Tiger Guards

Chapter 453 Using one’s body as bait
As dawn broke, Zhao Ji's scouts once again gained the upper hand, a decisive one at that.

More and more information was converging on Zhao Ji's camp, and the worst had already happened.

Last night, as Xiahou Yuan launched his surprise attack, Cao Ang also led his infantry to follow, advancing lightly armed. More than 20,000 men are currently crammed into the city of Yan County, less than 30 li away from him.

Given Cao Ang's rapid march last night, he couldn't have carried much food or supplies, and he probably didn't even have any replacement weapons.

In other words, Cao Ang has now found himself in a desperate situation and is now challenging Cao Ang to a duel.

After a morning nap, Zhao Ji climbed the watchtower again. The various camps were organizing prisoners to move corpses, clean up the battlefield, and collect any useful supplies.

The few captured wounded soldiers of Cao Cao's army were also transferred to apprentices in the military medical team for practice.

Zhao Ji looked around and, seeing that the morale of the camp was stable, then returned to his main tent.

Inside the main tent, Zhang Hong lay on his side taking a nap, while Zhao Jian organized the reports from various camps on merits, casualties, and captured military documents.

Zhao Ji approached the sand table and asked Li Ying, who was silently gazing at it, "What do you think of last night's battle?"

"I believe that Cao Cao's army has achieved its goal."

Li Ying coughed twice before saying, "Previously, Cao Ang retreated to Puyang and joined forces with Cao Cao's remaining troops, numbering no less than 100,000. Our army appears strong and powerful, but it is actually a long-fighting force, while the enemy troops are panicked and desperate. If we were to send troops to Puyang, we would not be able to capture it quickly, and Yuan Shao's reinforcements would come one after another. Once our army loses its momentum, how could the enemy army allow us to withdraw at our leisure? This is why the Grand Marshal held back the troops and allowed the people to evacuate first, demonstrating his foresight."

"As you said, I don't like attacking fortified positions, nor do I want to attack right next to Yuan Shao's bed."

Zhao Ji looked down at Ye City on the sand table. Yuan Shao's troops would march from Ye City to Puyang, and the vanguard could arrive in as little as three days.

Even the Yuan army stationed in Liyang on the north bank could support the Cao army in Puyang at any time.

This is why Zhao Yun was transferred to guard Xingyang and Aocang. Zhao Ji was worried that Yuan Shao would secretly mobilize troops, cross the river suddenly, and seize Xingyang, cutting off his way back.

A well-developed road network would certainly prevent one from finding themselves in a desperate situation, but taking a roundabout route would bring them closer to Lü Bu, increasing uncertainty.

Vehicles are consumables; the more detours are taken, the greater the loss of military supplies, the more exhausted the troops, and the greater the blow to morale.

Therefore, even if it means having fewer advantages on the main battlefield, it is better to keep Zhao Yun pinned down in Xingyang.

Zhao Ji truly did not want to attack the enemy's stronghold, nor did he want the challenge of attacking the stronghold to overwhelm Cao Cao's army. In order to provoke the enemy's courage to fight to the death, Zhao Ji successively abandoned Baima and Yan County.

Cao Ang actually used himself as bait to lead his army into Yan County... No, that's not right. Yuan Shao didn't care whether Cao Ang lived or died. What he cared about was the more than 20,000 veteran soldiers from the Central Plains that Cao Ang brought to Yan County!

This lightly armed army of 20,000 men, marching at breakneck speed, would, optimistically, go hungry within seven days.

Should Yuan Shao save him or not?
Should I fight or not?

Cao Ang was gambling that even if he attacked, he still wouldn't be able to defeat them.

If he wins the gamble, Cao Ang will be a rising star among the younger generation, on par with himself, and not much inferior to Sun Ce.

Even if he didn't fight, Cao Ang still won, albeit by a small margin.

Reputation is something that has always been distributed proportionally; there is no such thing as unlimited growth among contemporaries.

Even when comparing reputation across different eras, it's the same.

In the night raid, the only cavalry force was almost wiped out. Cao Ang had done his best for Cao Cao; no one could blame him anymore.

Seeing that the situation was not good, he led the majority of his troops to occupy Yan County and hold it. This was already an excellent performance.

Now the situation has changed, turning it into a variant of the battle of attrition, a rescue race.

It is likely that Cao Ang's messenger has already crossed the river and is speeding towards Ye City, which is two hundred miles away.

Around noon, Yuan Shao would face this equally difficult and thorny choice.

Yuan Shao's conventional response was nothing more than preparing for two scenarios: first, sending an envoy to save face, and at the same time mobilizing his army to approach the north bank of the Yellow River, waiting for an opportunity to militarily rescue Cao Ang's more than 20,000 men.

And then there's Lü Bu, who turned against us not long ago. In order to devour these 20,000 people, Lü Bu would have even less to worry about turning against us!
When Lü Bu incorporated other armies, there was still the issue of how to utilize them; but if it was a bandit army that he incorporated, he could reorganize it drastically and carry out high-intensity infiltration: such a strong reorganization would not arouse the fear or suspicion of other generals and officers.

Therefore, defeating bandits is the best way to strengthen the commander-in-chief's resources.

Just like when Cao Cao ate the soldiers of Qingzhou, he immediately wavered and could not even tolerate Bian Rang's criticisms, killing him without hesitation. This clearly showed that he wanted to rule Yanzhou tyrannically and no longer respect the opinions of others.

I was the same way; no matter how many soldiers from Hedong or Taiyuan I ate, there were all sorts of taboos.

