Shuhan

Chapter 273 Cao Pi’s decision, Zhao Yun’s ambition!

The attack on Xinxi failed, and Cao Pi was very depressed.

After dividing his troops to go to Shenyang, he took his elite main force and headed towards Linyang.

just
Before he arrived in Linyang, a piece of bad news had already been delivered to the slip in front of him.

In the main account of the Chinese army.

Cao Pi received news that the grain and grass ahead were burned.

His expression became distorted in an instant, his brows furrowed, and the anger on his face exploded instantly.His fingers gripped the edge of the table, his nails digging into the wood, but he didn't seem to feel it.The veins on his forehead pulsated visibly, like an angry snake.

"Damn it!" Cao Pi roared through gritted teeth, and his voice echoed through the main tent of the Chinese army.

His voice was filled with anger, disappointment, and frustration. This was the last news he wanted to hear, but it was happening before his eyes.

"Zhao Zilong only has a few thousand soldiers, so it's no big deal if he attacks the camp. He actually breaks through Linyang City, and most of the food and grass in the city were burned!"

He slapped the table hard, making a dull sound.

The army was already short of food, so the Han army captured Pingyu and blocked both land and water routes.

Even the grain and grass transported from Yingshui had to make a long circle.

Otherwise, the road will have to be reopened.

But how can opening a road be accomplished in a short time?

But if we don't open a road, the carriages and horses will not be able to move. The efficiency of grain and grass transportation is extremely low, and there is no way to supply the hundreds of thousands of mouths on the front line at the moment.

Cao Pi's mood suddenly hit rock bottom, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on him, making him clearly realize this grim reality.

"Your Majesty, the situation is serious. I have to wait and make plans in advance." Wu Zhi's face was also ugly, and he stepped forward and said.

At this moment, there are only three people in the main tent of the Chinese army.

Cao Pi, Wu Zhi, Sima Yi.

Wu Zhi glanced at Sima Yi, who was silent with his head lowered, and said as if sighing, as if regretting: "If the king had not gone to Xinxi and attacked Pingyu directly, now, I am afraid that even Pingyu City will be captured, what? Would the situation be like today?"

Even now, Wu Zhi is still thinking about competing for favor.

This dirty water was poured on Sima Yi like crazy.

Cao Pi's face was gloomy, and the blood surged up, making him feel dizzy.

It seemed like he was going to faint in the next second.

"Now, what should I do?"

Cao Pi knew in his heart that the whole army was in chaos now, and he was also in chaos, but it was precisely because of this that he had to cheer up.

The current situation is indeed unfavorable to the Wei army, but there is still room for recovery.

He has someone!
He has 20 troops under his command!
Sima Yi, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to find out how many days of food and grass the army has, and how many days it will last, and to prepare to start raising food, and then make plans."

Hearing Sima Yi's words, Wu Zhi also took a step forward and said: "I don't think it's critical to figure out the food and grass matter. Now, we should mobilize large forces to take down Pingyu City. As long as we take Pingyu City, we will have enough food and grass." Tong, if my army is in such a decline, won’t it be wiped out in one fell swoop?”

Capture Pingyu City?
Cao Pi's eyes lit up.

Sima Yi said with some worry: "Zhao Yun won first. Now the morale of the Han army in Pingyu City is high, and its erected walls have cleared the fields. Pingyu is managed like an iron barrel. If it cannot be captured in a short time, the army will Are we going to fall into a food shortage?"

If the food and grass cannot be distributed, let alone 20 people, or even one million people, it will be useless.

You don't want these soldiers to be well fed, but you still want them to work for you?
Isn't this a dream?

Perhaps in later generations, street lamp manufacturers would allow their employees to borrow money to go to work, but in this era, these soldiers are all simple and honest, and their principles are also very simple.

No food?

Then I will rebel!

"Zhongda is too alarmist. We have hundreds of thousands of troops, but there are only ten thousand Han troops in Pingyu City. So what can we do if we just erect walls to clear the country? It has only been a few days since we captured Pingyu. How can we really organize a decent city defense? Your Majesty. , I think my army will attack Pingyu City within three days!"

Cao Pi's eyes flickered. Although he was angry now, his reason was still intact.

It's okay for Wu Zhi to compete with Sima Yi for favor.

But at such a critical moment, it was somewhat inappropriate.

He was silent for a moment and said: "First call the grain officer and ask about the remaining grain and grass, and then make a plan!"

Not long.

The grain officials in Linyang City were summoned.

"The servants pay their respects to the king."

The grain officer's complexion was pale, and although he was strong and strong, he was trembling as if he was terminally ill.

At this moment, the grain officer was really scared to death.

As we all know, serving as a grain officer in Cao's army is a high-risk position.

At that time, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, but was besieged by various princes. Among them, Cao Cao personally led an army of 17 to attack Yuan Shu from the north. Yuan Shu sent General Qiao Rui to lead [-] troops to resist, but was instantly killed by Xiahou Dun.

