Chapter 298 Empty City Strategy
"My lord, the scouts report that Zhang He led his troops south to Mengjin and crossed the river." Xi Zhicai said in a deep voice.
Cao Cao was preparing to eat at this time. After hearing the news, he immediately slammed the bowl in his hand on the chopping board.
"What a great Zhang Junyi! I really underestimated him."
"This plan should not have been figured out by Zhang He, but by Xun Gongda. We just learned that Xun Gongda accompanied Zhang He as a military advisor." Xi Zhicai sighed.
The effect of Tian Ze's "small map" talent is really terrifying.
Unintentionally, they did not receive the news that Xun You was in Zhang He's army. Otherwise, they would never have made this plan and would have quit while they were ahead.
"It was my mistake this time." Cao Cao said with a slightly gloomy look on his face when he heard this.
Based on his talent, Xi Zhicai gave him three strategies for this battle: good, medium and bad.
The worst strategy was to use Xiaopingjin Ferry and Mengjin Port as bait to lure Zhang He to come to the rescue, defeat Zhang He, completely cut off Zhang Liao's army's food supply, and force Zhang Liao's army to retreat.
This strategy is relatively safe. As long as we defend Mengjin Port, we don't have to worry about the retreat. We can attack or defend.
The disadvantage is that it is impossible to achieve greater results, and the losses of the party will certainly not be small.
Moreover, after Zhang Liao's army returned to provide support, they could move south again after a little reorganization, dragging the battle back into a war of attrition.
Cao Cao naturally didn't want to do that.
The middle strategy was to use Xiaopingjin Ferry as bait to lure Zhang He to rescue, pretend to attack Zhang He halfway, lure Qinshui camp to send troops to help, and then take the opportunity to capture Qinshui camp.
Although the losses would inevitably be considerable, they could completely destroy the food and grass in the Qinshui camp, forcing Zhang Liao and Zhang He's armies to withdraw to Bingzhou.
And the so-called best strategy is the current strategy.
In fact, at the beginning, Xi Zhicai suggested taking a middle approach.
Because Xi Zhicai was worried that the best strategy would be seen through by the enemy, or even used against them, in which case they would be in danger.
But with such huge benefits in front of him, Cao Cao naturally could not resist, so he decisively adopted the best strategy.
"My lord, no one expected Xun Gongda to see through this plan."
"Now Zhang He's troops are heading straight for Mengjin Ferry. What should we do?" Cao Cao asked.
"Retreat to Mengjin Ferry." Xi Zhicai sighed.
Cao Cao clenched his fists, his eyes showing unwillingness.
"My lord, we have seen with our own eyes how strong the Qinshui camp is. It is impossible to capture it in a short period of time. Moreover, according to the scouts' report, there is an army of tens of thousands of people surrounding it, ready to come to support us at any time."
"If they had not been fooled by our feint attack on Zhang He and exposed their true colors, I'm afraid we would not have discovered this army and would have almost fallen into a desperate situation." Xi Zhicai said with a little fear.
It was probably because of Tian Ze's talent that although Xi Zhicai's spies were spread all over the surrounding area, it was impossible to cover the entire area, and they were unable to detect the rear of the Qinshui camp, and were intercepted by Xun You's scouts.
Zhou Tai's tens of thousands of troops hid in the surroundings and were not discovered by them at all.
If the defense facilities of the Qinshui camp were a little worse at this time, and there was a wise man inside who devised a plan, they would be lured and even face the risk of being wiped out.
"Zhang He's troops have already set out, and we need to take a detour. Will we have enough time?" Cao Cao said with a wry smile.
"Don't worry, my lord. I have already made preparations for this matter." Xi Zhicai said calmly.
Anyone who goes into battle should think about defeat before thinking about victory.
Especially when dealing with Tian Ze, how could Xi Zhicai bet everything on one thing and not leave any backup plan?
"Zhu Ling's talent is best suited for bluffing. Moreover, Zhang He's troops have already been paranoid by us. Even if they attack Xiaopingjindu, they will not dare to march quickly, fearing that they have fallen into our trap again. Their marching speed will definitely not be very fast."
"I have prepared boats on the rivers along the way. If we march south quickly, we should be able to reach Mengjin Ferry at about the same time as Zhang He."
Cao Cao then breathed a sigh of relief and gave the order without hesitation: "Order the entire army to set out overnight and quickly head to Mengjin Ferry. Anyone who delays will be executed without delay." The situation was urgent and Cao Cao could no longer care about anything else.
Now, the only chance for him to survive is if he reaches Mengjin Ferry before Zhang He.
Otherwise, once Mengjin Ferry was occupied by Zhang He, he would be completely blocked in Hebei.
You know, his army only has five days of food and fodder!
"promise!"
When the generals of Cao's army received the news, they marched south at full speed without hesitation.
At this time, Cao Cao was extremely grateful that he had Xiahou Yuan with him.
With the legion's talent activated, Cao's army's marching speed increased greatly.
In order to save time, Xiahou Yuan directly activated his innate berserk state, overdrawing the soldiers' physical strength to increase the marching speed.
Zhu Ling also continued to rely on dangerous areas to block and intimidate, slowing down Zhang He's march.
Although Zhang He and Xun You vaguely realized that they seemed to have guessed correctly, they still did not take it lightly.
Who knows if this is another trick?
It would be even more dangerous if we really encountered an ambush.
So even at the risk of missing a good opportunity, Zhang He still tried his best to maintain a steady march, for fear of making any mistakes.
After weighing the pros and cons, Xun You also agreed to this option.
Finally, Cao Cao hurried and arrived at Mengjin Ferry before Zhang He.
However, at this time, Zhang He's troops were less than thirty miles away from Mengjin Ferry.
At this time, Cao's army was completely exhausted and had no strength to fight.
Looking at the nearly defenseless Mengjin Ferry, Cao Cao frowned slightly: "Zhicai, what should we do? Is there any way to repel the enemy?"
The defensive facilities of Mengjin Ferry were not very strong, otherwise it would not have been easily captured by Cao Cao before.
Zhang Liao went south to besiege Luoyang and had no time to manage this port.
But now, this port has become Cao Cao's weak point.
Looking at the exhausted soldiers around him.
After three days of forced march, they had completely lost the strength to fight.
"My lord, let's retreat!" Xi Zhicai sighed.
If he could spare a day, Xi Zhicai might be able to think of a solution.
But now Zhang He's army is very close and will rush over soon. Xi Zhicai is now in a situation where he is unable to make a meal without rice.
"What if we adopt the 'empty city strategy'?" Cao Cao asked somewhat unwillingly.
Xi Zhicai shook his head slightly: "Zhang He and Xun You are both very wise people. Moreover, Zhu Ling has exposed enough along the way. I am afraid that he can't cover it up at all."
"Zhang He's army is strong, and they also have Tian Chengshou's talent. They know that there is no ambush around us. Even if they are frightened, they will come to test it out."
"With just a little bit of attack, they will realize that our army is strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Then we will be in trouble."
Although the Empty City Strategy may work against smart people, that is only when the enemy has the strength to ambush our side.
Now even if Zhang He fell into the trap, I am afraid they would not get any benefit.
This empty city plan is totally useless.
(End of this chapter)
