Xi Cheying also felt that his side was now at a disadvantage, while Dong Xian was at an advantage. After all, Dong Xian had more troops, and he and the Fifth School Army were at odds with each other. They had already formed a pincer attack on Xinyang, where his side was located. In this case,
, how could Dong Xian be defeated?
Seeing the confusion on her face, Liu Xiu smiled and asked, "Does Cheying know what Dong Xian's disadvantage is?"
Xi Cheying slowly shook his head. Liu Xiu said meaningfully: "Dong Xian has too many troops but too few resources!"
Compared with Zhang Bu, Dong Xian's sphere of influence was not large. The only territory that was truly taken under Dong Xian's wing was Donghai County.
With one county supporting an army of 200,000, one can imagine how tight the resources are. But in order to protect himself, Dong Xian had to support so many soldiers and horses.
Pang Meng's defection to Dong Xian further increased Dong Xian's military strength, but at the same time, it also made Dong Xian's resources increasingly tight.
Dong Xian had to raise 200,000 troops and horses, and food and grass were already stretched thin. With the addition of Pang Meng's 50,000 troops and horses, food and grass became even more scarce.
As a result, Pang Meng was defeated in the Battle of Taocheng, and all the food and grass in the army fell into the hands of the Han army. As a result, Dong Xian's current food and grass was even more stretched.
But in this case, Dong Xian summoned the army of the fifth school again. Who are the army of the five schools? Bandits! They have no territory of their own, no resources in their hands, and all their food and clothing depend on robbing.
What will the 50,000-strong Fifth Academy Army eat and drink after arriving in Jianyang? It may be okay to stay there for a short period of time, but over time, when the Fifth Academy Army's rations are exhausted, they will inevitably ask Dong Xian for food and grass.
But what Dong Xian lacks most now is food and grass, and he can't afford it for the fifth school army.
With no food to eat, will the troops of the five schools stay in Jianyang and wait for death? They have no loyalty to Dong Xian. The reason why they come to help Dong Xian fight now is all because of the gold Dong Xian gave them.
When he was about to starve to death, the Fifth Academy Army would not care about Dong Xian's life or death. They would definitely evacuate Jianyang and continue looting in other areas.
As long as the fifth school army leaves and only Dong Xian is left in Changli, our side will have no worries and can attack Changli in a large scale and defeat Dong Xian in one fell swoop.
This was the calculation in Liu Xiu's mind. As long as Zhang Bu did not reinforce Dong Xian's supplies, the army of the Five Schools would not be able to stay in Jianyang for long. Dong Xian would be defeated in this battle.
Of course, even if Zhang Bu was willing to reinforce Dong Xian's supplies, Liu Xiu would stop him halfway and would never let Zhang Bu's men deliver the supplies to Dong Xian.
After listening to Liu Xiu's analysis, Xi Cheying suddenly realized. Liu Xiu said with a smile: "A war is not only a competition of the combat power of both sides, the general's strategy, but also a competition of the resources that both sides can control.
The side with more resources can afford it, and the side with fewer resources must plan for a quick victory." But now, Dong Xian does not have the conditions for a quick victory, so even if the battle has not yet begun, Liu Xiu can already
It was foreseen that Dong Xian would be defeated.
Now all he needs to do is delay. If he can delay for one more day, the rations of the Fifth Academy Army will be reduced by one, until the Fifth Academy Army's rations are exhausted and they have to leave. That is when his side and Dong Xian will fight to the death.
Xi Cheying looked at the happy and confident Liu Xiu, and she couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Suddenly, she realized what attracted her to Liu Xiu. The emperor's throne may be one aspect, but more importantly, Liu Xiu's self-confidence. The self-confidence of strategizing and having everything under control.
.
It is said that confident people are the most attractive, and Liu Xiu is undoubtedly confident.
Since he became emperor, many people have rebelled against him, but Liu Xiu did not become suspicious or distrustful of his heroes, nor did he do anything to deprive him of his military power or kill his heroes indiscriminately.
You can choose to rebel against me, but I am 100% confident that I can send troops to destroy you. Peng Chong is one, Deng Feng is another, Su Mao, and Pang Meng are also one of them.
