Chapter 176 The Opposite Side is a Straw Bag
Guo Tu activated his talent and began to imitate Yuan Shao's way of thinking.
At the same time, Tao Qian's army on the opposite side also delivered a declaration of war.
Looking at the letter of challenge in his hand, Shen Pei threw it on the ground with disdain, without even looking at it: "What era is this? You are still playing with the Spring and Autumn Period. Do you really think I am as pedantic as Zang Hong?"
Guo Tu picked it up and looked at it carefully.
Suddenly, Guo Tu seemed to have discovered something and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Zhengnan, it is Cao Bao who is leading the troops this time. Tao Qian did not come, and Cao Bao's attitude seems quite arrogant. According to the information from our previous spies, the enemy army has about 50,000 troops, including nearly 10,000 elite soldiers from Danyang." Guo Tu said with some excitement.
They had already known the intelligence about Cao Bao. If he was not the head of the Cao family, he would not be worthy of being the so-called number one general in Xuzhou.
"So what?" Shen Pei said disdainfully, "He is just a straw bag. Even if he has 50,000 elite Danyang soldiers, what can he do?"
"The one leading the troops is Cao Bao, who has 10,000 elite soldiers from Danyang." Guo Tu emphasized again.
"I know, so what?" Shen Pei said impatiently.
"The one leading the troops is a fool. We have 10,000 elite soldiers from Danyang." Guo Tu emphasized for the third time.
"What exactly do you want to express?" Shen Pei was a little annoyed at this time.
It's not like I couldn't hear clearly. It's just that the one leading the troops is Cao Bao, and there are 10,000 elite soldiers from Danyang...
and many more.
Shen Pei was suddenly stunned and met Guo Tu's fiery gaze.
"Gong Ze, what do you mean?"
Guo Tu nodded vigorously and said excitedly: "We can definitely take on these 10,000 elite Danyang soldiers."
Danyang’s elite troops are the sharpest infantry in the world.
Born in Danyang, a mountainous area with a harsh environment, the local people and the barbarians have long been crossing mountains and overcoming difficulties. In order to avoid taxes, the Han people and barbarians in the mountains have long fought with the government, and the Han people in the plains have long been fighting against the barbarians in the mountains.
In addition, Danyang was rich in copper and iron mines, and private weapon forging was rampant. The government had weak control and frequent riots. The local people were particularly good at fighting, combining the military tactics and organization of the Han people with the bravery of the barbarians.
These reasons made Danyang soldiers the best source of infantry in the world. Even when the imperial court recruited elite soldiers in the past, most of them were recruited from Danyang.
In the original historical trajectory, Liu Bei was willing to work for Tao Qian, partly because Tao Qian gave Liu Bei four thousand Danyang soldiers.
These elite soldiers followed Liu Bei through most of his life, fighting across thousands of miles and dealing with countless crises. They were extremely powerful.
There were probably no more than 100,000 Danyang soldiers in the entire world, and even Tian Ze, who had taken action early, had less than 30,000 Danyang soldiers.
Tao Qian was born in Danyang and was in charge of Xuzhou, which was close to Danyang. He had 30,000 elite Danyang soldiers under his command.
Such elite troops made Tao Qian the one who had the final say in Xuzhou, and also attracted the covetousness of countless people, including Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao did not take the route of elite troops, but nearly half of the population in the north had been exploited by Tian Ze, and it was difficult to make a breakthrough in quantity, so he could only work on quality.
"Tao Qian is old, and these elite soldiers from Danyang were recruited by him in early years. They are not very willing to die for their country, so it is difficult to persuade them. Moreover, their families are all in Danyang, so they have no worries. We just need to provide them with enough money and food." Guo Tu analyzed, suppressing his inner excitement.
"And we happen to have Yiqu here." Guo Tu looked at Jiang Qi with burning eyes.
Jiang Yiqu's talent "Gathering Troops" is very effective in gathering defeated soldiers and is a great weapon for Yuan Shao to increase his military strength.
Jiang Qi nodded solemnly: "Military Advisor Guo, rest assured, I will do my best."
