"I said long ago that among my subordinates, only you know my mind best." Cao Cao laughed twice.
Guo Jia didn't say a word, and nodded thoughtfully.
Cao Cao smiled and stood up: "There is no difference between an enemy and a friend. It is human nature to seek good and avoid evil. So whether Yan Rou surrenders or surrenders, the real decision does not lie with him. It lies with us. As long as we win the battle of Guandu, all problems will be solved."
"I understand what the lord means." Guo Jia smiled and shook his head. "It's just that the lord deceived us too badly."
Cao Cao walked slowly to the door of the tent and raised the curtain to look outside. The warriors held their weapons quietly guarding the surroundings of the camp, their flags shaking in mid-air. "I didn't mean to deceive you." Cao Cao spread his hands, expressing helplessness, "Although we have won two battles in Baima and Yanjin, we are not so much abandoning Baima and Yanjin strategically and retreating to Guandu. It's better to say that we were driven to Guandu."
"Guandu is the last line of defense before Xuchang. We are in desperate need now and our troops are insufficient. If I don't give the soldiers some hope and encouragement, they won't have the confidence to hold Guandu." Cao Cao said in a low voice, with a serious tone. "Bong Xiao, I will only tell you these words, I hope you can help me keep this secret. Although the generals in the camp are loyal to me, telling them will damage morale after all."
"An army that has lost its morale is like a pile of mud, and it will collapse at the first touch."
Guo Jia's face changed slightly, and he knelt to the ground: "The lord treats each other frankly and is grateful to the bottom, and dare not sullen the ground in the future, in order to repay the lord's kindness."
Cao Cao lifted Guo Jia from the ground and said with a long sigh: "The wise are always worried, and Feng Xiao doesn't have to force himself too much."
……
In the spring of the sixth year of Jian'an (AD 201), the battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in Guandu finally began. Cao Cao was eager to make a quick battle and attacked Yuan Shao with an army of 200,000.
Yuan Shaojun heard the news and formed a formation on both sides. Yuan Shao made Guo Tu led 20,000 crossbowmen on both wings. Make Zhu Ling lead ten thousand archers in the flag and send out together when the trumpets ring.
The three-way drum, Yuan Shaojin helmet and gold armor, brocade robe and jade belt, immediately before the formation. There are Zhang Xi, Chunyuqiong, Han Meng, Gao Lan, Jiang Qi and other generals on the left and right. The banner festival, the team is quite neat...
Opposite Yuan Shao's army is Cao Cao's 200,000 army. Although Cao Cao's army is not as large as Yuan Shao's army, it seems more energetic. Cao Cao stood at the forefront of the army on a "Zhuying" horse, followed by Xu Zhu, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, Xia Houyuan, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, etc., each armed with weapons and swords.
Cao Cao pointed at Yuan Shao with a whip, and said sharply: "Before the emperor, I protected you as a general. Why do you rebel now?"
Yuan Shao grunted contemptuously, and yelled, "You are really a Han thief! You slaughtered Concubine Dong and threatened the emperor to make your daughter a nobleman. Now, I dare to slander him for rebellion! How ridiculous!"
Cao Cao shouted loudly: "Yuan Shao, you have a rebellious heart, I will be the emperor to attack you today!"
Yuan Shao smiled slightly, and said, "You are just preaching the imperial decree!"
Cao Cao furiously pointed at Yuan Shao and shouted loudly, "Who would dare to punish this rebel?"
Xu Huang wanted to make outstanding achievements, so he shot his horse and went to war.
Yuan Shao also looked behind him and asked loudly: "Those who punish Cao the thief will reward ten thousand dollars."
After hearing this, Zhang Xi, the general behind him, was overjoyed, so he leaped right away to face Xu Huang. The two have fought for dozens of rounds, you come and I go, the fight is inextricably difficult, regardless of the outcome.
Everyone was secretly surprised when they saw it. Zhang Liao on Cao Cao's side couldn't hold back anymore, and he swung his sword and horse to help the fight, and Han Meng on Yuan Shao's side also caught up with his spear. The four members will catch each other and fight, and the four horses will spin back and forth, stirring up the dust.
"Kill! Kill! Kill..." The cheering of the soldiers on both sides was endless, very excited. The shield soldiers in front all knocked their shields with weapons in their hands, and their voices were endless.
Yuan Shao saw that Zhang Yun and Han Meng were gradually unable to withstand the attacks of Zhang Liao and Xu Chu, so he ordered Gao Lan to lead ten thousand cavalry.
Cao Cao had prepared, and with a wave of the flag, Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan led five thousand tiger and leopard riders to rush up, and Yuan Jun gradually couldn't resist it.
Seeing Cao Jun rushing up and falling into the range of his crossbowmen, Guo Tu ordered the horn to be blown, and thousands of crossbows proceeded concurrently. After Zhu Ling in the Chinese army heard the trumpet, the archer hurried forward and shot a sharp arrow.
Cao Jun charged Zhenghuan and was caught off guard. Many soldiers were shot with crossbows, wailing, and countless deaths from the arrows. Cao Ren was greedy for meritorious service. He had a few arrows in his body and almost fell off his horse. Fortunately, he was not injured in heavy armor and was rescued by personal guards desperately.
Yuan Shao was in front of the battle. Seeing this scene, he was overjoyed, so he waved his whip, and the left and right flanks had 100,000 foot soldiers on each side. Everyone held their spears and shouted loudly, outflanking them. The number of Cao Jun was not as good as Yuan Shao, and he had just been shot by arrow rain and suffered heavy losses. At this time, he was even more frightened, and he did not dare to take the fight. Seeing that the momentum was not good, Cao Cao quickly retreated to Guandu.
