Chapter 553 No choice
Although the monarchs of Wu and Shu were in the rear at this moment, Zhou Yu could still feel the invisible pressure without Liu Bei and Sun Quan being by his side.

At this time, perhaps the two monarchs were cursing at themselves.
Zhou Yu shook his head helplessly. The last hope of the Wu and Shu countries rested on his shoulders. The pressure of life and death was really unbearable.

Months of forbearance and frustration did not bring any advantage, and ultimately the main force of the Wu-Shu coalition was led to a dead end by themselves.

Of course, we haven't reached the end of our rope yet, but it's just a matter of time.

After a deep sigh, he said in a deep voice: "The rations cannot be reduced any further. Once they are reduced, the soldiers and civilians in the city will immediately realize that the food is running out, and the morale of the army will surely be in turmoil."

When he said this, Zhou Yu's tone was full of helplessness and unwillingness: "And even if we can hold on for a few more days, it won't make much sense."

Lu Su was silent for a while after hearing this. He certainly understood how serious the situation in the city was now.

Just as Zhou Yu said, if the rations were reduced again, there would definitely be chaos in the city. Even if the army could be stabilized, the people in the city would rebel.

Because the people have already had their rations reduced several times, and if they are reduced again, they will be forced to starve to death.

After realizing that the Yellow Turbans were going to switch from a quick attack to a long-term siege strategy, Zhou Yu was ready to fight to the end. The most important thing to delay time as much as possible was to control food.

However, there were countless soldiers and civilians in the city, and even the rationed food could not supply so many people. He could only put the people in a difficult position and give priority to ensuring the supply of military rations.

The soldiers suffered greatly from having their rations cut in half, and the civilians had their rations reduced again and again on top of that. It had reached the point where they could only scoop up rice soup with a broken bowl at the food shed, and were barely able to maintain the minimum survival needs.

Even so, it was inevitable that a large number of people starved to death. Over the course of several months, the people were forced to rebel many times, but they were all ruthlessly suppressed by Zhou Yu.

The situation is already so bad, and reducing rations further would be no different from killing people directly.

Although Zhou Yu was cruel, he was not as brutal as Cao Cao and Cheng Yu. He would not do such a thing. Moreover, if he provoked resistance from the people of the whole city, the final result would not be good.

"What does Gongjin plan to do?" Lu Su glanced at the Yellow Turban camp in the distance with a serious expression.

Zhou Yu said coldly: "We have no other choice but to fight them. We must prepare to leave the city and fight immediately. We can't wait until we are at our wit's end!"

Lu Su was not surprised by this answer. This was indeed the only option available now, and it was also a situation that Zhou Yu had foreseen several months ago.

Now that it has really come to this, what happens next is beyond our control.

After sighing, Lu Su said, "That's good. The Yellow Turbans have moved their main force to the rear early. We can attack first and take advantage of them before they gather their forces."

Zhou Yu nodded. This was exactly his idea. Now the 100,000 main forces from the rear of the Yellow Turbans had not yet been deployed. If he attacked first, he could temporarily gain a huge military advantage. This required him to not continue to defend the city.

"Since we are going to take the initiative to attack, there is no need to ration the military rations. Let the soldiers eat to their heart's content in the next two days, and then we will attack the city when the army has regained its strength!" Zhou Yu could not help but touch the hilt of the sword. He was ready to go all out.

Lu Su took a deep breath and felt the serious and tense atmosphere. He bowed and went down to arrange many matters.

It must be said that Zhou Yu was decisive. Although he had lived a miserable life in the past few months, he was not ambiguous when it came to fighting to the death. Once the supply of military rations was released, the Wu-Shu coalition had no way back and could only choose to fight the Yellow Turbans to the death.

After Lu Su's arrangement, the soldiers found that the food had increased that day. Of course, they were not stupid and immediately made some guesses.

Sure enough, a military general came out to announce the battle plan for the general offensive in two days. The soldiers also knew that the war that had lasted for more than half a year was finally coming to an end.

During these two days, Changsha City remained peaceful and the soldiers were only doing one thing, which was eating.

As if to make up for the hunger they had endured in the past few months, everyone ate like starving ghosts. Although there was nothing good to eat in the city now, even white rice could make them satisfied.

For many soldiers, they regarded the last two days of meals as their last meals, after all, the opponent they would face at that time was the terrible Yellow Turbans.

Not many people would hope to defeat the Yellow Turbans, and whether they can survive the battlefield is an even bigger question. All they can do is eat as much as possible now.

Once the strict food rationing that had lasted for several months was lifted, the supply became open. Zhou Yu and Lu Su were not afraid at all that the soldiers would eat too much. For them, this was the last chance. If they could not win, there would be no point in saving more food.

On the contrary, now they need the soldiers to eat as much as possible. The more they eat, the better they can recover their physical strength and be more effective in fighting.

Two days passed quickly in such a depressing atmosphere. Although the Wu and Shu soldiers had eaten a lot during these two days, it was not enough to make up for the loss caused by several months of hunger. It could only restore about 70% of their strength.

Zhou Yu no longer has any more time to let his soldiers rest. There is no telling when the Yellow Turbans' army in the rear will be transferred to the front line. His plan to launch an attack in advance while the Yellow Turbans' troops are insufficient would fail. Even if the current situation is not perfect, he can only go ahead anyway.

Two days later, the morning sun shone on the earth. The Wu and Shu soldiers in Changsha City lined up in battle formations one after another under the command of various generals. Soon the streets in the city were completely filled with the army.

As early as five o'clock in the morning, Zhou Yu ordered the fire to be lit and the food to be cooked. Now the soldiers have eaten and drunk their fill and are ready to go out of the city to fight.

Perhaps they all knew how difficult the upcoming battle would be, the soldiers remained silent tacitly, and it was unclear whether they were nervous or afraid.

It was not until they heard a slow sound of horse hooves from behind that they all looked over at the same time. It turned out to be their commander-in-chief.

Zhou Yu held the reins in his hand and rode slowly past the gazes from all around him, his mood becoming increasingly solemn.

The people in the distance, whether they were old people, children or women, all had hatred and resentment in their eyes at this moment. Zhou Yu believed that if they had the chance, they would tear him to pieces.

If they had not forcibly captured them all by clearing the countryside, many of them would not have had to suffer and starve in the city.

If there is anyone who most hopes that the Wu-Shu coalition will be defeated, it must be these people.

However, Zhou Yu did not care about these looks. Although he was not as cruel as Cao Cao and Cheng Yu, he was definitely not a soft-hearted person. For the sake of his country, the so-called people were just a consumable resource in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)