When Ji Han and his men traveled to the Three Kingdoms crew

Chapter 418: We Surrounded Them! (Four Thousand)

"Good news"

In such a bad environment, these three words are undoubtedly inspiring. Cao Cao stretched out his hand to signal everyone around to be quiet, then looked at Zhang Xiu, forced open his eyelids that were about to fight, and asked: "Sima Zhang, what's the good news?"

"An old man said that when he was collecting herbs in the mountains for many years, he found an unknown mountain road that could lead directly to the top of the mountain. Perhaps we can hide here and wait until the thieves disperse on their own."

"." The light in Cao Cao's eyes dimmed a lot, but he still forced a smile and nodded affirmatively, "This is also good news, and it can be regarded as a way out."

"Do you have any objections? If not, then let's go up the mountain."

"promise."

Everyone, including Cheng Yu, uttered these words in a tired tone.

They all knew in their hearts that Zhang Xiu's idea was too idealistic. Even if they climbed to the top of the mountain and used the terrain to hide or hold on, it would only delay time.

Thousands of mouths waiting for food!
Before heading towards the mountain road that the father-in-law mentioned, Cao Cao also noticed the seriousness of the problem. He deliberately selected loyal and righteous people who were in good condition and cautious from the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

"Comrades." Cao Cao perked up, stretched out his hands, patted the shoulders of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and encouraged them in Liu Bei's tone: "The matter of going down the mountain to contact Gongtai will be left to you. Our lives are all entrusted to you."

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry patted their chests and promised, "Even if we die, we will not let the Captain down!"

The common people who saw this scene were deeply moved. One after another, they rushed forward to offer their services as guides for the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. There were so many of them that Cao Cao was overwhelmed.

Both Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu knew that this journey would be full of dangers, so they rejected most people.

Among those who were rejected was a man who was unwilling to give up. When Cao Cao was about to persuade him, the man's knees went weak and he knelt down towards Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu.

Even though he was exhausted, Cao Cao still stepped forward to support the man, "A real man has gold under his knees, why do you act like a woman? If you have anything to say, just say it. Please stand up quickly, please stand up quickly!"

The man was not an ungrateful person. After hearing what Cao Cao said, he finally gave up the idea of ​​kneeling. He stood up and raised his head. Cao Cao then discovered that the man's eyes were red and full of bloodshot.

Cao Cao thought secretly: It seems that I have quite a lot of hatred with these villains, alas.

Just as Cao Cao thought, when the man mentioned the bandit on the mountain, his facial features twisted, and his tone sounded as if he wished he could hold a blunt knife and torture the bandit to death bit by bit. Even Cao Cao could feel the man's anger coming towards him.

"I dare not lie to the captain. I have an irreconcilable hatred with that villain. I wish I could eat their flesh and drink their blood!"

"They are simply not human! Not human!"

"You insulted my wife and daughter in front of me, and cooked my young son alive! What did you say? You said that children are the most delicious."

"but me"

As he was speaking, the man rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, and Cao Cao then realized that the man's right arm was empty.

"Yet he still lives on in this world and has become a useless person!"

"If the captain hadn't saved me, how could I have seen the thief die?!"

"But this is not enough, far from enough!"

"The mountain is full of wolf dens. After we destroyed one den, the others are still causing trouble. Even the captain has to give way to them. I want to do my part for the captain. I happen to be familiar with the mountain roads. I want to tell the captain that I am useless and that he doesn't need to care about my life!"

"I just hope that the captain's reinforcements can arrive and wipe out all the wolf dens on the mountain."

As he spoke, the man burst into tears.

Cao Cao clenched his fists so tightly that they crackled. A trace of regret flashed through his eyes. It seemed that beheading them was too easy for those people.
As for the selection of the leader.
Cao Cao looked at the man deeply and couldn't help but sigh. A trace of sympathy emerged in his heart. In response to the man's self-recommendation, he finally chose to nod and agree.

"Good, thank you for your help, my good man."

The man was overjoyed and burst into laughter. He imitated the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's gestures and saluted Cao Cao, "Thank you very much, Captain!"

Cao Cao nodded slightly and said nothing more, but before the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry team set off, he instructed the leading sergeant: "If you can guarantee your own safety, I hope you can protect this person a little."

"Yes." The sergeant spoke briefly and to the point. He patted his chest hard, as if to say, "Captain, don't worry. I'll take care of this matter."

Zhang Xiu approached Cao Cao and said in a low voice, "Captain, I think it would be too easy for those bandits to be beheaded."

