Chapter 247: Liu Bei is the biggest stumbling block to your unification of the world! Wen Hou, let's surrender Liu Bei again!

Guo Jia's figure shuddered slightly.

My boss has actually done things like massacring a city to vent his anger.

The first attack on Xuzhou was under the banner of revenge for the old man Cao Song. The blood flowed like a river in Xuzhou and the Si River was blocked.

Over the years, thanks to their advice, Cao Cao's murderous nature has been curbed a lot, and the number of massacres has decreased significantly.

However, the death of Cao Ang today seemed to have released the devil in Cao Cao's heart again, and the bloody scene of Xuzhou that year might not be impossible to reappear.

Guo Jia wanted to persuade Cao Cao, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.

If Liu Bei was still weak and had just killed Cao Ang when he occupied Nanyang, he might have been able to persuade Cao Cao.

As long as the army attacked Nanyang and forced Liu Bei to surrender, given Cao Cao's magnanimity and the lessons learned from Xuzhou, it was possible that he would accept Liu Bei's surrender and give up his plan to vent his anger by massacring the city.

He would even promote Liu Bei to a high position to show his magnanimity and set an example for the princes in all directions.

Unfortunately, Liu Bei is too strong now.

It was so strong that there was no way Cao Cao could conquer it, and it was even possible that Liu Bei could join forces with Yuan Shao to divide and conquer Cao Cao.

Under this situation, how could Liu Bei surrender to you?

Not even a chance!
For Cao Cao, this meant that he lost the opportunity to show his magnanimity.

Given Cao Cao's temperament, his only choice was to fight Liu Bei to the death and massacre the city to vent his anger.

Even if he uttered harsh words and used the excuse of revenge against Liu Bei to arouse the anger of the Cao and Xiahou clans, and even the generals from other families, he could use this to rally people's hearts and inspire their fighting spirit.

After figuring this out, Guo Jia guessed what Cao Cao was thinking, so he stopped trying to persuade him and just sighed secretly.

Inside the big tent.

Cao Hong, Xiahou Shang and other clan generals were indeed aroused with anger, and they all expressed their willingness to follow Cao Cao to defend Guandu to the death, defeat Yuan Shao, and then march south to massacre Jing and Yang to avenge Cao Ang.

Yu Jin and other people from other families naturally did not want to be outdone. They also expressed their anger and called for revenge for Cao Ang.

Seeing that the fighting spirit of his generals was aroused, Cao Cao secretly breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little comforted.

Just when his mood improved a little, Wang Hu, the grain officer, came in hurriedly and brought bad news:

There is less than ten days' worth of food and fodder!
Cao Cao frowned, and his mood, which had just improved, was once again overshadowed.

"The day before yesterday, Lord Xun sent a letter saying that he had done his best to collect food and fodder, but the latest batch of food and fodder would not be delivered to the Guandu front line until about the 16th."

"The food and grass in the camp are only enough to support us for ten days. This is really a headache!"

Guo Jia poked his forehead with his fingertips, and his brows were furrowed into a straight line.

The enthusiasm of the generals in the tent suddenly wilted, and everyone was helpless.

They can fight to the death in the battlefield, but they have no way to deal with it when the food and fodder are all gone. Can they create it out of thin air?

Cao Cao pondered for a long time, waved his hand and shouted:
"Pass the order down and change the large measures to small measures to distribute the grain. This will help us hold out for another ten days."

Wang Hu was startled and hurriedly bowed and reminded:
"Sikong, the large measure has been changed to a small measure for distributing food. The soldiers will have less food. If they are not full, they will surely complain, which will affect the morale of the army."

Cao Cao raised his lips, a hint of cunning in his eyes, and said:

"You can just distribute the grain in small quantities. If the soldiers really get resentful and the army's morale changes, you only need to lend me one thing, and the resentment of the soldiers will subside."

Wang Hu was stunned, and he thought that the resentment of the soldiers must be appeased with food and fodder. Could he conjure up food and fodder out of thin air to help Cao Sikong quell their resentment?

"Okay, you don't need to ask any more questions, just distribute the food according to the order!"

Cao Cao didn't explain much, just waved his hand and shouted.

Wang Hu took his leave and left.

"Sikong wants to lend me something to calm the soldiers' resentment. What does he want to lend me..."

Wang Hu looked confused, muttered to himself all the way, and left silently.

As he watched Wang Hu's back, a barely perceptible sinister look flashed across Cao Cao's lips.

...

North of Guandu is Yuan’s main camp.

"what!"

"How dare Liu Bei take the initiative and attack my lower prime minister?"

"Ten thousand soldiers were defeated by his three thousand men, and Gan'er was captured alive?"

After reading the urgent report sent by Yuan Tan, Yuan Shao was shocked and slammed the table in anger.

Just during the day, his earthen hill was destroyed by Cao Cao's thunder chariot, and he had just recovered from his anger.

Before he could calm down, Yuan Tan hit him on the head again:

Xiaxiang was lost, and tens of thousands of soldiers were killed or wounded. Lu Kuang was killed and Gao Gan was captured!
The plan to capture Xuyi, threaten Jiangdong, and save Lu Bu from danger was thus thwarted.

Yuan Shao was extremely angry!

As the most powerful overlord in the world, who wouldn’t be afraid of me?
You, Liu Bei, are so good. I haven't even used military force against you yet, but you dare to take the initiative and send troops to provoke me first?

Not only did they kill my generals, they even captured my nephew!

Don’t you really take me, Yuan Shao, seriously?
"This mat weaver and shoe seller is really arrogant. How dare he look down on me like this?"

Yuan Shao, feeling deeply offended, became furious and threw the urgent report to the ground angrily.

