Three Kingdoms: copy Lu Bu's force at the beginning

Yan County.

Cao Cao sat on the main seat of the county magistrate's office, gently rubbing his right hand on his temple, and sighed slightly.

Looking at the civil and military soldiers under his command, Cao Cao said calmly: "Zhou Gongjin is indeed a master. He saw through the disadvantages of our army and persuaded Sun Ce to refuse a decisive battle with our army."

This time, Cao Cao led an army of [-] and went south to compete with Sun Ce for Yuzhou.

The advisers who followed him to the south were Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, and Liu Ye. The generals were Xia Houyuan, Cao Ren, Cao Chun, Yu Jin, Le Jin, Li Jin, and Xu Chu, who was the commander of the personal guard.

Because he wanted to divide his troops to take Peiguo, Cao Cao appointed Xia Houyuan as the general, Le Jin as the deputy general, and Liu Ye as the military adviser. He divided his troops into ten thousand and occupied Peiguo.

Now, beside Cao Cao, there are only Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Cao Ren, Cao Chun, Yu Jin, Li Jin, Xu Chu, and [-] troops.

This Li Jin is a native of Chengshi County, Jiyin County, Yanzhou.

When Lu Bu and Cao Cao were fighting for Yanzhou, they retreated because they ran out of food. When they reached Chengshi County, they were defeated by Li Jin.

As a last resort, Lu Bu had to retreat eastward and stationed troops in Shanyang.

This Li Jin was not a member of Cao Cao's army, but a member of the Li family, a noble family in Chengshi County. He ranked fifth in his family and was called Li Wu.

Of the five brothers of the Li family, two are merchants, one is a writer, and the other is a martial artist.

Among those who practice martial arts, besides Li Jin, the fifth child, there is also Li Gan, the second child.

However, Li Jin is a first-rate general, while Li Gan is only a second-rate general.

Li Jin was able to defeat Lu Bu who was retreating, which shows that his martial arts skills are by no means comparable to ordinary first-class generals.

Later, when Lv Bu was driven away from Yanzhou, Cao Cao rewarded him for his meritorious deeds. When he heard that Li Jin had defeated Lv Bu, he couldn't help being overjoyed.

Cao Cao immediately sent Cao Ren to Chengshi County, holding his state pastoral decree, and recruited all the Li family's one-literate, two-armed and three-brothers to use for him.

It's just that Li Hu, the youngest of the Li family, is an internal affairs talent, not a military strategy talent, so Cao Cao asked him to be a county magistrate in Yanzhou to hone his skills first.

This time, when Cao Cao went south to attack Yuzhou, he brought Li Jin here, and the second brother Li Gan stayed in Yanzhou.

Cao Cao glanced at Guo Jia and Cheng Yu, and asked calmly, "Sun Ce refuses to fight, what will our army do?"

Guo Jia and Cheng Yu looked at each other, both slightly surprised.

Cheng Yu sighed slightly: "My lord's words are not bad. Zhou Gongjin is really very strategic this time, and even saw through my lord's plan."

"If Sun Ce doesn't fight, our army can't attack the city either. We can only think of other ways."

Guo Jia cupped his hands and said, "My lord, I think General Cao Hong, who is stationed in Chenliu, can pretend to attack Yanling County, Yingchuan County."

"Letting General Xiahouyuan send troops from Peiguo to attack Runan County is also a pretense."

"Sun Ce has few soldiers. Once he is attacked from three sides, he will not be able to take care of everything. He can only shrink his troops across the board. In this way, Zhe County can be easily taken."

"I'm afraid..." At the end, Guo Jia suddenly paused, sighed slightly, and did not continue.

Cao Cao frowned, and asked: "In the meaning of filial piety, once our army divides into three routes, the expenditure on food and grass will at least double. I'm afraid Wen Ruo will not be able to supply it, right?"

Guo Jia nodded and said: "My lord is wise, Jia is exactly what I mean."

"Food, grass..." Cao Cao suddenly felt dizzy.

Cao Cao had top strategists like Xun Yu, Guo Jia, and Cheng Yu, as well as generals such as Xu Chu, Li Jin, and Xia Houdun. The combat effectiveness of Cao's army was even more famous throughout the world.

