The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 199: After meeting Li Yi, I realized that there are many mediocre people in the world, many are not as good as Li Yi, and few are better than Li Yi
Cao Cao was tired of using the word "envy".

How much good deeds must Liu Bei's ancestors have accumulated to be able to meet a person who was both Xiao He and Zhang Liang, and could even play the role of Lu Ban from time to time?

Cao Cao was a romantic scholar by nature, so he liked to give nicknames to his subordinates.

such as,

Xun Yu is compared to Zhang Liang, and Zhong Yao is compared to Xiao He.

Xu Huang is compared to Zhou Yafu, and Xu Chu is compared to Fan Kuai.

Dian Wei is compared to the ancient E Lai, and Zhang Liao is compared to Zhao Hu.

These nicknames were given by Cao Cao out of his love for his subordinates and also to encourage them to take the sages he cited as role models.

Always encourage yourself to work towards this goal and improve yourself.

Liu Bei often did this kind of thing.

But who would have thought that there really was such a person like Liu Bei.

Cao Cao suppressed his jealousy and asked in a deep voice:

"Could it be that the reason why Xuande has been holding his ground these past few days and not fighting is to build this catapult?"

“…Exactly.”

Liu Bei patiently explained to Cao Cao, "This catapult is huge and inconvenient to transport, so it can only be assembled on the battlefield."

"Besides, the amount of stone required is very huge. During this period, I have ordered soldiers to go up the mountain to quarry stone."

"For our army to use in attacking the mountain."

The parts of this catapult were transported by Li Yi on his way back to Xia Pi after conquering Qingzhou.

After several years of hard work by skilled craftsmen, there are nearly a hundred stone-throwing carts in the whole of Xuzhou.

Li Yi directly brought fifty carriages, nearly half of the number.

While Cao Cao was envious, he also realized the role this "powerful weapon" would play on the battlefield.

Although we have not yet seen its power, just looking at its structure is enough to make people feel intimidated.

"……good!"

Cao Cao nodded and said, "With this catapult, the enemy can be defeated."

So he discussed with Liu Bei about sending troops to attack the mountain.

Both sides sent out troops and pushed fifty counterweight catapults into the camp wall, facing the earthen hill where Yuan’s army was located.

Flags were waving on the mountain, and Yuan army archers were ready for battle.

At this time they had not yet realized that danger was approaching.

"Hey! The camp gate is open."

A sentry noticed that the gate of the allied camp was wide open, and a number of heavily armored infantrymen walked out.

Heavy infantry is extremely expensive, and when they are deployed, it means that they are prepared to capture the mountain.

"Don't panic, get ready to shoot!"

Yuan's generals commanded calmly, and even the heavily armored infantry could not withstand their firepower coverage.

"……Um."

Li Yi stood on a high place and looked at Yuan’s army deployment on the mountain through a telescope.

At this time, dozens of catapults have been slowly pushed out, each of which is like a giant's arm, with tough ropes wrapped around the thick wooden frame.

"Reload!"

Li Yi waved to his subordinates and gave orders calmly.

"... Come on! Push harder, push harder!"

The strong soldiers lifted the huge stone and placed it up carefully.

The capstan turned, making a creaking sound.

"Grand Commander, everything is ready!"

The soldiers under him reported the work progress to Li Yi.

"Prepare!"

Li Yi raised his hand slightly, and then a hint of coldness flashed across his eyes, and he shouted:
"put!"

At the command, the capstan suddenly released.

The huge rock roared out, cut through the sky, and smashed into the distant hill like a stone breaking the sky.

The soldiers of Yuan army, who had set up their bows and crossbows on the hill, suddenly felt a darkness above their heads. When they looked up suddenly, the huge rock had already passed over their heads.

All I heard was a loud bang.

The stone bullets hit the top of the mountain, causing the mountain to shake and dust to fly.

The soldiers around were swaying and all lost their balance.

Many people fell directly off the mountain, wailing in pain.

Immediately afterwards, more huge rocks flew from the sky and fell like raindrops.

Rumble…

The sky collapsed and the earth split, the mountains shook and collapsed.

The earthen hill built by Yuan's army collapsed under the bombardment of huge rocks.

The people in the camp rushed forward and pulled the catapult.

Huge rocks flew into the air and hit the mountain randomly.

Yuan's army had nowhere to hide.

Archers and crossbowmen were the first to be smashed to death, and countless others fell to their deaths.

The soldiers of Yuan's army were all panicked, crying and running away.

