Chapter 366: Military Expenditure Ten Thousand Gold
Cao Cao once served as Huangfu Song's subordinate and fought in the Battle of Xiaquyang, but was cut off from supplies by Liu Xiang and suffered hardships. He also once served as Liu Xiang's subordinate and followed him in the Battle of Longmen and the Battle of Danhan Mountain.
I have tried both as an enemy and as a friend, and the impression is extremely profound. When I think of fighting him, I don't feel confident enough.
The Yanzhou army is now near Zhang County of Dongping State. Six or seventy miles away along the Wen River is Gang County and Sheqiu County in the southern part of Jibei Kingdom. If it goes northeast, it is Lu County one hundred and sixty miles away.
.
What should we do next? Should we counterattack and seize the city while the enemy's newly occupied city is still unstable, or should we first defend the two southern counties of Jibei?
Cao Cao was silent and couldn't make up his mind for a while. Cheng Yu and Chen Gong, who were accompanying the army on the expedition, discussed it for a long time and unanimously decided that they could not move forward any further.
"Lord, Lu County has been lost. Going to Jibei again will not help. Our army should turn north and return to Linyi and Gucheng as soon as possible to block the enemy's westward march along the Jishui River." Cheng Yu persuaded.
Chen Gong added: "We must increase our troops to Chiping as soon as possible to prepare for an attack from the north bank. My lord, the East County is in danger, so we must not hesitate."
After hearing this, Cao Cao felt a headache thinking about the long Yellow River defense line. Chenliu, Jiyin, and Dongjun were all on the edge of the Yellow River, and they faced threats from the north bank at any time. Now that Jibei is not protected, the enemy can attack on both sides of the northeast.
If we launch an offensive, Yanzhou will be hard to defend.
Even if the Jishui River is blocked, what will happen? How can the Yellow River be defended for hundreds of miles?
too difficult!
Yanzhou is obviously our own territory, but we are always in danger of being cut off by enemy troops.
How to fight this battle?
We can't fight like this. Whether it's a field battle or holding on to the city, it's impossible to just use the army to stop Liu Yicheng. We have to find a way outside of the war.
"Send an envoy to deliver a message to Liu Yicheng. I want to negotiate with him and tell him that if he attacks again, I will go to Yuan Benchu. I will also mediate the war between the Yuan brothers and work together to defeat him." Cao Cao thought for a long time and made his own decision.
However, the tiger skin of the Yuan brothers must be pulled.
The hatred between the Yuan brothers was as deep as the sea, and he actually had no confidence that he could mediate it.
I hope I can fool you.
Bao Xin and Xiahou Dun were defeated on both sides. He suffered a heavy loss of troops and could no longer fight.
The suggestion to go north to Jishui was also rejected. The closer to the Yellow River, the more dangerous it would be. He stationed troops in Zhang County and waited for an answer. If that failed, he would retreat south. At worst, he would not need Yanzhou and retreat to Xuzhou along the way of Lu.
With soldiers and horses in hand, the territory can be conquered, but if the soldiers and horses are gone, the territory cannot be saved.
Cao Cao thought clearly, settled down, and stationed troops for repairs.
Liu Xiang was also repairing, and it took more than a month to capture Lu County. Not many soldiers died in the battle, less than 300, but there were many wounded, more than 500 were seriously injured and more than 2,000 were lightly injured.
Fortunately, there is a medical camp accompanying the army, and the weather is not very hot now, so most people can recover in a short time.
The advantages in all aspects are great, but siege warfare is like this, and damage is inevitable.
There were more than 15,000 Lu County defenders, more than 10,000 of whom were temporarily recruited young men. Their combat effectiveness was not very good. More than 4,000 people were killed in the battle, only more than 1,000 were wounded, and nearly a thousand people were captured.
Wan was also arranged to become a civilian husband.
The King of Jibei took the initiative to offer more than 8,000 shi of grain, and then went to find Liu Yu with his family wealth. He was very knowledgeable about current affairs.
More than 30,000 stones of grain and 140,000 arrows were confiscated from the county government treasury. The rest were really nothing of value. They were so poor.
Yanzhou is in decline, which shows that Boss Cao's early days were indeed difficult, and he needs to be more careful with the cheating.
Cao Cao's envoy has already met, and the negotiation is in his heart. Naturally, he will not refuse. They have made an appointment to the north of Fucheng County at the junction of Jibei Kingdom and Dongping Kingdom. The two of them will each bring a hundred people to protect them.
In the late spring weather, the warm breeze made people feel lazy. Liu Xiang wore a loose white robe and smiled as she looked at Cao Cao, who was wearing Mingguang armor and a lion belt around his waist, trying to make himself look mighty and domineering.
