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The most important thing in the battle between the Han army and the Cao army was to seize the initiative. No matter which side, once it seized the initiative, it would have the upper hand, making the opponent unable to fight back. In the battle a few months ago, both sides took the upper hand, and this time, the Han army seized the initiative again.

The smoke rolled on the earthy mountain in the north city, and the flames soared into the sky. The entire mountain was engulfed by the raging fire. More than a thousand Cao soldiers who had just climbed the mountain and were about to launch tinder oil were forced to evacuate down the mountain. They watched dozens of heavy trenchers sink into the sea of ​​fire and burned to pieces.

Suddenly, a flame swelled violently, and the huge tongue of flame rushed straight into the sky, making a deafening burst sound. The thousands of cans of tincture oil stored on the mountain were ignited by the fire. The pottery pot exploded continuously, and countless flame fragments were flying all over the sky, splashing inside and outside the city wall at the foot of the mountain.

The Cao army soldiers on the top of the city were so scared that they raised their shields to resist. Despite this, the pottery pieces with flames still hit many soldiers, and screams rang out on the top of the city.

At this time, King Liu Jing of Han had appeared on the hill outside the northern city. There were several cavalry guards standing behind him, while military advisor Jia Xu was next to him. Jia Xu and Ma Jun rushed from Chang'an to Hefei. Although he was old and had no energy to ask about government affairs, he had experience that was difficult for ordinary people to reach and could give Liu Jing advice at critical moments.

For example, now that the Battle of Hefei has entered its late stage, the Han army is at a strategic turning point, and Liu Jing is also hesitating about how to end the Battle of Hefei. Jia Xu is undoubtedly a beacon on the front, and will use his life experience to point out Liu Jing.

Jia Xu looked at the fire soaring into the sky on the hills in the city, and smiled and said, "This is like a huge beacon tower, telling Shouchun that the Han army is back."

Liu Jing understood what Jia Xu meant. Jia Xu actually said that doing so was not meaningful. Liu Jing also smiled and said, "Once I suppressed the counterattack in the city, I could attack Beicheng from a high point, forcing the North City defenders to evacuate the city, and then I had the opportunity to conquer Beicheng."

"Does Your Highness really plan to conquer Hefei with force?"

Liu Jing nodded, "In the early days, I fought a national strength battle, consuming the national strength of the Cao army. Now that Cao's army changes its generals, I think taking Hefei can bring heavy blows to Cao Pi, thereby arousing Cao's dissatisfaction with him."

"But doing this will only force Cao Cao to hand over all the military power to Cao Pi. Cao Cao even uses Zang Ba as a scapegoat and blames Zang Ba for the city's destruction. After all, Cao Cao has to consider the overall situation. Will he have to change his life at this time?"

Although Liu Jing had decided to break the city, Jia Xu's persuasion still shook his determination a little. Jia Xu was right. The loss of Hefei would not damage Cao Pi's reputation. On the contrary, Cao Cao would also strengthen Cao Pi's reputation and power, so that Cao Pi would get rid of the adverse effects of Hefei's defeat.

Liu Jing pondered for a moment and said, "What about Jia Gong's opinion?"

Jia Xu smiled slightly, "The best way is to attack without breaking, and force Cao Pi to take the initiative to seek peace. Once the Cao army ends the Hefei battle in a peaceful manner, they will withdraw from the southeast and will no longer publicly interfere in the Han army's military operations against Jiangdong. Isn't this the best result?"

"But just attacking Hefei without breaking it may not force Cao's army to seek peace."

Jia Xu was confident and said slowly: "Isn't your highness's strategy very correct? I've consumed Cao Wei's national strength. I heard from Shangshu Xu that Wei's autumn grain harvest was poor, and the domestic financial resources were tight. Li Fu destroyed the foreign aid of Xianbei. I guess before next spring, Wei will have a civil unrest due to food shortage. Why don't your highness stick to it?"

Liu Jing nodded. Jia Xu said a lot. The competition for national strength is the kingdom for the Han army to completely win. Once Cao Cao's national strength fails, even if he is willing, it will be difficult for him to interfere with the crisis in Jiangdong.

