Chapter 564 Bottom Line
"No, absolutely not!" Zhou Yu didn't even think about it for a second. He immediately slammed the table and rejected it decisively. Then he looked at everyone: "I know what you are thinking, but there are some things that Cao Cao can do, and I, Zhou Yu, cannot do. This is my bottom line!"

When everyone saw that Zhou Yu had so firmly opposed the idea in advance before anyone had formally brought it up, they gave up the idea.

As the Grand Commander, he enjoyed great prestige in the two armies. Once a decision was made, the generals under him dared not raise any objections. And it must be said that this kind of thing was indeed a bit too much and most people could not accept it.

After all, even if they lost this battle, they would only be losers in the history books.

But if you do such a thing, it will be recorded in history books and you will be despised by generations to come. For most scholars who value their reputation, such a thing that would damage their reputation cannot be done casually.

But, if this method doesn't work, then how else can we generate food to survive these few days?

Zhou Yu asked in a deep voice: "The food will run out tomorrow. If we ration it again, will it be possible to delay it? As long as our army can hold out until the reinforcements arrive in a few days, we can replenish some supplies and fight a decisive battle!"

Lu Su shook his head and sighed: "The food supply is already at its limit, there is no way to reduce it any further, unless..."

Everyone looked over immediately: "Unless what?"

Lu Su cleared his throat and said solemnly, "Unless we cut off the food supply to the people in the city and only ensure the supply of the soldiers, we may be able to hold out until the reinforcements arrive from the rear."

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Yu's spirit, which had just been mustered, suddenly waned, and everyone else shut their mouths.

The food supply is already at its limit, and the people in the city are just hanging on by a thread. If the food is cut off, they will starve to death immediately. Doing this is no different from massacring the city.

Although Zhou Yu was not very merciful to the people, he was not so cruel. The rest of the people were no different.

They also value their reputation, and the infamy of massacre in a city is not so easy to bear.

Zhou Yu stood up and paced back and forth in the tent, his brows furrowed. He was immediately stumped by this problem. No matter how smart and talented he was, he couldn't create food out of thin air.

If we want food, all we have to do is increase revenue and reduce expenditure. But now we can neither increase revenue nor reduce expenditure, and things seem to have reached a dead end.

Originally, the purpose of forcing the people of the prefectures and counties to enter the city was to have them serve as labor to assist in the military. However, by now Wu and Shu could no longer retreat to defend the city, but had to take the initiative to attack and seek a decisive battle. At this time, these people had lost their value and instead became a burden to the Wu and Shu armies.

It would be great if we could get rid of these burdens.
With a headache, Zhou Yu couldn't help but mutter to himself, but it was this muttering that made him stunned.

Suddenly, he felt a flash of inspiration in his mind, and an idea emerged, which made his steps suddenly stop, and the others subconsciously looked over.

As soon as they saw Zhou Yu's expression, they immediately understood that the commander-in-chief had an idea.

Sure enough, Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, then looked at Lu Su and said, "Zijing, I want you to go on a mission to the Yellow Turban camp. Can you handle this important task?"

Before Lu Su could react, the others were stunned. They couldn't think of a situation where at this critical moment, there was still a need to send an envoy to the enemy camp. Did they have to persuade the enemy to surrender before the battle?
However, after Lu Su was stunned for the first time, he seemed to realize something, and his eyes lit up slightly: "If you have any mission, please tell me directly. Lu Su is willing to go to the enemy camp!"

Zhou Yu was in a state of panic, but Xu Chen in the Yellow Turban camp was much more relaxed. When the war was approaching, after inspecting the camp, he was in a state of doing nothing. It was not that he didn't care about military affairs, but the Yellow Turbans had already made sufficient preparations for this war and didn't need him to worry about it.

In fact, Xu Chen's role in spiritual motivation for the army on the front line is far greater than his specific military role. As long as he can show up every day and let the soldiers see him, it will be enough to maintain the morale of the army. The generals below will naturally hold military meetings to make plans on how to fight specifically.

Xu Chen understood this very well, so in his spare time, what he did most was to walk around the camp, eat and have fun with the soldiers from time to time, and maximize his role on the spiritual level.

I have to say that the effects of these actions are very good, and the atmosphere in the camp has obviously changed for the better.

Although the morale of the Yellow Turbans was originally very high, as the war approached, the atmosphere in the camp was inevitably a little tense. But after this incident, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

This kind of relaxation is not slackness, but a kind of calmness and indifference. The soldiers began to treat this last war more with a normal attitude.

In other words, Xu Chen was the only one who had this kind of spiritual energy among the Yellow Turbans. He could calm the soldiers down immediately just by chatting with them and understanding their thoughts and demands.

Seeing that the reinforcements of both sides would arrive in a few days and the decisive battle would begin, Xu Chen still maintained this habit. At this moment, he was visiting the wounded in the camp.

In the great battle ten days ago, the Yellow Turbans also suffered some wounded soldiers, both serious and minor. Xu Chen was now going to check on their condition.

The soldiers in the camp were immediately moved by this sight. It seemed that their injuries were not in vain as the leader came to visit them in person.

Fortunately, their injuries have mostly healed now. Xu Chen was so happy that he simply sat down on the spot and listened to the soldiers around him telling their battle stories one by one.

Here are the problems they encountered in training, the fighting on the battlefield, and the guidance and help from their superiors.

Listening to these stories, Xu Chen couldn't help but feel gratified. He clearly felt that the soldiers had a strong sense of honor and belonging to the Yellow Turbans, and this was enough to show that the team he had built was qualified enough.

A team composed of soldiers from the common people was still too advanced for this era. How could people like Cao Cao, Gongsun Zan and Zhou Yu not despair?

Xu Chen got along well with the soldiers, but the Wu and Shu sides seemed unwilling to let Xu Chen live so comfortably.

Ju Shou came to Xu Chen and whispered something to him. Then Xu Chen looked surprised and glanced towards Changsha City in the distance.

"What do they want to do by sending Lu Su as an envoy at this time?" Xu Chen asked puzzledly.

"I don't know what they are thinking." Ju Shou was actually very puzzled. They came here at this time to persuade the enemy to surrender. That would be a joke. "My lord, do you think you should let him in?"

Xu Chen thought about it, then nodded and said, "We cannot neglect the guests when they come. Bring him to see me and I will see what other ideas they can come up with."

(End of this chapter)