The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 125: Using the weak to defeat the strong, you can go ahead!
Liu Bei was very clear about Cao Cao's strength.

This kid Cao Cao is also making continuous progress.

As early as the period of fighting against Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao's army was almost wiped out by Xu Rong.

But when he took over as the governor of Yanzhou, Cao Cao fought his own battle to establish his country.

He successively defeated the Black Mountain Army's Yu Du, the Xiongnu's Yu Fuluo and the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans.

He also joined forces with Yuan Shao to defeat the arrogant Yuan Shu.

He has entered the peak period of his career.

And wasn't Liu Bei himself also making continuous progress?

Liu Bei was also defeated by the Yellow Turban bandits in his early years.

By the time he took over Xuzhou, he was already able to easily defeat weaker opponents and even openly challenge Cao Cao, who was at his peak.

Cao Cao ordered Liu Dai and Wang Zhong to attack Liu Bei, but Liu Bei easily defeated them and even boasted:

——"If you send a hundred men, they will be powerless against me; if Cao Gong comes on his own, we may never know."

Even if there were a hundred Liu Dais, they would not be my match. Only if Cao Cao came in person would he be qualified to compete with me.

These words were both bold and domineering.

Therefore, the Liu Bei in history was definitely not the kind of good-hearted person portrayed in the novels, but a truly great man of both civil and military talents.

It also proves once again that losing a battle is not shameful, failure is the mother of success, and everyone is learning lessons from defeat.

Therefore, it is said that who are the rivals of the heroes in the world? Cao and Liu.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei are both making continuous progress.

The only thing he did was not include Sun Quan in the play.

Only Brother Shiwan suffered a defeat and faced a bigger defeat.

"Regardless of whether Zhang Liao can drive back Cao Cao's troops, it would be best if the two families could stop fighting now."

Li Yi expressed his point of view.

Liu Bei nodded. Didn't he also hope to turn hostility into friendship and avoid disputes?

However, Cao Cao was determined to attack the State of Chen, and Liu Bei could not sit idly by.

"I also hope to resolve the issue of Chen State peacefully, but Cao Yanzhou will not give up easily."

Liu Bei sighed.

"Two dogs fight, play off."

"The war between Xuzhou and Yanzhou has been going on for nearly three years since the fourth year of Chuping."

"My Lord, do you still remember the foreign policy I set for Xuzhou?"

Liu Bei nodded, and allied with Yuan Shao in the north, Cao Cao in the west, and Yuan Shu in the south.

"Xuzhou and Yanzhou are fighting each other, and there are two families who are most happy to see it happen."

Liu Bei frowned and said calmly:
"Yuan Shao in Hebei, Yuan Shu in Huainan."

"exactly."

Li Yi nodded, "Yuan Shao is powerful, Cao Cao is weak."

"We and Cao Cao are both in Henan. If Yuan Shao leads his army south, we will not be able to defeat him with the strength of Xuzhou."

"Only by combining the strength of Xuzhou and Yanzhou can we resist it."

"I don't want Wenyuan to fight Cao Cao in Chen State. No matter who wins or loses, the Yuan family will benefit."

"It would be unwise to let Cao and Liu get mired in war because of a tiny piece of land called Chen!"

Although Li Yi was a latecomer, he was always very opposed to shooting arrows first and then drawing the target.

That is, the Central Plains knew that Cao Cao was the winner, so they had to deal with Cao Cao first.

Jiangnan knew that Sun was the winner, so he had to deal with Sun first.

This kind of thinking is not desirable.

Now the most powerful warlord in the north is Yuan Shao, and the strongest warlord in the south is Yuan Shu.

Even the entire war among the princes was a continuation of the struggle for supremacy between the two Yuans.

So Li Yi has been trying to balance the power of the Cao and Sun families.

He allowed the Sun family to expand its power to Jiangdong so that he could rebel against Yuan Shu in the future and lead Yuan Shu to decline.

But Sun Ce was not allowed to expand too quickly. He was only allowed to expand in the direction of Wujun. It was enough for him to have the strength of a local lord.