At this time, Jia Xu took out a treasure bag from his arms and handed it to Liu Jing and said with a smile: "I will go back in a few days. After the day, Your Highness can open the treasure bag. There is a strategy in the treasure bag. I can guarantee that Cao Cao bows his head and surrenders."

Liu Jing took the tip and looked at it, and couldn't help laughing, "It turns out that the military advisor has prepared a lot, and I'm looking forward to opening this tip."

.........

Liu Jing adopted Jia Xu's strategy and built a floating bridge with ships. Tens of thousands of Han troops crossed the moat and attacked Hefei day and night. The Tushan outside the North City had a rapid firepower, not giving Cao's army a chance to breathe. The overwhelming fire and huge rocks continued to hit the north city and the Tushan Mountain. Within a few days, the North City collapsed again, causing chaos in the Cao army.

Although the Han army's continuous attacks day and night did not cause the city to fall, Hefei city was still dangerous and Cao's army suffered heavy casualties. Soon, Cao Pi, under Cao Ren's repeated requests, ordered Cao Zhen to lead 40,000 troops and 5,000 tiger and leopard cavalry to reinforce Hefei. Liu Jing immediately sent Huang Zhong and Pang De to lead 50,000 troops north to fight and intercept Cao's reinforcements. The two sides launched a fierce battle in Chengde County between Hefei and Shouchun.

This fierce battle caused heavy losses to both sides. Cao's army was killed 15,000 people and was forced to return to Shouchun. The Han army also lost nearly 8,000 people, but it defeated Cao's army's attempt to reinforce Hefei.

After the Battle of Chengde, Liu Jing slowed down the siege of Hefei, which finally gave Cao Pi and Cao Ren a chance to breathe. The two sides entered a strategic confrontation. The major battle did not happen, but the sporadic battle was still fierce, which made Cao Pi always tense up his heart and it was difficult to relax.

The Battle of Hefei flashed and more than a month passed, and it was January 22nd year of Jian'an. At this point, the Battle of Hefei had lasted for more than half a year. The Cao army suffered nearly 40,000 deaths, and the Han army suffered more than 20,000 losses. Both sides continued to increase their troops and mobilized 200,000 troops.

The protracted battle was a huge test of the national strength of both sides. The Han government had exhausted the grain reserves, and they could only exchange cattle and sheep in their hands for food from the people. They successively recruited more than 100,000 civilians, and countless gold and copper coins were spent. Various weapons and military funds were almost exhausted. The Han army's turbulent oil storage in Chaisang had been reduced from the highest 100,000 barrels to less than 20,000 barrels.

Compared with the Han Dynasty, the situation in Wei State was even more serious. Yedu's financial resources were exhausted and the entire country was on the verge of collapse. Cao's army consumed a lot of food and food, and continued to transport grain from various places. Even Caoren's reserved grain in Xuzhou was transported out.

In this battle of Hefei, Cao's army transported nearly 1.5 million shi of grain from various places, and collected more than 800,000 civilians. Nearly half of the grain was spent. Not only did the food consume huge amounts, but money and various materials were also continuously invested in the bottomless pit of the war. The price of grain in Yedu had exceeded 1,000 kilograms of rice, which made the people's grievances boil.

The people in Hebei were particularly in trouble. In order to raise military rations, governments in various places continued to increase taxes and grain, which led to people's miserable life. People in various places continued to riots. At the end of December, Gao Kan, a powerful tyrant in Bohai, rebelled in Nanpi, claiming to be in white, killing officials and robbing grain. In just a few months, he raised tens of thousands of hungry people, and the momentum was huge.

Not only Hejian County, Changshan County and Bohai County also experienced large-scale hungry uprisings. Cao Cao was forced to helplessly and ordered Cao Zhang to lead tens of Youzhou troops into Hebei to quell the rebellion.

Yedu, Xu Yi hurried into the Tongquetai and came to the Huichun Hall where Cao Cao was recuperating. A guard went in to report and came out for a moment and said to Xu Yi: "Shi Xu, Mr. Wei has invited you."

Xu Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Duke Wei was finally willing to see him. He hurried into the inner hall. Xu Yi was Cao Cao's most trusted confidant. Before Cao Pi took charge of government affairs, every time Cao Cao went on a war, he would hand over the government power to Xu Yi. This time Cao Pi was in charge in Shouchun. Cao Cao was in poor health and government power fell on Xu Yi's shoulders again.

