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

Chapter 207 Jia Xu admires Li Yi's military strategy. I think Le Yi and Tian Rangju may not be better than him.

However, Zhang He and Gao Lan led their troops and surrendered to the Henan army.

The garrison commanders in front of Guandu Camp were represented by Zhang Fei in Liu's camp and Cao Hong in Cao's camp.

Seeing the Hebei army coming back, they thought they were going to attack again.

Just as he was about to go over to defend again, he saw the Hebei soldiers burning the siege equipment.

He sent another envoy to surrender to the allied forces.

When they received this news, both Zhang Fei and Cao Hong were a little surprised.

The Hebei army was attacking their stronghold just one second ago, but how come the entire army surrendered the next second?

Cao Hong was undecided for a moment and asked Zhang Fei for his opinion.

Although Zhang Fei is quite strategic in fighting, people are not willing to fight with him now.

This made him feel troubled.

"…Now, the master has left the camp to rob Wuchao and has not returned yet."

"And Zhang He and Gao Lan have a force of 10,000 men, and now they are surrendering, so we don't know if they are real or fake."

"If it's a false surrender, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with."

Zhang Fei's worries were not unfounded, as Yuan's army was huge in number.

It is already very difficult to control these 10,000 surrendered soldiers. Once Yuan Shao leads a large army, he will attack them from both inside and outside.

The consequences could be disastrous.

Cao Hong then said:

"When Mr. Li left, he left Mr. Jia and Mr. Xun here."

"Whenever we have any hesitation or difficulty in making a decision, we should ask these two people."

"We don't know the strength of the Hebei army yet, so why not ask these two gentlemen?"

Zhang Fei followed his advice, and the two of them went to find Jia Xu and Xun You and told them about the surrender of Generals Gao and Zhang.

Jia Xu said without hesitation:
"Now that Zhang He has burned the attacking oars, why should we doubt it?"

The second general replied, "We are afraid that they will pretend to surrender and cooperate with Yuan Shao from inside and outside."

Xun You shook his head and said:

"No, Mr. Li was indebted to Zhang He and Gao Lan when he was in Qingzhou."

"Now that the two men's plans were not used by Yuan Shao, they came here in anger. Why do you doubt them?"

Seeing that Jia Xu and Xun You said so, Zhang Fei and Cao Hong no longer doubted it.

Zhang Fei said again:

"Even so, I still need to report this to my brother."

Cao Hong also said:

"I must also report this matter to my lord."

As soon as they finished speaking, the two men each sent envoys from the rear camp to invite Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei had already known about Li Yi's risky expedition to rob Wuchao.

At first, Liu Bei was worried about Li Yi's safety and didn't want him to take the risk.

But Cao Cao believed that this risky move was necessary because the war had reached its most difficult time and he could not win without taking risky measures.

Of course, the reason why Cao Cao was so anxious was because his hometown of Yuzhou was out of control.

As long as Yuan's army was defeated, he would not need to send troops to Yuzhou and would be able to regain control immediately.

Because these officials are the most adept at changing their stance according to the situation.

Seeing this, Liu Bei did not stop him and just said:
"If Ziyu succeeds, our army will immediately break camp and fight a decisive battle with Yuan's army."

Cao Cao was overjoyed and said:

"I've had this idea for a long time! I'd like to make a decision with you!"

At that time, news came that Zhang He and Gao Lan were coming to surrender.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao hurriedly said:
"This must be because Li Ziyu succeeded in robbing Wuchao, and the two generals saw that the situation was hopeless, so they led their troops to surrender!"

So Cao Cao and Liu Bei quickly gathered the troops in their camp and moved out.

To the front line,

The generals from all the camps had also received the news and gathered their troops to join the two.

Taking advantage of the fact that all the generals had gathered, Cao Cao and Liu Bei led their respective civil and military officials out of the camp to meet Zhang He and Gao Lan.

The two generals never expected that Cao and Liu would value them so much.

He was so moved that he immediately threw away his armor and prostrated himself on the ground.

