Tiger Guards

Chapter 279 No Other Solution
The next day, the entire army had a hearty meal.

Zhao Ji and Zhao Yun each led a thousand cavalry forward to hold the line, while Zhang He led his own battalion of more than two thousand men to advance along the south bank of the Bian River.

Zhang Yang also led more than 3,000 infantry and cavalry from the camp on the north bank of the Sui River to join them.

As the autumn waters rose, Xiahou Dun in Chenliu upstream and Cao Cao's troops in the downstream villages could now be connected via the Sui River for transport.

Zhang Yang's camp was established on the north bank of the Sui River, and he was responsible for blocking Xiahou Dun's food supplies or military aid.

At approximately 9:30 a.m., after the various armies converged, they advanced another two miles and came within one mile of Cao Cao's camp.

Almost simultaneously, Lü Bu also led more than 3,000 cavalry and more than 2,000 infantrymen out of Ge Township to challenge Cao Cao's army to the west.

The extra warhorses allocated to Lü Bu yesterday were quickly used by Lü Bu's army to re-arm the knights who had no horses and had to be converted to infantry.

As Lü Bu moved, more than two thousand soldiers from Chen State in Ningling City to the south also went forward to assist him, demonstrating their power.

For a moment, it seemed as if they were being attacked from both sides.

Cao Cao's various camps were also preparing for battle, but they did not make any preparations to engage in combat.

To Zhao Ji's surprise, Cao Cao refused to duel with him, as he had expected Cao Cao to accept the challenge. He also refused to meet Cao Cao on the battlefield.

Although they had no prior relationship, did Cao Cao not have any interest in them?
It's quite normal to engage in conversations before battle to extract some intelligence.

Feeling bored, Zhao Ji was approached by Zhang Yang, who suggested, "Minister Zhao, Cao Cao is avoiding battle, why don't we destroy his passageways?"

Zhang Yang pointed southeast, where Cao Cao's army's passageway led south to Xiangyi, with two arrow towers every fifty or sixty steps.

Seeing Zhao Ji pondering the feasibility, Zhang Yang said, "Cut off their passageway, use the passageway fence as material to rebuild a camp, send troops to garrison it, and cut off the road between Cao Cao and Xiangyi."

Zhang He sensed that this kind of attrition-inducing task might fall on his shoulders, so he cupped his hands and said, "Lord Attendant, the camp is hastily built and not very sturdy, and the number of troops stationed there is small, so it cannot withstand the attack of Cao Cao's army. In my humble opinion, we should make more preparations, cut off their passage, build a strong camp, and then move in to defend it. This will ensure our safety."

"In battle, there is no such thing as a perfect outcome."

Zhao Ji asked in a gentle tone, then said to Zhang Yang, "If Cao Cao refuses to come out, we will force him to! Since General Zhang has made the suggestion, then General Zhang should go and cut off his passage. I will also send Han Meng's troops to assist in building the camp. Tonight, Colonel Zhang's troops will be stationed at this camp."

Zhang Yang cupped his hands in greeting: "Understood. I request that Your Excellency provide support for me."

"That's only right. General Zhang and Colonel Zhang will lead their troops south, while Zilong and I will cover the rear."

Seeing this, Zhang He could only follow Zhang Yang's lead and bow, saying, "Yes, sir!"

Zhao Ji then said to Zhang Zan beside him, "Order Han Meng to lead troops to assist in the battle; in addition, obtain another 100,000 arrows to supply Zhang's troops for their garrison."

Upon hearing this, Zhang He's expression eased slightly. His archers and crossbowmen numbered only about one-third of his original force, around seven hundred men.

Each person carried only fifty arrows, and his entire army had only fifty thousand arrows and crossbow bolts, including those for transport and reserve.

It's not that we can use up all our weapons in one battle; basically, we try to conserve them as much as possible and make do with what we have.

During marches and rest periods, they also had to find ways to make and replenish arrows.

When given an additional 100,000 arrows, Zhang He immediately gained confidence.

After all, Cao Cao's army couldn't possibly have too many troops if they came to seize the camp at night. The more troops there were, the easier it would be for coordination problems to arise at night.

A large force participated in the night raid, and Zhao Ji and Lü Bu launched a cavalry attack from the flank. More of Cao Cao's soldiers were killed by accident than by battle.

Therefore, night raids can only be carried out by small groups of elite Cao troops... who can be worn down by arrows.

