Now that this battle has come to an end, Yuan Shu no longer thinks about it. His focus is now on the entire Yangzhou battle.
"My lord, I don't know their whereabouts yet, but Zhang He set out from Jizhou. Judging from the time, he should be able to arrive within five days. Yan Liang said that it should only take ten days at most."
Chen Gong cannot grasp the whereabouts of Zhang He and Yan Liang now. After all, he does not have so many telegrams and cannot handle them all, so now he can only judge based on their marching distance and speed.
"Well, let the army rest for the time being. When the army arrives, we will open the battlefield in Jiujiang County as soon as possible. I must win Yangzhou in this battle."
"promise."
Dantu Line of Defense
Xun Yu and Cao Ren led 500 elite soldiers out of the city early to welcome Cao Cao back. However, they all frowned when they saw the army with disheveled armor and uneven troops.
"Lord, what is this?"
When Cao Ren came to Cao Cao, he couldn't help but ask questions.
"It's hard to say anything. Let's go back to Dantu first and then talk about it."
Cao Cao also had a bitter look on his face and could only shake his head, not wanting to say anything more.
"Then please, my lord, return to the city."
Seeing Cao Cao's face, Xun Yu knew that Cao Cao must have experienced something bad, so he didn't say anything, just stepped aside and asked Cao Cao to return to Dantu.
"Let's go."
Cao Cao slowly entered Dantu City with an army of more than 100,000 people, and he himself returned directly to his mansion. At the same time, his two military advisors, General Xun Yu and Xun Yu Zhicai, also gathered here.
"Lord, what exactly is going on in this battle? I think the army suffered a lot of losses?"
Now that he was the only one here, Xun Yu put aside his worries and asked questions.
"Hey, Tian Tian Dayan was finally pecked in the eye by a wild goose. I didn't expect that he would be killed by Yuan Shu's cavalry with a carbine. It's okay not to mention it."
Facing Xun Yu's question, Cao Cao didn't want to say anything else. If he lost, he would lose. He had nothing to say.
"My lord, if you didn't decide to take the initiative, why did you lead your troops back?"
Since Cao Cao didn't want to say anything and others were embarrassed to ask, what was the reason for his rash return to Dantu from Wangdu?
"Zixiao, we had a confrontation with Yuan Shu for more than ten days this time, but except for the battle between generals on the first day, Yuan Shu showed no signs of sending troops during the rest of the time.
So I discussed it with my lord and thought that Yuan Shu might have transferred soldiers and horses from other places, and his intention was still the same as before, to open up the battlefield in Jiuzhou County.
If Yuan Shu really achieves his goal, then Lu Bu's army who is on the front line with us in Wangdu will definitely return, which will expose us to Yuan Shu's superior troops and horses.
In order to avoid such a situation, the lord will choose to return to Dantu, and then rely on Dantu’s advantageous defense line to resist the possible arrival of Yuan Shu’s army.”
Xi Zhicai glanced at Cao Ren and slowly explained the reason why they returned to Dantu.
"If this is the case, returning to Dantu is indeed the only way, but even if we return to Dantu, the battle situation will be unfavorable to us. After all, Yuan Shu is powerful and will lose if he defends for a long time. We still need to think of a way to break the situation.
."
Xun Yu nodded. Although it was not wrong for Cao Cao to choose to return to Dantu, the current situation is that it is difficult to block Yuan Shu's army by relying on Dantu's defense. He cannot just let Yuan Shu make moves. He also needs to think of a way to deal with it himself.
The only way to defeat Yuan Shu's two-pronged attack was to defeat him.
"Well, Wen Ruo is right. We are too passive now. We must find a way to turn passivity into initiative."
Cao Cao glanced at Xun Yu. The current situation was just as Xun Yu said. He could not defend himself alone. He had to find a way to defeat Yuan Shu's attempt.
"Lord, I have a plan, but I don't know if it's feasible or not."
After hearing the words of the two men, a flash of inspiration flashed in Xi Zhicai's mind.
"Zhicai, now you can speak freely and tell me what you think."
Cao Cao couldn't help but feel excited when he heard that Xi Zicai had a plan.
"Lord, since we have guessed Yuan Shu's intention now, we might as well take advantage of this and try to show him off."
Xi Zhicai's words made Cao Cao and Xun Yu stunned. Everyone knows how to make a move, but how to make a move is the key.
"go on."
The light in Cao Cao's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he seemed to find a clue from this sentence.
"My lord, Yuan Shu's intention in opening the Jiujiang County battlefield is very obvious, which is to divide us and then defeat us one by one. Then we might as well do the opposite.
Now send Lu Bu back to Jiujiang County, and then send an elite team to go with him. After Yuan Shu's second army arrives, fight him decisively on the second battlefield and directly defeat his army first. In this case
How should Yuan Shu be treated?"
Xi Zhicai directly expressed his thoughts. Since you, Yuan Shu, want to open up a second battlefield, fine, then I will fight you decisively on the second battlefield and eat all your troops first.
"Zhicai's idea is good, but one point is very important, that is, how many troops will be sent?
After all, we don’t know how many troops Yuan Shu will send to attack Jiujiang County. If Yuan Shu detects that he sends too many troops, he will immediately attack Dantu from Wangdu, which will put great pressure on Dantu’s defense line.
If fewer troops are sent, it will not be able to form an absolute advantage over Yuan Shu's second battlefield, and it will be difficult to achieve the desired results.
The most important thing is if Yuan Shu did not open a second battlefield, but led his army to attack Dan Tu with overwhelming force, how should we resist?"
Xi Zhicai's strategy can be described as unconstrained, but this strategy involves taking great risks.
"My lord, Yuan Shu can only mobilize so many troops and horses now. I predict that his available troops will not exceed 100,000. Among these 100,000, the main force is only 50,000 or 60,000.
If we really want to go to war with Yuan Shu in Jiujiang County, Chen Wen will definitely send additional troops. This number will not be less than 50,000. Coupled with Lu Bu's 50,000 troops here, we should be able to occupy around 50,000 troops.
An absolute advantage.”
As Xun Yu said, this strategy is very risky, and it involves the issue of how many troops to send. If you are not careful, Yuan Shu may seize the opportunity and directly bulldoze Dan Tu.
However, if it succeeds, the effect will be obvious. It will not only greatly weaken Yuan Shu's troops, but also defeat his differentiation plan, which will have a huge impact on the current battle situation.
"Lord, I still think it's a bit risky."
Although Xi Zhicai said it well, Xun Yu still felt that it was too risky. It was tantamount to a big gamble. If the bet was right, it might open up the situation. If the bet failed, the whole game would be lost.
"Wealth is sought in danger. There is no absolute guarantee of victory in a march or war. I decided to take a gamble and act according to Zhicai's idea. I want to avenge myself first in Jiujiang County."
Cao Cao was conflicted for a while, but in the end he chose to accept Xi Zhicai's proposal and fire the first shot in Jiujiang County as he said.
"Lord, think twice."
Although Cao Cao made his decision, Xun Yu still clasped his fists to persuade him.
"No need to say anything, just do this. Zhicai, who do you think would be good to lead the troops to Jiujiang County? Give me a list."
Cao Cao ignored Xun Yu. This time he decided to fight. He didn't want to tremble under Yuan Shu's army like this. He wanted to fight back. He wanted to defeat Yuan Shu and prove to the Han that Cao Mengde was no worse than Yuan Gongde.
