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

Cao Cao's order was like a thunderbolt; 30,000 Wei troops moved at the command, abandoning Linjin and heading south.

They raced all the way, quickly heading towards the Wei River.

In less than two days, the remnants of the Wei army, numbering 30,000, arrived at the north bank of the Wei River.

At this time, the Wei River had indeed frozen and melted.

After arriving at the Wei River, the Wei army crossed the river without hesitation and then entered Weikou City like a tidal wave.

Weikou is the confluence of the Wei River and the Yellow River, a strategically important location, like a button pinned between the two rivers, controlling the juncture of their flow.

Just forty li to the east from here lies the renowned Tongguan Pass.

Tongguan, as the first and most important pass guarding Guanzhong, has a strategic location that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is a place where one man can hold the pass against ten thousand.

Although Weikou City is small in scale and seems inconspicuous, it plays an irreplaceable and important role—it is a key node for the transfer of Wei army's food supplies.

Previously, more than 100,000 bushels of grain and fodder had already been stored here.

After the Wei army retreated to Weikou, the problem of food supplies was immediately solved.

Knowing the importance of the Wei River, Cao Cao immediately issued a series of important orders.

His first order was to conscript laborers to build the fortified pass.

Within two days, Weikou City was bustling with activity, both inside and out. Tens of thousands of laborers, under the command of Wei army officers, worked day and night to reinforce Weikou City.

They carried stones and timber, repairing the old parts of the city wall, making the already sturdy wall even more indestructible.

Meanwhile, along the Wei River, Wei Guo laborers were also building lines of defense.

They dug trenches and set up obstacles, imitating the Puban defense line, to create a fortification for the Wei army to defend against the Han army.

In addition to reinforcing the city's defenses, Cao Cao also transferred about 15,000 troops from Wuguan, Tongguan, and Chang'an to increase the defensive strength of Weikou.

Over the course of these two days, the number of Wei troops at Weikou increased rapidly, eventually reaching more than 45,000.

The increased troop strength revitalized the morale of the Wei army.

Cao Cao was not satisfied with this.

One of his most important decisions was to transfer his best-kept 7,000 Xiliang cavalry from Longxi to the Weikou front.

These 7,000 Liangzhou cavalrymen were, at this moment, the strongest fighting force in Wei.

Back then, when Cao Cao pacified the ten generals of Xiliang, including Ma Han, he incorporated a large number of Xiliang cavalry into his army and used them as the core to form this elite force.

Originally, this cavalry force was stationed in Liangzhou, shouldering the important task of defending against the Qiang people and Ma Chao, who had gone south to Hanzhong to join Zhang Lu.

The Qiang people are fierce and warlike, and they do not submit to whoever is in power, causing frequent border troubles.

Ma Chao is exceptionally brave and has great influence among the Qiang people. Once he re-enters Liangzhou, he will surely be able to incite the Qiang people to rise up in rebellion.

Therefore, in order to guard against Ma Chao, Cao Cao had no choice but to station this cavalry force along the Liangzhou line year-round.

But the situation has changed dramatically.

Zhang Lu has been enfeoffed as the King of Hanzhong and has nominally submitted to the State of Wei.

Under the threat of Wei, Zhang Lu would naturally not allow Ma Chao to lead his army north to invade Liangzhou.

Therefore, the threat posed by the Qiang people was negligible compared to the hundreds of thousands of Han troops.

Under these circumstances, continuing to station 7,000 cavalry in Liangzhou would undoubtedly be a waste of resources.

Therefore, Cao Cao issued an imperial edict ordering Generals Zhang He and Xiahou Ba to lead the seven thousand cavalry to the Wei River battlefield at top speed.

Once the order was given, the seven thousand cavalrymen sped off like arrows, day and night, heading north of the Wei River.

...

Three days later, Liu Shan led 250,000 Han troops southward along the Yellow River.

Several days later, the Han army finally reached the north bank of the Wei River. By this time, the Wei River had thawed, and Cao Cao had seized all the warships within a hundred li radius on both banks of the Wei River.

The Han army had no boats and could not cross the river for the time being, so they could only set up camp for ten miles on the north bank.

Within a few days, camps sprang up in an orderly fashion, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The Han army and the Wei army on the south bank formed a standoff across the river, with tensions running high.

The Yellow River from Puban to Weikou is extremely turbulent.

The surging river, like an angry dragon, roared and rushed southward.

Under such water conditions, grain ships are extremely prone to capsizing.

Therefore, all the provisions that the Han army brought from Hedong had to be delivered to the front line at Weikou by land after landing at Puban.

This land supply route, stretching less than seventy miles, became the lifeline of the Han army, but it also provided Cao Cao with a perfect opening to raid supplies with his cavalry.

Cao Cao astutely seized this opportunity and immediately ordered Zhang He and Xiahou Ba to lead the Xiliang cavalry in a frenzied attack on the Han army's supply lines.

Thus, the Xiliang cavalry moved like ghosts in the night, swiftly traversing the Han army's supply lines.

Wherever they went, grain carts were overturned, and grain was burned. The Han soldiers protecting the grain suffered heavy casualties.

For a time, the Han army's supply lines were thrown into chaos...

On the north bank of the Wei River, within the Han camp, the atmosphere was heavy.

Liu Shan looked at the battle damage report in his hand, and was furious:
"The traitor Cao Cao attacked our supply lines with his Liangzhou cavalry, and within seven days, he has destroyed 50,000 bushels of grain. It is truly despicable!"

His Highness the Crown Prince had a burning rage in his eyes, and he clenched his fists tightly, pounding them hard on the table.

He threw the battle report away forcefully, and it fell heavily to the ground.

He swept his gaze across the assembled officials and said sternly:
“How can we allow the Wei army to harass our supply lines at will? I think of using a trick to lure the enemy, using 100,000 bushels of grain as bait to lure the Wei cavalry to attack and plunder.”

"At that time, I will mobilize all the cavalry, under the command of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, to annihilate the Wei cavalry in one fell swoop!"

What do you all think of my plan?

These words immediately brightened the eyes of the courtiers, and they began to look at Liu Shan with new respect.

They clearly hadn't expected that His Highness the Crown Prince would come up with such a plan to lure the enemy, and that he would also devise a tactic of using cavalry to defeat cavalry.

It seems that Liu Shan has made great strides and gained profound insights into military strategy and tactics recently.

Zhao Yun nodded slightly, agreeing with Liu Shan's theory of using cavalry to control cavalry.

If he could lure the Wei cavalry to the designated location, he was confident that he could annihilate them, given the strength and surprise of the Han cavalry.

However, after a moment's thought, Zhao Yun said:

"In his early years, the Grand Marshal had used this tactic to defeat the Wei army's Youyan Iron Cavalry."

"I am worried that if we use the same old tricks again, that traitor Cao will have learned his lesson and won't be so easily fooled."

Liu Shan frowned slightly. Zhao Yun's words were a reminder that although his plan was brilliant, it was outdated.

At this time, having achieved the merit of capturing Puban Pass, he had already established his prestige in the army.

With his achievements and prestige, his mindset naturally underwent a subtle change.

The phrase "using the same old trick" from Zhao Yun sounded quite jarring to him at that moment.

So Liu Shan swallowed hard, suppressing his displeasure, and asked in return:

"Since you say I'm just repeating the same old tricks, what brilliant plan do you have to break the Wei army's supply raid tactics?"

Zhao Yun was speechless. (End of Chapter)