Three Kingdoms, I'm really not a general!

Chapter 199: Prelude to Jieting

When Liu Bei saw Xing Daorong saying this, he couldn't help but shudder.

This is so similar to the scene where Xing Daorong ran from Hanzhong to Jingzhou!

Although Xing Daorong is also very important here, no matter what, he has himself here to lead the charge, and with Fa Zheng's advice, even if Xing Daorong is not here, although there will be losses, it will not lead to very serious consequences.

"It's okay to go and take a look."

Thinking of this, Liu Bei immediately ordered Xing Daorong to lead his troops to change route and head towards Jieting.

Xing Daorong did not bring any deputy generals with him, but led only 3,000 troops and went directly to Jieting.

But to tell how Zhao Yun got up the mountain, we have to start from when Zhao Yun and Liu Feng arrived at Jieting.

When Zhao Yun and Liu Feng arrived at Jieting, they looked at the terrain and immediately realized that the city could not be defended.

To put it bluntly, the county seat of Jieting has been abolished for a long time, and all the ruins are broken. Even if you spend a month, you can't repair the city.

The only way to defend this place is to go up the mountain.

But Liu Bei had given several instructions before leaving, so how could Zhao Yun go up the mountain easily?
He only said: "Don't go up the mountain, set up camp to meet the enemy."

However, Liu Feng looked around and laughed, "General, why are you so suspicious? This is a remote place in the mountains. How dare the Wei soldiers come?"

Zhao Yun said: "Although the Wei soldiers dare not come, we can set up camps at the five main entrances and order the soldiers to cut wood to build fences to plan for the long term."

Liu Feng shook his head and said, "How can we set up camp on the road? There is a mountain on the side of here, which is not connected to the four sides, and there are a lot of trees. This is a natural danger. We can station troops on the mountain."

When Zhao Yun heard this, he felt something was wrong.

In fact, he was the commander-in-chief and didn't need to explain too much to Liu Feng.

However, since they were stationed together, they couldn't have too many disagreements, so he explained: "Young General, before the lord set out, he reminded us several times that there is no water source in the mountains near Jieting."

"If we are cut off by Cao's troops, we will be defeated."

After hearing this, Liu Feng finally reacted.

He hurriedly asked people to survey the mountain, and sure enough, this mountain was completely different from the area in Jingzhou, and there was no water source at all.

Then he said, "No wonder... But if we can't go to the mountains and we can't defend the city, how should we deal with it?"

Zhao Yun said, "We have stationed troops on the road and built a wall, so that the enemy can't sneak through. If we abandon this important road and station troops on the mountain, if the Wei army suddenly arrives and surrounds us on all sides, how can we protect them?"

Liu Feng said: "The Art of War says: From a high place, one can look down, just like chopping bamboo. It would be a pity to abandon this mountain."

"There is no water source on the mountain, but you can guard the water source at the foot of the mountain."

"Now we have set up camp on the mountain. We can divide our troops into two groups. We can set up a small camp on the west side to form a pincer attack and guard the water source. If the Wei army arrives, we can respond."

Zhao Yun thought that setting up a camp on the main road was indeed inappropriate, but it would be more appropriate to set up a camp on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain.

He agreed immediately.

Liu Feng was overjoyed when he heard this and took the initiative to set up a camp at the foot of the mountain.

However, among the mountains, the village at the foot of the mountain is definitely more important.

He then said, "Young General, you should go up the mountain. It is better for me to stay at the foot of the mountain."

After all, Zhao Yun is the main general, and Liu Feng cannot disobey him too much.

Now that the decision has been made, just agree to it.

So Zhao Yun set up a camp at the foot of the mountain to guard the water source, while Liu Feng provided support on the mountain.

...

Zhao Yun and Liu Feng had just set up their camp to guard Jieting when Xiahou Dun and Sima Yi arrived with their troops.

Sima Yi felt a little regretful when he found out that Zhao Yun and Liu Feng had set up camps at the foot of the mountain respectively.

But he said: "There is no water source in the mountain. If the Shu army is all in the mountain, we will cut off the water source and the Shu army will be in chaos." "Now there are camps set up on the mountain and below the mountain, which is difficult to deal with."

Xiahou Dun said: "What should we do? We can't really be stopped by Zhao Yun."

Sima Yi laughed and said, "The Shu army thought that their plan was perfect, but they didn't know that to march and fight, one must be familiar with astronomy and geography."

"The land of Jieting is blessed with rain only in spring and autumn, and water from heaven can be used."

"If it goes from spring to summer, there will be severe droughts from time to time."

"I have observed the weather and the drought is only ten days away. By then, the water source guarded by Zhao Yun will dry up."

"I don't know... what will Zhao Yun do when he sees that the waterway he is guarding has become a dry road..."

When Xiahou Dun heard this, he thought, this Sima Yi is so powerful!
You can also observe the sky to know when drought will occur.

He was immediately overjoyed and said: "If we just wait for the right time, we can defeat the enemy!"

...

The reason why Xiahou Dun was so happy was of course that he felt he could win, but this was only one of the reasons why he was happy.

Another reason was that Xiahou Dun seemed to be able to hold his head high in Jieting.

"I never won a war, but I never stopped getting promoted."

This statement is really true when applied to Xiahou Dun.

When fighting against Dong Zhuo, Xiahou Dun volunteered to lead the army, but was defeated.
When Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou, Xiahou Dun stayed behind in his hometown. As a result, Lu Bu launched a surprise attack and his hometown was destroyed. He led his troops to rescue it, but was captured by miscellaneous soldiers and lost face.

After Cao Cao withdrew from Xuzhou and dealt with Lu Bu, Xiahou Dun led his army to pursue Lu Bu, but was ambushed and one of his eyes was shot blind.

In the final battle of Bowangpo, Xiahou Dun was severely punished by Liu Bei.

Xiahou Dun's entire military career was spent in a series of failures.

Now that he saw that Jieting was indeed a piece of naked merit right before his eyes, how could Xiahou Dun not be tempted?
But then again, although Xiahou Dun was not good at fighting, his promotion was not without reason.

To Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun was not a "superior" to Cao Cao, but more like a "shareholder".

Cao Cao's first team was formed when he was the governor of Chenliu and participated in the crusade against Dong Zhuo. This team had less than 10,000 people, one-third of whom were recruited by Cao Cao with all the money Xiahou Dun used to sell his property.

This experience determined that Xiahou Dun was Cao Cao's most trusted confidant and the most core member of the leadership team, just like in a large company today, some shares would be reserved for the veterans.

After all, any normal person knows that the people who started with them and fought step by step to the end are the most trustworthy. Cao Cao must know this better than ordinary people.

However, Xiahou Dun obviously had demands on himself, and the Battle of Jieting was his battle to "rectify his reputation."

...

While Xiahou Dun and Sima Yi were waiting for the right time, Xing Daorong was leading his troops on the road to Jieting.

As he hurried on, he realized that something seemed to be wrong.

Dry!
Too dry!
These days, the sky is as if there are two suns hanging in the sky, making it feel stuffy even when people are on the road.

In fact, the Guanzhong region has a warm temperate semi-humid climate, and the highest annual precipitation occurs in the summer.

but!
In fact, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, China was experiencing a drastic climate change.

Severe droughts occurred in the first year of Xingping and the second year of Jian'an.

Especially the severe drought in the second year of Jian'an, the entire Huaihe River basin was affected, and almost all the local people died. Yuan Shu's late collapse, in addition to his outrageous operation of proclaiming himself emperor, was also related to the severe drought in the Huaihe River basin!

And now...

This drought seems to be quietly approaching Guanzhong...

(End of this chapter)