Wang Yu was high-spirited, but the mental state of the army was not very optimistic.

At present, Wang Yu's number of troops in the East China Sea is quite okay, his 1,000 personal guards, plus the 3,000 Yulin army led by Zhang Jaw and Xu Sheng, as well as the 4,500 county soldiers left by Tao Qian, and 1,000 Danyang veterans, together, there are also 10,000 soldiers. Compared with the combined forces of Que Xuan and Cao Bao, it is about one to two, and it can be regarded as an evenly matched battle for Wang Yu, who is accustomed to being weak and strong.

He thought well, but there were a few people who thought the same as him, except for a thousand guards, not to mention the soldiers left by Tao Qian, even the troops with Zhang Jaw seemed a little sluggish and demoralized.

In a strange place, facing the challenge of a strong enemy with unfamiliar comrades-in-arms is not something that everyone can face calmly.

This is the disadvantage of military expansion.

Those veterans who have followed Wang Yu to the east and west since Luoyang have no need to mobilize to fight, as long as they look at Wang Yu's banner, they will rush forward without hesitation.

However, Zhangjaw's soldiers and horses are mainly based on surrendering troops, and they have beaten water dogs in Langya before, and they have just been pardoned, and their fighting spirit is still above the level. But now that they have gone through a long march, they have defended Tancheng, a place that can't be fought with their own eight poles, how can they boost their morale?

The Xuzhou army was even worse.

The county soldiers don't have much combat effectiveness, and they can handle it, but only a few hundred veterans can fight in a battle. The equipment and combat power of the Danyang soldiers are good, but when they think of the enemy they have to face, their morale is completely lost.

Cao Bao was worried that Wang Yu would shake his army with the Danyang soldiers he received, and in turn, thinking of fighting against his fellow villagers and friends, the more than 1,000 Danyang soldiers in Tancheng were also listless.

There is no hope on the base.

After accompanying Wang Yu on a trip to the school field, Zhang Jaw's face became very embarrassed, and the faces of others were not very good-looking. Xu Sheng had the heart to share his worries for the teacher, and explained in a low voice: "The brothers are mainly too tired, not ......."

"Xiang, don't say it!" Zhang Jaw interrupted Xu Sheng, clasped his fists and accused Wang Yu: "The last general is not good at governing the army, please punish the lord." ”

"Forget it, this is also because I didn't think about it enough, and I can't blame it." Wang Yu was indeed a little careless, and Tao Qian let Xuzhou in history. Cao Bao and the others didn't make any changes, so before leaving, his main attention was on Zang Ba and the local Haoqiang, but he didn't expect to be forced to come to the door by Cao Bao and Que Xuan, who had never heard the name, so the war preparations were not sufficient.

If I had thought of it earlier. He will definitely make a different arrangement, use Xu Huang's department, who is more determined in combat effectiveness, to come to Xuzhou, and let Zhang Jaw go to Jibei to assist in defense.

However, by now, it is too late to say anything. He either used the existing resources to fight Cao and Que and stabilize the East China Sea; Either you can only follow Zhuge Liang's advice. There is no other way to avoid the edge for the time being.

While comforting the ashamed open jaw, Wang Yu counted the hole cards in his hand. Start developing a strategy.

"The transportation of money and food can be stopped...... "As he thought, one order after another was issued like a stream.

"Stop? The lord is worried that it will be too late...... In fact, more manpower can be called......"

Tao Qian stockpiled grain in the mountains, in order to be secret, Maling Mountain is not high. But the mountains stretch for more than 200 miles from north to south. Not to mention hiding money and grain in it, even if it hides tens of thousands of troops, it is not impossible. However, it's easy to hide things little by little, but it's hard to move them out.

Before, Wang Yu thought about whether he could grab some time, transport all the money and grain into the city, and then fight a battle to defend the city, waiting for Langya Yulin's rear team and Xu Huang to come to reinforcements.

This work is in charge of Pang Tong, so far about thirty percent of the work has been completed, and now Wang Yu suddenly ordered to stop, Pang Tong thought that the progress was too slow, which caused his dissatisfaction, so he felt very panicked.

Wang Yu shook his head and explained: "It's not that problem, Tancheng is a big city in Xuzhou, if you don't mobilize the military and civilians in the city to assist in defense, the root defense is not thorough, and now the morale of the army is like this, and it is more dangerous to mobilize the army and the people to assist in defense, so you can only give up defending the city and take reliable troops to fight a decisive battle outside the city." ”

"That's ...... Will there be too much disparity in strength? Zhuge Liang reminded softly.

