Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 504 The time has come, to attack the camp tonight

Losing Henan, Cao Rui was deeply saddened.

This feeling is worse than losing half your life.

Probably because the loss to Cao Wei this time is really too great.

At the end of Cao Cao, Cao Wei experienced the Battle of Xiangfan and the Battle of Guanzhong. Although he suffered a disastrous defeat, his foundation remained the same.

During the Cao Pi period, although Chang'an in Guanzhong was lost, and the land of Huainan was also lost, at least these were vast and uninhabited areas, and almost no population was lost.

But in the hands of Cao Rui, he lost all the populous Hedong and Henan, and lost millions of people at once, which was greater than the combined losses of his father and grandfather during that period.

What is the most precious in troubled times?

people.

Human life is not valuable at this time, but it is also very valuable.

Because in the eyes of these upper class dignitaries, the people are the most important means of production.

Without people, they would not be able to form soldiers and horses, they would not be able to farm and grow food, and they would not be able to maintain their life of rich clothes and fine food.

As the saying goes, if the land is lost and people are lost, all people and land will be lost; if people are saved and land will be lost, all people and land will remain.

Although there was no such sentence in the Han Dynasty, the truth is understandable. The people-oriented plan in ancient times has existed since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. The difference depends on whether the ruling class pays attention to it.

Cao Rui attaches great importance to population, otherwise he would not promulgate laws to recuperate, and find ways to allocate food, grass, soldiers and horses from aristocratic families to fill the gap.

So after learning that the land in Henan was handed over to others and a large number of people belonged to the Han, all thoughts were lost.

Simply put, it's a mental breakdown.

At this moment, he was crying, and he was only 22 years old now, but he looked like 42 years old, and he was 20 years old and haggard.

Seeing his painful expression, Wei Zhen had no choice but to dissuade him and said, "Your Majesty, the matter is not at the end yet, so please cheer up Your Majesty."

"Didn't you go to that field?"

Cao Rui said sadly: "Henan is not lost in the hands of the late emperor and Taizu. But Henan is gone when it is in my hands. How can I cheer up?"

Wei Zhen said, "Now that General Chariots and General Hussars have retreated, our strength will be preserved and we will still have a chance to fight back."

"A chance to fight back."

Cao Rui was laughed at by them, and shouted angrily, "Where is there any chance to fight back?"

Chen Qun said: "Your Majesty, with the soldiers and horses here, everything is possible. What's more, your Majesty, think about it. Could it be that the annexation of Henan in the south is a trade-off? I think it is not."

"Tell me."

Cao Rui asked with the last glimmer of hope.

Chen Qun said: "The South is invading on a large scale. After hearing about it, the nobles of Henan aristocratic families all fled north with their luggage and people. They crossed the north with their clothes and hats. They were afraid that the big men in the south would be like snakes and scorpions. This is one of them. The aristocratic family will not help them."

"Well"

Cao Rui nodded slightly. This is indeed a consensus. The south suppressed the gentry too hard. Those people were afraid of being liquidated, so it was normal for them to flee north.

"Secondly, the South claims not to take a cent from the people."

Chen Qun continued: "They will distribute the land to the common people, but they will not collect the land tax in the first place, so who should supplement their rations, equipment, and corvees?"

"south?"

Cao Rui immediately thought of this.

"good."

Chen Qun nodded: "They can't search for the people in Henan, so they can only transport grain from the south. It's close from Nanyang to Yingchuan, but it's a long way to the north, and they have to transport grain from Jiangdong, Hanzhong, etc. How can we afford food and grass if the journey to Bingzhou and Xuzhou is thousands of miles away?"

Everyone knows the truth that soldiers and horses go first without using food and grass, and the importance of food and grass is useless to say.However, the Southern Great Han went north to attack Wei, and it was okay to attack Yingchuan from Nanyang, and it was barely okay to even reach Yanzhou. After all, it is only more than 300 kilometers from Nanyang to the Yellow River.

But the Han army on the western front was different from the Han army on the eastern front. Even if Shen Chen reclaimed fields in Chang'an, Guan Yu also started farming in Hefei in Huainan, and it was impossible to make such a quick profit in a short period of time.

And they conquered the land of Hedong and Henan. The style of the Han army has always been to not take a single stitch from the people.

Besides, they can't get it.

Because Cao Wei's style has always been to cultivate the people under his rule intensively, so that he can continue to catch fish.Basically, just after the harvest season every year, it would be good to leave some food for the people, let alone more food for the people.

It just so happened that Sumai was harvested in May of this year last year. In May, the Han army had not yet reached Henan. By July, two months was enough for the Henan Cao Wei government to collect grain.

