After Mi Huang went to Luoyang, he returned the next day but didn’t find out anything useful.
From late October to the end of November, he frequently traveled between the inner city and the Piyong Academy.
The outside situation remained relatively calm.
The troops from Jizhou were quiet, likely because their commander, Lu Ji, couldn’t control the situation.
On the other hand, Zhang Fang was quite active.
He suffered a defeat in October, losing over five thousand soldiers.
If you add the losses from previous battles, he probably only had around fifty-three to fifty-four thousand men left.
But he refused to leave.
Where he fell, he vowed to rise again.
After retreating to the Shisanli Bridge, he regrouped his forces and returned to the west of the city, building a strong camp and refusing to engage in battle, simply waiting out the imperial forces.
Sima Yi didn’t expect Zhang Fang to be so stubborn.
In a fit of rage, he sent troops to attack Zhang Fang’s camp repeatedly, but aside from increasing unnecessary casualties, there was little gain.
Although the western troops were beaten into not daring to fight, they still firmly held their position west of the city.
During this time, Shao Xun focused on two things: reorganizing his troops and gathering provisions.
His current force had far exceeded the size of a single battalion.
The number of children and youths, which had slightly exceeded three squads, was now exactly three squads, with few casualties or deaths from illness.
In addition, there were nearly seven hundred soldiers left, with diverse backgrounds.
Shao Xun roughly categorized them.
Previously, he had considered not releasing the servants and retainers conscripted from wealthy families, and he still held that view.
However, once the war was over, he wouldn’t force them to stay.
One reason was to avoid offending people, but the more important reason was that these men had families.
They didn’t want to abandon their wives and children to risk their lives.
Forcing them to stay wouldn’t work, and they might desert, which would harm morale.
Of course, if they volunteered to stay and become soldiers, that was a different matter.
Everyone’s circumstances were different, and it was possible that some might be unhappy with their lives as servants and want to try something new.
The same logic applied to the conscripted soldiers from noble families.
They were usually the breadwinners of their households, and being forcibly conscripted was already a tragedy.
They likely worried about their families, fearing that something might happen to them.
After all, you couldn’t expect other troops passing through to leave their homes untouched.
In short, forcing people to stay wouldn’t work.
It might solve the immediate problem, but in the long run, it would only harm the army’s morale and create negativity.
It was better to disband them after the war.
There were about two hundred such men, organized into four squads.
The remaining five hundred soldiers had joined for various reasons, but most had volunteered.
Shao Xun made it clear to them that since they had chosen to become soldiers, they had to keep their word and not waver, or they would face military punishment.
These men were organized into ten squads, equipped with relatively good gear and high morale.
Shao Xun distributed most of the gold and silk rewards he received to them, while the other four squads received only a small portion.
Favoritism was natural.
In early December, Shao Xun led his men out of the camp again to gather provisions.
Along with the veterans, there were several newly promoted squad leaders, such as Zhang Gu, Yao Yuan, and Yu An.
In the previous major battle, two squad leaders, Liu Tong and Zhong Huan’er, had died.
With the expansion of the troops, there were more opportunities for promotion.
Zhang Gu was from Luoyang, the protagonist of a broken engagement, and a former butcher.
Yao Yuan was a refugee from the west, skilled in farming techniques and even horseback riding.
Shao Xun suspected he might be of Qiang descent, but Yao Yuan firmly denied it, claiming to be from Chang’an and not from the Nan’an Yao clan.
Shao Xun accepted his explanation.
After all, he was just a low-ranking officer.
What could Yao Yuan possibly gain by hiding his identity?
Yu An was the son of a merchant and even had a courtesy name, “Jingnan.” Shao Xun was curious about him and repeatedly asked if he was sure about becoming a soldier instead of inheriting his family’s wealth.
Yu An bluntly stated that the family fortune wasn’t his to inherit.
He was a child of a concubine, his birth mother had died early, and after his father’s death, he was kicked out of the house.
Aside from joining the army to seek wealth, he had no other options.
Shao Xun didn’t comment on this.
Yu An was literate, which was important.
With that skill, making a living shouldn’t be too hard.
Why risk his life in the army? Thinking about his circumstances, Shao Xun began to understand.
However, this path might not be easy.
In this chaotic world, only a few regions enjoyed peace.
Wars were frequent, and there was little time to grow.
Shao Xun had read history books in his past life.
Figures like Shi Le and Shi Hu could raise armies of hundreds of thousands, but most were poorly trained conscripts.
It was hard to call them true soldiers.
In such battles between inexperienced troops, wins and losses were common, and the uncertainty was high.
One wrong move, and you could be dead.
He had been in Luoyang for over a year and had experienced two battles.
At least a third of his original troops had been replaced, especially after the fierce battle with Meng Chao’s forces.
In truth, he knew Meng Chao’s troops weren’t particularly strong.