Even counting the Zhangjaw army, which was sluggish in fighting spirit, the Qingzhou army was only 4,000, and it was a bit reluctant to face an enemy five times its size in the field. You must know that Cao Bao's main force is the world-famous Danyang pawn! The quality of Que Xuan's soldiers is not low, and the equipment is even more exaggerated, no matter how you look at it, there are no obvious weaknesses.

"In such a war, it is useless to just look at the numbers on the surface, and you have to fight to know the victory or defeat." Wang Yu waved his hand and looked at Zhang Jaw, with a trusting look in his eyes: "It's just that the army is not strong, it's just a trivial matter, I believe in Junyi, and I also believe in the athletes of Jizhou." ”

"The last general is willing to lead his troops to fight to the death!" Zhang Zhang's heart was hot, he took a step forward, and asked for battle with pride.

"Your courage is commendable." Wang Yu bowed slightly, but did not respond enthusiastically, his voice was slightly cold, and military orders came out one after another.

"From now on, all the armies will enter to rest, and Zilong and Chang will send men to guard...... Ordered Gao Tang to cancel the plan for the Wind and Fire Cavalry to go south to rescue...... At the same time, he ordered Gongming to lead an army of 10,000 to immediately go south, capture Pei and Liu's two counties, suppress the army of Pengcheng, and not let the enemy in Yuzhou have a chance to sneak over! Also, pick a few prestigious people from among the county soldiers to meet me......"

"Whoa!"

"Yes!"

With the issuance of these military orders, a huge storm that affected Yan, Henan, and Xu prefectures began to converge and swept away.

……

The mountain rain is coming, but Cao Bao is in high spirits.

"Hahahaha, the world says that King Taishan Wang Pengju is like a god, and when he really sees it, he realizes that the rumors are distorted. He's really good at military training, but in the end, he's just good at playing some intrigues. As Chen Beijia said, as long as you deal with it calmly, not impatiently, and suppress it with a dignified and upright teacher, what waves can children make? It's a pity, it's a pity......"

"What's the pity?" Among Tao Qian's confidants, Xu Tan was the best at making fun, and as soon as he heard Cao Bao's words, he understood what the other party meant.

Cao Bao shook his head and said: "It's a pity that Xu Gongqing and Yuan Chu are both heroes in the world, but one was fished in troubled waters on the battlefield, and the other was negligent in taking precautions. was attacked by a child, so that his reputation was lost, and his life could not be saved...... In the final analysis, it's all due to pride. ”

"Makes sense." Zhang Zhen also stroked his palms and smiled: "Conspiracy and trickery are indeed not omnipotent, as long as you stabilize your position and do not show flaws, even if you suffer a small loss, you will not waver, and in the end you will panic, and it can only be the enemy who loses your ground." Leopard. This time, we are going to be famous all over the world, if we can capture Wang Yu'er just like that, then ......"

He said that he was proud, and began to think about it. It almost drooled. Xu Tan is not much stronger, with a red face and red ears, as if he has just done something bad. Cao Bao was very calm, but from the light in his eyes, it could be seen that he was also very excited.

"Ahem," the more the three bales talked, the more outrageous they became. Chen Jue couldn't stand it anymore, coughed lightly, drew attention to himself, and said slowly: "Three generals." It's not too late to discuss the celebration after the completion of the celebration, and now is it better to discuss the strategy carefully? ”

"What is there to discuss?" Zhang Yu waved his hand impatiently, and then poked his finger the map: "Wang Yu'er has already saved his thoughts of escaping. Otherwise, why did he leave all the county soldiers in the city and run to the mountains with his descendants? Isn't it just to make it easier to escape? ”

"yes." Xu Tan also chimed in: "He has exhausted all means. But I can't help us, I already have the intention of retreating, but I am afraid of losing face, so I hold on. He knew that the soldiers in Xuzhou were unreliable, so he left them in the city, if the army arrived, as soon as a few of us shouted, the city would open and surrender, then wouldn't he have an excuse to run? ”

Chen Qi interrupted Xu Tan's endless boasting and asked, "So, General Xu agrees with the old man's point of view and agrees that your army will attack the city?" ”

Xu Tan's face suddenly darkened.

The smile on Cao Bao's face was gone: "Mr. Chen, why are you so stubborn!" If you want to convince, you should also convince Que Xuan, since he is an alliance army, he has to show some sincerity, you can't just let us contribute, watch it yourself, right? ”

Chen Jue still has to argue: "But ......"

