Compared with the high spirits and generous treatment of the Han soldiers, the Yellow Turban Army surrounded by the Han soldiers was in a gloomy and bleak state.
In order to fight against the Han army, they paid a high price and sacrificed a lot, but the losses they caused to the Han army were very small, but their own losses were huge.
The Han army's strange fire attack tactics burned their mountain defenses to pieces and almost became ineffective.
It had been raining and snowing in the past few days, so the Han army stopped its fire attack. The fine weather for more than ten consecutive days became the Han army's biggest reliance. The burning burned them to the point of heartache and split their livers and gallbladders.
They didn't know why those flames burned so fiercely, and it was difficult to extinguish them with water. They had to use sand to suffocate them - but the efficiency was too low.
Those who put out the fire simply couldn't keep up with the speed at which people set fires. Sometimes a gust of cold wind would violently expand the fire, and all the previous work would be in vain. If you don't want to be burned to death, you can only abandon the defenses and run for your life.
He ran away and ran away, and soon he became a habit. When he saw the Han army advancing, he did not dare to resist, so he turned around and ran away, almost losing the courage to fight.
For more than half a month, they lost consecutive battles and never won a single victory. The biggest "victory" was when Sima Ju personally led troops to sneak attack on the Han army's logistics, but he failed to complete his success.
After that time, the Han army not only did not shrink the front line, but instead strengthened its offensive and attacked more and more fiercely. The Huangjin Mountain-Vietnam Allied Forces could not resist and retreated continuously, and their power to take the initiative was exhausted.
Seeing that the Han army had compressed them near their nest, they could be completely wiped out as long as they continued to attack. At the critical moment, it started to rain.
It rained for a while, and then it snowed heavily, making the roads muddy and the air humid. The Han army slowed down its attack and did not continue the fire attack. Instead, they set up camp on the spot and began to besiege.
This is of course a good thing. The Yellow Turban Army was able to take a breather, but while they were taking a breather, their mood was very low, and the negative impact of consecutive failures suddenly emerged.
Fierce internal conflicts arose within the Yellow Turban Army over the failure of the battle, and the command status of Xu He and Sima Ju was strongly questioned.
They believed that since the defeat of Xuzhou, the Yellow Turban Army had been in decline all the way south and could not even achieve any effective victory against the Han Army. Isn't this a mistake at the command level?
I remember when they were in Xuzhou, they beat the Han army under Liu Yan to a pulp. At its peak, one-third of Xuzhou was their territory, but what about now?
They believed that Xu He, Sima Ju and others needed to reflect on themselves and realize their mistakes.
Danyang Shanyue also suffered excessive losses due to the Yellow Turban Army's incorrect tactical guidance. Fei Zhan was extremely dissatisfied and demanded compensation from the Yellow Turban Army, otherwise he would no longer help them fight.
Sima Ju was furious at the time and spoke without thinking. He mocked Fei Zhan for his wishful thinking and asked Fei Zhan to think carefully about the situation. Now he had no other way out except standing with the Yellow Turban Army and fighting to the end.
Any more benefits?!
There are still benefits at this time. Do you plan to take the benefits into the coffin?
Fei Zhan turned pale with anger and walked away, and the relationship between the two parties became tense.
In the past few days when the Han army stopped attacking, the weather was very cold, and the people's hearts were also very cold. What's more terrible, supplies began to be in short supply.
In order to supply the war, the supplies previously stored in the mountains were consumed, and many of them were burned or captured by the Han army. The mountainous areas controlled by the Yellow Turban Army fell into a state of slight famine. In order to deal with this situation, Xu He had to
Ordered a material rationing system.
The soldiers fighting on the front line are fully provided with two meals a day to give them the strength to fight. The Yellow Turban Army command staff can also eat two meals a day.
The rest of the people, regardless of gender, old or young, could only eat one meal a day, and the food was rationed. It was winter anyway, and they were not expected to do any farm work. They could just lie down and reduce the energy consumption if they had nothing to do.
Unless there is a need to deliver supplies to the front line, the people delivering them can have an extra meal.
That's all.
Some people were worried that this would not work, so they suggested going to Fei Zhan to buy grain. He must have a lot of grain stocks there, but Fei Zhan ignored them and drove their people back.
