flstandardbreds Chapter 401 Let's deal with Cao Ren.
Chapter 401 Let's deal with Cao Ren.
As soon as Guan Xing appeared, everyone in the tent wisely shut up and tacitly cast their gazes at him.
But after only a glance, his gaze shifted to the tray, and he swallowed hard as he looked at the food on it.
They had been fighting hard all day without a drop of water, and now even swill smelled delicious, let alone food. Who could resist the sight of food?
The same applies to Zhuge Jin. Although he has never been on the battlefield, everyone is fighting during the day, so who is cooking for him?
Therefore, he wore the same expression as everyone else, but did not offer an invitation. He remained seated and waited for Guan Xing to deliver the package.
The baby really wants it, but can't say it, so I hope you'll be more considerate.
Guan Xing rolled his eyes in exasperation at the men's coy attitude, but he didn't dwell on it and had his personal guards bring the food to them.
It wasn't anything fancy, just a thick porridge made from a mixture of grains, with some bamboo shoots and wild vegetables, all freshly dug from the mountains—absolutely green and pollution-free.
Guan Xing sat down in the main seat with a large bowl in his hand and started eating with chopsticks. When Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, and the others saw him start eating, they no longer hesitated and began to wolf down their food with their bowls and chopsticks.
The bowl, which was twenty centimeters wide, was devoured by the group in less than a quarter of an hour, which shows what kind of animals were sitting in the tent.
Guan Xing put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and carefully chose his words, saying, "First of all, on behalf of the King of Hanzhong, I welcome you all. Please rest well in the camp tonight, and I will send someone to take you back to Jianye to reunite with your families tomorrow."
Several people couldn't help but twitch their lips at the same time. Their families were all in Jianye, and it would be a lie to say they didn't miss them.
But this was definitely not Guan Xing's true intention. Guan Xing's real intention was to send them to see Guan Yu and curry favor with him.
So none of them spoke, but instead turned to look at Lu Xun at the same time, as if to say, "You are the Grand Commander, you handle this."
Lu Xun didn't stand on ceremony. He coughed and cleared his throat, saying, "General, you've probably come here for more than just to inform me of this matter. Please speak frankly."
Guan Xing chuckled and said, "Then I'll get straight to the point. You all probably don't know yet, but Lord Lü Dai has landed at Yongning and has been blocked by our army at Lishui. Could the Grand Commander write a letter to Lord Lü and tell him to stop struggling, it's too tiring."
Lu Xun's pupils constricted sharply. They had been under tight blockade by the Han army recently and truly had no idea of Lü Dai's whereabouts. He hadn't expected that Lü Dai was also...
Lishui has no water and is surrounded by mountains. If Lü Dai were stuck there, he would probably be unable to move an inch.
Lu Xun pondered for a long time before shaking his head and saying, "Forget about writing a letter. You don't know Lord Lü's character. He's not going to surrender easily. Writing a letter is useless."
There's another layer to this statement: he has no chance of surrendering to you, Guan Xing. You either have to give up on that idea or have your father write a letter to Lü Dai.
Your parents are still alive; who would discuss such a big matter with a little kid like you?
Guan Xing understood his unspoken meaning and knew that Lu Xun did not want to use his former colleague to boost his performance, so he changed the subject and said, "Then let's talk about Cao Ren. I plan to go all out and march straight to Wanling along the Anhui-Jiangxi corridor, and join forces with General Guan to annihilate Cao Ren from both sides. Does the Grand Commander think this is feasible?"
There are two routes from the Poyang Lake Plain into Wu County. One is the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Corridor where they are currently located, and the other is the Anhui-Jiangxi Corridor, which goes north from Poyang Lake and is close to the Yangtze River. Cao Ren is currently confronting Guan Yu in that area.
Things would get interesting if Cao Ren were to enter the Anhui-Jiangxi corridor and block him. At that time, Cao Ren would be surrounded by the Yangtze River to the north, Guan Xing to the west, the Huangwu Mountains to the south, and Guan Yu to the east. What could Cao Ren do when he was surrounded on all sides?
Guan Xing looked at Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin with anticipation, waiting to be praised. However, Lu Xun was surprised and opened his mouth wide. After a long while, he sighed and said, "General Guan's idea is really imaginative and courageous. But to be honest, I don't think it's good."
