Chapter 542 The Battle of the Heart

As for the local people around, they felt a little guilty when they heard that Liu Bei had made such a great sacrifice. Since Cao's army cut off all the water and food in Longquan County, neither the soldiers nor the people in the city have enough to eat for a day. Liu Bei is even more so. He usually eats less. The state government only eats two meals a day and supplies the rest of the food to the people or the barracks. It can be said that Liu Bei has been hungry for many days. Now in order to fill this gap, he actually reduces one more meal a day, which is not enough to maintain a person's physical function. It doesn't take a few days. Liu Bei You will be so hungry that you don't even have the strength to walk. In this way, Liu Bei had no energy to command the soldiers to resist the 30,000 Cao soldiers outside the city.

Of course, the grain gap of 20 tons is too large. Even if Liu Bei voluntarily reduces the amount of grain used by the state government, it is only a little to mendder. Pan Feng narrowed her eyes and immediately imitated Liu Bei, who also voluntarily reduced the use of grain in his house. Liu Bei's righteous move seems to have infected many soldiers, and the soldiers followed suit one by one, and many soldiers even proposed to voluntarily eat only one meal in two days to make up for this gap.

The old man who was called Ling Gong by Liu Bei took this scene in his eyes, sighed and saluted Liu Bei.

"The governor is the head of an army, how can he suffer from hunger? The lord is so benevoous and righteous, how can I hide my private? I still have a lot of grain in my family. I voluntarily divide ten burdens of money to the people, and the lord can take out ten burdens.

Linggong is the patriarch of the people of Longquan, and he governs a large clan. Naturally, he knows the truth of preparing for a rainy day and hides a lot of grain in the granary in his house for emergencies.

Hearing that Ling Gong was willing to take out food to help, Liu Bei's sadness suddenly decreased a lot, but Liu Bei still made several refusals on the surface, and he was willing to accept it under Ling Gong's persistent attitude.

Liu Bei talked to Ling Gong for a while, secretly observed the surroundings, and saw the bodies of many local people. Liu Bei's face changed slightly, and suddenly he took out two swords around his waist. The Ling Gong didn't know what Liu Bei wanted to do, so he couldn't help stepping back a few steps. Unexpectedly, Liu Bei actually held his hands and handed the sword to Ling Gong.

"This sword is made of black iron and is worth hundreds of gold. Just now, because of the food grabbing, Liu's soldiers killed many people by mistake. A person can't be resurrated after death. Liu knows that he can't absolve himself, but now he still has an important responsibility and can only use this sword as compensation first. Ling Gongda can sell this sword and exchange some silver for the relatives of the deceased. After the difficulty of Longquan is solved, Liu must be impartial in accordance with the law and give you a justice!"

"The king must do it. This is the king's sword. How can he be sold! What's more, it's all our fault to grab food!"

"Don't say more, we and other sergeants are fighting on the battlefield to protect our country and save the people from the scourge of war. Now my sergeant killed the people, which is really a reversal of the cart before the horse, and the crime is unforgivable. I hope you don't postpone it and accept this sword!"

Liu Bei gave the momentum again. Ling Gong was moved by Liu Bei's benevolence and was so moved that he insisted on not doing it. The local people behind him also spoke to persuade Liu Bei to take back the sword.

Liu Bei's continuous benevolence and righteousness have extinguished the resentment of the people of Longquan. Not only that, but also many people who originally had the intention of rebellion secretly felt guilty and secretly scolded that their conscience was cheated away by the dog. If such a benevolent and righteous king betrays him, even if he can survive, he will be at peace of his life.

Liu Bei's means of attracting people's hearts can be said to be superb. After grabbing food, the soldiers and civilians in the city are not as powerful as water and fire, but are willing to guard Longquan for Liu Bei. Even if they give their lives for this, they will not hesitate.

A few days later, Cao Cao stood on a peak and looked up at the scene in the empty Longquan City. After looking at it for a long time, Cao Cao sighed with a little.

"Who is Liu Xuande? Longquan County has been cut off from food and water for nearly half a month, but there is no movement in the city except for the accident a few days ago. And since then, the relationship between the military and the people in Longquan County has not decreased but increased, and there has been a trend of life and death with big-eared thieves.

"Lord, Liu Xuande has always been good at using benevolence and righteousness to win people's hearts. I'm afraid that the sergeants and people in this city will be deceived by him, and even life and death will be put aside, willing to work for it."

Guo Jia, standing behind Cao Cao, smiled and had the taste of watching a good play.

"Benevolence and righteousness? I didn't expect that this set could still be applied in these troubled times. However, no matter how much he does, he is still dying.

Cao Cao's mouth was upturned, and the smile on his face was somewhat similar to Guo Jia's playful smile. Both of them gave people a sense of cynicism. Of course, both of them are talented. It is because they can see through many things in the world and manipulate them in their hands that they give people that kind of cynical feeling.

While the two were talking, a general with uneven armor and a little embarrassed general rushed to report. Cao Cao did not look back, but when he heard the hurried and flustered footsteps, he knew it. He frowned slightly and said coldly first.

