Chapter 984 Cao Jun Forbears

"Brother, have you noticed?" Zhang Feiqi asked: "These days, the grain transport teams from all over Huainan to Shouchun seem to be missing a lot of people."

"Well, that's true. Could it be that the general sent his troops south to contain Cao's army?" Liu Bei guessed.

Liu Bei's Yuzhou Army only had 30,000 troops, and Shouchun City had 40,000 heavily stocked troops. Therefore, Liu Bei did not dare to divide his troops. If Xiahou Dun saw the emptiness in the camp and attacked with all his strength, Liu Bei would not be able to withstand these 30,000 troops. The men and horses were naturally destroyed.

However, recently, there have been fewer and fewer grain transport teams transporting food to Shouchun City, which is really strange. You must know that there is an endless supply of Liu Bei's army transport teams from Runan to Shouchun. After all, it is an army of 30,000. The amount of food and grass consumed by people and horses every day is not a small number. The same is true in Shouchun City, with a total of 40,000 troops. , consuming more food and grass than Liu Bei's army, and Xiahou Dun's army was huddled in Shouchun City, so naturally it could only rely on outside transportation.

However, the amount of food and grass transported in from outside suddenly decreased, which was obviously due to external constraints.

At this time in Shouchun City.

"Damn it, I'm so angry!"

Ever since he was shot out of one eye that day, Xiahou Dun's temperament had become increasingly irritable, and he was even more furious now.

"What's going on? Why did the enemy intercept our army's food route? As a result, our army ran out of food!" Xiahou Dun said angrily.

"General Yuan Rang, don't worry, there is nothing you can do about it." Han Hao frowned and said, "The enemy cavalry is roaming everywhere in Jiujiang. Our cavalry is too small to compete with the enemy's cavalry. If we continue to transport food and grass, It was just intercepted by the enemy."

The man Zhao Yun deliberately let go had naturally entered Shouchun City and told Xiahou Dun about the incident, so Xiahou Dun had no choice but to stop the transportation of grain and grass. Otherwise, transporting grain to Shouchun will just be delivered to the enemy's hands.

"But if this continues, the food and grass in Shouchun City can only last for two months, and the enemy army refuses to take the initiative to attack. Isn't this a waste of food and grass, sitting there waiting to die?" Lu Zhao was also dissatisfied.

"Don't just complain, come up with a solution to the problem!" Zhu Lingye said angrily.

When Han Hao saw this scene, he just sighed and didn't know what to say.

At present, due to the lack of food, almost all the generals of Cao's army fell into a state of madness. This situation was temporarily blocked and did not spread to the 40,000 Cao's troops. However, when food runs out in two months, all Cao's troops will fall into this state.

Lu Zhao suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "Otherwise, let's just go out and fight Liu Bei!"

"Huh?" Xiahou Dun was stunned, and then began to think carefully about Lu Zhao's proposal.

"The enemy's intention is to deprive us of food and force us to break out after we have exhausted our food and grass." Lu Zhao said harshly: "In this case, we will simply do the opposite and march out with an army of 40,000 people. The enemy forces fight to the death!"

"We have 40,000 people anyway. If we take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, we may have no chance of winning."

After hearing Lu Zhao's words, Xiahou Dun couldn't help but feel a little moved, but was stopped by Han Hao.

"No, no, no. Although our army has a large number of people, nearly half of them are temporary soldiers recruited from the field, and their combat strength is insufficient. The two generals Guan and Zhang are both fierce generals, and the 30,000 Yuzhou soldiers are also battle-hardened. The outcome of this battle is unknown. Once the battle is defeated and Huainan's military strength is burned down, how can we report it to Qi Gong?"

After listening to Han Hao's words, Xiahou Dun also nodded: "Yuan Si is right. These 40,000 troops are almost the total strength of our army in Huainan. If there is a loss, Huainan will have no danger to defend, so we cannot take this risk. "

Xiahou Dun had an impulsive temperament. When he was fourteen years old, he took a knife to kill someone because someone insulted his teacher. This shows his strong temperament. However, when it comes to Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun will suppress his temper. If it hinders Cao Cao's great cause, he naturally cannot afford it.

"Then what should we do? We can't fight, and we don't have enough food and grass. If we continue like this, won't we just sit there and wait for death?" Zhu Ling sighed.

"I do have an idea, but I can't guarantee its feasibility." Han Hao suddenly suggested.

Xiahou Dun said directly: "Yuan Si, don't sell medicine out of a gourd. If you have anything to say, please speak up immediately, and we will give you some advice."

Han Hao nodded and said: "Everyone, our army is out of food now, and the Yuzhou Army obviously knows this. They must think that our army will not send troops until the food and grass are exhausted."

"And if our army runs out of food and supplies and sends out troops, its morale will be low. The enemy can then gather its forces and attack them in one go."

"But our army did the opposite and waited one and a half months to take advantage of the situation to attack. At that time, the enemy must have thought that our army had exhausted its food and grass and its morale was low. In fact, our army's morale was strong, and 40,000 troops attacked in large numbers. , maybe we can catch the Yuzhou Army by surprise!"

To put it simply, this strategy is to create an illusion, making the Yuzhou army think that Cao's army has run out of food and grass and has low morale. In fact, Cao's army has high morale and can fight.

Xiahou Dun put away his fiery temper and nodded slowly: "That's fine. That's all for now!"

Being trapped in Shouchun City made Xiahou Dun extremely angry, but these 40,000 troops could not be burned casually. Han Hao's suggestion was the only practical way now.

As long as the Yuzhou Army can be defeated in one go, Huainan will be saved. At that time, they can go north to support Xuzhou and go south to assist Jiangdong, which will improve the situation of Cao's army.

"The order is passed. From today on, we will control the food and grass. The soldiers must be fed every day. At the same time, the quartermaster must not reveal the scarcity of food and grass. Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed!"

Sometimes killing is the simplest way, clean and tidy.

"Here!"

Xiahou Dun's order was passed down immediately, and the 40,000 soldiers of Cao Cao in the city were able to eat twice a day, without any sign of the decline of lack of food and grass. However, a few insiders such as Xiahou Dun, Han Hao, Zhu Ling, Lu Zhao and the grain and grass quartermaster kept it secret, and there was no sign that the grain and grass were about to be exhausted.

Outside the city, although Liu Bei strictly ordered the garrison to surround Shouchun City, they could not relax. However, nearly more than a month had passed, and there was no movement from Cao's army in the city, which made people feel relaxed.

At this time, Zhao Yun also personally led his army to arrive outside Shouchun City.

"Zhonglang General Zhao Yun, please pay homage to Ambassador Liu." Zhao Yun cupped his fists and said to Liu Bei.

"Haha, General Zhao, please get up quickly. He is such a talented young man, hahahaha." Liu Bei helped Zhao Yun up and laughed.