My Three Kingdoms is not right

Lu Bu stood on the city gate tower, cursing and shouting into the distance. His voice grew louder and louder, and more and more offensive. He cursed Cao Cao's background, her character, her military tactics, and even the generals under her command.

But there was still no response from outside the city.

Those small boats of Cao Cao's army even sailed further.

As the sun rose higher, the fog dissipated, and the scene on the water became clearer. The outline of Cao Cao's army camp appeared and disappeared on the distant high ground, separated by the vast waters, like something from another world.

Lu Bu finally got tired of cursing.

She stood atop the city wall, one hand resting on her halberd, the other on the crenellations, her chest heaving.

"Back to camp."

She turned around and walked towards the city walls. As she passed the generals, she suddenly stopped.

"Once the water recedes," she turned around, her gaze sweeping over the faces, "I'll lead you to kill them all."

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a fierce, clenched-teeth tone.

The generals followed behind, and the soldiers gradually withdrew from their posts, leaving only those who needed to remain. The city walls gradually quieted down, leaving only the sounds of the wind, the water, and the fluttering of flags.

Liu Xun did not leave.

He leaned against a pillar on the city wall, watching Lü Bu's figure disappear into the shadows of the city gate.

Then he turned around and faced out of the city.

On the distant high ground, the banners of Cao Cao's army camp could be faintly seen, swaying gently in the wind.

That girl in red should be under that largest banner right now.

Liu Xun suddenly remembered the way Lü Bu had stood on the city wall earlier.

That arrogant woman, that unparalleled flying general who charged into battle single-handedly and took the head of a general from among thousands of soldiers, now appeared so insignificant in the face of the vast waters outside the city and the silent Cao camp in the distance.

She wore the most magnificent armor, held the sharpest halberd, and shouted curses in the loudest voice.

But no one responded to her.

No enemy came to confront her, no army came to fight her.

Only water.

The boundless water silently surrounds this lonely city.

As Liu Xun descended the city walls, he noticed that the rammed earth beneath his feet was crumbling.

-----------------

After Cao Cao's army breached the dikes and flooded the city, the situation in Xiapi deteriorated rapidly.

The muddy ground at the base of the city wall has turned into sludge.

Every time Liu Xun came down from the city wall, his boots would sink half an inch into the wall, making a sickening "plop" sound when he pulled them out. The rammed earth, saturated with water, began to seep out a yellowish muddy soup, which flowed down the cracks in the city wall, leaving shocking marks on the surface.

The water level outside the city gradually receded from the third day, but it still held the city firmly in place.

Nearly a third of the city's streets were submerged in water, and the lowest-lying wards had been completely turned into a swamp, with only rooftops and treetops visible above the water.

From a distance, it looks like an ominous island.

The farmland is all destroyed. Food was already scarce in the city, and now there's nowhere to even dig up wild vegetables.

Nearly half of the people could not return to their homes. They were driven to the high ground in the north and west of the city, where they were crammed into shacks made of door panels and reeds. Men, women, and children lived together in a place with a nauseating stench.

Children ran naked through the mud and water, while adults sat at the entrance of their shacks, staring blankly at the water in the distance.

The soldiers defending the city fared even worse.

They took turns standing on the city wall, their feet on the slippery bricks, their clothes never drying, and many of them began to develop eczema and ulcers.

Some people couldn't resist and secretly pulled down their pants to get some fresh air and scratch themselves. If their superiors saw this, they would be whipped.

"Damn it! What kind of behavior is this?!"

"It's so itchy, I can't stand it..."

"Do you think Cao Cao's army outside the city will stop attacking just because your crotch is injured?!"

In fact, no one attacked the city.

This was what made the defending troops most desperate.

Cao Cao's army simply surrounded them from a distance, occasionally sending small boats to patrol the water, but they didn't attack.

Of course, no refunds.

They just soaked there.

……

The well water in the city is no longer drinkable.

The water drawn up was murky and yellowish, with an earthy smell. At first, people would let the water sit overnight before drinking it the next day. Later, even on the second day, when a thin layer of mud had settled at the bottom of the bucket, the water on top was still murky and tasted bitter.

Liu Xun emphasized from the very beginning that the water must be boiled before it can be drunk.

He not only told Chen Gong, but later he also had Yao Tian's soldiers go door-to-door to inform everyone they met, repeating the instructions until their voices were hoarse.

Several prominent families and military officer households in the city were the first to follow suit. These families had no shortage of firewood, their stoves were always burning, and they had a constant supply of hot water.

But ordinary people can't do that.

There was already a shortage of firewood in the city. The dead trees at the foot of the city wall and along the river had long been cut down. Now even dry branches are hard to find. Firewood is not even enough to cook food properly, so who would be willing to use it to boil water?

As a result, more and more people suffered from diarrhea, and the epidemic broke out.

The first to suffer were the people living in the shacks. The sanitation was poor; they drank raw water, ate food that had been soaked in water, and had to defecate more than ten times a day. They became emaciated, with sunken eyes, cracked lips, and were unable to speak while lying in bed.

Many elderly people and children did not survive.

When Liu Xun passed through the shantytown, he saw a man sitting at the door holding a child. The child was no longer moving, but the man was still humming a lullaby without realizing it.

He stood at a distance for a moment, then turned his face away and continued walking.

It's not that we don't want to help, it's that we can't help enough.

He didn't have much medicine stockpiled to begin with, and his grain reserves weren't much better either. If he were to distribute it to all the people in the city, it wouldn't even be enough to fill a gap between their teeth.

We could only watch helplessly.

This feeling is the most torturous.

With each passing day, the morale of Lü Bu's army plummeted.

Because military rations are becoming increasingly scarce.

Although the soldiers managed to retrieve the waterlogged grain stacks, they soon began to mold.

The officers reluctantly distributed the waterlogged rations, leaving the soldiers to figure out how to deal with them.

Some people tried washing and drying the moldy rice to remove the mold, and what was left was barely edible, but it caused diarrhea after eating it. Others skipped this step altogether, directly cooking the moldy rice into porridge, stuffing it into their mouths, and then squatting in a corner vomiting uncontrollably.

Two days later, Lü Bu ordered that the army's daily rations be reduced by one-third.

When the order was delivered, the camp was quiet for a long time.

No one spoke, no one complained, there was only silence.

The soldiers held their bowls of porridge, which was much thinner than usual, and drank it sip by sip with their heads down.

After drinking thin porridge for several days, more and more soldiers fell ill.

It wasn't because of hunger, but because of disease.

A damp, dirty environment, malnutrition, and drinking unclean water can cause a person's immune system to plummet. First comes diarrhea, then fever, vomiting, and even fainting.

The military doctors were extremely busy, but there wasn't enough medicine, so their abilities were limited.

If you can get through it, then get through it; if you can't, then...

On the seventh night, a section of the southwest city wall collapsed.