Looking at the generals under the tent, Cao Cao suddenly felt a little dazed.

Frankly speaking, he is very envious of Wang Yu, and what he envies most is not Wang Yu's reputation and achievements, but the vote of Wenchen and military generals under the command of the other party.

Cao Cao's concept of employment is very different from Yuan Shao's, and he attaches more importance to effectiveness than the glamorous superficial articles of fame and origin.

Celebrities, of course, there must be, these people who were born in a family and received orthodox education since childhood are very well-established, and they like to talk a lot, but there are also many pragmatic people.

In addition to the skills that can be directly measured by knowledge and resourcefulness, the latent power of celebrities and scholars, and the ability to dance with long sleeves are also necessary to stabilize the place, select talents, and raise resources.

However, as the saying goes, there are no two masters in the family, and there are no two respects, and it is definitely not possible to have no celebrities in the camp, but too many are also troublesome. These people are used to being arrogant, and there are very few people like Xun Wenruo who have a modest temperament and are the same on the outside. In peacetime, there is still a need to fight for the upper hand, but in the army, there are still few dramas of fighting for power and profit?

Jizhou after Yuan Shao took over is the most typical example.

If it weren't for Guo Tu's gang fanning the flames, how could the situation in Hebei become so bad?

Frustrated, resourceful, prestigious, and has an excellent view of the overall situation, he is a well-deserved talent of Wang Zuo; Yan and Wen are brave and good at fighting; Koji is righteous and not afraid of death; Zhangjaw, Zhiyong, Shuangquan; Gao Ran is calm and resolute...... If Yuan Shao didn't transfer Fu Zhu back to Yecheng and didn't deprive him of his military power, it would be difficult to say whether Long Cao would win or lose that battle.

Although Wang Yu's paper armor is wonderful, it is not really invincible, if the Hebei celebrities do not intrigue, let alone the paper armor, even if Wang Yu makes tens of thousands of pairs of iron armor against the sky, what can it do?

Therefore, Cao Cao has always been quite cautious about the appointment of celebrities, and among the staff recruited, they can really be called famous in the world, but Xun Yu and a few other people, most of them are just local heroes with little prestige.

Moreover, these celebrities do not have much real power in their hands, and their responsibilities are just to counsel military affairs. Competing for the limelight, no problem, as long as there is restraint and this atmosphere is not brought to the army.

There are only two kinds of people he really appoints, relatives and Hanshi.

It's not that he doesn't know the disadvantages of cronyism, it's really that his relatives have helped him so much in the process of starting his family that he can't ignore it at all. And his relatives do have the ability, and the same is true of the world, so there is no reason why he doesn't want to.

However, with the expansion of power, the disadvantages of this way of employing people have gradually been revealed. To put it simply, it is the lack of clarity between the superior and the inferior, which makes his authority shake, as it is now.

Han Shi is Cao Cao's favorite type of talent, these people come from humble backgrounds, are very good at grasping and cherishing opportunities, are very strict in executing orders, and have a very good attitude.

Yuan Shao's suspicion of frustration is actually an inevitability. If it were Cao Cao, he would be worried, but his handling methods may be more exquisite, not as simple and rude as Yuan Shao, which makes people see through it at a glance.

The prestige of the frustrated grant in Jizhou is too great, the network is too extensive, Yuan Shao's seizure of Jizhou depends on this, how can he rest assured that he will entrust all the military power to the hands of the frustrated grant? He was also worried about frustration, so he would give him a way to repay him.

If he is frustrated, Yuan Shao will not have this kind of worry, he does not have enough connections, even if he has tens of thousands of elite soldiers, at most he is trapped in one place, but how easy is it to sweep Jizhou?

However, Yuan Shao paid too much attention to it, and he couldn't look down on those who came from poor backgrounds, so he had to continue to struggle.

But Cao Cao doesn't have these bad problems, he likes to appoint Han Shi very much, and his trouble is that this kind of person is not easy to find.

Baume & Mercier is easy to find, famous, and there are people to help recommend, and it is difficult for you to see them. But these cold men are in trouble, they don't have in-depth contact, they don't provide them with a stage to perform, who can discern the pearls? Looking for it in the vast sea of people, isn't that a needle in the bottom of the sea?

In this regard, Cao Cao's progress is far behind Wang Yu, until now, there are only a few achievements such as Dian Wei, Le Jin, Shi Lian, etc., which are more than a little worse than the gathering of heroes in Qingzhou, which is what he envies Wang Yu the most.

King Taishan's family is not prosperous, and several relatives are also mediocre, so there is no status of relatives in the Qingzhou army; Wang Yu's policy is different, except for the locals of Qingzhou, he is not very attractive to other celebrities; But he just has good eyesight, and he pulls out talents from the ranks and recklessness, and when he finds a quasi, he is both capable and loyal.

