Cao Yi led Feng Pi to his study. After dismissing everyone, he was silent for a moment and asked, "Feng Jijiu is from a famous family in the late Han Dynasty. Does he have any opinions on the situation?"
"If Duke Cao surrenders to Shao, there will be three benefits. If he doesn't surrender, there will be three disadvantages." Feng Pi stopped being secretive and said straightforwardly.
"Try what you say." Cao Yi said.
"If Cao Gong surrenders, thousands of defenders will not have to die. These are all old men who have followed Cao Gong for many years and share the same love as brothers. How can they bear to see his family destroyed and people killed? This is a benefit."
"Liang Gong has captives in the north and Wu raccoons in the south. He has been attacking and killing him, but there is no peace. If he wants to rule the world, he must treat Cao Gong well and set an example. It is impossible to say that after living in Bianliang for a period of time, Cao Gong can still win.
An official and a half-job. These are two benefits."
"Cao Gong is also a native of Qingzhou. The war has been going on for nearly two months. Countless people have died from swords, transfers, and diseases. The situation is truly deplorable. If he surrenders, the people of Qingzhou will be grateful to Cao Gong.
, descendants can also inherit this legacy, these are the three benefits."
After finishing speaking, Feng Pi paused for a moment and looked at Cao Yi, waiting for him to digest.
Cao Yi thought silently.
The three things Feng Pi said are actually quite reasonable.
There are not many old brothers who follow him, especially those who fought all the way from Qingzhou to Luoyang and then transferred to Hebei. There are even fewer of them. After occupying Qingzhou for several years, most of them have married and established businesses. If the whole family dies, he will not feel like it.
Feel good.
He is from Qingzhou, and he is not a crazy person. If possible, he really doesn't want to see the local people in his hometown in ruins.
Finally, Feng Pi said that even if Shao Xun was just showing off, he would still treat him well and even give him an official position. After all, both the south and the north were watching. If he, Cao Yi, did not end well, wouldn't everyone fight to the death in the future?
This is all true, Cao Yi believed it.
Feng Pi quietly observed Lao Cao's expression and continued to persuade——
"Liang Gong went on a northern expedition and defeated the barbarians one after another. He has the hope of the world. If he fights with him, the generals will be hesitant and the elders will be frightened. This will be disadvantageous."
"Although Guanggu is strong, it is already an isolated city. If it moves for a long time and the resources are gradually reduced, people's hearts will change easily and morale will be low. In the end, it will be difficult to preserve it. These two disadvantages are unfavorable."
"Ming Gong's family members are all in the city. The descendants of the clan still live in Donglai. Once the city is destroyed, the fate will be dire. Ming Gong is a great hero in the world. It would be really sad if his family temple lacks food. These three disadvantages are.
"
After saying these three sentences, Cao Yi sighed and looked sad.
This is the truth again!
How big is Shao Xun's territory, and how big is Qingzhou? Shao Xun also has the popularity brought by conquering the Xiongnu and regaining the lost territory. If he fights with him, it can be said that he is hitting a stone with an egg. His morale is low before the war begins, and he is worried that he will not win. In fact, Qingzhou
My parents have already made their choice.
The art of war goes like this: "A city cannot be defended if it is alone." Guanggu has been surrounded by everyone. Don't deceive yourself at this moment. No one will come to save you. Then in the end, there is only one possibility of defeat. The most terrifying thing is that in the later stage
, someone will cause trouble and take Cao Yi's head as a tribute in order to protect his own family.
Third, after death, wouldn't it be desolate to live in the deserted underground without incense and sacrifice? If Shao Xun was more ruthless, it would not be impossible to kill all the Cao family.
After thinking about it, I actually have no choice.
Cao Yi hesitated and asked, "Does Shao Taibai really mean what he says?"
Feng Pi nodded and said: "So far, I have never broken my promise to enrich myself."
Cao Yi stood up, walked around like a restless trapped animal, and stopped in front of Fengpi.
He subconsciously looked outside and lowered his voice: "It's not the time to surrender yet. I have to send people to fight a few more times."
Feng Pi understood clearly in his heart.
When Cao Gong returned to Qingzhou in the past, Wang Mi only gave 5,000 soldiers. The reason why we are in this situation depends entirely on the help of Tianshi and Taoist disciples. This is an unavoidable fact...
****
Starting on May 21st, the fighting outside Guanggu City suddenly became fierce.
The two sides fought repeatedly on both sides of Jianshui and Chenghuang, fighting to the death and fighting until one side could no longer hold out.
During the fierce battle, Silver Spear's right battalion and the middle battalion also took turns to attack, opening up an attack channel for the siege army.
On May 25th, Yang Chen went to the front line to watch the battle. As he watched, he seemed to figure out some meaning.
"Those who drank the talisman water before the battle and charged and beat fiercely must be Cao Yi's elite troops, right?" Yang Chen asked, pointing to the soldiers who came out of the city with their big shields and spears held high.
"Exactly." The staff replied: "There are not many of his troops anymore, and they will be gone after the battle."
Yang Chen continued to observe.
In addition to these hardcore demon thieves, there are also a considerable number of Gou Xi's surrendered troops in the city, who are quite capable of fighting.
The previous night attack resulted in more than a thousand losses.
In the past few days, the battle for the stronghold outside the city resulted in about 2,000 casualties.
If you include those parts that were dispersed and garrisoned in other places, or those that were defeated along the way, there wasn't much left.
To put it bluntly, Cao Yi is using his old skills to fight now.
So here comes the question, why is it so heart-wrenching?
Yang Chen has a guess in his mind, but he can't confirm it now.
The enemy troops came out to fight and were quickly repulsed.