The bombardment lasted for a full half hour.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the originally towering earthen hills had turned into ruins.

Only Yuan Jun, who had failed to escape and was seriously injured, was left crying and howling on the ground.

The allied forces of Cao and Liu seized the opportunity, rushed out and captured all the soldiers effortlessly.

In this battle, the Henan Army won a great victory and severely damaged Yuan’s elite troops who had just entered the camp.

……

"Our army is defeated!"

The news of the defeat soon reached the central army camp in Hebei.

Yuan Shao's face turned pale and his brows were furrowed as he listened to the people below reporting on the battle situation.

"…In this battle, all the earthen hills built by our army were destroyed by the enemy army."

The soldiers who fled back after being defeated reported the military situation to Yuan Shao with a look of panic on their faces.

"How many casualties have been suffered by our troops?"

Yuan Shao almost roared out loud, he angrily scolded this man for avoiding the important issues and not talking about the main point.

The earthen hill can be rebuilt if it is destroyed, but the dead and wounded soldiers cannot be replaced in a short period of time.

Not to mention that these were Yuan Shao's most elite troops who were the first to arrive at the camp.

"...More than half of the soldiers in the vanguard camp were killed or wounded. All of them are injured."

"I'm afraid, I'm afraid we won't be able to be deployed to the battlefield in the short term."

Well……

When Yuan Shao heard the news, he covered his heart, endured the pain, and asked:
"Where are the rest of the soldiers?"

In addition to the first batch of death warriors, each hill was also equipped with other archers and crossbowmen.

There were more than fifty earthen hills, and Yuan’s army pulled almost all of the long-range troops to the front line.

"……this."

The defeated general did not dare to answer.

Yuan Shao shouted angrily, "Speak!"

"Just like the first landing camp, more than half of them were killed or wounded!"

The soldier turned his head away and sighed heavily.

These people stayed on the mountain. Since more than half of the soldiers who first climbed the camp were killed or wounded, wouldn't more than half of the other archers be killed or wounded as well?
In fact, the reason is very simple, but Yuan Shao was unwilling to accept this reality and insisted on hearing it with his own ears.

"……Well!"

Yuan Shao's eyes went dark, he staggered and fell to the ground.

The people around him screamed in shock and rushed forward to rescue him.

After a while, the cook brought some ginseng soup and fed it to Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao woke up and ordered people to block the news of this defeat.

Don't let anyone else in the army know.

Everyone followed his advice, even though such things could not be completely blocked.

But every day of delay is a day of delay. This is just to minimize the impact of this defeat.

Two days later, Yuan Shao's condition improved a little and he summoned his generals to discuss matters again.

"Have you guys found out in the past few days how the enemy army broke through our earthen mountain group?"

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth and was still upset about this matter.

Pang Ji stepped out and explained:

"My Lord, according to the intelligence."

"The Henan Army used a new type of catapult, which made a sound like thunder and shook the earth."

"Where the thunderbolt sounded, the earth caved in and collapsed."

"So the army called it the 'Thunderbolt Chariot'."

"...What a great Thunderbolt car."

Yuan Shao frowned and sighed.

With Henan's productivity, it is actually able to develop more advanced weapons than Hebei.

It's really touching!

"Could this be the siege weapon Liu Bei used to defeat my brother Shouchun when he conquered Huainan?"

Yuan Shao asked again.

"That's exactly it!" Pang Ji replied.

hiss……

Yuan Shao took a deep breath, stroked his chin, and thought quietly.

This catapult became famous during the attack on Shouchun.

The news gradually spread to Hebei. Although Yuan Shao had heard of it, he had never seen it in person.

This time I finally got to see its power.

In an instant, the earthen hill that Yuan’s army had worked so hard to build was turned into dust.

It's really horrifying!

"If our army wants to copy this, how long will it take?"

Yuan Shao asked with concern.

“…This is difficult.”

Pang Ji shook his head and frowned, "This thing is new, even Liu Bei rarely uses it."

"There were soldiers in the army who escaped from the disaster. Most of the stories they told were inconsistent and there were many different opinions."

“Even if there are skilled craftsmen, they have to copy it just based on the soldiers’ oral description.”

"This is like trying to catch the moon in the water or trying to see the leopard through a tube."

Yuan Shao nodded and asked in a deep voice:

"…Just tell me how long it will take."

After all, the counterweight trebuchet was just an improvement on the catapult, and it was not something out of the ordinary for people of that era.

Theoretically, once you are familiar with it, you can gather capable people to imitate it.

"This thing is rarely used, and even fewer people have seen it."

