Thank you for the reward from Dragon Airbus in the past, hehe.

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Of course, Liu Feng knew that Cao Ying's 800,000 army was bragging, in fact, this number might have to be greatly discounted, but what the real number was, Liu Feng did not know.

"I see, then according to Mr. Yuanzhi's opinion, how many people did Cao Thief bring with him when he went south this time?" Liu Feng pretended to be suddenly enlightened.

"In fact, don't look at Cao Ying, who occupies most of the world, but the total number of soldiers and horses is not as much as imagined, the reason is because Cao Ying has always had his own uniqueness in using soldiers."

Xu Shu was originally worried about the military aircraft, but at this time, there happened to be a young man like Liu Feng, who was so "humbly" seeking advice, and Xu Shu's interest was naturally talked about.

"Are there many soldiers?" Liu Feng suddenly thought of this key to the art of war, and muttered casually.

Xu Shu's eyes showed a strange light: "Eldest prince, it seems that you usually spend a lot of time thinking about Cao Ying's way of using troops." ”

Liu Feng was stunned, and hurriedly laughed: "It's not true, it's just that in the past, I heard my father talk about Cao Ying, and I remember such a sentence." ”

In fact, what really reminded Liu Feng of this key was the mysterious note in Liu Qi's study. The notes write that in the early years, Cao Ying also recruited soldiers and horses like other warlords, and only after three defeats did Cao Ying change his attitude towards using troops.

Once when attacking Dong, Cao Ying fought with Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong with an army of 5,000 Xin, and his troops were several times that of the enemy, but he was defeated in a battle. The second time was in the Battle of Yanzhou, when 30,000 Qingzhou soldiers fought against Lu Bu's 10,000 cavalry, but they were also rushed out. The last time was even more painful, that was when Wancheng conquered Zhang Xiu, the remaining Qingzhou soldiers in the battle of Yanzhou were once again defeated by the sneak attack of Zhang Xiujun, who was far less than their own, not only lost two children, but also caused the fierce general Dian Wei to die, and he was almost finished.

The mysterious author of the note notes that after experiencing these three defeats, Cao Ying realized the importance of the quality of the soldiers, and has since insisted on using small but very elite troops. And after years of war tests, such an elite Cao army, even if it encounters a situation like the death of the main general, the troops will not collapse.

The mysterious author used Cao Ying's example to prove the key to the art of war.

Thinking of this, Liu Feng had a stronger curiosity about the mysterious author, and he was eager to know what the sacredness was, so he wanted to find an opportunity to ask Liu Qi who this person was.

Xu Shu believed Liu Feng's explanation, and continued: "Cao Ying's soldiers are indeed elite soldiers, and the training of elite soldiers is quite difficult, so I estimate that since Cao Ying's destruction of the Yuan clan, his total number of soldiers and horses should be about 300,000. These horses, in addition to monitoring the princes of Guanzhong and the Hu people on the northern border, are also stationed in the northern states, and it is impossible to bring their surnames to the south at one time. According to such estimates, the soldiers and horses of Cao Ying's southern invasion should not exceed 150,000. ”

150,000 soldiers and horses, although it doesn't sound as imposing as the 780,000 army in the romance, but in this era, Liu Feng knows very well how terrible this number is.

"Coupled with Liu Cong's surrender of about 10,000 troops, Cao Ying's troops in Jingzhou should be about 250,000. Of course, aside from the transportation of grain and grass, the garrisons of the newly surrendered counties should be ruled out as the reason why some of the troops were low in combat effectiveness and unsuitable for combat. It is conservatively estimated that Cao Ying's Western Route Army should have about 100,000 people, of which the newly surrendered naval army in Jingzhou should have 50,000 people. As for Cao Ren's army on the northern road, there were about 70,000 or 80,000 people, and the naval army did not exceed 20,000. ”

After Xu Shu's comprehensive analysis, Liu Feng finally had a clear understanding of Cao Jun's true strength, but after clearing the clouds and seeing the truth of the enemy, that fear continued unabated.

It's like facing an enemy whose body is wrapped in a robe, when you only see his hideous face, you just feel uneasy in your heart, and when the enemy takes off his robe and reveals his steel-like solid muscles, the absolute strength shown is really terrifying.

"...... so"

When Liu Feng wanted to ask again, suddenly the sentry on the nearby trestle tower shouted: "There is a ship coming, and there is a ship coming from the east." ”

There is a ship, could it be that reinforcements from Soochow have arrived?

Liu Feng and Xu Shu were in high spirits, ran to the edge of the trestle in a few steps, and looked at the direction of the river with a canopy in their hands. Soon after, the shadow of a sail appeared on the sparkling river, but disappointingly, it was not the fleet that imagined the mighty fleet of Wu Hao in the Middle East, but just a piece of sail.

"What's exciting, it's not too late to yell next time you see it clearly." With disappointment in his eyes, Xu Shu complained angrily to the equally disappointed sentry on the trestle.

For some reason, Liu Feng suddenly had an indescribable feeling in his heart.

A ship rushed out of the water village, according to the usual practice to go to check the leaf boat on the west of the river, originally thought it was just an ordinary civilian boat, but the small boat was escorted by the boat, towards the direction of the water village.

At this time, the feeling in Liu Feng's heart became more and more obvious, and he had a strong premonition: that coming ship must be unusual.

After a cup of tea, the boat docked, and a Confucian scholar wearing a kudzu robe got off the boat, and Liu Feng, who had excellent eyesight, immediately recognized that person was Sun Gan, who accompanied Liu Bei to retreat to Fankou.

"It turns out that Sun Gongyou." Xu Shu also recognized Sun Qian, stepped forward, hugged his fists and said with a smile: "Brother Gongyou, it's been hard all the way." ”

Liu Feng also stepped forward and arched his hand: "I've seen Uncle Gongyou." ”

Sun Qian is a veteran of Yuan Gong who has followed Liu Bei since Xuzhou, and now his power in Liu Bei's shogunate is not as strong as Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu, but his status and Liu Bei's trust are difficult for others to reach, so Liu Feng, the eldest son of the Liu family, also has to call him Uncle Gongyou politely.

"Eldest son, Yuan Zhi, don't come unharmed." Sun Qian returned the salute with a smile on his face.

Xu Shu pointed to his sunken eye sockets and laughed at himself: "How can you be fine, just look at my black eyes, if Brother Gongyou comes back this time and there is no good news for me, I think my eye sockets will be darkened again tonight." ”

"Uncle Gongyou, when you come back this time, do you have any orders from your father, or is Dongwu already preparing to send troops?" Liu Feng was also anxious, he didn't want to sit in Xiakou and wait for Cao Ying to clean up.

Sun Qian looked calm, unhurriedly dusted off the mercury on his sleeve, and rubbed it for a long time as if he was deliberately hanging their appetite, before he smiled faintly: "I think Yuan Zhi, you have a good night's sleep tonight." ”

Sun Gan's words lifted the spirits of the two of them, and the premonition in Liu Feng's heart became stronger and stronger. Xu Shuxing's eyes flashed with excitement, and he urged: "What the hell is going on, could it be that Dongwu has finally decided to send troops?" ”

"Jiangdong's fleet will arrive in Xiakou tomorrow morning, the lord asked me to inform you in advance, prepare wine and meat overnight, and wait tomorrow morning to supervise the labor army for Zhou Dadu."