My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 339: Returning Liu Bei’s kindness to him
"It's only been less than a month since the war began, and Feng Xiao has to come up with a new strategy? It seems that Liu Bei's defense is very tight."

Xun Yu was quite surprised when Cao Cao called him, so he took the secret letter from Guo Jia from Cao Cao's hand and started reading it.

"It turns out that Feng Xiao discovered that there were also wise men in Liu Bei's army, who calculated that our army was unwilling to expand the war and did not dare to attack Donghai County and Xiapi County rashly, but only dared to limit the war to Langya. So Liu Bei gathered heavy troops and stored a large amount of supplies in Langya in advance, and defended the place that we must attack?

This is really disadvantageous to us. We can choose not to attack Donghai or Xiapi, but we cannot let the enemy be sure that we will not attack. This will make it easier to make progress in the direction of the real main attack..."

Xun Yu first took a quick glance to find out the new problems and new situations that Guo Jia encountered on the front line.

When fighting a war, there are indeed some places where you cannot fight.

But it would be bad if your enemies knew you couldn't fight.

The ideal situation, of course, is that I don't fight, but the enemy still has to spend effort to defend.

After figuring out the situation on the front line, Xun Yu then looked at the solution Guo Jia came up with:
Guo Jia suggested to Cao Cao that he should give additional titles to the leaders of semi-independent factions such as Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and Chang Xi, who were originally in Langya and Taishan counties, in order to nominally expand their power and create the illusion that these people were "too powerful to be controlled and act on their own".

Finally, Xiahou Yuan disguised a considerable part of Cao's troops in Xuzhou as these semi-separatist forces to fight Liu Bei, but in fact these troops were still under Xiahou Yuan's control. In this way, they would no longer be bound by the rules and regulations that "Cao's troops can only attack Langya, not Donghai".

After reading it, Xun Yu was also moved, thinking that Feng Xiao's plan was indeed useful, but also vicious.

"It is indeed a good plan. The reason why we are afraid that the situation will get out of control if we fight Liu Bei is because we are fighting Liu Bei under the banner of fighting Yuan Tan, which restricts our actions. But since Liu Bei's army can fight under the banner of Yuan Tan, why can't our army fight under the banner of Zang Ba and Chang Xi?"

Liu Bei played "proxy war", and Cao Cao could also play "proxy war", which was fair!

Everyone knows that Zang Ba and his forces did not contribute to Lu Bu's actual efforts when Cao Cao defeated Lu Bu two or three years ago. In the past eight years, Zang Ba has always said, "I will obey whoever can take control of Xuzhou," but in fact he only listens to orders and not to announcements.

The situation of the Taishan bandits is similar.

After Cao Cao nominally subdued Zang Ba and Chang Xi, he actually had no ability to ask Zang Ba to contribute much to other battlefields. He just hoped that they would guard their original territory and not cause any trouble.

Now, if Cao Cao suddenly fabricated a story that "Zang Ba turned into a dog that disobeyed his master, and his master didn't let him bite Liu Bei, but he lost control and bit Liu Bei", and then sent the army under the banners of Zang Ba, Sun Guan and Chang Xi to attack the part of the Huaibei Plain in Xuzhou controlled by Liu Bei, he would attract Liu Bei's troops and force Liu Bei to fight a decisive battle in the field.

Well, considering the mentality of Liu Bei's camp of being afraid of both ends, they would most likely accept this explanation and swallow their anger. In the end, they could only adopt the attitude of "only taking revenge on the mad dog, but not daring to fight the dog's owner directly".

The difference between Cao and Liu's use of agents is that "Yuan Tan was not completely a puppet of Liu Bei. He wanted to act on his own and Liu Bei could not control him."
Zang Ba, Sun Guan and Chang Xi had already been put on a bridle by Cao Cao, but Cao Cao wanted to shirk responsibility and pretended that these people were temporarily out of control.