Lu Xun did not want to betray his colleagues, so when Guan Xing asked him to write a letter to Lü Dai, he refused on the spot without thinking. But dealing with Cao Ren was a different story. The Wu army had no psychological burden when dealing with the Wei army.
Moreover, now that he has been captured, he will definitely surrender to the Han. Since he is destined to surrender to the Han, he should seize every opportunity to make merit and plan for the future. Where can he get merit? He should get it from Cao Ren.
So while praising Guan Xing, Lu Xun was also quickly thinking of ways to deal with Cao Ren. After thinking for a long time, he said, "General, your method of besieging Cao Ren is theoretically feasible, but in reality, it may not be so easy. You have never fought against the Wei army and do not know their combat strength. To put it bluntly, the Wei army's combat strength and weapons are much stronger than the Wu army. If it weren't for the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, the Wei army would have marched south more than ten years ago."
"Moreover, Cao Ren has over 100,000 men in Wanling, far more than our Wu army. If you really go to block Cao Ren's retreat, how many men can you take? These 40,000 to 50,000 men on the battlefield are all wounded and in dire need of rest. You definitely can't take them all. You can only take Shen Yi's troops, at most 50,000. Can 50,000 men withstand Cao Ren and Zhang Liao's fierce attack?"
"If you really go to Wanling to block Cao Ren's retreat, Cao Ren can easily set up a defensive line in Danyang Shicheng to block General Guan, and then order Zhang Liao to lead a large force to attack you. My 20,000 Wu soldiers with low morale almost broke through your defensive line. The morale of the Wei army is much higher than mine. In addition, with Zhang Liao who is good at attacking, do you think you can hold out for a few days?"
"Cao Ren excels in defense while Zhang Liao excels in offense. It's almost impossible to wipe out such a combination in one go. It's better to plan ahead."
Putting aside Cao Ren's offensive capabilities, his defensive abilities were truly outstanding. After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao abandoned Jiangling to Cao Ren and fled, yet Cao Ren managed to withstand Zhou Yu's relentless attacks for a year.
There was also the Battle of Xiangfan. Cao Ren surrendered to Yu Jin and Pang De was killed. With morale completely low and even Cao Cao considering moving the capital, Cao Ren managed to withstand Guan Yu's fierce attack by eating grass roots and tree bark until reinforcements arrived.
These two battles are enough to prove Cao Ren's defensive capabilities. In terms of defense alone, Cao Ren is undoubtedly the best in the world. The Great Wei Iron Wall is not just a figurehead.
In addition, Zhang Liao's offensive capabilities were also renowned. When he followed Cao Cao on a distant expedition against the Wuhuan, he encountered the main force of the Wuhuan at Bailang Mountain. Before the main force of Cao Cao's army arrived and with only a few vanguard soldiers by his side, he defied the opinions of others and took the initiative to attack, successfully defeating the main force of the Wuhuan, whose strength far exceeded his own, and killing the Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun in battle.
During the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, he led eight hundred elite warriors to terrify the 100,000 Wu soldiers. Even now, Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, and others still tremble when they mention Zhang Liao.
It might not be so easy for Guan Xing to withstand Zhang Liao's fierce attack.
In other words, if Guan Xing were to actually block the Anhui-Jiangxi corridor, Cao Ren could personally hold off Guan Yu, buying Zhang Liao ample time to attack Guan Xing. Zhang Liao would then be able to unleash his full power and potentially break through Guan Xing's formation.
Guan Xing's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. He had been busy dealing with Lu Xun recently and only had a general idea about blocking Cao Ren's retreat. He had not yet had time to think carefully and formulate a detailed battle plan. Now that Lu Xun had said this, Guan Xing suddenly realized that he had been making some assumptions.
Thinking back to how Lu Xun almost broke through his defenses last night, he broke out in a cold sweat. If he could barely hold off Lu Xun, how could he possibly hold off Zhang Liao?
Whether Zhang Liao's leadership ability is stronger than Lu Xun's is another matter, but the Wei army's weapons and equipment and morale are superior to those of the Wu army. He almost couldn't even hold off the Wu army, so how could he expect to hold off the Wei army?
Thinking of this, Guan Xing quickly smiled apologetically and said, "The Grand Commander is right. I had oversimplified things. Please continue."