Chapter 179: General Protecting the Xiongnu
Yuan Shao's capture of Qingzhou did not cause any waves.
With the tacit approval of Cao Cao and Liu Bei, Tao Qian had no choice but to suffer this loss.
Seeing Cao Bao returning in defeat, Tao Qian's face turned black and he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
What a idiot!
It would have been fine if they just lost, but they lost so cleanly that it was a complete failure for the judge.
Nearly ten thousand elite Danyang soldiers were handed over to Yuan Shao just like that. If Tao Qian hadn't known that Cao Bao was a brainless man who couldn't perform such high-end operations as espionage, he would have thought that this guy was Yuan Shao's hidden pawn.
Cao Bao fought very badly in this battle.
When the princes of the world learned about the war situation, they were all stunned.
With an army of 50,000 against Yuan Shao's army of 100,000, even though they were clearly at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength, they openly formed their battle formations and engaged in a head-on confrontation without even thinking of dividing their forces or using other strategies.
Moreover, there was no command at all on the battlefield. The battle was almost entirely based on the experience of the officers and soldiers and the instincts of the soldiers. Except for the order to attack, all other orders were wrong.
He was completely unaware of the other side's obvious strategy of feigning defeat to lure the enemy in, and just jumped in.
As the commander-in-chief, he did not take into account that Yuan Shao's army had an organized cavalry, which put himself in danger and he even sold out the Danyang soldiers.
Cao Bao's command left countless knowledgeable people in the world speechless, and his name as a idiot spread throughout the world.
"This guy is just at the level of a captain, no more." Guo Jia said speechlessly.
"I originally wanted to use this opportunity to test Yuan Shao's bottom line, but I didn't expect this result." Xun You also sighed.
Cao Bao was so incompetent that many of the ingenious back-up plans prepared by Shen Pei were never used. A simple strategy of luring the enemy and a surprise attack easily resolved the battle.
Although some of Shen Pei's commanding ability can be seen, it is just mediocre. Cao Bao did not give Shen Pei the opportunity to exert his full strength.
"Forget it. I don't have much hope in the first place." Tian Ze shook his head.
In his eyes, Tao Qian and Yuan Shu were just two blood bags, who were there simply to provide territory, military supplies and food to the four families of Yuan, Cao, Liu and Sun.
It was already good enough to be able to hold on under the checks and balances of the four parties. Tian Ze never expected them to cause any trouble to these four families.
"Yuan Shao has completely occupied Qingzhou, which can be considered as extending his life. But I don't know who will take over Xuzhou next. Tao Qian must be regretting it to death now." Tian Feng sighed.
Tao Qian originally wanted to sell Xuzhou for a good price and see if he could earn a good reputation at the same time.
If he had made a decisive choice when defeating Yuan Shao, it might have been regarded as a good story. But now, the weak nature of Xuzhou has been completely exposed, and I am afraid that no one will regard him as a person anymore.
The value of Xuzhou was greatly reduced, let alone the good reputation that Tao Qian wanted.
"It is said that Tao Qian has suffered a serious illness and I am afraid he will not live long. My lord, we must make preparations early." Jia Xu said.
Tadashi nodded.
The overall situation in the world is now relatively balanced, at least in the eyes of other princes.
The reason why he could sit on the Diaoyutai was that he did not take any action to expand outward. The princes in the Central Plains were not stupid and would not allow him to grow too powerful. Once he sent out troops, he would be besieged.
However, when things changed in Xuzhou, the situation was different.
Who can resist the meat at their fingertips? As long as Tao Qian gets into trouble, the princes of the Central Plains will definitely fight, and that will be Tian Ze's best opportunity.
"My lord, among Bingzhou and Jizhou, have you decided which one you want to attack?" Dong Zhaolue asked with some anticipation.
Tian Ze smiled slightly, looked at the direction of Bingzhou on the map, and asked with a hint of sarcasm: "How is my General Protector of the Xiongnu doing in dealing with the Southern Xiongnu?"
