The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 526 A desperate fight

A rare year without drought and locust plagues.

With abundant rainfall and pleasant weather, it will most likely be a year of good harvest.

However, Cao Cao and Liu Bei's hearts were still cold.

This year of harvest comes too late.

If they had arrived two years earlier, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao would not have been so tight on financial straits, and their military expedition might have had a better outcome.

but now……

Yuan Shao looked at the grain harvest in his hands and couldn't help but sigh.

This was the first good year for him since the war with Tazawa.

Thanks to the reforms under his rule, large tracts of wasteland were reclaimed, and nearly half of the people were finally under his jurisdiction.

This time, he finally didn't have to ask for support from the powerful families.

Unfortunately, it's too late.

"My Lord, can we..."

Looking at Yuan Shao's uncertain face, Shen Pei, who had always been loyal to him, stood up despite the pressure from everyone and said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao raised his head slightly and glanced at the civil and military officials on both sides.

Shen Pei turned around without hesitation and looked at everyone with eyes as sharp as knives. Yan Liang and Wen Chou also stood behind him.

"Okay, Zhengnan, step back." Yuan Shao said with a sigh.

It's too late!

The current situation cannot be reversed by food.

He had lost all the support of the people, and all the powerful families were ready to run away with him. Even if he wanted to fight, he couldn't do it anymore.

Shen Pei's eyes were full of reluctance, but he still retreated after hearing this.

"Gong Yu, what's the situation?" Yuan Shao asked.

Ju Su bowed and said, "My lord, I have discussed everything with Jia Wenhe, and it is just as we thought."

"Really?" Yuan Shao smiled with a hint of self-mockery.

"I didn't expect that in the end, I would not be as good as Cao Mengde."

Faced with such a great situation, he retreated, but Cao Cao, whom he had always regarded as a lackey and looked down upon, stood up.

"My lord, the circumstances and situation are different. Cao Mengde is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, and he won't be able to hold out for long." Xun Chen comforted him.

In terms of ambition, Yuan Shao today is actually no worse than Cao Cao.

It’s just that the experiences of both parties were completely different.

Although Cao Cao was defeated repeatedly, his foundations in Yanzhou and Yuzhou remained solid.

Yuan Shao was once defeated from Jizhou to Qingzhou, and then from Qingzhou to Xuzhou, and his strength was lost too much.

The morale of many of his subordinates had long been crushed, and the fact that they were able to fight to the death last year was beyond imagination.

"Then let's see how long Meng De can hold on." Yuan Shao said to himself.

At this moment, he was in a very complicated mood, hoping that Cao Cao could create a miracle, but also afraid that Cao Cao would really succeed.

He never believed that he was inferior to Cao Cao.

Yuan Shao had his own pride, and he would never surrender before Cao Cao was defeated.

Even if he could not launch an effective counterattack, he could still defend Xuzhou for a while. He would not give up until he got the news of Cao Cao's defeat.

Tian Ze was aware of Yuan Shao's pride and was unwilling to push Yuan Shao into a desperate situation, so he agreed to Yuan Shao's request.

Xu Huang stationed an army of 200,000 at the border of Qingzhou, but did not take any action. His purpose was self-evident, it was just to give Yuan Shao face.

As for the four families of Yuan, Cao, Liu and Sun, Tian Ze was still willing to give them a decent ending.

After all, the combat effectiveness of these four is far beyond the other three, and the future conquest of the Western countries will still depend on these four. Therefore, Tian Ze tried his best to meet the requests within the tolerance range and give them a good ending.

In order not to affect people's livelihood, Tian Ze launched the attack only after the autumn harvest.

The movements are direct and fierce.

Lu Xun led an army of 100,000 from Yizhou and headed straight for Yiling. Zhang Liao led an army of 100,000 in Sili and made a move to attack Nanyang. Liu Bei did not dare to move an inch.

Gan Ning and Ling Cao led 200,000 naval forces to surround the coastline of Jiangdong, completely extinguishing any ideas that Sun Ce had.

There is naturally no need to say much about Yuan Shao.

Tian Ze's main target this time is Cao Cao.

Zhao Yun stayed behind to guard Jizhou, while the three generals Xu Rong, Guan Yu and Zang Ba each led an army of 100,000 to attack Yanzhou. Their unstoppable momentum made Yanzhou be directly defeated without any resistance.

Cao Cao concentrated the main force of his 200,000 troops in Chenliu County, preparing for a desperate fight with the three men.

The enemy was powerful, and in the face of the absolute gap in military strength and combat power, Cao Cao's strategy of controlling the real and the fake seemed quite powerless.

After all, the opponents are not fools, but three real talents.

Occasionally, some small flaws were not a big deal, and they might even be traps. No major flaws were exposed, which gave Cao Cao no chance to turn the tables.

Even though Cao Cao continued to delay the enemy's advance, the front line was still quickly pushed to the vicinity of Chenliu County.

Xu Rong and Guan Yu each led a large army to station troops outside Chenliu County, leaving Zang Ba alone to take charge of the entire Yanzhou.

Cao Cao looked at the endless enemy tents outside the camp. Although his heart was full of anxiety, the spirit of not wanting to fail was burning fiercely.

Inside the tent, the atmosphere was so heavy that water could be squeezed out of it. All the counselors and generals had serious expressions as they waited for Cao Cao's decision.

Cao Cao looked at everyone and was not prepared to say anything to boost morale.

At this point, everyone present was very clear about the situation.

In this case, even the most moving motivation is pale.

In this battle, they fought for their own dignity, and the rest of the gains and losses were no longer important.

"Xu Rong and Guan Yu have deployed their troops in front of our army. What do you think, how can we defeat them?" Cao Cao asked directly.

"Attack their food supplies and cut off their food supply." Xun Yu said without hesitation.

After reading military books several times, I found that there are only a few ways to defeat a larger force with a smaller one.

The Qi army was well-trained and disciplined, and was particularly good at night battles and chaotic fights. Strategies such as night attacks were not advisable.

Water and fire attacks are completely impossible.

Xu Rong and Guan Yu were both veterans, so it was natural that they could not fail to see the current situation. If they wanted to take a big gamble, they could only rely on the power of water and fire.

Their arrangements in the upper reaches of the river around Chenliu had already been discovered, and the other side had stationed troops on high ground with only fire-fighting equipment inside, leaving them no chance at all.

The only solution Xun Yu and others could think of was Boss Cao's unique trick, which was to cut off the food supply.

"Chenliu County is located deep in the heart of Yanzhou. We have taken away all the excess food and grass from all over Yanzhou. The Qi army has a long supply line."

"There is always a loophole in a hundred precautions. If we can find their main food supply route and cut off their food and grass, the Qi army will be in chaos."

Cao Cao nodded slightly.

This is what he thinks too.

For this battle, he knew Tian Ze's idea, so he set the battlefield in Chenliu.

He never gave up a chance to fight to the death.

He believed that Tian Ze, who thought he was in control of everything, would definitely arrange a large number of troops to guard Yanzhou, which had already been captured, for the sake of the overall situation.

And they would not rob the Yanzhou people of their limited food supplies.

If he didn't know that Tian Ze was always calm and not stupid, he would have even wanted to choose the battlefield in Yuzhou, which would have given him a greater advantage.

(End of this chapter)