Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 1175 Man or Ghost

  Cao Cao sat behind the table, his face sinking like water.

   Severe drought.

   Locusts.

  These two disasters seem to be designed by nature to explain to human beings that misfortunes never come singly...

After the severe drought, the water level is lowered and the soil is firmer, which is more suitable for locusts to lay eggs. At the same time, the vegetation after the severe drought is reduced. On the one hand, the remaining plants have less water. The locusts eat plants of the same quality, and their nutrients will naturally be higher. Make locusts stronger; on the other hand, because of the decrease of vegetation, a series of ecological degradation lead to the reduction of natural enemies of locusts, and eventually locusts become a disaster.

Locusts go east to south, chasing more plants and more food, but it is very interesting that locusts cannot reproduce in areas with more than 50% vegetation, that is to say, the more plants and food there are Instead, it is the place where locusts perish.

   But Cao Cao couldn't see the locusts' demise, he only saw that he was about to face extinction now.

  The locusts all over the sky have already flown away, and what is left are the wooden stakes, stones, and loess that the locusts can't eat, and these, Cao Cao's soldiers can't eat them either.

Cao Cao also ordered to catch the locusts and eat them, but the migratory locusts moved so fast that the whole army could not catch a few of them. It was as if they were tearing off a few hairs of the giant locusts. Eat everything, and then fly away in a blinding manner.

  Puyang was originally surrounded by fertile fields, but now it has been attacked by soldiers and then by locusts, and the fields have been destroyed. Not only that, the plague of locusts spread throughout Yanzhou, resulting in Cao Cao's only remaining control area, Juancheng, Fanxian, Dong'e and other places also had no food to supply.

  The army is out of food!

  Originally, the entire situation in Yanzhou was in jeopardy. If Lu Bu could not be defeated again, and the food was exhausted and he retreated, I am afraid that the only remaining places such as Fan County in Juancheng would also be in turmoil immediately!

  Cao Cao urgently needs a victory, at least one victory is good!

  However, not even one...

   When Lu Bu rushed to Juancheng on Chen Gong's suggestion, Guo Gong had already retreated. Facing the strong Juancheng, Lu Bu was helpless, and at the same time, he was unwilling to lose his soldiers under Juancheng in vain, so he withdrew.

   If you want to forcefully count, this is the only victory.

   The rest, no.

  Cao Cao led the troops back to aid, but was caught by Lu Bu and dealt with them several times. First he defeated Cao Hong, then Xiahouyuan, and then Cao Cao...

  Qingzhou soldiers dealt with Xuzhou soldiers, just like Lao Tzu dealt with his son, and then turned it upside down when they got here. Lu Bu led the Yanzhou County soldiers, and the Qingzhou soldiers who took care of Cao Cao were just like Lao Tzu dealt with his son. Cao Cao had no temper at all.

  Lü Bu’s tactics are actually not complicated. He used cavalry to bully Cao Cao’s infantry formation, pulling left and right. How could the Qingzhou soldiers who had just transferred from the yellow turban bandits change their formation quickly to deal with it?

   Once Cao Cao's army formation showed a flaw, he was immediately caught by Lu Bu, and he rode fiercely, destroying Cao Cao's formation in an instant, further expanding the results of the battle, and defeating Cao Cao's army formation.

Although Cao Cao knew Lv Bu's tactics, he had no ability to defend himself. If he tried to stop him, he couldn't stop him. After losing Xiahouyuan's only well-organized cavalry, he would always be at a passive disadvantage when facing Lv Bu's cavalry. , can't keep up with the changes in Lu Bu's cavalry; if you want to fight, you can't win. Except for Dian Wei, few people can fight Lu Bu head-on, but Dian Wei is an infantry general, so he is missing four legs. You can easily kill another part of Cao Jun in the front like a dog, but Dian Wei can only chase after him with soldiers and horses...

