Night was about to fall, and tens of thousands of Cao's troops gradually retreated into the camp.

It was true that the camp had become very crowded, but the left battalion was flooded, and the right battalion became the direction of the enemy's main attack, and they had to concentrate their men and horses in the right battalion.

At this time, in the main camp of the Cao army, Xiahoudun discussed with Guo Jia, Dong Zhao, Mao Jue and others whether to raid Yuan's camp tonight.

"The Yuan army is coming, temporarily encamped, there are definitely not many defense facilities, maybe it can be a surprise attack."

Guo Jia came up with this brilliant idea.

Xiahoudun began to hesitate at this time, and said: "Before Sikong left, he told us not to let us go out, what if we were ambushed by Yuan Jun?" ”

Guo Jia explained: "The war is changing, the situation and the situation of the war are also changing, and it is not a good thing to blindly defend, which will only keep us under attack, and sometimes it is more useful to launch an attack or two than to defend." ”

"Hmm."

Dong Zhao also nodded slightly: "It is indeed a way to attack and defend, if the Yuan army has already formed a village, it may be difficult to attack it, but now they are just preparing to attack in a big way, and their foothold is not stable, so they can try." ”

Xiahoudun thought for a while and said, "Then I will personally lead the army?" ”

"No."

Mao Jue stopped: "Sikong is not here, how can the general move lightly as the commander of the first army?" can make Zhang Liao lead the army to attack the Yuan camp, and Cao Chun led the tiger and leopard cavalry to respond. ”

After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao began to build his own elite cavalry.

Based on the group of elite cavalry that attacked Wuchao that year, plus Zhong Xuan helped transport a batch of war horses back from Guanzhong, he formed a cavalry of about 5,000 people.

At present, 1,000 people in this army followed Cao Cao to Luoyang, and the remaining 4,000 people were led by Cao Chun, who was called: "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry", which was the elite of the elite.

Hearing the advice of several strategists, Xiahoudun was as good as a stream, and said, "That's okay, I'll let Zhang Liao and Cao Chun go." ”

"Maybe we can rob the grain road?"

Dong Zhao also made a suggestion: "Yuan Jun has moved the camp to a few miles away from our camp, and their grain route will definitely be lengthened, and if they rob the grain, it may have an effect." ”

Guo Jia shook his head and said: "It's hard to say this, Yuan Jun has more soldiers and horses than us, after the last Guandu, Yuan Shao was much more cautious about grain and grass, Sikong wanted to rob grain several times, but he was resolved, I'm afraid it's not so easy." ”

Dong Zhao said: "Before, they stationed troops in Wating, and the white horse was a stone's throw away from Wating, so it was easy to transport grain and grass. But now that they have migrated such long distances, will it be lengthy to transport them to the front line? ”

From last year to this year, Yuan Shao's attacks were repeatedly repelled by Cao Cao, and both sides wanted to arrange around the grain route and peripheral scouts, wanting to occupy the initiative in the war.

However, Yuan Jun suffered a small loss, so he retreated to the area of Wating, Yanxian, and Weixiang more than 30 miles away, and the grain and grass were also placed in Baima.

The distance from Baima to Wating is very close, and it is certainly not easy to rob grain.

Now that they have arrived in Kuangcheng and stretched the battle line, then for Cao Jun, there may be an opportunity.

Mao Jue said: "Even if you want to rob grain, it can't be today, Yuan Jun has just arrived, and the materials will be abundant, and the rear will not transport grain and grass in a short time." ”

"That's just as well."

Dong Zhao thought about it and didn't say anything more.

"Report!"

Just then, a soldier came to report.

"Come in."

Xiahoudun shouted.

The soldier entered the tent, knelt down on one knee and said, "General, the water flow in the left camp has begun to fall, and now the land has been exposed. ”

"It's not good, they're definitely going to attack the left battalion!"

Xiahoudun jumped up at that time, and said in a deep voice with an extremely solemn face: "Once the left battalion is broken, they can come from both roads at the same time, and our army will be in danger." ”

Cao's army camp spread along the line, mainly with the left battalion, the middle battalion, and the right battalion, and the rest also had rear battalions, but they were all behind these three battalions.