In terms of his height, he was six inches shorter than Liu Xiang, and his facial features were ordinary. It was a pity that he was well-dressed.
Standing next to him was the eight-foot-three-inch Cheng Yu, who lost even more of his aura.
"This set of armor is not light, isn't it? Brother Meng De, isn't he tired?" Liu Xiang couldn't help but tease.
Cao Cao snorted coldly: "Huh, how can we leave our armor when we are in the army? Liu Qiaoqi is slacking off!"
I believe you, who would wear armor when not in battle? Liu Xiang stretched out his hand and invited him to sit in the tent.
"Brother Meng De, you should sit down and rest for a while. I am so tired for you. You used to dare to run to my territory alone, but now in your own territory, you have to wear armor to dare to see me? I agree to negotiate.
You come here with sincerity, why do you have to be so pretentious?"
After sitting down, Cao Cao put away his posture and sighed: "Things have changed and people have changed. The world has changed. I really don't know how to face my old friends. What should I do if my friends lead troops to attack? Does Yicheng know the answer?"
"Confucius said: It's great to have friends from far away." Liu Xiang joked and changed the subject: "Let's talk about business. What conditions are you going to use to negotiate with me to dispel my idea of attacking Yanzhou?
"
Cao Cao looked sad, and Cheng Yu interrupted: "My lord..."
Liu Xiang glanced at him coldly and interrupted: "Shut up, do you have the right to speak?"
Cheng Yu was very talented and could lead troops in wars and govern local areas, but this did not prevent Liu Xiang from hating him. He was a villain who used human flesh as food for the army.
"Shiyu of the Wei and Jin Dynasties" records: "In the beginning, Cao Cao was short of food. Yu took over his own county and provided him with three days of food, which was mixed with dried meat. As a result, he lost the hope of the court and could not take the throne."
In the early days, Cao Cao's army was seriously short of food, so Cheng Yu seized food in his county (Dong'e County) and supplied Cao Cao's army with three days of rations. The food included a lot of human flesh. From then on, Cheng Yu lost his position in the court.
prestige, so he cannot be ranked among the three nobles.
This not only happened in the original history, but it also happened now. Just last year, when Cao Cao first took over Liu Dai's remnant army, there was a lack of supplies. Cheng Yu robbed people in his hometown, Dong'a County, and killed people to make preserved meat.
, scraped together a sum of military rations.
This was his first great achievement in joining Cao Cao's group, helping Lao Cao get his first army.
So Liu Xiang hated him very much.
Cheng Yu didn't have a good temper either. He was about to poke his finger and curse: "You..."
Cao Cao, with quick eyesight and quick hands, grabbed his raised arm and interrupted his subsequent words: "Zhongde, you go down and rest first, while I chat with my old friends."
This Cheng Zhongde didn't understand Liu Yicheng's temperament. If he really dared to point his finger at the other person and curse him, he would definitely be killed.
Cheng Yu exited Lupeng under Lao Cao's stern gaze.
Liu Xiang watched the villain go away with regret. It was a pity that he didn't find a chance to kill him.
"Zhongde is a famous scholar. Why did Yicheng deliberately humiliate him? It's disrespectful." Cao Cao stopped the conflict between the two and couldn't help but complain.
"How can a villain who leads beasts and cannibals deserve to sit with me?"
Lao Cao actually knew about the dried meat, but he just pretended not to see it. Looking back on the twists and turns in the past two years, he went from being determined to serve the country to being discouraged, and now he has become a warlord of a separatist regime.
Suddenly he lost his interest in intrigue and bargaining, and lamented: "Make a price, what do you want? If we really have to go to Yanzhou, I will just go south and join Yuan Benchu."
"Yuan's reputation is not small, but the world's surname is Liu. It was like this before, it is like this now, and it will be like this in the future. Why should Brother Meng De abandon the near and seek the far away?" Liu Xiang asked.
Cao Cao thought for a moment and shook his head: "The way is different."
This sentence is worth a thousand words. Liu Xiang stopped trying to persuade him and made his own request: "We will form an alliance to attack Dong Zhuo and secede the Northern Kingdom of Ji. Give me Taishan County. Since you are too poor to eat, compensate me."
The military expenditure is only ten thousand catties of gold."
Cao Cao's eyes widened, he cut land and donated treasures. It happened often in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. There were many records in the history books. It was nothing unusual, but he had never heard such shameless remarks in his life.
"You led your troops to attack me, and now you want me to compensate you for the military expenses of sending troops? Liu Yicheng, how can you say such shameless words?"
"You give it to me, or I can pick it up myself, choose one!"