   The most dangerous time, Lv Bu even rushed to break through Cao Cao's main camp!

  If it wasn’t for Sima Lou, the army, who gave up his horse to Cao Cao, Cao Cao might have been lost in that battle...

  Because of this battle, Cao Cao even burned his palm, and then learned that Cao Cao was injured. After rumors were spread, the whole army was shaken and almost fell apart immediately!

  Cao Cao had no choice but to persevere and patrol the entire army, which is considered to have stabilized the morale of the army...

  On the battlefield, whoever takes the initiative will be more calm, but now, Cao Cao has no initiative at all. He must defeat Lu Bu, at least to restore the impact of successive defeats on his army and Yanzhou.

However, Lu Bu in Puyang, no, it should be Chen Gong, the counselor in the city, also knew this, so after the locust plague happened, he withdrew his troops and returned to Puyang, no longer confronting Cao Cao in the wild, defending the city, and waiting for Cao Cao's army to go out on its own collapse.

  Because outside Puyang City, there is nothing worth fighting for...

  Everywhere is desolate, even if Cao Cao is given all of them, Cao Cao will not be able to get any food supplies. It is better to enter Puyang City to reduce the daily consumption of soldiers.

   Undoubtedly, Chen Gong's strategy is correct.

  Although it is said that the current barracks have been built under the city of Puyang, Cao Cao has no advantage at all, especially when the current military supplies have been cut off.

  In addition to the predicament on the battlefield, on the table, there are things that make Cao Cao even more uncomfortable...

   This is the bowl of meat.

   A bowl of sun-dried meat, and then boiled, showed dark red meat.

  It was boiled in plain water, because it was what Cao Cao wanted, so a little salt was added, but there was nothing else. Condiments or spices, I think too much. After the locusts pass through, I can’t even see any green ones. What else can be used as condiments?

   To eat or not to eat?

  Cao Cao looked at the bowl of meat and remained silent.

   Who is Cao Cao?

Although he has been criticized by the gentry for his origin, it has to be said that whether it is Cao Cao's grandfather or Cao Cao's father, he is quite good at making money. Therefore, Cao Cao has not had a hard life since he was a child. It is no exaggeration, but, let alone fine clothes and fine food, even the most basic and crude food cannot be guaranteed...

  Everyone in the tent looked at Cao Cao.

   These meats are rat meat sent by Dong A Chengyu. The food is gone, but there is still meat, rat meat. None of the people here are stupid, and they all know what kind of rat this so-called rat meat is.

  Cao Cao knew it even more.

   "Brother!" Cao Hong couldn't bear it anymore, he glanced at everyone in the tent, and said loudly, "Brother, you don't have to do this, someone said that this meat is rat meat, who would dare..."

   "No..." Cao Cao held up his palms, which were still wrapped in cloth, and stopped Cao Hong's words, "A handsome man is the courage of an army. If someone doesn't eat him, how can the whole army be willing to eat him? Zilian doesn't need to say much."

   After finishing speaking, Cao Cao picked up the bowl and swallowed it in big mouthfuls.

It was a piece of meat that was already cold. Besides the smell of meat, it also had a strong smell of blood. Cao Cao didn't dare to chew it carefully. He took a few quick bites and swallowed it. When he swallowed it, he felt like he was swallowing Pieces of hard thick phlegm, creamy and tough, caused waves of discomfort in the throat...

  Cao Cao resisted and ate the meat.

   It’s not impossible to do what Cao Hong did. Anyway, it is publicly declared that this is rat meat, and then distributed to soldiers to eat...

   But the problem is that there are Qingzhou soldiers in Cao Cao's army.

  The morale of Cao Cao's army is low now. There can be no surprises. If there is any confusion, it will collapse immediately!

  So although Cao Hong's approach is simple, it has hidden dangers. Therefore, Cao Cao had no choice but to take it. If he took it, it was equivalent to resisting all the responsibilities and subsequent criticisms this time. Whether it was Cheng Yu's or an ordinary soldier's, Cao Cao was responsible for it alone!