Especially now that the left battalion is submerged, the rear grain route of the Cao army is basically pulled from Pingqiu County to the middle and right battalions of the front line, and then transported to the left camp through the internal network connected between the large camps.

This also means that the camp, which stretches for several kilometers, is like a beehive, and is connected.

Once the left battalion was penetrated by Yuan's army, then they could launch an internal attack on the middle and right battalions from the left flank of the Cao army, which was a great threat to the Cao army.

"Leave it alone"

Guo Jia pondered for a moment, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "The left battalion only needs to send a large number of sentries and scouts to investigate, and I don't think they will take the left battalion as the focus of the attack." ”

Xiahoudun was puzzled: "Why is this? ”

Guo Jia said: "The left battalion has been flooded for a month, the land has long been soft, and it is difficult for people and horses to walk in it, I am afraid that this is just a cover for Yuan Shao, and he may send a small group of people to attack the left battalion, and the main direction of attack is the middle camp and the right battalion." ”

"But when the defense force of the left battalion is so scarce, even if they only send one or two thousand people to attack, it will be difficult to prevent it."

Mao Jue was a little worried: "Once the left camp is lost, we will be in prison." ”

"Hmm"

Mao Jue's worries made Guo Jia also fall into deep thought.

In fact, this is still a contest between the strategists of the two sides, as well as a psychological game.

Guo Jia thought that Yuan's army might still focus on the right camp, so he still focused on holding the right camp.

But if they were frustrated with Tian Feng, they guessed Guo Jia's psychology and went the other way and attacked the left camp at night, they would be very passive.

Even if the land is difficult, it doesn't need too many people, one or two thousand is enough.

Fu Zhu once said that Yuan Jun's personal quality was not as good as Cao Jun's, so 80,000 against 50,000 should belong to the balance of power.

But the problem is that this balance of power depends on who is in command.

is also a 100,000-strong army, and there is a huge difference between Han Xinlai's command and Liu Bang's command.

Although Cao Cao is definitely not as good as Han Xin, the soldier of others, Yuan Shao can't compare with Liu Bang, so the gap in the middle is the same.

Previously, Cao Cao personally commanded and fought against Yuan Shao, and the gap between 80,000 and 50,000 people could be shortened through excellent tactical fighting and superb personal qualities of soldiers.

But now that Cao Cao is gone, he has lost his backbone, the left battalion has been submerged again, and the morale and morale of Cao's army have also been damaged, and the combat effectiveness will seriously decline.

At this time, the huge difference in numbers between the two sides is reflected.

After all, they have 30,000 more troops than you.

Therefore, in this case, once there is a tactical hole, it is fatal.

But Cao Cao took Xun You away.

The strategists in Cao's camp worked closely with each other and cooperated very well.

Among them, Guo Jia is responsible for the enemy's psychology, Xun Yu Chengyu is responsible for tactical play, and Xun Yu, Dong Zhao, and Mao Yu are responsible for strategic planning.

Everyone connected with each other and communicated with each other, and finally helped Cao Cao find the perfect solution.

Now Cheng Yu is not here, and Xun Yu is not here.

In addition to being able to analyze the psychology of the enemy, Guo Jia couldn't come up with a better response tactic.

Even if he later proposed the tactic of a surprise attack on Liaodong, but in addition to accurately grasping Liu Biao's psychology that time, the actual so-called tactics of the so-called soldier and god speed almost did not kill Cao Cao.

Dong Zhaomao's strategic planning is no less than Xun Yu's, but what is needed now is not strategic planning, but to come up with a solid tactical plan.

So all three of them were a little embarrassed.

In the end, it was Xiahoudun who said: "Then send another 3,000 people over in the left camp." Now that the left battalion is all muddy, even if the enemy attacks in a big way, it may not be able to break through immediately. ”

The three of them looked at each other, then nodded and said, "This is the safest way." ”

At that moment, Xiahoudun dispatched troops and sent 3,000 people to the left camp, and the left camp also left 5,000 men and horses, so that there were still 8,000 people left. Although there are still many empty camps, it is enough to hold the outer camps.

