Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 88: Drought in Huainan, Old Cao is shocked
In Runan, the war between Cao and Yuan has reached a white-hot stage.

In this battle, Cao Cao sent out 80,000 troops, while Yuan Shu's garrison was nearly 100,000.

Although Yuan Shu had the advantage in military strength, he was still suppressed by Cao.

This was because most of Yuan Shu's men were forcibly recruited peasant soldiers with low combat effectiveness, while Cao Cao had the Qingzhou soldiers and many elite troops, and were full of fighting spirit.

The combat effectiveness of the soldiers on both sides is completely equal. They can still fight to defend the city, but once they encounter Cao’s army in the wild, they will have only one fate: defeat and flee!
Previously, because Cao Cao followed Guo Jia's plan, he defeated Yuan Shu in Ruyang. Yuan Shu suffered heavy losses and knew that he could not defeat Cao Cao, so he sent Zhang Xun to lead 20,000 troops to station in Nandun.

He let Le Jiu, Li Feng and others garrison Shangcai, while he stationed his own troops in Pingyu.

These three cities formed a pincer defense line to resist Cao Cao's attack.

Since Cao Cao launched his army, he had won victory after victory. Knowing that Yuan Shu was at the end of his strength, he personally led his troops to the city of Pingyu, and sent Cao Ren and 8,000 men to confront Zhang Xun in Nandun.

Xiahou Dun's troops continued to attack Shangcai, putting pressure on Yuan Shu's flank.

In just over half a month, the two armies fought no less than fifty times, but perhaps because Yuan Shu was really angry, he refused to retreat even though he suffered heavy casualties.

As time entered August, the power of the drought began to become apparent.

There has been no heavy rain for nearly three months, causing the entire Huainan area to fall into drought.

Similarly, Runan was also affected, and the degree was even more serious than Jiujiang.

Although Jiujiang was dry, it had numerous water veins and did not affect the army's operations.

Although Runan has three tributaries, its flow has begun to decrease.

In Runan, many small rivers have even dried up, revealing dry riverbeds.

Seeing that the drought was so severe, Cao Cao had to slow down his advance and focus on the drought.

At this time, under Pingyu City, in Cao Cao's army, the military officer Mao Jie was seen saying with a serious expression:

"My Lord, since May this year, Runan, Jiujiang and other places have been suffering from drought for nearly three months!"

"Since last month, a small number of refugees have appeared in Runan and are migrating towards our military territory."

"Judging from the current situation, even if it rains again, Huainan will be doomed to fail this year."

"In addition, since the beginning of the month, our army has consumed more than half of its food reserves. If we want to continue the offensive, we need to transfer food from all over the country."

"But now that the water volume in the river has decreased, it is becoming increasingly difficult for our army to transport food."

"Your Majesty has already recruited another 10,000 civilians, but we are still not strong enough. If this continues, I'm afraid our army will not be able to continue!"

Listening to Mao Jie's words, Cao Cao sat in the main seat, silent.

Guo Jia stood beside him with a serious expression.

The thing they were most worried about finally happened!

In fact, ever since he heard that grain prices in Yanzhou began to rise, Cao Cao began to pay attention to the drought situation in various places.

Although there was some trend in Huainan at that time, it did not have much impact.

But since Cao Cao sent out his troops, the whole situation seemed to be a little wrong.

Because there was no rain at all during their march.

But even so, Cao Cao still held on to a glimmer of hope, thinking that God would not be so cruel. They had just recovered from the drought last year, so Huainan should not suffer a severe drought this year.

But as the war progressed, the situation began to become clear.

The severe drought in Huainan is a foregone conclusion. The scale of this drought is not just a simple reduction in yield, but a more terrifying total loss of yield.

You have to know that the people of that era had a hard time even feeding themselves, and they didn't have much food stored.

Once Huainan fails to harvest, hundreds of thousands of refugees will be generated!
This number of refugees could directly kill Cao Cao.

After hearing this, Cao Cao pondered for a long time before asking:

"Xiaoxian, how long can our army's food and fodder last?"

Mao Jie heard this and stroked his beard and estimated for a while before saying:

"Lord Cao, our army still has 50,000 dan of grain and fodder left. With the help of the civilians transporting grain, we can still sustain for another month and a half!"

"The current difficulty facing our army is not the amount of food and fodder we have, but the inability to transport it."

"Now the people of Runan have begun to run out of food, and many bandits have emerged and attacked our army's grain transport teams many times."

"If we wait another month, I'm afraid our army's food supply will be cut off by the refugees."

"Besides, the autumn harvest is approaching. If our army does not end this battle within a month, I am afraid the people will also rebel."

