(Da Alliance, Da Xie Wuyan. Thank you to Zhao Wuxiu 2014, ufgw, glorious charter, Panhu Chongshu)

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Although Lu Bu was defeated in the Xia Pi counterattack, he had no power to fight back, but Cao Cao also won a miserable victory. The elite soldiers lost 20% and the loss of military rations by one third, which was only enough to support this month - but in fact it was only enough to support this month, because the army also needed food for the return journey. If the troops were withdrawn before the food was exhausted, it would easily cause turmoil in the morale, which was very dangerous.

Cao Cao was in a dilemma and even wavered. He once wanted to withdraw his siege and fight again next year.

In history, Xun You and Guo Jia persuaded him, but without these two people, Cheng Yu, who were both top strategists, would dissuade him like Xun Yu, and his persuasion was astonishingly similar: "Bu brave but not planning, and now he fights many times, and his spirit is declining. The three armies are dominated by generals, and the army is not motivated when the main force declines. Chen Gong is wise but late, and the sword is not wrong | qul][ed]u Dou An's plan has not been restored, and Gong's plan has not been attacked quickly, and Bu can be defeated.

Cao Cao always believed in the words of the two masters. Now that they had such a high opinion of their opinions, they finally strengthened their confidence and gritted their teeth and persevered. So while mobilizing troops and food from Yanzhou, they sent envoys to various places in Xuzhou to seek support from local tyrants.

Cao Cao's focus was on the two major families in Xuzhou: the Mi family in Donghai and the Chen family in Xia Pi, but the news received was quite disappointing. Chen refused, and Mi family ignored it at all.

In history, Chen Deng supported Cao Cao's attack on Lu Bu and personally led a large army to help. But the Three Kingdoms of Ma Han were different. First of all, Cao Cao did not have the noble central identity in history; secondly, Chen Deng was more optimistic about Ma Han than Cao Cao. And with Chen Deng's eyes, it was natural that Cao Cao's destruction of Lu would be detrimental to Ma Han. Unfortunately, Chen Deng and Lu Bu were very inconsistent, otherwise they might not be able to help him.

As for Mi family, no matter which time and space history is, they never give Cao Cao a glance.

Although he was rejected one after another, Cao Cao was not discouraged. He ordered the soldiers to dig up the city and blocked Xia Pi, leaving only a gap in the east, so as to surround three palaces and one. After learning that the reinforcements in Yanzhou had crossed the Si River, Cao Hong and Zhu Ling were sent to lead a partial army to attack Xia Pi counties to eliminate the enemy's aid and to slam his ambitions.

It is May. It is rainy in the Jianghuai River and Huai River. Over the past few days, heavy rains have occurred, rivers are overflowing, and the fields are full of marsh, and even the water of the moat in Xia Pi rises.

Seeing this, Cao Cao, Cheng Yu and Xun Yu shouted, "God helps me!" and immediately ordered the digging of channels to lure the waters of Yi and Si into the city.

Xia Pi City is located at the intersection of Yishui and Sishui, and the water of its moat is directly directed from Sishui. Once there is flood, it is very easy to flood. At that time, tens of thousands of soldiers in the Cao army dug canals in the rain, and it will take tens of thousands of people to complete it in just a few days. Therefore, natural disasters came at the same time, and Xia Pi City and Lu Bu were at a critical moment of life and death.

...

There was still drizzle in the sky, wearing a straw raincoat and a hat. Gao Shun, who was tired, had more than ten entourages. His trousers were curled up high, wading in the muddy water that was knee-deep, making a rustling sound. He walked towards the city wall with one foot deep and one foot shallow. At this moment, the deputy general of Xia Pi Army looked haggard, his eyes were deep, his eyes were red, and the tough short moustache under his chin was soaked in the rain, which greatly reduced his majesty.

However, Gao Shun no longer cared about military appearance at this moment. What he cared about was the city wall. Within a day, he had received six warning messages, all of which were saying that large pieces of soil inside and outside the city wall were peeled off and exposed the foundation of the wall. If you soak like this, you are afraid that even the inner layer of sand will gradually be lost. The foundation of the wall is empty, can the city wall still hold on?

The city walls in the Han Dynasty and even hundreds of years later were generally built with rammed earth walls or adobe bricks. The rammed earth walls were conventional methods of building city walls in history since historical records. They were made of wooden boards as molds, filled with clay or greystone, and built with pestles.

The adobe wall is built with clay first, and then dried and then used clay as cement, and built like bricks, and then applied with a layer of yellow mud as a protective layer on the wall.

These two walls are not resistant to blisters. The former will loosen and collapse after soaking for a long time; the latter will be even worse, soaking directly into a ball of mud.

Because Xia Pi City is near the river and in Huaibei, it is a land of rainy water, so it uses rammed earth, which has a little more durability. However, this is also limited. So, it calls the police everywhere, making Gao Shun exhausted.

After inspecting the situation, Gao Shun could only repair it with stones and hard red soil according to the craftsmen's advice. Although he knew that this was a treatment of symptoms but not the root cause, there was no better way.

Gao Shun stood above Baimen Tower, looking at the undulating Cao Jun camp more than ten miles away, as well as the numerous ditches and canals under the city, frowned, worried, and occasionally sighed.

There was a hurried sound of footsteps behind him, and Gao Shun said coldly without looking back, "What's the matter?"

A servant came forward and knelt down and reported: "Report to Zhonglang, the general was furious in the mansion and scolded Hou Qi Governor. Zhang Duwei asked Zhonglang to go and persuade him."

