"Did it come so quickly? It seems that Xu He's defeat shocked the Yellow Turban Army greatly."
Yang Ling touched his chin and smiled,
"In this case, we should use guerrilla tactics to deal with the enemy."
"I think so too."
Cao Cao nodded slightly and agreed with his opinion.
Although the Yellow Turban Army only has 100,000 elite soldiers, the rest are old, weak, sick and disabled.
But as the saying goes, the ants kill the elephant.
Cao Cao only had 30,000 men in his hands. If he really had to face millions of Yellow Turbans, he would not be able to win.
Therefore, the smartest choice is to avoid its edge and deal with it.
In the next time, when the Yellow Turban Army moved south aggressively, planning to fight Cao Cao's troops.
However, Cao Cao led his army and retreated proactively, showing no signs of wanting to start a war with the Yellow Turban Army.
When the Yellow Turban Army was preparing to return to Shouzhang and continue to ravage northern Yanzhou, Cao Cao's troops followed closely behind, giving the Yellow Turban Army no chance to breathe.
Doing this several times will consume a lot of time.
Late autumn soon came, and the weather became gradually colder.
…
Yellow Turban Army Camp.
Inside the tent.
Qu's commander, Zhang Rao, was sitting there, listening to the reports from his subordinates.
"...The only food we have left is not enough to last half a month. And the weather is getting colder, and we don't have enough clothes..."
As his subordinates reported, Zhang Rao's face became more and more embarrassed.
"That's enough, you go down first!"
He waved his hand and retreated, leaving only two trusted generals, Xu He and Sima Ju.
"That's the situation. Do you have any good ideas?"
After being seriously injured by Zhao Yun last time, Xu He's injury has not recovered yet.
With a pale face, he coughed a few times and then said helplessly,
"Commander Qu, there is nothing my subordinates can do. How about we pool the food and supplies and give priority to the elite soldiers? This way we can last for a while."
"inappropriate!"
Zhang Rao shook his head.
There are millions of Yellow Turbans, but among them are not only one hundred thousand elites, but also their wives, children, and children.
If Zhang Rao does not provide food to the old, weak, sick and disabled, I am afraid that the morale of the army will be unstable in an instant!
"Hateful, this Cao Jun is so disgusting. He fights and refuses to fight, retreats and refuses to retreat!"
Xu He gritted his teeth in anger.
Zhang Rao was also silent.
It was because of insufficient food and grass that he led the Yellow Turban Army into Yanzhou.
He originally planned to let Xu He stop Cao Cao's army, while he looted enough supplies in the north, and then went to war with Cao Cao.
After defeating Cao Cao, they can occupy Yanzhou to recuperate.
But he didn't expect that Xu He, who led an army of 30,000, would be defeated by Zhao Yun, who had 3,000 troops!
This makes Zhang Rao quite passive!
He sighed and looked at Sima Ju aside,
"Sima Ju, you are the smartest among us, why have you been silent all this time?"
Sima Ju smiled helplessly and said,
"Qu Shuai, it's not that I'm silent, it's just that I don't have any good ideas."
The Yellow Turban Army has a numerical advantage, and the last thing they fear is a head-on battle with Cao's army.
But their weakness is also obvious, that is, without rear support, it is easy to be unable to keep up with the food and grass.
However, Cao Jun took advantage of this and refused to fight.
In addition, Cao Jun, who is familiar with the terrain, will also launch an attack unexpectedly when the small Yellow Turban army falls alone.
Even the Yellow Turban troops transporting food and supplies were ambushed several times.
Repeatedly, although the damage caused to the Yellow Turban Army was not great, it greatly affected the morale of the Yellow Turban Army!
If it was a conspiracy, Sima Ju might still be able to think of something.
But what Cao Cao used was an honest conspiracy, and he had no idea at all.
The person who advised Cao Cao was definitely an expert!
When Zhang Rao, Xu He, and Sima Ju were at their wits' end, suddenly a messenger hurried in.
"Report to Commander Qu, the two generals and the scouts sent by our army have just discovered the main force of Cao's army."
Xu He was stunned for a moment, then said with great joy,
"Where was it found?"
"It's in a valley twenty miles away from us."
The messenger said.
"Qu Shuai, this is a good opportunity!"
Xu He looked at Zhang Rao excitedly.
Previously, they had been passive and could not fight Cao Jun head-on.
However, the main force of Cao's army was discovered today. As long as they can be defeated, they can go south and plunder the Changyi area.
The Yellow Turban Army, which had been in trouble, was able to regain its vitality.
Zhang Rao frowned slightly,
"Why do I think there is fraud in it? Sima Ju, what do you think?"
"My opinion is similar to Qu Shuai's. How could the main force of Cao's army be discovered suddenly?"
Sima Ju looked at the messenger with a solemn face,
"Tell me exactly what happened."
"Yes, General!"
The messenger did not dare to neglect and recounted what happened.
It turned out that the army was short of food recently, so Zhang Rao sent many scouts around.
The first was to plunder the surrounding villages and counties, and the second was to hunt to replenish food and grass.
In order to chase prey, a group of scouts strayed into a valley and happened to find Cao Jun's camp hidden in it.
"Brothers have repeatedly confirmed that there are at least tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the camp, and they are also flying Cao Cao's banner."
The messenger said seriously.
"Qu Shuai, in this way, there is absolutely no chance of fraud!"
Xu He looked at Zhang Rao anxiously,
"The opportunity is fleeting. If we don't seize it, what will happen if the army runs out of food in the future?"
Zhang Rao was still a little hesitant at first, but when he heard Xu He mentioning that the army was short of food, his heart suddenly jumped and he finally made up his mind.
"Okay, then we are going to take the initiative to attack Cao Jun!"
Now the Yellow Turban Army is facing the risk of shortage of food and grass. Even if it is a trap this time, Zhang Rao must bite the bullet and step into it.
Sima Ju also understood this truth, so he didn't say anything.
In order to prevent the momentum from attracting the attention of Cao Jun, Zhang Rao only brought elite troops and left the rest of the old, weak, sick and disabled in the camp.
Following the scout's instructions, they soon arrived at the valley twenty miles away.
The cliffs on both sides are steep and the road is extremely narrow, only allowing five or six people to pass side by side.
Seeing such terrain, Zhang Rao instinctively sensed something was wrong.
But thinking about the few grain and grass supplies in the army, he could only suppress the uneasiness in his heart and whispered,
"Go on, please be careful."
"Here."
The messenger took the order and left.
Just after tens of thousands of Yellow Turban troops entered the valley one after another, Zhang Rao and the others in front of the team could almost see Cao Jun's camp.
However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred, and a shocking cry of killing suddenly sounded!
Zhang Rao's heart sank and he looked up.
I saw densely packed Cao Jun suddenly appearing on the cliffs on the left and right sides.
They opened the powerful bows in their hands and unleashed the arrow rain!
