My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 769 How could this trick be hidden from Zhuge Situ

Cao Cao was determined to take advantage of his own internal combat advantages and actively seek a decisive battle with one of Liu Bei's three armies in order to break the situation.

In the following days, the top leaders of the Luoyang court quickly began to mobilize troops, gather main forces, and prepare for battle to set off as soon as possible.

The deployment of nearly 200,000 troops was a huge undertaking. There were so many things that needed to be prepared, including food, fodder, military supplies, war horses and equipment.

Normally, it would take at least half a month to assemble a force of this size to ensure that it is fully prepared.

However, Cao Cao would not give his subordinates so much time to prepare, because he knew that his advantage lies in the information gap and time difference.

The decision was made just now, and the longer it was delayed, the more likely it was to be leaked. Once the secret was leaked, the enemy would be prepared and begin to gather troops and deploy in advance, and the Cao army's internal combat advantage would not be brought into play.

Cao Cao's only chance of winning is that his main forces can arrive at the battlefield at the same time, while the enemy cannot. The enemy will have to adopt a refueling tactic, sending them up one by one like the gourd baby saving his grandfather.

If we lose this chance of winning, everything will be over.

Therefore, Cao Cao issued a death order that the troops must be assembled within ten days. In order to keep it secret, he did not let the troops gather in Luoyang and then go to the front together, but let each unit gather directly in Weijun.

Even within Wei County, Cao Cao did not ask his troops to gather in Yecheng, because that would require extra trouble and a long way to go back and forth.

He ordered the army to assemble directly at Liyang Port on the north bank of the Yellow River, and then go down the north bank of the Yellow River to form a pincer attack with Xiahou Dun in Yecheng in Weijun.

At that time, they would attack from the south and the north from the land, and Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun's troops who are still attacking Guantao, the gateway to Yecheng.

According to Cao Cao's initial estimate, the battlefield of the decisive battle should be somewhere in the area connected by the triangle of Yecheng, Liyang and Guantao. The exact location cannot be determined now.

Because once a war starts there will definitely be tension and movement, and these details are impossible to calculate accurately at the moment.

Anyway, the area is all plains, so it doesn't matter where the final battle takes place, the battlefield situation is the same. If the two sides have a force of 200,000 or 300,000, they will indeed need a large flat battlefield to accommodate them, so the battlefield area will definitely not be enough for one county, and may span several counties.

Perhaps, the scale of this future battle will be as grand as another Battle of Guandu. Once this battle is fought, it will be enough to decide who will control the land of Guandong, Cao or Liu.

When Yuan Shao and Cao Cao fought the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao also went south from Yecheng, advanced to the southernmost part of Weijun, and advanced to Liyang Port on the north bank of the Yellow River. Then he tried to cross the Yellow River to the south, attack Yanjin and Bai Ma, and finally forced Cao Cao to retreat and chased him all the way to Guandu.

Now, Cao Cao has returned to Liyang, and returned to the attack base when Yuan Shao went south thirteen years ago. The only difference is that this time Cao Cao is pushing from south to north, and going downstream along the Yellow River.

It has to be said that everything is very fatalistic, but also plausible. So much so that Cao Cao was suspicious and jealous, but at the same time he couldn't help but think positively, giving himself psychological hints and self-encouragement.

For example, Cao Cao had some very close trusted aides and the chief clerk of the prime minister's office. When he heard that Cao Cao had set up Liyang as the gathering place for the decisive battle, he sighed privately and said that this place was the same as the gathering place of Yuan Shao before the Battle of Guandu.

Cao Cao heard this and became very angry. However, he could not show his anger in public and only cursed in private:

"The land of Liyang has been plagued by wars since ancient times! I don't understand why you are talking about Benchu and his ilk! How can Benchu be compared with me!
Moreover, in this decisive battle, the imperial army must be more than 200,000, fighting against Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun's mere 70,000 or 80,000 people! The situation is completely different!

Anyone who makes indiscriminate comparisons to the past will be subject to military law!"

Then, the aide who made random comparisons to historical lessons was dismissed and placed under house arrest.

However, considering that the aide's name was Yang Xiu, he was lucky that he was only dismissed and arrested for saying the wrong thing, but not killed directly.

Who made Yang Xiu a big mouth?

But in history, Cao Cao was not afraid that the "chicken ribs" comparison would really shake the morale of the army. He just wanted to kill Yang Xiu, so he killed him.

In this life, Cao Cao was really afraid that Yang Xiu's words would spread and shake the morale of the army. If he had to kill Yang Xiu, he would definitely give an explanation to the outside world and let everyone know why he wanted to kill Yang Xiu.

