The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 530 Use defense as offense
The best way to cover up a conspiracy is to set up another one.

Guo Jia was not aware of Cao Cao's plan, but he knew that there were not many ways for the other party to reverse the situation. The most likely way was to use the power of water and fire.

Because the Qi army was not only well-trained, but the two armies of Xu Rong and Guan Yu were camped separately, forming a pincer attack.

Night raids, sneak attacks, food cuts, and alienation are all ineffective. They can slightly reverse the downward trend, but in the face of a huge gap in combat power, the effects are minimal.

If you want to win, and win big, you must take advantage of the right time and place.

"Military Advisor, do you mean that there is an ambush in Chenliu City?" Xu Rong asked.

Guo Jia smiled slightly: "For now, this is the biggest possibility. But most likely it's not an ambush, but something to provoke a fire, or maybe they have prepared a section of river water for us upstream of the surrounding river."

Hearing this, Xu Rong couldn't help but look at the sand table: "The terrain around Chenliu County is flat, and the place where it is located is slightly low-lying. In addition, there are many rivers such as Suishui around it, so there is indeed the possibility of a water attack."

"But if you want to attack it, you must have a very good understanding of the surrounding hydrology, and you must have heavy rain to help you."

At this point, Xu Rong paused and said, "Call the fortune teller."

Soon, three scholars walked into the tent.

"See General!"

Xu Rong nodded slightly.

Under Tian Ze's promotion, the army of Da Qi was constantly being standardized and regularized.

In addition, in order to prepare for large-scale warfare, many additional talents were prepared, including the Yin-Yang School, who were good at surveying astronomy and judging the weather, and the Mohist School, who were good at identifying geographical advantages and finding water sources.

The three people in front of him are scholars of Yin-Yang School, known as fortune tellers in the army.

"What's the weather like in the next few days? Will there be heavy rain?" Xu Rong asked directly.

The three fortune tellers looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward and said respectfully, "General, we observed the sky at night and saw castle clouds, low sounds from strings, and insects and ants coming out of their holes. It is likely that rain will come in a few days, and it is estimated to be quite large."

"But this is just speculation. We can't guarantee the actual situation."

Xu Rong simply chose to ignore the last words of the fortune teller. This kind of words was simply a routine, and he had long been accustomed to it in order to avoid getting involved in trouble.

Confirming Guo Jia's guess, Xu Rong breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand to let the fortune tellers leave.

Then he turned to look at Guo Jia and said in a deep voice: "Military Advisor, it seems you are right."

Every profession has its own expertise. Although the fortune-tellers in Xu Rong's army did not understand the climate of the Central Plains as well as Xun Yu and others, they were able to calculate the celestial phenomena with almost perfect accuracy based on their professional abilities.

It is not surprising that they could figure it out, as Cao Cao's advisers who had been rooted in Yanzhou for several years could figure it out.

"What I said is just a possibility. Maybe Cao Cao has other ideas?" Guo Jia shook his head slightly.

Under Yu Tianze's command, Guo Jia had long been accustomed to acting cautiously.

After all, in most cases, the strong bully the weak, and as long as you don't lose, you win. Although being conservative will lose a lot of opportunities, it is safer.

Even though he felt that his guess was correct, Guo Jia still had a sense of awe.

What if the other party guessed what he was thinking? It was a plan within a plan.

Hearing this, Xu Rong nodded in agreement: "Then according to the military advisor's opinion, what should we do?"

Guo Jia said: "It is better to be cautious. It is enough to send 10,000 soldiers into Chenliu City. Even if the enemy attacks, we can hold on until the main force of our army arrives to support us."

"After entering the city, first check to see if there are any flammable objects in the city, gather the people in the city and transport them to the rear, and store food and grass in several places just in case."

"General Chen Dao will lead 30,000 troops to guard the main camp to ensure logistics are intact."

"Bo Jin, Yun Chang, each of you will lead 80,000 troops to bypass Chenliu and pursue the enemy. One of you will be in the front and pursue, while the other will be stationed a few miles behind, and you will take turns every half a day."

"If Cao's army sets an ambush and the front army is frustrated, the rear army can also provide support to avoid defeat."

To put it bluntly, Guo Jia's strategy was still the same: build a strong camp, fight a stupid battle, and use defense as offense.

After all, even if the troops are divided, any point on our side is enough to match the enemy, and they can support each other at any time.

Even if Cao Cao had a good strategy to defeat the enemy, he could only defeat one route of the enemy and could not defeat all of his own troops.

Unless he was defeated three or more times in a short period of time, he would not lose. After all, Zang Ba's army was still guarding the rear and could come to support him at any time.

"What a great plan, military advisor!" Xu Rong couldn't help but admire.

Guo Jia's idea was quite similar to the tactics he had come up with before.

There is no fixed strategy for war, but the ultimate goal is to use one's strengths to overcome the enemy's weaknesses. Xu Rong is well aware of this.

Xu Rong's ability to defend does not mean that he is not good at field battles. There are too many methods that can be used, such as using defense as offense, flexible counterattacks, and encirclement and entrapment.

The method of rotation of two armies mentioned by Guo Jia was one of the tactics he often practiced.

Because Xu Rong served as a soldier in Liang Province in his early years, he often encountered attacks by Qiang people, and his own side often had fewer horses, and sometimes even mostly infantry.

In an environment where the initiative in the battle was mostly in the hands of the Qiang people, Xu Rong thought most about how to defend and counterattack at the lowest cost.

This is how Xu Rong's current fighting style was formed.

Cao Cao's retreat was very clean, but his bluffing in Chenliu County and the use of Cao Ren as a rear guard were extremely realistic.

Only Cao Cao and his trusted civil and military officials knew about this matter. Even the soldiers in the army were unaware of it, in order to make the fake look real.

Xu Rong lived up to Cao Cao's expectations and quickly found out the strength of Chenliu, but he only sent 10,000 soldiers to garrison there, while the main force of the army went around and attacked Cao Ren's troops.

When the Cao army scouts outside the city saw this scene, they hurried back to report.

After hearing what the scout said, Cao Cao couldn't help but look a little disappointed, but it soon turned into determination.

Xun Yu looked slightly gloomy.

He took it for granted.

The Qi army had always acted steadily. No matter how much he interfered, it was useless. The other side had too many cards in their hands. As long as they played one by one, they would lose.

Cao Cao did not blame Xun Yu because it was his decision.

The duty of a counselor is to offer advice, but the lord is the one who makes the decision.

Besides, the current situation can be considered a good ending to some extent. At least there is no need to worry about the problem of not being able to resolve it.

Moreover, the division of forces between Xu Rong and Guan Yu ultimately weakened the strength of the pursuing team, giving him the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Although the chance is still slim, it is the best they can do.

"Ha ha!"

"Hahahaha!"

……

Cao Cao laughed, and his laughter became more heroic and confident.

The laughter echoed in the tent, with a unique infectious power that calmed the worries in everyone's hearts.

"In that case, let's fight!" Cao Cao said with a firm look.

"Now that we have no way to retreat, let's fight Tian Ze in this final battle to see who will win!"

(End of this chapter)