This extraordinary vision brought great convenience to Wang Yu, Cao Cao investigated privately, and found that the Qingzhou Assassin Mansion and the General Shogunate operated with great efficiency, no matter how big the matter, as long as Wang Yu consulted with a few key people, the entire Qingzhou would operate around the established strategy.

Tuntian, the early preparation took only a short two or three months, last winter was still fighting with the yellow scarf, and in the spring, hundreds of Tuntian points in the entire Qingzhou have been operational! The harvest in autumn is not as good as in Qingzhou before the turmoil, but it is a world of difference compared to the middle and ordinary years.

In just over half a year, one government decree after another was carried out in an orderly manner. Because the time is still short, I haven't seen much effect, but this efficiency alone is enough to make people marvel.

To have such efficiency, in the final analysis, is still the improvement brought by the good use of people.

Wang Yu said a word, Qingzhou all obeyed it, and of course they would put forward opinions, but they were all put forward from the perspective of picking up the missing and filling in the gaps. Whether it will be adopted or not, there will be no battle of will, everyone is working towards the same goal.

In short, the biggest feature of Qingzhou is that there is no internal friction. Without internal friction, the efficiency is high, the efficiency is high, and the natural soldiers are full of food and food, and they are invincible.

If it was in Qingzhou, even if the battle was lost, would anyone shout at Wang Yu in front of everyone?

Of course not. Even if there is, it will not be on the military discussion.

Cao Cao thought to himself that he was not a very rigid person, if his subordinates had any grievances or dissatisfaction, when he yelled a few times in private, he would only treat it as a breeze and would not take it to heart at all. And Xiahou Yuan, the clan brother, yelled at him in public, this is not a good temper, and he can deal with it if he can bear it.

If you change to Le Jin and others, you will definitely not be so unruly, you really don't know the general situation, and you can also march to the law and establish authority;

If it were Xun Yu, Cheng Yu and others, they would not have made this kind of mistake at all, even in private, when they raised objections, they talked in circles, let alone roaring in public?

That is, these relatives, with their palms and backs of their hands, consciously take advantage of the reason, let themselves not beat, nor scold, can only patiently show them the facts, reason, and are very depressed.

But there is no way, this is the reality, without Wang Yu's magical vision and desperate energy, he can only make progress in compromise and steer the situation in the right direction little by little.

"Have the two generals arrived here?"

Cao Cao's turn was really sudden, and the guards were stunned for a moment before replying: "Back to the lord, the two generals are listening to orders outside the tent." ”

"Quick, get them in...... No, so-and-so went to invite it personally. As he spoke, Cao Cao turned around and walked quickly to the door, without looking at Xiahou Yuan and Cao Ren, as if he had forgotten the conflict just now.

"Meng ......" Xiahou Yuan was in a hurry, and he raised his hand to stop people.

Don't talk about big things, but go out to meet them in person? Why? This defeat was lost on these two wastes, and if you don't give them a look, it's already for the sake of the alliance, is it worth giving them such respect?

On the side, Cao Ren's hand was quick, and he grabbed Xiahou Yuan with great force, and with Xiahou Yuan's strength, he couldn't break free for a while.

Cao Ren leaned beside Xiahou Yuan and said in a low voice, "Miaocai, what are you going to do?" ”

"Of course, you have to make it clear, how can you ...... so unclear"

"If you don't say it, sooner or later the lord will explain that no one treats you as a dumb person. Now it's in the military discussion, where do you put the lord's face so loudly? Cao Ren's loss was not big, so he was much calmer than Xiahou Yuan, he had already seen that Cao Cao's face was wrong, and what he said just now was also to excuse Xiahou Yuan.

Cao Cao said that he was going to greet the Lu family brothers, but in fact, he wanted to take this opportunity to bring the embarrassing atmosphere just now, so as not to let Xiahou Yuan be too ignorant of advancing and retreating, forcing Cao Cao to have to march in order to maintain his dignity.

Cao Ren understood this truth at a glance, and naturally wanted to stop Xiahou Yuan and prevent him from continuing to entangle, making the scene worse.

This hat was a bit too big, Xiahou Yuan immediately calmed down, and hurriedly explained: "I didn't mean to offend the lord, I just ......"

Seeing that Brother Lu Kuang had arrived at the door, Cao Cao greeted him with a smile on his face, and Cao Ren said quickly: "I know what you mean, the lord has no plans."

In comparison, don't say much, wait until you go to Meng De to apologize in private. ”

"It's fine." Xiahou Yuan thought about it and nodded hurriedly.

"The general of the defeated army, how dare General Lao Cao greet him in person, a capital crime, a capital crime." Seeing Cao Cao greet him in person, Lu Kuang was also taken aback, and hurriedly bowed down, panicking.

