Chapter 351: Military Morale Mist
In Runan, Man Chong led his troops northward across the border of Ruying County and stationed in Yan County, an important transportation hub on the Chidao Road.

When Cao Ren was clearing the countryside in Yingchuan, Man Chong did not stand idly by. He also followed the imperial edict and cleared the countryside in the northern counties of Runan.

Therefore, Yan County had become a deserted city, and the few officials and civilians here had already been transferred and forcibly relocated to Chen and Pei states.

In the empty, burnt-out Yan County, Man Chong rode his horse up the city wall.

The city tower collapsed due to the flames, and the entire city was filled with collapsed houses, ashes, and remaining charred wood that had not been completely burned.

Man Chong jumped off his horse. With his sturdy figure of about 1.8 meters tall and wearing gilded Ming Guang armor, he observed the scenes inside and outside the city.

The soldiers under his command pushed the carts into the city one after another. The soldiers who entered the city first had already begun to wander around cleaning up the ruins and collecting useful materials.

Professional civil engineering teams began to clear the soil and rocks that filled the well water, and the well water must be restored before dark.

Cao's army has fought wars for so many years and has sufficient experience of this kind.

There is no need for military officers to arrange for it, as veteran soldiers who understand the technology and have relevant knowledge will restore the water source on their own.

"Report~!"

The cavalrymen rode their horses and held high the flags, and the officials and soldiers entering the city along the way hurriedly avoided them.

This made the riders go straight into the city, jump off their horses at the slope of the horse path, and quickly climb up the city walls with their letter bags on their backs and small flags held high.

When he reached Man Chong, the cavalryman knelt on one knee, took off his backpack and held it in both hands: "Urgent news!"

Man Chong's guards stepped forward to take it, untied it in front of Man Chong, broke the mud seal, took out a scroll of silk book without even looking at it, and handed it to Man Chong with both hands.

Due to the special historical circumstances of the Runan area, as well as the adverse effects of the policy of fortifying the city and forcibly relocating the people to the eastern part of Yuzhou, and the incident of the assassination of the emperor.

Therefore, the scholars of Runan have basically withdrawn from the county and prefecture governments. They dare not resist Man Chong, nor will they actively cooperate with Man Chong.

During the Battle of Guandu, Man Chong had already frightened and weakened the scholars and powerful people of Runan; now with Liu Bei's army at their side, the scholars of Runan still did not dare to rise up.

The scholars of Runan are like this, so Man Chong should not force them too much.

This temporary peaceful breakup provides a possibility of reconciliation if the situation changes in the future. If cruel measures are taken again, there will be civil unrest in Runan, and no one will benefit. Instead, it will lead to external calculations.

Both sides were relatively restrained, avoiding a situation where both sides suffered losses in a fight.

Man Chong opened the silk cloth and saw that it described how three thousand soldiers from Guanzhong arrived in Nanxiang, joined with two thousand soldiers from Nanxiang County and three thousand corvée soldiers, and began to transport food and military supplies to Liu Bei.

The two thousand soldiers from Nanxiang County had almost no influence, and these two thousand people could not even protect Nanxiang’s homeland.

If Liu Biao and his son turned against each other and sent troops to forcibly occupy Nanxiang, these county soldiers might not dare to resist.

Now that these two thousand county soldiers have been forced by the Guanzhong soldiers to fight in the Central Plains, will Nanxiang be left undefended?
How can this be?

Therefore, a troop of Guanzhong soldiers must be stationed in Nanxiang, and now the problem falls to Liu Biao and his son.

Sending troops to Nanxiang to deal with Yi Ji is one thing, and sending troops to Nanxiang to challenge the Guanzhong troops is another thing.

Liu Biao and his son were in trouble, and the Jingzhou soldiers in charge of the operation would probably be in trouble as well.

After analyzing the intelligence sent from Xiangyang, Man Chong pondered for a long time and decided to report it to Xu Du.

The decisive battle in the Central Plains could not be easily changed by the five thousand Runan soldiers under his command.

After all, the policy of scorching the city and clearing the countryside has made the people of Runan disunited and disloyal. Among the 5,000 Runan soldiers, 2,000 are local people who were recently conscripted. These people will not fight to the death, but will instead have a counterproductive effect at a critical moment.

The murder of the emperor and the signs of the decline of Cao Cao's power made the other 3,000 soldiers lack fighting spirit.

In addition, they were enemies with Liu Bei, and Liu Bei's "long experience in all directions" meant that many people had heard of Liu Bei's deeds.