Cao Cao laughed and said:

"The two generals are willing to abandon darkness and join the light, just like Weizi left Yin and Han Xin returned."

Since the Henan Army was under the banner of "righteous soldiers" and regarded itself as the orthodox army of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao had every reason to say this.

Liu Bei also exclaimed:

"...Yes, if Yuan Shao had listened to the advice of the two generals, he would not have been defeated."

"If you can defeat Yuan's army, I will report to the emperor and make you two generals and marquises."

Zhang He and Gao Lan were overjoyed when they heard this and bowed their heads repeatedly.

"Now that Wuchao has been robbed and two new generals have joined us, Yuan Shao's situation is hopeless."

"Now is the time for a decisive battle. Pass on my order, and the entire army must withdraw camp immediately."

"A showdown with Yuan Shao!"

As soon as the words fell, the morale of the camp suddenly rose.

Every soldier's face was filled with excitement. They raised their weapons to the sky and shouted loudly:

"We will win! We will win! We will win!!"

The reason why the Henan Army was able to burst out with such high morale.

It was because of Li Yi's confidentiality that a large number of soldiers did not know that there was no food in the barracks.

On the contrary, because of the "motivation method", that is,
——Persist for a month and you will be able to defeat Yuan Shao.

Now that Wuchao has been destroyed, everyone’s faith has been further strengthened.

Every Henan soldier believed that this battle would be the last one and that they would be able to defeat the arrogant Yuan army!

At Guandu Dazhai, more than 20,000 Henan soldiers rushed northward like a tide.

……

On the other hand, Yuan Shao was in a terrible situation.

It was not until just now that Yuan Shao realized that Xu You had already rebelled.

And it was this guy who led Li Yi to Wuchao.

When Yuan Shao found out about this, he was furious and ordered Shen Pei, who was in Yecheng, to behead Xu You's entire family, young and old.

As soon as the order was given, someone reported that Zhang He and Gao Lan had surrendered to the enemy.

"What!?"

When he heard the news, Yuan Shao's eyes turned black, his steps staggered, and he almost fainted.

His attendants hurried to support him. Yuan Shao knew that this was not the time to faint as the situation was critical.

He is needed as the master to take charge of the overall situation.

"Quick! Pass the order, quickly assemble the troops!"

"Now we have lost the grain at Wuchao, and also lost two generals, Zhang He and Gao Lan."

"Cao Cao and Liu Bei will surely come and raid our camp at this time. Our army must be prepared!"

Yuan Shao used all his strength to give this order.

Now the people on both sides are panicking and no longer care about infighting. They return to their units to organize their soldiers.

Unlike the allied forces, Yuan’s soldiers all knew that their food was stored in Wuchao.

After the news spread overnight, everyone now knew that the food in Wuchao was gone.

The soldiers were uneasy and everyone was terrified.

When the news of Zhang He and Gao Lan's betrayal on the battlefield came back, the tense situation in the military camp finally collapsed.

I don't know who shouted in the camp:
"The army's rations are gone!"

"Cao Liuju's army is coming to kill us all!"

Suddenly, there was an uproar in the camp.

The soldiers left the camp one after another, abandoning their armor and weapons and fleeing in all directions.

Some soldiers also snatched baggage and food and beat each other up.

Upon hearing the news, Yuan Shao immediately ordered his personal soldiers to suppress the rebellion.

As soon as we left the camp, we saw a large and dense crowd of Hebei soldiers running around like headless flies.

Yuan Shao immediately ordered his generals to execute those who caused the trouble.

However, the soldiers were already in chaos, with swords and spears pointing at each other, and the downward trend could not be stopped.

Yuan Shao looked at his army and couldn't help shedding tears, sighing:

"Why did Yuan Benchu come to this point?"

After he finished speaking, he vomited blood.

The reason why Yuanying was in such chaos was due to a series of chain reactions.

First of all, everyone knew that the military rations were in Wuchao, and the Henan army burned them in front of them.

Even if you want to hide it, you can't.

The loss of military rations has already caused panic among the people.

