Chapter 484: Soldiers Approaching the City

Shouchun, the palace.

Shouchun was originally a big city, and it can be regarded as the leading metropolis in Huainan, with a population of more than 100,000 and vast arable land, it can be said to be the foundation of a king.

After Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor and became emperor, he naturally needed a decent palace, so Yuan Shu immediately recruited tens of thousands of civilians to build a palace for him day and night.

Fortunately, Yan Xiang and others persuaded Yuan Shu that Shouchun would not stay for long, and the capital would definitely be moved in the future, so there was no need to build it according to the scale of the imperial palace, only the scale of the palace would be fine.

"Haha, beauty, don't run away, come into my arms."

"Your Majesty, don't"

Yuan Shu showed a smile on his face, and ran forward to save a beautiful woman wearing light gauze. The beauty was wearing very thin clothes, and several important places were faintly revealed. The servants in the palace all lowered their heads. dare not watch.

On the other hand, Yuan Shu laughed: "Why are you so shy, beauty? I'm going to give it to you."

"His Majesty!"

Ji Ling, who was wearing iron armor, looked serious, and rushed in hastily, not even having time to report.

Seeing Ji Ling's heavy face, Yuan Shu immediately sent the beauty away: "You go down first."

"No." The beauty was also sensible, gave a light salute, and then took her leave.

"General Ji, what's wrong?" Yuan Shu frowned.

Ji Ling didn't speak, just looked around.

Yuan Shu waved his hand: "Let's all go down."

"Promise." The servants, guards and maids on the left and right retreated one after another, while Ji Ling said in a heavy tone, "Your Majesty, Cao Cao has personally led an army of 30,000 troops and has arrived outside Shouchun City."

"Cao Cao is here?" Yuan Shu's expression changed: "Where has his army arrived?"

"Cao Cao led the army to camp ten miles north of Shouchun City. It has been raining heavily for the past few days, so the road outside Shouchun City is muddy and difficult to walk, so Cao Cao is not in a hurry to attack the city." Ji Ling said slowly: "It's just Cao Cao's use of troops. Judging from his style, he will definitely launch an attack on Shouchun City in the near future."

Yuan Shu asked anxiously: "How many soldiers and horses are there in Shouchun City now? Is it enough to deal with the Cao bandits?"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, there are still more than 20,000 soldiers in Shouchun City, which is enough to deal with the mere Cao army. But..." Ji Ling was a little confused.

"But what? But speaking of it, there is no need to worry." Yuan Shu said directly.

"It's raining heavily, and the city walls of Shouchun are mostly damaged. Your Majesty, please temporarily use the people who built the palace to build the city walls and strengthen the city defenses." Ji Ling said.

"Well." Although Yuan Shu was a little reluctant, but if the city wall was gone, the palace would not be able to be kept, so he had no choice but to agree.

Most of the ancient city walls were made of bricks and stones, but they were mixed with mud. If it rains heavily, the city walls will be soaked in rainwater for many days, and it will inevitably collapse. Shouchun is located in Huainan, and it is the rainy season, and the heavy rain continues. This is good news for the defenders.

"All the civilians are at your disposal, you must take the matter of defending the city to heart." Yuan Shu enjoined.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty! Bandit Cao has no more than 30,000 troops. It's wishful thinking to capture Shouchun. Ji Ling will definitely let them die!"

Since ancient times, it is difficult to attack a city but easy to defend it. If a 20,000-strong army cannot defend Shouchun, Ji Ling can simply wipe his neck and commit suicide.

After getting Yuan Shu's permission, Ji Lingdang dispatched tens of thousands of civilians who were building the palace to strengthen the city defenses, and all of a sudden, the city of Shouchun was in full swing.

It was still rainy outside Shouchun City, and Cao Jun was in the camp at this time.

"My lord!"

Xia Houyuan opened the tent door and walked in quickly. The shirt on his body was already soaked by the rain, but he was still full of energy.

"It turned out to be back in seconds." Cao Cao smiled and said, "How about you go and check the defenses of Shouchun City?"

"Shouchun City is tightly guarded on all sides. There must be more than 10,000 defenders in the city. If it is attacked by force, it may be difficult to take it for a while." Xia Houyuan shook his head.

"Shouchun is where Yuan Shu's base camp is located. The city's defenses must be strong, and it is normal that it is difficult to attack."

Xi Zhicai frowned and said, "But compared to the strong defenses of Shouchun City, I'm more worried about another thing."

Cheng Yu interjected, "Zhicai is probably talking about the plum rain, right?"

"That's right." Xi Zhicai nodded: "I have asked the local people who have lived for many years that the rainy season in Huainan lasts for more than a month. Once it rains, it is almost endless, and the crops in the fields are often soaked. If the rainy season continues, our army's siege will inevitably be affected, and the most important thing is that the roads near Shouchun are muddy and difficult, so the transportation of grain and grass will not be good."

"That's right." Cao Hong snorted, "I don't know when the rainy season will last. My hands and feet are itching."

All the generals and counselors were discussing, but Cao Cao didn't say a word, stroking his long beard and smiling, as if he had already made up his mind.

"Looking at the appearance of the lord, it seems that he already has a countermeasure in mind, why don't you tell me and let me listen?" Le Jin asked curiously.

Seeing the eyes of the generals in the tent gathering, Cao Cao smiled and said, "You don't have to worry, I'm afraid this time we don't need our army to do anything, and the city of Shouchun will be at your fingertips."

"Shouchun is the capital of Huainan, and it is also the root of Yuan Shu. Would Yuan Shu give up Shouchun easily?" Xia Houyuan asked doubtfully, "Even if he gave up Shouchun, where could Yuan Shu go?"

"That's right, now that General Sun Ce and our army are besieging Yuan Shu from three sides, even if Yuan Shu wants to escape, where can he escape?"

Cao Cao smiled slightly: "Do you think our army is stronger or the Liangzhou soldiers under Yuqing's command are better?"

"Zhicai, what do you think?" Cao Cao turned his head to look at Xi Zhicai who was sitting first on the left, and asked.

"No need to say much." Xi Zhicai said objectively: "Although my lord has subdued the Qingzhou army and sits in Qingzhou and Xuzhou, but the foundation is still shallow, and the general sits in Guanzhong, dominates Yanzhou, looks at the Central Plains, and has hundreds of thousands of tigers in Xiliang. Unless our army can completely occupy Yangzhou, or possibly compete with the general, in terms of current strength, it will not be as good as it is."

Cao Cao nodded with a smile, and said frankly: "Zhicai's analysis is good. The strength of our army is indeed not comparable to that of Yuqing, and Yuan Shu thinks so too."

Suddenly, a flash of light flashed in Cheng Yu's mind: "So, what does my lord mean, once the general defeats Zhang Xun and comes with the power of victory, Yuan Shu will be so frightened that he will give up Shouchun City and run away?"

Cao Cao nodded slightly: "That's right, Shouchun City will be at your fingertips then, just watch."

"But the general sent out 100,000 troops, and our army won Shouchun casually. When the general gets angry, won't he send troops to attack our army?" Xia Houyuan worried.