Chapter 497 Another Fire
The moon was dark and the wind was strong. The thick night was like a huge piece of black silk, wrapping the earth tightly.
Cao Cao personally led 20,000 elite cavalrymen, like a long black dragon, and quietly arrived at the Qi army camp about five miles north of Duchang County, and quickly lay in ambush under the cover of night.
The Qi army's food and fodder were not stored in the county town.
After all, Duchang County was just a small county with simple city defenses. Moreover, the county town had relatively dispersed troops to defend, making it difficult to form a centralized and effective protection for food and grass.
It's easy to expose the position, and the people in the city have to be cleared out, and they also have to be on guard against many secret passages. It's too troublesome.
It would be better to choose a strategic location to set up camp and defend.
But this kind of camp also has its disadvantages, which is that its ability to block enemy attacks is not as strong as that of a city.
Cao Cao observed the fortifications of the camp and saw that the gate was closed, the lights on the wall were flickering, patrolling soldiers passed by from time to time, and the surrounding area was densely covered with defensive facilities such as deer antlers, and the defense was very tight.
Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief. Such tight defense actually proved that the place in front of him was most likely the enemy's food storage area.
"My lord, this camp is very tightly arranged and quite strong. I'm afraid it will be difficult to attack!" Xiahou Yuan said in a deep voice, looking carefully at the camp in front of him.
"The Qi army's ability to build a strong camp is not exaggerated. It is expected that the camp is so solid." said Mao Jie who was with the army.
Cao Cao glanced at the slightly tired soldiers and felt a little worried, but it was not long before dawn.
"Xiaoxian, in your opinion, how should we defeat the enemy?"
Mao Jie narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said: "My lord, although this camp is well defended, it is not impeccable."
"Their defense focuses on the gate and the front line, while the flanks are relatively weak. Our army can first send an elite force with strong bows and crossbows to feint at the gate to attract the enemy's main force."
"My lord, you will personally lead the majority of the cavalry, go around the flank, break through the deer horns, forcibly climb the wall, and attack the camp. As long as we can rush into the camp before the enemy can react, we can disrupt their formation and find an opportunity to burn their food and grass."
Cao Cao nodded slightly when he heard this: "Xiaoxian is right, it's exactly what I want."
Then, he decisively ordered: "Yan Liang and Wen Chou, listen to my order. The two of you lead 5,000 cavalrymen, armed with powerful bows and crossbows, to feint at the front of the village gate. Make sure to create a huge momentum to attract the main force of the enemy."
"The rest of the soldiers, follow me to the flank and prepare for a strong attack."
Yan Liang and Wen Chou accepted the order in unison, led their cavalry and took quick action.
He led the cavalry to the front of the village gate, and at a command, thousands of arrows were fired at the village wall like raindrops.
At the same time, they shouted in unison, and the sound of horse hooves and shouts of killing intertwined together, deafening.
The defenders of the camp were awakened by the sudden attack. The defending general Zhang Meng hurriedly put on his armor and rushed out of the tent with a long sword in hand.
"Formation! Fend off the enemy!"
At this moment, the excellent qualities of the Qi army were immediately demonstrated, and they quickly organized a defense.
The archers in the defending army quickly took their positions and shot dense arrows at Cao's army.
Yan Liang and Wen Chou fearlessly launched attacks on the gate of the village. For a moment, the gate was filled with smoke and flickering flames.
Cao Cao personally led the main cavalry and bypassed the flank of the camp.
The defense here is actually not weak, but it is relatively better.
Following Cao Cao's order, the cavalrymen rushed towards the defenders like tigers descending from the mountains, moved the antlers, cleared a passage, and quickly began to climb the wall of the stockade using simple ladders.
The defenders were caught off guard by the night attack and fought desperately, but were still rushed into the camp by Cao Cao who was well prepared.
Cao's cavalry rushed around the camp, hacking at everyone they met, and screaming in pain wherever they went. The entire Wuchao camp fell into chaos.
Soon, Cao Cao found the granary. Looking at the mountain of grain, Cao Cao was overjoyed and quickly ordered his soldiers to set fire to it.
The soldiers quickly took out the fire and threw the torches at the pile of food and grass. In an instant, a blazing fire shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire Wuchao camp. Looking at the blazing fire, Cao Cao was extremely excited.
However, he did not notice that the soldiers guarding the camp were quietly but orderly retreating towards the north gate of the camp.
Moreover, the speed at which the flames spread seemed to be unusually fast.
Just as Cao Cao was preparing to expand his victory, he suddenly discovered flames in the three directions of east, south and west.
"Oh no, I've fallen into a trap!" Cao Cao cried out in his heart, and the alertness accumulated over many years of fighting instantly reached its maximum.
He quickly turned around and gave an urgent order to Cao Chun beside him: "Quickly send people to investigate the fire and enemy movements in the three directions of east, south and west. Inform the entire army to shrink the formation and prepare to break out!"
Cao Chun took the order and immediately ordered a team of elite cavalry to gallop towards the direction of the fire.
However, the speed at which the fire spread far exceeded Cao Cao's imagination.
Before Cao Chun returned, Cao Cao saw the fire rising into the sky.
"Oops!"
"All troops, listen up and follow me to attack the north gate!" Cao Cao said decisively.
At this time, flames shot up into the sky and thick smoke billowed around the camp. Cao Cao led his army to rush towards the north at the risk of his life.
However, the large number of chevaux de frise and horse traps along the way made Cao Cao feel depressed.
The other party was obviously well prepared and was waiting for him to come!
Outside Changguo County, Xun You looked towards the direction of Duchang County with a hint of awareness and smiled faintly.
"Cao Mengde was a great man, what a pity."
You can only commit a thief in a thousand days, but there is no way to guard against a thief in a thousand days.
Xun You guessed that Cao Cao would most likely attack their food supplies, which were their weakest.
But he wasn't sure which day.
After all, Gan Ning’s march north was also urgent, and their army was divided into three parts, making it difficult to contact each other quickly.
Therefore, Xun You decisively chose to use force to defeat clever tactics.
The army had already stored up half a month's supply of food and fodder. In addition, a reserve food storage point had already been prepared, located in the northern part of Shouguang.
The most important thing is to prepare a big gift for Cao Cao.
Xun You arranged for craftsmen to make special designs for these two grain storage points in advance, and only the garrison commanders and the craftsmen who were transported to Liaodong knew about this.
As long as Cao Cao attacked the camp, the two defenders would immediately activate the backup plan and lead the troops to evacuate.
The fire that had been prepared long ago would quickly spread from the city gates and burn the entire camp to ashes.
Xun You had no idea what effect this fire would have, but it would definitely not make things easy for Cao Cao.
Zhang Meng had already led his troops out of the north gate at this time. In order to ensure the least possible losses for his soldiers, he still did not have the heart to set fire immediately.
This also gave Cao Cao a chance to escape.
Looking at the fire at the north gate which had not yet completely broken out, Cao Cao led his cavalry out without hesitation.
However, only a small number of cavalry rushed out, and most of them were seriously injured, while the rest were buried in the sea of fire.
(End of this chapter)
