After noon, Cao Hong took away all the wounded soldiers in the camp in the name of meeting the grain carts and escorting the wounded, causing a commotion.
Everyone camped in the wild, eating only one meal a day. They were starving and waiting for food and fodder. Some people even wanted to leave first, and many people began to pretend to be sick. Only after Cao Hong killed several people did the situation calm down.
Cao's troops were roughly divided into three parts. Cao Xiu led the Qingzhou army to station in the Bowangpo area, Cao Cao's headquarters was in the center, and Xu Huang led the Hebei army to the south, forming a protective posture for Wancheng from north to south.
After dark, there was a sudden commotion in the South Camp. As the news spread that Cao Cao gave priority to rewarding the soldiers in the South Camp and favored them, the most restless Hebei Army became extremely excited.
They had just been incorporated and were already uneasy. They encountered setbacks one after another, suffered from hunger, and there was resentment in the camp. They thought that Cao's army was biased towards them, and there were even cases of desertion.
But when the aroma of dry food and meat wafted through the camp, all the soldiers were grateful to Cao Cao. Each of them held a large bowl, looking at the full bowl of meat, with tears streaming down their faces.
Not to mention coming to Nanyang, even when I was in the Central Plains, I had never eaten such a sumptuous meal.
Orders were passed down to each camp that food and drink were unlimited tonight. Cao's soldiers, who had been hungry for days, ate voraciously, and the whole camp was filled with the sound of puffing.
Just as they were eating and sweating profusely, praising the Prime Minister's virtue, Cao Cao came in person to inspect the camp. When he passed through the entire camp, the soldiers saluted them one after another, feeling extremely moved.
After a round, Cao Cao summoned officers and soldiers above the rank of lieutenant general and prepared wine for a banquet in the central military tent.
Cao Cao raised his cup and said, "Since the southern expedition, I have won many great victories, but the weather was not on my side. A heavy rain destroyed the food and fodder, causing you all to suffer. I, Cao, would like to apologize to all the soldiers in the camp!"
This was a cordial greeting from the Prime Minister. The generals were extremely excited and raised their glasses one after another, saying they dared not do it.
After drinking a glass of wine, Cao Cao said generously: "Although food and grass have been delivered today, the road is long and the terrain is slippery, and the quantity is very small. I will use all the food and grass to reward the South Camp, and I have a request for you."
Everyone was stunned. They didn't expect Cao Cao would leave all the food and grass to them. They were grateful but also very confused.
Cao Cao said, "This batch of food and grass is only enough for you for three days. You will march out tomorrow and attack Xinye and Anzhong. You must capture these two cities. Then you can collect food from all over Nanyang and take Jingzhou in one fell swoop."
Xu Huang clasped his fists and said, "We are willing to serve the Prime Minister, even if it means death."
Cao Cao said, "The army's food and grass will arrive in two days, and the other two camps are still starving and waiting. I will organize the troops to confront Liu Qi and help you win the battle."
The generals were deeply moved by Cao Cao's respect and trust. Now was the time for them to make achievements, so they all clasped their fists and expressed their willingness to fight to the death.
Cao Cao raised his third cup of wine and said in a loud voice: "I have heard that the people of Yan and Zhao are generous and good at fighting. The lifeblood of the three armies this time depends entirely on you. Please!"
These one sentence made the blood of the generals boil. They all knelt on the ground and some of them even cried.
After drinking, Cao Cao comforted his generals and asked them to reorganize their troops. The entire army would provide all they had to help them capture the city and gain merit.
Everyone left in tears of gratitude. Cao Cao called Generals Xu Huang and Le Jin into his tent and ordered them, "After the fifth watch, each of you will lead 50,000 troops to capture the city. If you fail to capture the city within three days, you will be killed!"
The two generals had suffered humiliation during the previous siege and had long been resentful. When they heard that there were 50,000 troops, their confidence increased and they gladly accepted the order.
After everything was arranged, Cao Cao returned to the central army, barely walked out of the South Camp, and then squatted on the side of the road and vomited continuously.
Cao Chun was shocked and hurried forward to ask, "Prime Minister, is it possible that you have not yet recovered from your cold?"
