My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 229 The strategist is not only a god, but also a military genius! I've unleashed the most powerful attack formation in history, how will you deal with it?
Deng Ai was stunned.

There are nearly 20,000 to 30,000 cavalrymen outside.

That's not like 20,000 or 30,000 crops; you're only relying on a few hundred cows. How can you possibly hold them off?
"Strategist, what you've done..."

Deng Ai looked at Xiao He blankly, as if she thought she had misheard.

Xiao He didn't have time for preamble; in just a few words, he explained the strategy for defending against the enemy to Deng Ai.

Deng Ai's eyes widened, her bewilderment turning into shock, and her mouth shrank into an exaggerated circle.

For a moment, he was stunned and stood there, unable to believe that their prime minister could come up with such a wonderful idea.

"What are you waiting for? Go and get ready."

"Also, Zhang Wenyuan's cavalry should be able to return in time. Please ask Lord Chu to recall the cavalry first."

Seeing Deng Ai in a daze, Xiao He tapped him on the back of the head.

Deng Ai suddenly came to his senses, and disregarding his shock, hurriedly ran down the watchtower to relay the order.

Xiao He then raised his binoculars and continued to observe the enemy situation.

The enemy cavalry figures gradually became clearer in their field of vision.

Besides the armor of the Wei army, it also appears that the armor of the Liaodong army was seen among them.

The Liaodong Army actually intervened directly?
The saying goes, "No one gets up early without a reason." If Gongsun Kang had no interest in profit, would he have sent thousands of elite cavalry across the sea to help Cao Cao launch a surprise attack on Pengcheng?
Without a doubt, Cao Cao ceded Donglai Commandery to Gongsun Kang, allowing him to restore Yingzhou to the east of Qingzhou.

"Old Cao, you've really gone to great lengths to emulate Xiang Yu, you've sacrificed a lot of money..."

Xiao He's lips curled into a sarcastic sneer.

East of Chu Camp.

More than 25,000 cavalrymen are galloping along the south bank of the Si River towards Pengcheng and the Chu camp.

As Cao Cao rode his horse at full gallop, he gazed into the distance toward the Chu camp, a long-lost confident sneer igniting in his eyes.

A few days ago, he led 25,000 cavalrymen, taking the same route as the second campaign against Xuzhou, turning south from Taishan County into Langya, and heading diagonally towards Pengcheng.

They avoided attacking cities along the way, choosing instead to travel through open fields and main roads, thus evading all the eyes and ears of the Chu army.

Or rather, even if the Chu army discovered their whereabouts along the way, they wouldn't have time to send a warning to the Pengcheng camp.

Because the person who issued the warning was still far behind him.

By dusk today, more than 20,000 elite cavalrymen had finally reached ten miles east of Pengcheng.

The scouts sent out earlier reported that three Wei flags were flying high on the city wall of Pengcheng, indicating that the main force of the Chu army was attacking the city and that the Chu camp was currently undefended.

Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief and immediately led his entire army to rush over.

As the sun began to set in the west, the Chu camp was already close at hand.

At least as far as the eye could see, there were no Chu troops lined up in the camp, nor any signs of them being ready for battle.

Cao Cao's lips curled into a cold smile.

His cavalry would only receive a warning from the Chu camp when they were at least a mile away, and then report to Liu Bei, who was attacking the city.

With over 80,000 Chu troops pinned down beneath Pengcheng, how could they possibly retreat to their camp and deploy to repel the enemy in such a short time?

There must be at least a gap of nearly an hour during this period.

An hour's difference was enough time for his iron cavalry to crush the Chu camp.

With their main camp lost, the Chu army's morale will surely be thrown into chaos.

At that time, 50,000 Wei troops from Pengcheng charged out, and together with his 25,000 iron cavalry, they launched a pincer attack from two sides. The 80,000 Chu troops were as fragile as paper and could be easily annihilated!
Everything was within Cao Cao's calculations.

Pulling himself back to reality, Cao Cao's face blazed with fighting spirit as he roared:

"General Bei, your Liaodong Iron Cavalry is unparalleled in bravery. I want to see you break through the enemy camp first and display the might of the Liaodong Iron Cavalry!"

