At present, many people believe that Guo Jia is the strongest strategist in the Three Kingdoms era, but in the history of the Three Kingdoms, there is still a big gap between Guo Jia and those top strategists, especially in the comparison with Xun Yu and Xun You's uncle and nephew.

From the same starting point to the death of Guo Jia in the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), we can see how much difference Guo Jia is between Guo Jia and Xun Yu and Xun You.

【Xun You and Guo Jia】

Xun You and Guo Jia's starting point is basically the same, they were mainly Cao Cao's staff officers in the early stage, both of them were recommended to Cao Cao by Xun Yu around the first year of Jian'an (196), Xun You as Xun Yu's stand-in, and Guo Jia as Xi Zhicai's stand-in.

The two had proposed to Cao Cao in history a delaying tactic. In the third year of Jian'an (198) when Cao Cao crusaded against Zhang Xiu again, Xun You went out with the army, when Xun You advised Cao Cao to suspend the attack on Nanyang, not to put too much pressure on Jingzhou, and wait for Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao to fall out before crusading, and Cao Cao did not listen, the result was as Xun You expected, under the pressure of Cao Cao, Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao were closely united, and Cao Cao returned in vain this time.

And Guo Jia also made a similar suggestion in Cao Cao in the seventh year of Jian'an (202), and let Cao Cao withdraw from the army when Cao Cao hit Yecheng. Later, the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang did fall out, giving Cao Cao an opportunity.

It looks the same, but is it actually the same? It's not at all. Xun You made a suggestion before Cao Cao had not yet hit, and Guo Jia said it when he had already hit Yecheng, for example, Xun You persuaded Cao Cao to change to a better track before he ran, and what about Guo Jia? Cao Cao was already running to the finish line, and then Guo Jia said: "Let's change to a better track, and then start again." ”

Moreover, the situation of Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu is completely different from that of Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. The difficulty of crusading against Zhang Xiu lies in Liu Biao's support, if Liu Biao fully supports, it is difficult to defeat Nanyang with Cao Cao's strength at that time, Cao Cao's group has failed to defeat Zhang Xiu several times and finally proved this, and Nanyang is the gateway to Jingzhou, if there is no threat Liu Biao may indeed withhold Zhang Xiu's supplies, but in the case of Cao Cao's army, it is impossible for Liu Biao to sit back and watch his portal be lost, and Zhang Xiu is even more unlikely to sit back and watch himself be wiped out. Therefore, Xun You's strategy of delaying the army is quite feasible, and Cao Cao really can't defeat it if he goes directly to fight.

On the contrary, the contradiction between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang cannot be resolved, and Guo Jia said that their brothers would be forced to unite under Cao Cao's pressure, which is not necessarily the case. Because Yuan Tan will not give up the position that should belong to him because of Cao Cao, and Yuan Shang will not give up the position of the boss that he has already reached because of Cao Cao, when Cao Cao attacked Guanzhong, Ma Chao and Han Sui, as allies, could not really unite under Cao Cao's pressure, not to mention Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang brothers.

Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are both in Yecheng, which is far easier to fight than Yecheng with only one core, their brothers may be together under Cao Cao's pressure for a short time, but as the pressure increases, the possibility of the brother's conflict intensifying will also be higher, not to mention that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are afraid of each other, and they can't cooperate well at all. Guo Jia said that the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang had deep contradictions, and it was good to turn against each other, but it was too ridiculous to ask Cao Cao to withdraw from the army, because this was not the reason for Cao Cao's withdrawal, but said that Cao Cao should go all out to attack Yecheng at that time.

In history, Xun You's main active period was during the Battle of Guandu, when Yuan Shao's army pressed the border, and Cao Cao faced a very dangerous moment, and it was Xun You as Cao Cao's mastermind.

In the end, Cao Cao was able to win the Battle of Guandu and defeat Yuan Shao, and Xun You can be said to be one of the biggest heroes. As early as in the Battle of White Horse, Cao Cao was ready to rescue Liu Yan, the Taishou of Dongjun under his command, when Yuan Shao's soldiers were strong, and it was difficult for Cao Cao to rescue directly.

At that time, under the superior forces led by Wen Chou and Liu Bei, Cao Cao's generals all asked to avoid it, but Xun You said: "This is a good time to destroy the enemy, why retreat?" Cao Cao knew what he meant, so he took a short rest, and when Yuan Shao's army was in chaos because of the competition for baggage, he quickly launched an attack and broke Yuan's army.

Later, Xun You thought that Han Xun, who was transporting supplies by Yuan Shao, could be broken, and suggested that Cao Cao send Xu Huang to attack, which was a great success. After Xu You took refuge in Cao Cao to offer a strategy to attack the black nest, everyone was suspicious of Xu You, only Xun You and Jia Xu strongly believed that Xu You attacked Chun Yuqiong, Cao Cao then listened to it, left Cao Hong to guard the camp, and personally led the troops to break the black nest and won a big victory. When Zhang He and others surrendered, it was Xun You's guarantee that dispelled Cao Hong's doubts, it can be said that without Xun You, even if Yuan Shao fainted, Cao Cao would not be able to achieve such a big victory.

In contrast, Guo Jia's main active period was on the eve of the decisive battle of Guandu and the period after Cao Cao's crusade against the north. First of all, after Liu Bei took refuge in Cao Cao, Cheng Yu persuaded Cao Cao to kill Liu Bei directly, when Cao Cao asked Guo Jia, Guo Jia replied: "The husband is in trouble, in order to frustrate the hope of the four seas, and the opportunity for safety must not be ignored" Don't mention the matter of removing Liu Bei. After Cao Cao sent Liu Bei to Xuzhou, Cheng Yu and Guo Jia immediately came back to dissuade Cao Cao after knowing about it, but unfortunately they didn't have time, so before the decisive battle of Guandu, Guo Jia echoed Cao Cao's opinion to eliminate the trouble Liu Bei was dealing with Yuan Shao. During the crusade against Lü Bu, it was Xun You and Guo Jia who dissuaded Cao Cao from retreating, and finally Cao Cao won the victory by flooding Pi.

When Cao Cao was crusading against the north, Guo Jia persuaded Cao Cao to withdraw when Cao Cao had already hit Yecheng, so that Cao Cao lost a great opportunity to eliminate Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang in one fell swoop, and then had to go north to attack Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang several times. Moreover, Guo Jia also persuaded Cao Cao to attack Liu Biao in the south first, which was fortunate to Xun You and Xinbi, otherwise Cao Cao might not have conquered Jingzhou, Yuan Shang would have eliminated Yuan Tan, and the whole situation might be reversed later.

Later, Cao Cao prepared to crusade against the three counties of Wuheng, which was also advocated by Guo Jia, but at that time, Wuheng and the Yuan brothers had limited threats to the north, and Cao Cao risked the emptiness of the rear to stay away from Xuchang and go north. Moreover, Guo Jia also persuaded Cao Cao to abandon his baggage in Yicheng and march quickly, but later Cao's army was not accustomed to the water and soil in the north, and because of the lack of supplies, the losses were very heavy, and he even had to kill horses as supplies. If it weren't for Tian Chou's help, Cao Cao would most likely have returned in vain.

Therefore, it is not without reason that Guo Jia and Xun You entered Cao Cao's command at the same time in history, but later Xun You was Cao Cao's mastermind, and Guo Jia was only one of Cao Cao's main advisers.