Since you don't want to explain the reason, then it's better to keep things to yourself and not kill someone just because of a few words.

This is not because Cao Cao has become more merciful, but because Cao Cao now has to keep everything he does confidential.

……

However, Cao Cao was determined to go all out and actively seek a decisive battle, and there were definitely more than just Yang Xiu who were talking about it behind his back.

Less than two days after Yang Xiu was imprisoned for saying the wrong thing, another very powerful official in the Luoyang court privately found Cao Cao and tried to persuade him.

The person who came to stop it this time was Shangshu Ling Xun Yu.

In terms of court status, Xun Yu is of course much higher than Sima Yi or Yang Xiu. But in terms of the trust Cao Cao has in him, Xun Yu is gradually losing to Sima Yi.

Cao Cao did not discuss the decision to send troops with Xun Yu immediately. Xun Yu knew about this matter even later than Yang Xiu did. It was only after Yang Xiu got into trouble that Xun Yu heard about it through very obscure channels.

After learning of Cao Cao's decision, Xun Yu rushed to his house to dissuade him.

"Prime Minister! Actively seeking a decisive battle is too risky. Please think twice!" As soon as Xun Yu saw Cao Cao, he went straight to the point and gave him strong advice.

At this time, Cao Cao had already made up his mind to shoot, so how could he tolerate Xun Yu's dissuasion? His face immediately turned cold.

"Wen Ruo! Now is a time of national crisis. The general plan has been decided. Do you want to shake the people's hearts in the court?" Cao Cao, considering his long-term friendship with Xun Yu, did not beat around the bush and chose to speak out clearly.

Xun Yu bowed his hands earnestly and said from the bottom of his heart: "I am not trying to shake the morale of the court, nor am I deliberately obstructing the prime minister from using troops. I just feel that it is difficult to keep this secret, and the enemy is not short of wise men. Our actions may be calculated by the enemy!" As Xun Yu spoke, he quickly took out a map and pointed at it to explain to Cao Cao: "I also know a little about the prime minister's intention and reliance. He is just hoping that our army will be convenient for dispatch in the middle, and the three routes of the enemy will be difficult to support each other. That's why he wants to make a decisive move and make a desperate bet to gather superior forces to break one of the enemy's routes first.

However, all of this must be based on the premise of strict confidentiality of military dispatches. Once there is a slight leak, for example, if the enemy detects our movements and intentions three to five days before the army attacks, and the enemy quickly mobilizes troops and gathers forces, the prime minister's plan will be completely thwarted.

Even if we didn't leak the information internally, how could there be no clues about the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops? Who knows how many spies the enemy has ambushed in Yan and Yu? What if the clues of our deployment are discovered and reported to the enemy's top brass? The enemy has wise men like Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang. With these little evidences, they can guess the prime minister's plan. That's why I said that this matter is too reckless. "

Cao Cao was slightly moved when he heard what Xun Yu said so sincerely. He subconsciously felt that Wen Ruo must be sincerely doing this for the good of himself and the court.

But soon, the suspicious Cao Cao discovered another problem. His expression turned colder for no reason:
"If you think half a month is too slow to gather all the troops, and it will give the enemy a chance to figure out our movements, then I will force the troops to march faster and gather faster.

As for what you said, 'what if someone leaks the news' - then you tell me, who in the Luoyang court would collude with Liu Bei and leak this news? Wen Ruo, you can't have guessed who in the court is colluding with Liu Bei now, right? "

What Cao Cao said may seem unkind, but it is by no means groundless.

In recent years, his relationship with the uncle and nephew of the Xun family is indeed not as good as in previous years.

On the one hand, it was because Sima Yi and Jia Xu, who were lonely ministers, had no way out. Their futures were deeply tied to Cao Cao. If Cao Cao was finished, Sima Yi and Jia Xu would be finished too. So Cao Cao trusted them more and more.

As for top families like the Xun family, they have been betting separately since ancient times. How many forces have they bet on since the end of the Han Dynasty?
Wasn't Xun Chen, who was under Yuan Shao at the time, Xun Yu's cousin? Xun Chen also once held a high position under Yuan Shao and had a lot of say in the circle of advisers.

Therefore, Cao Cao knew that he could bet on many sides of the aristocratic families like Xun Yu and Xun You. Even if he was finished, at most the Xun family would lose their positions, but the entire Xun family would not be ruined.