As for the lack of troops of Zang Ba and others… that is not a problem at all! Wouldn’t it be better to let part of Xiahou Yuan’s army directly change to the banners of Zang Ba and others? In fact, Xiahou Yuan was still in command, and the control of the troops was not lost at all. He was just imitating Liu Bei’s skin.

It's the same as when Taishi Ci's army attacked Yuan Tan's flag during the Battle of Nanpi.

Xun Yu was also a smart man, so there was no need for Cao Cao to tell him the details of the operations. He believed that Xun Yu had already figured it out in his mind.

After reading it, Xun Yu silently put down Guo Jia's secret letter. From his expression, Cao Cao knew that he had understood and did not object, but there was still a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Cao Cao then took the initiative to ask, "Does Wenruo think there is something wrong with this strategy?"

Xun Yu sighed: "There is no problem in the general direction, but there are some small hidden dangers. The purpose of this strategy is to control the scope of the battle with Liu Bei and ensure that it can be controlled freely.

But the court pretending that Zang Ba and Sun Guan were uncontrollable is very different from Liu Bei using Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan was originally an enemy of the court, and even if Liu Bei stopped supporting Yuan Tan and wanted to stop, the court would continue to fight Yuan Tan.

Zang Ba and his men had no grudge against Liu Bei, and they were defending the territory for the imperial court, so Liu Bei did not dare to attack them, fearing that the war would escalate. Now we are using Zang Ba's name to offend Liu Bei to death. If the war goes smoothly and advances in an orderly manner, everyone will be happy.

But if our army is defeated by Liu Bei and counterattacks, then Liu Bei will be able to legitimately attack the remaining areas of Langya County and even Taishan County. This is tantamount to a gamble. The court put the defense areas controlled by Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and Chang Xi on the table, while Liu Bei was forced to put the western half of Donghai County, Xiapi, and the Huaibei part of Guangling on the table. "

Cao Cao frowned: "Before you think about victory, you think about defeat first? Wen Ruo is indeed prudent. However, I think this price is not worth worrying about!

Even if our army gave Liu Bei an excuse that "it would not offend the imperial court to death and could legitimately attack the western part of Langya and the entire Taishan County", would he be able to swallow this hard bone?
The one who will fight me for the world in the future will definitely be Liu Bei! Even if there is a chance of war on the northern front again in the future, I have to withdraw troops to destroy Yuan Shang. In the direction of Xu and Huai, the court also has enough troops to take a defensive position!

Yunchang is a famous general, but he has insufficient troops. He can only defend half of Xuzhou. How can he counterattack? If he is willing to counterattack, I would be more than happy! The battlefield of Xuzhou is already heavily swarmed with troops, and it is difficult to move. The offensive party will inevitably suffer. Our army is not doing well now because we are the main attacker. When Yunchang leads Liu Bei's troops to attack, it will be his turn to bear this disadvantage. The imperial court occupies the north, and has an advantage in population and land over Liu Bei. It would be more than happy for them to consume each other's troops and money!"

In Cao Cao's eyes, he has already regarded the battlefield of Xuzhou as the battlefield of Hefei ten years later in history. Even if it is difficult for his side to make a quick breakthrough, he can count on this meat grinder to slowly squeeze the flesh and blood of the southern princes!
This view is actually not wrong.

Because the Hefei-Ruxu battlefield in history was indeed like this, whoever attacked would suffer.

Many people who don't read history carefully and just want to watch the fun only know to talk about "Sun Quan sent 100,000 people to Hefei to kill them".

Little did people know that Zhuge Liang's "The Second Letter to the Emperor" also clearly enumerated the examples of Cao Cao's failures in his life: "Cao Cao failed in his five attacks on Changba (Changxi) and in his four attempts to cross Chaohu Lake".