However, this time Xu Yi was really sad. The political situation of Wei’s domestic and foreign affairs forced him to be overwhelmed. He advised Cao Cao to give up the battle of Hefei several times, but Cao Cao never listened and continued to increase troops to Hefei. In the end, he stopped meeting Xu Yi. This was his first time asking for Cao Cao, and finally he received the meeting.

Although the Wei State's national strength was exhausted and the political situation was critical, Cao Cao's condition did not worsen, and it improved a little. Moreover, his second son Cao Zhang lived up to his expectations and suppressed the rebels in Hebei one by one. The bandit Gao Kan was also killed by Cao Zhang himself, which made Cao Cao very pleased.

However, this morning, Cao Cao received an urgent letter from Cao Pi. In the letter, Cao Pi suggested that the war end the Hefei battle be the first time. The reason was that the morale of the Cao army was sluggish and the war-weariness of the army spread. The fugitive soldiers had exceeded 6,000, of which Hebei soldiers fled the most, with more than 4,000.

What's even more serious is that the turbulent oil in Hefei city has been exhausted, and the catapult has been damaged by more than 80%, so it is powerless to destroy the Han army's floating bridge. The Han army warships show their power in the moat. Just two days ago, Cheng Ji, the garrison in Hefei, surrendered to the Han army and caused the Han army to attack the city. Cao Ren personally took advantage of the enemy's arrows to fight the enemy bravely, and then repelled the Han army and kept the Xicheng Gate.

Not only that, Hefei's grain can only last for another month, and Shouchun's grain is almost exhausted. Cao Pi hopes to give another 100,000 stones of grain. If he is really poor in financial resources, he can consider ending the battle in Hefei.

In fact, Cao Cao was not unaware that their national strength was not as strong as the Han Dynasty, nor did he know that Hefei would not be able to defend sooner or later. It was just that Cao Cao had his own deep thoughts. He hoped that the Battle of Hefei would also drag down the Han Dynasty and make the Han army unable to conquer Jiangdong again, and give Jiangdong time to restore its national strength.

Cao Cao was very clear about the importance of Jiangdong. As long as Jiangdong existed one day, Liu Jing would not dare to attack Wei State in large quantities. Once Jiangdong was destroyed, Liu Jing would destroy Liu Bei again and the south would be unified, and Cao Wei would be in danger.

But the ruthless reality finally defeated Cao Cao's last glimmer of hope, but in the current situation, they finally couldn't hold on, regardless of national strength or army.

At this time, Xu Yi walked in and bowed and said, "I am here to see Duke Wei."

Seeing that he was so thin, Cao Cao sighed in his heart and said softly: "It's really hard for a long time."

Xu Yi's nose was sore, and tears almost fell, and he said with a trembling voice: "No matter how hard or tired I am, I can bear it, but the State of Wei can no longer bear it, and it cannot be reduced. Even the sky can only eat two meals a day."

“That waste will only waste food”

Cao Cao snorted coldly and asked again: "How much food do we have now?"

"Report to Duke Wei, the grain... has been exhausted"

"Don't there still 200,000 stones of grain in the inner warehouse?" Cao Cao said angrily.

Xu Yi was so scared that he kowtowed repeatedly, "Duke Wei, that is our last life-saving grain. If we transfer it to Hefei, even the Wei ministers would starve to death."

Cao Cao glared at him for a while, and finally had to give up the idea of ​​replenishing grain. After a moment of silence, Cao Cao asked again: "What is the situation in the Han Dynasty?"

"Although the situation in the Han Dynasty is not good, it is much better than us. At least they have tens of thousands of cattle and sheep. It is winter again, and beef and mutton are easy to transport and are enough to ensure the supply of military rations."

Cao Cao was a little unhappy and said, "I'm asking the Han Dynasty how much financial resources are. Let me tell me how much rice is in Chang'an."

"Chang'an has already implemented grain rations, and it is not allowed to buy and sell grain. Each person, including children, can receive half a liter of rice every day. The same is true for hungry people who escape to Chang'an. There is even mutton soup on the streets of Chang'an... there is also mutton soup available every day."
Chapter completed!