Tiger Guards

Chapter 461 A Dim Future
Nighttime, in Yan County.

It was past midnight, around the second watch of the night.

During the change of garrison, the newly arrived Cao army was demoralized and distracted.

Upon reaching the city wall, they found it eerily quiet, with even the flags gone.

The officer in charge drew his sword, took the torch from the guard with his left hand, and carefully advanced along the city wall.

Suddenly, they heard a strange noise and threw down a torch. They saw that the temporary repairs to the city wall had been breached again, and a group of Cao Cao's officers and soldiers were crawling out.

The torch fell to the ground, and a nearby fleeing soldier raised his shield and pressed it against the torch, extinguishing the flame.

Seeing this, the officer on the city wall reached out to those around him, but noticed a change in the expressions of his officers, soldiers, and fellow villagers. No one offered him a torch, and he was alarmed. He immediately whispered, "What's wrong?"

A relative whispered, "Their families are in Puyang City, while our families were captured by the Grand Marshal outside Puyang City. If our families cannot live in one city, why should we gather in one city to die together?"

The officer immediately looked at another peer who was usually more timid and composed: "What do you think?"

"The Cao family and the families of the generals have already gone to Yecheng in Hebei. What else can I do?"

The man answered in a low voice, his tone filled with resentment: "Have you not seen what happened in Dongwu City and Dong'e?"

Now, the forty-odd people on the city wall were quiet. Zang Hong had been besieged in Dongwu City for a year, and people resorted to cannibalism. In the end, only young and strong men and a few teenagers remained.

Other members of the population, whether willingly or unwillingly, perished.

The old stories of Dong'e were something that Cao Cao's army couldn't even mention, and Cheng Yu, a native of Dong'e, was in the city.

If the siege of Yan County had not been lifted, perhaps at the beginning they could have held their ground and secretly eaten the people who died of disease or starvation... But in the end, how many of those who were devoured were not low-ranking officials and soldiers?

The military officer saw that the attitude of his fellow villagers and subordinates was clear, even though his family was in Puyang City.

But if he were arrested and killed by his fellow villagers at this moment, what would be the point of his family living there?
He slowly sheathed his sword, looked around, and said, "Let's go, let's get out of the city."

Another seven or eight torches were also left on the ground. When they arrived near the crenellations of the city wall, they discovered that the patrolling officers had already woven ropes from the flags.

Without further hesitation, the weight-bearing rope around his waist was lowered to the ground.

Others, lighter and more agile, gripped the cloth strips and wove ropes, quickly descending.

Before long, the soldiers moved north in the dark, where bonfires were lit by the roadside and patrol teams of Jin soldiers would pass by from time to time.

When they arrived, they saw piles of armor and weapons by a campfire on the south side of the road.

The fleeing Cao soldiers, who had abandoned their weapons, were dressed only in cloth and were placed on the north side of the road, sitting densely around campfires, with three or four layers of people around each campfire.

Many of Cao Cao's officers and soldiers huddled together, while others lay downwind to sleep.

At the edge of a campfire, Xiahou Shang, dressed in worn-out short clothes, huddled together with some other young surrendered soldiers.

They were relatively more lively, and when they heard unusual noises, many of them would look up and look around from time to time.

The older surrendered soldiers, having experienced too much, dared not raise their heads at this moment.

Xiahou Shang would occasionally go to observe the distant north, where there should be dense reeds. If he ran another five or six miles north, he could enter the reed area.

But the sounds of barking dogs and neighing horses could be heard from time to time, and there was no light or fire, so he suspected that there were hidden soldiers hiding there.

In the latter half of the night, Zhao Ji had nothing to do, so he stayed alone on the highest watchtower in the central army camp.

The cavalry camp on the west side, near the Honggou River, was now empty, and a large number of prisoners were being held there.

Without detailed statistics on children under seven years old, including various teenagers, Gan Ning and Zhang Liao captured over 50,000 and 70,000 respectively in this battle.

In the prisoner-of-war settlement area, campfires were sparse, and many simple reed huts were temporarily erected.

Women and children huddled together in each thatched hut, probably to ward off the chill of the late autumn night.

After observing for a moment, Zhao Ji turned to look to the north. The temporary beacon towers on the south bank had not been lit, which meant everything was normal.

To the east of the main camp, various scout patrol teams were divided into inner and outer circles, each carrying a torch and conducting their own patrols.

At this moment, Zhao Ji felt increasingly empty, as if the army and the collective will had been injected into his body, rather than his own will being injected into the army.

During the decisive battle in Chenliu last year, he was still able to exert precise influence.

Now, constrained by various internal and external circumstances, he has fewer and fewer choices.

The difficult choice that Yuan Shao faced also befell himself, and the same was true for Lü Bu.

At this moment, Zhao Ji dared not even imagine what would happen if Yuan Shao led his troops blindly to pursue him, forcing him into a decisive battle.

Whether he wins or loses, he sees no benefit in it.

After Yuan Shao fell, the prestige of the emperor and the high-ranking officials was bound to rise... It wasn't that these people had made great achievements, but rather that scholars from all over the country would be more eager to attach themselves to the court. With the praise of public opinion, it was not a sophisticated technique to shift the blame.

