Cao Cao accepted Peng Ye's suggestion and ordered Cao Hong to arrange for him to clear the obstacles in the canal.

At the same time, he ordered Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu to give up his plan to lure the enemy on a small scale, and each operation must have at least two thousand people to avoid being defeated by the Wu army. Judging from the results, these small teams sent by Huang Zhong are very powerful and cannot be treated with common sense. Barely fighting will be detrimental to one's own side and will also be a big blow to morale.

No matter how good the tactics are, they cannot make up for the strength gap. Although the central army's infantry and cavalry are well-trained and are truly elite soldiers, they are still slightly inferior to these carefully selected elite Wu soldiers. Whether it is equipment or training, or the command ability of military marquis, garrison commanders or even first-level generals, the Wu army has obvious advantages.

The martial arts lecture hall, the Mu Academy. When Cao Cao thought of these, he felt so frustrated.

He also implemented a new policy in Yizhou, setting up a martial arts lecture hall and a Mu Academy, but the effect was not good. Mu Academy was profitable and became the goal of competition among the major tribes in various counties. However, the treatment of craftsmen could not be implemented, and even people with some skills wanted to go to Jingzhou. There was no way to talk about technological innovation, so they could only copy the products from the Central Plains and sell them locally in Yizhou, and could not compete with the Central Plains.

Even the best-selling Shu brocade in Yizhou is now a little weak, and it cannot compete with the fabrics of the Central Plains.

If Mu Xuetang is somewhat effective and unsatisfactory, then the martial arts lecture hall is even worse. He could not find a professor like Yin Duan with practical experience, nor could he recruit many students. Except for the central army directly commanded by their father and son, most of the other troops were large clan tribes and controlled by each family. He neither wanted to be a wedding dress for others, nor did he want to poach the clan. In the end, the martial arts lecture hall became the martial arts lecture hall of the central army. The one with real combat effectiveness was 30,000 to 40,000.

After all, there is only one reason: he cannot control the Yizhou family like Sun Ce controls the Central Plains family. He has no way to talk about his people, money and property.

This is a dilemma. If you attack the aristocratic family like Sun Ce, he will immediately become the enemy of the aristocratic family and be driven out of Yizhou. If you do not attack the aristocratic family, he will never be able to master enough strength. If you truly defeat Sun Ce, you can only rely on the terrain defense of Yizhou and be unable to counterattack.

Having a defense but not an attack is by no means a long-term solution. The only opportunity is to repel Huang Zhong, and then take advantage of the victory to rectify Yizhou and master more strength.

I don’t know if there would be such an opportunity. Cao Cao looked at the map and sighed deeply.

——

Cao Cao reduced his troops and strengthened his walls and cleared the fields, causing the Wu army's guerrilla detachment to lose its place to use.

Without spoils, war cannot be used to support war. With a few thousand people, it is impossible to capture Dangqu or attack the main force led by Cao Cao. The tribes in the mountains cannot provide food and supplies for a long time.

After discussing, several military marquises came forward to report military information to Huang Zhong, and made a suggestion: divide the ten guerrilla teams into two, some stayed nearby, and cooperate with Xu Huang in the battle; some went deep into the mountainous areas west of the canal water to move to Anhan and Langzhong areas, cut off the support of those counties for Cao Cao, publicize the new policies, and win the hearts of the people.

Yan Pu was surprised to see this report. These Qujunhous and the governors were not only proficient in tactics, but also had a certain overall view. They could actually notice the significance of Langzhong, Anhan and other counties on the front line of the Han River to Cao Cao. Such talents could stand alone in an ordinary army and be a general of thousands of people.

Yan Pu knew that this was not good for the aristocratic family, but he still agreed. He became more and more clear that Cao Cao could not be the opponent of His Majesty the Emperor, and defeat was inevitable. The question was just how long he could last. Since that was the case, there was no need for the Brazilians to go along with him to the point of being in the dark.

Huang Zhong accepted Yan Pu's suggestion and approved the request of Romon and others. He also entrusted Yan Pu to write a letter to the clans, hoping that they would understand the situation and not make mistakes again and again, and lose their last chance.

Yan Pu happily accepted the order, and then wrote several letters in a scattered manner, ordering people to send them to various counties.

Xu Huang captured Bameng Mountain, and Cao Cao was forced to lead the main force back to the aid. The stalemate between the two sides had a significant impact on the situation in Brazil. Although Huang Zhong may not be able to achieve the final victory - after all, crossing Bashan and Mianshui and long-distance transportation consumed a huge amount - no one could deny that there was a possibility. Before the situation was clear, although the betting on both sides was very expensive, it was a relatively safe way.

As a result, the food and supplies were gradually increased. In addition to delivering food and money, someone offered to send troops to help, but was rejected by Huang Zhong. He could barely maintain his existing army and could not afford to support more people. Moreover, he looked down on the combat effectiveness of those troops and could not help even if he came.

Of course, Huang Zhong said very politely, saying that there is no war for the time being and no troops are needed. If the tribes are willing to help, they can send people to Xuanhan to assist Li Yan in repairing the road and welcome reinforcements into Bahrain.

After receiving the food supported by the Brazilian tribe, Huang Zhong did not rush to attack, but first repaid the owed grain of the people near Xuanhan. People were based on loyalty. Spring farming was about to be imminent, and these people needed seeds. If the farming time was delayed, they would probably have no harvest in a year.