The "four crossings of Chaohu Lake" here refers to Cao Cao's four failed attempts at large-scale southern expeditions along the line of Hefei-Chaohu Lake-Ruxukou. It can be seen that this battlefield is a meat grinder. Whoever attacks will suffer losses, and it is the same for both Sun Quan and Cao Cao. Sun Quan could not push through the line of Hefei, and Cao Cao could not push through the line of Ruxukou.

……

Xun Yu realized that he had given all the necessary warnings, but Cao Cao still insisted on this strategy despite knowing the risks, so he had nothing to say.

Xun Yu's mind raced, and he quickly sorted out the other risks in his mind. Finally, he gave a kind word of advice: "Even if you are determined to implement this strategy, you should not be too hasty. Zang Ba and others will sooner or later understand this truth. This is putting their territory in danger.

We must appease them, first give them promotions, then let the talented win them over on the front line, and promise them that after victory, they will be given more military power and real power. Once they are truly willing, this strategy will work like a finger, and everyone will be of one mind."

Xun Yu was reminding Cao Cao: If you put Zang Ba and others on the table, you have to see if Zang Ba and others are willing to take this chance. If there is no internal unity and the top and bottom are not united, then there will be endless internal risks.

Cao Cao heard this and showed a solemn expression for the first time tonight: "This is a golden and jade argument, I naturally understand it. Anyway, Fengxiao's strategy is also a backup plan when the frontal attack is not favorable, in order to force the enemy to the East China Sea Plain for a decisive battle, so there is no need to rush.

Spend a month or two preparing slowly, and see if Miaocai can make further progress on the Langya front in the next month or two. If Miaocai can win fairly, the subsequent strategy can be adjusted.

Even if we stop at the last minute, the court won't suffer any loss. At most, we'll just give Zang Ba and his men some miscellaneous general titles for nothing. Wen Ruo, you should handle this matter yourself. In the next few days, you can find some excuse to promote Zang Ba and his men."

Xun Yu accepted the order and went back to handle it immediately.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Cao Gong is really generous in his work. No matter what other aspects he is like, at least when it comes to giving outsiders promotions and rewards, he is really generous.

The matter hadn't even started yet, and Zang Ba and his men hadn't really put in any effort, but they were already being demoted.

Zang Ba did not have enough merits to convince the people, and he had to rely on the Shangshu Ling of the imperial court to help him rack his brains to think of merits and find excuses to get promoted!

……

Xun Yu helped Cao Cao and Guo Jia to do the superficial work and handle the details. Just five or six days later, the promotion edicts for Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Chang Xi, Li Dian and others were sent to the front line in Xuzhou.

Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao, was promoted to General Wei Lu and granted the title of Marquis of Duting. However, according to the original history, Zang Ba did not get this official title until the tenth year of Jian'an, which was 205 AD, after Cao Cao completely destroyed Yuan Tan.

Now that he has lost the military merit of participating in the destruction of Yuan Tan, he was promoted three years earlier.

Sun Guan and Sun Zhongtai, who were previously just a captain with a minor title, were now promoted above the rank of General of the Central Army and were granted the title of Lieutenant General and Marquis of Guannei.

Chang Xi, who was born a bandit from Mount Tai, was appointed as the governor of Donghai by Cao Cao - but Donghai County is still in the hands of Liu Bei, and the intention of sowing discord is already obvious.

Finally, Li Dian, who controlled the armed forces of Shanyang County, was named General of Capturing Prisoners and Marquis of Duting, with the same rank as Zang Ba. In history, he got this title four years later after he and Cao Cao destroyed Yuan Tan and the big pirate Guan Cheng on the coast of Qingzhou.

Cao Cao gave these four local tyrants on the front line of Xuzhou an average promotion of three years in one go, betting on them to cooperate with the court and work hard for the court in subsequent actions. They put their lives and property on the line and took a big chance with Liu Bei.

Even if it fails, the risk is controllable. At most, he will lose all the chips on the table, and it will not affect Cao Cao's other capital.

(End of this chapter)