Chapter 253 The World's No. Military Master [Subscribe]

In the general's tent, there gathered generals such as Huang Zhong, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Zhang He.

Jia Xu and Cheng Yu were also with the army.

Cao Cao and his generals discussed that if they wanted to completely defeat the Wuhuan, they must force the Wuhuan to fight a major battle.

"Is there any news from Yuan Shang?"

"Yes, he is running around, trying to unite the forces against our Yanzhou." Jia Xu said.

Since obtaining the small box left by Yuan Wei, which contains the list of secret agents.

Jia Xu's recruitment according to the plan has already attracted many secret agents and spies of Yuan's former followers to defect.

Therefore, he was very familiar with the news about the brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi.

"Yuan Shang had earlier passed through Yanmen Pass in Bingzhou and headed northwards to join the Xianbei."

"He wants to go there personally to help Wuhuan and defeat Yanzhou."

Cao Cao nodded slightly and discussed matters with the generals. After the discussion was over, they all dispersed.

Inside the tent, Yao Jing took on the job of Cao Cao's temporary clerk.

He lit a ball of incense in a small copper incense burner.

Cigarette smoke drifted away.

Cao Cao looked at Yao Jing.

His insight allows him to see things beneath the surface.

Behind Cao Cao, the dragon of luck appeared quietly, spitting out a purple halo.

Previously, Cao Cao had extracted a special aura from the Ascension Picture in the Haihun Tomb.

At that time, the entry said that using the soul-spirit relationship as the foundation could promote the art of dreaming.

Cao Cao planned to try this little trick on Yao Jing, and use it to entertain himself when he was not on the march.

The purple aura attached itself to Yao Jing.

"How confident are you, Duke Wei, in conquering Wuhuan?" Yao Jing knelt on one side.

"If the Wuhuan gathered their forces, they would have more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. After engaging our army, they were defeated many times, with more than 30,000 soldiers killed in the battles. They then turned to defending themselves and wanted to bring the Xianbei with them to join forces with us to fight against Yanzhou.

It is not difficult to defeat Wuhuan. The key is to do it before winter comes. The earlier the better. "

Yao Jing was surprised: "There are not many people in ancient and modern times who have achieved such great success at the age of Duke Wei. But why is Duke Wei so eager to conquer Wuhuan?"

"A flying snake rides on the mist, but eventually turns to dust. A martyr's ambitions remain strong in his old age."

Cao Cao said: "If time passes and only the Han territory is safe, but I cannot bring glory to my country, what am I here for?"

Yao Jing became more and more surprised.

What Cao Cao meant by these words was that although he had done some things, his great cause had not been accomplished.

His goal is to go beyond unifying China. He doesn't want to regret in his old age that he didn't do more when he was young.

Yao Jing felt that everyone in the world was qualified to say this, except Cao Cao.

It took him five years to almost unify the north, an achievement that will go down in history.

But what he said was very good, the soaring snake rides on the mist, illuminating my mountains and rivers... Yao Jing recited silently in his heart.

At this time, Cao Cao pricked up his ears slightly and heard that there were his personal soldiers outside the tent, approaching with a man.

Through hearing, Cao Cao could visualize the other party's appearance in his consciousness as if he saw it with his own eyes.

He was a young man, dressed simply in a dark blue Hanfu, and walked with steady steps.

The other party quickly came to the door of the tent. Cao Cao looked over and smiled.

[Tian Chou, courtesy name Zitai, was from Wuzhong, Youbeiping County, Youzhou. He was a hermit in the late Han Dynasty. Skill: Concealment; Skill 2: Opening up the peach garden, which can promote vegetation growth to a certain extent; this person has both legalist and agricultural practice]

Tian Chou was a remarkable man in the late Han Dynasty.

After the world fell into chaos, he led his clan and fled to Xuwu Mountain in Wuzhong, Youzhou.

In a short period of time, more and more people came to him for refuge after hearing the news.

Tian Chou soon became the king of the mountains.

He built a secluded place in the mountains, which was like a paradise on earth.

He also established schools in the mountains, enacted laws, and lived in seclusion from his clansmen and those who came to seek refuge with him.

