And when it comes to strategists, there is naturally something particular about this.

Among the strategists, there are naturally highlands, and the most inferior strategists can only plan for something, the so-called something. The further is to seek people, because the opponent has different plans and calculations, this is called someone. And most of the ministers in today's world have stopped at the second type.

And the strategist's further is a certain country, this step is different, this is a plan in the overall situation, not sticking to the gains and losses of a city and a place, not calculating the loss of a soldier, Chen Gong and Guo Jia are undoubtedly the leaders of this step, and being able to do this is no longer an ordinary strategist, this can be called a strategist, and the ability of a strategist is naturally better than that of a strategist, and the Chu overlord Xiang Yu is almost the master of the Central Plains Fan Zeng, and the mastermind can be seen in the mastermind.

But the mastermind is still not the point, a country is just for the public, and there is naturally a realm for private strategists, the so-called someone, is the first realm, and this is also generally called the necessary ability of the strategist, but this is only the initial stage, the real entry into the house still needs to be scheming, can guess the opponent's thoughts, can see through the hearts of the people, this is the real ability of the strategist, one of the representative is Zhang Liang, Liu Bang helped when he was poor, and drifted away after being called the emperor, which shows that he has already seen through Liu Bang as a person.

And the highest realm of being a strategist is to seek oneself, and from the Qin to the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years, only Zhang Liang has done this, how wise is Chen Ping? This is the difference, the adviser has always been the closest person to the king, and this kind of person is also the most dangerous, the so-called companion is like a tiger, guessing the monarch's thoughts may not be a good thing. Xu Ji clearly remembered Yang Xiu's lesson.

And today, the only mastermind who can seek others and seek oneself is Jia Xu, although Guo Jia is known as a ghost, but there are too many limelights. In this troubled world, the only people who can use such unruliness are Cao Cao and himself.

But having said that, Xu Ji himself also knows that talents like Guo Jia can naturally be used, but it is nothing more than whether they can exert the greatest effect. Xu Ji asked himself if the space and rights given to Guo Jia were large enough. This is also the reason why Guo Jia is now more mature and more feared than in history.

The words are a little far, back to the topic at hand, the appearance of Chen Gong undoubtedly makes Xu Ji a little tricky, although Yanzhou is his birthplace, but Xu Ji knows better that it is impossible for him to completely eradicate the family here, Yanzhou has always been a prosperous place for the family, and his actions in Chen Liu, to put it bluntly, if it were not for his horse name, I am afraid it would not be possible to solve it so easily, which was also completely exposed after his "disappearance", Liang Xi's restructuring did not hurt the foundation of the family, After Xun Yu took office, he undoubtedly relaxed his control over the clan. Although this was expected by Xu Ji, he was quite unexpected, if Chen Gong was just a strategist, Xu Ji was not afraid, but this person was actually the representative of the entire Yanzhou family, and it was he who encouraged Lu Bu in Yanzhou after Cao Cao went to Xuzhou in history to make Cao Cao almost lose his roots.

That's why Xu Ji was so out of shape when he heard the name of Chen Gong. But this is indeed Xu Ji's fault, he actually forgot that there is such a number one figure in Yanzhou who is enough to subvert his foundation.

But everyone present was obviously a little puzzled by Xu Ji's reaction, Gao Shun and Zhang Yan followed the prestige, and the doubts in their eyes were obviously because they didn't understand why Xu Ji had such a big reaction when he heard the name of Chen Gong.

Xu Ji was stunned for a moment, and then understood that Chen Gong was a "thunderous" figure for himself, but this was not the case for them, after all, Chen Gong did not have any great achievements now. But as the saying goes, "those who are good at fighting have no great name", Chen Gong's ability should not be underestimated, so Xu Ji frowned and said: "If Chen Gong takes refuge in Yuan Shu, this matter will not be easy to handle." ”

Gao Shun couldn't help but ask, "Lord." Who is this Chen Gong? ”

Xu Ji looked at the two people with inquiring expressions, and said in a deep voice: "You don't need to know so much about Lu Dao, you just need to know that this person is a strategist at the level of Xu Shu and Xu Yuanzhi." ”

Gao Shun and Zhang Yan looked at each other in shock. I didn't expect Xu Ji to have such a high opinion of this little-known Chen Gong, and he was speechless for a while.

