That night, Cao Cao led his army with slightly improved morale and retreated to Shunyang City.
It was already dark, but the lights in Cao Cao's central army tent were still brightly lit...
When Cao Cao returned to the army, he could not sleep all night. He summoned all the civil and military officials to discuss matters in the tent and discussed how to use the troops all night long.
"It's better to fight them decisively in Shunyang. I believe that with the elite of our army, we will definitely win in a head-on battle."
The person who spoke generously was none other than General Le Jin, who was good at charging into battle.
As soon as this statement came out, those generals who were known for their bravery all expressed their willingness to fight to the death to defeat the enemy.
Cao Cao smiled and shook his head, "I'm really pleased with your courage, but don't forget the original intention of our army's march to Nanyang."
Original intention?
The enraged generals fell into silence and soon came to their senses.
They worked hard and traveled a long distance to Nanyang, just to take advantage of Yuan Tan and Yan Liang's fight to reap the benefits.
If he had a decisive battle with Yan Liang head-on, even if he won, it would be a tragic victory. At such a price, the one who really benefits from it would be Yuan Tan.
"In the battle of Nanyang, the competition is not about bravery, but wisdom. Our army must obtain the maximum benefit with the minimum sacrifice."
Guo Jia gave a clear definition to this confrontation with a single word.
Cao Cao nodded slightly, believing what Guo Jia said.
The agitated blood of the generals was immediately suppressed, and everyone's thoughts were swirling, but there was nothing they could do.
"Fengxiao, do you have any good ideas?"
Cao Cao once again turned his attention to Guo Jia. Although Guo Jia's plan was once seen through by Yan Liang, this still could not change Cao Cao's trust in this resourceful man.
Guo Jia stood up and scanned the map over and over again with a slightly tired look, but did not speak for a long time.
His brows were deeply knitted together, and he was obviously thinking deeply.
In the past, Guo Jia had strong confidence in his own strategies, and his mind was as quick as his, and he could come up with a clever plan in just a moment.
But things are different now. He has met Yan Liang, a figure who has repeatedly cracked his plans and hurt his dignity.
Facing such a powerful hero, and facing top counselors like Jia Xu who were once colleagues and knew him very well, Guo Jia must be cautious.
After thinking for a long time, Guo Jia raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and a confident smile appeared on his face again.
"Fengxiao, whatever is on your mind, just say it." Cao Cao knew Guo Jia deeply, and he knew from his expression that he had a clever plan.
Guo Jia pointed at the map and said: "Now that the ambush plan has failed, it is unrealistic to move south to Xiangyang. Jia believes that we should adjust our strategy in time and refocus our attack on Wancheng."
The word "Wancheng" made everyone present look slightly shocked, and their eyes glanced at the map in unison.
Cao Cao stroked his beard and thought deeply for a while, then nodded and said: "What Fengxiao said is absolutely true. Wancheng is the core of Nanyang. Now the ambush plan is defeated. Only by attacking Wancheng eastward can we make better use of Yuan Tan's chess piece.
Let Yan Liang's head and tail not care about each other."
Seeing Cao Cao's approval, Guo Jia continued: "If you want to attack Wancheng, you must first capture Li County. Now that Yan Liang's army has gathered in Champion City and wants to compete with our army for Shunyang, Li County will definitely be empty at this time. With Jia's plan,
Why didn't the Prime Minister make a big splash, pretend to be the champion, and engage in a decisive battle with Yan Liang? Secretly, he sent a good general with more than a thousand light cavalry to capture Li County before Yan Liang was alerted. In this way, the initiative of the attack was regained.
into the hands of our army."
After all these eloquent words, in summary, it is another plan to attack the east and attack the west.
It seems simple, but the art of war relies on adapting to changes. Guo Jianeng changed his mind overnight. This kind of resourcefulness is extraordinary.
Cao Cao weighed it for a long time, nodded heavily, and agreed to Guo Jia's plan.
Then he looked around at the generals and asked: "The prime minister is determined to attack Wancheng. Who among you is willing to lead the light cavalry to rob Li County?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a general from the tent came out and said with emotion, "The last general is willing to lead his army to capture Li County for the Prime Minister."
Cao Cao went out in search of reputation, but saw that the person asking for a fight was none other than Zhang Liao.
Although Zhang Liao was Lu Bu's old general, he was brave and resourceful and gained Cao Cao's trust after entering Cao Cao's camp.
On the surface, Cao Cao was now asking the generals, but in fact, he had long regarded Zhang Liao as the best candidate. Now that he saw Zhang Liao taking the initiative to ask for orders, he was secretly happy.
At that moment, Cao Cao said happily: "Wen Yuan has such a brave idea, which really makes me happy. Well, I will allocate you 1,500 Qingqi, and you can set out at starry night to rob Li County. I will then lead the army."
Go and respond."
"The last general will live up to the trust of the Prime Minister." Zhang Liao bowed his hands and led his troops away with great emotion.
After leaving Zhang Liao, Cao Cao's eyes once again rested on Li County on the map, and a sneer quietly appeared on the corner of his short-bearded mouth.
######
Champion City.
Yan Liang rescued Wen Chou and led thousands of his riders safely back to Champion City, thirty miles away.
Although seven to eight hundred cavalry were lost in this battle, it was regarded as the heaviest loss for Yan Liang's Shenxing Cavalry since its establishment.
However, Yan Liang's gains were enough to offset this loss.
Although his cavalry was lost, Cao Jun's infantry losses were at least two thousand. And most importantly, Yan Liang successfully defeated Cao Cao's plot, shocked Cao Cao's camp, and greatly damaged his morale.
The harvest is far greater than the damage caused to enemy soldiers.