Gao Shun's position was the General of the Central Army, so the attendant was called the General of the Central Army, while Zhang Duwei referred to Zhang Liao. Gao Shun was a little surprised and uneasy when he heard that even Zhang Liao could not persuade him. Now that the troops were at the city, the flood was raging, the food was scarce, and the morale of the army was dispersed. He was just being kind and surrendered to win over his command. How could he be so strict?

When Gao Shun hurried to the provincial governor's mansion, the servant was packing up the vessels that were smashed by Lu Bu's anger, and Hou Cheng, who was denounced, had already left in panic and apologized. Only Zhang Liao was persuaded. Seeing Gao Shun enter, he winked at him and left.

"Boping, you came just right. I said that the army was short of food and could not make wine. As a result, this bastard Hou Ji made wine privately and broke the military rules. Do you think you should kill him?" As soon as Lu Bu saw Gao Shun, he scolded Hou Chengzhifei before he could speak.

The cause of the incident was that when Hou Cheng's subordinates were grazing, they drove fifteen horses to join Liu Bei, the former leader of Xuzhou. As a result, they were discovered and recovered in time. The generals went to celebrate. Hou Cheng brewed five or six hu of wine and hunted a few wild boars to entertain everyone.

Before everyone could drink, Hou Cheng first sent someone to send half a pig and five dou of wine to Lu Bu: "I was grateful to the general, and I chased the horses I lost. The generals congratulated each other. I brewed a little wine and hunted a pig. I didn't dare to eat, so I gave it a little intention first."

Unexpectedly, Hou Cheng's seemingly ordinary behavior caused Lu Bu to be furious and scolded: "Bu banned wine, and you make wine, and the generals share the same food and brothers, and they murder Bu Xie together?"

When Hou Cheng learned about it, he hurriedly came to apologize. After returning, he poured out his own brewed wine and returned the gifts from the generals. An excited banquet was ruined.

Gao Shun learned about the causes and consequences, but for a moment he didn't know how to persuade him.

That's right, if there is no food in the army, alcohol ban, and if you dare to break the military rules, you should be punished severely. But rules are dead, people live, and implementation depends on the situation. Although Gao Shun himself has always been upright and rigorous, he will never stick to it, otherwise he will not train a heroic soldier of the world. Gao Shun also knew that Lu Bu's personality was not strict. This time he was furious, it must be due to the unfavorable war, repeated setbacks and long-term depression. Hou Cheng was unlucky and became a punching bag.

Gao Shun bowed and said, "The enemy is in front of you. The lord and the public committee should not be moved by this nameless anger. The army has been trapped for a long time and is inevitably embarrassed. It is understandable to dispel it with wine..." Gao Shun and Lu Bu have a brotherly friendship, and they always speak simply and do not cover up anything. Lu Bu has never been blamed for his advice.

After some persuasion, Lu Bu's anger was almost gone. At this time, a servant came from outside the mansion to report: "Don't ask for a visit."

Gao Shun stood up as soon as he heard this and bowed to Lu Bu: "Chen Gongtai has something to discuss with the lord, and surrender."

Lu Bu knew that the two had always been in disagreement, so he didn't say much, so he nodded, and his anger could not fade away.

Gao Shun sighed inwardly and bid farewell. As soon as he walked to the atrium, he saw Chen Gong coming towards him. The two of them bowed their hands from afar, and without saying a word, they passed by.

These two important civil servants and generals of the Lu Bu army who have always been disagreeable and even more disagreeable will never have expected that they will soon end up with the same fate.

After leaving the provincial governor's mansion, Gao Shun felt uneasy in his heart, so he walked towards Hou Cheng's residence. When he asked the mansion, he replied that he had gone to the military camp. Gao Shun knew that Hou Cheng must be going to appease the generals under his command, raised his head and looked at the clouds in the sky, wiped the rain on his face hard, sighed speechlessly, hoping that the generals would not be resentful because of anger.

...

In the Cao army camp, more than ten miles away, except for the soldiers patrolling around wearing straw raincoats and carrying spears and halberds, most of the Cao soldiers were curled up under the shed behind the camp fences or hid in the camp tents. Occasionally, the messengers who delivered messages ran by hurriedly, trampling mud and water, and the entire camp seemed empty and lonely.

A group of people rushed into the gate, breaking the tranquility of the military camp, but they saw that their horses were muddy and their knights were soaked in clothes. It was obvious that after entering the camp, the troops were led by officials into a newly built tent, and they all drank soup and washed.

After a while, Cheng Yu, who received the news, rushed over and followed a while, and led several people to the Central Army Commander's tent.

"Lord, the previous plan has been sold." With Cheng Yu's current status, there is basically no need to report to enter the Central Army's tent, and he directly lifted the curtain and entered. Before the person arrived, he would come first.

Cao Cao was observing the flooding situation in Xia Pi City yesterday. After being exposed to the rain, the wind evil entered his body and his head was hurting. While replying to the military report, he asked the young clan and the governor of the tent Cao Xiu to massage his temples on both sides to relieve the pain. He suddenly heard this and raised his head in surprise: "Previous plan? Which plan?"

Since the siege of Xia Pi, the two major strategists have come up with dozens of strategies for Cao Cao, all of which are "previous plans". No wonder Cao Cao was confused for a while.

Cheng Yu smiled, brushed the hem of the clothes that had been stained with a little mud, and pointed his hand in Xia Pi: "Che, counter!"

Cao Cao's eyes lit up and he raised his hand to signal Cao Xiu to stop the massage. His head seemed to be no longer hurt. He said in surprise: "Can it be..."

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "The candidate has arrived."

As soon as the tone was finished, the curtain was lifted, and a young man in green clothes and a tall and thin face flashed in and bowed to the ground with his head upward Cao Cao.

Cao Cao pointed his fingers repeatedly and laughed: "Man Boning, it's just right!" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!