Yuan Shu had no choice but to leave Shouchun to temporarily avoid the attack, leaving Li Feng, Lejiu, Liang Gang, and Chen Ji to guard the four gates of Shouchun with [-] troops.

Cao Cao commanded an army of 17 people and consumed a lot of food every day. Moreover, the counties under his command suffered from drought and could not provide food and grass supplies, so he wanted to win a quick victory, but Li Feng and others stayed behind closed doors.

The two sides faced off for more than a month. Seeing that the food was running out, they wrote to Sun Ce to borrow [-] dendrobium of grain and rice, but it could only meet the urgent need.

Soon, Wang Ge, the warehouse officer under the grain officer, saw that the grain and grass were running out again, so he ran to report to Cao Cao and asked, "There are many soldiers but little food, what should we do?"

Cao Cao said, "We can reduce the food and grass rations to solve the temporary emergency."

Wang Jie asked again, "What if the soldiers have a grudge?"

Cao Cao replied, "I have a good plan of my own."

Therefore, when Wang Jie distributed grain and grass, Xiaohu distributed it instead.Cao Cao secretly sent people to each camp to inquire about the news, and learned that all the soldiers in the army were complaining and secretly talking about Cao Cao.

After learning the news, Cao Cao secretly summoned Wang Jie and said to him, "I want to borrow something from you to protect the soldiers. Please don't be stingy."

Wang Ge asked confusedly, "What does the Prime Minister plan to borrow?"

Cao Cao said, "I plan to borrow your head to show off to the public."

Wang Jie was shocked and said, "The villain is not guilty!"

Cao Cao said, "I know you are not guilty, but if I don't kill you, the morale of the army will be chaotic. After you die, I will raise your wife and children for you, so don't worry."

Wang Jie wanted to say more, but Cao Cao had already summoned the swordsman to push him out of the door, beheaded him with a sword, hung his head high on a pole, and announced to the whole army, "Wang Jie deliberately changed the use of dendrobium to distribute grain, but secretly stole the official Grain, now he has been punished according to the military law."

After seeing the notice, the resentment of the entire army began to dissipate.

After Cao Cao used this incident to demonstrate the power of military law, he ordered the generals of each battalion the next day, "If we do not break the city within three days, we will all be killed!"

He personally went to the city to supervise the battle, and the soldiers of all the armies sacrificed their lives to finally break through Shouchun City. Li Feng, Chen Ji, Lejiu, and Liang Gang were all captured alive.

With Wang Ge's story in front of him, how can the grain officer not be afraid? How can he not be afraid?

"How many days of food and grass are left in the army?"

Cao Pi naturally didn't know what the grain officer was thinking. He was not Cao Cao, and he would not use the grain officer's head to stabilize the morale of the army.

After all, you can do something once, and if you do it one more time, everyone will come back to it.

The grain officer trembled and said: "The grain and grass in the army can last for five days, no! If we eat frugally and eat wild vegetables and local food, it should last for ten days!"

The grain officer was deeply afraid that Cao Pi would have him beheaded for questioning, so naturally he said how long it would take.

"Five days?"

Cao Pi's face darkened.

Five days were too stressful.

As for what the grain officer said, ten days.

He pretended he had never heard of it.

If he comes to serve as a soldier, you ask him to eat Guanyin soil?

They are doing hard work, and they are expected to eat dirt?

If he had issued such a military order, he would probably be in a state of chaos within minutes.

He waved his hand and said coldly: "Get down."

Seeing that Cao Pi did not make things difficult for him, the grain officer finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Your Majesty, five days is enough to defeat Pingyu."

Wu Zhi said from the side.

"What if we can't defeat him?" Cao Pi said coldly from the side.

Can't beat it?

Wu Zhi opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Can't beat it?

How could it not be defeated?

It's just Pingyu City, but my army has 20 men!
However, at this time, Cao Pi turned his attention to Sima Yi.

"What does Zhong Da think?"

Sima Yi was silent for a moment and said: "The food and grass are burned, and our army's situation is critical. If we can capture Pingyu, it will be great. If not, we should retreat to Ruyin as soon as possible, or withdraw some of our troops to Ruyin."

The army is in Ruyin, and at least there is a supply of food and grass from Beirushui and Yingshui, which can solve the problem of insufficient food and grass for the army.

"If the people withdraw, who will attack Pingyu City? Who will attack Baoxin City? Who will take Ancheng?"

Seeing that Sima Yi was about to be reused by Cao Pi again, Wu Zhi couldn't sit still at that time.

There was no expression on Sima Yi's face, and he just said softly: "To attack Pingyu, 20 people are needed? If you add a compliment, you don't need so many people. And Ancheng has a general to take it, so there is no shortage of soldiers."

The more people the better when attacking a city.

This is the same as defending a city.