The counselors were in an uproar, most of them agreed with Yuan Shao, and were angry at Liu Bei's arrogance. Only Ju Su suppressed his surprise, picked up the urgent report that Yuan Shao had thrown on the ground, and examined it carefully.

In the urgent report, it was described how Taishi Ci disguised himself as Lu Jun and lured Gao Gan out of the city to meet him under the pretext of delivering the imperial seal. He then took the opportunity to capture Gao Gan alive and defeated 10,000 Yuan troops.

Yuan Tan also speculated in his urgent report that Taishi Ci's sneak attack plan was most likely the idea of ​​Liu Bei's adviser named Pang Tong.

"They pretended to be Lü Bu's army and claimed to be delivering the imperial seal. This means they figured out the conditions that the lord had set for Lü Bu to send troops."

"So they took advantage of our situation and took advantage of this opportunity to launch a preemptive strike and kill us by surprise."

"I have to say, Pang Tong's wisdom is truly amazing."

"Besides Xiao Fang, Liu Bei actually has such a powerful strategist under his command?"

Ju Su sighed with emotion, and a deep fear gradually emerged between his brows.

Then he took a deep breath, and bowed solemnly:

"Now that our army has suffered a defeat, the eldest son can no longer spare enough troops to rescue Lu Bu."

"There are many hidden talents among Liu Bei's advisers and generals. If he can gain Huainan, his strength will probably far exceed Cao Cao's."

"Even if you defeat Cao Cao and seize the Central Plains, it will be twice as difficult to go south to defeat Liu Bei and unify the world."

"I think we can't delay any longer. We should defeat Guandu as soon as possible and recapture Xudu."

"Then my lord will have the hope of marching south, joining the eldest son's eastern army, and reaching Huainan before Liu Bei captures Shouchun!"

"Liu Bei is the real enemy that prevents my lord from unifying the world!"

Yuan Shao's body trembled, as if he was awakened by Ju Su's words, and he suddenly felt a chill on his back.

He recalled the original reason why he was in a hurry to go south. Wasn't it because he was old and wanted to complete the great cause of unifying the world before the deadline?
Even if he defeated Cao Cao and seized the Central Plains provinces, he was blocked by Liu Bei in Jianghuai, which made it impossible for him to realize the great cause of unifying the world in his lifetime. Wouldn't he end up dying with regret?

"You are right. I will never let those weavers and shoe sellers stop me from unifying the world!"

"We must quickly defeat Cao Cao, crush Guandu, and capture Xudu!"

Yuan Shao slammed the table and stood up again, his eyes revealing determination and eagerness.

Ju Su took a step forward and took the opportunity to speak:
"So I think that continuing to fight Cao Cao at Guandu is not a long-term solution!"

"The Cao bandits' weakness lies in their food supplies. My lord, you should take advantage of our cavalry advantage and send light cavalry to bypass Guandu and penetrate deep into the enemy's rear to rob their food supplies at all costs!"

"As long as we cut off Cao's food supply, they will collapse without a fight, and Guandu can be easily captured!"

Yuan Shao's eyes lit up, and after a moment's hesitation, he shouted:

"Yan Liang, Wen Chou, listen to my orders!"

"I order you two to lead my Youyan cavalry and follow your plan to bypass Guandu and rob Cao's food supplies!"

"I will cut off Cao's food supply within a month and capture Guandu in one fell swoop!"

The two Hebei generals accepted the order with great enthusiasm.

Yuan Shao came to the door of the tent, stood with his hands behind his back, and looked beyond the Guandu Barrier to the distant south.

"Liu Bei, do you really think that you, a weaver and shoe seller, can save your Liu family kingdom and stop me from unifying the world and establishing my Yuan Dynasty..."

A conceited sneer sounded.

...

Shouchun City, on the south gate tower.

Lu Bu looked down at Liu Jun's camp outside the city with a gloomy face and a frown.

After receiving the news that Yuan and Cao's reinforcements had been defeated, Liu Bei re-blocked the gap in the siege and built several earthen walls and trenches in three layers inside and outside, completely surrounding Shouchun City into an isolated island.

At this time, Lu Bu had completely lost contact with the outside world and was in a desperate situation.

"Reporting to Lord Wen, the grain in our treasury is less than a month's supply. I have changed to using small buckets to distribute grain to the soldiers according to Lord Wen's instructions."

"It's just that the soldiers are not getting enough to eat, and they are complaining privately. The morale of the army has dropped sharply."

"Marquis Wen, this is not a solution."

General Gao Shun went up to the city wall to report, which made Lu Bu's gloomy mood even worse.

Lu Bu punched the battlement with his fist and said through gritted teeth:
"With no reinforcements outside and no food inside, am I really going to be trapped to death by that big-eared thief in this isolated city?"

All the generals of the Lu family looked at each other with gloomy expressions.

The word "despair" was circulating in the eyes of the generals.

"Now that it has come to this, if anyone among you has a good idea to turn the situation around, please stop hiding it and tell us now!"

No matter how much Lu Bu complained, he still had to face reality and think about how to survive.

Chen Gong thought for a moment and opened his mouth to speak.

Gao Shun took the lead and said with a salutation:
"Marquis Wen, the situation has come to this point. I'm afraid we are powerless to save it."

"I think it would be better to follow the example of Xuzhou and surrender to Liu Bei again."

"Liu Bei has always been kind and generous. He might really approve Marquis Wen's request to surrender. Only then can Marquis Wen save his life and his soldiers and followers, and have hope of rising again in the future."

Lu Bu's face suddenly changed, and he looked at Gao Shun with shock and anger.

(End of this chapter)