In addition, he gave orders to Zhang Liao and Cao Chun, ordering them to gather their troops and horses, and take advantage of the unstable foothold of Yuan's army to launch a tentative night attack, and if they could not succeed, they would immediately withdraw.

After Zhang Liao and Cao Chun received the order, they immediately launched an operation. Thousands of men and horses were ordered, ready to attack the camp at night.

However, what Xiahoudun didn't know was that at this moment, in Yuan Shao's commander's tent, with a few coughs, all kinds of orders were also being given.

Now Yuan Shao spends most of his time recuperating from his body, even when he has a meeting, he disbands the meeting immediately after giving orders to the battalion generals, and at other times, he only discusses things privately with Tian Feng, Guo Tu and others.

Since Guo Tu lost power, Yuan Shao has been following the advice of Fu Zhi and Tian Feng, and he and Cao Jun have been confronting each other for more than half a year from last year to now, and all kinds of preparations are also extremely abundant.

Therefore, when the plan is perfected, the order is directly issued for the soldiers to do. Now the various departments quickly received orders, and the generals withdrew from the camp like a tide.

Tian Feng walked to the end, he was very old, more than sixty years old, his legs and feet were not very good, his hair and beard were gray, he was on crutches, and when everyone was almost gone, he walked to the door of the tent step by step, ready to go back to his camp to rest.

"Yuan Hao."

Yuan Shao was wearing a black silk robe, sitting cross-legged on a blanket, covering his mouth and coughing, and when he raised his head, his face was already very pale, with almost no blood.

Hearing his call, Tian Feng also coughed twice, twisted his body tremblingly, and arched his hand: "Ming Gong." ”

"Yuan Hao, sit down and talk to me."

"Yui."

Tian Feng sat next to him.

Yuan Shao sighed and said: "I used to be unkind, I didn't want to use my life, and I blamed Yuan Hao, Yuan Hao was able to ignore the past suspicions, and was still willing to serve me, which made me feel deeply guilty." ”

Tian Feng smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Since you serve the Ming Duke and should be loyal and observant, this is a matter of old decay." ”

"Alas"

Yuan Shao let out a long sigh, shook his head and said, "This is the last chance to defeat Cao Cao, I know that the destiny of heaven is coming, but I must not fall down here." However, the body is not as good as day by day, and I feel that my time is short, and my heart is uneasy. ”

Tian Feng comforted: "Ming Gong, please cheer up, it's just that a small illness is not a big problem, as long as Cao Cao can be swept away, Ming Gong's heart disease will improve, and his body will naturally be cured." ”

"I hope so."

Yuan Shao nodded noncommittally, and then said, "I want to be the heir, what do you think?" ”

"That's exactly how it should be."

Tian Feng hurriedly said: "Since ancient times, there have been many heirs, no matter how bad it is, it should be established as virtuous, the son Tan is the eldest son, and he is virtuous and wise, and has the style of a bright man, how can he be young and not virtuous?" ”

"Hmm."

Yuan Shao said: "I have written an edict, and I will hand it over to Yuan Hao, if I have an accident, Xian Si will please give it to Gong and Yuan Hao." ”

As he spoke, he took out a bamboo slip.

In history, he actually handed over the position to Yuan Tan, and also left an edict to make Yuan Tan his heir.

It was later that the trial and Feng Ji privately changed the edict, which allowed Yuan Shang to succeed to the throne.

Otherwise, it took Cao Cao 5 years from 202 AD to 207 AD to pacify Jizhou, and if there was no dispute between the two Yuan, this time would have to be extended by at least 3 to 5 years.

Tian Feng stepped forward to take this edict, put it in his arms, and said, "Respect the Ming Decree!" ”

"Well, you go and rest."

Yuan Shao waved his hand, his eyes were already very tired, and after closing them, he gently leaned on the wooden collapse, as if he had used up all his strength.

Tian Feng slowly walked out of the tent, looked left and right at the guards at Yuan Shao's door, and left and right, and left by himself.

After a while, Yuan Jun suddenly seemed to become lively.

A large number of soldiers and horses began to move out from the battalions, just as Cao's army wanted to attack at night, and Yuan's army also wanted to attack at night tonight.

