moment, without the protection of the first earthen rampart, the crossbowmen behind the second earthen rampart's shooting efficiency increased dramatically.

Le Jin attempted to lead his personal guards to launch a violent attack. He walked with his left arm holding a shield, and crossbow arrows hit the shield one after another. Le Jin's body swayed and he retreated into the crowd of shield soldiers.

He raised his sword in his right hand and cut off the arrow on the shield, then said to the Sima who came up to him: "Many of the veterans under Guan Yu know my appearance, and I am worried that Yu Wenze will not be careful and get injured by the crossbow."

Just as Le Jin finished his sigh, a military officer who was standing on an earthen rampart with a shield observing the battlefield jumped down and said, "General! General Yu's troops are retreating!" Le Jin was shocked and furious when he heard this. He immediately asked several shield soldiers to raise their large shields. Le Jin stood on the shield and observed the battle situation in the south for a few seconds. Sure enough, he saw that Yu Jin's troops were retreating and retreated to a place more than a hundred steps outside the fence. They stopped only after being blocked by the military officer supervising the battle.

Without waiting for the defending crossbowmen to fire, Le Jin quickly lowered his shield and heard a military officer standing on the earthen rampart loudly report: "General Li's troops are attacking!"

Upon hearing this, Le Jin immediately shouted, "Beat the drum! Beat the drum!"

The drums around them sounded again, and the shield-bearing soldiers surrounded the musicians and marched towards the second earthen rampart a dozen steps away.

The shooting holes in the earthen ramparts were constantly fired with powerful crossbow arrows, and bundles of burning straw were picked up by triangular forks and thrown towards the crowd of people between the two earthen ramparts.

Cao's soldiers also used spears and halberds to pick up burning bundles of grass and threw them far away to prevent the fireworks from interfering with the attack.

However, Guan Yu had prepared a lot of straw bundles. For more than ten minutes, Le Jin was unable to break through the earthen fortification in front of him, and the entire team was enveloped in smoke and fire.

There weren't many open flames, and the thick smoke obscured the view.

Le Jin's troops were out of control. They were choked by the thick smoke and were crying and coughing. They retreated one after another.

Without waiting for Le Jin to reorganize his troops, Li Dian urged 3,000 tribesmen to join the attack.

Except for more than 400 knights who provided support in the rear, the rest were divided into three battle groups. They crossed the first earthen rampart with shields and began to fight for the second earthen rampart.

Guan Yu never moved, he believed in the resilience and battlefield cooperation of his veteran troops.

As long as Cao's army cannot break into the main camp, the new recruits will be able to display their due skills and physical strength under the guidance of the veterans.

Before Guan Yu could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Yu Jin's troops in the southeast corner retreating and heading south.

Almost at the same time, Zhu Ling, who had completed his second rest, led more than 2,000 people to detour to the northwest corner.

Guan Yu felt helpless and could only stand up and said, "Lead my horse!"

He quickly got down from the watchtower, stepped forward and touched the forehead of the Red Hare, then turned over, took the lance and pointed it to the north: "Follow me and kill, I only want Zhu Ling's head!"

More than 300 riders followed Guan Yu northward, and the north gate was immediately opened.

Seeing the north gate open, Zhu Ling, who was about to arrive, reined in his horse suddenly. He really didn't want to fight with Guan Yu.

Before Zhu Ling could make up his mind, the infantry and knights in front of him retreated to the left and right wings out of fear.

When Zhu Ling decided to take the punishment from Cao Cao and prepare to withdraw his troops, he saw Guan Yu taking the lead, with his divine horse Red Hare riding on all four hooves and spinning like the wind.

Then, Guan Yu's roar was heard, coming from far away, without Zhu Ling waiting for his horse to turn around.

Guan Yu, riding his horse at an extremely fast speed, rushed to his side and stabbed Zhu Ling's waist and abdomen with his lance.

The lance came at him so fast that Guan Yu loosened his right hand before it could pierce Zhu Ling's waist and abdomen.

As Red Hare continued to approach and was about to pass Zhu Ling, Guan Yu drew his sword with his right hand and slashed Zhu Ling's shoulder with his backhand. Although he failed to break the armor, he knocked Zhu Ling off his horse.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Ling's officers and soldiers fled in panic, not daring to move forward.

Those who hesitated for a moment were quickly knocked down and trampled by the knights who arrived later.

These knights passed on both sides of Guan Yu, stabbing and knocking down rows of slowly fleeing Cao troops.

Even some knights who were skilled in swordsmanship rode past Cao's army while charging on horseback, slashing and slashing with their ring-handled swords, and the heads of Cao's army fell to the ground cleanly.

The air was filled with blood. Guan Yu jumped off his horse and stepped on Zhu Ling's chest with his left foot.

Zhu Ling, who still had a few breaths left and could be saved, immediately suffered broken ribs and punctured his lung. The severe pain made him spit out large mouthfuls of blood.

He looked at Guan Yu and wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Guan Yu raised his sword without hesitation and slashed down with one blow, separating Zhu Ling's head from his body.

After wrapping Zhu Ling's head and hanging it on the horse's neck, Guan Yu picked up his lance and climbed onto Red Hare. He saw Le Jin assembling his troops and also coming to the north to participate in breaking the city.

But seeing the current situation, Le Jin wisely stopped his advance and instead went to receive and intercept Zhu Ling's defeated troops.

Guan Yu looked at Le Jin from a distance, then reined in his horse and said to the people around him, "Sound the horn, return to the camp!"

Just when Guan Yu returned to the camp and was about to attack Yu Jin in the south of the camp, Yu Jin took the initiative to withdraw.

Seeing this, Guan Yu said to the clerk Guo Mu with emotion: "Yu Wenze knows how powerful I am. He knows how to advance and retreat so well. He is indeed a man who knows military affairs."

(End of this chapter)