Yuan Army, Wuchao Great Camp.
At the entrance, two armored soldiers were drinking and chatting while enjoying their drinks.
Logically speaking, armored soldiers guarding the gate were not allowed to drink, but... Mister Guo had ordered that all soldiers of the three armies would not return until they were drunk, so... they couldn't care less!
The two of them had taken a small jar of fine wine from the "Grand Feast" and were drinking it at the gate of the Wuchao Great Camp.
One of them narrowed his eyes, rubbed them, and peered even more intently.
In the dim lamplight, something seemed to appear in his hazy eyes.
"Old Wang, I think I see... I see a cavalry troop charging towards us! Sharpening their weapons!"
"Old Li, how is that possible? If there were an enemy attack, with so many watchtowers, how could there be no movement? Keep drinking, drink... Old Wang, just tell me, are you trying to welch on the drinks?"
A Yuan Army armored soldier, who was thoroughly drunk, let out a groan.
Another patted him on the shoulder.
Even though they had drunk a lot, deep down, their subconscious mind told them that the defenses of Wuchao Valley were impenetrable.
However...
"Da da da."
The sound of hooves grew louder and louder, until it was earth-shattering!
The coarse cloth wrapped around their hooves was removed, and the five thousand horses, as if finally released, galloped freely. The gleaming war halberds seemed to carve a beautiful arc through the air. By the time the two drinking Yuan guards reacted, the cold gleam of the halberds had already struck before their eyes.
Their pupils contracted, and their hearts clenched.
In their pupils, they seemed to see their own bodies, but their heads were no longer attached!
Immediately after, the entire world returned to nothingness!
"Dong..."
"Dong..."
As the two heads fell, Wuchao was attacked that night.
Five thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry descended as if from the heavens. While the Yuan Army armored soldiers were thoroughly drunk, they charged in... charging in like hungry tigers pouncing on sheep.
The eyes of these Tiger and Leopard Cavalry glowed green, and they wildly swung their war halberds, crushing everything in their path!
When countless drops of blood sprinkled on the faces and bodies of the Yuan camp armored soldiers like rain, they finally awoke from their drunken stupor.
Instinctively, they tried to stand up and resist!
But...
They found their steps a bit unsteady, their bodies swaying...
They couldn't even find their weapons or their horses!
And the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry...
They wielded war halberds forged from refined steel. While their armor was not as impenetrable as the Dragon Riders, it was more than enough to deal with this group of "awakened from a dream" enemies.
As the Yuan Army armored soldiers were stunned, these Tiger and Leopard Cavalry with green glowing eyes had already killed before them, ripping open their bellies!
There was no trace of mercy on their contorted faces.
At the same time, fires were ignited throughout Wuchao, and amidst the flames, countless people let out heart-wrenching roars.
Led by Xiahou Yuan's charge...
They were like a bloodthirsty sharp blade, directly piercing the heart of Wuchao, and also piercing Yuan Shao's heart!
Looking down from the heavens, the secluded valley was a scene where red and black continuously merged.
Fires spread, flames spread, and the intensity grew!
The raging fires leaped and danced wildly with the wind, consuming everything without restraint!
The crimson flames seemed like a proud painter, using his brush to stain everything in its path black... merging with the "black" under the sky.
Many granaries were burning, and millions of stone of grain turned into nothingness in an instant.
Cao Cao wiped the sweat from his forehead, sighing with emotion.
This war was truly exhilarating!
However... the Yuan Army in Wuchao numbered tens of thousands. As time went by, while the fires burned the grain, they also awakened many people.
Including Chunyu Qiong...
The scorching air made him sweat profusely, and it seemed to accelerate the evaporation of alcohol in his body.
At this moment, he realized that the enemy was attacking... the enemy was attacking!
Immediately, his eyes widened...
Looking at the sky filled with flames outside the large tent, and behind him, only a few remaining granaries... if these granaries were also burned, then... the general trend would be lost!
"Everyone, pull yourselves together, form ranks, meet the enemy... meet the enemy..."
Historically, Chunyu Qiong was not as incompetent as portrayed in the "drama"...
During the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, he was ranked among the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden alongside Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, which showed his extraordinary abilities.
In such an unfavorable situation.
At such a drunken moment, he still managed to organize round after round of counterattacks.
"Hold on, hold on to our last bit of dignity... ah no, hold on to our last line of defense!"
"Preserve, preserve these last granaries! Fight to the death, fight without retreat!"
Roars...
Chunyu Qiong's hoarse roars echoed from Wuchao!
When he was drunk, he was an "immortal general"!
But after waking up, his combat strength was not to be underestimated!