Yuan Shao was an individual, but also a group formed by the fusion of old gentry and powerful clans.

When Yuan Shao fell from grace, the flesh and blood that made up 'Yuan Shao' would peel away and crawl towards the emperor and the ministers, attempting to revive the Han Dynasty, just like the Han Dynasty before. This peeling away and reorganization was just like when they initially detached themselves from the court and formed their own independent warlord forces.

The enemies are still the same enemies, but these enemies are obviously easier to defeat because they are disguised under Yuan Shao's name.

If they were to infiltrate Liu Xie's body one by one, using the Han emperor as their outward appearance and shield, then it would be much more difficult to strike.

What are we afraid of now?
He feared that Yuan Shao might be incited by someone with ulterior motives to challenge him to a decisive battle.

They were also afraid that Lü Bu would lead his army, which was spreading poison everywhere, northward and bring disaster to their side as well.

Zhao Ji remained conscious and quietly waited for dawn.

Once dawn breaks and the pontoon bridge across the chasm is completed, the captured people can be transported to the west bank, which will greatly reduce the probability of a raid.

As dawn broke, the gates of Yan County opened.

Cao Ang stood near the west gate, watching the soldiers in the city leave in droves.

Rather than letting these soldiers escape with their weapons and precious food, it would be better to open the gate and let them leave, leaving behind their weapons and food before they go.

This way, the pressure of defending the city is lower... In any case, the soldiers who actually stayed behind were the backbone of Cao Cao and his generals, and their families were all in Puyang City.

As long as the core backbone remains, more troops can be drawn up at any time.

Cao Ang did not participate in Cao Cao's founding of the dynasty and did not know how to build an army from scratch.

But he knew how to rebuild and expand the army by relying on its core strength.

Even if he opened the door now, no more than half of the officials and soldiers would be willing to escape.

Many of the recruited soldiers or out-of-town retainers did not have families in Yanzhou, or simply did not have any families at all.

These people have become accustomed to their current communal living and are unlikely to leave voluntarily.

They will die even faster once they leave their familiar group.

The remaining generals' direct subordinates, fellow villagers, and close relatives are all in Puyang; including their troops from other prefectures, there are at least ten thousand men.

Pursuing Zhao Ji and engaging him in a decisive battle at Suanzao... Cao Ang's initial bottom line was to lose five or six thousand soldiers.

With nearly half of the population having fled, it's not entirely unacceptable.

Before setting out, Cao Ang was even prepared for the possibility that his army would be ambushed by Zhao Ji at Baima and suffer heavy losses.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Ji's central army was so composed, managing to withstand Xiahou Yuan's attack head-on.

Even more unexpectedly, Zhao Ji dispatched two separate detachments to outflank and raid Puyang, directly shattering the morale of Cao Cao's army.

Having lost so many fellow villagers, Cao Cao's generals, even if they grew up under Yuan Shao's command, would mainly recruit and expand their ranks from Hebei, thus weakening the bonds between them.

As a young man of similar age to Zhao Ji, with outstanding peers like Sun Ce and Zhao Ji as role models, Cao Ang was rapidly adapting to war in adversity.

As the three drumbeats within Yan County ceased, the open city gates were closed again.

The breach in the east wall that the fleeing officials had dug open in the middle of the night was also beginning to be filled in.

Meanwhile, the Jin army cavalry, who were gathering surrendered soldiers in various places outside the city, began to drive the surrendered soldiers away to the west.

On the road, Xiahou Shang struggled to walk, carrying a bundle of spears, and would occasionally turn his head to look at the reeds to the north.

There were no ambushes there, only some temporary beacon fires. The soldiers guarding the beacon fires gradually withdrew and lit the piles of firewood.

At the west gate of Yan County, watching the Jin army's rearguard cavalry gradually disappear into the distance, Cao Ang turned to Cao Zhen and asked, "Zidan, what do you think will happen to Boren in the future?"

"I don't know. If he joins the Zhao family, I will not hold back in the future."

Cao Zhen was seventeen years old, but he was broad-shouldered, a physique that no ordinary family could raise. Such a person would stand out even among the defeated army and would not be able to escape scrutiny.

He also wanted to marry his sister to Xiahou Shang, but now it seems that this plan will not come to fruition.

Cao Ang then looked at Cao Xiu on the other side. Cao Xiu remained calm and, noticing Cao Ang's gaze, said, "It is very difficult. In my opinion, the Zhao family will not give Bo Ren an important position."

"That's good too, Bo Ren can save his life and pass on the family business."

Cao Ang spoke, but his face remained expressionless.

It was clearly Yuan Shu who rebelled, and all sides fought to protect the country and punish the rebel. Yet, in the ensuing chaos in the Central Plains, our side suffered the most devastating defeat. Apart from Yan County and Puyang, we lost everything else.

Having lost to this extent, Cao Ang was already numb and only hoped to end the war as soon as possible, take a good rest, and then make further plans.

As for any other ideas, he had given up hope.

He knew he couldn't follow the path Sun Ce had already taken, so Yuan Shao would naturally be wary of him.

His future was bleak and full of obstacles.

(End of this chapter)