Chapter 196 Battle of Kuangcheng (3)

As night fell, tens of thousands of Cao's troops gradually retreated into the camp.

The camp had indeed become very crowded, but the left camp was flooded and the right camp became the enemy's main attack direction, so they had to concentrate their troops and horses on the right camp.

At this time, inside Cao Jun's main camp, Xiahou Dun, Guo Jia, Dong Zhao, Mao Jie and others discussed whether to raid Yuan Ying's camp tonight.

"The Yuan army is attacking and setting up a temporary camp. There are definitely not many defensive facilities. Maybe they can attack by surprise."

Guo Jia came up with this wonderful idea.

Xiahou Dun began to hesitate at this time and said: "Before Sikong left, Qian warned and warned us not to let us go out. What if we are ambushed by Yuan's army?"

Guo Jia explained: "The war is changing, and the current situation and war situation are also changing. It is not a good thing to defend blindly. That will only make us continue to be attacked. Sometimes launching one or two attacks is more effective than defense.

Useful."

"Um."

Dong Zhao also nodded slightly and said: "It is indeed a way to attack and defend. If Yuan's army has already established a stronghold, it may be difficult to attack, but now they are just preparing to launch a large-scale attack and their foothold is not stable, so you can try."

Xiahou Dun thought for a while and said, "Then I will lead the army myself?"

"No."

Mao Jie stopped him and said: "Sikong is not here. How can the general be the commander in chief of an army? Zhang Liao can be ordered to lead the army to attack Yuan Camp, and Cao Chun will lead the tiger and leopard cavalry to respond."

After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao began to build his own elite cavalry.

He formed a cavalry force of about 5,000 people based on the group of elite cavalry who had made a surprise attack on Wuchao that year, and with Zhong Yao's help in transporting a group of war horses back from Guanzhong.

There are currently one thousand people in this army who followed Cao Cao to Luoyang, and the remaining four thousand people are led by Cao Chun. They are called "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry" and they are the best among the best.

After hearing the suggestions of several counselors, Xiahou Dun followed suit and said, "That's okay, I'll let Zhang Liao and Cao Chun go there."

"Maybe we can also rob the grain road?"

Dong Zhao made another suggestion: "Yuan Jun moved the camp several miles away from our camp, and their food routes will definitely be lengthened. If they rob the grain, it may be effective."

Guo Jia shook his head and said: "It's hard to say. Yuan's army has more soldiers and horses than us. After the last Guandu, Yuan Shao became much more cautious about food and grass. Sikong tried to rob the food several times, but he was able to resolve it. I'm afraid it won't be that easy.

"

Dong Zhao said: "In the past, they stationed troops in Wating. The white horse was just a stone's throw away from Wating. It was easy to transport grain and grass. But now that they have moved such a long distance, will it be lengthy to transport them to the front line?"

From last year to this year, Yuan Shao's attacks were repeatedly repelled by Cao Cao. Both sides wanted to surround the grain road and deploy peripheral scouts to seize the initiative in the war.

However, Yuan Jun suffered a small loss and retreated to Wating, Yanxian and Weixiang areas more than 30 miles away. Food and grass were also placed in Baima.

The distance between Baima and Wating is very close, so robbing food will definitely not be easy.

Now that they have arrived at Kuangcheng and extended the front line, there may be an opportunity for Cao Jun to take advantage of it.

Mao Jie said: "Even if we want to rob food, it cannot be today. Yuan Jun has just arrived, and there must be plenty of supplies. There will be no food and grass being transported from the rear in a short time."

"That's true."

Dong Zhao thought for a while and said nothing more.

"Report!"

Just then, soldiers came to report.

"Come in."

Xiahou Dun shouted.

The soldier entered the tent, knelt down on one knee and said: "General, the water flow in Zuoying has begun to decline, and the land is now exposed."

"No, they are definitely going to attack Zuoying!"

Xiahou Dun jumped up at that time, and said in a deep voice with a very solemn expression: "Once the left camp is broken, they can double-team from both sides at the same time, and our army will be in danger."

Cao Jun's camps were spread out along the line, mainly composed of the left camp, the middle camp, and the right camp. The rest also had rear camps, but they were all behind these three camps.

Especially now that the left camp has been submerged, Cao Jun's rear food route is basically drawn from Pingqiu County to the middle camp and right camp on the front line, and then transported to the left camp through the internal network connecting the large camps.

This also means that camps stretching for several kilometers are connected like a honeycomb.

Once Yuan Jun penetrates the left camp, they can launch an internal attack on the middle camp and right camp from Cao Jun's left wing. This is a great threat to Cao Jun.

"Don't worry"

Guo Jia pondered for a moment, shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Zuoying only needs to send a large number of sentries and scouts to investigate. I guess they will not regard Zuoying as the focus of their attack."

Xiahou Dun wondered: "Why is this?"

