Becoming stronger from cutting Hu and Cao Cao

You know, after this battle really starts.Then Cao Cao would have to recruit soldiers continuously, and there would be fewer people recruiting soldiers to farm the land.As soon as the number of people farming decreases, the grain will naturally decrease.Scarcity is the most expensive thing. If there is less food, the price of food will inevitably rise. At that time, military rations will become a huge logistical pressure for Cao Cao.

And one way to ease the price of food is to buy it from elsewhere.However, it is obvious that among the princes in the world, only Li Chen can provide Cao Cao with food in large quantities.

"I don't know how much food the King of Qin can provide us, and what is the price?" Guo Jia asked tentatively towards Li Chen.

"Quantity? It's enough, then I can provide as much as you want, as for the price, this" Li Chen said, looking at Chen Gong at the side.

The food and grass in Xuzhou are managed by Chen Deng, the big housekeeper. Li Chen only knows that there is a lot of food and grass in Xuzhou, but he doesn't actually know how much there is, let alone the market price of the food.

When Chen Deng saw Li Chen looking at him, he sort of understood what Li Chen meant.Chen Deng stretched out five fingers and pressed down.

Li Chen and these counselors under his command still had a tacit understanding, and Li Chen instantly understood what Chen Deng meant.Chen Deng said that he sold it to Cao Cao at a price that was [-]% lower than the market price.

After understanding what Chen Deng meant, Li Chen also stretched out five fingers towards Guo Jia.

Seeing Li Chen stretch out five fingers, Guo Jia couldn't help but turn dark, and Cao Cao's little black face also turned darker.

Chapter 237 Guo Jia is planning to start a full-scale war (subscription required)

What are the faces of Cao Cao and Guo Jia?The two of them would have made a mistake, Li Chen stretched out five fingers, meaning that I would sell it to you at [-]% below the market price.But Guo Jia and Cao Cao thought that Li Chen was going to sell them five floors above the market price.

It's no wonder Guo Jia and Cao Cao thought too much, just like the way Li Chen blackmailed Cao Cao with two swords, Cao Cao and Guo Jia never imagined that Li Chen could sell grain to Cao Cao at [-]% of the cheap market price.

"Fifty percent?" Guo Jia asked tentatively.

Li Chen nodded, and replied: "That's right, [-]%."

Hearing Li Chen's affirmative answer, Cao Cao's complexion became even darker. Cao Cao thought to himself, Li Chen, you are really dark enough.

Cao Cao's face was ugly, but there was nothing he could do.Because if this war won't end for a while, the price of food will naturally rise.And if the war lasts for two or three years, the increase in food will definitely exceed [-]%.

"His Royal Highness, to tell you the truth. Our army faces so many enemies at the same time, whether it is the front line or the rear, it is very difficult. If the price of this food is [-]% higher than the market price, it will be a huge challenge for our side. burden."

"I don't know His Majesty King Qin, can we discuss the price of this food, how about it being [-]% ​​higher than the market price?" Guo Jia looked at Li Chen with a pleading look on his face.

For Guo Jia, it is good news that the food can be managed. The only bad news now is that the food is too expensive.

As soon as Li Chen heard Guo Jia's words, he immediately became happy: "Feng Xiao, you misunderstood. My [-]% is not [-]% higher than the market price, and I sold it to you at a price [-]% lower than the market price."

"What?" Guo Jia was shocked instantly.

Similarly, Cao Cao's face was also shocked at this time.

[-]% below the market price, what kind of concept is this.This means that, under the same budget.Each soldier in Cao's army can get half as much food as before.Originally, if Cao Jun ate thin food on the battlefield, now he can eat dry food.This is undoubtedly a huge boost to morale.

Or more intuitively, the food that was originally used to feed [-] soldiers can now be used to feed [-] soldiers.

"Brother Li, [-]% of the market price of food is provided for brother's food, and it's still enough. You didn't make fun of brother, did you?" Cao Cao's tone was a little excited.

Li Chenxin said, you are not a beautiful woman.You are a short dark old man, what am I going to do with you.

"That's right, you can have as much grain as you want at [-]% of the market price. If you need it, you can go directly to Chen Deng and Chen Yuanlong, and you will pay for it and deliver it." Li Chen promised Cao Cao.