Hearing this, Cao Cao stopped talking and waved his hand to let Mao Jie leave.

His slender eyes were dark and gloomy, as if he was weighing the pros and cons.

Guo Jia stood beside him and didn't dare to say a word.

The current situation is indeed somewhat complicated for them.

After all, Cao Cao is not like Liu Bei. Cao's family is large and powerful, and there are too many things to consider.

Seeing that Yuan Shu was half dead, Cao Cao of course wanted to fight.

But the reality was that he couldn't fight any further.

If it had been delayed for another two months, the drought would have killed him here.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao couldn't help but look up at Guo Jia and said:

"What do you think of the current situation, Feng Xiao?"

When Guo Jia heard this, he shook his head and sighed:
"The situation is like this, the only way is to attack quickly!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, Cao Cao shook his head slightly, closed his eyes and sighed:

"What I'm asking about is not the current situation!"

"But what is Liu Bei's army planning this time?"

"Who else in the world can plan for a drought?"

"Can the great power of heaven and earth really be used by humans?"

When Guo Jia heard Lao Cao's sigh, he knew what he meant.

If there were doubts before about Qin Zhen's assistance to Liu Bei, then now it is an ironclad fact that Qin Zhen is under Liu Bei's command!

Because they had already found out that the rise in grain prices in Yanzhou was due to Liu Bei hoarding a large amount of grain.

Why did Liu Bei want to store grain?
They really couldn't see it before, but now it is very obvious. Liu Bei stored grain obviously for this moment!
Liu Bei's army had already anticipated the severe drought in Huainan, which is why they stockpiled grain early on.

Based on this point alone, we can tell that this is 100% information revealed by Qin Zhen.

Because only Qin Zhen could predict celestial phenomena so accurately and incorporate them into the strategy so early on.

In other words, until now, the situation is still under Qin Zhen's control.

The situation they are facing now is probably within Qin Zhen's expectations.

What Cao Cao is asking now is about Guo Jia and Qin Zhen's planning level.

Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Guo Jia could only nod and say:
"If Lord Cao wants to ask about this matter, then I can only say that this plan is the work of ghosts and gods, not human power!"

If someone can use celestial phenomena to make plans, then he must be a ghost or a god!

Zhuge Liang is said to be a wise man who is close to a demon because of the story of borrowing the east wind and the seven-star lantern in the novel. But those are just story plots and are unlikely to happen in real life.

But the current situation is that Qin Zhen is actually taking advantage of the astronomical phenomena.

Predicting celestial phenomena half a year in advance is something that even the imperial historian cannot do!
If there is no power from ghosts and gods, who can achieve this strategy?
Guo Jia didn't know about the time traveler, so he could only attribute Qin Zhen to the power of a ghost or god. Only in this way could he explain it.

When Lao Cao heard this, he felt even more depressed and sighed:
"Fengxiao, do you think this is my fault?"

"If we hadn't forced Zixuan to leave, how could we have ended up like this?"

He is a person who is good at introspection. Once he encounters difficulties, he will start to reflect.

Simply put, Lao Cao began to regret again.

All in all, the current situation is still caused by his original actions.

If Qin Zhen were still alive, how could he have come to this point?
As long as Qin Zhen gave him a hint, he could not only destroy Yuan Shu this time, but also stabilize the situation in Huainan.

But now we are in a dilemma, neither advancing nor retreating.

He was stuck in Runan and couldn't get out.

But when Guo Jia heard this, he knew that Cao Cao was not regretting, but was thinking of retreating, so he immediately bowed and said:
"Of course the lord was at fault in this matter, but the lord's fault was his indecision!"

"If you knew Zixuan's ability, you shouldn't have let him leave!"

"Even if they can't be of great use, we should treat them well instead of hesitating and causing the current trouble."

"Now that our army has fought to this point, Yuan Shu is no longer able to fight back. If our army does not pursue the victory, will the lord repeat the same mistake?"

"You must know that Liu Bei has a large amount of military supplies. If our army retreats, with Zixuan's ability, how can Yuan Shu be his opponent?"

"As long as Liu Bei swallows Yuan Shu's base, he will become our army's greatest enemy. Why do you still want to tolerate him, my lord?"

The reason why Guo Jia will be remembered by Cao Cao for his whole life is because he is the strategist who understands Cao Cao the best!
Although Guo Jia has been suppressed by Qin Zhen for a while, his nature cannot be changed.

His words really touched Cao Cao's heart.

Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia with some surprise for a moment, and couldn't help but point at Guo Jia and said with a smile:

"If Qin Zixuan is as filial as Feng Xiao, then what do I have to worry about?"