If it expands further towards Kuaiji and Danyang, human intervention will be required in Xuzhou.

The same goes for Cao Cao. Li Yi can allow Cao Cao to take control of Yanzhou.

Yingchuan in Yuzhou and Qiao County in Pei State, as the territories of the Xun, Cao and Xiahou families, could also be ceded to Cao Cao.

Xuzhou is difficult to manage and cannot be managed.

But wealthy states like Chen and Liang could no longer be allowed to be touched by Cao Cao.

In a word, the Cao and Sun families can retain a certain amount of strength to help Old Liu deal with the Yuan family in the future.

But this strength must be within the controllable range of Xuzhou and must never cross this red line!

"If Cao and Liu go to war again because of the Chen Kingdom incident, both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu will be happy to see it happen."

"Especially Yuan Shao. After he unified Hebei, the first thing he set his sights on was the Central Plains."

"Even if Henan is unified, it is still difficult to compete with Hebei. How much more so now that we in Henan are fighting each other?"

Li Yi explained the irrationality of fighting against Cao Cao at this time.

Many people in later generations said that Yuan Shao was defeated by Cao Cao because he had too many advisers and his strategic plans were too complicated.

There is actually nothing wrong with the strategic plans proposed by these Hebei strategists.

Yuan Shao could easily defeat Cao Cao by using any one of them.

God Yuan’s strength is so strong.

In addition,

In the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao deployed an army of 110,000 to the front line, while Cao Cao only sent 20,000 troops to the front line.

But at this time Cao Cao had already unified Henan, so it was impossible for him to mobilize only 20,000 people.

This is because Cao Cao's territory is located in an area surrounded by enemies.

To the west are the generals of Guanxi, to the south is Liu Biao, and to the southeast is Sun Ce.

At the same time, the Yellow Turbans of Runan were causing trouble in the rear, so Cao Cao had to send troops to guard the area.

This is the fundamental reason for the disparity in military strength between Yuan and Cao.

Both Liu Bei and Cao Cao are now facing this problem, they are both attacked from all sides.

As long as Yuan Shao unified Hebei and focused on heading south, he would have nothing to worry about.

Apart from the Yellow River, the only ones who could stop Yuan's army from advancing southward were Cao and Liu.

Therefore, it was very unwise for Cao and Liu to fight at this time.

According to Li Yi's estimation, if Liu Bei wanted to fight Yuan Shao alone, he would have to at least take over the entire Yangzhou, and then develop for another two to three years.

Only with the strength of Xu and Yang states could they barely compete with Yuan Shao.

After all, even if Li Yi has extraordinary abilities, the territory of Xuzhou is limited. Even if the production potential is overdrawn, it is impossible to compete with the entire Hebei Province.

"Two weak ones unite to fight against one strong one, but there is no reason for the strong to fight against the weak one."

"Our alliance with Yuan Shao is only a temporary measure."

Li Yi continued speaking.

The reason for forming an alliance with Yuan Shao was simply because he didn't want to be his enemy, so that he could develop secretly.

"Yuan Shao's only enemy in the north is Gongsun Zan."

"I know that this man is an old friend of the lord, but after he killed Liu Bo'an, he forgot the good deeds and took revenge for the slightest grievance, and promoted treacherous people."

"This is a defeat. I predict that in two or three years, they will be destroyed by Yuan Shao."

When mentioning Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh.

As the previous big brother, Liu Bei really didn't know what to say about him.

He left Gongsun Zan and came to Xuzhou to start a business because Gongsun Zan's temperament changed drastically, especially because he killed Liu Yu, a relative of the Han royal family.

This move made Gongsun Zan lose the support of the people.

Liu Bei was extremely disappointed with him, so he simply left him and came to Xuzhou to find Tao Qian.

"I remember that when Brother Bogui fought against Yuan Shao before, he was defeated several times by him, but he never showed any signs of decline."

"Will it not be destroyed by Yuan Shao within three years?"