"Thank you, Brother Li, thank you, Brother Li." Cao Cao quickly thanked.

In Cao Cao's view, if he can buy half-price grain from Li Chen, not to mention the two swords of Yitian and Qingzhi, but even ten or eight swords, this is a very good deal .

With the promise of half-price food, Cao Cao felt that the trip was worth it.For Cao Cao, this half-price food was more cost-effective than asking for a hundred thousand troops from Li Chen.With food, Cao Cao can recruit troops on a large scale.

It can be said that what Yuan Shao and others cost to raise 5 people, Cao Cao can use it to raise 10 people.If this is the case, then Cao Cao will have a bottom line in this protracted battle.

Weidi, Xudu, Wei Wangfu.

As soon as Cao Cao came back, he immediately summoned his civil servants and generals to start a battle memory.

"Cheng Yu, starting tomorrow, you will bring enough money to Xuzhou to buy grain from Chen Deng and Chen Yuanlong. King Qin agreed to sell the grain to King Gu at half the market price."

"Although I promised so much, if this battle breaks out, it will be bad if something happens. I think we should stockpile enough food and grass in Xudu first, so that we can rest assured." Cao Cao confronted his opponents. Cheng Yu, the next counselor, ordered.

"No, this subordinate has orders." Cheng Yu accepted the order.

"I didn't expect that Li Chen still knew the overall situation. He understood that if we fell, Yuan Shao would be the next one to deal with him. That's why he gave us half-bought and half-gifted food." Xun Yu stood aside Said.

Food is a necessity for life, and it is just needed, so as long as there is no natural disaster or military disaster.The price of this food is very stable, and food is not a profitable commodity, and there must be no half of the profit.Because of this, even Cao Cao felt that Li Chen was buying half and giving half away.

Cao Cao doesn't know anymore, the output of sweet potatoes and potatoes is more than ten times that of normal food, and this food is really a profitable product for Li Chen.Even if it was sold at half the market price, Li Chen still made a huge profit.

"Hey, I don't understand this matter either. I have seen the military rations that Xuzhou is willing to provide us. The quality is far better than our army's millet, and it is not much worse than wheat flour. Compared with millet The quality is good, but it is half cheaper than Su. I absolutely do not understand Li Chen's intentions, but since he dares to sell it, we dare to buy it." Guo Jia also said the same.

The food Li Chen provided them was potato flour and sweet potato flour that were ground into powder.The millet mentioned by Guo Jia is sorghum.Sorghum is the main food of poor people in this era. It is usually eaten steamed, and the taste is very poor.Compared with the steamed buns made of potato flour and sweet potato flour, there is no comparison at all.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were also a small amount of barley and rice.However, because the husking technology is not advanced, even the food of rich people such as barley and rice does not taste very good.

After tasting the cornbread made of potato flour and sweet potato flour provided by Li Chen, Cao Cao, Guo Jia and others agreed that the military rations provided by Li Chen were far better than their own.

After ordering Cheng Yu to be responsible for buying food and grass, Cao Cao said to Guo Jia: "Feng Xiao, let's start formulating tactics."

After the worries about food and grass were resolved, Cao Cao was now full of confidence, and Cao Cao was somewhat sure of winning this battle.

Guo Jia came to the military adviser's map, looked at it for a while, and then said: "The most urgent task now is to first determine how many people our opponents have."

"Your Highness King Wei, what I mean is this. King Ma Teng of Liang captured the three counties of Wuwei, Mayi, and Liangcheng and stopped moving. Obviously, he is waiting for us to attack him. You guys Let’s look at the three counties of Wuwei, Mayi, and Liangcheng as horns of each other, if they are connected together, this happens to be a pocket formation.”

"If we retaliate recklessly, then we will definitely plunge into this pocket formation. In a short time, let alone win, I am afraid that we will lose troops. And the rest of the people are waiting for this time, once we are entangled by Ma Teng , all our opponents must jump out together and attack the rear of our army."

"What we have to do now is to make the illusion of attacking Ma Teng first, and defraud all the enemies hidden in the dark." Guo Jia looked at the crowd and said solemnly.

Chapter 238 A Full-scale War Is About to Begin

"My plan is like this. General Cao Ren will be the main general, and General Xiahou Dun will be the deputy general, and 20 troops will be sent to conquer Ma Teng in Xiliang. Of course, this is just an excuse to the outside world. When the army is halfway through, General Xiahou will lead With an army of 15, turn back."