The betrayal of Gao Lan and Zhang He at the critical moment of the battle was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Because these two people are quite famous in the Hebei army.

At the same time, the two men took away a fresh force to join the Allied forces.

Otherwise, how can we say that Zhang He is a typical professional?

Zhang He could have easily escaped with his trusted followers or surrendered to Cao and Liu.

However, he chose to take away Yuan Shao's most powerful vanguard troops and have the entire army join the Allied Forces.

Neither Cao Cao nor Liu Bei had any resistance to such talents who brought money into the team.

Although Zhang He's choice of the former was fair to Yuan Shao, it was unfair to himself.

Only by leading a large army to surrender to Henan can one be entrusted with an important position and receive rewards.

And here is the key point,

In a large army, not everyone is fearless and brave.

Soldiers in the army are also divided into different levels. Some are strong in combat, while others are just there to fill up the numbers.

So you often see two armies fighting, and even though not many people were killed, the rear army would be completely defeated.

This is what we call "specific potential energy". Once the "momentum" is gone, the larger the army, the easier it is to collapse.

Otherwise, why is Han Xin known as the military genius?

His real strength lies not in his command of troops on the battlefield, but in his belief that “the more the better”.

Before Yuan Shao had finished spitting out blood, the sentries over there reported that Cao Cao and Liu Bei were leading their armies to raid the camp!

Yuan Shao had to fight back hastily. The allied forces fought hard and Yuan's army could not resist and fled in all directions.

Yuan Shao knew that his army was now in disarray and could no longer fight.

He then ordered the entire army to break camp and retreat while fighting.

How could Cao Cao and Liu Bei be willing to give up?
Cao Cao ordered Cao Hong, Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin to lead an army each to pursue.

Liu Bei ordered Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong and Xu Huang to lead their troops to encircle the right wing of Yuan's army.

Yuan's troops had lost their fighting spirit, and fled in all directions in a panic.

At that time, Li Yi was reorganizing his troops in Wuchao. When he saw the growing momentum in the south, he knew that the war had begun.

He quickly mounted his horse and shouted to the soldiers:
"All troops, listen up and mount your horses immediately."

"Prepare to attack the enemy!"

At the command, Zhao Yun, Zhang Xiu and Gongsun Xu each mounted their horses.

The knights, armed with spears and swords, rushed south to kill.

Yuan's army was being driven and killed by the allied forces all the way, when they suddenly heard the sound of hooves like thunder from the north and saw a large group of cavalry coming towards them.

They were even more armorless and fled in panic.

More than 100,000 Yuan troops were forcibly dispersed after being attacked from both sides by Li Yi's army and Henan's army.

Yuan Shao mounted his horse wearing only a single garment and a wide scarf, and his eldest son Yuan Tan followed behind.

There were only 800 cavalrymen left with him, and they headed straight for Liyang.

Yuan's army was defeated, abandoning all their books, chariots, weapons, gold and silk.

As the Allied forces were chasing, many soldiers stopped to snatch baggage and property, fearing that they would be taken away by the enemy.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei led their troops in pursuit and killing for more than ten miles, until blood flowed into the ditch.

It was not until they could no longer capture most of Yuan's troops and it was getting dark that they sounded the call to retreat.

They each set up camp and held a grand feast for the soldiers.

The siege of Guandu was finally lifted!

Li Yi led his troops back to the camp, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei each led civil and military officials out to greet them.

"...Zi Yu played an indispensable role in defeating Yuan's army in this battle!"

Liu Bei patted Li Yi on the shoulder and said with a look of relief.

Li Yi turned sideways and pointed at the soldiers who had fought with him all night, and said:
"Without the sacrifice of the soldiers, even if Yi had the courage and foresight, it would be in vain."

"They are the real heroes of this battle."

The soldiers were speechless and deeply moved.

At that moment, I felt that all the pain in my body was worth it.

Afterwards, Cao and Liu invited Li Yi to join them in the camp and drink to celebrate their victory.

"Mr. Li used a surprise attack to defeat Yuan Shao at Wuchao. Come, come, come."