  General Pingdong has eaten rat meat, so what gossip does the rest have?

  Cao Cao slammed the empty bowl on the table, his throat moved up and down, as if he was suppressing something, and after a long time, he said in a hoarse voice: "... Zilian... I have eaten it... Distribute it and replenish it for military use!"

   "Wei!" Cao Hong cupped his hands with tears in his eyes, and took the order to leave.

  Inside the big tent, there was silence.

"My lord..." Guo Jia arched his hands, breaking the embarrassing atmosphere. Well, he should still be a genius now, then turned his head to look at Xiahou Dun, and said, "...someone has a strategy, which may be able to defeat the enemy...this is also Xiahou Dun. The merit of the general is also..."

  ………………

  In the lobby of Puyang County Government.

   "What? Food and grass are gone?" Lu Bu frowned and asked in a deep voice.

  The Puyang Tian family bowed down in the hall, lowered their heads, and said tremblingly: "Reporting to Marquis Wen, there is indeed no food in the city...the four granaries in the north of the city are now empty..."

  Cao Cao has a large number of people and consumes food and grass quickly. Although Lu Bu has a smaller number of people, he does not consume much less than Cao Cao, because besides soldiers, Lu Bu also has a lot of animals with big appetites...

   "Marquis Wen!" Puyang Tian moved two steps forward eagerly, and said, "There is indeed no food in the granary in the city..."

"That's enough!" Lu Bu slapped the table with a slap, walked up to Tian Shi in a few steps, grabbed Tian Shi, lifted him into the air like a chicken, and shouted, "You Guangong!" How many times have you delivered food and grass to your home since the warehouse? There is no food in the army at the moment, what do you eat in your home? If it is normal, I don’t bother to pay attention to your behavior. At this critical moment, you still dare to say that there is no food?! Is it a lie? Is a certain knife bad?"

   Tian's face was pale, and he couldn't speak a word.

   "Get out!" Lu Bu pushed Tian Shi back to the ground, and then said, "Before noon tomorrow, send the army rations to the camp. How dare you pretend to be negligent...huh..."

   "...The villain dare not, dare not... obey... obey..." Puyang Tian grinned and endured the pain, rolling and crawling away.

   "Silverfish!" Lu Bu frowned and cursed.

   "Marquis Wen... Eh... this is..." Chen Gong, who came in a hurry, ran into Puyang Oto Tian who was hiding his face, and asked in surprise, "I don't know why..."

   "Hey, isn't it just a matter of preparing military rations..." Lu Bu briefly talked about what happened just now, and then said, "I don't know why Gongtai is here?"

   "Oh..." Chen Gong frowned, tilted his head slightly and looked in the direction where Tian was leaving, "...Marquis Wen, the Cao soldiers have retreated!"

   "Really?" Lu Bu suddenly became interested, "Come on, go up to the tower to have a look!"

  The two came to the gate tower of the city, looking at the Cao Jun camp in the distance.

   "Sure enough, the troops have retreated..." Lu Bu laughed and said.

"There are no particles left outside the city, and the soldiers have nothing to eat. If they don't retreat, the whole army will be defeated..." Chen Gong stroked his beard and said, "Most of Cao's army will retreat to Juancheng... Cao Pingdong is also a decisive person. If you retreat, you will retreat. It is a pity that our plan to lure the army could not be fully successful..."

  Once Cao Cao retreated to Juancheng, Chen Gong's original strategy of letting Zhang Miao cover Cao Cao's flanks was basically determined to be futile. After all, leading the army in a sneak attack and confronting them head-on are two completely different concepts. Zhang Miao's ability and courage are just like that, and there is nothing special to count on.

   "It's okay!" Lu Bu stared at the direction Cao Jun was retreating, and said proudly, "Wait for someone to break it!"

