Chapter 93 The End of the Road

Sure enough, when he saw the brightly colored woman's clothes, Adou did not show too much excitement.

"Zhang Yi, bring that clothes to me." A Dou said.

"Your Majesty, this..."

"If you ask you to take it, why do you do that? "

"I obey the order." Zhang Yi had no choice but to walk down, reluctantly picked up the women's clothes, and glanced at the messenger angrily, then took the women's clothes to Adou.

Adou took the women's clothes, looked carefully, frowned slightly, and said, "This Cao Zhen is really stingy. She doesn't give out any clothes. She has the nerve to take them out to show off her clothes. Why are you the generals... I think you Wei State is really poor."

Speaking of this, Adou said to Zhang Yi next to him: "Zhang Yi, go and get a few good Shu brocades and let the envoy take them back. This is a gift to Cao Zhen. Let Cao Zhen take them to make a few sets of clothes for emergency needs. Let us also let Cao Zhen see the wealth of our dynasty!"

Hearing Adou's words, the general in the tent and the envoy of Cao's army looked at Adou in surprise. No one could guess what Ado was selling in the gourd.

In the eyes of the messenger, Adou was not angry, which showed that his scheming was extremely cunning, but Adou actually sent someone to send a few pieces of Shu brocade as a gift, which was a bit strange. Now that the two armies are fighting, the battle has not started yet, the two sides have begun to give gifts to each other, which makes the messenger completely confused.

The envoy nodded. As an envoy's main task was to deliver messages back and forth. In terms of etiquette, when someone gave Shu brocade, the envoy had an obligation to bring Shu brocade back to Cao Zhen.

...

Cao's army camp.

The envoy knelt down in front of Cao Zhen and said with a frustration: "General, I am incompetent..."

"Get up, no wonder you!" Cao Zhen shook his head: "I expected that Liu Chan was unwilling to send troops to fight. Liu Chan was already quite wise and Zhuge Liang was assisting him. Zhuge Liang was famous for being cautious. How could Liu Chan send troops?"

"General, Liu Chan also asked me to bring back a few pieces of Shu brocade, saying that it was a gift to you..." The messenger said carefully.

"Return gift? Shu Jin? This is fresh... bring it up and show it to me."

The soldiers took two Shu brocades. The Shu brocade was wrapped in paper outside, and they could not see the color and pattern of Shu brocade inside. They could only judge from the shape that it was cloth-like things.

"Open it for me, this Shu brocade is comparable to the price of gold in Yecheng. Hum?" Cao Zhen suddenly stopped his voice.

The paper was broken, and the white one appeared in front of Cao Zhen.

"Uh, this..." Cao Zhen looked at the Shu brocade in amazement. It turned out to be pure white and had no pattern.

Most Shu brocades are based on the meridian color strips, and the color strips are icing. The patterns are prosperous, the weaving patterns are fine, the color matching is elegant, and the most common patterns are the brocade of prosperity, the brocade of lanterns, the peacocks of flowers, and the wish-fulfilling peony. Especially those Shu brocades embroidered with various flowers are the most beautiful and beautiful, which is really the "icing on the cake".

The colors of Shu brocade are very bright, and with some finely crafted patterns, the price is comparable to gold when sold in Yecheng. Even Cao Zhen has a wealth of money, Shu brocade is a rare thing, and Cao Zhen has never seen the pure white Shu brocade without patterns.

"White..." Cao Zhen instantly understood what A Dou meant.

"I sent me Shu Jin to make clothes. I miss you Liu A Dou, but I don't have that kindness. I send the white Shu Jin here. You are going to make me a shroud! Well, Liu A Dou... I really don't want to eat it at all." Cao Zhen smiled in anger.

In this round of confrontation, Cao Zhen did not take advantage of it and gave women clothes to humiliate Adou. Adou also changed the color of clothes and gave Cao Zhen a white Shu brocade to him to make a shroud. This was much more sinister than giving women clothes.

...

Although Cao's small Huo's food was distributed, it saved food, but it made many soldiers hungry. Cao's soldiers were all young and middle-aged, and they had a lot of appetite. After Xiao Huo's food was distributed, the soldiers could not eat enough at all. The soldiers could not eat enough, so they complained, and the morale of Cao's army began to decline.

Cao Zhen knew that continuing to drag on would be increasingly unfavorable to Cao's general, but Cao's army still held hope in his heart that reinforcements would arrive soon.

In addition, Cao Zhen tried every means to incite A Dou to fight, but the Han army was unable to do so. A Dou gave a death order. Anyone who dared to fight without permission would be killed, regardless of the outcome. Under heavy punishment, no Han general dared to fight.