Later, even the Wuhuan and Xianbei people wanted to make friends with him, but he rejected them all.

After Yuan Shao became the governor of Jizhou, he invited Tian Chou to come out of retirement and serve as an official many times, but he refused every time.

When Cao Cao went on an expedition to Wuhuan, he also sent people to recruit him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Cao Cao's men arrived, Tian Chou followed.

Some people around Tian Chou were puzzled and asked him:
"The Yuan family has the highest reputation. They have invited you many times before, and each time they offered you a higher position, but you were unmoved. Cao Mengde only sent an envoy, so why did you agree and were willing to go with him immediately?"

"Think about it, why did we come to this mountain?"

After Tian Chou finished speaking, he followed Cao Cao's envoy to Cao's army camp.

Cao Cao knew why he rejected Yuan Shao and did not accept the visits and friendships from Wuhuan and Xianbei.

Tian Chou's ancestral home was in a border county of Youzhou, and he had been accustomed to seeing foreign tribes such as the Wuhuan bullying the Han people since he was a child.

He lived in seclusion to avoid foreigners.

Yuan Shao's attitude towards the Wuhuan was to win them over by appeasement.

This was inconsistent with Tian Chou's original intention, but Cao Cao came to deal with the Wuhuan people.

So he happily followed Cao Cao's envoy and came to Cao's camp.

Tian Chou was a native of Youzhou.

For many years, he had been thinking about how to deal with the Wuhuan.

He came in and saluted Cao Cao, and after chatting, he quickly got to the point:
"I also heard in the mountains that the Yanzhou army, under your leadership, fought in various places and rebuilt the country. When your troops arrived in Youzhou, they defeated the powerful tribes of the Wuhuan people."

"Zitai came to see me, are you prepared?" Cao Cao asked calmly.

Tian Chou took out a scroll:
"I live in the mountains, and I don't have any special skills except that I am very familiar with the surrounding geography and topography.

I have considered several routes to deploy troops with the Wuhuan as an imaginary enemy, and I wonder if the governor can use them."

“In the early years, there was a road that led out of Lulong Pass (the wind intake in the eastern section of the Yanshan Mountains) and directly to Liucheng.”

"There is also a small path in the mountains, which has the same function as Lulong Pass... I have described these paths in detail, and you will know them at a glance. I hope you can defeat the Wuhuan and restore peace to Youzhou."

Night falls again.

Yao Jing woke up from a deep sleep.

He sat up from the military couch, his eyebrows and eyes seemed somewhat charming, and he murmured: "Why would I have such a dream, and it was about the governor..." He looked out through the air window of the tent.

Next door is Cao Cao’s tent.

It was late at night, but the lights were still on.

Cao Cao is still handling things.

From a distance, one could hear Yin snoring like thunder in his tent.

In the following days, the Yanzhou army launched several attacks, trying to cut off the connection between other Wuhuan tribes and Liucheng.

But the Wuhuan people suffered losses and became more cautious.

Tadun suppressed his anger and waited for the Xianbei to send out troops, hiding himself in the dark.

Cao Cao sent people to secretly investigate the path in the mountains that Tian Chou mentioned, and found that it was not only secret, but also coincided with his own plan.

He had already formulated a detailed strategy to defeat the Wuhuan.

----

Yuan Shang traveled thousands of miles, and under the escort of several attendants, he went north into the grassland and came to the Xianbei tribal alliance.

At this moment, he was sitting in a big tent.

When Yuan Shao was governor of Jizhou, the Xianbei sent envoys south and the two sides had contact.

"...The chief has agreed to let me lead the troops south. Xianfu, are you still worried?"

Sitting in the main seat in the tent was a Xianbei youth, who spoke in Chinese.

His name is Murong Baizhi. He has a strong physique and a bronze complexion.

'Murong' was the ruling tribe of the Eastern Xianbei Alliance.

And they use their tribe as their surname.

Murong Baizhi is 28 years old this year. He is already a veteran of the tribe and is very famous in Eastern Xianbei.

He had a headband on his head, a stern face, and narrow, bright eyes.