"Wenhou, Cao's army retreated in an orderly manner..." Chen Gong frowned, and said, "I'm afraid I'm prepared...it's not suitable to pursue... However, from Puyang to Juancheng, most of them are Pingchuan. Where can I not attack? Wenhou can Be safe and don't be impatient... Cao Jun's rear army retreats, it must be slack, even if there is an ambush, it can't stay for long... When the ambush is gone, Wen Hou can lead the cavalry to attack, and it will definitely be defeated!"

   "Hmm..." Lu Bu nodded and laughed loudly, "What Gongtai said fits well! Come here! Send out scouts! Keep an eye on Cao Jun's movements!"

  ………………

  In the house of the Tian family in Puyang, the dim lights flickered, and two figures were reflected on the window lintel, big and small, left and right, shaking like ghosts.

   "Tian Langjun..." a voice lowered his voice, and he could only vaguely hear a few words, "...tomorrow...going out of the city..."

   Tian pondered. The flickering lights cast dark colors of different sizes on Tian's face, so dark that ink could drip out...

In the past few days, in order to supply Lu Bu's army with food and grass, Tian had no choice but to dig out his own family. Watching the grain mountain in his warehouse decrease little by little, and finally disappear, Tian's heart was like a knife, bleeding all the time !

   If this goes on like this, maybe Lu Bu is not necessarily defeated, and the Tian family will be finished first!

  So, I just have to give it a go.

  Mr. Tian put his heart to one side, beckoned, and asked the other person to come closer...

  On the lintel of the window, the shadows of two people merged into one place, dancing and dancing, like evil spirits celebrating.

  ………………

   As expected by Chen Gong, after Cao Cao's rear army withdrew, the scouts reported that one or two teams also evacuated from the ambush and returned eastward.

   Lu Bu immediately led the attack. After all, two legs cannot run with four legs. Cao Cao's rear army was quickly caught up by Lu Bu...

In Lu Bu's original plan, these Cao Cao's rear troops should be defeated at the first touch after seeing his cavalry, and then Lu Bu can drive these defeated troops, and then crush them all the way, just like driving sheep on the grassland, completely destroying Cao Cao's army. beat.

  But the situation in front of him was beyond Lu Bu's expectation.

Cao Cao's army was surprisingly tough. After being chased by Lu Bu's cavalry, they didn't break into chaos. Instead, they immediately shrank their formation and gathered together. Another group also gathered in one place firmly, not messing up their positions, it seems that they would rather die in battle than retreat...

  Leave this group of people behind and move on?

   Or forcefully eat these people, and then pursue them?

   Lu Bu frowned, sitting on the red rabbit horse, hesitant.

   It is not easy to replenish war horses, so it is not absolutely necessary. Lu Bu generally does not allow cavalry to attack a densely packed infantry array head-on. Because only when chasing and raiding the flanks of infantry formations or weak points, cavalry can exert full lethality, but like facing the current dense infantry formation, it is not impossible to attack hard, but the same There will be a lot of damage.

  Just as Lu Bu was weighing the gains and losses, suddenly there was smoke and dust billowing from behind. Lu Bu hurriedly sent someone to investigate, but found that it was Chen Gong who led the troops...

   "Gongtai!" Lu Bu said dissatisfiedly, "You don't defend the city in Puyang, why are you looking for someone?"

   "Huh..." Chen Gong was also a little puzzled, and said, "Didn't Marquis Wen send someone to send an order saying that Cao's army had been defeated, ordering someone to come to clean up the battlefield and drive Cao's army away..."

   "When will it be passed on..." Lv Bu had only spoken halfway, and his face suddenly changed just like Chen Gong.

  At this moment, suddenly there was thunderous battle drums from the east, south, and north directions, and the billowing smoke and dust was like a huge wall, squeezing towards Lu Bu and Chen Gong's troops!

  (end of this chapter)