At this time, Cao Zhen's situation was like Zhao Kuo in the Battle of Changping, who was trapped in one place, lacking reinforcements and food supplies, and the surroundings were full of enemies.

...

Late at night, the lights were not turned off in Cao Zhen's tent. At this time, Cao Zhen was still sitting in front of the table and looking carefully at the map.

There was little food left and the morale of the soldiers was also very low. As for the reinforcements, there was no trace of them. Cao Zhen had realized that it was impossible for the arrival of reinforcements to come.

"We must break through, otherwise the army will be ruined here!"

Inexplicably, Cao Zhen remembered the Battle of Changping in his mind. On that day, Zhao Kuo made a mistake in command. However, 400,000 troops were surrounded and finally surrendered to Cao's army and was killed by Bai Qi.

Cao Zhen asked himself that he had not made any mistakes in command, but in the end he ended up like Zhao Jun that day. Looking back, Cao Zhen felt more and more difficult to understand.

The sudden appearance of Zhang Ren broke all Cao Zhen's plans. The Cao army was obviously crowded, but at a disadvantage.

"Bang!" Cao Zhen pointed his fingers hard at the Han army camp opposite, and then Cao Zhen closed his eyes. When Cao Zhen opened his eyes again, he had already made a decision in his heart.

"Capture the king first, capture the main force of the Han army, and Liu Adu is also on the other side. As long as they can defeat them, the situation will be reversed. After all, I have a large number of people, so why should I be afraid of him... Since reinforcements cannot be reached, I can only take risks. See who will laugh to the end!"

...

At the same time, Adou and Zhuge Liang were also discussing something in the account.

"Prime Minister, Cao's army shouldn't have much food. I think Cao Zhen will break through in the past few days. This time, Cao Zhen has more than 100,000 people and is slow to move. I think it would be good if these more than 100,000 people can get away 20%," A Dou said.

Zhuge Liang shook the fan in his hand gently, and the wind swayed slightly to the candlelight beside him. Then Zhuge Liang stopped and said, "Your Majesty, I think Cao Zhen probably won't break through."

"How do you say this?"

"Your Majesty, if I am Cao Zhen, I understand that the army is slow to move. If no one responds, breaking through the siege will inevitably suffer heavy losses. In comparison, if you attack my camp, the effect will be much better. After all, if you are in the camp, Cao Zhen can only force His Majesty to escape, and he can expose the morale of our army. Of course, attacking my camp will also cause great losses. But since it is all losses, I think Cao Zhen will definitely choose to attack my camp to gain a chance to turn defeat into victory.

"If Cao Zhen really attacks, it would be easy to say. We just need to defend. Cao's army has no food, and they do not have an advantage over the consumption of offensive and defensive battles. As long as we defend for a period of time, Cao's army will be defeated. If Cao Zhen's biggest disadvantage now is that there is insufficient food and grass. In short, this time it is thanks to Wudang Feijun. If they had not traveled across mountains and rivers to attack Xingyang, we would definitely not have such an advantage in this battle."

...

A day later, the war that both sides were looking forward to finally began.

Cao Zhen's goal is very simple, which is to break through the Han army camp and capture Adou. Even if he can't catch Adou, he will force Adou back. As long as the emperor's imperial carriage leaves, the Han army will be very motivated, and the battle situation can be reversed at that time.

The Han army's goal is also simple. We must guard the camp, delay time, and protect the safety of the emperor's carriage. As long as the Cao army loses its rations and loses its vigor, the Han army will win.

The two sides began a fierce battle. On the battlefield, arrows and weapons were constantly intertwined, and flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the shouts of killing were shocking.

The battle lasted from morning to evening and then to late at night, but Cao Zhen had no intention of stopping. Cao Zhen knew that the army now relied on just this kind of urgency. If we want to win, we must work hard to defeat our opponents in one battle. More importantly, Cao Zhen himself knew that the army's food and grass could no longer support the army's rest a few times.

At the beginning, both sides fought very anxiously, and even Cao's army, as the offensive side, took some initiative. However, as time went by, the resilience of the defensive side gradually emerged. In a long battle, the defensive side would always have some advantages, and this advantage gradually accumulates over time, and the small amounts accumulate into more.

This is an unequal war. In fact, the result has been doomed since the moment Cao Zhen was unable to counterattack Xingyang.

It’s not that Cao Zhen did not have the chance to turn defeat into victory, but the reinforcements were controlled by Xu Shu. He was alone and could only be forced to play a tragic role.

