Ningling, the prefect of Dongjun, and the generals of the civil war gathered at the camp of General Fenwu. Cao Cao himself was at the head of the central army. There was also a huge map hanging in front of him. This was a detailed map of the counties in the Central Plains. Standing in front of the map
, it was military advisor Cheng Yu who explained to everyone.
"Although there is no further news, there is no doubt that neither side took advantage of the recent battle of Jieqiao. Xu Ziyuan's so-called victory is purely false. He sent a message to our army, which is nothing more than repeating his old tricks.
, let our army attract the main force of Qingzhou and carry out the task of pulling chestnuts from the fire for Jizhou."
Cheng Yu's tone was full of ridicule, and the listeners nodded in agreement.
Xu You's method is not a clever one. Now is not the time in the first year of Chuping. Everyone knows whether an organization like the Alliance of Lords can succeed or not, and no one will take it seriously.
At the beginning of the year, the siege organized by Liu Dai was so powerful that even Liu Yao, who was far away in Moling, was mobilized. Wasn't his work all in vain?
The most active Liu Yao lost his troops, the organizer Liu Dai was disgraced, and many unsettled elements in Xuzhou were dug out, and Tao Qian secretly and openly came to settle the scores.
Now Yuan Shao is doing this again, and he uses a commanding attitude to let his lord take the vanguard. Not to mention a shrewd man like Xi Zhicai, even the generals have heard the secret at this moment, and they all look indignant.
appearance.
At the moment, Cao Jun's situation is not generally good. You wouldn't know it until you take action. Once he takes action, Yuan Shu's nature of being strong on the outside and weak on the inside is exposed. Without Sun Jian and Gongsun Du, Yuan Shu still has a large number of troops, claiming to have 100,000 troops.
, but against the coalition forces of Cao Cao and Zhou Ang, they were completely unable to resist and could only retreat steadily.
While Wang Yu joined hands with Gongsun Zan to fight Yuan Shao in Hebei, Cao Cao sent his troops out of Dongjun and fought fiercely with Yuan Shu in Chenliu. He first fought independently at Kuangting, defeated him, and beheaded Yuan Shu's men.
General Liu Xiang then took advantage of the momentum to pursue and attacked Fengqiu and Zhou Ang, killing Yuan Shu. He then pursued Yuan Shu all the way from Yongqiu to Xiangyi, and then from Xiangyi to Ningling.
According to the current momentum, as long as we add one last effort, we can solve Yuan Shu's problem, or at least drive him out of Yanzhou and Yuzhou completely.
Just after the Battle of Fengqiu, Cao Cao had already sent Xiahou Dun to lead a brigade westward to take over territory in Yingchuan.
For the current Cao army, the most important thing is not to provoke new enemies, but to beat Yuan Shu, the lost dog, to get as much benefit from him as possible, and to consolidate the existing territory and completely digest it.
This is the only way to increase strength.
Abandoning the current good situation, going to grab chestnuts from the fire for Yuan Shao, and provoking Wang Pengju's disaster star? At the same time, let Yuan Shao's lackeys snatch up all the territory in Yuzhou? Does Yuan Shao really think that everyone in the world is a fool?
If it weren't for the fact that the lord still had hostages in Yecheng, all the generals would have wanted to use sticks to beat Xu You out of the villain's favor. In the end, who would beg whom?
"What you all see is not wrong," Cao Cao said slowly after everyone became quieter, "However, although Ziyuan's attitude is a bit worse, his statement may not be unreasonable."
"Master, are you really interested in Xuzhou?" Cheng Yu was surprised.
With the current strength of Cao's army, it is only right to avoid strength and weaken. Previously, he went to Qingzhou to form an alliance. Although his sincerity was limited, if the alliance can be successfully reached, at least within two or three years, Cao's army will definitely not take the initiative to tear up the alliance, unless Wang Yu
The flaws exposed are so big that people can't help but be tempted.
