Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

There was smoke in the battle of Yanzhou. It was really smoke. More than half a month ago, the Tang army used oil and gold to attack Puyang and Lihu, causing fire and smoke everywhere. However, after breaking through the first line of defense of the Cao army, the war was temporarily extinguished by a misty rain.

At the end of June and the beginning of July, the vanguard of the plum rain pushed from the Yangtze River Basin to the Huanghuai River Basin. It rained every few days in the Yan and Xu areas, and the water levels of various rivers continued to rise. This weather was really not suitable for fighting. As the defending side, Cao's army was fine because they had the city to rely on. However, the Tang army was in a difficult situation. The tents were wet and the camp was covered with mud.

People were not feeling well, and so were the horses. Originally, after capturing Puyang, Lu Bu planned to send his cavalry into Yanzhou to divide and encircle Cao's army. However, in this kind of weather, the war horses would easily get sick if their hygiene was not properly maintained. There was no choice, and the army could only temporarily stay in Puyang and Lihu areas.

It was not until two days ago, when the drizzle finally stopped, that Lu Bu summoned civil and military officials for a meeting.

"Amo has successfully captured Yangping Pass. Liu Xuande's 50,000 troops are stationed in Shiquan County and have not made any moves yet. After Wenyuan captured Jibei, Lu, and Langya, Xiahou Dun took the initiative to shrink the battle line and hold the city to the death. The situation in the east is temporarily blocked. Xingba and Zhou Yu fought two battles in the East China Sea, with the result being evenly matched. Currently, they can only serve as a defensive force on the water. Sun Ce personally led over 30,000 troops north and has already reached Pengcheng State. He is probably waiting to see the situation and decide whether to support Yanzhou or Xuzhou."

Lu Bu briefly described the recent battle situation in various places and said bluntly, "The enemy troops have almost arrived from all directions. The weather has cleared up, so it's time to take action! The gap in Puyang has been opened. This is the perfect opportunity to divide and encircle Cao's army."

"Except Gong Yu, Heng Lian, and Yuan Si who stayed behind in Ye City, everyone else will follow me into battle! Gong Ming, An Ren!"

"I am here!" Xu Huang and Guan Hai stepped out immediately!

"Gongming will lead 20,000 infantry and cavalry, Anren will lead 3,000 Golden Eagle Guards, and I will allocate another 5,000 cavalry to you. You two will march east along the river and first work together to capture Cao Ren stationed at Qinting. Then Gongming will march south to Juancheng, while Anren will go to Cangting and Dong'a to join Zang Xuangao in besieging Cao Hong."

"Yes!" Xu Huang and Guan Hai responded respectfully.

"Junyi, you will lead 20,000 infantry and cavalry to Dingtao to fight Cao Ang and Li Dian. If the city cannot be taken, then besiege it."

"Yes!" Qu Yi received the order loudly.

"Zi Yan, you will march south from Xuanyuan Pass to Yingchuan to capture Xiahou Yuan. Be sure to capture him before Liu Xuande makes a decision. Afterwards, observe Liu Xuande's actions. If he surrenders, you will leave some troops to guard the pass and attack Cheng Yu of Nanyang from the east and west with the princess and Liu Xuande. However, if he surrenders to Cao, you will help the princess contain Cheng Yu first. Then, order Ming to lead 20,000 troops south to Wuguan to deal with Liu Da'er first and then capture Cheng Yu."

"Yes, sir!" Gao Shun bowed in response.

"Everyone else, follow me and take Cao Mengde's headquarters, Changyi!"

"Yes!" Hua Xiong, Yan Liang, Cao Xing and others responded in unison.

"The king is pressing so hard, Cao Mengde must lead out his main force for a decisive battle!" Jia Xu said.

Once the gates of Puyang and Lihu were broken, a gap was opened in the defense line built by Cao's army. After Xu Huang and Guan Hai went east to eliminate Qinting and Dong'a, the northern defense line was completely opened. Of the original three families of Cao, Liu and Sun, only Cao and Sun were left. Compared with the Tang Dynasty, although their military strength was still superior, they had to disperse their defenses in various places, which instead diluted their strength. If they continued to be passive, they would sooner or later be eaten away by the Tang army. Instead of doing this, it would be better to lead all the troops to a decisive battle.

