Chapter 294 The Way of Reality and Illusion
"But..." Having said this, Guo Jia paused.
"It is not impossible to attack you. As long as we trap you south of the Yellow River, Jun Yi will surely lead his troops to rescue you, and Cao Mengde can then surround you and attack your reinforcements."
Guo Jia never underestimated Cao Cao and his subordinates such as Xi Zhicai and Xun Yu.
This battle was also quite stressful for him.
Both sides are betting.
It’s just that they have more capital and a higher tolerance for error, while the other side is more willing to gamble and doesn’t have as many constraints as they do.
Guo Jia also found it difficult to make a conclusion about what strategy Cao Cao would adopt.
All strategies revolve around people and situations and may change at any time.
The main attack turns into assist, and the assist turns into the main attack. It's just a matter of a moment, and who can tell the real from the fake?
"As long as there is no surprise attack, I am not afraid of Cao Mengde. And it is even more impossible for Junyi to be ambushed." Zhang Liao said in a deep voice.
Guo Jia nodded slightly, but turned his gaze towards Nanyang County on the south side of Luoyang.
"I'm afraid Liu Xuande will come to disrupt the situation, and we haven't figured out Cao Mengde's talent yet. This guy is hiding too deeply, so we have to be on guard."
Soon, a month passed in an instant.
The area around Luoyang City was extremely peaceful. Just as Guo Jia had guessed, Cao Cao did not make any move to help Luoyang.
Inside the city, Cao Ren stood on the city wall as still as a mountain, his expression indifferent.
"General, the spies we sent out have not received a reply yet, the lord has not sent troops to support us, and there is only one month's worth of food and grass left in the city." The deputy general reported a little anxiously.
"It's okay." There was no panic on Cao Ren's face. He was mentally prepared for the current situation.
"This is the Lord's plan. You don't have to worry. The Lord will come to help within half a month at most. By then, we can cooperate with the outside world and defeat Zhang Liao's army."
Cao Ren's expression and confident words were like a stabilizing force, calming the waves in the hearts of the generals and soldiers.
What he said was not just to comfort the soldiers, but he was indeed certain about it.
He knows the terrain around Luoyang better than anyone else.
There were too many checkpoints to defend, and Zhang Liao's army could not defend them at all. They had no intention of garrisoning there. They just surrounded Luoyang and prevented food and grass from being transported into the city.
If Cao Cao wanted to come to the rescue, he would have to fight with Zhang Liao, but it was not difficult.
It has not appeared yet, so there must be some plan.
He believed in his lord, and even more so in his elder brother.
"I have to say that Cao Ren is really a good general." Guo Jia was in the camp, looking at the situation on the Luoyang city wall and nodded slightly.
"Although Cao Mengde prefers to employ his brothers, these generals from the Cao and Xiahou clans are indeed extraordinary in their abilities."
Zhang Liao also nodded.
He also had a clear view of the situation in Luoyang City over the past month.
Not only did they not show any signs of mutiny, they were not shaken at all in the face of their daily persuasion to surrender, and the soldiers on the city wall were all in high spirits.
It is obvious that the general defending the city has a high prestige and is good at pacifying his soldiers.
"Fortunately, they were short of money and food. Otherwise, with Cao Ren stationed in Luoyang City, it would have been difficult for us to take it down."
Zhang Liao heard this and said, "Military Advisor, I heard that the Mohists are developing an enhanced version of the catapult, which is extremely powerful. With their help, it should not be difficult to capture Luoyang City even if Cao Ren is stationed there."
"After all, this Luoyang City is not the same as it used to be."
The city of Luoyang used to be tall and deep, but it was mostly destroyed when Dong Zhuo moved west.
Although Cao Cao made some repairs after occupying this place in the past two years, it was impossible for Cao Cao to carry out major renovations due to his lack of money and food.
The defense of Luoyang City today is just that of an ordinary county town and cannot be compared with that of the past.
"The technology of the Thunderbolt car is not yet fully mature and cannot be mass-produced. It is estimated that it will take nearly two years before it can be put into production," said Guo Jia.
"So long?" Zhang Liao frowned. "The Mohists have many technologies that need to be researched and improved, and the Thunderbolt Chariot is just one of them. Moreover, its importance is not as high as some of the more important technologies, so naturally it won't take too long." Guo Jia explained.
Under Tian Ze's rule, people's livelihood always comes first.
Military affairs are of course extremely important, but the use of Thunderbolt Chariots is not urgent.
Now is not the time for Tianze to launch a large-scale siege.
Neither Sili nor Xiliang needs to deploy this "big killer weapon", so the Mohists will naturally not put it too high on the research agenda.
"What a pity! If there were Thunderbolt Chariots here, perhaps they could put more pressure on the soldiers in the city." Zhang Liao said regretfully.
Ever since the Mohists began to improve various military equipment, long-range weapons have become the favorite of Tian Ze's civil and military officials.
If you are poor, you will fight head-on; if you are rich, you will use firepower to cover the enemy.
The Tianze army is now accustomed to launching a few waves of arrow rain before a big battle. If there are catapults, the effect will be even better.
"Don't think too much. Now is not the time to fight a siege." Guo Jia said.
In the battle of attacking and defending a city wall, both the attacking side and the side with stronger individual soldiers will suffer losses.
Therefore, Tian Ze has been trying his best to avoid such a battle.
If you can kill the enemy by consuming their food supplies, why waste their lives?
"What's the intelligence from the scouts?"
"Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong under Liu Bei have led an army of 100,000 to Guangcheng Pass. Cao Cao has not yet detected the exact movement, but a lot of troops have gathered near Mengjin." Zhang Liao said.
"It seems that Cao Mengde will soon take action." Guo Jia frowned.
"Where's Xingba? Can he come?"
Zhang Liao handed over a military report: "Yunchang is confronting Yuan Shao's army near Yingxian. However, Gao Lan led a group of troops from Qiancheng to the north. Xingba is worried that he will attack Jizhou by surprise, so he is helping to defend the surrounding area."
After hearing this, Guo Jia reaffirmed his thoughts.
"really!"
Under the tremendous pressure from Tian Ze, the alliance between Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Liu Bei has now gradually stabilized, and cooperation between them has slowly formed.
"It all depends on how Cao Mengde makes his move next."
"Contact Jun Yi and have him be prepared. If Cao Mengde makes any move, be on high alert and beware of any trap."
"Don't worry, military advisor."
Just as the two were talking, the messenger hurried into the tent.
"Report!"
"What's the matter?"
"General, the spies reported that a large-scale Cao army is crossing the Mengjin Pass and heading north, and their target seems to be Qinshui."
"How is the military strength?" Zhang Liao asked.
"The spies couldn't find out clearly for the time being, but there was a lot of dust as Cao's army marched, and it seemed that there were nearly 100,000 people."
Zhang Liao frowned slightly: "Got it, you can go down."
Guo Jia looked at the map on the wall and asked, "Cao Mengde sent 100,000 troops north to Qinshui?"
"Wenyuan, do you think this is just a bluff, or are they really sending troops?"
"With so much fanfare and so much dust, it seems like a bluff," Zhang Liao judged.
"The real is false, and the false is real. Cao Mengde is quite good at the art of falsehood and reality, but I'm afraid it's not that simple."
(End of this chapter)
