Chapter 64 The last straw that broke the camel's back
What Chen Mu is doing now is equivalent to playing monkey outside the iron cage.
Take a small stone and throw it at the monkey.
Is the monkey angry?
angry?
Then do it again.
Boom, boom, boom.
Throw it a few times and the monkey will pick up the stone and prepare to fight back.
Then it discovered that Chen Mu had a big shield in his hand...
Watching a monkey being incompetent and furious, jumping up and down in an iron cage to death, is probably what you are seeing.
Bullying a monster who was easily defeated by Xia Houyuan is actually not a skill.
But who makes Chen Mu covet the labor force?
Qingzhou is no better than Jizhou and Yuzhou. At the end of the Han Dynasty, Yuzhou had 8 million people and Jizhou had more than 6 million people, making them the two most populous states.
What about Qingzhou?
There are less than four million people.
These populations are mainly distributed in the plains and Beihai. The combined population of these two areas is two million, while the other four areas have a total population of less than two million.
Therefore, as the current ruling class, the question Chen Mu has to think about is that every population is precious and cannot be lost.
The young and strong labor force will be the main force in fighting and farming in the future. One less person will be a waste.
Therefore, how to use appropriate strategies to annihilate the enemy without any losses is what he currently needs to consider.
The butt determines the head, and the position determines the thoughts.
If an ordinary court general is sending troops to fight now, then what he has to consider is how to defeat the enemy as soon as possible and get his military exploits.
As for how many enemies died and how many of his own soldiers died, that was not his main concern.
Such as Dong Zhuo.
When he first arrived in Jizhou, what he had to consider was how to open up the situation as soon as possible. He could not be like Lu Zhi, who was dismissed by the court because he had no results for a long time.
Therefore, eager for quick success, he no longer attacked Guangzong, who had a higher city and more food, but went to attack Quyang. In the end, he also hit a wall and was imprisoned.
It is worth mentioning that Dong Zhuo has been released and is currently following Zhang Wen and the Qiang in Xiliang.
And Chen Mu will start his business in Qingzhou in the future, so the more people under his rule, the better.
A large population means more troops and sufficient food.
So now I can only feel aggrieved and wronged Sima Ju? He continues to suffer from Chen Mu’s torture.
When Sima Ju heard the news that another army was suddenly attacking the city, his expression changed with horror, and he quickly led his troops back to the city.
But at this time, the people and horses from the official and military camps all rushed out. A thousand cavalry galloped in, kicking up huge amounts of dust.
The Yellow Turban Army was suddenly in chaos. Sima Ju was in a hurry to return to the city. He did not dare to order the soldiers to slow down and form a formation to fight the enemy. He kept urging the soldiers to return quickly.
At this moment, Zhang Fei galloped straight to Sima Ju and shouted: "The thief will accept your fate!"
Sima Ju gritted his teeth, rose up to resist, and struggled with Zhang Fei.
His martial arts skills were far inferior to Zhang Fei's. He was only 30-40 points higher than Zhang Fei. He was usually under Sishui Pass. He was probably on the same level as Yu She who was beheaded by Hua Xiong in two or three rounds.
At this level, Zhang Fei can only do two or three spears.
But Chen Mu had already said that he could only drive him away, but not kill him. After all, once Sima Ju was killed, it would be troublesome for his subordinates to flee or fight with their lives.
So Chen Mu decided to attack people's hearts first, and asked 40,000 people plus Sima Ju to surrender neatly and be his tools in the field.
So Zhang Fei pretended to be defeated? After delaying for a while, he retreated and let Sima Ju go back to the city.
When Sima Ju's men returned to the city, they discovered that only more than 30,000 people had returned. Seven to eight thousand soldiers who were tending the fields outside were easily captured by the officers and soldiers because they had no weapons and became prisoners of war.
This was another huge blow to Sima Ju.
"General, the troops of Lu Kang, the governor of Le'an, have also arrived. Now we are being attacked from two sides, and the officers and soldiers are still destroying our food. What should we do?"
The subordinates were worried.
Sima Ju could only encourage: "Don't be afraid, everyone, Xu He's men will arrive soon, just hold on for two more days."
Everyone felt a little more at ease.
Xu He has tens of thousands of people, and together they are close to one hundred thousand, which can indeed resist the official army.
However, Sima Ju didn't know that Xu He was also very embarrassed at this time.
After receiving the news, he immediately ordered his troops and horses to go to war.
As a result, they were intercepted by Yuling and Xi'an troops on the way.
The geographical location of the four counties of Yulingchang and Gaoyuan in Xi'an is a square. Yuling and Xi'an are in a diagonal relationship, and Changguo and Gaoyuan are in a diagonal relationship.
As a result, to go from Changguo to Gaoyuan, you must pass through the defense zones of Yuling and Xi'an counties.
Guan Hai and Dian Wei each led 10,000 troops and gave Xu He a head-on attack.
Originally, it was okay. Xu He brought 50,000 people out, so it wasn't like he couldn't fight.