Xu Ji recalled what Chen Gong did in history. He said to the two of them in a deep voice: "Chen Gong doesn't seem to be smart on the surface, and his reaction is always half a beat slower than others. However, this person's overall view is extremely powerful, he should not be under Xun Wenruo, and he can't adapt to changes, but once the whole plan is set, it will be extremely vicious. ”

Gao Shun and Zhang Yan's faces became solemn, if they were according to what Xu Ji said, it seemed that things were really not that simple, you must know that Zhang Miao himself had very little guts, and Yanzhou was so powerful, and now Zhang Miao actually threw himself into Yuan Shu so quickly, if it was said that Chen Gong did not have a plan for the whole article, the two of them would not believe it.

Xu Ji looked at the two of them and smiled: "But we don't have to worry too much, this is only the worst outcome, after all, it is not very likely." ”

Zhang Yan asked inexplicably: "Why did the lord say this?" ”

Xu Ji said with a smile: "First of all, the problem of Yuan Shu, this kid is most interested in the family, Chen Gong is also a child of the family, but unfortunately the reputation is not big, even if Chen Gong wants to take refuge in Yuan Shu, whether Yuan Shu will reuse him is one thing, and the second is Chen Gong, Chen Gong is not allowed to see people, but Yuan Shu's person Chen Gong should know the Tao, so it is not very likely that Chen Gong will take the initiative to throw himself into Yuan Shu." ”

The two nodded in unison.

Xu Ji immediately showed a confident smile and said: "This Chen Gong can't play any tricks, I think that the support of the Yanzhou family to Zhang Yan is the result of this person's encouragement." ”

Zhang Yan's eyes flashed with coldness, and he gritted his teeth and said, "When I catch this person on another day, I will definitely thank this person." ”

Xu Ji smiled: "In this way, I should also thank him." ”

Gao Shun looked at Xu Ji, who explained: "We know that Chen Gong has a very strong sense of the overall situation, and I believe that he must be very clear about this, and he will be proud, a confident person will become arrogant if he is not careful." Now Chen Gong is encouraging the clans of Yanzhou to fully support Zhang Yan, what does this mean? ”

Gao Shun thought for a while, and suddenly realized: "I see! This Chen Palace has already decided that Yanzhou will be in chaos. That's why they act so much, leaving nothing behind. ”

Zhang Yan also said abruptly on the side: "It must be so, if this Chen Gong is such a powerful character." I should have known his name in Yanzhou for a long time, where do I need the lord's awakening? ”

Xu Ji nodded. smiled: "If this is the case, it will be interesting, this Chen Gong seems to think that I, Xu Ji, will not go back to Yanzhou." ”

Gao Shun said with a smile: "I think this Chen Gong has also decided that Mr. Guo Jia and Mr. Liang Xi have different intentions for the lord, so they will act so unscrupulously." ”

Xu Ji nodded, put away his smile, and said in a deep voice: "So I said that Chen Gong must have done a good job in the overall work in the Chenliu area, if there is this person, although Chen Liuben is where I started, but it is only limited to South Chenliu, I think we can't easily move him here in Chenliu." Hmph, it seems that I need to do it myself. ”

Zhang Yan and Gao Shun nodded together, of course, full of confidence in Xu Ji.

Xu Ji remembered something and said with a smile: "How did I forget?" Just now we also talked about Xu Shu Xu Yuanzhi, how can we forget him? Gao Shun, you will send a letter to Yanzhou in my name later, and ask Xun Yu to bring Xu Shu to me. The matter of dealing with Chen Gong is left to Xu Yuanzhi. ”

Gao Shun nodded and said to Xu Ji: "But my lord, didn't Xu Yuanzhi follow Xu Hao in Yanzhou to learn the various systems and military composition of my Yanzhou army?" Call him now. Is the timing right? ”

Xu Ji smiled and said: "The reason why I want to cultivate Xu Yuanzhi is because I value him as a general figure like Liang Xi, Xu Yuanzhi is not just a simple strategist, Xu Yuanzhi himself has a high talent for managing troops and leading the army." I asked him to go to Yanzhou to study, not from scratch, but to understand the differences between my Yanzhou military system and other armies, and it has been two months now. With Xu Yuanzhi's cleverness, he should have mastered the essence of it a long time ago, Zihe and you don't have to worry. What's more, I called Xu Yuan straight this time to let him fight wits with Chen Gong. It wasn't for him to lead the army to fight alone. ”

Gao Shun nodded and stopped talking.

