Chapter 352 Cutting Hair and Taking the Head
Seeing everyone's grim expressions, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao sighed in their hearts.
They understand these people's feelings very well.
If you have never fought against them personally, how can you deeply feel that kind of helplessness?
But the war still has to be fought. If we don't tell them now, they will be stunned when we attack the city tomorrow. The losses will certainly not be small, and it will also affect the progress of the siege.
Now that we are mentally prepared, even though it has dampened morale, it is inevitable.
"Tian Chengshou's troops are best at building strongholds and fighting stupid battles. Please be prepared. In this battle, do not care about the casualties of the soldiers. You must attack fiercely at all costs and try to capture it within a few days."
"Otherwise, if the war is delayed, the situation will become even more unfavorable for us." Cao Cao said in a deep voice.
Cao Cao never thought about engaging in a war of attrition with Zhao Yun's troops.
With nearly 100,000 troops and such a strong city, if they fought to the death, I'm afraid half of their hundreds of thousands of troops would be killed.
Moreover, given the quality and morale of Tian Ze's army, it is almost impossible to expect them to have internal chaos and morale problems.
This army was so stable that he could not see any flaws at all, especially when the leading general was Zhao Yun.
Even with the presence of Xun Chen, they still couldn't create any loopholes.
In war, it is good to win by using unconventional strategies, but when the absolute strength gap is huge, even an unconventional strategy needs sufficient strength to support it.
As long as Zhao Yun's point is captured, Cao Cao and others have already planned the next strategy, but the prerequisite is to capture Zhao Yun's troops.
Tian Ze gave them an almost unsolvable dead end. The two biggest flaws were Zhao Yun and Zang Ba, one would not lose and the other could not lose.
Compared to the mysterious Zang Ba's troops hiding in the Taishan Mountains, Cao Cao and others would rather deal with Zhao Yun's troops.
After all, not all troops can cross mountains and hills as easily as walking on flat ground, and not all troops can maintain sufficient combat effectiveness in mountain warfare.
After Cao Cao told them everything in detail and answered everyone's questions.
Looking at the backs of Liu Bei and Sun Ce leaving, Yuan Shao looked gloomy: "Meng De, do you think we can win this battle?"
At this moment, even a man as determined as Yuan Shao couldn't help but feel a little confused.
Cao Cao fixed his eyes on the Yellow River and said decisively: "We can win, and we must win!"
Although the outcome of this battle could not determine the outcome of the Central Plains, it would greatly affect Tian Ze's strategy of advancing into Xiliang in the future. They could lose, but they could not afford to lose.
"Bingzhou retreated a step, Jizhou retreated a step, and Sili retreated another step. Benchu, now we have no room for retreat." Cao Cao said solemnly.
Cao Cao, who had a hard time making his fortune, was much more sober-minded than Yuan Shao. He knew very well that the most important thing in fighting a war is determination.
If a leader has many concerns, does not dare to risk his life, and leaves room for maneuver everywhere, it will be difficult to win.
Especially when facing such a strong opponent like Tian Ze, he had to completely block his retreat and leave no room for maneuver, otherwise there would be no possibility of victory.
After hearing what Cao Cao said, Yuan Shao smiled self-deprecatingly.
Having lost so much, he has even begun to doubt himself.
Tian Ze defeated his former arrogance and indecision, and unexpectedly, even his pride was shaken.
"My lord, I will do my best to help you win this battle!" Shen Pei stepped out without hesitation and said solemnly, his eyes also full of determination.
The lord was humiliated and the minister died. Yuan Shao behaved like this, and his heart was full of resentment and self-blame.
In the final analysis, they were too weak. The absolute military advantage made the lord see no chance of winning.
Seeing the appearance of his civil and military officers, Yuan Shao smiled, drew the sword from his waist, cut off a piece of his hair, and inserted the sword in front of him.
"My words just now shook the morale of the army. It is my fault. I will cut off my hair in lieu of my head. In this battle, anyone who is cowardly and says he will lose will be killed without mercy!"
"promise!"
Seeing that everyone's morale was boosted, Cao Cao shook his head slightly.
Sure enough, Yuan Benchu is still the same Yuan Benchu.
The next day, the autumn wind was biting, and hundreds of thousands of troops surrounded the camp where Zhao Yun was. The terrifying momentum soared into the sky, and even the surrounding birds took detours.
However, Zhao Yun's troops stood on the camp without any fear in their eyes.
Under the influence of Zhao Yun's talent, the status of all soldiers remained in an extremely stable range and would not be shaken by any external force at all.
Shen Pei watched this scene from afar, without any surprise or doubt in his heart, but full of fighting spirit.
He had been preparing for this battle for a long time and had learned a lot from Zhou Yu under the city of Shouchun. Now, the moment had finally come to witness his hard work.
As Shen Pei waved the command flag in his hand, the army suddenly surged forward like a tide.
All the soldiers kept a certain distance, loose but not scattered. This was the optimal distance that Shen Pei had carefully calculated after considering factors such as the number of catapults and crossbows in Tianze's army and the density of their shooting.
Shen Pei's command ability may not be as good as Zhou Yu's, but he is the person who is most familiar with Tian Ze's army's tactics. Countless failed sieges in the past have accumulated a lot of experience for him.
In particular, he put a lot of hard work into figuring out how to deal with the large number of city defense equipment of the Tazawa department.
When Zhao Yun saw this scene, his expression changed slightly.
The enemy's attack was quite methodical and coordinated. It was obvious that they were aware of the strength of their own defense and had conducted special training.
Although they have become somewhat alert, the tactics for defending the city will not change. This is the best tactic after countless deductions and tests.
Even if the enemy takes targeted measures, it can only reduce casualties slightly.
Dense and huge crossbow arrows and boulders were thrown everywhere, but the coalition forces under the command of Shen Pei still charged forward fearlessly.
Before this battle, they had been informed in advance of the scenes they might experience, and most of them were veterans, so they would not panic.
While charging, they were also observing the movements ahead. Once they spotted crossbow arrows and stones coming towards them, they would quickly lie down.
Although it does not reduce the possibility of injury too much, but after Shen Pei's calculations, facing the crossbow arrows with a certain shooting angle and the falling rocks that will fly everywhere after being hit, the chance of survival is still much higher if you lie down.
The soldiers at the front suffered concentrated fire, and then the defense equipment on the city wall began to change its attack method and started a rotating attack with a slightly lower density.
The rows of soldiers placed by Shen Pei in the front were not elite soldiers, but those behind them were the elite soldiers in the army.
Although these are just three small changes that don't seem very obvious, the effects are extremely outstanding. The difficulty of attack and the loss rate of soldiers are greatly reduced.
Yuan Shao and other princes saw this scene and nodded slightly.
As expected, Shen Pei was definitely a capable person as he dared to serve as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.
(End of this chapter)