"The stubborn people in this city didn't receive the secret letter, but let the arrows shoot you back?"

The scout general couldn't help but be shocked. He hadn't reported it yet. Cao Cao actually knew everything, and secretly slandered Cao Cao as a god.

"The Lord's magic is a clever calculation. As the Lord said, the stubborn people guarding the north gate not only did not receive the letter, but also shot many soldiers of our army! And they even said that the Prime Minister slandered loyal ministers and hurt innocent people for..."

The general said halfway and dared not go on. Cao Cao laughed, and then he said.

"Are these stubborn people saying that Cao is a Han thief? And moreover, is it impossible to commit adultery with me?"

The scout general lowered his head and did not dare to answer, but his face was as Cao Cao said. Cao Cao raised his eyebrows and made a gesture to signal the scout general to retreat. The scout general arched his hand and retreated according to the order.

"It seems that this offensive battle will continue for a while."

Guo Jia sighed unexpectedly. As for Cao Cao, he laughed instead.

"Hahaha. Interesting, really interesting. I would like to see how long Liu Xuande's benevolence can confuse these stubborn people. While life and death are becoming more and more pressing, people are often the most likely to lose their nature and reveal their viciousness. I, Cao Mengde, never believe that someone can bear the threat of death and work for others all the time!"

Thirty thousand Cao's army consumes a lot of food every day. Cao Cao fought repeatedly, and there is not much grain left in the army, which can only last up to half. But Cao Cao was not panicked at all, let alone rush to attack Longquan. Because once this was the case, he fell into Liu Bei's trap. Longquan County was easy to defend and difficult to attack. In addition, Liu Bei's defensive measures were extremely sufficient. Even if there were 100,000 soldiers, it was difficult to break through Longquan in half a month. If Cao Cao loses his patience and raises his troops to attack, he will be able to suffer heavy casualties, coupled with food shortages, he will eventually be forced to withdraw from the army.

And for Cao Cao, Longquan County is just a place of bullets, just like the tasteless and regrettable chicken ribs. The reason why Cao Cao spent so much troops and food to attack Longquan was that he just wanted to take advantage of Liu Bei's depression to give a fatal blow with lightning speed to eradicate this big trouble.

But if this battle does not work, Cao Cao will have to put aside the destruction of Liu Bei, because next he will have to face Yuan Shao and Yuan Benchu, a northern giant with nearly 700,000 soldiers under his command. At this time, most of Yuan Shao had received the news that his brother Yuan Shu had been killed by Cao Cao, and Xuzhou had fallen into the hands of Cao Cao. After hearing this, Yuan Shao was bound to be anxious and dared not let Cao Cao's forces continue to expand. He was eager to fight to the death with Cao Cao.

Cao Cao knows in his heart that the battle between Yuan Shao and him will determine the position of the world's number one hero. Whoever can laugh to the end is the king who is most likely to win the world's great cause in the future.

Liu Bei also sees this point thoroughly, which is also his only hope. As long as he can hold this battle, he can get another chance to survive. When Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are fighting fiercely, he will secretly accumulate strength and make a comeback.

As for the Battle of Longquan, although there is no blood on the surface, it is actually a fierce battle secretly. What Cao Cao and Liu Bei secretly fight with is patience. Of course, the most important thing is human nature. The human nature of the people of Longquan. If the people of Longquan can withstand the death threat of no food and no water, the loser will be Cao Cao, who has the upper hand, but if not, it will be Liu Bei who will be destroyed at that time.

Time flies. For Cao Cao and Liu Bei, every day has been tormented. Cao Cao has not done anything for a long time, and the morale of the soldiers in the army inevitably declines. In addition, the daily food is decreasing day by day. Many soldiers guess that there is not much food in the camp, and panic is inevitable. For Liu Bei, his suffering can be said to be even more tragic. He is almost tense every day, and the grain stored in the city is almost exhausted. The chiefs of the local people in the city have used up all the grain they have stored. Although there are few complaints on the surface of the local people in the city, with the increasing hunger and thirst, many local people are already hungry and crazy, and even several teams of local people want to rush out of the city gate and go out for food. Fortunately, it was stopped by Liu Bei's soldiers in time. Otherwise, as soon as the gate was opened, it would be seized by the Cao army outside the city and robbed the city, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

One night, on the wall of the North Gate, more than a dozen locals were discussing in a low voice. Then the night became darker and darker, and most of the locals guarding the city wall were already yawning, their eyelids were spinning, and they were thirsty and hungry, and most of them were half asleep. At this time, several agile natives tied the wall with hemp ropes and escaped out of the city in the dark.

After these local people jumped to the ground, they quickly ran out of the city, and soon disappeared into a mountain forest. These people are really hungry and unbearable. They came out tonight to hunt some prey from the mountains to satisfy their hunger. They wandered in the mountains, and everyone's eyes seemed to glow green. As long as they can get rid of the hunger that tortures them to death, even if there is a big tiger at this time, they will not hesitate to jump on the big tiger to fight.