Cao Cao took a deep breath, and after a while he shook his head and said, "No, the smell of meat in the camp just now made my stomach churn."
Cao Chun gently stroked Cao Cao's back and said with a smile: "You haven't seen meat for many days, you should be happy to smell the aroma of meat."
Cao Cao looked at the guards in the distance and whispered, "Zihe, you don't know that 80% of the meat eaten by the Northern Army tonight is... human flesh."
"What?" Cao Chun was shocked. After a moment of silence, he ran to the side of the road and vomited violently.
When rewarding the soldiers just now, Cao Cao strictly ordered the soldiers not to share their supplies. Cao Chun secretly asked Xu Huang for a few pieces of fat meat, and he still remembers the taste of it to this day.
Cao Cao looked at the dark night sky and shook his head helplessly. When Lu Bu launched a surprise attack on Yanzhou, the two armies encountered a locust plague during the battle. The entire army was about to collapse. Fortunately, Cheng Yu plundered the county and provided timely support of food and grass, which helped them overcome the difficulties.
Later, it was discovered that Cheng Yu had mixed human jerky with the food and fodder, which made Cao Cao sick for several years and he could not eat meat for several months.
This time the army was in crisis again, and Cao Cao had no choice but to use Cheng Yu's plan. He first boiled the beef and mutton, and then used the broth to boil the human flesh, using the mutton smell to cover up other smells. In addition, the soldiers had been hungry for many days and could not tell the difference at all.
But as an insider, when Cao Cao smelled the aroma of meat in the camp, his stomach churned and he almost vomited in the camp just now. He didn't expect that Cao Chun would actually steal a bite.
After Cao Chun vomited for a while, the two brothers looked at each other and smiled bitterly. They had to swallow this bitter pill and could not tell anyone about it.
When they returned to the camp, they saw Cheng Yu had prepared a banquet and there was a plate of meat on the table. The two men ran outside the tent and started retching again.
Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister. This is cooked beef. It's a calf that was just killed today and is reserved for you."
Cao Cao covered his nose and walked into the tent, waving his hands and saying, "Take it out, and don't let me see any meat for half a month."
Cheng Yu waved his hand, signaling to remove the meat plate, leaving only a plate of cold dishes, and said with emotion: "The Prime Minister is a hero of the time, who has killed countless people. Why should he care about such a small thing..."
"Don't mention this again!" Cao Cao pointed at Cheng Yu and said solemnly, "Don't mention this again!"
Cheng Yu shook his head and laughed, thinking that Cao Cao had killed people like crazy throughout his life, massacring Xuzhou and Yecheng without blinking an eye, so how could he lose his composure like this over a mere piece of human flesh
In fact, when cooked into jerky, it is no different from beef and mutton, especially for women and babies, the meat is more tender.
He licked his lips unconsciously, poured wine for Cao Cao to calm him down, and asked, "How is the morale of the Hebei army?"
Cao Cao took a big gulp of wine, exhaled, nodded and said: "The army's morale is good, but there are still tens of thousands of northern troops. What can we do?"
Cheng Yu stroked his beard and said, "With tens of thousands of troops attacking the city, Liu Qi will surely send troops to rescue. We just need to wait for the food and grass to arrive tomorrow. After the soldiers have a day's rest, the Prime Minister will force a crossing of the Baihe River and take Wancheng directly."
Cao Cao tightened his grip on the wine glass, realizing that Cheng Yu was planning to use those tens of thousands of people as the vanguard to force their way across the river.
Nanyang has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. To the west, you can pass Wuguan to enter Guanzhong, to the north you can go through Luyang to drive towards Luoyang, to advance you can eye Jingxiang, and to retreat you can guard Xudu.
This is also the reason why Cao Cao did not hesitate to sacrifice soldiers and generals in conquering Zhang Xiu twice. If Liu Qi was allowed to gain a foothold, not only would all previous efforts be wasted, but Cao's army would also be in a passive position.
As long as they could reach Wancheng, the food and grass they brought would be enough to sustain 100,000 elite soldiers for two months, which would be enough to deal with Liu Qi. Even if they couldn't take Nanyang, they would at least capture Wancheng.