"If we gather all the skilled craftsmen at this time, we can only rely on the descriptions given by the soldiers."

"It will take at least three to five years to replicate it."

Pang Ji gave a rough number, but it is the most ideal estimate.

When it comes to skilled craftsmen, Hebei does have many.

But the information we have now is still too little. Asking workers to imitate based on this little information is like a blind man touching an elephant, isn't it?
However, if Yuan's army is given three to five years, even if they cannot imitate the counterweight trebuchet, they can still develop a trebuchet that is far more powerful than that of the current era.

The real significance of the emergence of the counterweight trebuchet lies in that it has elevated people's imagination of the trebuchet.

Only when it actually appears on the battlefield will people exclaim and understand a truth.

~Oh, it turns out that the catapult can be played like this.

However, Yuan Shao was not satisfied with this answer, and he slammed the table and said:

"How can I wait for three or five years?"

"The Henan bandits used this to kill all of our archers. If I don't take revenge, I'm not a real man!"

If we only consider the number of casualties in this battle, it was indeed not a big deal for Yuan Shao.

Among the casualties were Yuan Shao’s most elite vanguard camp.

The rest are all archers and crossbowmen!

Archers were very difficult to train in ancient times, as they required not only eyesight, physical condition, but also coordination talent.

A group of people will be eliminated just for the selection, and the training will take several years.

Otherwise, how could King Chen Liu Chong be able to dominate the State of Chen with only 3,000 men?

Because his three thousand men were all archers.

Now Yuan Shao finally understood why the Henan army did not come to rob him when he first started building the earthen hill.

It turned out that he had been planning something big, and was waiting for his own people to go up the mountain before catching them all in one fell swoop.

Now more than half of his archers have been killed or wounded, and those who are still alive cannot be deployed to the battlefield in a short time.

Even if the injury heals in the future, it will still cause chronic illness and sequelae.

Whether you can draw the bow and whether you can draw the bow for a long time are all questionable.

In short, Yuan Shao's army now lacks long-range firepower, which may not have a huge impact on the battle situation.

But it is a fact that the Hebei Army has one more shortcoming than the Henan Army.

"The enemy army was cunning, using catapults to break through our earthen hill."

"Gentlemen, can you quickly come up with a plan for me, how can we take down this Guandu stronghold?"

Yuan Shao knocked his fingers heavily on the table, asking everyone to come up with ideas.

So all the officials in Hebei offered their suggestions, and no matter whether they were good or bad, they would come up with them first.

As long as Yuan Shao used his strategy, he would be the beneficiary.

Even if the plan failed, Yuan Shao would not blame himself.

This is not only because Yuan Shao has a kind character, but also because this is the unspoken rule in the workplace.

It is up to you whether to use the suggestions made by your subordinates or not. You cannot let your subordinates take the risk of failure.

Just like the story of Jiang Gan stealing the book, many movies and TV shows like to show Cao Cao killing Jiang Gan in anger to vent his anger after being fooled.

Only Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms period suppressed his anger and did not punish Jiang Gan.

Because this is how normal people think.

Jiang Gan's crossing the river to persuade the surrender might have succeeded, or it might not have succeeded.

People risk their lives to bring you the information, and it is your job to distinguish the authenticity.

If you punish your subordinates just because you fell into a trap because of your own lack of brains, who will dare to give you advice in the future?
Based on this, Yuan Shao's subordinates could act recklessly and offer all their strategies without distinguishing between good and bad.

In just the time it takes to stick up an incense stick, almost every counselor and general offered a strategy.

Faced with so many strategies, Yuan Shao hesitated for a moment, when he suddenly heard a servant come to report that an envoy had arrived from Qingzhou.

Yuan Shao immediately ordered him to be brought in.

After a while, the person who came in was Zhang He.

Yuan Shao asked in surprise:
"Junyi, why are you here instead of guarding Qingzhou?"

Zhang He showed shame on his face and bowed:
"My lord, Qingzhou, Qingzhou is lost."

what! ?

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.

It turned out that after Zhang He escaped from Jinan, he deeply hated Zhang Nan and Lu Kuang for not sending troops to rescue him.

So he did not go to Pingyuan, but went straight back to Jizhou. The Hebei minister who stayed in Jizhou had no right to deal with Zhang He, so he just let him wait for Yuan Gong's decision.

Zhang He felt guilty for losing Qingzhou.

Instead of anxiously waiting for the results, it is better to go directly to the front line and await your decision.

Therefore, Zhang He traveled day and night and rushed to the Guandu front line.