"Yes." Cao Cao nodded in agreement. He could not help but sigh, "Xuan De was too merciful to those villains. At most, they were beheaded. Next time I return to Chang'an, I will definitely discuss this with Xuan De and come up with a good solution. In short, let's just leave it at that. Let's go up the mountain."

"promise."

According to the old man's words, Cao Cao, Zhang Xiu and others climbed to the top of the mountain through a small path. The top of the mountain was towering into the clouds. Just by standing on the top of the mountain, one could feel the cold wind blowing in their faces. Once the cold wind blew, it made the thinly dressed people's teeth chatter. Fortunately, there were still some trees around.

Cao Cao and his Tiger and Leopard Cavalry set up camp and lit a bonfire.

Finally, I am temporarily at peace.

After a short rest, Zhang Xiu walked to Cao Cao with a worried look on his face. "Captain, there is not much food left in the army. What should we do?"

"." Cao Cao sighed, the thing he was worried about finally came true. The six hundred Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had already made them stretched to the limit in terms of food and grass, and now they had rescued thousands of distressed civilians. Even if they seized some food and grass from the camp and had a bowl of hot porridge, they still couldn't feed so many mouths.

Solving the food and grass problem is really difficult. Cao Cao pressed his temple with a headache. Thoughts in his mind collided wildly and his eyes darted around, as if he could find a way to solve the current dilemma in this way. When his eyes fell on Cheng Yu's face, Cheng Yu seemed to be about to open his mouth to tell him a good plan.

Cao Cao was startled and immediately withdrew his gaze. Even if Cheng Yu didn't say a word, he could guess what Cheng Yu's brilliant plan was.

One word means people, two words mean common people.

If I really did this, let alone facing Xuande, then what's the difference between me and those thieves before? How is having no bottom line different from being a beast?

If it were Xuande, what would he do in the face of this situation?
Cao Cao frowned and kept thinking.

Maybe God will reward those who work hard!
Cao Cao suddenly remembered something.

When he was in Chang'an before, whenever he had the chance, he would go to visit Liu Bei with green plums and wine.

After many long conversations, he learned many things from Liu Bei that he had never heard of before.

For example, in a year of great disaster, the corn harvest failed and rivers dried up.

In order to survive, the people had to eat tree bark, grass roots and leaves.
but.
Is that thing really edible?
Cao Cao was skeptical. He picked up a knife and peeled off a piece of bark. He put the bark in his mouth and tried to chew it.

After chewing a few bites, Cao Cao's face suddenly changed.

"Puh, puh, puh." Cao Cao hurriedly spat out the bark. This thing is hard to chew and taste. Can it really fill your stomach? I had never taken it seriously before, but now it seems that the people in the year of disaster, alas.
Cao Cao's actions were seen by everyone. Cheng Yu looked at the bark on the ground, his eyes darkened, his eyes became a little panicked, his face a little solemn, he had a strange feeling.

Could it be that he was wrong before?
Cao Mengde would rather chew tree bark than wield a butcher knife against these people.
Are there really such fools in the world?
No! impossible! Absolutely impossible!
The panic in his eyes gradually stabilized. Cheng Yu kept comforting himself in his heart. Even if Cao Mengde was really so stupid, not to mention that I would not agree, these Tiger and Leopard Cavalry would not agree! The refugees were starving and would also raise the flag to rebel. I just didn't believe that Cao Mengde could restrain them!
As he thought about it, Cheng Yu's expression returned to normal.

No one cared about Cheng Yu's strange behavior, whether it was Zhang Xiu, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, or the common people.

The old man with a cane walked up to Cao Cao, his words full of admiration and emotion, "Captain, I know some wild vegetables. Although there are not many on this mountain, they are better than digging wild vegetables and tree bark. There is no other way."

"Thank you, old man." Cao Cao's brows flickered with joy. Wild vegetables are better than tree bark. Tree bark is really not edible. Eating tree bark is worse than eating it.
Cao Cao set his eyes on the dozen or so remaining horses. Some horses were lost when they broke out of the bandits' encirclement, and several fell off the cliff when they reached the top of the mountain. Now these were the only ones left.

There is no other way.

Cao Cao gently stroked the black mane of his warhorse, and his heart became increasingly heavy.

However, at this moment, bad news once again caught up with him.

The scout came hurriedly and said, "Captain, something bad has happened. The enemy has discovered our whereabouts and intends to climb the mountain to attack us!"

"."

Cao Cao raised his eyebrows, his heart sank, and he cursed in his heart, "This ghost is haunting us. How hateful and abominable!"

Fortunately, this kind of emergency situation has happened more than once or twice. He quickly calmed down and looked at Zhang Xiu, who also had a serious expression, and asked, "Sima, can the soldiers in our army still fight?"

