Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 536 Objective Issues
It was sunny for three consecutive days.

Tian Yu opened the tent door and looked up at the azure sky. He took two steps forward and looked around, but saw no obvious fog.

We knew that fighting would break out again today. The weather was fine yesterday and the day before yesterday, and both sides were wasting time building camps and fortifications.

And today, there is a high probability that the opposing Tai Shi Wen Gong will attack us.

Tai Shi Wen Gong and his gang put a lot of mental pressure on the Youzhou soldiers, not just because of the killing on the battlefield, but also because of the premonition of fate.

Gongsun Zan and Lu Bu before them both used this tactic, making the enemy too exhausted to cope with it.

This is a typical heroic tactic, where the morale is weakened and it is difficult to recover.

If you get beaten too often, you will develop a feeling of admiration.

Whether it is the Youzhou soldiers or the various Hu tribes, they all have this instinct to admire the strong.

With thoughts in mind, Tian Yu came to the big tent. Wang Ling had just finished his night duty and was sitting lazily in front of the charcoal brazier with his eyes closed for a nap.

Noticing the footsteps, he looked at Tian Yu and said, "The water has returned to the peak period of previous years. We speculate that the black bandits will repair the bridge today. Now the morale is low, and it is difficult for scouts to conduct in-depth investigations. Our army is very passive."

Not only them, Yuan Shang also seemed to be entangled by Wei Yan in Ji County. He was stationed in the south of Ji County and was mobilizing his troops to dig trenches and build fences around Ji County. It seemed that only by encircling Ji County in this way would the main force of Yuan's army dare to march west to join the war.

Yuan Shang was looking for something for the army to do to train the army's civil engineering capabilities for use in the decisive battle.

Of course, Tian Yu also felt that Yuan's army had been hurt and was staying in Ji County to rest and relax their morale, or perhaps they were waiting for the Wuhuan from the three eastern counties to arrive.

The war has completely gotten out of control now.

The enemy's more than 5,000 people could not be easily eliminated by the two states of You and Ji.

The enemy was too mobile, and initially there was no time to mobilize troops to encircle and kill them; they could only watch helplessly as the enemy reached a cooperation with Liu Bei's old subordinates in Ji County and then retreated into the mountains.

Now the superior military force cannot be deployed. Previously, so many horses were borrowed internally, but Yan Rou was defeated and killed, and a large number of horses were taken away... During this process, even if many small warlords did not go bankrupt, they were seriously injured and disappointed with the actions of the coalition forces.

At the very least, if they had not resisted and Youzhou had implemented Guanzhong's policies, they would not have suffered such great property losses and even greater personal risks.

Wang Ling, a person from another state, felt tired. Wasn't the previous example of the powerful people in Taiyuan and Hedong clear enough?

The people of Hedong were more or less implicated. So, what is the difference between the powerful people in Youzhou and those in Taiyuan?
One lived together with the Xianbei and Wuhuan, and the other lived together with the Xiongnu. Although they seemed to be in opposition, they were actually very good partners.

You help me threaten the villagers and force them to become my loyal followers under the pressure of survival; I give you a monopoly on goods and strengthen your control over the tribe.

This is how life has been passed down from generation to generation, and the imperial court is actually an outsider.

What the people of Taiyuan could not avoid, the counties of Youzhou would basically find difficult to avoid.

Seeing Tian Yu's gloomy expression, Wang Ling didn't say anything else. He stood up, picked up the cloak and put it on, covering his head.

As he was walking out, he suddenly remembered something and said, "Yesterday I sent people to climb the mountains. The roads around the mountains are dry. Our army can climb over the mountains to harass the enemy, and the enemy will do the same. Guo Rang must send a message to each camp to be careful of Tai Shi Wen Gong attacking from behind."

"it is good."

Tian Yu responded simply and stood up to send Wang Ling back to rest.

Watching Wang Ling's back disappear, the morning mountain breeze blew on Tian Yu's face. His brows were firm, and after thinking for a while, he just sighed and turned around to wash up.