"I propose that we all toast to the gentleman together!"

Zhang Fei picked up the wine jar and walked up to Li Yi.

In addition to marching and fighting, he was very good at livening up the atmosphere at drinking parties.

What's more, Li Yi is from Xuzhou.

It would be too much of an embarrassment for the Xuzhou army to do this in front of the Allied soldiers.

On Cao Ying's side,
Clan generals and generals of different surnames, led by Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin, all raised their wine cups and stood up.

After spending nearly half a year together, everyone in Cao's camp was finally impressed by Li Yi's personal charm.

Especially in the battle of Wuchao, everyone admired Li Yi's courage and determination.

If they put themselves in their shoes, they should ask themselves whether they dare to take such a risk and whether they can carry out their beliefs to the end and fight to the end.

That really needs to be questioned.

Even the two protagonists, Cao Cao and Liu Bei, stood up.

"Yes, in this battle, Guandu won a great victory over Yuan's army."

"If it weren't for Ziyu's planning and decisiveness at the critical moment, we would have been able to launch a surprise attack on Wuchao."

"Our army will never achieve such a great victory."

"Come on! Let's toast to Mr. Li together!"

When Cao Cao and Liu Bei took the lead in toasting, Li Yi's prestige among the allies instantly reached its peak.

Being watched by so many pairs of eyes, all of them were senior figures from various departments.

This brought back some bad memories for Li Yi.

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it.

Li Yi did not want to indulge in the compliments of the crowd, so he just raised his wine cup and replied calmly:
"Yihe has been entrusted with such a heavy responsibility, how dare I not do my utmost to serve you?"

"Today's great victory is not due to me alone, but the achievements of all the soldiers in the army."

After saying this, he drank the wine in the cup in one gulp.

The soldiers were stunned. They had originally thought that the Battle of Guandu had lasted for so long and everyone had finally managed to win.

They were all waiting for Li Yi, the Governor-General of Henan, to give a long speech.

Why did they end it so hastily after summarizing the two armies?
However, Li Yi had already drunk the wine, so it was not appropriate for everyone else to fall behind.

They all said "please" and drank the drinks in one gulp.

Zhang Fei thought, our teacher has made great contributions to brother Yu, how can he accept just a glass of wine?

Just as he was about to speak, he toasted Li Yi again.

Li Yi suddenly turned around and said to everyone:
"We were able to win this battle, and I would like to recommend a few heroes to you." "Without them, our army would never have won this great victory."

When he heard that Li Yi was going to nominate and praise the meritorious officials himself, he immediately started to think about it.

Everyone immediately sat up straight, waiting for Li Yi to call their names.

"...Hey, do you think the Grand Commander will mention me?"

"~Tsk, who do you think you are? The Grand Commander would mention Naigong's name."

Some generals were whispering, all hoping that Li Yi would praise them specifically.

If I were praised in front of so many people, I would definitely be promoted and given a raise by my lord.

Just for the sake of face, you have to earn enough so that you can brag about it with your fellow villagers for years when you go home.

"This person is none other than Cao Gong's old friend, my best friend—"

"Nanyang Xu You, Xu Ziyuan!"

Li Yi spoke loudly at the table.

When everyone heard this, their eyes all fell on Xu You who was beside Li Yi.

"…Well, he is Xu You?"

"Look at his appearance, he's just ordinary."

"...Humph, I heard that this guy was originally a subordinate of Yuan Shao. How can a surrendered general be worthy of riding on our heads?"

"That's right. We fought bravely on the battlefield, but we didn't see this man do anything."

Everyone was whispering, pointing fingers at Xu You and complaining about him.

Xu You also noticed it. He knew that Li Yi was helping him build momentum so that he could be introduced to Cao and Liu.

He decided to perform well, so he cleared his throat, stood up, and bowed to everyone:
"… I am ashamed, ashamed, Xu You of Nanyang, was wrongly loved by Marquis Li Tan."

"That's why I joined hands with you all and broke through Wuchao."

"That's good, congratulations."

