Three Kingdoms, I'm really not a general!

Chapter 113 The war begins! Cao Wei sends troops!

Fifteen years of Jian'an.

Yecheng.

After Cao Cao became king, the first thing he thought of was to conquer Hanzhong.

Hanzhong is the gateway to Sichuan and has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

After leaving Hanzhong, you can go east through Xiagu and Ziwugu and reach Chang'an directly.

To the west, you can advance into Qishan and enter Xiliang.

After entering Xiliang, you can go to Chang'an along the Wei River.

In short, this place is the gateway to Xichuan, and it can also be said to be the gateway to Chang'an.

Can Cao Cao feel at ease when Liu Bei holds this place?
Of course, Cao Cao had more than just the option of capturing Hanzhong. He could also think of attacking further south and defeating Sun Quan first.

It’s just that Cao Cao felt there was no need to attack Sun Quan first.

Even if Sun Quan sent troops to attack Hanzhong, at most he would only send troops to Hefei.

There's really nothing to worry about.

The most important thing at the moment is to send troops to Hanzhong.

Especially after the Cui Yan incident, Cao Cao needed a victory over Liu Bei to intimidate his ministers.

Then, King Cao Cao of Wei appointed Cao Hong as the general, Cao Xiu, Zang Ba, Hou Xuan and Yang Qiu as deputy generals, led an army of 30,000, joined forces with Xiahou Yuan's stationed troops, and captured Hanzhong.

After Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan joined forces, they naturally had to discuss how to attack Hanzhong.

Cao Hong proposed: "We have a large number of troops on our side. When the two armies are combined, we will have 50,000 troops."

"Hanzhong alone has only 20,000 men. We can divide them and attack them."

Xiahou Yuan knew that Xing Daorong was powerful.

Although he had many soldiers and horses, he was still cautious: "Although Hanzhong has only 20,000 soldiers and horses, Liu Bei's general Xing Daorong and Xiliang Ma Chao are among them, so we must not be careless."

Cao Hong said dissatisfiedly: "No matter how brave Ma Chao is, he is just a defeated general. There is no need to worry about him."

Xiahou Yuan was not worried about Ma Chao.

His evaluation of "brave but not wise" really came from his heart.

It's Xing Daorong...

I heard that he is the descendant of Bai Qi, so we must not be careless!

After thinking about it, he tried to persuade him again.

Unexpectedly, Cao Hong was extremely contemptuous and said, "Xing Daorong is a nobody. It's nonsense to say that he is the descendant of Bai Qi!"

"How can he, a native of Jingnan, be related to Lord Wu'an?"

"If you are worried about the difficulty in defeating Xing Daorong, just ask me to go."

"Miaocai will go to Hanzhong, and I will lead the troops to the three counties."

"I will come and join you after I defeat Xing Daorong."

Xiahou Yuan really felt that Xing Daorong was much more difficult to deal with than Huang Zhong. Seeing that Cao Hong was so careless, he wanted to persuade him again.

Unfortunately, Cao Hong would not listen at all and just said, "I have made up my mind. Let's split up into two groups."

"If Miaocai feels that the troops are not enough, I will give you another 10,000."

That’s not what Xiahou Yuan meant!
He said hurriedly: "That's not what I meant..."

But Cao Hong didn't listen at all, he just turned around and said: "Then let's arrange it this way, send troops within the next day!"

Xiahou Yuan was helpless, fortunately Cao Xiu and Zang Ba were with Cao Hong. He just hoped that they could remind Zi Lian more often.

...

West City.

When Xing Daorong heard that Cao Hong was leading his troops to attack, he knew that a fierce battle was inevitable, so he called everyone together to discuss the matter.

Ma Chao said, "Cao Hong has arrived just in time. I heard that he is Cao Cao's cousin. If he is killed, it counts as one."