…On the Bingzhou grassland, Lü Bu was leading 3,000 fierce Bingzhou cavalrymen to gallop freely. The strong wind whistled past, making the flags flutter.
Lu Bu sat upright on his Red Hare, looking at the black spot gradually emerging in the distance, his tiger eyes revealing an excitement as if he had found prey.
"Finally caught you!"
"Charge the entire army!"
Lu Bu shouted loudly and activated his own talent. The Red Hare seemed to sense his master's passion for fighting and suddenly sped up, rushing straight towards the direction of the black spot like an arrow.
The Bingzhou cavalrymen behind him also had excitement on their faces. To them, the enemy meant money, food and military merit. They believed that their general was invincible.
"The Flying General is coming!"
"Run!"
Seeing the big flag of Lu Bu's army fluttering in the wind from afar, the Southern Xiongnu cavalry shouted in panic.
The Southern Xiongnu army, which had been marching together, suddenly fled in all directions like frightened birds and beasts.
Lu Bu showed a hint of displeasure in his eyes, and snorted coldly, "A bunch of ignorant people who insist on wasting my time."
He immediately ordered his soldiers to split into groups of 100 and disperse to start hunting down the Southern Xiongnu cavalry.
The leader of the Southern Xiongnu army, Tu Leikan, whipped the horse under his crotch frantically, his eyes full of fear, and he didn't even dare to look back.
Once upon a time, he was also a powerful general of the Southern Xiongnu.
At that time in Bingzhou, there were only more than 300,000 Han people, but there were nearly 500,000 Southern Xiongnu, among whom there were no less than 100,000 Xiongnu warriors who could mount horses and fight.
The entire Bingzhou, except for Taiyuan and Shangdang, which were still garrisoned by the Han army, was basically completely controlled by the Southern Xiongnu. They plundered at will and lived a very carefree life.
But everything changed since the flying general came back.
Lü Bu's bravery has been widely known in Bingzhou, and he is known as the "Flying General". Not only because of his personal martial arts skills, but also because the troops he led moved as fast as flying.
Lu Bu, who slipped back to Bingzhou from Chang'an, still had thousands of Bingzhou cavalry in his hands. Moreover, the Bingzhou cavalry had been upgraded under Dong Zhuo's care. Not only did their combat power increase dramatically, but they were also well-equipped.
In addition, with a call from Lu Bu in Bingzhou, he easily gathered more than 10,000 cavalry and more than 20,000 infantry.
With such a powerful military force, Lu Bu naturally wanted to vent the anger he had suffered at the hands of the Southern Xiongnu in his early years and made a big fuss in Bingzhou.
With Lu Bu's ability, if the Han court had not been so weak and could have provided him with some financial and military support, the situation in Bingzhou would not have deteriorated to that extent.
The post of Bingzhou governor changed hands several times. After it came to Ding Yuan's hand, he was directly stationed in Henei County, Sili, without caring about the life or death of Bingzhou at all.
A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death. In the absence of chaotic times, even if Lu Bu had the courage of Xiang Yu and the strategy of Han Xin, he could only hold it in.
Although he returned home in glory and quickly gathered a lot of troops, due to the poverty of Bingzhou, Lu Bu's food and money were not enough.
Even though the Southern Xiongnu are now much richer, they can only maintain a balance between income and expenditure by relying on looting, but it is simply impossible to support the war by fighting.
Originally, Lu Bu just wanted to make a big scene, take back the control of half of Bingzhou, and intimidate the Southern Xiongnu before giving up. After all, life had to go on, and he couldn't get himself into trouble by fighting the Southern Xiongnu.
We have no advantage in terms of manpower, troops, or resources. We can handle small fights, but we can't sustain many large battles.
But with Tian Ze's intervention, everything began to move in another unknown direction.
(End of this chapter)