Although he knew that Gongsun Zan had lost the support of the people, Liu Bei clearly remembered that Gongsun Zan had more victories than defeats in his battles with Yuan Shao.

During this period, Yuan Shao even sought peace with Gongsun Zan.

Even if Gongsun Zan committed evil deeds, he would not be defeated by Yuan Shao so quickly.

If Gongsun Zan was destroyed, Yuan Shao would definitely turn his strategic direction to Henan.

At that time, Liu Bei would have to face Yuan Shao in advance. He had originally hoped that Gongsun Zan would hold out for a while longer, allowing him to grow for a few more years.

"My lord, do you still remember that at the beginning of this year, Liu Yu's former subordinates joined forces with local nobles, the Hu people, and Yuan Shao to form an army of 100,000 people to attack Gongsun Zan?"

Li Yi reminded from the side.

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Of course I have heard about it, but I don't know how the war is going."

Li Yi analyzed seriously:
"Gongsun Zan is proficient in the art of war, but how can he fight against a coalition of 100,000 troops on his own?"

"I expect it to suffer a heavy blow and it will be difficult for it to recover."

In fact, if we calculate the time, Gongsun Zan had already been defeated by the coalition forces by this time.

The allied forces defeated Gongsun Zan's main force at Baoqiu and beheaded more than 20,000 people.

However, the war took place in the north, and news flowed slowly, so it has not yet reached Xuzhou.

"Alas, those who are in the right will have many supporters, while those who are in the wrong will have few."

Liu Bei let out a sigh, with sympathy for Gongsun Zan's plight mixed with a hint of mockery.

How great a sin must one person have committed to be able to unite the armies of the Xianbei, Wuhuan, local nobles, and other princes at the same time.

They even put aside the grudges between Hu and Han and joined forces to deal with you alone?
"I am unwilling to start a war with Cao Cao at this time, but I don't know what Cao Cao thinks."

"I'm afraid they won't stop fighting just because of a few words from me."

Although Liu Bei agreed with Li Yi's proposal to make peace with Cao Cao.

But how could Cao Cao's army, which was so large in scale, retreat like that without even paying for gas for a round trip?

"The reason why Cao Cao sent troops to attack Chen State was because his soldiers were short of food after the rebellion in Yanzhou."

"The State of Chen has stored up to a million hu of grain. We can send someone to negotiate peace with Cao Cao and then discuss it with the King of Chen." "Give up some of the military rations in exchange for Cao Cao's withdrawal."

"If necessary, Xuzhou can also contribute some money and grain."

Cao Cao is also a shrewd man. He will definitely not give up without some benefits.

"Good, if the two families can stop fighting from now on and live in peace with the people."

"It is a good thing for the people of both places."

Liu Bei looked up at the flying snow in the sky and couldn't help but sigh at how fast time passed.

"When our army marched south this time, Xia Pi was covered with willows and mist, but when we returned, the whole city was covered with snow."

"...Haha, yes, time flies by like a fleeting white horse."

“So, we must achieve something in life.”

Liu Bei rode side by side with Li Yi, enjoyed the snow for a while, and then went back.

……

……

But Cao Cao personally led his troops to attack the State of Chen.

Chen Wang Liu Chong had only 3,000 soldiers under his command and felt that he was no match for Cao Cao.

He then sent Chen State Prime Minister Luo Jun to the neighboring Liang State to seek help from Yuzhou Governor Guo Gong.

After receiving the letter, Guo Gong led an army of 10,000 people to the front line of Chen State to fight against Cao Cao.

Liu Chong met Guo Gong and personally invited him into the government office. He then opened the warehouse and ordered people to entertain the troops from Liang State.

After eating and drinking, Liu Chong, Luo Jun and Guo Gong gathered their generals to discuss strategies to repel the enemy.

Prime Minister Luo Jun suggested:
"Cao Cao has elite soldiers and brave generals. It is really difficult to fight against him. It is better to hold Yangxia and wait for reinforcements from Xuzhou."

