Chapter 435: Consumption Tactics
The reasons Cheng Yu gave were very sufficient.
Since we have sufficient civil and military forces and no worries, why can't we take the initiative to attack?
After all, even if we don't take action, once we send troops to Yizhou, the princes in the Central Plains will not sit idly by.
Instead of passively counterattacking, it is better to take the initiative.
Regardless of whether the strategy of fighting on two fronts is successful or not, as long as it can tie up the energy of the three princes Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Sun Ce, it can be considered a success.
Because Tian Ze's focus is still on Yizhou.
Once the three families of Yuan, Cao and Sun are unable to take action, the difficulty of conquering Yizhou will be much lower if the two Lius are the only ones involved.
Moreover, Guo Jia and others had already planned the destination of going south for Tian Ze, which was the Qingzhou plan that had been abandoned in the past.
They used Mount Tai as their base to carry out harassment, cut off the connection between Qingzhou and Xuzhou and Yuzhou, and then besieged Qingzhou from three sides and captured it.
"If we send troops to Qingzhou, how do you think Yuan Shao will respond?" Tian Ze asked.
Tian Feng hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm afraid they will defend Qingzhou to the death."
Yuan Shao only had two states in total and could definitely not afford this loss.
Moreover, the previous war in the Central Plains had already disappointed the people of the world.
If he loses again this time, Yuan Shao might even have his spine broken.
"So how should we deal with it?"
The ministers hesitated for a moment.
Although the cowardly tactic is simple and cowardly, it is extremely effective.
Especially when Yuan Shao himself had no shortage of good generals and troops, it was extremely difficult to break through. With just a little bit of grinding, the time and cost required were too high.
Moreover, if they use a brute force attack, even if they win, they will suffer heavy losses. The entire Qingzhou may be devastated, which is not what they want to see.
However, given Yuan Shao's character and the many good strategies under his command, it is likely that he will not be fooled if they want to lure him out of the city for a decisive battle.
The previous battle in the Central Plains taught Yuan Shao a great lesson, and there was no possibility of underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly in the short term.
Just as all the ministers were frowning and thinking hard, Guo Jia's expression suddenly changed.
"Fengxiao, do you have any good ideas?" the sharp-eyed Tian Ze asked hurriedly.
Guo Jia did not directly express his thoughts, but looked at Chen Gong first: "Gongtai, if we fight on two fronts, how much food and grass can we provide on the eastern front at most? How long will it last for 100,000 cavalrymen?"
Chen Gong frowned slightly when he heard this, but he still said realistically: "If it's just the logistics support of 100,000 cavalry and the distance is no more than Qingzhou, we can keep going."
Upon hearing this, Guo Jia smiled slightly and then looked at Jia Xu.
"Wenhe, how long do you estimate the food and fodder will be enough to sustain the soldiers and civilians in Qingzhou after next spring?"
Jia Xu looked at Guo Jia deeply and said, "If there is no autumn grain replenishment, we can only last until winter at most."
"Feng Xiao, what you mean is a war of attrition?"
From Guo Jia's questions and Chen Gong and Jia Xu's replies, Tian Ze immediately sensed something unusual and guessed Guo Jia's intention.
Guo Jia nodded slightly.
"The problem now is that Yuan Benchu and Cao Mengde are unwilling to fight us head-on, but are determined to defend themselves and clear the countryside."
"Qingzhou's vast strategic depth and the large number of fortified cities newly built by Yuan Shao are a tough nut to crack for us. Even if we take them down, we will still hurt our teeth."
"Besides, if this siege is delayed, Yuan Shao's side might become desperate and push the people onto the city walls to defend the city. We cannot face such a situation."
Tian Ze was eager to take Qingzhou in order to unify the country as soon as possible and avoid damaging the vitality of the Central Plains. Therefore, he would never accept a ruined Qingzhou. "In that case, we will not fight, but consume our strength," Guo Jia said in a deep voice.
"Relying on the Taishan Mountains for garrisoning, as long as we can hold the relatively narrow plain to the east, we can completely cut off the connection between Qingzhou and Xuzhou."
"We have a large number of elite cavalry, while Yuan Shao's troops are mostly infantry. Their mobility and field combat capabilities are far inferior to ours. Only 100,000 elite cavalry are enough to achieve this goal."
Guo Jia continued, "In this way, Qingzhou will become an isolated island. As time goes by, the food and grass in the city will gradually be exhausted."
"We will launch an attack in the spring of next year. By winter at the latest, Qingzhou's food and grass supply will be in serious trouble, and the people and soldiers will fall into famine."
"At that time, Yuan Shao will either choose to fight us and break the blockade of Qingzhou to obtain food and grass supplies."
"Or we can only give up Qingzhou."
After hearing this, Tian Ze's eyes flashed with admiration: "Feng Xiao's plan is brilliant! This way, we can avoid the huge losses caused by our strong attack on Qingzhou, and put Yuan Shao in a dilemma."
"But I'm afraid we have to be on guard against Cao Mengde and Sun Bofu!"
After the battle in Central Plains, Tian Ze also realized the unity and excellent overall view among the princes of Central Plains.
If any of them had any second thoughts, the war would not have progressed to the point of a decisive battle.
This gave Tian Ze a wake-up call.
Every time a battle is fought, the reactions of other princes must be taken into consideration.
These princes will definitely not stand idly by and may even lend a helping hand.
The terrain of Qingzhou also has a gap on the west side of the Taishan Mountains. And the east side is adjacent to the sea, so Sun Ce may come to help at any time.
Guo Jia smiled faintly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Although Cao Cao and Sun Ce are strong, they lack cavalry."
This shortcoming of the princes in the Central Plains had been exposed before.
Although there are still organized cavalry, their number is obviously small. They are only sent out at critical moments and are not dared to be deployed at other times.
Especially now that the three states of You, Bing and Liang are all controlled by Tian Ze, the war horses of the princes in the Central Plains are even more scarce. If one dies, there is one less, and they are almost impossible to replenish.
The lack of cavalry, an important branch of the army, was a huge shortcoming in terms of combat, especially when there was a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and us.
Cao Cao's army could support Yuan Shao along the south bank of the Yellow River, but he could not withstand the endless cavalry harassment.
Sun Ce’s army was extremely good at naval battles, but if they wanted to support Yuan Shao, they would have to go ashore.
As for the land warfare level of the Jiangdong soldiers, everyone who understands will understand.
The Little Overlord of Jiangdong is not Overlord Xiang Yu after all. He does not have eight thousand soldiers, but only a few Overlord cavalry.
Therefore, it is entirely possible that Guo Jia's strategy could be successfully implemented.
Of course, although this plan seems simple, it is extremely difficult to implement in practice, and even somewhat unrealistic.
After all, the command and organization of nearly 100,000 cavalry is a big problem in itself, not to mention that they have to be dispersed.
Logistics, communication, coordinated operations, and improvisation are all difficult problems.
Even Zhou Yu and Cao Cao couldn't do it.
After all, they lacked enough high-quality middle-level generals, and the soldiers' organizational ability was not enough to do this.
However, this may not be the case for Da Qi.
(End of this chapter)
