Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 841: First Battle of Yuzhou
"Snapped."

Zhang Yong slammed his palm on the table, then walked out of the door and shouted, "Order the Sima and above officers in the army to come here immediately to discuss the dispatch of troops."

"Yes." The soldier retreated quickly.

Not long after, Zhang Yong gathered his soldiers and generals, a total of 100,000 troops, and marched out from Xuchang City in Yingchuan County in a mighty manner.

"General Zhang, please wait a moment."

Just when Zhang Yong was about to leave the city, Xun You caught up with him alone.

"It's Mr. Gongda. I wonder what advice you have for me?" Zhang Yong still respected Xun You very much and immediately stopped marching.

Xun You rode his horse to Zhang Yong's side and saluted, "Excuse me, General, are you going to attack Yuzhou?"

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Sir, you are very smart. I have received news that Cao Cao has mobilized troops from Yuzhou and Nanyang to attack Jingzhou together. He intends to take advantage of the cold spring weather and our army is not prepared to attack Xiangyang, Jiangxia and other places. Unfortunately, these two cities are important towns in Jingzhou. He has attacked for many days but has not taken an inch of land. Now that Yuzhou is empty, it is a good opportunity for our army. How can I miss it? I think Gao Boping must be mobilizing troops at this moment, and he is even on the way. I will attack Runan and he will attack Qiao County. With two approaches, Cao Cao will surely die."

Xun You smiled and said, "General, you are wrong. Cao Cao is cunning and scheming. How could he leave the gates of Yuzhou open to our army? From what I see, there must be some trick."

Zhang Yong's expression froze: "How could it be a fraud?"

"I have received news that Cao Cao has been secretly recruiting soldiers in Nanyang since he captured Nanyang. Nanyang is a large county with a population of 2.6 to 2.7 million people. You must know that the entire Yanzhou now has a population of only 3 million. What kind of person is Cao Cao? With this person's ability, it is not difficult to recruit as many as 100,000 or as few as 60,000 to 70,000 new soldiers in half a year. This time he raised 80,000 troops to attack Jingzhou. I predict that some of them must be new soldiers, and after the troops transferred from Yuzhou, there must be new soldiers returning to fill in the garrison."

Zhang Yong stroked his beard and nodded slightly after hearing this, but then he said, "Sir, you are right. However, Cao's army is no match for ours, not to mention that they are mixed with new soldiers, which makes them even less worthy of mention. Although Bo Ping and I suffered a small loss a few years ago, it was only due to a moment of carelessness. This time, our army is more powerful, how can Cao's army win?"

Xun You shook his head: "The more you act like this, the more likely you are to fall into Cao Cao's evil schemes."

Zhang Yong disagreed: "I know Cao is cunning, but I am in charge of the army on behalf of the emperor. How can I miss the opportunity and be afraid of the enemy because of a few difficulties?"

"No, I am not trying to persuade the general not to go to war, but I would like to volunteer to join the army."

Xun You clasped his fists and asked for the order, which surprised Zhang Yong a little, but he quickly reacted and laughed heartily.

"Haha, I have Mr. Gongda to help me, so I have nothing to fear. Please come in, sir."

The army quickly entered the territory of Yuzhou and did not set up camp until nightfall in a wilderness to rest.

In the middle of the night, Zhang Yong personally carried wine and food and walked into Xun You's tent.

"I saw that the lights in the sir's tent were bright, and I thought he was still reading, so I brought some food for him to enjoy."

Xun You said happily: "Thank you for your concern, General."

He picked up a bowl of porridge, blew on it a few times, then took a sip, and a look of enjoyment appeared on his face.

"Well... at this midnight, I can still enjoy this. This is enough for my life."

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Sir, you are His Majesty's trusted adviser. Are you satisfied with just a bowl of porridge?"

Xun You heard this but did not answer. Instead, he looked up at Zhang Yong.

"General, you came to visit me late at night. I'm afraid you didn't just want to bring me a bowl of porridge, right?"

Zhang Yong looked embarrassed for a moment, rubbing his hands together, and laughed dryly: "Hehe... I can't hide anything from you, sir. I came here to ask you something."

Xun You raised his hand to stop him from continuing: "No hurry, let me guess. What I want to ask is, General, you have experienced hundreds of battles, and His Majesty has let you lead the army for many years and has great trust in you. This time, he suddenly transferred me from Luoyang to Yingchuan. Does it mean that he has lost trust in you?"

Zhang Yong quickly waved his hands to deny: "No, no, big brother has been so kind to me, how could I be so reckless and suspicious?"

"Oh? Really?" Xun You stared at him for a while, then smiled, picked up the bowl again calmly, and took another sip. "Hmm... delicious. The cook that the general brought with him is quite skilled."

Seeing that he changed the subject, Zhang Yong suddenly became anxious and grinned embarrassedly.

"Well... hehe, I wonder if my elder brother..."

The words came to his lips, but he only said half of them, and he was unable to say the second half.