The Han army rested in Xinyang and camped around Xinyang. On weekdays, the soldiers practiced in the camp. Occasionally, during holidays, they could go shopping in the city. They lived a leisurely life.
On the other hand, Dong Xian stationed in Changli and the Fifth Academy Army stationed in Jianyang began to become impatient. Liu Xiu delayed sending troops to attack and wasted his time. What on earth did he want to do?
At this time, Dong Xian had not yet fully understood Liu Xiu's intentions.
The days passed calmly for seven days. Dong Xian's spies in Xinyang reported one after another that the Fifth Academy Army stationed in Xinyang recently looted the granaries and money warehouses in the city. In addition, many people in the city were also robbed by the Fifth Academy Army.
.
Seeing these letters, Dong Xian was so angry that he couldn't stop eating shit. These scoundrels from the Fifth Academy Army had gone wherever they went and committed crimes. He had clearly given them 10,000 gold, but they actually
Or take advantage of being stationed in Jianyang to loot the city.
Dong Xian immediately sent a letter to the Fifth Academy Army, reprimanding the Fifth Academy Army for its vicious behavior in Jianyang. Soon, the leader of the Fifth Academy Army sent Dong Xian a reply, not only did he not do anything about what the Fifth Academy Army did in Jianyang,
Without any explanation, he asked Dong Xian for 50,000 shi of grain.
The reason of the leader of the fifth school army is also very good. We came to Jianyang to help you Dong Xian fight and fight against the Han army. No matter how you calculate the rations for the brothers in the army, you Dong Xian should pay for it. After receiving this
Dong Xian's nose almost turned crooked with anger when he wrote back the letter.
He has seen shameless people, but he has never seen anyone as shameless and greedy as the Fifth Academy Army. His agreement with the Fifth Academy Army was to only pay 30,000 gold. As for the other conditions, he had never agreed.
The army of the Fifth Academy could have used 30,000 gold to buy food. Now they have not fought a single battle, but they are planning to save all the money to buy food and let themselves pay for it. Why? There is no such reason!
Don't say that Dong Xian didn't want to be taken advantage of. Even if he wanted to send food to the fifth school army, the food stored in Changlu City was not that much. Now even the soldiers under his command have changed from three meals a day to two meals a day.
Wherever there is extra food, it can be given to the troops of the fifth school.
Dong Xian immediately wrote a reply to the Fifth Academy Army, sternly rejecting the Fifth Academy Army's request for food, and even reprimanded him.
Next, Dong Xian and the Fifth Military Academy exchanged letters frequently. In short, the content of the dispute between the two sides mainly revolved around food.
The Fifth Academy Army said that its food supply has been almost exhausted, and asked Dong Xian to send food to Jianyang immediately. Dong Xian said that he only agreed to give the Fifth Academy Army 30,000 gold, and as for the food, he would not know a single grain.
To the Fifth Military Academy.
The two sides spent more than ten days in this way, exchanging letters between you and me. Now, there is still food stored in Changlu City, and the fifth school army in Jianyang is really almost eating up all the food.
As for the places in Jianyang City that could be looted, the army of the five schools had already looted them all, eager to dig out all the rat holes. But even so, the food was still insufficient. The only food left in the army was only enough for three days.
As a last resort, the leader of the Fifth Academy Army sent another letter to Dong Xian, warning Dong Xian that if he did not send food to Jianyang, he would lead the Fifth Academy Army to evacuate Jianyang.
Dong Xian thought this was another quarrel between the Fifth Academy Army and himself, and didn't take it seriously at all. In his reply, he also warned the Fifth Academy Army that once they evacuated Jianyang, he would not be able to use the remaining 20,000 gold anyway.
Will give it to them again.
Of course, the Fifth Academy Army wanted gold, but the problem was that now they were almost dead, and the entire army was about to run out of food. Dong Xian refused to send food, so they stayed in Jianzhong for the remaining 20,000 gold.
Are you waiting to die?
Dong Xian and the Fifth Academy Army were extremely disappointed. The leaders of the Fifth Academy Army discussed it and decided to simply withdraw. This battle could no longer be fought.