At present, Cao Cao's territory includes the western part of Dongjun, Chenliu County, as well as Yingchuan and Liang Kingdom, which he will soon acquire. Liu Dai is between him and Qingzhou in the east; Lu Bu is between him and Xiliang Army in the west.
To act as a buffer; to the north is his ally Yuan Shao, and to the south is Yuan Shu who is being chased and running away with his head in his arms.
Xuzhou's wealth must be taken sooner or later, but now is not a good time.
Even if we can really achieve results, after bordering Qingzhou, we will easily be involved in a series of battles. Wang Pengju is not a man who is willing to reason and can persuade with words, he is a war madman!
"Wang Pengju has only been in charge of Qingzhou for a few months, so why is he willing to abandon the affairs of Qingzhou and go northward with light troops?" Cao Cao suddenly asked.
Without waiting for Cheng Yu to answer, he gave his own answer: "It's nothing more than a loss of lips and a cold tooth! This son has an extremely keen insight into the battle situation. Before the war, he predicted the possibility that Gongsun Zan's arrogant army would be defeated, so he traveled thousands of miles to help.
, turned a defeated battle into a situation of no victory, no defeat, and even division."
Cao Cao had a clear understanding of the current situation: "Although our army is in a good situation at the moment, this is all based on strong reinforcements from the north. If there are changes in the north, how can our army be alone?"
"Does my lord think that the battle was not evenly divided, but that Gongsun Zan had the upper hand?"
Cao Cao smiled slightly and said earnestly: "Xu Ziyuan has some old friends with me. Why is he so unruly when he comes here? It's nothing more than a fierce look and a jealous heart. That's why I concluded that the situation in Hebei is probably a bit subtle."
"I see." Cheng Yu and his staff considered matters more from Cao Jun's point of view, while Cao Cao thought about the problem from the general trend of the world. Their conclusions were different, but the wisdom of each other was different.
But there may not be much of a difference.
Whether it is Yuan Shao now, Dong Zhuo in the past, or Wang Yu when he defeated Xu Rong, no matter how powerful the princes are, it is impossible to subdue the heroes with the power of one family. This has been proved by facts.
Cao Cao and Wang Yu had the same view on the overall situation. They both wanted to use the power of their allies as a barrier to gain time and space for development. After accumulating enough strength, they could compete for world dominance.
The only difference was that Wang Yu was too fast. Even though Cao Cao tried his best, he was always one step behind. Wang Yu had already started to farm, but Cao Cao had not even secured a solid base.
Fortunately, the differences in the allies chosen by both sides began to show.
Yuan Shu was strong on the outside and capable on the inside. He was defeated by Liu Biao, Zhang Ji, Zhou Ang and Cao Cao. Especially in the series of battles with Cao Cao in Chenliu territory, he was chased for hundreds of miles and was completely defeated.
Tao Qian's Xuzhou looks good on the surface, but Lao Tao's political skills are still a bit lacking, and there are many internal worries, so it has never been able to play its corresponding role.
Gongsun Zan had strong soldiers and horses, but he had no money or food, and his character also had weaknesses. If Xuzhou could provide timely assistance, he might still be able to accomplish something, but now, it's hard to say.
Wang Yu and his group of allies have gone from being a strong support to being a drag. This is Cao Cao's advantage and his hope of overtaking him.
However, the most powerful thing about Wang Yu is himself. If he joins, the situation on the battlefield in Hebei will indeed be difficult to predict. Especially after realizing the truth about Yuan Shao's fierceness and inner cowardice from Xu You's attitude, Cao Cao did not dare to be careless.
If Yuan Shao collapses, it will be a disaster for him regardless of whether it is Gongsun Zan or Wang Yu who finally takes Hebei.
"What about Yuzhou? Is it possible to let Zhou Ang and others encroach on it?" Cheng Yu frowned, nervously weighing the pros and cons.
Before Cao Jun joined the battlefield, Zhou Ang had been defeated by Yuan Shu's all-out counterattack. He was driven from Chen State to Liang State, and then retreated all the way to Yanzhou. It was exactly the same as what Cao Jun did to Yuan Shu later, which was to counterattack.
