A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"The combat effectiveness of soldiers who are physically exhausted is naturally different from that of soldiers who are well-rested."

"Based on the casualty ratio from a few days ago, barring any other unforeseen circumstances, the casualty ratio between their army and our army can naturally be calculated."

"But now, the Qi army's losses are about half a percent higher than expected, so I guess this is because the enemy has troops moving south."

"Converting this half-rate, the estimated change in the Qi army is between 25 and 35, and taking a middle ground, it would be 30."

Wei Wu mumbled out a string of numbers, leaving Yuan Shao somewhat bewildered.

His mathematical skills are actually quite good, but is it really possible for a human to deduce this number based on such a small change?

But it does sound quite reasonable.

Since Wei Wu is so confident, let's proceed with the plan accordingly.

"In the next few days, the Qi army will definitely attack the city at all costs. If we can hold out for these few days, the Qi army's momentum will dissipate, and without that momentary courage, our defensive pressure will be much less."

"With the troops and provisions in the city, we can hold out until the outcome of the war between Liu Bei and Cao Cao in the south is determined."

Yuan Shao understood the principle of "one effort, then decline, then exhaustion." He looked at his trusted generals, Yan Liang and Wen Chou.

"Yan Liang, Wen Chou, you should have heard what the strategist said. Do you know what to do?"

Yan Liang and Wen Chou stepped forward, and both of them could see the determination in each other's eyes.

In the past, they were nothing but refugees, starving and wearing only a few strips of cloth on their bodies. They were on the verge of starving to death by the roadside, or at least freezing to death there.

Yuan Shao passed by there and personally handed them food, draping his own coat over the brothers.

From that moment on, they knew their lives would henceforth belong to Yuan Shao.

Now is the most dangerous time for Yuan Shao's great cause, and they are fighting to the death to buy time for him.

If it weren't for Yuan Shao, they would have died by that roadside long ago. Now it's time to repay Yuan Shao with their lives!

"Rest assured, my lord, for the next seven days, we two will take turns guarding the city gate day and night, and we will not retreat a single step!"

"Not a single Qi soldier will scale the city walls before we die in battle."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Yuan Shao grabbed one person's hand with each hand, saying, "Although I am very unwilling, in this battle for supremacy, I have temporarily lost to Cao Mengde."

"Next, I can coordinate with Liu Bei from the north and south to jointly contain Cao Cao."

"Then, relying on Ji Province, we will send troops again to recover Hebei. We will need you as generals to lead the troops into battle."

"You must guarantee my continued service, that's an order!!!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Yan Liang and Wen Chou were deeply moved. "We will certainly keep the Qi army outside the city!"

In the following days, the battle on the city wall was extremely fierce. Countless corpses fell from the city wall every day. The Qi army generals climbed the city wall of Ye City several times, but Yan Liang and Wen Chou fought desperately to knock it down.

Five days later, the Qi army's initial fervor finally subsided, and the intensity of the battle on the city walls returned to normal.

……

Outside Nanyang City.

Looking at this familiar city, Liu Bei realized that he had become a formal warlord for the first time by joining Yuan Shu and gaining control of the entire Nanyang.

After Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, he betrayed Yuan Shao and gained control of half of Yu Province and half of Jing Province.

However, Nanyang Commandery was lost due to Dong Zhuo's southward advance.

During the military campaign to conquer Luoyang, Cao Cao was responsible for attacking Dong Zhuo from east to west. Dong Zhuo's army retreated to Hangu Pass and surrendered the entire Nanyang, which then fell into Cao Cao's hands.

Today, Liu Bei, as a powerful warlord who has unified the area south of the Yangtze River, has come here again to attack the city defenses he once personally set up.

Is this the irony of fate?!

Liu Bei sighed, wondering which of the city's defensive measures he had set up were still in operation.

He invested a great deal of money to defend Nanyang, building numerous defensive measures.

These defensive measures played a significant role in defending against Dong Zhuo's attacks.

Now it's the Qi army's turn to use these measures against him.

"Second brother, third brother, we don't know how long Yuan Shao can hold out. After the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao suffered heavy losses and it's uncertain how long he can last. We must fight a quick battle and put enough pressure on Cao Cao to force him to retreat!"

"Don't worry, brother, watch me poke a few transparent holes in this city gate."

Zhang Fei shouted loudly and led his troops to charge forward.

Seeing Zhang Fei's impulsiveness, Liu Bei sighed, "Second brother, hurry up and catch up, lest something happen to our third brother."

"Xiaozhi, try contacting the prominent families of Nanyang and see if they are willing to help."

"Zilong, send men to investigate how many of those secret passages left behind are still usable."

Compared to Cao Cao, Liu Bei was relatively friendly to the powerful clans, believing that they would lean more towards him than Cao Cao.

After all, he had a fairly good relationship with these aristocratic families in Nanyang back then.

As evening fell, Zhang Fei returned dejectedly.

Back then, they rebuilt the city walls and implemented many defensive measures. Now, these measures have all hit him, leaving Zhang Fei in a very sorry state.

Zhao Yun returned with a grim expression. "My lord, all the secret passages have been blocked."

"As expected of Xu Huang, praised by Cao Cao as a capable general with the style of Zhou Yafu. It's a pity he joined the rebels!"

Liu Bei sighed.

"Xiaozhi, how about you over there?"

"Completely unreachable."

Fa Zheng also shook his head. The entire city of Nanyang was like an iron barrel; news simply couldn't get in.

"Then the only way to determine the victor is on the battlefield."

Liu Bei's expression remained unchanged. "The city's garrison numbers no more than 50, while our army exceeds one million. What is there to worry about?"

In the ensuing battle, Xu Huang defended the entire city flawlessly, and no matter how many fierce generals Liu Bei had, they had no chance to breach the city walls.

"We can't go on like this. Cao Cao must have already learned of our northward march. He will definitely attack Ye City at all costs. I estimate that Yuan Shao won't be able to hold out for long."

"The best course of action now is to take a risky gamble."

Wei Yan stepped forward and made a suggestion.

"Why not send a great general with an army of 500,000 to continue the siege of Nanyang?"

"Our lord is personally leading a large army northward, bypassing Nanyang, and directly attacking Luoyang?"

"With 50 troops in Nanyang, there's no need to worry about our rear being cut off."

"Luoyang is now the capital of Qi. Our troops are at the city gates, which will surely shake the entire Qi Kingdom."

"On the one hand, it will deter the morale of the Nanyang army and assist our army in taking Nanyang."

"On the other hand, Cao Cao was so anxious when he heard that Luoyang was under attack. Since he could not capture Ye City by force, he would naturally choose to withdraw his troops."