Many soldiers even have indirect relationships with Liu Bei. If the army stays on the edge of the battlefield, stability can be maintained.

If he intervened in the battle, various unfavorable factors would overlap and explode at the same time, and the consequences would be something Man Chong could not bear.

Man Chong must not lose his army before Cao Cao is cleared.

Now I'm dead, and my death is meaningless.

Only by following Cao Cao to cleanse himself and then switching to another place or resigning from office can he maintain his clean identity.

Therefore, Man Chong was very motivated, but he did not want to get involved in this war.

Maintain the situation in Runan and leave the key combat tasks to Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan. There is really no need to grab the limelight and take risks that do not belong to you. Not only Man Chong, but also Li Tong is like this.

No one knew what kind of psychological storm the murder of the emperor would cause among the poor warriors.

He had been able to endure it before, but now Liu Bei insisted on sending troops to attack Cao.

If there are loyal and righteous people in Cao's army, when will they rebel if not now?
Therefore, we must wait and see how many people respond to Liu Bei.

If things go wrong, it might be a sweeping trend... By that time, if you join Liu Bei with a relatively intact Runan and army, you will naturally be treated with courtesy.

So at this time, there is really no need to go to Liu Bei and cause trouble for yourself, just wait and see.

This is the core conflict between the pro-Liu faction and the pro-Cao faction. Since his surname is neither Liu nor Cao, there is really no need to get involved.

Man Chong and Li Tong made a decision that was consistent with their resumes, identities, and positions.

Just like during the Guandu period, many county officials and garrisons under Cao Cao became invisible people.

As long as the neutral attitude is clear enough, there will be a way to survive after the war.

On the contrary, those who jump back and forth and have a strong desire to show off often have no way out.

Under this special situation of public opinion and military morale, the atmosphere of mutual suspicion within Cao's army became increasingly intense.

When guarding the city and closing the city gates, one can more or less maintain superficial peace.

But in other situations, it is not good.

For example, Xu Huang originally commanded 5,000 troops, but now there are only a few hundred people left in his headquarters. Most of the 5,000 troops he commanded were soldiers assigned under the staggered service system, or surrendered soldiers who were dispersed and resettled.

After Zhang Liao and Zhang Xiu successively rebelled, Xu Huang became increasingly suspected.

He was originally a county official who was held hostage by the Baibo Army. Later, he protected the emperor in his eastward migration and was granted the title of a regular Han soldier.

The generals and captains who supported the emperor's eastward migration were purged one after another, and Xu Huang was almost the only remaining representative figure.

After the emperor was assassinated, Xu Huang reacted quickly and immediately executed a group of military officials, completing the integration of military power.

This behavior intensified the overall suspicion of Xu Huang among Cao's army, but no one dared to take the initiative to attack or provoke Xu Huang.

But until now, Xu Huang is still hesitating.

Seizing military power was really just an instinct for survival in troubled times. If he didn't kill those opinion leaders in the army, the army would definitely be in chaos after the news of the emperor's assassination spread.

Also because Xu Huang took action first, the army remained stable.

For those officials who just want to get by, they will obey whoever holds the order.

For another group of officers and soldiers who had some ideas, Xu Huang took the initiative to integrate military power, which made him look like one of their own.

Therefore, Xu Huang's army is currently very stable. It is this internal stability that makes it so that when the surrounding Cao army is full of suspicion, no one dares to suppress it by force.

It was under such circumstances that Guan Yu's letter was delivered to Xu Huang's military camp.

At this moment, Xu Huang was stationed in Chenliu, far away from the core battlefield.

Xu Huang was in a dilemma. The morale of the army was stable now. As long as Liu Bei's offensive became more fierce, his morale would also rise.

If he left the fixed camp, violated Cao Cao's orders, and illegally approached the battlefield, then other Cao troops would block him from the front and back, and it would be difficult for his 5,000 men to break the situation on their own.

Not only Xu Huang, some other people also had similar concerns.

Acting alone, no one can make a breakthrough.

In particular, the only cavalry group was in the hands of Cao Chun. If they were defeated, the entire army would be wiped out.

As for leading troops away from the battlefield, the morale of the soldiers will be boosted because of their change of allegiance; if you go against the trend during this period, the morale that has just risen will collapse, and the battle encountered in this case will be more dangerous.

Xu Huang hesitated for a moment before deciding to change the flag first.

Someone must step forward to break the fog. This contribution is huge and is enough to serve as a greeting gift.

We cannot count on other officers of Cao’s army. These people are too cautious and do not have the confidence to resist siege and strangulation.

And he, Xu Huang, has this confidence!
(End of this chapter)