Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 252 Grain Issues (1)

At this time Cao Cao was in a good mood, and the catapult continued to throw stones for a day, and Yuan Shao's tower was running out, and there was no one on the tower.

"How about the robbery of food in the country of Wei?"

Zhou Cang told the situation, but he didn't dare to talk about borrowing troops from Zhang Xiu.Cao Cao was even more delighted, "Okay, in this way, Yuan Shao's morale will definitely be damaged."

Cao Cao didn't think Zhou Cang's loss was that big, it was just 1000 cavalry and 3000 men.Even if Yuan Jun was killed, there would be two or three thousand people, and there would be thousands of grain trucks.What's more, the one who lost was not himself.

While talking, the guards came to report, and Zhong Lang escorted Li Dian to Guandu with the 20 shi of grain and grass collected just this year.Cao Cao was even more happy: "That's great. When the war started, I was worried about the lack of food and grass. Thanks to Wei Guo's [-] stone grain and grass, I finally persisted until the autumn harvest. The weather is good this year, and it must be a good year. In this way, we can continue to confront Yuan Shao again! Haha Haha, Yuan Benchu ​​needs to transport food from Hebei, let's see how long he can last!"

Zhou Cang never understood: Cao Jun is short of food, what does this have to do with fighting?Even if there is no war, there is still a shortage of food, and the soldiers still have nothing to eat.After several battles, especially after staying in Cao Ying several times, I finally found the reason, and I took it for granted.

First of all, in the case of non-combat, Cao Jun usually eats two meals a day and can only eat [-]% full, and can eat [-]% during combat. Hou uses small dendrobium to distribute grain, which is only used when there is no war.However, Zhou Cang's team has three meals a day, and they can always eat at least [-]% full, which is a lot of food consumption.

Secondly, Zhou Cang seldom had a stalemate with the enemy for a protracted battle, so most of the food and grass were carried with the army.If grain and grass need to be transported long distances, there will be a lot of loss on the road depending on the distance, and the young and strong and auxiliary soldiers transporting grain will also have to eat. Take the current Cao Jun transporting grain from Xudu. Although the distance is relatively short, the round trip also consumes food. Nearly [-]% was lost, and Yuan Jun consumed at least [-]% on the transfer road from Hebei. It is hard to imagine how much it would cost a hundred thousand troops.

Furthermore, all the food and grass gathered by the army depends on transportation. If in normal times, soldiers and horses from all walks of life are stationed in various places, there is room to move around and get some supplements on the spot. They can also cultivate food, vegetables, and raise livestock. Now It's all about delivery.

After all the calculations, Cao Jun's food and grass consumption was twice as much as usual!In other words, Cao Jun's one-year military rations were consumed in less than half a year.Cao Cao is not as rich and powerful as Yuan Shao, no wonder Cao Cao has a headache.

Li Dian brought food and grass and Xun Yu's letter.After Cao Cao looked at it, his brows tightened.Xun You asked in a low voice, "My lord, could something have happened to Xu?"

"Hehe, no. Xu Du is safe and sound. If Wen is there, something will happen." Cao Cao said pretending to be nonchalant.

Cao Cao left Zhou Cang, Xun You, Guo Jia and others behind, and sent the others away. Then he said bitterly, "Damn you big-eared thief!"

"Wen Ruo sent a letter, he sent the [-] shi, and then sent another [-] shi, and he will find a way to plan the rest." Cao Cao said, "But there can only be so much."

"Huh?" Everyone was taken aback. "Now is the time of harvest, at least three or four million shi should be enough. How can there be only 40 shi for grain and grass?"

15 shi, the army ate it all up in a month.

"Well, Liu Bei looted all of Runan, hoarded food and grass, and tried to attack Xudu in vain. When he was defeated by Wei and fled, he burned the food and grass and destroyed them all. Because of the war in Runan, the people couldn't work, the farmland was deserted, and the harvest was less than [-]% of what it was last year. Therefore, not only can the grain and grass not be harvested, but in order to ensure that the lives of the local people will not be disrupted, one hundred thousand shi has to be transferred from Lujiang and Wancheng to subsidize it!"

So it turned out that at least 15 yuan could have been collected from Runan, but now it has been compensated with [-] yuan, which is [-] yuan.Where is one hundred thousand stone enough?That is to say, a few people will starve to death.Zhou Cang gave up the Lujiang River, thinking that it could alleviate the food crisis, but he didn't expect it to be used to relieve Runan.

Cao Jun could have persisted for two more months, but now he can only persist for less than one month.The situation in the Guandu battle must be reversed within a month, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.

"I wanted to quit Guandu and return to Xudu, but Wen Ruoxin told us to persevere, and he would think of another way. What should I do?" Cao Cao said.

Refund or not?Returning to Xudu can reduce the loss of food and grass along the way, but it will affect the morale of the army and cause panic in Xudu.If you don't retreat, you will face food shortages, and the entire army will be defeated. Retiring the army can at least overcome the immediate difficulties.

All the counselors are also worried. It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice.Zhou Cang said: "I will write back to Xuzhou immediately to see if I can transfer another [-] shi of grain and grass."

"Hey, I've accepted Wei Guo's wishes. You have been supplying the food and grass in your army yourself, which is already a big burden for me. It's not easy for you to occupy Xuzhou for the first time. You still have to guard against Sun Quan and contain Yuan Tan. It is not easy to send one hundred thousand stones for the first time." Cao Cao said, "I promised to exempt Xiapi from paying taxes for three years, and the state of Wei will implement it accordingly."

"Cao Gong, don't worry. Even if we don't have [-], it is possible to find a way to allocate [-] or [-]. Mr. Wen Ruo is right. Our army has been holding on for several months. Yuan Shao must be even more anxious. As long as we persist, we will definitely find a fighting opportunity." .”

Guo Jia, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. "My lord, Wei Guo's words are justified. My lord is in a hurry, isn't Yuan Shao in a hurry? It's been almost a year since he sent troops from Hebei and he couldn't win. All of them were destroyed by our army, how could Yuan Shao feel so bad? Wei Guo sent troops twice, burned more than a thousand grain carts and hundreds of thousands of grain and grass, now Yuan Shao is probably in a state of desperation."

Cao Cao nodded, only thinking about the difficulties on his own side, without imagining Yuan Shao's situation. "But so what?"

"Hehe, Yuan Shao is impatient, and the more he can't wait to defeat the lord. He doesn't know the truth about our side. Our army has won consecutive victories, the morale is high, and we have the support of the autumn harvest. Then Yuan Shao will do everything possible to make tricks, play tricks, and even gamble! Hehehe, I would like to see Yuan Shao has other tricks."

After all, it was Guo Jia, who saw the situation differently and knew Yuan Shao's temper well. Yuan Shao talked about ostentation and saving face.Yuan Shao didn't care if he lost a little bit, and he kept being shrunken in front of Cao Cao and losing face in front of his subordinates, how could Yuan Shao be willing to give up.

Xun You said: "My lord, what Wen Ruo, Feng Xiao and Wei Guo said is right! We must not retreat, continue to persevere, we still have hope of winning, if we retreat, we will have no chance of winning!"

"Okay then. There is Lao Weiguo. In addition, Gongda wrote to Sun Quan and Liu Biao to borrow food in my name. I guess they will have all kinds of excuses." Cao Cao smiled bitterly, and then his face turned cold: "There is another theory And those who retreat, behead!"

(End of this chapter)