Xu Ji looked at the sand table again, playing with the taste: "As for Yuan Shu's second army. I think it should be in the south of Mangdang Mountain in Xiyang, southeast of Xiangxian and south of Jiuli Mountain Xiao County to deploy a line of defense, after all, our Tun army in Xuzhou Bocai army can cross the river at any time to come to Peiguo, you must know that the road Rencheng County is in our hands, Peiguo is a piece of 'land fighting', Yuan Shu does not have the courage to put an army here, only to retreat to the second, to carry out this kind of aggressive defense with an attack. ”

Gao Shun sneered: "What the lord said is not wrong, not only Peiguo, but now even Shanyang and Fengxian are fighting for land. ”

Zhang Yan snorted coldly: "Shanyang and Feng are not the same, after all, these two cities are backed by Jiuli Mountain, but they are a good place to set up camp. ”

"So," Xu Ji pointed to the sand table with his right hand, and said to the two of them: "The third army of Yuan Shu's army will definitely hold on to Shanyang and Fengxian, once these two places are occupied by Yuan Shu, the Yuan Shu army in these two places can not only echo the Yuan Shu army in Xiao County, completely turning Peiguo into a trap, but also monitor the movements of our Yanzhou army on the other side of the river." ”

Gao Shun nodded and said: "That's right, if our army in Xuzhou wants to turn back and participate in the Yanzhou battlefield, there are only two options, the first is to cross the river directly in Tengxian County and attack Yuan Shu directly, or it is to adopt a roundabout tactic, run to the Lu country in the north, cross Surabaya and Wenshui, and my army to attack the Zhang Yan brothers, the army of pretending to rebel, if Yuan Shu can gain a foothold in Shanyang and Fengxian, it can play the role of killing two birds with one stone, if the Bocai army crosses the river directly, as long as it reaches Peiguo, Yuan Shu's army in Feng County and Xiao County's army would immediately surround Peiguo, making Bocai's army unable to move. If Bocai's army marched north to attack Zhang Yan's army, then Yuan Shu's army in Shanyang would have informed the other armies to move forward quickly to support Zhang Yan's brothers' fake rebels in Dongping. ”

Xu Ji nodded and smiled: "That's right." ”

Zhang Yan snorted coldly: "If Yuan Shu is playing this kind of abacus, I will definitely let him walk around without eating." ”

Xu Ji nodded and said: "There are a lot of articles to be done here, but it depends on the situation, after all, the other party has a strategist like Chen Gong, and we don't know how much influence Chen Gong has on Yuan Shu." Either way, we need to prepare for the worst. ”

The two nodded.

Xu Ji looked at the sand table and said with a smile: "But if you want Shanyang's army to play a role in rapid reporting, then one of Yuan Shu's other two armies should be on the front line of Dongjun, Jiyin, and Dingtao." And the other one should be on the front line of Juye, Qixiang, and Liuxian. ”

Gao Shun nodded and said, "Yuan Shu will definitely arrange it like this, so far." The enemy forces in these two places can not only echo the enemy forces in Shanyang, but on the other hand. Jiyin can monitor Baima and Puyang on the other side of the river, so that Yuan Shu's army can attack and retreat, which is really foolproof. ”

Xu Ji said casually: "Foolproof? Where is the foolproof strategy in this world, what we see now is the stationary march and battle map of Yuan Shu's army. But even if this strategy was formulated by that Chen Gong? Could it be that Yuan Shujun maintained this posture, neither attacking nor retreating? There is no flaw when you are still, but what about when you act? ”

Gao Shun didn't understand what was going on, but Zhang Yan's eyes lit up, because Zhang Yan himself was a master of guerrillas. To put it bluntly, the wind of "Liukou" is still there, before joining Xu Ji, Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army has been fighting in the north and south, and the magic weapon for surprising victory is sports warfare, Xu Ji's words just now can be regarded as speaking to Zhang Yan's heart. ”

