Tiger Owl

Chapter 303 The Cruel Reality
In Hefei, Cao Cao read Xun You's report with a heavy gaze. He had read it three times already, and his heart felt as heavy as if it were weighed down by a piece of lead.

He handed the report to the strategists beside him, saying, "Take a look at this too!"

After speaking, he turned around, put his hands behind his back, walked to the window, and stared out the window without saying a word. The report was a detailed investigation report on the annihilation of Sun Ben's entire army, with all the details, as well as some of the difficulties they were currently facing and Xun You's suggestions.

Cao Cao had been fighting in the Central Plains and North China for many years, mostly in plains. He had little experience fighting in mountainous areas and had never experienced or even imagined the difficulties of such battles. However, the investigation report on the annihilation of Sun Ben's army served as a mirror, allowing Cao Cao to see clearly the difficulties and enormous risks of cross-regional warfare in mountainous areas.

After a while, Cheng Yu whispered, "Prime Minister, mountain warfare is indeed different from plains warfare. The main problem is the difficulty in transporting supplies. Large carts can't go that way, so we have to rely on mules and donkeys to carry them. If it's only 10,000 or 20,000 troops, it might be barely manageable. But once we have 100,000 troops, the daily consumption of food and supplies is enormous. The amount of food carried by a few thousand mules and donkeys is just a drop in the ocean for 100,000 troops. So if we rush into battle before we have completely solved the problem of food and logistics, we will definitely repeat the mistakes of Sun Ben."

Xun Yu also said, "The premise of such a long-range surprise attack is that the enemy is unprepared and catches them off guard. But if the enemy is prepared, then such a surprise attack is meaningless, unless we build supply points along the way and then advance step by step. This is the only way. But the report said that Gan Ning has begun to build a city near the border of Yuzhang County and Danyang County, which means that the enemy has anticipated that we might use this method and has taken precautions in advance."

Chen Qun, who had remained silent until now, said, "Prime Minister, when I was young, I traveled to the south for several years and had some insights at the time. Would you be willing to listen to them, Prime Minister?"

Cao Cao nodded, "Please speak freely, sir!"

Chen Qun organized his thoughts and said, "The mountains in the south are almost all distributed in a north-south direction, and they are almost all hundreds of miles wide. The mountains are high and the forests are dense, and the plains are scarce, making it difficult to develop agriculture. They can only rely on the mountains for their livelihood, so it is almost all the territory of the Yue people, and it is rare to encounter Han people."

One important reason is that Han Chinese could only live scattered in the mountains and could not gather in large groups. Living scattered made them easy targets for the Yue people, making it impossible for Han Chinese to survive in the mountains.

An army marching through the vast mountains, without the support of the Han Chinese people along the way, where would the laborers come from? There weren't even guides. Large carts couldn't travel the southern mountain roads, so transport had to rely on donkeys and mules. Not only was it difficult to recruit mules and mules in the south, where boats were the primary mode of transport, but even if enough were recruited, what would they eat on the road? Who would care for them? And how much grain could they carry? If they encountered torrential rain, making the mountain roads muddy and impassable, or even flash floods, it would be a catastrophic disaster!

Chen Qun's words successfully explained why Sun Ben's army was completely wiped out.

After a long pause, Cao Cao said, "Does the gentleman mean that the campaign in the south is unsolvable?"

"What I mean is that, given the current population and technology in the South, such cross-regional warfare in mountainous areas is indeed impossible. Perhaps a few hundred years from now, the population in the South will grow rapidly and completely overwhelm the Yue people. The mountainous areas will be opened up by the Han people, a large number of mountain towns will appear, and mountain roads will be opened up and paved so that large carts can pass smoothly. At that time, such cross-regional warfare in mountainous areas will become possible."

Cheng Yu and Xun Yu also agreed with Chen Qun's point of view that it was indeed unrealistic to attack Yuzhang County by land. If they forced the battle, it would only lead to repeated annihilation of their entire army.