Some of Xun Chen and others who had followed Yuan Shao were later captured by Liu Bei, while others went with the flow and continued to serve as officials with a low status and leisurely position through Yuan Tan's mediation.

All these behaviors meant that Xun Yu's level of trust in Cao Cao would definitely be lower than that of Sima Yi and Jia Xu, who had no way out.

At this moment, Xun Yu sincerely advised Cao Cao to pay attention to the problem of leaks and to be aware that there might be wise men in the enemy army who might guess Cao Cao's intentions.

But when Cao Cao heard these words, he suddenly thought of a possibility: Could it be that Xun Yu already knew who was against me in the court? Or did he realize that there was an insider from Liu Bei, but he just didn't tell me, just wanting to leave a way out?
If the situation is even worse, is it possible that Xun Yu just wanted to clear himself from future leaks? He already knew that continuing to send troops according to the original plan would lead to leaks, so pretending to remind him was just doing his best and leaving the rest to fate. If the war goes badly in the future, it can't be blamed on Xun Yu.

When Cao Cao thought of this, he almost broke out in a cold sweat.

When Xun Yu saw Cao Cao's face change several times and he just said such harsh words, how could he not know that he was being suspected?

At this time, it was useless to force an explanation, it would only make things worse. Moreover, Xun Yu knew that the more he explained, the more he would hear Cao Cao's true thoughts. As long as Cao Cao still insisted on suspecting him, he would be in greater danger in the future.

For someone who has been suspected, the best way to protect himself is to stop knowing more things that he shouldn't know and things that the other person doesn't want you to know.

Xun Yu weighed the options quickly in his mind and knew that no matter how much he said, it would be useless. He could only sigh and said, "Well, Prime Minister, you don't need to tell me the specific day you want the troops to be dispatched. I have been feeling unwell recently, so knowing more will only delay things."

Xun Yu was retreating to advance, clearing himself of suspicion, but at the same time he felt much colder in his heart.

Of course, at this time, he had not yet reached the point of despair. He just felt that Cao Cao was in the most paranoid state. If he treated it calmly, maybe the situation would ease up when Cao Cao calmed down.

When Cao Cao saw Xun Yu left sadly with a disheartened look on his face, he relaxed his guard a little.

But Cao Cao still felt that, influenced by Xun Yu's advice, he had to speed up the pace of his military operations. If he continued to assemble the troops at the original speed, it would only lead to more trouble.

And there is no need for most of the civil servants in the court to know about this.

In the end, Cao Cao's deadline for sending troops was further compressed from fifteen days to ten days. He required all dispatched troops to arrive in Liyang within ten days from the date of the decision, and then head to the Guantao front line, seeking a decisive battle with Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun along the way.

Cao's army bent their bows and rode their horses, ready to shoot but not yet ready to fire. It was now the final moment to shoot.

However, even though Cao Cao accelerated the dispatch and pressed the deadline even tighter, he underestimated the degree of disunity among the top officials of the Luoyang court.

He underestimated the "confidants" in the Prime Minister's Mansion in Luoyang, wondering whether they were colluding with Liu Bei or secretly loyal to the Han Dynasty and wanted to overthrow Cao Cao.

Even if Cao Cao reduced the number of central civil servants who knew about the situation to a minimum, the movement of hundreds of thousands of people could certainly not be hidden from everyone. There would always be officials who needed to handle money, food, military supplies, and the dispatch of bags, vehicles, and ships who could get the information.

……

About seven or eight days after Cao Cao assembled his troops and planned to actively seek a decisive battle, on the battlefield in Guantao County, Guangping County, Hebei Province.

As usual, Zhuge Jin and Zhou Yu were still stationed in the Guantao siege camp these days. They just inspected the troops every day, discussed and dealt with the various military reports and battle situations that were sent to them daily, and then they could enjoy their leisure time.

When Zhuge Jin lived in the military camp, his life enjoyment and comfort were no different from if he stayed in the city.

As a minister, he was not yet at the stage where he needed to set an example and share the hardships with the soldiers. Although he did not seek extravagance in his daily food and drink, he must be in line with his status as a minister and must not lose face for the Han court.

In the past one or two days, the scouts and spies sent out by Zhuge Jin did collect some useful information. After carefully comparing and weighing the pros and cons, Zhuge Jin also slightly realized that the enemy might be planning to do something big.

However, Zhuge Jin had not found clear evidence or inference as to how to do it and what the goal was, so he had to be cautious and consult Zhou Yu every day to analyze new information together.

On this day, the two of them were still dealing with this matter as usual, but a secret report from Luoyang disrupted their meeting rhythm.

(End of this chapter)