Chapter 485 Desperate Cavalry
After all, the limitations of the navy are quite large.
Gan Ning's navy was originally prepared to guard against the Eastern Wu navy.
However, the Eastern Wu did not send troops, and the reserve Ling Tong stationed on the Liaodong Peninsula was not used, and Gan Ning's role was also extremely limited.
Gan Ning would never do such a luxurious thing as using the navy as infantry.
If it was the original Liaodong navy, it would be fine, because the northern princes had no rivals. The Liaodong navy was called a navy, but half of the soldiers' training methods were for land combat.
The main purpose is to transport troops ashore and then fight.
But after fighting several battles with the Eastern Wu navy, even the arrogant Gan Ning had to admit that professional navy was still necessary.
Therefore, most of the navy of the Great Qi began to become professional and were no longer the infantry who could steer the ship.
Although there are still some soldiers capable of amphibious warfare, this type of team is only capable of containing and launching surprise attacks at critical moments in a war.
What we are fighting now is a siege war. It is not convenient to transport the heavy equipment on the ship. We can't let them carry ladders to attack the city!
Even Tian Ze can't handle this kind of fighting style.
Therefore, Gan Ning's existence is more of a deterrent and a precaution against Sun Ce.
There would not be any big problem in withdrawing some of the troops from them to assist in defending the relatively safe area in northern Qingzhou.
Xu Huang was a man who knew military affairs. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly understood Xun You's idea.
But he still hesitated and said: "Military Advisor, if the Dongwu navy comes to support..."
"We'll think of a solution then." Xun You said nonchalantly.
Judging from the current situation, Cao Cao has already come to support after taking a detour, but Sun Ce has not yet sent out troops. The meaning behind this is worth pondering.
Xun You keenly and directly judged that the Eastern Wu would not send troops to help in the short term.
As for when Soochow will send troops.
Xun You couldn't help but look towards the southwest direction of Yizhou, feeling extremely conflicted.
He naturally hoped that the war in Yizhou would go smoothly. After all, that was a crucial strategic location. In comparison, whether Qingzhou could be captured was completely irrelevant.
However, I am afraid that the battle in Yizhou will go too smoothly. If our side really snatches Yizhou from Liu Bei's mouth and blocks the door, then Sun Ce...
It shouldn't be that smooth.
Xun You murmured.
For some reason, his talent always gave him a sense of "something ominous".
The effect of Xun You’s response was immediate.
After Cao Cao learned about the changes in the deployment of Xu Huang's cavalry, he suddenly had a headache.
Not only were these cavalrymen organized into groups of at least 3,000 men, they had almost completely abandoned the small roads and marched along the main roads. As for the small roads, they sent out 10-man cavalry teams to explore them, with a very clear division of labor.
The biggest problem facing Cao Cao and Yuan Shao now is that they have a weak foundation and cannot afford to pay compensation, and they only have 50,000 cavalry.
You know, if the 3,000 Qi cavalrymen had not fallen into an ambush, Cao Cao would have had to prepare at least tens of thousands of cavalrymen to ensure a victory.
Moreover, considering the support between the Qi army's cavalry, to be on the safe side, they would probably need 20,000 cavalry.
But once 20,000 cavalrymen are deployed, the risk is too great!
If Cao Cao was caught by Xun You's counter-attack plan, he could give up his sneak attack plan.
"Meng De, what should we do?" Yuan Shao frowned.
"Fight!" Cao Cao's eyes were filled with madness. In the current situation, they had no other choice.
In this situation, it is no longer possible to seek a safe strategy because they have too few cards left.
In the current situation, we can only rely on intelligence and tactics.
The latter is Cao Cao's strong point, while the former.
Cao Cao looked at Xu You with sharp eyes, only to see that Xu You's face looked a little pale, but he still gritted his teeth and nodded.
At this time, they have no choice but to fight for their lives.
Yuan Shao also realized the difficulty of the current situation, and gritted his teeth and said: "Meng De, if you are ready to fight, you can contact the surrounding counties in advance."
"Hold my military order, and the soldiers in the city will come out to help you!"
"Although the combat effectiveness of these soldiers is average, they can still hinder the cavalry for a while."
Now, for Yuan Shao, cavalry is much more valuable than infantry.
In order to avoid damaging the foundation, Yuan Shao played a card without hesitation, which would kill one thousand enemies but lose eight hundred of his own.
Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shao in a daze.
The garrisons in various parts of Qingzhou have been under blockade for more than a month. There are no reinforcements from outside and no strong soldiers from inside. Only food and grass are sufficient. The enemy cavalry is showing off their power every day. In this situation, it is good enough not to collapse. How can we send troops to help?
Yuan Shao nodded firmly.
He believes in his soldiers, and he believes in himself even more!
Although he was very curious about how Yuan Shao did this, Cao Cao did not ask in detail.
Because he believed that this method was definitely not something that could be used under normal circumstances, and the backlash would be extremely serious. He knew that he could only be on guard in the future, but it was impossible to imitate it, as he did not have Yuan Shao's talent.
But Cao Cao really envied this ability from the bottom of his heart.
Every time he fought, he defeated the enemy with cleverness, relying mostly on strategies and tactics.
Although it is a beautiful win, the risk is also great! You never know when you will meet someone who doesn't play by the rules or is gifted and lose.
Tian Ze and Yuan Shao's method of using force to defeat clever tactics is still the safest.
Who wants to play around with the operations when you can just sweep the field?
When will I be able to be so generous!
Putting these distracting thoughts behind him, Cao Cao once again began to plan carefully.
First of all, in addition to the necessary garrison forces, Cao Cao also selected the brave generals from both armies who were familiar with cavalry combat.
Yan Liang, Wen Chou and Xiahou Yuan alone could not control a cavalry force of 3,000 in number.
Together with Jiang Qi, Han Meng, Cao Hong, Cao Chun and Li Dian, they formed the Eight Tiger Riders and went into battle together.
Nearly 10,000 cavalrymen were dispatched at one time, and according to the intelligence provided by Xu You, they continued to launch a surprise attack on a cavalry squad of Xu Huang's army that had long been targeted.
It’s not that Cao Cao didn’t want to bring more troops, but ten thousand cavalry was already a huge number. If there were more, the noise would be too loud and it would be easy for Xu Huang’s army to detect it in advance.
Moreover, having fewer troops not only allows for more room for error, but also facilitates the rotation of soldiers and horses.
After all, the cavalry under their command, whether they were men or horses, were all mortal flesh and blood, not made of iron, and they did not have the same good physical strength as generals like Xiahou Yuan.
After every major battle, you need to rest and adjust for a while, otherwise your condition will deteriorate significantly.
Especially for war horses, if they are not rested and cared for in time, they will be useless after two or three uses. This thing is very expensive and is a consumable.
Although a cavalry force of tens of thousands was still noisy and difficult to support, facing the three thousand Qi cavalry, this was the bottom line that Cao Cao could tolerate.
Having experienced many battles, Cao Cao was sincerely impressed by the combat capability of the Qi cavalry.
(End of this chapter)