"No, but!" Cao Bao waved his hand and said in a cold voice: "Mr. Chen, you must know that Jiang is now the main force that takes the initiative to face Wang Yu, and it is the greatest pressure to bear, why are you still entangled?" In short, this matter will never be compromised! ”

At this moment, the army was only the last fifty miles away from Tancheng, and judging from the information fed back from the front, Chen Qi believed that Wang Yu intended to fight, and formulated a strategy based on intelligence. But Cao Bao and the three of them disagreed, neither agreeing with Chen Qi's views nor disliking his strategy.

Intelligence shows that Wang Yu has divided his troops. The Xuzhou army was left to defend the city, and the descendants of Qingzhou went up to Maling Mountain and established a defensive position on the mountain.

Chen Jue's countermeasure was to concentrate the main force first, that is, Cao Bao's 15,000 army to attack the city, and Que Xuan's troops confronted Wang Yu to contain the Qingzhou army. After capturing Tancheng, the two armies either joined forces in one place, or attacked from both sides to attack the Qingzhou army on Maling Mountain.

But Cao Bao and the three were very resistant to this plan.

Although Chen Qi's reason sounded good, it was said that the defenders in the city and Cao Bao's army were robes, and the fighting spirit would not be too strong when they fought, and after finding out that something could not be done, they might surrender quickly. Without Tancheng, the Qingzhou army suddenly became a lone army, and under the attack of the two armies, at most it could only try to retreat with its whole body, and would not continue to be entangled in the East China Sea.

Cao Bao and others agree with these truths, but the problem is that the actual situation must be taken into account, and things are not so simple.

Repelling Wang Yu is just the beginning, the Qingzhou army will not stop in the future, and it will be his own people who will bear the brunt of it when the time comes. For the future, this battle must not only strike the enemy as hard as possible, but also preserve its strength and maximize its benefits.

The defenders of the city could indeed surrender in the end, but before that, eighty percent of them had to go through hard fighting. After all, before Tao Qian's death, Wang Yu rushed to Tancheng, and the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city would not be too high, but it must be above the level.

You must know that the consumption of siege warfare is very large, how did Yuan Shao lose in the first place? Didn't he consume too much strength in Gaotang City, so that he didn't have enough troops to defend the riverbank, and finally was attacked by Wang Yu?

What's more, the oil and water in Tancheng are too small.

If you want to make a profit in this battle, you can only count on the amount of money and grain that Tao Qian hid. Tancheng's intelligence is very clear, the Qingzhou army carried about 30% of the money and grain into the city, and after finding that it was too late to finish, Wang Yu simply became a boy who scattered wealth and distributed all the money and grain in the city to the soldiers and civilians in the city.

This made Cao Bao very depressed.

On the one hand, Wang Yu's wealth improved the morale of the soldiers and civilians in Tancheng, making them more active and more warlike when defending the city. On the other hand, after conquering Tancheng, Cao Bao could not get enough benefits.

That's right, if the money and food are in the hands of the people, he can rob them. But the problem is that he came to seize the East China Sea in order to be a prince, so that there will be peace and stability here for a long time, and as soon as he enters the city, he will rob things, regardless of his reputation or anything, this people's will must be pounced on to the end.

The people's hearts are gone, after the defeat of Tancheng, Wang Yu patted his ass and left, turned around and led the army to find a field, the inside should be combined with the outside, the internal and external troubles, how can he resist, and who will he talk to?

If he didn't know the existence of this money and food, Cao Bao wouldn't be bothered, but now he can't help but worry.

Contained by Que Xuan?

As soon as the city was captured, Wang Yu ran again, and Que Xuan went up the mountain, and the money and grain in the mountain were all Que Xuan's? Close to the water!

Therefore, although he respected and admired Chen Jue very much, Cao Bao still resolutely disagreed with the other party's plan. said that unless Que Xuan was willing to obey his command, attack the city together, and he would send troops to contain Wang Yu, he could only attack the mountain by himself.

Of course, it was impossible for Que Xuan to do this, and he and Cao Bao were allies with the same interests, not vassals. What's more, he is the Son of Heaven, although he is only self-appointed, but he can't be a low-level follower, right?

So, on this issue, it was so frozen.

Chen Jue's persuasion was fruitless, and in the end he was helpless, so he could only sigh and tell Cao Bao and the three of them some precautions when fighting, and went on his own regardless of the retention of the three.

Of course, Cao Bao was very unhappy, but he could only let it go, shook his head, put aside the unhappiness in his heart, and continued to discuss with the two partners, looking forward to a better future.