Three Kingdoms: Madam, I am a decent person

Chapter 730 Guandu and Suanzao!
Zhang Sui led an army of 100,000 from Ye City straight to Guandu.

However, before that, Cheng Lian had already led an advance force of 1,500 men to Jiguan.

Jiguan must be taken back.

This is the gateway to Hanoi District.

As long as Cao Cao controlled the region, the Hanoi Commandery was never at peace.

If Cao Cao's garrison at Ji Pass did not retreat upon seeing Cheng Lian's Flying Tiger Army, Zhang Sui then prepared to send Zhao Yun's rear guard to first sweep away the garrison at Ji Pass.

At present, Cao Cao's strategy for Zhang Sui's southward advance is to proceed steadily and gradually, without any rash moves.

This was Zhang Sui's way of learning from the historical lesson of Yuan Shao's defeat to Cao Cao at Guandu.

At the same time, it was also the result of unified discussions among all staff departments.

Hebei Province has now completed a two-year special plan for recuperation and development.

Prior to this, it had also been developing vigorously.

It can be said that the troops were well-trained and the supplies were plentiful.

There's no need to fight Cao Cao to the death.

When Zhang Sui arrived at Guandu, Cheng Lian had already sent a battle report via carrier pigeon from Jiguan.

Cao Cao's garrison at Jiguan Pass has already retreated.

Everything is being calculated.

After all, with such a large-scale attack from Hebei, Cao Cao wasn't even sure if Jiguan Pass or Xuchang Pass could be defended.

He could only focus on shrinking his troop lines to deal with Zhang Sui's main force of 100,000 men.

Before Zhang Sui set off from Ye City, the 400,000-strong army transporting grain and supplies had already arrived at Wuchao under the supervision of Sima Fang and Yang Xu.

Wuchao was also a key location in history for Cao Cao to defeat Yuan Shao.

However, this time there was neither Guo Tu from history, nor Xu You who defected.

Zhang Sui was not careless either.

Upon arriving at Guandu, Zhang Sui immediately dispatched Tian Yu with 10,000 troops to guard the vicinity of Wuchao.

Tian Yu followed Liu Bei in his early years, fighting in the north and south. He was a great general in history who resisted the Hu people on the frontier. Like Qian Zhao, he had many military achievements.

However, because they were surrendered generals, they could only guard the frontier for the rest of their lives under Cao Cao and Cao Pi.

This time, Zhang Sui transferred Tian Yu to his side because he had indeed felt Tian Yu's composure.

Zhang Sui was willing to bet on Tian Yu that he wouldn't make the same mistake Chunyu Qiong made in history.

In addition to Tian Yu himself, Zhang Sui also sent Lu Su and Chen Jiao to Wuchao, as deputy general and military advisor respectively.

Although Lu Su and Chen Jiao were both very young, they already possessed the demeanor of great generals in history.

Lu Su, in particular, was not only a strategist and one of the "Four Great Commanders of Eastern Wu" in history, but also very brave.

Lu Su, along with the powerful members of the Lu family, often served as the vanguard, charging ahead of the main army and achieving numerous military exploits.

He is far from the honest and kind Lu Zijing depicted in "The Three Kingdoms in My Eyes".

As for Chen Jiao, he was calm and reserved, with appropriate strategies, and had the demeanor of the cunning old man Chen Deng.

After sending Tian Yu and others to Wuchao, Zhang Sui then began to carry out three separate tasks:

First, the local people near Guandu were conscripted and used as guides. A large scout army was dispatched to quickly create a detailed sand table of the area from Guandu to Xudu.

Second, scouts were sent out to find out the location of all of Cao Cao's troops.

Third, send an envoy to Chang'an to contact Zhong Yao, the Commandant of the Capital Region, and instruct him to make preparations!
Zhong Yao, this chess piece, has been buried for far too long.

This is where it comes in handy.

Once Cao Cao suffered a major defeat, Zhang Sui ordered Zhong Yao to eliminate Cao Cao's generals around him, using Tongguan and Hangu Pass as key points to cut off Cao Cao's connection with Liangzhou layer by layer, preventing Liangzhou from supporting Cao Cao.

Of course, Zhang Sui didn't completely believe this third step either.

Zhang Sui's main objective in this southward campaign against Cao Cao was to use all his strength to directly crush Cao Cao and march on Xuchang.

If Zhong Yao cooperates, that would be ideal and would alleviate some of the pressure. However, if Zhong Yao doesn't cooperate, after crushing Cao Cao, Zhang Sui will immediately send troops to Chang'an and personally kill Zhong Yao!
He would not give Zhong Yao any chance to reconsider.

