C185

As Gongsun Xu was watching the northern part of the city burn in the granary, Sima Yi had also arrived outside the granary. When he clearly saw the scene before his eyes, he couldn't help but be dumbstruck and speechless.

The door to the granary was left wide open, and the guard at the door had long since disappeared. More than 90% of the log cabins in the northwest corner of the granary were burning brightly, and the flames rose to a height of 50 to 60 feet in the air. A great amount of smoke and dust was drifting about with the wind, and the air was filled with a rich charred fragrance. They carried buckets, washbasins, ladles, and all sorts of other tools that could hold water as they ran back and forth between the well and the fire. Unfortunately, the fire was simply too strong, and the water that was thrown out was quickly engulfed by the fire.

Sima Yi stared blankly at her for a while before gritting his teeth and jumping off his horse. He waved his hand and shouted, "Let's go! Follow me in and take a look!"

The few people who came along with Sima Yi were all servants of the Sima family. Immediately, someone tried to stop them, "Second Young Master, the fire is too dangerous. It's best to let the juniors go ask them about the situation!"

"Cut the crap, go in!" Sima Yi roared in anger before taking the lead to enter the granary.

The servants knew Sima Yi's temperament and no longer dared to persuade him otherwise. They quickly followed him, surrounding him in the middle and quickly running towards the fire.

In his heart, he was just as anxious as Sima Yi was — Originally, he had only been prepared to burn down a portion of the granary in the northwest corner. At this time, the southwest wind was blowing and the fire was quickly spreading to the northeast corner. If they could not stop it as soon as possible, then perhaps in less than an incense stick of time, that large area in the northeast corner of the house would also be ignited.

When a soldier ran over to Gao Tie's side, he panicked and staggered. The wooden bowl in his hands fell to the ground and splashed all over Gao Tie's boots. Gao Tie was furious. Just as he was about to kick him, he suddenly heard someone shouting his name behind him.

"Commander Gao! Academy Officer Gao Tie! "

Gao Tie turned his head to look and saw that Sima Yi was waving at him from over ten steps away. The gloom in his eyes flashed as he quickly walked towards Sima Yi.

When he got near, Gao Tie cupped his fists and asked: "Why is Sima Xiansheng here?"

"I am here on behalf of Envoy Cao Cao!" Sima Yi casually asked with an anxious tone, "Commander Gao, how did the fire happen?"

Gao Tie said coldly: "Youzhou's spies suddenly sneaked into the granary and set it on fire. Fortunately, this Academy Officer was able to detect and kill those spies in time, otherwise, the entire granary would have been set ablaze!"

"Youzhou spy? How could they set the granary on fire at this juncture? " Sima Yi was startled. He stared at Gao Tie with suspicion for a while before suddenly coming to his senses. His finger trembled as he pointed at Gao Tie and asked in a low voice, "Did you do this?"

Gao Tie laughed coldly as he silently acknowledged Sima Yi's accusation.

"How could you be so reckless! Right now, it is at a critical juncture. Wouldn't doing such a thing cause people to be alarmed? " If he had not known that he could not defeat Gao Tie, he would have definitely slapped him a few times in the face.

Gao Tie said coldly: "Sima Zhongda, you better clear up one thing. You and I are only cooperating together, what right do you have to criticize this Academy Officer? "

"Good!" Good! "Alright!" Sima Yi laughed out of extreme anger as he glared at Gao Tie and shouted three words of 'good' in succession. With an ice-cold tone, he said, "Does this Commander Gao really think that you will be able to hold a high position in the future just by doing what you had previously agreed upon?"

Gao Tie asked with a cold smile: "Could it be that that matter wasn't considered a big contribution?"

"Yes!" Sima Yi nodded with a darkened face and said in a low voice, "But you better understand this. Even if we don't do that, the final result of this battle will not change the outcome too much! As long as he orders for the continuation of yesterday's fierce offensive, it's hard to say if Cao Army will be able to hold on for five days. Therefore, in my opinion, just the contribution is not enough! Even if the Youzhou was extremely wealthy now, the treasury would still be empty. If we hand all the money and grains in the city to General Gongsun Xu, then it would be considered as our true accomplishment! Commander Gao, let me put it another way, because Yuan Shao had suppressed a large amount of the Jizhou's local clans. Not only are Brother Ru and I not friends, we even have some conflicts, but since you and I are planning to rely on the past, then we will be colleagues in the future. We are considered the people of the Henei County, and are new in front of General Gongsun Xu, and we need to help each other! "

Hearing this, Gao Tie's expression softened, and said in a deep voice, "Actually, I only wanted to burn down a corner just now, I didn't expect the fire to spread so fast!"

Sima Yi shook his head and sighed, "Ah! Didn't I tell you before? I will think of a way for Cao Mengde to stay in the city for another two days.

Gao Tie frowned and asked: "What method does Sima Xiansheng plan to use to stall for time?"

