The current situation in the world is actually very obvious.
Yuan Shao is currently the strongest prince in the Han Dynasty, with the strongest strength and foundation. There is a certain gap between the other princes and Yuan Shao, which forms a pattern of one super and many powerful.
If Yuan Shao issued a message calling on the princes to attack Xudu, Cao Cao was worried that other people would respond and be unfriendly to him.
After hearing Cao Cao's question again, Chen Zhou said: "My lord, you can really rest assured. I have said a long time ago that among the princes who will fight us, except for Liu Bei, the only one left is Yuan Shao. Xiliang Ma Teng He and Han Sui are now ours and will not interfere. Sun Ce is about to die and Liu Biao will soon be overwhelmed."
Cao Cao asked: "Are you sure about crossing?"
"affim!"
Chen Zhou nodded affirmatively and said: "We only need to deal with Yuan Shao and attack Liu Bei by the way."
Cao Cao thought for a long time and then ordered: "Zixiu, tell Yuan Rang and the others to continue mobilizing our army. First go to Guandu to gather and build a defensive line. At the same time, order Mancheng to lead 20,000 troops to stay in Xudu and listen to Wen Ruo's mobilization. Everything is safe."
When they faced off against Yuan Shao, they were most worried about the unrest in Xu Du.
It is conceivable that Liu Bei, who left Xudu, would definitely help Yuan Shao contact the emperor, and the remaining ministers would resist.
This must be guarded against.
It would be enough to leave 20,000 people on guard and to have Xun Yu stabilize the situation within Xudu.
"As for Liu Bei, how are you going to deal with him?"
Cao Cao was still quite worried about the second battlefield that Chen Zhou often mentioned.
Since Sun Ce and Liu Biao will not participate in the second battlefield, it will be much easier to deal with Liu Bei alone, but how to deal with Liu Bei needs to be carefully considered.
Chen Zhou thought for a while and said: "Liu Bei can only gather thousands to ten thousand people, so they are vulnerable."
Historically, the second battlefield opened by Liu Bei was indeed vulnerable and was easily solved by Cao Hong. The threat was not very great.
"The soldiers trained by the young master have not actually been on the battlefield."
"We can let them deal with Liu Bei, and our main force can continue to be devoted to the battlefield against Yuan Shao."
"This way there is no need to disperse our main force."
Chen Zhou analyzed and said.
Cao Cao asked: "Is it feasible to rely solely on Zixiu's personal soldiers?"
Chen Zhou smiled and said: "My lord, I still underestimated you. My lord's group of soldiers wearing thick armor and holding new weapons. There are 5,000 of them. They dare to charge even if they face 50,000 people. They are not much worse than Gao Boping's trapped camp."
Those thick armors and new weapons have not officially been used on the battlefield.
Cao Cao did underestimate its power, but seeing Chen Zhou's high praise, he agreed: "Then let Zixiu deal with Liu Bei, our main force, and continue to fight northward against Yuan Shao."
This is how the next strategy is determined.
Cao Ang had just gone down and was about to deliver the order. At this time, Cao Ren ran in and said, "Brother, we just got the news that Yuan Shao has started transporting grain across the river from Liyang."
The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass go first.
As expected, Yuan Shao would transport grain in advance and then cross the river with his army after the transportation was completed.
"How much grain was transported?"
Cao Cao asked.
Cao Ren said: "According to our careful estimate, there will be more than 5,000 trucks of grain and grass in the early stage."
More than five thousand cars!
When Cao Cao heard this number, his eyes lit up: "Food and grass go first, Yuan Shao's army will definitely attack later. It will take a certain amount of time for the whole army to cross the river. You immediately lead 20,000 troops northward and rob Yuan Shao's more than 5,000 carts of food and grass. If you can take away Just take away as much as possible, if you can't take away, burn them all in a fire."
Even if it is burned, it will not be left to Yuan Shao.
It cannot increase Yuan Shao's strength.
"yes!"
Cao Ren left immediately to lead his troops to attack Yuan Shao's supplies.
Cao Cao now has no shortage of troops.
Unlike in history, only tens of thousands of people could be used to defeat Yuan Shao. With Chen Zhou's help, the current military strength development is only a little less than that of Yuan Shao.
In addition to not being able to keep up with food and grass, this lack of advantage made them hesitate. If they really wanted to fight Yuan Shao, they had enough troops.
Even Yuan Shao could not have imagined that Cao Cao would develop so quickly.
——
Dantu Mountain.
Sun Ce sat on the horse and walked slowly along the mountain path.
At this time, Zhou Yu, Lu Su and others had become Sun Ce's subordinates and were following Sun Ce. There were also generals such as Han Dang and Huang Gai who were also following him.
They go into the mountains to hunt.
By the way, let’s discuss the general trend of the world today.
"Yuan Shao issued a proclamation, calling on all the princes in the world to attack Xudu."
"One of the memoranda was also sent to us."
"He also made a copy of the emperor's edict and sent it to us as well."
"Gongjin, Zijing, Zibu, what do you think?"
Sun Ce asked.
He also yearns for Xu Du.
Sun Ce had previously teamed up with Cao Cao to fight Yuan Shu, but was eventually pushed out by Cao Cao. Sun Ce had always been brooding over this matter, but at that time, not long after he had captured Jiangdong, there was no internal stability and he did not dare to go against Cao Cao.
Now that everything has stabilized, enough troops have been developed.
The Shanyue and Danyang soldiers were the most fierce, and his subordinates also had many of these soldiers, who were confident that they were capable of dealing with Cao Cao and sharing a share of the pie with Yuan Shao.
Sun Ce was moved when he saw Yuan Shao's letter.
"Can fight!"
Zhou Yu first said: "At least we can capture Huainan and Lujiang, and then compete with Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao's troops in Hebei are all northerners and are not suitable for fighting south. After we capture Huainan, we can still have enough time to fight back and finally fight against each other. Yuan Shao."
"Gong Jin's words make sense."
Zhang Zhao agreed.
"Wouldn't it be risky to do this?"
Lu Su's thinking is a bit stable and he doesn't like to take too many risks.
Zhou Yu said: "There is no risk at all. Sometimes, opportunities are earned by us. If we don't seize this opportunity and Yuan Shao crosses the river to seize Cao Cao's territory, we may get nothing."
The world is now divided, and Yuan Shao's family is the dominant one.
After Yuan Shao defeated Cao Cao, it would be even more difficult for them to seize the Huainan area. When it came to external expansion, Liu Biao would not be easy to defeat. Sun Ce wanted to seize this opportunity and cut off Huainan.
"Someone is coming."
"Pass my order. After returning from hunting, immediately secretly mobilize troops to station troops south of the Yangtze River, and then prepare ships to go north."
"I want to cut their flesh behind their backs."
"I want to see if Yuan Shao has the ability to snatch Huainan and Lujiang away from me."
Sun Ce said loudly.
They all believed that Cao Cao could not be Yuan Shao's opponent.
Firstly, it was because Yuan Shao was too strong, and secondly, they misjudged Cao Cao's strength.
Even Yuan Shao can't figure out how powerful Cao Cao is now.
After arranging this order, Sun Ce suddenly got excited and shouted: "Watch how I shoot a tiger. To celebrate before we go on the expedition, all come with me!"
After saying this, he rode his horse and walked towards the depths of Dantu Mountain.
His mount is a fast horse.
The speed is much better than others.
As they ran into the forest, the cavalrymen were left far behind.
Han Dang and the others couldn't keep up.
Sun Ce went deep into it, picked up the bow hanging on his horse, and was about to look for prey, when he saw three people suddenly coming out from the front and blocking Sun Ce's path.