It can be said that Cao Cao lacks nothing, except food and grass.

Once the food and grass are in short supply, even if you are victorious in all battles, you will inevitably lose.

Now, what Cao Cao regrets the most is that he attacked Xuzhou too early and too hard.

If it weren't for Cao Cao's killing in Xuzhou that caused Chen Gong's dissatisfaction and seduced Lu Bu into taking control of Yanzhou, causing Yanzhou to experience a catastrophe, Cao Cao would not be so short of food.

Who is to blame?
Blame Lu Bu?
Blame Chen Gong?
Blame Zhang Miao?
If Cao Cao hadn't slaughtered Xuzhou, Chen Gong and Zhang Miao would not have turned against him, so what chance would Lu Bu have?

If Lu Bu can't take control of Yanzhou and go straight to Xuzhou, maybe when Lu Bu and Liu Bei fight, Cao Cao can take the opportunity to take Xuzhou.

But now, it's too late to say anything.

First, Yanzhou was in short supply of food and grass, and then the anti-Cao sentiment among the army and civilians in Xuzhou was extremely high. Cao Cao could not attack Xuzhou for the time being.

The lack of food and grass caused it even more. Now Cao Cao is struggling to use troops against Yuzhou.

Cao Cao could tell that Guo Jia's strategy was very clever, making full use of Cao Jun's advantage over Sun Jun.

Cao Jun's advantage lies in its large number and strong combat effectiveness.

Cao Jun can divide his troops into three groups, but Sun Jun can't. Once his troops are divided into three groups, all routes must be defeated.

Sighing slightly, Cao Cao asked, "Feng Xiao, is there any good strategy besides this?"

Guo Jia suddenly smiled and said, "My lord, Jia thinks that not fighting is the best fight."

"Since Sun Ce refuses to send troops, why should our army demand this battle and enjoy the rewards, wouldn't it be a pleasure?"

Cao Cao was taken aback, and asked, "What do you mean by Feng Xiao's words?"

Guo Jia smiled slightly and said, "Zhou Yu discouraged Sun Ce from playing, Jia thought there were two reasons."

"One is that Sun Ce's troops are not as strong as ours, and if he goes out, he will be defeated."

"Secondly, Zhou Yu is playing Huainan's mind."

Zhou Yu is playing Huainan's idea?
Cao Cao faintly felt that he seemed to have caught something, but he couldn't catch it.

Cheng Yu, on the other hand, was awakened by Guo Jia all of a sudden, and suddenly realized: "The meaning of filial piety is Liu Bei."

Guo Jia nodded, and said with a light smile, "Liu Bei took Jiangdong first because he wanted the lord and Sun Ce to be inseparable. The enmity is getting deeper and cannot be resolved."

"When Liu Bei takes Jiangdong and then takes Huainan, neither the lord nor Sun Ce will be able to withdraw from the Yuzhou battlefield. We can only watch Liu Bei take Huainan again."

"When the lord and Sun Ce are both defeated, Liu Bei will send troops to Yuzhou again, or march from Huainan and Xuzhou, and go down to Yuzhou and Yanzhou in one go."

After hearing Guo Jia's words, Cao Cao completely understood, but he broke out in a cold sweat.

This strategy can really be said to be the best in the world, Cao Cao's heart is surging, this Zhuge child really cannot be underestimated.

If it weren't for being filial and wise, I'm afraid he would have fallen into Zhuge Liang's trick this time.

Guo Jia smiled lightly: "Then Zhou Gongjin was able to dissuade Sun Ce from a decisive battle with the lord, because he must have seen through this plan."

After understanding Zhuge Liang's strategy, Cao Cao naturally had a countermeasure and nodded, "Since that's the case, it doesn't matter if we don't fight this battle."

"Bo Ning, you go to Zhe County as an envoy and tell Sun Ce that if Sun Ce surrenders to Chen, Sun Ce and I will not only avoid war, but also can form an alliance."

Berning, is full of favor.

Man Chong is a multifunctional talent who is involved in internal affairs, military strategy, political strategists, legalists, etc.