My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 79 Xuande Teaches His Son
Secondly, Zhang Fei's main force, together with Chen Deng and the troops of Xiapi County, will intercept Yin Li, the enemy in Yangdu, while Guan Yu, together with Lu Su, will lead his main force and the troops of Donghai County to block Sun Guan and Sun Kang, the enemies in Linyi.

Zhao Yun and Tian Yu were tasked with leading their troops in a surprise attack on Jiqiu, trapping Wu Dun inside the city and preventing his escape.

The overall plan was to encircle the stronghold as the primary objective and attack reinforcements as a secondary objective.

On each route, Liu Bei's army had superior forces, at least two or three times the size of the enemy.

In this situation, the Taishan bandits' reinforcements would naturally eat whatever they could, and once they succeeded in eating them, they would immediately besiege the city.

It doesn't matter if we don't eat them. As long as we can continue to block the opponent and prevent them from giving Kaiyang a chance to escape, that is a victory.

There is no food in Kaiyang City. Even if we plunder the remaining grain from the people, it will probably only last for a month at most. At that time, the only option left will be to surrender.

With Kaiyang as the core and leader, the other strongholds could only be defeated one by one.

We had previously estimated Zang Ba's grain reserves, and this was combined with the intelligence we gathered during our trip to Kaiyang.

Liu Feng judged that Zang Ba's grain might only last until the summer harvest.

Offering 40,000 shi of grain for trade now will only last them until April at most.

It was for this reason that Zang Ba demanded that the Mi family begin supplying grain to Kaiyang in March.

The best time to take action is from mid-to-late March to early April.

The period from now until March is perfect for training soldiers.

The Danyang soldiers are currently in poor fighting strength, not because they are truly incapable of fighting, but because their confidence has been shattered by Cao Cao, coupled with poor military discipline, extremely poor organization, and many other reasons.

As long as qualified generals are appointed, and after two or three months of recovery training and morale building, the force can at least reach a level capable of handling medium-intensity warfare.

By the time the soldiers were properly trained three months later, even if Zang Ba became suspicious, it would be too late to purchase grain.

Liu Feng even felt that as long as his side acted quickly enough to block Wu Dun, they would have already won half the battle.

Although Liu Bei's attitude was somewhat cold, he was clearly still dissatisfied with Liu Feng's absence and Liu Feng taking the blame for him.

You should know that this not only caused Liu's mother and Tian to give him a good scolding, but they also kept nagging about Liu Feng every day.

Whenever Liu Feng is mentioned, he will inevitably start criticizing Liu Bei.

No wonder Liu Bei looked indifferent.

Although he looked displeased, his body language betrayed him as he accepted Liu Feng's plan and began to carefully examine it.

The completeness and novelty of this plan greatly shocked and surprised Liu Bei.

He had no recollection of Liu Feng's so-called battle plan, assuming it was just an ordinary plan.

But now that he has seen this silk scroll, he realizes that Liu Feng's battle plan is completely different from what he imagined.

In this era, the so-called battle plan was generally decided by the commander-in-chief alone.

Even if the commander wants to gather ideas from all sides, he will still call people together and listen to everyone's opinions.

However, the final decision-making power always rests with the commander-in-chief, and he is ultimately responsible for drafting the plan. Others, even his deputies, are unaware of the entire plan until the battle begins.

This is precisely why, in ancient warfare, it was common for the army to collapse instantly and become unable to fight after the unexpected death of its commander.

Because they really didn't know how to fight at that time, all the plans were in the hands of the commander-in-chief, and once the commander-in-chief died, no one knew about them.

In this situation, how could everyone not panic?

However, Liu Feng's plan was extremely detailed, even to the point of being tedious.

It meticulously described the transportation, transshipment, and storage of grain, the locations, times, and routes of troop assembly, and even marked the camps where they rested.