They have always survived by plundering and looting everywhere. Now they are stationed in Jianyang and living in vain. If they don't go out and loot, they will really starve to death.
When their own food and grass were almost exhausted, and they could not get food from Dong Xian, the army of the fifth school had no choice but to evacuate Jianyang and head south.
The news that the Fifth Academy Army had withdrawn from Jianyang reached Xinyang and Changli almost immediately.
After hearing this, Dong Xian stood up involuntarily and looked at the soldiers who came to report the news. He couldn't believe his ears. He asked: "What did you say? The Fifth Academy Army evacuated Jianyang?"
"Yes! King!"
"This... how is this possible?" The Fifth Academy Army, which has always been greedy for money, can give up 20,000 gold and evacuate Jianyang? Dong Xian stared at the messenger soldiers and asked word by word: "Are you telling the truth?"
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, the Fifth Academy Army has indeed evacuated Jianyang. I saw it with my own eyes!"
"They...where have they gone?" Dong Xian squeezed out a sentence through his teeth.
"The army of the fifth school went south. I don't know where exactly it went." The soldier said cautiously.
Dong Xian stamped his feet fiercely and said through gritted teeth: "You don't keep your word! They are all a bunch of villains who don't keep their word!"
The Fifth Academy Army suddenly withdrew from Jianyang. The Dong Xianjun soldiers in Changlu City panicked. You must know that the Five Academy Army was their powerful foreign aid. It was precisely because of the restraint of the Five Academy Army that the Han army did not dare to attack Chang.
consider.
Now that the Fifth Academy Army has left, what will they do? Once the Han army attacks in large numbers, who can help them contain and attack the Han army?
Compared with the panicked Dong Xianjun, the morale of the Han army was greatly boosted after hearing the news. The spies rode fast horses and ran wildly in the camp while shouting loudly: "The fifth school army has withdrawn! The fifth school army has withdrawn from Jiantian."
Positive!"
Hearing the spies' shouts, many soldiers ran out of the camp shirtless, with expressions of surprise and joy on their faces.
The Han army's camp and the Chinese army's tent.
The spy came to the central military tent, dismounted from his horse, entered the tent in two steps, knelt down to Liu Xiu who was sitting in the middle, and said excitedly: "Report to your majesty, the troops of the fifth school have withdrawn from Jianyang!
"
When the generals in the camp heard this, they looked surprised at first, and then looked ecstatic. Wu Han rushed to the spies and asked, "Is this true?"
"Reporting to Da Sima, it's absolutely true!"
Wu Han blinked, slapped his hands fiercely, turned around and smiled at Liu Xiu and said: "Your Majesty, God helps me, God helps me! God helps me! The army of the fifth school has withdrawn from Jianyang, and now our army can attack Changli in a big way!"
"
Without saying a word, Gai Yan intervened and saluted Liu Xiu, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, we are going to attack Changli. I am willing to lead the troops to lead the battle!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the generals Wang Liang, Wang Chang, Ma Wu, and Wang Ba came out one after another, stepped in to salute, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, I am willing to take the lead!"
Liu Xiu looked at the people who had volunteered, smiled slightly, and said, "All generals can take the lead! In the battle of Changlu, our soldiers can besiege from all sides. We must break through the Changlu city defense within three days!"
All the generals stepped in and responded loudly: "I obey the order!"
Liu Xiu said: "Generals, go back and prepare for war. Tomorrow, our army will be strong!"
Everyone left the Chinese military tent with excitement and joy.
Twenty days ago, Liu Xiu said that our soldiers were resting in Xinyang, and the enemy army would show signs of defeat on their own. They did not believe it. Looking at it now, your Majesty's original assertion was absolutely correct. The enemy army had indeed shown signs of defeat on its own.
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Even Wu Han couldn't help but sigh: "Your Majesty is like a god in using troops, and he is good at understanding people's hearts!"
From Wu Han's point of view, if Liu Xiu was not the emperor, but was in the same palace as himself, then the title of Grand Sima would hardly fall to him, and it would have to belong to Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu was indeed powerful in leading the army in battles. Not to mention his glorious achievements before he became emperor, even after he became emperor, he never lost in several personal expeditions. He won many battles and established the territory of the Han Dynasty.