Lu Xiang didn't dare to hesitate, and bowed to the ground with his brother, but he was surprised and happy in his heart, secretly praising his brother for being like a god, Cao Cao really treated him politely, and his intention was very sincere.

It seems that not only will this catastrophe be passed safely today, but maybe it will be a blessing in disguise!

Cao Cao shook his head, and blamed himself with a frustrated face: "Eh, today's battle is due to the unfavorable command and scheduling, and he fell into Wang Yu's scheme, so he was defeated and returned, and the two generals lost their troops and lost their generals. Mingguang and Zisheng are so polite, they are ashamed. ”

"Why did the general say that?" Xiahou Yuan's questioning, Brother Lu Kuang heard some of it outside, and more than half of the surprise on his face at this moment was pretended, and the other half was the confusion about Cao Cao's repeated emphasis on the plan.

"Youzhou is vast and sparsely populated, the people are fierce, and the enemy is Xianbei and Wuhuan Zhuhu. Zhuhu grew up in the desert grassland, coming and going like the wind, and the foot soldiers fought against the enemy, and there were many disadvantages in the original, so the elite of Youzhou, the cavalry, and the foot soldiers were at most just guarding the city and maintaining law and order......"

This time, Cao Cao didn't change the topic, but what he said was not much related to the previous topic on the surface, but after careful consideration, he knew what he meant.

The decision to face the battle was made by Cao Cao, and the generals had no intention of objecting, because Gongsun Zhan's main force was not there, and no one took the Youzhou infantry led by Tian Kai in their eyes. As a result, before the Qingzhou army could make a move, Cao Jun was beaten to a pulp, and Cao Cao ordered to retreat.

Obviously, Cao Cao has always said that the plan should have something to do with it.

"Where did Tian Kai's subordinates come from? However, it is just to recruit the rebels and entrap the county soldiers of the counties, follow behind the Qingzhou army, and fight a tailwind battle, what can they do? ”

Cheng Yu glanced at Xiahou Yuan meaningfully, then calmly stepped out of the queue and asked: "Then today, Tian Kai's number is slightly smaller, but he is on a par with General Miaocai, is this the trick that the lord said?" ”

"Actually, it's not a trick," Cao Cao waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "I have already seen the same trick, but I didn't notice it for a while, but I suffered a big loss in the same trick, which is really embarrassing." ”

"Same trick?" Xiahou Yuan was first persuaded by Cao Ren, and then got a hint from Cheng Yu, and he wanted to listen to it in peace, but when he heard this, he still couldn't help but wonder: "Isn't it the first time we've fought with Wang Yu?" ”

He is so irritable today, in fact, it is also related to the opponent, since Wang Yu's debut, he has never lost a battle on the frontal battlefield, and he has the momentum of being the number one general in the world. Whoever can defeat Wang Yu will be able to pocket this title, just ask the martial artists in the world, who is not tempted?

On the other hand, if you lose, it will be bad, and it will become a ladder for Wang Yu to reach the top, nailed to the pillar of shame, and he will never be able to turn over.

Even if the Hebei War finally encircled on all sides and solved Wang Yu, the reputation of Cao's generals would be over. It's like the generals of the Han army against Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu eventually lost to Liu Bang, but how many people think that Liu Bang, or which general of the Han army, is the first general in the era of Chu and Han rivalry?

Thinking about this, his impatience can be understood.

Cao Cao's face was gloomy, and he sighed: "The person who used this trick for the first time, although he was not Wang Yu, but in the end he was defeated by Wang Yu, and under that person, our army was defeated, and Cao was laughed at by the world because of this." ”

"Could it be...... Xu Rong Xu Gongqing? "The battle of Xingyang is Cao Cao's eternal pain.

The first time he commanded a large-scale battle, the first time he was defeated, and the whole army was annihilated, Xiahou Yuan has been by his side since Cao Cao started his army, how can he not know? If it weren't for the fact that this battle was lost too badly, and all the family funds accumulated when the army was raised were lost, everyone would not have been so difficult in the past two years, and even the protons were sent out, so they barely took Dongjun.

"What does the lord mean...... Wang Yu scattered the Qingzhou soldiers and mixed them into the Youzhou soldiers? No wonder, no wonder the Youzhou Army can unfold a pentagonal plum blossom array, and it can be used freely, gathering and scattering freely, and it has a faint momentum of strengthening the army! ”

Suddenly interjected, it was Lejin who asked and answered himself.

Le Jin came from a humble background, and was a veteran who was promoted from the ranks when Cao Cao raised his army. Although his status in the army was not high, he was deeply trusted by Cao Cao and often discussed military issues. The defeat of Xingyang made Cao Cao unforgettable, and he and Le Jin summed up lessons and deduced repeatedly.