Three days later, Cao's attack was far less sharp than at the beginning, and the soldiers were already showing signs of fatigue. The three-day turnaround attacks made the soldiers on both sides fall into a state of fatigue. At this time, everyone was just relying on a sense of perseverance and responsibility to persevere.

The Cao army had no reinforcements, and the Han army also had no reinforcements. However, the Han army had food and medicine, which was exactly what the Cao army did not have.

Food is the most important thing for the people. Soldiers need food, war horses also need for forage, and injured soldiers also need medicine. These are all very short of Cao's army.

On the Han army, A Dou had already expected that this battle was crucial, so he had already invested all his money. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, A Dou ordered that all soldiers on the front line should have meat every meal.

This requirement does not seem complicated, but under the conditions and backward productivity at that time, it was still very important to ensure that 100,000 people had to eat meat every meal. The investment was still very large. The treasury had to at least take out a lot of money for this, and a large amount of supplies were also continuously transported from Luoyang to ensure the supply on the front line.

The Cao army soldiers only drank a few sips of porridge and rushed to the battlefield. When the Han army soldiers went to the battlefield, they could even see a trace of greasiness at the corner of their mouths.

With such an increase and decline, the originally anxious battle finally changed. Cao's army was still brave and still had great fighting spirit, but the fighting spirit could not fill its stomach. The feeling of hunger in its abdomen reached its body, making it so weak in every move.

A high platform was erected deep in the Han army camp, and a flag was erected.

At the vent at the distance, Wang Ping led a group of fire-headed soldiers to make firewood. A large pot was being raised, and next to it, bags of wheat piled up into a hill.

The fire is getting hot and the pot is getting hot, and a stream of heat is faintly coming out.

"Put all the wheat in!" While Wang Ping spoke, he did not forget to use a knife to pick up a piece of lard from the bucket next to him.

The fresh wheat mixed with lard is stir-fried in the pot, and the fire-headed soldier is shirtless, holding a huge shovel in his hand, shaking back and forth, stirring, gradually, a fragrance of stir-fried wheat is emitted.

The lard has melted. Under the stimulation of the fatty lard, the aroma of the fried wheat has become more and more intense. Then, the fragrance slowly drifted out with the wind.

The fragrance floated among the Cao army. The Cao soldiers who had not eaten enough for many days raised their noses and tried hard to suck the air and squeezed out the faint fragrance. However, smelling the fragrance would not solve the hunger. The harder they sniffed, the hunger they felt.

In recent days, Cao Jun, who had just drunk some porridge and had not eaten much dry food, had lacked oil and water in his stomach. Now the attack of this food aroma has made many people lose the idea of ​​fighting. Many soldiers are more willing to find a place to squat quietly and absorb the long-lost fragrance.

Cao Zhen's face became unprecedentedly ugly. Originally, Cao Zhen thought the Han army would decide the winner with him, but unexpectedly, the other party would use such a secret trick, which was completely hurting people!

"Damn it!" Cao Zhen cursed inwardly, but at this time, Cao Zhen had no choice but to curse.

Since the scent appeared, the combat level of Cao's army seemed to have dropped a lot. Cao Zhen vaguely felt that the soldiers were no longer as hard as they were originally.

"No, this doesn't work. If we continue like this, we will be done!" Cao Zhen frowned tightly. How could the soldiers fight if they are not full and have no strength?

After a long time, Cao Zhen finally made a decision.

Cao Zhen got off the horse immediately, gently stroked the horse's head, and murmured: "Old friend, I'm sorry for you..."

Then Cao Zhen took a deep breath and then said sternly: "Come here, send an order, kill the horse! The horse meat is stewed into thick soup and distributed to everyone!"

"General, what did you say?"

"I said kill the horse! Kill all the horses and let the brothers have enough food!" Cao Zhen shouted coldly.

"General, think twice!" The general next to him immediately came out to dissuade him. This horse and weapon were undoubtedly the second life for the general. As a soldier, even when he was absolutely necessary, he was unwilling to kill the war horse.

"Swish!" Cao Zhen suddenly pulled out his sword and stabbed into the heart of his war horse. The war horse obviously did not expect that his master would suddenly give him a sword.

Cao Zhen drew out the sword fiercely, and the horse's blood spurted out and splashed on Cao Zhen, making most of Cao Zhen's body. Then, the horse fell down unwillingly, but his eyes failed to close for a long time, but stared at Cao Zhen tightly.

Cao Zhen had a gloomy face and no expression, but his heart was like a knife. This war horse followed Cao Zhen for many years and experienced countless battle formations. Cao Zhen had already regarded it as a relative.
Chapter completed!