My Father in Law is Lu Bu-Chapter 729

“Milord. Do we really have to fight like this?” Yue Jin asked as he wiped the blood off his face. This had been the eight time Yue Jin had climbed up the walls to fight the enemy only to be beaten back down. Yuan Shao was so popular in Hebei that he received help from the people. One of the reasons Cao Cao could defeat the Yuan brothers was because they were unpopular.

When Cao Cao attacked the Yuan brothers, the people did not help. On top of that, there were also traitors like Xu You. It was good enough that the common people of Hebei did not also turn traitor.

But Yuan Shao was different from his unfilial sons. If it was just his army of ten thousand, he would have long been defeated by Cao Cao a long time ago. However, the common people of Nanpi all rose up turning it to a battle of attrition.

In the past, Lu Kang the Governor of Lujiang used the common people to fight against Sun Ce for three years. This showed how powerful the common people were.

Cao Cao brought a total of one hundred and thirty thousand troops with him. Yet, in just a few days, there were at least thirty thousand corpses lying under the city. If this were to continue, Cao Cao's strength would be significantly reduced by the time he captures Hebei. Yue Jin was wondering if they had a strategy they could use as attacking the walls by force was too costly.

“No! We must keep pushing!” Cao Cao was very determined. Cao Cao did not like to attack forcefully either as it was a waste of manpower. However, he had no choice but to do so. It was just like in Xuzhou. Cao Cao killed the common people because Tao Qian incited the people to fight. If Cao Cao did not do this, the people incited by Tao Qian will continue to cause trouble for Cao Cao. Cao Cao could not remain cautious of Xuzhou forever.

Cao Cao may have ruined his reputation by killing the people but there were also benefits to it. First of all, Cao Cao would not kill everyone. He would give those who submit to him food and land and then send them back to Xuzhou. This would tell everyone that those who oppose Cao Cao will die while those who submit will be given benefits.

Cao Cao wanted to do the same thing here. He wanted to use Nanpi as a sacrifice the rest of Hebei cannot be used by Yuan Shao. Even if Nanpi surrenders now, the people would not be able to live. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“Understood!” Yue Jin gritted his teeth knowing that he could not convince Cao Cao. “Men! Follow me!” Yue Jin could not know Cao Cao's strategic thinking. All he understood was that they were suffering heavy casualties. If he wanted to prevent any more casualties, he had to capture Nanpi. Yue Jin climbed the wall again so that he could quickly end the battle and reduce casualties.

“Yuan Shao.” Cao Cao muttered as he looked back at Nanpi. He had underestimated Yuan Shao. If he knew this was going to happen, he would have sent assassins to get rid of Yuan Shao instead of allowing Yuan Shao to escape.

Cao Cao's spies also said that half the reason Yuan Shao reappeared was because of Cao Cao. If Cao Cao did not attack, Yuan Shao would not have come out.

As the past few days had been smooth, Nanpi was soon to fall. Cao Cao then turned towards Fanyang. He hoped that place would not disappoint him.

***

Fanyang was in chaos. Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan were both dumbfounded when the situation went out of control. Their troops were not just attacking Yuan Xi's men but also each other's.

“Yuan Tan! Control your men!” Yuan Shang almost felt his heart bleed. The ones that died were his elites. Of course, he was not heartbroken that the people died but for the ruined Yangzhou weapons and armors. They cost a lot of money.

“How can I control my men? It is you! Why are your men killing mine? Did you instruct them to do so?” Yuan Tan shouted back. His troops were weaker than Yuan Shang's as Yuan Shang inherited more of their father's troops. During the sudden battle, Yuan Shang's men gained the upper hand. However, this was only for a short while. The two armies did not differ much in strength.

“Damn it! Yuan Tan! If you cannot control your men, the do not blame me for this!” Yuan Shang glared. There were no sense of brotherhood at all. Since they were young, they have always wished the other would choke to death from eating or drinking water. Yuan Tan's men attacking his immediately angered him.

“Come then! See if I am afraid of you!” Yuan Tan was naturally unhappy as well. Although he was the older brother, Yuan Shang had never shown him face.

“Brothers! Kill them!” Yuan Shang drew his sword and charged towards Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan's men also fought back with deep hatred.