Guo Jia said: "Zuoying has been submerged in water for a month. The ground has long been soft and it is difficult for men and horses to walk on it. I am afraid that this is just a cover for Yuan Shao. He may send a small group of people to attack Zuoying. The main direction of attack is the middle camp.

and Youying.”

"But when Zuoying's defense force is so thin, even if they only send 10,000 or 20,000 people to attack, it will be difficult to defend it."

Mao Jie said with some worry: "Once there is a loss in Zuoying, we will be behind bars."

"Hmm"

Mao Jie's worries made Guo Jia also fall into deep thought.

In fact, this is still a competition between the counselors of both sides, as well as a psychological game.

Guo Jia believed that Yuan Jun might still place the main attack direction on the right camp, so he still focused on defending the right camp.

But if Jushou Tian Feng and others guessed Guo Jia's mentality and did the opposite and attacked Zuoying in a large scale at night, they would be very passive.

Even if the land is difficult to navigate, you don't need too many people. Ten or twenty thousand people are enough.

Ju Shou once said that Yuan Jun's personal quality is not as good as Cao Jun's, so 80,000 vs. 50,000 should be a balance of power.

But the problem is that this balance of power depends on who is in charge.

With the same army of 100,000, there is a huge difference between Han Xin commanding it and Liu Bang commanding it.

Although Cao Cao is definitely not as good as Han Xin, the military immortal, Yuan Shao cannot compare with Liu Bang, so the gap is just as big.

Previously, Cao Cao personally commanded, and in the battle against Yuan Shao, the numerical gap of 80,000 to 50,000 could be shortened through excellent tactical play and superb personal qualities of the soldiers.

But now that Cao Cao is away, he has lost his backbone, the left camp has been flooded again, Cao Cao's army's morale and morale have also been damaged, and their combat effectiveness will seriously decline.

At this time, the huge difference in numbers between the two sides became apparent.

After all, they have 30,000 more troops than you.

Therefore, in this case, once a tactical loophole appears, it will be fatal.

However, Cao Cao took Xun You away.

The counselors in Cao's camp cooperated closely with each other and cooperated very well.

Among them, Guo Jia is responsible for enemy psychology, Xun You and Cheng Yu are responsible for tactical play, and Xun Yu, Dong Zhao and Mao Jie are responsible for strategic planning.

Everyone connects and communicates with each other, and ultimately can help Cao Cao find the perfect solution.

Cheng Yu is not here now, and neither is Xun You.

Apart from analyzing the enemy's psychology, Guo Jia couldn't come up with a better response tactic.

Even though he later proposed the tactic of surprise attack on Liaodong, in addition to accurately grasping Liu Biao's psychology that time, the actual so-called tactic of quick troops almost killed Cao Cao.

Dong Zhao and Mao Jie's strategic planning is no less than that of Xun Yu, but what is needed now is not a strategic plan, but a practical tactical plan.

So the three of them were in a bit of a dilemma.

Finally, Xiahou Dun said: "Then send another 3,000 people from the left camp. Now the left camp is completely covered with mud. Even if the enemy launches a massive attack, they may not be able to break through immediately."

The three of them looked at each other, nodded and said, "This is the safest way."

At that moment, Xiahou Dun mobilized his troops and sent 3,000 men to the left camp. He had also left 5,000 men in the left camp before, leaving 8,000 men. Although there were still many empty camps, he only needed to defend the outer camps.

That's enough.

In addition, he issued an order to Zhang Liao and Cao Chun, ordering them to mobilize their troops and horses and launch a tentative night attack while Yuan Jun's foothold was not stable. If they failed to succeed, they would immediately withdraw.

After Zhang Liao and Cao Chun received the order, they immediately launched into action. Thousands of men and horses were ordered together and prepared to attack the camp at night.

However, what Xiahou Dun and the others didn't know was that at this moment, in Yuan Camp and Yuan Shao's coach's tent, various orders were being issued along with several coughs.

Now Yuan Shao spends most of his time recuperating. Even when there is a meeting, he immediately disbands the meeting after issuing orders to the battalion generals. At other times, he only discusses matters privately with Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Guo Tu and others.

Since Guo Tu lost power, Yuan Shao has been following the advice of Ju Shou and Tian Feng. It has been more than half a year since the confrontation between him and Cao Jun last year, and various preparations are extremely abundant.

Therefore, when the plan was discussed and completed, orders were given directly to the soldiers to do it. Now the ministries quickly received the order, and the generals left the camps like a tide.

Tian Feng walked to the end. He was very old, in his sixties, with weak legs and gray hair and beard. He was using a cane. After everyone was almost done, he walked step by step to the entrance of the camp, ready to

Return to your own camp to rest.

"Yuan Hao."

Yuan Shao was wearing a black silk robe, sitting cross-legged on a blanket, covering his mouth and coughing. When he raised his head, his face was very pale, with almost no blood.

Hearing his call, Tian Feng coughed twice, twisted his body tremblingly, cupped his hands and said, "Ming Gong."

"Yuan Hao, please sit down and chat with me."
To be continued...