With the new food, Sima Yi and Xia Houyuan's Wei army food and grass are very sufficient.

This is why Shen Chen thinks that if Sima Yi sticks to Henan, he may not be able to defeat him for a year or two.

Therefore, even if the Han army wants to replenish food and grass on the spot in Henan, it is basically impossible.

They still need to mobilize food from the rear.

As the Han army penetrated deeper, more food and grass needed to be mobilized, and the distance became longer.

If the Han army wants to defeat Cao Wei in a short time and enter Hebei, the logistical pressure will become huge.For example, during Liu Yu's Northern Expedition, he almost withdrew his troops several times due to running out of food.

To put it simply, Chen Qun wanted to use the depth of his strategy to drag down the big men in the south and cause problems in their food supply.The most important thing is that the opponent's food road is long, and it is easy to attack.It only needs to succeed once, and the opponent may retreat back.

At that time, Cao Wei may not have the opportunity to regain lost ground.

Although the chances are slim.

Hearing Chen Qun's analysis, Cao Rui finally regained his composure and muttered to himself, "Yes, yes, we still have room to fight back."

"Thirdly, Your Majesty, don't forget Bingzhou."

Chen Qun said with a smile: "Although General Cheqi suspects that Zhuge Liang's cavalry has already gone north, the journey is far away, so how can we arrive so quickly. And General Cheqi is on the way, as long as Zhong Gong can hold on for a while, we will wait for reinforcements. If we can defeat Shen Chen, and even take back the land of Hedong, the possibility of turning defeat into victory is extremely high."

"I hope so, I hope so."

Cao Rui looked to the northwest with blank eyes. Bingzhou has now become a place where the two sides are wrestling. Shen Chen gave up the opportunity of Henan to attack Sima Yi and went north. He probably expected that Sima Yi would escape. Now that Sima Yi also went north to save Bingzhou, he hoped that he could catch up.

If Shen Chen defeated Guanqiu Jian before Sima Yi arrived, then naturally everything would be over.If not, then Sima Yi's cooperation with Guanqiu Jian and the Huns might be able to deal a heavy blow to Shen Chen.

Both sides are hunters and prey, it depends on who can have the last laugh.This battle did not determine the national destiny of the great Han in the south, but that of Cao Wei.

I hope Sima Yi can live up to his trust.

Cao Rui thought to himself.

.

.

On July [-]th, at the end of the morning meal, the Han army left the camp.

The sound of the horn of "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

The sound of the horn is the loudest, and it is used by the commander's camp to summon all the troops; the sound of the drum spreads throughout the main camps, and it is used by the school lieutenant and general of the department to summon the thousands of soldiers under his command; used by soldiers.

In this way, low-level officers gathered their teams through whistles, and then were integrated into the school's troops by mid-level generals through drums. Finally, teams of Han soldiers came out of the camp and gathered outside the camp to form an army as a whole.

The number of people in each school is basically around three to four thousand, and there are more than ten square formations. There is no end to the crowd, and they are arranged outside Gaodu County.

The center of the army formation is the head office of the headquarters. Surrounded by several generals and hundreds of personal guards, Shen Chen slowly came to the formation on horseback. Gently swaying in the wind, hunting, giving all soldiers a great morale boost.

Morale is an illusory thing, unlike a certain item in the game that can improve a certain effect.

However, just as the Chuanguo Yuxi is the most imperial symbol in the world in the hands of Qin Shihuang Yingzheng, it is no different from an ordinary jade in the hands of Yuan Shu.It is not the item itself that gives an item its power, but the person who holds it.

If the military flag with the word "Shen" was held by someone else, it probably wouldn't have the effect of boosting the morale of all the soldiers, but in Shen Chen's hands, it was synonymous with invincibility.

At this moment, the Han army was gathering outside the city, and the sea of ​​people was like dark clouds overwhelming the city. What was even more frightening was that so many people in the Han army gathered together, but there was no sound, as quiet as the night sky.

No one spoke, no one whispered, some were solemn and solemn, staring straight ahead, like groups of terracotta warriors and horses.

This is the discipline of the Han army, and it is also the iron blood and chill brought by a veteran of hundreds of battles. It is not comparable to those soldiers and horses from aristocratic families who have short training time in the city and rarely go to battle to kill the enemy.

In contrast, those Huns who were called to accompany the siege of the city were much worse. In the northwest corner of the city, the messy Huns cavalry stood scattered without formation, some whispered, some kept shouting, and the horses Neighing, like a busy vegetable market.

