Chapter 178 My Talent is On
"The spearmen in the center army retreat, and the shield soldiers advance, surrounding the front of the enemy army and dividing the battlefield."
"Archers on both wings fire volleys, aiming at the front of the enemy's center. Sword and shield soldiers rush forward, hold on to the enemy, and don't let them retreat."
"Order Jiang Yiqu's troops to ignore the enemy's central army's encirclement and charge directly towards the enemy's general's flag. Be sure to capture and kill the enemy general as quickly as possible."
……
As Shen Pei issued one order after another, troops from various departments followed suit and flowed in an orderly manner.
Gao Lan stood aside, maintaining his own talent while observing and learning Shen Pei's military formations and tactical strategies.
On the battlefield, there can only be one commander-in-chief. With Shen Pei's ability to command troops and his character, he can just be a human figurehead.
Guo Tu looked at the powerful Shen Pei with envy.
Alas, why don’t I have this ability?
But then he changed his mind and realized that no matter how capable Shen Pei was, he still had to listen to himself. He felt better then.
When facing an opponent like Cao Bao, Shen Pei's talents are completely useless, but this can fully unleash Shen Pei's ability to command and fight, allowing him to act at will.
Shen Pei, who was always fierce in using troops, directly adopted the operation of annihilation warfare, constantly commanding his troops to infiltrate and cut, and relying on his advantages in manpower and combat power, he encircled and annihilated the enemy forces.
Cao Bao was completely panicked at this time. The moment he saw Danyang's elite soldiers being surrounded, he realized that something was wrong.
Between taking the risk of rescuing the Danyang soldiers and saving his own life, he chose the latter without hesitation.
"Retreat! Order the army on both wings to stop the enemy, and the central army and the rear army to retreat!" Cao Bao said hurriedly when he saw that the enemy cavalry was about to reach him.
Although Cao Bao's orders could not basically change the outcome of the battle, after all, with his operation, he would lose no matter what.
But this order completely let the cavalry led by Jiang Yiqu let go.
When Jiang Yiqu saw the central army retreating, his eyes suddenly lit up and he activated his talent. The surrounding defeated troops retreated unconsciously, and the obstacles to the cavalry charge were greatly reduced.
They drove straight ahead and headed straight for where Cao Bao and the general's flag were.
The faster the cavalry approached, the more panicked Cao Bao became.
The more panicked Cao Bao became, the more frantically he ordered a retreat, and from time to time he ordered the soldiers in the rear to cover their retreat. All kinds of contradictory orders made the soldiers more and more frustrated.
The more the soldiers collapsed, the more obvious the effect of Jiang Yiqu's talent became, and the faster he approached.
This became a vicious cycle, and soon the entire Tao Qian army was in a state of defeat.
Jiang Yiqu was shocked to see that the situation was just as Shen Pei had expected. However, he followed Shen Pei's previous arrangement and quietly slowed down the pace of pursuit. He withdrew after making sure that the enemy had no possibility of organizing a counterattack.
But you can't run too fast, otherwise it would be bad if you really catch up with Cao Bao.
This is a "talent"! We must protect it!
Shen Pei ordered a small number of soldiers to continue chasing and capturing the enemy, and then began to concentrate on dealing with the surrounded Danyang soldiers.
Surrounded by layers of shield soldiers, the leaderless Danyang soldiers saw the commander's flag move backwards and immediately realized that they were abandoned, and their morale plummeted.
After Jiang Yiqu arrived, he no longer had the heart to fight.
Under Shen Pei's promise and persuasion, they laid down their weapons and became prisoners.
Guo Tu looked at the more than 8,000 Danyang soldiers with excitement in his eyes.
Make big!
It would be of little use if those Xuzhou soldiers, whose families were in Xuzhou, were captured. They were worried about taking them into the army, and unwilling to send them back to Xuzhou.
But these Danyang soldiers are different. They are more like mercenaries. As long as they are paid enough money and food, they can be used for their own purposes without any worries.
After the battle, Shen Pei took a quick inventory of the damage and found that it was actually less than he had imagined.
"This Cao Bao is such a fool!" Shen Pei couldn't help but sigh.
"The so-called No. 1 general in Xuzhou is really ridiculous. Compared with Zang Ba and Taishi Ci under Tian Ze, there is a world of difference."