"Cao Mengde wants to recruit a group of people to be his scapegoats so that he can stop General Gongsun Xu's pursuit while they're retreating. I'm prepared to delay the recruitment process for one to two days!"

"So that's how it is! Since Cao Mengde wants to get enough scapegoats, he should not have to waste a day or so." Gao Tie nodded his head, looking a little ashamed: "Earlier, when Gong Da went to see my brother, he asked for money and food, he was extremely anxious, as though he was prepared to leave as soon as the sky turned dark. I was worried that Sima Xiansheng would not be able to delay time, so I decided to help! Sima Xiansheng, now that the situation is like this, what should we do? "

Sima Yi looked at the raging flames and said in a muffled voice, "The most urgent matter at hand is to curb the raging flames as soon as possible!"

Gao Tie shook his head and sighed, "The fire is really too strong! I'm afraid it's impossible to exterminate them! "

Sima Yi raised his right hand to feel the wind as he said in a deep voice, "I do have a method, I ask Commander Gao to give it a try!"

"Oh?" Gao Tie's eyes flashed with a look of astonishment, he cupped his fists and said: "Sima Xiansheng, please enlighten me!"

"See there?" Sima Yi pointed to a four to five Zhang wide passageway that was left behind in the northeast. The distance from where the fire was located was now only about a hundred paces.

Gao Tie nodded: "I saw it, what is it?"

Sima Yi said in a panic, "I ask Commander Gao to have someone bring out the grain sack and place it at the side of the passageway near the fire. Afterwards, we'll quickly light a fire and use it to attack the fire.

"Will that work?" When Gao Tie heard this, his face was filled with surprise and bewilderment. He obviously didn't believe Sima Yi's method.

Sima Yi's eyes flickered for a moment before speaking in a solemn voice, "In the past, when I and Kong Ming (for Hu Zhao, the word Kong Ming) went into seclusion in the mountains, I saw villagers use this kind of method to suppress mountain fires. The effect was extremely obvious! Commander Gao, there's no time! Since there's no other way, why don't you try my method? "

Gao Tie thought that since he had no other choice, he might as well try it out and see what happens next. If he could suppress the fire, of course it would be fine, even if Sima Yi's method was ineffective. In any case, if he could not suppress the fire, all the grains in this large granary would eventually burn up.

"Someone come!" Gao Tie turned around and called over a few of his personal guards. He ordered them to gather the men and do what Sima Yi had told them to do.

The janissaries' faces were full of suspicion, but due to their reverence for Gao Tie, they still quickly ran over to gather the people.

Sima Yi heaved a sigh of relief. The method he was talking about just now was indeed something that he had learned from the mountaineers, and it was extremely effective as long as the wind didn't change too much. However, Sima Yi would never tell Gao Tie that the fire he mentioned was actually caused by his own carelessness when he was roasting his prey, so he had to blame Hu Zhao for a long time.

Gao Tie's personal guards moved quickly, and in a short period of time, over a thousand county soldier s rushed over and carried out the grain bags. They formed a 'wall' according to the position that Sima Yi indicated, and lit the sacks up when the fire was within ten steps of them. At this moment, the wind in the sky weakened slightly. The flames from the burlap sacks did not spread to the wooden house behind, but instead burned straight up. The flames sweeping over from the northwest direction quickly arrived in front of the fire wall, and just as Sima Yi had said, the flames from the two sides didn't grow any stronger when they came into contact with each other.

"This method really works!" Gao Tie swallowed his saliva with difficulty, his eyes staring like a bronze bell.

The county soldier s were surprised and happy at the same time, but very soon, they burst out in cheers.

Sima Yi smiled in a reserved manner. With his hands behind his back, he stared at the wall of fire, his eyes filled with pride.

"Sima Zhongda, Gao Tie, what are you doing?" Just as Sima Yi was feeling incomparably proud of himself, he suddenly heard an enraged roar sound out from behind him.

Sima Yi was shocked as he turned around to look at Dian Wei. He hurriedly walked over and cupped his hands to greet him. "May I ask the general why he is here?"

Dian Wei said angrily: "Master, seeing that you have not reported any news for a long time, I came over to take a look! Fortunately, this is the future. Otherwise, how could I personally witness that it was the two of you colluding together to set a fire! Men, seize Sima Zhongda and Gao Tie!

The men that Dian Wei had brought with him quickly pulled out their weapons and rushed over, surrounding Sima Yi and Gao Tie.

Sima Yi was startled and hurriedly stomped his feet and shouted, "Misunderstanding! What a misunderstanding! General Dian Wei, please listen to my explanation! "

Gao Tie also quickly shouted, "General Dian Wei, this is really a misunderstanding!"

Dian Wei raised his hand to stop his men, and shouted: "Then quickly say it! If you can't explain it, don't blame me for being ruthless! "