Cao Cao nodded. "I understand what you all mean. Let me think about it some more!"

This was a matter of great importance, and Cao Cao needed to calm down and consider it carefully; he did not want to make any hasty decisions.

Three days later, Cao Cao finally made a decision and sent Chen Qun as an envoy to Chaisang to negotiate a ceasefire.

This time, Cao Cao didn't choose Jia Xu. He knew that the seven-year truce agreement manipulated by Jia Xu had completely lost its credibility. If Jia Xu went to lead the negotiations, Gan Ning would only think they were deceiving him again. On the eve of his departure, Chen Qun went to see Cao Cao again.

Cao Cao stood by the window for a long while and then said to Chen Qun, "I must stop him from eyeing Jiangdong and from launching a counterattack against Jiangbei. I will agree to any condition as long as I can successfully stop his strategic ambitions, even if it means making my daughter my concubine!"

Faced with reality, Cao Cao finally relented. His daughter had always been a political bargaining chip; Gan Ning's previous offer wasn't enough, but now this one could be used.

As the year drew to a close in mid-December, Gan Ning had been back from Nanchang for more than half a month. The situation in Danyang County had undergone subtle changes. Xiahou Yuan had led 150,000 troops back to Wanling County, but a large amount of grain and supplies had not been withdrawn from Shexian County, indicating that the enemy was only taking a temporary rest and had not canceled their westward expedition plan.

Perhaps because it was the end of the year, the entire war situation had completely calmed down, and the officials and people of Chaisang, from top to bottom, had a rare chance to catch their breath. Every household was decorating with lanterns and colorful decorations, thoroughly cleaning every corner of their homes, pasting door charms, pounding New Year cakes, and preparing Tusu wine. Many women also went to the store to buy cloth to prepare new clothes for their families for the New Year.

In the early morning, Lu Su hurriedly came and said, "Reporting to Lord Chu, Cao Cao has sent Chen Qun to negotiate a ceasefire!"

"negotiation?"

Gan Ning sneered, "What's there to talk about? He can start a war whenever he wants and end it whenever he wants. There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

Lu Su sighed and said, "My lord, let's talk! We can ask for whatever price we want, but whether we can reach an agreement is another matter. My lord, politics is about interests, not emotions."

Lu Su's persuasion gradually calmed Gan Ning down. After a moment of silence, he said, "Military Advisor Lu, let's hold a military and political meeting first to determine our plan, and then discuss it in detail with Chen Qun!"

The number of military and political council members in Western Chu has increased to eight. Lü Fan arrived last month and was appointed as deputy military advisor, above Gan Ning, in charge of military affairs. This is Lü Fan's area of ​​expertise. In the past, when Sun Ce led his army to fight in the south and north, Lü Fan was in charge of all military affairs. Although there were many military affairs to handle, Lü Fan was still able to manage them in an orderly manner.

Lü Fan was not only appointed as the military advisor of the government, but also as the military and political advisor. This title meant that he could participate in military advisory meetings.

Zhou Yu did not receive the title of military and political advisor, but like other major generals, he was allowed to participate in military and political discussions as an observer.

"Gentlemen, Cao Cao has officially sent Chen Qun to negotiate a ceasefire!"

Gan Ning slowly said to everyone, "Jia Xu came before and expressed his intention to cease hostilities. Perhaps Cao Cao still wanted to attack Yuzhang County by land, so the ceasefire negotiations were put on hold. However, Sun Ben's disastrous defeat told Cao Cao that it was simply unrealistic to attack by land. Even if they wanted to use a step-by-step strategy, it was broken by our newly built Dongchang City. Cao Cao had no choice but to choose the ceasefire negotiations again."

At this point, Gan Ning's gaze sharpened. "Cao Cao's real purpose in wanting to reach a ceasefire agreement is to protect Jiangdong and Jiangbei. He wants to bind them with a piece of paper, but I want to tell you all clearly that this is absolutely impossible."

(End of this chapter)