Cao Cao was in command of the coalition army at that time, and the people's hearts were uneven and the command was inconvenient, which was the main reason for the defeat. However, Xu Rong's soldiers and horses were also patchworked, including the northern army from Luoyang, the border army from Chang'an, and the county soldiers brought by Dong Zhuo from Hedong and Hongnong.

At that time, Cao Cao could directly command about 10,000 troops, and his descendants also had 5,000 private soldiers; Before being promoted to Zhonglang General by Dong Zhuo, Xu Rong was an ordinary miscellaneous general, and the soldiers and horses directly under him were about the same as school captains, only more than 2,000.

In terms of army composition, the two sides were on the same starting line, or Xu Rong was still relatively backward, but the performance of the two sides in that battle was very different.

Xu Rong's troops were like arms and fingers, and they moved freely, and when they launched a fierce attack, they could even use the legendary formation of the car suspension formation with ease. It's easy to put on a position, and it's easier to talk about it on paper, but it's not easy to actually use it on the battlefield.

That's not a problem that can be solved by reading a few military books, waving your hand, and giving a few random orders.

How can the army perform the most complex operations with the simplest orders? If the fit of the generals is not enough, can the orders of the Chinese army be conveyed to the officers and men of the whole army? The army is not well trained, and even if the command is in place, can the soldiers keep up with the command?

If these problems are not solved well, even if you know more about the art of war, you are just a Zhao Kuo.

With Dong Zhuo's suspicion of foreign generals, it is impossible for Xu Rong to have too much time to control the troops, so how did he build a miscellaneous army into an elite division?

This problem bothered Cao Cao for a long time, and finally relied on Zhong Xuan's help to learn the truth from Hu Zhen, the party.

"I was only focused on scheming with Wang Yu, thinking about how to achieve the strategy of dividing and attacking together, and beware of his ambushes in the hidden shadows, but I didn't expect him to make a fuss in the Youzhou army."

Cao Cao sighed deeply and said: "Wang Pengju has always been good at using suspicious soldiers, since he has set the target on our army, he will not have no backhand, our army will fall behind as soon as the battle is engaged, if you don't retreat quickly, wait for the battle to stalemate, and then it will be too late to retreat, alas!" ”

For a while, all the generals were silent, only Xiahou Yuan muttered unwillingly: "Not necessarily, since the Qingzhou army has been scattered into the Youzhou foot soldiers, at most there will be Zhao Yun's ambush soldiers, the front formation can't be stopped, so they will change the formation, and it is not known who will kill the deer." ”

The essence of the yoke formation is that each formation echoes each other, the front army retreats, if the enemy pursues, it will be flanked by the rear army and the middle army, and after the front army stabilizes the position, it will also join the counterattack, rather than being defeated and retreating and becoming untenable. Therefore, even if Lu Kuang's right wing completely collapses, there is nothing to be afraid of, just let Cao Ren go up.

Liu Dai is not very bold, the reinforcements may come very slowly, and Wang Yu may also use suspicious soldiers to contain him, making him suspicious. But in the same way, Wang Yu has no backhand, whether Zhao Yun's cavalry is near the battlefield or not, can he still count on Liu Bei, who is confronting Gao Ran, to help?

"It's not that simple." Cao Cao sneered: "The heavy armor infantry of the Qingzhou Army is still in the Chinese army, and when the two armies are fully fighting, he personally leads the forward battalion to attack our Chinese army, who can be it?" Can you? ”

"......" Xiahou Yuan stopped talking, he couldn't even deal with the Youzhou Army mixed with the Qingzhou Army, and the huge reputation of the Urging Front Battalion was fought one battle at a time, how could he have the confidence to win?

Seeing that Xiahou Yuan's face was flushed, Cheng Yu was afraid that he would lose his temper again, so he hurriedly interrupted: "Lord, our army is retreating, and Liu Yuanjun is ...... This momentum of the Eastern Front has been broken, what can be done about it? ”

Cao Cao was worried that Wang Yu would set up an ambush and attack Liu Dai halfway, but at the same time, he was also worried that Liu Dai was too careful and refused to come to help, so he was very entangled. As a result, after suffering defeat, the letter from Liu Dai's side also arrived, saying that he had discovered the Qingzhou army that appeared in the direction of Licheng, so he didn't dare to move lightly, and sure enough, he didn't come to reinforce it.

What Cao Cao feared the most really happened.

Next, Cao Cao can only choose to withdraw from the army, or carry Wang Yu in Leping, Liu Dai's reinforcements may come back, but time is difficult to say. For Cao Cao, the situation was quite unfavorable.

"There's no way, the situation is pressing, it's difficult to get all the credit, instead of taking the risk of fighting, why don't you take a step back, keep the battle line for the time being, and wait for the first brother to sweep away Montenegro."