Chapter 279: First Battle after Becoming a General, Full Attack [Subscription Request]

"Wenyuan, take charge of the main attack."

"Ziyi, be responsible for blocking them."

"Zilong, lead the troops forward."

"No! No!"

Several generals who were conferred the title of Ten Tigers last time all had Xunzhu on them.

Cao Cao's order was passed down.

Cao's army mobilized with all its strength and launched the main attack.

In the study, everyone else also retreated.

Only Guo Jia and Jia Xu were left, still sitting behind the tables and chairs in the left and right rows.

An entry appeared in front of Cao Cao.

[You can use your military luck to increase the combat power of Cao Ying's brave generals...]

Cao Cao thought that this was the first battle after he was appointed as a general, and the men who were given the title of Tiger Generals must be gearing up to fight a good battle.

The entry disappeared, and he did not promote the military destiny.

Good steel should be used on the blade. When the Eastern Xianbei attack, it is not necessary to increase the combat effectiveness of generals to deal with it at this stage.

Jia Xu was concentrating on writing something.

Guo Jia came to Cao Cao's side.

On the strategic map, Cao Cao added several red lines, which are the enemy's attack lines.

The Xianbei launched offensives against Youbeiping County and Liaoxi County at the same time.

He also asked Yuan Shang to run around, and he also made use of the Wuhuan people, contacted the remnants of the aristocratic families, and raised troops in multiple directions.

But Guo Jia and Cao Cao saw through all of this at a glance; they were all smokescreens.

Their real purpose was to "steal troops" from Youbeiping County.

They wanted to deploy a surprise force so that when the time was right, they could take action and defeat Cao's army in one fell swoop.

The so-called stealing troops is to conceal military intentions, move a fixed number of troops, hide a group of troops, and make the opponent unaware.

They scattered their troops and carried out guerrilla warfare in many cities, also to conceal their strategic intentions.

It is difficult to count the number of these soldiers as they gather and disperse.

In fact, a part of it has been divided out and hidden.

The leader of this special force was Murong Baizhi.

Cao Cao drew several marching arrows on the map, pointing to the outlet to the sea at the southern end of Youbeiping County.

Follow the estuary westwards and walk a short distance along the sea.

Then, after landing, they can hide in the remnants of the Yanshan Mountains in the north, using them as cover to hide their troops.

This team can cause great destructive power whether it crosses Yanshan Mountain and returns to the northern battlefield, or attacks the northern end of Bohai County in Jizhou.

The most ingenious thing was that they took a short water route at the sea outlet at the southern end of Youbeiping County, effectively circumventing the Han army's defense line.

They also used various kinds of smoke to disrupt vision.

Use the Yanshan Mountains to hide the troops.

"Where do they get the shipping troops, and who is helping them?"

“The line that smuggled refugees to Wuhuan before.

In addition, the country has been in chaos for the past few years. Some people have become bandits, and those along the coast have become pirates. There have always been pirates along the East China Sea. Local authorities have also sent us news, asking us to send troops to collect the pirates.

The Wuhuan united with the gentry and had previously smuggled refugees at the seaports in the southern end of Bohai County and Youbeiping County.

They must have connections with the surrounding pirates.

In fact, these pirates were raised by the nobles who engaged in human trade with the Wuhuan and were used to do illegal work.

With the help of the nobles, the Xianbei people formed a complete plan to hide their troops by using pirate ships to transport them.

In other words, they wanted to use pirate ships to set up an ambush and catch Cao's army off guard.

"It's a good idea, but if it fails, it will be a trap for you."

Cao Cao looked at Jia Xu and asked, "How about Liangzhou, Jingzhou, and Jiangdong?"

“After Han Sheng led his troops to Liangzhou, our army and Ma Teng’s troops continued to advance westward.

Upon hearing the news, Han Sui retreated a hundred miles to the west, not daring to confront our army, but he did not surrender his military power either."

Jia Xu reported the latest situation of each state and county:
“The emperor and his entourage are going to Yizhou by a detour, but the road is dangerous. Even if Liu Biao pretends not to know and lets them pass through the edge of Jingzhou, it will probably take at least one and a half months to reach Yizhou.

By then, this round of war between us and the Xianbei may be over."

"Liu Bei took Generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to the south of Jingzhou to help Liu Biao suppress the rebellion."

Cao Cao asked, "Have you made any new progress in snatching people from Jiangdong, Jingzhou, and other places?"

"We need to take this seriously. We have talented people and everything. This is the best way to solve the problem."

"Don't worry, King Wei. We have been doing our best to find and snatch the person."

"We have just found the person you ordered. His name is Gan Ning. He was a bandit. We are trying to contact him..."

"What is Sun Ce doing?"

"With the assistance of Lu Su and Zhou Yu, we won over the various powerful people and noble families in Jiangdong, and made friends with distant countries and attacked nearby ones."

Among the many things Cao Cao faced, the war on the northern front and with the Xianbei was the most urgent. The sooner the Xianbei were defeated, the less the cost would be.

However, Cao Cao discovered that almost every battle was related to the gentry.

These aristocratic families, powerful people, and later clans were a big problem, and every dynasty had suffered from them.

Their monopoly and infiltration of the local area are deeply rooted. After a group of them are killed, the others will lie dormant for a while, observing the wind direction, and jump out again at the slightest disturbance.

To deal with the gentry, we must kill them while eliminating a large number of accumulated evils.

On the other hand, they also need to win over and divide people so as to use them for their own purposes.

What is more important is to abide by the law, legislate and apply the law.