"Nearly ten thousand elite soldiers from Danyang! As long as we take half of them, it will be enough to greatly improve our strength. Especially for the Tianze Army in the Taihang Mountains, at least we will no longer be helpless." Guo Tu murmured.
A gleam of light flashed in Shen Pei's eyes.
It seems that I have to use some real skills.
Fortunately, the lord gritted his teeth and sent an additional 10,000 cavalry just in case. I didn't expect that it would really come in handy.
"Gong Ze, is Cao Bao brave?" Shen Pei asked. "He has great ambitions but little talent, looks fierce but is weak-willed. He is just a mediocre general," Guo Tu said disdainfully.
Although he was a second-rate strategist, he was self-aware and knew that he was not capable of anything, and he was also very clear about his position.
And according to his information, Cao Bao was only a third-rate military general, but he actually claimed to be the best in the world and always compared himself to the famous generals of the founding of the Han Dynasty. He had no idea what kind of person he was.
"In that case, we can take some risks." Shen Pei smiled.
The next day, Cao Bao, who received a reply from Shen Pei, led his troops to stand side by side with Yuan’s army on the plain.
Looking at the loosely-organized Yuan Shao army, Cao Bao sneered, "Haha, the so-called role models of the world are nothing but those who seek fame and reputation. With this level, I should be able to defeat them."
"Charge the entire army!"
Following Cao Bao's order, Tao Qian's army, led by the Danyang soldiers, formed a formation and charged forward.
Shen Pei was in the center of the army. He waved his flag lightly, and the vanguard army followed to meet him.
Gao Lan and Cao Bao both used their talents to the fullest, but Yuan Shao's army was still at a disadvantage the moment it came into contact with Danyang's elite troops.
After a moment's stalemate, Shen Pei couldn't help but sigh after feeling the strength of Danyang's elite soldiers.
They are indeed worthy of being Danyang’s elite soldiers!
Zang Hong’s defeat was not unjust.
With an army of nearly 100,000 on their side, Gao Lan's talent definitely improved the combat effectiveness of the soldiers far more than that of the opponent, yet they were still at a disadvantage.
When the quality of Danyang's elite soldiers reaches this scale, their combat strength is definitely more than twice that of ordinary soldiers.
However, the stronger the Danyang elite soldiers were, the more excited Shen Pei became.
This elite army will soon be his.
As the command flags were waving, the vanguard of Yuan's army began to retreat while fighting, and the two wings followed closely, but at a relatively slow speed.
Cao Bao was overjoyed when he saw this: "The Yuan army is indeed a group of weak soldiers. Send all your troops to attack. I will annihilate Yuan Shao's 100,000-strong army!"
As Tao Qian's army continued to advance, a large concave pocket had formed in the front line of Yuan's army.
"Jingzhi, can you still hold on?" Shen Pei, who was also slowly retreating at this time, looked at Gao Lan beside him and couldn't help but ask.
"No problem." Gao Lan said lightly.
This strength is nothing.
After witnessing the strength of Tian Zejun, he has always used him as his opponent for simulation.
Although Tao Qian's army was not weak, it was still far inferior to Tian Ze's army.
After watching high-end games, I find Cao Bao’s rookie command in front of me boring.
Yuan's army fought and retreated all the way, forming a pocket that became larger and larger, gradually drawing all of Danyang's elite troops into it.
At this time, Tao Qian's army had been in pursuit all the way, and under the reckless command of Cao Bao, its formation had become scattered and stretched into long strips.
Shen Pei saw that the time had come and immediately waved the command flag.
Jiang Yiqu led 10,000 cavalrymen who had been ready to attack from both wings, bypassed the two wings of Tao Qian's army, and headed straight for the position of Cao Bao in the central army. Soon they were only a few hundred steps away from Cao Bao.
When Cao Bao saw this, he was shocked.
At this time, all the soldiers were in a hurry to pursue, and the left and right wings around him had already rushed forward under his orders, without any defense.
"Quick! Let the front army and the two wings retreat! Defend! Defend!" Cao Bao shouted anxiously.
As the command flags were waved, Danyang's elite troops and Tao Qian's army retreated one after another.
Shen Pei smiled slightly. It was too late to retreat now!
(End of this chapter)