This city is so big, even if you attack from all sides, you may only be able to devote only ten thousand troops at a time.

"you"

Being choked by Sima Yi, Wu Zhi was speechless.

He, Wu Zhi, is indeed resourceful, but this resourcefulness is in fighting for the favor of his direct descendants, not in the military. Not to mention compared with Zhuge Kongming, even compared with Sima Yi, it is beyond his reach.

"Zhongda's words make sense."

Cao Pi nodded, agreeing with Sima Yi's plan, and Cao Pi's approval made Wu Zhi's face turn red. He was angry in his heart, but he didn't dare to vent it out. He held it in his chest, almost suffocating himself to death.

"Apart from this, is there any other plan?"

Sima Yi's eyes were determined, and he said coldly: "Collect food!"

"Requisition?"

Cao Pi frowned slightly.

"It's just that this year's grain and grass in Runan have been confiscated."

Even the taxes were received three years later.

The people have become poor and have no money to squeeze out.

"There will always be some food left."

At the critical moment, the people can only suffer.

As for whether those people starved to death after being robbed of the food and grass they needed to survive, it had nothing to do with them.

"If this is the case, the people of Runan will be heartbroken!"

Seeing how sinister Sima Yi's plan was, Wu Zhi mocked from the side.

"What's the use of the people's hearts in Runan? Our Wei State only needs the people's hearts in Yingchuan, so why do we need the people's hearts in Runan? As long as the king can win this battle, without the people's hearts, then Runan is still in our hands. As for some grievances, time will That will smooth it out.”

After listening to Sima Yi's words, Cao Pi felt a little hesitant.

I don’t know how many people will die if he gives this king’s order.

His father, Boss Cao, massacred the city in Xuzhou, which prevented the Wei State from directly controlling Xuzhou. If the king's order to requisition (grain) food was issued today, I am afraid that in the future, people in Runan would also be divided and disobey the king's order.

"At critical moments, critical decisions are needed. Your Majesty can no longer hesitate."

"stop!"

Cao Pi sighed, and the hesitation in his eyes immediately disappeared.

"What Zhongda said is absolutely true. At critical moments, key decisions are needed, and everything will follow Zhongda's instructions."

"Your Majesty."

When Wu Zhi heard this, he became anxious!

Why should everything follow Zhongda's instructions?
He, Wu Zhi, is the chief adviser to King Wei!
If you listen to Sima Zhongda's words now, how can you behave like this?
"I'll leave it to you, Ji Zhong, to conquer Pingyu!"

After all, Wu Zhi is his loyal minister, but he cannot favor one person over another.

The art of the emperor, the way of checks and balances.

After being the King of Wei for more than half a year, these things have flowed into Cao Pi's blood and become instinctive.

at the same time.

In Pingyu City.

Zhao Yun was high-spirited. Standing under the city tower at this moment, he seemed to be scolding Fang Qiu and pointing out the country.

"hey-hey."

He scratched his head and smiled.

"Sir, last night's battle may have wiped out the decline of our Han army in Runan!"

Meng Jian looked complicated.

Amid the complexity, there was also a hint of shock.

This Changshan Zhao Zilong is indeed worthy of his reputation!

With three thousand soldiers, it would be fine if the attack on the camp was successful.

Damn it, he can actually destroy Linyang City and burn Linyang City.

This incident was so bizarre that even Meng Jian, who considered himself a Confucian scholar, couldn't help but curse.

"The Wei army is short of food and grass. As long as we can hold Pingyu for a few days, the Wei army will retreat!"

The panic faced by the main force of the Wei army before was dissipated following Zhao Yun's battle last night.

In the eyes of the soldiers and civilians in Pingyu City before, the Wei army's so-called 20 men could flood Pingyu even if one person spat.

How do you keep this?
But it is different now.

There were 20 people in the Wei army, but they were defeated by General Zhao and even burned the food and grass of the Wei army!

It is inevitable that people will have an illusion:
Wei Jun? 20?

That's it?

I can do it too!
Besides, they don't have to stay for long, just a few days.

The hope of victory was finally visible.

"However, the Wei army will attack madly in the past few days, and we must withstand it!"

If Pingyu hadn't defended, last night's battle would have been in vain.

Meng Jian's expression also became serious.

"Don't worry, general. All the tools for defending the city are ready. The gold juice has been collected and fired since yesterday. It is ready for battle at any time!"

At this moment, above the city wall, the smell of boiled shit filled the air. It was obvious that Meng Jian's words were true.

"Well, I'll be waiting for the false king Cao Pi in Pingyu!"

Zhao Yun's eyes were full of fighting spirit.

I heard that Zhang Wenyuan could defeat the [-] Jiangdong army with only [-] soldiers.

He now has thousands of men, and he can defeat the 20 Wei army. Isn't that too much?

……

PS:
I've been busy with work lately, so I'll put [-] plus on weekends.

(End of this chapter)