Soldiers and horses shuttled back and forth, and countless torches lit up the entire night sky.

It's a summer day, the night sky is blue, and the bright moonlight shines on the land, illuminating the land for kilometers and kilometers.

In fact, Cao Jun wanted to attack at night, just to harass the tired enemy, Xiahoudun also asked Zhang Liao and Cao Chun to try, if it didn't work, they would withdraw immediately, as long as they harassed Yuan Jun so that they couldn't rest well.

After all, a night like this is not suitable for a night raid in itself.

The Yuan army did not attack at night, but chose to raid Cao Ying in a bright and bright way, and they brought a lot of carriages with hay, firewood, and grease on them.

Tian Feng's strategy itself was to take advantage of the fact that the right camp of the Cao army was crowded with a large number of soldiers and horses, and launched a surprise attack to create chaos.

So he almost didn't hide it, just to see if he could burn the fire and cause Cao Jun's nervousness.

As a result, in this case, the soldiers and horses of the two sides attacking each other actually met halfway.

There were no torches on either side.

But the moonlight was too bright, and they could see each other from a few miles away.

Cao's army immediately began to retreat, and Yuan Jun saw that the opportunity could not be missed, and immediately launched a pursuit.

The two sides quickly approached one after the other.

Soon, all kinds of shouts and killings, running sounds, and horses' hooves were endless.

Zhang Liao reacted quickly, and after the guard was broken, he splashed a rain of arrows with the infantry bow, while Cao Chun ordered the cavalry to cover the retreat of the infantry with horse bows.

The two sides exchanged arrows and rained each other, and after briefly repelling Yuan's army, they withdrew to the right camp.

The originally quiet right camp of the Cao army suddenly whined and horned loudly, and the sudden attack of the Yuan army really caught them off guard, and many soldiers did not have time to stand in the proper position to defend, and hurriedly took their weapons and ran out of the camp gate.

With the sound of drums, Yuan's army immediately launched its first attack on the camp outside Cao's camp, using his shield against the rain of arrows, igniting the hay on the rushing cart, and rushing towards Cao's camp.

A large number of Cao's troops were crowded in the right camp, and there were problems with the temporary command, resulting in the offensive of the Yuan army not having much offensive pressure in a short period of time.

Soon the Zhang He camp on the periphery burned down.

Less than two quarters of an hour later, Xiahoudun of the middle camp also got the news, and immediately led the army to support him without hesitation.

The entire periphery of Cao's army was in chaos.

Although they also considered whether Yuan Shao would attack at night, they just didn't expect Yuan Shao's army to come so quickly, and their own army was too bloated, resulting in an untimely response.

The only good news was that while Cao's command was chaotic, Yuan's offensive was also chaotic.

After only the first wave burned the camp of Zhang He's army, they were stopped by the other camps, and then a large number of bows and arrows, bed crossbows, and catapults quickly defeated some of the invading Yuan army.

During the night, the command of both sides was inconvenient, which led to great problems for both sides to fight.

For example, the Yuan army sent 40,000 people over this time, while only a few thousand people fought at the front, and the other 20,000 people split up and attacked other camps all the way south.

Although it did cause chaos to the other camps on the outskirts of Cao's right flank, due to the south, which stretched for several miles, and repeatedly encountered Cao's army's resistance, Cao's army in the rear slowly restored order and began to guard the camp in an orderly manner.

Therefore, at this time, in the north, northeast, and east of Cao Ying's right flank, the entanglement of Yuan Cao's second army was taking place. The whole wilderness was densely packed with enemy and enemy soldiers attacking each other.

The battle was in a state of scorching, and it looked like it was going on, and the fire was spreading rapidly.

But in fact, the quality of the grassroots soldiers of the Yuan army to the middle-level generals is not as good as that of the Cao army, so this raid actually did not achieve Tian Feng's goal of wanting to confuse the Cao army, and when the Cao army recovers, it will be a matter of time before the Yuan army is repulsed.

The two sides are still fighting.

Time passed minute by minute, and no one noticed that when the people were set for three quarters, there were more than 20,000 people and horses quietly approaching the north of Cao Ying, a few kilometers away.

(End of chapter)