Guanqiu Jian stood on the tower and watched. The Wei army rushed to the top of the city as if they were facing a big enemy. All kinds of bows and crossbows were ready, and every Cao Wei soldier's face was full of fear.

A few months ago, they were farmers who had just put down their hoes, and they were dragged into the battlefield within two months of training. Although they were defending the city and occupying a favorable location, almost ninety percent of them were on the battlefield for the first time. I feel uneasy.

Liang Xi looked at the situation outside and said worriedly: "General, the enemy has attacked."

"Yes."

Guanqiu Jian sighed, "I wish I could wait a little longer."

"The soldiers were very panicked."

Liang Xi said: "Shen Chen is eager to attack, presumably because General Cheqi is on his way to help."

Sima Yi sent someone to remind them that Shen Chen had already gone north to attack.

Guanqiu Jian, Liang Xi and the others also knew that Sima Yi was coming, and Sima Yi asked them to hold on for a while, and the reinforcements would arrive soon.

Now it seems that Shen Chen also understands this, so he plans to rush to attack and put pressure on Guanqiu Jian.

Guanqiu Jian pondered: "You said, what would happen if the Huns suddenly attacked from behind when the Han army was attacking the city?"

Liang Xi immediately understood what he meant, and asked tentatively, "The general wants to send the signal now?"

"I have this idea."

Wu Qiujian said.

They originally planned to find a time when the night was quiet and make a sudden attack at night to cooperate with the Huns to attack the Han camp at night.

But knowing that Sima Yi was coming, he thought it would be safer to wait for Sima Yi to come.

But seeing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on the battlefield now, Guan Qiujian was thinking that if he attacked at this time, it might have a miraculous effect.

However, after a while, Liang Xi shook his head, pointed to the northwest direction and said, "General, look over there."

Guan Qiujian looked over.

I saw that the Han army was already preparing to attack the city at this time.

With an order, Zhao Yun brought up the siege equipment that Zhao Yun had built when he was stationed on the Qinshui River, and a large number of Han troops in the south shouted "big man wins" and "big man wins" and began to advance like a tsunami.

Only the formation of the Han army in the northwest corner was still standing solemnly. They seemed to stand there like steel. If you looked closely at the direction they were aiming at, they were vaguely facing the foot of the northwest city wall of Gaodu County.

At first glance, one would think that they are planning to attack the corner of the city, but attacking the corner of the city is thankless, and there are obviously many towers on it.

Then the remaining targets seem to be only the Huns who are also in the northwest corner!

"Shen Chen doesn't trust the Huns!"

Guan Qiujian immediately made a judgment, frowned and said, "It seems to be on guard."

"That's normal too."

Liang Xi said: "If he had trusted the Huns, he would not have chosen to attack Luoyang. From the very beginning, he was wary of foreigners."

"Shen Chen can read the sentence that people who are not of my race must have different hearts."

Guanqiu Jian couldn't help but laugh.

This sentence comes from "Zuo Zhuan", which is a truth that all scholars know.

However, if the alien is willing to take refuge, imagine that most people are happy and fully accept it.

After all, no one would dislike their own small number of soldiers.

However, with the current strength of the southern Han Dynasty, they probably don't need the help of these Huns, and they can wipe out the declining Cao Wei on their own.

This may also be Shen Chen's confidence to be wary of those Huns.

Soon, the siege began.

The Han army rushed out of the city like a tide, and the Wei army immediately poured out arrows like a rain of arrows.

The wooden curtains were pushed over one by one, and the soldiers of the Han army hid behind the wooden curtains, carried the ladders to the outside of the city, and began to climb the city.

Gaodu County is the seat of Shangdang County, but there is no moat, which greatly facilitates the attack of the Han army.

The Wei army's crossbow arrows, rolling stones, wood, lime and kerosene were continuously poured out, and the two sides fought fiercely around the west city gate and the three-mile-long city wall.

The battle lasted until the afternoon. Although the [-] Wei army was definitely not as effective as the Han army in the field, they were defending the city after all, which took up great convenience. Therefore, even if they attacked like this, they still did not take the county.

It was not until evening that the Han army dragged their exhausted bodies, leaving one or two thousand corpses outside the city, receding like a tide.

Seeing this scene, Guan Qiujian immediately said to Liang Xi: "General Cheqi said that Zhuge Liang may have sent a large cavalry to help. Break. Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The enemy will be exhausted after fighting for a day. Even if they plan to guard against a night attack, they will only guard against us, not the Huns. When the time comes, go send a signal and attack the camp tonight!"

"only!"

Liang Xi responded accordingly, and the battle that will determine Cao Wei's life and death will be tonight.

(End of this chapter)