If his own troops had been more elite, a few hundred men could have defeated Meng Chao’s three thousand and even chased them down, with far fewer casualties.
But that wasn’t realistic.
He felt like he was being pushed forward by something and couldn’t stop.
He would barely finish training some soldiers before they were sent into battle and consumed, only to be replaced by new recruits, starting the cycle all over again.
It was frustrating.
Suddenly, there was a commotion ahead, mixed with cries and shouts.
Shao Xun hurried over and saw squad leader Chen Yougen and platoon leader Li Zhong directing their men to tie up a group of people.
“Whose troops are these?” Shao Xun glanced at them and asked.
“Conscripts from Heyin County,” Li Zhong replied.
Shao Xun examined them closely.
Indeed, their clothes were mismatched, and their weapons were a mess.
They weren’t regular soldiers.
The imperial forces were short on manpower, and there was no point hiding it.
The Luoyang central army was too small to cover the vast front lines.
Before the battle, Sima Yi had conscripted soldiers from Sizhou and even farmers to expand the army.
These Heyin troops were likely part of that conscription.
“Disarm them and let them go,” Shao Xun waved his hand and ordered.
Then, he looked at the line of carts on the street and asked, “How much grain did we get?”
“About two hundred dan,” Li Zhong replied uncertainly, giving a rough estimate.
He then added, “It’s getting harder to find grain. Others are competing for it too.”
Shao Xun nodded.
The entire Luoyang area was short on grain, so competition was inevitable.
Over the past month, as the situation had slightly stabilized, the city had sent them a thousand dan of grain and some consumables like arrows and bowstrings.
Wu Qian had privately inquired and learned that the city was also short on grain.
After sending this batch, they would have to fend for themselves.
Shao Xun quickly realized that with the loss of supplies from other provinces, Luoyang’s grain reserves were rapidly depleting, and they had to ration carefully.
He had been focused on gathering provisions since he first arrived at the Piyong Academy.
Back then, there were almost no competitors.
Many wealthy families and merchants had fled, taking their valuables but leaving behind grain, which became an important source of supplies for his battalion.
But after so much fighting, the consumption was significant.
The troops stationed outside the city likely weren’t receiving full rations and had to find their own supplies.
Now, there were more competitors, and the struggle for resources was intensifying.
Whether there was fighting or not, people still needed to eat.
Sima Yi’s campaign seemed to be going well, with a favorable casualty ratio, but there was a fatal flaw: they hadn’t broken the blockade.
In fact, Shao Xun found it strange that after the Jianchun Gate battle, Sima Yi didn’t take advantage of the enemy’s recent defeat, Lu Ji’s loss of control, and the enemy’s disarray to gather all his capable troops and launch a decisive battle.
If they won, they could break the blockade and alleviate the shortage of supplies.
But nearly two months had passed, and the enemy had slowly regrouped, appointing Qian Xiu as their new commander.
They began digging trenches, building fortifications, and blockading the roads and rivers, still tightly encircling Luoyang.
If this continued, they could starve Luoyang into submission.
This war favored a quick resolution, not a prolonged stalemate.
Did Sima Yi not understand this? Or did he feel uncertain and was waiting for the enemy’s rear to collapse on its own? There was too little information to judge.
But the grain shortage was like a sword hanging over their heads, ready to fall at any moment.
Over time, morale would drop, and winning battles would become increasingly difficult.
“How many days of grain do we have left in the camp?” Shao Xun asked.
Li Zhong shook his head, unsure.
Chen Yougen, however, looked pleased.
He didn’t know much, but he happened to know the answer to this question.
“Commander, yesterday that old fool Wu Qian said we have less than three months of grain left. He suggested we slaughter some of the draft horses,” Chen Yougen said with a grin. “Today, we got some more, so we should have about three months’ worth.”
“Only three months,” Shao Xun sighed. “Who knows how long this war will last?”
“Commander, if you ask me, why are we still fighting for the court? Why don’t we take these few hundred brothers and leave at night? We could go to Sizhou, Yuzhou, or anywhere else and take over a county town. Then we could drink, eat meat, and even pick out some noble ladies for you to sleep with,” Chen Yougen said carelessly.
“Shut up,” Shao Xun pushed Chen Yougen and snapped.
He glanced at Li Zhong out of the corner of his eye.
When Li Zhong heard this, he simply lowered his head and said nothing.
He was from the Luoyang central army and might still have some loyalty to the court.
Shao Xun wasn’t sure about his stance.
What allowed Shao Xun to command Li Zhong in battle? That was a question worth pondering.
Some people’s values were already set and not easily changed.
Li Zhong was like that, but what about the soldiers? They weren’t his private troops, even though Shao Xun had been trying to deepen his influence and turn more people into his “fanatics.” It would take time.
“Let’s go, back to camp,” he waved his hand and said.
(End of Chapter)