"Baizhi, have you received the news that Cao Cao went to Liaoxi in person and defeated the Wuhuan in one night, killing Chanyu Louban.

Cao Mengde is cunning and resourceful in his use of troops, and is particularly good at political schemes. He has never been defeated on the battlefield and is the greatest military expert of his time." Yuan Shang said.

Murong Baizhi's eyes lit up: "The world's number one military master!"

Yuan Shang laughed secretly.

He deliberately flattered Cao Cao's ability to command troops because he knew Murong Baizhi was proud of defeating famous generals from all sides.

He had a hobby of collecting the ribs of his defeated opponents to decorate his tent.

Yuan Shang praised Cao Cao for being powerful, and it worked immediately.

Murong Baizhi: "The Wuhuan trapped themselves in the Three Counties. They are no longer the Eastern Wuhuan that roamed the grasslands in the past. It is not surprising that they were defeated."

"Your Han territory is divided into many factions, which are good at defending themselves but not aggressive enough."

"Including your Yuan family, most of them are useless. They couldn't even grasp the good situation before."

"The Han people are weak. It is doubtful how capable the No. 1 military expert you mentioned is. I am afraid you are just bragging to each other."

Murong Baizhi openly despised the Yuan family, and Yuan Shang hated him secretly in his heart: You Xianbei are powerful, but the Tuohe Huan tribe was also defeated and fled back.

"This time, the great leader Xu and Tuo Boben will each unite 15,000 troops and march south to defeat the Han army."

"Our chief said that he would not allow anyone to unify the Han territory."

Murong Baizhi: "Winter is coming soon. It's a good time to go south to grab some things and return to distribute them to the tribes so that they can have a warm winter."

"When can you send out the troops?"

"The horn to summon the tribes has been sounded. The tribes participating in the hunt will gather within five days."

Five days passed in a flash.

The troops of the Eastern Alliance, led by Tuo Boben and Murong Baizhi, marched southward.

They were not far from the three Wuhuan counties.

It would take about two or three days to march south and reach the northern border of the three Wuhuan counties.

But on the second day of the expedition, the Xianbei tribe was ambushed by Cao's army.

Taishi Ci, Le Jin and Zhang Xiu led troops to participate in the battle.

Cao Cao mobilized 20,000 troops to fight against his 30,000-strong army.

The two sides fought a skirmish battle that lasted from morning to afternoon.

The battle situation was similar to the one at Tuohe Huanbu. Cao's army was somewhat surprised by the combat effectiveness of the Xianbei cavalry.

The Xianbei also underestimated Cao's army's bows and crossbows and equipment.

After fighting for half a day, both sides called off their battles with no clear winner.

However, Murong Baizhi looked a little unhappy.

During the battle, he personally challenged the main general of Cao's army and was shot by Taishi Ci.

And under the arrows shot openly, there was another hidden arrow that appeared out of nowhere.

The situation was dangerous.

Fortunately, Murong Baizhi had a treasure called the White Wolf Shield on him, which possessed the unique power of cultivation on the grassland, and helped him to neutralize the arrow.

Even so, there was still an arrow scar left on Murong Baizhi's face.

That night, the result of the battle reached Wuhuan.

"The Xianbei troops have finally arrived."

Tadun, who had not smiled for many days, showed a look of joy: "If the Xianbei and I join forces, the Han will be defeated!"

"After returning from the battle, the Han army immediately withdrew their defense line and retreated a hundred miles," said the scout.

"The Han people are scared." Tadun laughed, as expected.

They joined forces with the Xianbei. The Han army commander assessed the situation and was certain that there was no chance of winning, and it would be impossible to defeat the Wuhuan at least before winter.

Retreating at this moment is a prudent move to save energy.

Tadun speculated that the Han army might retreat at this point.

Since there was no hope of winning if we continued fighting, retreating became a wise option.

Two days later, the information obtained confirmed Tadun's judgment.

At the end of October, Cao's army retreated and rebuilt its defense line in the border town of Youbeiping County. It seemed that it had given up the plan to defeat Wuhuan and switched from offense to defense.

Tadun immediately met with the Xianbei reinforcements to discuss whether to turn around and pursue Cao's army!
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(End of this chapter)