Chen Wang Liu Chong has always been brave and strong. Now he has received reinforcements from Guo Gong, and he sees that he has brought more than ten thousand soldiers.

His confidence grew, and he thought that even without reinforcements from Xuzhou, he would be able to repel Cao Cao.

So he raised an objection, saying:
"Cao Cao had just put down the civil strife in Yanzhou, his troops were exhausted, and he attacked our Chen State."

"Our army will wait for the enemy to tire themselves out and take the initiative to attack, thus dampening their morale. This way, Cao Cao will not dare to attack too hastily."

"If we take our time, Cao Cao has little food, while our Chen State has much, so he won't retreat for a long time."

Guo Gong also agreed with Liu Chong's opinion and said:

"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. We can take the initiative to attack and weaken Cao's army first."

"Cao's soldiers naturally dare not attack hastily."

The reason why Guo Gong suddenly became so radical was because he knew that Liu Chong was extremely brave.

Although there were only 3,000 Jue Zhang soldiers under Liu Chong's command, each of them was good at shooting and had superb archery skills.

Liu Chong was especially good at hitting the target every time.

When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, Liu Chong recruited soldiers from within the country and relied on his own bravery to put down the rebellion.

In particular, Guo Gong had witnessed Zhang Fei's bravery in Pei State before, and he knew that a large army could not be without brave generals.

Why was Guo Gong so cowardly in previous battles?
Isn’t it just that we lack a brave general who can rush into the battle line first?
Now Guo Gong has soldiers and the King of Chen has bravery. If the two families join forces, why should we fear the Cao thief?

After the discussion was finalized, Liu Chong and Guo Gong led a large army to personally fight Cao Cao the next day.

Once you leave Yangxia, there is no place to shoot an arrow.

But I saw dust covering the sun, gongs and drums blaring, and countless soldiers and horses arriving.

The two armies lined up against each other, and Cao Cao came out and shouted:
"Now my army is attacking Chen, why are you sending troops to resist?"

Liu Chong rode out with his spear in hand, cursing loudly:
"Cao, you are the descendant of a eunuch. Your father got the position of a high official by bribing officials in the court."

"Now you have occupied the vast Yanzhou county for no reason, and you are still not satisfied. How dare you invade my Chen territory?"

Cao Cao was furious when he heard this, and whipped his whip and cursed:

"Who can help me catch this thief?"

After he finished speaking, Dian Wei took the lead.

He took the lead and rushed towards Liu Chong's army.

Liu Chong rushed forward with a spear in hand, bracing himself and engaging in battle with Dian Wei.

After fighting for less than three rounds, Cao's generals Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan led three hundred cavalrymen and suddenly rushed towards Liu Chong's army.

Liu Chong was unable to stop him and fled back to the army.

Dian Wei was like a tiger among a flock of sheep. Under the cover of the cavalry, he charged back and forth three times in Liu Chong's army and broke up the formation.

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he saw this, and immediately ordered Xiahou Dun to lead his troops to attack Liu's left flank, and ordered Cao Hong to lead his troops to attack Guo Gong's flank.

Cao Cao led the central army to charge into the battle. At the sound of drums, all three armies charged out together.

After a fierce battle between the two sides, the allied forces of Liu Chong and Guo Gong could not withstand the enemy and were defeated and fled.

Cao Cao personally drew his sword and led the crowd to chase and kill, shouting:
"Whoever captures Guo Gong and Liu Chong will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins!"

For a moment, shouts of killing resounded through the sky.

Cao's army pursued and killed many people all the way, and those who surrendered were countless.

Liu Chong and Guo Gong led the defeated army all the way back to Yangxia, and Cao's army pursued them.

Luo Jun was on the city wall and ordered Zhang Shi to shoot arrows to stop Cao's army.

For a moment, arrows rained down, and Cao's army could not advance. They had to temporarily stop and retreat to the camp.

Liu Chong suffered multiple injuries and sat down on the ground exhausted.

"Cao Cao is indeed good at using troops, and I cannot match him."