...
...
"It's burning!"
Looking at the towering flames from Wuchao, Lu Yu, standing in Guandu, grinned. A smile finally appeared on his serious face.
Old Cao had done it.
Feng Xiao had also done it, everything was proceeding according to plan.
After all, war seemed to be fought with soldiers, but in reality, it was fought with morale...
Now, the sudden fire had caused psychological panic among the Yuan army soldiers, while Old Cao's soldiers were fewer, their morale was soaring. The Yuan army might resist, but as time went by, their fighting spirit would inevitably decline!
Chunyu Qiong would not be able to withstand Old Cao's attack.
Lu Yu was confident about this!
At this moment...
"Young Master Lu, the scout camp reports that Commander Cao has led five thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry into Wuchao..."
"General Cao Xiu and Mr. Xu have also retreated from the Yuan camp with the Dragon Riders corps!"
Dian Wei was relaying the messages to Lu Yu.
"What is the Yuan army's reaction?" Lu Yu asked the question that concerned him the most.
This...
Dian Wei scratched his head. "It seems the Yuan army hasn't made any moves yet..."
As expected.
Lu Yu shook his head. Yuan Shao's reaction was as slow as ever... hehe... it was within expectations and within reason.
Then...
Lu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. His finger traced the Guandu battlefield on the table, moving from Guandu to Wuchao.
He murmured to himself.
"Big Mouth Yuan, where will your next choice be? Guandu? Or Wuchao..."
"And... classmate Guo? You won't disappoint me, right?"
As he spoke, Lu Yu's eyes sparkled with an incredibly brilliant and dazzling light!
...
...
Yuan Army Grand Camp, Central Military Tent.
At this moment, Yuan Shao was furious. The reason? He had just learned that all the arrows he had fired were at straw effigies!
He felt like he was going crazy...
Damn you, "Fire arrows, fire arrows!"
Fire your sister's arrows...
Now, these damned hundred thousand arrows were shot for nothing.
Yuan Shao clenched his fists. He felt his intelligence had been insulted, rubbed fiercely on the ground, almost to the point of sparking!
Who would have thought that at this moment.
Another piece of terrible news arrived.
"Wuchao has been raided!"
Cao Cao personally led countless elite cavalry to raid Wuchao. Wuchao was now engulfed in flames, and millions of stone of grain were destroyed.
This was not the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was... the various defenses deployed by Yuan's side had not detected the movements of this five-thousand-strong cavalry in advance!
And... why was Wuchao burned so quickly?
So quickly... that countless granaries caught fire?
Resistance? Chunyu Qiong had thirty thousand men? Was there no resistance at all?
A series of question marks appeared on Yuan Shao's forehead.
However, after a brief moment of panic, Yuan Shao immediately became indifferent.
Originally, in Fang'er's plan, Wuchao was just a bait to capture the Hidden Dragon... so losing it was not a big deal.
And now, Cao Cao was leading his cavalry to attack Wuchao...
Yuan Shao could not determine the number of troops, but the swiftness of the fire indicated a large number. Moreover, with Cao Cao going to Wuchao, the Hidden Dragon was in Guandu!
At this time, rather than saving Wuchao, it was better to break through Guandu directly, kill the Hidden Dragon, and cut off Cao Cao's retreat!
With this thought in mind...
Yuan Shao's roaring voice echoed.
"Now that Wuchao has been attacked, and Cao Cao's army has departed, Guandu's defenses must be slackened."
"Zhang He, Gao Lan, receive my order! The two of you will lead thirty thousand troops to attack Guandu!"
"Since Cao Cao wants to go all out, then let our Yuan army break his camp and leave Cao Aman homeless!"
"Your Lord is wise!"
"Your Lord is brilliant!"
Yuan Shao's proposal was quickly supported by the sycophant number one, Guo Tu, and the sycophant number two, Feng Ji, and even the Yingyin clan members expressed their support! Dafeng Novel Network.
This was the peculiar ecology of the Yuan camp.
Before Yuan Shao made a decision, everyone could brainstorm, but once the lord, Yuan Shao, decided to do something, they must agree.
Otherwise... Tian Feng, Xu You, Ju Shou... were all precedents.
Gu Hua</span> However, even though Yuan Shao said this, and the Yingyin clan supported it.
Zhang He and Gao Lan felt something was wrong...
When this order was given, Zhang He was stunned. He had originally thought Yuan Shao was sending him to save Wuchao, but... he completely couldn't understand Yuan Shao's deployment this time. It was completely beyond his expectations.