Xu Ji looked at Zhang Yan, whose eyes were shining, and said with a smile: "The essence of sports warfare is to effectively mobilize the enemy, figure out the enemy's psychology, and then confuse the enemy. ”

Zhang Yan said excitedly: "What the lord said is extremely true, and it is also said in the Art of War. If you want the enemy to attack, the enemy will not definitely defend, and if you want the enemy to defend, the enemy will not dare to attack. When luring the enemy to attack, even if there are thousands of troops in front of him, the enemy will willingly send them to death. You want the enemy to defend, even if you're only three or five soldiers on patrol. The enemy did not dare to go out of the city either. ”

Gao Shun shook his head and laughed when he heard this, and Xu Ji couldn't help but say to Zhang Yan: "You are half a tune." When you were asked to read earlier, you were more serious but didn't listen? This is the core idea of the "Momentum" in "The Art of War", why did it become so vulgar in your mouth? Is this considered a lack of learning? Gao Shun, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn't help laughing.

Zhang Yan was embarrassed and said: "All in all, that's what it means." ”

Xu Ji looked at Zhang Yan and said in a deep voice: "Old Master Sun's words are very reasonable, whether the two armies win or lose is not just as simple as a head-on battle, we don't want to kill more, because when killing and injuring others, our consumption is also huge, rather than this, it is better to make the opponent's troops lose their combat ability, once the other party loses the ability to fight, not only can the soldiers be used by us, but also our consumption is small, and at the same time, the enemy can be tired of taking care of one and the other, why not?" ”

Zhang Yan admired it in his heart when he heard it, Xu Ji's words could be regarded as speaking to his heart, but if these words were changed to Zhang Yan, he would not be able to say it if he was killed. Therefore, Zhang Yan now admires Xu Ji so much, but Zhang Yan doesn't know what Xu Ji said, these are all summed up by countless military strategists in the military history of later generations, and this kind of tempered theory can certainly stand up to scrutiny.

"However," Xu Ji said to Zhang Yan, "the movement war without a base area is a failure, because there is no way to solve the problem of the army's supply. Zhang Yan was shocked and pondered.

Xu Ji raised his head, looked at the top of the big tent with his hand, and said eloquently: "So, we should be full of confidence in Yuan Shu and Chen Gong this time, Yuan Shu is so happy, his actions are naturally reckless and reckless, and his behavior is ridiculous, this kind of person is the most easy to deceive, as for Chen Gong, it is different, although this person is a strategist, but because he is a slow person, so as long as we have a proper strategy, this Chen Gong can still be played by us." The two nodded, after all, people with slow reflexes are at a disadvantage in complex battles, they can't adapt quickly and flexibly, and this is undoubtedly the way to lose.

Xu Ji looked at Gao Shun and said in a deep voice, "Our task now is to find a way to make Yuan Shu's army reach the position we want him to reach as quickly as possible. ”

Gao Shun nodded and said to Xu Ji: "In this way, Zhang Yan and I will start acting for Yuan Shu tomorrow, so I don't believe that he will not be fooled." ”

Xu Ji remembered something and said to Gao Shun: "It seems that I want to write a letter to Xu Huang, and Xu Huang will delay the attack on the Jingzhou army, at least until our side starts a war with Yuan Shujun." The other party has Chen Gong, if we attack the Jingzhou army for no reason, I think Chen Gong will be suspicious, this person's overall view is really powerful, it is really not easy for him to be the last time, if our intentions are too obvious, I am afraid that Chen Gong will see the truth that our Yanzhou seems to be chaotic and stable. After getting to the worst, Yuan Shu's army withdrew because of this. Didn't we release the boiled ducks? It's a bit more than worth the loss, you say? Gao Shun and Zhang Yan said in unison: "The boiled duck flew? The lord said ...... really right."

Xu Jizhi said that he was "talking nonsense". said to the two: "I think Tian Feng and Fu Zhi are going away from afar anyway, so you might as well let them rest for a few more days." ”

Gao Shun thought for a while and said, "Lord, I don't think it's appropriate to do this thing, because as long as Xu Huang's army attacks Zhang Yun, that Chen Gong will definitely be suspicious, so it's not a good idea to delay the move to Jingzhou." Xu Ji frowned and nodded with Zhang Yan, Gao Shun's words made a lot of sense, so how can Chen Gong no longer doubt it? For a while, there was silence in the big tent, and the three people frowned and thought bitterly. I want to find a solution.

