The Three Kingdoms: The entire Cao Cao camp thought I was weak and frail.

Xun Yu still hesitated: "We can only mobilize about two thousand troops in the city. These troops are poorly trained and it is impossible for them to succeed in a night raid."

"Who said we're going to fight head-on?" Guo Jia laughed, his peach blossom eyes gleaming with calculation in the night. "War doesn't necessarily have to involve killing people. Sometimes, intimidation is more effective."

He leaned closer, lowered his voice, and laid out his plan in detail.

"At midnight tonight, we will divide our forces into four routes. Each route will send only two hundred elite troops out from the west, south, and north gates. We will not venture deep into their camp, but will merely patrol and harass them from the outskirts. We will attack any patrols we encounter and then retreat, never lingering in battle. We will launch rockets and beat war drums to create chaos, making them believe that we are being attacked from all sides."

"This..." Xun Yu understood. This was still a bluffing tactic, only now the drumming during the day had turned into harassment at night.

"Moreover, we have more than just the two thousand soldiers from the Prefect's mansion." Xun Hao raised his chin. The thousand private soldiers he recruited were trained by his guards and fed and cared for. Their spirit was incomparable to that of ordinary soldiers.

In ancient times, most people suffered from night blindness and could not see at night. However, Xun Hao deliberately increased the nutrition of these private soldiers, which improved their night blindness and gave them a natural advantage over the Yellow Turban Army.

Their smug expressions amused them both.

"Are you willing to give that up?" Xun Yu knew about those thousand private soldiers. The food, clothing, and daily necessities of those thousand men were comparable to those of a family. He thought Xun Hao would wait until absolutely necessary to use them, but he didn't expect that he would bring them out as soon as the battle started.

"Hmm." It takes a thousand days to train an army for one day to use it. He had only been training for a hundred days before he was about to go to the battlefield, but Xun Hao still knew what was important and what was urgent.

Guo Jia gave him an approving look, reached out and rubbed his head, a gesture he had now mastered with practiced ease.

Xun Hao obediently let him massage his head, even unconsciously tilting his head slightly so that the warm hand could cover the top of his head more completely. Xun Yu looked at their brotherly affection and felt that he, the legitimate elder brother, seemed a bit superfluous.

"What about the East Gate?" Xun Hao suddenly asked. "There's been activity at the West, South, and North Gates, but nothing at the East Gate. Won't Bo Cai be suspicious?"

"Ah Hao has hit the nail on the head," Guo Jia said with a smile. "The East Gate is naturally our trump card."

Xun Yu smiled and nodded, "I'll lead the team myself, lying in ambush outside the east gate. The harassment from the other three routes is just to draw Bo Cai's attention. Once he's overwhelmed and has to divert his forces to deal with the west, south, and north, the defenses around the east gate will inevitably be the weakest. That's where their supplies and provisions are located!"

"Burn their provisions?" Xun Hao's breathing quickened.

"That's right!" Guo Jia's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Bo Cai's army of 50,000 is consuming enormous amounts of food and supplies every day. I'm certain that his long march from Julu means his provisions won't last more than ten days. If we burn his provisions, these 50,000 troops will surely fall into disarray without a fight within three days!"

Xun Hao listened from the side, his heart pounding. He knew that in the historical Battle of Yingchuan, Huangfu Song had also defeated Bo Cai using fire.

But since ancient times, water and fire have been merciless, and fire attacks are truly against nature and harmony. The fire that broke out outside Jinan City back then also burned half a forest.

"However, this plan is good, but it is too dangerous. If Brother leads the team to burn the grain and grass, what if Bo Cai doesn't fall for it, or what if he has a backup plan?" Xun Hao was very worried about his brother. In his mind, Xun Yu was a strategist and a civil official. How could he personally go to fight the enemy?

"Therefore, we need a sufficiently substantial bait." Guo Jia interrupted him, turning his head to look at Prefect Guo Xun.

Guo Xun, still basking in the joy of scaring away the enemy during the day, was boasting to several subordinates about his "composure".

Guo Jia walked over with a respectful smile on his face: "My lord, I have a plan that can lift the siege of Yingchuan."

Upon hearing this, Guo Xun immediately perked up: "Oh? Mr. Guo, please tell me quickly!"

Guo Jia then explained the strategy of "harassing from all sides," but omitted the ultimate purpose of burning the grain supplies, only saying that it was to exhaust the enemy and keep them from having peace.

Guo Xun, being such a simpleton, naturally couldn't grasp the deeper meaning. He simply thought the method was good, since it was just harassment and didn't require risking his life, so he immediately agreed.

"However..." Guo Jia changed the subject, "These three armies need a highly respected person to command them so that the soldiers can fight with their lives. In my opinion, Your Excellency is most suitable to personally take charge."

"Me?" Guo Xun's face turned pale. "I...I'm just a civil official, I've never been to the battlefield?"

"Your Excellency misunderstands," Guo Jia said with a smile. "You don't need to be on the front lines in person. You only need to sit on the south gate tower and direct operations from the center. At that time, the three armies will be under your command, and their morale will surely be greatly boosted. Once the enemy is defeated, the greatest credit will naturally be yours, Your Excellency."

With such high praise bestowed upon him, Guo Xun immediately became somewhat smug. He didn't have to risk his life; he only needed to use his words from the city wall to claim the top credit. This was a worthwhile deal.

"Alright! We'll do as you suggest, sir!"

Having dealt with Guo Xun, Guo Jia returned to Xun Yu's side and whispered, "Wenruo, that fool Guo Xun is our best bait. With him stationed at the south gate, Bo Cai's spies will definitely relay the news back. What will Bo Cai think? He'll assume our main attack is at the south gate. This will make him focus his attention on the south gate and neglect the grain supply camp at the east gate."

Xun Hao stared at Guo Jia, speechless for a long time. He had to admit that Guo Jia's ability to manipulate people was simply unfathomable. Even Guo Xun's foolishness and greed for credit became part of his scheme.

"Okay, let's do it that way." Xun Yu nodded emphatically.

As night deepened, the atmosphere on the city wall became tense.

Xun Hao stood beside Guo Jia, watching squads of soldiers assemble in the night, then silently file out of the city gate and disappear into the darkness. His palms were sweaty, not from fear, but from an indescribable excitement.

This is chaos, this is strategy. Not just words on paper, but real events written with lives and blood.

"Are you scared?" Guo Jia seemed to sense his nervousness and asked in a low voice.

"I'm not afraid." Xun Hao shook his head and gripped Guo Jia's sleeve tightly.

Guo Jia chuckled softly and said nothing more. He simply took the boy's cold little hand in his own palm and enveloped it completely.

Suddenly, a burst of firelight appeared outside the city.

"Make your move!" Guo Jia's voice pulled him back to reality.

Suddenly, more than a dozen flames broke out in the western camp of the Yellow Turban Army. Immediately afterwards, chaotic shouts of battle and the sound of war drums pierced the silent night sky.