Chapter 741

Yuan Shao was completely in a desperate mode, not caring about casualties.

Not only did he cause huge casualties to Cao Cao, his own troops also suffered heavy losses.

Overall, the casualties of both sides were almost equal, and Yuan Shao's casualties were even greater.

This was because Especially Guan Yu Yu was on Cao Cao's side.

Just the military formation composed of Especially Guan Yu Yu and his personal guards was enough to cause huge casualties to Yuan Shao's army.

Not to mention that Cao Cao also had fierce generals like Xia Houyuan, Cao Ren, and Yue Jin under his command.

Even though Yuan Shao had the advantage in numbers and cavalry, he still inevitably fell into a disadvantage.

Another five days passed like this,

Even though a lot of grain was saved because many soldiers were lost, the grain in Yuan Shao's army had almost reached its limit!

The army was about to run out of grain.

However, Cao Cao had not been defeated yet, and the subsequent grain was still on the way, needing at least several more days to arrive.

It was not because the distance between Jizhou and the Guandu camp was too far.

The fundamental reason was that Yuan Shao had brought almost all the pure grain when he came out this time.

Even the grain of the aristocratic clans and powerful families in places like Yecheng had been forcibly requisitioned.

At this time, to get more grain, it could only be forcibly requisitioned again from Jizhou, Youzhou, and even Qingzhou.

Moreover, the difficulty of this requisition was even greater.

Naturally, more time was needed.

In Yuan Shao's camp.

At this time, Yuan Shao no longer had the high spirits of a few days ago, but instead had a face full of worry and fatigue, and many white hairs had appeared.

It was evident how much suffering Yuan Shao had endured these days.

"How many troops has our army lost in these few days? How many troops are left?"

Yuan Shao looked at Seeing Ju Shou and asked.

"Reporting to the Lord!"

Seeing Ju Shou immediately cupped his hands and replied: "Up to now, our army has suffered a total of 55,686 casualties in these days, with 346,784 troops remaining;"

"However, the remaining grain is no longer enough to support the army for 2 days!"

"My Lord! We must make a decision early! Whether to fight or retreat, we must make up our minds!"

"Otherwise, once the army runs out of grain, I fear we won't be able to leave!"

Without grain, not to mention the combat effectiveness of the army...

At that time, the army would likely mutiny.

It would collapse without a fight.

This was not what Seeing Ju Shou wanted to see.

He actually hadn't expected the battle situation to evolve into this state.

Otherwise, he would have risked Yuan Shao's disgust to dissuade him from capturing Xu You.

Even if he wanted to settle scores with Xu You, couldn't he wait until after the battle?

Of course, it was meaningless to consider these things now; it was all in the past.

There was no regret medicine to eat in this world.

"This..."

Yuan Shao frowned upon hearing this, and his old problem began to flare up again, starting to become indecisive.

Let him retreat?

He was undoubtedly unwilling.

Wouldn't that be telling the world that he had lost to Cao Cao?

Who was Cao Cao?

Just the descendant of a eunuch, and once just his follower.

He hadn't really taken Cao Cao seriously in the past.

And now he was actually going to lose to Cao Cao?

Yuan Shao could not accept this result.

But let him continue to fight to the death with Cao Cao?

If there was a chance of winning, he would naturally be willing.

But looking at the grain situation in his army and the combat power of Cao Cao's army.

Within 2 days, it was absolutely impossible for him to defeat Cao Cao.

Thinking of this, Yuan Shao fell into a tangled and dilemma-ridden situation.

He both wanted to retreat and didn't want to lose to Cao Cao, didn't want to lose face in front of Cao Cao.

It felt quite like wanting to have his cake and eat it too.

Seeing Ju Shou naturally saw that Yuan Shao's old problem had flared up again and immediately advised: "My Lord, this is not the time for hesitation. Either you make up your mind to fight Cao Cao to the death, fighting until the fish dies and the net breaks, and never stop until Cao Cao is defeated;"

"Or leave a portion of the troops to cover the retreat, and our main army will first retreat to the north bank of the Yellow River. I ask the Lord to make a decision quickly, we cannot delay any longer!"

Guo Tu on the side also hurriedly cupped his hands and advised: "My Lord, I believe Gongyu is right. I ask the Lord to make a wise decision!"

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