"I know!" Xu Ji finally called out after being the most embarrassed, and the other two were in high spirits and looked at Xu Ji, Xu Ji said confidently: "We can order Xu Huang to lead the army to attack the Jingzhou army immediately after Tian Feng and Fu Zhi arrived in Hedong, the reason is that we have already received the news: Xu Ji was chased and killed by the Jingzhou army in Jingzhou, and this news has reached the ears of our Yanzhou army, so the attack of Xu Huang's army is to take revenge on the Jingzhou army." And in my opinion, it is best to change to the ban to lead the army, and Xu Huang will have another use for leaving me. ”

After listening to it, the two couldn't help but be amazed, this reason is absolutely legitimate. And no one will suspect that Xu Huang's army has other plans. Xu Ji looked at the two of them and said in a deep voice: "There is an advantage to doing this well, that is, it can completely put some people who have been suspicious of my disappearance completely at ease, after all, I have been missing for so long." Yanzhou only issued a missing person notice and offered a reward of thousands of dollars, which really doesn't make sense. What's more, the intelligence system of our Yanzhou Army is so developed, and there has been no action and news of me for such a long time. It doesn't make sense. ”

Gao Shun thought about it sideways, and praised Xu Ji: "What the lord said is very true. This is indeed a suspicious matter. However, let the lord shake a shot like this, no one should be suspicious. ”

Xu Ji was silent, not to mention others Xu Ji felt that this matter would definitely not be hidden from Cao Cao, after all, Cao Cao really knew himself too well, and there were Xun Chengyu waiting for super-first-class strategists around Cao Cao, these people gathered together were simply the staff of the modern army, what could they not guess?

But Cao Cao didn't react, Xu Ji's of course knew that Cao Cao was now busy developing his strength. It's a pity that he can't stop it, not even a name or excuse.

Maybe another person who saw through that he was not missing was Zhou Yu.

Could it be that Sun Ce and Cao Cao began to compete for Jiangdong like this, and first decided the winner or loser?

Xu Ji had a headache when he thought about it, and he really couldn't imagine a reason.

If he can't figure it out, he doesn't want to, Xu Ji simply put aside his chaotic thoughts and said in a deep voice: "In this way, starting tomorrow, the two of you will put on a good show for me, as for Yi, I want him to guard the area of Wuchao and White Horse, and he can't easily fight with him, and he must wait until Xu Shu and Xu Yuan come before he can take action." Gao Shun nodded.

Xu Ji looked at the sand table again, and said in a deep voice: "As for Bocai, I want him to turn around immediately and be ready to intervene in the Yanzhou battlefield at any time." ”

Gao Shun frowned and said, "My lord, it's okay for Bocai to intervene in the Yanzhou battlefield, but Mr. Guo Jia can't pretend to be deaf and dumb and have no reaction, right?" After all, now Bo Cai and Guo Jia are making a show for others to see, and they want others to think that the two are not in harmony. ”

Xu Ji smiled: "Of course Guo Jia can't be indifferent, but I will let him pretend that he has no time to take care of Bocai's withdrawal, don't forget, Chang'an has now appointed Cao Bao as the new Xuzhou assassin, Guo Jia, who is ambitious in the eyes of outsiders and wants to gain a foothold in Xuzhou, how can he give up?" Let Guo Jia deal with Cao Bao now, anyway, sooner or later. ”

After a pause, Xu Ji smiled and said: "And Jia Wenhe has already passed the word, saying that Wang Yun and Lu Bu have been very unhappy because of Cao Bao's matter, and we are just adding a fire now, isn't it interesting?" ”

Gao Shun and the two laughed out loud when they heard this.

Xu Ji said coldly: "Tomorrow, I will set off south with the shadow." ”

The two of them were stunned when they heard this, Xu Ji kept sand and said softly: "My goal is in the Jiuli Mountain, waiting for an opportunity to rob Yuan Shu's back road." ”

Yanzhou Raiders, depending on it.

All that's left is to fight Yuan Shu. (To be continued......)