Strictly speaking, the war is not over yet.

In addition, Xu You had just arrived, so he did not dare to get too carried away and spoke cautiously.

Seeing that Xu You's attitude was quite sincere, everyone stopped complaining.

"Hey, Ziyuan!"

"I knew it was you!"

Cao Cao stood up first and ran forward to hug Xu You.

"I heard a military report earlier saying that someone helped Li Tanhou to capture Wuchao."

"I guessed it was you!"

People feel refreshed when good things happen to them. Cao Cao was also overjoyed to see his old friend.

Holding Xu You, he patted his back repeatedly.

Seeing that Li Yi respected Mr. Xu so much, Liu Bei also stood up and bowed to Xu You to express his gratitude.

"Thank you Mr. Xu for your help!"

Xu You was delighted to see that both Cao Cao and Liu Bei treated him with such courtesy.

I was flattered, but I also felt relieved.

He was originally from Henan and followed his elder brother Yuan Shao to Hebei to start a business.

Who would have thought that I would return to Henan again in the second half of my life.

After recommending Xu You, Li Yi saw that Xu You was having a great time chatting with Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

He also began to introduce Zhang Xiu and other troops.

When Zhang Xiu saw Cao Cao here, he thought that he would have to face him sooner or later.

Then he took the initiative to come before Cao Cao, bowed to him and said:
"... Lord Cao."

He is a tongue-tied person and not very good at speaking.

Jia Xu then helped him and said:
"A gentleman does not remember past grudges. Cao Gong has the ambition to be a hegemon."

"I will let go of personal grudges and spread virtue throughout the world."

"How can you think about the past evils?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao stroked his beard and smiled:
“…Hahaha, just as Mr. Wenhe said.”

"I am not a petty person. Now the general has come to me when I am at my wit's end."

"Cao is not even grateful enough, how can he blame the general?"

After these words were spoken, everyone in Cao's camp looked at each other in surprise.

The generals headed by the Cao and Xiahou families looked particularly unhappy.

"...Tsk."

Xiahou Yuan gnashed his teeth in anger and said in a fierce voice:
"If it weren't for this kind of people, how could the eldest master...?"

"...Shh, stop talking, Cao Gong is still over there, keep your voice down."

It is worth mentioning that,
In many games, movies and TV dramas, after the Battle of Wancheng broke out, many generals in Cao's camp felt sorry for Dian Wei.

But in fact, Cao Cao was the only one who "cried for Dian Wei".

Everyone else felt sorry for Cao Ang.

Zhang Xiu did not pay much attention to the dissatisfaction of the generals in Cao's camp towards him. He just saw that Cao Cao really did as Jia Xu said and did not bear grudges.

I finally felt relieved.

"Xiu was young and ignorant before, and I will never dare to be an enemy of Cao Gong again."

Zhang Xiu immediately submitted his surrender to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao saw this and took advantage of the situation to say:
"I heard that the general has a daughter who has reached the age of marriage but has not yet married."

"My son Cao Jun has not yet married."

"If the general has any doubts about Cao, why not let our two families marry and become friends forever?"

"What do you think, General?"

Before, Cao Cao did look down on Zhang Xiu and his followers and did not take him seriously.

But it was only after the Battle of Wancheng that Cao Cao realized how capable this northern hero was.

If I could take this opportunity to marry him.

Not only can he show his magnanimity to the world, but he also has the opportunity to recruit these brave riders under his command.

Simply kill two birds with one stone.

Zhang Xiu did not expect Cao Cao to suddenly propose a marriage between the two families, and he was hesitant for a moment.

Li Yi came over and said:
"Today is a celebration banquet, so Lord Cao should not worry about other things."

At this time, Jia Xu also came forward and pulled Zhang Xiu's sleeve.

Zhang Xiu understood what Jia Xu meant, so he laughed and said to Cao Cao:
"It is not easy to make a quick decision on your children's marriage. You need to think about it carefully."

"… Let's think about it in the long run, hahaha."