“What a mess! Everything is in chaos!” Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Shen Pei and the others panicked. They were allies until a short while ago and now they were all enemies. Meanwhile, these people were all advisors. They were all weak and powerless. The soldiers were all killing each other and ignored them but these three did not care. One hid inside a heap of garbage and the other hid inside a large bucket of manure.

Xin Ping was not as shameless as the two. He borrowed a sword from one of the corpses, cut the corpse to pieces and then smeared blood all over himself before playing dead. Although he did not have to deal with the smell of garbage, he still had to deal with being trampled. Even when his face turned green, he still continued to play dead.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” The sound of killing in Fanyang naturally could not be hidden from Cao Cao's army waiting outside the city.

“Brother Miaocai! Good news!” Xiahou Dun rushed into the camp.

“Huh?” Xiahou Yuan frowned. “What is with this impatience? Did Lu Bu not teach you your mistakes?” Xiahou Yuan scolded harshly. He was referring to time Xiahou Dun lost his eye when Lu Bu attacked Yanzhou. This all happened because Xiahou Dun was impatient.

Xiahou Yuan believed that Xiahou Dun would have learned from his mistakes but he did not expect Xiahou Dun to still be the same as before. Besides that, Xiahou Yuan was the acting commander. The whole army was under martial law yet the general from the frontlines ran all the way back to camp.

“Brother Miaocai! Wait for me to finish before punishing me! I will accept whatever punishment you give!” Xiahou Dun immediately panicked when he saw Xiahou Yuan pick up the military token. Xiahou Dun was a fearless person but Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan both terrify him.

“Speak!” Xiahou Yuan replied unhappily.

“Brother Miaocai. It is good news! There is internal strife in Fanyang!” Xiahou Dun said.

“The Yuan brothers are having an internal strife?” Xiahou Yuan's eyes grew wide but then he quickly shook his head. “Impossible!” Xiahou Yuan did not believe this news at all.

“Brother! It is true!” Xiahou Dun said anxiously. This was a good opportunity. If they seized this opportunity, Fanyang would surely be captured.

“The Yuan brothers are now uniting against our Lord. How could they have internal conflict?” Xiahou Yuan did not believe it as it was already a life and death situation for the Yuan brothers.Who would be so stupid to fight amongst themselves now? Little did he know, the Yuan brothers were really that stupid.

“Brother! You have to believe me!” Xiahou Dun was so anxious he started scratching his cheek. He did not know how to get his brother to believe him. This news was something he only managed to obtain after great difficulty.

“Report! General Xiahou! We found a spy!” At that moment, a guard went in to report.

“A spy?” Xiahou Dun was already in a bad mood. He was so enthusiastic earlier when he made his report but then it was rejected. “If it is just a spy, drag him away and kill him!” Xiahou Dun waved his hand.

“No, no. The spy said he wants to meet General Xiahou.” The guard replied.

“The spy wants to see me?” Xiahou Yuan furrowed his brows.

“Yes. The spy has been asking to see General Xiahou since he arrived.” The guard replied, saying that the spy surrendered on his own initiative.

“Bring him to me.” Xiahou Yuan ordered.

“Brother Miaocai. What is there to ask? Just take Fanyang City. That is the important thing. It would be a great achievement if we can capture Fanyang before Mengde returns. You are giving up merits here!” Xiahou Dun was unsatisfied.

“Hmph! You do not know how high the sky is!” Xiahou Yuan snorted. Even when their Lord was here with their entire army, they could not break through Fanyang City. Now Xiahou Dun wants to capture Fanyang with less men?

“Just because Mengde can't do it doesn't mean we can't!” Xiahou Dun muttered.

“You dare to say it!” Xiahou Yuan glared. Xiahou Dun immediately kept quiet.

“Report! General Xiahou, the spy is here.” The guard reported after bringing the spy over.

“Is this the spy?” Xiahou Dun looked at him. Such a flabby person. Can such people be spies? “Are you the spy?”

“You are the spy! I am not a spy! I have a secret report to give Prime Minister Cao Cao!” The young man shouted back at Xiahou Dun.

“You have a secret report to tell the Prime Minister? Who are you?” Xiahou Yuan asked.

“You don't need to know who I am. You just need to take me to Prime Minister Cao Cao. I will give him a satisfactory answer!” The young man replied calmly.

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