On the contrary, the Xiongnu directly strengthened their own resources, which enabled them to suppress their Tiger Warriors, the powerful leaders of Hedong, and various surrendered generals.

Don't let the unpleasant reputation of "surrendered general" fool you; this is a secondary franchise partner.

Compared to surrendered generals, the Tiger Warriors and the powerful warlords of Hedong were veteran allies. Even though Lü Bu had the Eagle Flying Army, in essence, the commanders and officers of the Eagle Flying Army were all former subordinates of Lü Bu. In essence, their relationship was similar to that of Lü Bu and the Tiger Warriors.

Therefore, Lü Bu is currently in dire need of a 'foreign legion', but Cao Cao's army is clearly not as useful as the Xiongnu or the Qingzhou soldiers. The Xiongnu lack recognition in the court and among the people and have no political appeal; the Qingzhou soldiers are remnants of the Taiping Dao, and are even less likely to have political appeal at the court and among the people.

Both of these were purely armed forces. In fact, the Qin Hu, who were supported by Dong Zhuo and almost grew into their own independent clan, were of a similar nature.

Sometimes, that's how it is; foreign enemies are more reliable than so-called one's own people.

Even if Cao Cao's army has hidden dangers, if they were to join Lü Bu's forces in the short term, it would still increase Lü Bu's autocracy and allow him to more easily suppress internal factions.

Zhang Liao's departure was essentially due to Lü Bu's excessive pressure, which failed to meet Zhang Liao's expectations.

If Lü Bu had agreed to let Gao Shun or Zhang Liao join him in attacking Liu Biao, Zhang Liao certainly wouldn't have followed him.

Having gained immense advantages from assassinating Dong Zhuo and establishing his fame, Lü Bu would naturally be constantly on guard against the emergence of a similar armed leader under his command.

Even if this person is Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Wei Yue, Zhang Yang... it won't work, unless it's his own son.

As Zhao Ji pondered these key factors influencing Yuan Shao and Lü Bu's decisions, he remarked with a sigh, "The indifference between Cao Cao and his son Cao Ang is truly lamentable."

Li Ying joined in the mockery, saying, "Like father, like son. It seems the Cao family is like this. It's only natural that they are a family of eunuchs and their disgrace."

Zhao Ji chuckled, staring at the sand table map: "Since Cao Ang wants to gamble, I'll gamble with him. I want to see if Yuan Shao dares to cross the river and head south!"

We should also see if Lü Bu dares to lead his troops north again!

Political conflicts that cannot be resolved can only be settled through military clashes.

From Zhao Ji's current perspective, the most fundamental political contradiction is the contradiction of survival, followed by the contradiction of development, and then the contradiction of distribution.

At its core, it's still a struggle for survival!

Cao Ang... To be precise, this should be Cheng Yu's plan, and Xun Yu and Guo Jia may also have been involved.

With Cao Cao's army in such a favorable position, whoever comes to their rescue will essentially become their master.

This is a perfectly reasonable thing, and it is also something that is recognized both internally and externally.

Yuan Shao and Lü Bu could not remain unmoved. Whoever gained the loyalty of Cao Cao's army would immediately have the means to transform their own power and make themselves more... Warring States-like.

If you didn't get the Xiongnu people, what right do you have to run rampant under your rule and wield sole power over distribution?
It was precisely because others could not handle the Xiongnu that they were forced to submit and back down for survival.

Otherwise, do you really think that the Tiger Warriors and the powerful leaders of Hedong are so righteous and willing to restrain themselves?

The Three Departments system could only promise the emperor, his ministers, and officials a future power grab; it couldn't fool his partners.

Only the Xiongnu's sword, and the immediate and pressing stakes, could force a partner to submit and uphold their principles.

Sun Ce, from the very beginning, followed the Warring States period route.

Liu Bei employs layers of disguise, using the ideal of restoring the Han dynasty as a rallying cry. The more chaotic the world becomes, the more the Warring States period-like Liu Bei's approach will spontaneously increase.

When more and more people lose hope in the imperial family, they will support Liu Bei, follow him, and handle matters from a Warring States perspective.

While Zhao Ji and Li Ying were chatting, Zhang Hong could no longer pretend to be asleep. Still feeling sleepy, he forced himself to get up.

He came to the sand table, observed the changes in the information displayed on it, and asked, "Grand Marshal, shall we summon Generals Zhang Wenyuan and Gan Xingba?"

"No, I trust the people I employ. Since I have given them the orders, let them do their job."

Zhao Ji looked at the sand table: "The cavalry is moving towards Yanjin. I want to block Yuan Shao's chance to cross the river."

What can Yuan Shao do if he places 5,000 cavalrymen in Yanjin?
To cross the river, one must either launch a surprise attack on Ao Cang, defeat Zhao Yun, and occupy Xingyang before crossing from upstream.

Either cross the river at Puyangjin, or the entire army lands on the south bank of the river at Puyang downstream.

Crossing the river wasn't difficult; the real challenge was figuring out how to escape unscathed when the battle was going badly.

There's no need to even mobilize the cavalry; Cao Cao's army is already pinned down. If they dare to retreat, it will inevitably result in a crushing defeat.

Last time, we suffered a great defeat in Chenliu. We were 400 li away and couldn't do anything to them. We also had to consider the emperor's opinion.

Now that they are thirty li apart, if Cao Cao's army retreats again, it would be tantamount to suicide!
Cao Cao's most valuable legacy lies here; it would be a disservice to Cao Cao's efforts not to fight a battle.

(End of this chapter)