Chapter 368

"How about this: our army will rest for a day and then join the attack on the city?"

Cao Cao didn't expect Liu Bei to be willing to attack the city and secretly thought,

"Good, I'll consume your Liu Bei's troops, and then..."

At this time,

Outside, there was a clamor of voices.

Many soldiers were arguing there.

"How much water was mixed into today's meal!"

"Yes, I'm not even half full!"

"Is there no grain in the army!"

"No food? Why don't we just disperse."

Cao Cao's eyelids twitched; this time he led fifteen thousand troops, and the daily consumption of grain was huge, and the commanderies were suffering from drought, so they couldn't be replenished in time.

He had wanted to settle Shouchun in one battle,

But he didn't expect that Shouchun wouldn't be taken after attacking for over a month!

He summoned the grain officer and asked about the situation; the grain officer naturally complained, saying he had no choice, as they were truly too short of grain.

Cao Cao thought for a moment and had the grain officer distribute it in small measures to save the urgent situation for a while.

The grain officer could only do as told, but he didn't know that his wife and children were about to be taken over by Cao Cao.

Liu Bei returned to his camp.

Fa Zheng reported,

"My lord, Shouchun has suffered from floods and droughts for years, and people are short of food. Yuan Shu couldn't hold it, so he left Li Feng, Le Jiu, Liang Gang, and Chen Ji to divide the ten thousand troops to guard Shouchun, while he himself ran south."

Liu Bei's eyes lit up.

"It seems the city will be broken in these few days."

Guo Jia cupped his hands.

"My lord, the Cao army is short of grain and won't last long. The outcome of Shouchun will be decided within the next three days!"

"My lord, we need to prepare early. The day the city of Shouchun is broken is when our army will tear off the mask with Cao Cao!"

Liu Bei looked around.

"Everyone, ten thousand against ten thousand; do you have confidence?"

Zhang Fei's eyes widened.

"Big Brother, I will definitely have a good fight this time!"

Ma Chao's eyes were sharp.

"I have long found that Cao Mengde unpleasant!"

Taishi Ci, Pang De, and Wu Anguo all expressed that they had long wanted to have a fight with the Cao army!

Liu Bei nodded.

"Good, tomorrow Taishi Ci will lead one thousand elite troops to attack the city!"

"Understood!"

"The other generals will perform their duties and prepare to fight the Cao army!"

Liu Bei pointed to the map.

"Our army's return journey this time will not pass through Yanzhou or Yuzhou; we will head south from Shouchun, pass through Lujiang Commandery, and go home from Jiangxia through Jingzhou."

Everyone's eyes lit up and they praised him.

"My lord is wise!"

Fa Zheng cupped his hands again.

"My lord, Sun Ce of Jiangdong has led twenty thousand troops and has secretly landed on the north bank of Chaohu. He led his army north past Hefei, and his target is unclear; I'm afraid it's our army."

Guo Jia looked at the map.

"My lord, I'm afraid Cao Cao and Sun Ce have reached an agreement to deal with our army together."

Liu Bei nodded.

"Everyone, tell me what we should do?"

Xun You cupped his hands.

"My lord, our army is all cavalry, so we can borrow the road through Xuzhou; Cao Cao won't be able to stop us."

"Gongda is very right."

Liu Bei frowned again.

"The Cao army has been attacking Shouchun for over a month and has lost tens of thousands of troops. After breaking the city, they will inevitably massacre the city; I must stop it!"

Several people looked at each other.

Sun Qian cupped his hands.

"My lord is benevolent, but our army of ten thousand is truly unable to take so many people."

Kong Rong also said,

"Xuande, I know you are benevolent, but this is not the time to save the people."

Liu Bei shook his head.

"Jiujiang Commandery has a population of over six hundred thousand; they cannot be slaughtered because of us."

"I have made up my mind; take the people who are willing to leave and head to Guanzhong!"

Everyone was moved.

"My lord is benevolent and righteous."

Xun You looked at the map and said worriedly,

"My lord, taking the people through Lujiang and passing through Jingzhou has several difficulties:

First, we must block Cao Cao's pursuing troops;

Second, Sun Ce's pursuing troops must also be blocked on the road...

Third, our army's grain and fodder are only enough for ten thousand troops to eat for over a month; with hundreds of thousands more mouths, it will be difficult!"

Liu Bei looked at Guo Jia.

"Fengxiao?"

Guo Jia smiled bitterly.

"My lord, you are truly making things difficult for me."

He paused.

"The first one is easy to solve; when Shouchun is broken, the Cao army will inevitably massacre the people of Shouchun, so our army will take the people as a reason to attack the Cao army first!

You, my lord, can send a fierce general to take Cao Cao's central army directly; Cao Cao will inevitably flee, and the Cao army will be in chaos!"

"Our army will have time to take the people south! The Cao army is short of grain; they cannot lead a great army south to pursue us."

Liu Bei laughed.

"There is one more thing: Lu Bu has already led his troops to Peixian, target Rencheng!"

"Yunchang has also received my order to lead his troops out of Hulao, pointing directly at Chen Liu Commandery!"

Everyone's eyes lit up; Yanzhou is being attacked, Cao Cao will inevitably save it!

Liu Bei pointed to the map.

"Sun Ce's army of twenty thousand is not something our army fears; he has mostly infantry, and our cavalry has strong mobility, so he won't be able to stop us."

"As for grain, I actually have someone in mind who can borrow some."

Everyone's eyes lit up even more; when has the lord ever borrowed grain without borrowing hundreds of thousands of shi!

Xun You also said.

"My lord, the Lujiang Commandery Administrator Liu Xun has a great conflict with Sun Ce; we can send an envoy to befriend him and persuade him to lead his troops out or borrow the road."

Sun Qian cupped his hands.

"My lord, this subordinate is willing to go!"

Liu Bei nodded.

"Good, thank you for your hard work, Gongyou. After you persuade Liu Xun, there is no need to return; go directly to Xiangyang and discuss borrowing the road and borrowing grain with Liu Biao."

"Understood!"

Fa Zheng suddenly pointed to Chaohu and said,