The next day, Huang Zhong led more than two infantry troops to Champion City, while the remaining more than 10,000 infantry troops led by Lu Lingqi and Zhang He had also left Wancheng and were on their way to Champion City.
In the Chinese army tent, Yan Liang summoned Huang Zhong and others who had come after a long journey, and told everyone about the situation of the Shunyang battle.
After everyone heard that Cao Cao attacked Xiangyang openly but secretly set up an ambush for seduction, they were all filled with emotion.
"Although Cao Mengde is very strategic, he may not have come up with these strategies. In my opinion, these are probably Guo Jia's suggestions."
Even Jia Xu couldn't help but sigh.
"Guo Jia..." Yan Liang frowned secretly.
Earlier in Jingzhou, there was a man like Zhuge Liang who was extremely resourceful and helped Liu Qi to hinder him, which really gave Yan Liang a headache.
Now that Cao Cao has Guo Jia, who is no less resourceful than Zhuge, it seems that this battle with Cao Cao will be a tough one.
Thought to himself, Yan Liang showed disapproval on his face and sneered, "Prime Minister Cao has Guo Jia, and I have you Jia Wenhe. We are evenly matched, so there is nothing to fear."
Yan Liang praised Jia Xu a lot, and naturally forced the old fox to do his best.
Now Xu Shu is fighting against Yuan Tan in Kunyang, and although Tian Feng is resourceful, his wisdom lies in his analysis of the general situation. In fact, when it comes to making cunning changes in battle and understanding the enemy's mind, it is not his strength.
But Jia Xu is different. This old fox has a talent for grasping people's hearts that others cannot match. In this regard, he is somewhat similar to Guo Jia.
In Yan Liang's opinion, Jia Xu was a perfect match to deal with Guo Jia.
Jia Xu gave Yan Liang such a compliment, and a little pride flashed across his old face.
When Yan Liang saw this, he smiled secretly in his heart and took advantage of the situation and said: "Wen He, if we talk about intrigues and changes, who among us here is better than you? In your opinion, how can our army repel this powerful enemy like Cao Cao?"
Jia Xu secretly complained, and then he realized that Yan Liang's flattery just now was just a trap for him.
In desperation, Jia Xu could only smile bitterly and said: "The current situation has changed too fast, my lord, let me think about it for a while."
"If you think about it slowly, I won't be in a hurry."
Yan Liang felt relaxed, resting his legs on the table and sipping some tea.
Although he looked relaxed on the surface, secretly his eyes were like Jia Xu's, wandering up and down on the large map hanging on the side, examining the current situation in Nanyang.
From Wuguan to the east, including Xixian, Lixian and Wancheng, Xixian has been captured by Cao's army.
On the southward route, although Nanxiang and Shunyang City were in Cao Cao's hands, Yan Liang's army had already reached Champion City and could launch an attack on Shunyang at any time. Therefore, Cao Cao actually posed no threat to Xiangyang.
"Cao Cao, what exactly do you want to do next..."
While Yan Liang's thoughts were swirling, Jia Xu's bitter face suddenly showed a bit of a sly smile.
"Wen He, do you have a plan in mind?" Yan Liang asked immediately.
Jia Xu coughed a few times and said with a smile: "I am old and incompetent, but I do have a plan. Although it is not a clever plan, I can still try it in this stalemate situation."
This old fox really has something in his belly.
"Say." Yan Liang asked simply.
Jia Xu then drew the map and said slowly: "Cao Cao set up an ambush in Shunyang with tens of thousands of people. It shows that he is determined to win this battle. If so, I am wondering whether Cao Cao's army in Wuguan will be better."
Weak, if so, it gives us an opportunity to take advantage of."
Yan Liang followed Jia Xu's pointing and moved his eyes towards Wuguan. A little excitement gradually appeared in his blade-like eyes.
"Wen He, what you mean is that you want me to pretend to attack Shunyang, but secretly send a force to march directly to Wuguan, so that Prime Minister Cao can be shut down and beat the dog."
Yan Liang was so shrewd that he could immediately see through Jia Xu's thoughts.
"Ahem, that's pretty much what it means. However, Prime Minister Cao is not a dog, but a tiger. This strategy can only be called closing the door to kill the tiger." Jia Xu said with a smile.
No matter if you are a dog or a tiger, this strategy is enough to make Yan Liang excited.
Aren't you Cao Cao insidious? Very good. I will be more ruthless and sinister than you. I will take away your martial arts pass and cut off your connection with the pass. I will try to catch a turtle in a urn and see how you can turn things around.
Yan Liang nodded slightly, obviously agreeing with Jia Xu's strategy.
At this time, Jia Xu pointed at the map again and continued: "If you want to capture Wuguan, you must first go to Li and analyze the two counties. Although the county currently being analyzed is in Cao Cao's hands, it is expected that there are not many troops. The current
The key is to quickly send an army to Li County, quickly capture Ji County, and then go straight to Wuguan."
The excitement on Yan Liang's face became more and more intense, and he nodded and said: "Very good, let's do it like this. It happened that Lingqi and Junyi still had 10,000 infantry troops yet to arrive, so I immediately ordered them to turn back north and go to Li County instead.
, to capture Wuguan."
Jia Xu smiled and said nothing to show his approval of Yan Liang's use of troops.
At that moment, Yan Liang issued a military order and ordered the scouts to rush away to convey Yan Liang's latest order to Lu Lingqi.
Immediately afterwards, Yan Liang sent an order to the generals, causing all the camps to stir up trouble, claiming that they would launch a large-scale attack on Shunyang and fight to the death with Cao's army.
The generals received their orders and left one after another.
Yan Liang stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back, his eyes lingering on the word "Li County" for a long time.