At this time, Zhang He's status in Yuan Shao's army was lower than Chunyu Qiong's, but his experience was extremely rich, having been through countless battles and promoted from piles of dead bodies.
Generals promoted from the grassroots like this were never mere paper strategists.
He had a natural sensitivity to military strategy and formations.
As soon as Yuan Shao spoke, he realized the huge loopholes and dangers involved.
"This must not be done..." Zhang He hurriedly advised, "In Cao's camp, Cao Cao is very skilled in warfare, and the Hidden Dragon is skilled in understanding human nature. Now, even though Cao Cao has led troops to attack Wuchao, there must be some troops left behind. The Hidden Dragon would not fail to consider this!"
"Secondly, Wuchao is our army's grain supply, the lifeline. Even if two million stone of military grain is burned, it cannot be burned in a few hours. Moreover, General Chunyu Qiong and thirty thousand armored soldiers are still stationed there. The most important thing at this moment is not to attack Cao Cao, but to attack Wuchao... even if the grain is lost, capturing Cao Cao's head would be a big profit!"
What Zhang He said was very reasonable.
The facts proved that his suggestion was very valuable, and even... with his words, Yuan Shao was a little moved.
But at this moment.
Guo Tu stepped forward at an inopportune moment.
"Lord Yuan, have you forgotten? Who was it who feigned an attack, setting up straw figures before our army, humiliating the lord, and humiliating our three armies? If one must be killed, would Lord Yuan rather kill the Hidden Dragon or Cao Cao?"
This question touched Yuan Shao's sore spot.
From childhood to adulthood, he had never taken Cao Cao seriously, even though Cao Cao had transformed from a "little brother" into a "formidable rival," Yuan Shao still did not take him seriously.
In Yuan Shao's opinion, Cao Cao's achievements today were all due to the Hidden Dragon, to Lu Yu...
Without the Hidden Dragon... Cao Cao was nothing!
Hmph...
A cold snort.
Yuan Shao glared with anger.
If he could only eat one person's flesh and drink one person's blood, then... he would definitely choose the Hidden Dragon, not Cao Cao!
With this thought, Yuan Shao said coldly:
"My mind is made up, forty thousand troops will attack Guandu!"
In his anger, Yuan Shao decided to unleash all his forces this time!
He was determined to kill Lu Yu and eliminate the Hidden Dragon!
Zhang He was dumbfounded... He repeatedly advised, "Lord Yuan, you cannot do this... I predict that the Hidden Dragon must have foreseen Your Lord's intentions, and he will surely calculate that Your Lord will do this!"
"If Your Lord does not come to the aid of Wuchao, then... then the army will surely collapse, and Guandu's defenses cannot be taken down in a moment. If we go to attack... if the time drags on, and all of Wuchao is burned, then the morale of the three armies will inevitably be low, and this battle will also be..."
Zhang He persuaded with all his might...
But Guo Tu calmly suggested, "Is General Zhang afraid? Your Lord values you highly and regards you as one of the Four Pillars of Hebei! Are you this cowardly?"
This...
Zhang He was speechless. He knew that Yuan Shao had made up his mind, and Guo Tu was flattering him so much, that any further arguments from Zhang He would be futile.
This time, he had no choice but to go along with it.
Speaking of which, it was strange.
Guo Tu, as Yuan Shao's "senior management" talent, had always been one of Yuan Shao's most valued strategists.
Unfortunately, he completely failed to live up to Yuan Shao's trust and his high expectations.
Not only did he not offer Yuan Shao good advice, but he seemed like an undercover agent sent by Cao Cao, always jumping out to sabotage good plans whenever Yuan Shao was about to adopt them or execute correct decisions!
Once or twice would have been enough!
But...
His frequency of sabotage was almost every time!
This was a bit strange, and precisely because of this, Lu Yu identified him as a spy, and there was no discrepancy at all.
Of course...
The reason Yuan Shao insisted on attacking Guandu was not entirely due to Guo Tu.
He was an arrogant person, and also someone who cared deeply about his reputation. Even... in the face of such major decisions, he would listen to the suggestions of his civil and military officials. Although Zhang He persisted, most people supported it, which was significant. According to the principle of the minority obeying the majority, a small contingent would be sent to symbolically rescue Wuchao to appease Zhang He's feelings, and Zhang He and Gao Lan would be sent to attack Guandu with heavy troops!
Of course...
The so-called minority obeying the majority was not because there were few people who held correct opinions, but because there were few people who held correct opinions and spoke out!
Ju Shou's correct opinion, Tian Feng's correct opinion, Xu You's correct opinion, what was the final outcome? Did everyone not see it?
