A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 416: The case of splitting the table with a sword determines the morale of the army, and confiding the heart to the heart determines the hearts of the ministers

August

After half a month of brutal attack and defense, and at the cost of 3,000 casualties, Cao's army finally broke through the city defenses of Juoyang and captured Juoyang. The Jingzhou army retreated along the Juishui River to Xinye to defend it.

August
After a brief rest, Cao Jun arrived at Xinye City.

Due to a month of construction, the wall in the north of Xinye City was already as high as the big city, and it was built near the river. It was very difficult for Cao's army to conquer, and they were yelling and cursing under the city all day long.

Cao Cao also understood that this southern offensive would most likely end here.

Just when Cao Jun was confronting Jingzhou Army at the foot of Xinye City.

North, Yuan Liu battlefield, Anye
The armies of both sides have been facing each other since April until now in August, and no one can do anything to the other.

Liu Bei's military camp tent
The civil servants and generals were sitting on the left and right sides of the military tent respectively. Liu Bei was sitting on the military horse in the main position. A sword that had followed him since Zhuoxian County was placed horizontally on the sword stand, on his right hand side, within reach of his hand.

"Alas, our army has been facing off against Yuan's army for more than four months now, and the rear is constantly mobilizing food, wages and supplies to support the battlefield.

Although Bai Changshi did not complain to me, I know very well that if we fight fiercely here for a long time, it will not be a good thing for the people in the rear, and Bai Changshi is also under great pressure.

Moreover, this will also give Cao Cao and Sun Quan an opportunity to threaten me, Xu Yang and the two states. If Yuan Shao is not defeated by then, the rear will lose the city and the territory. Isn't it ridiculous? Therefore, I intend to withdraw my troops. I wonder what the generals think? "

Facing Liu Bei's long sighs and short sighs mixed with some unwillingness, the lying generals didn't know what to say.

They did not expect that the two armies were now in such a stalemate. The original idea was that their side would rely on the power of the two states to capture the land of Hebei in one fell swoop.

As a result, Jizhou is indeed the richest state in the world. It can withstand Liu Bei's Qingxu two states with the power of one state, causing the war to reach a stalemate.

"Lord, I think withdrawing the troops is really not a good idea."

"What's the point of public service?"

"My lord, today our two families, Liu and Yuan, are going to war, and the attention of the world has gathered. On the surface, it is my family, Liu and Yuan's family, who will decide the winner, but in reality, it is Cao, Yuan, and Liu's family who will decide the winner.

If our army wins, people in the world will naturally think that our army has the potential to sweep the world, and the same will be true if Yuan's army wins. But if neither of our two armies can do anything to the other, it will disappoint the people of the world and think that our two families do not have the strength to dominate the world.

Moreover, after this battle, our army and Yuan's army have actually begun to become hostile. We must be careful to prevent the other party from causing trouble, so we must completely eliminate the other party before we can focus on other places.

And we cannot solve each other in a short time and fall into a protracted war, which will give Cao Cao an opportunity. I heard that Cao Cao was leading troops to attack Jingzhou, but was stopped by Gan Ning, the general of Jingzhou.

But after all, Jingzhou's soldiers are not as elite as Cao Cao's army and have strong endurance. After two or three battles at most, Jingzhou will definitely be defeated by Cao Cao.

At that time, Cao Cao conquered Jingzhou in the south, and then relied on Jingzhou's unique navy and elite infantry from the Central Plains to follow the current and conquer Jiangdong in one fell swoop.

With the power of the four states of Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and the great righteousness of the court, it seems very logical to force the surrender of Yi and hand over the two states.

Coupled with the losses caused by the Liu and Yuan families in previous wars, they will definitely not be able to stop Cao Cao's army from attacking. By then, Cao Cao will definitely be the leader. If Yuan is weak, he will join forces with Yuan to fight against Liu, and if Liu is weak, he will join forces with Liu to fight against Yuan.

No matter what, neither of us will be qualified to confront it. The only path our army can take is surrender or destruction.

Therefore, I believe that no matter what, this battle must be fought, and we cannot withdraw our troops lightly. This is a battle related to the fate of the lord. Even if the battle between Qingxu and Xuzhou is exhausted, we must continue to fight.

I believe that Zuo Changshi is also very aware of this, so he is unwilling to mention the difficulties on the rear to the lord, which makes the lord worry too much. "

Liu Bei was sweating profusely as he listened to Chen Gong's explanation. He was afraid and said: "Fortunately, I have a public platform, otherwise it would have almost caused a catastrophe. I would regret it."

Then he stood up suddenly, "Hey!" He pulled out the sword that had been following him on his right hand and looked at the generals who stood up with him with a look of determination:

"I am fortunate to have received the teachings of You Changshi. I believe you have all heard his words. This battle is related to the life and death of our army, so I, the general, will not retreat until the death.

He Yuan Shao will fight for one year, I, Liu Bei, will accompany him for one year, and Yuan Shao will fight for ten years. I, Liu Bei, will continue to fight with him even if his hair is gray and sick.

From now on, there will be no one who dares to say that he will withdraw from the army again." "Ugh! "Liu Bei split the cases in front of him in half with a sword, then pointed at the remaining cases and said: "Just like this case! "

"We will follow the general to the death and never retreat!!!"

