Chapter 372 The traitor will never die
In Lu County, Xiahou Yuan was leading tens of thousands of elite troops hiding in the city, guarding against Zang Ba's attack.
In the snowy hut, Mao Jie and Jia Kui were playing chess.
Both sides looked at the complicated situation on the chessboard with frowns on their faces.
Jia Kui held the black piece in his hand and stared at the chessboard for a long time without moving. Finally, he sighed and said, "Forget it. This game cannot be solved. Let's call it a draw."
Mao Jie remained silent, still staring at the chessboard.
Seeing this, Jia Kui shook his head gently: "It's rare, your heart is also a little confused."
"I thought I was the only one."
Mao Jie's expression paused for a moment, then his temperament changed and he casually messed up the chessboard.
Jia Kui smiled softly: "I really envy you! You can calm down at any time. Now I can't calm down."
"Zang Ba's troops will definitely not sit and wait for death. An attack is inevitable." Mao Jie said.
"That's right, but the question is where is the direction of its attack." Jia Kui said in a deep voice.
"Lu County is the most suitable place for them to attack."
"But I'm worried..."
Mao Jie sighed and continued the second half of the sentence: "There is a master in Zang Ba's army."
Jia Kui nodded.
"Zang Bajun is extremely difficult to deal with, not just because of his strong combat power. He is highly mobile and ruthless. If we don't find an opportunity to kill him with a fatal blow, he will become a serious problem in the future."
"Especially next year, we will be fighting a crucial war. We must not let Zang Ba hold us back."
"You're right." Mao Jie nodded.
"But we have no other choice but to do our best."
Having fought with Zang Bajun several times before, he was deeply impressed by this opponent Mao Jie.
"Right now, the weather around Mount Tai is cold and wintery. If Zang Ba's army marches along the mountain range, we will have no chance of catching up with them. We can only guess the direction of their attack and try to make arrangements in advance."
"Let's hope our guess is right."
Just as the two were chatting, Xiahou Yuan walked in hurriedly, with a slightly ugly look on his face.
Mao Jie and Jia Kui looked at each other, and their hearts suddenly skipped a beat.
"My two military advisors, we just received news from our scouts that Xuchang County was attacked by Zang Ba."
"The county's garrison was attacked by the enemy at night and was almost wiped out, and all the money and grain in the government treasury were looted and distributed."
Mao Jie immediately looked at the map, and saw Xuchang County, located near the westernmost end of Mount Tai, with a slightly frosted expression.
"Zang Xuangao really got help from an expert."
The previous series of actions could be said to be Zang Ba relying on the strength of his soldiers to catch them off guard. There was not much strategy to be seen, but more of tactics.
But this time, Zang Ba's choice of direction of advance made Mao Jie certain that there must be a wise man in Zang Ba's army to give him advice.
"This is going to be difficult." Jia Kui said with a very grim expression.
The Taishan Mountain Range is too large, and it is impossible to defend it completely.
Not defending is also not an option, because that would free up Tian Ze to transport supplies for Zang Ba at will.
There are at least twenty spots like Xuchang County that are suitable for robbery around Mount Tai.
The military forces they have are also very limited, and betting on a probability that is far less than 10% is nothing but a foolish dream.
"Given the quality and combat power of Zang Ba's army, even if we clear the fields and fortify our defenses, I'm afraid we still won't be able to stop them."
Hearing Jia Kui's words, Mao Jie's expression darkened slightly.
Strong hard power means being willful. As long as you don't fall into the trap, you can attack at will.
Especially for those like Zang Bajun who have strong individual combat capabilities, the city wall is not an insurmountable barrier for them.
According to the information obtained from Xiahou Yuan, Zang Ba led his troops to launch a sneak attack at night, used tools to quietly climb over the city wall, killed the guards, and then opened the city gate to capture the city.
There were almost no casualties among the soldiers, and they were defeated without any chance to fight back.
"What if we attack Zang Ba's military camp?" Xiahou Yuan asked.
Jia Kui sighed and pointed to the huge Taishan mountain range on the map: "Do you know where Zang Ba's tribe is?"
"Even if I can infer the approximate location of Zang Bajun based on the terrain, are you sure you can capture Zang Bajun's camp?"
"Zang Ba is not a fool. He must have left enough troops to defend the place before he sent out the troops. He would not give us any chance to take advantage of us."
"What should we do then?" Xiahou Yuan said a little irritably.
It was the first time for him to lead troops and feel so frustrated.
This dilemma was really unbearable for him.
You can't catch up with him, you can't ambush him, and you may not even be able to defeat him when you fight him.
He really couldn't think of any other way to get rid of Zang Ba's tribe.
"Try again!" Jia Kui said somewhat unwillingly.
"Our design is better this time. I don't believe Zang Ba will not be fooled!"
Seeing this, Mao Jie shook his head slightly but said nothing.
He did not approve of Jia Kui's choice, but he did not stop him.
After all, he couldn't think of any solution, so he might as well let Jia Kui give it a try.
Zang Ba, who returned from Xuchang County with a full load, was extremely excited at this time.
Because of the decisive action and the fact that the defenders in Xuchang City were unguarded and had not made any psychological preparation, the battle went very smoothly.
Dozens of carefully trained guards took advantage of the night, swung out their flying claws like ghosts, climbed up the city wall nimbly, and quietly opened the city gate. Then the army poured in like a tide, and the battle was no longer suspenseful.
"Yuanzhi, we have harvested a lot of grain this time. Although they are all coarse grains, they are enough for half a month." Zang Ba looked at the carts of grain and fodder, his joy was beyond words, and his eyes were shining.
Xu Shu was also in a good mood, but he still said calmly: "Xuan Gao, you must not be careless. Especially now."
"We have taken such a big advantage, Cao Cao must have reacted, maybe he is thinking about how to plot against us."
Zang Ba nodded and said, "You are right. Let's take a rest for a few days and wait and see what Cao Cao does."
In the next few days, Cao Cao strengthened his defenses and thoroughly implemented the strategy of clearing the countryside around Mount Tai.
Seeing that there was nothing unusual in his reaction, Zang Ba immediately had an idea.
"Yuanzhi, why don't we do another job on him?" Zang Ba stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming with eagerness.
If there is one, there will be two. Besides, it was just a sneak attack, so it doesn’t mean much.
In Zang Ba's view, since this strategy has been decided, it must be carried out to the end.
We don't need to raid too many times, but at least four or five times to collect enough food for next autumn.
Xu Shu looked at Zang Ba, who was still determined to commit evil, and speechlessly pushed the pile of notes in front of Zang Ba again.
"Come on, smoke it!"
Zang Ba chuckled and rubbed his hands together uncontrollably. With an excited look on his face, he slowly reached out and picked up a ball of paper.
Qingting County!
(End of this chapter)