"Haha, this is a good thing. Now it has been thoroughly proven that Tao Qian is just a useless person. We will have a better reference when we want to take Xuzhou in the future." Guo Tu said with a smile. The fact proved that they could defeat Tao Qian perfectly when they cooperated.
After this battle, Tao Qian must have been seriously injured. Add to that the damage from the wars over the past year, and the number of troops he could mobilize would be no more than a hundred thousand.
As long as the time is right, this small force of theirs will be enough to capture Xuzhou.
With Jiang Yiqu around, he could take advantage of the opportunity to occupy Xuzhou, fight and conquer at the same time, annex Xuzhou's troops to strengthen himself, and complete the feat of a snake swallowing an elephant before the other princes could react.
When Shen Pei heard this, his heart moved and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.
Guo Tu keenly noticed this expression and his pupils contracted slightly.
Oh no! I think I said something wrong.
Swallowing his saliva gently, Guo Tu said cautiously: "Zhengnan, the time is not right yet, don't do anything stupid!"
"Even if we take Xuzhou by surprise, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold it. Cao Cao and Liu Bei are not engaged in other wars right now. If they attack together, I'm afraid we won't be able to resist!"
"What are you afraid of!" Shen Pei was already furious at this time.
There was no fear or worry in his mind, and he was only focused on taking Xuzhou.
"They are just two ordinary people, Cao Cao and Liu Bei. I am not afraid even if Yuan Gonglu is added."
"We have a hundred thousand troops with few casualties, plus the elite troops from Danyang. With Yiqu here, if everything goes well, we can take Xuzhou directly. Conservatively speaking, we can leave another hundred thousand troops to garrison there, which is enough."
"But what if things don't go well? As long as Tao Qian holds on to Xia Pi, we won't be able to do anything to him." Guo Tu said hurriedly.
"Then we can also take the opportunity to occupy a small half of Xuzhou and besiege Xia Pi. It won't take long to capture Xuzhou." Shen Pei said confidently.
"Cao Cao and Liu Bei have been coveting Xuzhou for a long time, and they will certainly not sit idly by and watch us take Xuzhou. By then, we will be outnumbered one against three, and I'm afraid we will be in danger!" Guo Tu advised again.
"So what!" Shen Pei said disdainfully.
"Tao Qian is weak and incompetent, Cao Cao is the descendant of a eunuch, and Liu Bei is a straw sandal seller. What ability can he have? I can defeat him for my lord alone. If we take Xuzhou now, we can destroy Cao and Liu next year and occupy the Central Plains."
Seeing that Shen Pei was completely drunk, Guo Tu gently stroked his forehead.
Oh! Do you really think you are Han Xin?
If Cao Cao and Liu Bei were really that easy to deal with, my lord wouldn't have to plan so carefully.
Thinking of his lord's instructions before leaving, Guo Tu activated his talent again without hesitation. His expression suddenly changed, revealing a bit of majesty.
Sure enough, the lord thought so too.
"Zhengnan, the lord also thinks Xuzhou is unacceptable, so stop it."
Hearing that Guo Tu dared to persuade him again, Shen Pei was immediately furious, and a trace of murderous intent flashed in his eyes: "You find..."
However, seeing Guo Tu's expression, Shen Pei felt as if he was poured with a bucket of cold water, and ultimately he did not utter the last word.
"My talent is on!" Guo Tu clearly felt Shen Pei's murderous intent and said hurriedly.
Shen Pei was notorious for his tyranny and brutality under Yuan Shao. Not to mention, several of his clerks and deputy generals had been replaced.
Many of his colleagues who held high positions were thrown into prison and died when he was in a bad mood just because they had conflicts with him.
If this kind of person was not truly capable and loyal, and therefore protected by Yuan Shao, he would have died eight hundred times ago.
"Humph!" Shen Pei turned his head and said, "You'd better tell the truth. I will ask the lord for confirmation after returning to Yecheng. If it's false, I will exterminate your entire clan."
"Gulp." Guo Tu swallowed softly, feeling extremely scared.
What on earth was the lord thinking, assigning such a tough job to himself, staying with this living devil, and playing the Three Clans Candy Crush game all the time.
It’s better to be a scapegoat, at least your life won’t be in danger.
(End of this chapter)