Only when the law has strong binding force can governance be relatively long-lasting.

On the battlefield, Cao's army has begun to take action.

In the Yanshan Mountains north of Jizhou, on a dead tree growing on the top of a cliff, a large eagle-like bird, with its claws like iron pincers, grabbed the head of a mountain rat, blinded its eyes, and then tore its meat with its hook-like beak. After the bird was full and rested, a spiritual seed that Cao Cao had placed in its body revived and controlled and guided its main consciousness.

Immediately, the big bird flapped its wings and flew in one direction.

With the help of his differentiated soul, Cao Cao could clearly feel the bird soaring in the sky.

Looking down, he saw the boundless East China Sea.

A fleet of small boats appeared close to the coast.

There were more than thirty ships in total, led by two medium-sized wooden ships.

There were three or four medium-sized ships, and the rest were small boats.

The ships soon docked at the edge of a hidden, concave coastline.

A large number of Xianbei soldiers got off the boat.

The leading general was Murong Baizhi.

They landed and headed northwest, and soon entered the foothills of Yanshan Mountain.

The surrounding area is deserted and uninhabited, with a tidal flat dotted with rocks.

They hid their troops here, and after many days of movement, quite a few of them were dormant.

We will launch the raid as soon as the last two batches of supplies are delivered.

By entering the foothills of Yanshan Mountain and turning north, in about three or four days, we can return to the main battlefield where the enemy and we are fighting and become a surprise force.

If it goes south, it can even threaten the hinterland of Jizhou.

From a strategic point of view, their hiding of troops this time was quite clever.

If they really succeed, it will cause heavy damage to the northern defense line.

But... the premise is that it can be achieved.

Murong Baizhi stood on the shore: "Send the remaining supplies as quickly as possible."

On the boat a dozen feet away stood a middle-aged man with a rough and dark complexion and a sturdy build. His name was Tan Song.

He is the pirate leader arranged by the nobles, and has been active in the East China Sea all year round.

This coastal troop hiding place is extremely concealed and was also provided by them.

He agreed to Murong Baizhi, and after clearing the ship, he quickly retreated, preparing to go back and load supplies to give to the Xianbei people.

Because there were limited ships and most of them were small, the war had to be fought many times. It was not until more than half a month after the war began that the Xianbei people were transported over and hidden little by little.

Tan Song stood at the bow and looked towards Jizhou in the south.

Several years ago, when the world was in chaos and the Yellow Turban Army was still around, he was defeated by the Yanzhou Army and became a pirate along the coast of Qingzhou.

Later, Cao Cao was appointed as the governor of Yanzhou, and his power grew stronger and stronger.

He was blocked at sea and dared not return to the inland. In order to survive, he chose to cooperate with the nobles and became their pawn at sea.

This time, after receiving the order to take revenge on the Yanzhou army that defeated him and on Cao Cao, Tan Song began to help the Xianbei people transport troops.

After Tan Song left, Murong Baizhi on the shore waved his hand.

He led his men to lie in wait, waiting for supplies so that they could take action.

However, Murong Baizhi waited until night but did not see Tan Song's fleet come back to deliver the gifts.

Murong Baizhi felt very bad.

Their plan to hide their troops was secretive, and they released thick fog to provide cover.

But if it is exposed, there will be no more two batches of supplies and no ship turnover.

They...will be trapped here, not to mention becoming a surprise force. These seven or eight thousand people are short of supplies, and it is even a question whether they can get out from Yanshan behind.

This is the price of taking risks.

Success or failure is a double-edged sword!

They had repeatedly deduced the situation before the war and tried it several times after the war. They felt that the chances of success were great and the risk was worth taking, so they used this strategy.

But, if it is really exposed...

No, we are constantly creating pressure on the front battlefield, and we have internal support. The concealment of this troop hiding place is excellent, so we chose this plan. There is no way that Cao’s army will discover it... Murong Baizhi thought about it again and again, and still felt that there was no loophole.

The only thing he didn't see was a big bird standing on the cliff in the distance.

What Murong Baizhi was most worried about was happening.

In the afternoon, Tan Song sent off the Xianbei soldiers and led the fleet to travel 40 miles quickly, returning to a location along the coast to prepare to transport supplies.

Just as their ship was about to dock, a group of Cao's troops suddenly rushed out from the shore.

A large iron spear was thrown over from the air.

Tan Song grabbed a wooden shield from the boat and held it in front of him.

However, along with the shield, Tan Song's chest was pierced by the spear.

The violent force blew a huge hole in his chest.

Tan Song died on the spot.

Ma Chao came out from the shore, cursing: "All I was given was rough work. I don't know where these Xianbei dogs got the courage to invade the south."

Pound followed closely behind.

Tan Song and other pirates were killed and their ships seized. Without supplies, Murong Baizhi's hidden troops suddenly turned from a surprise force into a dead force.

Surrounded by the sea and with the Yanshan Mountains at their backs, they were short of supplies. Not to mention launching a surprise attack, they could be considered well-trained if they survived in the mountains.

This is what Cao Cao meant by closing the door.

The boat is the door. If the boat is pulled away, they will be locked up in the mountains!
In military strategy, this is called attacking the enemy's weak points and vital points to achieve the goal of defeating the enemy.

Ma Chao is a man with serious moral problems. Even his own father betrayed him.

But he is no less brave than others.

Cao Cao also gave him a second task: after killing the pirates and seizing the ship, he would immediately start the second step of the plan.

At the same moment, Zhang Liao and Taishi Ci were also taking action.

Ps: Please vote

(End of this chapter)