However, Zhang He also took a shortcut, which was that he brought all his own troops with him.

In other words,
If Yuan Shao had only a broad vision and allowed Zhang He to atone for his crime, this group of troops would have become a great force in the Hebei Army.

If Yuan Shao killed Zhang He, or arrested him and took away his military power, it would undoubtedly make the troops uneasy.

Like when Yuan Shao took Ju Su's troops and gave them to Guo Tu, Guo Tu was unable to command them.

At this moment, everyone's eyes fell on Zhang He.

Before Yuan Shao could say anything, Guo Tu and others could not help but start to criticize and attack.

"General Zhang, what did Yuan Gong tell you before you left?"

"How did you promise Lord Yuan?"

Faced with the questioning from Guo Tu and others, Zhang He was speechless.

Being bad is the original sin. If you lose, you are destined to lose the right to bark for a day.

Besides, Zhang He accepted his defeat this time with all his heart and had nothing to complain about.

If I talk about unwillingness, I still feel it in my heart.

It depends on whether Yuan Shao will give me a chance to wash away the shame.

"…Mr. Yuan, Zhang He has lost many soldiers and generals. It is better to arrest him and punish him."

Guo Tu made suggestions to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao waved his hand and said, "Our army has just suffered a defeat and morale is low. Jun Yi has a high reputation and can stabilize the army's morale."

After a slight pause, he continued, "Besides, we just lost Yan Liang and Wen Chou not long ago. If we kill another general, it will be disadvantageous to the army."

You have your thoughts and the organization has its considerations.

In order to suppress the Hebei faction, Yuan Shao recently adopted the Henan faction's strategy of quickly attacking Henan.

He also removed Ju Shou and Tian Feng, two powerful figures in Hebei, from power and put them in prison.

If the famous Hebei general Zhang He is also dealt with, the momentum of the Henan faction will be unstoppable.

"Although you and Gao Lan lost Qingzhou, there are few soldiers in Qingzhou, and it is not our army's main battlefield."

"Besides, Li Ziyu is a rare talent in the world. He is an expert in military tactics. Even I have to be wary of him."

"It is understandable that you were defeated by him."

"Gao Lan is now serving in the army, making meritorious contributions despite his crimes. You should go with him."

Yuan Shao eventually pardoned Zhang He for the crime of losing Qingzhou.

This move undoubtedly made Zhang He burst into tears of gratitude, and he bowed his head and said:
"Thank you, Lord Yuan. I will certainly make up for my crime and repay your kindness!"

Yuan Shao then asked Zhang He to stand up and discuss the strategy to defeat the enemy.

Zhang He also quickly figured out the current situation: Yuan Shao's army was stuck at Guandu and could not move forward.

Because Cao Cao and Liu Bei also stationed their main forces at Guandu.

"The Guandu stronghold is difficult to break through. The other day Li Yi also came up with a catapult."

"I killed or wounded more than half of my first-line soldiers and those skilled in archery."

"In the short term, I have no ranged troops available."

"Without the support of archers, it would be even more difficult to capture Guandu."

"That's why I summoned you all here, because I want you to come up with a plan for me."

Yuan Shao reiterated and reminded everyone that none of the strategies they had just proposed were what Yuan Shao liked.

Zhang He was eager to show off and make contributions, so he took the initiative to offer his advice:

"My lord! When I was in Qingzhou, I was fully confident that I could hold out for two months until your reinforcements arrived."

"Unexpectedly, Li Yi used a hole attack to sneak into the city, so he lost Dongpingling and several cities in a row."

Guo Tu sneered:
"You are a veteran general under Lord Yuan, but you couldn't even figure out a trick to attack through holes."

"How dare you say that?"

Zhang He glanced at him and ignored him, then continued:

"The Guandu line today is where Cao and Liu set up camp temporarily."

"If we can use the hole attack method to sneak into the village, we can cooperate with the outside world."

"This may be a good strategy."

Yuan Shao frowned and pondered for a while, then felt that this plan was feasible.

When he faced Gongsun Zan's Yijing Building, he used this method to break in.

Now we are still trapped in Guandu Dazhai, and perhaps we can use this method to break the impasse.

He then adopted Zhang He's strategy of attacking through holes and ordered people to form the "Digging Army".

Then he ordered the soldiers to use shovels to dig the ground all night long and secretly dig a tunnel to penetrate the allied camp.

At that time, Li Yi inspected the military camp every day and saw that Yuan’s army had not attacked the camp for several days in a row.