"General Cao Ren marched forward with 20 soldiers and horses raising flags and pretending to be a 15-strong army. General Xiahou led [-] troops to hide day and night and came back secretly."

"In this way, once General Cao Ren goes to Heishan Pass and confronts Ma Teng in Xiliang, those people who are hiding in the dark will all jump out." Guo Jia said to the crowd.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Cao turned to Guo Jia and asked, "Does Feng Xiao mean not to beat Ma Teng?"

Cao Cao is the kind of person who would rather let the people of the world fail me than let the people of the world fail me.Ma Teng was the first to attack Cao Cao, so according to Cao Cao's temperament, he should beat Ma Teng once and for all.But now it can be heard from Guo Jia's words that Guo Jia does not seem to advocate taking action against Ma.

You know, Ma Teng has now joined forces with Han Sui and Beigong Boyu, and their combined strength is about one hundred thousand.Even if Cao Cao sent 20 troops, he might not be able to win, let alone Xiahou Dun would bring back 20 troops with the 15 troops.

If Cao Ren rushed to Heishi Pass with [-] soldiers, it was obvious that he was rushing to defend. If he used these [-] soldiers to fight Ma Teng in the field, it would be like delivering food.

"If you don't beat Ma Teng, it won't work if you don't beat Ma Teng. We have to let the old boy Ma Teng know that we are not easy to mess with." Dian Weiweng said in a low voice.

"That's right, if you want to fight Ma Teng, my old Xu will be the vanguard. I have to let Ma Teng know why I, Xu Chu, is called a tiger idiot." Xu Chu echoed.

The reason why Xu Chu is called a tiger idiot is mainly because there is no English at this time at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Without English, there would be no abcd, and without abcd, he would not have the word tiger b.It is precisely because there is no word for tiger b that Xu Chu can only be called a tiger idiot. мщèńχūè⒈Θм?

"Shut up both of you, Feng Xiao, you continue to talk." Cao Cao glared at Xu Chu and Dian Wei, and then signaled Guo Jia to continue.

"His Royal Highness, if Ma Teng is our only opponent, we will naturally send troops to Xiliang now. However, since all the heroes in the world are attacking, we can't fight Ma Teng for a while."

"At this time, if the main attack direction is placed on Xiliang, then we will stretch our necks under the knife of others."

"This is a life-and-death battle. If we want to win, we must support the war with the war, and the premise of supporting the war with the war is victory. Everyone knows the combat effectiveness of the Xiliang Army. If we want to win Ma Teng, we must We have to pay a heavy price. But, have you ever thought about what we can gain after defeating Ma Teng?"

"Liangzhou is vast and sparsely populated. First of all, it is difficult to replenish troops, and secondly, it is bordered by the grassland. Even after we defeated Ma Teng, we occupied Liangzhou. Instead of gaining any benefits, we had to divide our troops to defend against the alien race in the grassland. In this way Come on, don't you pick sesame seeds and throw watermelons?" Guo Jia asked everyone.

After Guo Jia said this, everyone suddenly realized.What Guo Jia said made sense. Even after defeating Ma Teng, he would not benefit from occupying Xiliang.Xiliang produces horses, which is indeed a benefit.However, apart from horses, Xiliang has nothing to ask for.

The most important thing is that after occupying Xiliang, they will divide their troops to defend the grassland aliens.Facing the heroes of the world, Cao Cao's troops are not sufficient. If he divides his troops to defend the grassland, it is indeed an act of death.

"Following Xiao's words, it makes sense. This Liangzhou is a tasteless place. It's a pity to throw it away if it's tasteless. If you don't fight, don't fight. Let Ma Teng be proud for a while. When I have free hands, I will deal with him." Cao Cao said coldly. said coldly.

"General Cao Ren, after you arrive at Heishi Pass with [-] troops, you will guard Heishi Pass together with General Cao Hong. This Heishi Pass can be guarded according to the rules. If you can't hold it, you can withdraw to the front line of Fufeng and block Ma Teng's army from outside Fufeng City. Just do it?" Guo Jia urged Cao Ren.