Lu Bu laughed and said, "Fighting one place at a time like this is quite time-consuming and exhausting. I want to force him to come out for a decisive battle!"

After hearing this, Jia Xu nodded with satisfaction. When the princess was around, the king mostly listened to her and rarely came up with any big ideas. Now that the princess was not around, he could act on his own. At least in military affairs, the king was still extremely talented. This three-sided hunting strategy was enough to force the retreating Cao Mengde out.

"The king's main force must not advance too quickly. We don't know where Cao's main field force is stationed. We must be careful not to be surrounded instead of being hunted!" Jia Xu reminded.

Lu Bu nodded, "Then I will have Wenhe accompany me on the expedition, so I can be a constant reminder!"

Since the princess was not there, Jia Xu could only nod his head resignedly, silently praying in his heart that this would be his last time to go on an expedition with the army, and after this battle he would be able to enjoy his old age in comfort!

Lü Bu's massive mobilization of troops has caused panic among Cao's troops. Do you think you can rest easy by simply defending the city? That's a mistake. While the Tang army may not be as numerous as Cao's or Sun's, it has a large cavalry force. Among the hundreds of thousands of troops, there are nearly 100,000 cavalry. Once they enter Yanzhou, they can easily cut off your supply routes. Crucially, their cavalry is highly mobile, making it impossible to catch or chase them. You can only watch helplessly.

As for leading the cavalry out to fight a field battle with the Tang army, it is not impossible, but without figuring out the distribution and direction of the enemy's troops, Cao Cao would definitely not dare to go out to fight rashly.

Ever since the trade with military horses was cut off by the north, he had only managed to gather 30,000 cavalrymen over the years. Lu Bu might have 10,000 or 20,000 cavalrymen at any one of his troop. Although his own cavalrymen were now equipped with high-bridge saddles and double stirrups, they were certainly not as elite as the Tang army.

Moreover, the number of our own cavalrymen reduced as they were defeated. The other party had several horse farms and was wealthy. It would only take a month or so for them to replenish 10,000 if 10,000 died. How could our own army afford such a consumption?

"We have no choice but to mobilize our forces for a decisive battle. Otherwise, once the food supply routes are cut off, the army's morale will collapse, and even if my lord wants to fight, he won't be able to do so!"

In Changyi City, Cao Cao had been receiving intelligence from various scouts over the past few days and was summoning his advisers to discuss countermeasures. Xun Yu was the first to speak.

Cao Cao frowned, "Is there no other way?"

Although he showed no fear on his face, he was afraid to fight Lu Bu in the wild. Perhaps it could be said that no one in the world dared to fight Lu Bu in the wild. Just look at the lessons of Sun Jian, Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Gongsun Zan. These people were all heroes at the time, but they were all defeated by Lu Bu in one battle when they had more troops than the enemy. Among them, Gongsun Zan was directly beheaded.

Cao Cao always remembered the scene in Suanzao when Lu Bu led 500 cavalrymen to trample on the allied army's camp of 100,000 people. If Lu Bu had not shown mercy at that time, he would have died long ago. Thinking of the scene now, he still couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling.

Xun Yu shook his head helplessly, and Lu Su, the representative sent by Sun Ce, also shook his head.

Surrounded on three sides, with no movement from Liu Bei's side, Cao Cao knew there was no way out, but he was hesitant to make a decision.

Two days ago, news came from Nanyang that Amo had secretly run to Hanzhong at this critical moment. In more than a month, she used 60,000 troops to capture a series of checkpoints leading to Shuzhong from Hanzhong, and blocked Liu Xuande's tens of thousands of troops outside. This battle certainly had the advantage of taking advantage of the opportunity, but she acted so quickly and with such sophisticated means that she really scared Cao Cao and his men.

One of the couple was invincible in field battles, and the other was unparalleled in wisdom. In addition, the Tang Dynasty had strong military and economic strength. It was not that Cao Cao had no confidence in himself, but that the chances of winning were really too low.

"My lord, there is no need to be afraid of fighting!"

Just as Cao Cao was hesitating, Xun You stood up and said, "In my opinion, even if we fight a decisive battle, our army will not necessarily lose!"

"Oh?" Cao Cao's eyes lit up slightly as he looked at Xun You, "Gongda, please speak!"