Zhu Nao

"Shangguanxian has been with Tao Bei for more than ten years. When Tao Bei was a centurion in the Xiangzhou garrison in the past, he worked under Tao Bei's subordinates. It is said that Tao Bei saved his life on the battlefield. Later he He has been following Tao Bei in all the wars, and he has been loyal to Tao Bei and made many contributions to him. Two years ago, Tao Bei also married his eldest daughter to him."

"Shangguanxian has two lieutenants under his command, named Mi Chun and Zhang Wei. Mi Chun has followed Shangguanxian for many years and is a confidant who was single-handedly promoted by Shangguanxian himself; Zhang Wei was appointed by Tao Bei two years ago to Shangguanxian. In addition to assisting in military affairs, he also has the responsibility of supervising the army."

"In addition, there are four lieutenants in the army..."

Zhu Nao, Xie Wuji and others sat around in the tent, and several spies were reporting to them the results of the investigation of the army in Puzhou city.When the spies finished reporting the situation of the officers at all levels, everyone's expressions were a little heavy.

In general combat, if you can break through the enemy from within, buy the enemy's army, and make them kill each other, it is undoubtedly the best method.However, the military officers in this city sounded like it was difficult to find a place to start.The chief general Shangguan Xian and Tao Bei met in Weishi, fought side by side for many years, and even became in-laws. This kind of relationship is the most difficult to pry.And the officers below were either loyal to Shangguan Xian or Tao Bei, and it was not easy to buy them off.

Of course, although it is not easy, they cannot give up just yet.After discussing with everyone, they chose two people who sounded like they could be the breakthrough point. After discussing the plan of alienation, they arranged for people to carry it out.

Zhu Nao asked, "Has the food for this month been delivered?"

The subordinate hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, a batch has just been shipped in this morning."

Zhu Nao said, "Submit the accounts and let me have a look."

Not long after, someone presented the account.

Zhu Nao looked through it at a glance, and asked, "Have you checked it? Is there any discrepancy with the account?"

The subordinate hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, there is no entry or exit."

Zhu Nao smiled and said, "That's good."

The decision to send troops this time was actually quite hasty, in order to trap Shangguan Xian before he could gain a firm foothold in the river.Therefore, Zhu Nao only brought a month's supply of food and grass out at the beginning, and Xu Yu and others were left to figure out the follow-up supplies.However, he dared to do this because he knew the situation of grain storage and taxation in various places like the palm of his hand. Tao Bei would never dare to do this. Before Tao Bei sent troops to Jingzhou, he slowed down again and again because he only dared to raise the grain and grass. Mobilize troops, otherwise once the army is trapped in the middle of the road and has no food to eat, everything will be over.

And Xu Yu and others did things very properly. While the army was walking in front, they opened up supply lines in the rear.This time, they sent not only the accounts of the second batch of grain and grass, but also the sorted reserves of the granaries in various states and counties, so that Zhu Nao could see at a glance how long they could last.

Zhu Nao turned to the officers again, and said in a warm voice: "Let the soldiers be prepared, it may not be possible to separate the enemy, and this time it is likely to be a hard battle. But the shortest is three or four months, and the longest is no more than seven or eight months. The state city must be destroyed!"

After hearing this, the officers could not help but look at each other in surprise.

In fact, what the soldiers fear most is the war of attrition.Suffering for a long time, it seems that there will never be hope in sight.No matter how ambitious you are, you will run out of fuel until the end.But Zhu Nao actually gave a specific date!

How did this day come about?Naturally, it couldn't be Zhu Nao's brainstorming idea, but how much food is stored in Puzhou city must be a secret among secrets. Shangguan Xian will never be so stupid as to let the enemy know such important news!

It didn't take long for someone to figure out what was going on.At first Zhao Wu sent Chen Fu to Hanzhong, and Zhu Nao also sent a group of envoys to Hezhong.The envoys sent by Zhu Nao were not just to win over Zhao Wu, they were also ordered to inquire about various news in the river.

After the Shu army entered Huazhou, Zhu Nao immediately had all the official documents of land property and household registration confiscated from the Huazhou government, and then he contacted many wealthy families in Hezhong through the Chen family, and made the heads of these wealthy families Please come to cross-examine for a long time.Not only that, Zhu Nao has been ordering people to investigate in nearby counties recently.Combining these news with the news returned by his envoys, the situation in Puzhou City is no secret.

And Zhu Nao brought many Duzhi officials with the army. These Duzhi officials have been reclusive and very busy these days.Anyone who happened to pass by the tent where the officials were staying could hear the crackling sound of the abacus inside.

Apparently, the Duzhi officials have collected all kinds of information, checked and calculated many times, and have already deduced the amount of grain and grass in Puzhou City more accurately.As for how much food and grass Shangguan Xian brought with the army when he came from Henan, Zhu Nao didn't know, but he knew that the impact was not great.Shangguan Xian raided the river by surprise, which meant that he dispatched troops in a hurry and had no time to prepare a large amount of luggage. The food and grass were probably supplied by him plundering spoils along the way.This point can be confirmed by simply asking the people on his marching road.

Therefore, knowing the remaining food and grass in the city, and then counting with reference to the total number of soldiers and horses of Shangguan Xian, isn't it calculated how long the Henan Army can last!

When the officers figured this out, they immediately beamed with joy!As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you will win every battle. This kind of battle is too easy to fight!Not only do they know how long the enemy can last, they even figure out the mentality and state of the enemy at different times!As long as the Dark Horse Army keeps the Central Plains Army in the north firmly in check, how can this battle be invincible?

Everyone quickly said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, we will do our best!"