"In terms of strategy, he may be a little better, but in terms of confidant, it should be Feng Xiao!"

To him, Qin Zhen was still too strong after all, and only Guo Jia was like this could satisfy him.

And things are just as Guo Jia said, the current situation is caused by his tolerance. If he retreats again, Liu Bei will become stronger in the future.

Having a powerful enemy behind him is unacceptable to him!
Thinking about this, Lao Cao naturally became more energetic and said in a deep voice:
"Even if Feng Xiao advises me not to tolerate it, do you have a good strategy to deal with the current situation?"

"Now our army only has enough food for a month, and Yuan Shu is holding out. How can we defeat him?"

When Guo Jia heard this, he bowed and said:

"My lord, if it is my opinion, attacking the city is inferior, and attacking the heart is superior!"

"Yuan Shu is holding on here now because he knows that there is a severe drought in Huainan and it is difficult for our army to transport food and grass."

"He was determined to hold on, and wanted our army to retreat on its own, so he stationed in three cities."

"So if our army wants to break the enemy's defensive posture, we must first break Yuan Shu's determination to hold on."

"As long as our army can capture one of the cities, we can completely break through Yuan Shu's defense line."

"Therefore, in my opinion, our army should not split up and confront them, but should concentrate our forces and attack one of them fiercely!"

When Cao Cao heard this, he stroked his beard and nodded, saying:
"I have the same idea. It just so happens that Yuan Shu doesn't dare to go to war now, so our army is of no use here."

"I was just thinking about which city to attack now!"

When Guo Jia heard this, he stroked his beard and said;
"My lord, our army has no choice but to attack Shangcai fiercely!"

Upon hearing this, Lao Cao was naturally curious and asked:

"What does Fengxiao mean by this?"

"If you're talking about Shangcai, I actually want to attack Nandun first!"

"There are no large rivers around Nanton, and there are 20,000 troops stationed here, so the water supply must be tight. As long as our army surrounds the city for a few days and cuts off the enemy's water supply, we can capture the city!"

Seeing Lao Cao like this, Guo Jia shook his head and said:

"My lord, you don't know that Nandun may seem easy to take, but it is actually difficult to take."

"Because there is no river near Nanton City, it seems that we can cut off the water supply, but the enemy can also cut off our water supply in turn."

"Zhang Xun is a general under Yuan Shu. Although he is no match for our army, he is well versed in military tactics. If our army goes forward, it will be difficult for us to defeat him."

"On the contrary, Shangcai seems difficult to capture, but in fact, the time to capture it has come!"

"This city has been besieged by General Xiahou for more than 20 days. The morale of the people in the city is low and they have no desire to fight. If our main force goes there, the enemy will surely be afraid to fight!"

"As long as our army launches a fierce attack, this city will fall!"

"As long as we can capture Shangcai, our army will be able to control the Hongshui River and move downstream to attack Ancheng and Yichun, thus cutting off Yuan Shu's path."

"Seeing this, Yuan Shu must take the initiative to fight, and our army's predicament can be broken!"

After hearing Guo Jia's explanation, Cao Cao suddenly understood and said:

"Fengxiao, this plan is feasible. If our army can take Shangcai, Yuan Shu will have a hard time holding on!"

Thinking of this, he made a careful estimate and estimated that if everything went well, the battle might be over within a month.

For a moment, Lao Cao felt relieved and nodded.

"Just follow Fengxiao's advice and pass down the order. Our army will return to Shangcai immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Jia simply bowed and nodded, preparing to leave.

But before he left the tent, he heard Cao Cao say:

"By the way, Fengxiao, where is Liu Bei marching to now?"

Lao Cao suddenly remembered that after they dealt with Yuan Shu, the next one would be Liu Bei, so it was time to think about strategy.

But as soon as he asked this question, Guo Jia paused, and after a long while he turned back and sighed:

"My Lord, how about we discuss this matter later?"

As he said this, there was an unnatural look on his face.

When Lao Cao saw it, he immediately raised his eyebrows:
"Why wait until later? Where is Liu Bei? Tell us quickly!"

What he hated most was his subordinates acting on their own and concealing military intelligence!
Even Guo Jia can't do it!

Seeing that he couldn't hide it from Cao Cao, Guo Jia sighed and said:

"Liu Bei is now at the gates of Shouchun!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Cao was startled, then his eyes widened and he exclaimed:

"What? Liu Bei has arrived at Shouchun City?"

He was still thinking about clearing the level quickly and dealing with Liu Bei.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei's progress was even faster than his!
How long has it taken to reach Shouchun City?

(End of this chapter)