The problem was that just two days after he came out, he heard the news that the government troops from the direction of Linzi were attacking his hometown of Changguo.
You must know that although Xu He claimed to have 200,000 people, it was actually the entire population combined.
Cao Cao obtained millions of Qingzhou soldiers, but only 300,000 were young and strong, and the remaining 700,000 were old, weak, women and children. The same was true for Xu He. Among the 200,000, only 60,000 were young and strong, and the other 140,000 had no combat effectiveness.
can not fight.
Even if he left 10,000 men for defense, Xu He was still worried.
In desperation, Xu He had to give up rescuing Sima Ju and led his army back.
So now Sima Ju no longer has any foreign aid.
On the second day, the officers and soldiers began to destroy food again.
Sima Ju stood on the city tower and looked at the bad things done by the officers and soldiers in the fields from a distance, almost as if a mouthful of blood spurted out.
Because he saw that his captured soldiers were being forced by the army to destroy the food they had grown.
Is there anything in the world that is more heart-rending than letting a farmer destroy the food he grows with his own hands?
Every millet seedling is treated like a farmer's precious child and must be taken care of carefully.
In the end, they were forced to remove them one by one.
Every soldier watching from the tower looked extremely sad, as if they had killed their parents or were mourning the death of an heir.
"How can officers and soldiers be so shameless!"
Sima Ju was trembling all over.
He originally thought that even if the army destroyed 800 acres every day, it would take at least seven or eight months to destroy all the more than 200,000 acres of farmland.
It's April now, and the autumn harvest is in August, so there's still more than half of it left.
Now it's good, not only did we lose manpower on our side, but we also gained more manpower for the army. Now it's a one-and-done situation. I don't know if the millet field can hold on until the autumn harvest.
"General, what should we do?"
The subordinates were anxious.
Sima Ju murmured: "Don't be anxious, wait a little longer, Xu He will be there soon..."
Two days later, Xu He did not come. Instead, the sky became darker and darker, with dark clouds covering the sky, as if it was going to rain heavily at any time.
Chen Mu was sitting in the camp when he heard what sounded like thunder outside. He came out and took a look at the sky, and couldn't help but be overjoyed.
Liu Bei happened to be passing by. Seeing this scene, he asked curiously: "Fourth brother, why are you so happy?"
Chen Mu smiled and said: "This is the last straw that breaks Sima Ju's back."
"oh?"
Liu Bei was puzzled and asked: "What does the fourth brother mean?"
Chen Mu said: "We destroyed Sima Ju's millet fields for days, constantly torturing his nerves and stoking his anger. He must have been holding a breath in his heart and wanted to counterattack and avenge his previous shame."
Liu Bei nodded: "Yes, if my fields were destroyed so shamelessly, I would be furious."
Why, brother, have you learned to ridicule me?
Chen Mu rolled his eyes and said: "Sima Ju's only reliance now is Xu He. If he learns that Xu He cannot be rescued at this time, what do you think he will do?"
Liu Bei thought for a while and said, "Are you completely disappointed?"
"Yes."
Chen Mu pointed to the top of his head and said with a smile: "At this time, Sima Ju still only has those three choices. One is to go out of the city and fight to the death, the other is to lead the people to surrender, and the third is to defend the city with trapped beasts. If he still has the idea of unwilling to surrender,
Then he must be hoping that we can't destroy all the fields so quickly and still wait for the autumn harvest, but you see it's going to rain today."
Liu Bei suddenly realized: "It is going to rain. If there is no drainage, all the millet seedlings will be drowned. Then all hope of Sima Ju is gone. If he continues to defend the city, he will starve to death. All he can do is go out and fight to the death."
Lead the people to surrender and take these two paths."
The habit of millet is that it likes dryness and is afraid of floods. When planting, it only needs a little water for irrigation. It cannot grow in water like rice.
So once it rains, farmers have to drain their millet fields.
Now Sima Ju is trapped in the city. Once he leaves the city in the rain, there is a risk of being wiped out all at once.
Although the army may not necessarily fight on rainy days, who can say for sure?
"Um."
Chen Mu nodded: "What I want is Sima Ju's 40,000 young men, so I have never fought with them head-on. I have defeated them step by step on a psychological level. Now that they are almost tortured, I should give them to Sima Ju next."
It was a series of blows.”
"How to do it?"
Liu Bei asked.
Chen Mu grinned: "Of course I told Sima Ju that Xu He couldn't come."
The messenger Sima Ju asked for help was specially released. After all, it was still difficult to send someone out in the five-place encirclement.
Therefore, the courier who came back to report the news has long been detained, and it is time to play its role.
That afternoon, the courier who had been captured earlier returned to Gaoyuan.
"General, something serious has happened."
Sima Ju's men hurried to his mansion.
"what happened?"
Sima Ju was resting in his room. His nerves had been so tense for the past two days that he finally fell asleep. When he heard the sound, he almost jumped out of bed and pulled out the knife he had put aside.
The subordinate said anxiously: "The messenger is back, he said..."
"what did he say?"
Sima Ju had a premonition that something was bad.
