Chapter 459: A quick burst of strength, then a decline of strength and exhaustion
The first battle of Xinye, or in other words, the first battle of Cao Cao's southern expedition, ultimately ended in failure.
This was undoubtedly a wake-up call for Cao Cao's southern expedition.
Before launching the army, they were filled with pride and arrogance, claiming to be the emperor's army. They should have easily captured Jingzhou with a sweeping force, but they did not expect that they turned somersault in the first battle.
The counselors had not yet spoken, and the generals were naturally ashamed.
On the day of the defeat, Cao Cao led his army to finally take a detour and very firmly advanced the troops to twenty miles outside Xinye City.
Since then, there has been no major move, and they have only focused on setting up camp, without the previous determination.
In the dead of night, Dian Wei and other generals gathered in the commander's tent to apologize for their arrogance during the day.
"Prime Minister... we were negligent. If it weren't for our instigation, General Xiahou would not have made such a sudden advance and fell into the enemy's trap..."
I don’t know who gave the idea to Dian Wei, a reckless man. Cao Cao saw Dian Wei as the leader, and Yue Jin and others were slightly behind. They were all naked and kneeling in front of him with thorns on their backs.
After rubbing his swollen head, Cao Cao helplessly said to the generals:
"If you want to apologize, don't apologize to me. It's better to say it to Wenhe and Gongda. After all, they advised the army not to advance rashly during the day. The result was good. The truth was blinded by this appearance and committed the crime.
Confused."
Saying——
Cao Cao actually lifted up his robe and pretended to apologize to Jia Xu, Xun You and others standing by.
"Prime Minister, you can't do it! You can't do it!"
Cao Cao seemed to be showing his true feelings. If his knees had been delayed even half a breath, they would have hit the ground hard. Fortunately, Cheng Yu reacted quickly and stepped forward to help Cao Cao.
The generals were also shocked with their mouths wide open and speechless, not knowing how to explain.
It was Jia Xu who finally came forward and waved his hand to everyone:
"Generals, you don't need to blame yourself so much. The army advanced rashly and suffered a defeat. It should never be said to be the fault of any one person. If we have to bear the blame, it is our common mistake-"
Jia Xu was very good at breaking the deadlock, especially in this embarrassing atmosphere. With Jia Xu's tone of voice that was half persuasive and half comforting, everyone soon came to an agreement.
It's just that when things got here, although there was no resentment among the army, the march momentum that was originally unstoppable was now greatly reduced.
This is an army of 300,000 people. If there are more than 300,000 soldiers in the army, if they don't grasp the rumors and fighting spirit in the army, etc., and the soldiers lose their fighting spirit, it will be a big trouble.
Marching operations are about one vigorous effort, then weakening, and then exhausting three times. Now Cao Cao's top priority is to defeat the Xinye City in front of him as soon as possible——
"Soldiers are so valuable and so fast. We will attack the city early tomorrow morning. What do you think, strategists?"
Everyone sat down one after another, and Cao Cao raised the topic.
Soldiers need speed, this is what Xun Yu told the army time and time again before leaving.
Xun Lingjun was still sitting at the rear, but he had long seen that the land south of the Yangtze River was nothing but a pool of muddy water.
"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true. The march of the army cannot be delayed. The longer it is delayed, the greater the consumption will be on us——"
Xun You nodded and agreed with Cao Cao's statement.
"Fortunately, there is that pork jerky. The prime minister also predicted it. The pork jerky has received an excellent response in the army. Not only does it taste great, but the burden on the soldiers has also been reduced a lot."
"General Xiahou, you don't know something. When you were chasing the enemy, the enemy even sent a light cavalry in an attempt to cut off the army's food and grass supplies, but you didn't expect our supply line to be so far away from the army -
This is all the result of the pork chop!"
"And there's this!"
When Xiahou Dun heard this, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He recalled the situation when he was chasing him before, and thought about what if he had followed the way he had done in the past, carrying supplies and food with the army for thousands of miles, and something had gone wrong...
How Yuan Shao was defeated - Wuchao, the fire in Wuchao burned down the food and grass that Yuan Shao had stored up for a long time.
And didn’t they also face the same situation?
At this point, Xiahou Dun's knees became weak again, and he wanted to apologize, but Cao Cao stopped him with a look.
"Yuan Rang, let him let go of the past. Looking to the future, now we need to take Xinye first and then make other decisions."
"yes…"
Xiahou Dun nodded in shame.
The discussion in the tent lasted for a long time, and all the counselors also showed their talents and analyzed the various current situations. Now there is no possibility of making any rash advances.
After just one analysis, this new field is like a thorn in the flesh. It needs to be pulled out, but it is quite laborious.
"Liu Bei has made it clear that he wants to stick to Xinye? How could this happen..."
Jia Xu was a little confused. He felt that according to Liu Bei's temperament, Liu Bei would definitely run away and would never be able to defend the isolated city of Xinye.
"It doesn't matter, no matter how hard this bone is, we have to chew it off first..."
Xi Zhicai asserted, speaking categorically and decisively.
"I suggest that we attack fiercely in one day, and the soldiers go into battle lightly to catch Liu Bei by surprise!"
"Since Liu Bei wants to defend, he will cry when he is captured alive!"
"Prime Minister..."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded. It was clear that this was the only way for Xinye to do it now.
If he could, of course he wanted to besiege Xinye. After all, he had an army of 300,000. He could wait ten days and a half for Xinye to be destroyed without attacking, but he couldn't wait.
"Then do this. Attack the city tomorrow, Yuan Rang. This is an opportunity to make meritorious deeds..."
His eyes drifted to Xiahou Dun who was standing aside. Xiahou Dun nodded heavily and clenched his teeth. It was obvious that he was holding back a big breath.
"Here!"
"In addition, order Xu Huang to assist in the attack on the north and south of Xinye, and Yuan Rang will lead a large army to attack the east of the city, encircling three but one. Remember to give Liu Bei a chance to escape without fighting with him."
Cao Cao quickly made arrangements.
"It would be great if Brother Yi was around..."
Cao Cao suddenly sighed in his heart. It's just that relying on Yi Xiaotian for everything is not a good feeling for Cao Cao. Although Yi Xiaotian has been emphasizing that the transactions they made are not losses at all, Cao Cao always feels that gold and silver treasures are not worth it at all.
It's not enough to repay Yi Xiaotian's help.
Yi Xiaotian helped him conquer half of the world, so what if he thought those gold and silver treasures were just given to Yi Xiaotian for nothing?
The more entangled in his heart, the more Cao Cao wanted to prove himself.
"We must capture Jingzhou. I want Xiangyang City to become my brother Yi's back garden!"
Cao Cao dusted his sleeves and signaled that everyone could leave.
Xu Huang and Yu Jin all took orders one after another.
The counselors also resigned one after another.
The handsome tent, which had been bustling with people just now, was now empty.
It was late at night, and Cao Cao tossed and turned and couldn't sleep all night.
——
At the same time, Liu Bei, who had been traveling day and night, finally arrived at Xiangyang City alone.
Guan and Zhang naturally wanted to return to Xinye to help Xu Shu defend the city.
And what about Zhuge Wolong who was just invited out of the mountain by Liu Bei?
Zhuge Liang was shaking his feather fan gently at this moment, thinking quietly about something in front of Xu Shu.
"Kong Ming, how long do you think we can survive with just the 30,000 people in Xinye?"
Xu Shu asked softly.
And Zhuge Liang also gave his own answer.
"At most three days, it's not that we have to last for three days, but these three days are reserved for certain people to react..."
Zhuge Liang turned his attention to the east of the city, where there used to be a man named Jiangdong Tiger.