Cao Cao was startled, then he also laughed loudly:
"I was just joking with you. Don't I know that this matter requires caution?"

"After the war is settled, I will come and discuss marriage with the general."

The matter is over.

Zhang Xiu also followed Jia Xu back to the banquet.

Jia Xu said to Zhang Xiu:
"We have won a great victory at Guandu. Both the Cao army and the Liu army are full of pride and arrogance."

"As foreign generals, how can we steal the limelight from others just by fighting in one battle?"

Zhang Xiu bowed and listened to the wise instruction, holding the wine cup in both hands, and asked again:

"Then what should we do?"

Jia Xu stroked the goat beard under his chin and said calmly:

"Have a feast here and drink with the officers and soldiers."

"Just make yourself familiar."

Zhang Xiu obeyed and did as he was told.

As a warrior, he naturally likes lively activities, and sitting and drinking is not his style.

When he was half drunk, he suddenly remembered something.

He came to Jia Xu again and asked:
"Just now, Lord Cao put aside past grudges and wanted to marry my children to my own."

"This is a good thing, why are you stopping it, sir?"

Jia Xu slowly opened his eyes and glanced at him:
"If you marry into the Cao family, you will be completely bound to the Cao family."

"Although we have won the Battle of Guandu, the Yuan family has not been destroyed, and Cao and Liu have not yet become prominent."

“It is still unknown who owns the world.”

"Since the general has submitted to the imperial court, you can just fight against Yuan in the name of the imperial court and concentrate on making achievements."

"Once the Yuan family is destroyed, it will be clear who is stronger, Cao or Liu."

Zhang Xiu suddenly realized something and was deeply impressed by Jia Xu's foresight.

"Your words really opened my eyes and enlightened me."

"I'd like to follow your advice!"

Yes, Cao and Liu are still allies now anyway.

If Zhang Xiu dares to stand on the side of anyone now, he will inevitably offend the other person.

Therefore, the best approach is to take advantage of the fact that the two families are still allies and their relationship has not yet broken down.

Don't take sides with anyone, just help both sides fight and make achievements.

When the two families really break up, the situation in the world will become clear.

It won't be difficult to make a decision then.

At the banquet, cups were pushed to each other.

Li Yi didn't want to attract too much attention, so he kept introducing meritorious soldiers to everyone.

Soon, the responsibility fell on Zhang He and Gao Lan, who had just surrendered.

As surrendered generals, the two had just arrived and were unfamiliar with the place, so they were actually a little embarrassed to toast with everyone.

However, Cao Cao and Liu Bei still praised their achievements.

No matter how you look at it, it was because Zhang He and Gao Lan led a large number of troops to defect in the middle of the battle.

This caused the morale of Yuan Shao's army to plummet instantly, dealing a fatal blow.

While Zhang He and Gao Lan were helping him to absorb the "alcohol", Li Yi took the opportunity to come to the table of Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu.

When Zhang Xiu saw Li Yi coming, he stood up and wanted to offer his seat to him.

"...Hey, General Zhang, please sit down!"

Li Yi quickly held Zhang Xiu's shoulders, motioning him to sit down, and teased:
"I am not a bad person, why do you have to leave the table when you see me coming?"

Zhang Xiu scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

But I do feel that everyone's evaluation of Li Yi is very fair. He is really kind and friendly to others, without any airs at all.

I heard that General Liu also has this style.

I wonder if the working environment will be like this if I join their camp.

If so, Zhang Xiu’s physical and mental pressure would indeed be much less.

Li Yi took a cushion and knelt down next to Jia Xu.

"Mr. Wenhe, I was in a hurry before."

"I haven't had the chance to have a good chat with you yet, I wonder if you would be willing to do me the honor?"

Jia Xu laughed and said:

"It is a great honor for me to be toasted by Marquis Li Tan."

The two chatted about some academic issues.

As they chatted, Jia Xu suddenly turned the topic to the Battle of Guandu.

"...Ah, I think Yuan Shao's army of hundreds of thousands was defeated overnight."

