Liu Bei spent three months preparing his troops. In addition to 50,000 standing elites, he also gathered 50,000 government soldiers and 200,000 civilians to fight towards Henan.
In this battle, he dispatched such heavy troops just to defeat Cao Cao and completely occupy Henan!
But the war doesn't end by gathering a large army and pushing across the river. After all, there is a Yellow River across the river, and there are many passes and natural dangers. At the same time, we must be prepared for Cao Cao to lead his army to counterattack.
It is necessary to grasp a key point on the other side of the Yellow River, that is, in Henan, to help the main force cross the river, and then seek a decisive battle with Cao Cao.
But isn’t Cao Cao extraordinary?
This man's military ability was among the best throughout the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms periods.
Just looking at his defense arrangements along the key points of the Yellow River is enough to see his strategy.
Xia Houyuan was sent to lead his elite troops from Langya to Qingzhou and occupy Qi, Beihai, Dong'an and other places to contain Liu Bei, consolidate his right wing and prevent Liu Bei's army from attacking Xudu from the east.
Cao Cao led his troops to occupy Liyang in Jizhou on the north bank of the Yellow River. He ordered Yu Jin to lead 2,000 infantry and cavalry to garrison Yanjin, an important crossing on the south bank of the Yellow River. He assisted Lu Bu's army guarding the White Horse to prevent Liu Bei's army from crossing the river and marching south. At the same time, he used the main force to build fortifications in the Guandu area.
, to prevent the enemy from attacking from the front;
At the same time, he sent people to pacify Guanzhong and win over Liangzhou to stabilize his flank.
His strategy was to concentrate superior forces to respond and support, and at the same time to deploy defenses at key points on the north and south banks of the Yellow River. In addition, Guandu was closer to the supplies of Cao Cao's Xudu and further away from Liu Bei's supplies. In fact, he had taken the strategic initiative.
However, Liu Bei is not Yuan Shao. His own ability to use troops was originally better than a small but refined light force raid. That was because he had few resources in the early days and had never fought rich battles.
Nowadays, he has many soldiers and generals, abundant resources, and has experienced suppressing internal rebellions and barbarian invasions, so he has made up for his shortcomings in this area.
The outcome of this battle was favored from the beginning by Liu Bei, who had more abundant resources.
Since the Battle of Baima, Cao's army suffered successive defeats and retreated gradually.
Liu Bei's army did not make many low-level mistakes like Yuan Shao's army in the Battle of Guandu in history, and lost two generals, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, at the beginning of the war.
Instead, they advanced all the way, fought steadily, failed to fall into Cao Cao's suspicious tactics, and used superior troops to repel the white horse defender Lu Bu.
Then the whole army safely crossed the river and headed south.
In another battle at Baima Mountain, Cao Cao's ambush was successfully detected, defeated, and safely arrived at Yangwu.
During this period, Cao Cao made many ingenious plans and won some inconsequential local wars.
However, it has no impact on the overall situation. The organizational structure of Liu Bei's army today is completely different from that of Yuan Shao's army in history.
It was a mixture of standing elites directly under the central government and private peasant soldiers on local lands, none of whom came from the gentry.
The organizational efficiency of the army cannot be compared to that of a loose alliance relying on the gentry to send troops together. Coupled with the intelligence superiority of Xu Yin and Wang Yue, many of Cao Cao's surprise attack strategies were ineffective.
We can only be forced to fight a tough battle, but what we need to fight a tough battle is resources and strength.
Cao Cao had no advantage at all in these two points, and was quickly reduced to Guandu.
Now all his troops were concentrated here, and Xiahou Yuan, who had attacked Qingzhou as a diversion, was forced to follow him back.
Once here, Cao Cao has no way out. As soon as he retreats, Xu Du will be behind him. Once Xu Du is attacked, his family fortune will be completely destroyed.
Cao Cao stood on the camp wall, overlooking Liu Bei's army camp that stretched for dozens of miles.
Previously, both sides had attacked and defended many times, and Cao's army had suffered more defeats than victory. Now its morale is low.