Looking down at the reflection in the water, Tian Yu frowned and asked the guards on his left and right, "Who has a bronze mirror?"

Immediately, a guard brought a palm-sized bronze mirror and handed it to him. Tian Yu took out a handkerchief, dipped it in water, wiped the mirror, and observed carefully. He saw that his beard had indeed turned noticeably whiter.

He silently returned the mirror and washed his face with water.

Then he returned to the tent with a heavy heart and started to eat breakfast. There were more than 10,000 soldiers stationed in the camp, and more than 10,000 horses... The pressure of food and fodder consumption was as heavy as his mood. From the beginning, he did not think of fighting a long-term war of attrition. Many people brought their fellow villagers to participate, just to take advantage of the opportunity to grab a handful.

They have rich experience in this kind of thing in the past. If there is no reward from above, they will just get it themselves.

Anyway, when people are in a foreign land, they disguise themselves as rebel soldiers, burn and kill people, and return to their hometown, and they become decent little people and powerful people.

Five consecutive days of rainfall have made the roads muddy and difficult to travel on, and subsequent supply transportation is blocked... More importantly, the black bears have not been seriously injured so far, which has forced the counties that are waiting and watching to adopt a cautious attitude.

Unless they received Liu Bei's military order, how could the counties possibly gather military rations for them?
There were powerful people and county officials who participated in the rebellion, but it was rare for the entire county to be led by the county magistrate.

After dinner, Tian Yu began to check the military reserves and felt even more worried.

If he does not receive new food supplies within three days, he'd better evacuate from here, so that he can maintain order in the army and go to the counties outside the mountains to find food.

Even if we have to rob, we have to get some food. Even if we break up, we have to eat our fill before we break up.

If it drags on until the fifth day, unless they can imitate the enemy and kill horses, they will run out of food and the entire army will collapse.

We cannot count on Xianyu Fu to transport food to us, and Xianyu Fu is under a lot of pressure.

The area around Zhuolu and the eastern part of Dai are not grain-producing areas.

In these places, the Wuhuan and Xianbei gathered together, and their cattle and sheep roamed freely and grazed the fields everywhere. Ordinary people had no way to make a living by farming. If the cattle and sheep ate your crops, you had no place to seek justice.

Therefore, over the years, the agriculture of the local self-cultivating farmers has been abandoned. Unless you rent the land from a powerful family or join a large family in the Hu tribe, your farming will not be subjectively invaded by the herdsmen.

Xianyu Fu was not only responsible for the coalition of powerful troops he had recruited, but also had to bear the burden of providing food and fodder for the Wuhuan and Xianbei vassal soldiers.

Whenever a war breaks out, even if it is a war to defend one's own wealth and status, money and food will be required.

In war, wealth burns violently.

Either it turns to ashes or it is eaten.

Tian Yu was instinctively worried. As a commander of a border county, he had also served as an official for a long time and was very clear about the ethics of officials.

He immediately took the account books to inspect the grain stores. When the local tyrant who served as the grain officer saw him coming, his face immediately turned ugly.

Seeing his expression, Tian Yu did not investigate further and asked, "Recently, the rains have been continuous in Hao, and many horses in the camp have been sick. Many people are reluctant to slaughter them. If we wait for the horses to die of illness, they will surely become emaciated. I want you to use military funds to buy sick horses from various places, and slaughter them for a feast for the officers and soldiers."

"Yes, I have the same idea, but the military capital is insufficient. I can only buy about 300 horses."

"If you don't have money, write an IOU and use my name."

Tian Yu said loudly, "If we win, I will admit my debt. If we lose, the whole army and I will be left with nothing, so these debts will not matter."

"Yes, I'll go right away!"

The grain officer agreed, and Tian Yu turned and left.

After working for half a day, the temperature rose sharply near noon.

The military camp on the mountain could even see thick smoke rising into the sky from the camps behind several distant mountains.

Tian Yu looked at it for a moment, speechless for a long time.

As things have developed to this point, things are not going well internally and the friendly forces are trying to preserve their strength. Do they have to sink into the abyss together in the end?

(End of this chapter)