Xun You looked at him and suddenly laughed: "Haha... Everyone says that General Zhang Yong is both wise and brave, and a rare hero in the world. Why is he hesitant about such a trivial matter? Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore. Since the general has asked this question, I might as well reveal a few words."

Zhang Yong immediately became alert and leaned towards Xun You.

Xun You wiped his mouth and said, "Although your majesty has never said it explicitly, I have served your majesty for many years and can guess about 70% of his intentions. This time, your majesty used the incident of Feng Fang and others to demote or hide many children of noble families, and promoted old officials of Bingzhou who followed the emperor, or some children of poor families. Others thought that Cui Zhouping and I were also implicated in this and were sent out from the central government to the prefectures and counties. This statement is actually a big fallacy and does not understand the wisdom of the emperor at all."

Zhang Yong was excited when he heard this: "Please explain clearly, sir."

Xun You said, "Your Majesty, there are two reasons for this. First, the original situation in the court was that many noble families headed by Taiwei Yang Biao led the ministers, and the Minister of the Court Wang Yun, Minister of Works Cui Lie, and the two generals of chariots and cavalry Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song each led some court officials to compete with the Yang family in order to stabilize the court. Now Yang Biao is sick and many ministers such as Feng, Cao, Zhao, and Du have been executed. The Yang family has already weakened. This time, Minister of the Court Wang Yun has won over His Majesty to attack the ministers. Therefore, in the court, the Taiyuan Wang family is the most powerful. In this way, the court is one-sided, which poses many threats to the stability of the court and Your Majesty's authority."

Zhang Yong showed a look of sudden enlightenment: "I understand. Your Majesty wants to promote a new faction to compete with the Wang family and regain control of the court."

"Haha, the general is really smart, and he and your majesty are in tune with each other. Yes, your majesty has this intention. After Feng Fang and others were executed, your majesty arranged many of his confidants to the Sili area. In addition, he promoted many of the children and students of my Xun family, Cui, Lu and other families. He wanted to rely on their strength to balance the Wang family in the court."

Zhang Yong looked puzzled again: "But you and Military Advisor Cui are both trusted by His Majesty. Wouldn't it be better to keep you two by his side?"

Xun You shook his head and said, "Your Majesty transferred the two of us out of Luoyang for a second reason. The reason why Zhou Ping and I were transferred to the frontline counties is because the battles in Yizhou and Yuzhou are related to Your Majesty's great cause of unifying the world, and we must be cautious. But the battles in both places will not go smoothly. Yizhou is blocked by mountains and rivers, and it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Cao Cao in Yuzhou is cunning and powerful, and it is not easy to capture. Zhou Ping and I were transferred out to assist the army. One is to appease the people, plan food and grass, and solve the worries of the army. The second is to give advice to the general."

Zhang Yong breathed a sigh of relief: "So, when I lost the battle with Bo Ping last year, Big Brother didn't blame me?"

"General, you worry too much. Victory and defeat are common in the military. What's the big deal about a small defeat? The general and Your Majesty have known each other for thirty years since they were young. Your Majesty has a deep affection for you. Your Majesty is a man of great vision and insight. How could you blame the general for such a small matter?"

Xun You's words made Zhang Yong look more relaxed, but he was still a little hesitant: "But... why did you let me come to Yingchuan instead of Chenliu?"

Xun You smiled and said, "This matter is very simple. First, Chen Gong, the governor of Chenliu, is a man of great resourcefulness. Second, General Gao is a steady person by nature. He is not like General Zhang, who is worried and distracted. Naturally, he does not need my assistance."

"Oh? Why should I be worried?" Zhang Yong asked puzzledly.

Xun You kept staring at him, which made Zhang Yong feel very uncomfortable and he turned his head away unconsciously.

"Haha, as the saying goes, worrying too much can lead to confusion. In the court, Prime Minister Wang Yun is so powerful, and Your Majesty has given many rewards to the Third Prince Liu Tai. Don't you have any concerns or worries about your nephew? Your Majesty is so wise, how could you not know?"

"This..." Zhang Yong was speechless after his secrets were revealed.

At this moment, there were intermittent sounds of fighting outside the account, which made Zhang Yong instinctively alert.

"What happened outside? Did someone come to rob the camp?"

Soon, a soldier ran in and said, "General, suddenly there is an enemy army. I don't know where they are from. They don't raise any flags. They are all wearing black clothes for night use. They rush into our camp. The enemy army is very strong. One of their generals is so brave that we can't hold the gate of the camp anymore."

Zhang Yong was a little surprised at first, but soon returned to normal, even with a hint of coldness.

"Hehe... As expected, sir, the forest in this area is dense, and it is cloudy tonight, with no moonlight. Cao's army really took advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack. I will go and meet him in person. Please stay here for a while, sir."

Xun You said calmly, "General, please do as you please. We can talk again after we have driven away Cao's army."

The two of them looked very confident in their conversation.

(End of this chapter)