Even though they repeatedly captured Liu Bei's army's logistical supplies, it was difficult to achieve results because the opponent set up food transport stations.
Cao Cao couldn't help but let out a long sigh, losing confidence in his current situation.
Suddenly, he saw Lu Bu practicing martial arts outside the tent, and he was so angry that he called him to come and talk.
"Mr. Cao Xun came here, why?"
Seeing Lu Bu's indifferent expression, Cao Cao couldn't help but feel angry.
"How long will it take for you to gather the demon soldiers?"
"Now the number is only 20,000. With Cao Cao's troops and horses, the total is only 50,000, which is not enough to fight Liu Bei's army in a decisive battle."
He answered this point quite frankly. If he failed in the battle with Liu Beijun, Lu Bu would not end well.
Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei's well-armed soldiers outside the camp and said: "The demon soldiers cannot form a formation, and their number must be doubled before they can fight Liu Bei's army.
But in recent days, Liu Bei's army has been aggressively attacking, and the defense formation of the camp has been shaken. It may not be able to hold on for long. Is there any way you can speed it up?"
Lu Bu hesitated for a moment and asked, "Mr. Cao is really not afraid of monster soldiers causing harm to the world?"
"Hmph, if this battle is not won, both Cao and Fengxian will be reduced to dust, how can they care whether they bring harm to the world?
Moreover, I would rather teach the world to betray me than teach the world to betray me! If I win, then the world will be safe. If I die, I would rather have the world die for me!"
Seeing the gloomy look on Cao Cao's face, Lu Bu, who was as powerful as the God of War, couldn't help but feel cold in his heart. He said to himself: They say that my slaves with the third surname of Lu Bu often kill their masters, but compared with Cao Cao, how can I be as cold as him?
Thin.
Of course, judging from the actual situation, Cao Cao is definitely not as cool as Lu Bu, but Cao Cao's personality has an extreme side. Especially when faced with extreme situations, his decisions will appear to be extremely cold-blooded in order to survive, but this is not the norm.
At least compared to Lu Bu's repeated regicides and rebellions, Cao Cao is definitely not cool.
Lu Bu said: "I have a method that can break open a passage connecting the Shura world. Let alone thirty thousand, as long as the passage is maintained long enough, I can summon three hundred thousand for you, and it will be more powerful than you can imagine.
demon."
Cao Cao's eyes narrowed, "You can't control it? If it's too much, you and I may suffer the backlash."
"Haha, Mr. Cao can make his own decision. That's all Lu can do."
The next day, Liu Bei's army launched another wave of attacks, and this wave almost broke the general camp formation.
Xu Huang, Dian Wei, Xia Houyuan, Yu Jin, Cao Ren and other generals fought their way out of the camp, and managed to force back Liu Bei's army's attack by fighting almost to the death.
At night, Cao Cao was in Dian Wei's camp.
During the daytime battle, Dian Wei rushed to the front and was attacked by the two generals Guan and Zhang. Fortunately, he held these two powerful men back, allowing the remaining generals to fight back Liu Bei's army with great courage.
But he was also seriously injured, and even his two halberds were lost on the battlefield.
His chest was slashed by the Qinglong Yanyue Sword, and a beating heart could be seen at the wound. The Qinglong's fighting spirit is still attached to the wound, slowly eating away at the wound.
The abdomen was stabbed by the zhangba snake spear, and it was pierced through. Even if he tried his best to move the organs, the stomach and liver were damaged by the Qi. The Gang Qi attached to them was still fiercely destroyed, but Dian Wei's own Qi was
Blocked by blood.
In addition, the scars in other locations are even more difficult to estimate, and even the inner bones can be seen in the lightest ones.
With such a serious injury, Dian Wei fought fiercely on the battlefield for an entire hour, supporting the generals to repel Liu Bei's army, and then Guan and Zhang gave up.
At this time, even after treatment by Xun Yu, Guo Jia and others, he could only barely survive.
Cao Cao saw that his trusted general was in such miserable condition, and that all the generals who went to battle today were brought with him. He couldn't help but shed tears, and he secretly made up his mind.