Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

The Tang cavalry was something that no other princes of the time could surpass. In addition, the war horses from the north could not flow to the south, so no one would dream of competing with the Tang in cavalry. If they wanted to defeat Lu Bu, they could only find a way to restrain his cavalry with infantry.

"Li Mu, a famous general of the Warring States Period, once led over 10,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantrymen to encircle and annihilate 100,000 Xiongnu cavalrymen, annihilating the Qiang La, defeating the Donghu, and subduing the Linhu. The Chanyu fled, and for more than ten years afterwards, the Xiongnu dared not approach the border cities of Zhao."

Xun You said this while looking at Yu Jin. "Over the years, Wen Ze and I have been thinking hard about how to defeat the Tang cavalry. After much thought, the only way is to emulate Li Mu. We have already built over a thousand chariots and trained sixty thousand archers. We may not be invincible!"

Cao Cao also knew that Yanzhou's military exercises in recent years were mainly based on chariots and bows and crossbows, in order to restrain the Tang cavalry on the plains. However, things were far from as optimistic as Xun You said.

"At that time, the Xiongnu had no iron or armor, and mostly used animal bones as arrowheads. It was not difficult for Li Mu to defeat them using this method. However, the Tang army was well-armored. Not to mention that both the men and the horses were armored, at least every knight wore iron armor. In addition, their weapons were extremely sharp, so this method might not be effective against them." Cao Cao frowned and said.

"The Xiongnu cannot compare to the Tang army. If we only consider the difference in armaments, our army does not have the 100% confidence that Li Mu has."

Xun You still looked confident, which drew Cao Cao's attention again. "Gongda, do you have any other ideas?"

Xun You said, "Your Majesty, you may not know that the reason Li Mu was able to win so easily back then was not only due to his tactical restraint, but also because he first showed weakness to the enemy. At that time, although the Zhao soldiers were strong and powerful, their armor shone brightly and they looked very imposing. But every time the Xiongnu attacked, they only defended and no one dared to attack and kill the enemy. As a result, the Xiongnu saw the Zhao army as a fancy decoration. They even mocked Li Mu for being as timid as a mouse.

The same is true in the Tang Kingdom today. From Lu Bu to the soldiers, I am afraid that no one takes our Yanzhou soldiers seriously. Since Lu Bu occupied Bingzhou, the Bingzhou army has fought hundreds of battles, big and small, and has hardly ever been defeated. The entire army must be extremely proud. As the saying goes, arrogant soldiers will surely be defeated. This is our army's greatest chance of victory.

Furthermore, our army is fighting on home soil, which provides convenient logistics and intelligence gathering. We are more familiar with the terrain, weather, and culture. As long as you dare to fight, defeating Lu Bu is not impossible."

Lu Su then stood up and stated, "As long as Cao Gong dares to fight, our Dongwu will fully support him!"

"war!"

After hearing this, Cao Cao's face was free of hesitation. He stood up, looked around at everyone seated, and said loudly, "Lü Bu killed Emperor Xian and harbored evil ambitions. Today, I, Cao Mengde, in the name of the Han Emperor, raise an army to defeat this thief. The Han Dynasty's fate depends on this battle. I hope you will all join me in this fight. I will not retreat until this thief, Lü Bu, is destroyed!"

The commander-in-chief was determined, and the passion and courage of the civil and military officials for the decisive battle were also ignited. On that day, Cao Cao issued a series of transfer orders in Changyi, transferring all the troops from Yanzhou and Xuzhou to Jiyin County.

He personally led the 50,000 main forces left in Changyi, and joined forces with Cao Ang's 20,000 men in Dingtao. They first set up camp in an open area and built fortifications, waiting for Lu Bu's army to come for a decisive battle.

Of course, at this time he also had to strive for all the power he could. In addition to Sun Ce who had always supported him, Cao Cao also sent people to Shiquan County and Jingzhou to lobby Liu Bei and Liu Biao.

…………

In Hanzhong, at Zouma Valley on Dingjun Mountain, Xu You hurriedly found Zhang Mo, who was taking a post-dinner stroll, and reported, "Princess, Cao Cao's envoys have arrived in Shiquan County today!"

"So what?" Zhang Mo walked slowly along the stream with a nonchalant look on her face.

"What if he defected there again? Your Majesty is about to engage in a decisive battle with Cao Cao, and Liu Bei's 50,000-man army cannot be underestimated!"

It seems that Liu Bei has completely given up the idea of ​​competing with Zhang Mo for Yizhou, but after so many days, he has no intention of surrendering. Xu You thinks that he is watching the situation and will stand on the side of whichever side has the upper hand.