Furthermore, detailed strategies were developed to address frequently occurring unforeseen circumstances in matters such as marching, encampment, and combat. In essence, these strategies meant that even if such situations arose, the commander-in-chief and the garrison commanders could rely on them to resolve the issues without needing to make a decision themselves.

This greatly shocked Liu Bei, bringing his tactical vision to a whole new level.

Although the various strategies and tactics still had many flaws, and Liu Bei even discovered at least one fatal weakness, this battle plan was still refreshing for him.
"Feng'er, by amassing all the Danyang soldiers under the walls of Kaiyang, are you overestimating Cao Bao or underestimating Zang Ba?"

"Do you really think that with Cao Bao's abilities, he can trap Zang Ba inside Kaiyang City?"

Liu Bei's sudden words startled Liu Feng, who broke out in a cold sweat and quickly realized what was happening.

Yes, how could I be so stupid, only thinking of using Cao Bao and Xu Dan's Danyang soldiers, whose combat strength is currently the weakest, to block the gate and rely on the advantage of troop strength to intimidate Zang Ba.

But he didn't expect that with Zang Ba's abilities, he would probably see through his plans very quickly.

Once he leaves the city to fight in the field, although the Danyang army is numerous and powerful.

However, Zangba possesses strategic initiative and can even create opportunities to fight with superior numbers.

Given Zang Ba's abilities, it would be an extraordinary feat for Cao Bao to hold out for even one night.

Once the Danyang troops are defeated, our side will immediately face a complete defeat.

The fighting strength of the Danyang soldiers had been declining year by year, and the battle of Xuzhou was a complete defeat for Cao Cao. Their morale and confidence had long since plummeted.

Not to mention that Cao Bao also had to bring Xu Dan, a half-hearted ally who was unsure of who was friend or foe, along with this operation.

According to Liu Feng's own assessment, if things proceeded as planned, there was at least an 80% chance that Zang Ba would defeat the Danyang troops and break through the encirclement.

Once the Danyang troops are defeated, Zang Ba's four thousand elite troops will become a living chess piece, without any constraints.

Any reinforcements sent by their own side would be caught in a pincer movement, facing a dilemma of advancing or retreating.

Once Zang Ba appeared behind them, the entire structure crumbled immediately.

If Zang Ba acts quickly enough, he could wipe out the Xuzhou army within three days.

"Do you understand?"

Seeing Liu Feng drenched in sweat, Liu Bei smiled smugly, "Little guy, you're still too green."

When it comes to fighting, your father is still your father.

No, even if there's no war, he's still your father.

"Feng'er, war is a matter of great importance to the state, and we must be cautious about it."

Liu Bei began to educate his son, saying that in these chaotic times, how could he not be knowledgeable in military affairs?
So Liu Bei carefully analyzed for Liu Feng, "Feng'er, it's clear that you put a lot of thought into this plan. It's well-organized, with clear priorities and a clear focus. Overall, it's quite good. I'm twenty... at your age, I might not even be as good as you, so don't be discouraged."

Big Ears was afraid that he had been too harsh on Liu Feng and that Liu Feng would lose his spirit and confidence, so he first gave him a lot of encouragement and praise before getting to the point: "But the war is of utmost importance and cannot be taken lightly, let alone be taken for granted."

"I know you want to make use of waste. With the large number of soldiers in Danyang, you can scare Zang Ba into not daring to leave the city."

"But when Zang Ba was on the border of Qing and Xu, he dared to charge the Yellow Turban army's formation with only a thousand men. There were hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans there. Could he be inferior to Cao Bao's ten thousand men?"

"Military strategy must avoid arrogance and never underestimate the enemy."

"In all the years I've commanded troops, the worst defeat I've ever suffered was underestimating the enemy. I always thought the enemy's actions would be as I expected, but the results were often unexpected."

At this point, Liu Bei sighed deeply, his eyes filled with weariness.

“In the past few years in Pingyuan, and later in Qingzhou, I was really tormented by Tian Kai.”

(End of this chapter)