"Xu He was ambushed, Chang Guo was also attacked, and he had to go back to defend."
"What?"
Hearing the news, Sima Ju almost fainted.
Xu He, who had high hopes, didn't come, which was a huge blow to him.
Fundamentally speaking, neither Sima Ju nor Xu He wanted to surrender to the army.
After all, if they were willing to surrender, Xia Houyuan would have surrendered long ago when he attacked them, instead of being killed by Xia Houyuan in the end.
Therefore, Sima Ju was very stubborn and determined not to surrender.
The destruction of millet fields by the army is nothing, because they can only destroy so much land every day, and he can still have many acres left.
But if Xu He doesn't come, it means that he has no way out and can only fight to the death with the officers and soldiers.
Either surrender or fight to the death, these are the only two options.
"General, and..."
"what else?"
"The messenger said that he had been captured by the army before, and now the army asked him to come back to report that he had invited the general to make a briefing outside the city. The army was already waiting outside the city."
"Walk!"
Sima Ju gritted his teeth and said: "Assemble your troops and horses, I will fight the army decisively."
There is no point in continuing to be trapped, because new grain cannot be harvested, and old grain is consumed every day. If they defend the city, they will starve to death sooner or later. It is better to live in death and kill them.
"only!"
The subordinates quickly went to assemble the troops.
The gate of Gaoyuan City opened, and Sima Ju rode a tall horse. The anger he had accumulated for more than ten days burst out. After rushing out of the city, he prepared to have people beating drums to attack.
But at this time, Zhang Fei in the distance had already shouted loudly: "Sima Ju, are you willing to surrender?"
Sima Ju was stunned for a moment, and then did not order an attack. Instead, with a cold face, he led his team to slowly approach the officers and soldiers. The distance between the two sides was fifty meters, and the formations were lined up. There were more than 30,000 people on one side and less than 10,000 on the other side.
People, face to face.
"No surrender!"
Sima Ju pulled out his sword and shouted angrily: "You and other despicable people will only damage my grain fields. I would rather die than surrender to you."
Chen Mu rode out of the crowd on horseback and sighed: "Why bother, General Sima, can't we leave you and your men a way to survive? After surrendering to the imperial court, I will treat you kindly and never hurt anyone."
Just kidding, these people are all tool men in the future. I have only heard that capitalists exploit workers, but not that capitalists kill workers. Without workers, how can capitalists exploit them?
"Hmph, it's useless to talk too much. You can see the truth behind your hands."
Sima Ju prepared to order the attack.
Chen Mu sighed: "In this case, I have no choice but to withdraw my troops."
Withdraw troops?
Sima Ju was stunned.
He thought Chen Mu was joking and said in shock: "You want to withdraw the troops?"
"yes."
Chen Mu nodded matter-of-factly: "Since you are seeking your own death, there is no need for me to fight you. You can continue to stay here to fend for yourself. It will only be a pity for the men under your control."
Well, I won't pretend anymore, let's show my cards, I'm just greedy for your 40,000-horse body.
Before Sima Ju could recover, Chen Mu waved his hand and said: "Withdraw troops."
The army slowly retreated and slowly left.
Waiting for them to disappear on the horizon, Sima Ju and many of his subordinates looked at each other in shock.
They defeated the official army without even fighting?
It's like living in a dream.
Snap.
A drop of rain hit Sima Ju's face, and the cold touch told him that this was reality, not a dream.
But the next second, Sima Ju said in shock: "It's raining."
"It's raining."
"field!"
"Go back to the city quickly to get the tools."
Sima Ju's army suddenly became chaotic.
The millet seedlings are afraid of floods and heavy rains. If there is no drainage, they will not survive next year.
More than 30,000 people in Wuyangyang ran back to the city, put down their weapons, picked up their hoes and went into the fields.
Even Sima Ju went to work in the fields himself. At this time, there was nothing more important than the millet fields.
But at this moment, Yi Heng quietly climbed into the city from the north gate using a ladder with five thousand soldiers.
There were no civilians in Gaoyuan City for a long time. Everyone in the city was frightened by the sudden heavy rain. The officers and soldiers on the front battlefield retreated, making everyone subconsciously think that the officers and soldiers had really left.
So at this moment, the city was so empty that there was not even a single person guarding the city.
When someone was in the rain, they noticed that the East City Gate behind them had quietly closed at some point, and a red and black flag of the Han Dynasty was raised above the city tower.
The officers and soldiers actually captured the city!
The more than 30,000 yellow turban soldiers working in the millet fields were all stunned.
At this time, Chen Mu came slowly with a small number of cavalry in raincoats, looked around, and found Sima Ju's location.
He rode to the edge of a field not far away and said loudly: "General Sima, how are you? Do you still want to fend for yourself in the wild?"
The last straw that broke the camel's back.
Gaoyuan City is gone, the soldiers around him are unarmed, and the millet fields will soon be flooded by rain.
At this moment, despair surged into my heart.
Sima Ju shed tears, knelt on the ground tremblingly, and lamented: "I surrender."