Although the Tang army has gradually recovered its strength in recent days, it has not yet taken control of Shuzhong. There is also Liu Biao who has not made his position clear. In order to avoid more trouble, the Tang army must enter Shuzhong as soon as possible. It is difficult to free up too many troops to support the war in the east at this time, so Liu Bei's position is still very important to the Tang Dynasty.

"He won't surrender to Cao Cao!" Zhang Mo said with certainty.

"Why not?" Xu You was puzzled. Could it be that just because of Zhang Fei, he could give up the idea of ​​reviving the Han Dynasty?

"Third brother's last words were one reason. He had already lost Yizhou and was left without a foothold. If he went to Cao Cao now, he wouldn't be an ally, but a subordinate. Besides, you know Cao Mengde better than I do. If it weren't for me...interrupting..."

She paused, the last two words stuck in her throat as she whispered, then continued, "This world will definitely belong to him in the end. My senior brother won't have any chance with him, so he won't go."

Xu You nodded. "Your Highness is right. Cao Cao is indeed not an easy person to deal with. However...Your Highness is even harder to fool than him. If Liu Bei hadn't gone to Cao's camp, he wouldn't have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty!"

"I know, and I don't really want to recruit him!"

"Why is that?" Xu You became more and more puzzled. If Liu Bei's 50,000 men could be persuaded to surrender, it would not only turn the tide but also be a huge help. Why didn't she want to surrender?

Zhang Mo stopped and pointed at a small tree growing in a crevice not far away. "My senior brother is just like this tree," she said. "Without any soil or nutrients, and under the scorching sun, the growing conditions are so harsh, yet he refuses to accept his fate. Even with just a little rain or dew, he'll try his best to grow. Don't look at him as weak, his roots can actually make a crack in the solid rock."

Xu You asked, "Princess, are you afraid that he will cause trouble in Tang someday?"

Zhang Mo said, "Although he comes from a humble background, he's quite popular. Plus, he has unusually large ears, which makes him even more adept at handling affairs. Are all the civil and military officials in the Tang Empire in favor of reform? Can the Han Dynasty's centuries-old prestige and prestige simply vanish? They're staying put now because they don't have a leader. Not to mention Liu Xuande, if this campaign against Yanzhou fails, these people will jump out one after another."

The Tang Dynasty has always used its powerful military force to intimidate the world. Not to mention that the world has not yet been unified, even if it is unified, those reactionary forces may sprout again, and Liu Bei, the emperor's uncle who has always wanted to restore the Han Dynasty, is undoubtedly a catalyst for the reactionary forces.

She continued walking slowly. "If it was my senior brother who had just fled from Xuzhou, I would be happy to take him in. But now he's a local lord, surrendering with 50,000 soldiers. I can't just give him a nominal position and leave him alone. He has to be a prefect of a county at the very least. That would be like lending him territory to give him a chance to make a comeback."

Another reason why Zhang Mo did not want to persuade Liu Bei to surrender was that in history, whoever this guy surrendered to would be in trouble.

"Where will he go then?"

"Jingzhou!" Zhang Mo answered without hesitation.

Xu You nodded. "That's indeed a good place. If we're lucky and can outlast Liu Jingsheng in two years, he might get a great deal. But in the end, it'll just be a last-ditch effort. Your Majesty, if you defeat Cao Mengde in this battle and then go south to destroy Sun Bofu, how can he turn the tide in Jingzhou?"

Zhang Mo paused slightly, her brows furrowed slightly, "Ziyuan, do you think our army will win this battle?"

Xu You gave her a strange look. "What else could it be? Your Majesty has already forced Cao Mengde out for a decisive battle. Who in the world could defeat Your Majesty in a field battle? Ultimately, the world will belong to the Tang Dynasty."

Zhang Mo had felt the same way before, even concluding that, even as she had just taken Jizhou, she had harbored the conviction that the empire would ultimately fall to the Tang. However, her mentor, Lu Zhi's dying words of advice awakened her. On the stage of the late Han dynasty, everyone considered themselves the protagonist, and any unexpected event could occur until the very last moment. Arrogant soldiers are doomed to fail, let alone arrogant generals. Especially with the Tang army's swift capture of Yizhou, it was likely that both the civil and military officials of the Tang dynasty would regard heroes as nothing.

Thinking of this, she immediately turned around and walked back, "Go back to the camp, I want to write a letter to the king!"

Xu You followed behind and curled his lips, "Is it necessary to shout so loudly when writing every other day?"