When all the middle-level officers under his command had gone out, only Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Lu Bu, Bai Xing, Chen Gong, Xu Shu, and Chen Qun were left in the tent. It turns out that since last month, there have been messages in the army that the war has lasted for too long and may hurt the people, and many soldiers have expressed homesickness.

Liu Bei sat silently behind the murder case, silently looking at the sword that had been with him for half his life, and gently rubbed his hand against its no longer smooth sword surface.

"This sword has been following me since I decided to recruit troops to quell the Zhangjiao Rebellion. It's been twenty-one years since I thought about it. It's so fast."

Liu Bei looked up at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and chuckled: "Thinking back to that time, the three brothers you and I were so ambitious. We often held candlelight talks at night, telling each other about our ambitions.

Now you two have frost on your temples, your second brother and your third brother have become world-famous generals, and I have become the Lord of these two states. This is something none of us dared to imagine at the time. "

Zhang Fei kept wiping his eyes when he heard this, and Guan Yu also looked at Liu Bei affectionately.

At this time Liu Bei suddenly stood up, walked to the hall, and began to dance with his sword:
"But along the way, Zhang Jiao did not defeat us, Zhang Chun did not defeat us, Dong Zhuo did not defeat us, and Cao Cao did not.

We have achieved such great achievements with our humble appearance. Can't we be proud of it? No, we cannot be proud because we have not done enough.

Do you still remember our original ambition? For the common people in this world, clean up a bright world. But now Cao Cao, who massacred Xuzhou, has not been executed, and the people of the world are still trapped in war and wandering.

Can we say we are satisfied? What qualifications do we have to say that we are satisfied? Is this the position of General Zuo? If the people of the world are stable and prosperous, even if I don't want the position of General Zuo, I will still be happy.

The people of Xuzhou believed in us, so they asked me, Liu Bei, to be the lord of Xuzhou. The people of Qingzhou believed in us, so we arrived in Qingzhou without spending a single soldier.

Now the people of Jizhou are also calling out to us. They can no longer tolerate Yuan Shao's compromise with the Hu people. They want me, Liu Bei, to become the lord of Jizhou, and I, Liu Bei, will do my part. "

A sword dance made Liu Bei sweat profusely after not exercising strenuously for a long time. He returned to his seat, held the sword in his hand, looked around at the crowd and said sincerely:
"But I, Liu Bei, cannot settle this world alone, so please help me."

"Brother, I didn't say that, I, Lao Zhang, will go through fire and water without hesitation."

"Brother, if you have any orders, please tell me. My second brother will risk his life to help you complete it."

Lu Bu seemed to have truly understood Liu Bei at this moment, and he saluted, "Please give me your orders, my lord."

Bai Xing, Chen Gong, Xu Shu, and Chen Qun also bowed and saluted: "How dare you not die in the service of your lord?"

September
With Liu Bei's morale improvement, Liu Beijun's military morale remained the same. Coupled with the strength of Bai Dian and others in the rear, Liu Beijun did not change much.

But Yuan Shao was different. First, King Wuhuan proposed to him that because he had been away for a long time and had nothing to gain, his sons were homesick. If he stayed like this any longer, even if he wanted to serve Yuan Gong, but his subordinates None of the boys were willing.

The implication is, make money.

In order to appease the Wuhuan people, Yuan Shao had to continuously increase his chips. With the promises of empty promises and hundreds of millions of money and materials to win over, the Wuhuan people were finally moved and decided to stay and help Yuan Gong to the death.

Immediately afterwards, officials from the rear sent many messages, saying that civil unrest had occurred in many places recently. Fortunately, they were suppressed in time, but if things continue like this, the troops left behind will not be able to suppress them completely.

This is because the military expenses that have been supporting the army of 150,000 for a long time, plus the use of hundreds of thousands of civilian men, have lasted for five months, and he has to use all means to raise military resources for the army.

Coupled with Yuan Shao's compromise and indulgence towards the wealthy families, the war tax that originally only collected ten yuan per person turned into hundreds of yuan at the bottom. This was the result of collusion between local powerful men and officials.

The government increased taxes, and the income was shared equally with the powerful people. In order to pay the taxes, the people had to sell their land. At this time, the powerful people came forward to purchase the land at low prices. If the taxation is sufficient, it is good. If there are too few free people and the taxation is not enough, the local powerful will raise the money and subscribe.

Anyway, the money that reached Yuan Shao's hands was a lot, but the people at the bottom were miserable.

Perhaps Yuan Shao actually understood the collusion between low-level officials and powerful men, but for the sake of this battle, he had to pretend that he couldn't see it, even though his subordinate Tian Feng had already chased him into the military tent and pointed at him and cursed him.

"Lord, we can't go on like this. If we continue like this, if Liu Bei is not defeated, we will start to be in chaos. Now the big families below collude with the government and annex the fields of the common people, making the people of Jizhou miserable.

It can't be like this. Once the people's support is lost, the lord's foundation will inevitably be unstable. Even if he defeats Liu Bei, he will end up in vain and not get any benefits. "

Tian Feng said to Yuan Shao sadly, hoping that he could introduce some policies to kill the vigor of those lawless powerful people. This would not only maintain the people's support, but also get a large amount of money and food, the best of both worlds.

But it's obvious that Yuan Shao can't do this, or at least he can't do it now, because he knows very well that he still has to rely on those powerful people to support this battle.

Because this battle is not only a battle of Liu Bei's fate, but also a battle of his fate, Yuan Shao.

(End of this chapter)