Chapter 139: The Siege (5)

"What? Tao Qian has not given up?"

曹操瞪大了双眸，疑惑的表情出现在了曹操的脸上，不仅是他，夏侯惇、曹洪、陈登等人都是疑惑不解。

Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and Xun You exchanged glances.

Xun You spoke first, saying, "According to the intelligence from Mingjing Hall, the food supplies in the inner city of Xiapi are sufficient for them to barely sustain themselves for half a month. They have no reason to take the initiative to attack us consecutively when we have just surrounded the inner city and our alertness is at its highest. This is nothing more than a futile and suicidal act. Therefore, I believe one of Tao Qian's intentions with this move is to reduce his army and minimize food consumption."

"Since Tao Qian's treacherous nature has not died, wouldn't it be easier for him to be defeated if he reduces his army?" Kong Rong asked, and indeed, everyone was also curious.

Xi Zhicai sneered coldly, "I have found the reason for this on the battlefield. Please come with me, Lord and everyone, to see." Translated content:

众人随着戏志才走到了大帐外，只见十具尸体躺在营前，都看向戏志才。戏志才则用长剑将所有尸体翻过身来解释道“这些，都是战场上战死的徐州军士兵的尸体，但是我发现了一些问题。”

"Lord, how do you grip a weapon?" With that, Xi Zhicai handed Cao Cao a long spear. Cao Cao tightly grasped the spear handle with one hand and explained to Xi Zhicai the proper posture for holding a weapon. However, Xi Zhicai said, "My lord and everyone, please take a look at the hands of these soldiers from Xuzhou."

"Hands?"

"What's wrong with these hands? They are complete with all ten fingers."

Neither Guo Jia nor Xun You could see any problem with the hands, but Cao Cao and the other military officers quickly realized. Being martial artists, they had been wielding weapons and engaging in combat for many years, causing calluses to form on their hands. These calluses were particularly thick in certain areas, while other areas would not have calluses at all. However, the calluses on the hands of the corpse just now were obviously not formed from wielding weapons. Those specific areas should not have calluses at all!

当曹操向众人解释出来后，众人也明白了。

“所以，这些人，要么是新兵，要么，就不是士兵！”

一旁的一将突然想到了什么，直接上手了，翻动那几具尸体，察看他们手上的老茧位置，随后向曹操抱拳道“主公，这些人应该是农夫！”

Everyone looked over and saw that it was Han Hao, one of the two land cultivation generals of the Cao army. After the crowd decided on the strategy of water attack, Cao Cao called Han Hao over. The land in Xuzhou was fertile, with smooth river channels and dense water lines, making it extremely suitable for agriculture. Cao Cao would not let such a prosperous land go to waste, would he?

"Based on what evidence?" Han Hao said with a serious expression, "

the humble general has been engaged in farming for many years, how could he not know the difference between calluses formed by years of wielding farming tools and calluses formed by wielding weapons? These people either have no calluses in their hands, or their calluses are in the same positions as those of farmers!"

Xu Zhicai sighed and said, "That's exactly right." He then added, "These examples are enough to validate Gong Da's viewpoint. The people they sent to the battlefield are either long-time farmers or ordinary people, or household servants who have never been engaged in agriculture or been to the battlefield. Their purpose is precisely to minimize consumption!"

Guo Jia sneered, and it turned out that the main characters all appeared in the end.

"Not only that! Guo predicts that Tao Gongzu intends to break through!"

"Break through?"

"He actually still has thoughts of breaking through?"

Guo Jia ordered someone to take out the map and the large table case in the account, and pointed his sword towards the location of Xuzhou.

"Everyone, take a look. Xuzhou is surrounded by the Si River and the Yi River. After our army breaches the river banks, the water level in the two rivers will rise enough to accommodate some large warships. And as Xuzhou is close to the Jiang River, there must be some boats inside Xuzhou city, or they can be quickly built. I assume Tao Gongzu will either head south along the Si River, then either go north to Huaiyin, Siyang, and Fuling, or head south to Xuyi. In any case, he will seek refuge with Yuan Gonglu. At that time, Yuan Gonglu can also use the excuse of helping Tao Gongzu regain Xuzhou to launch an attack on Xuzhou."

"But what evidence does Feng Xiao have to say that Tao Qian wanted to break out instead of waiting for reinforcements or facing death like a moth to a flame?"

"This is also thanks to Duke Wenju. He mentioned the situation when Beihai was besieged by the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, which reminded me of something. Mingjing Hall once received a detailed battle report about that battle. The fierce general under Liu Yao's command, by the name of Taishi Ci, had previously broken through the siege of the 100,000 Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou and went in search of Liu Bei, who was still a plain magistrate at the time, to seek assistance as a way to repay Duke Wenju's great kindness. You see, even the two top-tier generals, Junming and Zhongkang, could not break out unscathed."

Kong Rong still feels deeply moved and excited when thinking about the courageous figure and noble character of Taishi Ci. "Indeed, when I said that we needed someone to break through the siege and seek aid, Ziyi volunteered himself. He had previously shown gratitude for my care of his mother, and now that I am in trouble, he is willing to break through the encirclement and ask Liu Bei for help on my behalf."

You should know that the enemy has already formed a siege outside the city, with nearly 100,000 Yellow Turban soldiers. It would be extremely difficult to break through. I asked Taishi Ci how many troops we would need, and after observing the situation from the city wall, he replied, "Two men will suffice!"

So I sent two skilled warriors who were good at riding and shooting to follow Taishi Ci. After Taishi Ci and the two soldiers had eaten and drank their fill, they armed themselves and took their bows and arrows, then confidently left the city. The rebels outside the city became alert when they saw someone coming out from inside the city, but they were hesitant to approach Taishi Ci due to the tight defense on the city walls. Then, at the city gate, Taishi Ci had the two soldiers hold up targets, and he shot an arrow onto each target, before returning to the city with the two soldiers.

The generals listened with confusion, and Guo Jia took over.

At the time, the Yellow Turban Army thought that Sun Jian was not trying to break out of the city when he left, but was only practicing archery. They were too lazy to bother about just three people. The next day, Sun Jian went out again to practice archery; the same scene repeated on the third day. Within those three days, Sun Jian acted like a "drama king," trying every means to exhaust the enthusiasm of the rebel soldiers. Some even applauded and admired Sun Jian for his excellent archery skills. However, on the fourth day, when Sun Jian appeared with the two soldiers again, the rebel soldiers no longer wanted to watch him shoot arrows. They were tired of it. Some laid down, some sat, and they couldn't even be bothered to look in Sun Jian's direction. Who would have expected that the "drama king" Sun Jian suddenly changed the script.

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