Chapter 214 Pre-war deployment
Yuan Shao knew very well that he only had the chance of a decisive battle and did not have the capital to stalemate with Tian Ze, so he almost gave up everything.
The 200,000-strong army only carried enough food and fodder for ten days, and set out on the Lingqiu Road at the risk of almost everything.
If you don’t reach Pingxingguan in ten days, you will die.
Along the way, it seemed as if fate was on Yuan's side and everything went surprisingly smoothly.
Even in the desperate situation with their retreat cut off, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's 200,000-strong army was surprisingly stable.
Cao Cao could not help but stare in amazement at the soldiers who were marching with their heads down, not stopping even when some of them slipped and fell off the cliff due to their fast marching speed.
"My lord, this is probably Yuan Benchu's talent." Xi Zhicai said softly on the side.
Before the march, Yuan Shao had a deep talk with Cao Cao, and asked Cao Cao to temporarily put the soldiers under his command during the march in order to speed up the march and reduce losses.
"Such a terrifying strengthening of will?" Cao Cao murmured.
He thought that his talent was strong enough, but compared with Yuan Shao today, he suddenly felt pale in comparison.
“With such a powerful effect and coverage, Yuan Benchu’s talent must have its limitations, or it must come at a heavy price.” Xi Zhicai said in a deep voice.
He knew best that the greater the talent, the greater the price, and he was a typical example.
Xi Zhicai's guess was correct. Yuan Shao's talent was to strengthen his will. When he encountered adversity, the greater the pressure and threat he faced, the stronger his will became.
The stronger the talent effect, the more energy Yuan Shao consumes. To a certain extent, it may even consume Yuan Shao's life.
At this time, Yuan Shao's army was on the verge of despair. In contrast, the effect of Yuan Shao's talent was extremely terrifying.
Just as Yuan Shao said after burning Changshan Pass before his departure: "The retreat is cut off. If we don't advance, we will die!"
Yuan Shao's operation successfully turned disadvantage into advantage and achieved the effect of burning his boats.
"Benchu is a real hero!" Cao Cao exclaimed sincerely.
On the side, Mao Jie was observing the status of the soldiers calmly, exploring the effect of Yuan Shao's strengthened will.
Although they are allies now, Mao Jie knows that Yuan Shao is an enemy rather than a friend. It would be better to get more information about him in advance so that he can deal with him better in the future.
Not only Mao Jie, Ju Shou also thought so. After finding out the effect of Mao Jie's talent, Ju Shou realized that Xun Chen's worry was right. But now that they have understood this person, the follow-up matters will be easy.
After the army arrived at Pingxingguan, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the large amount of food and fodder piled up inside the pass.
At the same time, Mao Jie keenly noticed that the effect of strengthening the army's will seemed to have weakened a lot.
"Can it only be effective in times of adversity? I just don't know if it can cover his civil and military subordinates, or Yuan Benchu himself."
After learning the intelligence about the Xinding Basin from the garrison general, Yuan Shao realized that Tian Ze was still trapped between Shiling Pass and Yanmen Pass as he had thought. He hurriedly ordered the army to rest and arranged for scouts to go and investigate.
Human will is powerful and can accomplish many seemingly impossible things, even create miracles.
However, strength is always the foundation of everything.
When he learned that Yanmen Pass was already on high alert and that there were quite a few garrison troops inside, Yuan Shao gave up his unrealistic fantasies and left 10,000 troops to block Guangwu County in front of Yanmen Pass, and the rest of the troops headed straight for Yuanping.
In front of Yuanping County, Tian Ze had already set up camp and was ready for battle.
The 30,000 troops that Lu Bu squeezed out set up camp on the west side of Tianze.
"Li Wenyou, you are really wise and far-sighted. Lu Bu has set up the camp and prepared enough money and food, waiting for us to go there." Yuan Shao looked at the letter in his hand and couldn't help but sigh.
He was not sure of winning this battle, it was a gamble.
Although he had the courage to fight to the death, Yuan Shao would not put himself in danger. If he and Lu Bu split up their forces to fight in Tianze, the forces would be dispersed and they would be easily defeated one by one. Only by merging them together could they be dispatched in a unified manner and maximize the strength of the three parties.
Li Ru set up camp on the west side after careful consideration.
When the army arrived at the camp, Cao Cao looked at the camp built with its back to the mountain and nodded slightly.
"Li Wenyou is indeed worthy of his name. This place is backed by mountains, which is a natural barrier, greatly reducing the possibility of being attacked by cavalry."
"Not only that." Xi Zhicai added: "The back of this camp is conveniently located at Shiling Pass and Ningwu Pass, which is convenient for transporting food and grass. Once our army wins, it will be easy to block Tianze's retreat to the north."
Mao Jie glanced in the direction of Tianze's camp and said calmly, "The most important thing is that if we are defeated, we will have a great chance to evacuate. Even if we are defeated, we can still protect ourselves by retreating to Shiling Pass."
Hearing Mao Jie's disappointing words, Cao Cao's expression froze slightly, but he didn't say much.
He knew that Mao Jie's old illness had recurred.
"From this point of view, although Yuan Benchu had the courage and confidence to risk his life, he was still relatively rational," said Jia Kui.
Yuan Shao's courage lies in the fact that he stationed 10,000 troops in Guangwu to cut off Tian Ze's retreat, and he had the ambition to annihilate Tian Ze's army.
Yuan Shao's rationality lies in the fact that he agreed to Li Ru's garrison location and acquiesced to the existence of a retreat route.
"Li Wenyou doesn't seem to be optimistic about us." Mao Jie said.
Although Li Ru's actions showed his military strengths and cautious use of troops, he might have been preparing a way out.
"In this battle, our military strength should be more than two to one, but due to the elite soldiers of the Tianze Army, we can only say that we have a slight advantage. The key to victory or defeat lies in the deployment of troops on both sides and the ability and talent of generals." Xi Zhicai said.
"I'm afraid the generals under Tian Chengshou are not inferior to us!" said Mao Jie.
Seeing Mao Jie pouring cold water on him, Xi Zhicai couldn't help himself any longer: "Xiaoxian, why don't you turn off your talent first."
In the camp, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Lu Bu held a meeting.
Looking at Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, the many civil and military officials behind him, and then looking at the few big and small cats behind him, Lu Bu couldn't help but look at Li Ru.
Only after Li Ru's slight hint of help did he feel relieved.
One of them is the best military commander in the world, and the other is a poisonous warrior who created the chaos in the world.
Although he does not have any famous and powerful generals under his command, he will not bow down to them.
Lu Bu could single-handedly fight against all the generals under Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, and Li Ru could fight against their respective advisers in a 30-70 ratio, so he would not be at a disadvantage.
Naturally, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had no intention of looking down on Lu Bu and Li Ru.
These two guys are both tough guys. They are allies now and there is a possibility of cooperation in the future. Why bother to make each other unhappy?
Therefore, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao communicated with each other about their situations and the intelligence they knew.
When Lu Bu heard Ju Shou and Xi Zhicai report a series of generals under his command and their talents, he was quite shocked.
At this time, with a powerful enemy at hand, the interests of the three parties were the same. Therefore, although there was some concealment in the sharing of their own intelligence, it was basically clear.
Although Yuan Shao and Cao Cao did not bring all their civil and military forces this time, they had almost all their main forces, and their various powerful and unique talents made everyone present look at them with awe. The two's own talents made them extremely wary of each other.
After sorting out their own lineup, the three parties began to take stock of the situation of the generals under Tian Ze.
(End of this chapter)