Not only that, Huang Zhong also sent thousands of soldiers to various mountains and valleys to help the people cultivate the fields.

The land is mountainous, with a lot of flat land, and the cultivated land is mainly terraced fields. The soldiers from Jingxiang are not used to this farming method. Besides, most of them join the army after graduation and are not good at farming work. They can only help with some auxiliary work, such as building bridges and roads.

However, their arrival surprised the local people. They usually are in the mountains and rarely go out. It is rare to see so many people, and they are all young and strong in their twenties and thirties. Although they are soldiers, they are all strong and masters when fighting, but they are polite one by one, even more polite than the local Hanba people. They laugh before they speak and are kind and kind.

Soon, these young soldiers were warmly welcomed by the people. Especially those girls who were about to marry suddenly felt that they had a goal and were very dazzling.

The bad effects caused by Xu Huang's robbery of food were gradually eliminated. The people recognized these Wu troops from the Central Plains and also had a little more favorable impression of Huang Zhong and the emperor who was far away in the Central Plains. Only emperors and officials who had the people in their hearts could bring out such soldiers.

For a time, several more mountains named after phoenixes were added near Xuanhan.

——

The news reached Dangqu and then to Bamengshan Camp. Xin Ping, Feng Luan and others were worried.

If no measures are taken, the stalemate will continue, and the people will be in Wu, and the Shu army will probably be defeated without a fight, and the situation will be uncontrollable.

So, they jointly suggested to Cao Cao that they would immediately attack Bameng Mountain, repel Xu Huang's troops, and destroy the morale of the Wu army, and win over the hearts of the people. After half a month of construction, the canal water has been cut off half. If the construction is stepped up for a few days, all the interception will be achieved, and a few passages will be filled in the eastern and southern parts of Bameng Mountain, and they can attack Xu Huang and encircle and annihilate it.

At the same time, Xin Ping also suggested that Cao Cao order Cao Ang to attack and regain Xicheng, at least cut off the southern end of Ziwu Valley, so that Guanzhong's materials could not enter Xicheng and enter Ba County. Only in this way can we truly force Huang Zhong to retreat and defend Yizhou.

After hearing Xin Ping's words, Cao Cao glanced at Xin Ping and didn't say anything for a long time.

Xin Ping also knew that this sentence was indifferent and damaged morale. In fact, he had admitted that the Shu army was not an opponent of the Wu army and would definitely be defeated when fighting head-on. But he had to say that at this point, they could only rely on geographical advantages. If Huang Zhong gained a firm foothold in Brazil, the Shu Kingdom would be over. Cao Cao's main force could not support other battlefields and would always be defeated all the way.

At this moment, Fa Zheng also sent news, suggesting that Cao Cao attack Bameng Mountain at all costs, annihilate Xu Huang's troops as much as possible, smash the spirit of the Wu army, and reverse the current unfavorable situation.

Cao Cao repeatedly considered it and finally decided to accept the suggestions of Xin Ping and others to attack Bameng Mountain. The reason why he had not launched a strong attack was mainly based on previous estimates that the food Xu Huang grabbed should be eaten for a few more days. He wanted to wait a few more days to launch an attack, forcing Xu Huang to increase his consumption. Once the food is out of stock, it will only take two or three days to collapse, and he can succeed in one blow.

Now the attack is a bit hasty, and there will be great casualties. Once morale is frustrated, Xu Huang has survived the most difficult opportunity, and it is hard to say whether he can win.

But he had no other choice, and he could not watch the hearts collapsed bit by bit by bit by Huang Zhong.

He first sent someone to inform Cao Hong and asked him to deliver the prepared money, grain and supplies to the camp. In order to ensure safety on the road, he asked Cao Hong to send heavy troops to protect him, and Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen led the cavalry of the central army to respond.

Then, he asked Pang Wu to speed up the construction, complete the canal water interception within three days, and build a channel to attack the eastern part of Bamengshan.

Immediately afterwards, he began to train troops and make the final preparations before the attack. There were many nearby mountains. He chose one with the same situation as Bameng Mountain and organized his subordinates to conduct offensive and defensive drills. On the one hand, this was to prepare for the offensive, and on the other hand, it was also to create momentum, so that Xu Huang could not neglect his attitude, accelerate the consumption of food, and increase the chance of victory as much as possible.

Cao Cao's careful thoughts worked. Seeing that the Shu army accelerated its movements and the canal water was about to intercept, the main force began to practice offensive and defensive tactics again. Xu Huang knew that the battle might begin at any time and ordered the resumption of three meals a day, six liters of rice per day.

He failed to get enough food, and left hundreds of civilians, which made Xu Huang's military rations very tight. Even though he ordered the soldiers to fish in the canal water and hunt in the opposite mountains and tried every means to replenish them, he was still in a difficult situation and had to cut the supply of food from the normal six liters to four liters in order to support it for a period of time.

When you don’t fight, you can barely support this, but when you are not in war. Not having enough food will lead to insufficient physical strength, impatient hardship, and have a great impact on morale. Xu Huang dared not take this risk. Knowing that this will increase the speed of consumption and the time to support is limited, he can only do this.
Chapter completed!