Liu Chong was not ashamed and admitted frankly that he was no match for Cao Cao.

Luo Jun personally applied medicine to Liu Chong and said:
"Cao Cao has many powerful generals under his command. We are naturally no match for him."

Guo Gong managed to escape without any injuries, but most of his men who died were front-line soldiers.

But thinking back to the battle he had just fought, he still did not feel frightened.

"I don't know who the fierce general who fought with the king today is. I think he is a fierce and evil man, just like the evil hero of ancient times."

"The last time I saw such a brave general was when I met Zhang Yide in Pei State."

Guo Gong recalled the day when he was driven back by dozens of Zhang Fei's cavalry in Pei State.

Thinking back on it now, I feel even more scared.

Especially today, when Dian Wei charged into the battle formation, it was even more terrifying.

"Cao Cao has many powerful generals under his command. It is difficult for us to fight them head-on with the current forces we have."

Liu Chong narrowed his eyes and murmured for a moment:
"Now that our army has just suffered a defeat, it has dampened our own morale."

"What should I do?"

Luo Jun opened his mouth and advised:
"Cao Cao is a master of military strategy. Apart from Liu Xuzhou, who can rival him?"

"Our army has just been defeated and has no will to fight. We can only defend Yangxia first and wait for Liu Xuzhou to come to our aid."

Liu Chong rubbed his temple and sighed:

"I just hope Liu Xuzhou can send troops to rescue us for the sake of our royal family ties."

"Otherwise, the State of Chen may not be able to stop Cao's army."

Guo Gong said on the side:
"I have already drafted an alliance agreement with Liu Xuzhou. Chen is in trouble today, and Liang will not be spared in the future."

"Liu Xuzhou is known for his benevolence and righteousness, and he is able to save people in need. Now that our two countries are in dire straits, we will definitely not sit idly by and watch."

With Guo Gong's comfort, Liu Chong felt much more at ease.

Over the next few days, I will rest and recuperate in Yangxia.

Cao Cao won the battle and seized a lot of food and supplies, then ordered his soldiers to attack again.

However, the soldiers of Yangxia were all good archers, and Cao Cao was unable to defeat them after attacking for three days.

Cao Cao couldn't help but get annoyed, and hurriedly summoned all the civil and military officials to discuss the matter.

"Now my army is going to take Yanyingchuan, how can we be stopped by a small county in Chen State!"

Therefore, he planned to transfer more troops from Yanzhou tomorrow to send more manpower.

I vowed to capture Yangxia within three days.

As they were talking, a scout suddenly came with a report that an envoy from Xuzhou had arrived.

"The envoy from Xuzhou?"

Cao Cao frowned and said in surprise:

"Liu Bei and I have already stopped fighting. Why is he here?"

Cheng Yu said:

"Are you here to make peace?"

Cao Cao was furious when he heard this and shouted:

"This little boy who weaves mats and sells shoes has gained such a large state without any effort, and he is still not satisfied."

"Last year, he took advantage of the civil unrest in Yanzhou and tried to invade Yuzhou."

"I have given him the entire territory of Lu and Pei, and he has agreed not to interfere in matters outside of Lu and Pei."

"How dare you send someone to mediate today?"

So he gave an order, ordering his men to beat them back with sticks.

Xun Yu hurried out to persuade him:
"Now Liu Bei has dominated the great state, his strength should not be underestimated."

"If the two families become enemies and start fighting again, the two Yuans will benefit."

"Let the messenger come in first and see what he has to say."

Cao Cao nodded slightly and hummed:

"Well, let the messenger come in and see what he has to say!"

After a while, the envoy from Xuzhou arrived and delivered a letter.

It was written by Liu Bei himself.

The content of the letter, just as Cheng Yu said, was to persuade Cao Cao to stop his troops and withdraw from the territory of Chen State.

"Who is Liu Bei, to dare to advise me?"

Cao Cao was about to throw the letter to the ground, but suddenly stopped and froze it in mid-air.

There was a flickering and hesitation in his eyes.

……

(End of this chapter)