Although Zhong Yao was a famous general in history.

However, too many famous historical generals died at the hands of Zhang Sui.

He wouldn't mind killing another one with his own hands!
On the morning of the third day after Zhang Sui arrived at Guandu, he received information about the movements of Cao Cao's army from his scouts.

Cao Cao has already personally led an army of 70,000 to arrive ahead of schedule!

Cao Cao's main army was stationed south of Suanzao and Xingyang, and west of Guandu.

Cao Cao dispatched Xiahou Dun with 10,000 troops to reinforce the city walls of Changshe in Yingchuan, in order to prevent Zhang Sui's army from directly marching south to Xuchang.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao dispatched Xiahou Yuan with 10,000 vanguard troops to garrison Zhongmu, forming a pincer movement with the 50,000 troops in Suanzao.

After discussing with Tian Feng, Chen Deng, Chen Gong, Xin Pi, Xun Chen, Xi Zhicai, Liu Ye, Sima Yi, and others, Zhang Sui prepared to launch the first probing attack to ascertain the exact strength of Cao Cao's 50,000-strong army stationed at Suanzao before devising a detailed plan to counter the enemy.

Therefore, Zhang Sui sent an envoy to Suanzao to issue a challenge to Cao Cao: a major battle would take place five days later in the open area north of Xingyang City.

Zhang Sui mobilized 60,000 troops this time.

Yan Liang's central army, consisting of one corps of 4,000 cavalry and two corps of 20,000 infantry, remained stationed in their camps to prevent any unforeseen events.

Zhang Sui led only Zhang He's vanguard, Zhao Yun's rearguard, and three cavalry units on the left flank: the Trapped Camp, the Flying Bear Army, and the White Feather Army.

The person in charge of sending envoys to Cao Cao was named Jiang Gan.

Jiang Gan was also the fool who was tricked by Zhou Yu in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

However, under Zhang Sui's command, Jiang Gan came from the Jiang family, the richest family in Chaisang.

He moved to Shouchun in his early years.

After Shouchun was captured by Zhang Sui, Huainan became part of Hebei, and the people under its jurisdiction were also eligible to participate in the imperial examinations.

Jiang Gan entered the Hebei government through the imperial examination.

Jiang Gan and Zhou Yu were classmates and both studied under Cai Yan's father, Cai Yong.

Jiang Gan and Zhang Sui were related by blood.

Therefore, when Zhang Sui selected the generals to accompany the army on this expedition, he also brought Jiang Gan along.

Jiang Gan headed straight for Suanzao with Zhang Sui's challenge letter.

At Suanzao, Cao Cao, accompanied by his generals Xun You, Jia Xu, Cheng Yu, Du Ji, Du Xi, Xu Huang, Yue Jin, Cao Chun, and Zhu Ling, was surveying the surrounding terrain on horseback to make a map.

Looking at the terrain of Suanzao, Cao Cao suddenly burst into tears.

Everyone looked at Cao Cao with suspicion and asked, "Why is our lord weeping?"

Cao Cao wiped away his tears, looked around, and sighed, "Suanzao is also the place where I met with Yuan Shao and the other thirteen warlords when Dong Zhuo wreaked havoc on the court."

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "Back then, it was I who went to Yangzhou to recruit soldiers and form a coalition, and that's when I wrote the proclamation."

"However, because Yuan Shao was a member of the main branch of the Yuan family, which had produced four generations of high-ranking officials, the credit was given to him."

"Moreover, he was made the leader of the alliance."

"Who knew that Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu, was all show and no substance."

"They use the banner of the alliance, but they are scheming to control Ji Province."

"I was too naive back then, and I actually believed him."

"After realizing that Yuan Shao was unusable, Sun Jian and I each led our troops away from Suanzao and attacked Dong Zhuo's army separately."

"My 10,000-strong army fell into Xu Rong's trap and was almost wiped out by Xu Rong's 3,000 cavalry."

Pointing to a river ahead, Cao Cao said with a somber expression, "There it is."

"When I was being attacked by Xu Rong's cavalry and was about to commit suicide, my younger brother Cao Hong gave me his warhorse, and he jumped into the river to escape the disaster."

Thinking of Cao Hong, Cao Cao thought of Cao Ren, and immediately looked up to the sky and cried out again, "Now that I have returned to this place, they are all dead."

"May their spirits in heaven bless me with this victory."

(End of this chapter)