Zhu Nao smiled, and asked the officers to go down to boost morale.

……

……

Inside Puzhou city.

Shangguan Xian was completely ignorant of the affairs outside the city. He stood in the granary, looking at the account book in his hand, his brows were frowned.Several quartermasters around him were trembling.

"Why did so many chickens die in half a month! How on earth do you do things!" Shangguan Xian slammed the ledger in a rage, and the quartermasters shook even more.

When the [-] Shu army arrived, Shangguan Xian realized that what awaited him would be a protracted war of attrition.What they are comparing is not whose soldiers are strong and horses are strong, whose tactics are superb, but whose food and morale can last longer.

So more than a month ago, Shangguan Xian had already ordered that from soldiers to livestock in the army, the daily food and grass must be halved, in order to last longer.However, the food and grass in Puzhou City was only enough for them to last for two months, even if the consumption was halved, it would only last for four months at most.They can only hope that Taobei's reinforcements will arrive within four months, or that the Shu army will be exhausted before them and withdraw.

As for the dead poultry... the chickens have been a little listless lately as the food for the poultry has also been reduced.The quartermasters thought the chickens were just hungry, like the soldiers.It wasn't until the chickens started dying one after another that they realized it might be fowl plague.It is too late to take measures at this time.

Originally, the death of some chickens was not a big deal, but in the absence of food and clothing, a large number of poultry died, which was tantamount to making matters worse.Fearing that the chicken plague would be passed on to the soldiers, which would lead to attrition of soldiers, the chicken had to be burned.

Seeing the original food being wasted, how could Shangguan Xian not be angry?

He shouted: "Pull these two people out to me, cut them off!"

Immediately, several soldiers rushed up and detained the two officers who were in charge of looking after the poultry.The two officers were so frightened that their livers and gallbladders were torn apart, they desperately begged for mercy: "General, please forgive me, please forgive me, General!"

Shangguan Xian waved his hand impatiently, and the two crying officers were dragged out.After a while, screams came from outside, and the two had been beheaded on the spot.

Shangguan Xian turned to the other quartermasters, and looked at them coldly: "If there are any losses, you will come and see them!"

Those people hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, General."

Shangguan Xian is not a tyrannical officer, but under such circumstances, if he does not manage the army strictly, the army may collapse soon.

He turned and walked out of the granary, the sun suddenly shone on his face, making him a little dizzy.He closed his eyes, stabilized his body as straight as a blade, survived the dizziness, and then continued to move forward.

He asked his followers in a low voice: "Is there no news from the north yet?"

The follower shook his head bitterly: "General, no."

Every few days, they would venture to release a few spies from the city. Those spies either climbed up to look far away, or tried to find a way to bypass the encirclement of the Shu army and go outside to inquire about news.But it didn't work out.

Shangguanxian heard the news from Yedu's messenger that Tao Bei was unable to dispatch reinforcements due to the dark horse army's Chen soldiers in Jizhou. He thought the dark horse army was just a group of mobs who took money to do things, but now it seems that it is not so easy to solve.

Shangguan Xian said indifferently: "I know." After a pause, he said again, "The order will be passed on. Starting today, the food for the whole army will be reduced by half again. Let the soldiers search the whole city for grass roots, bark and other things to eat."

"Halve again?!" The follower was shocked.In this way, their food was only a quarter of the original amount. Such a small amount of food every day can only keep the soldiers from starving to death.

Shangguan Xian gave him a sideways look, and the entourage suddenly didn't dare to speak.

——After the order to reduce expenses was issued, Shangguan Xian was the first person to follow it.Other officers might use their full-time jobs to eat two extra bites, but Shangguan Xian's food and clothing expenses are the same as ordinary soldiers.During this period of time, he has lost weight twice.

With him leading by example, who would dare to disobey?

The attendant thought of their suffering, but Tao Bei didn't move for a long time, and couldn't help complaining.He complained in a low voice: "The general is really..."

Before he finished speaking, Shangguan Xian had already swept over with a sharp look, and scolded: "You can't even discuss the decision of the general!"

The entourage was taken aback, and quickly argued: "No, no, I just want to say, it would be great if the reinforcements sent by the general could arrive sooner..."

Shangguan Xian has followed Tao Bei for many years, and he respects Tao Bei very much, and he will never allow Tao Bei to say anything wrong about others.

He said coldly: "Take care of your mouth. No matter who dares to say something that shouldn't be said, I will never forgive you!"

The follower swallowed nervously and nodded repeatedly.

To govern an army, one must act both softly and hard. If one is blindly strict, it will inevitably make soldiers resentful.Shangguanxian said again: "Send down the order to appease the soldiers of the army, saying that our spies have found out that the [-] troops of the Shu army consume about [-] shi every month, and they can't last for two months. As long as we can survive these two days Within a month, the Shu army will retreat by itself."

This was just nonsense on his part. He didn't know the surplus of food and supplies of the Shu army at all, and this kind of confidential information was beyond the reach of his spies.He can only give the soldiers a little hope and expectation, otherwise this day really won't last.As for what if the Shu army did not withdraw after two months...then he could only think of other words and continue to coax and lie to the army.

"Yes, General..." His cronies knew what was actually going on, but they also knew the importance of appeasing the soldiers' minds, so they could only issue orders according to what he said.

Shangguanxian looked at the road ahead.The bright sun illuminated the cobblestone road white, and after staring at it for a long time, dizziness surged up again and again.But he had to hold on, hold on like a strong blade.What he bears is not only the expectations of the whole army, but also Tao Bei's hope to win the world in the future.He will never fall.

I just hope that the Shu army really can't last for another two months...