Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Divided the troops?"

"Are the troops really divided?"

"Are you sure there are 150,000?"

Cao Cao, who was suspicious by nature, asked three questions in a row and sent out scouts again and again to investigate further.

When Cao Cao heard the news for the first time, his first reaction was that it was a trap. Perhaps Zi Kun was pretending to divide his troops to make Cao Cao relax his vigilance, and then launch a surprise attack on his camp with lightning speed.

Cao Cao was naturally aware that Lu Bu was leading his troops to attack Zhongmou County.

Just judging by one's own experience, if Cao Cao were in Li Ji's position, he would definitely not slow down the Guandu offensive at this critical juncture, but instead send a large force to Zhongmu County to drive out Lu Bu.

Therefore, even though the scouts had repeatedly investigated and verified that the Han army had divided its forces into 150,000 and left, Cao Cao still found it extremely suspicious.

Especially the fact that the Han army that split up and left was actually fighting under Li Ji's banner, which was even more unreasonable.

It's not that Cao Cao looked down on Lu Bu, but Cao Cao didn't think Lu Bu could force Li Ji to go to Zhongmou County in person.

"Could it be that Zikun was careless and lost Zhongmu, and all the food and grass were burned by Lu Bu, so he led his army there in a hurry?"

However, Zhongmu is located on the south side of Guandu, and the intelligence is blocked by the Han army in the middle. It is not easy to learn about the changes in Zhongmu County in a timely manner.

Cao Cao, who was unable to make a decision, simply summoned a group of advisers to discuss the matter.

However, after a long discussion, it was difficult to reach a conclusion. Most people supported the idea of ​​remaining constant in the face of ever-changing circumstances, and reminded people to be vigilant and be careful of fraud.

After all, he was facing the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty who was famous for his ingenious strategies, so it was not excessive to be cautious.

However, just as Cao Cao was about to end the military meeting, Xun You, who had been silent for a long time, seemed to have thought of something and suddenly spoke.

"Or... Lu Bu has been defeated?"

"what?!"

For a moment, all the counselors exclaimed in surprise, all of them were shocked by Xun You's guess.

"It is true that Lu Bu has a bad character, but his command and bravery are both top-notch in the world. Moreover, he has gathered most of the cavalry from Wei and Zhao, a total of 70,000. How could he be defeated without a sound?"

"That's right. Moreover, the area around Zhongmou County is located in a plain, with almost no place to set up an ambush. Even if there is a heavy siege, it is not difficult to escape. How could there be a great defeat?"

"What is the connection between Lu Bu's defeat and the division of the Han army? If Lu Bu was really defeated and could no longer threaten the Han army, the Han army should have concentrated its forces to attack our army..."

……

A series of rebuttals rang out, pointing out that Xun You's speculation was too unreasonable.

But Xun You remained silent. He just bowed slightly and waited for Cao Cao's reaction without saying another word.

As for Cao Cao, his face suddenly turned ashen.

This guess was so bold that Cao Cao had never thought of it before.

"Why does Gongda make such a judgment?" Cao Cao asked.

"Nothing else, it's just that the Han army's division of forces this time was too open and aboveboard, without any intention of concealing it. This is not in line with Li Ji's usual style, unless..."

Xun You paused and said in a deep voice, "Unless Li Ji doesn't care whether we find him or not." With Xun You's suggestion, more than 90% of the speculations that everyone had discussed for a long time were rejected.

What is Li Ji’s consistent style?
That is, with Li Ji's ability, if this division of troops was intended to target the Wei army, he would definitely try to prevent Cao Cao from noticing it, or at least prevent Cao Cao from discovering it at the first time.

At the most basic level, the scouts that might be lurking around the Han army camp would be cleared several times.

This is in line with Li Ji's ability and his usual style.

Xun You, whose expression was also becoming more and more solemn, did not hesitate any longer and continued to speak.

"After thinking it over, it seems that the most likely possibility is that Li Ji does not care whether our army notices the division of troops. This will be an open conspiracy..."

"Looking at the overall situation, the biggest risk is that Lu Bu will be defeated. Li Ji decided to lead a large army to kill Lu Bu's remaining troops in time to prevent Lu Bu from escaping back to Hulao Pass and getting a chance to breathe."

"And once the situation becomes like this, it will no longer make sense for our army to continue to hold Guandu. We must consider withdrawing from Guandu at the right time..."

For a moment, all the counselors present changed color, and Cao Cao even felt a cold sweat on his back.

There was not a single fool present, and they all understood why if Lu Bu was defeated, the Wei army would have to withdraw from Guandu as soon as possible.

The reason is simple. The fundamental reason for choosing Guandu as the battlefield is to prevent the Han army from cutting off the connection between Yanzhou and Sili, and then easily divide and severely damage Zhao State, causing Wei State to lose a great help.

No matter how advantageous the location of the Guandu battlefield is, it is still some distance away from Jizhou, and the food supply route in the rear is not without pressure.

More importantly, once the Han army completely pacified the State of Zhao and was able to surround Guandu from all directions, Cao Cao's 200,000 to 300,000 troops would have to remain south of the Yellow River and would never have the chance to return to Jizhou.

Once this army, which had exhausted 90% of Wei's national strength, was completely destroyed, it would be meaningless for Cao Cao to escape back to Jizhou. It would be better for him to commit suicide to avoid humiliation.

"No, that's impossible. Didn't Xizhi send the intelligence from Zhongmu not long ago that the situation was very good..."

The more Guo Tu spoke, the weaker his voice became.

It's just speculation and information that takes two or three days to arrive, which means nothing at all.

However, Xun You's inference, although not impeccable, was the most reasonable explanation for the Han army's unusual move of dividing its troops, and none of the counselors could find any loopholes to refute it.

As the military meeting ended hastily, Cao Cao mobilized a large number of scouts in the army and ordered them to explore in the direction of Zhongmu County at all costs to confirm Lu Bu's current situation.

……

Now Lu Bu fled hundreds of miles to the south. After getting rid of the pursuers, he spent another day and night gathering the scattered deserters.

What made Lu Bu's face turn pale was that after this battle, not only did more than half of the original 70,000 cavalrymen suffer casualties, but the actual number of troops after they were gathered was less than 30,000.

About 18,000 Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry and barely 10,000 elite Wei and Zhao cavalry, these were the troops left in Lu Bu's hands, and their morale was so low that it was unimaginable.

The loss of the rest of the troops was fine, but the casualties of the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry were to a level that Lu Bu could not accept.

This was undoubtedly the most serious defeat that Lu Bu had suffered in all his years of fighting. It almost made Lu Bu seem unable to recover and fall into a state of confusion.

I thought that with the Fang Tian Hua Ji in my hand, Chi... and the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry under my command, I could dominate the world.

But the disastrous defeat in this battle seemed to have broken Lu Bu's spirit. While the assembled army barely set up camp to rest, Lu Bu was slow to react. (End of this chapter)