"Of course!" Zhang Xiu didn't even have to think about it, and the words came out of his mouth immediately. Hearing Cao Cao's words, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry stood up one after another, as if to show that they could still fight.

Unfortunately, although their wills held out, their stomachs were the first to protest, with growling sounds coming from their stomachs.

The Tiger and Leopard Riders looked at each other with embarrassed faces.

Even Zhang Xiu quickly added: "Although we have rested for a while, the soldiers are hungry. Even if they can fight, it is hard to say whether they can be as good as before."

Naturally, the actions of Cao Cao, Zhang Xiu and others could not be concealed from the people. Upon hearing the news, the people stood up one after another.

"Captain! I have some food here, you can take it!" Someone fumbled something out of his arms. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a small piece of naan, which was obviously saved from his mouth before.

"Captain! Let me go! I'll help you chop off the bandit's head!" someone else stood up and said.

One stone caused a thousand ripples. One person after another stood up and volunteered to fight the thieves to the death, as if they wanted to take someone else with them even if they died.

Cao Cao looked around and saw that the people who stood out were not strong at all. There were many skinny people, and countless people were shorter than him. Their clothes and appearance were far worse than Cheng Yu, who looked a little dishevelled at the moment. They were unkempt and dirty, and there was a sour and smelly smell on their bodies. They were even worse than beggars.

If Cao Cao saw these people on ordinary days, he would frown, and if he didn't send people to drive them away, he would at least take a detour.

At this moment, his brows were relaxed, and he didn't feel disgusted or annoyed at all. He would rather look at these people more than look at Cheng Yu.

No wonder Xuande said that it was the common people who supported the Han Dynasty. There are not so many rules and regulations in the world of common people. If you treat them with empathy, they will also want to give you their heart in return.

However, Cao Cao was keenly aware that these people had lost hope of survival. Through their mouth shapes, he even found that some people were muttering, "The lieutenant is a good lieutenant, what a pity!" "If he falls into the hands of the thieves, it will be the end. It is better to fight to the death. At least we should protect the lieutenant and let him die last!"

Cao Cao was in mixed feelings. He sighed in his heart that it was just as Xuande said.

but.
How long can you hold on if you have no hope of living?

Cao Cao couldn't bear to see these people die, so he gritted his teeth and thought of a way, and suddenly he thought of something.

His eyes lit up, and under everyone's gaze, he actually laughed out loud: "Hahaha!"

Everyone looked at each other, they were all confused by Cao Cao's actions.

Zhang Xiu was even more puzzled and asked, "Why is the captain laughing?"

"I laugh at the thief's lack of strategy! The thief is so stupid!"

Zhang Xiu was delighted to hear Cao Cao's powerful voice. He asked, "Captain, why is this?"

"Hahaha, to be honest, although we are deeply trapped in the quagmire of the bandits and seem to be surrounded by the bandits, we are not actually surrounded by them." Cao Cao paused, adjusted his emotions, and shouted vigorously: "In fact, the bandits are surrounded by us!"

"So it was us who surrounded the thieves. I thought so?"

"Captain, are you out of your mind?"

"According to the Imperial Physician's Order, are you going to perform a craniotomy?"

Not only the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the common people, but even Zhang Xiu looked at Cao Cao in surprise. The same thought came to their minds: Could it be that the captain had eaten too much tree bark and became confused?

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in the army who knew some simple medical skills were already gearing up to diagnose Cao Cao.

Cao Cao turned a deaf ear to everyone's reactions and continued, "Although we are surrounded, General Zhang has arrived in person. I sent out a group of Tiger and Leopard Cavalry just to get in touch with General Zhang!"

Quiet

Everyone looked at each other, and the scene became unusually quiet.

Until someone asked, "Who is General Zhang?"

In the blink of an eye, someone replied, "Didn't you hear it when we were eating naan and drinking porridge before? It was General Liu's third brother, Zhang Fei, Zhang Yide!"

This person suddenly realized, "So that's it, it's Zhang Yide who wrote the popular romance of Liangzhou! If General Zhang comes, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Yes, yes!"

Seeing that everyone believed his words, Cao Cao waved his hand and said proudly, "It is our duty to protect the people, not to mention that victory is in sight!"

Some people couldn't help but say: "But the soldiers are hungry."

"I'm starving. It doesn't matter. I have my own way. Soldiers, go and stop the bandits. Can you do me a favor?" Cao Cao asked.

The people clapped their chests and said in unison, "We are willing to give it to you, even if it is just one person! Captain, tell me, what is it?"

Cao Cao took a deep breath and looked at the warhorse. He no longer hesitated and shouted, "Kill the horse!"

(End of this chapter)