Now Cao Hong at Heishiguan still has more than ten thousand soldiers and horses in his hands. If Cao Ren brings fifty thousand troops, the combined hands of the two will be sixty thousand soldiers and horses.The [-] soldiers and horses facing Ma Teng's [-] Xiliang army should be able to defend the city if they defend the city.

Moreover, even if Heishi Pass could not be defended, Cao Ren could retreat to Fufeng.Fufeng is the largest city in the northern border of the Wei region, second only to giant cities like Xudu, Yecheng, Xuzhou, and Luoyang.

"No, the military commander can rest assured, with Cao Ren here, Ma Teng must not take a step forward." Cao Ren firmly promised.

After Guo Jia arranged for Cao Ren to block Ma Teng's Xiliang army, he turned his attention to the map.Guo Jia was thinking and calculating, he was calculating who would be the next one to strike.

The current Cao Cao can be said to be a piece of fat in the eyes of the heroes of the world. There is never a shortage of people in this world.Now that Yuan Shao is taking the lead, everyone wants to take a bite of this piece of fat.

The more Guo Jia looked at this map, the more he felt that their defense was like a broken sieve, with holes everywhere.However, as the saying goes, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, and now the whole world is enemies from all directions.There is not enough troops in hand, even the genius Guo Jia can't do anything about it.

Since Ma Teng can't be moved for the time being, is it the second person who jumps out that Guo Jia wants to hit?But if you want to fight, you have to prepare soldiers, horses, food and grass. Now that the problem of food and grass has been solved, Guo Jia is thinking about where to transfer troops.

It may not be easy to win the battle with only 15 troops.This battle must be won. If the first battle is lost, the morale of Cao Cao's side will be completely drained.

Guo Jia stared at the map, wondering where he could mobilize troops?At this time, we can only tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall.

Although Cao Cao claims to have hundreds of thousands of soldiers, his territory is large and there are many places to defend.This is like those rich men in the previous life. Although each of them has a net worth of tens of billions or hundreds of billions, if he really wants to come up with working capital, he may not be able to have much.

"His Royal Highness, we don't have many troops to mobilize now. What I mean is to mobilize [-] troops from Zhuo County." Guo Jia said to Cao Cao.

"King Wei, if Zhuojun's [-] soldiers and horses are transferred out, then for Li Chen, Zhuojun will be defenseless?" Xiahou Dun said.

"Listen to Feng Xiao, if Li Chen wants Zhuo County, I will give it to him. And if I want to see others, they may not look down on our Zhuo County. After all, after they occupy Zhuo County, they will give it back to us." Cao Cao said to him. All the generals under his command said.

In Cao Jun's camp, after some discussions, the matter of transferring troops from Zhuo County was temporarily settled.

Chapter 239 Yuan Shu Moved His Troops

Half a month later, 20 Wei troops set off from Xudu, heading towards Xiliang with great momentum.As the largest prince in the north, Cao Cao occupied most of the territory in the north. How could Cao Cao swallow Ma Teng's jokes.

After it was reported that Ma Teng occupied the three counties of Wuwei, Mayi, and Liangcheng, it meant that the battle between Cao Cao and Ma Teng had begun.

At this time, on the official road outside Xudu City, countless flags were fluttering in the wind. These elite Cao soldiers were all wearing black armor, and they stretched out their hands exuding the smell of veterans.

Although Cao Cao's soldiers and horses are not elite, they should be considered veterans.These soldiers were not the ones who hadn't seen blood before, because after being drilled by Li Chen, the Black Mountain Army would at least not run away easily on the battlefield.

At the forefront of the army, this is Cao Jun's elite tiger and leopard cavalry.As the saying goes, Xiliang horses run rampant all over the world.Xiliang's cavalry is very powerful. Among Cao's troops, only the tiger and leopard cavalry, Cao Cao's ace army, can beat the Xiliang cavalry.

On Cao Jun's central army banner, this is a flying and phoenix-dancing Wei character. When the wind blows, the character behind Wei leaks out, and the character behind it is Cao.

Under the banner of the Chinese army, there were two generals sitting. These two generals were Cao Ren, the chief general of this dispatch, and Xiahou Dun, the deputy general.

When sending out troops, Guo Jia specially told Cao Ren not to march too fast, but to march slowly, bit by bit to kill the thoughts of those hiding in the dark.At the same time, try to delay as much as possible so that Guo Jia can prepare at home.