Xing Daorong listened helplessly: "Mengqi, Cao Hong has a large number of soldiers and horses, including many Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, so don't underestimate them." Ma Chao said disdainfully: "The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry is just so-so, how can they compare to my Xiliang Iron Cavalry?"

The Xiliang Cavalry is indeed powerful, but I hope you won’t be defeated by Cao Cao!
Of course Xing Daorong couldn't say this, he just silently complained about Ma Chao.

He only said, "Don't underestimate them. Fortunately, Hanzhong is a mountainous area, so the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in their army cannot be used effectively."

As he spoke, he led everyone to a sand table.

This sand table is not very detailed, but the approximate distances of various places are clearly marked.

Xing Daorong pointed upward and said, "Cao Hong claims to have brought an army of 100,000 this time, but I estimate that there are only 30,000."

"This time, the army is so aggressive, they must want to win in one battle, and divide their forces with Xiahou Yuan into two groups."

"We will attack Hanzhong and Nanzheng all the way, and come straight to the land of the three counties."

"And because of our superior numbers, they must have thought that we would defend the city to the death."

"I want to do the opposite, and kill him halfway."

"On the road from Nanzheng to here, kill their army!"

These days, it is common to lie about numbers.

When it comes to a hundred thousand soldiers and horses, a 70% discount is generally enough.

This method of estimating military strength is not a special skill.

Even if they had 30,000 soldiers and horses, they still had 20,000 more than Xing Daorong's side. It was quite courageous for them to take the initiative to fight.

The generals were all surprised when they heard this. They didn't expect Xing Daorong to go out of the city to fight the enemy. They couldn't help but wonder whether this was reliable.

Ma Chao, on the other hand, said without hesitation: "That's right! We should just attack him head on and kill him without leaving a single piece of armor behind!"

Meng Da was still cautious. After thinking for a while, he said, "The enemy is strong. Why don't we hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements?"

Xing Daorong shook his head and said, "Yizhou has just been conquered. If too many troops are mobilized, it will inevitably affect people's livelihood and all industries. I have sent a letter to Chengdu, telling the lord and the military advisor to rest assured. We are here to protect this place, and Cao Cao will not be allowed to enter even a single step."

Upon hearing that Xing Daorong's letter had been sent out, Meng Da had nothing more to say.

"Loyal subordinate," Bao Long said hurriedly, "I have never lost a battle under General Xing, so what is Cao Cao?"

Bao Long's usual "bragging" about Xing Daorong sometimes makes people irritated, but this time it actually boosted morale just right.

Xing Daorong said: "If we cannot win the battle, we can come back to defend the city. However, opportunities on the battlefield are fleeting, so we should give it a try."

Guan Ping also said: "If Cao Hong really divides his troops, he must be underestimating us. Maybe we can win when he underestimates the enemy?"

Guan Ping's words served as a reminder to Xing Daorong.

Cao Hong was a man of great loyalty and loyalty to Cao Cao.

But it is said that this guy is a bit unruly, and even his followers are very crazy.

This personality cannot be said to be bad, after all, there are all kinds of people in the military.

You are like Bao Long, which is basically a smaller version of Cao Hong's personality.

However, Xing Daorong can clearly understand the vital point of this kind of person.

This type of people fear praise the most.

The higher you praise him, the more he will show off.

Once you start to show off, problems will easily arise.

Xing Daorong's mind turned after hearing Guan Ping's words, and he immediately had an idea.

But he said: "General Guan is right. I want to use a trick to confuse the enemy, so that Cao Hong will be too proud and underestimate the enemy."

Guan Ping was delighted when he heard that his suggestion was adopted by Xing Daorong.

Feeling that he had helped, he quickly asked, "What's the general's plan?"

Xing Daorong's eyes flashed with a bit of calculated excitement, but he said in a humming voice: "As the saying goes, courtesy comes before force. I will write a letter first to praise the great general Cao Hong, so that he will think that we have heard of him for a long time..."

"However, we still need to think about how to praise him to the heart's content..."

(End of this chapter)