"If we win this battle, all the spoils captured from the Chu camp will be yours to reward, my lords and soldiers of Liaodong!"

Cao Cao's gaze fell upon Bei Yan, the commander of the Liaodong army.

While he was praising them, his real intention was to get the Liaodong army to clear the way for the vanguard and minimize the losses of his own Wei cavalry.

Bei Yan hadn't thought that far ahead. After being praised by Cao Cao, he couldn't help but become arrogant.

"Rest assured, Lord Wei, watch as my Liaodong Iron Cavalry crushes the Chu camp!"

Bei Yan uttered arrogant words, pointing his long sword forward:
"Lord Wei said that after we break through the camp, all the spoils will belong to us!"

"Heroes of Liaodong, let those barbarians in the south witness the might of our Liaodong cavalry!"

"All troops, advance! Follow me and crush the Chu camp!"

More than 5,000 Liaodong cavalrymen suddenly became as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and roared like beasts.

The 80,000 Chu troops had countless amounts of money and grain stored in their camps!

With so much money and silk all going to them, haven't they become rich?
Five thousand Liao cavalrymen instantly transformed into five thousand hungry tigers and wolves, galloping wildly and sweeping towards the Chu camp.

Cao Cao led the Wei cavalry, following behind the Liaodong army, and surged forward like a torrent.

The earth shook and mountains trembled, and billowing dust covered the sky.

Nearly 30,000 iron cavalrymen charged in, their momentum terrifying, as if the end of the world had arrived.

Inside the Chu camp.

The two or three thousand Chu soldiers who remained behind had already lined up in front of the camp wall, gripping their swords and spears, ready to defend against the enemy.

Even the elite and valiant Northern Army soldiers were not on high alert when faced with a massive horde of enemy cavalry ten times their size, and their palms were sweating.

Look upstairs.

Only Xiao He remained calm and composed, observing the approaching Wei army through his binoculars.

One hundred steps.

The enemy cavalry has entered the sprint phase.

Xiao put down the binoculars, waved his hand, and shouted:

"Immediately send the order to Deng Ai to activate the Fire Ox Formation!"

The order was quickly relayed to the camp walls.

Main business is in front of the wall.

Deng Ai was looking up at Xiao He on the watchtower with admiration and respect. At this moment, he suddenly understood the two questions Xiao He had asked him.

Why has Xiao He spent these past few days observing from the watchtower, but instead of looking at the battle in Pengcheng to the west, he only looks at the other three sides?

This was naturally because Xiao He had already anticipated that Cao Cao would send cavalry deep into the heart of Xuzhou to launch a surprise attack on their main camp from the rear.

The second question is why Xiao He ordered that grain and fodder must be transported by oxcart.

Because Xiao He needed enough oxen, he used the fire ox formation to defeat the enemy cavalry when the Wei army's iron cavalry attacked and his own troops were severely insufficient.

"With such uncanny foresight, the strategist, even if not a god, is certainly a military genius..."

Deng Ai muttered to himself, sighing with regret.

Just then, a command flag waved on the watchtower, and a rider galloped in, announcing Xiao He's military orders.

Deng Ai suppressed his emotions and turned his grim gaze back to the enemy cavalry that were rolling in from outside the camp.

He drew his sword, pointed it directly at the enemy, and shouted:
"By my order, open the camp gates immediately and bring out the fire ox formation!"

The bugle sounds, and the command flags wave.

Several camp gates creaked open, and the deer antlers in front of the camp were also pushed aside.

Nearly eight hundred cages appeared in front of the camp gate.

These cages were all made by the carpenters in the army at Xiao He's behest a few days ago.

At the time, not only him, but also Liu Bei and his ministers did not understand why Xiao He suddenly built these cages.

At the time, Xiao He only said it was for unforeseen circumstances.

Only then did Deng Ai realize that these cages were used to control the direction of the fire oxen's charge when setting up the fire ox formation.

Eight hundred cattle were now kept in eight hundred cages.