Under the sound of rumbling drums, soldiers and horses from various battalions pushed heavy siege equipment and launched a large-scale attack on Guanggu City.
After Yang Chen looked at it for a while, he lost interest and left directly.
Guanggu is a strong city, and it is not that easy to attack it from the front. If Cao Yi insists on holding on, it will be difficult to conquer it if tens of thousands of people are killed or wounded in less than half a year to a year.
After returning to the Yaoshan camp, Yang Chen continued to deal with military affairs and did not rest until night.
At this time, the former military governor Yang Quan brought a man to see him.
"See Yang Gong at every meeting in Beihai." Under the dim candlelight, he bowed and saluted.
Yang Chen didn't reply immediately. He looked at it intently for a long time, then smiled and said, "Whose order does Jun Luo come here at night?"
"According to the command of God and the sentiments of the people, I came to see Yang Gong." Feng Pi said.
Yang Chen laughed loudly and said, "Feng Jun is good at talking. With such an impeccable tongue, it can only take an instant to convince Cao Yi, right?"
Feng Pizhengse said: "My servant came here because I was ordered by my benefactor, Duke Cao. When Duke Cao saw the two armies fighting, there were many casualties, he sighed and said, 'This world is full of virtuous people. Duke Liang's achievements are brilliant, and he has good governance.
Skills, and the name of generosity and benevolence, should be regarded as democracy. I am not talented, how can I dare to compete with them and bring disaster to the lives of Qingzhou? All the wrong things have been done to me. If I restrain myself and surrender, the disaster will end.
That's it.'"
The candle flickered on and off, and Yang Chen looked at Fengpi meaningfully.
Pengpi raised his head and looked at Yang Chen calmly.
"Cao Yi used you, and it turns out he used the right person." Yang Chen sighed with emotion, and asked: "Has the demon thief who is unwilling to surrender died a clean death?"
Fengpi's eyelids twitched and he said: "There are still some, but it's nothing serious."
What this sentence means is that most of the uprising fanatics like the demon thieves were killed and wounded, and the defenders in the city were either Gou Xi's surrendered people recruited by Cao Yi, or they were soldiers from wealthy families. Even if the demon thieves did not surrender, they could not withstand the general trend.
This is Cao Yi's problem.
After all, he has a long history and is not a warrior. He can only rely on inertia, power and even money to drive others to serve him. His prestige in the military is not that great, and he is completely different from the "Father of the Silver Spear Army" like Shao Xun.
Normally, it is just a small matter in the Japanese army. When it comes to big things like whether to surrender or not, more and more people have opinions. Therefore, he needs to use his righteousness to consume some die-hard elements first. Almost all of those people have died, and the rest
Even those who are not so stubborn will waver - someone must have seen the signs now.
Gou Xi surrendered, and most of the powerful soldiers and horses were unwilling to die together. At this point, it was the right time to send people to negotiate surrender, and he made a good decision.
"Liang Gong has said it first. If Cao Yi surrenders and the woman gets nothing, it will still be valid." Yang Chen said: "Whether or not to surrender, and how to surrender, all depends on Cao Yi's thoughts. Fengjun, go back.
I am waiting here, hoping to see Mr. Cao within a few days."
Feng Pi stood up and bowed, and was about to leave when he heard Yang Chen say: "If you are not sure, you can open the city gate at night and I will help him cook."
He bowed once again and disappeared into the vast night.
****
The news that Cao Yi was about to surrender was kept top secret, but it was not hidden from Xi Jian, Shao Xu, Jin Zheng, Zhang Shuo and other senior generals.
Others were fine, but Jin Zheng was very irritated after hearing this.
Attacking Guanggu will definitely cost huge casualties, and his Silver Spear Right Battalion cannot supervise the battle all the time without fighting a single siege. And as long as there is a battle, there will be casualties, not necessarily small. Although he doesn't care much
The sergeants suffered casualties, but he did not want to see too many elite soldiers killed or injured.
On the other hand, once Cao Yi surrenders, he will definitely bring Guanggu officials, nobles, and sergeants with him. This will allow too many people to escape their guilt - there will be no excuse to attack them.
After much thought, Jin Zheng decided to write a letter to Master Shao to see what he thought.
Liu Ling was the second one who was not satisfied. By recruiting surrenders and rebels, he had expanded his troops to about 15,000 people and promoted a large number of officers, but - is this the end?
Fortunately, some Qingzhou staff who had recently defected advised him to take it easy, eliminate some of the old and weak, and control the number of troops, otherwise there would be no good harvest. Liu Lingtian was not afraid of anything, but he was afraid of Duke Liang. To be more precise, he was afraid of the two coins in Duke Liang's hand.
Thirty thousand elite soldiers, so they followed the good example and eliminated thousands of those who could not fight, reducing the number to just over 10,000 - the number of soldiers did not change much, but the number of troops became stronger and their combat effectiveness increased.
Others hold an indifferent attitude. Especially the miscellaneous soldiers and horses from all walks of life, who are now waiting to receive rewards to make up for the shortfall caused by their families after the expedition. For this reason, the officers feel like they are facing a powerful enemy, and they are worried that they will not be able to restrain them if they are not careful.
Sergeants, let them turn into wild horses, burning, killing and looting everywhere - this is the virtue of conscripts without military pay.
On May 28, fierce shouts of killing suddenly broke out in Guanggu City.
In the afternoon of that day, the gates of Guanggu were opened.
Cao Yi led the sheep out and, accompanied by a group of generals and subordinates, presented the book and official seal.
From the first battle to the surrender of Kaicheng, it took only two months.
At that time, the golden crow hung in the west, and the setting sun was like blood, reflecting on the generals in Guanggu, which was full of meaning.
Chapter completed!