"Li Tanhou's fire not only burned the backbone of the people of Hebei, but also made the people of Hebei terrified."

"I think that the way the Marquis of Tan used his troops was not better than that of Guan Zhong and Yue Yi."

Li Yi waved his hand:

"Sir, please don't say that."

"The situation of the army is ever-changing, and the shape of water is ever-changing. Although we can defeat Yuan Shao this time, we may not be able to do so next time."

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, the most taboo thing was to die in the wind and waves.

This buff indiscriminately attacks all princes and lords, and Li Yi dare not be infected by it.

Jia Xu looked at Li Yi with interest and asked:
"Why do you think Yuan Shao was defeated?"

Li Yi hesitated for a moment and said slowly:

"Yuan Shao was concerned about his own safety and was determined to do something important. Seeing that Wuchao was in a state of emergency, he did not dare to go all out to rescue it."

“Hence this defeat.”

In Li Yi's opinion, Yuan Shao had made up his mind this time.

If they come with all their might to rescue Wuchao, it will be difficult for him and his 5,000 brothers to escape unscathed.

Even if we don't save Wuchao, we can still give it a try if we put all our efforts into attacking Guandu.

The key point of these two choices is that Yuan Shao needs to go into battle personally!
Because Yuan Shao has reached the final moment now, only if you go into battle personally can you show your determination to fight to the death.

To put it bluntly, wasn't it because Li Yi fought desperately that he was able to capture Wuchao with a small force?
When it comes to risking your life, you can only rely on yourself.

The more you get, the more you fear losing.

By the time Yuan Shao reached his age, he no longer had the ruthlessness he had when he was young.

"……Um."

After listening to Li Yi's analysis, Jia Xu added:
"Yuan Benchu is already in his prime years, and I heard that he rarely goes to battle in person."

"I'm afraid I'm not feeling well, not as well as before."

"That's why I can't come to rescue Wuchao myself."

The implication is that Jia Xu was testing Li Yi.

If Yuan Shao did not take action personally, would Yuan’s army be in a dead end?

Li Yi understood the hidden meaning of Jia Xu's words, thought for a moment, and said:

"If Yuan Shao cannot personally come to the battlefield, I think we can send a team of light cavalry to rescue Wuchao."

"Light cavalry are fast, so they can arrive first to delay our offensive."

"Then you can send Zhang He with a large force to rescue Wuchao and surround our army from all sides."

"Wuchao is 40 miles north of Yuan's camp. If we can surround it with a large force, wouldn't that be like catching a turtle in a jar?"

"If this is true, Zhang He must fight to the death to prove that his strategy was not wrong."

"...As for attacking the Guandu camp, haha, let Guo Tu do it."

"He will definitely issue strict orders to his generals to attack with all their might, to show that his plan is foolproof."

"By then, Guandu will be breached and Wuchao will be hard to take. Wouldn't that mean our army is doomed?"

Li Yi analyzed for Jia Xu from Yuan Shao's perspective what he would do if he were Yuan Shao.

clap clap clap...

Jia Xu clapped his hands and praised Li Yi:

"Ah! Everyone says that Li Tanhou is extremely talented and intelligent. Now that I have seen him, I can see that he is indeed an extraordinary person."

The highest level of fighting is to command the enemy.

Jia Xu sincerely admired Li Yi.

"...Today's victory is great, I shouldn't spoil the fun."

"Even if I don't say anything, I'm sure Marquis Tan is already worried about this matter."

Jia Xu himself is a cautious person and he won't talk too much or do unnecessary things.

But after getting along with Li Yi, he realized that this man was very smart.

When interacting with smart people, you don’t need to be too timid, otherwise you will only restrict yourself.

"...Oh? I wonder what Mr. Wenhe is talking about?"

Li Yi raised his eyebrows and pretended not to know.

"…Have you forgotten, my Lord? The siege of Guandu has been lifted."

"However, Yuan Shao's army was only defeated but not destroyed. Has the battle to defend Henan come to an end?"

Jia Xu looked into Li Yi's eyes and said calmly.

……

(End of this chapter)