It's just a change of direction.
As a result, after Cao Jun defeated Yuan Shu, Zhou Ang suddenly started to tremble again. Everyone in front and behind acted like a suzerain versus a vassal, which made Cao Jun's arrogant generals very angry and wanted to
If Cao Cao had not suppressed the situation effectively, an internal strife would have been inevitable.
If Cao Cao goes eastward with his main force now, Zhou Ang will definitely not be polite. When Cao Cao comes back, it will be good if there are only a few small counties left in the several counties in Yuzhou that were finally captured by Cao Cao.
Cao Cao smiled confidently and said: "Zhongde has made a mistake this time. He plans to go east to Xuzhou just to contain Wang Pengju, so why do he need to march eastward in a big way?"
"My lord, you mean... to divide your troops and march eastward?" Cheng Yu thought for a while and reminded: "However, if it cannot put enough pressure on Xuzhou, I am afraid it will not be able to achieve the effect of containing Qingzhou; if the pressure is too great, it will not
Fatal, maybe Wang Pengju will get the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and take control of Xuzhou, which is to marry others."
"I have also considered this section." Cao Cao nodded, then smiled complacently and said: "However, Wang Pengju taught me a good lesson on how to fight a battle with a small number to defeat a large number. A strong army is made by fighting.
, it’s not something you’ve trained or raised, isn’t this a good opportunity?”
"My lord wants to..." Cheng Yu's eyes narrowed.
Since Wang Yu became famous, he has won several battles with the speed and powerful attack power of the cavalry. Not only Cao Cao, he has taught all the princes a good lesson. After taking control of Dongjun, Cao Cao began to form cavalry.
Due to limited time and financial resources, the army is currently not large in scale, with only a few thousand light cavalry. For the time being, it is named after the leopard cavalry.
Relying on the advantage of cavalry and using a small number of troops to deal a certain blow to Xuzhou is indeed a strategy that has the best of both worlds.
Not only has Yuan Shao's order been fulfilled, he can take the opportunity to ask for war horses, ordnance, and even money and food from him; at the same time, he has also attacked Xuzhou and contained Qingzhou's troops.
If Wang Yu ignores it, his side can accumulate a small victory into a big victory, and even take the opportunity to occupy Xuzhou. The prospects are quite good.
"However, it is not easy to achieve this goal. You must be good at military strategy, bravery, and strategy." Cheng Yu said in a deep voice: "General Zihe is a talented general, but in terms of strategy... I don't know who the Lord wants.
Military counselor?"
"Yes." Cao Cao responded in a low voice. He originally wanted Cao Chun to be the general, and Xi Zhicai to join the army. The former is good at fighting, has great military morale, is a man of discipline, and can listen to advice; the latter is good at fighting.
He has a lot of tricks, and he also controls the intelligence system, so he can adopt various strategies according to local conditions. This pair is the best combination he can make.
There is only one problem, Xi Zhicai's health is very poor. He usually travels by car and is taken care of carefully, but his condition is still getting worse. It would be really difficult to follow Qingqi to fight a large-scale guerrilla war. It's his life.
Cao Cao was very hesitant. If Xi Zhicai didn't go, he would have to go in person. In that case...
"I would like to go with General Zihe." After a moment's hesitation, Xi Zhicai stood up on his own.
Before Cao Cao could express his opinion, he smiled confidently and said: "General Yuan sent Xu Ziyuan here with the intention of spreading news and using public opinion to attack Wang Pengju. Jizhou has done less work in Xuzhou, and I am afraid it is not enough to build momentum. Since The subordinate's visit can just make up for the shortcomings in this aspect, so I am asking my lord for orders!"
His voice was not high-pitched, but it was full of an air that could not be rejected. Cao Cao thought about it again and again, and finally agreed: "Then I have Lao Zhicai."
"I must do my best for my lord's great cause." (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)