Beihai County, Shu Palace.

Since Li Chen defeated Cao Cao in the battle of Xiaopei, Liu Bei cheated Cao Cao of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and fled to Beihai County with these soldiers and horses.

The prefect of Beihai County was originally Kong Rong, who was a descendant of Confucius, that is, Kong Rong who gave up pears.To say that Kong Rong's character is really good, he knew how to make pears when he was young, and he knew how to make cities when he was old.

As soon as Liu Bei came to Beihai, Kong Rong happily gave up Beihai County to Liu Bei, and then returned to his hometown Qufu honestly.

Why is Kong Rong willing to take the initiative to give up Beihai to Liu Bei? Is it really because of Liu Bei's character?Is it because of Liu Bei's so-called descendants of the Han Dynasty?No, neither.It was because of the tens of thousands of soldiers brought by Liu Bei.Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses will encircle Beihai. This is not enough for Kong Rong not to give up the city.

After Kong Rong was a sage, he was a literati through and through.It's okay to let him manage government affairs, but he is really not good at developing military affairs.Therefore, there are not many troops in Beihai County, only ten thousand.Not only are there not many troops, but there is not even a single general who can fight.Unable to fight again and again, Kong Rong had no choice but to give up Beihai County to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei occupied Beihai, which can be regarded as taking advantage of it.Don't look at Beihai as just a county, but under Kong Rong's governance these years, it can be regarded as a wealthy county.

After Liu Bei entered Beihai, he has been training his soldiers and horses, and the planner Dongshan is always with him.

In the Shu Palace, the man with long hands above his knees and a pair of big ears is obviously the Shu King Liu Bei.On the left and right of Liu Bei, there is one person standing on each side.One of these two is a black-faced man, and the other is a red-faced man.

The red-faced one is naturally Guan Yu Guan Yunchang, and the black-faced one is Zhang Fei Zhang Yide.It's just that since the first battle in Xuzhou, the Yanren Zhang Fei became the eunuch Zhang Fei.Zhang Fei's temperament seemed to have changed a bit, his whole temper became very weird, and he would kill his soldiers with sticks at every turn.

Of course, Zhang Fei's eccentric temper was only for his subordinates. For his elder brother and second brother, Zhang Fei was still very considerate.

"Brother, Ma Teng of Xiliang has captured the three counties of Wuwei, Mayi, and Liangcheng. When are we going to set off? My sword is already hungry." The red-faced man Guan Yu stroked his long beard and pointed at Big Brother Liu Bei said.

"Second brother, we are no better than the Yuan brothers. The Yuan brothers are four generations and three fathers, and their family background is rich. To them, losing this battle is nothing more than a wound, but to us, it is fatal."

"We must be cautious before we do it. I mean we will be the last to do it after the Yuan brothers do it." Liu Bei said softly.

I have to say that Liu Bei is a real dog.After owning the land of Beihai County, he actually kept going without fighting.Now, several families joined forces to attack Cao, but he was able to hold his breath and be the last one to send troops.

You know, although it is safer to send troops last.But again, risks and benefits coexist, and the person who sends troops first will definitely be able to take the biggest profits.The harvest of sending troops later will inevitably be much less than that of sending troops first.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have always been obedient to Liu Bei's words. Since Liu Bei is determined to be the last to send troops, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei can't say much.

At the same time, Yuan Shu, king of Qi in Shouchun, also began to deploy troops, preparing to attack Cao Cao from the flank.

The image of the Yuan brothers to the outside world has always been that they are at odds with each other. Although they have not reached the point of life and death, they are still very different.However, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is just for outsiders to see.To put it bluntly, this is the character design established by the Yuan brothers.

As the saying goes, the big tree attracts the wind, if the Yuan brothers are a family now, then there is no doubt that the Yuan family is the biggest force in the world.So now the target of the mass attack is not Cao Cao, but the Yuan family.

It can be said that the aristocratic family is well versed in the principle of not putting eggs in one basket, and supporting two forces at the same time, this method can be described as a normal operation.

Whether it is Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu, to put it bluntly, they are all products supported by the Yuan family.The two brothers may quarrel over small matters, and the brothers may really be a little dissatisfied with each other and feel a little disharmonious.However, when it comes to major matters, the two brothers absolutely must consider the interests of the family first.