This battle was the first battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in Guandu. Cao Cao's assignment was unfavorable and nearly 10,000 soldiers were lost. Cao Cao looked at the casualty figures reported below, and was extremely worried.
Cao Cao had faced off with Yuan Shao in Guandu for some time, thinking about taking the lead. Unexpectedly, in Guandu, the first battle was defeated. At this time Cao Cao had doubts about his decision to stay here. Even he felt that the situation was very bad. Even he himself had the idea of returning to Xu Du until Cao Cao received Xun Yu's letter and transported it. Tens of thousands of stone grains.
Xun Yu’s letter is very long. It is a reply to Cao Cao’s inquiry about his proposal on retreating the army. The letter reads: Yuan Shao will concentrate the main force in Guandu and want to fight the Lord. This has reached a critical juncture for the success or failure of the overall situation. . If the lord takes the initiative to withdraw his troops from Guandu, Yuan Shao will definitely take advantage of the situation to attack, and his morale will inevitably rise again. The consequences will be disastrous! Yuan Shao is nothing but a mediocre fool. Although he can reunite talents, he can't use them well. The protagonist Shenwu is wise and will be able to overcome the situation in one go.
Although there is a shortage of rations in the army, the situation is still far behind the state when the Chu and Han sides stalemate between Xingyang and Chenggao. At that time, neither Liu Bang nor Xiang Yu was willing to retreat first, because they were afraid that they would lose their favorable situation because of the retreat. The lord will stand firm with less than 200,000 soldiers, and it has been more than a month since Yuan Jun’s 300,000 troops are stuck in the throat. Yuan Jun’s strength can be said to be at the end of the crossbow. As long as you seize the opportunity, I believe that the stalemate will be fast. Will be broken.
Cao Cao was very moved by Xun Yu's letter. Although Xun Yu disagreed with his promotion to the prime minister at the beginning, there was a slight estrangement, but at the critical moment, this old man and old friend can still be reliable. Cao Cao fell into deep thought after seeing Xun Yu's letter. Changes in the success or failure of the pros and cons in a war do often depend on the ability to persevere, and if you persevere, the disadvantages may gradually be transformed into advantages, and vice versa, advantages may also be transformed into disadvantages.
Cao Cao read Xun Yu's letters repeatedly, as if seeing the sun in the clouds, he was very happy. He knew that although months of persistence had consumed almost all of the food and horse grass, the remaining reserves could not support them for many days. But the grain sent by Xun Yu can help him get through his urgent needs. Cao Cao believes that failure is only temporary, and based on his character, he is absolutely unwilling to fail. So he was full of confidence, ready to grit his teeth and persevere.
Yuan Shao is very happy here.
Guo Tu suggested to Yuan Shao: "Now we can build a mountain of dirt in front of Cao Cao's camp, so that soldiers can shoot arrows at Cao Cao's barracks. If Cao Cao abandons here, our army can get this pass, and Xuchang can break it."
Yuan Shao was overjoyed upon hearing the words, and ordered each village to select elite sergeants, carry them with a shovel, and bring them to the edge of Cao Cao village to build mountains. Seeing Yuan Jun building a mountain of earth in Cao Ying, he wanted to go out to conflict. However, Guo Tu used tens of thousands of bow and crossbowmen to block his throat. Seeing Cao Jun came, his arrows were like rain, and Cao Jun did not dare to advance half a step.
Due to the large number of people in Yuan Shao, within ten days, Yuan Shao built more than one hundred earthen hills, stood on high sculls, and allocated crossbowmen to randomly shoot cold arrows on them. Cao Cao's camp was within the range of Yuan Jun's bow and crossbow. Cao Jun was very frightened, with a shield on his head to guard against Yuan Jun's cold arrows.
As long as there was movement on Yuan Jun's soil platform, Cao Jun immediately lay on the ground. Sometimes, Yuan Jun didn't shoot arrows, but watched Cao Jun's antics. From then on, whether Cao Jun eats or goes to the toilet to change clothes, he must be a shield. If you were shot to death by an arrow, you could only blame yourself for your bad brains, and even forgot to bring the guy who saved your life. When picking up a meal, he often looked left and right, and saw Yuan Jun dozing on the mountain. Without much movement, Fang used a large shield to protect his body and rushed to the chef at a speed of 100 meters to grab a dry food. He ran to the hiding place, calmed down, patted his heart, confirmed that he was still alive, and then started to eat, as a celebration that he closed the ghost door again and walked away.
As a result, Cao Jun soldiers are in fear every day. It can be said to be unwilling to eat, sleepless at night, and panic. Cao Cao was extremely anxious as he watched the soldiers lose weight day by day. If this continues, it won't take long for Cao Jun's combat effectiveness to be greatly reduced, and morale will also be reduced to a minimum. At that time, if Yuan Jun is not needed to attack, the Cao Jun soldiers themselves will be confused.
All this was seen by Guo Jia. Guo Jia suggested to Cao Cao: "Only the Thunderbolt can break the current crisis."
Cao Cao said anxiously: "I know this, but when the Pili Che attacked Jingzhou last time, it was completely destroyed by the Han army."
Guo Jia said with a smile: "Don't worry about this, I have brought the design of the Thunderbolt with me."
Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard it, and hurriedly said, "Take it with me quickly."
Guo Jia handed the drawing up, and Cao Cao read Bi Daxi and ordered the soldiers to rush to make it overnight. General Cao Jun heard that this car can break the arrow tower. After eliminating the arrow tower, there is no need to worry about it in the future. Therefore, the Cao Jun soldiers worked hard, and built more than ten vehicles within three days. With the Thunderbolt, breaking the enemy is just around the corner...