Inside Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao actually wanted to lead his troops out of the camp to meet Zhao Ji, but unfortunately Zhao Ji's reputation was not good; he was not a discerning person.

It's not that Zhao Ji would suddenly kill someone during the meeting, but rather that Zhao Ji's mistreatment of high-ranking officials had already earned him a great notoriety.

They act as they please, without any restraint.

Even high-ranking officials were so easily humiliated by Zhao Ji. If Zhao Ji felt it was necessary on the battlefield, would he have shot Cao Cao during a conversation on the battlefield?

Cao Cao also had skilled archers, but the overwhelming power displayed by Zhao Ji's archers during his raid on the camp last night made Cao Cao's generals and officers extremely wary.

Is Zhao Ji here to duel again so early in the morning?
What kind of battle are we fighting?

The more I look at it, the more it seems like they're luring Cao Cao's generals out so they can be easily shot.

Seeing that Cao Cao was avoiding battle, Lü Bu led his troops south, specifically to sabotage Cao Cao's supply lines.

Before they could get close, the Cao army patrolling the passageway withdrew on their own initiative, setting fire to the arrow towers as they left.

Just as Zhao Ji and Lü Bu were destroying the tunnel and using the tunnel materials to build two new camps, one in the north and one in the south, a new situation arose on the north bank of the Bian River.

Cao Ren led his army to the north bank of the Bian River and dug a pit on the north bank to set up camp.

The two Cao armies were separated by the Bian River, watching out for each other. The morale of the Cao army camp remained stable, and they watched helplessly as the passageway was destroyed and the supply line was cut off.

Cao Ren stood on the earthen embankment on the north bank, looking out over the distance on the south bank. He could see Zhang Yang and Zhang He building their new camp about ten miles away. Meanwhile, Zhao Ji kept his troops stationary, waiting for Cao's army to counterattack.

Seeing this, Cao Ren breathed a sigh of relief and said to his men, "The fact that Lü Bu and Zhao Ji are so eager to attack shows that their armies are short of supplies and have no choice but to go forward and challenge them."

The food shortage indicates that Zhao Ji and Lü Bu were unable to wage a war of attrition and lacked the objective conditions to besiege Cao Cao.

In fact, they are not afraid of being besieged. When the decisive battle breaks out, Xiahou Dun of Chenliu will naturally send troops to participate in the battle.

Cao Hong, who had also arrived in Ruyin, had begun to leave the battlefield and lead his troops north. In six or seven days, he would appear on the south bank of the Sui River, connecting with Xiangyi, where grain was stored, thus gaining the ability to forcibly replenish Cao Cao's food supply.

Cao Cao's camp still has at least ten days' worth of supplies. Now that he has the north bank, Xiahou Dun in Chenliu on the west side will join the battle when the opportunity arises, and Cao Hong will head north to participate in the decisive battle in six or seven days.

Therefore, the time left for Zhao Ji and Lü Bu was getting shorter and shorter.

As for the repeated changes and loss of control in the prefectures and counties, Cao Ren didn't care much at all.

After defeating and driving out Zhao Ji and Lü Bu, the turbulent counties will naturally calm down.

The only thing that terrified him was the emperor's personal expedition, which nearly reached Chenliu and dismantled Xiahou Dun's forces.

Along the passageway, the campsite gradually took shape.

Zhao Ji also began to assign people to continue dismantling fences and deer antlers, transporting them to the camp area, and piling them up to be used as fuel.

Zhang He's troops will certainly not dare to rest tonight; they will be fully prepared for battle.

One mile south of Zhang He's camp, Lü Bu was also building a new camp. The two camps would complement each other, enhancing defensive efficiency.

During this journey, Lü Bu and Zhang Yang cooked meat over a fire and recounted their experiences over the past two years.

After catching up, Lü Bu didn't know what to say. On a whim, he asked, "Now Bingzhou has many horses, and the various Xiongnu tribes have been subdued. Could you perhaps ask Zhao Yuansi to allow me to send an envoy to recruit Xiongnu followers?"

Zhang Yang knew exactly what Lü Bu was thinking: he wanted to take advantage of him.

Spend money wisely on recruitment, and you'll recruit Xiongnu soldiers; conscript soldiers in the name of the government, which is less costly, and recruits will be Xiongnu volunteers.