Each ox has two ring-pommel knives tied to its horns, and its tail is wrapped in cloth soaked in oil.

As Xiao He instructed, the cow's eyes were also completely covered with strips of cloth.

This is the Fire Ox Formation.

When the five states attacked Qi, Qi was nearly destroyed. Only the surviving general Tian Dan defeated the Yan army with the fire ox formation, thus turning the tide of the war and completing the feat of restoring the country.

If the Crescent Moon Formation is the most defensive formation, then the Fire Ox Formation is the most offensive formation!
After receiving Yang Xiu's secret letter, Liu Bei and his men decided to take advantage of Cao Cao's illness and launch a full-scale attack on Pengcheng.

Xiao He sensed something was amiss, but couldn't pinpoint what it was, so he had no reason to oppose a full-scale attack on Pengcheng.

Afterwards, upon careful consideration, he worried that Cao Cao might take advantage of his cavalry advantage and launch a surprise attack while his camp was undefended.

That's why the order to have oxcarts transport grain and fodder was issued, just in case.

After all, only the Fire Ox Formation has the power to defeat tens of thousands of enemy cavalry when the forces are severely insufficient.

However, the Fire Ox Formation cannot be set up haphazardly; there are tricks to it.

A cow is an animal; who can guarantee that it will obey your commands and charge towards the enemy cavalry?

What if these beasts get startled and charge at you instead?
What if they see the rolling iron cavalry ahead and are frightened into turning back?
Therefore, Xiao He had to build cages in advance so that the bulls could be kept inside and only one side needed to be left open to ensure that the fire bulls would charge towards the enemy.

Blindfolding the cattle prevents them from seeing the vast army ahead, ensuring they won't turn back and charge towards the camp out of fear.

Everything is ready; all that's missing is this final strike.

Outside the camp, 25,000 enemy cavalry had already charged within fifty paces.

The five thousand elite horses of Liaodong under Bei Yan's command charged ahead, roaring forward like five thousand ferocious beasts.

The time has come.

Deng Ai raised his longsword and shouted:
"On my command, ignite immediately!"

With the command flag waving, the soldiers quickly raised their torches and lit the cloth wrapped around the ox's tail.

The cloth soaked in kerosene immediately burst into flames, causing the old oxen in the cage to scream in agony.

The cows, in pain, kicked wildly, their heads pounding against the cage door like madmen.

Deng Ai slashed down with his longsword and shouted again:
"Open the gate, let the cattle out!"

The soldiers on either side of the cage immediately opened the gate in front.

Unleashed and freed from their restraints, the eight hundred fire oxen charged forward like giant cannonballs, charging towards the enemy cavalry.

In front.

Bei Yan and his five thousand Liaodong cavalry were still brimming with ferocity and excitement, dreaming of crushing the Chu camp and taking all the mountain of money and grain for themselves.

Sudden.

Flames suddenly erupted ahead.

More than eight hundred raging bulls, dragging flames, suddenly burst out of the Chu camp and charged towards them as if the sky were collapsing and the earth were splitting.

"ox?"

"How could so many oxen suddenly rush out of the Chu camp?"

"What kind of battle tactic is the Chu army using?"

Bei Yan's expression changed drastically in horror, as if he had seen a ghost in an instant.

The five thousand Liaodong cavalrymen were all shocked and slowed down their horses.

However, the warhorse's speed had already reached its limit, and at such a close distance, there was simply no time to react.

Bei Yan and his cavalry could only stare wide-eyed in terror as eight hundred fire oxen charged toward them.

The Wei cavalry following behind also changed their expressions drastically, their faces filled with shock and astonishment.

"Lord Wei, what...what is that?"

Even the fearless Xu Chu was so shocked that his face contorted, and he pointed his sword ahead, asking in a trembling voice.

The confident look on Cao Cao's face was now replaced by surprise and shock; his mouth was wide open and his eyes were filled with disbelief.

next moment.

Cao Cao suddenly awoke with a start and exclaimed in surprise:
"Fire Ox Formation? That big-eared thief actually used the Fire Ox Formation?"

(End of this chapter)