I thought to myself that Yuan Shao’s army was stationed far away on the front line, and their daily food consumption was several times more than that of the Allied Forces.
It is expected that they will not engage in a war of attrition with the coalition forces, so they must be planning something.

So, he climbed to a high place and looked into the distance, using a telescope to gaze.

From a distance, he saw Yuan's soldiers digging holes behind the mountain, and he said with a smile:

"The Yuan army cannot attack in the open, but attacks in secret. They have dug a hidden path and are trying to sneak through the camp underground."

Chen Dao and Qian Zhao were standing by and asked if they needed to inform Liu Bei.

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "Why bother the lord with such a small matter?"

Chen Daojin said:
"Since we know that Yuan Jun intends to dig into our camp, we should interrupt them in advance."

"No need."

Li Yi smiled slightly, "Since they have started this construction, I am just going to make them waste their energy."

"Wait until he enters my camp, and then I will catch him in the jar."

So, all the generals asked Li Yi what to do.

Li Yi said to everyone:

"You can lead your troops to dig long trenches around the camp, so that their hidden roads will be useless."

Yuan's army dug the tunnel vertically.

The Henan Army only needed to dig a long trench horizontally, and Yuan Army would be trapped.

So Guandu became busy both inside and outside.

Dig holes outside and dig trenches inside.

Ten days later, Yuan's army dug a tunnel and suddenly saw light in front of them. They thought they had dug to the end, so they rushed out.

As soon as Fang showed his head, there were loud shouts all around and ambushed troops were everywhere.

Seeing that the Henan army was well prepared, Yuan's army wanted to draw their swords to fight, but they found themselves trapped in a trench and could not move.

The Yuan soldiers had no choice but to hold their knives in their mouths and prepare to climb over the trench.

Unexpectedly, the Henan soldiers had already arrived, each holding a sword, spear, sword and club, and rushed into the trench towards Yuan's army.

Many of Yuan’s troops had just come out when they were beaten back.

As soon as Yuan's army, which failed to cross the river, showed its head, swords and spears were coming down on them.

Thousands of pink spots suddenly appeared on Yuan Jun's head.

For a while, there were constant wailing and screaming.

"Get out! Get out!"

Yuan's army was trapped in a trench and was attacked from a high position by the Henan army, making it impossible for them to fight normally.

After several rounds of attacks, their morale collapsed immediately and they retreated back into the cave in disgrace.

"Hey! Stop pushing!"

"Turn around, turn around quickly!"

There were still many people who didn't understand what was going on and were rushing towards the front of the cave. Suddenly, they saw their comrades in front of them rushing towards them.

"What's going on? Which way should we go?"

"Don't ask any more questions, just go!"

The soldier turned around and slapped him in the face.

The soldiers who were beaten were still a little confused, but they heard noisy voices in front of them and screams from time to time.

I knew something must have gone wrong.

So he turned around, nodded, and walked back.

"Hey, don't push against me!"

The cave was narrow, and Yuan's soldiers were standing shoulder to shoulder, face to face, so it was very difficult to turn around.

As for the Yuan army soldiers who failed to escape in the trench, they were all killed by the Henan soldiers on the ground.

"It's a great pleasure! This fight is so satisfying!"

Zhang Fei held the snake spear in one hand and touched his nose with the other, praising Li Yi's talent.

"These Yuan soldiers are still hoping to use your tactics to attack our army."

"Haha! It really is Buguleimon."

Unlike Guan Yu who led a battalion alone, Zhang Fei was still in Li Yi's camp waiting to be called upon.

This is also what Liu Bei meant.

Obviously, in Liu Bei's view, Guan Yu already has the ability to stand on his own.

But Zhang Fei still lacks a bit of stability, and keeping him with Li Yi is also hoped that he can learn more from Li Yi.

Seeing that no new Yuan soldiers came out, Zhang Fei said to Li Yi:

"Sir, these Yuan soldiers must have seen that our army was well prepared, so the remaining soldiers retreated!"

"How can we control it now?"

Li Yi laughed out loud:
"My stronghold is not a place where you can come and go as you please."

"We have to leave something behind."

So he ordered Zhang Fei to take out the dry firewood and sulfur that had been prepared in advance in the past few days.

Then it is built into the hole and covered with wooden boards.

"ignition!"

At a command, the soldiers took torches and threw them into the cave.

Suddenly, thick smoke billowed and the smell of sulfur was pungent.

Li Yi ordered the soldiers to stand at the entrance of the cave with fans in hand, and use them to blow air into the cave.