"Generals Zhang, this battle is crucial. I will hand over all my troops to you. Before Cao's army returns from Wuchao, you must take Guandu!"
"In addition, I will send General Zhu Ling with a troop to reinforce Chunyu Qiong. General Zhang He, you can rest assured!"
"Moreover, in my opinion, the Hidden Dragon is good at understanding human nature, so he deliberately used Cao Cao as bait to attract our army to rescue Wuchao by exploiting my hatred for Cao Cao. It is possible... he has set up an ambush outside Wuchao! I have already figured out his little tricks! Generals Zhang, this battle, I want to make Cao Aman homeless!"
Yuan Shao finally issued his orders...
"Yes..." Zhang He reluctantly uttered with a stiff upper lip.
Instantly, the entire Yuan camp was in an uproar. Zhang He and Gao Lan led over 400,000 troops to attack Guandu!
"Tread tread tread!"
The sound of infantry footsteps!
"Da da da..."
The sound of cavalry hooves!
"De de de..."
The neighing of warhorses...
Along with the sound of drums and shouts, the Yuan camp's troop movements were earth-shattering!
However, only Zhang He knew that while the three armies showed outward dignity, in reality, everyone was harboring their own selfish thoughts!
Wuchao was the grain storage area. Everyone in the entire Yuan army camp knew that with this great fire, not to mention the future... what would they eat for the next meal? Even if they returned victorious? Would there be food? This was what the soldiers cared about most!
Complex...
Every Yuan army soldier's heart was filled with complexity!
What would be the morale of this army?
...
...
Making Cao Aman homeless, Yuan Shao's idea was good.
However...
It was easy to say, but much harder to do.
Zhang He and Gao Lan were leading forty thousand troops towards Guandu, but the first thing they faced was the well-prepared Cao army.
Over a hundred thousand armored soldiers formed military formations, and these formations were arranged into multiple array disks...
There were as many as eight of them.
"This is..."
Gao Lan's eyes narrowed as he saw this formation.
Zhang He recognized this formation at a glance. "This is the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation..."
Indeed, the formation before them was the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, with eight entrances and nine array walls!
In the past.
Liu Biao encountered this formation when he led his troops north, and the person who set up the formation was Xu Shu. The method of using stone arrays was adopted for each array disk.
This time, it was a little different. The formation was set up by Cao Ren, who used the soldiers of the Cao camp as array disks.
Coupled with Xu Shu's detailed guidance to Cao Ren, this Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation was a hundred times more flexible than the one at Bowang Slope, and its combat power increased by more than tenfold!
Hoo...
Hearing Zhang He utter the name of the formation, Gao Lan's eyes narrowed. "General Jun Yi, can this formation be broken?"
"It's hard to say." Zhang He shook his head.
"Then..." A hint of hesitation flashed in Gao Lan's eyes.
Zhang He sighed, "It has come to this, we can only break the formation with our teeth clenched!"
With that said.
Zhang He raised his flag.
"Enter through the 'Life Gate'..."
As he spoke...
Countless Yuan camp armored soldiers charged in.
Of course, Zhang He only had a superficial understanding of the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation. He only knew that the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation had eight gates, but he did not know about the nine array walls!
In sequence, they were divided into numbers one to nine. Zhang He entered through the 'Life Gate' and attacked the number three array wall.
The corresponding strategy...
Was for the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation to adjust clockwise, gradually encircling the number three array wall, forming a situation of catching a turtle in a jar...
The enemy could not escape!
Under Xu Shu's guidance, Cao Ren's formation was meticulous and swift...
For a moment...
Zhang He's vanguard suffered heavy losses and was trapped, unable to advance or retreat!
Zhang He's face also became extremely grim.
"As expected of the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, breaking this formation will probably take some time."
Zhang He murmured...
He could already imagine that the so-called quick victory mentioned by Yuan Shao was no longer possible!
However, he did not know...
In Lu Yu's plan, the defense of Guandu was summed up in one word: "Stall!"
Because...
As long as the delay continued... the biggest turning point of this battle would appear!
To all the handsome viewers, please do not be deceived by television dramas.
The burning of Wuchao was never the decisive factor in the victory or defeat of Cao and Yuan's battle at Guandu!
Even though Wuchao was burned, the main Yuan army was still there. If they had not panicked and calmly assessed the situation, they would have at most lost tens of thousands of soldiers and millions of grain!
Although Yuan Shao was unwilling to accept this, it was not fatal, nor would it cause a collapse!
Precisely...
The root of failure often comes from within.
Internal collapse...
This was the starting point that completely broke the situation of the entire Yuan camp.
...
...