Sima Ju was so angry that he almost didn't lead his troops to grab it.
It was Xu He who stopped Sima Ju.
"If you hadn't spoken too impulsively, Fei Zhan wouldn't be like this. Now you still want to start a war with him? Can you do it? Do you want your life? The Han army is still besieging us, and you are going to fight in the nest?"
Sima Ju lowered his head, stamped his feet fiercely, and left.
The days approaching the fifth anniversary of Jian'an were the most difficult days for the entire Yellow Turban Army group. The weather was severe and cold, but they lacked food and clothing.
The frontline soldiers said that they could eat two meals a day, but the food was mainly porridge, and the content of rice grains was greatly reduced. A bowl of porridge was so thin that it could be drunk as soup, and the salt content could only be slightly supplemented. The body gradually became weak and weak.
Seeing that this was not going to work, Xu He became more and more anxious. He felt that he had to do something, otherwise if he continued like this, he would not be able to survive this new year, and everyone would be doomed.
So he called Sima Ju and some other generals to discuss taking advantage of the few days when the Han army could not use fire attacks to launch a strategic counterattack to reverse the decline in one fell swoop.
"Is it possible? We all have little food, no salt, no strength, and we are all weak. How can we fight a war?"
"Unless we take out all the remaining food, eat a big meal, build up enough strength, and then make a last-ditch effort to win, everything will be fine. If we lose, we will all die. Do you want to bet?"
"Isn't this too much of a gamble?"
"In this situation, what else can we do if we don't gamble? Should we wait to die? Or should we wait for the Han army to starve to death before us?"
A group of people discussed and discussed to no avail. Xu He had no choice but to order everyone to patrol their respective defense areas. Xu He and Sima Ju also went to the front line to patrol and observe the movements of the Han army.
Two days before the critical festival, Xu He and Sima Ju were patrolling the front line. Before they reached the front hills, they smelled a faint aroma.
"Where does the smell of meat come from? Someone caught a wild animal? Barbecue?"
Xu He sniffed, smelling the increasingly obvious aroma of meat in the air, and curiously asked the subordinates around him.
The subordinate showed a bitter smile.
Still wild animals?
These days, all the edible food in the mountains has been taken out by the soldiers, and they only have to dig three feet into the ground. Even the rats and snakes in the holes have been caught and eaten, and the bark of the trees has almost been stripped off.
"It's the Han Army. The Han Army's camp has been steaming with heat for a long time. Things have been cooking all the time. The aroma comes from there. The aroma of various meats drifts towards us when the wind blows. Everyone
They are all so greedy that their mouths are watering."
When Xu He heard this, he and Sima Ju looked at each other, and they both saw the solemn look in the other's eyes.
So the two quickly arrived at the front hill. Under the protection of the soldiers, they climbed up and looked into the distance. They could see the steaming appearance of the Han army camp surrounding another hill.
"Are they stewing meat?"
"Maybe, the Chinese New Year will be coming soon, and it seems that the Han army plans to celebrate the New Year here."
"………………"
Xu He remained silent.
Seeing the soldiers around him twitching their noses and swallowing saliva, Xu He lowered his head and turned around to walk back.
Sima Ju listened for a while and followed Xu He's footsteps.
"What should we do now? It seems that the Han army will not withdraw its defenses at all, and the supplies of supplies are sufficient. They can all eat stew. We here have only one meal but no next meal. That's it. I don't know how long we can hold on. It's ten at most.
In half a month, we will be out of food."
Xu He was silent for a while, walked slowly for a while, and then slowly stopped.
"The Han army is showing off and demonstrating. They are using the aroma of meat as weapons to attack our defense line. We have already lost before there is a close fight."
"this……"
"Hold on for the next few days. After the New Year, send someone to discuss with Fei Zhan, apologize, and buy some food from him. He is a sensible person. He should also know that without us, he will have nothing.
A good ending, if we persist a little longer, we should be able to get through it."
"All right."
Sima Ju said nothing more and left the front line with Xu He.
Although they were in a very low mood, they had to say——
The smell of meat from the Han army was so fragrant.