There was originally no air circulation in the cave, and suddenly a cloud of black smoke rushed in, causing Yuan Bing to gasp and become unable to breathe.

"...cough cough cough."

The soldiers of Yuan’s army began to cover their mouths and noses and cough, and tears came out from the smoke.

Due to lack of ventilation, many soldiers lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen to their brains.

One person fell down, blocking the road, so that the soldiers behind him could not pass.

"...Ahem, lie flat and crawl over!"

The soldiers at the back reminded the soldiers in the front row to flatten the body of the person who was dying in the front with his body bent straight.

This way they can get through.

“…Ahem, no, it’s too dark. I don’t have the strength anymore.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier fell down.

Soon after, one soldier after another fell.

People were constantly suffocated to death in the cave, and because the tunnel was narrow, those behind could not escape.

In the end, almost all of Yuan Shao's "Digging Army" died in the cave, and only a few dozen people managed to escape.

Someone had already reported the general to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei hurried over to see.

Seeing the thick smoke on the ground, he asked and found out that it was Li Yi's idea, and he couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh:

"The thieves wanted to attack us through holes and steal our main camp, but they ended up bringing disaster upon themselves!"

Therefore, Li Yi was rewarded handsomely, and wine and meat were distributed to the soldiers who took part in the defense.

The morale of the soldiers was greatly boosted and they expressed their gratitude repeatedly.

Yuan Shao used two strategies in succession, but both were countered by Li Yi.

Moreover, the entire army was wiped out, without a single piece of armor left.

Only at this moment did Yuan Shao feel how terrifying Li Yi was. This guy would be fine if he didn't take action, but once he did, he was so cruel and ruthless.

My Yuan family has three officials in four generations and countless talented people under our command, but there is no genius like Li Yi.

Yuan Shao looked around and glanced at the officials in Hebei.

With Li Yi's outstanding performance as an example, Yuan Shao now dislikes this group of people.

"……well!"

Yuan Shao put his hands behind his back and let out a long sigh.

Everyone knew that Yuan Shao was in a bad mood at the moment, so they didn't dare to step forward to ask.

Only Guo Tu was very flattering. Seeing Yuan Shao sighing, he showed concern and asked:
"Cao and Liu won a small victory, and our army suffered a small defeat. Now we are still the most powerful in Hebei."

"Mr. Yuan, there is no need to sigh over this small defeat."

Yuan Shao glanced at Guo Tu, a hint of coldness appeared on the corner of his lips:
"...I am not lamenting the defeat of our army."

"I am lamenting that there is no Li Ziyu in my army who can help me solve my problems!"

This……

Guo Tu looked embarrassed and was about to explain when Yuan Shao's words came again.

"I always heard people say that Li Ziyu was a man of great caliber, comparable to Zhang Zifang."

"Although I have heard of his name, I have never truly witnessed his talent."

"It was not until the two armies officially met that I realized that the world was not deceiving me."

"When I was young, I made friends all over Luoyang and met heroes from all over the world."

"It was not until I met Li Yi that I realized there are so many mediocre people in the world."

"There are many who are inferior to you, but there are few who are better than you!"

Yuan Shao said this because he felt that a genius like Li Yi was rare and he hated that he could not make use of him.

However, all the officials from Hebei present stood there awkwardly.

Although Yuan Shao did not point them out explicitly, they appeared to be incompetent.

We have so many famous scholars in Hebei, but we are no match for Li Yi. It's really embarrassing for everyone.

"…Recently, Cao Cao's close attendant Xu Ta, who I had planned to rebel, has been beheaded by Cao Cao."

With a heavy heart, Yuan Shao announced another piece of bad news.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

Guo Tu had just been rejected by the host, so he hurriedly offered a suggestion:

"My lord, don't worry. I have a plan to break Guandu and capture Cao and Liu!"

Guo Tu wanted to keep the question a secret and wait for Yuan Shao to ask, but Yuan Shao did not show much interest.

Guo Tu took the initiative to propose:
"Henan has less grain than our Hebei."

"After our army destroyed Gongsun Zan, we recruited a large number of Wuhuan cavalry."

"We can now divide them into light cavalry to harass Cao and Liu's grain roads."

"If they can't supply food, won't Guandu be easy to capture?"

Any strategy is easier said than done.

Although Guo Tu's strategy was reasonable, how to implement it and achieve success was a new problem.

"No!"

Yuan Shao shook his head, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his lips.

"I have my own plan to defeat the enemy."

……

(End of this chapter)