Zhang Yang gave Lü Bu no room to test him: "How many daughters do you have? These knights are being lent to you as a gesture of goodwill. But how could those thousand horses be given away for free? As far as I know, those thousand horses belong to Zhao Yuansi."

Lu Bu chuckled awkwardly, turned to look at the scenery, and asked, "He tricked over ten thousand horses in the Battle of Jiangyi, how many of them did he keep?"

The Xiongnu surrendered at that time, but there was no rule that surrendered horses had to be returned.

One thing at a time, allowing you to surrender was a rare act of mercy. At that time, Zhao Ji's willingness to accept the surrender already made some people happy.

At that time, the Xiongnu were truly slaves waiting to be captured.

According to Lü Bu's thinking, he shouldn't have accepted the surrender at that time. He should have captured all the Xiongnu people and made them slaves. It would have been much easier to mobilize slaves to do things than to conscript Xiongnu tribes.

"Zhao Yuansi himself kept about three thousand horses, and the rest were converted into public horses, either to reward officials and soldiers or distributed to various counties for public use."

Zhang Yang gave a simple answer: Zhao Ji's personal horse inventory has been steadily increasing, and there are also horse farms owned by prominent families in Taiyuan, with a considerable number of horses.

However, when the spoils from these horses were distributed, Zhao himself could only receive five-tenths of the total amount; later, during the battles in Shangdang and Zhengding, the horses captured were barely enough to make up for the losses.

In the military, the distribution of spoils of war was based not only on military merit and rank, but also on shares.

The horses that Zhao Ji left in the army for his own use could, in principle, be counted as shares; not only Zhao Ji, but even a common soldier who joined the army with a dozen or so horses would naturally get a larger share when the spoils of war were divided.

Lu Bu was short of horses. Based on his understanding of Zhang Yang, who was conservative in his speech, he guessed that Zhao Ji personally owned at least five thousand horses.

I feel like it's a bit of a loss to trade my daughter for a thousand horses; she should at least get three thousand!

As he glanced around, he noticed Zhang Yang's impatient expression and said with a smile, "I have no ill intentions towards him. The things you promised him were for my own good, and I won't refuse them. Even if I still want the horse, I will trade with him at market price and won't make things difficult for you."

Zhang Yang finally felt relieved. The two had known each other since childhood, from trading horses to providing security for other caravans. They had gotten along well in all aspects of life, personal matters, and team affairs. Zhang Yang knew Lü Bu's character all too well.

However, since they were too close friends, he only glanced at Lü Bu with an impatient look, as if to say whatever he wanted.

Lü Bu then asked, "The court officials have incited the emperor to march south to Yingchuan. I believe that after this victory, we must not tolerate this. However, I also fear that this move will greatly alienate the scholars and officials, and risk repeating the mistakes of Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao in Yanzhou. You have been in contact with the court for a long time; what is your opinion?"

"Have you not seen the events in Taiyuan and Shangdang?"

Zhang Yang couldn't help but sigh and admonished, "I have ruled Hanoi for five years, and Hanoi is in ruins. If I had been ruthless enough to destroy the powerful clans, Hanoi would not have fallen to this state. Fengxian, the lives of some people only lead to the deaths of more innocent people."

He dared not risk his life, so Hanoi was in chaos and nothing was left behind.

Six years of chaos have passed, but Zhang Yang is still stuck in the same place.

Lü Bu understood, and continued to let these incompetent and selfish former officials go... Whether more people died or not, Lü Bu didn't really care.

The key point is that he doesn't want to experience a second Chang'an upheaval.

Clearly, these nobles have no memory.

If it were Dong Zhuo, he would have sent men to the court to kill people long ago.

Only Zhao Ji was patient enough to quietly watch the officials perform.

Even the most patient person will eventually snap after defeating Cao Cao and stabilizing the situation.

However, one cannot kill indiscriminately. If too many are killed, there will be fewer great scholars and famous figures around the emperor, which will lead to the decline of the court's authority and popularity, and reduce the resistance to others establishing their own dynasties.

Even if he were to become regent, what benefits would he gain?

Therefore, the more one thinks about this issue, the more one realizes that Zhao Ji breaking the legs of certain high-ranking officials and those who were only halfway to becoming high-ranking officials was a last resort and a clever trick.

It allows one to vent their anger and also forces the other party to temporarily withdraw from court to recuperate.

If they knock on it diligently enough, even high-ranking officials should be able to correct their ways.

(End of this chapter)